Category: Garden

Magpies and mushrooms – 13 December 2021

Posted on by Zogman

Photography started really early today.

While I was making breakfast today I watched a magpie struggling to peck some fat from the bird feeder in the garden. It was sitting on a low branch, too low for it to reach the bird feeder, but it didn’t have the sparrow’s and blue tit’s ability to hover and feed. They aren’t quite as elegant as humming birds, but they do get the job done. Poor magpie eventually gave up, but not before I’d taken a few shots.

After breakfast we drove up to NEXT to get a parcel Scamp had ordered and was delivered to the shop. We were still waiting for the other parcel that should have been delivered to the house on Friday. It was a Christmas present for Nancy who we visited on Saturday. That’s why alternative arrangements and prezzies were required. Next we drove down to Tesco at Craigmarloch and got Scamp’s meds, plus some food necessities. Milk, veg, yoghurt, two bottles of rum and a bottle of wine, oh yes, and bread. Just the essentials!

Back home and after lunch I booked an engineer from Virgin to come on Thursday and see what can be done about the modem. Then it was time to go for a walk in the woods with a camera or two. My favourite from that trip was a close up shot of some deformed mushrooms. They almost look as if they had deflated, like a burst football. It was that image that made me think they might be ageing Puffball mushrooms. They became PoD and I’ve just had a message on Flickr confirming that they are indeed puffballs. It’s good to have experts on hand, even if they are virtual experts.

Not a lot else done today. It was quite dull with no texture in the sky until quite late in the afternoon, then the setting sun found some blue sky and proceeded to change its colour to a lovely shade of violet. Dark at the top and lighter lower down. It was such a pity there was nothing to give a focal point of interest, although I did of course photograph the sky anyway. Not long after I arrived back home the missing parcel arrived. Allegedly it should have been here by 1pm. It finally came around 4pm, but at least it did come!

Tomorrow we have an appointment with a consultant to hear what he has to say about Scamp’s eyes. Hopefully he will be able to give us a more realistic time frame for the procedure than the NHS.

Hoovering the grass – 27 November 2021

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Just like hoovering the living room, but better fun.

Last night Storm Arwen dropped a bundle of leaves in the front garden, a big bundle! I think it was the way the wind was swirling round the houses that caused a mini whirlwind which gathered all the leaves then when it ran out of energy it dropped them in the front garden. First task today was to gather them together and dump them in the bin. Luckily, a few years ago I got Scamp a leaf blower for her Christmas. When she cuts the grass, she uses it for blowing all the grass cuttings off the path and into the wooded area across from the house. It came with attachments that turned it from a blower to a ‘sooker’. I used it in ‘sook’ mode this morning to hoover up two black bags worth of leaves from the garden. As well as sucking the leaves up, it also chops them up, so we now have the garden refuse bin full of chopped up leaves. Some of it will go into the compost bin when I’ve time to decant them. It seems a shame to just chuck them out when they could be helping to make compost. With the path now clear and most of the garden holding only a sprinkling of leaves I reassembled the machine back to a blower again and it went to sleep in the cupboard again, dreaming of blowing grass again (not that kind of blowing grass 😉) .

After the ferocity of yesterday, today was a welcome relief. Just a quiet, cold Saturday. The furthest we went was a walk to the shops to get a chicken for tonight’s dinner, and, of course some ice cream cones, 99s. The shops were really busy. I don’t think people wanted to go far today because it was just above freezing and there were hints in the forecast that snow wasn’t out of the question, even to lower levels. Luckily none of the white stuff has been seen yet.

We watched an embarrassing special broadcast headed by Boris explaining the new procedures to tackle the latest Covid variant, Omnicron. Neither of us can understand how that man got into the position he is in. When reading from a script he is bearably literate. As soon as he goes off script he just rambles into unfinished sentences. The poor man is totally out of his depth and really should admit it.

PoD was a little Cyclamen battered and bruised from last night’s storm. I photographed it in the back garden this morning when the sun was shining and the temperature was just above zero.

Tomorrow we may go for the messages, just to get out of the house and I might remember to book a Tesco delivery too!

 

Dull, Dull, Dull – 16 November 2021

Posted on by Zogman

We had wished for sunshine today, but apparently it was out of stock.

Since I was up first for a change and it wasn’t actually raining, I grabbed the Sony and went for a walk … round the garden. That’s where I got today’s PoD which is a lovely little Fuchsia hanging on a hook in the back garden. It’s splash of colour was very welcome.  Came back in because the rain had started and stayed on for the day.

I’d just come back in when Hazy phoned. We had a long talk about consultations, because it’s not just Scamp who’s having problems just now. Hazel is steeling herself for a hospital appointment, Neil is being overloaded with school work and his granny isn’t doing too well either. I think it’s something to do with the time of the year. There seems to be a dip in enthusiasm just after the clocks go back. Daylight seems in short supply and darkness comes early. Nothing to look forward to until Christmas and that’s still over a month away.

I drove down to the shops to get tonight’s dinner and that was the extent of our travel. A load of scaffolding was delivered to the ‘pensioners’ house next door. It appears that there is work to be done on the roof. That was a little bit of excitement on a really dull day.

Scamp is sticking to her pledge and working with the glasses, even although they are heavy and keep pulling down on her nose. If I get finished this blog tonight, that will be me up to date. Take a few days off from blog posting and it takes more than a few to get it up to date. It’s good fun to read what happened last year though!

Tomorrow I’ve got a coffee appointment booked with Val. That might brighten my day, and give Scamp a rest from me!

A confusing day – 4 November 2021

Posted on by Zogman

Today we were driving to East Kilbride to Hairmyres hospital for Scamp to get her eye test. She has a cataract in one eye and our optician had written to the hospital recommending her for cataract surgery. Last week we got the letter inviting her to go for a check up. We had to cancel a tea dance in Paisley, so we were hoping the test would be the first step to the removal of the cataract. We were making a big sacrifice here, you understand.

But before any of this could happen I had to go and see the bank manager and apply for a bank loan to pay for the tank full of petrol I’d need. Well, I didn’t need a full tank, but a considerable amount and it costs a lot of money these days to run a car. The bank manager ok’d the loan which I can pay back at a reasonable 55% interest. I may have to put a padlock on the filler cap now to prevent folk syphoning off this precious liquid.

We drove to the hospital and got parked, then went looking for the clinic. Of course I couldn’t stay with Scamp because of whatever restrictions they’d enforced now, so I left her to it and went looking for something to photograph. As I was finding my way out of the labyrinth that is Hairmyres, I thought my phone beeped at me, but no message showed up on the screen. Then I got a phone call from Scamp to say ‘Just wait, I won’t be long. I’ll explain.’

The explanation was that they couldn’t do the assessment because she was wearing contact lenses. She should have been told to stop wearing them for four weeks before she came for the assessment (two weeks for normal lenses, four for gas permeable). Otherwise they couldn’t take measurements from her eyes for the replacement lens(es). I’m sure she’ll explain much better than I can to you two. Disappointed, relieved, angry, all these emotions seemed to come to the fore as we drove home. She admits herself that she just ranted at me most of the way home. Which was fine. What it did do was give her a chance to get it out of her system and plan ahead. She’s managed to get an appointment with the optician for tomorrow morning. After that we will know better what the situation is and possibly have a way forward.

We discussed the whole thing at length when we got home and agreed that things would become clearer after we’d spoken to the optician tomorrow. We might even go for lunch in Hamilton afterwards.

Because of the mixed up day, today’s PoD became the last rose to flower in the garden. The last rose of summer, one of this year’s purchases and a replacement for one we used to have in one of our gardens, years ago, Prima Ballerina. A pretty little rose with a nice scent.

That’s all for now. It’s been a busy, mixed up sort of day. Hoping for some clarity if not resolution tomorrow (apologies for two unintended puns!)

Another beautiful autumn day – 3 November 2021

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Beautiful, but cold.

About 11am I finally relented and we went out for a run to Torwood garden centre. Scamp wanted a bag of compost, a pot to transplant the sempervivum collection and some autumn grass feed. I was just going along as driver. On the way back I suggested we go for a walk round Colzium. It’s a big house in a fairly large estate on the outskirts of Kilsyth. It’s famed for its Acer displays, especially at this time of year. We parked in the ‘car park’ which is a flat area of compacted earth, served by a dirt track road with pot holes that are more like bomb craters. Really, they are a danger to springs and shock absorbers. I really wish we had a council, one that works. NLC is BER.

Anyway, we went for a walk. I think every photo I took today had a tree or a leaf in it. The sun was shining and the trees were glowing in every autumn colour you could think of. Glory Be, even the walled garden was open! That indeed is a strange occurrence. OK, the cafe was shut, but it is November and a weekday. I don’t suppose there is much passing trade in Colzium. PoD was a low viewpoint photo of some acer leaves, just glowing in the sun. An against the light shot that made them sparkle. I just beat a panorama of the curling pond for first place. Go to Flickr and you’ll see the state of the curling pond, reputed to be the first curling pond in the world, now a silted up wasteland. NLC again.

On the way home we dropped in at Lidl to get some things and the makings for tonight’s dinner which was going to be quiche. Oh yes, and also a bottle of gin! I like Lidl gin, but keep it for weekends.

Back home and after lunch Scamp did think about going out and feeding the lawn, but it was cold and the temperature had reach its peak of about 9º around midday and was now starting to drop away. I don’t blame her for leaving it for another day. I was no better, I was happy to sit in the warm and finish a tough Sudoku. What exciting lives we lead sometimes.

The first attempt at the quiche was a disaster as the eggy mix started to leak through the bottom of the dish. Shouldn’t have used a dish with a removable bottom. Gave up took out the smoked trout and broccoli and binned the rest. Started again with a solid dish and that one worked well.

Watching a recording of Bake Off tonight I wondered why these people put themselves through it. All that faffing about just to get your face on the telly. The ignominy of getting it all wrong is fine when you’re at home, but in front of the viewing millions? I think not.

That was about it for the day, except on FB I read that the Aurora was visible in Glasgow tonight, possible something to do with COP26. Unfortunately now it’s gone quiet again. I’ve got the app now, though, so I’ll be checking for it.

Tomorrow were off to East Kilbride to see a man who will hopefully help Scamp to see better.

 

Another wet one – 27 October 2021

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Where is all this rain coming from?

The rain seems never ending these days. If it doesn’t rain in the morning, it rains in the afternoon. If it doesn’t rain in the morning or the afternoon it’s a miracle. We haven’t had any miracles for a while. But we shouldn’t complain because some places in Southern Scotland have a prediction for 200mm of rain in a day. Thankfully, this far, we haven’t had that amount, but we have two water buckets and a watering can in the back garden. The smaller of the two water buckets has been overflowing for days now, the other bucket is three quarters full and the watering can will be full by now. Then the weather fairies have the cheek to give us more rain tomorrow.

I did nip out with the Sony and the big macro lens in one of the spells of drizzle to get some photos. The best one of the lot was the fuchsia that hangs from a hook on the fence. At least that wee flower has a chance to discard its excess water, the ones on the ground are now waterlogged. The fuchsia got PoD.

That was about the extent of my walk today. A wander round the garden (like a teddy bear) and a walk up to the corner to put the bin out.

Today’s prompt was “Spark”. What do you draw for that? I chose a spark plug. Without these little wonders of technology our petrol driven cars wouldn’t work. I did try to add a spark, but it didn’t look right, so I removed it.

Well, sorry people, that was it for today. Not a day for going out and not a lot that I wanted to do in the house either. Scamp made soup, so at least we’ll have something to eat tomorrow.

Out early tomorrow to take the Wee Red Car for its MOT. Then we’ll wander round the house with our fingers crossed until we get the phone call.

Down the Canal – 11 October 2021

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Out fairly early since there was a fair amount of blue sky.

By the time we were actually on the road most of that blue was replaced by grey and an ominous amount of clouds rolling over from the Campsie Fells, but we got parked easily at the Hebo House and walked along the side of the Forth & Clyde canal in the general direction of Twechar. We met hardly anyone along the path. A few cyclists and that was about it. After my lucky spotting of a kingfisher last week with Alex, I was hoping we’d get lucky and see one today, but there were no sightings of that blue flash. We did see one of Mr Grey’s family on the far bank, but he was almost invisible among the reeds.

As we were about to cross the road and head back on the path of the old mineral railway we saw a man with twa dugs. As well as the dugs, he was trailing a long lead and I mean LONG. I’d estimate it to be about nine or ten metres long. He crossed the road and I had visions of the lead getting tangled in a car going in the opposite direction and he with the dogs being dragged along behind it. Unfortunately that never happened. I’m guessing it was a running lead to let the dogs get some exercise, but he really should have been more careful.

We spotted loads of fungi on the way back along the path and I took the opportunity to photograph a few. We also saw a ’workie’ in full workie gear sitting near one of the barriers keeping pedestrians away from the Never-ending Story that is the upgrade of the paths along that stretch. For once there were no notices telling the public (ie, us) what was happening now to these excavations, tree felling, tree planting and general works that seem to have been going on for about three years with little sign of completion any time soon. However we did see one of the mythical workies today. Rarer that a kingfisher.

I got PoD along the path. A pretty little pink flower of the genus Impatiens glandulifera or Himalayan Balsam. It’s a large annual plant native to the Himalayas but is now present across much of the the UK and is considered an invasive species in many areas. I don’t think it does nearly as much harm as the workies and their upgrades. Right, I think I’ve said enough on that subject.

We did manage to complete the walk without getting wet. In fact as soon as we closed the car doors, the first raindrops appeared on the windscreen. Drove home, had lunch and Scamp went out to work in the garden, repotting some flowers and planting new bulbs for next year. Meanwhile I cooked some steak and kidney, some of which will hopefully be my dinner tomorrow. The rest will go in the freezer to be a welcome dinner in the future.

Today’s sketch was to be Sour. I sketched a lemon from the fridge and faked a slice of lemon behind it. Splashed some watercolour on it and that will be another day completed in Inktober. Not the finest painting or sketch I’ve done, but it’s been posted. Inktober is not nearly as full of participants or sketches as it was last year, but then Flickr is much the same.

That was about all we did today. No plans for tomorrow. Weather looks like an improving picture.

What a wet day – 9 October 2021

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We’d already agreed to go to Stirling for some light shopping and the possibility of a coffee.

Basically, we did exactly what we’d agreed. Driving through torrential rain and blinding spray in to Stirling. We parked in the big cheap carpark just outside the town centre proper. It was even cheaper today, in fact it was free for some reason. All the ticket machines were covered, maybe to protect them from the rain. Who cares, we didn’t even have to pay the usual cheap price of £2 per day.

We walked in to the town and found a new cycle shop where the owner was repairing, of all things, a Clavinova. Scamp’s Clavinova has a dodgy key and I’ve been telling for ages to get it fixed. The bloke listened to her explanation of the problem, then told her what was causing it, and more importantly, that it could be fixed. No estimate of the cost until he sees the piano. She got his card and will probably phone him to get him to have a look at it.

From there we walked past The Gallery, an art shop we always stop to look in, but sadly is now closing. Stirling won’t be the same without it. Then, down through the Thistle Centre which is the Stirling version of a mall. Brilliant lego fantasy creatures in the mall. The Griffin was exceptional. Coffee in Nero and a few pies bought from the farmers market then that shopping in Waitrose before the drive home into the rain that seems to linger around Cumbersheugh on these damp days. Drizzle elsewhere, rain in Cumbersheugh.

That, I’m afraid was about it for today’s excursion. PoD was taken in the garden when the rain had reverted to dismal drizzle.  It’s what’s left of the geranium flower Rozanne after  the wind and rain have blown away all its petals.  It’s posted on Flickr as Rozanne naked ☺️. Prompt for today was Pressure. I chose to do some lateral thinking and my offering is the difference between high pressure and low pressure as far as weather is concerned. I was going to draw a pressure cooker, but this was better fun.

We have no plans for tomorrow. Weather looks a bit better than today. We’ll, believe it when we see it.

Tango and Rain – 2 October 2021

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Dancing the Living Room Tango in a hall.

Dance class in Bridge of Weir this morning. Drive to the hall was easy peasy. No real traffic to speak of apart from one numpty who tried to overtake me on the inside and got quite upset when he found I wasn’t going to let him, and he had to pull in behind. I don’t think he was a happy driver.

We started with easy stuff, just to get our feet tuned in again after a week’s lay off. Then we began the Tango we’d learned from the Zoom classes. We did really well and we both agreed about that, even the teachers made very few changes to the way we were dancing it. The strange thing about it was in Lockdown we danced half of it up the living room, then half back down again. Today the teachers sort of unfolded it so we danced it as it should be danced, in a straight line. Then we had a break for a sequence dance that Scamp and I can do, but which evaded us, and a few others, before it all came flooding back. Next was Waltz and we did make a few mistakes in it. Most of the mistakes were mine. Forgetting to do heel leads when going forward and losing “The Frame”. If you watch Strictly, you’ll hear that referred to all the time. Another sequence dance to finish and we were allowed to go home … in the rain. A rain that didn’t stop until about 5pm.

I spent most of the afternoon doing Sudoku and playing catchup with Flickr and the blog. Finally the sun came out and I prepared to go for a walk. I was spraying some beastie repellant on my boots and trousers when I must have turned the wrong way and got a sharp pain in my back. I thought the walk would help work it out, but for once it didn’t seem to help. A hot shower and a couple of paracetamol did and I felt better after that. But it returned later in the evening. I’m hoping a hot shower and another couple of paracetamol will help me get a decent night’s sleep. PoD was an Osteospermum from the front garden covered in little water drops.

Tomorrow looks like being much the same as today. I’m hoping for a little bit more sunshine.

Driving – 10 September 2021

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Feeling a lot better this morning. No sign of yesterday’s Lurgi.

We got in the car and drove to the petrol station to buy some extremely expensive petrol that only had 5% of Ethanol in it. Better the devil you know when you’re on a fairly long journey, carrying half a tonne of stuff.

Drove out of the petrol station, still smarting from the expense and joined the M80 heading in the general direction of Glasgow. Merged on to the M73 which in turn merged on to the M74. Drove sedately past the roadworks at Hamilton that are due to finish in October (year not stated), watching the train of cars, vans and lorries on the other carriageway, a train that went on and on and on. Made a mental note to exit the motorway at Canderside on our return journey and not be caught in a stramash like this.

After a hundred miles or so, Scotland became England and the M74 became the M6. Exited at Penrith and then it was on to the smaller A66. Just before the exit, the Start/Stop app in the car signalled a System Failure. This had happened before and I reported it to Nissan at the service a week ago. I was told then that the Start/Stop “… Checks a lot of parameters …” Which was technospeak for “It just does that, we can’t fix it”. Another Nissan failure on an otherwise great car.

Not long after we left the outskirts of Penrith, we were on a stretch of road which should have been dual carriageway, but was under repair, so it became a slow moving single carriageway. Just after what seemed like an hour, but was probably a lot less, we took the turn off that eventually led through narrower and narrower roads to the house. Actually overshot it, but Scamp noticed and we arrived. First to arrive again!

Cup of tea on the patio and a quick Foxtrot along the paving stones. I’ll bet that’s the first time anyone had danced a Foxtrot along that patio! Jamie and Sim weren’t far behind us, having left home long before us. Their’s a six hour journey and ours only about two. The world is ill divided.

PoD was to confirm that roses, even in England, have the same beasties we have up north. Honest, we didn’t bring them with us.
Scamp made Chicken Cacciatore for dinner and we all sat round the table, talked and ate.

Tomorrow we’re going exploring.