Category: Food

Out for a spin – 4 June 2020

Posted on by Zogman

The weather wasn’t very promising, but we just had to get out of the house.

Drove to Torwood Garden Centre to get a pot for Scamp’s new rose. Ended up with a boot full of plants, compost and other ‘essentials’ Plus the back foot well was also being used as secondary storage. We did manage to leave some stuff at the garden centre for other folk, but not a lot. I shouldn’t complain because I got some leek plants and some chard which we did have seeds for, but were too late to sow this year.

Interesting to see their method for limiting the number of folk in the centre. Torwood is the best organised I’ve seen so far. You need to take a trolley in to the shop, you can’t go in without one. They have 30 trolleys and a maximum of two people can go in with one trolley. That way they limit the number of people in the place to a maximum of 60 at any one time. Check out is so much better than Calders. Torwood have two tills running and no big long queue. The path to the tills is clearly marked and when you get there, every step in the process is calculated and run with military precision. I was impressed.

We had bought a longer hose and back home, after lunch I assembled it. It was a lot more complicated than our old one and it gave us both a headache trying to roll it back into the carrier without any kinks. I think we’ve managed it, but it won’t be needed for a while because it rained nearly all day. This is only the start of the deluges according to the weather fairies, but we shouldn’t complain after all the hot sunny days.

Dinner tonight was Thai Chicken Stir Fry from the Muirhead butchers, but I made a mess of cooking it and it ended up too dry. I tried to blame Scamp, but we both knew it was my own fault.

PoD was a flower we saw at Torwood. It’s a Paeonia Patio ‘Kiev’. Too big and showy for Scamp and she’s probably right. It wasn’t a day for taking pictures. Sunny then wet then sunny …

Hoping against hope that the weather fairies will have got it wrong and tomorrow will be dry and sunny.

Up early again for the last day in May – 31 May 2020

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That didn’t mean that we were doing much more than getting up, but it was a start.

We finally chose to go for a walk after Scamp had spoken to her wee sister and told her she’s been talking to her big sister yesterday. Also after I’d hung out most of the washing. It was much cooler and much breezier than yesterday with the wind coming from the east. We walked round St Mo’s and then paused for fifteen to twenty minutes watching half a dozen dragonflies, not damselflies, big dragonflies clattering about the wee pond. Some were obviously females, busy egg laying and some were males chasing off the competition, but they all combined to show off their aerial skills as they flew round and between the various obstructions in their path, which included us. Utterly fascinating and perfect for taking you out of yourself and the problems of this new world we are living in.

Back home and time for a Sunday lunch of eggs, black pudding, beef-ham, sausage and tattie scones, all fried. It’s ok to eat healthy six days of the week but on the seventh you can fry your food.

We knew the good weather wasn’t going to last, so Scamp made the most of it. She slapped on the Factor 50 and took herself and her book out into the garden to soak up some rays. I adjourned to the ‘Painting Room’ to sketch today’s drawing which was ‘A Phone’. My choice was an old black bakelite rotary dial phone. They have so much more soul than the black glass slabs we use for everything from sending messages to photographing everything and occasionally even speaking to people. The old black bakelite phones were used for speaking to people and nothing else. I got the basic shape drawn and photographed, then put some black watercolour on it to give some tonal gradation. Happy with the result, I went out for a walk with the ‘big dog’ to see if the dragons had calmed down.

Thankfully they had calmed down and I did get a handful of decent shots, but only after rejecting a bucket load of junk. Today’s PoD was one of the best. It’s a Four Spotted Chaser and it was resting after a strenuous morning.

Got back just in time for dinner to be served. It was Neil-D’s lovely summer style rice and chicken with a variety of veg and condiments. Avocado as starter and Churros as a dessert. A nice bottle of Malbec to wash it down and then a seat outside to watch the sun go down. That’s what the last day of metrological spring is made for.

I watered the back garden afterwards while Scamp fed the front garden plants with some seaweed fertiliser. Coffee to finish off, with a drop of alcohol to take the edge off it.

Not a bad day, all in all. Hopefully we’ll manage one more day of this early heat before the rain comes in the middle of the week. May go and see a man about a bike wheel tomorrow.

The early bird get the photo – 30 May 2020

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Out at around 7.30am because Scamp wanted a photo of her trio of azaleas and I had worked out that 7.30am would be as near as damnit the right time. It was … nearly. Took the photo and went back to bed.

Shock, Horror! No breakfast in bed today. Up before 8.30 and breakfast in the living room. Next, we’ll be having breakfast at the table, or is that a step too far?

After breakfast we went for a walk. What’s become our ‘new normal’ walk. Down around the football stadium and back up the hill. It’s a good mile or so and is not too busy. Apart from joggers, I think we only passed three people today. If we’d crossed the dam we’d have been dodging the socially un-distancing hordes. It was a pleasant day with a slight breeze. Enough to cool you without feeling cold. When we passed the shops the queues were extraordinary. It was a Saturday and it was warm and there were no other kinds of shops open yet, so I suppose it was just the desire to buy something … anything! We didn’t feel the need, so we didn’t join them at this point.

Back home for coffee and a plan for the day. Scamp wanted walk over and visit her sister after lunch. That would give me time to get today’s sketch of a geranium completed with a bit of luck. Luck was on my side for once and, although not as satisfying as yesterday’s painting, todays was ‘adequate’. That’s all, just adequate. I had just finished it and was sitting in the garden with a pair of bluetooth headphones on so I didn’t need to listen to ‘Brain of Britain’ next door proving that empty barrels do indeed make the most noise, when Scamp phoned to ask if she should get a chicken for dinner. Apparently the queues from this morning had decreased significantly. I agreed that it would be good and walked down to the shops to meet her. We just had a basket this time, so bought more or less what we needed and no more.

Still a very pleasant day and much more comfortable than yesterday. I didn’t think the azaleas would cut it as PoD so went out to find some beasties. Scamp went out to sunbathe. She has this enviable ability to tune out distractions when she’s reading because ‘BoB’ was still droning on to anyone who would listen and also to anyone who wouldn’t.

Managed to get a clean shot of a Common Blue damselfly. Isn’t it a terrible shame calling anything ‘Common’. We humans are so superior in their outlook aren’t we. Well humans in general are, but not me. I’m generous to a fault. I wouldn’t call anything or anyone ‘Common’.

Dinner was brilliant. Roast chicken with roast vegetables and potatoes baked in the oven, followed by real fruit cocktail, not your common tinned stuff!

Tomorrow, weather wise, we are expecting more of the same, but after that there may be rain!! Oh No! But the gardens need the rain.

Walking – 25 May 2020

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We woke to sunshine. No point in wasting it. Time to go out and walk.

We walked down through yesterday’s sketched underpass and on through the posh houses then across the dam at Broadwood. Walked round the exercise track without doing any exercises and then home for lunch.

After lunch, Scamp went for a walk around the shops and got the makings of dinner which was Veg Chilli. I started roughing out today’s sketch which was ‘Cutlery’. Officially it was ‘A Towel’, today being Towel Day to celebrate the life and work of Douglas Adams who wrote The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy. If you don’t understand the towel thing, read the book. I got the basics down on my roughing sketch book then Hazy phoned so I spoke to her for a while. Scamp returned soon after that and also spoke for a while.

With the dinner planned and provisioned for and a rough sketch done, I went out for a walk in St Mo’s and got today’s PoD which is a White Tailed Bumblebee. Also got some clean, clear shots of one of the Canada Geese that have taken up residence in St Mo’s pond.

I quite liked tonight’s chilli, but then I would, I was chef. Scamp thought it needed more salt and also commented that it was a bit dry. I chose to disagree. There will be enough left for lunch tomorrow.

The proper drawing of the cutlery was much more difficult than I anticipated and I had decided I’d do it as an ink line drawing which leaves very little room for mistakes and corrections. In retrospect, it would have been better as a painting. Retrospect: The only 20-20 vision. It’s done and posted on Instagram and Facebook if you’re interested.

Big sensation of the day was Dominic Cummings’ refusal to accept that his actions in driving from London to Durham were a contradiction of the Government rules on Lockdown. Will he stay or will he go? That’s the question on everyone’s lips and the source of a host of memes.

Tomorrow I’m intending phoning Wheelcraft to enquire after my front wheel which they are supposed to be rebuilding. Otherwise no plans.

Windy and Wet – 22 May 2020

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That about summed it up. Windy and Wet.

Parcelled up some fabric to post to my cousin’s granddaughter to make some masks. Pretty Mickey Mouse fabric. There’s no sense in making boring masks when you can make ones that will make someone else smile. Good idea Gemma.

Had to wait outside the post office in the rain while some ‘zoomer’ had a long conversation with the woman behind the counter I thought the bloke in front of me was going to hook him (in a suitably Socially Distanced way, of course). When the zoomer came out the whole queue gave a great sigh of relief.

That was about the highlight of the day. No gardening was possible due to the wind and rain. We just stayed in. Well, I did sneak out during a dry spell to grab today’s PoD which should have been a blurred shot of the rhododendrons blowing in the gale force wind, but none of the shots were deemed worthwhile, so a static one had to fill the bill.

Dinner for me was a mince pie. Not like a mutton pie or a scotch pie, but a pie made with puff pastry and mince. A real mince pie like my mum made. Scamp talked me through the making of it one more time. I think I’ve got in in the grey cells now.

Tonight’s sketch was to be A Book, a Newspaper or a Magazine. I chose Magazine, because I don’t read fairy stories, so the newspaper was out. A book is basically a rectangular prism, but a magazine can be folded and when it’s opened out it’s got curves and little shadow areas. This is a food magazine, so although, unlike oranges, you can’t eat it, you can eat the things it teaches you to make. That’s good enough for me.

Hopefully the wind will calm down tomorrow and we’ll get out for our daily exercise.

Rained again last night – 21 May 2020

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Woke up this morning to wet pavements and just the hint of rain in the air. Scamp was delighted. The garden needs the rain.

By the time we were up, Scamp got a text to say her prescription was ready to pick up from the chemist, so off she went to collect it. I stayed home and flew a plane from Glasgow to Prestwick and tried to remember how to land it using ILS (Instrument Landing System). All the different planes I’ve got in my virtual hanger use different autopilots and trying to keep track of them all is difficult to say the least. Pilots may get exorbitant wages, but they certainly work for their money. It wasn’t the glorious success I hoped it would be. I also messed around with some oranges trying to get a suitable setup for Lockdown Library No 39 today, again with very little success.

Scamp arrived home with another clinking bag, but I forgave her, because there was beer in it this time as well as a bottle or two of wine. She asked me to bring down the last bag, and could I please see if the car, which was up the top of the road, would fit into a space she wasn’t confident in driving in to. It would, and I did and in the boot as a thank-you there were two new folding garden chairs. We’ve only had one chair for ages and have been talking about getting another. She had managed to get two new ones for a knock down price. Delighted!

After lunch I walked down to the shops and came home with a lavender plant for Scamp, a bee hotel for, well, for bees – obviously! Also an assortment of sweets because … well, do I need an excuse? If I do, then it was because it was a beautiful sunny day and tomorrow is looking like it will not be beautiful or sunny. Lashing rain and strong winds forecast. I got changed into a pair of shorts a tee shirt and a shirt and went off in search of photos. I got today’s PoD which was a little tree growing up through the leaf litter in the woods of St Mo’s. Caught a fleeting glimpse of a deer, but too fast and too far away for me to catch.

Came home and enjoyed a beer in the garden, then we had dinner in the garden too. Scamp had Cauliflower Cheese with Jersey Royal Potatoes. I added some grilled bacon to mine. Very nice sitting on our new chairs in the sun having dinner. Very civilised.

When it got too cool we went inside. While I was drawing and painting today’s topic which was Fruits, we watched ‘Glow Up’ on iPlayer. If you haven’t watched it, it’s a must see. It must be one of the most cringeworthy programs on TV. It’s a well tried format:

  1. Take a team of “I Want To Be On A Show” people
  2. Give them three tasks an episode
  3. Dump the weakest
  4. Repeat.

The ‘contestants’ are wannabe make-up artists and each one is more outrageous than the last. The “Judges” equally so. It’s a hoot! I recommend it to you.

That was about it. The “Fruit” turned out to be chopped up pieces of orange and I was fairly happy with the result. Viewable on Instagram or FB.

Title of today’s blog is the first line of the Tom Paxton song “The Things I Notice Now”. What do you mean “Who’s Tom Paxton?”

Tomorrow, as I mentioned, it looks like rain and gale force winds.

Working with the gardener – 20 May 2020

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The day began at about 6am with a blackbird singing its story … loudly.

Maybe it’s something to do with these strange days, but for the first time I actually listened to the song of the blackbird. It seems to sing a story, almost as if it’s reading the news, a topic at a time. Listen to it the next time you get a chance. This isn’t a mating call, nor is it the “Dik! Did!” alarm call. This song doesn’t repeat like most birdsongs seem to. It’s a story. A story only other birds, or maybe even only other blackbirds can understand. Maybe this is all in my imagination, but I don’t think so.  I eventually had to close the window and thank the genius who invented double glazing.

I got an email from Hazy with a link to an incredible Sudoku solution for a grid with only two numbers in it. It wasn’t a normal Sudoku puzzle though. It was chess sudoku with additional rules based on the King’s move and the Knight’s move in chess. However the solution was fascinating to watch.

https://youtu.be/yKf9aUIxdb4

We walked down to the shops in the late morning to get some of the raw materials for tonight’s dinner and also something for lunch. Shops were incredibly quiet, even Aldi which is usually mobbed had no queue. For the first time this year, I think I went out without a jacket or hoodie of some description and the light bouncing off the new paving slabs at the shops was quite blinding. A warm day was on the cards.

Scamp cut the front grass and then after lunch we sat at the front for a while, soaking up the rays. Scamp had her factor 50 on just to be sure. I have to apply it to her back and the back of her neck and that’s why my hands are always white. They don’t get the chance to get a tan!

After a while Scamp disappeared for a while. I eventually found her in the back garden, gardening. The usual things. Cutting some stuff, pruning others, weeding and transplanting things. In her element. I finally agreed to be roped in and cleaned out some of the old strawberry hanging basket. Together we repotted the Skimmia into what had been the Chrysanthemum pot. Then she went and split up the Eryngium that was growing quite happily in a pot at the front. Massive big tap root on both the plants. Eventually I gave up on this gardening lark and went inside to draw today’s sketch which was on the topic of Shoes. My slipper/clogs were the model and I was fairly happy with the result. Pencil sketch only this time. By that time the gardener was finished and it was time to make the dinner. Another tray of chicken with roasted veg. Tasted quite good, but needed more salt. We’re working our way through a cookery magazine, by the way. A strange cherry flavoured jelly for dessert. Interesting, but not something I’d actually go looking for again.

PoD was a lovely delicate blue Anemone Coronaria Royale.

Too warm for central heating tonight, but I think we might need it tomorrow. It’s going to get cooler, wetter and windier as we get closer to the weekend. Oh, yes, and happy birthday to Murdo in Skye!

Tomorrow we may need to collect Scamp’s prescription so someone will be driving.

Today was Saturday.

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Saturday used to be The Weekend. These days the week has no beginning and therefore no end. The only thing that makes the weekend different from the rest of the days is that the individual weekend days start with an ’S’.

We went for a walk today. That’s where the PoD came from. Down to Broadwood, avoiding the loch, because everyone was out there walking their dogs or cycling in a wobbly way along the footpaths in a very un-social distancing manner. Instead we walked down past a soakaway ‘water feature’ and back up underneath the Craiglinn Roundabout and on to St Mo’s by way of the now well worn path behind St Mo’s school to the actual St Mo’s. A cursory inspection of the ‘pollothywogs’ (tadpoles – ‘Some Fishy Nonsense’ poem by Laura E. Richards). We walked home. It was cold for most of the walk because of the wind, but when we were sheltered from that wind it was quite warm.

Met the window cleaner when we got back home, just in time to pay him with the last fiver we had! Spent a long time reminiscing about times at CHS in ‘the olden days’.

I wanted to pot up a couple of the chilli plants that have been growing on the kitchen window sill since October last year, in a different world. They look a lot happier now with room to flex their roots. Scamp was busy too cutting and pruning. On the way home we ‘found’ a few cuttings of Berberis and she planted them too. I remember my mum pausing by a wall when we were out walking in the summer and ‘finding’ some cuttings of something she fancied. It must be a family failing or just a family ‘finding’.

Dinner tonight was Chicken Thighs on a bed of peas and leeks, with Jersey Royal potatoes. Very nice and even better because it’s a tray bake, so very little prep and a one-pot meal.

A little dance practise tonight.  I chose ballroom, so we did Waltz1, Waltz2, Quickstep and Foxtrot.  Then Scamp wanted to practise a new sequence dance, the Melody Foxtrot.  It looked very complicated, but she assured me it wasn’t.  I’d tend to disagree with that, but we did manage to get it right a couple of times.  Maybe part of it will be in muscle memory by the next practise session.

PoD was a field of Coltsfoot Daisies setting seeds with a nettle in the middle. No reason for it, I just liked it. Today’s sketch was a metal whisk. What a dull thing to draw, but it made Lockdown Library No 34.

Tomorrow we have no plans and it’s weekend day number 2 which would make it Sunday!

Just another day in Lockdown – 15 May 2020

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Today was Friday and we were having Paella for dinner. That much was clear. The rest was up for grabs.

I’d two sudoku puzzles to complete before I even got on to today’s. By about 12noon I’d done that and was on to the phone to Wheelcraft to find if they’d crafted my wheel yet. They hadn’t. But then it’s a three man business and they did seem to have a fair backlog waiting to be filled, so I didn’t really expect them to have rebuilt my wheel in a week. Big Al was very apologetic and said he’d get on to it right away and make some phone calls. I reckon I’m fairly small beer for him and to be honest, I’m not really in that much of a hurry to get it back. I can wait a few more days.

We needed some chicken thighs for tomorrow’s dinner and some paninis for lunch, so we walked down to the shops with our masks in our pockets. No point in having them if we don’t use them. The best bet today was The Food Factory (AKA Iceland). There are rarely queues and the prices are decent. Also, they have the duck eggs that Scamp likes. On the way some eejit from Condorrat was cycling down the the pavement and rang his bell to tell us to get out of his road. I took exception to this and told him to go on the road. He mumbled something and I told him again “Go. On. The. Road”. Single syllables for those with single brain cells. He mumbled a grunted “Fuck off” so I said “You too”. Apparently he’d said he didn’t have a helmet. So what was he wanting me to do about it? Buy him one?  Dobber!

We wandered round The Food Factory getting strange looks from the other shoppers who had never seen anyone wearing a mask before. Probably they’d never heard of Coronavirus “Didn’t know you could catch a disease from ginger.” This will mean nothing to those of an English persuasion. We got our messages and walked home without being accosted by any more helmetless cyclists with. Scamp was delighted because she’d managed to bag herself some Caster Sugar!

The weather fairies are predicting a fair amount of rain for us on Sunday and Scamp was out in the afternoon preparing for it by spiking the grass in the front garden. I was photographing the bluebells, the bees on the apple blossom and the rhododendrons which are just starting their display.

Indeed, as planned, it was paella for dinner tonight. It’s ages since we’ve had it, probably about a month and tonight’s was really good, even if I say so myself. With a wee glass of rhubarb ’n’ ginger gin as an aperitif and a glass of red wine to wash the paella down, we had a fairly jolly Friday.

PoD turned out to be the Bluebells. Sketch today was The View From Your Window. I chose the back window and was fairly pleased with the result. Viewable on Instagram and FB for those who are interested.

By the way, the masks work. They may not keep all the little coronavirus things at bay, but you can breathe in them and they give folk a laugh! We need a laugh these days.

Tomorrow’s dinner will probably be a chicken and pea tray bake if the stars align properly. Other than that, we have no plans.

And what of the day then? – 11 May 2020

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It was to be a busy day. Not hardly a minute to spare.

Can’t say much about it though. It’s all under wraps until 13th May when all will become clear.

Spent part of the morning planning out what today’s sketch would be. The prompt was “Illustrate a Recipe”. I did really try out different ideas, but none of them worked and as the day wore on, the chance of it making it to paper were getting slimmer and slimmer. So slim in fact that it became lost and I’m leaving it until tomorrow to finish (i.e. Start).

Tesco delivery arrived early and it looked as if we were back to our old ways of buying the entire shop. I pitied the poor bloke having to transport all those boxes from van to door on his porters trolley.

I left Scamp to deal with the storing of the mountain of stuff. If I’d tried to put things away, she’d only have gone back later and rearranged everything, so instead I walked over to Condorrat and posted a parcel to West Ewell. Sorry Hazy, it’s not for you, but be warned a small package will be dropping through your letterbox soon, maybe even tomorrow. IT HASN’T GOT YOUR NAME ON IT!!

Walked around St Mo’s a couple of times and took today’s PoD which, probably nobody will like and I agree it’s a bit dull, but I like it. I’m not certain the sepia treatment worked, but I’m trying to get out of the straight macro mode and become a bit more creative. It was a cold day. Allegedly it was just into double figures of degrees C, but when you were in that wind it didn’t feel like that at all. That’s wind chill, though. In the sun and sheltered the wind it was pleasantly warm … if you were wearing a thick hoodie over a thick shirt and a tee shirt it was pleasantly warm.

Not a lot more to say about today. Spent most of the evening trying to remove DRM from one of Scamp’s books without success. I’ll try again tomorrow, maybe once I’ve caught up with the sketching.

And that’s the plan for tomorrow. To catch up, then to fix the DRM.