Category: Garden

Beautiful warm day. Was that summer? – 8 July 2024

Posted on by Zogman

In the morning, I started to clear out some to the rubbish in my room. Just junk mainly. That left me some room to store the things I wanted to keep in the racks in the corner. The rubbish bag is full and it’s in the grey bin now. Can’t go back.

I drove up to the town centre later to get my hair cut. It didn’t take long, probably about ten minutes from me opening the door to going back out again. A number 2 cut all over cost me less than a tenner!

I’d parked in Tesco car park, so it seemed a good idea to pay for it with a bag of rolls for lunch. Not as good as the ones they used to bake on the premises, but not bad, if a bit doughy. On the way in I bumped into Lorraine Henderson who I used to work with. It was quite embarrassing, because she obviously had forgotten my name and I had forgotten her’s. She was with a friend who originally came from the Cumbershugh area but was now in the US. Said was on holiday here and said she would come back here ‘in an instant’, and I thought “Aye Right!”

Back home and after lunch, I started making a support for the apple tree. One bough in particular is carrying a heavy load just now and that load is just going to get heavier as the apples swell. The support is a bit rough and ready, but it’s holding for now. I think we might need another one further along the branch just to stop the bough from breaking. That’s for the future. For now it’s a lot better than it was.

When we were finished and sort of tidied up, I drove Scamp up to B&M to get a set of three storage boxes. One was earmarked for holding her dance shoes and another would be for my shoes, although I’ve a plan to chuck out some of the older shoes I’ll never wear again.

The weather was still lovely when we got back, so Scamp read in the garden with a Pimms and I went for a walk in St Mo’s. PoD was a close up of a solitary Soldier Beetle. Unusual to see just one. Usually they are in pairs, busy making more Soldier Beetles! Saw and photographed Common Blue Damselflies too. When I got back to the house I had the final bottle of beer from last year’s box. Only slightly out of date, but tasted fine. Dinner was Tuna Pasta and that was really nice.

Hoping to meet Alex in Glasgow tomorrow to go to the Burrell Collection. Rain predicted!! Scamp says she’s going to do some tidying.

Actually not a bad day – 7 July 2024

Posted on by Zogman

In the morning we watched Laura Kuenssberg interviewing some of the new bright eyed and bushy tailed Labour administration. It was a gentle introduction and the claws were retracted … at least for the moment. Let them find their feet and let them feel confident, then the gloves will come off and the claws will be extended.

Today was the British GP and we could watch it LIVE on C4 without the interruption of adverts, and for once, it was worth watching. I lost count of the number of times the lead changed hands and felt sorry for one British (not english) driver who didn’t quite cut the mustard. However I did enjoy seeing one bruised and battered driver making his way through the young whippersnappers to stake his claim as the first driver to win a remarkable ninth British Grand Prix and to set a new record for the most victories at a single event.

Dinner tonight was Mushroom Risotto. I haven’t made if for ages and volunteered to attempt it today. Not quite enough mushrooms, but some chickpeas filled the space very nicely. I don’t think it was my best, but it was good enough to fill a wee space.

It was actually a good day with occasional showers, but lots of sunshine. Even now at 11.15pm as I look out the back window, the sky is bright blue. It’s dark now, but the sky is still blue. Today’s PoD award was won by a couple of Aquilegia flowers in the garden. They are just ‘going over’ now, but if we take care and cut them back they may, just may produce another show of flowers later in the year.

Spoke to Jamie later in the evening and heard that Simonne’s latest interview went well, so we’re hoping that’s good news for her. Any reduction in her workload would be a good thing. Also some planning is being done for a short holiday which is well deserved.

I think I may bite the bullet and get my hair cut tomorrow. Scamp has already told me that it looks a ‘Pure Afro’. I don’t think that’s the correct description. I’d say it was more a ‘Cock’s Comb’. My mum used to delight in combing Alex and my hair into that mini Mohican and every time I look in the mirror these days, I see it! A number ‘3’ should sort it out.

Other than that, no plans for tomorrow.

 

Out for a walk – 6 July 2024

Posted on by Zogman

Scamp suggested we drive to Colzium, just outside Kilsyth and go for a walk in the park.

That sounded like a good idea. The weather looked fairly settled with blue skies and white clouds, so off we went. We parked in a small carpark in the trees and started a ‘figure of eight’ walk by passing Colzium House which was once the seat of the Edmonstone family but became the property of the Burgh of Kilsyth after the Second World War. Built in 1783, it was substantially enlarged in 1861. Beyond the house, the path climbs a long tiring hill with excellent views over to Bar Hill and the intervening fields with their different shades of green. From there we walked through the woodland, still climbing until we reached the top and took a wee rest on a rough hewn bench.

Once we had caught our breath we crossed the bridge over the Colzium Burn and started the descent, because “what goes up must come down” on the other side of the burn. I was taking some photos of moss fruiting bodies ( a long time favourite of mine) when a man stopped and asked what camera I was using. Obviously a photog, he said that he had a ‘crop sensor’ Nikon, but just used it for family and holidays. He stood and talked for a while and then we went our separate ways. It’s uncommon for folk to ask what camera I’m using. Only serious photographers do that, so I think he was more serious than he seemed.

Down to the old curling pond, the first one in Scotland it’s said, and finished our circuit back at the carpark. Drove home and had a quick cup of tea and toast, intending to go over to The Cotton House later in the afternoon for a late lunch … except, both of us were too busy reading and by the time we realised, the restaurant would have been near to closing.

Instead, Scamp put some washing in, then worked in the garden for a while and I helped out for a while. The parking area was full when we got back from our walk and I had to park quite a distance away, but I noticed when we were in the front garden that a parking space had appeared, so I went to retrieve the car while Scamp hung out the washing. Just as I was parking the an ice cream van stopped and as I had some ‘real’ money in my pocket, I got two ’99’ cones and watched Scamp’s face light up. Her second surprise this week.

We spent more time discussing plants and what could be cut back and what couldn’t. Scamp was also making plans for another planter to go into the front garden. Always thinking about next year. We were standing in the living room discussing whether to water the plant tonight because many of them in the tubs were very dry when I noticed it was raining. We brought in the washing which was nearly dry and realised that we wouldn’t need to water after all.

Dinner was a Spice Tailor curry made with Chicken Thighs. Just a wee bit hotter than we were expecting.

Watched The Duke. A 2020 British comedy we’d seen before, but neither of us could remember the whole thing. A harmless bit of fluff, allegedly based on a true story.

Pod was a photo of Colzium House.

No plans for tomorrow, but the weather looks not as good as today.

 

Surprise phone call – 5 July 2024

Posted on by Zogman

We got a morning call from Hazy this morning to say that her PiP allocation extended until 2030. That’s a six year extension. She sounded delighted and no wonder. It would appear that someone, somewhere has seen sense for probably the first time. Gaun Yersel, Hazy.

The oldies (that’s us, well, me anyway) went shopping in Tesco. Just the usual circuit veg, fruit and a bottle of milk, plus a whole load of other stuff.

Back home and after lunch I took some photos of flowers in the garden. Geums were the stars, but daisies made a good show too. Later I went for a walk in St Mo’s, but didn’t get anything that was better than the Geums, so to was them that got PoD. Red on Green a gold standard for colour contrasts.

We’ve been deluged by BBC interviews with everyone who ever stood next to Keir Starmer. It’s becoming one big long boring telethon. Ok, he ran a good campaign, but it’s done now, it’s over, let’s move on. What a waste of taxpayers money. Mind you, it wiped the smile of Jacob Rees-Mogg’s face for a while, so, some good things came from Starmer’s win.

Dinner tonight was Curried Cod a 30 minute meal but you would never have guessed that. I think it will be my turn to cook tomorrow or Sunday. I hope I can equal that with my choice.

Weather wasn’t terrible today. We didn’t have much, if any rain, but the wind was still strong for a while and gusty most of the day and then a glorious sunset at night. Tomorrow it looks like rain will return.

Not a lot more to be said about today. At least it didn’t rain!!

Talking gardens with Isobel – 4 July 2024

Posted on by Zogman

Today we were meeting Isobel for coffee in Costa. Not my favourite place, but it suited us today. Just a place for the ladies to have a blether.

The conversation was wide ranging, about family and the difficulty for young folk to find a permanent job, but eventually it all came round to flowers, plants and gardening. Isobel is a really dedicated gardener and I’m sure she and Scamp could spend all day talking about plants and different regimes for planting, feeding and disposing of unwanted plants. She is quite a hard task master with no quarter given. If a plant isn’t performing, it either gets cut down to the ground to force better growth next year, or it gets ripped out and dumped in the bin. There’s usually another plant ready and waiting to fill its place.

When the talking was done Scamp went to get a new cover for her phone and I drove Isobel home, then I went back to pick up Scamp and we drove home. She told me that everyone in the shops wanted to sell her a wallet type cover but she stuck to her guns and got the cover she wanted, not one they wanted rid of. I know where she gets that attitude from, Isobel!

After lunch we walked up to the Polling Station and handed over our bus passes as proof of identity, then put our cross in the correct box. Strangely we used to be quite coy about who we had voted for, but now we were much more open about it and both of us had gone for the same party. Spoiler Alert: It wasn’t a Conservative!

It was a wild day with gusty winds and heavy rain showers, but thankfully we got up to the Polling Station and back again without getting wet. That’s a miracle in itself these days.

I managed a walk in St Mo’s later in the afternoon and although it wasn’t very wet, the cold blustery west wind wasn’t great to walk in and I was glad to get back home with a couple of photos. This time I’d fixed the new lens on to the A6500 where it was a bit overbalanced by the Tamron. It still produced a decent shot of a little wee yellow flower which became PoD. I must look it up to see just exactly what it was. While the lens copes quite well with these almost macro subjects, it’s not really suited to them. It’s more a large landscape lens or a means of isolating a subject from the background. Maybe I need to get out into the wider world to test it properly.

Dinner was Savoury Rice which is basically “What have we got in the fridge?” with some rice cooked in a chicken stock. It was very nice. I had it without any additions, but in retrospect, maybe a dash of Soy Sauce and maybe a splash of Yorkshire Relish would have lifted it.

That was about it for the day, except for Andy & Jamie Murray’s doubles exit from Wimbledon, against a better pairing. I’m not sure if he will continue to the mixed doubles now.

No plans for tomorrow yet, Just waiting with bated breath to find out who wins the poisoned chalice of the house in Downing Street.

 

The Fox and the Blackbird – 30 June 2024

Posted on by Zogman

The latest bout of Buyers Remorse came about as a result of a Fox on the 3rd of June this year and came to an end with a Blackbird this morning.

I watched a fox watching me while I was out at Fannyside taking photos on the 3rd of this month. I took a few photos, but knew it would have been better to have had a longer lens at hand. That started a month long search for such a lens at a price I was willing to pay. I found one about a fortnight ago and swithered for a week and a half about purchasing it. I finally bought the lens yesterday but the first shots I took with it were lacklustre at best. This morning while waiting for my coffee to cool, I watched a blackbird having its morning splash in the birdbath. I grabbed my camera with the new lens and took a few shots with it. A quick chimp 1 I knew the lens was a ‘keeper.’ The fox started it and the blackbird finished it. The Fox and Blackbird would make a good name for a pub, and probably has!

Before lunch we went shopping for food and came back from Tesco with three big bags full, just like Baa Baa Black Sheep if you can think back that far!

After lunch and after listening to Laura Kuenssberg admonishing Sunak for his criticism of the opposition. It felt like she was going to give him a verbal warning before ordering him out of the studio. Must be nice to have the power to kick out the Prime Minister!

Next task for Scamp was more pruning of the roses and finding the name of a little red flower that came from Jamie’s garden (no the ones in the picture, those are Geums) and had appeared in the back garden. It was a Common Rock Rose!
While she was doing her tidying up, I was potting up some basil plants I’d grown from seed. A horticultural afternoon.

Spoke to Jamie later and heard about their invitation to a neighbours’ barbecue. Our weather has been a bit dull to attempt a barbecue any time soon.

PoD was the bathing blackbird, of course.

No real plans for tomorrow.

 

  1. (Chimp – Photographer’s speak for checking the photo on the back screen of the camera, usually constantly!) ↩

Hardly past the door – 27 June 2024

Posted on by Zogman

It started off a bit grey with a white sky and a temperature of just over 18ºc, and dry. From there it all went downhill.

The temperature was the first to drop down and it kept falling all day. The clouds got heavier and lower and around lunch time the rain started. It wasn’t looking like day for outside photography. I thought I might have to resort to a tabletop setup to get some images into Flickr and from there to a PoD.

However the rain wasn’t continuous and during one of the dry spells I managed to grab a few shots of one of our Triffids in the back garden. It’s actually a Teasel plant which is just opening up to reveal the teasel flower head. Presently it’s about two metres high and still growing. Also growing in strength was the wind today, which was not only strong, but also arriving in gusts which caused a fair bit of damage to Scamp’s roses. It also managed to behead one of her favourites. The teasel being made of sterner stuff just bounced around in the gusts and didn’t seem to come to any harm.

Scamp went out to the dentist’s for her check-up to make sure that everything was ok after her antibiotics had done their work and the dentist seemed happy with it for now. Hopefully it will stay that way.

Dinner was a Wednesday staple, Fish ’n’ Chips. Made by Scamp, of course and very nice it was too.

That was about it for today. As the title of the blog says, I was hardly past the door today. Hoping for better weather tomorrow.

Really sorry to hear that you lost Penny today, Hazel. It must have been heartbreaking for both of you to take her to the vet for the last time, but it was the kindest thing to do.

No plans for tomorrow.

A dull morning that became a dull day – 24 June 2024

Posted on by Zogman

Another white sky day. I spent most of the morning writing the catch-up blog for yesterday. While I was doing that, Scamp drove to Tesco to get the messages and by the time she came back, I had almost finished yesterday’s story. I helped bring in the messages and then realised I’d forgotten to tell her to get porridge. Finished the blog and posted it, and then it was lunch time.

Lunch was a dodgy bake-at-home pizza from the Pizza Express range. This one was a BBQ Chicken flavour. If you ever see it, pretend you didn’t and walk on. Probably the worst pizza I’ve eaten for many a long year.

After I got the taste of it out of my mouth, I went for a walk in St Mo’s. The weather was really muggy and uncomfortably warm. As I was walking over I did feel a couple of spots of rain, but it didn’t come to anything so I just continued on. I was carrying the A7 with the heavy 105mm macro lens bolted to it. That meant the most comfortable way to carry it was in my rucksack. Having the rucksack meant I could carry my raincoat too, just in case. However, I didn’t really need it a few spots now and again was all that troubled me.

No wildlife around in St Mo’s not even a few damselflies. The nearest I got to something interesting was a black and white Pellucid Hoverfly. I don’t remember ever seeing one before and I only found out what it was, by copying one of my photos of it into Google Images and discovering it that way. The PoD went to a plant I see quite a lot of in St Mo’s in the boggy areas beside the boardwalk. Quite a pretty plant, but decidedly difficult today when a bit of a breeze got up.and the whole thing started to gyrate.

John, next door had watered the garden on Friday, or was it Saturday night. Anyway, it was our turn to return the compliment. I fitted the hose for the first time this year and doused both our front gardens, then finished off by watering the back garden, I think that’s one of the problems with plants in pots, as opposed to in the ground. It takes longer to get round all the different pots and check that you haven’t missed any.

After that, and with the hose and connector put away for another week or so it Monday and my turn to cook. I made White Pasta or Pasta Carbonara to give it its proper name. I thought the sauce was too watery, but Scamp said it was fine.

Wrote to Alex and arranged a photo walk for this coming week.

No plans for tomorrow yet.

A dull start to a Sunday – 23 June 2024

Posted on by Zogman

It was a white sky day again today. Warm with just the risk of rain in the air.

We’d planned to go down to Glasgow Green, but never really got organised enough to go, then after lunch I was moping around looking at a couple of lenses which had dropped considerably in price when I noticed that WEX in Glasgow was listed as being open on Sundays. It had previously been a Monday to Saturday shop. I thought I’d risk a phone call to see if they had one of the lenses available for testing. They did have. That put a different complexion on the day!

Scamp didn’t want to come into town with me, being more interested in getting the front grass cut, so I drove down to the station and was just in time to get the express train to Glasgow. The day was brightening up and the sun was poking holes in the cloud, so I walked up the Bath Street hill and down the other side to WEX. Unfortunately, it was the expensive lens that they had on display, but I tried it out, just in case it would be worthwhile. Lovely bit of equipment. Almost perfect for what I wanted, but just a little out of my price range. However Baz, who was the salesman I spoke to said they could get a lens sent up from the warehouse for the middle of next week. I agreed and went home to dream about things I couldn’t afford!

I grabbed a couple of candid photos in a walk-by shooting spree on Sauchiehall Street and another couple of more planned shots in Buchanan Street, then walked through to the station, where I bumped into Cathy Donaghy who used to be in the office at work along with here daughter. They too were waiting for the Croy train to arrive after the previous one had mysteriously disappeared from the display board. We talked for a while and I found out that Danielle, her daughter was getting married in September and that a few of the teachers we knew had retired, as had Cathy. It was a really good catch-up with folk I hadn’t seen for years.

Back home, Scamp was sitting in the back garden with a Soda & Lime having done a great job on the front grass. I told her my tale of woe of the wrong lens and of meeting Cathy and Danielle then recharged her glass with Pimms and filled mine with Birds & Bees Summer Ale. We then soaked up the sun that had cleared the sky of clouds for an hour or so until it was time for dinner.

Later in the evening we watched a processional Spanish F1 GP. Which was won by the usual suspect. Later still just as the Scotland vs Hungary football was starting, Jamie phoned and we discussed work and the prospect of Simonne getting a job with a more localised area. That wouldn’t be a bad thing.

Finally we watched a lacklustre Scotland losing to the better team, Hungary. Apparently Scotland were robbed of a penalty because the referee was from Argentina?? I think that’s just clutching at straws. Anyway, what difference will it make. They didn’t win and that’s it for this year at least.

One of the Sauchiehall street shots got PoD. As usual it was a mash-up of two photos!

A few too many glasses of wine, brandy and beer last night meant this blog was carried over until today! My appy-polly-logies. Hicº

Hopefully another warm but sunny Monday for the start of the week. We have no plans.

 

Doon the Canal – 19 June 2024

Posted on by Zogman

This morning, Scamp was out for coffee with Isobel while I stayed home and finished my book.

The book is Edge of The Grave by Robbie Morrison. A story based in 1932 Glasgow. If you’re thinking it might be interesting, my recommendation would be to ignore it, and go straight to the second book in the series, Cast a Cold Eye, a much better read. I’ll write a review of EoTG on Goodreads soon, but don’t expect it to get five stars.

When Scamp returned from Costa, and after we had lunch, Scamp suggested we go for a walk. I agreed and chose Auchinstarry as the destination.

We got parked quite easily for a change at Auchinstarry, it’s usually a full house in the afternoon with folk parking there and walking or cycling along the canal. It was a very pleasant walk along the Forth & Clyde Canal, with around 25 photos taken. Favourite and PoD went to a landscape view across the valley to the Campsie Fells under a blue sky and for once I didn’t have to fake the sky!!

We turned at Twechar and walked back along the old mineral line, but about half a mile from the car, Scamp was complaining about cramp in her foot and I was constantly shifting my camera bag to a different part of my shoulder to ease the ache that had appeared. I think we were both happy to get a seat on the wall at Auchinstarry Quarry. Just five minutes made all the difference. Then we drove home and sat in the garden for a while to enjoy the sun. Scamp with a Pimms and me with a glass of beer.

Highlight of the day was watching a cow on the far bank of the Forth & Clyde Canal munching its way through the lush vegetation at the water’s edge.  It stopped for a while to stare at us and it reminded me of a poem:

What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.

Leisure by William Henry Davies.

Our own dinner tonight was a re-heated veg chilli and it had increased in heat since it had been put in the freezer a month or so ago.

Watched the second of Scotland’s matches in the Euros and decided that they almost deserved the 1 – 1 draw, but towards the end they were looking ragged. This is the opinion of two people who have only been to one football game in their lives!

Hazy, the Captain’s Grog was even better than Boozy Gladys. You can really taste the rum in the beans. Two very good choices!! Thank you.

Tomorrow is a Tea Dance day. Hopefully I’ll be able to remember which is my left and which is my right foot!