Category: Glasgow

Out in Glasgow again – 5 September 2026

Posted on by Zogman

This time I was looking for the bloke I spoke to about tuning the new coffee maker a week ago. Spoke to Jamie in the morning and he gave me a few pointers on using the coffee machine. That helped a lot, especially the settings for the grind size. Thanks J.

When I got to JL the salesman was nowhere to be found. I guessed that he was on his lunch break, so, instead we went for a walk up Sauchiehall Street and had a quick lunch in Waterstones. I was looking for a book, but nothing took my fancy. Eventually we walked back down the street to Buchanan Galleries and by then the bloke had returned from his lunch. He showed me how to correctly remove and replace the grinder. Another good help. While we were there, Scamp found an interesting serving plate that took her fancy and added it to her collection.

With my new knowledge, Scamp and I went for a walk down to see the changes that had been made to George Square. As I said to Scamp afterwards I wasn’t too disappointed by the changes that had been made to this old square in the centre of the city. They had placed trees round the perimeter of the square which was a start, but it would have been better to have some greenery too. Maybe that will come in the future. Very few of the statues had been replaced, probably to appease the more sensitive souls who would be easily offended.

We caught a train back to Cumbersheugh and picked up a couple of pizzas and a cake from M&S on our way home. Shona was doing an overnight with us tonight and we all watched a fairly lengthy tongue in cheek SF film, which Scamp enjoyed so much, she promptly booked the sequel for next week!

I applied the changes to the coffee maker that Jamie and the bloke from JL had suggested and it improved greatly. The dial is now rising to about halfway round the ‘clock face’ (you’ll understand that Jamie). I’ve probably missed out a few things, but it’s a work in progress, and the little things will iron themselves out over time. It does make good coffee!

PoD went to a bloke (a different one!) who was tuning and playing his banjo with all his accoutrements around him, including his dog (!) on Buchanan Street

No plans for tomorrow as yet.

Glasgow and England – 29 August 2026

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Today was a day to wander through Glasgow, looking for a bargain.

In fact it was just a day to go for a wander. Although Scamp did find a bargain in John Lewis. But it being under-garments, we are not allowed to discuss them in this blog!

I was sort-of looking for a new coffee maker. The one I have is over six years old now and does need a bit of care and attention, and as I have a few bob to spare, I’m thinking of upgrading it to a newer model. So far, it is merely a pipe dream, but if the price is right, I may make the change. It’s still not a firm commitment, but it’s bouncing around the ether somewhere.

I think we both enjoyed our short holiday down in the south of Engerland. It was good to wander round Kingston upon Thames and to sample the expensive alcoholic beverages for sale. Some were very nice and others were pulled straight from the River Thames, I think. Neil took us for a walk in Pinshill Park where we had a walk round this interesting landscape. We even had a scone, complete with frozen cream in an old castle. It was meant to be a clotted cream tea, but someone put the cream in the freezer, not the fridge! Anyway, we survived and on another day we walked around the city of London, got lost and then re-found ourselves.

All in all, we had a good time. Good food, good company and lots of folk to meet again. We enjoyed it all. At least until …

It was time to go home. Neil dropped us at a good staging point to get back on the overground train, again without many problems. Then we found our way from Vauxhall to the underground and onward to Kings Cross only to discover that our train was, like many others that day, potentially cancelled.

However, an hour late, we got the all clear and were off on our travels again on foot and managed to find the exact seats we were meant to be sitting on in 1st Class! From there it was plain sailing and although we were an hour late arriving in Edinburgh, we had enough points to claim a couple of hundred pounds of penalties from LNER. That softened the blow. Train from Edinburgh to Croy and a taxi from there took us back to the house. An interesting day.

The last two or three days have been deemed to be recovery days and not a lot of photos have been taken, but many more were taken on our trip Dahn Sarf as my old friend Ray would have described it.

We managed to ‘miss’ today’s dance class in Brookfield because Jane wasn’t fully fit. Next week’s class seems to be cancelled too, because Stewart and Jane are both booked for Tenerife for rest and recuperation. I’m sure they deserve it.

We have no real plans for tomorrow, but I expect Scamp will want to improve on my attempts to cut the back grass! She will also be waiting impatiently to discover what happens next in our visit to Dundee.

In the garden – 15 August 2026

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After yesterday’s stramash, today was a little calmer.

We had intended to take the train to Glasgow, but I wasn’t feeling well with a bit of an upset stomach (too much good food) and we stayed at home. It was a good bit cooler today with a cold breeze. It’s difficult to decide what to wear in these days of fluctuating temperatures.

I couldn’t decide what to photograph too, but eventually settled on an old shot I’d taken a few weeks ago of a Rowan berry sitting on a group of Rhododendron leaves. For once I can honestly sat that this was not a set-up. The rowan berry was sitting comfortably in the centre of the rhododendron. I couldn’t pass it up, that would have been a sin, so there it is. The orange and green made a good colour contrast too.

Later in the day we got ready to go to Brookfield for what used to be a monthly dance, but which is now just a fairly regular event, especially in the summer when folk are off on holiday. For once I really enjoyed the night, although by the end of the evening I was getting tired. It was good to drive home through a much quieter Glasgow than is usual.

A wee glass of something when we got home put the seal on the day, and I climbed the wooden mountain to bed, wearily for the second day in a row.

Relaxation will probably the name of the game tomorrow.

Out on the town – 12 August 2026

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Out with my brother today. Walking the streets of Glasgow looking for something new.

We took a walk down to the Graffiti area on Clyde Street. It’s actually called Custom House Legal Wall because it’s one of the few places where you can legally paint on the walls. I hadn’t realise that, after all the times I’ve walked around there. Every day is a school day, indeed.
I grabbed a clever looking bit of art there and it became PoD. Probably not to everyones taste, but it takes all sorts …

From there we walked left along the Broomielaw and then under the M8 before walking up the hill looking for the professional artists pillars that Alex had seen a couple of weeks ago. We got a few photos there before we got the ‘Bums Rush’ from a couple of blokes who told us that the area was a building site and we had to keep clear. We did that, for the most part, but then I went further and skirted the Express Way. It’s really strange, I’ve driven along that bit of road, but had never really stopped to see what was around me.

After I’d disentangled myself from all the roads round about that area, I retraced my steps and met Alex again. We decided it was time for lunch and Paesano is the only place we go on our walks. We were almost at the door when the rain started. The streets were dry by the time we left Paesano and we went for a coffee before we caught our respective buses to go home.

Scamp was sitting in the garden when I got home and I joined her while we waited for the eclipse, but although I got a few distant shots of the sun, the photos weren’t good enough to see any detail. Also, the clouds had rolled in and obliterated any details that would have been there. Oh well, maybe next time … when the next total eclipse comes in about 70 years.

Out to meet a doctor – 25 June 2026

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Not just any old doctor, this was a consultant who worked in the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow.

We had to be there for 10.00am this morning. To make sure we got there with some time to spare, we got a taxi from the house to the hospital. It made sense to us because we wouldn’t have to worry about connections and one less thing to worry about is a bonus.

He wanted to speak to Scamp, not me, although he was happy for me to be in the room. The last consultant we saw, in Dundee, was efficient, went through the tests and answered our questions.

Today’s consultant went into a lot more detail and explained everything we needed to know without talking in “Topsy and Tim” language but not using too much technical language. We had a chance at the end of his tests and note taking to ask questions and he answered everything well. We didn’t feel he was trying to bamboozle us which was a complaint we had about the Dundee doctor’s explanations. I think we both went away feeling much better about the whole thing.

A coffee in the visitors’ cafe helped us get things sorted out in our heads and also gave us time to discuss between ourselves what we thought of the morning.

The hospital is a beautiful building, but we were both amazed at how noisy it was. Maybe I should rephrase that to “The hospital will be a beautiful building once it’s finished” It made us wonder how staff could work in a hospital that felt as if it was still under construction. It’s 11 years old and still needs maintenance.

We got a bus from the the hospital to Glasgow Central Station which is looking a lot better than it did a couple of months ago. Than we wandered along to Paesano. Since I wasn’t driving, I could have the luxury of a glass of wine with my lunch, Scamp had Prosecco instead.

We walked up to Buchanan Street Bus Station and after a few minutes wait, our bus pulled in.

All together an interesting day. I think Scamp is feeling better about the whole thing and will be looking forward to see what is going to happen in the next month or so.

PoD is a view looking up to the ceiling of the hospital and hopefully will give you an idea of its complexity.

Tomorrow we are expecting John and Marion for lunch. According to the Weather Fairies, we should expect Thunder and Lightning (“Very, Very Frightening) too. Oh yes, and rain!

A day in Glasgow – 17 June 2026

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Met my brother in Glasgow and we went for a long walk around the town.

Coffee first, of course in Nero and a chance to catch up. Finding out how his family was faring and telling him about our recent visitors. Then it was down to business. Where were we going today? We settled on staying in the centre of town and doing the usual tour of places we usually walk to. Admired some of the graffiti and criticised the rest. As we expected, Glasgow and Football were well covered. While we were in Cafe Nero I bumped into Jo Levy, an old friend and Salsa dancer, and got a great welcome from her and a friend she was with. She suggested we should all meet up for a dinner sometime. I agreed it would be lovely, knowing that it was unlikely to come to fruition. However, if you don’t try you’ll never get …

The weather wasn’t very helpful today. Lots of black clouds, but no real threat of rain. Alex wanted to have a look in at ‘Guitar Guitar’ on the premise of buying a new set of strings, but I saw him gazing lovingly at a few new guitars and wasn’t surprised when he didn’t purchase the strings. I know how his mind work. It works exactly the same way mine does.

After reaching the furthest stretches of our walk, we gravitated back to Paesano for a pizza lunch. Then we walked up Sauchiehall Street to see if the upgrade that had taken years to complete was worth the wait. I think it was, and Alex agreed. Now that the traffic problems have been mostly solved, the street really needs a clean up, otherwise the whole upgrade was a waste of time and money.

Walked up one side of ‘Sausage-roll’ street and down the other, then I found a PoD. It’s the still, modern looking architecture where Sauchiehall Street and Renfield Street join. That made PoD. It would have been better if I’d taken the time to use the wide angle lens for more effect, but maybe another day.

We said our goodbyes and agreed to meet again in two or three weeks. I’ll look forward to it.

My back is sore tonight and my feet are too. Maybe the new camera bag wasn’t the bargain I thought it was. Perhaps I should stick to the old, lighter Lowepro.

No real plans for tomorrow, but Scamp and I will put our heads together and hopefully come up with something.

Mowgli – 7 June 2026

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On Sunday we all drove to Croy to get the train to Glasgow.

Arrived in town in a fairly busy train and went for a walk to see the damage to Union Corner that is still not completely cleared. Really high scaffolding and also barricades blocked the view of this memorable set of buildings.

We walked back to Mowgli which seemed to fit the bill for today. Great dinner with far too many and varied food options to share. Just as good as the last time Scamp and I had been there. Unfortunately nobody’s birthday today, so no Brownies with a dollop of ice cream and a candle on top!

In the last few days Scamp and I had been discussing how to get our old home movie films from DVDs into a more usable format. Jamie came to the rescue and showed us how to let the computer do the hard work. He spent most of the evening rebuilding the clumsy DVD disks into a format that could be sent to anyone who has One Drive. I’m still not completely clear on the details, but I understand the method. By the end of the night, we had four DVDs converted. Amazing.

We watched the Monaco GP between the technospeak and lost count of the number of penalties and broken cars in a few hours of mad driving.

PoD went to Queen Street Station’s new architectural ceiling.

Tomorrow Jamie and Simonne are intending to do an overnight with friends in Aylth, near Blairgowrie.

Happy Birthday to me – 8 April 2026

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I had a lovely day today, waited on hand and foot.

Breakfast in bed and lots of cards and prezzies to open, of course, it was my birthday.

Scamp said she was well enough to go in to Glasgow, to Mowgli, a restaurant we found because it looked interesting, almost three years ago. I’d asked for it as my birthday prezzy and Scamp had booked it.

We drove to Croy in the morning and took the train in to Glasgow, after leaving the car in the furthest place in the car park, because there were very few other spaces available. I’d wondered about having a coffee in Glasgow, but Scamp said we didn’t have enough time to search out a Nero and I agreed. Instead we went for one more walk to look at the old Union Street building. It’s still as scary as ever, just thinking about what it could have been like without the work of the fire fighters. It never ceases to amaze me that nobody was killed.

We walked round the boxes that make up the streets in that area of Glasgow and eventually went in to Mowgli. I can’t remember what I had, but I’m sure Scamp will have a note of it somewhere. Since it was my birthday, I asked for the swinging seats. Wooden seats without cushions suspended from the ceiling by ropes. Just a bit of fun. The food was good and I really enjoyed it all, but I ate too much, in fact I can still feel a bit stuffed, hours after we finished our meals. I liked the fact that I had an Old Fashioned (whisky) and a chocolate brownie with ice cream, free because it was my birthday. It was a great meal, just as good as the last time, I can recommend it to you, the next time you’re up our way.

We walked up to Sauchiehall Street when we were done and I got the book, Hazy. Ink& Sigil in Waterstones. I think I’m well stocked up with books now and I’ve still got a book token to spend when I’ve finished this lot.

Scamp drove us back to the house because she hadn’t been drinking anything alcoholic and I had a snooze on the couch! Too much of everything, but that’s what birthdays are for!

Thank you all for making my birthday great. I don’t deserve you lot, but I’m glad you’re there.

PoD was a grab shot of a branch of blossom I took when we got off the train in Croy.

Tomorrow we’re out in the morning and it’s back to “Auld Claes and Purrich”

A walk in the park – 7 April 2026

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Scamp was feeling a bit under the weather this morning.

She had a touch of cystitis and had been quite uncomfortable during the night and morning. She managed to get to speak to a nurse practitioner who gave her a prescription for some pills. I was meeting Alex for a photo walk at midday and said that I could easily cancel, but she wouldn’t hear of it. Once I was sure she was serious about it, I packed my bag and went out to get the bus to Glasgow.

Today I was carrying my new 24-105 lens on a Sony A7iii with a Sony A6500 in my rucksack. That’s just to remind me what I did on this day!

My bus arrived early in Glasgow and that allowed me some time to go for for a walk on my own in the sunshine, around Glasgow city centre. Did some candid photography with the shutter on the camera set to silent. The secret of candids is to wear dull clothing that doesn’t draw attention and also to not look at the person you’re photographing. I don’t really like the sneaky approach, but sometimes it is fun.

I met Alex and we went for a coffee and to discuss where we were going today. Neither of us had a firm plan in mind, so I suggested wandering around the business area across the Clyde and off we went. We were photographing some graffiti artists on the banks of the Clyde when I suggested we cross the river and walk upstream for a different view. Neither of us had been in that direction before, so that would make a change.

We both found a lot of possibilities and new paths that I knew were there, but hadn’t walked. When we reached the second of the two suspension bridges on the river we crossed over to Glasgow Green to see what was happening.

An Easter Fair was what was happening and it looked like it was going “Like a Fair”, literally. Unfortunately we’d need to pay up-front to get in and we weren’t desperate, so we just went for a walk over Glasgow Green. After that we wandered in the general direction of Paesano for lunch.

When we left Paesano we wandered round to see the burned out building in Gordon Street, because Alex had never seen the damage that had been done a month or so ago. Another cup of coffee in Nero and we were heading for the bus station and home. Except, Cathedral Street was closed for road works and there was a collision further along from there. Long story short, what should have been a 45min bus journey turned out to be a two hour slog through homeward bound traffic.

PoD was a candid shot of a man in a soft hat just like my dad used to wear. Taken in the Buchanan Bus station.

Tomorrow Scamp and I are probably going back to Glasgow again. Gluttons for punishment!!

 

Out on the town – 26 March 2026

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Not just any old town, this was Glasgow town. I was meeting Alex for a photo walk.

A photo walk that would start in Caffè Nero, as most of our photo walks do. We’d intended going to Paisley if the weather was fine and if it wasn’t we were heading for Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in the West End. After some discussion we agreed that we’d get the bus out to Kelvingrove because there were occasional rain showers and the weather wasn’t great. Before we went there, I wanted a look at a replacement Sony 24-105mm lens and by luck they did have one on display in Jessops. It’s not my favourite photo shop, but their price for the lens was just the same as any other of the shops I’d looked at online or in the photo shops. I had a look at the lens and a listen to make sure there were no squeaks or squeals from it and that put my mind at rest. I thanked the assistant for the chance to test it. I might just buy it some day soon.

With that done we walked round to the bus station and just managed to catch the bus to Kelvingrove. The Art Galleries hadn’t changed much, but they rarely do change their exhibits. I walked round the outside of the building to get some architectural photos while Alex went looking for something new to photograph inside. I did get a few photos of the old sandstone building and fancied that one of them would make a decent photo. In fact, it made PoD, there being no real contenders to take its place.

We met up again inside and Alex suggested we go for lunch. We both went for a sandwich. The food in Kelvingrove is really quite excellent, and quick service too. Another walk round and we bought a few things in the shop, then we caught a bus back to town.

Another coffee in Waterstones and we walked down to the bus station. Where we parted company and decided we’d pick somewhere we hadn’t been for a while for our next jaunt. Possibly along the coast if the weather was kind to us.

Back home and with a plate of soup on our laps we settled to try out Wordle because neither Scamp nor I had attempted it. We pooled our collective knowledge and managed to outwit the puzzle setter.

Later we watched the final of Masterchef The Professionals. For once, I got it right.

Tomorrow, Scamp is intending to go to her last FitSteps class. She thinks it may be the last one of all, as the numbers are dropping away. I’d just say “Never say Never”.