Category: Glasgow

Today we went on an adventure – 4 March 2022

Posted on by Zogman

We went in to Glasgow on the bus.

When was the last time you were on a bus? That was the question Scamp asked me today when we were waiting for the X28. I was on a bus last year, but she didn’t reveal when she was last on a bus. It was an experience. Another little step on the road to ‘normal’ whatever ‘normal’ will be once we get there. We deliberately chose the ‘fast bus’ rather than the X3 which takes about four days to get in to the city from our house, or at least it feels like that.

We started our expedition with a wander round JL. There was nothing interesting for me in the ‘toy shop’. Big boys’ toys that is. Computers, cameras and lenses. Nothing interestingly cheap enough to actually spend money on. Scamp was looking for dresses for the two weddings we’re invited to in May. There was nothing much for her in JL either. One dress she liked the style of, but not the colour. Others she said she had dismissed, but still wanted to show me. I think she was just hoping I’d cast my tailor’s eye over them and say “I could make that one”, but I didn’t. I restrict my tailoring skills to taking up the legs of a pair of jeans, these days.

From there we walked down Buchanan Galleries. Now I often call Buchanan Street ‘Bucky Street’, but ‘Bucky Galleries’ just doesn’t have the same ring. At the end of the Galleries Scamp disappeared into a shop and went for a walk. I was pulled back to the shop with a swift phone call to ask where I thought I was going. Apparently I was meant to wait outside the shop like a good little boy. My usual reply to commands like that is “Hope you’ve got your bus pass, ‘cause it’s a long walk home.” Of course that didn’t work this time. We both had our bus passes, and no car to take us home. Going out without the car is sometimes almost as scary as going out without your phone. Anyway my advice was required on another dress which had already been rejected. This time I was more agreeable and suggested she try it on. Actually, I had to agree that it suited her once I saw it on. She bought it. Photos will be sent to interested parties. To celebrate, we went to Paesano for a pizza lunch. Well it was Friday after all. On the way there we wandered past the next place they had started filming. Again turning Glasgow into Gotham for Batgirl or some such American nonsense.

We walked down to Argyle Street to peruse the dress offerings of M&S, but nothing took her eye. We walked back to Cafe Nero at St Enoch’s then to Waterstones because I’d a book token burning a hole in my pocket, but I couldn’t find the book I was planning to use it on. Up Bucky Street and home on the X37 which was just as quick as the X28 in the morning. It was a beautiful day, all day. The weather fairies had it wrong with their threats of heavy clouds and rain. You can’t trust anybody these days.

PoD was a view down Virginia Street to the buildings at the end which seem to crowd in on one another. If you view it on Flickr you will notice that it’s had it’s GPS location stamped on it and it’s been mapped automatically by the software. Neat little trick of linking the camera to an app on the phone by bluetooth. Impressed? I was!

Tomorrow looks like a good day again. Let’s see if we go anywhere interesting.

 

A long day – 17 February 2022

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A long day with a good result.

Phone call from the hospital at around 9.15am to ask if we could manage to get there for 10.30am instead of 12 noon which was the time we were told to be there. No explanation, but it was possibly because of cancellations due to the the weather which was quite ‘interesting’. Hail showers and gale force winds then blinding sunshine would make some people want to reschedule. We just said “Yes”.

Drove in to Glasgow and got parked in the correct place for once and Scamp got booked in. When she was called through to the clinic itself, I left to go home. Drove through what really was a car park on a four lane road reduced down to two lanes. Found myself in the correct lane except it was blocked by a white lining lorry. Fought my way through and eventually got on to the motorway heading east after losing almost an hour clearing the stramash. From there it was easy going.

After a cup of strong coffee the world began to settle down. I’d been told two and a half hours for the prep, operation and recovery, so I reckoned I had enough time to go and get some essentials at Tesco and put some expensive fuel into the car too. I’d just got to the self service till when my phone played the ‘unknown number’ tune and an 0141 number showed on the screen. Would this be another automated american robot voice telling me it was from The Amazon Prime? No it was from the hospital to say that Scamp would be ready to pick up in 15minutes. I thanked the bloke and said I was on my way. Paid for the stuff and body swerved the petrol station and drove back in to Glasgow to the hospital.

By now the log jam at the roadworks had extended itself by about 200m further down the road. Where, in the morning, I’d been able to just cruise into the hospital carpark, now there were about ten vehicles in front of me and they weren’t moving. Long story short, I got there, picked up the patient with her clear plastic pirate’s eyepatch and we navigated through the traffic jam for the second time today. This time it was easier and I was lucky that most folk were avoiding the lane I needed to be in, so we were on the M8 east in double quick time.

It looks as if the surgery has done exactly what the surgeon predicted. It’s not perfect, but it’s definitely liveable with according to Scamp. It certainly looks like a clean job. She’s not removed the eyepatch yet, and only when she does will she be able to properly assess the full extent of the improvement. Now a week’s wait until the next one.

I went for a walk in St Mo’s later in the afternoon got PoD, which is a baby larch flower, and then extended the walk down to the shops to get some fish for tonight’s dinner which was Fennel, Leek and Cod. It’s like a thick creamy soup with fish and prawns in it. Eaten with a spoon! That was our Anniversary Dinner. Later we watched The Apprentice with a Rum ’n’ Coke each. Mine was Dark Matter and Scamp’s was Kraken.

Wow! That was a busy day. Frantic at times, but with a good conclusion. Tomorrow we are hoping to take it easier and watch the predicted snow fall!

Down the Green – 14 February 2022

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Someone brought a dog into the house next door and it was practising its barking this morning.

So, after breakfast, I drove up to Tesco to post a parcel and get away from the racket. Actually, Tesco at about 9am is quite doable. No big queues and not a lot of people. The biggest groups were men musing about which oversized bunch of red roses to buy for someone they fancied, or had forgotten to send a Valentine card to. The same men were to be seen later striding across the car park looking sheepish and pretending they weren’t carrying a bouquet.

Back home (and without a bouquet) it seemed a shame to waste a good day and Scamp had previous said she fancied a walk down Glasgow Green, so that’s where we went. It seems a bit strange that Glasgow Council provide tour buses that visit the People’s Palace but the building remains closed. Apparently due to ”essential building maintenance works to the building interior” according to Glasgow Life who own the building. If there is work being done to the building, you’d expect there to be builders’ vans and lorries outside, and the sound of essential building maintenance being done, but there is total silence. Strange that. We walked past what used to be a fine building and on down to the McLennan Arch then back past the old Boathouse which is being renovated to make a community hub and here there IS work being done with plenty of folk working on site. The work here is under the umbrella of Glasgow Building Preservation Trust and not anything to do with Glasgow Life, thankfully.

We walked further up river and crossed the Clyde to Richmond Park. Half the park has been sold to developers who are presumably building houses on the site. The park itself has been left to rack and ruin, literally. The boating pond is still there, but it’s been a long time since much boating has been done on it. It gets really depressing when you see the damage Glasgow Council had done to the green places in the city. They have closed so many buildings and failed to maintain others. They should be ashamed.

Yesterday’s prompt was Chantilly Lace. I listened to that song for as long as I could stand and this was my abiding memory, the telephone he kept answering. Why didn’t he just put her on hold like any sensible person would?
I should have posted it yesterday, but the day just seemed to disappear. I blame the whisky or it might have been the gin or the wine!

Love is Like a Butterfly was today’s prompt.  Another delightful melody, thanks for that Dolly. I chose to attempt a painting of a real butterfly (without satin wings). It a fair representation of a Small Copper.

Palomino Blackwing soft pencil
Cass Art watercolours
Seawhite A5 Concertina sketchbook

#EDiF #28DL

Walked back to the car and drove home. I was pretty sure I had enough photos for a PoD and it turned out I was right, but I went for a walk later in the afternoon and took some more. You can never have enough photos. While I was out, Scamp was working in the garden getting things sorted out for a new gardening year. She had to give up eventually because she just couldn’t see properly to get the work done. I think I may be her eyes tomorrow.

Nothing else planned for tomorrow, but we better make the best of it, because Wednesday and Thursday don’t look like great weather days.

Off to the Coast – 8 February 2022

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We’d agreed that today we would drive over to Braehead to find the new Ross Hall Eye Clinic.

Scamp was out in the morning to get her hair cut. Before she went, she suggested that we could go to Coast for lunch. We’d heard great reports about the food in this restaurant and we’d passed it a few times in the last year or two. Maybe it was time to see if the food lived up to the hype.

So when Scamp returned looking very swish with her new hairstyle, we drove to Braehead. I’d earlier used the Nissan app to put both the postcode for the clinic and Coast into the Micra and got the report back that the destinations would be available in the car. I wasn’t convinced, and I was right to be. When we started the car and the navigation system loaded it confirmed the address for Coast, but not for Braehead. It really is the most unreliable car navigation system I’ve ever used. Actually, I’ll rephrase that. The navigation system is fine, it’s the app that just doesn’t work.

After Scamp, as co-pilot, manually typed in the address for Braehead, we drove through the rain and found the clinic without any trouble. Very smart looking building, all gleaming aluminium. That must be where our money goes.

From there we drove to Coast and it too was a smart looking building with great views across the Firth of Clyde from Dumbarton down to Helensburgh. It’s ok, Jamie, we weren’t going there today – wrong side of the Clyde anyway. Scamp had her usual tester for any new restaurant, Fish ’n’ Chips. I had a Spicy Sausage Rigatoni Ragu. We shared a starter of Tempura King Prawns. Food was really excellent. Both of us agreed on that. Service, I thought, was a bit slow, but Scamp was more forgiving. Besides, that view from the wide windows kept us occupied as the rainbows on the river came and went and the rainy squalls did likewise. There was no rush, you felt you could sit there as long as you wanted, but I wanted to take photos, as always. Hopefully we’ll make an excuse to go back again soon.

We drove along through Langbank which just looked like it sounds, a long main street with no shops, just houses. We drove as far as the outskirts of Port Glasgow and the rain got heavier all the time, so we turned and drove back towards Glasgow. We turned off the A8 at a roundabout and sat out the rain at Parklea which is a sort of sports complex. When the rain eventually left us, I got out and took those essential photos. Not the most scenic of places, but at least I got some landscapes for a change. Drove home over the Erskine Bridge and then through the outskirts of Glasgow to Kirky then home.

That was a good day. We found the way to the clinic for next Thursday and we investigated and evaluated another restaurant. Even better, we found that it’s part of a chain and there’s another one nearer us in Falkirk. We may compare and contrast some time.

PoD was a shot taken at Parklea with Dumbarton in the background. A wee woman in a red coat and walking a dog gave a nice spot of colour to an otherwise drab landscape. Thank you Mrs.

Today’s prompt was Step by Step. They say that every journey begins with the first step. Sometimes that first step leads somewhere, sometimes not. It’s often the case that the first step leads to another step and eventually you begin to wonder if you’re just going round in circles and there is no exit. I’m sure Mr Escher and also Mr Penrose thought that. I know I have.

Tomorrow some of the auld guys are meeting for coffee in Costa, hopefully with the addition of a new member.

A Day in the Toon – 4 February 2022

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Today we drove in to Glasgow.  Just for a wander round the shops and maybe a spot of lunch.

Halfway along the M80 I thought we’d made a terrible mistake.  We were driving into a blizzard.  It started out as sleet, then turned to snow for a while before fading away as if it had never been, and there was sunshine and a beautiful blue sky again.  Parked at Buchanan Galleries and had a quick look in JL where there wasn’t anything interesting for me, but there was a bargain for Scamp.  I’m not going to say that she went there knowing that bargain was available, but I think the visit to the shop was partly stage managed,

Walked down Bucky Street and got some photos on the way.  I’d taken the little A6000 with me today because I think walking around all day on Tuesday had caused the ache in my back.  So it was one small camera and one small lens. Actually the combination was very effective and netted me about 50 photos, most of them perfectly exposed and sharp.

Lunch was at The Cup, the place Alex and I had had lunch in.  It was much busier than Tuesday, but that’s to be expected on a Friday.  Food wasn’t quite as good and the coffee was terrible.  A bit weak and too sharp.  Maybe we were just unlucky or maybe Alex and I were lucky last Friday.  I used one of my Covid vouchers in Waterstones and got two Denise Mina books that had been on my wanted list.  I felt I got them for free, because I wasn’t using real money, just a voucher.  Tried a pair of Merrill trainers, but the fit just wasn’t right.  Girl in the shop seemed a bit put out that I didn’t just buy them without trying them on.  Sorry dear, auld guys don’t do that.

Drove home through more rain and sleet and when we got to the house another blizzard blew in.  What a day!  More snow and sleet due  for tomorrow.  However the teachers are off taking dance classes on a cruise ship for two weeks, so no early rises and no driving through that awful traffic on the way home.  We will miss the exercise though.

PoD went to a photo of Buchanan Street subway again.  If you’re reading this Alex, it was taken just after 1.15pm!  Just as you predicted.

Today’s prompt was Little Red Corvette which meant Prince, of course and again, not one of my favourite singers, however I had listened to the song a few times in the past and had a fair idea what he was singing about. Although a lot of the references meant nothing to an old Scots guy, I did work out what the Trojan horses and the jockeys references meant. Basically it was beautifully sung filth. I may listen to more of his music now with a different ear!

No plans for tomorrow apart from a lazy morning.

A walk in Glasgow and a short day, the shortest – 21 December 2021

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We decided we’d go into Glasgow for a walk to see the lights.

There weren’t nearly as many folk wandering the streets of Glasgow as there were a couple of weeks ago when Alex and I were there. We walked down Bucky Street and thought the crowds were sparse. Only half the stalls were in St Enoch’s Christmas market and Argyle street just had normal weekday shoppers. When we walked up Queen Street the streets were almost deserted. I think we were both shocked by the lack of footfall at what should have been the busiest week of the year. Only Covid seems to be doing good business!

Back home, another parcel was ready to be posted and although I had taken a few shots in Glasgow, I wasn’t sure I had a worthwhile PoD, so I took a camera when I went out to post it. For some reason, and for the second time I’d been at Condorrat post office recently, it was surprisingly empty. Maybe everybody is ahead of the game this year and already have all their cards and parcels posted. It’s either that or, as the lack of crowds in Glasgow would seem to indicate, nobody’s buying presents or spending cards. Anyway, parcel posted and cards too, I went for a walk in St Mo’s woods. Couldn’t find much sign of life animal or vegetable, but I did see the wee pond reflecting a leafless tree and took some shots of that. It was one of them that made PoD. A photo of Bucky Street from the Concert Hall joined it on Flickr.

That was about the end of the excitement and the exercise for today, but I did achieve my 10,000 steps which I haven’t done for a long time.

Today was the shortest day and it felt like it too. From now on the days will get longer, the sun will shine bright and longer and that will cause the temperature to increase. Oh look! Another flying pig!!

Tomorrow I’m out for coffee with Val. A chance for some ‘tech talk’. Then in the afternoon we are hoping to visit Margie. Getting out and about for a change.

Back at the Fort – 16 December 2021

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Feeling a bit flat today.

No, it wasn’t the tyres. We were going in Scamp’s car today except I was driving, but when I turned the key, nothing! The battery was flat. Possibly there is an earth leak somewhere or perhaps that cold snap dragged the battery down because it had only been run once in the last month and that was a fairly short run. Whatever, it was my car that I drove to the Fort.

Scamp was going to Next, M&S and Boots. But she had to score Boots off the list because they were counting them in and counting them out today. That’s not supposed to happen until Saturday, so maybe the staff were getting some practise in before the big day, or maybe they were just doing it to screw up the punters day. It didn’t seem to bother the folk who were queueing all the way along the frontage of Boots shop and that’s a really long front.

I was lucky, I was going for two sheets of thin neoprene and a roll of sticky backed velcro. Found both and waited about five minutes to pay. Heaven knows how long the punters outside Boots would have waited for their goods.

Drove home and after peering at the sky, decided I’d go for a walk first to grab some of the available light before it all disappeared. A walk in the woods at St Mo’s got me the PoD. It was an oak leaf with raindrops on it. The detail in the leaf really impressed me as did the colours that were there. No fancy filters or presets were used in it, just an adjustment to the levels (tones) and a bit of judicious cropping. Otherwise it was SOOC or Straight Out Of Camera. Walked down to the shops and felt a bit nervous about being in a crowd of people. I’d felt the same in Glasgow earlier and I did the same thing again, I put my mask on, at least until I was out of the crowds. How the media hype things up makes you think and act defensively at times.

Back home we hadn’t long to wait for the man from Virgin. This one was on the ball. No delving into the innards of the modem, he just tried twice then deemed that the modem was at fault. He put a new one in and it worked right away. All the websites we couldn’t reach without a VPN were now right there. Poor bloke had been working from 7am and didn’t finish today until 8pm. That’s a long shift. He gets 10/10 for everything in the evaluation email that’s coming soon.

Scamp’s been labouring all evening trying to fit a quart into a pint pot. I swear when one of the recipients of a Christmas parcel cuts the tape the contents will expand to fill the room. You have been warned!!

I think that’s the day covered. Scamp has a booking with the Witches for a Christmas lunch tomorrow. I have things to do and a Tesco delivery to find places for until someone tells me where they should all go.

Going to see the Eye Man – 14 December 2021

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Another dull morning, but for once weather wasn’t on our minds.

After lunch we got ready and headed off to Ross Hall Hospital. It was a murky looking day and immediately we left the estate, the automatic headlights came on. Once we were booked in, Scamp went off to be measured for the new lenses, then they put drops in her eyes to dilate them and the optician checked her eyes and did the same tests that Scamp had at Hairmyres. I got to sit in on those tests too. Next we went to speak to the surgeon who talked her through the operation, and answered the few questions she had. Then he booked her for the procedure on the 17th of February which is a great deal better than the 12 months she was offered at Hairmyres. It would have been sooner, but the specialised lenses she’ll need will take longer to make than normal lenses. I do believe she is relieved!! Ok, it’s private and quite expensive, but it will be done a lot quicker that on the NHS. Also NHS wanted her to wait three months from getting the first eye done to getting the second. Ross Hall said one week! The date of the first procedure is our wedding anniversary too!

The drive back was horrendous. Some poor bloke had broken down in the overtaking lane of the Kingston Bridge and the traffic was backed up for five miles. Took us an hour and a half to get back. For once we weren’t all that bothered. We’d put a big tick in a big box today. Best of all, she can now put her contact lenses in again and put the glasses in their box. She looked like Scamp again!

Dinner tonight was a curry ready-meal from M&S. Butter Chicken for Scamp and Chicken Jalfrezi for me. We even had a wee drink tonight to celebrate the occasion.

Maybe if that poor bloke hadn’t broken down on the Kingston Bridge, I might have had a chance of a photo over in St Mo’s, or maybe not. PoD today was a traditional shot of Fairy Nuff on the Christmas tree.

We’ve got an engineer booked to service the boiler tomorrow morning and I’m hoping against hope that the sun will shine after that and I’ll get a chance to put the new lens through its paces.

A day in the Toon with Alex – 10 December 2021

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Just a wee saunter round the toon.

We had intended travelling on the subway to Kelvinbridge for today’s photo safari, but instead Alex decided a walk round Glasgow to photograph the lights would be a better use of the day. It was his choice today and I agreed with him. Probably a lot more to see in the city centre than in the West End.

We walked down Bucky street from the Concert Hall were we’d agreed to meet, and went for a coffee in Nero. The market in St Enoch’s Square was just warming up and we managed a few photos before it got too busy. From there we walked along Argyle Street in the general direction of Glasgow Cross then turned on to Parnie Street where we took the opportunity to ogle the toys in Quiggs, now rebranded Merchant City Cameras, but for people of our generation it will forever be ‘Quiggs’. Not wishing to purchase anything today we walked on to take some photos of the McLennan Arch and the Collins Fountain at the entrance to Glasgow Green. Then it was on to the Clyde Walkway to see the graffiti and photograph the better pieces. It’s a bit of a shame that some of the new stuff covers up the old ‘Tiger’ that had been there for years. It’s probably still there, under a couple of coats of paint. I suppose you could argue that it’s had its day in the sun and should really make room for the new works. Still …

By this time we were feeling the need for some food, so we headed for the St Enoch Centre to see what we could find. We ended up in Aulds. Me with a sausage roll (a bit greasy but ok for lunch) and Alex with a cold ham sandwich. Cup of coffee each washed the food down. Back outside Alex wanted another look at the street food market and I wandered round taking street photos. By this time the temperature was dropping and we were heading for home.

One more stop for Alex was the posh House of Frazer. He knew exactly where he was going. Up to the first floor to get a view looking straight down the elegantly draped walls of the clothes shop. I thought we’d have attracted security, but nobody paid any notice, so I took a few shots too. One of them made PoD.

Outside we walked up Bucky Street and I glanced at a street magician trying to attract a crowd. He waved back at me and I turned away. As I did that I realised that his face was familiar. He was a former pupil. I can’t remember his name, but I did teach him. In class he was a quiet individual who seemed to lack confidence. Then at the annual end of term show he appeared on stage and did magic tricks. Everybody, and I mean Everybody was shocked to see this quiet wee boy exuding confidence. And here he was today giving it his best shot. He even said to his crowd “That’s my old teacher.” I stopped, turned, gave him the scary teacher look and said “Less of the OLD, you!” He laughs, I laughed and the crowd joined in. The next time I’m in Glasgow I must look for him. Still can’t remember his name though. It’ll come to me.

I walked Alex to his bus and then headed back to Buchanan Galleries to drive home. Stopped at Condorrat on the way to get a Special Fish Supper and a tub of ice cream. The fish supper was consumed with gusto and the ice cream is in the freezer for tomorrow.

Helped Scamp later to form and coat some rum truffles. That should be RUM truffles, because there was a fair amount of the spirit in them. They did taste good.

Scamp has booked an appointment for Ross Hall Hospital for a second opinion on the cataract situation. Let’s hope they can do the job quicker than Hairmyres.

Tomorrow we’re hoping to go to dance class. Lateral Flow test first just in case.

Fort Apache, Glasgow – 8 December 2021

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Today Scamp wanted to go to The Fort today.

Before we went I added some air to the Blue car’s tyres. They’d all been down by about 4psi. Strange that they should all be down by exactly the same amount. It makes me think that all the tyres had their pressure reduced during their service in September. I hadn’t checked, but who checks the pressure in their tyres unless they look a bit flat and mine didn’t, but I felt the steering was a bit heavy last week and noticed the drop. Thankfully Scamp had a fairly new automatic inflater and it didn’t take long to get them up to snuff.

Drove to The Fort and Scamp masked up and walked into M&S while I went for a walk along the curving frontage of the retail park, looking for Paperchase or any shop that sold pens. No Paperchase and not much luck finding a pen. Does nobody write any more? Oh dear, that makes me sound so old 🧐. Plenty of clothes shops and if you’re looking for a pair of trainers you’d be well catered for, but no pen shops. I walked back empty handed. Met Scamp in Waterstones then we went to NEXT and Boots then I was dismissed to go to Costa and get the coffees in. As we were walking to the car after the coffee, I saw this sign with part of it obliterated by a parked car. I laughed, glad that I’d pocketed the A6000 before we left the house. We also saw the bronze deer statues and one of them with raindrops became PoD.

Back home and after lunch I got my boots on and grabbed the big camera, then went for a walk round part of St Mo’s, took a few photos, knowing that they’d have to be good to beat the ones from The Fort. Then I waked to Condorrat to post the 25 cards we’d written and stamped at a ridiculous cost. When I was buying the 25 stamps at the post office I laughingly complained that they cost almost 10 times what the cards had cost. The lady behind the counter replied “But they have to go a long way”. That got me thinking what would the total mileage all those 25 cards travelled? Thought for the day!

Dinner was slow cooked Prawn & Pea Risotto. Done the proper way in a pot with loads of butter and a great deal of care. Not like my usual method of letting the oven do the hard work. Tasted good though, so worth the care and attention.

Tomorrow we’re off to Hairmyres early in the morning. Hoping to get some answers to questions that have been buzzing round both of our heads for over a month now.