Category: landscape

Out for a walk – 16 March 2021

Posted on by Zogman

Another beautiful day with a wraparound blue sky to boot.

Far too good a day to lie in bed, or even to stay in the house. We had to get out … somewhere.

The ‘somewhere’ turned out to be Chatelherault in Hamilton. Now technically, that’s outside our region, but is still in Lanarkshire, so as far as I was concerned we were within our rights to go there. We got there fairly early, just after 11am and trotted off round the high level path going clockwise. We had no definite destination in mind, but I thought The Green Bridge would give us a good walk. We could always cut it short if we needed to. We passed a lot of folk who were walking anticlockwise. There will always be a few who want to do it “the wrong way.” We also passed and were passed by other walkers doing it the right way, clockwise. The path was fairly mucky in places and that was when we realised we’d left the walking poles in the car. They would have been especially useful when we were on the final descent to the Green Bridge down the slippery, mucky steps. We were warned by a couple of ladies that the last time they had walked it, they found that the path was flooded at the bottom and they had to detour over a fence into a field. Today it was flooded again, but some kind souls had built a raised path through the water and we managed to keep our feet dry.

I thought that we’d be able to take an easier path along the side of the Avon Water back to the visitor centre, but I realise now I was getting the green bridge and the white bridge mixed up. We had to cross the green bridge and climb up the path on the other side that would eventually take us along to the Cadzow Oaks and over the Duke’s Bridge, back to the car park. It was a long walk. Much longer that we’d anticipated, but really good on such a wonderful spring day.

On the green bridge itself, I was talking to a woman who came from Larkhall and sharing our memories of it- My mum used to take Alex and I down there. I think we used to get the bus down to Millheugh and we’d walk along the side of the river to Maryhoses where the green bridge is. It was a steel bridge then and it was painted green. These days it’s wooden and unpainted. It used to have drainage holes in the floor where you could drop stones through. A bloke on a bike cycled past while we were talking and on the sandy bank of the river set up a hammock to rest his weary legs … and look ‘cool’. Another cyclist was trying to cross over onto an island, lost his footing and ended up in the river. We passed him later on the path, looking muckier that ever. A long walk, but most enjoyable.

Back home we did a sort of check over the garden. What was growing and what wasn’t. Overall, it looks as if a lot of the plants have survived the vicious winter. Some work still to be done, but not as much as I’d feared.

PoD was a shot of the Duke’s Bridge just as we were setting off.

Tomorrow we are booked to take Shona for her jag in Motherwell.

Mothers Day – 14 March 2021

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So like mothers all over the UK, Scamp had her breakfast in bed.

I joined her for a while, but I had ’Things To Do’. Things like finishing today’s Sudoku and making the dough for flatbread to have with tonight’s dinner. Things like clearing away the clutter from the back bedroom. All of which gave me no time to think about cleaning the sensor of the Sony A7M2. Anything to stop me from doing it. Luckily, Hazy phoned to wish her mum a happy Mothers Day. She also gave us an update on the new kitchen which appears to be nearing completion.

After the phone call, Scamp decided we should go for a walk. The length of the walk and the destination would depend on whether or not the rain stayed off. I had my doubts that we would get far before that happened and on this occasion I was right. We had hardly got 100 yards before the first drops fell, but we were out now and the destination was set at St Mo’s Park. Probably the shortest walk and definitely the most sensible, after our foray into the wilderness of Palacerigg during the week.

We did a circuit of the pond, saw some geese that were feeding on the grass beside the path which is quite unusual as they normally stay in the pond itself being carefully monitored by the two resident swans. There were two serious looking fishermen with serious looking kit. First time I’ve seen pole fishing being done at the pond. Most people who fish the pond carry the usual kit which is a spinning rod and reel and a selection of spinners, plus the inevitable half bottle of Buckfast. More serious ones bring a seat and an umbrella, a coarse fishing rod and reel with a collection of floats and half a dozen cans of lager. The blokes today were using fishing poles made of fibreglass or more probably carbon fibre, massive things about ten metres long. They had purpose build and chrome plated rod rests too. Most significantly, neither of them had any alcoholic beverages visible about them. Obviously serious, but not ‘real’ fishermen.

We left them to their Sunday morning entertainment and did two circuits of the pond, sheltering under one of the big conifers between circuits when the rain got too heavy. We declared that two rounds of the pond was sufficient and went home for lunch.

<Technospeak>
With the walk and lunch out of the way, there was no excuse. It was time to perform open heart surgery on the Sony. It’s not that I haven’t done this operation before. Anyone who owns a DSLR or a modern mirrorless camera with more than one lens has had problems with dust on the sensor. Called “Dust Bunnies” they are the irritating black spots that appear on photos. It’s not that I have had any serious problems with the cleaning process either. I did make a tiny scratch on the glass once, but it never made a bit of difference to any of my photos. The process is simple. Remove the camera lens. Put a couple of drops of extortionately priced sensor cleaning liquid on an equally extortionately priced sensor swab. Gently wipe the swab across the camera sensor. Flip the swab over and wipe it again in the opposite direction. Put the swab in the bin. With a bit of luck, you’re done. If not, you might need to go through the operation again with another gold dust swab.

I did all that and was happy with the result. Not perfectly clean, because the sensor never remains perfectly clean, there will always be bunnies somewhere and the replicate at an alarming rate, especially when you change lenses a lot, like I do. Maybe that’s why they’re called ‘bunnies’!
</Technospeak>

I was doing dinner tonight, but it was a simple Holy Cow curry. Simplest curries I’ve ever made. I commend them to you. I also made flat bread to go with it. Scamp did dessert which was meringue nests with tinned apricots. Tastes much better than it sounds.

Dance class tonight was checking on our Waltz and Rumba then Tango. Only about seven or eight steps, but so much to remember, like bend your knees, turn your feet out, tuck your right foot into your left instep. It seemed such a performance for half a dozen or so steps, but it did feel more like a performance than either rumba or waltz did. This was a whole new ball game.

PoD was a photo of catkins over St Mo’s. I took it after I’d done the open heart surgery on the Sony. Just to test that most of the bunnies had gone and that it’s little heart wasn’t broken. If that means nothing to you, it’s because you skipped the interesting Technospeak section!

No plans for tomorrow yet because we have a Tesco order coming some time in the afternoon.

Pally Rig – 11 March 2021

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The sun was shining when we woke. It seemed a shame to waste it.

So, we didn’t. We got up and had breakfast downstairs. The day had begun. I’d said to Scamp the other day that I thought we might have a walk up at Palacerigg, known to everyone I know as Pally Rig. That became our destination for the day. As soon as we left the house the rain started and the sun disappeared, but we weren’t going to let that deter us. We drove up to the car park which serves as a place for golfers and walkers to leave their cars. Golfers on one side of the car park and walkers on the other.

The park itself looks quite neat and tidy now, but that’s because there are no animals there now. There used to be falcons, wildcats, pigs and goats. Also, unbelievably there were foxes, wolves and bison. Now there are only a few mallards in the pond and a couple of Muskovy Ducks. I felt quite sorry for them all swimming in a mucky pond. This is what happens when you let the witless council take over the running of a profitable country park.

We left the sad little ‘used to be’ animal zoo and walked through the golf course taking care to look left and right when we crossing the playing areas. There were a few golfers out today, but how they managed to play in a westerly gale I don’t know. It couldn’t have been a very comfortable game, but perhaps it was the challenge that spurred them on. We walk further into the wilder areas of the park, away from the manicured grass of the golf course. We’ve lived in Cumbersheugh for over thirty years and neither of us have ever walked these paths. We’ve bemoaned the lack of places to walk in North Lanarkshire, but as Scamp was saying today, it wasn’t until we were (hopefully) nearing the end of Lockdown that we are discovering places like Baron’s Haugh and Palacerigg.

The path had a decent surface to walk on and climbed and descended as it twisted its way through moss covered trees, so we got a fair bit of exercise. Every time we were out in the open the heavens would open. When we were in the shelter of the trees the rain would stop and occasionally there would be the hint of sunshine. We crossed a few bridges over raging torrents and saw a couple of waterfalls that would have looked even more spectacular if the sun had found a way through the trees at that point. However, they were noted for another day. After another mile or so I was convinced we were on the wrong path, but it wasn’t until we saw the main road below us that we realised just how far we’d gone in the wrong direction.

We turned back and I decided we should take a fork in the path that looked from the OS app as if it would take us back by another path. Another mucky path. The previous one had a fair bit of hardcore under our boots and signs of tyre tracks from a quad bike or something like it. The path we were on now was just a beaten track. Later we found another better path climbing back up in the direction we needed to go which was good, because we were now pretty near soaked. There is a Scottish word, ’Drookit’ which means soaked. This is what a drookit Scamp looks like. At the top of this hill, and in pelting rain, I managed to get four shots of the vista below us, looking over in the general direction of Loch Lomond with the Campsie Fells on the right and the Kilpatrick Hills on the left. Above them, and us, were the black clouds that were currently soaking us, helped by a driving west wind.

We passed the model airfield on the right and went left onto what started off as a real road, wide enough for a car or van, but then it degenerated into a series of puddles joined by muddy stretches. It was here we saw two deer that ran ahead of us for a few yards, thought about about jumping the fence into the next field before running on again. Just round the next corner we found a path that took us along to the path to the car park and a chance to get our wet jackets off and sit down for a while in the dry. Back home for lunch four and a half miles of up hill and down dale and all around the trees. Good fun though.

After lunch I took a walk to the shops to get bread and also some flowers for Scamp, because it’s Thursday. The view over Cumbersheugh became the PoD after some work in Lightroom and also in ON1. It’s a bit gloomy, but it is Scotland.

Don’t know what we’re doing tomorrow but more rain is forecast.

Under a milky white sky – 2 March 2021

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Yes, it was a milky white sky this morning. Although the weather fairies told us that the sun would come out of hiding, they forgot to mention that it wouldn’t happen until about 4pm.

There was no real need to get up and go anywhere in the Central Belt today because it looked like the white sky stretched from west to east and there was no getting away from it. Worse still, my phone was out of charge and my Kindle was too. Just to complete the trilogy, my Fitbit was telling me it was feeling a bit deflated on the power front too. I plugged in the phone and the kindle but forced the Fitbit to work for its dose of energy which it did in a disgruntled way beeping every hour to tell me to move my backside, which I also did in a disgruntled way. I blame the milky white sky for it all.

Eventually after lunch, we got ourselves in gear and went a walk to the shops. Scamp went to get milk and sensible stuff while I went for ice cream and sticky toffee pudding. Just a different kind of sensible. We carried our messages home and then while Scamp went out to comb the front grass, well, actually she was raking it, but when it was done it looked as if someone had combed it badly. While she went to do that, I went for a walk in St Mo’s. It felt a bit cold, so I wore my big Bergy jacket with its fleece, but actually it wasn’t all that bad once you were out and walking. The light was improving, but not enough to create shadows. For that you need directional light and there was none. I went to visit the ladybirds which were still hibernating and that’s when the sun started to shine, about 4pm.

Although the photos of the ladybirds are interesting to me, I realise they have limited appeal to the general public. It was while I was walking home that I tried my old 10-20mm Sigma lens and grabbed a few landscapes. When I looked at them on the computer I thought a monochrome format improved them and that’s what you see here.

Dinner tonight was Scamp’s job. She made Chickpea and Spinach Curry and I thought it was delicious. She thought it was OK, but that there was too much salt in it. She’s a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to seasoning, so I let her be right – just this once. My job was to make the flatbread and it turned out OK, but Scamp thought it was delicious. It’s not that I’m a perfectionist about flatbread …

Interesting text from Hazy this morning which I missed when my phone was filling its boots with electricity. She told me that while they were out for a walk they passed a cafe where I had coffee a few years ago and sat writing a speech for a certain wedding. Now that is nice to know. It has changed its name and probably been through a few iterations since that day, but it’s still there.

Tomorrow we don’t have any plans. The weather looks like it will be the same as today. We might go out somewhere and look for breaks in the clouds.

Off to Motherwell again – 26 February 2021

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We had promised ourselves a picnic somewhere today. The somewhere happened, the picnic didn’t.

When we left the house I was wondering if we’d get anywhere at all. We kept getting a message on the dashboard that there was a System Error with Start/Stop which is the technology that stops the engine to avoid excessive C02 going through the exhaust. Not a serious problem, but annoying and will need investigated by the garage. We did our best to ignore the incessant beeps and drove to Motherwell again to Barons Haugh for a walk in a different direction. We started out along the same path as last time, but turned in the opposite direction after about half a mile. We walked along a mucky path that eventually took us … almost back to the carpark, but we continued on and pretended we hadn’t noticed the carpark. We found a Japanese Garden that would have offended any Japanese folk who chose to visit it. It was a bit sorry looking. The water in the stream that wound through it was muddy, discoloured and full of rotting plants. It looked as if nobody had taken any time to look after it for some time. Such a pity and a disappointment.

Further on we found the “Big Hoose” which is private and exclusive by the looks of the cars in the forecourt. Outside it is the Covenanter’s Oak which is reputed to be the oldest tree in North Lanarkshire. Not a great claim to fame, but it’s an impressive tree. After that we wandered down the narrow ravine cut by the Dalziel Burn down to an old cemetery where my brother has taken some lovely photographs. Now I don’t like taking photos in cemeteries and didn’t take my camera out of its bag today. Back to the carpark was by a steep and fairly narrow single track road. Wouldn’t fancy meeting anyone coming the opposite way on this narrow road with high walls on each side. We drove home without any sign of the previous problems from the car. Still worth watching.

Scamp wanted to do “some dusting” after lunch and I wanted to get some more photos, but made a pig’s ear of all the settings on the camera and almost came home empty handed, but one shot worked really well and that’s what became PoD.

Today’s prompt was ‘Airplane’. I don’t like the word Airplane. I prefer Aircraft or Airies, but a prompt is a prompt. The sketch is based on a Handley Page Jetstream I saw at Brooklands in Surrey. The one there wasn’t in flying condition and probably never will be again, but it was a beautiful aircraft.

Very short practise session for the end of the waltz. Scamp had been working through it after her ‘dusting’ and seemed happy that we’ve ironed out that part of the routine at least. Now we just have to fix the rest of the dance!

No plans for tomorrow.

Sunshine again – 22 February 2021

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Beautiful morning, so up and out in the morning.

We drove down to Auchinstarry and walked along the towpath of the canal out to Twechar and back along the old railway. On the way out we saw two Goosanders with two ducklings. First time I’ve seen baby goosanders. Loads of cyclists out this morning making good use of the springlike weather. We found some snowdrops at the start of the railway path, a great swathe of them. Wonderful views of the hills too. It was good to be standing in the countryside, actually IN the countryside for a change.

The walk back along the railway was a bit of a disappointment. The works that have been ongoing since autumn and now proudly advertised with a big billboard are still only part complete. True, the path through Dumbreck Marshes had been upgraded and a couple of the big holes where the River Kelvin had worn away the side of the paths had been repaired. How long the repairs will last I wouldn’t like to say, but that was it. That’s a good few month’s ‘work’ with very little to show for it. Scamp seemed to just accept it and I ranted about what a waste of money it was. Then I shut up … for a while.

Drove back for lunch and did a bit of painting, catching up on yesterday’s sketches that I’d had a mental block with. Finally got yesterday’s and today’s drawings done. PoD was a gloomy looking landscape shot of sheep in a field near Auchinstarry.

All in all, it was a good day. Still experimenting with and testing the new lens. Trying different subjects. Today’s sheep picture was taken with it and although it’s classed as a short telephoto, it does produce really sharp landscape images. I’ve still not quite worked out how to best use it as the macro it’s supposed to be. To be honest, though, it’s not the best time of year to be photographing macros. In another two or three weeks there might be some more interesting things to photograph.

Tomorrow it is going to rain a lot, by the look of the weather map, so we will be stuck inside I presume because we’ve only one pair of wellies between us!

We went for a spin – 12 February 2021

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Yesterday we dug the car out and today we were taking it for a quick run to find the way into the Vaccination Centre.

The place was called The Muirfield Centre and before that it was Muirfield Primary school. Confusingly it’s still called The Muirfield Centre, but it’s a completely new building in a slightly different position. The access road we used to know no longer leads to it. However the new road (are you still with me) was easy to locate as there were signs pointing out the way. Found it. Car park was mobbed of course, but we weren’t waiting, we were just driving back home again today.

Parking back at the house was a bit dodgy and after a bit of wheel spin we dug the car a track through the ice to allow it to reverse into our space. All well.

After lunch we went for a walk round Broadwood Loch. We wore the YakTrax and were glad we did. Bits of the path were covered in a couple of centimetres of solid ice. Most of the water of the loch was thawed although there was a skin of ice in places. For once, all the geese, ducks and swans had moved en masse away from the car park and the free food, to the other side of the loch to gossip, paddle in the water and slide on the ice. It made an interesting photo, but PoD turned out to be a couple of folk waking under the trees across the loch from us.

After dinner, Scamp wasn’t feeling too well and ended up being sick. We think it might have been the mayonnaise in her tuna and baked potato that caused it. She went to bed early with Nurse Zog making sure she was comfortable every fifteen minutes or so.

I did, however manage to slap some paint on one of my sketch books to produce a reply to the prompt of “Meadow”. We don’t really have meadows in Scotland. We have fields, but not meadows.

We have been promised more snow tomorrow with the prospect of rain on Sunday. Thank goodness. When did we last wish for rain?

As you will have gathered, this is a catch up blog post and I can assure my readers that Scamp is fit and well and happily tidying things up today.

 

How much more rain is up there – 4 February 2021

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I don’t know how much more there is in the clouds, but a lot of it fell today. All day!

It just never stopped today. Rain, rain and more rain. We spoke to Hazy on the phone for half an hour in the morning. Found out, among other things, that Neil D was doing a virtual parents night last night and has another one tonight. Tonight’s one has every slot filled. So that’s probably about two hours of non-stop talk. Rather him than me.

I was just getting ready to brave the elements and go out to shops after lunch when Fred phoned. I realise now I should have just gone and chatted with him on my rainy walk, but I’m an auld guy and I despise these youngsters who wander around shouting at the top of their voices, apparently to nobody. Maybe they are talking on their phones through the tiny mike on their headphones, maybe they are just pretending they have friends when they have none. It’s even harder to decide what’s going on when they’re wearing ‘Real’ wireless headphones that dangle like little white earrings and have no white cord connecting them to a phone. Anyway, you weren’t going to catch me doing that sort of thing, so I told him I’d phone him back.

Actually it wasn’t too bad walking in the rain. I quite enjoyed it, although I didn’t have a chance to take any photos. I did try, but it was impossible. Tomorrow’s prompt for EDiF is “Underwater” and that’s what today’s PoD would have been if I’d taken anything. As it was, I chose to walk home and photograph something at home. That something turned out to be a Delphinium flower. One of many in the bouquet we got on Saturday. I quite liked it and thought it looked like a nursery rhyme flower fairy. Scamp saw a unicorn in it. I wonder what you’ll see.

I did phone Fred, but he was busy at the time and didn’t pick up. He phoned back later in the evening and we had a good natter about painting and Landscape Artist of the Year with judges that were basically talking out of their collective backsides, although Fred used more pointed language!

I was late starting today’s sketch although I’d worked it out in my head before I started, The topic was ‘Winter’. I think it looks a bit twee, but some of the painting is ok. It’s done and posted in time and that’s the main thing. Tomorrow I’ll start early and get the drawing/painting done in daylight. That’s what I said I’d do today, but there just wasn’t enough daylight to draw by!

More rain and snow forecast for tomorrow. After that it dries up a bit, but it gets a lot colder too. You just can’t win at this time of year.

Pencils, paints and brushes – 1 February 2021

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February and two sketching challenges begin today.

Another day in the frozen north. No snow, just frost on the cars. We didn’t need to go out, so we stayed in until we were sure that things were warming up, then we made our move.

We were heading down and round Broadwood today. The main paths were mostly clear and thawing nicely, but in the shade of the trees round the boardwalk at Broadwood the ice was as treacherous as usual. Today’s PoD was taken from there. It looks like the whole loch is just one big sheet of ice, but five minutes away, round the corner it’s open water. Strange. We watched a Goosander slipping and sliding on the ice trying to grab what appeared to be a piece of lemon.  It eventually gave up and went back to fishing. Thankfully round the corner the paths were much clearer. We walked our usual route round the end of the loch and on over the dam then down near Blackwood and back up to the stadium. That took us neatly to the shops. I was the only one carrying money, so I got to go to M&S to get veg for tonight’s dinner and a loaf.

Back home and after lunch I got a call from Colin to reassure me that he was keeping fine, with a bit of a chest infection, but definitely ONLY a chest infection. He’d been to see two doctors on Zoom or something like it and they had prescribed an antibiotic which he says is working. It must be cold today because he said he was going to work in his big heated greenhouse, but ended up coming back into the house for a heat. While we were talking he was watching his wife going for her second circuit with the dog “Round the Policies” as he puts it. A walk round his enormous garden. We chatted for a while about things in general and commiserated with each other for holidays lost and cancelled and agreed to keep in touch.

Ray was the only one of the Auld Guys who still hadn’t replied to my email from last week, so I phoned him, or tried to. The phone rang for about seven rings then stopped and a lady’s voice told me “Thank you. GOODBYE!” As abruptly as that. No chance to leave a message. Strange. I checked on the computer if I had the correct number, but it was. I thought I’d leave it for a while and phone later.

Dinner tonight was Chicken stuffed with spinach and wrapped in Parma Ham with oven roasted chips (home made). A Scamp creation which went down very nicely. Pudding was Cherry Crumble. Again, from Scamp’s fair hands. Equally delicious. Then the phone rang. It was Ray. Great to hear his voice. We discussed phones, RSPB Garden Bird Watch and how boring life is now. He’s a bit put out, because Nic hasn’t sent him a letter with his vaccine appointment yet and I’ve got mine (strangely the same day as Colin’s wife’s – but in a different town). I suggested the lack of letter might have been down to him being English. He just harrumphed! We also agreed to keep in touch.

In the afternoon I put on the heater in my room and started on the first prompt for Every Day in February and 28 Drawings Later. The prompt was “Coffee”. I managed that, as you can see. Not my best, but I’m a bit rusty and also I couldn’t find my favourite ‘Sword Brush’. I’ve found it now buried under a pile of papers on the dining table. I’m hoping for a better result from tomorrow’s prompt.

That’s about it for today. A day with a walk, two contacts made and a coffee cup painted, not to mention that chicken with parma ham.

Tomorrow we have no plans, but snow is forecast for during the night, so we will be at the mercy of the elements again.

50 – 30 January 2021

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Today it’s exactly 50 years since we first met at our friends’ engagement party. That was a Saturday too!

It was cold and frosty with just the thinnest covering of snow, so it was boots and YakTrax just in case. Not a long walk today, just a couple of circuits of St Mo’s pond. I took the Sony plus kit lens and my old Sigma 105mm macro on the adapter. The Samyang 18mm is always in the bag. That covered all the necessary bases. Two circuits was what we predicted and that’s what we did. Cold, but not absolutely freezing. Most of the photography was of landscapes with the macro lens providing some arty-farty close ups. After lunch it was time for me to give a cursory glance at the photos and for us both to begin to prepared dinner and tidy up a bit.

Later in the afternoon a knock at the door signalled the arrival of a large box of beautiful flowers from Hazy, JIC, Neil D and Sim. (Alphabetical arrangements are always safest). To say we were taken by surprise is an understatement. It’s rarely Scamp or I are lost for words, but we were today. Thank you, you lovely people.

Dinner was a sit at the table affair and a full three course meal. We decided it would be appropriate to celebrate the fifty years since we met with a glass (or two) of Prosecco before dinner.

It began with a seafood starter. Mine being Prawn Cocktail and Scamp’s was Seared Scallops. Mains were Lightly Smoked Trout for Scamp and Sirloin Steak for me, served with potatoes. Dessert was Eve’s Pudding. All washed down with a very nice red wine. Music just had to be Songs of Leonard Cohen.

Later we tasted a bottle of Dark Matter (not the whole bottle, not yet anyway!). I had a small glass, neat and Scamp had her traditional Coke with her’s. Interesting taste of spice, something hot and treacle. We may need to try some more tomorrow, just to be sure. While sampling we watched a bit of TV and decided an early night would be best before the room started spinning too fast for us to find the door.

PoD was a landscape from the morning’s photo shoot.

Tomorrow will be the day of reckoning, I’m sure.

This, inevitably, is the catch-up write up.