Category: Flowers

Covid Jag – 5 May 2026

Posted on by Zogman

Drove over to Muirhead to get my Covid booster.

I wasn’t looking forward to it, but in the end it was quite painless.

While I was in Muirhead I thought I might drop in to Collins the butcher in the town and came home with a big bag of meat, fish and a bag of potato scones, plus a Cornish Pastie which halved would make a decent lunch with enough left over to cover tomorrow, hopefully.

After lunch, Scamp started to cut the back grass. It was getting a bit like a jungle and you never knew what might be lurking in the long grass, so all the grass got a short back and sides. While Scamp was religiously cleaning the mower, I plugged the strimmer into the power box and began cutting carefully around the crocuses that hadn’t flowered this year. That should give them time to wilt away naturally and improve the quality of the bulbs underground. A few folk scratched their heads and wondered what I was doing, but I think it will work. We will wait and see.

After the strimmer and the mower were deemed clean enough to be put away, I went for a walk over St Mo’s. I was toting a 70-180mm Tamron lens with a backup of my 24-105mm Sony lens. Both were used. Not a lot to see, but PoD was a bunch of Marsh Marigolds pushing their heads through a field of Water Horsetails.

I’ve started working on my sketches of EDiM (Every Day in May) and actually enjoying it. I may strip down the old computer and start painting for a change. It’s a long time since I did any painting.

Dinner tonight was Cabbage with Potatoes and Bacon. The veg was fine, but the bacon was a bit strange tasting. I’m not sure I like it.

Tomorrow we’re intending going to the funeral of one of Scamp’s old friends from work.

A better day – 30 April 2026

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Shona was going home for a few hours. and we were going for lunch.

Shona was meeting with one of her best friends for a blether and for tea. She’s really been a powerhouse these last three days. Thankfully, the pressure on her is gradually releasing now, and she, herself, is relaxing a bit. Today she made some decisions about Paul, and that must have been hard. We, too were destressing.

We drove to Torwood for lunch. Just a couple of Toasties and a chance to talk about gardens and other simple things. Scamp got a couple of plants and they are now growing in tubs in the back garden. I’m sure there a lot more waiting to be found in Torwood!

Came home via M&S and we loaded up, on veg and things for tonight’s dinner. After that I put my boots on and went for a walk in St Mo’s where I got some photos of Larch Needles. Larch being one of the few conifers to drop their needles in the winter. One of them was guaranteed a place as PoD.

By the time I got back home, carrying more requests from Scamp, Shona had returned and we had Fish Risotto for dinner. Then we took Shona back home to prepare for more relations coming to visit and hopefully help.

I had bought a new camera bag from Amazon a couple of days ago, but it was just a little bit too small, so I bought another, larger one today. One will go back to Mr Bezos’s house and one will stay. If neither of them suit me, both will go back.

Scamp is off with the ‘Witches’ tomorrow, so it will be an early rise for both of us.

Busy doing nothing – 18 April 2026

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One of those days when I managed to keep myself busy, but didn’t actually do anything worthwhile. I’m getting quite good at it.

We went over to Condorrat to get some rolls for lunch and to post a birthday card to one of Scamp’s witchy friends. Wandered past what used to be called Brodans, but is now in the process of being converted into an Italian restaurant. Maybe next year at or around this time, it might open its doors. So far all that has been accomplished is a few holes have been drilled in the wall and a bit of plastering has been scraped off part of the wall. Wheels turn slowly in Condorrat.

The rolls were converted into Egg Rolls for Scamp and a Bacon Roll for me. I don’t know about the egg rolls, but the bacon rolls were the best I’ve had for ages.

I was eventually coaxed into going for a walk in St Mo’s. It had been a rainy morning, full of April Showers, but the afternoon promised some good weather. I took on the challenge and went for a circuit and a half of St Mo’s pond, carrying the wrong lens as usual. Most of the photos were of blossom from the trees in the park. PoD went to a Dogwood branch backlit with a warm background bokeh. I quite liked it.

Dinner tonight was Fish ’n’ Chips from the local chip shop. Fish was delicious, but the chips were just reheated potatoes. Could do better!

We watched an episode of Gardeners World tonight. It was about the new area in Regent’s Park. It opens to the public on or about 27th April. Looks like an interesting place to visit, Hazy / Neil. Oh by the way, Hazy, I’m still struggling through “A Drop of Corruption”. It’s a bit of a slog, but an interesting slog!

All seems to be well here. Speak in a few days.

Meeting Isobel – 14 April 2026

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Scamp and I met Isobel for coffee in the morning and it was a lovely morning.

Blue skies and fluffy white clouds. What’s not to like. I had a cup of coffee with the ladies and listened to the stories Isobel was telling. I’d forgotten that she is well travelled in South America and further afield before she and her husband settled down in Scotland. She must have been a bit of an adventurer when she was younger.

Eventually she had teased enough information from us both and was ready to go back home, so we bundled her walker into the back seat of the wee Blue car and squeezed Scamp in beside it. Then we drove over to The Village and left her to make her own way up to her house. She wouldn’t hear of either of us helping her, she is so adamant that she can manage for herself, and I actually believe she can.

We drove home via M&S to get something for our lunch and we challenged ourselves in Wordle. I thought it was a goner when I realised there wasn’t a vowel in the grid! I suppose that’s not really true because there was a ‘Y’ in it and that sometimes takes the place of a vowel. Still, it was a strange grid that eventually formed although it was a common enough word that appeared.

After Wordle and its extras, and after lunch I was toying with the idea of going for a walk in St Mo’s, but then Scamp told me it was raining. I didn’t want to get the 24-105mm lens wet so I gave in eventually and took a few shots from the open back door. I also took the inside shot you can see here. It’s a couple of dried cut flowers in an old vase I like from the cupboard. That was the PoD sorted.

We watched a film Scamp had recorded about the dangers of allowing AI to control what’s happening in hospitals. Although it was based on situations in the US, it could possibly get a toe hold here too. Very thought provoking.

Tomorrow I may get my hair cut. It’s not quite a ‘Pure Affro’ yet, but it’s heading in that direction. While my locks are being shorn, Scamp ma be looking for a new pair of sandals. Then, if there’s enough time, she might buy herself a pair of dance shoes.

Garden Flowers and shopping – 13 April 2026

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Too many showers to risk going out anywhere  to take photos.

Instead we drove to Stirling to do some shopping. On the way there, we passed a few warning signs of imminent road closures beginning today. No reason given, but I’m sure it would be “Essential Maintenance”, it always is. Three months of this on the M80 was what we were told we’d have to look forward to. Oh what fun.

When we turned off to go into Stirling town we had to suffer more roadworks. Thankfully we were, going IN to Stirling. The queue on the other side of the road coming out of the town was much, much longer. I think we’ll try to avoid Stirling for a few months.

We got parked in Waitrose car park quite easily for a change and we filled our trolley nearly to overflowing, but not quite. As usual we bought lots more stuff than we really need, but it’s a comfortable place to “go for the messages in”. Our small Tesco doesn’t have a great selection and if we go to the big Tesco at the town centre it’s always mobbed. Anyway, we got what we wanted and drove home by avoiding the Three Way Traffic Signals and instead drove through the outskirts of Stirling, heading roughly north and then joined the southbound carriageway of the M80 and got home in half the time. Wild weather again with heavy rain. It didn’t feel like April at all.

The rain was on and off most of the rest of the day. I did manage to get a few shots when the sun was shining and my favourite was a deep purple Hellebore called Viv Mirabella. It has been flowering all through the winter and into spring without showing any signs of stopping any time soon.

Not much to say about the rest of the day. We went to Stirling. We went for the messages. It rained. There, that about sums up Monday for us.

Under the weather – 10 April 2026

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I wasn’t feeling great this morning.

I’d been feeling a bit sick last night and thought I was better today, but an upset stomach told me that I wasn’t all that good. Scamp was meeting Shona for lunch and a blether around midday, but I stayed home, not wanting to pass my dodgy tum on to someone else. The usual copious amounts of tea and toast wasn’t making things any easier, but at least the sick feeling had disappeared.

It seemed a waste to just sit there drinking tea, so I dug out my new potato pot and planted another three potatoes. Most of the work is done for you with these fancy planting pots, so I wrote a label for the pot and went back into the house. A bitter wind had appeared from nowhere and I didn’t want to linger outside, so I came in and read for a while.

I had a wander around the front garden after that and noticed a bee on one of the Snake’s Head Fritillaries that Scamp had planted last spring. This was the first bee I’d seen in the garden this year, so I grabbed my camera and got its photo. I’m still not sure what kind of bee but Mr Google insists it’s a Common Carder Bee (Bombus pascuorum) I’ll take his word for it. Itseemed quite interested in a few of the flowers in the front garden before buzzing off to tell all of its Carder Bee pals where the good flowers were. The place will be buzzing with them tomorrow. I must be feeling better tonight because the jokes are getting worse.

When Scamp returned she made a lovely dinner with Cod, mashed potatoes and cheese sauce. It was excellent.

In the evening we sat and watched Gardeners World. Not a program I often watch, but this one was particularly interesting with lots of good advice.

I’m off to bed now because Scamp thinks I need the rest. PoD did turn out to be the Carder Bee.

We may go dancing tomorrow if my stomach will take it!

Happy Birthday to me – 8 April 2026

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I had a lovely day today, waited on hand and foot.

Breakfast in bed and lots of cards and prezzies to open, of course, it was my birthday.

Scamp said she was well enough to go in to Glasgow, to Mowgli, a restaurant we found because it looked interesting, almost three years ago. I’d asked for it as my birthday prezzy and Scamp had booked it.

We drove to Croy in the morning and took the train in to Glasgow, after leaving the car in the furthest place in the car park, because there were very few other spaces available. I’d wondered about having a coffee in Glasgow, but Scamp said we didn’t have enough time to search out a Nero and I agreed. Instead we went for one more walk to look at the old Union Street building. It’s still as scary as ever, just thinking about what it could have been like without the work of the fire fighters. It never ceases to amaze me that nobody was killed.

We walked round the boxes that make up the streets in that area of Glasgow and eventually went in to Mowgli. I can’t remember what I had, but I’m sure Scamp will have a note of it somewhere. Since it was my birthday, I asked for the swinging seats. Wooden seats without cushions suspended from the ceiling by ropes. Just a bit of fun. The food was good and I really enjoyed it all, but I ate too much, in fact I can still feel a bit stuffed, hours after we finished our meals. I liked the fact that I had an Old Fashioned (whisky) and a chocolate brownie with ice cream, free because it was my birthday. It was a great meal, just as good as the last time, I can recommend it to you, the next time you’re up our way.

We walked up to Sauchiehall Street when we were done and I got the book, Hazy. Ink& Sigil in Waterstones. I think I’m well stocked up with books now and I’ve still got a book token to spend when I’ve finished this lot.

Scamp drove us back to the house because she hadn’t been drinking anything alcoholic and I had a snooze on the couch! Too much of everything, but that’s what birthdays are for!

Thank you all for making my birthday great. I don’t deserve you lot, but I’m glad you’re there.

PoD was a grab shot of a branch of blossom I took when we got off the train in Croy.

Tomorrow we’re out in the morning and it’s back to “Auld Claes and Purrich”

A cold bright day – 6 April 2026

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In the morning, the sun was shining. Such a difference from yesterday!

We weren’t going anywhere and Scamp wanted to plant some more flower seeds. She did mention that it would be good to have a tool to press the seeds into the soil, and I took this as a request.

I dug out my old panel saw, a Sandvik that I’d bought when I was at college, more years ago than I care to remember. I measured up a piece of plywood and also measured the size of the tray I was going to need for the job. I was originally going to work outside, because the sun was warming the place up, but rather than keep going into the house for a plane and sandpaper then a pencil, it made more sense to just set up my old trusty Workmate in the back bedroom and work there. About an hour later I had the tool Scamp was asking for. Originally I was intending to screw a handle on to it, but realistically, some Araldite adhesive did a better and quicker job. Of course I had to tidy up the room afterwards, but the hoover made that easy. I hope it suits the purpose and I think it will.

After lunch I was going to check for updates on Flickr but I kept getting the same message that Firefox can’t connect to the server at flickr.com.
I remembered having the same message on my old iMac and fixing it by loading up an old Flickr photo from way back and that seemed to clear it. That same trick seemed to work again.

The foregoing is just a reminder to self if I need to fix this in the future

Later in the afternoon I went for a walk and saw a young deer on the path round St Mo’s. I hadn’t seen any deer in the woods for a couple of years and thought they must have moved on to somewhere less open, but there it was, walking along the path quite blithely. I got a few photos of it, but it was too well camouflaged and too far away by the time I caught a clear glimpse of it to get a decent photo. I’ll keep my eyes open for it returning in the next few days.

PoD is a bunch of bright yellow Goat Willow catkins that caught my eye.

Dinner tonight was Pasta with some Chicken and Mushroom. Usually Scamp makes it, but mine was a decent copy.

Tomorrow I’m hoping to meet up with Alex in Glasgow to see what he’s been up to in the past weeks.

Out to lunch – 3 April 2026

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Today Scamp and Shona met Isobel for a chat and a coffee. I stayed out of the way!

I met Scamp and Shona for lunch just after midday, at a new restaurant in Cumbersheugh, Bellissimo.
Scamp had Mussels for a starter and Seabass with Lemon sauce and mixed veg.
Shona had Italian Meatballs as a starter, with a main of Pollo Milanese.
My starter was Seasoned chicken strips in batter and my main was Penne Arrabiata.
All in all, a good meal although the food was slow in coming. We’d give it another shot, especially as our old faithful, Brodens is now gone.
We dropped Shona off at the Lidl store in the north of the town and then we drove home.

I took my Sony 24-105mm lens and the A7c out for a walk later in the afternoon. Gusty winds made photographing difficult, but not impossible. One of my favourite shots, a Horse Chestnut leaf just about to burst open, got PoD. It was another cold day and that gusty wind didn’t help.

Tomorrow we’re hoping to go to Edinburgh, but there have been a lot of high wind warnings in place, so we’ll check the weather before we make any rash decisions tomorrow morning.

Spending money – 31 March 2026

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At least it was money I was spending this time.

I’d had two lenses break down on me recently. One lens I’d been using almost solely and another older lens that had a limited range, but which produced lovely clear photos.Two within a week. I couldn’t believe it. I think I read every article that existed, trying to find a solution but couldn’t find anyone who would admit to having the same problem as me. I thought I could just run them until they completely failed, but then realise that would be damaging the cameras too, so I stopped using them and fell back on another pair of older, but solidly performing lenses for a while. But they weren’t the same as the two broken down lenses. The final straw that broke my camel’s back was when I took one of the lenses to a reputable repair company in Glasgow and was told how much it would cost to repair it.

Today I paid for one new lens. It’s exactly the same make and model as the one that failed me but this time I have a 2 year warranty and a guarantee from John Lewis that covers me for accidental damage. I hope I never have to use it.

Alex was the first person I’d heard talk about Buyers Remorse. The feeling, just as you leave the shop or when you remove your credit card from the machine, that you’ve made a mistake. We’ve all felt it at one time or another, but for some reason the feeling wasn’t there this morning. Scamp had run me to the train station. I was intending to go to JL to see if they had the lens and even if they did have it, I’d have a try with it. Even if I liked what I saw, I’d still walk up the hill to WEX to compare it with the one I knew they had. But I didn’t do that either. I just checked there were no scratches on the metal mount, no fingerprints on the lens glass and bought it there and then. It was mine. Even more was what the tech guy in the repair shop had said. “Don’t buy second hand. It’s false economy.” He was right.

The PoD was one of the first shots I took with the lens today. Looking through the front blossoms to focus out the flowers and then to have the blurred image of the flowers behind. It worked exactly like I planned it.

Tomorrow I may get Buyer’s Remorse tomorrow, more than likely I will, but it will disappear.

Scamp is intending to go to a ‘Witches’ lunch tomorrow and I may go and take some photos.