Category: Glasgow

Out on the town – 23 December 2025

Posted on by Zogman

Just me and a camera. Scamp wasn’t invited. This was a man’s Christmas Shopping expedition.

Actually, it was a bit early for Christmas shopping, if I’m truthful. Usually I try to get all my prezzies organised and bought by the end of play on the 24th, and today was only the 23rd. But, let’s not quibble about a day, I was in shopping mode.

First I dropped in at the Apple shop, trying to find out why I couldn’t get the same controls on my iMac that I have on my MBP. It was while I was explaining the problem with a Genius that I realised my mistake. It wasn’t an Apple problem, it was a Lightroom one. Apple and Adobe are two different companies and I was trying to cure an Adobe problem by talking to an Apple person. He did offer a solution which went part way to become the answer, but emphasised that he was speaking as an Apple authority, not an Adobe rep. I thanked him and left before I made any more foolish mistakes.

I walked back down Buchanan Street going over and over what he said and taking a few photos too. PoD went to the Balloon Man who stands at the corner of Buchanan Street and Gordon Street, twisting and turning balloons into squeaky shapes that balloons aren’t really meant to be twisted into. It’s only when you examine his twists and turns, you realise what he’s doing and the shape suddenly changes from a saggy balloon into a Mickey Mouse or a Bow and Arrow. The best thing about him is that he never speaks to the adults, only the kids. They love him and listen intently to his stories. Clever guy!

I wandered further down Buchanan Street, but the light was getting poor, so I headed back up and made the daft decision to get the subway out to Byres Road to buy another box of Pastéis de Nata for Scamp and me to share. Well, I had lots of time, and could afford to be daft. I was standing right outside the entrance to the underground, so went in and I got a return ticket. About twenty minutes later, I emerged from the same entrance with my yellow box of little pies. On the way I picked up the last of my Christmas Presents and headed for the bus. I loaded my phone with some new music and relaxed into the music, gazing at the darkening sky as the bus took me home.

Back home, Scamp suggested I use up a couple of egg yolks to make Pasta Carbonara. It’s ages since I last made it and I think I made a good fist of it, although I must admit it wasn’t my best, but practise will help there.

We watched a couple of Christmas University Challenge programs. One fairly up to date, presented by Amol Rajan and another a bit older, chaired by Jeremy Paxman. Two totally different approaches to the same quiz.

We got some photos from Jamie and Simonne from Trinidad. It looks lovely, even if Jamie was bitten a fair bit by midges!

That was about it for the day. Dinner was good. Pastéis de Nata were good. What’s not to like

Hopefully tomorrow will consist of wrapping prezzies and tidying. Wrapping can be fun, but tidying? Maybe not so much!

A trip to Glasgow – 20 December 2025

Posted on by Zogman

Today we went for a trip in to Glasgow, for no reason. Sometimes that’s the best reason.

We took the bus in to Glasgow. We were half looking for a small, under-the-counter freezer to give more storage. We already have an old unused freezer that is really on its last legs, so a new one would be worthwhile getting. We saw two in John Lewis. Just two. One of which was an ‘integrated’ model. It wouldn’t have been our first choice, but it would work quite well in the space we have. It’s on our list now. Hoping it will reduce in price after Christmas.

We also looked for a new Dyson lightweight floor sweeper (careful not to call it a Hoover!) We saw a few and I think Scamp will make the decision on which would be best.

After our wander through what JL had in the utilities, we walked down to Nero for a coffee and to plan what to do with the day. We decided to get the underground to Byres Road in the West End of the city.

We walked down Buchanan Street and listened to a Salvation Army band playing Christmas Carols. Scamp gave them a few pounds and I took some photos. One of them became the PoD.

We crossed the road and walked through the Argyle Arcade with its myriad jewellery shops and expensive prices … but didn’t buy anything. Instead, Scamp wanted to look in a shop in St Enoch’s Square, a ladies shop with lots of dresses. She found one which she liked and I’m sure she’ll send you photos of it if you ask her nicely, Hazy.

Next stop was the underground just in time to catch the train to Byres Road, where we bought some veg and fish in Waitrose. Some of the purchases might end up in tomorrow’s dinner. Across Great Western Road is the Glasgow Botanic Gardens I’d hoped it might have been dressed up for Christmas, but it wasn’t. However I did see some Pitcher Plants. We had some in the garden a couple of years ago until a dry spell killed them off. I think I’ll get more in the spring, all being well.

Oran Mor is a pub/restaurant that’s just across the street, so we went there for a drink that turned into a lunch. Scamp had Fish ’n’ Chips with a glass of red and I had a lovely Feather Blade of Beef with mixed veg and potatoes washed down with a pint of beer.

We walked back and picked up four Pastéis de Nata on the way to the underground, only to find there was a problem with one train and about a million folk on the platform for the other one. We didn’t have a choice and managed to squeeze on to the next stop where we got off and walked down to Kelvin Hall where we caught a number 77 bus which took us right to the Buchanan Street bus station. (Alex had shown me that trick a couple of years ago). We just missed the bus home by seconds, but hadn’t long to wait for the next one.

Back home we watched the final of Strictly and were surprised at the person who won!

Tomorrow we may have a relaxing day … hopefully!

A surprise meeting – 16 December 2025

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Instead of getting the bus today, I chose to take the car because I’d a few errands to run.

It was a cold morning with temperature around 5ºc for most of the day. Fog on the drive in to Glasgow and because everyone was shopping, the roads were a bit busier than normal. Also, the first available parking spaces I could find were up on level 7 in Buchanan Galleries. That meant I was going to be late for my meeting with Alex.

I met him in the bus station as usual and was only about ten minutes late. As usual we went for a coffee and caught up with all the gossip before heading down Buchanan Street. The fog wasn’t lifting much but the sun did a bit of back lighting that brightened the day.

We walked through St Enoch’s square, looking for anything interesting to photograph, but found little. Our next stop was the Clyde Walkway where we got a few shots of a guy up a ladder doing a bit of stylish graffiti. I found a lovely bit of light under the footbridge that made the most of the sunlight and the shadows. I may post it tomorrow if I can’t get anything more interesting. Lovely little spiderwebs jewelled with tiny raindrops which probably came from the fog. By then, I think Alex’s stomach was rumbling because he propose lunch and I agreed.

We were walking along Argyle Street, heading for Paesano when we were stopped by traffic crossing our corner when a man asked me if I was Donald and when I told him I was I realised he was Charles. We have been commenting on each other’s photos for over ten years but had never met until now. We shook hands and compared styles of photos and cameras. He had recognised me from my avatar on Flickr. We were heading in roughly the same direction, so we walked and talked, but he was heading in a different direction from us so we said our goodbyes and he headed on along Argyle Street while Alex and I went round into Paesano. A chance meeting!

After lunch, we walked back to the Clyde Walkway looking for some more good light, but the sky was clearing and the fog was lifting, so we put the cameras away. Alex was looking for a book in Waterstones and we found it, then we went back up Buchanan Street again, before Alex decided he wanted a photo of the Christmas decorations in Frasers store. We take these photos every year and rarely do they entice me to keep them in the big cull at the end of the year, but we still take them!

Another coffee in Nero and I gave Alex a run home. I’d a couple of parcels for him and the book I’d just read. Dropped him off at his house and drove him to find there was one parking slot available in our street. Brilliant.

Scamp and Shona seemed to have a lunch date and Shona seems to be well. Scamp might invite her over for lunch some day soon, if she’s not too busy.

PoD was a photo of a lady on the down ramp at Queen Street Station, waiting for a train or a lift home, I don’t know which.

Wrapping up a parcel tomorrow, but that’s about all we have planned.

Unlucky 13th – 13 December 2025

Posted on by Zogman

A dull day that never really got off the ground.

It was a will we? Won’t we? Kind of day. We did think about going in to Glasgow, but it would be mobbed as the Xmas mobs start to congregate everywhere there is a shop open. The sky was looking like the weather fairies were on the ball with their warnings of heavy rain. We decided that the best plan of action was inaction and stayed at home.

I set up a still life later, a shot of a Christmas cactus against an out of focus window spattered with raindrops. It’s become a tradition, to photograph some tabletop shots around Christmas, and this was one of them. Scamp has been feeding the cactus with coffee grounds, a tip she saw online and it seems to be working because this plant is much healthier looking than its companion in the next room. Maybe I’ll start feeding that one too. Anyway, that was PoD sorted.

You may remember I was out in the woods yesterday and found a sixteen spot ladybird. What I didn’t know then, was that a little tick had found me. Didn’t find it until this morning. Luckily I have a tick remover tool on my keyring, Scamp gave me it about a year ago, and I managed to get the tick out. A tiny wee thing. It’s now been squashed. Put some TCP on the spot where it was and took Piriton. I would have thought all the wee beasties would be tucked up in bed at this time of year. Just shows you, you have to be careful.

In the evening we got dressed for dancing and headed off through the rain to Brookfield for the last social dance of the year, a Christmas Social. I wasn’t greatly looking forward to it, I rarely am, but as usual, mixing with folk I like, I did manage to have a good time. I didn’t dance as much as I usually do, but enough to get round without making too many mistakes. We left just before the last dance and drove home through a busier than usual motorway, all the way home almost without stopping. It’s a great luxury driving through an empty Glasgow at night.

We arrived back home just before midnight to find that some kind person had left us a parking space. Whoever you were, I thank you! A wee snifter of sherry for Scamp and a slightly larger glass of brandy for me, then off to bed. Of course, you know by this time that this is written the next day!

No plans for tomorrow (today)!

Out on the Town – 8 December 2025

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Nothing exciting, no parties and no drinking. Just shopping for stuff to go to Santa.

Scamp had the whole thing organised. Bus in to Glasgow on a wet, drizzly day. Through Buchanan Galleries passing JL on the way into a shop in Buchanan Street then across the street to yet another shop. Across the street to one more shop, then along Argyle Street to Next to get a shiny top for Scamp and M&S where I couldn’t find what I was looking for.

Bumped into Lorna and Andrew from Kirsty’s class. Then we managed to find an empty couple of seats in Nero and had a short respite from the walking, taking time out for a cake and a coffee.

Fed and watered, we walked up to Tiso to get proofer for my Rab jacket, but discovered we didn’t need it, because it’s lined with Goretex. We walked back up to JL to get new curtains (Strawberry Thief by William Morris – very posh) for our bedroom then we got the bus home.

Except … the bus broke down on the slip road of the motorway and we had to wait for a mechanic to come and fix it, which only took about ten minutes, either that or the driver had forgotten his dinner time piece box, then we were on our merry way back to Cumbersheugh.

I lost count of the shops we visited today, but none of them were selling cameras or lenses, so they were no fun at all.

We just got in to the house when Scamp’s phone beeped. It was Kirsty to say that since it would only be us at the evening’s class, she was thinking of cancelling. We agreed and could relax.

Next thing to do was to convert our Virgin V6 box to a Virgin TV 360. The remote and the instructions had dropped through our letterbox in the morning before we left on our whistlestop tour of the shops in Glasgow. After a false start, everything just worked. Now we have a whizzo box that does everything except make the tea. Scamp had it sussed in no time at all. I just sat there and watched, making the occasional sarky comment.

PoD was a girl playing bagpipes in Buchanan Street in Glasgow. I felt sorry for her. What she played was lovely, but she looked cold.

Tomorrow I believe we may be going shopping. Just local shopping for necessities.

Time for a haircut – 5 December 2025

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I was meeting Alex for a photowalk at Kelvingrove Art Galleries today.

Scamp was kind enough to give me a lift to the station where I bought my ticket and walked straight on to the train. Very convenient.

In Glasgow I walked round to The Nile Barber. The best one in the town. I usually get my hair cut in Cumbersheugh, but the barbers I’ve been going to for a while will be closing soon and they are a bit “Hash Bash” which means they don’t spend any more time than they need to and it shows.

Hair cut to my specifications (4 on top 3 back and side) and glad I’d brought my woolly hat and Buff, I was off to meet Alex. We’d already agreed that we’d go to Kelvingrove for a walk round the exhibits and a spot of lunch, but first we had a coffee in Nero and caught up with each other’s lives.

Walked round to the bus stance in Buchanan Street and got the 77 bus to Kelvingrove. Lots of scaffolding protecting the building today. It seems that lots of money is being pumped into Glasgow recently. I don’t know where it’s all coming from, but the roads are being relined, George Square is closed for at least two years and now it’s the Art Galleries turn. Someone somewhere has been fiddling the books I think.

Inside it was much the same as ever, The iconic Spitfire still hangs from the rafters with its fur of dust. The animal exhibits also have a covering one half the lights were off in the hall. We need lots of lights at this time of year and with this dreich weather. Well, you can’t have all these improvements to Glasgow and Lights Too they’ll shout!

I wandered into the queue to see the Christ of St John of the Cross painting by Dali. It really is an amazing piece of work. I’m glad it has returned safely from its travels round the world.

Lunch for us pair was in the wee narrow restaurant beside the main building. We both went for sandwiches and as usual they were very good. Another walk round our favourite places in the gallery and then we headed for home. Got the bus to Sauchiehall Street and stopped in at Waterstones for a coffee before we went home. By then the light was disappearing fast and I guess we both knew there would be no more photos taken today.

We walked back down into the city centre and then went our separate ways. Both of us taking the bus, but on opposite sides of the bus station.

A plate of Minestrone soup was waiting for me when I got home and it was good.

PoD turned out to be a sculpture of a dog made from old wellington boots!

Scamp and I are hoping to go to dance class tomorrow and maybe a late lunch too.

Another early rise – 21 November 2025

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I was meeting Alex in Glasgow for a wander and a pizza later.

I was earlier than usual getting in to town. It was a cold morning. About -2ºc when I was leaving the house. I’d brought my Shokz headphones with me and I needed them. Some eejit was sitting behind me playing his hit-list of the worst jokes in the world with his phone turned up to max. The phone wasn’t a match for the Shokz.

I was nearly at the bus station when I looked out the window and a little voice in my head said “Get out and walk. Walk down to Rottenrow. You’ve plenty of time.” So that’s what I did.

Rottenrow is the old name for Royal Maternity Hospital. An old hospital that was founded in 1834 and finally demolished in 2001. It wasn’t completely demolished. The site was redeveloped by the University of Strathclyde into a public park known as Rottenrow Gardens. The park features elements of the old hospital, such as the original facade and a sculpture few sculptures. I’m almost sure I’ve been there before, but can’t quite remember when. Today I finally got some decent light to capture the giant Nappy Pin that dominates the site. Definitely worth a walk after hearing that voice in my head!

After I walked back to the bus station I’d only just sat down when he appeared. He’d been up at the other end of the town trying to capture his favourite piece of architecture, the Pavilion Theatre. Luckily for me I’d caught the Nappy Pin in good light but he had just missed the light on the Pavilion. A usual, a coffee in Nero gave us time for a catch-up, but neither of us had a definite destination in mind for the rest of the day. I suggested the Art Galleries, but we didn’t really have enough time for that, so we settled on a walk down to St Enoch’s Square where the ‘Shows’ were just beginning to start up for the day.

George Square is the usual venue for the Christmas Carnival, but allegedly the square is having an upgrade and won’t be in business for at least two years. I think you can call that Twenty Two years if the council’s usual slower than slow progress is anything to go by. Today we walked through the stalls and found nothing that encouraged us to stay, so we walked on to the Clyde Walkway, and even there the graffiti was poor. Not very much artistry or humour in the paintings. I did take a few shots of people walking across the suspension bridge and one got into Flickr, once it had been worked over.

We walked back to Paesano for a very nice pizza, then we walked up to the bus station, said our goodbye’s until next time and each of us got a bus home. I found a suitable set of tracks to take me home on the bus.

PoD turned out to be a woman in a red coat watching her grand-kids on the fairground rides in St Enoch’s Square.

Scamp had made some soup when I got home, which was gratefully accepted. Now I think it’s raining. Hopefully that will make for a warmer drive to Brookfield tomorrow after our sharp frost.

 

A walk around Glasgow – 24 September 2025

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Just a walk with my brother, and a chance to show off my new toy!

It was a lovely morning today as I took the lazy way into Glasgow – on the bus. I arrived about half an hour early which is quite strange for me. I’m usually “At the coo’s tail” which means I’m always late. I got some interesting shots of the traffic in front of Cineworld which looked quite American with its curved glass panels and advertising. Only a couple of tweaks needed and it became PoD. There were lots of photo opportunities in and around the Buchanan Bus Station. Lots of chances to take photos at low levels using the amazingly adaptable fold out screen, although this shot was taken with the older A6500 APS-C camera.

I actually bumped into Alex on the way back to the bus station and we went for a coffee as usual to start our day and to decide where we were going. We finally decided a walk and a blether round Glasgow would be a good way to use such a beautiful day. Unfortunately, by the time we got to the bottom of Buchanan Street, the clouds were already rolling in and all that blue sky was being eaten up.

We took some photos of the graffiti down on the Clyde Walkway and by then it was deemed to be lunch time. Lunch today was identical pizzas in Paesano – Fennel Sausage. First time for Alex, but one of my long time favourites.

When it was finished and paid for, Alex wanted to go for a walk along Argyle Street to have a look in a couple of what could only be called ‘junk shops’ He was looking for a pedal for his latest guitar. I was more interested in the ‘tronic stuff. Neither of us bought anything. We walked back along Argyle Street and had a coffee before the long trudge back up Buchanan Street to get the bus home. That is a sort of cut down version of our day.

We both caught different buses home and both agreed in our texts that the chopped up streets in Glasgow are a disgrace and must make the bus drivers tear their hair out. I’d hate to drive through that every day.

Tonight Scamp and I watched Masterchef with only one presenter, presumably Greg Wallace had been given his marching orders by then. After that we watched the first episode of The Hack. Complicated story about journalists with too many twists and turns for the end of a busy day. We’ll see if it improves next week in episode 2.

Tomorrow Scamp is intending to meet up with one of her work pals. Not one of the Witches this time. I may get my hair cut, because it’s becoming a ‘Pure Afro’ to quote a family joke.

 

Merchant City Festival – 18 July 2025

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Today we were going in to Glasgow for a bit of fun and to hear a man singing.

First Scamp had her first FitSteps class in a few weeks and by the look on her face it had been quite exhausting. Kirsty sometimes get a bit carried away with her keep fit class and what better day to get carried away than the first day back ‘at school’.

I decided we should go to Glasgow in the car. Buses can be a bit hit and miss in the summer, so, better to use transport you can rely on … ours.

The road to Glasgow was extra busy today, then Scamp said that today was the first day of “Glasgow Fair”. Years ago when I started work, Glasgow Fair was a week or sometimes a fortnight long and almost every works shut down for those two weeks. Now it’s not nearly as stringent a rule, but still some people keep to the old ways and have two weeks off in the middle of July. Maybe Scamp was right and maybe all these cars were heading to Glasgow or Edinburgh airport to get away for a while.

We got parked fairly easily in the JL car park which tended to add weight to Scamp’s theory. We walked down to the two or three streets that were cordoned off for the Festival, but we were too early. We mingled with the thin crowds who, like us were waiting for the fun to begin.

We decided a coffee and a panini would help pass the time. Scamp wanted freezer bags in a wholesale shop too, so we got those further along the street. By the time we got back the clowns were out as were the Scottish Ballet team and a couple of giant moving statues. A bloke who I thought was part of the show started a conga line and lots of folk joined in. The line was held together with old aluminium folding seats. Then the bloke gathered the seats up and stashed them before climbing up a niche in a wall with his feet on one side and then he managed to squeeze his back into the other side before edging upwards to a balcony easily two storeys above. We’re not sure now if he was a performer or just a nutter, because he followed the balcony round and disappeared round the back of the building! Weird!

Scamp found an old friend from Salsa days and stayed talking to her for a while. I was waiting for Finlay Napier to begin his hour long slot. I didn’t think Scamp would enjoy the music, but I was wrong. She likened him to Michael Marra a much lamented Scottish singer-songwriter and I could understand why.

When he was finished, we walked back to the car, but first Scamp wanted to look at a skirt, so I wandered round the Buchanan Galleries until she came down the escalators with a big fancy dress box and a big smile on her face. I had a smaller box and a smile on my face too. It was a rechargeable hand held fan I’d been looking for, for weeks. Of course it wasn’t for me, it was for Scamp. I think she liked it.

We drove out of Buchanan Galleries into a solid wall of cars. It took us over half an hour to clear about 100m of congestion before we could insinuate our way on to the motorway. I’d hate to have to do that every day.

PoD is one of about a dozen photos I took today of a man up on a cherry picker finishing off a graffiti portrait of a girl on the five or six storey gable end of a building. Amazing to watch.

The computer is still complaining and running really slow, but at least it’s cleared its own congestion in iCloud Drive which I couldn’t do. Amazing things Apple hardware can do.

Today was dry, but very close and clammy. Tomorrow we are forecast for rain and thundery showers. I don’t think we’ll be driving far tomorrow.

 

A Day in the Toon – 5 May 2025

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Not off the leash this time, but joining Scamp on a shopping spree.

Well, a shopping spree and a bit of window shopping too. Scamp wanted to look at interesting things, like Freezers (Brrr) and Fridges ( Just Cool). Me? I went looking for bottles of descaler for my coffee maker. I know it’s just about due a decoke, I just don’t know when, exactly, but it’s best to be ready for it when it occurs. I did have a look at a new coffee maker like Jamie’s, but the prices were just a little over the top.

I’d forgotten to take my sunglasses out of the car and was half way down Bucky Street when I realised. I thought I’d be able to buy a pair of clip-on shades now that I need a pair of distance glasses and also a pair of readers. A clip-on pair can be hot swapped across both pairs of specs although it’s a bit of a faff. Also I can flip up the clip-ons and give myself Mickey Mouse ears. Scamp always laughs at that. I’d have liked a pair of clip-ons, but nobody in the vicinity of Buchanan Galleries wanted to sell me a pair. Maybe they’ve gone out of fashion these days.

I got a couple of photos while I was wandering aimlessly down and around Buchanan Street. My favourite was a couple sitting eating ice lollies on the steps of the Galleries. That became PoD.

We drove home via Tiso where I was hoping to find a pair of trainers. Maybe found one pair of Scarpa trainers, but I was getting tired by that time and just wanted to get home. Maybe go back again toward the end of the week.

Spoke to Hazy for a while after we got home and heard about folk who can’t take a hint about over staying their welcome, even if they are distant relatives (not our side of the family, by the way) and that poor Tilly needs an expensive x-ray of her back legs.

Just had time to drive down to The Link to attend Kirsty’s dance class. Tonight was a full class. Six or seven couples gyrating in a Tango. We had missed last week, but enjoyed the class tonight. Some bits of it need cleaned up, but the general shape of the dance is ok. A much more compact routine than Stewart & Jane’s, but still with all the technical terms.

Tomorrow, Scamp is supposed to meet Isobel for coffee in the morning. I might go too.