Category: Driving

Shopping – 25 November 2025

Posted on by Zogman

Despite last week’s shopping bonanza, there were still some things we needed ( for Needed, read Wanted ).

We drove to Morrison’s at The Fort and bought a few bottles, mainly wine, but I admit I did collect a couple of beer bottles too, just to be up sides with Scamp. Morrison’s is so much more down to earth than Waitrose. Now, don’t get me wrong. I have no problem with Waitrose, it’s just that I tend to be more restrained in Morrison’s than in Waitrose with all its enticing and intriguing offers than you get in Morrison’s or Tesco. Still, we spent enough to take us from “just tap your card” to “your PIN number is required”. I think the problem was I couldn’t find a ‘normal’ sized trolly and settled for the big deep one. I should have thought it through and searched further afield for a ‘normal’ one. My fault.

Instead of driving straight home, Scamp suggested we stop at Drumpellier Park and go for a walk round the loch. It’s not a big loch, but it’s big enough to give us a chance to stretch our legs. Underfoot the paths were a bit icy and to get better purchase we could walk on the grass. It gave better traction, but then you risk crunching through the thin skin of ice and sinking into the mud beneath. A ‘no win’ situation. We took the hybrid route. Walk on the path if it doesn’t look icy and if it does, keep your fingers crossed and walk on the grass.

I’d brought my A7c with me and with frosty patterns on the ice and a beautiful sky that graduated from blue to creamy yellow over the pond, I did take a few photos. The “Whale’s Tail” made and interesting subject, but it wasn’t until I caught sight of two swans cruising past on the loch that I got PoD. One definite in the bag.

It had been a cold day with the temperature not rising much above 2º and I was glad to get parked and settled. Dinner was Fish Risotto. One of the easiest risottos you can make. The oven does all the hard work.

Scamp seems to be a lot more comfortable now that she’s had a couple of doses of her meds. Good to see that.

Neither of us were interested in going out again today, because you could feel the cold returning. As I write this, the outside temperature is – 0.7ºc and I’m off to bed.

Scamp is intending to meet the other witches for lunch at Borden’s in Condorrat tomorrow. I’m sure I’ll find something to do.

Dancin’ – 22 November 2025

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Heading to Paisley for a dance class at 9:45am.

We drove through the thick Cumbersheugh fog, heading to Brookfield, but before we reached Glasgow the sky had cleared and the sun shone from a bright, blue sky. Welcome to Scotland.

It was a fairly easy run to Brookfield. No dramas today and no great holdups. Everything just running to plan. We reached the dance class with time to spare.

First dance was my much hated House of Bamboo, written by a Bampot, I think. When we’d disposed of that piece of excrement, we went on to the Foxtrot we’d been learning for weeks and I struggled to get all the bits in the right places.

At this time of year, the Christmas Waltz is a standard. After Christmas it changes its name to the Spring Waltz, then later it becomes the Summer Waltz and so on. Today we were in Christmas Waltz territory.

Then we started a run through of the Mayfair Quickstep set to new words that were quite funny, but I think they would begin to grate after a few weeks.

The next offering was a Samba. I thought we’d seen the back of this ‘dance’ a year or so ago, but it had returned with some new steps in it. I just couldn’t get the hang of it. Kirsty tried to teach it a couple of years ago, but thankfully it was dropped from the curriculum before it caused an injury!

I was on the point of walking out when the tempo changed to a Cha-Cha and I could manage that.

Finally we did one track of the Queen of Hearts Rumba, and after that we were allowed to go home.

The roads towards town were very busy, probably to do with the Christmas rush that’s just beginning, but I tried one of the back roads I’d used in the past that took us under the Clyde and out through the town in a lot better time than any other route. I reckon we were just lucky.

I took my A7iii out for a walk in St Mo’s and PoD was a Buckfast bottle lying on the sheet ice that’s covered the pond for these last few days. Thankfully the ice is melting now, but it’s still a lot thicker than it looks.

No plans for tomorrow yet, but I’m sure something will fill the space.

Another cold blast – 20 November 2025

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Another sub-zero morning.

I was out in the morning to get my meds and some messages from Boots and Tesco in that order. I was meant to get sone veg, milk and a chicken, except I completely forgot about the chicken. It wasn’t until I got home that I realised my error. Scamp said it was ok and we could survive without the chicken and I took her at her word. I also realised that Boots had short-changed me on my meds. Two lots of them just weren’t there. I did get a message from them two days ago to say that my prescription was partially ready, but yesterday’s message said that it was ready to collect. Crossed lines somewhere, Boots. This is the first time I’ve had a message like that. I’ll maybe have a word with them next week if I have the time.

Back home it was time to get ready to drive to Glenburn for a Tea Dance. I thought we were going to be late because of what looked like a collision between two large lorries, but the Polis managed to sort it all out and we arrived just in time, before the doors closed.

I thought it was a bit of a washed out tea dance. Just not a lot of life in it. Maybe that was because most of the attendees had recently been at Perth for the autumn dance weekend. For whatever reason, there was just not the same ‘life’ to the day. We left later than normal and got caught up in the homeward bound masses. Just as we neared M&S in Cumbersheugh, we saw the line of waiting traffic and gave up on any idea of having a chicken for dinner. Instead we had a very nice pizza I’d stashed in the freezer earlier in the week.

Watched another episode of Portrait Artist. Some good work, but some equally poor stuff. I won’t say I could do better, but I was veering that way.

PoD was a setup shot of a Lindt chocolate bear. That’s what happens when you spend an hour going for the messages and then your day disappears and you don’t get an outside photo.

Hoping to meet Alex tomorrow for a blether and some photos.

It was Wet. – 18 November 2025

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It was wet from start to finish today.

Sometimes heavy, sometimes light, always wet. Thankfully we weren’t going anywhere today. The furthest I got today was a quick trip to the tip to dump some of the odds and ends we’ve gathered in the past year and some that have been lingering in cupboards for a long while before that.

Other than that, I set up a still life of Alstroemeria flowers and that became the PoD. Not great, but it worked quite well on such a dull day.

Dinner was pasta with tomato sauce and spinach. It looks like becoming a favourite in the house.

For once I watched the World Cup 2026 qualifiers because Scotland were playing in it. I wasn’t expecting them to win against Denmark. Imagine my surprise when they not only won that match, but won by four goals to two. Amazing or lucky? I don’t think it matters to the Scotland fans, judging by the antics on the park after full time. Good Luck to them all.

No plans for tomorrow, but it would be nice if the rain would stop for a while.

A day on my own – 17 November 2025

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Scamp and Shona were booked on the train to Inverness today, but …

We were both up and dressed nice and early. I had warmed up the car and defrosted it, while Scamp was having a swift breakfast, then we drove off to pick up Shona at Paul’s house. That’s when things went wrong. Despite three phone calls and knocking on the door, there was no sign of Shona. We waited for a good four or five minutes, and Scamp was getting worried that we might miss the first train, the one that would take her to Stirling where she only had 5 minutes to catch the connection to Inverness.

I dropped Scamp at the station with enough time to spare to walk over the bridge to the far side to catch the Alloa train that would drop her at Stirling. Just to satisfy my nagging worry that Shona might be waiting at her own house, rather than Paul’s, I drove past her own house, but there was no sign of Shona. Knowing that we’d both done everything we could, I drove home and had my breakfast. No need to rush now. Scamp had sent a text to say she was now on the Inverness train. I thought I’d take my time and read a bit more of my latest book ’The Fathers’.

The plan for the rest of today was to put some air into the Blue car’s tyres. Then if time allowed, to take some clutter to the skips. The tyres had been gradually losing pressure for the last few months and needed it fixed. I remember when air was free at a petrol station as long as you were buying fuel, but not now. Thinking back on it, that was at least 20 years ago now! Anyway, I paid my quid and filled the tyres. I hadn’t realised just how low those tyre were. The car went skipping along now.

I checked the box with the stuff for the skip, but wasn’t certain I was looking at the correct box. Better to be safe than sorry, so I left it for another day. Instead I drove to Tesco for bread and a pizza which would be my dinner tonight.

Lunch time was coming up soon and that was going to be a ‘piece ’n’ banana’. Healthy and nutritious and, best of all, easy to make. Another nose dive into the book and it was time to go for a walk. Somewhere close to home, because light was fading again. The days are certainly getting shorter.

PoD came from that walk. The pond was frozen, really frozen, not like yesterday when there was a thin sheet of ice on the water. This ice was hard. I tapped it with my fingernail and it sounded hard. Time for one of my ‘Dangerous Dan’ ideas. Set the camera to the aperture and shutter speed you want and gently place it on the ice, holding on to the wrist strap, just in case! Gently press the shutter and get ready to swipe it off the ice at the first sign of a crack. Just as I was pressing the shutter button I saw the ice start to shift. It wasn’t as solid as I’d thought. Whipped the camera away, unharmed. It would have been a great shot, but maybe another day. The final photo was take from a slightly higher viewpoint and it looked almost as good as the photo that never was.

After my pizza dinner I got a message from Scamp to say she was on the Inverness train heading to Stirling. The next message a couple of hours later told me she was on the Glasgow train. I drove down to the station and parked just as the train came in.

That was a long day for Scamp and Jackie, but not for me. I just relaxed through the day. Shame about Shona missing the trip, but there will be other days.

Absolutely no plans for tomorrow.

Driving and Phones – 14 November 2025

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Friday’s used to be relaxing days. Not today.

Out just about 11am to meet my brother, Alex for a walk in Chatelherault park and a cup of coffee. We sat for an hour discussing the merits and demerits of two Sony cameras, an A7iii and an A7ii. Both were up for consideration by Alex as a replacement for his A6600 camera. Both the A7 series cameras were ‘Full Frame’ which means they produce better quality images than the A6 series. Alex was considering a giant leap in technology. I already had two A series cameras and am really happy with the quality they produce. Finally he agreed to borrow my A7iii for a week or so to decide if it was for him or not. I’ll leave him to decide for himself if the upgrade is worth the money.

To give us a better ‘hands-on’ with the camera we went for a walk across the “Duke’s Bridge’ which was built by the Duke of Hamilton many years ago. It used to be a private road, but now it is open to the public. Once we were over the bridge we visited the Cadzow Oaks, ancient oak trees, some of which are over 600 years old and still producing leaves and fruit.
While we were there a couple passed us riding one white horse and one brown horse. Just to show off, I think, they galloped along the path once we were behind them. Beautiful horses. We both wondered what the view must be like from that height.

Alex had only about two hours free, having to pick up his grandson from nursery, but we made good use of his time.

I drove him home and said our goodbyes. It wasn’t until I was nearly home I heard a strange ticking in the car. I had the radio on, and it wasn’t coming from that, but when it started again, I knew there was something wrong. I stopped at the shops near our house and found Alex’s phone wedged between the two seats!

When I got home, Scamp started investigating and found a message from Alex’s wife saying had I found Alex’s phone in the car? A few hasty emails later I confirmed that I had it and would bring it over.

Our relaxing day with a walk through the woods had become a bit of a nightmare, but Alex and his phone were reunited and all was well in the end.

Dinner tonight was home made Paella.

PoD was a reflection from the Duke’s Bridge of the trees at Chatelherault.

No plans for tomorrow. I hope Alex’s blood pressure is back to normal by now!

A different Doc – 13 November 2025

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This time it was Scamp who was going to the doc’s. I was just there to listen and to contribute a little.

In the morning I went to put some petrol in the Blue car, always useful. To get some chicken for lunch and some flowers to brighten up the house again because the last ones were beginning to wilt.

After lunch we just wasted time, really waiting for the clock to say it was time for us to go to the hospital in Coatbridge for Scamp’s meeting with the consultant. The weather was terrible, with torrential showers. but I’d set up a Google sat nav that told me where to turn right and where to turn left. So much better than the Nissan’s sat nav. We reached the hospital a lot quicker than the last time when we went on a tour round half of North Lanarkshire.

The meeting, this time was a fairly short session. Just going over what we’d discussed at the last meeting and confirming that Scamp was interested in finding out more about the Deep Brain Stimulation. That was all that was needed to set the ball rolling. The consultant also changed some of Scamp’s meds and that might reduce the tremor in the short term. Now we have to wait and see.

Drove home by a different and even better still route on roads we already knew, although we’d never driven them in the dark. Back home, lo and behold there was space to reverse into. You people with your own parking places don’t know how lucky you are.

We watched another Portrait Artist tonight and just like the last one this one was full of corruption. I think we need a someone to come out from Virgin to diagnose the problem.

PoD was a last minute photo of a Toblerone triangle with a wee daft story attached.

Tomorrow we’re hoping for better weather. I’m intending meeting Alex in the morning to talk about cameras. Hopefully we’ll get home before dark!!

A bunch of flowers – 12 November 2025

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Off to see the doc, bright and early.

I was out early, well, early for me. Just before 9am, in the midst of the school run. Spoke to the doc who explained that my bloods results were normal, as were was my PSA test and my Iron levels. I asked her about my painful nether regions and she did a quick exam of my egg shaped ‘dangly bits’ then checked my stomach too and said there was nothing to worry about. I had been worried, I admit, but she seemed sure everything was ok. Possibly the result of a fall I’d had last week, thankfully a fall onto soft, wet, mucky grass. It made a mess of my Rab jacket which I’ll need to wash now, sometime soon. Just to check everything, she gave me a prescription for a week’s supply of something unpronounceable and with far too many letters. Take one, three times a day. I left with a smile on my face.

Back home and after Scamp and I had completed most of the daily puzzles, we drove over to Waitrose in Stirling where Scamp got lots of fish and I got lots of meat and then, basically we bought the whole shop. That’s the way it seemed when we left and piled everything into the wee Blue car. As we were getting in to the car, I’m sure I heard it say “One at a time, please!!” Drove home and picked up the aforementioned prescription. Then we unpacked the car and there was a great sigh from it as I locked its door.

We’ve had problems either with squirrels or magpies, coming into the garden and searching Scamp’s pots for spring bulbs. I think between us we’ve blocked them for now, but magpies and especially squirrels are devious bugg@rs and will find a way in. Just to make it even more interesting, I sprinkled the top of the soil with Cayenne pepper and Hot Chilli pepper. That should tinkle the squirrel’s nose for a while!

Tonight’s dinner was mixed pasta with a tomato sauce and a generous handful of spinach which apparently is great for building up the iron reserves. Popeye swears by it, I’m told.

Today’s PoD was a vase with a selection of flowers. Dried flowers that open out when you put them in water. Quite magical to watch. It took me ages to get it set up the way I wanted it and Scamp was a great help, finding big white boards that had been hidden behind a cupboard.

Tomorrow is Scamp’s turn to visit the doc. This time in Coatbridge.

Still fighting Amy – 4 October 2025

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Storm Amy, the first named storm of the season was still clinging on to Scotland today. I don’t know who named her, but she wasn’t behaving in a ladylike manner. Gale force winds and heavy rain battered the west of the country. Although there were some respites, it wasn’t a great day to go out anywhere.

Scamp and I had a couple of exchanges to make in M&S, so we drove there. There were a few trees blown down on our route to The Fort in the east of Glasgow, but nothing we couldn’t handle. We debated whether to have lunch in Glasgow or to just head for home. A splashy rain shower settled that discussion and we drove home.

Lunch was tea and sandwiches as we watched the weather systems come and go across the Campsie Fells from the comfort of the house. No sense in going out in the squalls that were coming in the western winds. Later in the afternoon I did give in and took the A7c out for a walk to St Mo’s with the intention of getting a fish supper for two at the local chip shop. I wasn’t long out when I wished I’d taken a warmer jacket. The wind was icy cold.

I did manage to get a couple of decent photos of reflections in a pool that had been a path a couple of days ago. The water in the big pond was a lot deeper too. The swans and cygnets were drinking clean water for the first time in a long while. The flooded path became PoD.

I walked over to the chip shop and was heading home with two fish suppers in a bag when I turned a corner and found the path blocked by a couple of big trees. At first I thought I could walk round them, bus soon realise that wasn’t going to work so I headed back the way I’d come and found a path that would take me by a slightly longer road to miss the trees. It only took a few minutes, but saved me a long walk round the park. The fish and chips were still hot when I got home.

We got some sad news this morning. Anju, a long time salsa dancer from our classes in Glasgow when they were run by Jamie Gallagher had died last night. Anju was a lovely Indian lady with a wicked sense of humour, and great fun to dance with. We’ll both miss her, even although we haven’t seen her for a while. We’re hoping we’ll be able to say goodbye to her properly this month.

Tomorrow we intend to tie up loose ends and check everything twice.

 

Wild Windy Weather – 3 October 2025

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It all started out so calmly too!

It was a lovely morning. Cool and a bit damp, but nothing to worry us. I dropped Scamp off at the town centre to go for coffee with Shona. I had intended driving to The Fort to exchange a belt that was far too small for me, but by the look of the weather and the warnings on the radio, it looked like a stay at home day, so I drove home and parked.

Scamp arrived back home around 2pm wet, despite her Berghaus jacket, after a short walk from the shops. Then the rain came on more seriously and it brought wind to the party too. For most of the afternoon, the wind got stronger and stronger. It felt like the front windows were going to blow in. About 6pm things started to calm down. Now at just about 11pm it’s becoming calmer still. Hopefully by morning we’ll be able to go out and retrieve the bins that are lying around the garden.

I wasn’t going to risk life and limb going over to St Mo’s today to get blown all over the place just to get a PoD, so the one you see here is a tabletop setup. It’s a selection of the ‘Coral’ we picked up at Coral Beach in Skye, many, many moons ago.
Despite its appearance, its Maerl is a type of algae, not true coral, which are animals. The meal extracts calcium carbonate from seawater to build a hard, white outer skeleton. So says Google and Google is never wrong.

Tomorrow if the weather is in a better mood we may go shopping.