Category: Flowers

Dancin’ – 25 August 2022

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Tea dance. The first one in ages.

An accident on the M8 set us back by at least 20mins on our way to the first tea dance in at least a couple of months. We shouldn’t have complained, the poor soul(s) in the badly bashed red car on the hard shoulder were having a far worse day than us.

We drove on and ignored the route the sat nav was giving us and instead we forged our own route, one the sat nav had given us months ago. Why it changed its mind on the best route to the outskirts of Paisley is anyone’s guess. It was a good day for a drive round the motorways of Glasgow, even if some idiot towing a caravan almost forced us off the road. Some folk don’t realise that sitting a driving test before you take a car on the road is not an option, it’s the law. Maybe he just forgot he was towing a massive big white brick behind him. Maybe he was a moron. Probably all three.

We danced a decent waltz today, especially as it’s been so long since we’ve danced among so many people. Yes, we danced on the cruise, but that was in a tiny little elliptical floor. No room to show off our catalog of mistakes. Today we had the whole room to impress with our footwork. We even managed a reasonable Social Foxtrot as well, but we did stumble a bit in the rumba. More practise needed there to smarten up the routine. Lots of sequence dances in between and most of them I got right.

We left early to try to avoid the traffic on the Kingston Bridge. Scamp thought the traffic was lighter than yesterday, but I’m not so sure. In retrospect, I should have taken the M74 rather than the M8. Short term pain for long term gain.

I went for a walk in St Mo’s later and found a compliant dragonfly that sat very patiently for me to get some ‘head on’ shots of it. It almost feels like dragonflies, and damselflies too, are studying you while you’re studying them. The head to head shot got PoD, but a close second was a little hoverfly pretending it was a bee on a wild Scabious flower. The wee thing was completely covered in pollen and you could actually see the pollen on the stamens of the flower. That’s how pollination works and that’s why we need insects, even if some of them are a bit of a pain, literally!

One of Scamp’s specialities for dinner today, Potatoes with Cabbage and Bacon. Scamp going for the vegetarian version without the bacon. It’s one of those meals that doesn’t sound as if it works, but it does.

Tomorrow, Scamp is heading for her FitSteps class. I’ve got a couple of phone calls to make.

A dull day – 23 August 2022

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As we stroll into autumn, the temperature appears to drop significantly.

Having said that, it was warmer outside than it was in the house today. But oh what a dull day. From when we woke it seemed to grow darker and darker. Eventually Scamp said we should get up before it got too dark.

By lunchtime the day had lightened a bit, but it didn’t brighten up much more after that. There were occasional spells of sunshine, but they were few and far between. I wasn’t at my brightest either today, finding something wrong with almost everything. Even after I found that I’d achieved an ‘Explore’ in Flickr for my loaf picture, I just grumbled that there was nothing special with the photo and why was it chosen for the ultimate Flickr accolade?

I did manage to get a PoD. It was a Echinacea from the front garden. It’s a bit faked, because some of its petals had been chewed and I replaced them with other ones, but you’d have to be very picky to find which ones were replaced. We really thought these cone flowers were annuals and were surprised when they produced new flower heads in the early summer. They’re still flowering well now that it’s almost autumn.

Dinner for me was tea and toast tonight, because my stomach was a bit upset. I think it might have been a slightly sour and very dry Victoria plum I had in the afternoon, but it prevented me from cooking pasta tonight. Scamp chose to have a baked potato instead.

Tomorrow looks like the best day of the week if the weather fairies have it right. We may go out for a run somewhere. It will give us a chance to buy some of the cut-price petrol that’s appeared in the pumps, perhaps.

Happy Birthday Jamie – 16 August 2022

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Second day in his new job and it’s his birthday too!

We did another test this morning, just to get an idea of progress, or not. Mine was immediately obviously positive, but Scamp’s test wasn’t quite so conclusive with a light red line that grew a bit darker as the fifteen minutes passed, but we both agreed it was still positive.

Not a lot to do today. It rained on and off all day. Lighter rain this time and with occasional dry spells. I nipped out for the chance to take a few photos in between showers.

Had a word with Jamie in the evening and he sounded happy enough with his new position. He seems to know what is required of him and is up for it. We never doubted that he would be.

Nothing more to say about things other than almost up to date with Flickr posts and also with blog posts.

Cabin Fever – 15 August 2022

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Cabin Fever was setting in. I can’t stay cooped up for long.

It had been a wild night, with more thunder and lightning during the night. Also a lot more rain. Torrential rain that came along with the thunderstorm, but also just sheets of straight-down rain that soaked the gardens and grass. That was the kind of rain we needed. The torrential rain just runs off the hard baked ground, but it’s the gentler rain that soaks down into the roots of the plants and trees and that’s what the roots will soak up.

In the afternoon I decided it was calm enough to risk a short walk round St Mo’s. A chance to see what difference the change in the weather had made. There were slugs and snails everywhere. It looked like they were having a party. I suppose slugs especially dehydrate in the heat and so need to get out into the wet to absorb the water into their bodies. Snails can survive for longer by retreating into their shells. I’d taken a camera of course and my PoD was a little Scabious flower with pink among the blue petals. Also, as it was still raining, there were some water drops to add some fine detail. Everything seemed to shine in the sunshine through the rain. I felt better for that short walk.

Still feeling tired and the cough is still there, but Scamp is a looking and feeling a lot better. We’ve agreed to do another test tomorrow.

Busy, Busy, Busy – 3 August 2022

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I easily completed my 10,000 steps today!

The morning was the best bit, but the worst weather. Just plain dull, but we sat and read and puzzled for a couple of hours.

After lunch we walked over to Condorrat to post a birthday card. Scamp didn’t want a walk round St Mo’s because she had lots to do, and so had I, so we came home and moved some stuff around. Removed some things an added in other things. You’ve all been there. You’ve all had that last minute, or last hour, or last day rush. Finally we decided we’d got as much done as we could.

Scamp settled to watch the athletics at the Commonwealth Games and I took the Sony and the new lens for a walk in St Mo’s, just as the sun broke through the clouds and there was blue sky up there too. Unfortunately there was very little doing on the insect front, maybe because of the strong wind, and I thought I was going to come home empty handed, but then I spotted a couple of Honeysuckle flowers just starting to bloom and got a nice contrast between the magenta red of the flowers and the bright green of the background. The day was saved.

After dinner, more finessing of the bags and making real last minute adjustments. Making sure all the paperwork was correct and eventually the padlocks went on. What we don’t have, we’ll need to do without.

PoD went to the Honeysuckle twins.

Don’t know what tomorrow will bring, it’s certain to bring it early!

Hair raising – 26 July 2022

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Scamp was out this morning to get her hair cut.

I did offer her my services with the number 4 cutter on top and the number 3 cutter on the sides and back, but she refused. It would have been cheaper and quicker than having it done at a salon with the added benefit of not needing it done again until it had grown in. Ok, I’m not a trained stylist, but the difference between a bad haircut and a good one is just two weeks.

While she was out I used the plastic to get me a new lens. This one looks as if it will be quite versatile. I know you’re all waiting to hear all about it, but all I’m going to say is it’s a Sony 10-18mm ultra wide angle that has the benefits of being constant aperture and also having OIS built in. I knew it would impress you and it was a steal at £1100.

When Scamp returned looking more beautiful than I thought she could, we had lunch which was a pot of yoghurt each because there wasn’t really any useable bread, especially after I’d paid all that money for a lens.

We both wanted to go for a walk and I suggested Colzium. It’s been a long time since we’ve been there and there’s always something new to see. We parked beside the old cafe at the Curling Pond. The cafe closed down about fifteen years ago, never to open again. I didn’t want to park where the tourists go on the other side of the pond because it’s so easy to lose your car in the potholes over there. I often wonder how many folk have broken a spring in them.

We walked up the steps to the big house, went left and followed the road round and down to the new cafe in the museum. Unfortunately their card machine was out of order, but luckily Scamp had a nice new tenner in the little purse she takes with her on walks. That paid for two coffees and a packet of shortbread. How’s your shortbread coming along, Jamie? We’d intended to walk round the walled garden before heading back to the car, but forgot, at least, I forgot anyway.

When we were walking over the bridge that crosses the wee burn, I spotted a twig with two Sycamore keys on it, the little seed pods that twirl round like miniature helicopters from the trees. I took a few photos of them and one of those shots made PoD. We walked down the drive and round to the car and home.

Back at the house, we’d decided to lift one of our remaining two ‘tattie bags’ for tonight’s dinner. It wouldn’t have made good eating as we unearthed just three potatoes. Thankfully the final bag gave us far more than we needed. Scamp had salmon with her potatoes and cauliflower and I had a very salty venison burger which I’d got cheap at Morrisons. Now I know why it was so cheap. We might plant some late potatoes for lifting in the winter, I think. Next garden job was to prune back the roses at the back door. It’s half finished, hopefully I’ll get the rest done tomorrow.

We’ve been watching a flower growing in the bed at the back of the house beneath the window. Neither of us had a clue what it was, at least until I put its photo into Google Image Search and out popped the name Astrantia major. The picture it showed was exactly like our mystery plant. Now we need to know where we got it from!

The lady with the cotton buds to shove down our throat and up or nose is coming to see us tomorrow, but we’ve no other plans. If it’s pleasant we may go for a walk, at least if the DPD man arrives with my new lens in time.

And just in case you’re wondering, I’ll say that the lens probably was a steal at £1100 when it was new, but I paid a fraction of that for it second-hand. If you’re not impressed, I’ll go and tell Alex. He will be!

Wet again – 25 July 2022

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Then after a long heavy shower, the sun shone and the clouds drifted away.

During that heavy shower I was trying unsuccessfully to repair the boot switch of Scamp’s wee red car. I took cover in the car and hoped the rain would go off because I hadn’t realised just how cramped it is in the back seat of an old Micra with the parcel shelf and the boot cover for company. Also, I was feeling the call of nature!!

Eventually the rain eased off enough to make the short trip to the house doable without getting thoroughly soaked. The boot is now locked and won’t be able to be opened until I get the switch mounted properly. The last time I fixed it, it was held together with that amateur mechanic’s standby viz: Duct Tape and Hot Melt Glue. I’m thinking I might try something more substantial this time as the tape was holding, but the hot melt glue was just sitting there, getting in the way. Allegedly you can buy replacement switches from a bloke in Wishaw of all places. Not sure I’m that desperate yet.

Back in the house and feeling a lot more comfortable, I had, what I can only describe as, a slab of bread and roasted cheese for lunch. The loaf it came from was far too soft to cut with the bread knife, really so I had cut a thicker than normal slice to make sure it didn’t crumble away (it made sense at the time). Actually it tasted better toasted than it had yesterday, just spread with butter.

Now that we were pretty sure the rain had gone, we went for a walk over to St Mo’s. There was nothing to see there and Scamp wanted to get a card in Condorrat, so we extended our walk to the paper shop in Condorrat. The next thing she wanted was a voucher from M&S to go with the card and we walked back the way we’d come and onward to the shops. We got the voucher and something for tomorrow’s lunch and walked home.

On the way Scamp got an email with a cabin number we’d requested, so then two computers were utilised to find where that cabin was located. We found it, but it was nowhere like where our initial email a couple of weeks ago had said. Never mind, another box ticked!

I still didn’t have a photo for today, so I went for a walk around St Mo’s again and this time took more heavy duty armoury with me in the form of the A7iii and the 105mm macro lens. Got some photos that looked worthwhile and came home, because in a change from tradition, Scamp had offered to make dinner tonight. Monday is always pasta and I am usually the pasta chef. Tonight it was pasta, Scamp style. It was Macaroni ’n’ Cheese and it was quite the best she’d made for a long time. Not one morsel was left on the plate.

When I looked at the photos, I knew something was wrong. Almost all of them were absolutely filthy. Not dodgy filthy, you understand. No, dust all over the sensor left black marks on the images. It must have been from the old Sigma 10-20mm lens I’d used, or more likely from the adaptor. It took about an hour with a magnifier a blower brush and a fine white paintbrush (that’s never been near paint) to carefully remove most of the dust. After that, cleaning up the actual photos was fairly easily done, but time consuming. PoD went to a wide angle shot of some wild flowers in St Mo’s.

We got some photos from Jamie showing off his tomatoes. They look great. I’m afraid none of ours are turning very red yet. I suppose that’s one of the advantages of having a ‘real’ greenhouse. Well done Jamie.

Tomorrow Scamp has an appointment with the hairdresser and I’ve just realised she might need her car, so I’ll have to tidy it up a bit so it doesn’t look such a sight!

Not satisfied with one hot day – 19 July 2022

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Today we had another one. This one was hotter but more humid.

Two hot days in a row. Does that make it a heat wave? You’d think so by the way the media are harping on about it. Yes, it was hot today, but uncomfortably so. As the day wore on the heat became more oppressive and humid. I think we got up to 29ºc at the height, but by afternoon it began to look as if it was all falling apart. It nearly did in the late afternoon when heavy looking blue-grey storm clouds rolled in. There was a clap of thunder and a shower of rain, then it all cleared away and for a short time, the sun shone.

I stayed inside for most of the day because it was cooler there. Scamp did some sun bathing (with sun cream on) and then went to Condorrat to post a birthday card. She also digging out the weed between the bricks at the edge of the front garden with the little tool Hazy bought her. Really Hazel that’s the best toy tool you’ve ever given her! I was content with sweeping up the weeds she’d dug out and then fixing the sweeping brush.

The furthest I got today was a walk over to St Mo’s looking for interesting insects. My favourite and PoD was the Burnet Moth. Fairly large day-flying moth, its black wings covered in red spots. It became PoD. I also managed a photo of a grasshopper hiding in the undergrowth watching me intently and wondering, I suppose what the big black thing was I was shoving in its face. It was a Sony A7iii with a 50mm Macro lens!

The poor couple next door had just settled down to a barbecue dinner when that rain started. I think they took the food inside, then when they realised it was just a shower, they brought it out again. That seems to be the thing about barbecues, they always bring the rain with them. Be warned, Jamie!

Our dinner tonight was a “what’s in the fridge and freezer” paella. It actually turned our really well and both of us enjoyed it. Watched the semifinal of Bakeoff the Professionals. Didn’t agree with the judges decision, but what difference will that make. Just as much difference it will make which of the Hooray Henrys and Henriettas get the PM’s job. Life will go on as usual for everyone else.

Tomorrow we may go in to Glasgow. Me, to get my hair cut and Scamp to get a comfortable pair of walking shoes. I might look at shoes too. It looks cooler tomorrow, thankfully.

 

One Hot Day – 18 July 2022

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We were well warned about today. It was going to be hot. They were right.

Last night we slept under a sheet. No duvet, not even our summer 1 TOG. It was going to be one hot day.

Scamp wanted to drive to Tesco to get veg and fruit because we were making a salad for dinner. That was the furthest we went. There was an enormous queue for the petrol station. I wondered what it was all about, then I remembered Scamp saying the other Tesco store in the town was closed for ‘essential maintenance’ and everyone was flocking to our local one. When we got back we put the lounger and the chair out in the back garden where we sat and read for a while. Even I found it too hot to sit for long and wandered in and out of the house trying to find the coolest spot. I didn’t find it. As usually happens with this house in summer, the inside was cooler than the outside.

After an al fresco lunch we went for a walk round St Mo’s for something to do. I took a camera, but find anything worth photographing. However, when we got back to the house we saw lots of Soldier beetles on the Sea Holly (Eryngium planum) in the garden. That was to be PoD. I have no idea what the beetles below are doing! Probably something to do with their alternative name!

Later in the day we walked down to the shops to buy some ice lollies, Mivvies! Just the thing for a hot summer’s day. When we got back it was beers in the garden. Just relaxing in the sun this time with a gentle breeze to cool us slightly.

Dinner was a salad feast. Tuna pasta, Potato salad, Little Gem lettuce, Prawns, Carrots matchsticks in orange juice (try it!), Beetroot, Olive oil and Balsamic vinegar. Dessert was jelly and fruit with ice cream.

More reading and relaxing after dinner and eventually we had to call it a day at about 9pm. It’s almost 10.30 now and the temperature is still 22ºc. It was 28.5ºc in the afternoon. Tomorrow the weather fairies predict it will get even hotter. Oh, to live in Shetland where it was 16ºc!

Hopefully more of the same tomorrow. I had hoped to go for a walk with Alex this week, but the whole family are down with Covid … except Alex. He was negative!

The warm-up begins – 17 July 2022

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Today was the start of a heatwave. We were warned that temperatures would rise significantly in the next few days.

Nobody informed the weather. It was raining when we woke and it kept on raining for about half an hour. But they were right about the temperature rising. The temperature was around 23ºc in the afternoon which although not earth shattering, was more than we’d had for the last few weeks. Probably that was due in part to the lack of wind which always cools the place down. It has been an extremely windy year so far. Is that to do with global warming too? I don’t know. All I know is that it’s been the windiest year I can remember.

In the morning, we took the tomato plant and the two chilli plants out to get the benefit of the rain, then we just left them outside to talk to the rest of the plants. While I was inspecting the flowers in the front garden (and getting some steps recorded) I noticed a little wee Marmalade hoverfly on one of Scamp’s dahlia flowers. It was kind enough to sit there for me and get its photo taken with not one, but three different cameras from three different dynasties. Ranging from the half frame Oly E-PL5 up to the mighty Sony A7iii with the Sony A6000 wedged in between. All of them produced great images, but the best of the lot was a shot from the A7iii. That photo became PoD.

In the afternoon we emptied out another ‘tattie’ bag. Not as many tatties in this one, but they were bigger. Some were pretty scabby too. Must ask Colin about that the next time I see him. There wasn’t much more to the day. Scamp watered some of the plants in the back garden with a watering can, then set up her lounger and read. In the meantime, I put my boots on and sprayed myself with insect repellant and went photographing insects (?) in St Mo’s where I almost got bitten by a cleg. Not a very clever one, because I felt it land on my leg and smacked it off. Clegs 0 – Photogs 1. I took a fair few photos, but nothing to beat the Marmalade.

Came home made a Pimms for Scamp and opened a bottle of Estrella for me. Sat in the warm garden. Note, warm but not sunny. The milky white sky from the morning hadn’t opened up to reveal blue skies and sunshine. A bit disappointing.

Dinner was Trout fillets with our potatoes and a salad. The potatoes might have been scabby, but once that was removed they tasted fine.

Spoke to Jamie and heard all about Hedgehog Houses and surveillance cameras to photograph the poor things. Must be a bit like being in Colditz! I think they’re resigned to the high temperatures predicted for the next few days. Thankfully the thick walls of their house will keep the temperature from rising too much inside.

Tomorrow we may go for a walk somewhere. Hope the sun shines.