Category: Flowers

Dancin’ – 14 May 2026

Posted on by Zogman

Looking for windscreen wipers unsuccessfully this morning.

I was out fairly early and drove over to Halfords for a pair of much needed windscreen wipers. “Yes sir, we have that size in stock”. First problem was that their tablet that allows you to check the wipers if you know your reg number wasn’t working. That meant I had to work through all the wiper boxes only to find that one I needed was empty. “Ah, I think we have one in the back shop.” He didn’t. His boss appeared and looked at the empty rack and then tried raking through the boxes on either side of it to no avail. “We do have this stainless steel version. It’s blah blah blah …” I asked him what the price difference was and he said with a smile “It’s twice the price of the one you’re looking for, but it’s stainless steel.” I didn’t buy it, nor did I buy the other two blades they did have. Moral: Don’t buy from Halfords!

Drove home and had just enough time for a banana sandwich before driving to Glenburn for a very empty looking Tea Dance hoping it wouldn’t rain! Apparently, some of the regulars were on child minding duty and some were on holiday. A few folk did trickle in after the first dance was called and eventually the floor filled up. Stewart played his usual selection of merry melodies and Scamp and I managed to struggle through the sequence dances. We left a bit early to avoid the worst of the queues from schools finishing and also from office workers leaving early.

I had intended going out for a walk after we got home, but those scattered showers the weather fairies keep talking about were upon us again, so today’s PoD was a Rhododendron called “Golden Torch” from the garden, an old favourite.

Don’t know what we’re doing tomorrow. Maybe looking for windscreen wipers (not Stainless Steel ones!)

 

One of those days … – 12 May 2026

Posted on by Zogman

… when you feel your feet are spinning and you’re getting nowhere. That was today.

In the morning, I drove over to Larky to pick up my new computer glasses. They weren’t high tech ones, just much more comfortable for working on laptops and desktops without being too close or too far away. Goldilocks glasses, in other words. That was the morning dealt with.

Next was a quick lunch followed then a change of clothes into something more suitable, to drive over to the funeral parlour. We wanted to listen to what the the funeral arranger had to say. Neither Scamp nor I had much to add to the discussion, we were just there for Shona. When we came away an hour later we had a much better idea of what was going to happen.

To allow everyone to talk about the decisions that were made, we went for a cup of tea in a local pub. That allowed us to breath more easily and to compare all our thoughts on the last hour. There is so much to discuss and so many questions. I’m sure we’ll have even more in the coming weeks. The funeral arranger had been very good and didn’t pressurise anyone into making a hasty decision, which was good.

After the discussion group broke up, two driving to Warrington, one going home and us returning to ‘the real world’ and heading to Tesco for The Messages!

Back home, it was my turn to make the dinner which was to be Cod and Prawns with Fennel and White Wine. It sounds very grand, but is a fairly easy dinner to make as long as you plan well ahead, which I rarely do.

PoD today was a flower by the wayside.

Now I’m intending to do two sketches (one for yesterday and one for today) and finish the blog. Wish me luck.

Dentist – 11 May 2026

Posted on by Zogman

I had an appointment with the dentist this morning.

Thankfully it was a painless one. One gentle scrub with the dental grinding wheel to take the roughness off one of my front teeth and I was done until nearly the end of the year. No fillings today mum!

Back in time for lunch, then an almighty struggle with MacOS and Microsoft to transfer half a dozen photos from Mac to a Microsoft computer. Eventually I managed it by copying the Mac OS file on to an old SD card formatted to MS-DOS (FAT32) the lowest version that works with Mac OS and Microsoft. Why do different operating systems have to be so bloody minded.
The files copied easily to the SD card and transferred to the Microsoft computer.

I went out for a walk after that. Just one circuit of St Mo’s, but failed to find anything interesting for PoD. That went to a photo from the garden of a Dodecathon ‘Shooting Star’. A beautiful short lived flower whose origin is in the US, but which grows well in the UK and comes back every year (So far!).

We were dancing in Kirsty’s class this evening, our first time in about three weeks. Tonight it was Foxtrot which she had chopped into three parts. We managed to complete part one tonight with the possibility of more next week.

We’ve some family business tomorrow, but other than that, our dance card if empty.

In Larky for the day – 7 May 2026

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I was driving over to Larky today to get my eyes tested.

It’s an annual eye test and the results from it were fairly satisfactory. A little bit of change in my eyes, but nothing I needed to worry about. I’ve been going to Euan for years now and to his father before him. It’s a family business and that’s one of the reasons we keep going back.

After I came out into the sunlight, I wished I’d brought my sunglasses. It’s the one thing I always forget when I go for an eye test. Luckily Scamp was on hand to drive us up to Crawford and Nancy’s for coffee and cake. Imogen was there too, but was happier to go and watch cartoons on tv than to stay and listen to the adults droning on. We sat and discussed C&N’s recent cruise, and Yes, I envied them. They had intended to go to Cyprus and had almost finalised the cruise when Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu decided to mess things up. Luckily Crawford managed to get a change of destination … just in case!

After catching up we drove back to Cumbersheugh for what turned out to be dinner. The first Paella I’ve made for a long time. Maybe the first one this year! It actually tasted a whole lot better than I thought it would and there were no left-overs once we were finished

PoD was a grab shot of a collection of Pansies that had self-seeded from last year’s flowers. A lot of them had been chewed by something small and with sharp teeth, probably a hungry insect.

Tomorrow I’m hoping to meet Alex for a blether and maybe a spot of lunch.

A busy day – 6May 2026

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A sad day too

Scamp was out at the dentist in the morning for her six month checkup then after a quick lunch we drove over to Falkirk for the funeral of a friend and workmate who had passed away recently. She met a couple of work colleagues after the service, but didn’t stay for the tea afterwards. Instead we drove home and dropped another of her colleagues off near her home. When we got home, there was a box of flowers on our doorstep from my brother. What a thoughtful thing to do on a day like today.

The sun had been shining all day and it didn’t let us down in the late afternoon. I went for a walk with a couple of lenses in my new bag. Just a walk over to St Mo’s, not expecting much. Then I spotted a wee fly sitting on top of a wild iris spike, and after three or four shots I had a potential PoD.

I walked over the hill and through the trees on a path that would take me to the new(ish) retail park. Brought back a few things including an enormous slab pizza. I had my doubts about it at a knock-down price, but it was actually a lovely soft dinner. I’d buy one again.

Back home I sketched a fairly representative single decker bus, the prompt being “A means of public transportation.” A nice easy sketch, especially if there is no paint involved. That is planned for next week!

Tomorrow I’m off to see the optician for my annual checkup. Well, if Scamp can survive the dentist’s probing, surely I can manage to find time for the optician.

Covid Jag – 5 May 2026

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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.