Category: Food

London – 19 May 2016

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London bTook the train in to London and wandered round the Southbank as usual. Had lunch from the Indian and Mexican stalls we usually go to. After that we walked down the river, or was it up? Can’t remember.

We went for a coffee in a Nero in the OXO building and Scamp noticed there was a photographic exhibition in the building at the rear and it was free! I quite enjoyed looking at other people’s photos, especially Emily Allchurch’s Sic Transit Gloria Mundi and Babel, but £11,000 was a bit steep. After that we crossed the river looking for a pub to have a drink. I thought I knew the whereabouts of such a place, but after walking away from the river for a while, had to give up and go to a Wetherspoons instead. Had a nice pint of Ghost Ship and Scamp had an expensive G&T. I had a taste and it did taste that wee bit different from our usual. Walked back down the road to head back for the station, and there was the pub I was looking for. For future reference it was the Black Friar!

Dinner was at Jimmy Spice’s and the food, especially the Indian food was great.

View from the other side – 8 May 2016

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combo2Well, today was supposed to be 18ºc and I think we met that temperature and probably exceeded it, but when we woke it didn’t look that likely. It was a slow burner.

Because the weather didn’t look as good as we had hoped, we waited before deciding that it really was going to improve. I’d intended going east, possibly to Cramond or if that was too busy, Portobello. However, our late start made a more local resort more practical. Scamp thought Glasgow Green fitted the bill, and I thought ok. Not what I’d choose, because how many other families would be thinking the exact same and there isn’t a lot of parking there. To add another factor to the mix, Celtic were playing some final or other at home at Parkhead which is on the route to The Green. After driving round the diversions to avoid the green and white crowds, I saw the last parking space at The Green disappear in front of me as the grey Astra in front of me nabbed it. Just managed to park on the roadside outside the West bar. Not perfect, but we were parked and I was beilin’. Whose idea was it to drive into Glasgow? I’ve been driving all weekend! Why do I have to do all the driving? Forgetting for the minute that Scamp had suggested The Green because I wouldn’t have to drive too far and after our walk I’d still have time to go cycling afterwards. No, the Red Mist obscures everything.

After I’d calmed down a bit, I had to admit I really enjoyed walking in the sunshine. We walked onto the suspension bridge and watched some rowers sculling with training wheels on the boat. Ok, really training floats, but that doesn’t sound so good. We had watched a white cabin cruiser heading up to the moveable weir at the Albert Bridge and when we walked down past the Western Boathouse the boat crossed the line of the weir and sailed merrily upstream. I was so taken back by this sight, my camera remained in the bag. I’ll remember it though because I’ve never seen any boat bigger than a eight man rowing scull on the river. To dispel the remainder of the red mist, I got us two Mr Whippy ice creams which were brilliant!

Just for a change, we walked across the Albert Bridge which is undergoing a fairly extensive refurbishment and not before time because this has been a rusting eyesore for a long time. That’s where the Glasgow coat of arms shot came from. I thought it was a good idea to get a photo of it before the graffiti artists got to work on it. Actually there’s more to this than meets the eye. Because I was shooting through the security barrier, I couldn’t get the whole thing in with the 20mm lens I had on, so I took two shots, one of the top and one of the bottom. Later I combined them in AutoPano. It’s not just for panoramas! After that we walked along the riverside walkway on the other side of the Clyde. Scamp and I have walked around Glasgow Green in all sorts of weather for years, probably about twenty years, we think. In all that time we have never walked along the path on the far side, the other side. It’s not as pretty a walk as the one on the green, but it gives a totally different view of the riverside. I’d never realised just how pretty the Western Boathouse was.

After the walk, it was time for lunch in the wintergarden of the People’s Palace. Roll ‘n’ Sausage for me, toast for Scamp. Then we drove back passing through the droves of ‘Sellic’ supporters.

When we got home I ‘dumped’ the photos I’d taken earlier at Glasgow Green and then got ready for cycling. Grabbed my cameras in their new sling bag and hadn’t realised that I’d left one of the SD cards on the table. Found out when I tried to take the mono shot. No card. Luckily I’d grabbed both cards, so I took the shot with the ‘5 which had the 9mm lens on and the shot from it was so much better than the one I missed with the ’10 and it’s 45mm lens. Just a short cycle today with a tail wind to start with – never a good scenario, fighting a headwind on the way back when you’re knackered. Got a photo of the ladybird in a group of aspen saplings. Actually there were two ladybirds, but when they saw one another, the both ran in opposite directions. Possibly two males or two females. The shot of the sprouting ‘baby corn’ was on the road home. I thought the perspective was interesting.

More sun forecast for tomorrow. Let’s see if it appears.

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ComboToday we had to drop Scamp’s car off at the garage by 8.30am. This meant a much earlier rise than normal, but we managed it and got the car dropped off in time. Even then, almost all the parking spaces were taken, mainly because of poor parking skills by the garage’s clients. Some people are so impressed that they have reverse parked, they don’t seem to notice that they are not actually in a bay or maybe they think that white line is a target and you’re supposed to get a wheel either side of it. The parking was so bad that a couple of the mechanics were gainfully employed parking the cars neatly and so releasing a couple more spaces. Scamp parked very neatly, showing all these dobbers how it should be done. Don’t understand ‘dobbers’? No, it’s not an Australian word, much ruder than that. Google it.

Because we were out early, we had intended having breakfast out, but with the exception of Tesco and Asda, there was nowhere in Cumbersheugh where we could have breakfast. Buckfast, yes, Breakfast, no. And there was no way I was having breakfast in either of the supermarkets with school doggers (Don’t Google it!!) sitting at the next table. So we came back home for a normal breakfast.

Later in the morning the gas salesman phoned to say he was running ahead of schedule and could he come early. No problem, that left us more time in the afternoon. Yesterday we had a sales lady. Today we got a gas engineer. Someone who could answer our questions without spin or waffle. Of course there was still spin, there always will be when people are trying to sell something, but not as much as there could have been. No quote yet, but it should be posted to us tomorrow. We thought that was the end of the quotes, but I bumped into Fred P this morning and he’s going to give me the number for the guy who installed his boiler and a personal recommendation is always the best way to get a good workman. The road goes ever on.

Since we didn’t manage to get breakfast out this morning, we did lunch out instead. We went to Milano and I had a tuna pizza which wasn’t all that great. First failure for Milano. Scamp had a gigantic Chicken Burger. Absolutely enormous. She finished it!

Went for a walk to St Mo’s later in the afternoon and despite an unspoken embargo on ‘Flooers’ as a subject today, the first shots I took were flooers. But you see, they aren’t flooers, they’re blossom, so that’s ok! My photo, my rules. The wireless shutter release on the ’10 is so good for taking ground level shots. No more lying on the ground, picking up mud, twigs and the occasional sheep tick. Jut remember to charge your iPhone and remember to take it with you! That’s how the monochrome shot was taken. The green blobs are fruiting bodies of mosses. I’m not sure what species of moss it is, but it was the safest shot to take today because mosses don’t have flooers. Just fruiting bodies called ‘capsules’. There, you and I have learned something new today!

Coffee with Fred P and Val tomorrow. Three auld guys putting the world to rights.

Up North – 27 April 2016

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combo bAfter a lazy morning (well, yesterday was a bit frantic, so we are due a lazy morning) we headed off just after midday bound for Ballachulish in Lochaber.

I just had to stop on Rannoch Moor to get one last time lapse. Yes, I know it’s old hat now, but just one more wouldn’t hurt. After 15 minutes I had my 10 seconds of video and 100 frames of high quality RAW files I’ll never use again. Such a waste and such a hammering the camera shutter takes making those 10 seconds of video. The good thing about travelling with two cameras is the ability to wander around taking shots while you’re waiting for the 100 shots to be taken. Saw a wee lizard on the moor. Didn’t realise you got them this far north. Maybe it was on its holidays.

Continued up to Ballachulish and booked in. As it was the end of an Itison deal, the hotel was full, but Scamp had pre-booked and also upgraded to a loch-view room with, as it turned out, a jacuzzi bath! Unfortunately neither of us could be bothered to try it out.

Went for a walk to Bishop’s Bay, a place we’d been the last time we were here, back in October 2015. The scenery and views were just as spectacular as last time. Time for dinner when we got back. Food was good, but our supercilious waiter needs to work a bit on his people skills. Scamp ordered scallops and he assumed she was ordering for both of us! What? Does his mummy order for him when he goes out to a restaurant. I had a burger which was fine and Scamp had a seabass fillet, but I’ve seen bigger sardines. She decided to have pudding and ordered sticky toffee pudding with ice cream. I ordered gin and tonic pannacotta and after leaving, he returned to ask if I wanted ice cream or cream with it. I was a bit bemused as you don’t usually have anything with pannacotta, but settled for the cream. I needn’t have bothered. It came as it was without an accompaniment and also without any semblance of G or T in its flavour.

I’d just remembered that the hotel had a lovely microbrewery IPA and we went through to the bar after our meal to see if it was still available. There was the pump with the River IPA. Unfortunately, there also was Mr Personality, the original dumb waiter.  Scamp had a G&T and I asked for an IPA. The scoosh from the tap signalled that the cask needed changing. “It’ll only take a minute” he said. He was right. It only took him a minute to come back and say “mvbemdm fnsn dm” or something like that. He certainly speaks fluent Mumble. It translates as “I don’t know how to change the cask”.  I asked for a pint of the River Blonde beer instead. I’m still not sure if he used a clean glass or the dirty one from the aborted IPA, but the beer was boggin’. I had two mouthfuls and left it on the table. The last time we were here there certainly was Service With A Smile. This time was different. Maybe we were just unlucky or maybe this is a turn in fortune for the Loch Leven Hotel. Only time will tell.

Hoping to head south via Oban tomorrow. Also hoping for decent weather, much like today’s.

Just another Saturday – 23 April 2016

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Page_1-2- flickr--114After yesterday’s biz, today was just another Saturday.

We went to Stirling and bumped into Scamp’s sister and her daughter (the same ones from yesterday) in our favourite curry shop. I wouldn’t have bothered going back there after the disappointments of our last two visits, but I’m glad we did. The menu, if more expensive, had gone back to its previous old faithfuls and I’m guessing the chef was back from his/her sabbatical because the food tasted like it used to. The only stumbling block was the nan bread which we both agreed was too soft and doughy. We’ll let them work on it.

Walked round Stirling shopping centre. That didn’t take very long. Stirling, apart from the castle and the old buildings leading up to it, isn’t all that interesting. More and more shops closed in the shopping mall it’s a sign of the times. Not as bad as Dunfermline the other day. Things are getting bad when the Cash Converter shop closes down. Anyway, we didn’t linger long in Stirling and drove home empty handed apart from a Thunderball ticket that proved not even worth the paper it was printed on. Oh well.

Today’s photo is the final one in the series of Shug and Tam meet the Queen. By the way, just in case you were wondering, it has nothing to do with Mrs McQueen turning 90. It’s just such a nice wee minifig, I thought I’d like to do something with it. I’m done with Comic Life for a while. I’d forgotten just how irritating it was to work with. Until you’ve experienced it, it’s difficult to explain just how badly coded it is. Even the version 1 as its flaws, the most annoying is when it loses focus on the object being edited. Leave it for a while to get its wind back and focus returns. Not something you want to happen when you are working to a deadline, so I doubt if you’d use this on a commercial basis. However, it cost me nothing so I shouldn’t complain, but I always do 😉

To those who read my blog posts, I apologise for the number of updates to it recently as I struggled to add two short videos. I finally worked out today that the only video format that WordPress would abide was MP4. I was sure I’d added a MOV once, but I was wrong. It was only when I was checking the HTML code today that I realised my error. I may not embed any more videos for some time, but hopefully I’ll remember that I wrote this explanation – partly to you and partly to myself!

Walking through the Toon – 16 April 2016

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OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

We got the bus into Glasgow and went for a curry at Cafe India, where I’d gone to have my Indian cooking lesson back in February. The food wasn’t spectacular, but they were decent curries. Too much incense burning in the place and we both had the feeling that it was to cover up something. I don’t think we’ll be back.

Walked down to Glasgow Green via Parnie Street (Merchant City Cameras, but nothing inspired me). It was cold down The Green, but some Indian blokes were playing cricket. Cricket in Glasgow? Whatever next? Walked back through the town along Argyle Street taking in the sights. One bloke dancing and singing with his top off in a north wind that would cut the face off you. One bloke dressed as Superman, blowing hundreds of bubbles for the wee weans. One bloke dressed as a monster in Buchanan Street. Thankfully we missed The Bastard Drummers who were setting up when we walked down Bucky Street and having a rest when we walked back up. Sometimes we’re just lucky.

Bus home and that was our Saturday afternoon. I quite enjoyed our wee walk round the toon.

Birthday Boy – 8 April 2016

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comboToday is my birthday and the kitchen didn’t switch on the extractor fans at 6.00AM or crash bang the aluminium trays to celebrate that fact.

We drove round the top of the island and over to Waternish. Rather than go on to Trumpan, we dropped down to Stein. Stein is a tiny wee village of about half a dozen houses and the famous Stein Inn. Google it.

We sat and watched the world go by for a while and the Queen sat and watched too. The Queen was a Lego minifig and was a birthday prezzy from Hazy. She had sat on our dashboard, taking in the sights from Staffin to Stein. The Queen is probably the cutest birthday prezzy, but the strangest must be JIC’s solid tapered lump of cocoa for making hot chocolate, carefully described by him as “Not a suppository” on its label!

I went for a walk down to the slip and saw the scene that I’d painted three times in different media. The actual picture. It’s a whitewashed cottage on a spit of land sticking out into the sea. On the day I first photographed it, it had a line of washing blowing in the wind. Today there was no washing, but what I noticed was that the building was two storey. I’d always painted it as a single storey building. Sometimes imagination is better than fact. The two storey building just didn’t look right. On the way back to the car, I spotted the snail. It was making a bee line (should that be a snail line?) for the other side of the footpath. It was travelling straight as a die and moving at a fast snail’s pace. However I was worried that he would get crushed under someone’s feet once I’d gone, so the least I could do was give him an airlift to the other side and placed him carefully in the undergrowth.

We drove back to Portree, the capital of Skye. There we went to Cafe Arriba for lunch. Macaroni for Scamp and Lamb and Chorizo burger for me. Brilliant! Drove back up the single track and double track road to Staffin and went down to the beach and watched the tide come in before we went for a walk on the beach.

Back to Jackie and Murd for dinner, then a dram or two in front of a coal fire. Brilliant end to a Brilliant day.

A Dull Day – 28 March 2016

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comboOverall, quite a dull day, well dull in as much as we didn’t go anywhere or do anything.  Just a normal working day, but without the work.  It looked like nobody else was working either because few cars moved from their parking places outside the house.  The weather was a lot better though.

The only thing I did do was to go to the Spar shop in Condorrat via St Mo’s of course.  I got a few arty shots and a couple of landscapes, oh yes, and a tin of spaghetti.  The spaghetti came from Spar, not St Mo’s and the landscapes came from St Mo’s, not Spar.  I hope that has clarified the situation.  Tonight’s dinner was fish fingers, egg and spaghetti, courtesy of my walk to Condorrat.

First episode of Maigret played my Mr Bean.  Really quite good, but I kept expecting him to start talking gibberish and was disappointed that he didn’t.  Having said that, I hate Mr Bean with a vengeance and I liked the realism of Maigret.  Worth setting a series link.

Weather tomorrow is to be similar to today, so I think we must get out and “DAE SOMETHING”.  That’s the plan anyway.

I Think It’s Going To … 26 March 2016

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combo b… Rain today.  Rained almost all day.  We went shopping.  Food shopping.  We could have gone to Tesco, but I thought it would be better to go to Stirling, even in the rain.  There’s a Waitrose there and I can usually pick up some nice meat there.  I also wanted a second look at a watercolour painting I’d seen in a gallery there a month or so ago.  Not to buy it of course, but to try out the effect the artist had achieved.  Thirdly, as usual I had a photograph in my head that I could take if the sun came out.  I didn’t get the meat I was looking for although I did get some kidney to make steak and kidney stew.  I didn’t get to see the painting either  because when we came out of Waitrose the rain had stopped, clouds were lightening and the sun was looking like it would start poking through so I went straight to option 3.

While we were driving to the location I’d picked, the sun did come out, but by the time I’d navigated Traffic Light City (do they really need all those red lights?) and found the spot, the good light had all but gone.  I did manage a couple of shots but without the light on the castle I wanted.  Actually there was no good light, but Lightroom is a brilliant piece of software that can spread sunlight where there is none and that is what I did.  Darkened down and texturised the sky with one graduated filter and brightened and warmed up the foreground with another.  That is how the top image and the bottom left image were faked created.  The image bottom right has only had minimal adjustments and show what the scene really looked like.

When we turned and headed for home after a disappointing stop, the rain started again, but not as heavily as it had earlier.

An excellent Chicken Curry tonight with my own version of a curry paste.  Feeling quite pleased with it.

A Lovely Lunch – 24 March 2016

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combo bToday is Scamp’s birthday and we headed in to town to celebrate.  Lunch was booked for 1.30pm in the Battlefield Rest in Battlefield, where else.  At 2.05 after 35 minutes waiting, we had still not had our starters and were getting a bit fractious.  Thankfully it wasn’t much later when Scamp’s Smoked Haddock and Spinach Crepe and my Haggis Polpette arrived and as anticipated, they were lovely!  Mains followed soon after the first plates were cleared away.  Scamp’s was Smoked Haddock Risotto, mine was Italian Sausage Stew.  If it was possible for the starters to be bettered, the mains did it.  We more or less forgave them the bad start.  Coffees were on the house when Scamp revealed that it was her birthday.  Overall, it was what we expected in the Battlefield Rest.  If you’re in a hurry, it’s not the place to eat, but the food is very, very good.

Stopped off in Glasgow City Centre on the way home and in the course of wandering around the shops, managed a few shots of the bloke with the beard playing the guitar.  That was about it.

When we got home I saw the raindrops on the flowers in the hanging basket and thought it might make an interesting shot.  Today we had the first rain in 14 days.  This must be a record in Scotland.

It’s been a good day today.  Let’s hope it’s a Good Friday tomorrow.