Category: Flowers

Gardening, Mojave and Cannoli – 19 March 2021

Posted on by Zogman

Not quite in that order, but does the order matter? Not to me, it doesn’t.

Let’s start with Mojave. On this beautiful spring day I decided I’d back up the iMac and install Mojave. I’d downloaded it a few months ago. Said goodbye to Sierra and ran the installer. Oops. Got this message “This copy of the Install macOS Mojave application is damaged, and can‘t be used to install macOS.” Ok, no problem. I’ll just download another copy, except… Mojave is not listed in the Apple App Store. I finally found out how to download it. You first have to put the original installer in the bin then empty the bin. Next you have to restart the machine. Once it’s restarted, you must use Safari, Apples clumsy browser and then there is a path to the App Store that allows you to download the installer. Why this devious path to a free download?

It’s just a ploy by Apple. They want you to install the most up to date version of the operating system, currently Big Sur. It’s the only version available to download openly from the App Store on Firefox, Chrome or any browser except Safari. It seems that the reason they keep hiding older versions of the OS is to keep you moving on to a new OS every year or so until you can’t upgrade any more and a new computer is the only way to upgrade the OS. I’ve read this explanation many times today in different words, but all with the same theme. Apple was always seen as wearing the white hats, but like politicians, they’re all as bad as each other!

That was the morning. Later in the morning we were off to B&M to shop for a new pot for the Pieris that has been looking a bit sad since the end of last year. Also we needed new rechargeable batteries for the solar powered lights in the garden. Got both and both fitted in Scamp’s car. After lunch we were back out again in Blue this time to get ericaceous compost to pot up the plant and another bag of general purpose compost to top up the raised bed. Got both and some other incidentals.

Then the hard work began. We struggled to get that pieris out of its old pot, but it was jammed in solid. There was absolutely no give. Eventually I’d to use a hacksaw to cut the pot away. Then lifted it into the new pot and packed the ericaceous compost gently into the gaps. That should give it some growing space for a year or so. Scamp gave it a good watering, but it will need more tomorrow. I’ve rarely seen roots so packed into a pot.

We agreed that tonight we’d have fish ’n’ chips from the chippy in Condorrat, so I headed off just after 4pm. I saw the daffodils when I was leaving the house. They were shining well in the sun, so they made an easy PoD. While I was waiting at the chippy, I was eyeing up a couple of meringues in the window. Got my order in and while I was waiting I noticed a rack of cannoli, little Italian deep fried pastry shells with a sweet ricotta filling. Just to test them, I got two meringues and two cannoli. They were just as good as any we’ve had in Italy. Only surpassed by ones we bought in a cafe in Venice. The meringues were also delicious.

That was one busy day with a lot of hard work done. The pieris looks happier already. The lights are on in the garden. Hopefully tomorrow will be more relaxing.

Another lovely spring day – 18 March 2021

Posted on by Zogman

A bit of scattered cloud in the morning, but that soon burned off.

It was a lazy start to the day for me, but Scamp had done a load of washing ready for hanging it out to dry. I was just messing around with the iMac. It’s getting to the time when I have to upgrade the OS. There are fewer and fewer updates for my apps that will work on Sierra which I’ve been running since I got this computer. I think I’m ready now in my head for a jump up to Mojave. It’s a big jump because even the format of the hard drive will change. I think tomorrow may be the day.

Scamp was going out with Veronica for a walk around Broadwood are, but no all the way round the loch. I was staying in. I was intending starting a painting, but instead I began finding out what was causing two of Scamp’s light balls to stop working. The light balls are roughly spherical shapes made from a spiral of steel with a line of tiny white LEDs wound round them. They are connected to a solar cell which should power them during the day and turn them on at night, except they are not turning on. The first one was easy. The NiCad battery in it was dead. I thought we had a spare, but couldn’t find one. I fitted a standard Duracell and it worked fine, so the ‘tronics were ok. We just need to get a couple of cheap NiCad batteries somewhere. The second ball was different. It had a similar type of battery, but in a smaller size. I did have a spare for that. The problem with this light was water ingress. Scamp reckons it’s due to all that snow in January. I replaced the battery and the light winked of then wouldn’t light again. Getting a bit of external light on the problem and with a magnifier I discovered the problem. A small chip had come loose from the circuit board. I guessed I could solder it back on until I found that the metal conduction tracks were coming away from the fibre substrate. In technical terms it was gubbed. No point in wasting any time on it. Put it in the bin.

By then I’d found two problems and solved none. I went out for a walk to Condorrat to get chicken for dinner which would be Neil’s Italian Chicken. So called because it’s got the colours of the Italian flag, Green, White and Red. Green is Pesto. White is Mozzarella. Red is Marinara sauce. It’s Neil’s because he was the first one to cook it for us. Got the chicken, some mince and some beef olives at the butchers. Put them in the freezer and went out to get photos.

Bumped into Scamp on the way to St Mo’s, then carried on to see what photo opportunities were in the park. There were lots of ‘tribes’ wandering round the pond. Some of the male persuasion and some of the female. All dressed for the warm weather and all with their ghetto blasters (yes, we still have them up here in the north) turned up to the max. They were out celebrating the start of the Easter holidays, although:

  1. The holidays don’t actually start for another week and a half.
  2. They haven’t been to school for months now.

Still, any excuse for a party and a battle with another ‘tribe’.

PoD turned out to be a pretty wee pink flower. I must try to find out what it is. It looked as if it was just unwrapping itself in the sunshine and the out of focus ’bokeh’ in the background was a bonus.

Back home Scamp and I put our heads together and decided what changes need to made to the back garden. Just now it’s a bit of a mess. We are in agreement that we need to have a clear out of old and failing plants and that creates space for new ones. We start tomorrow with the first stages of that.

So, if tomorrow is as good as today, a day in the garden is called for.

Ravenscraig Revisited – 17 March 2021

Posted on by Zogman

Yes, we went back to the capital city again.

Picked up Shona and drove to the big stack of aluminium dominoes that was the Ravenscraig Regional Sports Facility, but is now the vaccination centre for North Lanarkshire.

This must be the ugliest building in Scotland. It really does look like a stack of giant metal boxes that have started to fall down. Got parked fairly easily but were amazed at the number of cars there. Although we were just observers, and not actively involved in the process, just looking at the crowds milling around outside the centre controlled by blokes with clipboards, brought me in mind of herding cattle. No social distancing, nobody telling folk where to wait or how long it would take. According to Shona that was a fair description of the process. It was dry today, but I dread to think what it would be like in the rain or what it might have been a couple of weeks ago with snow falling because there didn’t appear to be any shelter. I don’t suppose a giant gym would need shelter, but where people are queueing outside for a vaccination, a bit of shelter would be useful. But then again, this is North Lanarkshire, so normal rules do not apply. With all the foregoing said, we were both surprised when only about half an hour later Shona opened the car door and got in. Drove back to Cumbersheugh for her to go for her messages, then we two drove home for lunch.

I’d taken a few photos of flowers in the front garden before we left, and took some more when we returned, but really needed some more and a walk in St Mo’s, in the sun would possibly fill up the memory card with more useful images. Well, it did provide some, but when I lifted up one of Scamp’s planters with its host of crocuses, I saw the PoD right there. Got the folding table we use in the garden which raised the planter up enough to catch the sun and shot off another group of photos. The one you see here was about the best of the lot. I liked it. I also like the moody one of the snowdrops.

We’d got a phone number for a joiner from one of the neighbours. We’ve been talking about getting the fence between us and Angela next door replaced and Scamp wants it done before the apple trees and roses put on their spring growth. The bloke came later in the afternoon and measured up. Now we have to wait to hear his price.

Fred texted me about a new painting programme Landscape Artist of the Year (Canada). We watched the first episode tonight and it was really quite refreshing. Not as ‘po faced’ as the UK version, but I think our presenters are better than the Canadians. Some wild and woolly takes on a pastoral scene, and some standard paintings too, with lots of ‘interesting’ takes on the scenery in between. Set it to record now.

Tomorrow, Scamp is meeting Veronica for a walk down past Broadwood Stadium. Inspired by tonight’s LAotY(C), I might just paint. Nothing to do with the fact that I saw a girl sitting watercolour painting in St Mo’s this afternoon.  Brave soul!

Pally Rig – 11 March 2021

Posted on by Zogman

The sun was shining when we woke. It seemed a shame to waste it.

So, we didn’t. We got up and had breakfast downstairs. The day had begun. I’d said to Scamp the other day that I thought we might have a walk up at Palacerigg, known to everyone I know as Pally Rig. That became our destination for the day. As soon as we left the house the rain started and the sun disappeared, but we weren’t going to let that deter us. We drove up to the car park which serves as a place for golfers and walkers to leave their cars. Golfers on one side of the car park and walkers on the other.

The park itself looks quite neat and tidy now, but that’s because there are no animals there now. There used to be falcons, wildcats, pigs and goats. Also, unbelievably there were foxes, wolves and bison. Now there are only a few mallards in the pond and a couple of Muskovy Ducks. I felt quite sorry for them all swimming in a mucky pond. This is what happens when you let the witless council take over the running of a profitable country park.

We left the sad little ‘used to be’ animal zoo and walked through the golf course taking care to look left and right when we crossing the playing areas. There were a few golfers out today, but how they managed to play in a westerly gale I don’t know. It couldn’t have been a very comfortable game, but perhaps it was the challenge that spurred them on. We walk further into the wilder areas of the park, away from the manicured grass of the golf course. We’ve lived in Cumbersheugh for over thirty years and neither of us have ever walked these paths. We’ve bemoaned the lack of places to walk in North Lanarkshire, but as Scamp was saying today, it wasn’t until we were (hopefully) nearing the end of Lockdown that we are discovering places like Baron’s Haugh and Palacerigg.

The path had a decent surface to walk on and climbed and descended as it twisted its way through moss covered trees, so we got a fair bit of exercise. Every time we were out in the open the heavens would open. When we were in the shelter of the trees the rain would stop and occasionally there would be the hint of sunshine. We crossed a few bridges over raging torrents and saw a couple of waterfalls that would have looked even more spectacular if the sun had found a way through the trees at that point. However, they were noted for another day. After another mile or so I was convinced we were on the wrong path, but it wasn’t until we saw the main road below us that we realised just how far we’d gone in the wrong direction.

We turned back and I decided we should take a fork in the path that looked from the OS app as if it would take us back by another path. Another mucky path. The previous one had a fair bit of hardcore under our boots and signs of tyre tracks from a quad bike or something like it. The path we were on now was just a beaten track. Later we found another better path climbing back up in the direction we needed to go which was good, because we were now pretty near soaked. There is a Scottish word, ’Drookit’ which means soaked. This is what a drookit Scamp looks like. At the top of this hill, and in pelting rain, I managed to get four shots of the vista below us, looking over in the general direction of Loch Lomond with the Campsie Fells on the right and the Kilpatrick Hills on the left. Above them, and us, were the black clouds that were currently soaking us, helped by a driving west wind.

We passed the model airfield on the right and went left onto what started off as a real road, wide enough for a car or van, but then it degenerated into a series of puddles joined by muddy stretches. It was here we saw two deer that ran ahead of us for a few yards, thought about about jumping the fence into the next field before running on again. Just round the next corner we found a path that took us along to the path to the car park and a chance to get our wet jackets off and sit down for a while in the dry. Back home for lunch four and a half miles of up hill and down dale and all around the trees. Good fun though.

After lunch I took a walk to the shops to get bread and also some flowers for Scamp, because it’s Thursday. The view over Cumbersheugh became the PoD after some work in Lightroom and also in ON1. It’s a bit gloomy, but it is Scotland.

Don’t know what we’re doing tomorrow but more rain is forecast.

Frogs – 8 March 2021

Posted on by Zogman

Hundreds of them. All of them, it seemed, busy making more frogs.

The day started wet, but we watched the weather monitor (the birdbath) carefully and eventually when the ripples from the raindrops disappeared, we knew we had a window of dry weather.

Without waiting for second bidding, we were out and walking down to the shops. It’s not a very exciting task, a walk to the shops, but it’s a measure of the boredom we all feel that this everyday occurrence becomes the highlight of the day. The visit was successfully completed and lunch was served.

I went out for a walk after lunch and that’s where I saw the frogs. The pond was bulging with them, all with one thing on their minds, making babies. Well, eventually there will probably little froglets, but the frogspawn was being laid down thickly today. The frogs were too far away for a decent image with the kit lens I had, so I went back to get the long zoom. However, either it or the adapter, or more likely both were having a hissy fit and the lens just wouldn’t autofocus. I gave up in disgust and went back with the macro which is longer than the kit lens, but considerably shorter than the zoom. The result of which is the lack of any good frog photos for PoD. Instead I have promoted the arty photo of some catkins to that spot. Tomorrow, if I get a dry spell, I’m hoping to take the recalcitrant combo of lens and adapter and use them in manual focus mode to grab the shot of the frogs for tomorrow’s PoD. No promises, just a possible work around. One last thought on Frogs before I leave the subject for today: If you’re reading this on computer, you can click on a link on the right hand side for “A Year Ago Today”.  If you navigate from there to the 8th March 2020, you will find how predictable frogs can be.

We had ‘white pasta’ (Fusilli a la Carbonara) for dinner, but on Val’s recommendation, I used Pecorino cheese instead of Parmesan. Scamp said it tasted different but neither better nor worse. I didn’t like it so much as the usual parmesan. Pecorino is much milder and creamier than parmesan. Maybe next time I’ll use a mixture.

Fred phoned me tonight and we talked for an hour or so about various topics including politics and the new comedy series “Drawers Off” where five amateur ‘artists’ take turns at being a partially nude model for the others to paint or draw. Last week was quite interesting, but not quite the quality of art I expected. Tonight’s was just cringe worthy, both Fred and I agreed on that. If you want to see what I mean take a look. It’s only a half hour slot and being at 5.30pm on C4 there’s nothing to scare the horses, except perhaps the final ‘art works’.

Tomorrow looks like wind and rain which might be fine for the frogs, but not so good for the photography. We’ll just have to take it as it comes. Oh yes, and we might hear an announcement from Her Majesty the Nicola about a slight loosening of the rules governing group meeting outdoors.

A minimalist day – 7 March 2021

Posted on by Zogman

Not a lot done, but there was definitely the feeling of spring in the air.

We did some work in the garden in the morning, although I must admit that most of my ‘work’ was photographic. Scamp did the heavy lifting. Repotting the chives that came from my mum, easily thirty years ago and probably a lot more. Every couple of years they outgrow their pot and need split up and repotted. I swear that if one single tuber was planted in a 300mm (12”) pot, within two years its roots would be using all the available space. Still the taste of new potatoes with butter and chives is a delight and makes it worth keeping these plants in a garden. Between us we chopped up two plants and replanted them. I hope they are happy in their new home and don’t go crazy right away.

In between bouts of ’helping’ with the repotting, I was taking photos, mainly of the crocuses. The blue/purple ones are my favourites, I think. That’s how today’s PoD came about. It’s just a low level view of one of Scamp’s long narrow pots, a rectangular one that sits on the kitchen step for a couple of weeks in the spring before it goes back into its shady position near the fence. It seems to thrive in that cool damp place but looks spectacular sitting on the step in the evening sun. It’s another plant that really should be split every few years, but I don’t have the heart to do it and I don’t think Scamp has either.

After lunch and after listening to a spirited baiting of Gavin Williamson the Secretary of State for Education by Andrew Marr, we went out for a walk in St Mo’s. No photos taken although I did take the Sony with the kit lens (light camera bag today). Not a lot of humans out, but a tribe of teenagers trying to start a fire in the woods. Also letting off bangers, either because Rangers had won some cup or other or maybe because they’d discovered matches. Who knows. Anyway we walked round the pond a couple of times and declared that we had achieved our stated purpose of getting some fresh air.

Dinner tonight was yesterday’s curry reheated, which sounds a bit sordid, but actually it was delicious, but apparently the paneer was still squeaky. My Chicken Rogan Josh was even hotter than yesterday.

Dance lesson tonight was a re-run of last week’s with a few pointers about presentation and general tidying up of the rough edges. Next week we move from rumba and waltz on to Tango. Ooh, must remember the rose between the teeth!

It stayed dry nearly all day, but it’s been raining tonight and we’re due for more of the wet stuff tomorrow. No real plans.

A day of sunshine – 1 March 2021

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Just for a change!

Rather a late start, but that was because of a late night and a small dram of Tamnavulin last night. Just to help me in finishing off the last drawing of the February challenge.

It was a foggy start too, but you just knew the sun would burn it off if you gave it a chance. We gave it a chance and soon the sky was clear and there were only a few clouds sliding across it, however it was cold outside because the sun in early spring in Scotland takes a while to get it’s furnace pumped up to full heat. Sitting in the living room with the sun shining in, the light was wonderful. I used that light to illuminate what became today’s PoD which was a wilting tulip. Flowers are often more interesting when they are just past their display best, I think. I took a few, well, a couple of dozen photos of the tulips and hyacinths in that lovely directional light. While I was processing the results, Scamp went for a walk to the shops to get lunch.

After lunch we drove down to see Isobel who has a great wee sun trap at the side of her house. She had been out working in the garden and we sat for a while and exchanged books before we headed back home with some detailed instruction on when and what to prune in the garden.

Just for a laugh we put the gingerbread house out in the back garden for the birds to eat. It was much later, while I was getting ready to make dinner that I noticed a movement in among the pots. At first I thought it was a dunnock (small brown bird that forages around the pots), but it was a wee mouse. It looked smaller than a house mouse, but the same colour. It seemed interested in the house or perhaps the smells coming from it. I don’t think we really want rodents in the garden, no matter what size they are, or how cute. I think I know where it/they are coming from. The old clothes pole I cut down last year is lying behind the pots. I’d forgotten all about it, but it would be a perfect home for a rodent family. Tomorrow I’ll saw it into manageable pieces and take it off to the tip.

It seems a bit strange to be sitting writing the blog without having to do a sketch too, but February is past and I need a rest from daily drawing for a while. Maybe later in the year, all being well.

Weather looks colder for the next few days. Today was just like a spring day, let’s hope the rest of the week remembers that it is meteorological spring. No plans for tomorrow.

An improving day – 27 February 2021

Posted on by Zogman

It started off dull and foggy, but it ended up much better.

We hadn’t anywhere to go today and no real reason to go there anyway. However we drove over to Kilsyth on the pretext of going shopping in Lidl. I wanted a bottle of their excellent Hortus gin and Scamp wanted ‘messages’. We achieved our aim and got both. I was very good and didn’t open the gin right away when we got home. Instead, I went out for a walk in St Mo’s but that’s not where today’s PoD came from. I got that much earlier.

The light was beautifully soft for a while after the fog had lifted and so had the heaviest of the clouds. The freesias on the windowsill were looking great and I grabbed a few shots, but I knew they would look better on a dark background. I hung Scamp’s black cardigan on the handle of the window and banged off another half dozen shots, one of which Scamp chose as PoD. No cardigans were harmed making this picture.

The trip to St Mo’s was just because the light was improving and I did find some more subjects. A tiny little spider for one. The first spider I’ve seen this year. Another was a little branch from a weed with lots of water droplets, probably from the morning’s fog, shining brightly. It seemed to be one of those days when you couldn’t put a foot wrong. Except I did put both feet wrong and came home with wet sox again!

Scamp suggested we do a Golden Bowl (best Chinese food in Cumbersheugh) and I readily agreed. Chicken Chop Suey with Fried Rice for Scamp and Special Chow Mein for me. Washed down with a glass of Red.

In the evening we practised the waltz routine and it is looking good. Much more ‘together’ than it’s been all week. Partly due to S&J’s video, but more to do with Scamp breaking things down and working out whose foot goes where, when. We also found the real name of a song Stewart uses for the rumba routine. Tried Shazzam, but it’s rubbish now. Used Sound Hound and it worked first time. It’s now in the dance music folder in Spotify.

Today’s topic was “Chess”. I dug out my old wooden chess men and set them up to fight. Black lost. That’s what happens when you paint yourself into a corner.

If the weather is decent tomorrow we may go for a walk somewhere.

It rained – 19 February 2021

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All day.

In the morning I started today’s sketch. My thoughts are that although it’s good being able to draw under the daylight bulb in the ‘drawing room’, it’s much better to work with natural daylight, even if it is a poor light at times. Also, if I get the drawing done early then hopefully I’ll get to bed at a reasonable hour.

It worked today. The topic was ‘Yoga’. Many moons ago I did go to a yoga class run by a police sergeant in the gym of a Larkhall school. I became quite addicted to it. When I retired I thought I might take it up again, but the classes were always booked solid and eventually I gave up trying. Maybe once we are out of lockdown I may try again.
As you can see, I couldn’t settle on a subject, so this is a page from my sketchbook and I think the two poses fit quite well. That was a tough prompt, but quite enjoyable.

The furthest we went today was down to the shops for milk. What exciting lives we lead. I didn’t even risk a walk in St Mo’s in case I got the new toy wet (although it is ‘weatherproof’ but probably not ‘Scottish weather proof’). Instead, I took today’s PoD in the warm and dry of the kitchen. It’s a tiny little Narcissus that came in a posy of flowers that Scamp had tastefully arranged in a vase. An old vase that belonged to my mum. It was a six second exposure on a tripod and I really liked it. Great detail in the petals.

Dinner came courtesy of The Chippy in Condorrat. I walked through the rain to get one small fish supper (Scamp’s) and one large fish supper (Mine). They tasted great but I knew I’d be getting the repeats of them all evening and I was right. Might need some Gaviscon tonight to fight the inevitable heartburn.

Found my first tick tonight. On my leg just below the knee, on the sock line. Looks like walks into the wild wood of St Mo’s, or anywhere else for that matter, will be off the cards until at least autumn.

Tomorrow looks like more rain, so we might go out if we can find a dry half hour.

How much more rain is up there – 4 February 2021

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I don’t know how much more there is in the clouds, but a lot of it fell today. All day!

It just never stopped today. Rain, rain and more rain. We spoke to Hazy on the phone for half an hour in the morning. Found out, among other things, that Neil D was doing a virtual parents night last night and has another one tonight. Tonight’s one has every slot filled. So that’s probably about two hours of non-stop talk. Rather him than me.

I was just getting ready to brave the elements and go out to shops after lunch when Fred phoned. I realise now I should have just gone and chatted with him on my rainy walk, but I’m an auld guy and I despise these youngsters who wander around shouting at the top of their voices, apparently to nobody. Maybe they are talking on their phones through the tiny mike on their headphones, maybe they are just pretending they have friends when they have none. It’s even harder to decide what’s going on when they’re wearing ‘Real’ wireless headphones that dangle like little white earrings and have no white cord connecting them to a phone. Anyway, you weren’t going to catch me doing that sort of thing, so I told him I’d phone him back.

Actually it wasn’t too bad walking in the rain. I quite enjoyed it, although I didn’t have a chance to take any photos. I did try, but it was impossible. Tomorrow’s prompt for EDiF is “Underwater” and that’s what today’s PoD would have been if I’d taken anything. As it was, I chose to walk home and photograph something at home. That something turned out to be a Delphinium flower. One of many in the bouquet we got on Saturday. I quite liked it and thought it looked like a nursery rhyme flower fairy. Scamp saw a unicorn in it. I wonder what you’ll see.

I did phone Fred, but he was busy at the time and didn’t pick up. He phoned back later in the evening and we had a good natter about painting and Landscape Artist of the Year with judges that were basically talking out of their collective backsides, although Fred used more pointed language!

I was late starting today’s sketch although I’d worked it out in my head before I started, The topic was ‘Winter’. I think it looks a bit twee, but some of the painting is ok. It’s done and posted in time and that’s the main thing. Tomorrow I’ll start early and get the drawing/painting done in daylight. That’s what I said I’d do today, but there just wasn’t enough daylight to draw by!

More rain and snow forecast for tomorrow. After that it dries up a bit, but it gets a lot colder too. You just can’t win at this time of year.