Category: Garden

One of those days – 18 August 2017

Posted on by Zogman

You know it’s a dull day when a highlight is going to the butchers to get some stew. One of those days.

Woke to rain. Scamp went out early to check out a singing venue for Gems and I did very little (as usual). I did take some photos from the back door, and that is where today’s PoD came from. Did you know that rose ‘thorns’ are actually ‘Prickles’. I know a joke about that, but it’s not possible to repeat it in mixed company, but there, you learned something today. Not that I know a rude joke or two, I’m sure you knew that already.  No, it was the technical name for rose thorns! I digress. When Scamp came back, it soon became obvious that the weather was just going to continue in the same vein, so after lunch I got dressed for a bit more varnishing and gave two of the upstairs windows another coat of teak flavour varnish.

When I was finished painting for the day, we went out for a drive and that’s when I got the stew, sausages and black pudding. While I was braving the torrential rain to run to the butchers, Scamp was across the street getting some Scottish Tablet ice cream. After that, we just drove home. It was too wet and depressing to go anywhere else.

Couldn’t decide what to have for dinner tonight. I was almost set on a baked potato and beef burger. Then Scamp suggested why not have mince ’n’ tatties ’n’ cabbage with beetroot (of course, JIC). So with some detailed instruction from Scamp, I cooked the mince and then had mashed tatties and cabbage with ‘roop’ on the side. Brilliant. If there’s one thing that can put a shine on the day, it’s mince ’n’ tatties.  Truly THE highlight of the day. We had the tablet ice cream as a pudding, but there was very little tablet in the mix. Questions will be asked in the house!

So, a day that started off badly and stayed the same through the day, brightened up later because of some boiled potatoes, ground meat, leaf vegetables and pickled root veg. It sometimes doesn’t take much, it’s just got to be the right thing at the right time.

Remember, prickles not thorns.

Hoping for some dry spells tomorrow.

Rainy Monday – 14 August 2017

Posted on by Zogman

Least said about the weather today, the better. It rained, let’s leave it at that.

Again, we were pottering about in the garden in the rain. Sowing seeds and stuff, but nothing much because we were having to work in the short dry spells.

We took a run up to B&Q to get some varnish for a much needed protective coat on the inside window ledges. That about sums up the best bits of the day.

Salsa at night was a hit and a miss. Jamie seemed a bit unprepared for taking a combined class composed of his 7.30 class and Will’s 8.30 class in the 7.30 slot (if that makes sense.) It was meant to happen next week, but I think it had been rushed through this week instead. Two new moves that might actually make it to next week unchanged. I helped at Shannon & Cameron’s 6.30 class. Big mistake. I hadn’t noticed Shannon in the class, only that Cameron was teaching and they were a leader down, so I filled the gap. Unfortunately, after that Shannon took over and the class went over the same three moves for the next half hour. Boooooring. I shall be more circumspect next time.

Supposed to be a better day tomorrow. Let’s hope so.

Walking in Sunshine – 13 August 2017

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There were no Perseid shooting stars to be seen last night. Even when some kind children (teenagers that is) woke me at around 3am, I staggered through to the back room observatory but still could not see any astral fireworks. I think it’s just a story put about by the media to induce insomnia in the unwary.

Today was fairly bright, then dull, then sunny, then dull. At least it wasn’t raining. Spoke to Hazy for about an hour on Skype and found out about her Amsterdam trip. Couldn’t believe it when Scamp and I were discussing Amsterdam afterwards, that it was about ten years ago we were there. How time flies.

After lunch we pottered about in the garden. Ripping out the pea plants and composting them. Planting some nasturtium seeds that I harvested last year. Just to see if they will come. Planted some seeds I harvested this year from the aquilegia. Just pottering.

Eventually I got fed up with the horticultural life and drove down to Auchinstarry for a walk in the sun. Before I went, I got the PoD which is of California Poppies in the front garden. Glorious golden colours from the Golden State. Found a host of caterpillars all squeezed on to a branch of a bush. Not sure whether they are from a moth or a butterfly. Posted the pic on Flickr. Someone there will be able to ID them. Sun was warm and the wind was light, so it was great to be out walking in such pleasant weather.

Dinner tonight was roast shoulder of pork with apple sauce from our own apples, James Grieve. Scamp made it and it was lovely. She also calculated the cooking time for the pork and it too was lovely. She had Sea Trout.

It looks as if we will be getting some rain tomorrow.

A busy day – 1 August 2017

Posted on by Zogman

We were having visitors from Hamilton today, so we had to stick to a tight schedule.

Scamp was up early to start the prep for the main course, then she found out that the chicken thighs weren’t as fresh as she had anticipated, so I volunteered to dive up to Tesco to replace them. With the Trinni Stew Chicken cooked to her satisfaction and the Pineapple Snow churned and freezing, we took some time out for lunch which we’d agreed would be at Torwood.

Lunch at Torwood was mini quiche in a filo basket, exactly what we’d decided to have as a starter, so in a way lunch was a final check to ensure that our recipe was correct. Scamp got a new, and much needed, pair of secateurs and a pot of parsley. I got a rhubarb plant. Wandered round the plants and made notes of things we may get later in the year for a bit of autumn colour.

When we got home, we got a text from Hazy to say they’d arrived in their holiday flat, despite a holdup at Heathrow. I started to do the prep for the starter. Such a lot of chopping for such a little thing. I was just taking the bag of coffee out of the freezer when I realised that we didn’t have a coffee pot, because I’d broken the old one a few months ago and we don’t use it except when we have guests. This time it was Scamp to the rescue, managing to get one in Tesco. Where would we be without Tesco?

Dinner menu was:

  • Starter Mini Quiche filled with cheese, chopped peppers and spring onion
  • Main Trinni Stew Chicken with rice and fried plantain
  • Puddings Pineapple Snow with Lime Chilli sauce or Summer Fruits Crumble

A good night, comparing holidays and telling tall tales.

Today’s PoD is a picture of my watercolour paintbox with its messy palette. A comment from an amateur artist like myself last year has become my maxim. “I might need that exact colour some day.” That’s why I rarely clean my palette.

The final day of farting about – 30 July 2017

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Such a lazy day.

According to my Fitbit I slept for over 8 hours last night. The first time I’ve broken the 8 hour barrier for about three weeks. To celebrate, I spent the next hour or so in bed reading ‘How to stop time’ by Matt Haig. Not quite finished it yet, so I’ll keep that pleasure until tomorrow.

Picked the rest of the peas and we had them and our potatoes with our sea trout for dinner. I did go out and take some photos of the smaller alliums in one of the rare dry spells – the rain was torrential when it came. So today’s PoD is the allium with the peas and potatoes as the runners up.

Blog is up to date now and Flickr is half way there. This blog nonsense doesn’t half take up your time. I hope you’re all enjoying reading it.

I think I’ll treat myself to a small G&T tonight to mark the end of the holiday and tomorrow it’s back to business as usual. May even go to the gym.

I did say “May”!

Continuing the journey into reality – 29 July 2017

Posted on by Zogman

The day dawned dull and damp, but we forced ourselves to get up and go out.

Scamp noticed the squirrel sitting at the end of our fence. It sat there for ages, ignoring the rain and high winds. Liked this shot best, so it became PoD.

We took a trip to B&Q and Dobbies to look for secateurs. What an exciting life we live eh? Didn’t get any.

Back home we lifted the second pail of potatoes and got 640g from two seed potatoes. That with our remaining peas will form the veg input to tomorrow’s dinner. Although there is a lot of water lying in the back garden and we do have a bird bath, but I have to admit that the trout we’re having wasn’t farmed in our garden.

Tonight’s dinner came courtesy of Golden Bowl. It’s ages since I had Sweet & Sour Pork Balls. Low in saturates, high in polyunsaturates and low in cholesterol. As long as you don’t eat it, that is. On the way back from Condorrat, two blokes on the radio were talking about a Pizza Crunch which is basically a cheap pizza dipped in batter and deep fried. Usually eaten with chips. That made me feel a bit better about my Chinese meal.

That was the sum and substance of our Saturday. Hopefully tomorrow will see us knocking at the door of reality.

Auld Claes and Purrich – 28 July 2017

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Auld Claes and Purrich. One of my dad’s sayings, meaning back to real life after a holiday. That sums up today perfectly.

It was dry and fairly bright when we set off to do some shopping. Decided to drive to Stirling to shop in Waitrose, partly for the run and partly for a walk round the shops.

Took a couple of shots of a sow thistle growing out of a wall near the car park in Stirling, but rushed it and it turned out overexposed so badly it was out with Lightroom’s capabilities to bring it back into gamut. That’s why it’s flooers again for PoD. This time they were carefully exposed and taken on a tripod. Remarkably detailed and low(ish) grain from the Teazer which which is proving a very adaptable camera. These are Scamp’s sweet peas which she has grown from seed this year and are flowering very nicely now and just over 2m tall. A much more successful batch than last year’s.

Dinner tonight was pea and prawn risotto, the peas came from the garden. Not sweet peas, but garden peas. Ones I grew this time. Last year I got one pea plant. This year I have about seven, grown from seed I got when we visited JIC and Sim earlier in the year. There weren’t that many peas in the risotto, but they tasted good.  Partly that was due to chopping up the pea pods and boiling them with the liquid for the risotto.  Hoping to have more peas with Sunday dinner. Also hoping to have new potatoes from our second batch which I’m going to lift today.

That’s about it for a dull day back in Scotland. No plans for tomorrow.

The Glorious Twelfth – 12 July 2017

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The weather was glorious today. Better than the forecast had promised. Now, I don’t often say that!

Scamp was out early to get her eyebrows done. I had intended getting mine done, but feared I’d be told “Hopeless cases not accepted.” When she came back we dithered about for a while before deciding that we’d go out for lunch. Somewhere nice, was Scamp’s request. She’d thought about going to South Queensferry, but I don’t think either of us fancied the long drive, so we settled for a slightly shorter drive to The Stables, just outside Kirkintilloch. The food is usually good and there’s also a pleasant wee walk along the canal. The Stables won.

Got parked easily and followed the path on to the towpath and along towards Bishopbriggs. Walked for about a mile or so and then came back the same way, avoiding cyclists be-helmeted and the others who live dangerously. They’re the ones who are immortal (so far).

Lunch for Scamp was her usual Fish ’n’ Chips and mine was Southern fried chicken on the bone. Both were deemed decent enough food. Scamp had a glass of wine and I had a Becks Blue. The first mouthful of the ‘beer’ was ok, but after that I sensed a chemical tinge to it that I didn’t like. However, you could almost convince yourself that you were drinking beer.

Came home and Scamp went to cut the grass while I almost managed a snooze.

Salsa tonight was a great laugh. With even numbers it was inevitable that we’d be doing rueda moves, and so it was. Great fun was had by all.

Today’s PoD is of a piece of artwork on the side of a barge on the canal. Saw this and thought of you Hazy!

Deteriorating weather conditions tomorrow, but at least we had a scorcher today. Scamp even had her sun cream on!

2B or not 2B – 11 July 2017

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The 2B in question was a packet of 2B leads in Ryman. They wanted nearly £4 for them. I think not 2B.

Went to get some stuff, important stuff, like 2B leads for one thing and a pencil extender (which makes short stubby pencil ends usable again) for another. Scamp went for non-esssentials like a hat to keep the sun off and a scarf to do the same. Y’see, the sun was out today and it had its hat on, so Scamp needed one too.

Went to get a drawing done too, because July has been deemed an odd month. Sketches must be done on odd days. Today was the 11th and I had to do a bit of catch-up and find one for Sunday the 9th. Got the 11th done. Did it in pencil for a change. The “Well, that’s odd!” challenge doesn’t demand that sketches are done in ink, hence the desire for 2B leads and a pencil extender. Pens are not the only drawing tools. Today’s PoD was taken nearby in Springfield Court. I liked the textures and shapes on the wall.

Watched one of the worst singers, but best performers entertaining the punters outside M&S in Argyle St. He was singing Motown covers and doing it really badly, but he used up meters of mike cable covering the whole street. I’ve seen him before and his singing hasn’t improved since then. His act has. He made a nice change from the Bowie – Bolan bloke who neither looks nor sounds like either of them. I’m sure I heard him sing a Bowie song in his fake Bolan voice one day. It was a sort of crossover cover.

Cup of coffee in Nero and then it was time to head for home.

Earlier in the day we had been planting stuff in the garden in an attempt at tidying up the number of plant pots we have. I planted up a wee mystery plant that I’ve been growing from seed since last year. I don’t have a clue what it is. Originally there were three seedlings, but only two made it through the winter. One of the remainder seems to be thriving and one is struggling. I’ve planted up the stronger of the two because it has the best chance of survival. If it perks up, I’ll pot up its sickly friend.

Had a bit of a problem with the Linx 1010 tonight. It seems to lose its charge overnight. Can’t understand why, but I’m beginning to suspect it may have done a sneaky upgrade overnight last week with this new Creators Update that seems to be an automatic update. Must check tomorrow.

Tomorrow looks like an even better version of today’s weather. By the way, I finally got the 2B leads in Cass Art for £1.60!

A day in the toon by myself – 10 July 2017

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Spoke to Hazy in the morning, then went into Glasgow for a wander. Danced in the evening. That’s the synopsis.

Spoke to Hazy in the morning and discussed books among other things. That’s probably what sent me in to Glasgow. Scamp had other things to do today, but offered me a run to the station, probably to make sure I went. I had a walk around Glasgow and, yes, I did spend a fair amount of time in Waterstones. Finally got a book, a physical book to read. (FYI Hazy, it’s Romeo Spikes by Joanne Reay)

Today’s PoD is of the reflections of clouds on the new 110 Queen Street building. It was either that or reflections of

Allegedly, the CityTree is a highly visual structure which, at 4 meters tall, nearly 3 meters wide and 2 meters deep, is said to have the environmental benefit of up to 275 urban trees.  This one was dumped planted outside the GOMA.

old sandstone buildings in the same glass building. You’ll need to visit Flickr to see that one. I’d half intended doing a sketch while I was in, but the rain came on and I didn’t manage it. I know I’m a sketch down after my lapse yesterday, but I’ll try to make it up tomorrow.

On the way home in the train, I glanced out the window while the train was going quite slowly and saw three fox cubs playing together in the grass of a cutting. They stopped to stare at the train as I stared back. So strange to see three cubs together in a little splash of sun after the rain.

While I made the dinner, Scamp picked blackcurrants from the bush in the garden. We’d noticed the birds taking an unhealthy interest in the blackcurrants recently and we were both determined to got our share of them picked and frozen. She managed to pick 1lb of berries. Less than it has been, but then the bush is getting quite old now. Scamp is very fair with her harvest. She never cleans out the bush, but always leaves some for the birds to have.

Salsa class was good tonight and although it wasn’t all that warm outside, it was hot inside and it was a joy to dance near the fan. Our new moves in Advanced class were:

  • Besso por Abaho
  • Agamemnon
  • Vueltas
  • Estrella

No real plans for tomorrow, but hopefully the weather will be better than today, because the rain was torrential on the way home from salsa class.