Category: Flowers

Dancin’ – 6 February 2025

Posted on by Zogman

Not a class, just a Tea Dance. Much more fun!

We drove over to Glenburn for this week’s tea dance. The first decent run the Blue car has had since its operation and it passed with flying colours. A much smoother ride than recent, although I was careful to avoid as many potholes as possible. Scamp was my ‘eye on the road’, warning me of any avoidable holes.

The class was about half full and we danced quite a lot of the ballroom and latin dances as well as the sequence dances. Lots of catching up with different folk we hadn’t met for a few weeks, some we hadn’t seen since before Christmas!
The tea dances give us a chance to practise what we’ve learned in Stewart & Jane’s classes and also the simpler routines we’ve worked our way through in Kirsty’s class. Today’s waltz was one we learned a couple of weeks ago in The Link. Really enjoyed today’s dance. Maybe because I felt comfortable with the dances we took part in.

We left early again, and for once we made good time, clearing the Kingston Bridge without stopping once. An amazing feat!

We came home via Tesco to allow me to post Jamie’s calendar which will be over a month late by the time he receives it. Maybe one more to go and that will be me finished for this year.

Dinner tonight was Bacon and Borlotti Beans. One we picked up from Jamie and Simonne, and still a firm favourite.

PoD was a photo of an orchid I treated myself to a couple of weeks ago. It was going cheap in Tesco and I thought it would look good on the kitchen window sill. It seems to enjoy its place there.

Tomorrow Scamp is intending to go to FitSteps and I’m hoping to get a letter written.

 

Winds have gone – 25 January 2025

Posted on by Zogman

We should have been driving to Brookfield this morning, but I didn’t fancy the drive in the conditions and thankfully, Scamp didn’t argue.

The ‘conditions’ were that I had to get from Brookfield to East Kilbride after the dance class on a day when the weather didn’t seem to want to “play nice”. As it happened, although the snow did come as predicted, I’d have had plenty of time to drive over to EK. My fault. My bad. I regret it now, but as Scamp says, it’s over, it’s in the past, leave it.

We drove up to Hairmyres about an hour earlier than we needed to, but it was snowing and EK has a reputation to uphold for snow forgetting to turn off once it’s been turned on, so an hour in our pocket seemed like a good idea. And it was.

It was hard driving into the sun after most of the snow had disappeared. Even wearing sunglasses didn’t really help, but we made it out to the edge of Hamilton and up the hill to the Whirlies roundabout. Brilliant name for a roundabout. It was just after that we saw the red lights ahead of us, hundreds of them. After driving in first gear for a few metres, waiting a few minutes and crawling further along what’s really just a mile or two long straight, half an eye on the car in front and half an eye on the clock we saw the blue and red lights of either an ambulance or a polis car. We never did find out which, because it was long gone before we reached the next roundabout where a car was parked half on the road, half on the 200mm high verge of the entrance to the roundabout. That’s the worst parking I’ve ever seen.

After that long crawl, it was a fairly easy drive to the hospital. We were still a bit early, but that was just luck. I got taken right away and the two nurses who did the pressure check on my eyes were impressed with my results.

Then we had a long wait to see the doctor, about an hour I’d reckon. Last time we were there it was football was on the tv. Today it was horse racing. Almost as boring as football, but not quite. Eventually my name was called and Mr Sharma was not quite as dismissive as last time. He even answered some of my questions after he told me that the drops had worked and the pressure in my eye had reduced by a half. I’d still have to keep using the drops for a while, but for now he didn’t want to see me for three weeks or three months, I can’t quite remember which. All I heard was the the pressure in my eye was down by a half.

We drove home, parked the car and did nothing for the rest of the day. Dinner was an omelette for Scamp and a couple of lamb burgers for me with a baked potato each and shared a tin of beans. Great relaxation food.

PoD is a Rhododendron bud in the back garden.

Tomorrow we may go shopping after I do my drops!

Dentist and Dancin’ – 23 January 2025

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But not at the same time!

A couple of days ago I had a pain in one of my wisdom teeth at the very back of my mouth. A few moments later I had a horrible taste in my mouth too. I thought it might be an abscess and drove up to the dentist’s surgery. The girl there is very good and squeezed me in to an appointment for this morning – It’s a really busy surgery practice.

The dentist had a look, but couldn’t see any sign of infection, but she took an X-ray just to be sure and although the photo came out clear, she said she’d give me a course of penicillin just in case there was something there. Two tablets, four times a day when my stomach is empty. An hour before food or two hours after food. Far too complicated for a bear with little brain! Worse, they taste awful!

Back home we decided to go to the first Tea Dance of the season. The fact that we were promised home-made Tea Loaf had nothing to do with our decision. Awful weather and a host of potholes made for something less than the best journey we’ve had, except for the train journey home after Christmas!

We arrived late and were met with Stewart’s favourite comment: “Don’t think you can just Waltz in here!” I don’t know how many times I’ve heard that old joke. Anyway, we were seated far away from our usual table and we were directly under the speaker. Maybe that’s why we were on the dance floor most of the day – to keep away from that speaker. I think we must have been up for every dance except the Scottish selection. Traditional if the Tea Dance is nearly at Burns Night. The tea loaf was excellent. Home made as promised by Jane.

Most of the second half was a collection of Sequence Dances and although Scamp was as sure footed as usual, I must admit to being a bit rusty and needing a prod in the right directions sometimes.

As usual, we left early to avoid the worst of the schools coming out. The weather had deteriorated by then and it was an uncomfortable drive home. I think I may have damaged a shock absorber on one or two of the potholes which seemed to be everywhere today. I may take the car down to Jim Dickson to have it looked at next week.

No outside photos today because of the atrocious weather. Drizzling rain is not conducive to taking photos, unless you want to have your camera ruined. I didn’t. So, PoD was a bunch of violet and white Lisianthus cut flowers that Crawford and Nancy had brought yesterday.

We’ve been given a RED weather warning for wind tomorrow. It has gradually climbed up the scale from Yellow to Amber to Red in the past few days with winds in excess of 100mph on the west coast and over 60mph inland. No trains, schools closed, no GPs, no buses. We’ve been told to be prepared for possible power cuts too. The danger of life warning blared out at about 5pm, scaring the living daylights out of me.

Hopefully it won’t be quite as bad as they are predicting, but we have to be ready for it anyway.

Snowdrops – 19 January 2025

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The first snowdrop flowers to appear in the garden.

It was Scamp’s idea that I should take a photo of the first snowdrops. I think it was just a ploy to get me to go outside for a while, but I didn’t mind. Finding a decent viewpoint to shoot them from, because they were nestled into a corner of a square pot, that was a challenge. I eventually used a piece of matt black neoprene to give a dark background that would hide the plastic pot, but wouldn’t be too detailed and draw the eye from the plants. Eventually I came up with about six photos. Three from one angle and three from another. The final choice was up to Scamp and she chose this one. I think she was right. She sometimes is!

The remainder of the day was a typical Sunday. Lunch for Scamp was one of yesterday’s fresh eggs, fried with some tomatoes on buttered bread. I had the remainder of Friday’s mince with another of those eggs poached in it. A Larky standard!

Later after Scamp had taken in all that Laura Kuenssberg had to say about the release of hostages from Israel and Gaza and the forthcoming deification of Donald Trump, we went for a walk to the shops. Of course I took a camera with me, but I didn’t use it. I knew the first snowdrop would stand for PoD. It wasn’t as cold as it had been in the morning when I’d been on location in the garden photographing flowers, but on the way back home a chill began to descend.

Dinner was Trout Fillets with Hasselback Potatoes (why do I keep calling them Hasselhoff?), Peppers, Tomatoes and Shallots, roasted in the oven. Absolutely lovely. Why do I keep describing food? Because we are both foodies and good food deserves to be praised.

Spoke to Jamie and heard how he had spent his week weeding and working in the garden while Simonne lived the high life in Florida. Your time will come Jamie!

Tomorrow morning I’m expected to donate a full test tube of my precious blood to demonstrate how wonderful it is!

Wet – 13 January 2025

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We have become so used to dry, cold, icy days that rain is almost a novelty … Almost!

We soon became tired of the constant rain, but couldn’t find the place where you turn it off. Instead we both wandered off into our individual bedrooms. For my part I started gathering old bits of tech, filling a bag with them and dumped the bag in the bin. Scamp had been complaining about the number of jackets of varying age and condition in my room, so the next target was to gather them into two boxes, Keepers and Chuckers. Usually I go back on my promises and keep them all, but surprisingly, this time I kept to my word and put more than half of them in the box to go to the Salvation Army.

I struggled to get WhatsApp into the new phone, and at one point I thought I’d destroyed it, but after a bit of help from Scamp it all became clear and it’s now on computers and phones. I’ve still got a lot of apps to load on, but it looks like being a long drawn out process.

I didn’t go far for today’s photo, just into the garden. It’s a bud from Scamp’s Lady Emma Hamilton rose that never quite got a chance to open and then was frozen solid for a week. Such a pity, but only to be expected in mid winter.

We had intended going to the first night of the dance class, but neither of us were in the mood for it, so Scamp wrote a note of apology to Kirsty and promised we’d do our best to be there next week. Kirsty replied with a couple of videos of the class learning a Waltz in the new, much larger and brighter room in the Link.

Hoping against hope for better weather tomorrow, but I’m told we may need some shopping, but I might manage to get something photographed along the way.

Dancin’ – 12 December 2024

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The last tea dance of the year.

Drove through the freezing fog to Tesco for a bottle of fizz for the dance teachers, plus a loaf and some pomegranate seeds and … well, lots of things, actually.

Then it was back home for a coffee and a Wordle. Didn’t quite get the Spelling Bee, but the coffee was good. Found I’d got an Explore for the photo of Hair Ice back on Tuesday. I suppose it is a strange looking thing and not seen very often.

Lunch was coming up fast and I wasn’t dressed for it yet, so it was a frantic rummage in the wardrobe to get suitable clothes for today’s tea dance. ‘Christmas’ was the unspoken theme for today and for once I did embrace it. Christmas jersey and a very old bright red tee shirt with a reindeer. Scamp was in her Christmas dress and looked very festive.

The fog was almost gone by the time we reached Glenburn but there were only a few or the regulars there. We danced a whole, or almost a whole, Quickstep. I was quite chuffed to find that I could remember almost all of the Hoabie Quickstep. We rather messed up the Waltz Nioli which we used to know and that was it for the formal ballroom dances. The rest were sequence dances and I think we danced them all, even the Christmas Pudding Dance which is a complicated four person dance with lots of ducking under and dancing round each other. Best seen, not described.

Made a mistake on the way home and took the Kingston Bridge road which felt like a moving car park. Once we were on the bridge and after a quick lane change we were moving a lot faster. Actually we took about the same time as we would have done if we’d taken our usual M74/M73 route. That freezing fog from the morning was descending by the time we got home. I dropped all the bags in the kitchen and went over to Condorrat to get a large fish supper for us to share, and that was dinner sorted.

There had been no time today for an outside photo, so it was a still life. The Christmas cactus has just come into flower, so that was today’s subject. Actually it an amalgam of two photos. One of the flower petals and one of the stamens. If you look closely you can see a dusting of pollen from the flower.

Watched the final of Masterchef The Professionals and the right person won as far as we were concerned.

Tomorrow we’ve been invited by Shona to coffee and a cake in Costa. I look forward to that.

A busy day – 28 November 2024

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Some days are filled with To Do lists and some are just made for lounging about. Unfortunately today’s was one of the former.

What with writing yesterday’s blog and posting it, then driving to the tea dance at Glenburn and back again, it felt like it was non-stop.

It started with a lazy look at Wordle and Spelling Bee. Wordle was easy, but I’ve still not completed SB. Then it was time to fill in the spaces of my memory of yesterday, typing it up and posting it. By then it was almost lunch time and a welcome wee piece ’n’ bacon and another slice on blackcurrant jam. Both delicious. Thanks for organising that, Scamp. That left me just enough time to wash my face, shave and get dressed for the Tea Dance. Then we were off with the thermometer in the car reading 0ºc. Brrrr!

By the time we reached Glasgow the temperature had risen to 2ºc and the heater was pushing out warm air as fast as its wee fans could heat it. Fairly easy drive to Glenburn although there was a lot of ‘tutting’ from Scamp when the boy racers were slaloming through the traffic on the M8, managing to shave off a decent 20 seconds from their journey time. You have to ask yourself; Is is worth the effort for 20 seconds max with the possibility of a bump and the polis being able to read your speed using the melted rubber on the tarmac as a guide and fifteen folk able to identify you with their dash cams. It’s all fun and games until someone loses an eye.
But we all do it, don’t we? Or is that just me?

Apparently the there was a prize for the worst example of bad parking in the car park at Glenburn. Cars dumped everywhere. It must be something in the water today. Anyway, we didn’t miss anything, because Stewart was waiting to see how many latecomers like us would appear, blaming traffic, roadworks and diversions. Nobody believes any of those tales, but everyone tells them.

Waltz to start as usual, then the lethargic Rumba One followed by Rumba Two, which is almost exactly the same as R1 but slightly faster. We danced the usual list. A Foxtrot, a Quickstep, a (Real) Rumba, a Salsa and a Bachata. Interspersed with the ‘real’ dances were quite a few sequence dances. A good crowd at the table we were sitting at. David and Carol with occasional visitors Linda and Billy. Good patter flowing around the table as always.

We left just after 3pm to avoid the school rush and for once I decided to take the Kingston Bridge road rather than the M74/M73, and for once it was the right decision. Stopped at Asda for a bunch of flowers for Scamp, she deserved it for keeping me fairly close to the right steps at the right time.

By the time we got home it was dark. That’s what happens in Scotland in November. Dinner was a reheated paella from yesterday. Scamp sorted it as usual heated enough to kill off any nasties in the rice, but not enough to turn the whole dish into mush. Something else learned today.

It had to be a tabletop photo today due to lack of light. It’s a little orchid we picked up in a garden centre earlier in the year. All the flowers died away after a while and we thought it was dead. Then one day I was sure I could see a tiny green shoot appearing from the stem, so we took a bit more care of it after that and fed it some liquid orchid food. Then this week the flower opened. We were delighted.

I’m still struggling with the new watch, but things are coming together now. Much more complicated than the FitBit, but it works.

Scamp is intending going to the last FitSteps of the year, but nothing else planned. Rain forecast.

Sunshine and flowers – 11 November 2024

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For once it wasn’t sunshine and Showers.

Spoke to Hazy in the morning. I think she liked the rhinoceros shoes that are destined for Grian. I did have a quick look, but no adult size shoes with attached sox could I find. The Van Gogh exhibition sounded amazing, Hazy.

As we were talking I was watching the light playing across the Alstrumeria cut flowers on a table in the living room. Once we’d finished our call with Hazy, I just had to take a couple of shots of them. Literally two shots was all I took, but the effect of that sunlight and shadows meant I didn’t need any more. Photo one got PoD.

I took the Down jacket out for another spin later. Just a walk down to the shops to get bread. It should have been bread and some cold sliced chicken for Scamp, but I completely forgot the chicken. It was one of those days when things went a bit wrong. Never mind Scamp I’ll bring some home tomorrow if I remember.

Dinner tonight was pasta all’Amatriciana. Pasta with tomato, onions, bacon and chilli flakes. I added some tomato concentrate to strengthen it and it worked very well. The simplest dishes are often the most difficult to make properly.

That was about it for the day. That bright sunlight in the morning sort of faded away in the afternoon and left us with the usual clouds.

Last week Scamp was at the dentist. Tomorrow it’s my turn. I know I need at least one filling. I’ll have to wait to find out what else she discovers!

 

Dancin’ – 9 November 2024

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Almost forgot about the dance class today, but we did make it to Brookfield in time.

The torture started with Mayfair Quickstep, just to get us warmed up because it the Committee must be cutting back on the heating. Then it was in to the Hobie Quickstep and someone had formatted my brain, just after I formatted yesterday’s SSD. I couldn’t remember a thing. I used to say that I had a logical side to my brain and a creative side. I think I’ve spent so much time working with the upgrade to the iMac on my Logical brain, I’ve forgotten to keep up the dance practise on my Creative brain. That’s my excuse anyway.

After some gentle prodding from both Scamp and Jane, things began to slot into place and by the end of almost an hour, I was feeling more comfortable with it. It is a Quickstep, though and there’s a lot of fast footwork to get through.

Next was a Rumba. Much gentler than the quickstep, but more places to stylise your movements, hand, body and feet. None of these dances are as easy as they make them look on Strictly. Halfway through the class Stewart dropped the bombshell that there will be no class next week as he and Jane are going to Murryfield for the rugby. Oh Dear! What a shame! I was devastated, as you can imagine!! Not only that, there is a chance that we may be changing the venue for the Gala Ball from Perth to somewhere slightly newer. I don’t want to say too much yet for fear of jinxing it!
The Quickstep was a sequence dance, but the Rumba was a mix and match. Add, subtract and mix the figures to make your own routine. That makes it much easier, but you need a more structured approach to start with or else I would pick the easiest figures and ignore the more difficult ones. But it’s an interesting dance. Never as easy as it looks and always with the problem of remembering the terrifying “Sliding Doors” that used to haunt my dreams on a Saturday night after class. They were mentioned and demonstrated today, but I just covered my eyes and they weren’t there!

PoD today was a Calendula flower bravely bobbing its head in the cold breeze in the back garden. I wasn’t planning on going out for a walk today. Cold and gloomy with a layer of mist shielding us from the sun.

Watched with indifference the gyrations of the Strictly dancers. Criticising their attempts and giving them a lowly “5” for their poor footwork or blocky hands. I’ve no idea who will leave this week.

We have no real plans for tomorrow, but I might get myself a light, warm jacket to go to cold places!

Out to lunch – 29 October 2024

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I’d said we might go out somewhere today and we did.

It wasn’t quite the place I was thinking about. Instead of driving, we got the bus to the town centre and from there another bus to Dunfermline. After a coffee in Nero, we had a walk around Pittencrief Park and spent a good half hour or more in the glasshouses. Actually it’s one big glasshouse that’s divided into three spaces. Despite the time of year and the cold outside, the plants were mostly all growing well and the carp in the pond were getting even bigger than the last time we had been there.

I took 48 photos, 46 of them in the glasshouses and two outside. There were quite a few exotic specimens inside. A purple/blue Brazilian Spider Flower which does actually look like a spider. A Japanese Lantern Plant, and PoD, a pair of tiny little parachutes like the feathery dandelion clock seeds, but with a spiral tail. Have a look and you’ll see what I mean.

Eventually we went for a walk around the formal gardens. All the rose bushes are untouched still, I expected to see them cut down to the ground. But very few flowers to be seen. Just one or two around the paths.

From there we walked up through the town and had lunch in Wetherspoons. Not the best we’ve ever had, but it filled a space. I ordered Roasted Cauliflower and Spinach for Scamp and Chicken Jalfrezi for me. What came was Chicken, presumably Jalfrezi, for Scamp and probably Beef Madras for me. We should have sent them back, but had started them before we noticed. I must say that is the first time I’ve had a poor meal in Wetherspoons. Scamp has complained about it when she has been in the Cumbersheugh Wetherspoons with her pal Mags, but my food has always been fine. Must be more careful and critical in future.

We walked back to the bus station via M&S and arrived at the stance about two minutes late. Didn’t even see the bus leaving. That meant a half hour wait for the next bus. Lovely scenery going back. Beautiful light on the hills and I was in a bus, so couldn’t stop to take photos. Never mind, I was sure I had loads on my card, and I was right.

Watched Bake Off tonight and didn’t get the result we were hoping for. I suppose that’s life.

While we were out, I got a call from Val. I don’t think he’s keeping very well. I might go and see him this week or next.

Today’s prompt was Navigator. I sketched a Silva Compass, just like the broken one I’ve got in a drawer in my room. The design hasn’t changed much in the fifty odd years since I bought it … the price has!

No big plans for tomorrow. I might make a bow tie for Saturday.