Category: Food

Off to Bombay – 2 March 2022

Posted on by Zogman

Not the hot place, but the place in Hamilton where they make the hot stuff.

It was a dull and wet day in the morning and we couldn’t decide where to go. I think it was me who suggested Bombay Cottage in Hamilton where they make good curries and great big naan bread that is baked to order. Scamp wanted our plain naan ‘well done’ and when it came it was indeed singed beautifully. My curry which was a Chicken Salsa-Syrah was a bit tasteless but hot. Scamp had her usual Cauliflower Shimla Bhaji which was fine, but the sauce was a bit thin. However, it’s the naan and the ice cream that are the stars in this curry house. There is nothing much to see in Hamilton now, so we just drove home.

In the afternoon I went out for a photo walk and brought back one decent shot of a sycamore seed sprouting in the leaf litter and another of a man walking down the much photographed lane between Condorrat and the new shops. This truly is the path that keeps giving. After some consideration, the sprouting baby tree got PoD.

When I came home there was Scamp with a big smile and an equally big bunch of flowers that had come from John & Marion with a card that said “Hope you’re recovering well after your operation”. Isn’t that nice.

I’d intended going out with Alex for a walk and a blether on Friday because the weather seemed to be picking up for the weekend. However, today it looks like Friday will be dull and wet, so he’s suggested we call off until next week. I think it’s a good idea too. We might go for a coffee in Hamilton or Motherwell, if the weather is too bad for a walk. I just want to lust after his new camera which is almost as good as mine, just almost.

Tomorrow also looks wet. We haven’t got any definite plans, but if there’s a dry spell we may risk a walk.

Here’s a thought. I was just browsing on the ‘net and found the Berghaus page. Did you know that they’ll repair any jacket, trousers or boots free of charge. That’s their commitment to Reuse – Repair – Recycle. Wouldn’t it be good if more places did that. I don’t see Apple or Dell doing it though!

Hoping for a dry hour tomorrow.

 

The first day of meteorological spring – 1 March 2022

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Ok, not the real first day of spring, but if it makes us feel like it’s warming up I’ll go with the meteorologists.

It was a beautiful ‘spring’ day but I just didn’t feel like going out. I can’t describe it, it’s almost like I was coming down with a cold, but it wasn’t that either. It wasn’t Covid, because I did a lateral flow and that was ruled out. I just felt sort of ‘washed out’. Scamp reckons it’s the stress of the last few weeks leading up to her eye op and that could be true. I felt so bad because it was such a lovely day and here was I keeping both of us in the house when we could be out walking in the fresh air.

After lunch which for me was tea and toast, we did go out and did a couple of circuits of St Mo’s pond which brightened me up a bit. So much so that when we came back, I started making a pot of soup. A ‘what’s in the fridge’ pot of soup. Then I went out and put some air into Scamp’s car tyres. They were really very flat and I hope she notices the difference the next time she drives it.

I’d taken a few shots in St Mo’s one of which was a rather nice view across the pond, but it was almost an exact copy of one I’d produced last month, so I couldn’t really use it as a PoD. The actual PoD is a bunch of catkins and I realise I’ve used catkins last month too, but these were on a different tree so that’s ok by my rules.

After a bit of coaxing, I eventually got word from Sony that my request for a winter cash back on the new camera has been ratified and should be in the bank within 28 days. It’s only taken a fortnight and four emails to get them to admit it. They make wonderful equipment, but their after sales service is second to everybody’s!

I have no more sketches to do. The last one was posted yesterday and as far as that is concerned, I am free. Once I’ve posted this, my work is finished and I can go to bed early for a change and hopefully wake refreshed tomorrow. No plans for tomorrow. I misread the weather for today. It’s tomorrow the rain is due, but hopefully a dry morning.

Not the ‘C’ word! – 27 February 2022

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Today the weather started out dull and stayed that way.

Some days are like that, you just have to take them and do what you can with what you have. We weren’t in a rush to go out, but had decided we’d go to Culross in Fife. Then Hazy phoned. She wanted to find out all about the eye op and I think Scamp was happy to relate all the gory details. We also found out about what was happening down south too. Just as we were finishing the conversation she asked where we were going and when Scamp hesitated and tried to hedge round the answer, Hazy gave me the title of today’s blog when she said “Not the ‘C’ word!!” Hazel detests Culross for some reason. Thanks for that Hazy.

We drove over to Fife and tried to convince each other that the clouds were lifting. They weren’t, they were just getting ripped apart by the wind and then joining up again even thicker than before. However, we got parked in Culross and managed a walk along the long path beside the Firth of Forth. Along the way I got a few photos and my favourite was one of the an old chain padlocked to a mooring ring on Culross pier. Not a lot of directional light to give shadows, but you work with what you’re given.

It was cold and on the way back along the path we were walking into the cold westerly wind, so when we got to the car I suggested we try a couple of tacos from a wee stall across from the car park. Tacos were fine, but the stall didn’t sell coffee. What an oversight. Culross in February and you don’t think to sell hot drinks? A lost opportunity there, I think. Drove home and still the weather didn’t improve.

Today’s prompt was Down Under with a link to the Men At Work video from last century. This was the most sketchable or paintable image I could find from the video. To think we laughed at this back in the eighties, because we thought it was funny. I’m sure Colin Hay has made a few dollars from that piece of music, but he’s made a whole lot of better music since, IMO.

Weather tomorrow is to be better than today’s. We’ll believe it when we see it.

Out early – 24 February 2022

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The alarm rang at 7am and we had to be out before 8am.

A phone call yesterday asking if we could make it in to Braehead to the eye clinic for, say, 8.50am instead of 10am? We said yes, having already planned our leaving time after considering the traffic on the route. Today we were allowing an extra fifteen minutes or so for rush hour traffic. Then there was the threat of snow and high winds, leading to blizzard conditions. Let’s aim for an hour and ten minutes for a trip that would normally take about twenty minutes. The threat of snow had materialised into real snow this morning. We left at about 7.45am and Google Maps though that should be enough.

Snow wasn’t too bad to start with and on the motorway at that time of a morning you’re riding in someone else’s tyre tracks anyway. Just stay in line and keep the pace. Actually we arrived with a few minutes to spare. I walked Scamp to the clinic door, from the snow covered car park and told her I’d see her in about two and a bit hours. Drove home by the alternative route on the M74/M73. Same tyre tracks maybe even the same car, who knows. Took about the same time too. Had a coffee and solved today’s Sudoku then the phone rang. The bloke said the op had gone well, no problem and Scamp would be ready to pick up in about 15 mins. I wasted no time getting into the tyre tracks again and Scamp was waiting for me when I parked the car. Drove home through various clumps of falling snow, some sleety, some large light fluffy flakes, some just dirty spray. I’d meant to wash the car at the beginning of the week. I’m glad I didn’t now, it would have been such a waste of time. Also glad I had fitted the new wipers!

Another coffee and time to relax a bit. I did go out later to get a pair of swimming goggles for Scamp. Apparently they are recommended for patients after eye surgery so they can use the shower without getting their eyes wet. Then I left the car at home and walked over to St Mo’s to take a photo for the PoD. It’s actually one I took from the door step. Miniature daffodils poking through the slush that used to be virgin white snow.

Dinner was a cut down version of Bacon and Borlotti Beans. It was more a “what have you got in the fridge?” version.

No sketch yet, because I’d dog tired and am going to bed. Scamp has already gone to bed she looks shattered, but she says she can see much better now that both eyes are done.  She said there was a ‘gritty’ feeling from the new lens, but that’s sometimes quite usual and it’s clearing up now.  I remember one of my eyes feeling like that after my cataract surgery.  Also there was some water leaking from one eye for a while this morning when she came home, but that seems to have cleared up now.  I’m sure she’s looking forward to getting the eye patch off tomorrow and seeing with both new eyes.

Today the Russians invaded Ukraine. Such a senseless waste. Such a senseless loss of life.

No plans for tomorrow yet. If the slush and the lying water freeze tonight we won’t be going far tomorrow.

A palindromic date – 22 February 2022

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As well as being a date almost entirely composed of 2s, today’s date is a numerical palindrome. 22-02-2022 reads the same forwards and backwards. Check if you want to, but it’s right. I didn’t work this out myself, I found it on that great repository of knowledge, Facebook!

Today was one of those days when the weather couldn’t decide what to do. Would it stay dry or would it stay wet. Would it be windy or would it be calm. It couldn’t decide, so it did all of them, sometime it seemed to do all of them at the same time.

I have been looking for a new pair of true wireless headphones. The ones that are just two headphones that plug into your ears, or hang in your ears with no connecting cables. I bought a pair ages ago and they worked well for almost a year before they started losing connection. It seemed that you had to look straight ahead and not turn or one of the earbuds would switch off. It was really disconcerting, but they were very cheap and probably Tesco’s own make, because I never saw them anywhere else. Anyway, I bought a pair of Skullcandy’s to replace them, but the sound was awful. You’ve no way to check in-ear earbuds before buying. Scamp says it’s the same with earrings. I’ve never had that problem, personally! I had some money sitting in vouchers for JL and fancied a new (better quality) pair. A pair of Sony’s. They’d been out of stock at JL for weeks, but today they were back. Not back in black, but they had them in white and that would suit me fine. Scamp didn’t want to come to Glasgow today, she’s more or less self-isolating, getting ready for Thursday.

I drove through torrential rain all the way in to Glasgow and eventually found someone in JL who unlocked the cabinet and sold me the headphones. I only had to pay £4 odd for them because the vouchers paid off the rest. I’d another reason to go in to Glasgow today. We have loads of books in the house looking for a new home. Scamp has collected lots of them up and they’re sitting in bags in various rooms. I’d brought one of the bigger bags with me today and I handed them over, with bag, to the girl in the Oxfam shop in Exchange Square. Two jobs done. I bought myself another concertina sketch book in Cass Art, an A6 one. Scamp gave me my present A5 book and it’s almost half full with EDiF sketches, but a smaller one that could easily fit in my pocket would be useful. On the way back to the car, I was passing the GOMA and it’s usually a great place to people watch and people snap. Today it was a girl on her fag break or to be more correct a ‘vape break’ and a guy who seemed to be bragging about his drawings, you’ll need to go on Flickr to find him.

Drove back home through more rain. It just seems never-ending these days, although I walked around Glasgow and not a drop wet my Bergy. It’s the wind that makes it so unpredictable.

I charged the headphones when I got home and dumped the photos. The it was time to make a chicken curry for dinner. It turned out fine, but I was toying with the idea of using some Padron peppers to add a different flavour to it, but these padrons were HOT, so rather than risk it, they went in the bin.

After dinner I started today’s sketch. Today’s prompt was Mad Dogs and Englishmen.
I started off copying a shot of Noel Coward, but it just didn’t feel right and he really needed the sun in the picture as well as the ‘Mad Dog’ to fit the prompt. So, it became a sort of stereotypical man who is ‘something in the city’ with his times under one arm and a bottle of MD 2020 under the other. According to its website, MD 2020 is “made with juicy, luscious fruit infused with tasty flavors to create a unique variety of MD 20/20 selections”. Made in America, drunk in Coatbridge! Delicious (so I’m told) served cold in a bus shelter.

The headphones sounded terrible to start with, but once I’d worked out how to use the equaliser they came alive. It didn’t help that they weren’t sitting properly in my ears. Sorted now. Great sound with just the gentlest hiss at times.

Scamp’s telephone consultation with the doc went well this morning. Her meds are being returned to the previous dosage.

No plans for tomorrow, although I might need to get the front wipers on my car replaced.

 

Wild Swimming – 21 February 2022

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Not us! Oh no, not us!

I filled the flask while Scamp sorted the tea and coffee things and grabbed a couple of biscuits and some crisps, then with a quick stop for petrol we were off to the highlands.

Yesterday Scamp had suggested that if today was as good as the weather fairies said it would be, we could maybe drive to Loch Lubnaig in the Trossachs for cup of coffee by the lochside. I thought it was a grand idea and as the day looked as promising as predicted we drove out past Stirling and through Callander then out to Kilmahog and that’s where it got a bit worrying. The water coming down the River Leny was very high, almost bursting its banks in places. The Falls of Leny which are usually a picturesque series of rapids were a roaring torrent that took up the entire width of the river. As the Leny flows out of Loch Lubnaig, I was beginning to wonder if the car park would be flooded.

When we got there the water was indeed high, but not as high as it might have been, There is usually a beach a about three metres wide before you reach the water, but not today. The water was coursing around the trees that grow two metres from the beach. Yes, the water was high. However, the wee coffee stall was open and the smell of frying bacon was enticing. We had a roll each, Scamp’s was egg, mine was bacon, with a cup of drinkable coffee. I’m not sure if it was instant or filter, but it was strong enough for me and tasted like coffee should.

I did manage to get a few photos, but I think I’ve been to Lubnaig so often that I think I’ve seen it all, however the high water gave a few more opportunities and the one I liked the best was the almost submerged picnic tables. I think diners would be advised to bring waders! That became PoD.

Another sight we saw was a couple, the man with a full wet suit and the woman with wet suit leggings and what looked like a neoprene bra, walking gingerly into the loch. I’d been wearing a pair of jeans, teeshirt, warm shirt, jersey and a lined Bergy jacket when I was taking photos and when I was standing around for about a minute, waiting for a time exposure to complete, I was beginning to feel the cold. I dread to think how that woman felt.

They eventually had had enough of the wild swimming. Yes they did some swimming, but going too far would have been dangerous today with a fair swell in the loch and a fast current too. I think we both relaxed a bit when they got out and wrapped themselves in heavy towel. I’m told that wild swimming in winter is good for you, but I’ll take their word for it, rather than try it myself.

We came back via the Duke’s Pass over the hills to Aberfoyle and from there to Doune and up to get some more shots from the David Stirling memorial. The view from there is quite phenomenal on a good day and it was a good day today. Photo also on Flickr. From there it was just the motorway home.

Today’s prompt was Edelweiss. I do believe I saw one once. Many more moons ago than I’d care to put a number on, when I was in primary school, in fact, the teacher brought one in for us to see. I don’t know where she got it from, because I don’t remember any growing wild in the central belt of Scotland. Dandelions and Daisies, yes, but not Edelweiss. I remember thinking it wasn’t the prettiest flower I’d ever seen. That being the case, I found this one tough to draw and paint, but that’s what this challenge is all about, isn’t it? It’s being forced to work outside your comfort zone. With that in mind, this one’s now complete and we move on to the next challenge, the next prompt!

Scamp has a telephone consultation booked with one of the docs from the Cumbernauld practice in the morning tomorrow to review her meds. The rest of the day is our own and the weather looks reasonable at present.

Another day of dropping drops into eyes – 19 February 2022

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Or rather, eye, singular. The hard work probably starts next week when, hopefully there will be two to do!

Scamp wanted out today. She was fed up with hanging around the house and decided she’d risk a walk to take her new eye on a stroll around ‘The Policies’. We had a short jaunt around the torture machines then back up the hill and home. I think she enjoyed being out looking like a film star trying to look incognito with her dark sunglasses. They were necessary today. The optician at the hospital had recommended she wear them even if the sun wasn’t all that bright and it was really sparkly bright today, shining out of a blue sky and, because there was no wind, it wasn’t too cold either.

Back home and just before lunch, the second lot of drops went in. I remember having to put them in myself. Just getting excited about the clarity of what I was seeing, then having to put up with this milky white liquid blurring everything. It was only for a few minutes, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t annoying.

After lunch I left Scamp to watch one of her Netflix movies and went out for a walk with the A6000. I’d taken the A7 in the morning walk, but didn’t take very many photos. The A6000 actually works really well with both the 50mm macro and the 28-70mm kit lens. Also, it’s about half the weight of the A7. I got a few photos, but my favourite, and PoD, was probably the fungus growing on an old dead tree. I say probably, because I’m thinking that one of the photos in the forest would look good too with a bit of work.

Dinner tonight was Fish ’n’ Chips from the Chippy in Condorrat. It was meant to be a Golden Bowl tonight, but they are closed for a fortnight for Chinese New Year and don’t open until Tuesday. Bummer. But the fish and chips were lovely. Two haddock fillets done in breadcrumbs. A ‘Special Fish’ in Scotland. It tastes great the first time, not so much the second and third time. After dinner, more drops. Then we watched To Catch A Thief. An ancient (1955) sort of whodunnit. The car chases were hilarious. Worth watching for that alone.

Today’s prompt was I Love Paris. I based the Sacré-Cœur sketch on a photo I’d taken in Paris in October 2003. I doubt if it will have changed much in the intervening 18 years or so. The line of trees will probably have grown a bit and there might be a few more tourists around it, but the building itself won’t have changed. I remember being mightily impressed with the architecture in Paris, although this one looks like a fire sale in a turret factory. “Room for just one more little turret?” “Yes, I think we can squeeze one in.” Still a beautiful building. I deliberately omitted the sky to let the building have pride of place. Also, I deliberately left in the pencil construction lines.

Tomorrow looks like it might be wet for most of the day. I believe the rain is practising outside as I write this. We’ll see what we get!

We had snow – 18 February 2022

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We had snow for a while in the morning, but it quickly turned to slush.  Yuk.

We shouldn’t complain.  We had some wind in the morning too, but not nearly as bad as the folks down south had. 100mph gusts are no fun, I’m sure.  We just had snow, not heavy and not the nice fluffy snow that you see on Christmas cards, just wet sleety snow that turned to slush as it hit the ground.  It didn’t last.  Scamp, however, was amazed to see snow from her bed before breakfast.  She kept telling anyone who would listen (me) that she could see the flakes of snow.  She had taken the eye patch off while I was making breakfast.  I remember just how amazed I was to see things so clearly after my first cataract op.  The colours were brilliant.  Much brighter than I’d ever seen before and I was telling everyone (Scamp) so I guess it was my turn to listen to her. I put in her drops for her, I remember that too.  The drops that nipped and the ones that were just cold.  Two different bottles, four drops per day spaced evenly throughout the day.

After breakfast and as the snow flurries were fading away, Scamp got her check-up phone call and got to ask all the questions she’d built up since yesterday.  I think that helped her settle down.  After that, a knock at the door and there stood a man with a long cardboard box I thanked him as he photographed me holding it to prove that he’d delivered it, I guess.  Scamp opened it and inside was a beautiful bouquet of mixed flowers.  Scamp was speechless (for once).  She just stood staring at these bright flowers she was seeing without contact lenses!  I can’t imagine how that must feel.  To see without glasses or contacts for the first time since she was about 5.

With the flowers arranged in a vase it was lunch time.  After lunch I walked down to the shops to get a pizza for dinner and also various things Scamp asked me to get, boring things like potatoes and cream.  I also got interesting things like two fruit and custard Danish pastries!  They were delicious, but we really must make the effort now to stop eating all the time.  On the way back I got today’s PoD which is a wee bunch of weeds on a barbed wire fence. There was little else of interest.

Today’s prompt was Rocket Man. Just to be different and because I’ve always loved the shape of Tintin’s rocket with its bright red chequer board pattern, I chose him as my Rocket Man rather than Elton John.  Tintin probably predates him anyway.

Tomorrow if the weather is kind we may go for a gentle walk.

A long day – 17 February 2022

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A long day with a good result.

Phone call from the hospital at around 9.15am to ask if we could manage to get there for 10.30am instead of 12 noon which was the time we were told to be there. No explanation, but it was possibly because of cancellations due to the the weather which was quite ‘interesting’. Hail showers and gale force winds then blinding sunshine would make some people want to reschedule. We just said “Yes”.

Drove in to Glasgow and got parked in the correct place for once and Scamp got booked in. When she was called through to the clinic itself, I left to go home. Drove through what really was a car park on a four lane road reduced down to two lanes. Found myself in the correct lane except it was blocked by a white lining lorry. Fought my way through and eventually got on to the motorway heading east after losing almost an hour clearing the stramash. From there it was easy going.

After a cup of strong coffee the world began to settle down. I’d been told two and a half hours for the prep, operation and recovery, so I reckoned I had enough time to go and get some essentials at Tesco and put some expensive fuel into the car too. I’d just got to the self service till when my phone played the ‘unknown number’ tune and an 0141 number showed on the screen. Would this be another automated american robot voice telling me it was from The Amazon Prime? No it was from the hospital to say that Scamp would be ready to pick up in 15minutes. I thanked the bloke and said I was on my way. Paid for the stuff and body swerved the petrol station and drove back in to Glasgow to the hospital.

By now the log jam at the roadworks had extended itself by about 200m further down the road. Where, in the morning, I’d been able to just cruise into the hospital carpark, now there were about ten vehicles in front of me and they weren’t moving. Long story short, I got there, picked up the patient with her clear plastic pirate’s eyepatch and we navigated through the traffic jam for the second time today. This time it was easier and I was lucky that most folk were avoiding the lane I needed to be in, so we were on the M8 east in double quick time.

It looks as if the surgery has done exactly what the surgeon predicted. It’s not perfect, but it’s definitely liveable with according to Scamp. It certainly looks like a clean job. She’s not removed the eyepatch yet, and only when she does will she be able to properly assess the full extent of the improvement. Now a week’s wait until the next one.

I went for a walk in St Mo’s later in the afternoon got PoD, which is a baby larch flower, and then extended the walk down to the shops to get some fish for tonight’s dinner which was Fennel, Leek and Cod. It’s like a thick creamy soup with fish and prawns in it. Eaten with a spoon! That was our Anniversary Dinner. Later we watched The Apprentice with a Rum ’n’ Coke each. Mine was Dark Matter and Scamp’s was Kraken.

Wow! That was a busy day. Frantic at times, but with a good conclusion. Tomorrow we are hoping to take it easier and watch the predicted snow fall!

Walking in the rain – 15 February 2022

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This morning Scamp wanted to go for a walk.

After breakfast and after footering about for a while, Scamp said “I’m going for a walk”. I thought I’d better go with her just in case she dropped her glasses and couldn’t find her way home. Anyway, it was an opportunity to get a morning photo and maybe avoid having the go out later in the rain to get one.

We walked down to Broadwood, aiming to go round the boardwalk, then across the dam and up the hill to the shops to get milk on the way home. We were walking across the boardwalk when we felt the first drops of rain. It wasn’t too heavy at first, but soon settled into a soaking rain shower. We decided to cut out the walk over the dam and just walk to the shops. That was when the wind got up and we were feeling the full force of the rain blowing over the loch with no windbreaks to give us shelter. By the time we got to the stadium and some shelter from the rain and wind, we were already fairly wet. Bergy jackets are great for keeping your top half dry, but our jeans were just like blotting paper, soaking up the rain. We went to the shops and got milk and some oranges, then made our way home from there with a bit of blue sky here and there letting us know that the worst of the rain had gone.

After lunch and still footering about Scamp suggested we eat out of the freezer today. It was a good idea as the freezer is getting stuffed with food and we really could do with eating some of it instead of throwing it out when it finally goes out of date. That’s what we did, except, Scamp changed her mind and instead of the fish she was going to have, made a ratatouille instead, but keeping to the ethos of ‘eat out of the freezer’ she ate out our the fridge instead. I had a tub of mince ragu in the freezer and that would make a good sauce for some pasta. Scamp went further by making shortcrust pastry for a rhubarb & ginger pie. I’d plenty of time until I needed to defrost and cook my ragu, so it was boots on again and off to St Mo’s to bolster the few photos I’d taken in the morning. PoD came from that walk. It’s a macro of the fruiting bodies of moss plants. I find them fascinating.  Also worth noting is that today’s PoD is the 3,333rd photo to be nominated PoD in the ten years of 365s!

Dinner was good and we both have some left over for tomorrow’s lunch. Rhubarb & ginger pie was fine, but although the pastry was excellent, the rhubarb was a bit tasteless, Scamp thought and I chipped in with the ginger being a bit tough. As I was in charge of chopping up the ginger, I have to shoulder half the blame.

Today’s prompt was Up On The Roof. I’m fairly happy with that music and familiar with it too, however with two named storms due to make landfall in the next few days, ’up on the roof’ was not a place I wanted to be. Instead I drew on an old favourite of mine and sketched one of the gargoyles from Notre-Dame long before the fire. I hope these stone devils made it through the flames.
My apologies to any French people viewing this as I’ve take a few liberties with the architecture of Paris :-\

Tomorrow the first of the storms is set to come our way. Different reports give different scenarios. Hopefully it will just be a glancing blow we’ll get and not a full on body punch. I don’t see us going very far.