Category: Flowers

Zooming over to Falkirk – 14 July 2020

Posted on by Zogman

Not literally, but virtually.

We had a Zoom meeting today with Andrew, the man from Falkirk. All seems to be well and we don’t need to make any changes at the moment, but he advised us that he’ll be getting in touch to make some amendments to things before the New Year.

While we were in Virtual Space, there was a knock at the door and a mysterious parcel was left on the step. It wasn’t a mystery to me, I knew what was in it. After the meeting, Scamp asked who was at the door and I pointed to the tall cardboard box sitting in the hall. She knew immediately what it was. The Gertrude Jekyll rose had arrived in a similar one. After “oohing” and “ahhing” she opened the box and allowed the rose to see daylight after being cooped up for a couple of days. Then she took it outside and gave it a drink. Tomorrow we will go and find a suitable container to plant it in. It will also need a fair amount of compost to fill it up. This rose is Comte de Chambord.

In the afternoon Scamp went to visit Isobel with her birthday present, which was the other Coreopsis plant we got last Thursday. While she was out I started clearing up the painting room, then got sidetracked into a WhatsApp text conversation about painting with Fred. A few sarcastic comments from both of us confirmed that it’s time we went for a coffee some time soon, all of us, that is. I don’t think we’ll be going for a beer any time soon. The thought of taking the bus into Glasgow, or even the train doesn’t entice me at all. Maybe in a few months if the situation improves it might be possible. The other option is for someone to volunteer to be nominated tee-totaler for the day. That’s not all that practical either. Maybe coffee with the Auld Guys will do for now.

After our correspondence I went for a walk down to the shops because we needed milk, Scamp wanted oranges and I wanted apples. Hoped to get a PoD on the way. I finally got one on the way back. It’s a Dead Nettle, so called because the leaves don’t sting. In fact I was reading an article online that said if you chew up a dead nettle leaf and spread it on an insect bite, it takes the sting out of it. Not sure I fancy that, but it might be worth trying some time.

Did a wee pen sketch of a mug and a spoon for Sketch of the Day. I was quite pleased with it. Did it with a 0.4mm rollerball.  Very slippery to sketch with, but the line remains 0.4mm because unlike felt tip fineliners, rollerballs don’t wear down. Or at least, not as much.

Scamp got an email from the Beechgrove Garden telling her that a question she’d asked about pests on the blackcurrant bush had been answered in a video.  She even got a name check by one of the presenters.  She’s famous now!!

No real plans for tomorrow other than compost and a plant pot for The Comte!

Paint and painting – 13 July 2020

Posted on by Zogman

Once more into The Fort, dear friend, once more.

Despite spending a fair amount on a new full paint box, I still needed more paint. Two of my half pans were empty in my old box. One was Cerulean Blue, a sky blue. I got one in the new box. The other empty pan had held Hooker’s Green Named after an English botanist and illustrator William J Hooker, not for any other reason. Not that I would know about such things, you understand. The new paintbox didn’t have Mr Hooker’s green and the reason the half pan is empty is because I use it a lot. Today I intended to go to The Fort to get a tube. It’s not essential as a colour, because you can mix a fair representation of it using a couple of colours with a third to adjust the intensity, but to have one to hand would be good. Scamp decided she’d come along. She’d spent the morning browsing B&Q looking at lawnmowers. We’d had a discussion and she agreed that the old mower probably needed to be replaced for H&S reasons and she’s still speaking to me!

I got the paint, £5 for a 5ml tube. Multiply £5 by the 18 colours in the new box and you see how much it costs to paint some watercolours. Of course I didn’t pay that for the paintbox. Also, paints come in four price bands. My HG was in band 1 the lowest price. Some are much more expensive, just under £10 for the most expensive (and most poisonous!) paint in the price bands. Still I was happy to pay to be able to mix some good dark greens.

Meanwhile Scamp was off window shopping. She came back empty handed but smiling because she’d been out in the sunshine and seen some pretty dresses. Unfortunately there was no point in buying any because there’s nowhere to wear them to. I think we are now coming down from the high of dancing – virtually – with other people for an hour and a half on Saturday. Now we are realising that it may be some time before we will dance with people again. We were supposed to be trying out dancing in the open air on Wednesday with our dance class, led by the teacher, but we’ve since heard that has been veto’d. Presumably, the dance board wouldn’t allow it on H&S grounds or their insurance wouldn’t cover it. Such a pity. It would have been interesting.

Grabbed a shot of one of Scamp’s favourite roses, Sheila’s Perfume. It looked stunning back lit in the garden this morning. That made PoD. I’d actually completed a painting for Lockdown Library yesterday, but didn’t think it was good enough. Today I had a second look and it’s fine. It has been posted on Instagram. Today’s painting is of the two wee chickens that make up our cruet set. I’ve done them before, but that was a while ago and I don’t mind painting them again. They always make us smile.

Not much more to add today. Doing a Zoom meeting tomorrow with the man from Falkirk. Hopefully it will go well.

Dancin’ – 11 July 2020

Posted on by Zogman

Dancin’ with at least six other couples, not from the same household and nobody stayed overnight, so Nick’s Nasties weren’t called.

The day started with a lazy morning, a lazier than usual morning. It was a dull day and we had nothing to go out for, so we didn’t go. I used the leftover dough to make a pizza for lunch and it turned out better than yesterday’s. I was impressed.

After lunch Scamp went out to pick some blackcurrants from our ailing elderly bush. She keeps saying we should cut it down and plant a new one because it has a fair bit of disease in it. I’d agree if I thought she wouldn’t regret doing it and also, where would we put a new bush? It would be foolish to plant the new bush into the same ground as the old one is in. If the nasties are in the soil, they’d just attack the new bush as soon as it was planted. The bush we have began life as a cutting from my mum’s plant in her garden. It would be strange not to see it filling that space beside the apple tree.

While she was pruning and picking, I was painting. It began as just adding the line of hills to a painting I started a few weeks ago, but it ended up as a complete re-paint and it made Sketch of the Day, does that make it a SoD or a PoD? Can’t be a PoD, because that award went to Rosie the little rosebush that Scamp has grown from a seed given to her by Hazy.  I think we’ll have to settle for LLNo 89.

Dinner tonight was a hot chicken curry. Really quite hot, but not white hot. Rhubarb pie and ice cream cooled our mouths while we watched a crazy qualifying for the rebadged and second Grand Prix from Austria. The Styrian Grand Prix is named after the region the circuit is located in. Racing in torrential rain for three qualifying events is madness. Thankfully most of the cars survived intact and all of the drivers did.

Immediately afterwards we had to get ready for Stewart & Jane’s first Virtual Dance, run over Zoom. Brilliant night, lots of fun with at least six other couples joining in with most of the dances. I think we are both exhausted and will sleep well tonight.  The best bit about the virtual dance was that when it started we didn’t need to drive home, because we already were home.  Fantastic idea.  We’d definitely do it again if we get the chance.

It might be a late start tomorrow, but we’re not planning on going anywhere important. No plans.

Out for a run

Posted on by Zogman

Up and out early today and off with a flask, some coffee and some biscuits. A day in the country.

Set off in sunshine and drove up to Perth, well actually we bypassed Perth and continued on in the general direction of Dundee until the satnav found our turnoff to Glendoick Garden Centre. Fairly large and bewildering labyrinth of interconnected buildings and a large area of plants. We were quite impressed with the range and quality of the plants. Only the roses looked like the runts of the litter. Some with no buds left to open, some with what looked like a bad case of mildew on the leaves. Maybe the good ones had been snapped up already, maybe they hadn’t received all their stock yet. The rest of the plants looked fine and Scamp picked a couple of Coreopsis plants, one for herself and one for a friend. I got a cheap bag of nearly out of date Earl Grey tea and also an equally old bag of coffee beans which surprisingly came from The Bean Shop.

We were looking for somewhere to sit and have a cup of coffee and a bite to eat, just a parking place really as we’d brought a flask and some biscuits ’n’ cheese. Found a parking place using the satnav and followed its directions up what turned out to be a narrow private road with speed bumps (and I mean ‘bumps’) every 10 metres! Eventually reached the top and there was the parking place. Just what I’d asked for. A parking place. No view, just a place to park. We had our coffee and biscuits and I guessed that if we continued along the road it would take us to Perth, and it did, on a real public road with no speed bumps.

After driving through Perth we started heading home and noted the heavy looking black clouds. One lot to the north and one lot to the west. We were heading south west and I didn’t think we were going to outrun both lots, because they seemed to he dropping a fair amount of rain in their wake. Sure enough about ten miles out of Perth the rain started and continued on and off for most of the journey.

We did arrive home dry, but after about an hour the rain reached us. I waited it out and went for a walk in St Mo’s. Nothing much moving, certainly nothing worth photographing apart from Mr Grey preening himself in a tree.

Today’s PoD is of a Tortoiseshell butterfly on some buddleia bushes we saw at Glendoick.

There is no Sketch of the Day. Lockdown has now been lifted and yesterday’s Lockdown Library No 86 will be the last. When you stop enjoying something that’s supposed to be fun, it’s time to call a halt.

Tomorrow we may drive somewhere local and go for a walk if he weather permits.

halves two of day A – 8 July 2020

Posted on by Zogman

In other words, just the same as yesterday, except the other way round. The morning was bright and shiny today and got progressively duller and wetter as time went on.

Spoke to Hazy in the morning and caught up on all things around and about Epsom. Glad to hear that they, like us are getting out again, even if it is only a run in the car. Later, after morning coffee and a first go at today’s ‘Fiendish’ Sudoku, we revised our plans for the day. We’d initially though about driving somewhere scenic and going for a walk, but the weather was already deteriorating and the sun had disappeared. We decided to have lunch and see if there was an improvement in the situation.

Scamp had been bitten on our walk yesterday and it looked to me like a cleg bite. She’d taken Piriton last night and again this morning. She’d also applied some Anthisan antihistamine and the combination seemed to work. After lunch she took the same medicine before we went out for a walk round Broadwood. Bumped into Glenda Begg  halfway round. She is a Special Needs teacher at the new Academy and had just finished her volunteer shift supervising kids at Broadwood Stadium which is the local ‘Hub’ where school age kids can go during the summer holidays. She was telling us that today there were three volunteers to 130 weans (I refuse to use the children-and-young-people ‘word’ that the Scottish Government use for ‘weans’). That’s a 40:1 ratio. NLC are happy because they don’t have to pay anyone and can brag about how they are making provision for under 18s.

Walked back past the shops and bought the makings for tonight’s dinner. I was ‘chef’. It turned out quite well. Baked Haddock and Cabbage Risotto. Dead easy because the oven does all the hard work.

PoD was a close up of a Honeysuckle flower we saw on our walk. Sketch was a pencil sketch of a beer can (unopened)!

Watched two excellent short videos today, Fatbaws and Larchview. Both are parts of the Scenes for Survival series from BBC Scotland. Google them, they are excellent and there’s a lot more where they came from. Really short, around 20 minutes long and some are a lot shorter. So far they all seem to be monologues. Those with little time for reading could always play them in their new car on the way to work! 😉

The weather for tomorrow seems to be much like today was, i.e. better early than late. We may go for that longer walk if we get the chance.

Stormy – 5 July 2020

Posted on by Zogman

You expect the storms in the autumn or the winter, but in July? Well, it is Scotland.

It was a windy old night last night and this morning was much the same. Thankfully as the day progressed, the storm winds regressed. Not so the rain. It pounded us relentlessly all day, with just the occasional sunny spell to trap the unwary and entice them out and then ambush them with another heavy shower.

In the afternoon I was enticed out but given the warning from Scamp to get home quick if the rain started. I ignore the warning, of course, but then the camera started acting up after an accidental finger press on the screen changed the setting to stupid mode and it started shooting video instead of stills. Eventually I gave up and reset it to default position, but by that time the good light had gone and so had the soldier beetle I was intending to photograph. I gave up. I had a few shots from the morning when we had that strange Scottish mixture of sunshine and showers … at the same time. The flower shots would have to do and I started to plod my weary way home. Reached the door just as the really heavy rain started. Scamp thought I was just obeying instructions and heading home before the rain came. I had to disabuse her of that notion and told her the story of the wayward camera and Stupid Mode. I don’t think she believed me.

Dinner tonight was Steak and Kidney cooked by my own fair hand. Scamp had an omelette. Both served with Jersey Royal potatoes. While I’d been out wrestling with the camera, Scamp had baked a Sultana Cake and we had a slice each with custard for pudding. Lovely!

Watched the Austrian GP, the first one of this Cover-19 season. Full of thrills, spills, bad tempers and lots of crashes. Nobody hurt thankfully, some egos bruised and a lot of very expensive equipment spread all over the race track. Let’s hope they all cool their heels before next week’s re-run.

Two of Scamp’s Sweet Peas made the PoD. The first two to flower and both survived todays gales. It was meant to be a rose for today’s sketch, but it didn’t quite make it. Perhaps it will be better tomorrow. The Lockdown Library is stalling a bit and maybe needs a rest. Maybe I should break out all the new paints and use them tomorrow. Also tomorrow, we’re hoping to go for a walk somewhere that isn’t Cumbersheugh based, because actually Lockdown had been folded up and put away in its box. The box hasn’t been locked yet and we’ve been well warned that Lockdown may yet come out of its box and restrict our movement again.

It didn’t rain today … 29 June 2020

Posted on by Zogman

… for about an hour. The sun shone too for far less time than that. Otherwise it was same old, same old.

It was a dull rainy morning that led on to a dull rainy afternoon, but finally about 10pm I went to the door and it was dry. I’m not sure if it’s still dry. I’m not looking just in case it’s not.

I drove up to Tesco today in the rain, mainly to get my prescription from the chemist, but also to get milk and bread if there was no queue. There was no queue so I grabbed my basket, disinfected it, sanitised my hands and put on my mask. Yes, I know a two layer cloth mask isn’t going to stop the microscopic spores of the virus, but it makes me feel secure and makes folk smile because the mask has cartoon frogs on it. Scamp says it makes folk give you a wide berth, just in case you might be wearing the mask to prevent others from catching your germs. Yes, that might just be true.

Came home with a magazine, a bag of oranges, two grapefruit and a loaf, but no milk. Didn’t notice until we were having lunch and Scamp asked me where I’d put the milk. What milk? Oops.

In between showers I grabbed a few shots of flowers in the garden and it was the remains of a meconopsis that made PoD. Sometimes the remains of a flower once the petals have fallen are more interesting than the flower. I wouldn’t say that about the bright blue of the meconopsis, but it did make an interesting subject. Only one flower still to open on the plant and that will be it until next year DV.

Danced for a bit tonight, reprising a couple of sequence dances and a little bit of jive to end the session. Only half an hour or so, but I was quite pleased at remembering most of the sequence dance steps and all the Seven Deadly Spins in the correct order! Must do that more often. I’m sure Scamp enjoyed it too.

Postman knocked at the door today and left a heavy but small parcel on the step. It turned out to be a bottle of Barra Gin. Scamp had told me she’d ordered one for JIC and Sim and it had arrived last week after a lengthy wait. It turned out she’d ordered one for me too! She is well named. She can be a crafty Scamp when she turns her mind to it.

So, today was an improving picture. Tomorrow we may drive somewhere, just to get The Messages. I may even take my “I’m Away For The Messages” bag with me. Oh yes, and we might get some milk too!

Ok, you can turn the rain off now! – 28 June 2020

Posted on by Zogman

It was raining at 8.30 this morning at 11.40 tonight it’s still raining.

I don’t think the rain has stopped all day. We did expect some heavy rain from the forecast yesterday, but we also expected some dry spells. The heavy rain came, but the dry spells went somewhere else for the day. Because of that, there wasn’t much to report.

Scamp watched a bit of TV and did a bit of tidying around the house. I made a three layer mask prototype.

Scamp spoke to Shona for a while on the phone. We both spoke to JIC later and found out that his new car, his first Brand New Car was ‘nice.’ A nice car.

I sketched a couple of apples for today’s sketch using my 49year old Parker fountain pen. I photographed our yellow nasturtiums for PoD.

Today we should have been sailing away from Southampton on our Med cruise.

Those were the headlines. Tomorrow will be better, surely. I’ll hope I’ll be able to tell you that tomorrow.

Hot! – 25 June 2020

Posted on by Zogman

We were warned it was going to be hot today. They weren’t wrong.

First job was to get my hair cut. Number three all over followed by a number two to clean up the fluffy bits at the nape of my neck. I’m always amazed at the amount of hair that falls in clumps on the carpet as I’m cutting. A bit thank you to Scamp because she did quality control on the operation and was the one who used the number two cutter to achieve perfection on the neck line. It’s such a great feeling when you step out of the shower and dry your hair in about 20 seconds flat.

With the big job over, we walked down to the shops and bought a new set of coloured lights to go round the tree in the garden. It brightens up the place and although the last lot hardly lasted a month, it was worth the fiver. It wasn’t until we got home we found that someone had swiped the solar cell from the box. Not only that, they’d just ripped it off the cable, so it would be almost no use to them.

After lunch Scamp was going to see her sister, so she got her money back on the lights. While she was off to see big sis, I walked round St Mo’s and got today’s PoD of an Azure damselfly. I also saw three dragonflies doing circuits and bumps at the pond. I imagine one of them was the one I saw emerging yesterday. Walked over to the shops and bought some pineapple cakes sweets and ice-cream, The healthy option.

Dinner tonight was smoked salmon and broccoli quiche with a salad. Very nice indeed. Sat in the garden and listened to the bloke next door pontificating on a range of topics, but mainly The Eagles. We discussed Scamp’s idea for a storage unit for the paved area of the back garden, but mainly we just soaked up some rays. It seemed sensible because it doesn’t look as if there are going to be many sunny days for a while. Thunder and lightning forecast for tonight and tomorrow. Heavy rain too, which should mean we don’t have to water the garden.

Today’s painting was a watercolour of a plantain flower. Not the Caribbean green banana, but an insignificant little plant that produces a brown and white flower on a long stem. If you live in the UK you’ll have seen them on any patch of waste ground.  They are also known as Ribwort.

As usual, no plans for tomorrow. It definitely depends on the weather!

The day the rains came – 21 June 2020

Posted on by Zogman

Thankfully they did remember a previous appointment and left us after a while.

It was a wet start to Fathers Day. However a couple of cheerful cards and a useful prezzy that I’d quite forgotten about, but someone had remembered brightened the day. Thank you both. Also the offer of a Zoom catch-up later in the day since actual face to face connection is still a promise for the future.

After lunch and after watching Nick Robinson gently take apart the Health Secretary in as skilful a piece of interrogation as you’re likely to see on TV, I started on a final sketch for yesterday’s drawing assignment which was still in the outline sketch stage when I went to bed last night. Eventually I gave up on it and started another, simpler, sketch that is viewable on Instagram and Facebook, but not here. It’s not that good IMHO. With that done and posted, and with my dinner of stewing steak bubbling away, I was ready to face the rest of the day and was actively considering a walk in the rain when I realised the big hand was at 3 and the little hand had slipped down just past 5. Where had the day gone? I decided to take my time as Scamp poured a small glass of Rhubarb & Ginger Gin and sat with my sudoku of the day for the remains of the hour.

Got Scamp’s computer set up for Zoom and we had about 45 minutes of worthwhile three way chat with the three families. Whoever invented Skype and Zoom deserves all the praise for a wonderful way of bringing families together in these trying times.

Then it was dinner and my stew was lovely. After dinner and Scamp’s fruit crumble, the coffee and a tot of alcoholic relaxant I inked in today’s sketch which was of the handlebars and headstock of my Dewdrop. Couldn’t quite decide whether to leave it as a line drawing or add a wash, finally chose to add a part wash and leave the rest as a line drawing. Probably the worst of both worlds. Not to worry, it’s done and on time.  PoD went to a grab shot this morning of the pansies in the elevated tub hanging on the fence.

Tomorrow is Monday and we have no plans. Nowhere we need to go and nothing we need to get. That’s what retirement is all about.

Thank you to Hazy, JIC, Neil-D, Scamp and Sim (alphabetical is the fairest way) for a lovely day.