Category: Family

Autumn colours – 13 September 2024

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Two leaves, one yellow and one red. They sort of went together.

It was a cold morning, about 5ºc when we woke and the temperature didn’t rise much. I spent the morning getting things organised while Scamp was off at her FitSteps class. I’d intended sealing up a leak in the downstairs sink, but the silicon I was intending using was solid and the only other one I had didn’t look as if it would ever solidify again. I thought I’d get a new tube in B&Q, but we were going to visit Isobel first.

Isobel didn’t look well, but she is being looked after by a succession of health visitors and nurses who seem to be satisfied with her progress. Scamp had brought her tablet with photos of the Jersey wedding and that kept her interested even if she didn’t know that side of the family at all. I suppose a wedding is a wedding no matter who it is that’s getting married. That’s the other think I’d intended doing, putting some of my photos of the wedding on Facebook. Maybe I’ll have time tomorrow. After a cup of coffee, a blether and a catch-up, we headed home, via Tesco.
Isobel had been complaining that she used to get chicken sausages in Tesco, but they don’t seem to sell them now. I found them in our miniature Tesco. Must ask her if these are the ones she was looking for.

Back home and after the sausage sandwiches, we more or less frittered away most of the afternoon. I did get out for a walk in St Mo’s and got a PoD of a couple of colourful leaves. For the first time in ages I was wrapped up in my winter Berghaus and for a while I did need it.

Hopefully going to dance class tomorrow.

Birlin’ round Stirling – 13 August 2024

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Scamp wanted to go to Stirling today, but couldn’t remember why!

Spoke to Hazy in the morning and found out about Neil forgetting his passport for travelling to Cologne and having to get his dad to drive with it to the airport. Silly boy!

We didn’t get as far as Cologne, we drove through the rain to Stirling and managed to find a parking space in the Waitrose carpark. Others weren’t so lucky. We walked in to Stirling proper because Scamp thought I need a new shirt. M&S was a disappointment in the Mens department. Very few shirts, in fact, very few of anything. Slaters on the other hand is unassuming from the outside. When you go in you’re met with a steep stair taking you up to the shop. Suits, shirts, shoes, jackets and jumpers all for men! No women’s department. Refreshing!

We stopped for coffee and a bite to eat in Caffe Nero before we went back to Slaters. I did get a shirt I liked. I haven’t tried it for size yet, but even if it doesn’t fit, I know I can exchange it for a better fitting one in any of their shops.

Then it was back to Waitrose for The Messages and as usual we came home with a lot more than we intended, but really, we expected that, it’s what usually happens. The drive home was again through the rain showers and the gathering wind.  Then when we got to Cumbersheugh the rain dried up, but not for long.  Soon the rain was hitting the window again  However, I managed to time a walk round St Mo’s well for a change and had a walk, got some photos and was back home in the dry. It’s not often I manage that.

PoD was a drone fly taking off from a Knapweed flower. Just a ‘lucky’ capture.

That was about all the excitement we could manage today. Better weather is promised by the weather fairies for tomorrow. If it appears we may go out somewhere.

 

Chatelherault – 31 July 2024

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Today I drove over to Motherwell to pick up my brother and we drove to Chatelherault.

Chatelherault was the shooting lodge of the Duke of Hamilton in past times. Today it’s mainly used for corporate events and weddings. We were going to neither.

After a coffee we walked down to the Duke’s Bridge which takes you over the Avon Water 80ft (25m) below. From there we walked on to the Cadzow Oaks, a group of trees which date back to the 1400s, growing in earthworks that are reckoned to have been there since the 12th century. The whole area is really beautiful and worth a walk if you are ever in the area. If you imagine Tolkien’s Ents, that’s what the Cadzow Oaks bring to mind.

After soaking up some of the history of the area we retraced our steps past the now crumbling Cadzow Castle with little remaining of its former glory. Then we recrossed the bridge and had lunch in the cafe which was almost empty for a change. A few photos of the views round the ‘Big House’ and it was time to get back.

I dropped Alex off at his house and drove home. It was a hot day and I had the air-con on full, but when I stopped at lights just off the motorway, I turned the air-con off and the engine stopped too with a message telling me I’d saved 0.2kg of carbon! It hasn’t done that for well over a year!! Maybe the long drive up from Dent last weekend has recharged its tiny battery.

Dinner was a lovely Chicken Milanese made by Scamp, then we were off to dance class where it showed that we hadn’t done any practise for about two weeks. We really must get some practise in before next week or we’ll get chucked out.

PoD today was a little heart padlock hanging from the handrail of the Duke’s Bridge and a test to see if the camera was performing the autofocusing and it appears to have passed the test. Next thing to do is to try to get its big brother to do so too.

Tomorrow Scamp is intending to go for coffee with Isobel and I’m hoping to do some backing up and preparation for the first photos of August.

Back in the old routine – 28 July 2024

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This morning we did the Tesco run. After lunch I went for a walk in St Mo’s and it felt like we’d never been away. PoD was a damselfly with a bit of sparkle in its wings.

Dinner was Bacon, Cabbage and Potatoes. One of those fallback meals which remind you that you’re home.

Spoke to Jamie later in the day and found we didn’t have much to say. Everything was alright at their end an it was the same at our end. Just like it says at the top of this blog.

Back in the old routine.

Cooking, Grass Cutting and Rumba – 17 July 2024

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We spoke to Hazy in the morning. She told us she’d had her hair cut but we wouldn’t see it until Saturday when she and Neil are coming up. She’s like that, Hazel! I still remember being in the car with her, going to the church on her wedding day and her making poor Neil wait! Bride’s perogative, I believe. I have a long memory Hazy!

I did some shopping after we’d finished our call and took my “I’m away for the Messages” bag. Just my meds, some fruit for Scamp and a loaf.

After lunch I started to clear the top of the sofa in my room. It hasn’t seen the light of day for months now, probably since about March. So, it really did need a good clear out. A lot of stuff went in the bin because tomorrow is bin day and theres no going back after the bin is tipped into the bin men’s lorry. The sofa looks so bare now, but tomorrow it will be filled again with other stuff.

While I was doing that, Scamp was doing ‘grass hoovering’ in the front and back gardens. It looks a lot tidier now, but we’re due rain overnight and that will just encourage more growth. It’s a never ending cycle.

Later in the afternoon I made some stew for next week’s dinner. Not made on the hob this time, mainly done in the Le Creuset which allows the oven to do most of the work.

With the stew happily bubbling away, I went for a walk in St Mo’s and got the PoD. It was warm and still a bit close feeling today. The photo’s another one of a geranium this time with  with a little fly as a photobomber. I think every photo I took today had an insect of one variety or another in it, hogging the limelight.

We went dancing tonight and learned the first part of Kirsty’s new Rumba routine. As with all the best routines, it started off simply and then progressed to the more complicated bits. Next week she’ll be adding in even more intricate figures like the Hockey Stick and the Fan, but by then we’ll have forgotten what we learned tonight!

No real plans for tomorrow other than finishing the stew.

A bit of culture – 9 July 2024

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Today I met Alex in Glasgow and we went for a walk in the sunshine.  Later we came back in the teeming rain. That’s Scotland.

Yesterday the weather was beautiful and today it was the same in the morning, but after we got off the bus to go to the Burrell Collection, we could feel the first spits of rain. By the time we got in and went for lunch the rain was getting heavy.

Today was a return visit to the Burrell. We’d seen most of the exhibits before, but there were lots of surprises too, like a tiny ceramic perfume bottle from circa 500BC and a Renoir bust of the man with the broken nose which had a tiny little signature in the inside of the hollow casting. It’s the little things you go back to see again and again.

My intention today was to take people pictures. One of the great things about this tele lens is the way it can separate a person from the background and I was playing with that a lot. The other thing that I tried was isolating people in the long corridors that almost always have a focal point at their far end. The weather might have been terrible, but we were inside and dry and we both had a great day.

Back home on the bus I listened to a podcast about Ramesses The Great. What a lad he was if all the stories were true. The average lifespan of Egyptians then was about 30 years. He lived until he was 80! The world was just as ill divided then, it seems.

Watched the Professionals doing Bakeoff and Scamp and I were agreed that the best pair won.

PoD was called Twa Dugs. Taken on the steps of the Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow. I think there may be more to come from today’s shoot, though.

Things I’ll remember from today:

  • Lunch today in a mobbed cafe are in the Burrell (New Yorker).
  • Seeing that 500BC perfume bottle
  • The Twa Dugs
  • Girl in Nero chattering away nonstop to us
  • Maybe, just maybe seeing Charles Hamilton

We may be going shopping for essentials tomorrow.

Actually not a bad day – 7 July 2024

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In the morning we watched Laura Kuenssberg interviewing some of the new bright eyed and bushy tailed Labour administration. It was a gentle introduction and the claws were retracted … at least for the moment. Let them find their feet and let them feel confident, then the gloves will come off and the claws will be extended.

Today was the British GP and we could watch it LIVE on C4 without the interruption of adverts, and for once, it was worth watching. I lost count of the number of times the lead changed hands and felt sorry for one British (not english) driver who didn’t quite cut the mustard. However I did enjoy seeing one bruised and battered driver making his way through the young whippersnappers to stake his claim as the first driver to win a remarkable ninth British Grand Prix and to set a new record for the most victories at a single event.

Dinner tonight was Mushroom Risotto. I haven’t made if for ages and volunteered to attempt it today. Not quite enough mushrooms, but some chickpeas filled the space very nicely. I don’t think it was my best, but it was good enough to fill a wee space.

It was actually a good day with occasional showers, but lots of sunshine. Even now at 11.15pm as I look out the back window, the sky is bright blue. It’s dark now, but the sky is still blue. Today’s PoD award was won by a couple of Aquilegia flowers in the garden. They are just ‘going over’ now, but if we take care and cut them back they may, just may produce another show of flowers later in the year.

Spoke to Jamie later in the evening and heard that Simonne’s latest interview went well, so we’re hoping that’s good news for her. Any reduction in her workload would be a good thing. Also some planning is being done for a short holiday which is well deserved.

I think I may bite the bullet and get my hair cut tomorrow. Scamp has already told me that it looks a ‘Pure Afro’. I don’t think that’s the correct description. I’d say it was more a ‘Cock’s Comb’. My mum used to delight in combing Alex and my hair into that mini Mohican and every time I look in the mirror these days, I see it! A number ‘3’ should sort it out.

Other than that, no plans for tomorrow.

 

Surprise phone call – 5 July 2024

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We got a morning call from Hazy this morning to say that her PiP allocation extended until 2030. That’s a six year extension. She sounded delighted and no wonder. It would appear that someone, somewhere has seen sense for probably the first time. Gaun Yersel, Hazy.

The oldies (that’s us, well, me anyway) went shopping in Tesco. Just the usual circuit veg, fruit and a bottle of milk, plus a whole load of other stuff.

Back home and after lunch I took some photos of flowers in the garden. Geums were the stars, but daisies made a good show too. Later I went for a walk in St Mo’s, but didn’t get anything that was better than the Geums, so to was them that got PoD. Red on Green a gold standard for colour contrasts.

We’ve been deluged by BBC interviews with everyone who ever stood next to Keir Starmer. It’s becoming one big long boring telethon. Ok, he ran a good campaign, but it’s done now, it’s over, let’s move on. What a waste of taxpayers money. Mind you, it wiped the smile of Jacob Rees-Mogg’s face for a while, so, some good things came from Starmer’s win.

Dinner tonight was Curried Cod a 30 minute meal but you would never have guessed that. I think it will be my turn to cook tomorrow or Sunday. I hope I can equal that with my choice.

Weather wasn’t terrible today. We didn’t have much, if any rain, but the wind was still strong for a while and gusty most of the day and then a glorious sunset at night. Tomorrow it looks like rain will return.

Not a lot more to be said about today. At least it didn’t rain!!

Out for a walk – 26 June 2024

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Today I was meeting Alex for a walk around Glasgow.

For once I was early at Buchanan Bus station, so early that I had a chance to go for a walk down Buchanan Street and grab some street shots there. When I returned to the bus station Alex was waiting for me and we went for a coffee as usual. He wanted to visit Princes Square to get some photos and I didn’t mind going there too. I chose different subjects though. He was interested in the criss crossing escalators at the far end. I was photographing the little coloured glass plates attached to the wrought iron railings. Each to his own.

From Princes Square we walked down Queen Street and turned left into Argyle Street, then Alex decided it was time for lunch so we went to Paesano for a very filling pizza each, ad as I had bussed it in to the town, I could have a glass or wine with my lunch. Alex is TT, so he had Coke. From there we went to the GOMA the second of Alex’s choice of places to go today. He wanted to go up to the gallery and take a shot looking down to the ground floor, taking in the elliptical handrails round the edge of the gallery … except, when we got there we found someone had hung a long banner from the middle of the roof light right down to the ground. There would be no photos of the elliptical galleries today. I felt sorry for him, because he’d brought a special fisheye lens for exactly that shot. As we were leaving the GOMA I got the PoD which was a line of folk sitting on the steps of the building with only the front two in sharp focus. Just one shot that worked really well.

I’d ordered a lens from WEX to check out on Sunday and it was due to arrive today, so we walked up to Blythswood Square and down to Bath Street, then left to take us to WEX and the lens. We both had a play with it with the bloke holding my 24-105mm as surety. Then we tried it’s new younger brother, the more expensive G2 model. Without any prompting, Alex said what I was thinking. “Wow! That’s solid as a rock.” What he meant was there was no shake in the lens the electronics in the camera and the lens were working together to hold the camera sensor steady on the target. We went back in and I told the salesman I’d take the G2 model. Unfortunately they didn’t have one in stock, but he’s ordered one to be sent up from Norwich and it should be with me by the weekend. It’s not been paid for, yet. Not even a deposit was asked for. Looking forward to trying it out properly.

We walked back through the barricades on Sauchiehall Street, had another coffee in Waterstones and a long natter about lenses and Buyers Remorse, then walked down to the bus station where I just missed the X3. It didn’t matter, I had my phone with Spotify and a pair of good earbuds. I listened to a varied and mostly interesting selection on the way home.

Scamp hadn’t had as successful day as far as food was concerned. Her lunch with the Witches wasn’t all that great. I get the feeling that Mac ’n’ Cheese in Brodens would have fitted the bill better. However, like me, she was there to exchange gossip, although, if asked, Alex and I would say we were sharing photographic information.

We watched the Sewing Bee and saw another contestant’s hopes of glory dashed on the cutting room floor.

Tomorrow Scamp has dentist in the afternoon, so I have to come up with something to keep her mind off it and she has to keep my mind of a Tamron 70-180mm F/2.8 Di III VC VXD G2 that just might arrive tomorrow.

A dull start to a Sunday – 23 June 2024

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It was a white sky day again today. Warm with just the risk of rain in the air.

We’d planned to go down to Glasgow Green, but never really got organised enough to go, then after lunch I was moping around looking at a couple of lenses which had dropped considerably in price when I noticed that WEX in Glasgow was listed as being open on Sundays. It had previously been a Monday to Saturday shop. I thought I’d risk a phone call to see if they had one of the lenses available for testing. They did have. That put a different complexion on the day!

Scamp didn’t want to come into town with me, being more interested in getting the front grass cut, so I drove down to the station and was just in time to get the express train to Glasgow. The day was brightening up and the sun was poking holes in the cloud, so I walked up the Bath Street hill and down the other side to WEX. Unfortunately, it was the expensive lens that they had on display, but I tried it out, just in case it would be worthwhile. Lovely bit of equipment. Almost perfect for what I wanted, but just a little out of my price range. However Baz, who was the salesman I spoke to said they could get a lens sent up from the warehouse for the middle of next week. I agreed and went home to dream about things I couldn’t afford!

I grabbed a couple of candid photos in a walk-by shooting spree on Sauchiehall Street and another couple of more planned shots in Buchanan Street, then walked through to the station, where I bumped into Cathy Donaghy who used to be in the office at work along with here daughter. They too were waiting for the Croy train to arrive after the previous one had mysteriously disappeared from the display board. We talked for a while and I found out that Danielle, her daughter was getting married in September and that a few of the teachers we knew had retired, as had Cathy. It was a really good catch-up with folk I hadn’t seen for years.

Back home, Scamp was sitting in the back garden with a Soda & Lime having done a great job on the front grass. I told her my tale of woe of the wrong lens and of meeting Cathy and Danielle then recharged her glass with Pimms and filled mine with Birds & Bees Summer Ale. We then soaked up the sun that had cleared the sky of clouds for an hour or so until it was time for dinner.

Later in the evening we watched a processional Spanish F1 GP. Which was won by the usual suspect. Later still just as the Scotland vs Hungary football was starting, Jamie phoned and we discussed work and the prospect of Simonne getting a job with a more localised area. That wouldn’t be a bad thing.

Finally we watched a lacklustre Scotland losing to the better team, Hungary. Apparently Scotland were robbed of a penalty because the referee was from Argentina?? I think that’s just clutching at straws. Anyway, what difference will it make. They didn’t win and that’s it for this year at least.

One of the Sauchiehall street shots got PoD. As usual it was a mash-up of two photos!

A few too many glasses of wine, brandy and beer last night meant this blog was carried over until today! My appy-polly-logies. Hicº

Hopefully another warm but sunny Monday for the start of the week. We have no plans.