Category: Garden

Out early again – 29 August 2025

Posted on by Zogman

I’m getting fed up with having to get up and out, and it looks like the dance teachers are home again and we need to go to class tomorrow morning too. It’s just too much. We older folk need out sleep too.

It was a dry morning as most mornings are just now, but by afternoon the rain clouds came rolling in and the day deteriorated.

What I did do today was drive Scamp to her FitSteps class, then I drove to the health centre to pick up some bits and pieces the doctor had left for me. After that I drove back home, filled the test bottle with smelly pee and took it back to the health centre for the nurses to analyse, the second time I’ve had to do it, recently. Maybe they just like the smell of pee!

Back home, and after I’d washed my hands a few times, just to be sure, I made a cup of coffee and settled down to solve the New York Times puzzle selection. We’ve both paid our dues an paid for the puzzles for a year. It’s not something I thought I’d be doing, paying for the right to solve a puzzle, but it has become quite popular with Scamp and me this year.

Scamp made Chick Pea and Spinach Curry from the Mowgli book and it was almost as good as mine. A few things were different, but the main part of it was really good, just not as good as mine (Hopefully Scamp won’t read that)

Today’s PoD was a bunch of pale pink flowers called ‘Daboecia’ or Irish Heath that are sitting on the back step. Another of my wife’s acquisitions, although I admit I had a hand in the choosing of them. They reminded me of Lily of the Valley. Fourteen photos taken and only one saved. The rest went in the bin, or will do soon, I think.

Another problem with the new iMac was put to bed tonight when I successfully sent half a dozen photos to Alex for him to crit. We don’t tear each other’s photos to pieces in a crit, It’s just a gentle nudge to say “I’m not really jealous … Honest)

Tomorrow, as I’ve said we are intending to go to dance class in the morning. Maybe we will stop off at IKEA on the way home. We need a new bread bin and Ikea is probably one of the cheapest places. Scamp also wants to buy a bed sheet. In a clever bit of marketing, Ikea make nice wide beds, but not to standard sizes which means you have to buy an Ikea sheet to fit your Ikea bed. Clever!

More rain – 27 August 2025

Posted on by Zogman

We still need more of the wet stuff, just for the plants and the poor frazzled grass.

The rain didn’t start until after midday. Scamp was already out and about meeting Shona for coffee and a blether in Costa. I stayed home and managed to write a wee message to Ray, who’s going through a hard patch just now. Then I caught up with Fred who was just getting home from a shopping trip to Costco. We had a fairly long chat about anything and everything. As usual we finished off by telling each other that we really should meet up for coffee some time soon, but rarely have the time to do it.

By the time I was signing off with Fred, Scamp was returning from her meeting with Shona and I’m glad to say that Scamp says she’s looking much better now that a load has been lifted from her back. She’s another one I should really give some time to.

After that Hazy was on the phone wanting to know what was happening Up North. We’d lots of things to tell her as she had lots of things to tell us. Hope Neil gets some relaxing time before school starts again next week, Hazy.

By the time we’d made all our phone calls and conversations, it was nearly dinner time. I’m struggling with trying to get my new computer speak nice with my old laptop. Especially where Adobe is concerned. I’ve already found that I’ve got a rogue Lightroom app floating around the old laptop. I may have managed to shoot it down today, but Adobe is such a twisted app, I’m not sure I’ve got rid of everything. If all else fails, I’ll get a bit of software that should allow me to store last month’s and this month’s photos without spending another fortune.

What I think I have done is get Adobe to get its ducks in a row and allow the Gmails to get working again. It wasn’t too difficult in the end. Just a case of taking my time (for once) and reading the instructions (which I rarely do)

PoD was a long-lens shot of Seagulls on the roof of a house behind us. I don’t know why we call them Seagulls, because very few of these scavengers have even seen the sea.

Tomorrow I’m intending taking the car to a garage for a service. I think it will need it.

The Rain Came – 26 August 2025

Posted on by Zogman

At last, the long awaited rain came during the early hours of this morning.

I almost believe the flowers and plants in the garden were cheering when those first splashes hit. We’ve had the odd shower or two over the summer months, but today it was a deluge for a while. After that the clouds disappeared and the sun shone, then everything dulled down and a second downpour started. After that there were more showers, but not as heavy nor as long as those first two. The weather fairies are now predicting further showers, some heavy and some light in the coming weeks. Hope you down south folk get your share of the rain.

We drove over to Tesco after the first shower because Scamp wanted more compost to fill those green tubs we bought yesterday. The good thing about buying the compost from Tesco as opposed to garden centres is that Tesco stores their compost bags under the glass shelter at the front of the shop, at least that’s what happens in our Tesco shops. That means the compost bags are much lighter than those in the garden centres where the bags are stacked outside in the rain. I often think that in rainy, wintry weather, some of the goodness is washed out of the bags stacked outside.

I was due a telephone appointment with a doctor from the health centre this afternoon, some time after 2pm, I’d been told. My phone rang just after 6pm. The sister at my recent annual checkup had noted that my iron levels were a bit low and passed the message over to one of the doctors. I’d been given a course of Folic Acid and Ferrous Fumarate. Both seem to bolster the amount of red blood cells in the body. One pill in the morning and another in the evening. That’s in addition to the other pills I’m taking.
I’ve been taking both for about a month now and despite everything being normal in my results, the doc wants me to do the same test again in a month, just to make sure everything is normal. It was my turn to cook tonight and I added some spinach to the pasta to give us both some extra iron. If it’s good enough for Popeye, it’s good enough for me!

PoD was a photo of our latest addition to our garden furniture. ‘Crazy Chicken’ seems happy enough in the back garden, even in the rain!

Tomorrow Scamp is intending meeting Shona for a blether, but I’ve got to get more pills and I’ve even more tests to do.

Moving up – 24 August 2025

Posted on by Zogman

Today I took a deep breath and moved my catalog on to the new iMac. It caused a bit of an upheaval, but it seemed to work, or most of it worked. Still some things to iron out, but the main work is now done. The old iMac had been taking a fair bit of a pounding and every time I touched one of the SSD cables it seemed to lose another chunk of its memory.

It was a very dull day today until early evening when the skies lightened and the sun actually shone for a while. In the morning Scamp and I took it in turns to lug watering cans of that life-giving fluid round the front and back garden. Since the expected hosepipe ban isn’t in force yet, we decided to be good citizens and carry the water to the plants. They seemed to perk up after a quick drink. We’re hoping it will be enough until the promised rain comes later in the week.

Dinner for Scamp was Cauliflower Steak and for me was a ‘real’ steak. The Cauliflower one tasted good with two flavourings, but mine was tough and chewy. It might have been my cooking or it might have been an old tough bit of beef. It may be the last time I buy one of M&S’s fancy named steaks. I’ll stick to tried and tested sources, like the local butcher’s.

Spoke to Jamie and heard about Vixen’s new swimming pool in a smaller venue from her last one. Then, almost immediately, Simonne replied with a couple of photos. One of Vixen swimming and another of her just standing staring at the camera as if saying “Is that all you pair have to do with your time?”

PoD was a close up of a bunch of Antirrhinums that are having their second flowering of the year. Pretty colours in them. We always called them “Map Maps” when I was wee, for no apparent reason.

I’m going to leave it there because this new ‘puter will need a rest after a couple of weeks of inactivity and probably needs a wee rest now.

The only down side I can see for the new system is that I’ve lost access to older blog posts. Maybe I’ll find them some day in a hidden corner of the blog.

Tomorrow I might speak to a man about giving the Blue car a bit of TLC.

A dull day – 23 August 2025

Posted on by Zogman

There wasn’t much sunshine today. Dull white skies, mainly.

We had intended going to Dunfermline, but I was too slow to rise and by the time I got my act together, it was getting to be too late to go.

Scamp used that time to hand water some of the thirsty plants in the garden. There hasn’t actually been an official ban on watering gardens or washing cars, but unless we get significant rainfall in the next week, I can see that being implemented. Even as I was walking over to Condorrat this evening, I noticed some of the plants beside the path were showing signs of needing some water. That’s very unusual in Scotland.

Scamp drove over to Tesco and bought enough food for us to ensure we didn’t starve for the next few days. I asked if I could help when she returned and she told me there was only on thing left in the boot of the car. Unfortunately she didn’t tell me it was a full bag of compost. That’s about the most work I’ve done all week, carrying that bag from the car to the house.

Today’s PoD was a table top photo of a bunch of white sweet peas. The background could do with some improving, but Lightroom made a great job of cleaning up the really gritty image.

Dinner tonight came from Golden Bowl in Condorrat. Chicken Chop Suey with Fried Rice for Scamp. Special Chow Mein for me. Both delicious.

We watched another Masterchef episode with the two clowns trying to look smart. How did that turn out? We also watched Anneka which Alex said was worth watching. I think the jury’s still out on that one.

Best show of the night by far was Beethoven’s 9th Symphony. Shades of Clockwork Orange!

No plans for tomorrow, but we may go out somewhere.

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.

 

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

Posted on by Zogman

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.

A fairly lazy start – 14 August 2025

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We knew that wouldn’t last!

There were lots of things that had to be gathered together, but I’m not allowed to give any more details, other than to say that sellotape is really sticky and adheres to every surface it’s not meant to stick to. If I didn’t know better, I’d say it had a mind of its own.

Back home and with a couple of slices of toast for lunch, a quick shower and a tidy up, we set off to Coatbridge by the most complicated and circuitous route the Sat Nav could make up. Eventually we found the destination at the hospital. We arrived with about 20 minutes to spare, but we needn’t have worried because the consultant was running about 30 minutes late.

So about an hour after arriving at the hospital, we got the decision we’d been hoping for, since the end of January, six months ago. I don’t think either of us was really bothered by the wait now, and the answer was basically “Keep taking the tablets”, and add an extra one for luck!

On the way home we stopped at M&S in Coatbridge for fruit and something for tonight’s dinner. We arrived home exhausted and posted messages to friends and family.

Today’s PoD was another photo of the Japanese Anemones. This time a solo flower in the garden, backlit by the sun just before it sank behind the fence in the back garden.

Tomorrow Scamp is intending to go to her FitSteps class then might meet Isobel for a blether followed by lunch with Shona. That’s if everything goes according to plan. I’m thinking I might have a look at the new iMac, now that it’s mine and I can’t give it back.

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.