Category: Driving

There’s been a Murder! – 19 January 2017

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Not a real one, or at least not one I’ve had anything to do with … honest!

After completing my initial roadie’s duties for Scamp and Gems today I had a couple of hours free to do as I wanted.  I wanted to drive in to Glasgow to get some sketching done before my Sunday cut-off.  That’s what I wanted to do, but I didn’t achieve it.  I got in to Glasgow without any problem, but when I got there, the two parking places I was heading for were full and I found my third, and realistically my last option given my time constraints, being taken away by a white BMW as I was driving towards it.  Nae luck.  The parking gods were against me, so I turned around and headed back home.  I stopped off to get ice cream at Soave’s in Muirhead so it wouldn’t have been a totally wasted journey.  Scamp has tempted me into joining her in her passion for Scottish Tablet Ice Cream.  It really is lovely.

I’d just got home and stashed the ice cream in the freezer when she phoned to tell me that ’George her faithful Roadie’ 1 was once again required to drive the stars home.  Got home and remembered that I didn’t have a PoD and it was too dark by then to get anything at all, let alone anything with a decent ISO rating.  Then I remembered seeing a framed photo in the Design Fair in Merchant Square before Christmas.  It was of a group of tiny wee 1/72 scale figures dressed as a forensic team photographing a dictionary open at the word ‘Murder’.  I don’t have any of these really expensive figures that would do for the project, but I do have plenty of minifigs, the notorious Weemen and so I got to work setting it up.  I used the Oly 10 because you can remote control it with an iPhone through a private WiFi connection.  No, I don’t understand it either, but it works.  After a couple of dummy runs I had the PoD you see above.

That’s about it for the day.  Tomorrow I’m hoping to park at the station and let the train take the strain in to Glasgow.  A much better idea, because they can park it for me too.

  1. “George my faithful Roadie” is a track on Billy Connolly’s 1974 album, “Cop Yer Whack For This”  Listen to the track HERE ↩

Snow – 12 January 2017

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Today dawned with snow on the ground.  Within fifteen minutes, there was snow in  the air too, but no time to gaze admiringly at it.  We had to be showered, breakfasted and on our way to Wishaw General Hospital ASAP.

Tried driving the M73 on to the M74, but it was gridlocked, so change of plan Nº 1.  I’d come off at the M8 intersection and take the M73 back to Cumbersheugh and thence through Airdrie – a nightmare at this time of the morning with the school run in full swing, but at least the traffic would be moving.  Change of plan Nº 2.  The M8 looked clear and running well, so round the roundabout and on to it.  At the very least, we were heading east (the right direction).  The rest of the journey was without incident.

Arrived at the hospital to find that the computer hub was down and nobody could access patients’ notes.  However, we were seen within minutes and twenty minutes later Scamp was ‘under the knife’ so to speak.  After the procedure was complete, we drove home unfortunately squashing a fox on the way.  Poor thing had no chance, and I had no chance to avoid it.  Such a shame.

By the time we got home, the sky was blue once again and I managed a walk across to St Mo’s.  Not a lot of interest to photograph, but I liked the water drops on the cow parsley.  Where would I be without cow parsley?  The female mallard seemed to be paddling around in a dream and I got quite a few shots of it.  By the time I was coming home,  the blue sky was gone and the snow had started again.

Tonight there hasn’t been any more snow but it was freezing hard the last time I was out.  More snow and wind forecast for tomorrow.

Antiques – 11 January 2017

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It was a wild morning after a wild night with high winds and driving rain and the dogs next door were howling.  Decided that going out was better than staying in, so we drove out along to Larkhall and from there we went down to Garrion Bridge.  Scamp fancied a coffee in the antiques centre / garden centre there.  Apparently one of ‘Gems’ had recommended it, saying she goes there regularly.

It was a barn of a place.  It used to be a fruit farm years ago and I suppose the giant shed where  the antiques centre is housed was a storage barn and also a place for keeping the plants over the winter.  Today it housed mainly ‘grey hairs’ out for a couple of hours drive in the wind and rain and stopped off for a coffee and a bowl of soup.  For us it was a roll ’n’ sausage and a roll ’n’ scrambled egg.  You can sort out for yourselves who the recipients were!  When we were done we went for a walk around the different shops within the building.  It all seemed confused and confusing.  Just a jumble of tat, and the usual garden centre nonsense, mixed up with a handicrafts area with “DO NOT TOUCH” signs and clear plastic bags of wool everywhere, an ‘Art Gallery’ (‘nuf said) and lots of doggy and horsey things.  They even had a dog coat made in the style of a kilt!  I kid you not.  You can see I got a photo to prove it.

I’d never been in an antiques shop before, not a ‘real’ one anyway.  I’ve wandered round a few jumble sales and car-boot sales, but not an actual antiques shop.  If the first area could be defined as ‘tat’, this was old tat, dirty old tat in some cases.  The prices were not as high as I’d expected, but neither was the quality.  I kept thinking of things we’ve go up in the loft or in the spare room.  Some of those are now antiques.  Maybe we should sell them and get some cash.

As we were near Hamilton, I thought we should stop at Chatelherault on the way back and hopefully get more pics there.  It was cold with occasional glimpses of sun, but a gale blowing.  We found the cafe, had a cup of hot chocolate, took a few pics and came home.

Tonight was salsa with gridlock on the motorway first.  Managed to take the diversion along Royston Road and got there in time.  Took two classes, 6.30 beginners and 7.30 advanced.  Great fun in both.  Still windy when we drove home and with snow and sleet mixed in.

Hoping for less wind tomorrow and more sun.

Out To Lunch – 10 January 2017

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This morning, over a cup of coffee, we discussed what to do with the day.  We decided to go out for lunch because it was fairly bright.  The reason we gave was that we needed to get some compost to plant up the spider plants that have been languishing in water on the back window sill and we could get that at a garden centre and most garden centres have cafés now.  Devious, eh?   We had to drive through the roadworks going on all round the ring road.  Everywhere had closed signs and everywhere had diversion signs, sometime contradictory signs, but lots of them except where they’d be helpful.  Well, you’ve got to use the “Twenty seven 8×10 full colour glossy pictures with the circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one …”  (Alice’s Restaurant – Arlo Guthrie).  After we’d manoeuvred our way through the barriers, I thought we would drive to the garden centre out by Killearn, but the weather that way looked very rough.  Dark clouds and what looked like heavy rain.  The weather closer to home had deteriorated too, so we changed our plans and went to Dobbies at Bearsden instead.  As is usual in garden centres these days there are franchises and Dobbies now has an Edinburgh Woollen Mill within its shopping area.  I got another warm winter shirt – you can’t have too many shirts.  After lunch and after buying the compost, we drove home through brightening skies again.

By the time we got home the skies had cleared and blue sky was once again in charge.  While Scamp phoned her Cumbernauld sister, I took the chance to get some photos over at St Mo’s.  By the time I got over there, the sun was sinking, but the blue sky was still there.  Just a few shots in the bag, but enough for a PoD and then some backup.

I think we’re driving Scamp and her sister to Glasgow Airport on Thursday and it will be a fairly early rise.  It’s only her sister who is flying down to a funeral in Bristol, but Scamp’s going in to the airport with her to provide much needed moral support.  Hopefully I’ll have an hour or so in Glasgow to get this week’s sketch done.  Tomorrow, however, is free so far.  Weather looks wild.  Strong winds and the possibility of snow with more due on Thursday.  Oh what fun, but the combination might provide some interesting photo opportunities.

A bargain at half the price – 7 January 2017

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Today we were tempted to go to Dunfermline today, but a great grey cloud hanging over the central belt put an end to that idea.  Instead we opted for Stirling.  It was there or Glasgow and we’d been traipsing around Glasgow too much recently, so Stirling it was.

As usual we left the grey Cumbernauld Cloud behind us after a few miles on the M80, but then, just before the Stirling cut-off we drove into a bank of thick fog.  So thick that I had to use front and rear fog lights.  Stirling itself was clear and although the parking sign showed that all the multi-storey carparks were closed, our usual carpark was almost empty.  People just want to be as close as they can be to the shops.  A walk of a few hundred yards is too much for so many.  Saw a nice shot of a bottle of Buckfast and a packet of crisps sitting in the carpark.  The remains of someone’s lunch perhaps?  Stirling, like I said, was clear of fog and in fact was sitting glowing under a blue sky.

I went to Waterstones to see if I could pick up any bargains and I did.  I found the Ruby Wax book ‘Frazzled’ for a fiver (a saving of £10).  Next stop Tiso whose Stirling shop was closing as the lease was up and the rent had been increased considerably.  I got myself a neat pair of Berghaus gloves half price.  I was looking for a pair of walking trainers and Scamp found the last pair of size 8s for just less than half price.  Last bargain of the day was a pair of shorts/longs trousers for £15.  Very pleased with myself.  I did think about going past the Apple Reseller to see if they had any bargains, but knew that would be asking too much.  Today seemed to be my day, Scamp didn’t snag any bargains, I’m afraid.

A quick trip to Waitrose and we were heading back under the Cumbernauld Cloud.  No fog this time, thank goodness.

Waiting to see what the weather has in store before we make plans for tomorrow.

Troon – 2 January 2017

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Out before 10.30 this morning because although it was two degrees below zero, the sun was shining and the sky was fairly clear, so it would have been a shame to waste such a beautiful morning.

We pointed the car towards the west and drove down to Troon.  Probably Scamp’s favourite place in all the world or at least very nearly the favourite.  The drive down was great and I saw some beautiful photos just waiting to be taken.  Unfortunately, when you’re on a dual carriageway travelling at just under 70mph, you can’t just stop instantly, jump out and grab the shot then jump back in the car.  You have to give some consideration to other road users and the laws of physics.  What you can do is record them on your inner camera and remember the place, time and weather conditions, then hope you can replicate them when you have more time to stop and look.  If not, you’ve always got that inner record to look at in your mind’s eye.  The best thing about the inner image is, it’s perfect.  No intrusive grain, no camera shake, not photobombers.  Everything is just perfect.

When we got to Troon, I think we got the last space in the carpark.  Temperature was now on the positive side of zero, but not by much.  We took a walk along the front, heading south, wrapped up for the cold, but wearing sunglasses to avoid the bright sun. About halfway along we bumped into my old boss with his wife and son.  ‘Old’ as in the sense of ‘from some years ago’, because he is much younger than me.  Almost the same age as you JIC!  We talked for a while before his son wanted to be getting away on his scooter.  We had to scoot too, because it was cold just standing.  At the end of the path we walked onto the sand and continued out past where the kite surfers are usually to be found.  There were none today, I suppose because there wasn’t enough wind for them. After a while we turned round and although the sun was now at our backs, the wind was in our faces.  You can’t win sometimes.

We walked back into town and thought about going to the Lido for lunch, but it looked quite busy, so Scamp suggested we have a coffee in a wee cafe round the corner.  The Venice cafe was busy too, but we managed to grab a booth while another family were dithering about deciding if they was enough space for them.  He who hesitates is lost.  We won.  Lunch was a roll ’n’ scrambled egg for Scamp and a roll ’n’ flat sausage for me and two of the best coffees I’ve had outside of our house.  I’ve a good mind to get a business card from the Venice and hand it to the owner of the cafe in Callander and say “That’s how you make coffee mate!”

After that, it was back up the road with a stop to get tomorrow’s dinner from Morrison’s.

Tomorrow?  Scamp’s sister’s coming for dinner and before that it’s coffee with Fred for me.  Sorted.

Well, that was a short day – 21 December 2016

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The Winter Equinox, the shortest day.  I could never remember the exact date and I always had an argument with my dad about it.  He said it was the 21st and I said the 22nd.  He was right.  He usually was about dates and things.

It might have been a short day, but it certainly was a wild one.  High winds and driving rain and in between bright sunshine, blue skies and even a double rainbow!  Drove Scamp in to Glasgow and went looking for ink for the printer that had returned from the dead yesterday.  No ink was to be found.  Another problem with older printers is that the shops stop stocking the ink because there’s not the same demand for it as printers become start being replaced by newer models.  This time it’s not the manufacturer or the retailer that’s at fault, it’s us, the consumer that brings this about.
After failing to source any ink in Glasgow, I tried the big Currys in Coatbridge.  I drove along the notorious M8/A8 to get there and it’s not a road I’d recommend for a Sunday drive.  It’s a bit of a nightmare to be honest, but I was on the easy bit.  Just as I was taking the sliproad to Coatbridge, the whole road ground to a halt and as far as the eye could see there were red tail lights.  Glad I sidestepped that.  Tried the Currys superstore and the Tesco superstore, but there weren’t any CLI-8 cartridges.  It looks like the only solution is to buy the expensive cartridges from Staples or to buy online from Amazon.

Salsa tonight was a hit and a miss.  The ‘hit’ was the 7.30 advanced class which was almost as good as the Monday advanced class.  They were too reticent and well behaved in the rueda games but got stuck in with the Glowstick Dancing in the Dark fun.  The ‘miss’ was the 6.30 improvers class where only three people arrived.  Not really enough for a class, so they were sent home with a selection box as compensation for a fruitless journey on a cold night.

More wet and windy weather (another alliteration!) forecast for tomorrow.

A day of nothing done – 14 December 2016

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Today was a lazy day.  Scamp’s meeting with Nancy was called off as the trains from Larky were also off.  Jackie left to head back up to Skye and texted us when she was on the bus to say that Mairi had passed her driving test first time!  Congrats to her.  I don’t know if she’d dare to ask her dad if she could borrow the car tonight!  We drove to Bishopbriggs to get some essential stuff.

Made the decision to donate my Tamron 18-200mm lens to Val.  His need is greater than mine and it might just brighten his day.

Salsa at night was great, although as an aftermath of the Salsa Ball on Sunday, the classes were small.  Had great fun.  JamieG was looking for Christmas songs – salsa style for the extravaganza of parties next week.  Good luck with that.

I don’t suppose it was a day of nothing done, really.  Oh and today’s photo is Fairy Nuff who lives in my cabinet most of the year and spreads her own kind of magic from her place on the tree at Christmas.  That’s Christmas with a ‘C’.

The day after the day before – 12 December 2016

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Morning came too soon today after a late night yesterday.

Worse still, there was a lot to do and so it was a quick breakfast and start the baking for Scamp’s Gems party.  For me, that was bread first.  Hand made.  Kneaded and set to prove in a warm kitchen.  While the dough was rising, Scamp went to buy Tesco while I made the scone dough.  Unfortunately I made the beginner’s mistake of forgetting to put the oven on, so I faffed around for a while while the oven heated, with the result that the scones didn’t turn out quite as well as I expected, but that’s just the way things are.  If you’re making them for yourself, they turn out fine every time.  When you’re under pressure to produce, that’s when mistakes creep in.  By comparison, the bread looked very good and behaved exactly as it should, rising perfectly.  I’d a bit more things to do, a bit of furniture moving and adjusting, but after that was finished and I’d had a lunch of sorts, I made my excuses and left before the festivities could begin.

I drove in to Glasgow to make my final purchase from an actual shop for Christmas.  With that complete, I was free to wander and take some photos.  I took a few of reflections in the 110 Queen Street building.  I’m sure it deserves a better name than a postal address.  Something like the bendy glass building would be more Glasgow than 110 Queen Street.  The kidney building would do because it’s kind of kidney shaped.  Answers on a postcard please.  Along the way I picked up the new – old Dylan album from 1966 allegedly from the Albert Hall, but actually from the Free Trades Hall in Birmingham, but still reminiscent of that era when Dylan truly was God on Wheels.  Picked up Jackie and drove home.

Salsa tonight.  The Kizomba is finished for us for now.  Great night with three new dances, the best named dance was Oti Biscuits.  I kid you not!

Tomorrow we are hoping will run at a more leisurely pace.  We will see.

Perf – 8 December 2016

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8 Dec

Today we went to Perth.  We drove there this time.  I needed coffee, it seems like I always need coffee.  I’ve got the blending bug and am happy to mix and match my beans, sometimes coming up something that tastes better than the constituent parts … sometimes.

We’d booked a table at Cafe Tabou for 12.30 but because we were a bit late getting out this morning, we were running a bit behind schedule and didn’t have time for a coffee on arrival, but the other side of the coin was that we didn’t have as long to wait for lunch!  Speaking of lunch, it was:

Scamp

Starter:  Mussels with smoked haddock and leek in a mustard sauce

Main:  Baked cod steak with leek and smoked salmon risotto with hazelnut butter

Me

Starter:  Seasonal salad leaves with beef cheek, roast beetroot, giant cous cous, croutons and garlic dressing

Main:  Pan fried venison escalope served with braised red cabbage, potato gratin and bramble jus

Both were delicious.

The rest of the day was spent wandering round the shops.  Obviously for my core readers, the actual shops and shopping must remain redacted.

Driving home the sunset was building all the way.  I stopped off in my favourite place and got a load of shots, the best of which form today’s mosaic.

We had intended to go in to Glasgow tonight to dance at Barca, but after a long day in Perth, we decided not to bother.  Maybe next week.

Tomorrow we are expecting a day of rain, so I may go to wander the streets of Glasgow to source even more prezzies or I may just stay in and paint.