Category: Folk

Another dull, wet day – 15 December 2021

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It rained all day today, but Scamp went out for a walk in the rain.

It was a busy day, though. While Scamp was out posting Christmas cards the engineer arrived to service the boiler. While he was working away Hazy phoned. I just knew she was more interested in getting more information from her mum than talking to me, so I asked her to phone back which she did. Scamp arrived back just in time to save me pulling a cupboard apart to find the maintenance log for the engineer to sign. He gave us a lot of useful information in the time he was here. He showed us a much better way to use the central heating and keep the house warmer too. It’s always good to get information from someone who knows what they’re talking about. In half an hour he passed on more useful knowledge than the bloke from Scottish Gas had given us when he was fitting the boiler. So, the boiler was fine, as you’d expect considering it’s just over a year old, and the house is now a lot warmer without getting too hot.

Once he was on his way, we settled down to hear what was going on in Hazy’s house, while one of her cats was screaming to be fed. Poor wee soul hadn’t been fed for years apparently. Worse still, that bad girl was too busy talking on the phone to do anything about it. Scamp related her tale of woe about NHS waiting lists and the difference if you’re willing to pay. I hardly got a word in edgewise, but that was probably for the best ”It’s always good to get information from someone who knows what they’re talking about”.

After lunch Jackie phoned and I took the opportunity to boot up and go out for a walk in the rain. If it was good enough for Scamp, it was good enough for me. PoD came from that walk and is one of those little weeds I delight in photographing with raindrops clinging to the bracts that used to hold flowers. There is a saying “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” My thoughts today were “If life gives you rain, photograph it.” That’s what I did. Of course the photo is slightly fake edited. I used the new masking tools in Lightroom to blur the background while keeping the subject sharp. It’s not perfect, but it’s a pretty clever tool.

I walked down to the shops and got some frozen sweet corn to make Celeriac and Sweetcorn soup. It sounds awful, but it actually tastes very good. We were both agreed on that.

Years ago I made an adjustable lens hood for one of my Oly lenses. I found the drawing for it tonight and managed to export it from the PC to the Mac and print it out from there. Transferred it to a sheet of neoprene and lo and behold, it fits the new macro lens that didn’t come with a lens hood. I need to get some black velcro tomorrow to finish it.

That’s about it for today. Like I said, it was a busy day. I think we may be going to the Fort tomorrow.

Going to see the Eye Man – 14 December 2021

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Another dull morning, but for once weather wasn’t on our minds.

After lunch we got ready and headed off to Ross Hall Hospital. It was a murky looking day and immediately we left the estate, the automatic headlights came on. Once we were booked in, Scamp went off to be measured for the new lenses, then they put drops in her eyes to dilate them and the optician checked her eyes and did the same tests that Scamp had at Hairmyres. I got to sit in on those tests too. Next we went to speak to the surgeon who talked her through the operation, and answered the few questions she had. Then he booked her for the procedure on the 17th of February which is a great deal better than the 12 months she was offered at Hairmyres. It would have been sooner, but the specialised lenses she’ll need will take longer to make than normal lenses. I do believe she is relieved!! Ok, it’s private and quite expensive, but it will be done a lot quicker that on the NHS. Also NHS wanted her to wait three months from getting the first eye done to getting the second. Ross Hall said one week! The date of the first procedure is our wedding anniversary too!

The drive back was horrendous. Some poor bloke had broken down in the overtaking lane of the Kingston Bridge and the traffic was backed up for five miles. Took us an hour and a half to get back. For once we weren’t all that bothered. We’d put a big tick in a big box today. Best of all, she can now put her contact lenses in again and put the glasses in their box. She looked like Scamp again!

Dinner tonight was a curry ready-meal from M&S. Butter Chicken for Scamp and Chicken Jalfrezi for me. We even had a wee drink tonight to celebrate the occasion.

Maybe if that poor bloke hadn’t broken down on the Kingston Bridge, I might have had a chance of a photo over in St Mo’s, or maybe not. PoD today was a traditional shot of Fairy Nuff on the Christmas tree.

We’ve got an engineer booked to service the boiler tomorrow morning and I’m hoping against hope that the sun will shine after that and I’ll get a chance to put the new lens through its paces.

A long lie-in – 12 December 2021

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At last a lazy lie-in. I did enjoy that.

We had booked an engineer’s call today and he arrived just as the final F1 GP of the year was starting. Poor guy, Simon was his name and we think he was Polish. He looked a bit out of his depth. He did all the things that I’d already done. He reset the modem to factory settings and he tried connecting using what we thought was his phone and he got through to all the sites we couldn’t reach. However, neither Scamp nor I could. We were still getting the error message. After a few phone calls back to base he tried using what was his personal phone and hit our problem. His previous connection had been done with his Virgin PDA which he admitted had a lot more software on it that allowed it to shortcut the normal wireless routes.

In the midst of all this I asked him about all the corruption we were getting on the TV and asked if it was just cables needing cleaned. He agreed that it was the usual cause. However once he’d checked the connections, he said that wasn’t the case here, it was the hard drive in the TiVo box that was giving the problem. He went to his van and returned with what looked like a new modem, but it was a new set top box, not a TiVo this time. He fitted the new box, and set it up while still struggling with the modem problem. Eventually he gave up, gave me his phone number and told me he’s go and discuss it with his manager and get back to me.

We sat there in amazement. We’d been trying for years to get Virgin to admit that the corruption was due to a dodgy hard drive, but they insisted it was just the cables that needed cleaned. All we needed to do was book a service engineer and Bingo, a new set top box appears. It’s about a quarter the size of the old one and much, much faster. All this time I’ve been blaming the TV for taking so long to connect to iPlayer and it was the TiVo box all the time.

He did phone back and said that it looks as if some of the sites have blocked our IP address. We need to phone Customer Services and ask to be put through to the Faults Team who should be able to change the default IP address. I realise this is just gobbledegook to you Jamie, but maybe your sister will understand it a bit better.

The story doesn’t end there. The window cleaner came to get his money tonight and he said “I think you’ve left a brief case out in the rain” pointing at a very wet black shape that did in fact look like a brief case sitting on one of our bins. As I reached for it, I realised it was our old TiVo box. Poor Simon, he was so bamboozled by our problem that he left the box sitting there while he went looking for the external connection box to make sure the problem wasn’t there. It’s lying in the kitchen now drying out gradually, but I don’t think it will ever dance with the Bolshoi again!

Watched a confusing F1 GP on and off while the repair was going happening. It was more ‘Off’ than ‘On’ as the new box was taking ages to boot up. Great to see Verstappen win, but to be honest, neither of them covered themselves in glory. It was also good to see that smug smile wiped from Toto Wolf’s face when he realised what was happening. So much hype, so much macho posturing from the team principals, so much bad feeling. Then the the drivers themselves fist bumped and behaved like sportsmen on screen despite what they said off screen. A strange day. It might be worth watching the highlights just to see how stupid it all was.

Almost no chance for photos today. The furthest I was away from the house was to bring the car down to our parking space from where I’d parked it last night. PoD was a shot of some starlings sitting in the bare trees trying to find some berries for their dinner. Ours was beef burger for me, veggie sausages for Scamp, both served with roasted veg. Scamp’s Christmas Sponge for pudding, served with custard.

Tomorrow we’re going for the messages and to get Scamp’s meds. I also need to call the faults team.

A day in the Toon with Alex – 10 December 2021

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Just a wee saunter round the toon.

We had intended travelling on the subway to Kelvinbridge for today’s photo safari, but instead Alex decided a walk round Glasgow to photograph the lights would be a better use of the day. It was his choice today and I agreed with him. Probably a lot more to see in the city centre than in the West End.

We walked down Bucky street from the Concert Hall were we’d agreed to meet, and went for a coffee in Nero. The market in St Enoch’s Square was just warming up and we managed a few photos before it got too busy. From there we walked along Argyle Street in the general direction of Glasgow Cross then turned on to Parnie Street where we took the opportunity to ogle the toys in Quiggs, now rebranded Merchant City Cameras, but for people of our generation it will forever be ‘Quiggs’. Not wishing to purchase anything today we walked on to take some photos of the McLennan Arch and the Collins Fountain at the entrance to Glasgow Green. Then it was on to the Clyde Walkway to see the graffiti and photograph the better pieces. It’s a bit of a shame that some of the new stuff covers up the old ‘Tiger’ that had been there for years. It’s probably still there, under a couple of coats of paint. I suppose you could argue that it’s had its day in the sun and should really make room for the new works. Still …

By this time we were feeling the need for some food, so we headed for the St Enoch Centre to see what we could find. We ended up in Aulds. Me with a sausage roll (a bit greasy but ok for lunch) and Alex with a cold ham sandwich. Cup of coffee each washed the food down. Back outside Alex wanted another look at the street food market and I wandered round taking street photos. By this time the temperature was dropping and we were heading for home.

One more stop for Alex was the posh House of Frazer. He knew exactly where he was going. Up to the first floor to get a view looking straight down the elegantly draped walls of the clothes shop. I thought we’d have attracted security, but nobody paid any notice, so I took a few shots too. One of them made PoD.

Outside we walked up Bucky Street and I glanced at a street magician trying to attract a crowd. He waved back at me and I turned away. As I did that I realised that his face was familiar. He was a former pupil. I can’t remember his name, but I did teach him. In class he was a quiet individual who seemed to lack confidence. Then at the annual end of term show he appeared on stage and did magic tricks. Everybody, and I mean Everybody was shocked to see this quiet wee boy exuding confidence. And here he was today giving it his best shot. He even said to his crowd “That’s my old teacher.” I stopped, turned, gave him the scary teacher look and said “Less of the OLD, you!” He laughs, I laughed and the crowd joined in. The next time I’m in Glasgow I must look for him. Still can’t remember his name though. It’ll come to me.

I walked Alex to his bus and then headed back to Buchanan Galleries to drive home. Stopped at Condorrat on the way to get a Special Fish Supper and a tub of ice cream. The fish supper was consumed with gusto and the ice cream is in the freezer for tomorrow.

Helped Scamp later to form and coat some rum truffles. That should be RUM truffles, because there was a fair amount of the spirit in them. They did taste good.

Scamp has booked an appointment for Ross Hall Hospital for a second opinion on the cataract situation. Let’s hope they can do the job quicker than Hairmyres.

Tomorrow we’re hoping to go to dance class. Lateral Flow test first just in case.

Encouraged – 6 December 2021

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Woke to rain, heavy rain, thumping down.

This wasn’t going to be a good photographing day by the looks of things. Sat down and got started on yesterday’s unfinished sudoku. There are six sudoku puzzles a week in the Times daily block. Five weekday puzzles were Monday is the easiest and Friday is really hard. You get two days to solve one weekend puzzle which is at times diabolical. On Saturday I started what looked like a remarkably easy one, but I wasn’t fooled. Last night I was still struggling with it. As sometimes happens, when I look at it afresh, like today, it just falls into place. Easy! With that done and after a false start, I got today’s done. That took me to coffee time. By the time I’d finished my coffee the sun had come out properly and the rain had stopped. That’s when I was ’encouraged’ by Scamp to go for a walk while the sun was out.

This was a two camera day. I thought I might get some decent light and with the kit lens on the big camera and the macro on the other one, I was ready for most things. I saw my first opportunity when I was walking up the path to the ’venchie. That was the abbreviated version of Adventure Playground. It’s a bit more upmarket than the one that two of my readers would remember, but is just as well used. By kids in the daylight hours and neds in the evenings. You don’t want to know what goes on in there after dark. You might think you know, but it will always be worse. Anyway, it was just a photo of a leaf and it was just to get the ball rolling so to speak. Next I found an old scarf tied to a tree branch. It has been there for years and is now growing all sorts of fungi and a nicely sprouting hummock of moss on top. Quite photogenic to a photog.

Walked over to St Mo’s where everyone but me had a dog. Dog walkers look at you kind of strange if you’re walking alone and without a dog on a string. Why? Dog-walkers, on the end of that bit of string is a creature that is one stage away from a carnivorous wild animal. And you think I’m strange? Some of them even have two or three of the things. Each of them capable of communicating with each other and planning your demise in a language no translator will be able to understand. I walked on.

I took photos of Cladonia lichen which I love and besides it looks as if I’m photographing a rock. Sometime I talk to myself while I’m doing it. That really spooks the dog-walkers. You can see them pulling their pooches away from the obviously deranged man in the old dirty jacket. You see how photogs get a bad name now? PoD ended up being a monochrome shot of a park bench in St Mo’s. The scarf came a close second and in third place was a rather limp nettle. All can be seen on Flickr.

After lunch I spent the rest of the afternoon trying and failing to avoid writing Christmas cards until dinner time. Spaghetti Carbonara followed by panna cotta.

A strange thing happend last night, just as I was locking up before going to bed.  There was what looked like an envelope lying in the garden.  I went out to have a look and it was indeed an envelope.  No address on the front, just a message Merry Christmas.  Inside was a Christmas card with a message “To you Stranger.  Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year”.  A random act of kindness perhaps?  Scamp suggested we put it in the window in the kitchen.  Hopefully someone will see that it was delivered and read.  There are good people out there.

Tomorrow Scamp has an appointment with the dentist and I’m taxi driver.

 

 

Dancin’ Class – 4 December 2021

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“Hooray!” Said Scamp.

This morning we drove through sleet and rain all the way over to Brookfield for the Saturday morning dance class. We got a rousing reception from Stewart and Jane. Maybe that was partly because there were only a few of us dancers there, five couples in total, not counting the teachers. We started with a couple of sequence dance tracks to get us warmed up, then it was into the Christmas Pudding Rock. I was glad of yesterday’s teaching session from Scamp and even with that it took me a few dances to get into the swing of it.

Next was the Rumba. What we’d started calling the Lockdown Rumba, but this was a more polished version of that dance and it had also been lengthened too with some tricky steps, mainly aimed at the ladies, thankfully. We made not a bad fist of it all in all, but with lots of phone videos to fall back on, I’m sure an hour of so’s practise at home will help us put it all together for next week. We finished off with another sequence dance and we were done for today. It’s not often I say this about dance class, but I did enjoy today.

Drove home through traffic that was just a little worse than our usual return journey. Weather was poor again, but I think the Christmas ‘run to the shops at the weekend’ has begun in earnest now. However with a bit of judicious lane changing we managed to get back in about an hour.

After lunch, the light was disappearing fast, if it had appeared at all. I gave up any hope of getting an outside photo today, then Scamp commented that there was a lovely break in the clouds, over to the west. I knew I didn’t have time to kit up and go looking for that light, so I had a look out the back bedroom window and that’s where today’s PoD came from. It’s a four frame panorama of the Campsie Fells bathed in the light from the ‘golden hour’. It only lasted about fifteen minutes and it was gone, but the photos recorded it.

Dinner was Sweet Potato, Chilli Flakes and Lime soup. It was a bit thin, but tasted fine, if a little spicy. More in the pot for tomorrow. Scamp had made Sultana Cake yesterday and pudding was that cake with custard. Just a Saturday night dinner.

Watched an interesting Dubai GP. Lots of thrills and spills. Driving like it should be without too much politics.

I think the iMac has just finished backing up to an external SSD drive. I’ll be interested to see how fast it boots from that.

We have no plans for tomorrow but I hope it’s a bit warmer than today when the temperature rose to a magnificent 5ºc.

Feeding the Jucks – 3 December 2021

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Feeding the jucks with the wrong food, apparently.

It was a lazy start to the day. Not really cold, dull and cloudy with the occasional burst of sunshine. Not enough sunshine and not really warm enough to encourage me to leave the comfort of the house though. It wasn’t until after lunch that I took that step. Scamp wasn’t really interested in going for a walk, and I didn’t blame her.

The temperature was cooling down when I finally took the steps that led me outside. Toting both cameras again. A6000 with the macro lens and A7m2 with the standard lens for a change. I also had a loaf of green speckled bread under my arm to feed the ever hungry ducks and swans. That was my first task, to feed those hungry beaks.

A great way to start a food fight is to chuck a slice of bread into St Mo’s pond. Gulls, ducks, swans, coots and geese all diving in as if they’d never been fed for weeks. More like minutes, actually. With all the bread gone and the big daddy swan hissing his discontent at me, I emptied all the crumbs from the paper and went on my way.

I met a bloke who told me I shouldn’t really be feeding the birds with bread, because it’s not good for them. He wasn’t quite as confrontational as that, nor was he as blunt, but I got his message. I asked him what I should be giving them and he replied, sweetcorn. Apparently the enjoy sweetcorn and it’s good for them. Easily digested, he said. Then we discussed the age of the swans and how they live in different ponds, the same way we go visiting relatives and friends in other parts of the country. He did seem to know a fair bit about them and was happy to share his knowledge without making a nuisance of himself.

While I was walking round the pond thinking about what he’d said, I spotted some Canada geese in one of the quieter and deeper parts of the pond. Canada geese sometimes overwinter at the pond, but get a hard time from the resident two swans who are forever hustling them about. I took a few photos with the 6000 and the birds didn’t immediately fly away. In fact they swam a bit closer. I took some more shots with the A7 and the sun came out, lighting the trees on the far side of the pond. Potential PoD in the bag.

I was heading for the rough ground behind the pond hoping for a similar shot to yesterday’s with the low sun giving some warm light. I was much too early, probably an hour too early. I did get an interesting shot with decent light of a single cow parsley stem holding water drops in its claw-like seed heads. Another possible PoD.

After processing at home it was the geese that won the day, but the cow parsley shot is in Flickr for your perusal. Not a bad day’s photography, and a bit of information on feeding the swans stored away.

Dinner tonight was Chicken Biriyani. Spicy hot and not really a great taste. Apparently it can do some damage to your liver too. Don’t think we’ll be eating enough of it to do that much damage.

Tomorrow we may be going to dance class. To that end, Scamp and I had a quick practise of the Christmas Pudding Rock. Just a made up Christmas sequence dance. A bit of fun. Other than that, not much planned.

 

Strictly a dancing day – 12 November 2021

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But first a visit to the doc’s to hear the bad news.

I needn’t have worried. For the first time in years, there was no bad news from the nurse about my annual checkup. She went over my numbers and basically everything was fine. Ok, my weight was a bit higher than ideal, but as she said, “everyone has put on weight over the last year.” I left feeling much better than I had when I went in. Isn’t that what doctors surgeries are meant to do?

Next step was to collect together our latest ‘Small Electrical’ devices and take them on a one way trip to the skips. It was just small things like the old coffee grinder which would no longer switch on. Also my hard working Nexus 7 tablet. Nine years old and still working … well, it really depends what you expect from ‘working’. If you mean that you switch it on and it works, then it’s working. However those who want it to work about thirty seconds after pressing the power button and to keep working for at least five minutes after the screen appears, might be disappointed. I was one of the latter group. It had to go. It’s been replaced by a new Lenovo 8” tablet that is doing everything I expect from a tablet, except taste sugary, but that’s probably a different kind of tablet! The last thing to go was a half bottle of white spirit that I kept meaning to chuck out just for safety reasons. It, too, has now left the building. With all that done and after handing over an arm and a leg for a tank full of petrol, we were ready to go to Perth.

Drove up to a dull, dreich Perth, surely not how it was going to be this weekend? The hotel did nothing to lift my spirits. Allegedly the oldest established hotel in Scotland, it had hosted Bonnie Prince Charlie as a guest back in 1745 and I think it has been painted since then, maybe only once. Just a typical old, old hotel that’s like a maze inside. Ours was a tiny wee room with a lovely view of the carpark and the back of a tenement, but that wasn’t important. We were there to dance.

The was a table plan to consult as we went in to the ballroom and four dancers were already seated when we found our table. Standoffish? Just a bit. Condescending? Just a bit. Who cares, we were there to enjoy the dancing, not the company.

Dinner tonight was typical hotel food, I chose Melon with Midori as a starter, then Haggis Stuffed Chicken as my main course with Meringue and Fresh Fruit for pudding. Typical hotel food! Scamp’s starter was also Melon  but she had a main of Sweet & Sour Vegetables which apparently tasted brilliant. Pudding was a Sticky Toffee one.

With dinner over, dancing began and we threw ourselves in and had a great night. Not great dancing until the opportunity came for a bit of Salsa. Six of us could dance Cuban salsa and about six others who took to the floor danced ballroom salsa. I didn’t get a chance to see what their dancing was like, I was too busy dancing salsa.

By midnight I was totally beat, physically, as was Scamp, but we were both buzzing when we struggled through the maze to go to bed.

PoD was a photo taken in the afternoon, through the bedroom window of the backside of Perth!

Early start tomorrow for a dance lesson then an afternoon free before the formal dance at night.

Driving, Dancing and FPs – 6 November 2021

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Driving to Bridge of Weir at early o’clock in the rain.

The teachers wanted an early start today. Half an hour early to be more precise. I wasn’t too bothered until I realised I had about fifteen minutes to shower, shave and get dressed. I managed it … just! It was a really mucky morning. High winds, lashing rain and when we headed down the street the automatic headlights came on. It was going to be one of those days.

Despite the weather and threats of disruption on the motorway because of COP26, we made good time to the dance class and the room filled up quickly with far more dancers than usual. The teachers had decided that today was a reprise of all we’d learned so far. The only one we really screwed up on was the quickstep. The rest we fumbled our way through, but the quickstep wasn’t quick and most of my steps were in the wrong place. I don’t know if I will ever be able to be totally confident with that dance.
Sometimes, for me, the time drags in class, especially if I’m having problems with a dance, but today the time flew in. However, our lack of practise time in the past fortnight was showing. We need more time on the floor, especially if Scamp is going to be out of class for a month. We might ask the teachers for a private lesson or two to keep us up to date.

The drive back is usually a painful stop and go for about five or six miles as we near Glasgow, but today, perhaps because of the weather or the threat of disruption, it all went remarkably smoothly. In fact we took almost the same time for the return journey as for the outward one in the morning. That won’t happen every day.

There was more light as we left Glasgow and headed for Cumbersheugh and I was beginning to get hopeful that I might get out to take some photos, but the brightness was short lived and we were back in the land of gloom, wind and rain.

After lunch Scamp made some weird sounding Curried Kale soup which we have yet to taste, because it’s intended for Sunday’s starter, but which looks interesting. I took a walk down to the shops in the late afternoon to get a chicken for tonight’s dinner. We also needed potatoes, so that was a heavy bag to lug home. Additionally I took a long way home, hoping to get something worthwhile out of the day because the sky was brightening and the rain had stopped. PoD became A Road Less Travelled a gloomy path through trees heading towards an underpass. Nice bit of gloaming light through the trees warmed it up a bit. Just as I was heading down the path a workie said those worrying words “Were you my techy teacher?” I couldn’t deny it, he obviously knew me. He was great big towering bloke who I remember as a quiet wee pupil. He didn’t have a busy beard then either. Sometimes it’s good to meet FPs, especially when they speak to you. Not so when they shout your name across the street!

Tomorrow looks a bit like today, but hopefully with less liquid falling from the sky. We might get out for a walk.

 

A lovely autumn day – 2 November 2021

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It was a cold day, but a clear one with blue sky and sunshine. A great surprise and a day we wouldn’t waste.

Scamp suggested three places we might go today. Either Culross, Dunfermline or Kirkcaldy. I had a few things to do on the computer first, but after that we could go. We decided that we were a bit late to go to Kirkcaldy, and I settled on Dunfermline, with the possibility of visiting Culross on the way back. Scamp agreed.

On the way there, we again met a cavalcade coming in the opposite direction. Fewer this time, but still with that ’do not get in our way’ attitude. Our drive went well until we were on the outskirts of Dunfermline and got stopped at a set of temporary traffic lights. Temperamental traffic lights with their own sequence of operations:

Red, Amber, All Off, Green. At this point, I started to move forward, but couldn’t see the road ahead for a traffic sign in front of me. Luckily Scamp could see and told me to stop because there was traffic coming towards us on the single open lane. The lights were still on Green for us, but still the traffic flowed past us coming in the other direction. Finally the lights changed to Red, Green, Amber and Red again, but the traffic coming the other way just kept coming. Eventually there was lull in the flow and a works lorry came out of our line and drove part way down the road before cutting in to the closed lane. I was right behind him and then everyone else followed me. We got through unscathed. It was a most bizarre situation and could have been really dangerous. I’ve saved the dash cam footage just in case some jobsworth decides I had run a red light. Maybe it’s a special light sequence for COP26, who knows.

We got parked easily at Pittencrief Park in Dunfermline and went for a walk in the autumn sunshine. We walked down to see the peacocks. There was only one male strutting around, but the colours in his tail feathers was incredible, sparkling in the sunshine. Three or four peahens came out to see us too. Their plumage is much duller than the show-offy peacocks, but I did get one shot I liked, this one

We walked round the formal gardens of the park and I got a few shots, but when I got them home they were disappointing, just not as crisp as usual, Scamp said that and I think she’s right. Mostly they were shot at around f16 which isn’t recommended. I must have twiddled the dial accidentally when the camera was in my pocket. That’s the only thing I can think of.

We had coffee in the posh new extension to the park pavilion. Coffee wasn’t all that posh. Mine was meant to be a cappuccino, but it looked like Scamp’s latte with some chocolate sprinkled on top. No foam and not much coffee either. However, the scones were lovely and fresh.
I did hear an interesting conversation there. An American bloke said to one of the servers “What is Coronation Chicken.” Her reply was “It chicken with a Coronation Sauce.” Well, that cleared it up nicely! He chose a chicken salad instead. I would have too.

We decided to take the longer, but safer route home via Culross. It was lovely just sitting watching the water and the light changing on the far shore. I took some shots from the start of the pier, and it was there I found the settings error. Fixed it and everything settled down after that. PoD was a shot taken there with some daisy-like flowers on the pier wall. I think now they were Chamomile.  Sorry Hazy, I hope that Culro$$ word doesn’t give you nightmares!

Drove home and decided I had enough time to wash both cars before the rain came on. As it turned out I had plenty of time, because the rain held off all afternoon. They look a lot better now, although I think I might take Scamp’s wee red car through the carwash next time.

No plans for tomorrow.