Category: Food

Is this summer? – 24 April 2025

Posted on by Zogman

It certainly feels like it. Long may it continue, but the weather fairies say the weekend may be wet. We’ll see, they’ve been wrong before.

Today we decided on a less stressful morning. I quite fancied driving a couple miles north to Loch Langaig. It’s more like a lochan, than a loch. It sits high above the road and collects water from the surrounding hills then passes it through some gentle falls down to the sea. It’s position muffles the noise of passing traffic with only the sound of the burn breaking the silence

When we got there, today, a girl was erecting a bell tent beside the loch. Then she started carrying seats, tables, a cake tin and a bottle of champagne. I wandered off to look for possible photo opportunities round the other side of the loch. While I was away, the girl told Scamp that she was building a picnic for a couple who had been married today at daybreak on Quiraing. She asked Scamp if she was “ ‘One of the ‘Easterhouse Girls’ ” I could imagine Scamp’s hackles rising and her replying “Provanhall, if you don’t mind!!” However, Scamp kept her cool and Alex, the girl, explained that she knew Jackie.

While I was off scouting out potential photos two French (?) blokes appeared one with a camera taking the same photo you see here, the PoD. I won that game, because I had already taken the shot and I had a bigger camera. They wandered off round the loch and started climbing up to the rock face at the top.

Then the wedding party arrived. Man in a suit and lady in a floaty white dress followed by a photographer who beat both the French bloke and me, because he was toting about four cameras on various slings over his shoulders. Some folk just like to show off.

At that point, we headed back to the house because we were going to Hungry Gull for lunch; Scamp, Jackie, Murd, Jaki, Mairi and me. Star attraction though, was Grian the smiling boy. Food was great and the draft Spidermonkey IPA I had was lovely, and so was the Kombucha drink Scamp had.

With lunch over we went back to sit in the sun in the little sunspot at the house. Soaking up every last minute of a busy, but also relaxing day. While we were there, I say the first two swallows this year! I’d already heard the first cuckoo earlier in the week.

Tomorrow we’re homeward bound.

Over the Sea – 22 April 2025

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After breakfast we said goodbye to our B&B host and also to Fort William for a while and we pointed the blue car north for a couple of hours. We had agreed to stop at Eilean Donan for a comfort stop. For the first time in ages, we had to pay to park at the castle also known as the Biscuit Tin, because it is on more biscuit tin lids than any other. I think the charge was to help pay for the massive car park that had sprung up in the last couple of years.

  • Lots of decent patient drivers.
  • Lots more crazy drivers driving at 30mph on the A82.
  • Coffee at Broadford when we were on Skye.
  • Saw a bloke sitting on a seat at the back of his truck in Broadford.
  • Looked like a home made job.
  • On the lookout for potholes all the way to Staffin.
  • Got caught on two potholes just before we would have turn off.
  • Drove down to the slip and went for a walk.
  • Busy place now. New buildings where the old slip used to be.

Ham, Cabbage and Potatoes for dinner. Hoping for a lazy day tomorrow.

Driving to Fort William – 21 April 2025

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On Thursday, Scamp suggested a few days in Skye might clear up my problems with photography. Did I want to drive or take the bus? I jumped at the chance to drive to Skye – in two stages. First day would be from Cumbersheugh to Fort William. Second day would be Fort William to Staffin.

  • Weather was drizzling rain for most of the way.
  • Stopped at The Green Welly for a comfort break.
  • Saw a train of old carriages pulled by equally old double header diesel engines.
  • That stop also gave us a chance to get the give the sat nav the coordinates for the B&B
  • Sat nav got the wrong road, but Scamp remembered where we should be going.
  • The B&B was the same, but the owners had changed.
  • Went to The Lochy for dinner. Fish ’n’ Chips and Scampi ’n’ Chips.

Hoping to head for Staffin tomorrow morning.

Where will we go? – 19 April 2025

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It was Scamp who said: “It’s a nice day, we should go out somewhere.” Where do you fancy? The answer came from both of us. Kilsyth. We can go for a walk round Colzium Estate. My contribution the to he discussion was that we could do a detour to Lidl because my bottle of Hortus Gin is getting low!

So that’s what we did. We drove to one of the parking areas in the estate and walked along through the flowering Azaleas and Rhododendrons, then around the back of the “Big House”. I spotted a Woodpecker flying from a nearby tree. I’d heard it’s ‘Rat – a – tat – tat’ as we were walking through the woods, but this was the first time I’d seen one on the wing for ages.

We walked upstream following the waterfalls of the Colzium Burn and crossed the bridge at the top, where the burn flows in under the Tak Ma Doon road then took the path. From there we took the far easier path down beside the other side of the burn and on to the car park. Not a long walk, but fairly strenuous in places.

We drove home via Lidl and restricted ourselves to three items each. It’s so easy to trail a trolley around as you walk round stores and not taking a trolley in the first place is a great way to resist temptation. I did get my Hortas, though!

Dinner tonight came from Golden Bowl. The only worthwhile Chinese restaurant in Cumbersheugh. Just for a change I had Sweet & Sour Chicken with Fried Rice. Scamp had Chicken Chop Suey also with fried rice and we watched a Buzz Lightyear film just for fun, then an episode of Doctor Who, because there wasn’t much else worth watching.

Later we watched the Qualifying for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix which was ( Yawn ) really exciting. Hmm.

PoD went to a Fern Crozier growing happily in the wet conditions in Colzium.

Tomorrow we’re intending to go shopping for more plants!

A day in the Toon – 17 April 2025

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Bus in to Glasgow in the rain to meet Alex. Scamp was meeting an old friend from work, for lunch.

Thought I’d be smart and get an earlier bus, only to find there were multiple roadworks on Cathedral Street and I ended up getting to the bus station at my usual time, 12 noon.

We did our normal walk down to a Nero, any Nero really and after a wee blether we took a walk down Buchanan Street heading to St Enoch’s Square, now that the rain had abated. We took a detour through Princes Square for Alex to take some photos of the escalators. I covered that shot, but I wasn’t interested. In the winter with the decorations and the Christmas tree, it’s a good place to photograph, but not in the middle of Spring. We walked on through St Enoch’s Square to see a new bit of graffiti on the Clyde Walkway and to photograph it. It’s on Flickr if you’re interested.

While we were on the walkway, about ten folk on a RIB screamed past on the Clyde. It wasn’t immediately obvious if it was the occupants or the RIB that was screaming, but I took some photos anyway.

All this walking and talking was making us both hungry, so Alex suggested the Willow Tea Rooms as our venue and I knew it was good, because he’d taken me there before a few years ago. We had sandwiches and I had a pot of tea while Alex had Coke. Although it’s quite posh, they do a decent pot of tea! Darjeeling, of course.

Where to go next? I’d been meaning to photograph the new(ish) City of Glasgow College and with blue skies all around now, I suggested it to Alex. He is quite an architecture fanatic, mostly older structures, but we won’t say “No” to a more modern edifice, so we spent an hour or so investigating different viewpoints and different lenses with which to capture this brilliantly white building.

I just missed the X3 from the college that would have taken me home, but too late and too lazy to run to catch it, I decided to wait for the next one. Alex’s bus came first and we agreed to meet again soon. His choice this time.

I took the next X3 past the house and got out at the shops so that I could get a pizza for dinner later in case we needed it, knowing that we could have it tomorrow if we were hungry.

PoD went to a wide angle shot of the City of Glasgow College under a blue sky.

Watched the finale of The Apprentice and agreed that the winner deserved the title.

No real plans for tomorrow, but Scamp has an appointment with Isobel. I may finish part 2 of the 3D jigsaw.

Out to lunch – 15 April 2025

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Taking Shona to belated birthday lunch today.

Just before midday we picked up Shona and drove the mile or so to Nonna’s at Dullatur.

The place was empty, but then it was only 11:50 and it didn’t open for lunch until 12:00.

Starters were Focaccia for Scamp and I to share while Shona had Chicken liver Paté

Mains were Scallops and Black Pudding for Scamp, Courgette Spaghetti with Zucchini Crisps. I had Penne Salsiccia

Desserts were Tiramisu for Shona and Sticky Toffee Pudding for Scamp and a pot of tea for me. Scamp criticised the Sticky Toffee Pudding and I felt there was too much cream and salt in the Penne Salsiccia. Other than that, it was fine. Service was slow, but the place was filling up by the time we left and there seemed to be only two people on the floor and possibly another two in the kitchen.

It was a lovely day. We had a window seat and a view over the golf course watching all the golfers walking and driving their golf buggies full of their golfing bats.

We dropped Shona back at her house after lunch and she was still in time to collect Ben from his carers.

Back home, Scamp was out gardening for a while and I had an afternoon snooze! Later she took me on a guided tour of the garden and I took some photos of the Stellata Magnolia which is almost in full bloom. One of the flowers made PoD.

I’m hoping to meet up with Billy Kent tomorrow at Starbucks – I might order tea, rather than a Starbucks. At least you know what’s in tea!

It rained – 14 April 2025

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Today was a bit dull to start with, but so is going for the messages, and that’s what we were doing today.

The postman was early today and the post was coming through the letter box just as we were opening it to go to Tesco. Scamp’s appointment letter for her scan was amongst the junk that always arrives on a Monday, through the letter box. After a quick read through it, we felt a lot better. At last we had a date to work towards.

Drove over to Tesco and half filled a trolley with messages. Just the usual day to day shopping, like fruit, milk, bread and stuff. Nothing fancy, just the basics.

After lunch I wrote out a couple of cards, sympathy cards for Margaret from Warrington and another card for her to pass on to her daughter whose husband had died recently after a short illness. I put on my uncomfortable and expensive waterproof jacket and walked over to Condorrat to post the cards in the rain.

I had intended to walk down to the shops to get some veg to breathe a bit of life into our usual Monday Pasta dinner, but decided half way there that I’d just go home instead. The rain was getting heavier and it wasn’t a day for wandering around getting wet.

The Monday Pasta dinner wasn’t as bad as I thought it might be, in fact I was quite pleased with it. Another “What have we got in the fridge” dinner.

The PoD went to a little cluster of daisies on the football park behind St Mo’s school. All the wee flowers had closed up shop early because of the rain. I didn’t blame them. There’s another photo in Flickr of the bird feeder you sent me, Hazy. No takers from the bird yet. I think the Blackbirds in particular aren’t keen on eating above the ground, but it’s early days. An interesting idea. Thanks.

Tomorrow we’re intending taking Shona out to lunch. I’m hoping for a drier day!

 

Cooking, Baking and Polishing – 12 April 2025

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Plus a bit of cleaning and tidying up.

We were expecting visitors today. John & Marion were coming to dinner. I started in the morning picking some herbs from the garden to go into the rolled breast of lamb, then began searing the meat in the heavy Le Creuset before pouring a fairly hefty amount of red wine into the casserole and setting it to roast for four hours (Gas mark 3.5 if you’re interested). After that I made some bread dough to bake into a loaf. Again, it was a fairly long process, but without too much work on my part.

Meanwhile Scamp was dusting and polishing every conceivable surface in the living room and organising the odds and ends that were being taken up to the spare rooms to make the place look better. Then, now that the kitchen was cleared, she made her take on Ratatouille or “Rats” as she calls it.

With most of my work finished, I hoovered the living room before leaving Scamp to do the work on the kitchen and hall. By the time we were both finished the room looked liveable in!

I gave myself an hour in St Mo’s to look for a photo, but actually found the winner in the front garden. Months ago, Scamp had planted five ‘Rasta’ Tulip bulbs and we had been watching them grow and open up these last couple of weeks. With the sun shining on them, they looked fantastic. One of them made PoD – no contest!

The visitors arrived just on time and I was busy again, serving the roast lamb, but actually the star attraction for me was the Greek salad, Scamp had made. Either that or the Tiramisu that was the dessert.

Once John & Marion left, and we’d loaded and turned on the dishwasher, we sat and watched the F1 GP from Bahrain.

All in all, a busy day, but good to hear news from the visitors side of things.

Tomorrow we might be getting the first rain in a fortnight. Goodby sunshine.

Another day in the sun – 11 April 2025

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It won’t last. The weather fairies have spoken and rain is on the way for the weekend. Oh well, it was good while it lasted.

Scamp went out to FitSteps in the morning and I set up the workspace for the big build of the Lego Bonsai tree. Didn’t really get started, I think that will happen tomorrow, when I’ve more time to spare, at least in the morning. What I did do was contact Billy, a distant relation of mine who I’d promised to meet up some time in late February, or maybe March. It looks like we will eventually meet in April DV.

When she came home, Scamp made a list of shopping we needed for tomorrow. We walked down to M&S and found that we’d left the list at home. Then we were even more disappointed to find that the few things we could both remember weren’t available in the shop. M&S used to be a good shop with a decent range of goods, but the Cumbersheugh shop seems to have landed on hard times.
We walked back home and took the car to Tesco. Not the best food shop in the world, but at least they cover the bare essentials and a little more.

We sat out on the front garden and read for an hour or so after lunch. Then Scamp wanted to water the plants she’d recently planted and I was looking for some photos. My favourite of the day was a little pair of leaves poking up from the dry ground. I do hope we get that promised rain soon or these plants are going to struggle.

Back home it was pizza for dinner. It was a bit soft and wet in the middle, but it filled a space.

John & Marion are expected for dinner tomorrow, so there will be a lot of work to be done. Thankfully, most of my work will be done by the oven, hopefully!

Shopping – 10 April 2025

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Today we went shopping in Stirling, just for a change.

Drove to Stirling and parked at Waitrose, then went for a walk through the town. Coffee and a wee bite to eat, plus we bought a couple of dresses for our friends’ one year old grandchild. After that we walked back to Waitrose and spent lots of money on some things we may never use, but a lot of the things we will definitely use and even more on things we’ll drink. I don’t need to go into details about what we bought, do we? If you really want to know, tough!

We drove home, and as the wee Blue car had been struggling in the heat of the sun, I turned the air-con into ‘Cool Mode’ and after a couple of misfires it kicked in and we weren’t melting in the sunshine anymore. So nice to have air-con when you really need it.

A cup of coffee and a piece ’n’ cheese and beetroot – possibly an acquired taste, but it works for me. Scamp had a piece ’n’ jam instead (and no beetroot!). Then the chairs came out and we sat and read for an hour in the front garden. I’m on page 58 in the book, Hazy. I can see what you meant when you said it was strange! The good weather isn’t meant to last past the weekend, unfortunately, but it we’ll make the best of it while it lasts.

I took myself off to St Mo’s later in the afternoon and walk round the back of St Mo’s School and on to the shops. We needed mushrooms for tonight’s dinner, which was Bacon & Borlotti Beans. It’s become a staple now, Jamie and Simonne! Scamp substituted Spinach for the recommended Kale, and it was fine.

Watched the semi-final of The Apprentice with its usual array of gormless would-be millionaires. It has become so formulaic now it’s lost a lot of its fun element. I’ll say it again “We may not watch it next year”, but we will, all things being equal.

PoD was a close-up of some Larch needles. The Larch being one of the few conifers that loses its needles in the winter.

Tomorrow Scamp is intending to go to FitSteps in the morning and I have some correspondence I may need to catch up with.