Category: Driving

Back at the wheelhouse – 2 June 2020

Posted on by Zogman

Before the wheelhouse visit, there was a toilet to fix. Almost as important there was a consignment of coffee due in today and Scamp was off to see Isobel. There you are, the day in a nutshell.

Scamp had a timeline sorted out. She’d go and visit Isobel in the Village and if the plumber hadn’t been by the time she returned, I could go to Clachan of Campsie and she’d stay in until he and the coffee came. Sounded like a plan.

However, before she went I did a rain dance. Not a real dance. Instead I washed the car which is usually the equivalent of it. Almost every time I wash the car, the rain comes on. Lockdown has seriously restricted our driving, but it hasn’t stopped the trees producing their annual sticky buds, or the seagulls crapping their sticky paint removing crap all over the cars. At least the detergent gets rid of the resin from the trees, but the seagull crap is almost impenetrable by any spray or detergent, although the Supergard™ spray is good if you catch the dirt before it gets bonded to the paintwork. That wasn’t the case today. It was the worst mess I’ve ever had to remove, but finally I declared it good enough.

After coffee, Scamp went of to cheer up Isobel and I finished my Sudoku. An hour or so later the plumber arrived and declared that the problem wasn’t with the bit I was playing around with yesterday, but with the float valve (no, I don’t know what that is). He fitted a new one and the toilet now fills, stops and waits for the button to be pushed before emptying and repeating the cycle.

Speaking about cycles. Scamp arrived just as the plumber was leaving, so that gave me the opportunity to drive out to Wheelcraft. Got as far as Twechar and the first drops of rain appeared on the windscreen. They didn’t last and the sun came out. Then a mile or two down the road I drove into the next shower. It was like that all the way there. Place was mobbed as usual with a variety of bikes in various degrees of disassembly. There was even an expensive and complicated looking three wheeler recumbent. I really liked the look of that one, but I’d hate to be riding it with a big sixteen wheeler artic on my tail. Now Big Al may take a while to get round to fixing your wheel, but when you get it back, it looks like a totally new one, just out of the wrapping paper. Gladly paid him then asked if I could take a photo of him in his workshop. I’d brought my old Oly 5 with the Samyang 7.5mm fisheye lens. Ideal for making his work area look even more crowded than it already is. That was the PoD.

Not so much rain on the way back, so I set to and built the wheel back up with the brake disk and tyres on and was just thinking I’d go out for a quick test run when the sky darkened and we could hear the rain battering on the back window. Then hailstones started and I sadly put the bike back in the hall, hopeful that I might get to test out Big Al’s work tomorrow.

Today was Blackout Tuesday to mark the killing of George Floyd in America. All over social media black squares appeared. I added mine. I’m not political. I think Scamp has taught me that life isn’t black and white, it’s all shades of grey. I had never heard of George Floyd before the 25th May. He may have been a good man, he may have been a bad man. I don’t know. I don’t believe he was perfect. What I do know is that he shouldn’t have been killed, so that’s why I put my own black square on Facebook and Instagram. I didn’t post any pictures today, apart from here. Here is different, it’s another shade of grey. This is my site and I choose what content goes on here. That’s why there is a picture at the top of the page and that is why this paragraph is here too.

Tomorrow, the rain might stop.

Went to see a man about a wheel – 1 June 2020

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Before I went to see a man about a wheel, I had a look at the upstairs toilet. It’s been a bit flaky for a while now with the overflow running into the toilet. Usually it stops after a few minutes, but this morning it just kept running. Not dribbling either, but running fast. As soon as water was coming in, it was going out again. Couldn’t find a stopcock in the toilet area, so had to turn off the water at the rising main. Long story short, the plumber is coming tomorrow, hopefully in the morning.

Phoned the bike shop to see what the progress report was on the bike wheel. Basically there was no progress because he couldn’t find the wheel. I said I’d drive over and help him look for it. His workspace is incredible. There must be well over a hundred wheels in this tiny little room, all waiting to be repaired, plus another fifty or so rims and well over a hundred hubs. He’s a great bike mechanic, but he is so disorganised, it’s a wonder he gets anything done at all and this coming from me, a master of chaos. I found my bike wheel right away and after some discussion he said he would start it as soon as he’d finished the one he was working on. Then we had a discussion about what was wrong with the world in general and teenagers in particular. He said he’d give me a ring when the wheel was ready.

When I walked down the lane to my car I saw today’s PoD. I had brought my camera of course, for just this eventuality. As it happened, the depth of field wasn’t as good as I’d hoped, but I actually like the hills slightly out of focus. It gives more prominence to the foreground which is the interesting part.

Back home Scamp was admiring the new rose she’d bought.  It arrived earlier in a big cardboard box about a metre high and about 30cm square at the base.  It really is an impressive rose and I’ve forgotten its name already.  Now the search begins for a suitable pot to put it in.  She was tired of sunbathing which she’d been doing all afternoon I think, and wanted to go for a walk. I’d been driving in a hot car for an hour or so and I too fancied a walk. We walked to St Mo’s and went round the pond once. As usual, too many people in too small a space. About a dozen teenagers sitting swearing and drinking at the start of the forest. I wondered what Big Al would have to say about that.

Tonight I was free to sketch anything I fancied. What I chose was my dad’s Bahco shifting spanner. A lovely big heavy piece of kit made of Vanadium Steel. It made a good model with curves, straight lines and lots of texture. This was Lockdown Library No 50.  The half century!

At 9.15 my phone rang. Big Al had finished the wheel and it would be ready to pick up in the morning. I think the man must sleep in that workshop.

Hopefully the plumber will come tomorrow morning and I’ll be free to go and collect my rebuilt wheel, then we may drive down to speak to Isobel.  However, the weather doesn’t look that clever tomorrow with rain forecast and a significant drop in temperature.

Lockdown release begins – 29 May 2020

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It was true, we were allowed to go out today. Nominally 5 miles, but who was counting.

We were very cool about it to start with, as you sometimes are when you’re desperate to do something, but don’t want to show it. Scamp did some washing and hung it out. I started my Sudoku and made some coffee. We watched a rather boring webinar from our man in Falkirk. We had a spot of lunch too. Moved stuff around the garden and planned some repotting. Eventually we just decided we had to go out. Somewhere … ANYWHERE!

Scamp suggested Fannyside, but we though we’d do a drive past the garden centre anyway. Again, playing it cool and saying that we’d maybe go there during the week. We drove up to B&Q, but the queue there was looooong, so we turned around and drove up the long way to Fannyside, up past Arns forest and round the top of the road. Stopped at the draw in by a stand of Scots Pines and just listened to the silence. Hardly a sound, hardly a breath of wind. We heard a cuckoo. First time I’ve heard one this year. It was miles away, but it was a measure of the lack of noise that its call came over so clearly from its perch about a mile away. Got today’s PoD which just had to be a landscape. I’ve taken so few over the last couple of months that had become a thing to savour. Got a little macro of one of a trio of flies that had socially distanced themselves on a fence post.

Drove back by the moor road and then the unspoken agreement was that we were going to Calders garden centre. Scamp wanted pots and I wanted seeds and then it seemed churlish not to buy a couple trays of cheerful red flowers. Smiles on faces all around. Not all the shelves are full and the variety of plants is still a bit poor, but it was good to be able to browse around outside without a mask. Yes, we used them inside, but for a while, outside we felt like the world was returning to normal, the old normal.

Back home I grabbed two carrots, three tomatoes an onion and half a head of broccoli, arranged them tastefully on my painting table and produced today’s sketch ‘Vegetables’. I was quite pleased with it. Really need to have a look at what paints I need as a lot of them are going down quite quickly. I should be able to get them from some online art shops.

Later it was dinner in the garden and a glass of wine to wash it down. Couple next door were having a noisy dinner with some of their relatives, but although I moaned about the noise, it was just ordinary folk letting off some of the steam they’ve been bottling up for the past couple of months.

We had our first taste of Scamp’s “Westfield Gin Company”distillation. It was very nice. Reminiscent of Elderflower Gin. We only had a small sample, then we had to try it against a commercial variety just for comparison purposes!

All in all, a good day for what might be the beginning of the end of Lockdown and a really hot one. Tomorrow is to be slightly cooler which will be a good thing.

Big Al takes charge – 8 May 2020

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Bit the bullet and called in some help.

Phoned Wheelcraft this morning and spoke to Big Al. Told him what the problem was and he said to bring the wheel in. Once he’d stripped out the ball bearings and cleaned the grease out he spotted a crack in the hub cup. It’s going to need a new hub and the wheel rebuilt. About £50. It’s a good job I didn’t get the cone off, because I’d never have thought of looking for a crack in the cup. He’s just the same as the last time I was there. Social Distancing? I don’t think he’s been listening to Boris or Nick. Three people working in that pokey wee place. Still, he knows what he’s doing and is the only one I’d trust to repair my wheel, even if it’s going to cost a bit more than I’d expected.

Drove back from Clachan of Campsie in an improving day, although there were a few heavy looking clouds hanging around the Campsie Fells as we drove past them. The rain didn’t come, though and the Juke was driving well. It’s amazing that when you’ve been travelling at walking pace for the last four our five weeks, 40mph seem really fast!

Scamp went out to get some stuff for tonight’s dinner and I walked with her part of the way, then veered off to walk round St Mo’s. I was looking for pine cones, because we’ve found that a cat (?) has been crapping in the her sweet pea box and apparently one of the best preventative measures is to cover the box in pine cones because cats don’t like to walk on them. I suppose they are quite jaggy and would hurt the poor pussy’s feet. Me, I wanted to go for land mines, but Scamp wouldn’t have that as the box is too close to the wall of the house. We’ll see how the pine cones work first.

While I was out I got today’s PoD which is a spider wrapping up a little black fly. I felt sorry for the poor fly, but in another shot you can clearly see the hooked claws on its feet. Possibly a robber fly. There are a lot of them about in the late spring and early summer. Anyway of the two shots I kept out of the 14 I took, this was the best. Not the best of a bad lot, but not far off it.

I made Asparagus with Lemon Spaghetti and Peas for dinner and despite the fact that it was very lemony, I quite enjoyed it.

Tomorrow is Saturday, but that’s just a name now. Don’t have any plans

Mobile again on four wheels – 2 May 2020

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Driving again, but still the queues persist.

Tasks for the day:

  • Get some plywood to make painting boards
  • Fix up the sparkly new lights
  • Decide on dinner

Just to get it done, I fixed up the solar cell and then the two of us got the new lights fitted round the tree. It looks a bit untidy, but I think the effect will work when it gets dark. I still believe a rethink may be necessary, but they are unwound and in place for now.

After lunch we drove to B&Q to get the plywood. Saw the length of the queue to get in and drove back home. Got into our parking space again. Battery seems to be charging ok. No plywood, so instead I used a mini roller to put gesso on a couple of boards I’d found. Old Dalerboards that were probably meant for oil painting only, so I don’t know if the acrylic gesso will stick to them. I’m sure I’ll find out tonight or tomorrow.

I took the mandatory trip over to St Mo’s for today’s photo. PoD turned out to be of a spider apparently levitating in front of some whin bushes. I don’t know what happened to the GX 80 I was using, but every shot turned out with the whin flowers looking golden rather than the more acid yellow they really are. Something went wrong somewhere with its colour balance. However, that’s what we have Lightroom for. A little bit of sliding the sliders and all was well again. PoD nearly went to a photo of a girl bunny (not a bunny girl!) wearing sunglasses. I hope whoever lost it, finds it again.

Hearty Miso Ginger Chicken Soup was our dinner tonight and we both agreed it sort of worked, but not quite. Neither of us were all that keen on the miso soup, so we’d probably replace that with chicken stock. The chicken was fine. Cut into thin strips it cooks really quickly. We both liked the Pak Choi, but would reduce the amount of ginger as it seemed to take over. Not a complete rewrite of the recipe which stayed substantially the same, just tweaking. The one thing that worked for us was the bread. A dark mix of three types of flour, so I won’t be able to make that one again!

Well, it took a while for it to get dark enough for the lights to come on round the tree, but they are sparkling brightly now so Scamp’s happy with them.

Nothing planned for tomorrow, although it seems to be a little cooler than today.

Webinar Day – 1 May 2020

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Webinar with the man from Falkirk.

I was set up early for the webinar, but for some reason there was no sound, even on the setup screen. Tried the help page and it told me to login again and switch off the ‘unmute’ request that would pop up. Tried that, and no unmute request. Emailed the link to Scamp who got in no bother and with sound. Aha! Scamp is using Chrome. Tried the link on the iMac with Chrome and all was well. Firefox is becoming a bit of a resources hog and seems to get slower with every new iteration. It may be time to move on to something smaller and faster.

The webinar was very illuminating and also very entertaining, thanks to Andrew’s quite dry sense of humour. So deadpan, he sounds like a Yorkshire Chic Murray if such a thing could exist. Lots of graphs and charts, each one explained fully, and it appears that he’s confident we’re on the way out of this mess. Only time will tell. Q&A session afterwards was equally entertaining and the final send-off with “Well thank you all for coming, especially those who dressed for the occasion and the couple who didn’t dress at all, well, hmm…”. Typical Andrew. Facts fully explained with his calm delivery.

Got a message that my meds were ready at the pharmacy. An ideal way to test out the new battery. Out and away without any bother and only three folk in the queue in front of me. If I’d been thinking of going to Tesco instead, there would have been at least forty folk in the queue in front of me. This is the longest queue I’ve seen there. The explanation from Scamp is that it’s a Friday – traditional shopping day. Also it’s the first day in the month, a lot of folk still get paid on a Friday. Whatever the reason, we left them to their day in the chain-gang and came home. Battery is still sitting half way up the scale, so I’ll keep an eye on it for the next few days and maybe give it a longer run tomorrow or Sunday.

We walked over to Condorrat for some fresh meat and eggs at the butchers and was tempted to let Scamp bring the bag the rest of the way and then go for a wander in St Mo’s, but chose instead to come home and find a recipe for black pudding tapas we’d seen on Hairy Bikers. I don’t like them, but some of the food they make is very tasty. That’s where I got my paella recipe from years ago. It was while I was waiting outside the butchers I saw the sign on the top of the butchers van. It almost became PoD, but not quite.

I did go over to St Mo’s for a walk after I sourced the black pudding recipe and got a couple of decent shots. The winner of PoD was the crozier with a bit of back lighting to brighten it up.  The weather helped there and I almost forgot to mention that we had another unexpectedly lovely day.  It looked more like we’d have a fair dose of cloud, but it never appeared until it was time for dinner, thankfully.

Might take the Juke out for a run tomorrow just to give it a chance to charge the battery, because THERE’S NOWHERE TO GO NOW!!

Batteries were included, fully charged and free – 30 April 2020

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Woke to rain again. Just a little and it’s still not overstayed its welcome yet.

New method for the blog, as suggested by Scamp. Writing it in stages as I find time during the day so I don’t have to plug away at it until midnight. Let’s see how it works out.

Tried the car first thing and it was another no response from the battery. Phoned the emergency number after answering a couple of questions about Coronavirus for the safety of the repair man I suspect, I was told the engineer would be with me in about 90 minutes. Just over the 90 minutes later an RAC van drove slowly up the hill, he’d be looking for me then.

It only took him a couple of minutes to diagnose a faulty cell in the battery that was dragging the voltage down from 12v to 9v. Not repairable, no point in charging it and as it was within the warranty period he could replace it there and then with a new one free of charge, saving me £265. Battery was replaced and then we stood and discussed the world and the ’New Normal for a while. I didn’t mind. I started the car and he checked that everything was as it should have been before filling in the paperwork. I didn’t even have to sign anything. He wouldn’t, or that should be couldn’t accept a cup of tea for fear of being contaminated with a potential Covid-19 virus from us and by handing back a used cup, could potentially pass on a virus to us. How the world has turned since March.

We said our goodbyes and I commented that I’d shake his hand, but I wouldn’t be allowed. We went in to have our lunch and I think he did the same in his van, still with the flashers on so no questions would be asked.

After lunch I walked down to the new shops to get some chocolate for me and a set of outdoor fairy lights for Scamp. It was dry for the walk, but when I was in the shop it was teeming down outside. When I came out again it was dry. April showers, even if it’s the last day in April. I waited a while when I got back before going out for today’s photo, which was a smart decision as a hail storm descended on us. After that the sun shone again and I was out like a shot. Found today’s PoD over at St Mo’s. A dandelion on a bad hair day. I also found a pair of very wet reading glasses hanging on a tree branch on the way home. How they got there I don’t know, but I know how the owner felt, having lost more than my fair share of specs over the years.

That was about it for today. Doing the blog in stages is good as long as I stick to it. It also helps to have a laptop that uses the same blogging software as the iMac and can share the part finished articles over WiFi.

Tomorrow we are hoping to be taking part in a webinar with the bloke from Falkirk. Should be interesting.

Feeling a bit flat – 29 April 2020

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Not me, so much as the car’s battery.

It all started when Scamp wanted to go out to get her pills from the chemist. Tried to start the car and … nothing. Pressed the starter again and … nothing. Flat as the proverbial pancake. Eventually had to accept the fact that it wasn’t going anywhere today and got Scamp to take us up to Boots in her car.

She went to the chemist while I went to Tesco. I had a list, a paper one, not on my phone. Nick the Chick has been telling us that we have to wear a mask when we go in to enclosed spaces where others are milling around, so I used my Buff™ pulled up over my nose like an old time bank robber in a cowboy film, The Desperado Shopper! I have a list. I do have one somewhere. I dug in every pocket, but no list was forthcoming. I remember adding something to it at home and … and … putting my pen in my pocket, but did I put my list back in my pocket, that’s the question. Nothing for it but to phone Scamp and get her memory of what was on the list downloaded to me. Ha! Not so easy in Tesco where the lead shielding they put on the roof or the force field they have round the shop won’t allow phone messages in or out. Eventually I gave up and tried to remember what we needed. Actually came home with about three quarters of what I went for, because the list was sitting on the table at home where I’d left it. Next time I go shopping I’ll take my old iPhone, not because it’s a better phone, but because it uses a Tesco sim and maybe, just maybe that will be allowed to communicate with the outside world.

Tried the car again when we got home and it tried to start this time, but just wouldn’t catch. Tomorrow I’ll phone the Nissan recovery and get someone to come out and give it a jump start.

I walked down to the new shops to buy the things I’d forgotten, or that they didn’t have in Tesco. Took my camera of course and brought it back unused with some messages.

Tonight’s dinner was Smoked Haddock Risotto. Easy peasy risotto. No standing over a pot of boiling rice for twenty minutes. Just fry the leeks, add the rice, then add fish, stock and milk. Shove in the oven for 18mins take out and add creme fraiche and spinach leave that for 5 more minutes and serve.
Hint: For best results you should switch the oven on first. I did.

Decided today’s PoD would be an inside shot of two Horse Chestnut plants I’ve managed to get to germinate.

Tomorrow I’m hoping to make that phone call to Nissan and get the car started again.

With the Trolley Dollies – 26 March 2020

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Scamp’s prescription was ready to collect. An excuse for us to go for a drive as far as the chemist and Tesco.  Scamp offered to drive and I accepted.

When we got there she went to the pharmacy queue and I went to the Tesco queue, agreeing to meet at the car. Both queues were equally long, in fact mine was probably longer, but more efficiently managed. Everyone was being careful to keep the required 2m from the person in front. It wasn’t until I was in the queue that I realised I didn’t have any bags with me, neither did I have a hat or gloves. The bags would be in the car, but not my car, Scamp’s. I could have walked along and borrowed her car keys, got the bags and taken the keys back, but when I looked behind me, the queue was even longer than when I’d joined it. So I just pulled up my hood, plugged in some music from my phone and waited, occasionally shuffling along while maintaining that 2m distance. Then I noticed everyone else, apart from me, seemed to have a trolley. I’d missed a trick there too. Not to worry, there wouldn’t be much in the store and I had only a small shopping list.

Finally got into the store, grabbed a basket and sanitised it. Compulsory it seemed. First check the pasta shelves. Glory be, they had pasta. Loads of it. Grab a bag, maybe two? No, that’s greedy, one will do. Looked behind and they had rice too! Loads of it in a couple of versions. Rice was on my mental list, so two bags of Basmati. Now, they wouldn’t have toilet rolls, would they. THEY HAD TOILET ROLLS!!! I took just one pack of nine rolls, don’t want to look like a stockpiler. Eager to get out of the store with my ill gotten gains, I forgot to get a tin of tomatoes or beans to put in the Food Bank box. Just get these essentials, and also some flowers for Scamp and go.

Then I realised I didn’t have the car key. Went looking for Scamp but I couldn’t see her in the queue. Looked inside and there was the red wooly hat. There aren’t two hats like that in the world. Walked back to the car and waited. Eventually she arrived carrying a bit bottle of medicine. We drove home and I unloaded my goodies. Oh, the excitement of unpacking, not only macaroni and rice, but also Toilet Rolls. How our lives have changed in a mere three weeks.

Tesco seem to be on top of the rationing and their systems are beginning to respond to the excessive demands of the greedy few. It’s good to see that at least someone is taking charge of things.

Toyed with the idea of going out to St Mo’s for a walk and to grab a photo, but PoD had already been taken with today’s shot I’d got of the of trolley dollies queueing outside Tesco. Instead of walking and photographing, I pinned a piece of Galleria Acrylic quality paper to my drawing board, mounted the board on my easel and proceeded to slap some acrylic paint on it in a representation of a landscape I shot at the start of January, when the world was still young. Tomorrow, when it’s dry I may slap some oil paint on top in a method recommended by the portrait artists of the year hopefuls. It won’t be a beautiful picture (it might), but it will make me think of other things than self isolating and social distancing.

While I was painting, Scamp was writing out the moves for seven sequence dances, one for every day of the week. That’s her substitute for painting. Whatever get you through the day. Spoke to my cousin Margaret in Lesmahagow tonight. She and Billy are also self isolating, but she said we’d all meet up again, probably next year “when this has all blown by”. That will be something else to look forward to.

At 8pm, on the dot the clapping started from somewhere in our square.  I think it was  the bloke who lives along the road at the corner, Wullie.  I’d forgotten that someone had decided we should all go outside at 8pm and applaud the nurses, doctors and in fact anyone in the NHS who works so hard to keep us safe and healthy.  So that’s what we did, we added our applause to the folk that were making their thanks heard.  There were even some fireworks too.  It was a sign of solidarity I suppose.

Tomorrow, beside a possible day in the art room, we may do a bit of dancing.

Lockdown – 16 March 2020

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It was a day of narrowing opportunities.

Planned for coffee with the auld guys. First Val called off, with a bad cough (Not Coronavirus he said). Then Colin said he was “Socially integrating with greenhouses, garden and garage”. In other words, too busy. Fred, the final invitee, asked if the coffee shop would even be open. I hadn’t thought of that possibility. That’s when I decided to cancel the whole daft idea.

Gems met and decided that they weren’t taking the risk of catching the virus by singing at Abronhill church. With that being so, Scamp made the decision to cancel practises for the foreseeable future. I know it was a hard decision to take, but when Scamp decides on something, it stays decided. She says she’ll phone the person in charge of the church group tomorrow and explain her decision.

I went to the butchers while Gems were in session. Just for some stew and sausages. I got some Thai Chicken Stir-fry too, that’s for tomorrow’s dinner. Saw nothing worth photographing while I was out. I went up to my parking place at the back of Fannyside and watched the rain float in from the west and gradually swallow up the landscape. Saw a hill catching the sun away to the east and still haven’t quite decided what it is. I thought it might be Berwick Law, but that seems unlikely now. Must take my laptop with me the next time and try to pinpoint it. Just for something to do.

Went dancing at night in Kirsty’s class. Tidied up the original waltz routine and almost go the new waltz routine working, but not quite. To Scamp’s delight we did the Sally Ann Cha-Cha to “Fireball!” I think that might be our last class for a while.

Boris’s doom-laden statement at 5.30pm today was him setting out what life is going to be like for the next 12 weeks and it’s not good. It is, however slightly more flexible than that announced on Sunday with all persons over 70 confined to the four walls of their house for 16 weeks. At least, now, we are allowed out for a walk, as long as we stay a good distance from anyone else. We may take them up on that.

Today’s PoD was captured in the rain as we left the dance class. It’s entitled “Cumbernauld. Where the streets are paved with gold.”

Tomorrow, we may go for a walk.