Friends – Page 28 – My Photo Blog

Sun Day Three – 27 March 2017

Posted on March 27, 2017 by Zogman

Today the sun shone from a big blue sky for the third day in a row, confirming that this is indeed summer.

Scamp had invited an old friend to the Monday Gems practise and I was nominated driver. It was a great run through to Denny. Not the most scenic area, but everywhere is scenic when the sun shines! After I’d delivered Netta, I went for a drive down to Auchinstarry, not for a walk this time, but for a chance to sketch because I only had an hour to spare. Not the best place for a subject. The buildings were new-builds designed to look old and not really managing it. The longboats don’t interest me all that much, but are a lot better than the faux canal buildings. I finally settled on the boats after a half hearted attempt at the building. It’ll do. It’s late, but it’s completed.

Got back in time to run Netta home. Then it time to make the dinner and drive to salsa. Salsa was a bit boring, going over some old moves, but I did get a chance to help out at the intermediate class before our own.

Weather to be cloudy tomorrow which won’t bother us too much as the car is going in to have its front brakes and trackrod replaced. More money, but at least it did get through its MOT a few weeks ago, so shouldn’t complain.

Another coffee with Fred – 9 March 2017

Posted on March 9, 2017 by Zogman

Email from Fred today to say that Val can’t come for coffee. Scamp went out in the morning to meet Isobel and I did a bit of painting, then went to meet Fred. We talked for a while and drank some dire Costa coffee. I wish there was somewhere else to go with decent coffee in Cumbersheugh. After that, I drove home and got my gardening instructions from Isobel. It looks like we will have to fork over the entire grassed area of the back garden, then spread sharp sand over it. Final suggestion is to dig a trench along the back wall and fill it with rubble to help drain the grassed area. That’s a lot of work to drain a swamp. I’d much rather just get an alligator or two and some catfish. Then it will be a real swamp.

With an hour or two of sunlight left, I took a walk to St Mo’s and got some photos of broom flowers and also some clay masks the school pupils stick to trees in the woods at this time of year. To add some colour and sunshine, I’ve included some T&T photos to brighten your day.

Happy Birthday Netta – 4 March 2017

Posted on March 4, 2017 by Zogman

Today centred around Scamp and her ladies singing at a friend’s birthday party. A special birthday party, the friend was 90 today. She used to be a senior member of Gems and that’s why the ladies were singing at her party. Me? I was chauffeur and roadie again. I didn’t really mind, because it gave me a couple of hours free to do as I pleased.

I first set out to do some beer shopping in Lidl and then went looking for a subject. I settled on the Falkirk Wheel where I knew I could find some longboats tied up. By the time I got there the best of the day’s light had gone and a cold easterly wind was getting up, but there were plenty of boats to photograph and with the canal as smooth as a millpond, the reflections were good. They would have been even better if the water hadn’t been so dirty. Not as dirty as the Falkirk Wheel. According to the notice near the entrance, its annual maintenance takes place towards the end of December. I don’t know if they didn’t do it this year or maybe they are still trying to source the cleaning materials, but the wheel is manky. There’s no other word for it. The site itself is cordoned off with loads of miles of security fencing and signs saying its a construction site. That wouldn’t be so bad if there was any evidence of construction taking place, but there was none. I got there at 4pm and the entire place was closed. Again, giving the benefit of the doubt, maybe they are still working on the winter timetable. Being more realistic, maybe Central Region just don’t care, or don’t have the funds to maintain this massive structure. It certainly is a sad sight just now.

Beer bought, photos taken, I was heading back to the car when I got the call from Scamp to go pick her up. The birthday girl was looking great and if I hadn’t know her age, I’d never have guessed.

Let’s hope tomorrow is a better day.

One last thing, I finally got round to adding a gallery of my 28 Drawings Later … sketches. Do go and have a look when you have time. They are accessed from Galleries (duh!) from the blue bar at the top of the page. I don’t have a clue where you find them on a phone or a tablet. Seek and ye shall find!
Remember when you’re viewing that it’s not the skill or the artifice you are admiring, it’s the dedication to put pen, pencil and brush to paper, one day after another for a month.

Testing Time – 2 March 2017

Posted on March 2, 2017March 2, 2017 by Zogman

Out just before 8am to take the car to the garage for its MOT. It was looking good after its wash and brush up yesterday. One of the good things about having a wax wash was that I didn’t really have to scrape the ice from the windscreen, all I had to do was wipe it off. It’s probably worth the extra 50p for the wax.

After we got home from the garage and had breakfast, I got my selection of photos for Fred and Val ready, then Scamp gave me a lift to the town centre. Usual coffee and setting the world to rights was put on hold because Costa’s coffee machine was out of order. After an hour or so the repair was completed and it was business as normal. Having achieved a quorum of the UBI club, we arranged a prospective date for a meeting, so at least something was done.

I got the phone call to come and collect the car, because once again it had passed as fit for the road with a couple of advisories. We had completed the UBI business and finished our coffee, so I phoned Scamp and picked up the car.

Went for a walk to St Mo’s and got the two swift shots of Mr Grey before turning for home, because it was a really cold wind. Scamp made Prawn & Pea Risotto for dinner and we tried the coconut ice cream, but declared it wanting, so it will go down the pan when its all melted. We think it would taste better made from cream rather than yoghurt.

I’m beginning to miss the sketch-a-day I’ve been doing for the last month, and really need to get back putting pen to paper. I may get the chance tomorrow, but we’ll have to see how the day pans out first.

Dorothy – 25 February 2017

Posted on February 25, 2017February 26, 2017 by Zogman

Today we drove down to see Dorothy. She was looking well, although her leg seemed to be giving her bother and her hand looked as if she was suffering a bit from rheumatics. Still, she was sharp as a tack and quick to tell Colin off if he strayed too far in his stories. A pleasant wee hour although I felt bad that we hadn’t been to see her for a long while, but there was nothing we could do about it, either Colin was busy or we were. A case of life getting in the way again.

Stopped at Waitrose on the way home to buy a chicken and ended up with two bags full of other stuff as well as the chicken. We were shocked that Waitrose, in addition to allowing Neds into their stores are now stooping to this gutter humour to advertise their mugs. What is the retail sector coming to. (No, it wasn’t me who did it, I just photographed it.)

When we got home, the daylight was still there, so I grabbed the chance of an hour in St Mo’s. Startled a couple of deer, but chose not to pursue them because they were on the motorway side of the fence and I didn’t want to be the reason for them running across the carriageway and causing an accident. Other than the deer and the ever present buzzards, there wasn’t much of interest. The overnight rain had increased the water level in the pond and part of the boardwalk was under water, so that, at least, made an interesting shot with the 9mm lens.

A curry from Bombay Dreams provided dinner because neither of us could be bothered cooking and today’s sketch was a disappointing pencil drawing of my mouse. I like the curves and lines of the mouse and felt the pencil rendered it well, but it’s a bit of a stopgap really. Not the most interesting drawing I’ve done in the month. Only three more sketches to go in the 28 Drawings Later challenge. Like the Inktober challenge, I’ll miss it when it’s finished.

Tomorrow looks wet. At least we had some sun and blue skies today.

Flying Home, Going Home – 13 February 2017

Posted on February 13, 2017February 16, 2017 by Zogman

It was really one of those ‘all good things must come to an end’ days when nobody wants to actually mention the departure, but you can see it’s uppermost in everybody’s mind. So here I am sitting in a chair in a metal tube travelling at 592mph 39,000 feet above the Atlantic Ocean. I’ve just finished watching the confusing Dr Strange and the still funny Monty Python and the Holy Grail after rejecting the reworked Ghostbusters. Why do they think they can improve on the classics? In TT (that’s Trini TIme) it’s just gone midnight, so I’m really writing this the next day, but this is my blog and I’ll call it the 13th.

The holiday is done now, but what a holiday it was. We saw amazing things, we did amazing things, things we would never have dreamed of a few years ago. Now it’s just the long slog home.

Earlier today M&J took us to a shopping mall, and it was interesting seeing the variety of shops there, but to be honest, shops in malls are shops in malls wherever you are in the world.

The traffic was really heavy for our drive to the airport and I wondered for a while if the polis had set up a roadblock where they checked a random selection of cars, but it turned out to be just a slow day on the freeway and we made good time once the volume of traffic reduced further out of Port of Spain.

I got today’s sketch done at the airport, Piarco. It’s a mixture of perspective

and a couple of folk. I must try to sketch more folk. I keep falling back on perspective and buildings to get me out of trouble, but if I don’t start pushing the envelope, I won’t progress. Must try harder. Will post the pictures when I have time.

Lunch at Crews Inn – 12 February 2017

Posted on February 12, 2017September 9, 2017 by Zogman

It’s Sunday and Scamp was going to church with Madeleine and Jaime and I thought I should get up and do something too. So, after they’d left leaving Ori and I in charge, well, really it was Ori who was in charge and I was just getting in the way of his morning nap. With Ori concentrating on his sleep pattern,I started a sketch of the house from a viewpoint at the front gate. I gave myself a time limit of one hour and managed to get it completed in just over that time. I’m quite happy with it apart from one little mistake. By the time I was finished, I just had enough time for a shower before the others came home. Ori was still sleeping.

We had a light breakfast because we were booked for lunch at the Crews Inn at the place that begins with a C and I can never remember its name. I’m going to look it up now. Ok, it was Chaguaramas. Bing had the answer. I hate Bing – It’s like most things Microsoft. It’s crap. I did say ‘most’ things. Excel is brilliantly powerful and Live Writer is the best blogging prog I’ve used, but Bing is just painful to use. Why is it called Bing? Apparently because it was short and memorable(?), but we all know it’s Because It’s Not Google, and in my opinion, it never will be. Anyway, we were going to Chaguaramas for lunch at the Crews Inn. In the mean time I managed to capture a couple of shots of the Monarch butterfly that’s been annoying me all holiday. It thought it was out of reach, high in a tree, but it reckoned without the power of the 200mm lens on the Oly 10. It was snapped! As was the wee bit of bright pink blossom.

The Crews Inn is a lovely place, especially if you are a sailor. I’m not, but it’s still a great location, right on the seafront with a vista that takes in fishing boats, skiffs, real yachts and big mega pretend yachts owned, no doubt, by millionaires. We weren’t coming to see the boats, we were coming for lunch and I was going to have a glass of their very alcoholic Sangria. It turned out to be not as good as the last one the others had, but it was still very rich and tasty. I think we were all a bit disappointed when we were told that it was a buffet on a Sunday, but hey ho, it’s still food. Indeed it was food and food a plenty. We started with a salad and then went for the meat and fish option. Then there was the dessert menu to investigate. Really, I think Jaime and I did overdo it a little bit, well, a lot really. It’s hard not to when there is this much food on offer. That’s what I love and hate about buffets. I love the selection, I hate the fact that I just pig out. One day I’ll learn, maybe!

When we got home, I had to go for a snooze. The food and the heat just got to me. It was lights out for a while.

Later, we started the inevitable packing. I’m about half packed just now. I’ve now got to decide exactly what to wear on the plane and the train as we move from 25^o to 5^o.

Listened to some ‘pan’ from the semifinals at Savannah. It’s nothing like the real thing. Jaime is still listening to it on TV now. Despite my wee snooze this afternoon, I’m beat and beddy byes is calling. Good NIght.

Is this your minky? – 11 February 2017

Posted on February 11, 2017February 13, 2017 by Zogman

Today we set off after breakfast for Chaguaramas to walk into the Bamboo Cathedral.

I don’t know what I expected, but I wasn’t ready for the sign warning us to

Walk in groups
Don’t display cell phones or jewellery
Stay in well lit areas

I thought we were going for a leisurely walk. I forgot to pack the AK47 and stab proof vest. Bummer. However, once we walked past the entrance gate, I forgot all about that. This was jungle! Well, jungle with a wide tarmac road through it. The trees round us were enormous and there was some bamboo too, but nothing ‘cathedral-like’. Then we turned a corner and there was the bamboo. Not one or two clumps, but hundreds – everywhere. Now I could see the ‘cathedral’ reference. The bamboo arched over our heads from both sides and met in the middle making it look and feel as if we were walking through a green tunnel. We walked the length of the bamboo tunnel and then started climbing the hill at the end. As far as we could see, the bamboo was finished. We turned to go back and Madeleine stopped to ‘rescue’ a piece of vine from the depredations of some weeds. Jaime managed to wrap some banana leaf round it and tie it off with a bit of creeper to keep the roots damp until we got it home and could replant it. It was a rescue vine. We walked back through the Bamboo Cathedral and just before we got to the high trees, Madeleine notices movement in the bushes at the side of the road. I started mentally ticking off the warnings on that sign, then we all saw the monkeys.

Madeleine said they were Capuchin monkeys. I was too busy trying to get a decent shot of them in the low light that filtered through the canopy. Eventually, I gave up, switched on fast continuous shooting and fired off seven or eight shots at a time, gave the camera time to deal with them then fired off another seven or eight. I tried a video, but the Oly 10 isn’t really up to that kind of task, and when I checked later, there was nothing useable on either video. Everyone had a great time looking for new groups who seemed to appear from nowhere, climb high into the branches above our heads and jump the gap across to the other side Adult and babies all made the journey without injury although some were better at jumping than they were at catching the branches on the other side and there were a few almost tumbles. Once they were all over, they started feeding and it was time for us to move on. Great fun for all. All the time we were watching the monkeys, people were passing by, all saying “Good Morning” and none really batting an eyelid at the monkey gymnastics. I’m guessing this is a normal occurrence here.

When we got back to the car, we drove on to Macqueripe Bay where we descended the stairs, under the screaming people on the Zip Wire above us, down to the beach. Lovely little beach with what might have been a harbour at one end and a sort of short promenade above the sand. The water looked lovely and clear and I wished I’d brought swimming stuff. The whole place had a strange 1950s look to it and reminded me of the Lido at Bothwell Bridge near Hamilton. Lots of folk swimming and just enjoying the sun, but then it was Saturday after all. I got photos of some crabs before they dived down their holes. They were well back from the sea and I wondered if they sneaked down the steps onto the beach at night. From the promenade you could look out past an island to just see Venezuela in the distance.

After the short visit to the beach, we walked back up to the car and Madeleine drove us home via the supermarket which seemed to stock a lot of Waitrose goods. Which made me wonder if it’s an offshoot of that business. We saw all the usual supermarket stuff and then some things you don’t get back home, like Chicken’s Feet again. Scamp even took a photo of the aforementioned delicacy to show to the disbelieving ones back home. On that subject, I did spot a cafe on the road advertising Cow Heel Soup. Apparently it’s a local delicacy and the soup is really good. I just hope they wash the cow’s heels well before making the soup, having seen the stuff that cows walk through!

Lunch was stewed chicken with fried plantain and salad, followed by coconut ice cream. Maybe a notch down from the ice cream we got in Karawak, but still better than anything we get at home.

Today’s sketch is of the house across the street with a bit of M&J’s house added in to set the scene. Actually, after I was finished, I preferred the lightness of M&J’s house to the lumpy looking other house. The perspective is much more pronounced with the viewpoint closer to the small house. Worth another go, I think. Maybe tomorrow.

A Jump, Skip and a Hop – 10 February 2017

Posted on February 10, 2017February 11, 2017 by Zogman

Today we said goodbye to Tobago and caught the plane to Trinidad. Madeleine and Scamp weren’t very impressed with the pilot’s driving skills and I have to say it was a bit of a bumpy ride at times. What I did wonder about was the fact that before it landed in Tobago, it hadn’t appeared on Flight 24 on my phone and there was no airline insignia on the fuselage. A pirate of the skies perhaps? Anyway it got us to Piarco airport on Trinidad and from there Madeleine drove us home, stopping on the way to pick up some Roti which are Indian flatbread wraps holding the main course which for three of us was chicken and for Scamp was veg. Possibly my best favourite of these lunch wraps so far.

When we were at the airport on Tobago, Madeleine showed us the bright yellow fruit she’d picked from the hedgerow along with its delicate wee yellow flower. I think it was a Carailie Vine, but I may be misspelling that. I’ll check tomorrow. It tasted good. Just another of the fruits available on these islands. Even better, this one is free as it grows wild in the hedgerows.

Ori was pleased to see us and after being fed, fussed over and having a run round the garden at top speed a couple of times, lay exhausted in the livingroom. Such a relaxed dog.

While Madeleine was watering the garden earlier on, Jaime picked a Guava from one of the trees in the garden and we all had a piece. Beautiful green colour with soft pink flesh inside. They really do have an amazing selection of fruits here. Unfortunately, one he was trying to harvest looks like it’s been invaded by ants. It’s a Sour Sop. It is a big dark green fruit covered in spikes and is supposed to have a sweet white flesh, but I doubt if we will taste it because the ants have been there first.

Today’s sketch is of a wee sea urchin shell that Scamp found yesterday on the beach at Pigeon Point. It’s a bit rough, but at least it’s done and on time. Maybe I’ll find something more interesting to draw tomorrow. It won’t be the little beastie that Madeleine showed me today, asking what I thought it was. I took a photo and it looked for all the world like a caddis fly larva, but it was much, much smaller. I searched on Google for it giving as much info as I could and it turned out to be a Household Casebearer and it turns into a moth after pupating. Nasty looking little thing. Now gone along with it compatriots under a spray of bug killer. Oh, yes, one more thing. Out of the corner of my eye tonight I thought I saw a bright green light flying around the room, turning on and off. Couldn’t quite catch it though, then I did and it was a Firefly! First time I’ve seen one. It looked like a wee moth with an LED on its bum! And with that thought, I’ll say goodnight.

A Grand Day Out – 08 February 2017

Posted on February 8, 2017February 9, 2017 by Zogman

This will be a rushed post. It’s been a long day and we’ve crammed a lot into it, although it might not seem so with this compressed or condensed description.

The day started well and we left the apartment with the intention of visiting Scarborough and then heading to a beach, but that’s not how it turned out. Firstly we made a stop at the Magdalena Grand Hotel to see how the other half live. The hotel, which is quite grand and quite magnificent is surrounded by a golf course which has the usual water hazards. However, the water hazards on most golf courses don’t have warning signs saying ‘This lake contains caimans’. Thankfully we didn’t stop near the water. We did continue on to see the hotel and to walk the grounds as if we were staying there. It’s a technique I must learn some time. We were both impressed with the size and look of the building, but there weren’t very may folk staying there, so we did wonder how profitable it was. While we were there I got my first decent shots of Frigatebirds.

As we were leaving the weather seemed to take a turn for the worse with squally rain appearing. It had been threatening while we were trespassing on the hotel grounds, but now it was doing more than threatening. We carried on to Scarborough, and it did remind me of the English seaside town with the steep hills around it. Madeleine drove us to Fort King George and old stronghold, now open as a museum. Loads of interesting stuff to be seen and most of it was open to the public. That’s where we saw the cockerels and the hens. They seemed to have the run of the place. Jaime bought us some Tamarind Balls which are made from Tamarind paste with added pepper made into balls then covered in sugar. A strange sweet/sour/salty taste. Hard to define. Great place to visit. It was there too we found all these lovely butterflies. Butterflies in January? Who would have thought it? Aha, but this isn’t Scotland.

By the time we were leaving here the rain had started for real. No longer squally, but a proper downpour. After an attempt to outrun it, we gave up and headed with our sandwiches and juice back to the apartment where we had a picnic on the balcony. Not quite what we’d intended, but at least we were dry for a time. Then the rain started again and we took shelter inside. These showers continued all afternoon. I got fed up after a while and went out to walk along the beach. Unfortunately, the beach had disappeared under the heavy breakers of high tide, so I sat down and sketched a concrete seat as a possible subject. It rained again and I had to give up. At that point Jaime appeared wondering where I’d got to. We walked back and he showed me the fruits on one of the trees in the hotel grounds. I must remember to ask him what it was called. Before we got ready to go out to the restaurant Scamp wanted to dip her feet in one of the hot tubs. We sat in it for about half an hour while the rain made little soldiers on the surface of the water around us. What a strange feeling that was. When we finally gave up the hot tub, we went for a swim in the pool. The water was remarkably warm.

After our swim we went back to the room and Scamp went to shower and wash her hair. I grabbed my sketchbook and drew the view from the balcony. It’s not technically perfect, but it’s a better, and more interesting, drawing than the concrete seat. IMO.

Dinner was in Karawak restaurant and it was fabulous. Callaloo soup followed by Tomato, Basil and Olive salad then a main of steak or shrimp with rice, pumpkin and a sort of ratatouille served in a hollowed out half aubergine. Dessert was coconut cream cake with ice cream, sorbet or ice cream. It’s hard not to compare that with what we had on our first night here at the steak and lobster grill and it’s hard to see now how the S&L Grill survives against competition like this. The waitress worked the table with a great sense of humour that you couldn’t help but appreciate. The only fly in the ointment was the owner or manager, it wasn’t clear which, who only seemed to be interested in her regular customers and only gave us a cursory glance. She needs to take a lesson from our waitress. Nobody it that high and mighty that they don’t need to cultivate new custom.

Well, that was meant to be a condensed description of the day. I missed out the Karaoke because it was so bad, it wasn’t even funny, and no we didn’t take part.