Food – Page 199 – My Photo Blog

London – 16 July 2016

Posted on July 16, 2016July 16, 2016 by Zogman

Took the train into Waterloo and found ourselves on the South Bank soon after that. We walked along and crossed over Waterloo bridge then walked through Somerset House, but unfortunately the fountains were switched off to make way for an open air concert. Bummer. Scamp swithered whether our not to have a drink on the balcony of Somerset House, but finally decided that it was just a little too posh. I have to agree with her, but it was getting very hot and I would have welcomed a drink, posh or not. We walked along what turned out to be The Strand (Red on the Monopoly board) and finally settled on a little Italian restaurant with the strangest painted (?) leather seats. Service was slow, but the food was really good. It was very busy when we went in with lots of theatre-goers, but they soon vamoosed when it got near the time for the matinee.

When we left there, we walked through Covent Garden and the associated galleries selling all sorts of tat. We tried to get a seat in a few pubs, but they were all full, so we went to a Cafe Nero instead. We sat and watched blokes on scooters doing ‘The Knowledge’ with their maps and notepads clipped to their windshields. Walked on down The Strand and eventually Scamp chose the Golden Jubilee bridge as our crossing point back to the South Bank and from there we walked back to Waterloo Station (also on the Monopoly board) and home.

Not the best London visit. It feels like we need a target or a theme. After The Strand and Waterloo Station, maybe we should aim to visit a colour set next time. That might be a challenge.

Scamp made dinner tonight (stir fry) and we watched another excellent Hazy movie pick – The Martian. Both Hazy and I had read the book and the movie stuck quite accurately to the book until nearly the end. Impressed. That’s three good movie pics on three consecutive days. That’s good work.

Tomorrow? Tomorrow is a new day and a new beginning.

Kingston Town – 15 July 2016

Posted on July 15, 2016 by Zogman

Today, after a late start, we walked along Chessington Road to the bus stop and got the 71 to Kingston. It was a bit of a dull day, but warm.

Wandered around Kingston looking for the market. I was beginning to think they’d moved it just to annoy me when we heard a commotion in the street. It turned out to be an amateur dramatics group acting out, er, something. A something without real words. Bits and pieces of singing and screaming, but no real dialogue. What it did have was some superb acting and mime, plus loads of humour and a bit of pathos. Really entertaining, live and free. Worth putting a couple of quid in their bucket. After that, we found the market with a little help from Mr Google. We are so spoilt in Glasgow with streets in a grid pattern, making it almost impossible to get lost. Kingston is one of those old fashioned places where they built the houses, churches and schools, then made the roads round them. With the market found, lunch was now possible and it turned out to be Japanese and from one of the kiosks in the market of course. I had Chicken Yaki Soba and Scamp had Chicken Curry. Enormous portions, far too big really, but very tasty, so we ate the lot.

After lunch we had a walk along the river admiring the variety of boats and spotting a cygnet with the swans on the stream that runs into the Thames. Mrs Swan was sitting on the eggs the last time we were there in May. It looks like only one egg hatched. Such a pity. After that, we got the bus back to Chessington. There’s a bus every 10 mins on average. What a difference from one every half hour from Glasgow to Cumbersheugh. People will only use public transport if the public transport actually exists and is economical to use. That’s a lesson Scotland could learn from London.

Frying pan pizza for dinner and it tasted ok, given that I was using a new to me oven. Just remembered that I forgot to make the bread from the remainder of the dough. Must do it in the morning.

Tomorrow is a mystery. Not a clue what we are doing. Let’s go with Scamp’s usual maxim. It depends on the weather.

You don’t scare me M25 – 14 July 2016

Posted on July 14, 2016 by Zogman

Set off today after a fairly decent breakfast at the services next to our overnight accommodation and slipped back on to the M6 heading south and trusting in the satnav to get us to Hazy & N D’Ag’s house.

All went swimmingly as we traversed the M6, the M42 and then the notorious M25. It wasn’t as bad as we expected … for us. On the other side, the clockwise carriageway, things weren’t quite as good with what looked like a 3 mile tailback due to an accident on the outside lane. A burned out car and a fire engine in attendance, but thankfully no ambulance.

The satnav on the iPhone got us almost to Chessington when the bloody thing switched off because it was overheating! Just when I needed it most. Things like that don’t happen in the temperate climate of Scotland, but apparently it does in tropical London. Unplugged it and let it cool for a few minutes while I overheated and drove on. It finally came back on just in time to tell me to take the next turnoff. After that I was on home ground and recognised some landmarks so I could self navigate.

Spent the afternoon with Hazy and N D’Ag before he left to go on his trip to Barcelona. Made paella for dinner, after walking to the Sainsburys at the railway station because it was soooo much quicker than taking the car. Anyway, the Megane was tired since it too had survived the scary M25.

Today’s pics come from the garden in Chessington. Lots to see here including a little mouse mopping up the fallen seeds from the birdfeeder and parakeets flying overhead when I was coming back from the shops. Did I just say Tropical London?

Don’t know what we’re doing tomorrow. I thought Kingston, but Scamp says maybe Hampton Court. We’ll see.

Did I say it was meant to rain today? – 10 July 2016

Posted on July 10, 2016 by Zogman

Well it did. It rained and rained and rained. Then it rained again, just to make sure. We watched Lewis Hamilton win the British GP. We watched Andy Murray win Wimbledon. We didn’t watch Portugal win Euro 2016. That would be too much excitement for one day.

I made some bread, I did some sketching, I did some moping around the house. I was hardly past the door today. I did manage to get a photo of one of the roses from the back garden and in doing that, I was trying out my new tripod. It worked perfectly. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said about Flickr now. Another night of irritating problems with uploads. I was attempting to upload two photos. I managed to upload one, but not the other. Checked the flickr (lack of ) help page and found I was not alone. As someone says, these things used to happen at weekends and during the (US) night when nobody was at work on Flickr to fix things. Now it happens all the time. Weekends and weekdays, night and day. You get the feeling that nobody cares any more. Until I find an alternative, I’m using 500px. Just click on the photo as usual and it should load for you.

After all the faffing around trying to get time lapse shots to work, I forgot to check that amazing camera, the on in the iPhone. It’s got a time lapse setting built in. I also found a couple of apps, one free and one cheap. Results so far are impressive. Must post them when I have time. They definitely won’t be going on Flickr.

Maybe, just maybe the sun will come out tomorrow.

Dull, dull, dull – 9 July 2016

Posted on July 9, 2016July 9, 2016 by Zogman

From start to almost finish today we’ve been labouring under grey skies. Occasional showers of drizzle made things even more miserable although it did brighten up in the evening for an hour or so before sunset. We got the bus in to town in the morning and found some Spanish sun in Cafe Andaluz, always a bright spot on a dull day. Tapas and a glass of red made the day that little bit better.

Loads of activity in ‘The Toon’ with groups of Street Soccer players wandering around. George Square has been transformed for the event. I might drop in some time this week to see if there are any ‘photo opportunities’.

Got some paint in Cass Art. It’s times like this that you realise how much you miss the Art Store. Millers used to be an alternative too, but the half pan of paint I was buying was over 50% more expensive in Millers than in Cass Art. That’s just greed.

Maybe I’m a traditionalist, but the move to paperless transactions does annoy me at times. It’s nice to get a paper receipt that you can check while you are still in the shop. You can’t do that with an electronic emailed receipt. My e-receipt today was for £9.90 and that was what I was charged in the shop. The itemised bill was for:

Liquitex Ink 30ml Carbon Black £4.95
Liquitex Ink 30Ml Tit White £4.95
Total £9.90

What I actually bought was:

Liquitex Ink 30ml Tit White £4.95
W&N Mauve Half Pan £4.00
Total £8.95

That’s nearly a pound difference and I’m a pensioner (shades of Grandpa Charlie). Where the Carbon Black came from I’ll never know. Where the Mauve Half Pan went, I’ll also never know. What a White Tit is, well, that’s anyone’s guess.
The moral of the story is, be a bastard sometimes, insist on a paper receipt and check it before you leave the shop. If there is a difference between what you bought and what you paid for, kick up a stink. Unless, of course, you profited from the error. Charlie Christie rules OK!

More than halfway – 3 July 2016

Posted on July 3, 2016 by Zogman

I hadn’t noticed it, but on Friday we reached the halfway point on this year’s 366. So that means we are on the home stretch, doesn’t it? Should be easy from here on in. It never is though and just at present I’m going through the doldrums with no great interest in taking photos. Maybe it’s the feast of photos I took on holiday last month that’s to blame. 1115 photos in total for June, 936 of which were taken on our fortnight cruise in the Mediterranean. I need some more inspiration, but the weather has been poor for the last couple of weeks and that’s partly the cause, but it’s not the whole story. I just need to apply myself to the task and get on with it. I’ll start tomorrow. I should start today, but this is the weekend and I’m too lazy to do anything much now. That’s the problem. Procrastination. Tomorrow I must get off my backside and take some meaningful photos. Otherwise the 366 becomes a joke. Just a couple of grab shots of flowers to mark the PoD isn’t what I started 365s (or 366s) for. The shots have to be meaningful and be much better quality than I’ve been producing of late. Halfway through a 366 is a good place to start raising the standard.

Today we didn’t do much of note apart from go to the Sunday Social in the afternoon to see just how far we could push Scamp’s shoulder before it became painful. The answer was that we could actually get quite a lot of moves done. Much more than I thought we could. I don’t think she’s quite ready to go back to class yet, and as Jamie Gal is off in London this week, it’s probably best not to return to classes until next Monday. That’s not procrastination, that’s simple common sense. I’m not sure Scamp agrees totally with the logic, but I don’t think she’s quite ready for the speed of a class rueda yet.

I had one of the dinosaur bones from Chapmans in Baldock for dinner tonight, well, I had half a bone (actually a short rib) the other half will either be a large lunch tomorrow or dinner tomorrow night. I’d forgotten just how good they are. Forty-five minutes in the oven at gas 6 covered in tinfoil and it comes out a treat. Thank you JIC for introducing me to this culinary delight.

Anyway, it’s flooers again tonight with a half hearted attempt at patterns with some strawberries. Not exactly award winning stuff.

Looking for that second chance called Tomorrow

A Lost Day – 2 July 2016

Posted on July 2, 2016July 3, 2016 by Zogman

I spent most of the day in bed. I don’t want to jinx anything, but I think it might have broken the back of this cold. Last night, I was dead on my feet by the time I went to bed, and this morning was a lost cause.

Scamp drove us in to Robroyston and a cup of coffee helped me on my way to fitness. Didn’t manage to get out for any photos, so todays shots were taken in a rush through the kitchen window, but they are Pictures of the Day and therefore count.

Tonight we went to friends in Hamilton and had some lovely food, including a Tiramisu which almost equalled Scamps. I never thought I’d say that. Maybe that will encourage her to up her game. Only kidding Scamp!

Looking like a better day weather-wise tomorrow. Hope it is because Scamp needs some good weather to brighten her day and wipe out her cold.

Perf – 30 June 2016

Posted on June 30, 2016 by Zogman

We were off to Perf today, mainly to get some coffee and tea, but also to take our colds out for a run in the country and possibly to share them with the posh Perf people (intentional alliteration). It turned out a pleasant day. Not totally dry. It rained for a while during our journey and also just for a short time while we were in the Fair City.

We used to go to Perf (ok, it’s real name is Perth, but I prefer Perf and it’s my blog, so live with it). We used to go to Perf to eat in Cafe Tabou which was a really innovative and slightly expensive French restaurant. Not its become a quite expensive and slightly innovative restaurant that still produces French food, but cooked by a very good Polish chef. The big failure for us is that the menu, which used to change every month, now stays the same and the intention seems to be to change it only four times a year. Admittedly they still have a Plat de Jour and a Poisson de Jour, but the choice isn’t there anymore, so that is why we didn’t dine there today.

I did get my coffee and tea in The Bean Shop. I’ve been going to this shop for years and the quality and taste of their coffee and tea never changes. I always buy beans now as JIC gave me a grinder last year and it produces the same grind time after time.

On the way home I took a side road to grab a shot of the corn field and the big daisies probably Marguerites, but always called Big Daisies by my mum. After I took the shots, I wished I’d brought a tripod to get some movement in the flowers and corn stalks. Maybe next time.

An improving day – 27 June 2016

Posted on June 27, 2016 by Zogman

With Scamp’s cold improving, she went to Marji’s for June-D’s birthday lunch. That left me off the leash for an hour or so in the afternoon. I spent the morning looking for the serial key for a piece of software I wanted to swap over from the Toshiba to the new Linx. Never did find it and I wasted almost a whole morning trying. I wasn’t going to waste the afternoon.

Once I’d got my ‘easy’ sudoku solved (Easy? Do these people know the meaning of the word?) I got ready, and dressed to deter the ticks, I drove down toe Auchinstarry to see what was new along the railway. The answer was, quite a lot actually. The trees were in full leaf now and the smells from the flowers, especially the Meadowsweet were lovely. There was quite a strong westerly wind blowing and this helped make the lighting on the hill much more interesting. Unfortunately, the wind also blew in the rain clouds that joined me for the walk back to the car. I could have got soaked, but luckily I’d prepared well and brought my old almost-waterproof rain jacket with me. It saved the day again. Happy with the collection of photos I got today.

Salsa for me tonight, but as I was getting into the car, I felt that little roughness in my throat. Don’t tell me I’m getting Scamp’s Lurgi. Salsa was interesting with three new moves for me to remember. Hope my voice recorder has caught all the nuances of the moves.

Just about to start on the doggie bags Scamp brought back from the party.

Windy Civitavecchia – 16 June 2016

Posted on June 16, 2016June 17, 2016 by Zogman

Our second and last day in Italy dawned dull and cloudy, but with a 26knot wind. Civitavecchia was going to be busy today. We were the second cruise ship to dock. The Queen Victoria of an unknown to Scamp line was first. No sooner had we docked than the enormous Harmony (monster) of the Seas. It really is ginormous with a capacity of around 8000 punters. It looks like a block of flats that’s fallen into the sea and floated away. I was going to photograph it, but I didn’t have a wide enough angled lens. Just joking, of course I had a wide enough lens in my arsenal, but you get the meaning. I don’t like slabs of steel like this, pretending they are ships. This one we are on is big enough, in fact it’s probably too big. One step down would be fine for me. Big enough to give you the space you need, but not so big that you spend the first week of your holiday trying to find your way around. Possibly the worst design feature of this behemoth is the inside balconies. Really, I ask you what use is a balcony that gives you a view other balconies across the middle of the ship? Is this a feature for those who live in flats at home and WANT to look into other people’s lives rather than the ports and scenery passing by? Not for me. As I write this, one of the Azamara fleet is sailing past our window. It’s a bit smaller than our home for the fortnight, but it looks quite elegant, and even more important, it looks like a ship, not a floating block of flats.

We took the bus in to Civitavecchia today (Isn’t copy and paste wonderful? You can copy‘Civitavecchia’ from anywhere in your text and simply paste ‘Civitavecchia’ back again where you need it!). You could walk out of the harbour, but it takes you 20 minutes or so. I remember doing it a couple of years ago when it was calm, but walking into a 25mph wind is not my idea of fun, especially when the bus is free. We were going to have coffee at the cafe we used last year for our WiFi, but alas it was closed and shuttered. Gone. We walked up the main street of the town and I bought a wide flat paintbrush and a smaller one too. We visited a wee market and liked the fact that the local trees had been allowed to grow and the roof of the shed that held the market had been built around them. We had a pizza and a beer each at a wee restaurant where the service was very slow and so was the WiFi, but it met the specification of being free, the WiFi, not the beer and pizza. We had a short walk along the prom, but it wasn’t much fun with the wind roaring in off the sea, so we went back to the ship. Security is tight in Italy. Armed soldiers at the bus station and yesterday there was an armoured car and soldiers at the ship. It makes you realise just how dangerous life is these days.

Back on the ship, Scamp went for a swim while I put the second load of washing in the machine, then joined her at the solarium pool where, despite the cloudy sky, the roof was rolled back and the water in the pool was lovely and warm. Came back to take the washing out of the tumble dryer and had quick G&T to prepare us for dinner.

It should have been a tropical themed night, but there was little evidence of it on this dull ship. Apart from the waiters all dressed in colourful shirts, there was no tropical atmosphere. One dire singer who was apparently Kenny Rogers singing songs for the geriatrics, the entertainment was worse than usual. They appear to be catering for a much older demographic than the one we are living in. One of the table guests at dinner knew everything about everything and expounded on it at great length. The only thing he didn’t know was how to shut up. The rest were fine.

Dead beat after dinner and went to bed early. This cruising is tiring.

This upload is brought to you courtesy of JMM in Ajaccio. Dear beer, but tastes better than the ship’s Carling.