Category: Food

A day at Kelvingrove – 24 January 2024

Posted on by Zogman

It was another windy night last night. Maybe just marginally less disruptive than Monday into Tuesday, but now Jocelyn has joined Isha and good riddance to both of them.

Today I was meeting Alex in Glasgow and we were going to get the bus to Kelvingrove to take some photos and have some lunch. First I checked in with him to make sure he was good to go after last night’s wind. Of course he was, but it’s always good to check and not just assume all is well in the centre of North Lanarkshire. For once the bus was on time and I was away into Glasgow with Kevin Bridges in my ear, telling me some stories. I’m a fairly slow reader and I suppose I must he a slow listener too. I generally only listen to the Audible track when I’m on the bus by myself. That way I can concentrate on the story.

We met at the bus station and went for a coffee. Allegedly Nero’s dishwasher was broken, so they were using disposable cups. I wouldn’t mind that, but they put their usual amount of coffee into a big paper cup and then topped it up with way too much hot water. I go to Nero to get good strong coffee that tastes of coffee. If I wanted weak watery coffee I could go to Costa.

I struggled through the gallon cup of dirty water and then we headed off to the West End. The posh end of Glasgow, or at least it thinks it is. Noting that the scaffolding and plywood panels were still in place where they’d been for about six months now, we entered this otherwise beautiful building. I was delighted to see that the portrait of Ann Pavlova was back in its rightful place. Such an energetic looking portrait of the dancer.

We went up to the gallery to get some photos of the gigantic pipe organ an some of The Heads. Over 50 different grimacing and laughing heads hanging as an installation by Sophie Cave. One of them became the PoD after a fair bit of work to get it looking the way I wanted.

Lunch was next in the conservatory. We both had the same thing. Scottish Beef Burger on a bun with chips.

Another walk round the main ground floor and then we were off outside because the light on Glasgow Uni tower was really worth a few shots. I just missed a shot of a squirrel running in front of a burger van. Not the source of our burgers, though. I did get a shot of its fluffy tail (the squirrel’s, not the burger’s, you understand) sticking out from under the skirt of the van.

Waited ages for the bus back to the bus station and then we parted our ways and I listened to more of Kevin swearing through more stories.

I’d messaged Scamp on the way home that I wouldn’t need any dinner tonight and instead had a plate of soup. The last plate from the big pot. Watched Landscape Artist and correctly predicted two of the three finalists, but didn’t pick the winner.

A great day with my brother. Had a long discussion with him about the merits and demerits of the new lens, but finally decided to keep it. I was delighted with my 86 photos and only 9 of them rejected. That’s a good percentage. More will fall on the cutting room floor before the week is out, I’m sure.

I think we may go dancing at the tea dance tomorrow if the weather is kind to us.

Coffee with Isobel – 23 January 2024

Posted on by Zogman

We drove up to the town centre today and were entertained by Isobel for an hour and a bit in Costa. I risked an Americano that actually tasted of coffee. I was shocked!

Life is never dull with Isobel. She always has stories to tell and doesn’t care who she insults when she’s telling them. Today’s topics included falling church attendance, losing a church minister, gardening and a useless new cooker. She did give Scamp some instruction on pruning roses and rudbeckia. She was making arrangements to have the wax removed from her ears by going private. I’m beginning to think that I need it done too, because my hearing has been getting worse recently. Anyway, after we’d heard all her gossip and she had heard all of Scamp’s, we gave her a run home because the rain was torrential. She wouldn’t accept any help and toddled off pushing her walker once we’d dropped her off. When we were coming out of Costa

Back home it was tomato soup and toast for lunch from the never emptying soup pot. I did consider going out if the rain stopped, but it didn’t and I stayed in. PoD was a photo of my Window Ledge Garden with its green spike of ’back from the dead’ Spring Onion and a clove of garlic that has white spike and also roots that weren’t there when it went into the water pot a couple of days ago. Both plants are growing in nothing but water. The pot, with its little floating island that holds the plants, was a Christmas present from Hazy. It took me a week or so to find the time to read the instructions and test it out. Amazingly for me, it worked first time. I’m intending growing beetroot and leeks next. Thank you Hazy.

By the time I’d checked in with Alex and discussed tomorrow with him, then processed and posted the PoD, it was time for dinner and for the second time this week it was fish. This time it was Leek and Smoked Fish Risotto. Unfortunately I’d cut the bottom off the leek before I remembered that I could have coaxed it back to useful lift. The resulting risotto was a bit wetter than I’d intended it to be, but we ate almost all of it.

We watched University Challenge later and got the nominal two or three correct answers each. Feeling quite pleased with ourselves. Then we watched The Secret Genius of Modern Life on the history of microwave ovens which sounds a really boring program. But with a thoughtful approach to delivering this information, it was interesting and informative. Infotainment at its best. I commend it to you. Accessible from iPlayer.

I saw that Isobel had a pair of sheepskin mittens in her bag and said, without thinking: “Oh, pawkies!” One of my mum’s words for mittens. Funny how you remember these random words.

The wind is wheechin’ round the house again tonight, and I hope it calms down a bit before tomorrow, because I’ve got a possible appointment for a photo walk with Alex in Glasgow which I don’t want to miss because I called off last week when I wasn’t feeling well. A dry day would be nice, but that may be a wish too far.

 

Willie is gone – 22 January 2024

Posted on by Zogman

But Jocelyn is waiting in the wings.

Well last night was a wild one. I was sure the front window was going to be blown in by one of Windy Willie’s blasts, but it held firm and we survived the onslaught. Having said that, it was a noisy old night and a noisy morning too.

After taking stock of the broken branches that littered the path and after replacing all the bins that had made their big bold bid for freedom I had a quick look round the exterior of the house, but thankfully everything was intact. I suggested to Scamp that we might go for a walk round St Mo’s pond, just for a breath of fresh air and she agreed.

So booted and well wrapped up because the wind was still howling round the houses we did one circuit of the pond. There weren’t any fallen trees and very few branches. For the most part it was a dry walk, but the squally showers made it uncomfortable. I was quite glad I’d agreed on one circuit. Then it was home for lunch.

When we were making lunch Scamp said that Andy, who lives across the back from us was having trouble putting a tarpaulin over his shed. I’m guessing the roofing felt on the shed had come adrift. I walked down to see if he needed any help, but his sons were doing the heavy work and Andy was just overseeing operations, so I left them to it and went back to have my piece ’n’ banana.

Later in the afternoon the winds calmed down and that reduced the amount of squally showers, so I took the opportunity to take the camera out again for another walk. I’d taken half a dozen photos in the morning, but you can never have enough! With a few more photos in the bag I felt I had a better chance of a decent PoD and I think I got one. It’s a view across the pond framed with trees and I quite like it. Even Scamp gave it the thumbs up.

With that done and the processing completed, it was dinner time and tonight’s dinner was to be tomato soup and then Giovanni Rana tortelloni. Easy to make and quite filling.

Tomorrow Scamp is intending meeting Isobel for coffee in the morning Then we need to get ready for Storm Jocelyn which is making landfall around mid-afternoon. You get rid of one storm and another one is waiting to take its place. According to the weather fairies, this might not be as severe as Isha, but they don’t always tell the whole truth! We’ll have to wait and see.

Windy Willie – 21 January 2024

Posted on by Zogman

It sounds very much like Windy Willie is running around the house!

Since about 6pm the wind speed has been rising. According to the BBC the winds will peak at 65mph around about 11pm and then start to reduce gradually until tomorrow evening.

Earlier in the day we had torrential rain blown along on simple gale force winds. I’d decided early on that I wasn’t going to go outside looking for photos. Instead I took a photo of of a tray of tomatoes fresh out of an hour in the oven. They were destined to be made into tomato soup, and that was to be the starter for tonight’s dinner. Actually they looked quite good in the photo and with a bit of delicate adjustment the photo became PoD.

The tomato soup itself was a winner. One bowl tonight as a starter for the main course of Trout Fillets with Baby Potatoes and Marrowfat Peas. I’m not a great ‘fish person’, especially oily fish like salmon, but the trout tasted just like fresh caught trout tastes. I think it may have been rainbow trout rather than sea trout. Scamp is an expert fish cook and she cooked the trout perfectly. Crispy skin that I enjoyed just as much as the fish itself. No pudding tonight, just a cup of coffee each, laced with Kahlúa.

Spoke to Jamie who sounded much more like himself tonight. It seems that they may manage to recoup some of the money they lost on the repairs that are needed to the house. He also seemed a lot more settled at work. He sent us a few photos and videos of the work that has already been done to the roof and it does look a lot more secure than it did a couple of weeks ago. Still a lot to do, but work is progressing.

I really don’t know what the weather will be like tomorrow. Hopefully it will stick to the guidelines and behave itself.

Dancin’ – 20 January 2024

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Last Brookfield dancin’ class for three weeks at least.

Scamp doesn’t think she’ll be able to go to next Saturday’s class because she’s intending to sing the Verdi Requiem (with a few others) at the Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow and I certainly won’t be going there, or to the dance class in Brookfield if I can at all avoid it. Far too shouty in both venues.

For some reason, the road to Brookfield was quite busy today. Either everyone was heading to the Monster Truck show at the SEC or there was football somewhere, maybe even both! But we’d been out early and made good time after we left the city centre and got past the 50mph restriction. We had about ten minutes to collect ourselves while the little darlings in the ballet class were ushered out of the room with their ‘mummies’ – no ‘daddies’ were in sight. Smart daddies!

First track was Melody Foxtrot with Robbie Williams’ Go Gentle. I don’t like him, but I do like the song. The rhythm and timing go so well with this gentle song. I can’t remember what track two was, but it obviously wasn’t a patch on Go Gentle.

Next we were in to Waltz Time with what we’re going to call the Spring Waltz. Christmas is so last year. After a few fumbles of the feet, I was beginning to enjoy the dance. Stewart did steal Scamp away to explain something technical about the dance, but strangely Jane didn’t steal me away to do the same. Maybe I’m so good there’s nothing they can teach me. Maybe pigs do fly? Anyway, once she’d been returned, we danced a few tracks of the waltz. Actually I’d have been happy to spend the entire 90 minutes just going through that dance, but after another sequence dance we knew that the leisurely dancing was over and we were going to be forced into the Samba.

I really, really, REALLY don’t think I will ever get to like, far less love this dance although Stewart says I will. It is fast, confusing and furious at times and totally outside my comfort zone. I’m still at the second part of it, having successfully managed to make a decent fist of the basic steps at the start. This is after three weeks of teaching. Sometimes you just have to accept that this doesn’t fit in my head, apart from Jamie’s oft times quoted complaint that: “Scottish hips don’t move that way”. That, is an excellent get-out clause for not knowing what the hell you are doing, and I thank you for that, Jamie.

Eventually the Samba ground to a halt and another cool-down sequence dance finished off the torture. We were done for today and, hopefully for three glorious weeks.

We drove home, almost in silence, letting the music from Spotify’s random Discover Weekly guide us along the M8, M74, M73 and then home. Lunch for me was a roll ’n’ cheese and for Scamp, a roll ’n’ egg, with both of us having a dessert of roll ’n’ bramble jam.

It was a dull day. The sun had threatened to break through the clouds, but didn’t really have the energy, so the clouds covered it and tucked it in. I did manage a few shots in St Mo’s, but none of them were award winners. PoD was a sepia toned discarded swan’s feather.

Dinner tonight came from Bombay Dreams and it was quite poor by their standard. Probably would have been better walking down to M&S and bringing back a heat-in-the-oven curry. I think we’ll let Bombay Dreams rest for a while to see if they can improve their recipes.

It’s raining quite heavily as I’m writing this and it’s expected to rain all through the night. Strong winds forecast for tomorrow. I may go out early(ish) to avoid getting blown away.

 

 

Goodbye Snow – 19 January 2024

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It’s gone. The snow returned this morning, only to be washed away by the rain and the above zero temperatures. Not much above zero, but enough to rid us of the white stuff.

In the morning we went shopping. It was a big shop. What we used to do on a Monday until Tesco seemed to have fewer staff working on a Monday than on any other day of the week. Friday was quite different. Much more like what used to be a normal shopping day. They even had rolls! We loaded the car and drove home.

After lunch Scamp wanted to reorganise the front bedroom which has become a storage room. I wanted to go out and take photos somewhere other than St Mo’s, so while she was checking what we did and didn’t have and moving things around the various cupboards, I drove up to Fannyside to see how the wild moorland was surviving this tough winter weather. This was my first visit this year. There was a cold west wind blowing and that was making the cloudscape quite interesting. Probably this was the first real test for the new lens, just taking photos of anything and everything that interested me. Not being too particular about aperture or shutter speed, just enjoying the experience. The lens coped admirably with the scenes. Not one rejection, but I’m still not sure it’s the lens for me. Only time and a few hundred photos will tell.

Drove home and after checking the photos, started to make the dinner which was an old favourite, Fennel with Haddock and Prawns. Dead easy to make as long as you are organised, and for once I was.

According to the weather fairies, we’ve some wild weather to look forward to next week with strong winds and heavy rain. It never seems to stop this winter. Wind, rain, snow and sleet with the occasional half a day of sunshine mixed in. Weather was much more fun when I was wee.

PoD turned out to be a wide angle shot of the moorland at Fannyside and its amazing cloudscapes that looked much better live than my poor representation of them. A couple of other photos are keeping it company on Flickr.

Tomorrow we’re intending dancing in the morning.

Going over old ground – 15 January 2024

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It was a crisp morning, sub-zero, but we were going out. It had been snowing during the night, just a light covering, and then a hard frost had made the place look quite, well, … frosty!

Scamp needed either to get her glasses repaired, or a new frame, so we were driving over to Larky to see what the optician or his glamorous assistants could do. Terrible driving conditions, with the low sun shining right into our faces and the road salt on the windscreen having to be washed away every few minutes, but we made good time.

When we got to Larky, Scamp told me to meet her at the Co-op in half an hour or so. I didn’t need to be asked twice. I drove down to Millheugh to grab some photos. First place I looked was again looking straight into the sun, but with a great view of ‘The Boards’. That’s another name for a dam that created a sluice to power a waterwheel in the old bleachfield long before my time. The sluice, which we always called the Lade, is still there, but the bleachfield has gone long ago. Took a few photos there, then knowing I’d lose track of time, I set a 15 minute timer on my watch and went for a walk through Morgan Glen.

It used to be a great walk on a bright summer’s day, along the banks of the Avon, but the whole glen is a bit run down these days. It’s years since I walked along there. Now that I think about it, it’s MANY years since I walked along it, but bits of it haven’t changed much and other bits are broken down and hidden in the undergrowth. I found some Hair Ice which, according to the Met Office “… is a rare type of ice formation where the presence of a particular fungus in rotting wood produces thin strands of ice which resemble hair or candy floss.” As you can see here, that’s a fairly accurate description.

Not long after I found and photographed it, my timer buzzed to tell me it was time to head back. Sometimes when you turn back, the view and the light is totally different from that you saw walking out. So it was today. I took ‘a few’ more photos on the way back. My total for the day was 42 photos, 38 of which were ‘keepers’. Not a bad percentage. Then I drove back up to meet Scamp at the Co-op with her new glasses! Then we drove home with the sun at our back this time for most of the way.

I did think of giving the blue car a wash when we got home, but the temperature was just above zero and I didn’t want my wash water to freeze and cause an accident for some poor soul driving up the hill, or even walking up the hill, after dark. There are warmer, or less cold days to come we’re told.

Scamp made her version of Minestrone soup for tonight’s dinner.  Her version and mine are completely different from each other.  Both of them are from old books and both of them over time have had additions and subtractions from the basic recipe.  Both are good warming soups with loads of veg in them.

PoD turned out to be the Hair Ice, but it was a close finish between it and a photo of a tree stump with ivy dangling from it, taken against the light.

The forecast is for more snow, lots more snow, they say, and down to sea level for all of Scotland. We may not be going far.

Old friends – 14 January 2024

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It was a cold start to a colder day.

Ice and frost welcomed us to the start of another winter day. Nobody seemed to want to go out and that included us. However, after lunch I did put my boots on and walked over to St Mo’s. Not surprisingly there wasn’t much change from yesterday, so I went for a walk in the woods and that’s where I found two old friends. Two sixteen spot ladybirds, each neatly tucked into two different crevices in a tree. I’m sure they hatch in the late summer or early autumn and hibernate through the winter months. Always the same variety with orange wing casing and white spots. Totally different from the ‘normal’ ladybirds we usually see with red wing cases and black spots. Usually I find them in groups of two or three, huddled together, but todays ones were each in their own little hollow. Maybe they weren’t talking to each other.

Two trees away I found a green shield bug. That’s a rare occurrence in winter. As far as I can tell, they hibernate in grasses and leaf litter during winter months, but this one was half way up a tree.

I walked back after that, happy that I’d managed to get something other than trees and reflections in the pond for a potential PoD. Then I found when I opened the computer that my reflection photo from a couple of days ago had been awarded “Explore” which is the Flickr equivalent of ‘going viral’. Suddenly the whole Flickr world wants to ‘like’ your photo and some folk comment on your photo. It’s kind of embarrassing, because it’s usually a run of the mill photo that gets the accolade. I have no idea who chooses the photo to get the award and I have no idea what formula they use. I just accept it and say thank you!

Dinner tonight was a rather strange M&S packet of DIY Fajitas. We heated up the chicken and veg packet in the microwave then did the same to the packet of tortillas spread the tortillas with the supplied tomato salsa and sour cream then put a layer of the chicken and veg mix on top before rolling them up. The kit made four fajitas, two each and although a bit messy and awkward to eat, they tasted ok, a bit spicy, but nothing too hot. Would we try them again? Maybe not. Not really very substantial and messy to make, although that might be down to my lack of fajita making skill.

Spoke to Jamie later and heard about the problems commuting to work while fields on either side are temporary ponds and how they are having to contend with the cold winds from the east while their roof is being replaced. I don’t envy them.

PoD was the green shield bug. Two images merged in a program called Affinity Photo. It’s what photogs call a Focus Stack. Too complicated to describe here and too boring for non-photogs.

We had a flurry of snow in the late afternoon and if it returns tomorrow, that might change our plans for driving to Larky to get Scamp’s glasses fixed.

A slow awakening, then Samba – 13 January 2024

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It was a slow climb out of the depths of sleep to the reality of morning.

It certainly took me a long time to clear my head enough to realise that it was morning. Too much to eat and too much to drink. I’m usually careful when I know I’m going to be driving in the morning the next day, but I’d so enjoyed the company last night that I’d kind of overindulged.

Once I was showered and dressed I felt better and we drove in to Brookfield in good time. Beautiful blue skies with white fluffy clouds all the way. First dance was a Blue Angel Rumba which I’m coming to terms with. Next was what, before we joined this class, was called the Christmas Waltz, but which has now been renamed the Spring Waltz. Again, I was a lost soul to start with, but I’ve grown to realise it’s not as complicated as I thought, even if it does have a Back Corté. Whatever that is.

Next was the Samba. I used to hate the Cha-Cha until I realised I could dance it fairly competently. Now the Samba is my most hated dance. It doesn’t help when one of the teachers seems to be more critical than is really necessary when ‘helping’ us. She really needs to remember that we are giving her money each week to be taught, not to be criticised for everything we do. Not the most friendly person I’ve ever met. Maybe I just have a thing about some dance teachers. Anyway, I much prefer anything in the Cha-Cha to the Hopalong Cassidy ‘Voltas’ that seem to delight everyone in the Samba. I honestly do not see myself ever dancing this in public!

Drove home under blue skies and white fluffy clouds again, just the same as yesterday and spent the early afternoon clearing up the living room and the kitchen. I went for a walk to St Mo’s later for some photos with the intention of coming home with a loaf. I actually came home with a bit more than that, but with a potential PoD or two.

In M&S I bumped (almost literally) into a former colleague who is now deputy head in Glasgow and commiserated with her because her school is being inspected soon. Right now the big news is the Post Office postmasters and mistresses who have been accused of stealing money. It wasn’t really stolen, it was a dodgy computer program called Horizon that went ‘ape’ for a while. But when I heard about those folk being accused of what amounted to theft by the investigators, I remembered how I felt when the HMI (Her Majesty’s Inspectors) came to interrogate us. These people should be ashamed of themselves.

On the way home I was watching a big swathe of pink/white cloud stretching up behind a bunch of Scots Pine trees and trying to find the best angle to shoot them from. Finally found it and that became PoD, relegating a photo of the setting sun to “almost a PoD”.

That was about it for today. Dinner was much more restrained than last night and was a pizza with a glass of wine.

Hoping to get out for walk tomorrow.

A busy day – 13 January 2024

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It was a busy day today. I was lucky, I was only making the main course, while Scamp was making starter and dessert. Dinner would be about 7.30pm, but the work started about 11am, in fact, Scamp’s dessert was started yesterday and left to infuse overnight.

Once the kitchen was cleared, I powered up the Instant Pot and got it to fry the chicken. That was a mistake, because it’s difficult to get the heat at the right setting. Too low and it just stews the chicken, too high and it burns, and there are only three settings. Even the middle setting is a bit fierce. In the end, I used the wok to fry the chicken. Ten chicken thighs done in three batches. For some reason the three onions that were to be sliced and fried worked perfectly in the pot! Some things work better than others. From there in, it was just a case of following the recipe and after about 45 minutes everything was working well and the Instant Pot was in Slow Cooker mode and just chugging along.

We’d missed a couple of ingredients, so I volunteered to drive to Tesco to get them while Scamp worked on at the ice cream. When I returned, we began deep frying the haggis bonbon starters. Scamp formed them and fried them while I transferred them to the kitchen paper on a tin in the oven.

By the afternoon we could have lunch and rest a while, knowing that everything was fairly well under control and working. Later in the afternoon I took a camera out for a walk in St Mo’s and got a decent view over the pond with the clouds reflecting on the water. PoD in the bag.

It was nearly 8pm before Crawford & Nancy arrived. While I was at Tesco, I’d bought half a dozen bottles of beer, because I know Crawford likes his beer, only to find that he had nominated himself driver for the night! Ok, not a disaster, because I can always drink a bottle of beer!

Dinner was Haggis Bonbons for starter with Chicken Tagine for main, then Homemade Yoghurt Ice cream for pudding. The tagine was a bit tasteless, but the rest was lovely.

It was a great night, even if I did eat and drink too much and we said goodnight to them just before midnight. That left us about half an hour to load the dishwasher for morning and go to bed. Tired, but fairly happy.

Tomorrow we’re hoping to go dancing at Brookfield.