Category: Food

A Flaneur – 15 May 2024

Posted on by Zogman

Just a wee walk round Glasgow with my brother.

Since Scamp wasn’t in need of the car today, I gladly drove it to the station, parked there and got the train in to Glasgow.

I was early for once and went for a walk along Sausageroll Street and by the time I got back, Alex had arrived. We went for a coffee as is our usual plan of attack and then just wandered down Buchanan Street taking the odd photo here and there. Down into St Enoch’s and through on to the Clyde Walkway. We didn’t see any new graffiti since our last visit and while Alex took some shots of the reflections of the cathedral in the glass sided building next to it, I manage a few shots of the cathedral between two trees … until Alex walked into the frame and stood taking his shots. As it happened I’d got a couple before he walked into the frame. I also liked the lighting on a modern high-rise block of flats, posh looking flats beside the river. I changed them to mono later and that seemed to improve them.

It was a toss up whether we would continue along the side of the river or go and have lunch. I won the toss and we did lunch in Paesano, of course.

After lunch we walked in to George Square and took some photos of folk. Street photography it’s called. I’m not keen on it, really, but Alex is and he’s good at it. Something to do with his brass neck, I think! Thought I’d caught one bloke off guard, but then realised he was smiling, probably having taken a shot of me when I wasn’t looking. Alex was off photographing buses, of all things. Well, I shouldn’t criticise since I’m the one who photographs spiders fighting!
I got a photo of two blokes about my age talking animatedly, both with guitars on their backs. Either they were discussing the merits of nylon strings vs steel strings, or they were commiserating with each other on the poor results of their favourite football teams. That was PoD.

Another coffee and we were heading home. Alex to the bus station and me to the train station. The train was really busy but I got one of the last seats. Then an old lady (ie older than me!) got the one across from me. As she turned, I noticed she’d been ushered into her seat by a younger woman. I offered the younger woman my seat and although she refused at first, I told her I was getting off at the next stop and she thanked me and took the seat. When I was getting off, two seats became vacant and the lady turned and mouthed “Thanks again”. That made my day brighter. A good deed done.

Dancing tonight was the second part of the waltz and it was a bit more difficult than the first half, but with Kirsty’s breaking down of the steps it became easier and Scamp also helped keep me right. Next week we’re hoping to join the two halves together. Another practise tonight may have cemented the second half in my memory. Only time will tell.

Today’s prompt was A Glass of Wine. I couldn’t find a glass of wine, so I sketched one. Just a glass of red wine that had been enjoyed by someone or some people. It’s a pretty glass, or was at one time before being dribbled on, had lipstick marks made on it and had been generally abused. That’s what happens when you mix a clean glass with a good bottle of red wine and a group of people with a drouth (Scots word for a thirst). It was very nice wine!

No plans for tomorrow yet.

Rain! – 14 May 2024

Posted on by Zogman

Last night it rained and this morning “the streets were wet again with rain”.

It was strange to see rain again after a couple of weeks with any. It was good soaking rain, to, the kind the gardens need. The rain lasted all day which is great, as long as it remembers to turn itself off again tonight, because Alex and I are hoping to do a photowalk in Glasgow tomorrow and rain would make it uncomfortable.

We had an early lunch because the computer was set up for Neil’s Gran’s funeral service. This was the second funeral service we had watched. The first was Simonne’s mum’s just before the end of the Covid restrictions. I was impressed with Canute’s eulogy. It was very well presented and he spoke clearly. Towards the end, the choir sang one of my dad’s favourite hymns, How Great Thou Art and that nearly had me in tears.

When it was done we got around to normal things again. I walked down to the shops to get tonight’s dinner, which was going to be Prawn Stir-Fry. On the way back I attempted a few photos of dandelion ‘Clocks’ the dandelion seed heads. ‘Attempted’ because I knew when I was taking them that they weren’t very good and I was right.

Back home I sketched out today’s prompt request, A Dachshund. I don’t like dogs, but the prompt asked for a sketch of a dog, so I spoke to Mr Google and he kindly sent me in the right direction to find one that might fit the bill, and that’s what you see here. My interpretation of a Dachshund.

Dinner was ok, just ok, but I have to admit I fried the prawns perfectly, for once. Just before I started the cooking I grabbed a few shots of ‘Golden Torch’, probably Scamp’s favourite rhododendron. A close-up of a rhododendron flower got PoD.

We watched a cookery program with Jamie Oliver making springtime meals. I found it a bit tedious after a while and started counting how many times he said ‘Beautiful’. Just over 15 times in one 15minute section. One a minute, but it felt like more.  Although it passed the time. But both Scamp and I were impressed with the Rhubarb and Custard pie he made. That looked ‘Beautiful’. I think Scamp may try it.

As I said at the start, I’m hoping to meet Alex for a photowalk tomorrow. Just a daunder around Glasgow.

Now who sang those lyrics in the first line of today’s blog? And what was the name of the song?
As Scamp will tell you, I love quoting lyrics!

Change in the weather – 13 May 2024

Posted on by Zogman

We woke to white skies all around. No sign of the blue skies we’d been enjoying last week.

I was out in the morning to get bloods taken at the health centre. Two chatty nurses kept me talking after the bloodletting had finished. I though at first it was my magnetic personality and my scintillating conversation that was dazzling them. Then I realised they were just making sure this auld guy had been sitting in the chair for the mandatory five or ten minutes, whatever it was, before releasing me into the wild world outside.

I’d got out early and decided I’d pick up a loaf and some fruit, plus Scamp’s meds on the way home. With all the warm weather we’ve had, the trees have been dropping their sap on the cars, and mine felt like the bonnet was covered in sandpaper, so a trip to the carwash would be a good idea … except, it seemed that everyone else in Cumbersheugh had the same idea, so instead I drove home.

Back home Scamp was edging the concrete slabs we have spread across the grass at the back of the house. If you don’t keep cutting the grass back it attempts to cover the slabs. Scamp was doing a good job of disabusing it of that idea.

After lunch she started cleaning up what we laughingly call a patio. It’s just a load of badly laid concrete slabs placed end to end, but we did make some wooden duckboard plates to allow some air in under the plants, but other forms of detritus had found its way in too. Between us we managed to sweep it up and add it to the compost bin.

I took some time out from the garden to sketch today’s topic which was A Songbird. The Blackbird is our finest and most easily recognised songbird. Years ago you could hear Larks and the occasional Song Thrush, but the urbanizing of our countryside has ousted them all, that and the seagulls and magpies. I’m just happy to listen to the blackbirds singing in the morning and in the evening.
We try to encourage them into our small garden, leaving chopped up apples for them to tear apart as repayment for their song.

After that, I took the A7 over to St Mo’s and got some decent photos. It was a toss up whether PoD went to Mrs Wolf Spider hauling her egg sac behind her, or the wilderness garden with aquilegia, poppies and dandelions that has sprung up in the last two weeks at the end of our road. In the end Mrs W won out.

Dinner tonight was Red Pasta. That is a tomato based sauce. This time with Cirio concentrated tomato puree. We couldn’t get it anywhere, then a couple of weeks ago we found it on sale in Waitrose, so we got two packets. Lovely strong tomato flavour. Not a bad dinner with basil and spinach leaves too for more texture.

That was about it for today, except to say that it’s raining tonight, not torrential, just good soaking rain. Scamp had feared that we’d need to start watering the garden, but Mother Nature did it for us!

Busy tomorrow afternoon.

A Lazy Day – 11 May 2024

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Yesterday was a rush, but today was a day to relax.

We walked down to the shops to get some cheesey bread, ordinary bread, potatoes and teacakes. After yesterday’s buying spree, today’s was frugal.

We walked back up the road and after lunch, Scamp installed herself in the wee patch of sunshine that had appeared in the back garden. I walked over to St Mo’s and got today’s PoD which is a Common Carpet Moth.  I’ve not started on the prompt for today which is An Umbrella.  I might manage to squeeze it in after I write this.

It was  a beautiful day again today, temperature in the mid 20s centigrade.  We sat in the garden for most of the afternoon and enjoyed the sun

Dinner tonight was Spaghetti with Crab and Chilli.  Long, long time since we’ve had that.  It was delicious.

That was our lazy day.

I just got a red alert on my phone for a possible Aurora!  I’ll believe it when I see it.

No firm plans for tomorrow, yet.  Maybe a walk down Glasgow Green.

 

Chef for a day – 10 May 2024

Posted on by Zogman

I’d done some prep yesterday, but today I was cooking a full three course meal!

Scamp left to go to FitSteps just before 10am and was back about fifteen minutes later to report that there was work being done on all the roads leading to the town centre. There had been no notification of the works and there were no diversion instructions. She was not a happy bunny.

To make the most of a bad start to the day, we drove to Tesco to stock up for tonight’s dinner for Crawford & Nancy. Drove home and decanted all the food and drink, then I drove up to the fish van at Calders and picked up tonight’s slab of cod which would be the centre of the main course.

A bit more prep after that because Scamp always says that the “mise en place” as the French describe it, preparation, is the key to success when cooking. It worked for me. Almost an hour later I was prepared and had some free time to get today’s PoD in St Mo’s. It was a male Wolf Spider looking for a mate. They’re called Wolf Spiders because they don’t build webs, but stalk their prey.

Today’s EDiM prompt asked for A Bridge. I chose the railway bridge that carries the Stirling to Glasgow line over the Luggie Water. It’s really quite an old bridge, stone built and bears the name SCM1 132/676. Wouldn’t it be so much nicer if the had called it the “Bridge Over Luggie Water”, but the railway companies aren’t very romantic, so SCM1 132/676 it is.

Back home we had the living room to clear and the table to set. By 7pm we were ready to receive visitors and there they were at the door!

After getting drinks organised I started in the kitchen. First task was making the filo pastry nests for the starter. I’d already measured and mixed up the egg and milk for the nest and it was just a case of pouring it into the nest, adding the chopped up veg and cooking the four ramekins in a water bath. One down!

Next was Bacon and Peas with Cod. I’d made the bacon and peas many times, but I’d never fried the big chunks of cod in butter before and was a bit worried about making a mess with this fairly expensive chunk of fish. However, it all just worked and, although it would have been better with a bit of salt, there were no complaints.

Finally it was Creme Caramel (the grave symbol still doesn’t work on a Mac). All that was needed was to extricate it from the ramekins and serve. It looked the part and, even better, it tasted right! One more thing to do and that was to make the coffee which turned out strong, but otherwise it was fine.

Finally I could relax and enjoy a wee dram or two with Crawford because Nancy was nominated driver.

When they’d left I checked my phone and saw Fred’s photos of the Northern Lights. I got one grainy green photo on my phone, but nothing on my camera. Maybe being slightly inebriated contributed to the lack of photos.

Hoping for a lazy day tomorrow and maybe another chance of an aurora photo.

Talking to the big horses – 9 May 2024

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But earlier we were looking for fish.

We finally settled on what to make for tomorrow’s dinner for Crawford & Nancy For it we needed some cod with the skin on. To get fresh fish in Cumbersheugh is difficult, but we reckoned we could get what we were looking for at the fish van that hauls up just outside Calders garden centre. Yes, he had cod, but he’d just skinned it, because that’s what people want these days. However he said he was happy to bring us skin-on cod tomorrow. He took our name and email address and we bought, (well, Scamp bought) some crab meat for us and some veg. Hopefully tomorrow we’ll get the cod.

Drove back to Tesco and what did they have in their chiller cabinet? Cod with the skin on, but it wouldn’t be fresh, it would be deep frozen pre packed cod that had been thawed out. Fresh cod would be better. It was like a Monday shop on a Thursday but with some extra bottles of wine.

Once we’d unloaded the car, we drove over to Helix Park in Falkirk, which is where the Kelpies live. The weather was beautiful. Lovely blue skies and light fluffy clouds. We had a walk round the Kelpies and then went for lunch in the cafe. It was Mac ’n’ Cheese for Scamp and Lentil Soup for me. Good filling stodge. Then we went for another walk round the big horses and listened to the birds, probably nest building, inside them. An ice cream cone with a flake each rounded off our lunch and although there were hundreds, perhaps thousands of folk taking selfies and photos all around the Kelpies, they stayed serene and the background noises seemed to disappear. We just sat and watched. Of course I took some photos too. PoD went to a shot of Duke looking down at a couple who were photographing him.

We drove home and I started making tomorrow’s pudding which is Creme Caramel. It’s a bit of a faff to make, but not as much a faff as trying to type the Grave accent on a Mac keyboard. I think it’s made now, but the Grave accent still doesn’t work on my Mac keyboard.

Today’s prompt was Hippopotamus! Hard to spell, but almost impossible to sketch. I have a painting, but I’m not willing to make it public yet. Maybe tomorrow morning will be better.

Tomorrow it looks like we’ll be baking and cooking all day.

Meeting Erin – 7 May 2024

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Today we were going to meet John and Marion’s new granddaughter, Erin.

In the morning I did a bit of more mundane work and ordered a replacement bus pass after the last one failed to connect on the bus.  It’s supposed to arrive within 14 days.

Scamp was really excited about it and I must admit I was looking forward to see the new baby too.

When we got to Hamilton, the star hadn’t arrived, so we sat and talked to John and Marion about how their lives were going to change over the next year. They seemed perfectly happy to be stand-in parents. I expect we would be the same.

We had lunch while we waited. It was home made Veg Lasagne and it was lovely. I must get Scamp to coax the recipe out of Marion. I din’t used to like veg lasagne, but now I prefer it to the meat version. Dessert was Apricot Trifle and it was very, very good, with crushed amaretti biscuits on top.

Just as we were finishing, Laura arrived with Erin. I’d forgotten quite how small, new babies are. I’d also forgotten about the little details like tiny little nails on her fingers and how bright blue her eyes were. I tend to forget these things after forty odd years. Scamp was obviously desperate to hold Erin and as soon as she had her cradled in her arms, she went straight into ‘Mother Mode’. The room was totally silent too, everybody’s eyes on that baby. Not long after that, the spell was broken when she started to cry. Laura did the thing every parent does and put her knuckle into Erin’s mouth and said “Yes, she’s needing fed.” Even I remembered that feeling of a baby’s gums trying to suckle your finger. So off mum and baby went to feed her and change her nappy.

We sat and talked with the new grandparents while this was happening and heard about their plans for holiday this year. Aruba sounds very exotic and it’s just a bit north of Trinidad. They are meeting up with friends there but it’s a long flight.

Erin was much more relaxed with a full belly and a clean nappy and John was having a great conversation before it was time to mother and baby to drive home. It was a great experience, but I’m glad we could hand her back when it was time to go. Did I have a chance to hold her? No, not me. I’m of the the Kevin Bridges group. More “How you doing mate?” than Goo Goo. I’d be terrified I’d drop her or something similar.

Soon after Laura and Erin left, we did too. Back home I changed into walking clothes and went for a walk in St Mo’s which is where today’s PoD came from, a pink Bluebell. Is that an oxymoron? On the way back home I stopped at the chip shop in Condorrat for a small fish supper that would be our supper. Very nice it was too.

Today’s prompt was for a pencil sharpener. This is my pencil sharpener. It’s a Swann Morton scalpel holding a Swann Morton No 11 blade. I used to use a standard sharpener with a built-in tub to hold the shavings, but the scalpel allows me to shave a much longer and narrower point on the pencil which doesn’t need sharpening quite as much as a standard rotary sharpener.
The only problem with the scalpel is that changing blades is difficult. I use a fine pair of pliers to twist the blade out and carefully twist a new blade into place. Oh yes, and remember that these are surgical quality steel blades. They are liable to cut more than pencils if you’re not careful!!

Tomorrow we may go for coffee with Isobel. It all depends on when a coffee delivery arrives for me.

Just another Sunday – 5 May 2024

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The luxury of a late rise after breakfast in bed and half an hour’s reading.

Almost every day last week was an early rise. Today was Sunday and that meant a lazy start to the week with the prospect of a F1 GP race, except, this race was in Miami and that meant different rules. Instead of being spread over two days, the Miami race was spread over three days. A bit of a pain in the backside, but we watched it anyway. Fairly exciting, but nothing stupendous.

After that boring start I went looking for a replacement bulb for the cooker oven. B&Q, as you’d expect didn’t have one, but they never do. If you want timber decking you’ll probably get it there. If you want a replacement tap, they won’t have it. If you want a certain colour of paint, you can rest assured it won’t be in the five or six shades they stock and they won’t have bulbs for ovens. It’s just part of the unwritten rules of B&Q. The assistant did direct me to Screwfix just down the road though.

Screwfix now no longer stock oven bulbs, I’m told, but thankfully across the road was Toolstation and they did have the exact bulb I was looking for and it only cost £2.50. I’m sure that if B&Q had it in stock, it would be in a blister pack of 50.

That done I detoured round the back of the industrial estate and parked in the blocked off road over the weak bridge. That gave me the opportunity to get some photos looking over the Antonine Wall and the remains of the actual wall. One of them made PoD. Drove back home via Tesco for a host of things we needed and I was just in time for lunch.

After lunch I got a garlic bulb and an onion and set them up as a still life for today’s prompt of Garlic or an Onion. It seemed a bit mean to only sketch one vegetable, so, being a generous person I give them both to critique. While I was painting, Scamp was busy in the kitchen making an Apple and Blackcurrant Pie. It looked good, as did her little throw-away Sliced AppleTart she’d made from the left over pastry.

Dinner was Cauliflower and Paneer Curry which was excellent, I thought and it was followed by the aforementioned Apple and Blackcurrant Pie and a piece of the the sliced apple tart. Lovely light pastry and little bits of blackcurrant to brighten the apples in the pie. She is a marvellous cook!

Spoke to Jamie and heard how life is beginning to return to normality after the months and months of uproar and noise of the restoration. Hope Simonne had a great birthday and that Vixen calms down again after all the commotion the restoration caused. Thanks, Jamie for the suggestion of the Kevin Bridges book. It’s on my ‘to-read’ list.

No plans for tomorrow. Hopefully I’ll get some planting done. Oh yes, and the first potatoes are poking their green heads out of the potato pot!

Dancin’ – 4 May 2024

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This morning we drove over to Brookfield for today’s dance class. The first class in about a month for various reasons.

I wasn’t really looking forward to today’s class. All those long lie ins on Saturday mornings were over today. Back to the grind stone. Actually it wasn’t all that bad, in fact I have to say I really enjoyed it.

First dance was the White City Waltz. Scamp said we knew it and I took her word. The demo that Stewart & Jane did reminded me of it, but after the first bit I was lost again. I think that maybe Kirsty goes too slowly at times, but S&J sometimes go to quickly for my wee brain to catch up. However, after two or three tracks we were dancing it like we’d always know it.

Next was the new Rumba routine. Again it looked insurmountable until you broke it down and found we knew most of the moves from previous dances and, although it took longer, it did eventually all go together.

The third and last dance was a Cha-Cha and the same as the Rumba, we managed to put all the moves in at the right time. We both made mistakes, but in the end we were dancing it fairly competently.

Drove home and after lunch we didn’t do very much. Scamp wasn’t feeling great and thinks she might have hay fever. She’s been taking Sudafed but it isn’t helping much. Later in the afternoon I went for a walk in St Mo’s and got a couple of decent photos. The PoD went to a branch of May blossom. I was intending to bring back dinner for both of us, Chicken Chop Suey and a portion of Fried Rice each. However when I phoned the Golden Bowl I was told their card machine wasn’t working and it would have to be cash. I’d only £12 in cash and that wouldn’t cover it, so I walked home, got the money and went over to Condorrat to pick up the food. I’ve now heard of a few places only dealing in cash transactions. Maybe they don’t want to pay the overheads the banks charge for the machine transactions or maybe there’s another reason. The food was good, just not as good as I remembered it to be. Next time I’ll return to my usual of Special Chow Mein.

Today’s prompt was “May the Fourth be with you” (4th of May) or a bee or a fly. I tried sketching a Lego Stormie minifig and I tried a honey bee. I tried a hover fly, but finally I settled on the flying assassin of ponds. The Dragonfly. They are such beautiful flyer. So skilful in the air, but such ferocious killers of other insects. I love them and I wait impatiently for the first ones to hatch every year. This is my sketch of a Common Darter (male).

Tomorrow we may go for a walk if Scamp is well enough.

 

Another fairly early shout – 3 May 2024

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Today I was driving Scamp to her FitSteps class in Cumbersheugh and then I was off to Larky to get a second eye pressure test. I got there early and went for a walk down one side of the Main Street and then up the other side. Lots had changed. A big flash Indian restaurant had appeared next to the Coop where the bank had been (probably many years ago – I don’t go to Larky much now). Lots of shops boarded up or the shutters locked down. New houses on Academy Street. Too many changes to keep a note of. It’s a different place now.

I decided to wait in the optician’s in the hope that I’d get taken early, and for once that was what happened. The optician did a series of tests of increasing accuracy and came up with the possible solution that my right eye could have Ocular Hypertension. I would need to discuss it with a consultant at the eye hospital in East Kilbride, and if it is confirmed, it would be repaired with a laser op during an out patient’s appointment. It’s a fairly lengthy wait of 18-24 months for the consultation and it’s still in the early stages. He emphasised that it may not he that at all. It could be my sugar levels are raised as I’m described as pre-diabetic and my sugar levels rise and fall regularly, depending on how many chocolate Easter eggs I eat. So the optician has booked me for a meeting with the vampire in the health centre later this month. Oh what fun.

I drove home by a slightly different route, because the slip road to the motorway from Larkhall was closed to allow the creation of two new roundabouts. Instead I drove up to Canderside Toll and on the way found a new big Lidl. Went in and got a loaf, a mini pizza and a bag or rolls, because Tesco are not selling Scottish rolls any more! They’ve even taken out the ovens!! Cost saving, we presume. Anyway, Lidl to the rescue, and they do sell Scottish rolls. On the way back to the car I got a call from Scamp to ask me where I was. I told and she said she was just going out to the dentist. Oops, I’d forgotten all about her appointment to get her new silver tooth fitted! I apologised and felt bad all the way home.

Back home, we had our lunch and then I drove up to the town centre to get a much needed haircut. It felt so good to have got rid of that awful mop. When I got back, Scamp was chopping down the rose at the back door. I helped and we think it looks a lot neater now.

Dinner was a pizza from a new company in Condorrat. We had a 12” pizza with anchovies, capers and black olives. It took 10 minutes from ordering to delivery. That was amazing. The pizza itself wasn’t, at least I didn’t like it. Hardly any mozzarella and loads of cheddar cheese. A bit dodgy I thought, but Scamp was ok with it.

PoD turned out to be a photo of a pot of sunflower seedlings.

Today’s prompt asked for a bud or a bloom. This is not a flower yet, it is a bud from a Rhododendron (Nancy Evans). The red petals soften to warm pinks and golds as the flower opens to full bloom.
We almost lost it last year when we were on a fortnight cruise and there was a drought at home. “A drought in Scotland?”, I hear you say. Indeed our climate is definitely changing. Thankfully the first three months of this year replenished the water supply … and more.

Tomorrow the dance teachers are at Brookfield and we’re hoping to be there too, before they saunter off on another cruise.