Category: Family

Go East Young Man – 19 January 2023

Posted on by Zogman

Today my brother and I were heading over to Fife for some photo opportunities.

Picked up my brother at Greenfaulds Station and off we went to Kincardine. We wandered through the town down to the path along the Forth Estuary. The blue skies that we’d expected to greet us had gone somewhere else while we were driving and a cold wind was blowing from the east. West winds usually bring rain, but East winds are generally cold. This one was living up to that legend. We started walking towards the bridge and into that east wind. The light wasn’t great and I was beginning to think this was a bad move today, but we took some photos and made the best of things. We turned and walked back the way we’d come. It wasn’t so cold with the wind at our backs and the skies were clearing.

We walked on until we reached the remains of the old power station, now just a concrete wasteland. We had been watching a high hill, white with snow, away to the west. I reckoned if we walked on until we reached the Clacks Bridge we might get a clear shot of it, but that was a long walk on a cold day, so we agreed to turn back and drive to Culross for a cup of coffee and something to eat. As we were walking we found a bottle of lime and lemon cordial sitting on steps, down beside the water. Around it were the remains of a lunch and some chopsticks! Someone had beat a hasty retreat because the bottle was still intact and the liquid inside was frozen, so probably not today. A mystery. We took some photos and walked to the car.

We parked at Culross and took some photos of the old buildings in the centre of the town, then I found the cafe and we had a well deserved Big Bacon Butty each and a cup of real coffee to wash it down. Alex decided it was his turn to pay and I didn’t argue. We were watching some birds that might or might not be Waxwings happily stripping some red berries from a tree in the garden of the cafe. However, before we could get a better look, they all flew off.

When we were back on the footpath the light had improved greatly and we both set to to photograph every house in the street, or so it seemed at the time. With Culross duly recorded we walked down to the pier and while Alex photographed the town lit by beautiful golden light, I worked at 180º to him and photographed the setting sun and its refections in the Forth. The sun went behind a cloud and the golden light was gone for another day.

We drove home and I dropped Alex at the station just in time for his train home. We both agreed it was a great day. Alex summed it up by calling it a “Wee Adventure”.

Scamp had made Lentil soup for dinner and it was just what was needed on such a cold day.

PoD went to the picture of the bottle on the step beside the Forth.

Tomorrow’s weather looks much like today’s. Hopefully Scamp and I will get out for a walk.

A walk around the pond – 15 January 2023

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It was a bright morning, but we didn’t get out. Although the sun was shining, it was cold outside and as we didn’t need to be anywhere or to do anything in particular we saw that as a reason to stay put. Scamp had a problem with her FitBit and we struggled with it for a while, eventually getting it to work fairly well, but not properly. We decided we’d been sitting too long and got the heavy jackets and coats on, then went for a circuit of the pond.

Once we were out and walking, it didn’t feel so cold, although once round the pond was enough for Scamp, so she went home and I stayed for another walk round and into the woods too. I got today’s PoD there. It’s the seed head of one of my favourite wild flowers, or weeds if you prefer, the Cow Parsley. I spooked a deer when I was out in the woods. It stood watching me for quite some time and I almost got my camera out of its bag before it saw me and loped off into the undergrowth. By the time I was coming home it was becoming much colder and it’s forecast to drop down to about minus three tonight.

We worked at Scamp’s FitBit again for an hour or so before dinner and I think we have resolved all the problems now, but my fingers are all crossed, which is why I’m finding it difficult to type this blog! These thing seem so simple when you see them outlined in YouTube, but they never are in reality.

Dinner tonight was the remainder of yesterday’s curry and as with all curries, it was better on the second day. The lack of salt wasn’t so noticeable and we had it with rice and a couple of flat breads.

Spoke to Jamie in the evening and heard about their posh meal with baud. Simonne is off to Japan next month on business. I remember how lucky I felt when I got a full day off to go to a business meeting in Airdrie! While she’s away, Vixen is going to the kennels for a few days.

We have no plans as yet for this coming week, apart from a visit to a travel agent to, hopefully, find somewhere we can fly to from Glasgow or Edinburgh then have some quality time on a cruise ship. It might be a pipe dream, though!

New Technology – Old Recipe – 26 December 2022

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We had a new bit of technology to play with. Foodie technology.

First we had Wordle and Spelling Bee to complete and I scored a scary Last Chance Saloon ‘6’ in Wordle. Scamp phoned her sister in Eastfield and I adjourned to the ‘Painting Room’ to read my photo mag.

Later I washed out the pot with detergent, as directed, and dried it, then reassembled the whole thing, checked that there were no more bits of paper or sticky reminders in the main pot and we measured 750ml of cold water into the pot and plugged the beast in. When we put on the lid it caught us by surprise and played a little tune. Apparently it was an ascending scale it was playing. We followed the instructions to the letter and the whole thing began to heat. A few minutes later, the pot lid sealed itself and the countdown started until the water boiled five minutes later. We had boiled 750ml of water automatically. When we released the pressure on the pot and opened the lid it played the same tune again but it was a descending scale. A kettle would have done it in about the same time, but now with the same panache!

It was still dry, so Scamp went over to meet June for a longer chat and I went for a walk in St Mo’s and got today’s photo of a really pretty weed. This is a macro picture which means a really close-up shot. That little weed was about 60mm high. Millimetres, not Centimeteres! I also managed to get soaked getting it when the hail that had been threatening turned to sleet and started hammering down. I really need to get my Bergy jacket proofed again.

Back home, Scamp had managed to miss most of the shower but was quite wet too. We had lunch and looked at that big black pot again. The plan was to make some ‘Just Soup’. A real world test of its capabilities. Another part of the learning curve. I chopped the veg and Scamp sautéd them in the pot then we added the stock, put the lid on and set it to cook for 3 minutes. Three minutes to make soup from vegetables? Our mums would never have believed us! But the proof of the soup was in the eating. Would it taste like ‘Just Soup’? It did.

We also managed to work out why my Fitbit would record my walk to St Mo’s, but Scamp’s much more modern and fancier Fitbit wouldn’t. Eventually, after an exasperating hour and a bit of reading suggestions on the web and fiddling with settings, we finally found he missing switch and it started looking for the GPS signal which, of course, it wouldn’t find in the house, but we’re confident it will find outside, possibly tomorrow.

Dinner was high tech soup and it did taste good. It maybe needed a pinch of salt, but that’s easily done. Later we watched a rather tedious Death in Paradise, which is still a home for retired actors.

No real plans for tomorrow. Possibly a walk, possible a trip in to Glasgow. It snowed here tonight, so maybe the weather will be our guide.

 

The Big Day – 25 December 2022

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It’s a great day, but I’m glad it only happens once a year.

We were like a couple of kids opening our presents and leaving the detritus of that carefully folded and taped wrapping paper all over the floor. There were surprises for both of us and a lot of laughter.

We had a Zoom call booked by Hazy for 12 noon and got the iMac booted up and ready, then spent about half an hour talking to Hazel, Jamie, Neil and Simonne (listed alphabetically – the fairest way). Vixen was snoozing on the couch but I don’t know where The Fluffies were. Jamie looked a bit under the weather and Neil had to bow out early from their part of the meeting because his chest infection was causing him problems. It was still a good catch up with everyone taking their turns and only occasionally butting into the conversation (who? Me?) I’ve not quite got the hang of Zoom calls yet. All too soon the warning came on the screen that we only had ten minutes left. We used up most of that and said goodbye. Hazy said she’d try to arrange another one for New Year’s Day. That would be good.

After lunch which was our usual Sunday fry-up we watched a silly cartoon on TV and by about 2.45pm the lights came on to tell us it was early evening. Scamp took that opportunity to start the dinner prep. I must admit, I was just being lazy. I should have made Panna Cotta for tonight’s dessert, but we had ice cream instead because I’d forgotten to start the panna cotta in the morning – too busy opening prezzies.

I thought dinner was a great success. Prawn Cocktail – Roast Potatoes, Brussel Sprouts and Buttered Carrots with either Trout or Steak. Guess who got what. All washed down with half a bottle of Jip Jip Rocks. Lovely. Dessert as I said was ice cream, but not just any old ice cream, but Scottish Tablet ice cream. Superb. All in all, a great Christmas feast.

PoD was the fairy on the Christmas Tree. Like Fairy Nuff, it’s traditional and since it rained most of the day, there was little chance of getting a photo taken outside.

Tomorrow we may go out for a walk if the weather is dry which looks unlikely. Thank you Hazy for setting up the Zoom call today and thank everyone for making the effort to join in. We both appreciated it. Lastly, thank you Scamp for being chef again and doing all the hard work.  I made the coffee!

 

Shopping – 19 December 2022

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Today we were going out in the wide world, maybe even as far as Stirling.

The rain that started last night had continued all night and into this morning. It had done a good job of removing most of the ice that had held us in its grip for the last week. Today we were driving to Stirling to get some messages, but as Waitrose is posh, we’ll have to call it “Shopping”.

Waitrose was utter madness. There were cars circling the parking area just hoping to get lucky and find a space. I dropped Scamp off near the door and told her I’d pay to park at the council car park just along the road and bring the car round when we were ready to go home. That was the plan, but instead of leaving, I found a space just being exited right in front of me. I took it and said “thank you” to the crazy driver who had reversed out of it at speed and nearly “tee boned” the bloke in front of me. I let Crazy Driver go and slipped into his space.

After almost an hour of wandering round the shop and with a full trolley we loaded everything into the boot of the blue car and drove home. Lunch was the remainder of yesterday’s quiches and they tasted better today, well, mine did anyway. Scamp made no disparaging comments about her’s, so I guess she agreed. By about 2pm it felt like the sun was setting, so it was boots on and out to St Mo’s for a photo before the little photons disappeared entirely. PoD became two Dogwood branches with their very wet berries. The bright red stems do a lot to brighten the landscape.

Back home I got a phone call from what looked like Margaret Kent, but it was her husband, Bill who spoke. Margaret had passed away at the end of June and he was apologising for not telling me about it at the time. The poor man sounded devastated and I felt so sorry for him. Margaret was my second cousin. Her mother and my mum were cousins, but I always knew her as my cousin. Then Billy told me that Maureen, another second cousin had died in September. Both of them had been seriously ill for a couple of years, but we occasionally bumped into each other. That put a bit of a damper on the day.

The snow has now all gone and most of the ice too. We might go in to Glasgow on the bus tomorrow, all being well.

Freezin’ – 15 December 2022

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But I don’t mean outside, I’m talking about inside!

Spoke to Hazy this morning. We had a good conversation. Glad to hear that they have booked a cottage for a wee holiday in the early spring. I’m sure it will be a welcome break. Not so good was that Neil has a chest infection, but I’m sure a course of meds will put that right. We discussed the weather and the postal strikes that are really making life difficult for everyone just now and also the pros and cons of varifocal glasses. More pros than cons, thankfully.

Once we’d finished our call, we had to discuss whether or not we were going to the tea dance at Glenburn. We eventually settled on staying home for today and hoping for more open weather on Saturday to allow us to get to dance class.

After lunch which was a piece ’n’ sausage (link sausage this time) and French Toast for Scamp, I thought I might attempt a walk in St Mo’s. The landscape was changed again. On Tuesday it was shrouded in fog. On Wednesday it was white with frost and today the wee berries I was hoping to photograph had lost all their frosty covering, as had most of the branches on the tree. Could it really be thawing? My fingertips said no, it certainly wasn’t and my phone confirmed it. Definitely still sub-zero. Maybe it was the effect of the sunshine that was streaming from a blue sky.

Some days I take fifty odd photos and most of them end up on the cutting room floor. Some days, like today I take a little more than a dozen and they are all winners. I think it was the colour returning to the land after the frost had gone. Not totally gone, but probably on the back foot. My favourite and PoD was a shot of a bunch of Alder catkins. I never realised that the catkins were formed in the middle of winter and don’t open until the early spring. Photography is a learning experience. Everywhere I looked today there were little spots of colour appearing out of the frost. It was good to see.

Back home I was post-processing the photos I took when I realised it was quite cold in the room. The Hive said it was 17ºc, but it was definitely lying. Checked the radiators and they were cold. Checked the boiler and the burner was off, plus there was an error message about ionisation. I did what I usually do and reset the power to the boiler. It started gurgling ominously. Oh dear, and just after we’d had it had it serviced too. I went out and tapped the soak-away pipe and it sounded solid, also the pipe from the boiler to the outside drain was dripping in the cupboard. I switched it off again and phoned the emergency plumber and he sussed it right away. Asked if where the boiler was, did we have a pipe going to the outside and said it was the outside pipe that was frozen. The solution was to dribble a kettle full of boiling water onto the outside pipe. That would melt the ice and allow it to wash away. Two kettles full usually does it, he said and he was right. After the first dose of water dripped down the pipe I could hear the water running and also the pipe wasn’t sounding solid when I tapped it. Switched the boiler on and reset it. The boiler started right away and we were back in a cosy house again. Not really surprised that it was the cold that had caused it, and hopefully I’ll know better next time.

While I was out with the kettle I noticed a bloke doing the exact same thing to his pipe, only he was about ten feet up a ladder doing it. I hope he was successful too.

We have no real plans for tomorrow, but it looks like we might get some snow. So it might be a stay at home day.

Out on the town – 8 December 2022

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We were both out to lunch today, but in different place and with different people.

Scamp has a lunch date with her pal Mags and I had a photo walk booked with Alex. We caught the same bus, but I hopped off early at Greenfaulds, crossed the road at the underpass and caught the fast bus in to Glasgow.

I got there half an hour before we’d agreed to meet and as there was no sign I decided that either Alex was still travelling or else, more likely, he too had come in early and had gone to get some photos. Either way, I probably had time to get my hair cut. Just walked in and got a chair right away. Fifteen minutes later I was back out with a number four all over, plus ears and eye brows done for less than a tenner. Walked back to the bus station and met Alex. He had been off on his own taking photos.

He wanted to take some photos of the old Pavilion theatre and once we walked over to it, I could see why. Even although it was midday, the sun had a distinct warmth to its colour. We took a few photos and it wasn’t until I was processing one tonight I noticed just how steep the hill it was built on was. We walk past these buildings all the time and don’t notice these things. With a few photos in the bag we went for coffee in Nero because photogs run on coffee.

During the coffee break we set out a plan for the day. This was Alex’s choice of venue and he had an outline plan of what he wanted to take. I added in a few ideas of my own and we started out down the hill to Buchanan Street Subway entrance which always draws us when the light is strong and it was very strong today. A few photos there and then on to George Square where we took some photos of the carnival rides.

A stop in Paesano for a pizza lunch and a glass of red wine for me because I wasn’t driving today and then on toe Princes Square for more photos. From there we walked on through St Enoch’s Square to the Clyde and walked down the walkway to the Squiggly Bridge whose proper name is the Tradeston Bridge, but nobody calls it that, taking photos all the way. Then it was back to Nero in St Enoch’s for more coffee before our final photo destination for the day which was George Square for some early evening ‘blue hour’ shots of the attractions. When SD cards were full we walked back and got our buses home. This time I chose to take the X3, the slow bus because I’d already completed 13,000 odd steps and the X3, while slow, stops nearly at our door.

264 photos taken and after the first cull 114 of them were on the cutting room floor, leaving an acceptable 150 deemed worthy of a place in today’s shoot. PoD went to a monochrome shot of Buchanan Street Subway entrance/exit, but another two shots are in Flickr.

Tomorrow Scamp is probably going to FitSteps, but I’m hoping to have a relaxing morning.

Coffee with Isobel – 7 December 2022

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We were out this cold morning (-0.4ºc) for coffee with Isobel. Always an entertainment. Straight talking, never bothered who hears her and straight to the point. She never changes and that’s what’s so great about her. She and Scamp had a long conversation about her extended family and I listened because there wasn’t much chance of getting a word in edgewise. When the two of them had finished their discussions we dropped Isobel back at her house and then came home via Tesco.

After lunch which was a bowl of Scamp’s rather delicious lentil soup, I dragged my boots on and went over to St Mo’s with the A6000 and a couple of lenses. Again I was just that half an hour too late to capture the trees lit by the setting sun. One of these days I’ll get it right. However I did get a shot of a duck feather sitting on the ice with tiny little frozen water drops hanging from it. That became PoD. The contender for the accolade was a low down photo of a single dandelion with its seed head closed, waiting for a blustery day to release those seeds to the vagaries of the wind. It’s on Flickr if you care to look.

Dinner tonight was paella which I haven’t made for ages. It tasted good, so good in fact that we ate the whole lot. I’d hoped to keep some of the rice to make more arancini tomorrow, or next day.

We watched the Portrait Artist winner for this year painting her portrait of Lenny Henry. I wasn’t impressed with her, or the painting, but I was impressed with him. I hadn’t realised he’d worked to get a PhD. What impressed me most about his was his quiet manner. No longer the noisy shouting comic, but a man who looked comfortable in his skin. We both agreed that the portrait didn’t look like him, and isn’t that what portraits are all about? Nice perspective and control of things like foreshortening, but there was only a fleeting likeness of him in the face. Disappointing.

Tomorrow I’m heading in to Glasgow to take some photos with Alex and hopefully to have a pizza for lunch.

 

Out to lunch. Yes, again! – 28 November 2022

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Today we were taking Shona out for lunch. She wanted Italian and that’s what she got.

Wordle and Spelling Bee completed first, then we were off to pick up Shona and then we drove to Mango at Longcroft near Bonnybridge the UFO capital of the UK. I don’t know if the aliens come to Mango. Maybe they do, but we didn’t see any today.

Shona and Scamp had Juliette for starter (Deep fried Italian bread served with tomato and basil sauce and grated pecorino cheese). Then both had Risotto for their main. I had Keema Spring Rolls as my starter and Punjabi Style Chicken. In both cases, the starters were the stars. Scamp hadn’t noticed that her risotto was tomato based and my curry was cooling before it got to the table and I should have ordered rice instead of naan. The naan was more like flatbread, but nicely singed, so I forgave that! Overall, though it was a good lunch, just our choices weren’t the best.

After lunch we drove Shona home and then Scamp and I went to Halfords because I really need to replace the wipers on the car. There was still a good bit of light in the sky, so I suggested a trip up to Fannyside for another go at getting some mist photos. The temperature was predicted to reach 2ºc tonight, so that would probably generate some mist. When we got there we were way too early and although there was some mist beginning to form, it was going to be at least an hour before it was photographable, so we headed home with a few possible PoDs in the card. I was right. Today’s PoD was another view of the ruined farm at Fannyside with better lighting.

Back home I decided I just had enough light left to allow me to wash the car, and that’s what I did. It’s a lot cleaner than it was, but tomorrow we’ll find out how many bits I’ve missed.

No plans for tomorrow except maybe re-washing the car!

Out to lunch – 24 November 2022

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This going out to lunch is becoming a bit of a habit, I hear you say. We would disagree.

Today after we’d solved Wordle and Spelling Bee we got a bit better dressed and drove over to Motherwell. When we parked at Alex and Carol’s house, Alex told me to park the car and we’d take his daughter’s car to Gouldings for lunch.

It was very, very busy at the restaurant. Usually they hand out a buzzer to tell you when your table is ready. Today that wasn’t going to work. Today we had to queue. Actually it didn’t take that long for the queue to go down and we were seated at table 40 out of 41. Take 41 tables and multiply it by 3 to get an average of 123 people all eating or drinking or just talking at the same time with the kitchen and servers keeping things going smoothly and you see just how efficiently this restaurant works. I’m not going to list what everyone at our table had for today’s lunch, but I’d say that we were eating, drinking (non alcoholic) and talking for a couple of hours and it was really good.

Scamp hadn’t met Alex or Carol for close to twenty years. In that time three children had arrived in their family and two of our ‘children’ had been married. There was a lot for the ladies to catch up with. Alex and I had already talked these things through over the past year and a bit.

We had a walk round Xmas which had been delivered to the nursery, almost replacing the plants that are usually sold there. After the walk through and the disbelieve at the number of light-up reindeer that can be crammed into a given space. Although according to the signs in Xmas, you can run 1,000 LED lights for thirty days for 55p. That’s what they say, but how would they go about proving it? And why?

Alex drove back to Motherwell and we said our goodbyes and then drove home. It was a much brighter day than we’d expected with a sunset beginning at about 3pm. Thankfully I’d grabbed a few shots this morning in the garden and I managed to create a PoD from one of them. It wasn’t what I intended, but it made a decent abstract after being dunked in three pieces of software. Sometimes Ansel Adams quote about ‘Taking’ a photograph and ‘Making’ a photograph rings true.  Just in case you’re interested, it’s a macro of part of a Curly Kale leaf.

Tomorrow Scamp is intending going to FitSteps and I’m hoping to stay home and drink tea!