Category: Flowers

A dull day – 19 September 2025

Posted on by Zogman

Not the best day this month. Cloudy and dull.

Scamp was out in the morning to FitSteps. I stayed home and read for a while, then when Scamp returned we solved the usual puzzles. Sometimes the prompts cause more consternation than good. Maybe it’s because they are generally aimed at puzzlers are aimed at Trumpland.

Scamp suggested we have Bacon & Borlotti Beans, a recipe we got from Jamie and Simonne and always a great fallback if you can’t think of what to have for dinner. We needed a courgette to go with the beans, and as I hadn’t wandered past the door today, I volunteered to go and source some, along with cheese which we didn’t need for the meal, but we DID need for tomorrow’s lunch. When I walked out, there was a fairly large bank of cloud that I guessed was full of water, so I increased my speed a bit.

I was testing a new combo on the new toy. I was using a fairly old and hardly used Sony 16-35mm f4 lens. Like I said, quite old and with a ‘slow’ aperture. It performed really well with the A7c, so I’ll try to give it a bit more of a challenge in the next few days.

I wanted a photo of the wild geraniums that grow along the path at St Mo’s and got a few photos with those threatening clouds as the backdrop. That got PoD. Spoke to Susan Greenshields in passing, she was complaining as usual, but other than that, she didn’t say much, obviously not in the best mood today.

I walked over the back road to the Shops and found the groceries Scamp wanted. Before I left the house I’d chopped down some of the kale from what’s left of the raised bed because Scamp needed it for the dinner. I also planted some Red Kale in a pot in the garden. Hopefully it will grow well in some fresh compost and give us more kale to use in the kitchen.

I actually remembered what Scamp wanted from the shops, which is a miracle, especially because I’ve got so many things on my mind this weather.

Basically that was it for the day. Scamp made the dinner and it was really good. The kale was a lot fresher than it looked and it added that extra crunch to the meal.

Tomorrow we’re hoping to go to Brookfield for a dance class, but as there have been warnings for weeks that work is being done on the M8 and it’s likely to continue until May at least, I’m not looking forward to the drive.

A Toy off the rack – 17 September 2025

Posted on by Zogman

It’s a long time since I had a toy of the rack. I think I deserved it!

We went out in the morning and drove up to meet Shona at her brother’s house, then we went to Costa in the town centre for coffee and a blether. It’s a while since I’d seen her, although Scamp meets up with her every couple of weeks at least, sometimes more than that. She was looking well and seemed calmer than she had been the last time I’d seen her.

I left her and Scamp talking and went for a walk through the town centre, at least, the Antonine centre which is the most ‘modern’ part of the town. It’s still a dump, but a dump with more shops than the entire Phase Four on the other side of the road. I had a quick browse of what’s selling in the town this weather. The answer was nothing much. Out of date iPhones, iPads and ancient video games. It really is a depressing mall, and cold too. No heating to speak of and with a cold breeze blowing into Costa every time one of the automatic doors opens, I can see why there isn’t a problem getting a seat. When the two ladies were finished their blether and their coffee, Shona went shopping while Scamp and I went home for lunch … and a heat.

Yesterday I had almost made my decision to buy a new camera, not brand new, I hasten to add. It’s a bit long in the tooth an ‘used’, but it looked as if it had hardly been used and has some interesting features that make it worth the money. I tried phoning WEX to book it, but the phone went to voicemail or more likely, they’d locked it in a cupboard to avoid having to answer it. So I drove in to Glasgow and parked at Cowcaddens carpark which had a notice at the entrance to say that the gates had been locked open until “… a new operator has been appointed” So, no need to pay today.

I walked up to WEX and after a cursory glance at the camera, paid my money and drove home again. Camera didn’t look as if it had been used and a quick check once I was sitting at the computer confirmed the shutter had only been actuated about 700 times. That’s nothing for a camera. Their usual operating range is just under one million actuations.

I didn’t get much time to play with the new toy, because Hazy phoned just after I got in for a wee chat. I managed to tell her what I’d done to the Gmail problem and that it seemed to be working fine again (touch wood). She told me about the new book she’d been reading and gave it a less than wonderful rating. I told her about mine, “Gunner” and I think mine was better than her’s, but not by much. While we were discussing things a parcel arrived for Scamp – from Hazy. It was a cleverly designed pair of spoons that look like they will be very helpful for Scamp’s problem. She has already discovered a solution to her problem of measuring out coffee with the new Red spoon. The Black spoon may need more work, but even that Red spoon is a boon in itself (no pun intended)

After we’d said “Cheerio” I went out into the garden and took some photos of the Rudbeckia flowers in the garden. One of them made PoD.

Tomorrow we may go dancing if the weather lets us. It’s getting a bit windy outside the windae just now (Pun intended!)

Now that’s a better day – 15 September 2025

Posted on by Zogman

Not brilliant, but with enough sunshine to make it worthwhile going out with a camera.

We were up and out fairly early today, early for us anyway. Scamp wanted a lift to Tesco and after dropping her off, I drove over to Condorrat to the dentist. Half an hour later I walked out of the surgery with my broken tooth fixed. It still doesn’t feel like my own tooth, but I’m getting used to it. Just as I got to the car, I got the message from Scamp to say she was waiting for me in the Tesco cafe. I found an empty ‘Drop Off’ slot, where we loaded the car and drove back home. An efficient way to get ‘The Messages’.

Later in the day, while Scamp was deadheading some of the flowers, I went for a walk in St Mo’s, a shorter version of my usual walk, mainly because we were expecting to go to Kirsty’s dance class, but as it turned out, the class had dwindled. One of the men had pulled a muscle in his back, one couple were on an extended weekend holiday and another part time teacher was sunning herself in foreign climes. We decided that only four of us didn’t really make a quorum, so Kirsty agreed to cancel tonight.

That gave me enough time to process the photos I’d taken in St Mo’s. Not a bad haul and the PoD went to a bunch of Antirrhinums poking their bright pink heads out of a break in a fence, like a trio of runaways. It made me smile and it’s now on Flickr.

We may go on a trip to Glasgow, tomorrow. Looking for the elusive trainers. Maybe a walk up to WEX to see what they have to offer too.

No excuses – 14 September 2025

Posted on by Zogman

Today we didn’t do very much. I’ve no excuses for this, it was just the way the day turned out.

It was a normal Sunday. Watched Laura Kuenssberg tearing strips of poor undefended MPs and other politicians. It was fun for a while watching them squirm, but you knew they were lying because their lips were moving. That took all the fun out of it.

After lunch I went for a walk over to St Mo’s. There wasn’t very much over there to photograph, but I did get out for a walk which was good … until the rain came on. As usual, the rain waited until I was at the furthest point from home, then it started. I didn’t mind, because I had my big orange Rab jacket on and it’s fairly waterproof and the rain was fairly light for most of the walk home.

PoD was an old favourite of mine, the view down the avenue of trees that takes you down past St Mo’s school. A bloke with an umbrella was kind enough to walk into view just as I was crossing his past. I waited a few minutes and got my Photo of the Day and he never felt a thing.

Dinner was a rump steak for me and potatoes with ratatouille for Scamp. Rice and prunes was the dessert.

Spoke to Jamie later in the evening and heard that he and Simonne are considering going away for a week some time soon, not sure when yet. This time Vixen gets to go with them which should please her.

Thanks for the hint Hazy. I’ll tell you how I got on with it once I work my way through it.

Dentist tomorrow to get a broken cap on one of my teeth fixed. Oh what fun!

Recovery – 13 September 2025

Posted on by Zogman

A day for recovery after all the work we put in yesterday.

That, and a late night, led to us abandoning today’s dance class. Just too much still to do to clear up the dishes and pots meant Scamp suggested we take today off. In fact she suggested we might apply that rule from now on when we’d been out late or when we’d too much to do. Losing the occasional dance class wouldn’t be a terrible sacrifice if it gave us some free time. It’s worth a try.

With that said, we didn’t do much for the remainder of the day. I’d written to Hazy saying it was a beautiful Autumn morning and less than an hour later it was tipping it down. Actually that was the story for the rest of the day. An hour’s sunshine followed by a ten minute torrential downpour. As a result, I did manage a few shots in the afternoon when it wasn’t raining. Just grab shots of bedraggled flowers in the garden.

We’d intended going out to lunch, but that just didn’t happen. Instead, we had lunch inside and later we had a home made curry for dinner. I did manage to work out how to set-up and run a clever bit of software that will allow me to copy my Mac files to a PC hard drive. It’s something that should happen automatically, but Apple doesn’t work with PC and PC doesn’t work with Apple without a bit of software that nobody talks about. Ludicrous in this day and age. They just pretend that the other lot don’t exist!

I’ve not a lot more to say about today. Hopefully we’ll get out somewhere tomorrow for a walk or to find a pair of trainers for Scamp and me, even in the rain!

Busy, Busy, Busy – 12 September 2025

Posted on by Zogman

We were having visitors today. Crawford & Nancy were coming for dinner.

Scamp was first in the kitchen. She was making the main course of Spicy Chicken with Fruity Couscous and the first task was to make the marinade. Then the chicken had to marinate for a few hours.

After that, it was my task to start the Panna cotta. That’s when I realised we didn’t have any decent vanilla pods. We had one that had been languishing in the cupboard for a long time and was really just a wooden stick now. I drove over to M&S, but they didn’t have any, nor did Tesco. They did have vanilla paste which Scamp said would do the job. So I chucked double cream, milk, sugar and the vanilla paste into a pot and set it to simmer. Then I filled the serving pots with the mixture and set it to cool. My work was done until tonight when I’d to serve it.

In the mean time, Scamp walked down to the shops in the rain, to get more odds and ends I’d forgotten and then made Pea Soup and fried some bacon to add to the soup before we served it. We were doing quite well with the timing so we could relax with a spot of lunch.

I intended to take a risk to grab a few shots of a wee posey of flowers but the occasional torrential rain made me think again and instead I took an inside shot of the posey instead. That was PoD.

After lunch my panna cotta was cool enough to go into the fridge. One of the great benefits of this new fridge is the really low temperature it generates, so I was hopeful that the chill would firm up the panna cotta.

The soup was good and will stretch to another day easily. The main course was delicious. It’s a long while since Scamp last made this dish that came originally from a Gary Rhodes recipe. My panna cotta firmed up nicely in the fridge and went down well. We had a great night with of laughs and banter.

Tomorrow we’re hoping to go out for lunch.

More shopping – 11 September 2025

Posted on by Zogman

Yesterday was window shopping and a touch of ‘real’ shopping.

Today was back to reality shopping in Tesco. Scamp had made a fairly large shopping list and we just worked through it, managing to find most things, but with the usual few missing items.

We’d intended to have lunch, but I’d a bit of stomach cramp so we postponed it. Then Scamp’s pal, Annette, arrived. Now I’m not being sexist here, but two women discussing things can lead to “Three’s a crowd” so I took my stomach cramp upstairs and read for a while. After Annette went home I did trust my stomach with a couple of slices of toast and a cup of tea. That seemed to settle things down. I’m blaming a pot of Kefir yogurt for the problem. The last time I had some, it had exactly the same effect. I’ll be more circumspect in future.

The weather today has been hit and miss. Sometimes the sun shines for an hour or more and sometimes it only lasts for a short while before the driving wind sprays everyone with showers. I caught a couple of those showers today. I also missed one by sheltering under the trees when I was out for my constitutional over St Mo’s then on across the football park and back home. Sometimes I extend the walk to include the path to the shops, but I was keeping a weather eye (literally) on those big black clouds that were rolling in from the north-west.

I went out with a different camera/lens combination today. A Lensbaby Sweet 35 lens for closeups and a Tamron 70-180mm zoom. Both on the A7iii. The Lensbaby gives dreamlike effects and the Tamron is an almost ideal short telephoto. Both worked very well, but the Tamron won the day with another shot of a Bird’s-foot Trefoil behind a chain link fence. This one has a much better background than the original. PoD sorted!

We couldn’t decide what to have for dinner, but in the end Scamp had an omelette and I had a fry-up. For me it was a bit of a test to see if my stomach was back to normal and it seems as if it is … touch wood.

We watched another boring episode of Masterchef. Thankfully it’s coming to an end soon. Good riddance I say!

Tomorrow is a cooking and maybe a baking day. Crawford & Nancy are coming to dinner. Whoever is free will probably be making the starter (possibly soup), Scamp is intending doing the main course and I’m booked for the dessert. We’ll see how it goes.

Out and about – 8 September 2025

Posted on by Zogman

An early rise this morning to see Jamie and Simonne safely on their way back home.

It was a flying visit, but it was great to see them for a couple of days. Good to hear that the boys (and the girls) were all well and grown up now. I don’t think we would recognise them after all this time.

We wandered around the house feeling like lost threads. Scamp put the fold-down bed away and I put all the glasses away. Still there was a whole day ahead and no real plans for it. I suggested we go to the Kelpies and use them to recharge our energy. Scamp agreed. Also, we could take a look in at Klondyke Garden Centre when we were there anyway. That sealed it. We were going to Helix Park where the Kelpies live.

Drove over almost to Grangemouth and paid our £4.50 to park, then as we were walking on to the beasts themselves, I saw a new view of these mighty magical horses. Two heads were rising above a grassy bank that made the statues look even bigger than they usually do. I took a couple of shots anyway and we walked over to see the Kelpies.

The park was mobbed, quite the busiest we’ve seen it in years. We did the usual walk round and between these metal creatures. Unfortunately the wind was from the west today and the smell from the sewage works was almost overpowering. We didn’t tarry long and walked back to the wee restaurant for a cup of coffee and a chocolate biscuit each. We agreed there was just too big a crowd today and drove over to Klondyke to search out a bargain or two among the plants. Once Scamp had chosen her selection of bulbs from the vast selection, and I had picked up a fairly healthy looking Acer at a knock down price, they all went into the boot of the blue car and we went to search out some food.

I’m not usually impressed with garden centre food, but today’s Steak Burger was an eye opener. Best one I’ve had in ages. Scamp had a Mushroom Quiche and I had that brilliant burger.

We drove home and I planted the Acer while Scamp was going round dead-heading some of the fading flowers.

Kirsty’s class today was Cha-Cha. I wasn’t impressed. I used to say Cha-Cha was my most hated dance. I thought I was over it, but today, with the noise from the ghetto blaster and Kirsty shouting over the top of it, none of the instructions were going in to my head. She (Kirsty) wants to do another session next week. That gives me almost seven days to make up an excuse not to go.

When we got home there was a message from Jamie & Simonne to say they had arrived safely after a fairly easy drive. Glad they had an easy day for a change.

PoD went to the picture of the Kelpies looking over that grassy bank.

No plans for tomorrow … yet!

We went shopping – 7 September 2025

Posted on by Zogman

You know it’s been a dull day when the highlight is “We went shopping”.

Some days are like that. You can have days when the sun is shining, the birds are singing, and you manage to capture fifty photos, each one better than the last. Then there are days where you manage to grab half a dozen shots of butterflies and are satisfied with that. Today fell into the ‘satisfied’ category.

We went shopping, as I mentioned and that got us out of the house for half an hour or so. Just the usual shopping for lunch and dinner. Mainly essentials.

Jamie and Simonne were on their way back from yesterday’s wedding but were stopping off in Glasgow to meet up with a couple of their old friends. They arrived back at the house around 5pm. By then I’d been out for a walk across the football park behind St Mo’s and had hardly taken the camera out of the bag. I did get just over 100g of brambles on the way back.

I made a hash of getting Simonne’s SD card to work in the new computer. Why do the different companies insist on sticking to their own formats. It would be so much easier for everyone if they just took the sensible approach of one size and one format fits all. Anyway, in the end we got the photos she wanted, although I’ll have to work out how we make a heart shaped background for one of them.

For dinner, Scamp and I had Chicken Milanese with our own potatoes and Scamp’s speciality, Rats, which of course is short for Ratatouille. Jamie & Simonne shared a pizza. We all had Passionfruit & Raspberry Cheesecake for dessert while we watched Lando Norris being humiliated by being given a derisory second place as compensation for having had a slow pitstop. Poor guy was very noncommittal in the interview.

We’re expecting the young ones to be leaving early tomorrow to take the road south. Hope they have a problem-free journey and arrive home safely.

Us? I think we might be going looking for the elusive bread bin again, with maybe the chance of dancing Cha-Cha in Kirsty’s class later.

Just tidying up – 3 September 2025

Posted on by Zogman

Or at least, my version of tidying up, which just means doing it on the computer, not in real life.

After we’d worked out the twisted games of Wordle, Spelling Bee and all the other assorted puzzles we play in the morning, Scamp was off to meet the rest of the witches and I was going to Tesco to get the messages. I’d a little list already made up under Scamp’s careful instructions. It was one of those days that looked as if it was just about to rain, but never did. At least, it didn’t do it until later. I’d some computer stuff to get my head round first.

<Technospeak>
Last week I crossed my fingers and hoped for the best when I removed one of my the old iMacs from the safety of the Adobe corral. Adobe allows you to have three Macs open at the same time. However, you can only use two of those three at the same time. The other one can not use Adobe software until you choose to remove one of the other two first. Confused? Yes, so was I, but them’s the rules apparently. I wanted to check to see if it was the old computer I’d removed and it was. That meant that the new iMac and my MacBook were now able to work together. I’ve more or less stopped using the old iMac now. It is getting slower than frozen treacle and crashes if you look at it the wrong way.
</Technospeak>

By the time I’d struggled through all that, Scamp was back from her meeting with the witches and just as I was heading into the garden to take some photos, the rain started. I managed to get four shots before I gave up. Out of those four shots, I kept two. The PoD was a couple of white Cosmos flowers. Not great, but done and posted.

I made dinner tonight which was Cod & Prawns with Fennel & White Wine. It’s an old recipe we’ve used a fair amount, but not for a long time. It still works, though.

I got an email from one of the Flickr managers asking if I was going to run Inktober again this year. I’d already decided that I wasn’t going to do it this year. I’d too many thing to do this October, so had to bow out. I may participate for some of the time, but not for the whole month. Pity.

Tomorrow I’m intending to meet Alex. We may go for a walk around Paisley.