Category: Kelpies

An early rise – 22 September 2022

Posted on by Zogman

Up and out fairly early today to take the car to the garage for its service.

I thought it was going to be a nightmare run to Stirling. The rain was torrential when I woke, but by the time I was leaving it was tailing off and so was the traffic which usually turns the M80 into a carpark if you are travelling before 10am. A nice easy run to the garage.

Spoke to a lady assistant who asked if I’d had any problems with the car since the last service and when I handed her the typed up A4 sheet, she said “Oh! I see”, read it and promptly passed it on the service manager. Actually they couldn’t have been more helpful today. They seem to be under new management, so that might explain it. I signed all the paperwork, drew in a sharp intake of breath when the service assistant told me the cost of the Major Service and we walked out to my car for the day. It was a white Nissan Juke – automatic. His parting words to me were “Just remember not to lift your left foot.” Wise words. At the first roundabout I stamped on the brake, thinking it was the clutch. “Don’t lift your left foot” became my mantra for the drive home. My first thoughts were It’s BIG, It’s a bit noisier than the Micra and It’s got Sport Mode!!

After a bit of a kerfuffle I managed to reverse park The Beast and like all Nissans it complained about everything with warnings on the dashboard screen and beeps for every infringement.

I thought it would be good to go for a drive with Scamp. I knew she’d hate it. It’s too big and it goes too fast. I have to agree, but first I had to find how to put fuel into it. I could not find the switch to open the door that hides the fuel cap. The Micra has two tabs, one opens the bonnet and the other opens the fuel compartment. Eventually I gave in and read the instructions. To open the door, you press on the rear of the fuel compartment door, just like the Megane. Problem solved.

We drove out slowly and put in a few quids worth of petrol, then went for a run to The Kelpies. Just to annoy Scamp, I put on the heated seats when she wasn’t looking. That gave her a shock and a laugh (you taught me that, Jamie). I still don’t like them and Scamp hates them. I managed to drive all the way to Falkirk and only once did an ‘emergency stop’ by trying to use a clutch that wasn’t there. I also gave Scamp a laugh when I started trying to change gear in an automatic. My hand went to the gearstick quite a few times. When we parked at The Kelpies, I tried to pull on an invisible handbrake – the joys of ‘electronic handbrakes’.

The Kelpies were just as magical as they always are. We walked round them trying to see them from a different angle and being amazed at how lifelike they are. It was quite quiet today, no crowds. Well, it was quiet until a lorry load of visitors arrived and mobbed the place. There seemed to be hundreds of them. We went into the cafe and had lunch before they realised there was food nearby. Today’s PoD came from Helix Park, where The Kelpies live. It was a snap shot, not a snapshot. Saw it and took it before I realised that the bloke was with the woman in the background, wearing the yellow jacket and she was photographing him. Oops!

After we’d seen the great metal horses and walked round them, we headed home. Scamp bought birthday cards in Condorrat while I processed today’s photos. After that, we wrote the cards and I walked to Condorrat to post one. Hopefully the other will go to June for safe keeping tomorrow.

Oh yes, tomorrow. I got a phone call from the garage about 5pm to say Would it be ok to leave the Micra with them overnight until they finalise their investigations? I agreed that it would be fine by me. They confirmed that they would extend my insurance. So I get another day to find our more about the White Juke.

Tomorrow June and Iain are taking us out for lunch at the Red Deer (AKA the Dead Deer). Looking forward to it. Also looking forward to getting my Blue Micra back.

A day at the horses – 31 August 2022

Posted on by Zogman

Aha, but not just any horses. These ones are only half buried. That leaves it up to the imagination to see their hidden bodies!

In the morning after a cup of strong coffee, I drove over to Motherwell to pick up my brother and then we drove east to Helix Park in Falkirk. Alex was going to be introduced to the magic of the Kelpies and they didn’t disappoint. From the motorway you don’t get the full effect of these sculptures, but up close and with the feeling that, like dragonflies, you are being observed just as carefully as you are observing them. I lost count of the number of times we walked round them, looking at them from all angles and taking photos of them with a variety of cameras and lenses. I wondered how many hundreds of folk took selfies with them today. I wondered how many thousands of folk had their photo taken today, holding out their hand as if they were feeding these giant beasts. They are simply amazing.

After a while we paused for lunch and disappointingly, the sun went behind the clouds for a while and it looked like the best light of the day was gone, so we went for a walk over the canal and along the towpath on the far side, then back over another bridge further on. As we were taking some longer views of the beasts, we realised that the sun had just been having its lunch too and was now back to full strength again having pushed its way through the clouds. We went back for another shoot. This time from a different angle. We tried reflections in the water and reflections in the panoramic windows of the visitors centre. I walked back to the car to dump my raincoat which I wasn’t going to need now and found yet another viewpoint I’d not seen before.

Another coffee and it was time for the last of the photos and then it really was time to say goodbye to the Kelpies, but we did say too, that we’d be back. For now, though it was back to rush hour and the inevitable queues on the motorway. I drove Alex back to Motherwell and then came home, exhausted. I hadn’t quite realised how hot it was today. It was a long day and a lot of driving, but I really enjoyed it and I’m sure Alex did too. A monochrome ultra-wide shot of the Kelpies got PoD.

Tomorrow I may go out to lunch with Scamp and Shona or more likely I’ll just relax and read. I’ll maybe do some reorganising of August’s photos.

Meeting a man from the money trade – 31 May 2022

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Our six monthly visit to Falkirk

We had an early morning appointment with a man who knows all the facts and figures and explains them with a large dose of humour. Always entertaining while he’s explaining how the world is turning.

With that done, the day was our own to play with and play in. First visit was to the Kelpies. I wasn’t sure exactly how to get there from deepest Falkirk. Unfortunately the sat nav wasn’t sure where we were. It was giving us the correct street names and the lady behind the map was giving the correct directions, but according to the map we were somewhere just south of Inverness. The electronics in this car are shot. However the lady with the posh voice knew where we were and where we wanted to go and she navigated us onto the road we recognised.

We parked and paid our £3. Three quid is pretty good value for a full day with the silver river horses. They alway radiate such a calm influence, it’s almost impossible to be down when you’re in their presence. We had a coffee and a coconut scone in the cafe and I took a few photos. We browsed the ‘gift’ shop but left without being tempted to buy any of the expensive merchandise. We walked round the ponds that the great beasts live in and that’s where I got PoD. It’s a bit spoilt by the pond scum. The council really should clean it up occasionally, just to make the photogs job easier.

We walked over the bridge that crosses the Forth & Clyde canal and walked along the towpath to the second bridge, recrossed the canal and drove over to Torwood, aided and abetted by that same posh lady who had in the interim fixed the display to show we were in Falkirk. Multi-talented she is.

I wanted some leeks and some curly kale at the garden centre, but there were no leeks to be had, so I had to be satisfied with the kale. Scamp collected some Violas and an orange Osteospermum. After a bit more browsing and deciding we couldn’t quite squeeze another plant pot into either front or back garden, we drove home.

Later in the afternoon Scamp planted out her new acquisitions while I made sure I did have a PoD. Actually I had quite a few contenders for that accolade, but the big wide shot of the Kelpies in their mucky bath won.

Dinner was Potatoes with Bubble & Squeak plus Haddock for Scamp and a Burger for me.

We watched another episode of Silent Witness, but maybe we’re being too critical, but it seems a bit of a fairytale these days. Too many unlikely scenarios. I suppose we must remember, It’s Not Real!

Tomorrow I’m booked to see the nurse at 4pm, but the rest of my time is my own. Scamp might have the whole day to herself!

A day at the gee gees – 21 November 2021

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It was a beautiful morning. Too good to sit in the house.

I enticed Scamp out, telling her we’d go for a walk. Well, were going for a walk, but we’d to drive to the Kelpies first. I felt sure they’d bring a smile to her face and they did. Helix Park, where the Kelpies live was busy and with half the car park cordoned off for resurfacing I wondered if we’d get parked, but we were there early enough for that not to be a problem. Paid our £2 for our right to park there all day if we wanted, then we went for that walk I’d promised.

One of the first things we saw apart from the gigantic horses heads was a bloke on a paddle board posing on the water and being photographed. He even did a headstand on the board. Poor bloke was wearing a wetsuit top, a life jacket and a pair of shorts. No leggings and no trainers. The temperature was around 7ºc, he must have been freezing. Luckily he didn’t fall in.

We walked round the massive statues and found new angles to view them from. Lots of other folk were doing the same. Some with their hands out pretending to feed the beasts, others just getting family groups set up to record the visit. We even saw a wedding photog taking the opportunity for an interesting backdrop for an Indian couple. The groom in a dark suit and the bride in the most glorious ivory coloured wedding dress I’ve ever seen. So much heavy brocade, it must have weighed a ton! They had a great day for it.

It was cold, but Scamp wanted to have a coffee outside where the view was better than in the cafe. Yes the view was good and the ‘millionaire’s shortbread’ was good too, but cappuccino really should have coffee in it, somewhere. I think I got hot milk. After a while we headed home. It really was getting a bit cool as the sun disappeared behind a big cloud, but we’d had a walk in the sun and visited the Kelpies again.

Back home and after lunch I declared the photos good enough to exempt me from a walk in the cold wintry air, so I started a backup of the iMac before I upgrade it to Catalina tomorrow, hopefully.

Dinner was Cauliflower Cheese with potatoes for Scamp and Mince ’n’ Tatties for me with a bit of the cauliflower cheese added in. Scamp had made a Bruschetta for a starter and it was very nice indeed. We had our first Tesco delivery of the autumn/winter season. The first since the late spring. It made sense with all that’s going on in the house to get someone to pick it and someone else to deliver it.

We watched the Quatar F1 GP and saw more of the politics rearing its ugly head in the sport. Too many egos in F1 now. But I’m just going over old ground the same old ground I ploughed through yesterday.

I had a great day today and I hope Scamp had a good time too, apart from the coffee. PoD was a backlit Kelpie throwing shapes on the walkway.

No plans for tomorrow. Weather looks not as good as today.

The first day of freedom to roam – 16 April 2021

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Scamp got the choice of where to got today on our first legal cross border foray.

Anyone who knows Scamp could have predicted the trio of places she’d gladly go to on our first day of freedom. Troon would be high on the list, Cramond would also be up there, but the top destination would always be The Kelpies. So today we drove out of North Lanarkshire and into Falkirk Region which is where the Kelpies live, surfacing from the concrete just between Falkirk and Grangemouth at the end of the Forth & Clyde canal. When left the motorway and headed through Helix Park there were crowds of kids in the park and we thought we wouldn’t be able to get parked. In fact I was racking my brains to decide where else we could go. I needn’t have worried, the canny folk of Falkirk and around didn’t want to pay to see the Kelpies, so the three quid charge for a day’s parking forced them to park about a mile away at the Falkirk football ground where parking is free.

The two enormous horses apparently rearing out of the canal should inspire terror on first sight, but they don’t for us. They have a calming effect. Every time we’ve visited them it’s been this air of calm that has descended and everyone we’ve taken there has felt it too. The place was busy, but there was enough open space for everyone to find a vantage point to photograph or simply take in the view of these statues. We had an ice cream cone and sat and watched the world go by. Then we walked over the outfall of the canal and on to the other side.

The last time we were walking along the towpath of the canal we’d bumped into my ex-boss and mentor with his wife. Today, at exactly the same spot we bumped into Dave and Maureen again. Took a few minutes to catch up and then they headed off to meet their grandkids and we walked along to the next bridge over the canal and back past the giant horses again.

We found a bloke selling pizzas from a portable pizza oven and we agreed that we’d found our lunch. First time we’ve ‘eaten out’ in months and here we were out in a different county, sitting in the sun eating a mushroom pizza that was wafer thin and extremely hot and tasty.

I’d taken a few shots, but as usual I’d failed to capture the essence of the Kelpies. Today’s offering is a view from the towpath of the statues reflected in the canal with a family preparing for a sail up the canal on their boat. We agreed it must be good to just take your boat for a sail any day you wanted to. I doubt if I’ll ever know, unless my lottery numbers come up and I believe you have to buy ticket first before you have any chance of that happening.

We heard a loud spoken bloke who apparently lived on one of the houseboats moored there that the boat is always moving, except one time. If the boat isn’t moving under you, it means it’s frozen solid in the ice. I’d never considered that before. We said goodbye to the Kelpies and drove home.

Back home I took the Sony out for a walk. I wasn’t really looking for any more photos, which was lucky as I didn’t find any. I did find enjoy the walk and talked myself through some things that are changing in my photography. I’m thinking about selling one of my cameras and a load of lenses that I don’t use any more. I’ll still keep a couple of bits of glass because there’s nothing in the Sony range that does what they do. I put a prospective list in to MPB last night and got offered a favourable price. I’m leaving a final decision until after the weekend.

We had a dance practise tonight. I still can’t quite manage the steps for the end of the Tango routine, but the rest of the dances worked quite well.

It’s my turn to choose a destination for tomorrow and I have somewhere in mind. We’ll see what the weather’s like in the morning. Today was an excellent choice, Scamp. A very good day.

A beautiful day – 19 November 2020

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If only we could decide what to do with it.

Neither of us could decide where to go on what would be our last free day before Lockdown 2 happened. Finally Scamp said “Take me to the Kelpies” so that’s what I did. We drove to Grangemouth on a cold, day with a temperature in single digits, low single digits.

The giant horse statues looked as magnificent as ever and even better because there were no people standing around them taking selfies or pouting at their phones. We walked round them, admired them and told them just how impressive they were. They already knew, but accepted our praise in dignified silence.

We found a new path that took us round the outskirts of the sewage treatment works that was producing the awful smell. I don’t know if it was the direction the wind was blowing that was causing it, or maybe they only switch on the machinery at night in the summer to cause less offence to visitors, but it was certainly working at full blast today. The path took us along the side of the River Carron. It wasn’t the most interesting walk and we gave up after a while to walk back and go along the canal this time. It was on this path that I got PoD. Looking down the canal towards the Ochil Hills with the sun lighting up the Kelpies. It was good to be in the right place at the right time for once. We were going to have a quick coffee at the information centre, but there were a few folk waiting to get in and it was too cold to hang around. We drove home and had some “Just Soup” instead.

In the afternoon we walked down to the shops for last minute essentials for dinner (veg chilli with one of our own chillies) on the way back, Scamp offered to go straight back which allowed me half an hour to grab some more shots in St Mo’s. The Samyang was carefully supervised and although it did miss focus a couple of times, most of the shots were on target. It didn’t affect the PoD, that remained with the Kelpies.

Tonight we cleared out the boiler cupboard and now there’s garden stuff all over the house. Boiler arrives tomorrow between 7am and 9am. Engineer arrives about 9am and it’s going to be pouring by the look of the weather fairies’ report. It might be a long day.

Because of the above, we have no plans for tomorrow.

Old Friends – 29 July 2020

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Today we went to see a couple of old friends.

Scamp and I went for a wee run today to see a couple of old friends. One with his head always down. Some folk say he’s watching you. The other one has his head high. Some think he’s in pain, I think he’s laughing out loud at all these little folk around him. It’s ages since we’ve visited the Kelpies, not been there for months and I think Scamp was looking forward to seeing them again. I must admit I was too. Because of the Covid-19 restrictions, the Visitor Centre was closed, but there was an ice cream van and it seemed a shame on quite a sunny day not to have one each. We walked around them and then followed our noses to the lock that allows boats access to the River Carron and thence to the Forth Estuary and the sea. We were waiting to allow a couple to cross the narrow walkway over the lock gates when I recognised them. One was a teacher in the school when I started and the other was his wife. We stood and talked for a while about our respective families. We also talked about folk we’d known and worked with, some of whom are no longer with us. Eventually we had to go, but as usual when something like that happens throughout the afternoon little snippets of memories drop into place. A nostalgic meeting. They walked back to their car and we carried on with our walk on the far side of the canal.

For all the times we’ve visited the Big Horses, this is the first time we’ve crossed the canal and seen them from the other side. You get a completely different view of them from the other side and best of all there are no pylons or power lines to erase from the resulting photographs. Today’s PoD came from the bridge further back upstream, if you can have an upstream is a canal. I’d never photographed them from that viewpoint before and it’s such a natural choice with the Ochil Hills in the background.

Back home after lunch, Scamp wanted to prune back the blackcurrant bush in the hopes that she can get rid of the virus or insects that are damaging it, I don’t think either of us is really sure that it will work, but if we don’t try, we’ll never know. I got my hands dirty planting some more carrots and kale into pots to go in the greenhouse. The kale should be ok, but I’m not sure if the carrots will work. I’ve never been successful with transplanting root crops. I also bit the bullet and spread slug pellets in the raised bed. I don’t like using them where I’m growing stuff to eat, but I reckon it’s the slugs that have taken all the carrot plants I had there. There are definitely traces of slugs on the well eaten kale leaves. I checked them and there are no signs of caterpillars, so slugs are the best bet. Let’s hope they like their last meal of blue slug pellets.

That was about it for the day. A day at the Kelpies is always uplifting, but meeting another couple of old friends just made it extra special.

Tomorrow rain is forecast, so we may ‘Go for the Messages.”

Another gardening day – 9 June 2020

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For Scamp it was. I was only the labourer.

Scamp set out in the morning with her tool belt on ready to do battle with the Pieris and the Rhododendron. She worked like a trojan scraping away the moss and compacted top soil on both, then pruned the pieris then together we hauled it around until it was sitting in a better position. My job for the day was to repot the Rosemary which had been stuck in a rather small pot for quite some time now and we’d been promising it a new pot with fresh compost for a while now. Today was the day. Again, it was moved to a sunnier spot in the garden, although there wasn’t a lot of sun for it to sit in today. It was all a bit dull and grey.

After lunch we walked to the shops to get tortilla wraps, broccoli and smoked salmon for tonight’s dinner which was to be quick quiche. Found the recipe in an old newspaper where they used a tortilla wrap instead of shortcrust pastry for the base and sides of the quiche. What a difference it makes. Done in half the time with no faffing around chilling the pastry or blind baking.

Walked back and it felt like there was just the hint of rain in the wind. I decided to ignore it and go for a walk in St Mo’s just to make sure I had a photo for today. I saw a bloke fly fishing in the pond. I’ve heard of Fly Fishing in Yemen, but this must be the first time I’ve seen anyone fly fishing in the pond at St Mo’s. I suppose it’s possible to catch perch or maybe even a small pike with a fly, but usually it’s blokes with umbrellas, gigantic bait boxes and a six pack of Tennents or the sneaky little bottle of Bucky who sit there all day. This bloke was standing and moving. He was doing some nifty casts too. It might take you some time to see him, he’s well camouflaged! That photo got PoD. Those eagle eyed out there might have noticed in the photo that there were a lot of rain splashes in the water. I decided to cut short my walk and head for home, only having a hoodie as rain protection.

The quiche was lovely. Broccoli and smoked salmon. Something Jackie taught me up in Skye. It’s a very good combination. Scamp made another quiche, a Quiche Lorraine, but the flavours weren’t as strong as the first one.

Target for today was to Draw Something Huge. After a great deal of thought, I decided on the head-up kelpie. I can’t remember if he is Duke or Baron, all I know is that the head-down kelpie likes to be called Harry the Happy Kelpie, but that’s something he told me and it’s supposed to be a secret, so don’t go blabbing it. Pencil rough then Lamy ABC kids fountain pen (great for sketching), then a gentle water wash to give some light shadows. Always difficult to sketch such an icon, but I think I got away with it.

Tomorrow it looks wet for most of the afternoon. Maybe I’ll be proven wrong. I hope I am.

The Blessing – 21 December 2019

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Yesterday I said that just to be out for a walk in the open air without any shops would be a blessing. Today we were blessed with open air and no shops.

Initially we drove to Stirling with the possibility of travelling onward through Callander to Lubnaig or east to a wee loch we’ve been to a few times but can’t remember the name of. We visited neither of these places today. Instead I pointed the Juke towards the compass direction with the most likelihood of some sun, back along the M9 intending to visit The Kelpies. Then Scamp suggested we go to Culross instead (Sorry Hazy), and that is where we ended up.

Culross actually ticked all the boxes:

  • A walk
  • Open air
  • No Shops

We walked along at the side of the now obsolete mineral railway line from Longannet power station to the manmade lagoons near Low Valleyfield. I was intending to take some shots of the boardwalk and new pier at Culross, but then five boys on bikes ruined my shot, or so I thought. They walked and one cycled along the boardwalk, from there on to the pier and finally on to the rocks. I don’t usually allow people in my landscape shots, using Lightroom to unceremoniously delete them. This time I used them. They made an interesting focal point with the sky and sea as a backdrop. That had the makings of a PoD.

We walked along towards what’s known as Preston Island although it’s now a headland. I presume it once was an island before the slag and cinders from the power station were dumped there to reclaim the land. By the time we got there the light was failing so we turned and headed back. I took a few more photos, but nothing as good as the boys on the rocks.

Drove home and before dinner I did a bit of digital cut ’n’ paste to get me the composition I wanted and was really quite pleased with the result.  The Five Stages of Man.

Dinner tonight was going to be a carry-out curry or Chinese, but eventually we settled on a staple: Fish Fingers and Egg with Chips and Spaghetti. And some people call us ’Foodies’!!

Tomorrow we have nothing planned, but if the weather’s good I’m hoping to get some more photos.

Kelpied – 24 September 2019

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Today we were all Kelpied!

Today dawned dry but a bit dreary. However, it soon brightened up and we thought we’d risk a run to the Kelpies. It all went well until we were almost at the M9 then the car seemed to be misfiring, which is strange because it had been running so well since its last service. I hadn’t bought petrol from anywhere other than my usual two petrol stations and I hadn’t run the level down until the red light came on. So that should rule out the possibility of a little bit of dirt getting in to the carburettor or the jets, whatever it is the Juke has. Made the decision to detour via the Nissan garage in Stirling, where the service manager came to see what the problem was. He gave it a fair run through the gears, fierce acceleration and gentle driving, but could not replicate the problem. There was little more the poor man could do, but he took it in to the service bay, put it on the computer and pronounced it clean. No problems listed. Finally he suggested we drive off and if the problem reared its head again, we should book it in for a full day check. Clive and I were puzzled. We couldn’t agree on a possible cause and he knows a lot more about cars than me. It ran perfectly for the rest of the day.

Got to the Kelpies and wandered round them just taking them in. Glad to see that Clive was equally entranced with these beautiful equine sculptures. We both took lots of photos of them from different angles and in different lighting conditions. Scamp was also taking photos, but I think we were the subjects. People are more important than places to her and that’s probably her greatest photographic strength. She captures people very much better than me.

From Grangemouth, we said goodbye to the Kelpies and headed round the outskirts of Falkirk to The Falkirk Wheel. The giant boat lift was one of the things that Clive had wanted to see and we arrived just as it was doing a lift, so he got to see it in action right away. I took the car away to park it and met them in the shadow of the great wheel where we discussed the mechanics of this modern wonder. We waited for another boat to be lifted and after a swift look in the visitor centre, I found the one ticket machine that was working and paid for our parking. For a visitor centre which was meant to show this wonder of engineering design, there were a host of machines with OUT OF ORDER signs on them. Almost nothing of any note was working. Poor show Falkirk. Drove home and arrived just as the rain was starting.

PoD was a view of the Kelpies reflected in the turning pool of the canal.

Tomorrow we may go to Glasgow, but it depends on the weather.