Category: Glasgow

Another (quite) Lazy Day – 7 May 2017

Posted on by Zogman

The weather was to be slightly more mixed than yesterday with some cloudy spells forecast for the afternoon, and that’s the way it turned out.

I did some light gardening in the morning where I was decanting some of the compost from the bin into the raised bed while Scamp did the heavy work clearing the paving slabs in the back garden.  I also planted up some more Basil.  Gave up on the beetroot I’d planted last week and dug over the entire raised bed to mix the different layers of peat, home made compost and odds and sods of compost from the last few years.

After lunch I took a walk through St Mo’s to get some photos.  Saw a couple of beautiful ferns starting to unwind.  Apparently the name for a rolled up young fern is a ‘Crozier’  Like a Bishop’s crook.  Didn’t get photos of any damsels although I did see one.  Nor did I even see any hoverflies.  Maybe the prospect of cloudy skies made them hide, and the clouds did arrive almost perfectly on time.  They stayed for an hour or so surveying the scene from on high, then they went home for their tea.  So did I.

Well, actually I didn’t have my tea.  I got dressed and went out dancing with Scamp to Arta, the new venue for a Sunday Social.  To say we were a bit ropey to start with would be an understatement, but by the time we were leaving we had gelled again and dancing much better.  How strange it was to walk through Glasgow afterwards in my shirt sleeves and short sleeves to boot.  Then, when we got home, I had my tea.

Yesterday’s sketch did indeed make it to Ink 17 as you can see.  Although it’s quite a simple sketch it does capture the feel of the place.  It’s done and on time.  That could be the name for this challenge rather than ‘Ink 17’.

Tomorrow?  Well, Gems are back, so I’ll have to find somewhere to make myself scarce to.  Maybe I’ll go investigating a new bit of wilderness, because the weather is set fair again.  So say the weather fairies.

Meeting Herr Kutz – 25 April 2017

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Took the bus into Glasgow today, to meet Herr Kutz.  It’s been a long time since we met.  Too long, and so was the hair!

I risked using up the remainder of my data allowance and my battery life by listening to The Week’s Favourites on Spotify on the bus on the way in to Glasgow.  About the third of fourth track was a beautiful piece of piano playing and I thought I’d earmark it for Scamp.  Then the track changed to another piece by a different artist, but nowhere near as interesting.  I went back and searched for the piano music and found it was Piano Portraits by Rick Wakeman.  I listened to the rest of the album all the way in.

Still with Bluetooth earphones firmly plugged in I wandered round the *Toyshop* of John Lewis.  Not Lego and dollies but Panasonic and Lenovo.  Big Boys Toys.  Liked the look of a Panasonic TZ 60.  To give some perspective on that particular camera, I have an earlier model, a TZ 3.  I can hardly believe there has been 53 versions between the two!  An interesting camera the 60 because no only does it have an EVF 1, but it also produces RAW 2 files.  Interesting indeed.

The other toy was a neat little Lenovo 11” laptop which has a full size keyboard. The only thing wrong with my Linx 10 mini laptop is the equally mini keyboard, but maybe the Bluetooth keyboard I’m experimenting with will remove that particular problem.

After the retail therapy of the window shopping, it was time to meet Herr Kutz for a number 4 all over with a square neck.

After my haircut I walked down West Nile Street to Laboritorio Espresso for a quick Java.  It was only after I’d ordered my coffee and was taking my jacket off that I noticed the bloke across the room leaning against the wall and smiling at me.  It was an old adversary from the High School.  Steve and I crossed swords on many occasions, but today we were very pleasant to each other and sat and spoke for about half an hour.  Possible we both breathed a sigh of relief as we shook hands and went our separate ways, but a stranger wouldn’t have seen it.

I made one more window shopping stop and this one was unintended.  I stopped to look in the window of a computer repair shop in Bath Street and saw a MacBook Air in the window for about half the normal price.  I guessed it was a refurbished model, but went in to check.  It was indeed refurbished, but the spec was good even if it was a bit long in the tooth.  Now that’s a idea I hadn’t considered before.  Since my MBP which I’m writing this on is now over eight years old, I know the longevity of the Apple computers.  That said, I’m still wondering if I’m just buying someone else’s problems.

Back home I downloaded the Rick Wakeman album from iTunes and Scamp was as delighted as me with it.

Later I went to get a PoD.  That’s what you see above.  It’s the view from the Antonine Wall, the Roman equivalent of Trump’s wall.  It was built by  the Romans to keep the uncivilised heathens out.  I don’t know who the uncivilised heathens are in america.

Tomorrow I’ve got coffee booked with Val and Fred.

  1. Electronic View Finder as opposed to the rear LCD screen. ↩
  2. Raw files are named so because they are not yet processed and therefore are not ready to be printed or edited.  They do, however give the purest image quality. ↩

“I don’t get hangovers yet” – 23 April 2017

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This morning we went for a walk round the Barras.

I was going looking for a cheap Bluetooth 4.0 dongle – it’s a bit of computer hardware, in case you don’t know.  There used to be a multitude of wee computer shops selling legitimate and highly illegal hardware and software down the Barras.  Most Barras stuff was knocked off, one way or another and everybody knew that and accepted the risk that what you were buying was either unlikely to work once you got it home or a man in a black suit wearing a cap with a black and white chequered pattern would relieve you of it as soon as you stepped away from the stall.  No guarantees, no money back, but glorious bargains to be had.  Not today and by the looks of things not ever again.  The Barras was dead.  All the wee shops and some of the bigger ones were closed and firmly shuttered.  Worst of all, there was almost nobody about..  It looks like the end of an era, and also the end of my search for a cheap Bluetooth dongle.

We walked down to Glasgow Green and strolled through the trees just springing into leaf, about a month behind the ones we walked in last week in Astwick.  That’s what happens, they get the weather, we get the scenery.  It’s a fair exchange and I like the way it’s weighted.  We were just heading for the People’s Palace for my usual Sunday roll ’n’ sausage and Scamp’s tea ’n’ toast when three girls passed us and the following snippet of their conversation floated towards me  “… I don’t get hangovers yet. I suppose I will later …”.  I felt like telling her she had to be actually drinking alcohol first.  Merely talking about it won’t have the desired effect, nor will drinking lemonade or coke.  I almost shouted “Try Buckfast.  That should work.”  She was english, which explains everything.  Just one step away from being american.  (Yes, lower case ‘e’ and lower case ‘a’.)

Today’s sketch was from the Wintergarden of the People’s Palace.  Simpler and more accurate than previous ones IMO, maybe because I was sitting down enjoying my R ’n’ S while I completed it.  The trees were Celtic trees.  Green, White, Green, White, Green.  Must have been planted by a Sellic supporter!  But then, you don’t get many trees with Blue or Red leaves do you?  The mono shot of the old shop with the ‘ghost signs’ was not from the Barras, but from quite near there.

Back home to do a bit of joinery, completing the duckboard for the plants to stand on.  Actually enjoyed it and it looked reasonable when it was finished.  It could maybe do with a lick of paint or stain to finish it off, but the biggest part of the work is done now.  Helped Scamp with a bit of gentle gardening after that, but nothing creative, just labouring really.

Made some bread 50/50 white flour and dark wholegrain flour from Prince Chic’s own farm.  I imagine he planted it himself and then carefully tended it, talking to it daily before harvesting it with a scythe he’d sharpened himself then grinding it carefully in an authentic and architecturally sound windmill.  Lastly he’d transport the flour by horse and cart to Waitrose where we bought it.  He’s that kind of a guy.  The bread was good, thanks Chic.

Tomorrow is Monday so it’s Gems day.  I’ll be making a hasty exit.

A Toy off the Rack – 21 April 2017

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The toy in question was a Fitbit Charge 2. Scamp had decided that since I’d been using the cheapo Goji Go since Christmas, perhaps I’d like to move up to a more sophisticated model. The price was good in JL and so that’s where I got it. More on it later.

Clutching my new toy in its box we walked down Bucky Street and had coffee in the Nero at St Enoch’s after listening to four old guys who perform under the name Buchanan Street Preachers. They sing old stuff, our music, from the ‘60s and ‘70s and are good to listen to. I photographed them and Scamp gave them a couple of quid for their efforts. I managed a late sketch for my one a week. It was of the amazingly detailed building that now houses Cafe Nero. It used to be the underground station and is a Cat ‘A’ listed building. I was quite pleased with the finished sketch, especially the crinkly bits. It was a 20 minute job and the perspective is ok, but the proportions are poor.

On the way home I wanted to try to get the BT keyboard in a different Currys. They didn’t have the one I wanted, but they did have an alternative that looked just as good and at exactly the same price. As I was walking to the till I noticed a label on the box to say it was ‘pre-owned’ one. It was the last one on the shelf. When I got to the till the assistant checked the price and told me the same price as the label on the shelf. I explained that it was pre-owned, so what was the discount. No discount. “It’s probably just someone took it home and didn’t like it” he said. So it’s not someone took it home and the dog peed on it, so they brought it back? So it’s not someone took it home and spilled coffee on it, so they brought it back? “No, they probably didn’t want it.” I told him neither did I and left, keyboardless. What is wrong with Currys these days? They were never all that great, but a few years ago they seemed to be improving. However, if they continue to employ managers who can’t manage, managers who ignore customers and robots who are ‘only obeying orders’, they are going to go downhill fast. They are certainly losing me.

Back to the Fitbit. It’s quite an amazing upgrade from the Goji Go. Not only does it count steps, distance travelled and calories burned. It also counts stairs climbed and checks heart rate. Even better, it doesn’t have to be told what time you are going to sleep, it works it out itself, based on heart rate and the fact you’re not moving. Best of all is that you can get replacement straps for the inevitable time when your strap wears out. It’s much smoother and less bulky than the Goji. All in all it’s a brilliant upgrade and not in any way a toy. My only problem is getting it to sync to the Mac. I think I’ve solved that problem. I thought the Mac had Bluetooth 4, but what I was reading was the Apple Bluetooth software version. The actual chipset is Bluetooth 2 which is not supported by the Fitbit. Looks like I’ll need a BT dongle.

Hoping to go to Cramond tomorrow.

A Belated Birthday Bash – 11 April 2017

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Got the bus in to Glasgow and went up Sausage Roll Street.  Got another spare pair of reading glasses from Flying Tiger which turned out to be the wrong strength!  (Note to self 1: 1.5 diopter readers from Flying Tiger not 2.0 diopter, Numpty) Then on to Blacks where I’d checked out a potential jacket last week.  This time I bought one.  Not  the one I’d checked out, but that doesn’t matter, this one fits and I like it.  The Bergy I bought in Embra will now go back.  I also bought myself a cook book because I liked the look of some of the recipes.  Foodies, what can you do with them?  On the walk down Sausage Roll Street, an Asian girl stopped Scamp and asked if she would take a photo of her with the two guys she was with.  Scamp just pointed at me and the girl gave me her camera, a Contax.  A Contax film camera.  What a beautiful piece of equipment.  I took two photos of the group as directed.  It was so strange to take a photo and not be able to see the result on the back screen.  I hope they turned out.

Next, it was down to Paesano for my BBL (Belated Birthday Lunch.)  Pizza No 3 seeing as you’re asking.  Anchovies Olives and Capers, washed down with a glass of Shiraz.  Very nice.  Down, further still to Argyle Street which is where today’s photos come from then the slow crawl back up to the bus station via Cass Art to buy some A4 HP watercolour paper.  HP means Hot Pressed i.e. smooth, no tooth.  Never used it before and haven’t had a chance to use it tonight.  Also via The Counting House for some cheap (and nasty) beer (Note to self 2:  Don’t buy Devil’s Backbone IPA, it’s fizzy and tasteless) and some “ok, but nothing special” Botanist G&T for Scamp).  Amazingly it cost just pennies over a fiver, so we shouldn’t complain too much.

Plodded on to the bus station and got the bus home, to find that the parcel had arrived from Hazy.  As usual, you are just as imaginative as your brother.
Who would have thought that a pair of boxer shorts would make a great birthday present?
Well, they would if you had to make them yourself!!!
Who’d have thought some mushrooms would have been a great birthday present?
Well, they would if you had to grow them yourself!!!
Thank you both for your imagination.  I loved them, although the mushrooms look easier to grow than the boxers will be to sew.

That’s about it for tonight, other than I’ve been trying to delete 500, yes, 500 files from my NAS drive and it was driving me crazy until I found a neat solution on the ’net that blitzed them in a trice.  That bloody iPhone had been downloading another update on  the fly.  It took up 1.2GB of space on the phone.  I can’t afford to lose that amount of space just because Apple wants to bugger up my phone, so it also has now gone into the ether.

Tomorrow I may go to Perf.  On the bus.

I’m almost ready to ‘Jacket In’ – 4 April 2017

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Went in to Glasgow this morning to look at more jackets.

I now know about ‘active shell’ jackets, ‘3 in 1s’. I can discuss the merits of DryVent™, HyVent® and GORE-TEX®. I know the difference between waterproofs and showerproofs and all the benefits of breathables. I’m at a bit of a loss to understand what a ‘grown on hood’ is! Do you have to sow hood seeds that will germinate when it rains? Or do you simply transplant one from another jacket? What I still haven’t found is a jacket that’s waterproof, breathable and under my price range WITH LOTS OF POCKETS! How difficult can it be? As you will have guessed, I didn’t get one.

Went to Millers Art shop to get Granulation Medium and tried it out when we got home. Strangely, using it with Ultramarine, which is quite a granular colour, it seemed to make no difference at all. Using it with a gentle orange, created a marked granular effect. Others colours were between these extremes. I think it will need a bit more experimentation. Also got a replacement Micron 0.3 pen, because I’ve burned out the last one!

Went to J&M in Hamilton for dinner tonight and drove through the M74 roadworks. Not too horrendous. However, the return after dark was a different story. Supposedly a 50mph speed limit, but we were never going to reach that. 35mph for the extent was a more realistic figure. I pity the poor commuters who have to pass through this every day.

Today’s pic is of Scamp’s pansy seedlings.  Almost ready to thin out.  Sweet peas are already outside being hardened off.

Another early rise is forecast tomorrow.

The day when nothing happened – 3 April 2017

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Basically, that about sums it up. Nothing happened, but then …

Painted for an hour this morning while Scamp went to her final physio appointment.  I’d already done the groundwork and used masking fluid to protect the mountains (it’s an imaginary snow covered landscape).  I made the mistake of using some tubes of Cotman colour, that is student quality, for the sky area.  What should have been clear and transparent, turned out dull and cloudy.  What more could I do but turn it into a cloudy sky, it was meant to be a sunset!  After I took off the masking fluid, I added the rocks that show through the snow and the water below the mountains.  It looks quite good.  Try to remember all the above and I’ll attempt to post a picture of the watercolour tomorrow.

Took back my library books. Got another one out on the subject of watercolours and there’s a complete section on painting snow.  I’d forgotten how useful a library can be.

Came home and had lunch. Went in to Glasgow to look at wet weather jackets. Not heavy ones like I wear in the winter.  Just a light jacket that’s waterproof and breathable and HAS LOTS OF POCKETS!  Couldn’t find one.  The ones with lots of pockets were either too expensive or weren’t waterproof.  More investigation required.

It was too early to come home, so I took some pics down by the Luggie, and that’s what you see above.

For dinner, I made an innovative pasta Genovese with a poached egg on top.  It was good, but not great.  Needs a bit of tweaking, I think.

Went to salsa and acted as doorman there for the extent of the beginners class but quite enjoyed the advanced even if there were far too many girls and the class was quite small.  That’s what happens during school holidays.

Other than that, nothing happened.

More researching into jackets tomorrow.

The Wee Boy – 2 April 2017

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Another day of wall to wall sunshine, well, it was sunny for most of the day, but there were a few April showers too, but much shorter and less sharp than of late.

Today we had planned to go to the Art Galleries in Kelvinside to hear one of our friends from salsa, singing in her choir.  Scamp was going to hear …. , I was going to sketch.  We walked down through Kelvingrove Park from Kelvinbridge Underground station and it really did feel like spring, with blossom on the trees and families having picnics on the grass.  After a quick coffee in the Galleries cafe, Scamp got settled in the audience and I headed off to find a subject.  I chose a knight’s helmet and got stuck in.  I wasn’t all that impressed with it until a wee boy and his mum came along.  He asked me if I was an artist, but when I said, “No, I just like drawing.”  He didn’t seem disappointed and said “You’re really good”.  I thanked him, but I don’t think he realised how much that meant to me.  Wherever you are, wee boy, you made my day!

After that, I messed up the sketch completely, trying to render it with a marker pen, so went looking for other subjects.  I’ve always liked the rear entrance to the Galleries and preferred it to the entrance from Argyle Street.  Allegedly, the architect had agreed with me and also preferred that entrance.  A man of taste, obviously.  Anyway, I chose the rear entrance stairs as my sketch of the day.  It was a difficult one with angles, arches and lots of Victorian embellishments.  I’m not all that keen on the finished sketch, but I will certainly go back and try it again.

I took some photos of the choir and our friend in particular.  I also enjoyed some of the singing.  I didn’t enjoy the organ recital.  I hate organ music, but Scamp likes it and I was quite happy that she enjoyed it while I sketched today.

Happy Friday Eve – 30 March 2017

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Sitting in the waiting at the plastic surgery unit of GRI just after 9.30am waiting for Scamp to have her stitches removed after her last op, I earwigged in on a conversation between a nurse/clerical assistant, (I don’t know which) and a clerical assistant.  Always find it best not to raise your head when you’re earwigging!  Anyway, the conversation went something like this:

’Good Morning and happy Thursday!’

’Happy Friday Eve, you mean.’

’Sorry, I didn’t quite catch that.’

’I said “Happy Friday Eve”.’

’Oh, yes, Friday Eve.  I hoped I’d got it wrong and you’d said Friday.’ <resigned> ’Never mind.’

I’d never though of it as Friday Eve before.  Puts a whole different slant on Thursday.

Scamp wasn’t too long because, as it turned out, she’d had dissolving stitches, so didn’t need them cut out, just washed regularly and massaged liberally with moisturiser.  Since we were out and about early, we went for a run, as planned, to Braehead with the added excitement of taking in a trip to IKEA!  Oh, lucky me.

On arrival, we had coffee in Costa.  Now, I’m not getting into that big Costa v Nero thing again, but Nero sell coffee and Costa don’t.  Fin.  I had an Americano which was supposed to be extra strong.  If this was the extra strong, I’d hate to see the normal variety.  However, it’s only coffee, not worth starting a fight about.  After drinking brown water, I agreed to a walk around this almost empty group of retail opportunities, or shops to you and me.  The only one marginally interesting was the Apple shop where all the shiny new mega buck technology did grab my attention.  One scary machine, labelled a Mac Book, had a cable plugged in to what I thought was a power socket and sported one other socket which turned out to be a headphone socket.

  • No USB ports.
  • No SD card slot.
  • No Lightning connector.
  • No DVD drive, of course.

I asked one of the Apple acolytes if I was correct in my assumption and she said I was.  “If you want to add a usb drive you need to buy a USB-C adapter.”  What about an SD card reader?  “Oh, you can get an adapter for that too.  The USB-C socket is what is used to power the machine and also to connect peripherals when they become available.”  It did come in pretty colours, though, but is it a computer?  I think not.  What would Steve Jobs say?  After watching the movie about his life, last week, I think he would have agreed totally with this ethic.  I don’t.  I think I’ll keep using my eight year old MBP until it stops working entirely.  Hopefully, by that time peripherals will have become available, or Apple will have dropped this ridiculous extravagance.

Thankfully, IKEA have actually listened to consumers and have now provided short-cuts through their massive warehouse and it no longer mandatory to follow the yellow brick road.  We ended up with the purchases we’d planned and a couple more besides.   One of which I’m resting my tootsies on as I write this.  We bought a new rug for the living room.  A cream coloured patterned rug which I am trying to avoid getting dirty.  It looks and feels very nice.

When we got home and had lunch, I went out looking for inspiration and a plant pot big enough to hold Scamp’s azalea.  I found one and also a pretty wee pot of anemones that brighten up  the garden a bit.  My final purchase was a plant pot tray, like a big saucer which is sitting on the upturned cracked pot that used to house the azalea.  With an old clay flowerpot on top it makes a fine water container / birdbath for the garden.  We’ve been talking about getting one since we got back from Trinidad.  I doubt if we’ll attract Blue-Gray Tanagers or Kiskadees, but it might give the Starlings and the Robins a place to drink and have the occasional bath.

No plans for tomorrow.  Maybe lunch somewhere.

A day out with the boys – 29 March 2017

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Today five auld guys had their first meeting of the year.  In fact, it might be the first meeting since August last year!  How we drift apart.  After a couple of beers in the Horseshoe Bar in Drury Street, we moved across to Paesano in Miller Street for a pizza.  Five pizzas later ( five total, that is!) three of us headed back to the bar for another beer before we split up and went our separate ways.  Thankfully, Scamp came to pick me up from the train station because it had started to rain.  It was good to get back in touch with everyone and we must do it again, but not leave it almost half a year next time.

Earlier, in fact quite early, I went for a walk in the woods at St Mo’s and found that a group of little ‘Hobbit Houses’ had arrived.  I’m guessing that this is the work of one of the local secondary schools.  Behind each door was the picture of an animal.  A lovely idea.  I think I got photos of all the little doors.  After that Scamp ran me to the train station where I met Fred.  We went for a walk through the ’Toon’ before we headed to the pub to meet the others.  The walk involved a quick trip to Cass Art of course.  Bought myself a mapping pen and some nibs.  Old school drawing, but I like the effect you get with indian ink and it wrecks fountain pens, but doesn’t damage the old fashioned dipper pens.  I was looking for a bottle of granulation medium, but that’s too unusual for them to carry, so it looks like I’ll need to go to Millers later in the week.  How I miss the Art Store now.

No sign of the weather improving tomorrow, or Friday.