Category: Folk

Another lovely spring day – 18 March 2021

Posted on by Zogman

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ravenscraig Revisited – 17 March 2021

Posted on by Zogman

Yes, we went back to the capital city again.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sunshine in small doses – 9 March 2021

Posted on by Zogman

Sunshine in more ways than one.  Then wind and rain later. Typical Scottish weather.

The day was calm for most of the time, but this evening there’s a wind howling around the house. But there was a little sunshine in the afternoon, when Her Majesty the Nicola made her proclamation that groups of four people two households may meet in the open from Friday. Why do we have to wait until Friday? Because Nicola says so, of course!

We didn’t have much to do today and although it was fairly dry there was just the hint that drizzly rain would catch you if you went out. I went out in the afternoon to go for a circuit or two of St Mo’s and then extend the walk in the direction of the shops to get some veg for tonight’s dinner.

I had read some suggestions for the Tamron long zoom’s problems. It appears the drive motor in the camera may be failing, which would account for the squeal that comes from it when I switch on. I’m not sure if that’s the reason or not. I’m thinking it might be more a fault in the adapter. It was a real cheapo one and not very well quoted. However, another old lens I have, a Sigma works quite happily with the adapter. Also, and probably the most telling, is the number of repair tutorials on YouTube for that lens. My plan now is to visit Val and get him to try it on the old Nikon D70 he has. If the lens works on that, it’s the adapter that’s at fault and I can happily sell it. If it doesn’t work on the D70 it’s probably the lens that’s at fault and I might as well bin it. It’s costing me nothing just now, so I’ll leave it be for a while.

So, off I went to visit the frogs again today armed with the new Sigma macro which worked quite well yesterday, but as backup I carried my old Oly M1 with a 200mm lens. I got a few shots of the cavorting frogs with both cameras. In the end it was a picture of some Cladonia lichen that got PoD, but because you are such patient and devoted readers, here’s my favourite frog pic of the day. I called it “The Voyeurs.”

Dinner tonight was a stir fry and I enjoyed it, but it had egg noodles in it and Scamp doesn’t like noodles, preferring rice. My fault. I bought the noodles.

We watched another excruciating episode of Drawers Off tonight. I may have to give up on this week’s episodes. None of the participants have the faintest idea how structure a painting. I realise it’s ‘edutainment’, but it should have at least one foot in reality.

Tomorrow we have an early(ish) rise because we’re off, illegally crossing county boundaries so I can hopefully get the horn on my car fixed at the Nissan garage, with the possibility of a little drop-in at Waitrose on the way home, because we’re almost there anyway.

Cold damp and dull – 4 March 2021

Posted on by Zogman

That about sums up today.

Sometimes it’s hard to get up much interest, especially when the sun isn’t interested in doing much work. I assume it is up there, above the clouds, but it’s shirking on it’s job as far as I’m concerned. Nothing but milky white skies and the occasional rain. I’m looking for Spring and not finding it.

Scamp wanted to go for seed compost today and the only place we could be sure of getting any was B&Q. We could have driven to Falkirk, to the garden centre there, but until the Littlest Witch decides we’ve been good enough to allow us to go to garden centres, we’d have to go through the rigmarole of ordering online and then using click and collect. Plus it’s not the same as being free to wander round the plants and look at things. At least B&Q for all its faults, and there are a fair few, has an outdoor section with plants and a selection of compost types and bag sizes. Scamp eventually settled on two bags of seed compost. One for immediate use and another as a backup for later use. We agreed that it’s still a bit early for planting seeds, better to wait until later in the month or possibly even until April. Scotland is always a bit behind the rest of the uk in gardening terms.

Before we went driving through Cumbersheugh to B&Q I thought it might be a good idea to put some petrol in Blue. It’s been so long since I filled the tank, some time last year I believe, that I couldn’t remember which side the filler cap was on. Yes, I know there is a sign on the dash to tell you, but that’s not much use when you’ve just switched the engine off. Besides, it’s something I really should know without a prompt. It was passenger’s side.

Back home and after lunch, which was ‘Gluey Soup’ (Scamp’s description) I went for a walk in St Mo’s with the stated purpose of re-photographing yesterday’s PoD using the macro lens. Perhaps it was that statement of intent that made Scamp decide that a day inside would be better than watching me grovelling around moss covered stones. I did find the source of yesterday’s PoD and as you can see, well hopefully you can see, you get a much more “up close and personal” view with a macro lens. When I was looking at the photos on the computer, later, I was amazed at the detail the new lens resolves. I really am impressed.

The light wasn’t good today, but I was finding some good subjects when I got talking to a bloke who just walks round and round St Mo’s pond. I’d just intended to pass the time of day with him, but instead we stood there for about half an hour talking, or me listening and him talking. Eventually when he left to continue his circuits, what light there had been had gone and I’d missed my chance of more macros. Hopefully the light will be better tomorrow.

Phoned the garage today about the horn problem and the car is booked in for next Wednesday. That will mean a drive to Stirling, breaking the rules set by the Littlest Witch and the rest of her lying cohort, at least that’s the way they are portrayed by the media. While Alex Salmond is held up as a shining light of truth. Aye Right!

Tomorrow, hopefully, we might get out for a walk … together.

Under a milky white sky – 2 March 2021

Posted on by Zogman

Yes, it was a milky white sky this morning. Although the weather fairies told us that the sun would come out of hiding, they forgot to mention that it wouldn’t happen until about 4pm.

There was no real need to get up and go anywhere in the Central Belt today because it looked like the white sky stretched from west to east and there was no getting away from it. Worse still, my phone was out of charge and my Kindle was too. Just to complete the trilogy, my Fitbit was telling me it was feeling a bit deflated on the power front too. I plugged in the phone and the kindle but forced the Fitbit to work for its dose of energy which it did in a disgruntled way beeping every hour to tell me to move my backside, which I also did in a disgruntled way. I blame the milky white sky for it all.

Eventually after lunch, we got ourselves in gear and went a walk to the shops. Scamp went to get milk and sensible stuff while I went for ice cream and sticky toffee pudding. Just a different kind of sensible. We carried our messages home and then while Scamp went out to comb the front grass, well, actually she was raking it, but when it was done it looked as if someone had combed it badly. While she went to do that, I went for a walk in St Mo’s. It felt a bit cold, so I wore my big Bergy jacket with its fleece, but actually it wasn’t all that bad once you were out and walking. The light was improving, but not enough to create shadows. For that you need directional light and there was none. I went to visit the ladybirds which were still hibernating and that’s when the sun started to shine, about 4pm.

Although the photos of the ladybirds are interesting to me, I realise they have limited appeal to the general public. It was while I was walking home that I tried my old 10-20mm Sigma lens and grabbed a few landscapes. When I looked at them on the computer I thought a monochrome format improved them and that’s what you see here.

Dinner tonight was Scamp’s job. She made Chickpea and Spinach Curry and I thought it was delicious. She thought it was OK, but that there was too much salt in it. She’s a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to seasoning, so I let her be right – just this once. My job was to make the flatbread and it turned out OK, but Scamp thought it was delicious. It’s not that I’m a perfectionist about flatbread …

Interesting text from Hazy this morning which I missed when my phone was filling its boots with electricity. She told me that while they were out for a walk they passed a cafe where I had coffee a few years ago and sat writing a speech for a certain wedding. Now that is nice to know. It has changed its name and probably been through a few iterations since that day, but it’s still there.

Tomorrow we don’t have any plans. The weather looks like it will be the same as today. We might go out somewhere and look for breaks in the clouds.

A dry day at last – 24 February 2021

Posted on by Zogman

Today it was dry in the morning and it seemed a shame to waste the day.

So it was boots on and just a light raincoat, because it wasn’t really all that cold. It wasn’t warm either, well, it is Scotland in February so what do you expect? We walked down and around the Broadwood boardwalk. I attempted a few shots of a goosander that was feeding in the shallows, but the settings I was using yesterday wouldn’t be suitable for today’s camera/lens setup and the photos were junk. Lots of folk out walking along the dam wall, making good use of a dry day for a change.

On the way back home I took a detour round St Mo’s pond while Scamp headed home. Just the two circuits today and got talking to a bloke I sometimes see there. We discussed a chestnut brown headed duck we’d both just seen. Neither of us was sure what it was, then he suggested a Potchard and that sounded familiar. I checked when I got home and it looks like he was right. I’d got a couple of shots of it once I’d sorted out the settings. Later in the walk I spotted Mr Grey or one of his close relatives fishing in the reeds. However it was two Canada geese that made PoD. One of the few clear shots I had today with the Tamron 70-300mm on the adaptor.

Dinner tonight was ‘Rats’ for Scamp with a baked potato and Spaghetti Bolognese for me using mince that had been in the freezer since October 2020. Tasted fine. I might even have the rest for dinner tomorrow if it survives past lunch.

The prompt today was Golf. I’d already worked out what the painting, because it would be a painting, would be. As usual I roughed it out on the cheap Cass Art sketch book and as usual, that became the finished sketch. It’s not the best quality sketch book, far from it, but it has a lovely ‘tooth’ (the grain of the paper that catches the graphite of the pencil). It’s not so clever at holding the paint and the colours tend to be a bit muddy because the paper absorbs the water so much. It’s also not quite white, so that doesn’t help. With all that said, it’s great for working on with a pencil.

Golf is not a game I ever thought I’d excel at, and I was right. Others wax lyrical about it, but I just don’t see the point. I used to have a boss who played every Sunday and on a Monday morning all the folk in the office, including me, would skive off because he would be too busy discussing the day’s golf with the other golfers in the office. My father-in-law was a golfer too. My wife and I couldn’t get married on a Saturday morning because that was his day and time for playing golf. I think it’s the paraphernalia that fascinates people about golf. It’s the dress code, the shiny golf clubs and the language, the jargon of golf that makes them feel part of an elite group. I never was one for joining groups, elite or not. Maybe that’s why golf is not for me.

We watched Landscape Artist of the Year and we were both surprised and shocked at the artists that blagged their way to the final. I could paint better than them!

The weather looks even better for tomorrow. We may go somewhere. I’ll get the settings sorted before we go out!

We took Katy skating – 23 January 2021

Posted on by Zogman

It was a cold start again. No snow and only a little bit of ice, but frost covering all the cars.

We decided we’d make a fairly leisurely start today. In fact it was well into afternoon before we booted up and walked around St Mo’s. I reckoned there would be enough ice for Katy and there was. I took Scamp on a trek out into the wild woods at the back of St Mo’s. I thought I’d make a slight detour to show her my hibernating ladybird, but shock, horror, no ladybird. Perhaps the two sunny days recently have brought it out of its winter sleep. Let’s hope so. We did find a lush crop of hair ice on the exact same log I’d found it earlier in the month. Plenty of other logs nearby in the same state of degradation with no sign of the strange ice formation on them. Apparently it’s linked to a specific type of fungus. Strange stuff.

Katy had been wanting to go skating for weeks, but the thaw had put paid to her chances. I was sure the ice would be thick enough today and it was … but only just. I got her to pose and even as I was setting up the camera, I could tell that the ice was starting to melt. I could even see the dead leaves under the ice moving in the current. Took a swift half dozen or so shots from various angles. Some with extra illumination, some not. As we were walking away from the tiny pond I ’chimped’ them and none of them were truly sharp. Not to worry I was sure I’d find a more accessible shot on the other side of the big pond.

We walked round the pond after we’d survived the tangled brambles and the two leaps of faith across the burn. There I found what I was looking for. The rain from last week had frozen solid on the path making walking it without YakTrax treacherous. Not so for a minifig with ice skates. Katy posed again and this time I got the shot. Not perfect, but much better than the first shots. I have to be careful here. Katy is not technically a Weeman. She is a WeeWummin. She’s my ice skater. She made PoD.

Dinner was Fish Fingers and Baked Potato for Scamp and M&S Beef Burger with Baked Potato for me. Both washed down with a glass of Malbec. Not the best tasting wine I’ve ever had. It tasted raw and bitter to me, although Scamp found it really nice.

Entertainment started at 7.30pm in the form of a Zoom Dance. It was a particularly well attended dance and our feet are feeling the effects of dancing the night away. It finished just half an hour ago. Great fun as usual and another Zoom Class to look forward to tomorrow.

Apart from the dance class we may go out for a walk if the weather is conducive. It may be cold tomorrow as the temperature is -2.4c just now.

Colzium Explored – 22 January 2021

Posted on by Zogman

It was a cold start, but clear. Scamp suggested we go for a walk. I suggested Colzium.

So we drove over to Colzium Estate on the outskirts of Kilsyth. We’d walked it many times, but today we took a different path. Not really a new path, but one that’s been closed for a few years for reinstatement of fences. It is a steep and winding path that leads up the side of the Colzium Burn to a wee bridge over the burn, then down the other side past an unofficial animals’ graveyard. It was a tough climb, but it was a beautiful day and the light was perfect. Got a few slow shutter shots of the waterfalls from the bridge at the top, but it was one of the faster shutter shots that eventually became PoD. After that we walked on past the house and the bloke who was working his metal detector over the grassy park area. I wonder what he was looking for. There was a battle near there hundreds of years ago, but not on the site he was prospecting. Maybe he knew better than the historians.

We walked a path to the right which climbed up a hill and turned out to have been the drive into Colzium house from the Tak ma Doon road. We didn’t go on to the road, but took a path to the right which led down and round to the walled garden of the estate. On the way we passed a sign for the ruins of Colzium Castle. I never even knew such a place existed. What little is left of it is now been build into the side of a house on the estate. Back round to Colzium House and then round the boating pond which has now silted up so badly there’s hardly enough water for the ducks and swans to swim in. From there we walked back to the car and drove home. An interesting morning that stretched into the afternoon and helped us amass just over 5000 steps.

Dinner tonight was Chicken Curry. I was reading about it in January 22nd 2000 blog last night. I’d forgotten all about this easy as pie chicken curry. If you care to look it up you can find a link to the recipe that’s still live. It certainly is easy and tasty.

The photo from the top of the Colzium Burn got PoD after a bit of massaging in two different apps. However, it doesn’t matter how it got there, it’s the result that counts!

Scamp got a bit of bad news this morning. Netta Lennox died yesterday. Hazy, you might remember her from choir. She was a lovely lady, one of the original Gems. She was over 90 and had been ill for some time.

Tomorrow looks cold. It’s just below zero now and still dropping. We may go out somewhere if it warms up.

We went to the shops – 21 January 2021

Posted on by Zogman

It’s so rarely we go in to shops these days that it’s worth a mention.

It had been snowing during the night, but nothing like some folks in the east and the borders had experienced. We just had our usual dusting of white stuff. By the time we were getting up it was all but gone.

After a bit of indecision we chose to go for a walk before lunch. It was a bitterly cold wind blowing from the west that met us and made us glad to turn our backs on it when we had crossed the dam at Broadwood Loch. As we followed the steep path down towards the exercise machines I turned and saw today’s PoD, well not actually that one, but one very like it. A wee girl with fairy wings and a colourful tutu was flying along on a scooter on the path above us. I took a few shots and knew I had a decent one or two in the bag.

We walked on with Scamp braving the big deep puddles rather than the squidgy mud at the side of them. On and round the exercise machines took us up the hill to the shops. We needed fruit and I thought Scamp deserved a bunch of flowers for getting her boots wet. I’ve started wearing fingerless mitts again, the ones Hazy knitted for me a few years ago. They are ideal for wearing to use a camera, leaving my fingers free for the inevitable adjustments I have to make, while keeping most of my hands warm. Also they have FOTO and GRA4 stitched into them, just in case anyone thinks I’m just out for a walk. No, I’m a Photographer! They are also idea for wearing when you’re carrying a bag of messages, giving that bit extra dexterity that gloves deny you.

My second Bread Kit arrived just before we went out. It was for Honey Wheat Baguettes. They look simpler than the focaccia, but looks are deceiving. I’ll have a go with them soon.

After lunch I decided to bolster my collection of photos from earlier and went for a walk in St Mo’s. I think it was getting colder, although the wind was dying down. I could see a magical sunset building, but couldn’t get to a place where I could get a good shot of the sky and a reflection of it in the pond. I finally gave up and just took a shot of a pine tree with the sunset sky behind it. Best I could manage. My feet were wet and I was getting cold. It was time to head home.

When I was reviewing the photos on the computer I had decided on my PoD and had it processed and posted, but still wasn’t happy with it. It just didn’t tell the story. Then I found one I’d overlooked and saw its potential. It told a much better story, and that’s what you see here.

Dinner was one of Scamp’s brilliant stir-fries. They are usually good, but for some reason this one was exceptional. I think it’s because it was just ordinary veg and prawns that were in it. No fancy ingredients, just really good cooking skills. Lovely.

We had a bit of a dance practise tonight and went over the Mambo Marina and also the start of the Rumba routine with its strange start on beat two which I still say is just to be different. I’m getting there with both.

Tomorrow looks cold but bright. We may go out somewhere for a walk.

Hardly past the door – 20 January 2021

Posted on by Zogman

Well, actually I was out today. I took the bins out tonight, but that was it.

It was such a dull depressing day and then it started raining. Last night it snowed, just as we were going to bed, but you wouldn’t have known it this morning. The thinnest scraping of snow on the cars was all that remained of the fluffy flakes that were falling just before midnight last night. The rain today soon finished even that off.

We had a new Covid reporter today. Sharon arrived just after 11.30 and we did the needful with the swabs, then answered her questions. Thankfully it was only raining today. If she had come tomorrow there’s a good chance she’d have been covered in snow by the time we were finished.

Lunch was a rather tasteless Vegan Pizza from Pizza Express. Some things just don’t work as vegan. Vegetarian, yes, but vegan cheese is a step too far. Afterwards we did think of going for a walk, but it was that horrible clinging drizzle and neither of us could think of a good reason for going out, so we each made a cup of coffee and sat back down.

PoD was a shot from the kitchen window of a starling having its daily bath. Shot through the window using my old 300mm lens on an adapter on the Sony. Not the best prospect, but the photo was useable and it worked, just!

I was nominated to make dinner tonight which was a Chicken Cobbler. The chicken was fine, but the cobbler was a bit stodgy. Lots of work to make and lots of chopping in preparation. Might try it again with some suggestions Scamp made. I can see them working.

Today Joe Biden became President and Donald Trump left under a cloud. Fred sent me this photo. I think it sums up the day perfectly.

We’re expecting heavy snow during the night and the quantity of that snowfall will determine what we do tomorrow.