Category: Flowers

A busy morning after a late night – 31 July 2021

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Out and on the road to ballroom class in Johnston, just after 10am.

Drove out via the M73, then the M74 to avoid the M8 and Charing Cross where they, the ubiquitous ’they’ are still playing with their new pedestrian bridge which will be being lowered into place right about now (11.30pm on 31st of July). However, this morning the ground work would have been nearing completion and the M8 would have be a greater shambles than usual. The drive out was fairly easy and I only needed minimal prompt from the lady who lives inside the sat nav.

First dance was an easy sequence dance which got us all up on our feet. Next we did a reprise of the Foxtrot from last week. A few rough edges were cleaned up and by the end of that section we were agreed that it was flowing a lot better. Third dance was a Sweetheart Cha Cha. Cha Cha is not my favourite dance and neither of us knew this one although everyone else in the room knew it or had at least learned it some time in the past. However, Jane and Stewart after a couple of quick demos just dived straight into it and we were floundering. This is the first time I’ve criticised their teaching. Up until now, be it Zoom lessons or live lessons in a hall or even on a cruise, I’ve felt they took time to teach everyone. Today I felt that we were not given any real instruction at all. We are paying our money just like everyone else, so we should be given the same teaching as everyone else. I felt shortchanged. I’m sure Scamp will disagree, but this is my opinion.

Drove home by the M8 just to see if it was as bad as I’d thought it might be. It was slow, but not nearly as bad as the westbound lanes. I think it’s one of those occasions where both routes end up taking the same amount of time. M8 is shorter but with more stop and go traffic. M74 is longer, but the traffic flows much better. You pays your money and you takes your chance.

I went out in the afternoon to grab some photos and my favourite was a low level shot of a little yellow flower whose name escapes me. The last PoD of July 2021.

Watched Kubo and the Two Strings, a fairly interesting animation that kept us amused for the evening. Thank you Hazy and Neil D.

Tomorrow we may go for a walk down to Glasgow Green. Not been there in ages.

Coffee with Val – 29 July 2021

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Just Val and me today.

I don’t know if Val has fallen out with Fred, but he never mentioned whether he had invited him or not and I didn’t ask. I thought I’d show him my new Huawei watch, but surprise, surprise, Val had one too. Like a couple of school kids we compared watch faces. He pinched one of mine and I pinched one of his. An hour and a half seemed to fly past and for once we didn’t just talk ‘tech’. It was more about trying to get back to ‘normal’. Maybe not real normal, more like this new normal. Still, it was a step in the right direction.

Back home Scamp was just getting ready to go and dead head some flowers, so I took the opportunity to grab some pictures of some of her favourites. That’s why today’s PoD is a bunch of Osteospermum all vying for the best place in the photo. I was impressed with the way the Sony dealt with the red roses. The Oly was much quicker to focus, but it oversaturate the reds, the Sony gave a much more realistic rendition of the reds. Something to do with the bigger sensor perhaps?

I did go for a walk in St Mo’s later in the day and got a decent macro of a shieldbug apparently steeling itself for a leap into space. In reality it was fighting with a wolf spider. I don’t think the spider came out on top this time. Maybe it got sprayed by the shieldbug. They don’t call it a stinkbug for nothing.

Back home it was veg chilli for dinner and as usual I made too much. Oh well, we can eat if for lunch tomorrow.

And with that, you are all caught up.  Two week’s worth of blog written.  I’m glad it’s done.

Tomorrow we may go in to Glasgow if the weather permits.

Cars on the rooftop – 19 July 2021

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Today we went to Broughton in Furness to see what was there.

We parked in the village square and walked down the Main Street. There wasn’t a lot to see, it looked like a sleepy little market town. One busy pub on a corner, as most pubs seem to be, especially old ones. It was earmarked for a visit later.

We walked further down the hill away from the retail centre and found a petrol station/garage with an interesting display of what looked like old pedal cars on its roof. Further still down the hill there was a sign pointing down an avenue of trees to a woodland walk and ponds. We agreed that we should investigate.

The path ran straight for as far as we could see with the back gardens of houses on both sides for the first 100m or so. The ones on the right were well manicured, while some of the ones on the left were a bit overgrown, but looked as if they had been well maintained in the past with vegetable plots laid out neatly below the weeds. Others, of course were pristine. Best of all, near the path was a community garden with a sign saying that everything was free to a good home. I suppose that’s what you expect in a small rural community.

We walked for a mile or so along the path and found the ponds, two of them. The first one was almost dried up with little sign of life, but further on was the second pond. This one had a bit more shelter from the sun and near the edge I could see what I think were dace feeding in the shallows. Also a few ducks, mallards, soaking up the rays on the pebbly shore.

The woodland walk and the ponds were part of Broughton Tower estate and private property, but with access allowed to the public. There was a large area of grassland with paths leading up to the Big House which we glimpsed through the trees, but didn’t investigate because we were walking back along the path and out into Broughton again.

We found a street running parallel to the Main Street with a neat little deli at the end where Scamp bought some lovely fat cherries and I got a pack of dates which I intend to eat this time, instead of keeping them in the fridge!

By this time it was definitely Beer o’ Clock, so we took a seat at the pub we’d noticed earlier and Scamp had a half pint of lager and I had a half pint of very dry stout. I wish I’d remembered the name of the stout, because it was just excellent. If we ever go back to this area again I’ll search it out.

Took a wrong turning heading out of the town and ended up on narrower and narrower roads, then the sat nav pulled us out of trouble again and got us on the right road. Halfway along the narrow wee road to the house we came on a traffic jam. A car and a van were blocking the road trying to do the “two into one won’t go” trick and neither were willing to give ground. Eventually the car driver who was at the front of our line of vehicles, reversed, down the wrong side of the road, ending up in a ditch. That allowed the van to wriggle through the gap and the rest of our line of cars and vans to pass. I don’t know when or how the car driver got out of the ditch, but nobody was stopping to help him/her.

Later in the day I went for a walk along our narrow road and got a few photos of flowers and landscapes in the low afternoon sun. The harebells got PoD.

JIC was chef tonight Turkey Parmagiano which was delicious and will be added to our own list of things to try. It was their standard Monday dinner, just as our Monday dinner is Pasta with either a Tomato or Carbonara sauce.

I attempted a Milky Way photoshoot when the sky looked dark enough, but it wasn’t a great success. I think Photopills may be right when it seemed to indicate that the Milky Way wasn’t visible from our global position at this time. Anyway, the midges were definitely visible and biting!

Tomorrow we may go sailing!

 

Another warm one – 11 July 2021

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The temperature has hovering around 20º at breakfast time, and the only way was up from there.

It was the usual lazy Sunday morning waiting for the sun to show its face and for the clouds to break. The window cleaner came and I had quite a long talk with him. He’s a former pupil and has been through the mill a lot with changing jobs, but it looks as if he’s going back to being a firefighter again after venturing into corporate firefighting. Poor bloke. Scamp went out to the shops and I washed the inside of the windows. It must have been my FP’s intervention that made me think of that.

After lunch and after watching Andrew Marr try to take apart the Vaccines Minister, Nadhim Zahawi. He did his best, but attempting to get a politician to answer “Yes” or “No” to any question is always a bit ask. Anyway, after that and after Scamp had scalped the roses, I went out for a walk in St Mo’s to see if there were any insects I hadn’t photographed yet. I did find on little moth, a Latticed Heath Moth. It’s a tiny little thing and one I’ve often seen as I wander round the rough ground behind the school, but this was the first time I’ve managed to get a photo of one.

In the Zoom dance class tonight the new routine was the 2020 Quarantine Quickstep and boy, it was quick. We’ve done quickstep before, but always with dance shoes on a wooden floor. Tonight it was heavy, well worn shoes for me and for both of us a carpeted floor. Not ideal, but we did make a fair fist of tonight’s first section. Part two to look forward to.

Spoke to JIC and heard about preparations down south and good to hear that everything is going well there.

What a shame, england lost out in the final of the Euros.

Tomorrow I need to get my hair cut.

Scamp fixes the kettle – 1 July 2021

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Scamp did some investigating and came up with a solution to the chemical smell from the kettle.

First, though we spoke to Hazy and I found out that there’s to be a new series of Good Omens. A sequel of sorts, but with Neil Gaiman in the writing team, it’s never going to be a simple sequel. Thank you Hazy for that heads up. It will be on Amazon Prime first, so bang goes my idea of cancelling Prime.

Scamp’s research led to an old fashioned solution to the smelly kettle, but it worked. Two tablespoons of Bicarbonate of Soda went in to the tank and then the tank was filled with tap water. It had to stand for an hour or so, so we left it while we went out to get some plants at Calders.

Today, Scamp chose a tray of Dahlias, a tray of Petunias (which always remind me of an old song “Don’t jump off the roof, Dad” Search for it on Spotify and you’ll find out why) and finally another Begonia. While she went to speak to Carol from Gems, I paid for the plants and sat cooling in the car. Isn’t air con the most wonderful invention, especially on days like today when the temperature is hovering around 25º?

With the gardening requirements met, we drove home via Tesco and got the ingredients for tonight’s dinner which was Chicken Salad, but will always be known as Neil’s Chicken Salad for the simple reason that he was the first one who made it for us.

Then it was time to wash out the kettle (it’s much easier calling it a kettle, rather than a water boiler). I gave it a good rinsing with about three changes of water. After that, to make sure the boiler part of it was rinsed too, we boiled one whole tank full of water, a cup at a time. Another rinse and we were good to go. It worked! It was as simple as that. That cleaning took all the chemical smell away. I must remember to ask a chemist how that worked 😏.

After lunch with a cup of normal tea smelling tea for me and White Tea for Scamp, she settled down to plant her new acquisitions. I grabbed the Oly this time and took it for a walk in St Mo’s and then out into the wild area that will soon become yet another Micky D’s. I got some really nice pictures of a Common Blue damselfly, but then I remembered I’d taken some photos of some roses in a vase on the coffee table after we’d spoken to Hazy. With a little jiggery pokery they shone on a dark background and became PoD.

We sat for a while in the garden before dinner, listening to John and Carlyn’s ‘’Ten Pence Mix wafting gently from their garden. Actually they played some decent music for a change (no Eagles). I had a beer and Scamp had a glass of her new best friend, Bramble & Raspberry Gin. Then it was time for Neil’s Chicken Salad.

This might have been the last of the really good weather. We’ve been warned by the weather fairies that rain is on the way, if not tomorrow, then Saturday and definitely by Sunday. We’ve had a good spell of warm sunny days, so we shouldn’t complain, but we will! Scamp’s leg is looking better today. The swelling is going down but it’s still itchy.

What we do tomorrow will depend on how near the rain clouds manage to get.

A walk, as predicted – 27 June 2021

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I bowed to the inevitable.

Just a short version of our Broadwood Boarkwalk walk she said, well that’s how it started out. Scamp’s fly that way. She suckers you in with the offer of a short walk, but then she adds an extension and when she thinks you’re not paying attention another half a mile is added. That’s more or less how it happened today.

We started off walking beside the road, then over the boardwalk and back towards the dam. That’s when she posed the question, “Will we just go over the dam and down the other side?” It was a lovely warm morning with barely a breath of wind so I agreed. After the dam, we could have headed back up the hill to the sports centre and home, but ’when she thinks you’re not paying attention …’ She neatly took us up past the exercise machines instead and on to the part where the path turns and twists so you hardly notice that it’s getting steeper, at least until your legs start aching. Finally we walked past the shops where she got her daily fix of pineapple. There were no fresh pineapple chunks to be had, so she had to make do with Mango, Melon and Pineapple strips which is a poor substitute for the real thing!

Lunch was a pizza we’d bought yesterday in Lidl. I think it was a sourdough base. It certainly felt like it. Sourdough is fairly tasty, but I find it quite tough. Maybe too tough for a pizza base. Anyway it was scoffed while we watched Andrew Marr who seemed appalled that the Covid 19 virus had the temerity to infect him, just as if he was an ordinary mortal. I think he was a bit lost now that Matt Hancock has had his Half Hour of fame and has resigned as Health minister after being caught in flagrante with one of his aides. Poor man.

I took the Sony out with an old Zenit Helios 58mm lens in the afternoon. It was an experiment to see how I’d manage with a fairly modern camera and a thirty year old lens. Totally manual. No auto exposure, no auto focus. Just me a camera and a lens. Actually it worked out quite well. I was impressed with the photos and one of them got PoD!  It was a battered and bruised Peacock butterfly.  I was amazed that those damaged wings could hold it in  the air, but they did as the butterfly demonstrated by flying away as soon as I took this shot.

Our dancing in tonight’s class was the best for a long time. I was impressed, but even better, Scamp was impressed. Hopefully we’l be able to build on this during the week and be able to take over teaching the class next week. That’s the long game we’ve been working towards.

Spoke to JIC and hear a bit more about Sim’s first half marathon. Scamp was really impressed with her time. Good to hear about someone doing well.

Tomorrow Scamp is off to a tea party with the witches I might be needed as a driver, but for now I’m on an empty. I might get the bike out or maybe I’ll paint.

A dull day – 26 June 2021

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A white sky is never a good start to a day.

The white sky didn’t disappear as we hoped it would. It just hung there all day. Eventually we agreed we’d had enough. We needed carrots for tonight’s dinner and there was but a teaspoon of gin left in the Hortus bottle. The obvious solution to this dilemma was to go to Lidl in Kilsyth for necessary supplies.

We got both the necessities as well as many other things like bread and maybe tomorrow’s dinner for me. What we really needed was a walk, somewhere nice, as I’d predicted yesterday. To fulfil the prophecy we drove to Colzium and did the energy sapping walk up the avenue of trees and rhododendrons to the Big House and that’s where I found today’s PoD which is of a single rhododendron flower with a ring of pistils around it. Almost a macro, but taken with the now superb Samyang 18mm lens that’s really an ultra-wide angle, but does a good impersonation of a macro lens.

We walked on round the old driveway almost to the Tak Ma Doon road. Scamp decided we should take the path through the woods after that because “It’s not too steep”. I knew better, but I said nothing, because I know better. Less than five minutes later she realised her mistake. This is a really steep track, but it was a good day and we here having a bit of exercise on the walk. Crossed the burn at the bridge at the top of the climb and it was all downhill after that.

We got a cone each from an ice cream van on the way to the car. The bloke in the van regaled with the cost of to small businesses of our present no-cash society. I hadn’t realised just how much it costs to use these touch machines. Maybe it’s time we started going to the bank and getting some real money rather than taking the easy way out. The ice cream was good.

Back home I made carrot and lentil curry for dinner and it was just as good as it usually is, not quite as good as Scamp’s, of course, but it’s hard to improve on perfection.

Another practise of the Foxtrot again tonight and after that a sampling of the new bottle of gin.

Tomorrow we have nothing planned, but a walk is always an option.

One Italian, One Indian – 25 June 2021

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Those were our choices for lunch.

Felt a bit better when I woke up this morning. So much better, in fact, that I got up to make breakfast. Well, it was my turn. By the time I was in the shower, yesterday’s tiredness and aches were gone and it was business as usual.

Scamp started making use of the Swiss roll tin we bought yesterday and had the sponge baked and rolled in double quick time. I’ve never seen this process before and hadn’t realised that you roll it up with the paper still attached. Then it’s put in the fridge to cool and when it’s removed, it sort of retains the shape and doesn’t crack.

Scamp offered to drive to Mango and I gratefully accepted. It’s good to be a passenger sometimes. It also gives me the chance to listen to any unusual noises from a car I’m not driving. The noises I was hearing sounded like a wheel bearing on its way out. We’ll need to get that looked at soon.

Our booking at Mango was for 12.30pm and by. the time we arrived, just in time, the restaurant was already about two thirds full. That’s always a good sign. Scamp ordered a starter of Juliette, which was deep fried pieces of pizza dough. An interesting taste, but maybe a little too heavy for a starter. Her main was Risotto Pollo. My order was Palak Vegetable Pakora with a main of Lagan Ki Boti which was Lamb in Ginger and Garlic. All were very good. Different takes on traditional Italian and Indian staples. We just had time for a dessert. Scamp’s was Tiramisu, of course. I had Turkish Delight Cheesecake. The cheesecake was the only thing that let them down. Far, far, too heavy and thick, although the topping which looked and tasted like Fry’s Turkish delight was lovely. Our bill came to £88 which was a bit steep for a three course lunch, but got a laugh and an apology from the head waiter who got it changed, quickly to the £36 it should have been.

Back home I transplanted the sole chilli plant from last year into a bigger pot with fresh compost and I also repotted two basil cuttings I’d taken last year. All three were looking a bit sickly, but hopefully they should perk up now they are in fresh soil.

Meanwhile, Scamp was making the coffee cream for the Swiss roll and also the ganache. Until about five years ago, I couldn’t have told you what a ‘ganache’ was, but with the proliferation of cooking and baking shows on TV I now know it’s the shiny soft coating on cakes and fancies. I didn’t actually see the coffee cream going into the roll, or it being re-rolled without the paper that stops it sticking together, but I did see the ganache being poured over it and it running and glistening just like it does on GBBO. It was decorated with melted white chocolate buttons as a drizzle on top and looked very professional!

With my overseeing of the baking process finished 😉, I took the Sony with only a wide angle lens and went to find something interesting in St Mo’s. The ‘something interesting’ turned out to be a low level view of a daisy on the St Mo’s school football park with a glowering sky overhead. It made a nice change to only be carrying a camera and a lens. I think my back felt the benefit. That photo got PoD.

A quick dance practise tonight, just to make sure we’re up to date with the Tango and the latest Foxtrot routines. We were! Then we found we’d forgotten the Waltz. This is what happens when you don’t get a chance to dance properly with people on a dance floor. Hopefully, soon, someone will bang the Bumbler and the Nippy Sweetie’s heads together and we’ll get a chance to dance!

Tomorrow we may go somewhere nice. Not sure where, but anywhere away from Cumbersheugh will be good.

It was a lovely morning … 24 June 2021

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… but then it all got kind of wet!

Indeed the morning was lovely. Not too bright, but warm and there was always the hope that it would stay that way at least until the evening, then we’d be thankful for overnight rain. However just after lunch, when we’d decided to drive in to Glasgow, the rain started. It’s now just after 10pm and I don’t think it’s stopped yet. Now don’t get me wrong, this is exactly the kind of rain we and the plants were looking for. Nice light, soaking rain. Not a heavy cloudburst then it all dries up. No, this was what the garden needed a good continuous rain that would wet the ground through. I should have expected it to happen. The schools in Scotland broke up today for the summer holidays and it always rains on that afternoon … every year!

We did drive in to Glasgow, well actually we drove in to the Buchanan Galleries because all the shops we wanted were there. Scamp was looking for a Swiss Roll Tin and possibly a new vacuum flask to replace our two ageing ones. One of which keeps the water hot, but leaks. One which keeps the water warm but doesn’t leak. We found a flask in JL and the tin in Lakeland. I’d thought about going for a browse in Cass Art, but when it came to it, I couldn’t be bothered with a walk in the rain, so I went back to JL to look at ‘The Toys’. What I did get was a pair of suede elbow patches to repair one of my favourite rugby shirts. Even better, the patches are iron-on with holes already pierced in them for stitching on, if I decide they need the extra security. I may try them tomorrow. Once we were sure we had everything, we drove home through the rain. One stop at The Shops to get butter for the Swiss Roll and a bar of chocolate each for Scamp and me.

Grabbed a few shots in the garden, mainly of flowers and a quarter of a Calendula got PoD. Watched a second episode of Rankin Pontificates, some sort of photography challenge, but really a vehicle for that man. Not impressed. That may be the last one I watch. Sorry Hazy. It looked good, but so far it isn’t for me.

Feeling like I’ve a cold coming on which is a shame because Scamp has booked us in at Mango, a new(ish) Italian/Indian restaurant near the mighty Cotton House. I’m sure I’ll be feeling a bit better by then. A small glass of Dark Matter spiced rum with a splash of water in it is helping. A couple of paracetamol tablets will also aid recovery and guarantee a good night’s sleep – That sounds a bit like an advert, doesn’t it? Maybe that’s where I got it from.

Ok, off to bed early tonight and we’ll see if the morning brings a visit to Mango!

Shopping and the Garden – 19 June 2021

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Scamp did the shopping and I took some photos in the garden. An unequal balance.

Today was a day of getting your head round the fact that you are no longer on holiday and instead you have to do all the mundane things you’ve been able to avoid when you were on holiday. It’s the little things like cooking and shopping. Tidying up the garden too comes into it. It’s just becoming grounded again. That’s what we did today. There were no high points, in fact that was the idea. We wanted to return to status quo. Be ordinary again and be ready for the next adventure, whenever and whatever it is.

PoD was one of the flowers from Scamp’s Allium christophe, a big sphere of star shaped flowers. Absolutely beautiful as a ball and also as individual florets.

Tomorrow we’re hoping to do a Zoom day. Zoom catch-up in the afternoon with Hazy and JIC and Zoom dance lesson in the early evening.