Category: Food

Today was a Benylin day – 19 February 2026

Posted on by Zogman

I woke in the morning about 7am, but rejected it as a bad dream and went back to sleep.

Later in the morning, I got Scamp’s breakfast for her, then went back to bed for a second time. Scamp then suggested I take some Benylin and a couple of paracetamols and just like that, I slept for another two hours. I finally broke surface, had a long hot shower and felt human again.

From there on until now I’ve been living on a diet of Benylin and paracetamol most of the day. I’m due a final dose in about an hour. That’s not to say that I haven’t been doing anything else. I walked down to the shops to get some sweeties for Scamp to thank her for being my nurse maid and because it’s Thursday which my long term readers will understand.

On my way back home I noticed an old barbecue lying beside the path on the way to St Mo’s. I’d seen it lying in the bushes beside the path for months, if not years. It looked like somebody had taken the time to drag it out and left it beside the path. I had a look inside it to see if there was anything photographable there, but immediately rejected the idea. I don’t know what was in there, but it was black and looked like coal. I’m sure there is someone who would welcome one of these devices for their patio. One careful owner (the others kicked it to bits).

Dinner was fish risotto cooked in the oven. A nice, easy dinner you don’t have to do anything with.

Both Scamp and I still have a cough, but we’re feeling a lot better than we were.

My thanks go to George Rieveschl, the man who invented Benylin.

No plans or tomorrow.

Old Friends – 18 February 2026

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Today we drove over to Condorrat to meet a couple of old friends.

I have exchanged Christmas Cards with Elizabeth for a long, long time, but this year I forgot, and I think she forgot too. It’s a growing old thing. Anyway, when this year’s card arrived she suggested in it that it would be good if Scamp and I could come and visit her and her daughter, Fiona. I was delighted, and offered them a few ‘clear’ days and Elizabeth chose today. As time went on, I wasn’t sure if I should cancel, because Scamp is just recovering from a heavy cold and I’m just starting one. However, we went, and had a great time. Remembering names from the past, both pupils and teachers. Not all were good and not all were bad, but we only made a point of remembering the former! We spent a good couple of hours there and agreed that we should do it again some time.

As we were leaving, Fiona presented us with two jars, one full of Apple Jelly and another full of Thick Orange Marmalade. I haven’t opened either of them yet, but I’m sure they will taste as lovely as they look. That is where the PoD came from today. It started off as a dull day, weatherise, but later, just as we were leaving, the sun shone for an hour or so. Another sign that Spring is on the way.

Other than that, there was little to say about today. But dinner was one of Scamp’s specialities, Chicken Milanese. Chicken battered flat with a rolling pin, dipped in egg yolk and fried in a frying pan. We had chips with ours and the whole thing just worked.

We watched Masterchef the Professionals tonight. It’s amazing how a couple of simple changes can make a considerable difference to a show. None of that ridiculous shouting that used to go on. Long may it continue, but it’s early days yet.

I had a phone consultation with the doc today and it appears that my Ferritin levels are a bit high, but nothing to worry about. I’ve to get another blood test in six months.

PoD is done and it’s getting near my new bedtime, so I’m going to take some Benylin and go to bed.

Maybe going dancing tomorrow. Depends on how we feel.

Lunch in the Ivy – 17 February 2026

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Just a little spot of lunch on a cold day.

Scamp has had a terrible cold recent and had requested a visit to The Ivy in Buchanan Street. We’d heard lots about it from friends and this was a perfect day to check it out. It was agreed that ‘drink would be taken’ so we left the Blue car to snooze under a bright blue sky while we took the bus in to town.

It was a slow bus, but we weren’t going anywhere fast. A coffee in Nero on the way down Buchanan Street and a walk down almost as far as Princes Square, then a gentle sedate walk back to the restaurant. It’s quite impressive inside, at least I was impressed. Maybe it was because it was a midweek visit, but the place seemed to have a more ‘senior citizens’ than I’d expected.

Scamp’ s starter was Zucchini Fritti With lemon, chilli and mint yoghurt.

Her main course surprise, surprise was Fish and Chips. What else would it be?

My Starter was Twice-baked Cheese Soufflé, Gratinated Monterey Jack and mozzarella in a cream sauce with grated black truffle.

My Main course was The Ivy Classic Shepherd’s Pie. Slow-braised lamb and beef with Cheddar mash, rosemary and red wine sauce.

I nearly didn’t get a starter or a main after I revealed that I had a mussel allergy. There was quite an investigation to go through, down to admitting that the cooking oil had been used to cook mussels. However, by some quirk of fate, I survived.

Dessert for me was a flamed Flambéed Crème Brulée. Flamed tableside with silky vanilla custard and a golden caramelised sugar crust.

Dessert for Scamp was Rum Baba with Mango. Moist rum-soaked sponge, complemented by Chantilly cream, tropical mango and toasted coconut. She didn’t like it!

After all that, we had a wee rest, then decided we’d pay up and go for a walk down Bucky Street, then get the bus home.

The gods were with us today, because as we were crossing the road at JL, the bus doors opened and we got a lift back home on a lovely day.

I’d forgotten to take a camera with me, so today’s photo came from my iPhone. It’s a bloke playing a keyboard on Bucky Street. He deserved a quid for sitting playing to an unappreciative audience, except me!

I don’t think I’ll be needing much for breakfast tomorrow, but we’ll wait and see.

Phone call with the doc in the morning and a visit to an old friend in the afternoon.

Still working on the back room – 16 February 2026

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More tidying was the main topic for today, the back room is better, but it needs a lot more work.

I was just waking up, properly when my phone rang. It was the Health Centre to tell me one of the docs wanted to phone me on Wednesday about my latest bloods results. That’s never going to be a good conversation. No details were given, just that the doc would phone me on Wednesday at 9am. I tried to explain to the lady on the line that I don’t do 9am, but she gave me the rubber ear. So Wednesday it will be. I hope it doesn’t take too long, because I have people to see, places to go on Wednesday.

After that joyous start I looked at some of the puzzles and managed a 4 for Wordle which is pretty good these days. ‘Strands’ was tedious and complicated then I solve the Mini Crossword with almost no trouble. That was about it for the morning.

In the afternoon, Scamp encouraged me to go out for a while. I did, but it was under duress, however the weather was not nearly as cold as I thought it would be and when the sun shone for a short while it was almost like Spring. In fact, that was exactly what if felt like. Some trees are beginning to show the buds on their branches and with a bit of luck there will be flowers on the trees too.

I think my favourite Sony 24 -105mm lens is a goner. It makes screeching noises as soon as I gently press the shutter button. T the 16-35mm lens is beginning to sound the same death knell. I think I may have had the camera bag open during one of those torrential rain showers and some rain has found its way into the internals. Looks like I need to break open my piggy bank.

We went to Kirsty’s class tonight, but I just couldn’t get my head round the spin turns and the fishtails. Scamp did her level best to show me how it worked and once, just once it worked. Must try harder.

Watched another of the pot throwing competition and marvelled at the way these people can manipulate clay and produce flowers from it. I once made a slab pot at college and thought I was great!

PoD was a low view along one of the channels in St Mo’s pond. Lovely reflections from the sky.

Tomorrow we may go to Glasgow for a Special lunch.

Happy Anniversary Hazel and Neil

Hope you had a great day.

 

A cold wet day – 15 February 2026

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I’m getting fed up with writing that same headline. It is cold and it is wet, but it’s Scotland and we get lots of those commodities, so when we get a chance to see the sun for a while, we should jump for joy. There, done.

There are no photos today. I didn’t want to take my expensive camera out in the rain and get it ruined just for the opportunity of taking some photos. I’ve tried hard over the last ten years to take a photo every day and post it with a comment. I think it might be the time for a change. Not a big change, just a chance to miss the occasional photo if there is no reason to post one. Likewise, I’m thinking that taking photos from holidays or just the occasional weekend away might not always generate photos. So maybe a collection might suffice for a weekend’s photography, with bullet points to comment on places or landscapes. I’ll see how it goes. If it doesn’t work, I can always just fall back on an hour or so’s work posting photos and typing up blog posts.

Today was one of those days that were just one rain shower after another. Scamp and I had a lot of work to do, inside. Lots of boxes need to go to the skips. Lots of old and ancient cameras need to be go too. The back bedroom, My Room as I call it (I don’t dare to think what Scamp calls it!) needs a spring clean. It started today and the room looks better already, although a lot of the junk is just pushed to the walls, at least the floor is clear.

Dinner tonight was Mince ’n’ Tatties for me with an extra of beetroot on the side (Sorry Jamie). Scamp had a Mixed Peas experiment that looked very nice. I might ask for a sample for tomorrow.

Later we watched Masterchef the Professionals. How good it was to sit there without someone shouting “Oh Mate!!!”, or grinning like a loon. Just ordinary folk making extraordinary food. Keep up the good work/

Tomorrow we are hoping for a dry day for a change and a chance to dance Quickstep in Kirsty’s class.

I relented and PoD is another view of Fannyside.

Dancin’ – 14 February 2026

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Today Scamp cleared the snow and frost from the car and I drove us to Brookfield for a dance class.

It was a cold start, but it was good to be driving under a clear blue sky and we made good time to the village hall. I think the clear sky was a blessing because the snow and low temperatures maybe kept some people from getting out too early. Much easier to just turn over and go back to sleep. But we’re both from hardier stock and weren’t bothered with sub-zero temperatures. We were going dancing.

First dance was House of Bamboo. I used to hate it, but now I just treat it as a bit of fun to get us get us out of our winter clothes. Next was the new waltz that Jane had concocted a couple of weeks ago. There was one turn I couldn’t get the hang of, but after asking Jane if she would dance me through it, she saw what I was doing wrong and that made all the difference. Much more secure with it now. Meanwhile Scamp was dancing with Stewart and picking up more tips on the same dance.

Next was Quickstep which we are working through, but both of us agree that we need more practise at home to keep it fresh in our heads. Fishtails are improving.

Final dance was Rona’s Rumba. Rona was a dancer in our class who passed away two years ago, around about now. She and her husband were great friends with Stewart and Jane.

Our Rumba, like the quickstep and the waltz, needs a fair bit of work to get comfortable with it.

As well as the ballroom dances, there were a lot of sequence dances that the teacher use to give us a break from the difficult stuff. Today they were used liberally!

Drove home via the Clyde Tunnel today because there was a lot of congestion on the M8. The Clyde Tunnel cuts off a fair chunk of driving and is useful for days like today.

I went over to St Mo’s later in the afternoon in my new boots that needed breaking in. They are not really new, they’re about six months old, I just kept forgetting (on purpose, maybe) to put them on, until last week when I found a leak in the left side of the old boots. Maybe their time has come.

Dinner tonight was a disappointing Golden Bowl. Tough Chicken Chop Suey for Scamp and equally tough Chicken Chow Mein for me. Maybe it’s time to give them a rest and look for somewhere else.

We watched the Skeleton Sliders from the Winter Olympics. Scary stuff!

PoD was  couple of dried up flowers from last year. Very fragile looking.

No plans for tomorrow. Snow predicted.

Walking in the rain – 11 February 2026

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Scamp was entertaining Shona today and I was meeting Alex.

Scamp gave me a lift to the station and I had only a few minutes to wait before our train came which was handy because the rain was tipping down. In Glasgow the weather was just the same and I walked up Buchanan Street then parked myself in the bus station. For once I’d forgotten my headphones, but I didn’t have to wait too long for Alex to appear. I explained to him that I was on a timer. I had to be back in Cumbersheugh by 3.15pm at the latest to get my bloods taken.

As usual we walked down to the nearest Nero and had a coffee. I told Alex about yesterday’s disaster and he suggested some remedies I hadn’t thought of, but none of them were really practical and I think he knew that, he was just trying to help. I showed him the A7iii and explained what was wrong, but when he pressed the shutter button the lens worked. No screech from the internals, it just took the photo. Now, remember we were in a fairly noisy cafe and it could just have been that noise that was covering up the sound of the screech, but the more I tried to make it screech, the quieter it became. Neither of us could understand it. Maybe my brother is a magician, but don’t tell him I know that!

We wandered into Princes Square, partly to be out of the rain and partly to see what was new on their displays. There wasn’t much, so we decided to have an early lunch. Round to Paesano and I volunteered to pay. More discussions about cameras and the reason for the recent failure, but still without a sensible answer. Paesano was really quiet. Usually around midday it’s just a wall of noise with everybody shouting to be heard and making the noise even louder. Today it was half empty. Maybe it was a holiday week for the school kids. Holidays in teeming rain. Yes, that sounds like Scotland.

Outside we walked into the GoMA (Gallery of Modern Art). Only one or two new displays, nothing interesting again. It was nearly time up when we came out and we both walked up to the station. I had about fifteen minutes to spare before my train was due and Alex was going for another walk in the incessant rain. We said our goodbyes, he went for a walk and I got on the express train then phoned Scamp to tell her I was on my way home.

I dropped Scamp at the house and drove to the medical centre. After cruising round and round the lines of cars, I finally got parked, got my blood taken and went home.

Dinner tonight was tomato soup, home made, of course. Watched a bit of the Winter Olympics from somewhere in Italy where the UK went from being second to being seventh in a matter of minutes. I don’t think they like us much, these Olympians!

That was my stunning day. I got home and the camera had started making its scratchy noise again. I have a Sony 16-35mm f4 lens which I was going to sell just before Christmas, but it started the squeaky noises and I put it on the back burner. Today it’s been working brilliantly. Not a cheep out of it. I just can’t make head nor tail of these big lenses these days.

PoD was a cheeky we grab photo of a lady admiring some photos in the GoMA.

Tomorrow we’re intending going to John & Marion’s for lunch tomorrow. Haven’t been to Hamilton for ages.

 

 

Green Shoots – 8 February 2026

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Green shoots need water and they got plenty today.

We spent most of the morning working through the Wordle puzzles. Nothing difficult, but some of them made me smile. By the time we got through them, it was almost lunch time and that meant Laura Kuenssberg. Usually she can be relied upon to destroy any politician, but today she was up against an old hand at this politics lark, Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden, His calm style belies a very clever brain behind those eyes. Like him or loathe him, he’s a cool customer, rarely flustered.

After lunch I decided I could manage to get a few shots in the garden. My target for the day was a pot of deep chocolate brown Hellebores. However, almost every time I tried for a photo a rain shower would force me inside. Eventually I gave up and went upstairs where I knew there was a tray of recently emerged Antherinum seedlings. They became the PoD. Hopefully I’ll get the shot of the hellebores another day, a dry day perhaps.

Dinner tonight was an old favourite, Chicken and Pea Traybake. It takes a good hour to cook, but the oven does all the work

We spoke to Jamie later. Simonne is in Italy this week on a training course for her new job and Jamie is working from home, and looking after Vixen too.

Two guys knocked on the door in the evening, asking if we owned a taxi. I told them no and asked why. They said there was a taxi sitting across the road, up against a wall. As soon as I saw the taxi, I knew it belonged to one of our neighbours. He wasn’t too pleased when I told him, but he quickly got it back into place. Neither the two guys, nor our neighbour could come up with an explanation. Still, nobody was hurt and there was no damage done, but it’s a puzzle that will stay with everyone until it is solved.

The seedlings in an egg box was the PoD and collected a few comments.

Tomorrow I may go and book an appointment with the doc for a blood test and a check up. It’s almost due, so it has to be done.

Dancin’ – 7 February 2026

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Out early as usual on a Saturday.

We drove over to Brookfield, a fairly easy drive to light traffic but clouds and occasional rain. What we’ve come to expect these wintry days.

The class started with a quickstep, but not one we already knew. Almost everyone else seemed to be happy with it and although we did bring this fact to the attention of the teachers, we didn’t get much instruction. Luckily I had Scamp to tell me what the teachers were doing and after I’d added in a few steps from Thursday’s Tea Dance, it began to come together, but teachers are there to teach, not to get partners to make up for their shortcomings. I don’t think Stewart believed we’d not done this dance before. For the first time in ages I wasn’t impressed with his teaching.

What I will say in his defence is that he did intersperse some units with a couple of sequence dances, mostly ones we knew. Given that we’d had a tough start to the day, I did actually enjoy most of the class I think Scamp did too.

We drove home with about a million others, all heading in the same direction as us at about 15 mph and in the rain again. It was a stop/start drive, but after half an hour or so the traffic picked up speed and thinned out. No rhyme nor reason to it. I’m sure you’ve all seen this feature of driving in the past. Nobody seems to be able to explain why the roads get snarled up and then just return to normal with nothing to explain it. I wish I could be in a helicopter to watch the changing traffic patterns from above. It would be an interesting thing to investigate.

I chose the M74/M73 again and everything went smoothly back to the house. Lunch was toast and beans. A simple menu that just hit the spot.

Later in the afternoon I went for a walk through St Mo’s and got a few photos, a very few. My favourite and PoD was two magpies discussing world problems in a tree. Magpies, the Darth Vaders of the Avian world.

We’d hoped to have a Chinese dinner, but Golden Bowl in Condorrat was closed until the 13th of the month, so it was Fish ’n’ Chips instead. Lovely fish, but too much chips. We watched the Olympic Snowboarding and Luge while we consumed our dinner, wondering why people put themselves through these dangerous looking games. Good fun to watch, but I can’t see it catching on in Cumbersheugh.

As far as tomorrow goes, we have no plans. Not ever Snowboarding.

Another grey day – 6 February 2026

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It’s becoming monotonous.

I’m really getting fed up with all this rain. Can’t somebody do something about it.

Scamp went out to FitSteps in the morning. While she was out I worked out the last few February I’d missed in the past week. That’s the problem with deciding to do a photo a day. You forget just how much time it takes.

I’d like to say we did lots of things today, but we didn’t. I went out in the early afternoon into the cold east wind that’s been blowing for the last week and a bit. I’d offered to do some shopping while I was out, and picked a photo of a weed of some description sneaking out from a metal cable support. I thought it looked interesting. Then I walked round the back of St Mo’s school and from there down to the shops and back home. It was just as I was reaching the house I realised those two photos would have to be the PoD for today.

Scamp made a curry from the Mowgli book, but wasn’t. Impressed with the finished article, saying there was a funny taste from it. We tracked that ‘funny taste’ down to a tablespoon of English Mustard I’d put in as stated in the instructions. I don’t know how the English can eat this stuff. I can’t even abide the smell of it. I think we’ll use a different recipe in future.

That’s about it for me for today. Hoping for a dry(ish) day tomorrow, just for a change.