Category: Flowers

Just the two of us – 22 March 2025

Posted on by Zogman

Today was Saturday which usually means we are on our way to Brookfield for dance class, but not today.

In the morning, Scamp’s sister was getting a taxi to Glasgow to catch the bus back home to Skye. About a six hour journey. We said goodbye to her and thanked her for coming, then it was just the two of us. The house seemed awfully empty after she had gone.

Not long after she left, a knock at the door signalled the postman bringing a parcel addressed to Scamp. A parcel that mysteriously disappeared almost as it left the postman’s hands. That’s a clever trick, I thought! Not long afterwards, the same postman returned with a long cardboard box, also addressed to Scamp. This one didn’t perform the previous trick. It was a box of flowers for Scamp. She unpacked it carefully and put them in water in a vase in the living room. Some flowers from my brother and his wife for us with a note. Thank you, Alex and Carol. That was very thoughtful.

I went out for a walk later just to clear my head and maybe get some photos. Some workmen had cut up the fallen trees from about a month ago an cleared a path round the pond. That made access a lot easier. I got a PoD almost right away. It’s a Flowering Currant. Its deep pink flowers are another sign of spring.

I was feeling a bit more human today. Not coughing quite as much, but just feeling drained. In the afternoon we watched the Chinese F1 GP, but I wasn’t really interested in it. Just cars going round in circles, really.

Scamp encouraged me to go out for a walk to the shops with her later and although I wasn’t feeling like another walk, I did agree to go, but grumpily. But only as I’m writing this did I realise I’d forgotten to get the crunchy peanut butter for my porridge. I must remember to get some tomorrow. I’m addicted to it now!

We got some rain today. It must be almost a month since the last time it rained. Such a strange thing to say in Scotland. The garden definitely needed it. I think we’re due some more for the rest of the week. That will please Scamp!

Apart from peanut butter, nothing planned for tomorrow!

I think that was summer! – 19 March 2025

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A beautiful morning with sun streaming in the window.

It did just entice me to get up, but one look out the window confirmed my suspicion that there was ice on the birdbath. Too cold for an early morning walk. I keep thinking I should get up early and go for a walk, an take some photos, but I never really get round to it.

After breakfast I drove Scamp and Jackie over to The Fort and set them loose on that big avenue of retail therapy. I drove home. I thought I might drive up to Fannyside to get some landscapes, but instead, I dug out Scamp’s kneeling device and tried to make myself comfortable, stuck between the bins, but couldn’t settle. So it was back to the old trusted fold down canvas seat.

Strangely, tucked between the bins, I was almost invisible to folk passing by. I sat there for almost an hour with my new book “Paperboy”, written in broad Glaswegian. After that I made myself a cup of coffee and returned to the bins … and the book.

Eventually I had to stretch my legs and go for a walk into St Mo’s. Only managed one decent photo, but I liked it. A Coltsfoot Daisy. That was my dad’s favourite wild flower.

When Scamp and Jackie returned, I volunteered to walk over to Golden Bowl for tonight’s dinner Chicken Chow Mein for two and Chicken Chop Suey with fried rice for Scamp.

Tomorrow there may not be a blog post. We’ll see how things work out.

 

A walk in the park – 11 March 2025

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The furthest we went today was a walk to the shops.

Another bright sunny day to start with, then the sun disappeared for a while and it looked like it would rain. However, the rain didn’t arrive and the sun shone again. All the time the cold north wind was chilling us. That was the end of the weather forecast.

We did go for a walk to the shops looking for something for dinner. Actually, we’d already agreed on fish risotto for dinner it was just the need for some spinach, blueberries and creme fraiche that brought us out of the house and down to the shops.

Halfway home, as is usual now, I went for a walk round the pond while Scamp took the messages home. Not a lot to report on the wildfowl though. A few Tufted Ducks and the usual hoards of Mallards. There had been a few Canada Geese last week, but they had just been passing the time on their way north again. Even the frogs and toads had left. I found some Coltsfoot Daisies, but none of the images were worth keeping. In the morning I photographed a vase of cut flowers backlit with the sunlight streaming in the window. That nearly got PoD, but was pipped at the post by a photo of a Horse Chestnut bud just about ready to burst free from the sticky scales that protect them from insect attack.

The Fish Risotto was a bit of a disappointment, I felt. Too much full fat milk in the mix, I think. It was still edible, but not as good as I’d have liked.

That was about it for the day, except Scamp has booked us for a run down south later in the year.  Let’s hope LNER are better resourced than they were at Christmas.

Tomorrow I’m hoping to meet Alex for the first photo walk in ages. No idea where we’ll go.

A walk in the park – 6 March 2025

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We woke to a misty, almost foggy day.

Jackie was travelling up to Skye on the morning bus. We waved her off as she got in the taxi that would take her to Glasgow on the first leg of the journey. The second leg was a six or seven hour journey on the bus from Glasgow to Portree on Skye where Murdo would be waiting to take her on the last leg to Staffin. A few days later she was intending to do the whole thing again in reverse to return to Cumbersheugh.

With a morning and part of an afternoon to fill, I was pleasantly surprised when Scamp suggested we go over to Kilsyth for a walk in the sunshine that had appeared just as Jackie was getting in the taxi. We drove over to Colzium estate and that’s where I saw a single white crocus flower among the miniature daffodils. Just one, though, but it was shining brightly in the sun. That became PoD. We walked our usual path round what had been the driveway to the “Big House”, and then onward into the trees. This was the first time we’d walked in Colzium and there were a lot of torn up trees courtesy of the storms last month, or was it two? Anyway, a shorter than normal circuit took us to the coffee shop that, conveniently, was just opening. After coffee we walked back to the car and drove home.

Just enough time for a quick spot of lunch and then we had to get a bit better dressed for a meeting with the Co-op funeral office where we had a meeting with a funeral director. Paul, Margaret, Shona, Scamp and I were present at a rather disjointed meeting where it appeared the lady who was dealing with us had to also speak to a constant stream of other customers. Not the most professional way to treat people who are already stressed and upset. However, I was not running this show and had little to do, but on two separate occasions we had a thirty minute hiatus while someone somewhere talked to someone else.

The upshot was that a firm date for the funeral was agreed and all the papers were duly signed by Paul who was the senior member of the family today. We left after about two hours and went for a quick coffee and a discussion with tasks being allocated to willing parties.

Drove home and dropped people off as we went. Finally got home and parked. Dinner was Paella and it was a good one this time. It isn’t always so good.

Tomorrow we’re hoping for a more restful day.

It was one of those days – 23 February 2025

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A day where the rain just never stopped falling.

Even when the gale force winds calmed down, the rain kept falling. A day when it would have been foolish to go out in the rain. But sometimes you just have to do what you have to do. I went out into the garden to photograph a clump of crocuses. Purple and yellow ones. They seem to grow well under the apple tree in the back garden. I did actually wait for a break in the showers and the wind before I attempted to photograph the flowers with their raindrops. Then after having taken just three frames, I retired to the safety of the house before the next shower and the next gale made landfall. The crocuses made PoD.

And that was it, really. The gales gradually calmed down and the rain showers became less fierce then for a short time the sun appeared and shone on us, but that didn’t last long. Now, as I’m writing this, the wind is strengthening again, but the rain has gone to annoy other folk for a while.

I had a Picanha steak for dinner. I hadn’t heard of it before a year or two ago, but now it’s becoming quite popular although M&S is the only place I’ve seen it recently. It seems to be a cut that has gained a following with barbecue chefs. I just pan fried mine with some mushrooms and fried potatoes. Scamp had a couple of Sea bass fillets with fried potatoes.

Spoke to Jamie later and heard about Vixen’s laser therapy and a swim to keep her muscles in trim. Good to hear that Simonne is starting to progress with her running.

Tomorrow we are expecting to attend an on-line funeral for Clive.

Dancin’ – 20 February 2025

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Out shopping in the morning and dancing in the afternoon’

Sometimes, life is one big whirl!

Out in the morning to get my meds for the next couple of months and then I did some light shopping for lunch today and tomorrow. By the time I got back it was time to get ready for the Tea Dance.

Long, long tailbacks on the M77 which looked like it had been turned into a giant carpark for the day, and it was raining! It had been blue skies when we left the house, but the weather has been very changeable for the last few days. By the time we were taking the slip road off to Paisley, the congestion was easing an it looked like there had been a crash just a few hundred metres from our turn off. The rest of the journey to Glenburn was without incident and we were just a few minutes late.

Usual mix of waltz, jive and rumba with a few sequence dances to lighten the day. Then S&J announced that we were getting a short waltz lesson, the New Vogue Waltz. It wasn’t totally new to us, but it was a long time since we first learned it (November 2021 I’m told) at Perth. We we were almost total newbies, then. It wasn’t too bad and danced as a sequence dance you usually have someone in front of you to act as a guide to the steps. I’d say it was danceable, and certainly better than the overly complicated “October Waltz”. I think we might be introduced to the New Vogue Waltz on Saturday if all is well.

We left just after 3pm to avoid the school runs and I made a few bad decisions like taking the Kingston Bridge rather than the longer but less congested M74/M73 route. You win some and lose some. Torrential rain showers on the way home didn’t help much either.

I suggested we get some chicken thighs and make a Chicken & Pea Traybake for dinner and the suggestion was accepted. I waited until the rain had almost disappeared before I walked over to M&S. By the time I got there the sun was shining brightly and I cursed my stupidity to not bring a camera.

The traybake takes a while to cook, but as the oven is doing all the heavy lifting, it’s not a great hardship. It turned out just as good as every other time I’ve made it, and there are not a lot of recipes I can say that about.

Because I’d left the camera at home, I had nothing for PoD until I spied a pretty spray of pink carnations on the piano. A box and a paint can balanced on a stool provided a support for a jar of pencils and the carnations stood a decent distance away from an A2 drawing sheet pinned to the wall. Camera on a tripod and the PoD photo was taken. I quite like the result. Not perfect, but worth another try some time.

Tomorrow Scamp is intending going to FitSteps and I’m hoping to work out why the iPhone won’t accept one of my most used email addresses.

Snow and an Anniversary – 17 February 2025

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In the morning there was snow, but it didn’t lie for long before the snow turned to rain.

It was one of those days when the weather couldn’t decide what to do for the best. First it decided that today was to be a snowy day with fairly thick flakes coming down. Then it chose to change its mind and make the snow disappear, before thinking again and returning to the snowy theme. On and off, it went all morning until eventually snow was cancelled and just plain dull was the choice for the day. Then it rained, of course.

We didn’t do much today. We drove over to Tesco to get Scamp’s meds and a few bits and pieces for lunch and dinner.

After some discussion we decided that we’d go dancing in the early evening and spent a fairly useful hour trying to work out how we were going to dance the Foxtrot. Would we choose style 1 where we would do part one and then repeat that pattern.
Or would we choose style 2 where we would start with part one and then add on part two before returning to part one and repeating the entire routine.

To be honest, I was completely lost. Style 1 I could understand and I could almost manage style 2, but neither of them seemed to allow us to move round the dance floor and it looked to me as if we were simply dancing a routine on the same area of the floor all the time. I was confused … Dot Com. I don’t think this was one of Kirsty’s more thought out routines.

We drove home after the class and had Giovanni Rana pasta with some fancy out of date mushrooms on the side. Neither of us liked the mushrooms very much and they more or less stayed ‘on the side’.

We did scoff a couple of half bottles of wine while we watched Mastermind and University Challenge, shouting out the occasional answer now and again.

It was our 52nd wedding anniversary today and we were allowed to do those things without fear or favour.

PoD was a picture of a Christmas Rose from the garden, looking a bit battered and bruised by the wild weather, but still flowering nicely.

Tomorrow I’m hoping to meet Charlie and maybe another couple of folk I haven’t seen for about forty years! Perhaps I should wear a red carnation!

I saw the sun – 13 February 2025

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Not for long, but it was there! A nice bit of sunshine in the morning.

The big deal of the day was we went for lunch. We drove over to The Smiddy near Blair Drummond Safari Park. No monkey business, we just walked in and got a window seat. Mac and Cheese with a portion of chips for Scamp and Venison and Mash for me. Mine was delicious, but Scamp’s was a bit dry and stodgy although the chips made it almost worth while.

I got a few photos of the scenery around the restaurant, but they were disappointing when I saw them at home. Instead, a low level view of a couple of snowdrops got PoD.

We dropped in at Dobbie’s on the way home and picked up a few things, seeds and live plants in plugs and in their next-door neighbour, Lakeland, a cake tin liner. We had a look at an air fryer, but left without one. Too clumsy, too big and no real need for one. Our thoughts might change, but not for a while.

I made some Butternut Squash soup yesterday and today I blitzed it and we had a couple of bowls full for dinner tonight. It was ok. Nothing special, but the slices of rhubarb pie we had as a dessert were lovely.

It was good to see some sunshine today, just a pity it couldn’t stay very long. Maybe we’ll get a couple of hours of brightness tomorrow, but that will be all, according to the weather forecast on my phone.

Scamp is intending to go to FitSteps tomorrow and I might meet her afterwards for coffee with Isobel.

Another cold day – 12 February 2025

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Another day when we didn’t venture far.

We did walk down to the shops to get some things for dinner, potatoes and bread and stuff. Oh yes, and a bag of jam doughnuts too! First ones I’ve had in ages.

We had spotted the wee yellow crocus just below the front window. Looking a bit bedraggled now, it had survived all the storms and came up smiling and yellow. Today Scamp noticed it had company. An even smaller crocus beside it. Both of them are of the species ‘Dorothy’. Bright yellow with a bronze stripe. Pity there hasn’t been very much sun to encourage them to open up properly.

One of the things we got at the shops was a Butternut Squash. I’d meant to get one a day or two ago and completely forgot. It’s been cooked now and is waiting to be blitzed into soup, probably tomorrow. The main dinner tonight was Fish ’n’ Chips and they were delicious.

In addition, she also made a Rhubarb Pie. Lovely crumbly pastry with sharp, but not sour rhubarb. One quarter disappeared almost immediately, but there’s plenty more for tomorrow, all being well!

That was about all there was to say about today. No walk today. Too dull and cold. No point in putting yourself through that when you have a couple of pretty crocuses in the garden to photograph and make PoD.

No plan for tomorrow as yet.