Category: Folk

Encouraged – 6 December 2021

Posted on by Zogman

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.

Curry then a walk – 15 October 2021

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We did find that Indian restaurant in Hamilton.

The restaurant was the Bombay Cottage. Convenient parking just outside for the princely sum of £1.60 for three hours. As I’ve said before “Who would want to stay in Hamilton for three hours?” We had no intention of doing that. I had Chicken Rogan Josh which was very mild, too much oil/ghee and lacked salt. Scamp had Cauliflower Shimla Bhaji which was too salty. Two chefs with different tastes? Still the naan made up for the main courses. We left feeling that we’d been well fed.

We were entertained by a wedding group walking past the restaurant with their photographer in tow, heading for the car park of the Townhouse. Then they all trooped back again, walked through the main car park and out through another exit. By the time we were leaving the photographer was taking photos of the happy couple posing in front of a white minibus in the main car park, and everyone else crowded round him taking photos with their phones. I wish I hadn’t left my phone in the boot! What a photo that would have made! We drove slowly past the group with folk crossing in front of us like we weren’t there. Maybe there’s an unwritten law that states if you’re in a wedding group and get knocked down, it won’t hurt you. One woman nearly got the chance to try it out.

We drove in brilliant sunshine to Barons Haugh for a walk through the trees. Lighting was lovely and the path was interesting for a mile or so, then we turned a corner and the path went in to shadow and wasn’t nearly so interesting, so we turned back and although we were walking into the sun, the lighting made it so much more photographic. PoD was a photo of a yellow leaf that had found itself hooked onto the branch of a sapling.

Drove home with the sun still shining. What a difference a day makes. Headlights on when we left the house yesterday morning and brilliant sunshine and blue skies today. Tomorrow the weather begins to revert to Dull October again. However, for today the sun was still with us and I wanted to get more low sun pics in St Mo’s. I think I just missed the best of the light, but I still got a few decent shots.

Sketch for today was “Helmet” and I chose my bike helmet. Really demanding thing to draw with all the curves and cut aways. Also lots of air holes in it. I hadn’t realised just how many there were until I started it. I was beginning to think that a helmet is just an expensive bag of holes held together with some plastic. However it is essential when you’re on a bike.

Tomorrow is back to dance lessons, but with the possibility of a run to the coast if the weather permits.

Down the Canal – 11 October 2021

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Out fairly early since there was a fair amount of blue sky.

By the time we were actually on the road most of that blue was replaced by grey and an ominous amount of clouds rolling over from the Campsie Fells, but we got parked easily at the Hebo House and walked along the side of the Forth & Clyde canal in the general direction of Twechar. We met hardly anyone along the path. A few cyclists and that was about it. After my lucky spotting of a kingfisher last week with Alex, I was hoping we’d get lucky and see one today, but there were no sightings of that blue flash. We did see one of Mr Grey’s family on the far bank, but he was almost invisible among the reeds.

As we were about to cross the road and head back on the path of the old mineral railway we saw a man with twa dugs. As well as the dugs, he was trailing a long lead and I mean LONG. I’d estimate it to be about nine or ten metres long. He crossed the road and I had visions of the lead getting tangled in a car going in the opposite direction and he with the dogs being dragged along behind it. Unfortunately that never happened. I’m guessing it was a running lead to let the dogs get some exercise, but he really should have been more careful.

We spotted loads of fungi on the way back along the path and I took the opportunity to photograph a few. We also saw a ’workie’ in full workie gear sitting near one of the barriers keeping pedestrians away from the Never-ending Story that is the upgrade of the paths along that stretch. For once there were no notices telling the public (ie, us) what was happening now to these excavations, tree felling, tree planting and general works that seem to have been going on for about three years with little sign of completion any time soon. However we did see one of the mythical workies today. Rarer that a kingfisher.

I got PoD along the path. A pretty little pink flower of the genus Impatiens glandulifera or Himalayan Balsam. It’s a large annual plant native to the Himalayas but is now present across much of the the UK and is considered an invasive species in many areas. I don’t think it does nearly as much harm as the workies and their upgrades. Right, I think I’ve said enough on that subject.

We did manage to complete the walk without getting wet. In fact as soon as we closed the car doors, the first raindrops appeared on the windscreen. Drove home, had lunch and Scamp went out to work in the garden, repotting some flowers and planting new bulbs for next year. Meanwhile I cooked some steak and kidney, some of which will hopefully be my dinner tomorrow. The rest will go in the freezer to be a welcome dinner in the future.

Today’s sketch was to be Sour. I sketched a lemon from the fridge and faked a slice of lemon behind it. Splashed some watercolour on it and that will be another day completed in Inktober. Not the finest painting or sketch I’ve done, but it’s been posted. Inktober is not nearly as full of participants or sketches as it was last year, but then Flickr is much the same.

That was about all we did today. No plans for tomorrow. Weather looks like an improving picture.

Dancin’ and Drivin’ – 7 October 2021

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Not both at the same time though!

Drove our way to the tea dance, not the way the satnav wanted, but I wanted to make sure I could correct the mistake I made the last time. It took us about 40 minutes which was about the same as the satnav’s preferred route. Weather was the opposite of yesterday. Heavy cloud and lashing rain that would fade to a fine drizzle before returning again as a deluge.

Dancing was good with lots of people there, much more than a fortnight ago. We got up for most of the dances although we got in a bit of a fankle with the Social Foxtrot. It’s actually a lot easier than the Ballroom version, but you’d never guess from our ham fisted attempt at it. Still, the tea was good and so was the cake that Jane allegedly bakes. It’s almost like dumpling. Quite heavy, but I didn’t mind because it tasted good. Stewart announced that the dance weekend in Perth was fully booked now (we are in) and they were now taking bookings for a May weekend in 2022. Of all the dates they could have chosen, they picked the on of Wee Jak’s wedding in Skye!

By the time we left my little brain was full of ballroom, sequence and Scottish Country dances. I even did a line dance!! Me? A line dancer? I’ll never live that down. It was still raining when we left and fought our way through Paisley, more or less ignoring the satnav’s pleas to go a different way. Eventually we reached the M8 and after a couple of miles everything ground to a halt. An articulated lorry had broken down on the M74 and the traffic was backed up onto the M8 leaving it as very slow moving conga line in all the lanes. About an hour and a half later we got home, and it was still raining.

My feeble attempt at a PoD was a macro shot of some rose stems in a glass vase. I liked the distortion the glass and water gave those jaggy stems. Sketch for today was Fan. I chose to draw and paint two of Scamp’s favourite fans. The blue one is embroidered cloth and the red one is lacquered strips of wood. I got fed up just using ink, so that’s why the watercolour appeared.

Tomorrow we might go out somewhere to get some petrol and I’ll perhaps get a more interesting and challenging PoD.

I’m late, I’m late – 5 October 2021

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For a very important date!

We got a phone call when we were less than halfway to Falkirk, just checking that we were coming to the meeting with Andrew at 10am (it was now 10.05!). Scamp apologised and said we had thought the meeting was at 10.30. However, all the traffic lights we met, every one was at green, so we weren’t extremely late, but we were profuse in our apologies when we got to the office. We spent about an hour with Andrew and learned a lot about the state of global finances and although a lot of it went over my head I enjoyed his view on the state of the parties, political and otherwise. As we left, the great man asked if we were to spend some money in local businesses and we agreed that we were.

The business we went to was Torwood Garden Centre which is in Falkirk and therefore local. We had a quick lunch there and then went looking at plants. We were actually looking for Snowdrop bulbs for Scamp to plant in the front garden, but apparently the transport problems had reached as far as snowdrops bulbs according to the lady at the information desk. That’s the same story we heard at Calder’s last week too. Scamp did manage to find a geranium plant that she could find a place for and a new light ball to hang on the tree. We had done as Andrew had asked.

Back home I checked with Alex that tomorrow was still ok and it looks like it is. Later in the afternoon I took the A7m2 with the 50mm macro lens out to St Mo’s to look for mushrooms. I found a few likely subjects, but none that I hadn’t seen before. What I did find was a very furry caterpillar and that made PoD. Then, as I was heading home, I spotted a green and brown spotted dragonfly laying eggs in St Mo’s pond. Surprisingly it then started laying eggs on part submerged tree branches and also on the stonework of a little outfall from the pond. Later I identified it as a Southern Hawker. Apparently they are making their way further north these days. Another sign of Global Warming.

Dinner was Chicken Ramen with Rice Noodles. Quite tasty, quick and easy. Later we watched a Jamie Oliver program on a new way of making a quiche. We might just have a go at that.

Inktober prompt for today was “Raven”. It took me a long time to settle on a suitable sketch, but eventually I managed it with the help of a pencil, a fountain pen, a fineliner, a brush pen, a paintbrush and some black paint. A lot of tools for a simple sketch. Overkill I’d say.

Tomorrow I’m hoping for some decent sunshine to go taking photos at Chatelherault in Hamilton with Alex.