Category: Food

Out to the East – 21 August 2025

Posted on by Zogman

We were driving to South Queensferry today to meet up with Canute and Delia on the last day of their summer holiday

Earlier, I filled the tank of the Blue car and took it through the carwash just to make it look a bit more presentable when we got to Queensferry.

We arrived with almost an hour to spare and walked through the town with its quirky narrow cobbled streets and alley ways showing views of the Forth Rail bridge. The town had changed quite a lot since we had previously been there, a couple of years ago.

It was Scamp who was the first to spot Canute and Delia walking along the promenade, so we crossed the road to meet them. We took our time walking to the restaurant we’d chosen for lunch and were quickly seated.

The menu was basic restaurant fare and we ordered and found out about their ‘Glamping’ and the Michael Buble concert. The photos they showed us of the Glamping tents made them look more glamorous than we’d imagined. That doesn’t mean I’m thinking of booking one!

The food in the restaurant was mixed. The Sriracha & Honey Cauliflower starter was excellent, but my Steak and Pale Ale pie was really disappointing. Far too hot and salty. I did complain and got its cost removed from the bill. Nobody else had a problem with the food. Scamp’s Sea Bass, Delia’s Sriracha Cauliflower and Canute’s Fish Goujons were all fine. Maybe it’s just me, then!
Only Delia and Scamp had desserts. Passion Fruit & White Chocolate Pavlova for Delia and Salted Caramel Tablet Sundae for Scamp.

After that feast, we all sat and talked for a couple of hours before it was time for the other couple to go back to their hotel and start packing for tomorrow and for us to go home. We drove through the horrific Edinburgh traffic and after an hour of that, I followed Scamp’s directions to avoid being caught up in a tailback after an accident near Easterhouse, we finally arrived back home.

It had been a beautiful day with blue skies in the east coast. Not so good with black clouds and the threat of rain as we neared Cumbersheugh.

PoD was a photo of a couple sitting looking across the Firth of Forth with the Forth Bridge in the background.

It really was a great day. I think we all enjoyed the chat and the stories that were told.

Tomorrow Scamp is intending to go to FitSteps in the morning, but we have no other plans.

Walking with Alex – 20 August 2025

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I’d a bit of an upset stomach yesterday and I was hoping it wouldn’t present any problems today.

It didn’t. I met up with Alex at our usual place, Buchanan Street Bus Station. It had been a cold start this morning, but by the time my bus got to Glasgow it was warming up nicely. First stop was Cafe Nero for a coffee and a chance to plan the day. Neither of us had any ideas where go today, so Alex suggested a walk around the centre of the city. That suited me fine. I was looking forward to a walk and a talk. We passed a bloke entertaining the crowds with some decent sounding electric guitar music, mostly Snow Patrol. I was quite pleased that I could name a few of the songs he played!

Alex had scouted out a possible new camera for me (New to me, but really second hand). It looked like a bargain until I did a bit of research back home and found it had taken over 110,000 photos already! Mine had only taken just over 7,000. Not such a great bargain after all. Pity

We walked down Buchanan Street and along Ingram Street, avoiding the Apple Store. Then down to see the gigantic portrait that had been painted on a gable end for the Merchant City Festival in July. On the way there I did my ‘Good Samaritan’ act and gave a German(?) lady directions that would take her to the GOMA (Gallery Of Modern Art) which she was looking for in all the wrong places. I hope she found it. Alex and I photographed the massive portrait and then, because he wanted new guitar strings we had a wander round Guitar Guitar, a glory hole for musicians. I just wandered round wondering what was the most expensive guitar they had. It was £9999 just in case you’re interested, that was for a used Gibson Les Paul Custom blah, blah.

I got my PoD near there. It was two wee old guys (same age as me, probably) sitting near the ventilator for the underground railway. I don’t know what they were talking about, but it looked as if they were discussing the different architecture themes in the buildings on Argyle Street. Or maybe they were just discussing their team’s results.

We were getting hungry so Alex suggested Greggs for a sandwich and a bottle of juice. I agreed and he was paying. With our lunch in our hands we walked down to the Clyde Walkway and scoffed our lunch sitting on the grass, which seemed to be what everybody else was doing.

We walked along the Walkway when we were finished and critiqued the graffiti. Definitely not as good as the ones from a fortnight ago. The good thing about the Clyde Walkway is that if you do’t like anything you see there today, come back in a week and it will all be changed! Nothing lasts for long here.

By then we were heading homeward, but not before we had a coffee in the Nero in St Enoch’s Square. Then the long drag up the hill and into the bus station. Alex went left and I went right. We are considering a walk round Paisley next time.

Back home it was plenty warm enough to sit in the back garden. Dinner tonight was a Salmon and Broccoli Quiche for Scamp and Mince ’n’ Tatties with Beetroot for me.

I think we may be heading east tomorrow to meet some friends.

 

A change in the weather – 19 August 2025

Posted on by Zogman

A distinct change in the weather this morning. Much cooler than recently. Is this the gentle slide into Autumn I asked myself? Or is it just a cool day and the sun will return tomorrow?

It was dull and cloudy when I eventually got up and dressed and there didn’t look as if that was going to change very soon. Maybe it was just a rest day for the sun. It had been working very hard for most of the summer and it deserved a rest. As long as it didn’t forget to come back.

Lots of wee birds fluttering around the Rowan tree, presumably hoping the bird feeder would magically refill itself. Well, it did manage to refill itself, but it was me who filled it, not magic. To encourage the big fat pigeons to stay away from the bird feeder, I left a handful of seeds on the lid of the compost bin and that seemed to do the trick. The wee birds got some food and so did the big one. There’s probably a moral in that story, but I’m not sure I’m the best person to untangle it from my usual stories.

In the afternoon I managed to fix another email address which leaves only one on the old computer and possibly three still to fix on the new one. We’re working away at it making small changes and hoping they will stick. Scamp finds the most devious ways to work between computer and iPhone and get things to turn out the way we want them to. Thanks again Scamp.

I went for a walk in St Mo’s just before dinner and although there wasn’t much to look at, I did find a little thin green spider just finishing wrapping its dinner up on it’s web. I really needed a longer lens to capture it properly, but thankfully Lightroom came to the rescue and enlarged the photo so the details were visible. The spider got PoD.

The fruits and berries are ripening well ahead of schedule now after all that heat and sunshine. Today it was a bunch of Rose Hips that drew my attention. I think this must be the best year ever for fruits on the trees and in the garden. Yesterday we pulled four or five little red strawberries in what was meant to be the raised bed. I’m afraid that after about twelve years of wet and dry, it’s becoming rotten and will need to be replaced soon. Almost all the kale I planted has now shot (or Bolted to give it the proper name) and will soon be chopped up for the compost bin.

Mince and Tatties for dinner with a few slices of pickled beetroot, just because it was sitting there. Absolutely delicious!

I’m hoping to go for a walk with Alex tomorrow. Nowhere grand, probably just a walk round Glasgow. Scamp is hoping to entertain Annette while I’m out.

 

Yet another hot day – 18 August 2025

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Out to the dentist in the morning.

I was lucky to get an appointment at the dentist. I had my six monthly check last week and today, a week later, I had one of my teeth filled. Not for the first time either, it’s the second or maybe the third filling I’ve had for the same tooth and it’s all my fault. I just keep probing the repaired tooth and occasionally I’ve bitten down on a hard sweet and cracked the tooth. I’ve now had a “good talking to” and for the next week I’m banned from chewing anything tougher than an apple. I’ll do my best to comply.

So it was that lunch was half a nice soft Ginsters pasty. Scamp had gone shopping after I returned from the dentist. I was attempting to solve a couple of problems that were still lingering with the new iMac. It’s beginning to look more like a usable machine now, not just a bag of disconnected parts.

After lunch Scamp started to clear out some of the clutter we’d built up over the years. Many sheets of ancient documents and invoices went into the shredder and then into the compost bin. Chopped up paper apparently makes great compost when mixed with vegetable and fruit in the big black box at the back of the garden.

While she was doing that, I went for a walk in St Mo’s and got a photo of a Painted Lady butterfly that became PoD. They are occasional visitors to Scotland, but are less rare now than they were.

Scientists have discovered that the Painted Lady butterflies do indeed migrate south each autumn but make this return journey at high altitude out of view of butterfly observers on the ground. Radar records reveal that Painted Ladies fly at an average altitude of over 500 metres on their southbound trip and can clock up speeds of 30 mph by selecting favourable conditions.

We were dancing Rumba at Kirsty’s class. Very slow and precise and quite enjoyable in this hot weather. Kirsty taught three separate parts of the routine and then encouraged us not to dance them in order, but to take them in any order the leaders chose. No directions, but the leaders had to guide the followers by hand pressure alone. I found it difficult and demanding, but worth practising at home. Our one hour slot just disappeared!

Tomorrow I believe we may be taking some stuff to the Council tip. Especially if Scamp has her way!

 

 

Drilling in the Sun – 17 August 2025

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The whole thing started out because Scamp wanted a hook to hold one of her sweeping brushes for use in the garden.

I’ve had an old Black & Decker with two NiCd batteries for what must be 20 years now, if not longer. Anyone who has used NiCd batteries will know how quickly they lose their charge. I’d been looking for a better drill for some time. A DeWalt for preference. Today I got one. It feels better balanced than the Black & Decker and hopefully it will last as long as the old B&D, but with better electronics. And yes, Scamp did get her brush hook. Now she’d like “ A few more things done in the house.”
No Comment!

Both of us took the folding chairs out and sat in the front garden with a book and a drink or two until we had cooked enough. Then, when the heat got too much we headed for the back garden where there was more shade.

Dinner tonight was Sea Bass with Potatoes and Sweet Corn. Dessert was a Peach Melba Trifle from Lidl at the new Westway retail park. So much cleaner and cooler than the overcrowded one in St Maurice’s Gate. Badly named, because it doesn’t have any gates!

We spoke to Jamie later and heard about the Birthday Barbecue. Really glad you had a good time, Jamie.

PoD was a photo of “Kelly Anne”. A pretty pink geranium, closely related to Rozanne.

I’ve deliberately not mentioned computing today. I’m having a day off from it. Tomorrow I may dive back in and try to workout where I am.

Also tomorrow, I’ve a dentist’s appointment in the morning. Fillings will be the order of the day. Just in case she need to drill it out a bit first, I have a DeWalt drill she can borrow!

Connections – 15 August 2025

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Scamp was out at FitSteps in the morning as is usual on a Friday.

After her exertions in the exercise class she went to meet Isabel for coffee. I can’t believe we’ve been calling her “Isobel” for years and nobody told us we were wrong, but as Scamp says, it’s not a thing we really think about. Anyway, apologies to Isabel.

Isabel was joined in the coffee shop by Shona and I was so glad to hear that. Two women blethering would have been bad, but three would just too much. Guys, just think of all that cross-talk going on for an hour or so!

<Technospeak>
While the ladies were blethering over coffee, I was worrying over the new iMac. I keep my Lightroom catalogs on an SSD, and I wanted to try making the catalog more versatile, so that it could be used on two computers at a time. I was worried that if I was swapping catalogs between computers, the data would get corrupted, especially if the two computer were running different OS versions. Eventually I decided to bite the bullet and try it. Surprisingly it worked perfectly. Another problem solved.
</Technospeak>

Eventually the ladies broke up. Isabel was going shopping and Scamp and Shona were heading to Broadwood Farm for lunch. Thankfully Scamp phoned me just as I was finish the test on the SSD catalog and I agreed to meet them at the restaurant. Restaurant is maybe too fancy a word for Broadwood Farm. It used to be pretty poor, but recently after a fair bit of upgrading, it had some better menus and decent food. Also, because I was not driving today, I could have a pint of Tennents!

Scamp had Fish ’n’ Chips and Shona had Mac ’n’ Cheese. I was the odd one out, not having a ’n’ meal. Instead I had a Traditional Carvery, which was a couple of slices of turkey, a Yorkshire Pudding, with a couple of chunks of ham. It was fine for what it was. The cauliflower cheese was a bit lumpy and the stuffing was made from cardboard, I think, but it filled a space.

Shona wanted some drinks to take to Ben and I wanted a box of mini ice lollies. Scamp drove Shona home and I walked back home. It was another warm day again. I’m getting used to this heat now, just as long as it doesn’t go mad and climb up into the mid 30s Centigrade.

PoD was another photo of a Red Admiral on what’s left of the white Buddleia bush. I think that might be the last of those flowers until next year DV.

Tomorrow we’re not going dancing in the morning, but may go to the evening dance.

Another hot one – 12 August 2025

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Temperature reached 28º which is very hot for us Northern types!

We were going in to Glasgow to do some shopping today, but instead of driving in, we caught the train instead. I was looking for a pair of trainers and I think Scamp was just checking out my ability to walk past the Apple shop without going in! In the end I couldn’t find a pair of trainers that I liked and was willing to pay for. Instead, I tried on a pair of Scarpa Terra GTX walking boots. Exactly the same boots I bought in 2022. They have covered a few hundred miles since then, and were worth every penny.

We walked down Buchanan Street after I’d bought the boots and listened with a couple of hundred others to the massed pipes and drums of The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo band. It actually was quite stirring music and it drowned out some terrible ‘singing’ from a few street buskers. All the pipers and drummers were in full dress regalia who must have been really uncomfortable in today’s heat.

We had lunch in Waterstones on Argyle Street and were surprised with the quality of the Tuna Croque. I must remember to introduce Alex to it sometime. Pity the coffee wasn’t quite up to the same standard.

We caught an absolutely mobbed train home. It was heading for Edinburgh for the final Oasis concert and had the feel of the crazily overcrowded train we’d been on after Christmas. Glad we weren’t going far on today’s one.

The temperature in the car going home read 31º, but that was mainly because we were parked in the full blast of the sun. Not that there was any shade anywhere in the car park.

We ended up sitting in the garden when we got back, drinking Soda Water and Lime and being surrounded by clouds of butterflies. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many butterflies in one place before and definitely not in our garden.

PoD went to a photo I took in Caffè Nero in Glasgow. It’s a combination of two photos and it took me a while to remember how to join two photos together to get the effect I wanted. However I did eventually remember and I was pleased with the final result.

Tomorrow we may go shopping. Nothing special, just Tesco shopping for the messages, to fill up the new fridge/freezer.

A busy Monday – 11 August 2025

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The big van arrived right on time at 9.30am and we were waiting for it.

John Lewis were delivering our new fridge/freezer today. It arrived right on time and the first thing the guy said was “It’s going to be a tight squeeze, through the front door.” I was prepared for that with my trusty Stanley cross-head screwdriver I removed the retaining bolts from the front door and that let me take off the outside handle and the inside one too, plus the big square section key.

That made all the difference and about fifteen minutes later the JL guys were back in their van after getting the new addition into place and removing the old one. One in and One out. Then they were off to another customer. I reassembled the front door and Scamp plugged the new fridge in and we left it to rest for four hours just as the driver had told us to do.

Next stop for me was the dentist for my annual checkup. Apparently my teeth are in good condition, but I’ve a filling to look forward to next week. I think I got off lightly.

After gazing admiringly at this big white box for four hours, we were ready to switch it on for the first time. Again, Scamp had the honour of switching the the fridge/freezer on for the first time. It started making an alarm noise, but we shushed it and told it to go to sleep for a few hours and it settled down.

We walked down to the shops to get some milk and bread and blueberries. I bumped into the guy who used to be the ‘Janny’ at the school, but who is now an assistant manager for the schools in the area. Glad to see him getting on in the world.

By the time we’d exchanged reminiscences and set the world to rights, Scamp was off, carrying the shopping. Despite my argument that it was really my job to carry heavy things, she chased me away and told me to go and take some photos.
That’s what I did and the PoD is a dandelion or a near relative at least, after the morning’s showers.

Tonight’s dance class with Kirsty was Rumba. We managed to get it working quite well, but not every time. Kirsty was happily teaching Scamp how to do the body sways that are such an integral part of Rumba. I just tried to remember the steps in the right order.

When we got back the new fridge/freezer was working silently in the kitchen. Scamp declares that she liked it. That’s good enough for me.

I think we’re maybe going in to Glasgow tomorrow, but for a change, I do’t think we won’t be visiting the Apple shop!

The Rose – 2 August 2025

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Scamp loves roses and this is one of the best.

The rose is the Comte de Chambord, a beautiful pink rose with a lovely scent, but watch out for those thorns. It made PoD.

Another day of fighting against the new iMac. I know you’re probably fed up with it and so am I. Eventually I took Scamp’s suggestion and spoke to somebody, somewhere, I have no idea where, but he, it was a man, has found me a slot in the Apple Store in Glasgow tomorrow afternoon. I’m taking a notebook with me which I hope will be filled with suggestions for solving the problems I’ve had, when I get home.

The rest of the day was a dull Saturday that turned into a comfortably warm one. Scamp and I took turns at watering the garden. First she watered the back garden flowers and veg, then I did the same for the front garden. I’m sure the flowers will appreciate the refreshing water and ‘The Compte’ will be one of them.

Lunch was going to be at Wagamama in The Fort, but we didn’t quite make it there and resorted to Fish Fingers, Egg and Spaghetti for dinner instead. If you have nothing else to eat, you won’t go wrong with FFE&S. Unless you are Hazy!

We watched the qualifying for the Hungarian which turned out to be a less than exciting way of passing an hour or so in the early evening. Hopefully the race will be better, tomorrow.

The new iMac is now all wrapped up ready to go to Glasgow tomorrow. Scamp may go to a utilities sale, also in Glasgow, looking for a good deal on a freezer, a fridge or a combination of the two while I speak to a ‘Genius’.

It’s a busy week coming up with Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday all spoken for in one way or another.

Sunday looks wet and Monday looks very windy. Let’s hope the flowers survive the week.

More flowers – 1 August 2025

Posted on by Zogman

More work struggling against the problems of being a new iMac owner. Who knew something as simple as taking photos and writing about it could be so stressful.

Today’s target was to trim down and cut out some of the clutter that seems to have insinuated itself into the old iMac, meanwhile hoping that once I’d filled up and emptied the bin, it would have the sense to leave the rubbish there and not bring it back again using iCloud Drive. Why can’t it just be simple, like a ZX 81 was, back in the old days of ‘real’ computing? Ah, but I digress.

Both Scamp and I overslept slightly this morning and I won’t say she was late for FitSteps, but she could have been. Me? I made myself some coffee and started the machines, yes, both of them were on the table at the same time. I hadn’t realised that you could sit the old and the new side by side and control them to a certain extent using only one mouse. A lot of swearing was involved, but I did manage to, as Roger Waters said in ‘The Wall’, “Cut out the Deadwood”. Or some of it at least. There are another few Gigabytes still waiting to be chopped out, but when “Scamp returned and mentioned going out for lunch”, I put away my keyboard and shut down both the monitors. Food comes first.

I opted for Borden’s of lunch. It used to be The Masonic (AKA the Chib Inn). It was almost empty when we arrived and we feared that they might have been bought out or was under new management, but a pint of Guinness for me, and a glass of Red for Scamp proved that it was just a passing phase. This was confirmed by a Mac ’n’ Cheese for Scamp and a Steak Pie for me. Both went down well. They also prevented me from driving later, which also suited.

What I did do was book an MOT for Monday, just so I wouldn’t forget and be left without a car this month. I couldn’t be bothered going anywhere to get a PoD, so the close up of the Rudbeckia became PoD. Cropped to a square it fitted perfectly for the first photo of August.

Tomorrow we may go somewhere on the bus or the train, but probably not driving. I quite enjoy these lazy days.