Category: landscape

Cycling – 11 December 2016

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It was a decent temperature today, mild at 10ºc for December, so I thought I’d take my bike out for a winter run.

I’d some housekeeping to do first as Scamp’s sister was coming to stay for a few days and the ‘painting room’ was more like a pigsty.  It took longer than I’d intended to get the room looking nearly ship-shape.  This was partly due to me getting sidetracked into adding details to my most recent painting, but after an hour or so it was reasonable.

After lunch which was last night’s curry reheated, I got the bike out and pumped up the tyres a bit and I was good to go.  Cycled my short course which is only about 6 miles, but included a lot of climbs and descents, as well as a fair bit of off-road rutted tracks.  A good run for a re-start to my cycling.  It felt a bit cooler than the recorded 10º, but that might have been the wind chill and it might have been because I’ve not cycled since the end of the summer.  There were lots of geese flying south today.  That may be a sign of the weather getting more wintry in the next week or so.  One skein of geese flew directly overhead and the noise they made was deafening.  I’m guessing they were discussing the best place to roost for the night.  Night was indeed coming on fast, so I took their advice and headed for my roost for the night.

Salsa Ball tonight, so it will be a late start tomorrow, but Scamp has a party planned for ‘Gems’, so we won’t want to leave it too late.

Perf – 8 December 2016

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8 Dec

Today we went to Perth.  We drove there this time.  I needed coffee, it seems like I always need coffee.  I’ve got the blending bug and am happy to mix and match my beans, sometimes coming up something that tastes better than the constituent parts … sometimes.

We’d booked a table at Cafe Tabou for 12.30 but because we were a bit late getting out this morning, we were running a bit behind schedule and didn’t have time for a coffee on arrival, but the other side of the coin was that we didn’t have as long to wait for lunch!  Speaking of lunch, it was:

Scamp

Starter:  Mussels with smoked haddock and leek in a mustard sauce

Main:  Baked cod steak with leek and smoked salmon risotto with hazelnut butter

Me

Starter:  Seasonal salad leaves with beef cheek, roast beetroot, giant cous cous, croutons and garlic dressing

Main:  Pan fried venison escalope served with braised red cabbage, potato gratin and bramble jus

Both were delicious.

The rest of the day was spent wandering round the shops.  Obviously for my core readers, the actual shops and shopping must remain redacted.

Driving home the sunset was building all the way.  I stopped off in my favourite place and got a load of shots, the best of which form today’s mosaic.

We had intended to go in to Glasgow tonight to dance at Barca, but after a long day in Perth, we decided not to bother.  Maybe next week.

Tomorrow we are expecting a day of rain, so I may go to wander the streets of Glasgow to source even more prezzies or I may just stay in and paint.

St Andy’s Day – 30 November 2016

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30-nov

Gym and Swim in the late morning and guess what?  They were still repairing the sauna and the steam room, but the jacuzzi was working, well, it was working until I got in and was then told by some dick with an ipad (have ipads replaced clipboards now?) that they were just about to drain it.  I complained that the sauna was close, the steam room was closed and now the jacuzzi was being closed.  What was going to be next?  The pool?  He said that the repairs to the sauna and the steam room were now complete and they were just about to open them again.  For once they were as good as their word and the hot rooms were hot.  In the case of the steam room, very hot.  Steaming hot in fact.  Tested all three facilities and they passed muster.

Home to a lunch of three-day-old soup which didn’t taste that bad, but oh dear what a dull day.  Dreich in extremis.  It felt like the sun had forgotten to get out of bed today.  I went to get new wiper blades for the car and some much needed screen wash too.  After that I drove to Auchinstarry and got a few sunset shots, but I was glad I’d kept the new wee tripod in the car, because I really needed it today to support the camera with the slow shutter speed that was necessary to get the ISO down.  It was supposed to be 9.7ºc today, but the wind-chill must have dropped that temperature down by 10º.  It was baltic.  Shots in the bag, I headed for home and a hot cup of tea.  Fish ’n’ Chips for dinner with an egg thrown in for good measure.  That put a smile on my face for a while.  We should have been going to salsa tonight but it looked like Jamie Gal was still in Bristol by mid afternoon, so the likelihood of ’the other teacher’ (Nudge, Nudge – Wink, Wink) taking the class was quite high and also the fact that I wasn’t feeling all that great meant that we stayed home tonight.  I’d rather be there, but the thought of driving through the usual Wednesday football traffic just to find that we were doing “Oo la la” ’styling’ when I’m not feeling at my freshest didn’t appeal.  I might have a hot toddy and head off for an early bed tonight.  Maybe I’ll read another chapter of Ben Aaronovitch’s “The Hanging Tree” (Peter Grant Book 6) and further eke it out.  This is book 2 of my must-read trilogy, the third being the latest of Ian Rankin’s or John Rebus’s books (I’m never sure exactly who it is who writes them or who is real and who is merely a character).  After those three, the first being A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers, I’m in no-man’s land.  Need to go looking!

Hoping for a better day and a better attitude tomorrow.  May go and do some urban sketching ‘In the Toon.’  Some sunshine would be nice.

Fidgeting – 29 November 2016

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29-nov

Fidgeting:  To move about restlessly, nervously, or impatiently.
That sort of sums up me today.

After completing yesterday’s Sudoku (easy) followed by today’s puzzle (medium), I was stuck for something to do.  Scamp was going out to lunch with a friend, so I had an hour or so to do as I pleased.  I thought about starting a painting, but couldn’t settle to it.  Sketching?  No, that didn’t work either.  St Mo’s didn’t appeal today.  The final decider was that I’d agreed with Scamp that I’d bring back some messages.  Stuff like milk, bread and onions.  Stuff for dinner, that’s messages in Scotland.  This agreement forced me to go out.

I went to Auchinstarry on the off chance that I’d get another look at the kingfisher.  It wasn’t there, but a grey heron was.  It kept flying off whenever I took the camera out and although I wanted a static shot with the heron’s reflection in the canal, I realised that if I was going to get anything, it would have to be an action shot.  I got it, twice.  My favourite, though, is the landscape with the trees.  I like that view and this time I managed to avoid the power lines that usually deface this shot.  It was the light that made it special and that’s what it’s all about.

After the walk and the photos, I did go for the messages at Lidl.

No plans for tomorrow yet.  It depends, as Scamp would say, on the weather.

Cold and Frosty – 21 November 2016

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21-nov2

Yes, in the morning it was cold and frosty and it stayed that way for most of the day too.  Poor wee violas in the hanging basket at the back door.  They rarely see the sun in these winter days and today they looked wilted.  When they finally thawed out about 4pm, the sprung back to life as if it had never happened.

Today being Scamp’s ‘Gems’ group’s singing practise, I packed my bags and headed for the leisure centre where I intended to have a swim and a nice 30 mins or so in the sauna and the steam room.  That’s 30 minutes total, not 30 in each!  However, it was their turn for ‘essential maintenance’.  So far we’ve had the air-con in the changing room refurbished and the gym equipment replaced.  Last week it was the jacuzzi that was essentially being maintained and today it was the hot rooms time for an overhaul.  Next week the pool?  Who knows.  It always worries me when an establishment like this gets a complete facelift.  Usually it presages a change of ownership.  I hope I’m wrong, but I just have that feeling …

After the curtailed swim, I left and headed for Fannyside Moor, just on the outskirts of Cumbersheugh to get a PoD.  Actually I had one in the bag from earlier in the day when the bluetits found the bird feeder had been refilled, but another one or two wouldn’t go amiss.  I was armed with the old Sony F707 and the Furry Monkey.  Hoping his magic paws would do the needful with the IR filter again.  Well, he worked his magic, but there just wasn’t enough direct sunlight to give the necessary IR, so I resorted to a couple of landscapes taken with normal light instead, the best of which is above.

Salsa tonight was the usual mayhem with Jamie Gal forgetting his moves which “… worked perfectly earlier in the day in my office!” Then trying to make up a name for them, before attempting to translate the name into Spanish.  Great fun!

Kizomba?   Hmm, not a lot of fun and I sense a rant starting.
This was the last lesson of the block and I would have thought that Kay, the teacher, would have been pushing hard to keep us interested.  Instead she just tread water for almost all the class time.  Because her teaching assistant was absent, she had one of the class members run the guys through a ‘warm-up’ reprise of the last seven weeks’ moves while she did the same with the girls.  The ‘warm-up’ lasted for twenty minutes.  Twenty minutes of an hour long class.  Then she introduced a new ‘helper’ who either didn’t speak English or didn’t want to be there, because he hardly uttered a word all night.  You could tell the class weren’t too happy when she applauded us all after our first dance and nobody in the class responded.  I nearly left there and then when she attempted to introduce ‘Musicology’ as a topic.  I wasted two hours of my life with the dreadful Samira attempting to make this into a science instead of something that everyone can do naturally.  If you can’t understand the beat of the music, this time wasting exercise wasn’t going to help you IMO.
Scamp wants to go back for a second block of Kizomba, but I’m not so sure.  This is the second week we’ve been without a teacher for the guys.  I like the dance, but if there is no teacher for us, then I’m not getting value for my money and that’s not a good thing.  I’m suggesting we pay the class on a week by week basis to see what transpires and if it doesn’t improve, I’m not going to continue with it.

Temperature is rising and even as I write this at 11pm it’s warmer than it’s been all day.

Dentist tomorrow 🙁

Scraping the car – 18 November 2016

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18-nov

Yes, it’s that time of year again when you need to scrape the car in the morning.  No heated screen or heated seats luxury here JIC!

Scamp was going to the dentist this morning, so I helped her defrost her car while I ran the engine on mine and turned the heater up full speed, full heat and air-con on.  Mine was soon defrosting nicely while we scraped away at Scamp’s.  That’s where the pic of the frozen leaf came from that.  When Scamp left to get her filling done, I headed back in to have porridge for breakfast.  First time for ages, and it worked its warm magic again.

With Scamp’s tooth fixed, we all headed off to Loch Leven to have a walk in the cold, fresh air under a clear blue sky.  Perfect conditions to test the F707’s infra-red capabilities. Well, the F707 and a furry monkey. The furry monkey which usually sticks to our fridge has magnets in his/her hands and feet.  The magnets are fairly strong and are the only ones that have been able to overpower the spring in the solenoid.  For that reason, the furry monkey came with us today to Loch Leven.  He/she … Let’s fix this ridiculous he/she thing now.

In a book I’m reading (and eking out the pages to make it last) his/her references are solved by making it ‘XYr’.  The ‘XY‘ stands for the unknown chromosome balance so ‘XYr’ can be male, female or indeterminate gender.  That seems an elegant solution, especially these days with LGBTIQ.  Life used to be simpler with just  LGBT and it made sense.  I think the ‘I’ is for ‘Isnae Sure’.  I have no idea what ‘Q’ stands for.  It could be ‘Questioning the Magic Donkey’ for all I know.  Anyway, thank you Becky Chambers for solving that problem.  I hope I got that right Hazy!

Soooo, getting back to the monkey, remember the monkey?  XY seemed to enjoy the trip and is now happily back in place in XYr place on the fridge.

The selection at the top came from the 70 odd photos from the day, plus the one from the frozen car.  The IR images took a fair bit of post-processing to get the effect I was looking for and although the quality isn’t great, the effect is.  I’m not sure if I prefer the false colour version or the monochrome.  Mono looks cleaner, but the false colour is more interesting and alien.  Further experimentation is required if the furry monkey is up for it.

Lunch was excellent as usual in Loch Leven’s Larder although the shop seems to get posher and more twee every time we go there, which is a pity, but I suppose is inevitable.  After that we drove back home via the Forth Road Bridge to get an updated view of the new cable-stay bridge.  Dinner was a carry-out from Bombay Dreams.

A good day, most enjoyable.  Cold tonight.  Temperature just touching zero.  Hoping for another sunny day tomorrow.

A Day of Surprises – 15 November 2016

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15-nov

Surprise No 1

When I woke this morning, just after 8am, the sun was shining.  It stayed that way too.  Now after the last two days we’ve had, that was a big surprise.  I checked all five of my photo backup drives and with a combination of them all, I can account for all the photos from 2000 to November 2016.  Not bad going.  However, one of the big old Western Digital MyBook drives looks like it’s a goner.  That is a great shame.  I’ve always thought WD were a really good make, but I suppose the ten or twelve years I’ve had it, it’s worked hard and sometimes there has been the occasional accident, so I’ll give it the benefit of the doubt.  Soon it was time to leave the photos and go get my flu jag.  That’s jab to some people, but jag if you’re Scottish.

Surprise No 2

When I got to the surgery they were just calling my name.  That was lucky.  When I went to see the sister, I recognised her right away as an FP (Former Pupil) of Cumby High.  I couldn’t think of her name, but I remembered the face, because last night when I was browsing the photos in the oldest collection, I came upon the poster I’d made for Bugsy Malone, one I was really proud of, and here was the female lead from the show wearing a nursing sister’s uniform.  We got talking and she asked if I had any photos of the show, because nobody in her family had thought to bring a camera to the show.  I told her that I probably had, but it would take me some time to find them.  I couldn’t believe that was away back in 2003!  Anyway, she said she’d just give me a gentle wee jag.  She lied.  It was gentle at the time, but it’s aching now!

Surprise No 3

After I got back and found the said photos, hundreds of them as it turned out, I got dressed for the weather which was still bright, but cold and headed to Auchinstarry.  Walked along the railway to Twechar and got some photos in the sunshine.  I’ve still to process them, but by the time you’re reading this, they will be done with a bit of luck.  Walked back and took a long cut – the opposite of a shortcut  and walked the last half of the path along the canal.  Almost reached Smithston when a kingfisher flew out from my side of the canal bank, across the canal and down towards the marina.  I was too surprised to grab my camera which was switched off in my bag.  Walked along to where I thought it had landed but couldn’t see it.  Then to my amazement, it shot out of the far bank and continued down the canal and away.  It’s years since I’ve seen a kingfisher on the canal and I was beginning to think they had gone.  Since this one is at least a mile and a half away from my last sighting, I’m hoping there are at least two of them now.  I’ll be ready next time with the Nikon and the 300mm lens.

Weather forecast for tomorrow is wintry with rain, hail and snow predicted.  We’ll just have to wait and see, it’ll be a surprise!

Thunderstorms, Blazing Sun and Airies – 5 November 2016

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5 Nov

This morning we had breakfast – a lighter breakfast than yesterday and retired to the pool. 

There are two pools one for each main building.  Both buildings have the same ground plan, but one has the restaurants and the reception in addition to apartments while the other is entirely apartments.  Ours is the second one.  This means that our building is a bit quieter than the other.  Unfortunately, half of our pool is currently being renovated so we don’t have the ‘swim-in’ bar which is perhaps a blessing in disguise. 

We grabbed a couple of sunbeds after breakfast and we sat and read for an hour, then got a sketch done,  before I decided to find out just how cold the water was.  It was quite cold, but I was prepared for that after last year’s cool pool in Tenerife.  Once you’re in it’s not so cold, and once you come out again it’s lovely and warm.  I read a bit more while I was drying off and then went up to the room to get yesterday’s blog finished and the photos processed.  When Scamp came up she said it was starting to rain and as we watched the clouds roll in, we heard the first peal of thunder.  Oh dear, there goes the day.  We waited a while and then went for lunch which for me was a thin steak, a hamburger, spinach and potatoes.  Lovely.  By the time we came out the rain was off and the sun was out again.

After lunch we went for a walk in the direction of the airport.  For those of a binary persuasion, this was Left along the front, not Right like yesterday.  We walked on and on until we reached the airport.  Not the actual airport building, but the very end of the runway which was almost within touching distance.  The sound of the airies taking off is surprisingly loud this close up.  It was actually worse further away because the buildings shielded us from the sound of the engines as the plane thundered along the runway and it was only when it rose above them that you heard the roar.  Actually it was worse than that because for a couple of seconds the plane lifted in silence, then the roar began.  Those of a mathematical and scientific frame of mind will tell you it’s all to do with the relative difference between the speed of light and the speed of sound.  It does look strange. 

While we were sitting a (French?) family decided to scramble down a steep ramp to the sand.  First the mum and wee boy tentatively edged down.  Next the dad, much braver, pushing the empty pushchair just ran down it.  The front wheels of the pushchair caught in the soft sand at the bottom and stopped dead.  Dad didn’t.  He did a clumsy sort of cartwheel before landing on the sand.  It was one of those things you see happening, but are helpless (with laughter?!) to stop.  The only injury was to the poor bloke’s dignity.

We watched a few airies taking off and then headed back with more than a few stops to rest our weary legs.  The promenade is mainly flat, but it is quite long and it takes its toll on the feet.

After dinner we went to see if the singing duet would perform any songs worth dancing to, but Scamp declared them unsuitable (both the singers and the songs, I think).  Since the dance floor was littered with weans running about while their parents watched from the audience, it was probably a good decision on safety grounds.  We retired to the waiting G&T in the room.

Sat on the balcony under the stars with a couple of G&Ts. 

First Full Day – 4 November 2016

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4 Nov2

A more relaxed morning than yesterday!  Unfortunately it was still raining.  Just a shower we told ourselves but the sky gave a lie to that.  Breakfast was the usual holiday hotel fare and of course we had too much of everything.  Notables were the big slab of butter you could cut for yourself to spread on the bread you also cut for yourself.  Butter was white and unsalted and also quite delicious. 

After breakfast the rain was going off so we waited a while and then headed off in the direction of Puerto del Carmen.  It’s a fairly long walk and the weather was improving so we took our time.  Our objective today was to find the cheapest bottles of Gin and Tonic.  Although we are all inclusive, it doesn’t go wrong to have the makings of a G&T for sitting on the balcony watching the world go by.  The hotel provides us with as much drinking water as we want, free of charge, which is an improvement on some places we’ve been to.  WiFi is also free, but only in the reception and only for two devices at any one time.  Not a real drawback.  To get back to the walk, we wandered down the road checking prices as we went.  Stopped for a beer in a wee roadside bar.  Checked that a really good Asian restaurant we’d been to was still there.  Usual holiday stuff.  Then we walked back, and it was getting real holiday hot now.  Forgot to get the gin and were appalled at the price they wanted for it in Hyperdino (usually the cheapest, so we hadn’t checked it).  I volunteered to walk back to the cheapest shop to get some and also some tonic.  Finally arrived back, just in time for lunch.  We were a bit more modest in our lunch selection, really just a salad.

After lunch, Scamp went to sunbathe and I went for a walk over the rough lava rocks to get some photos.

Booked dinner in the Asian restaurant in the hotel for Monday as Saturday and Sunday were fully booked.  At night we waited for a while for the Flamenco show to start, but gave up on it after a while.  Had a drink in the lounge and then went back to try again.  The show is supposed to start at 21.30.  At 21.45 they started the presentation of the awards of the day for the Kiddies Club.  That was supposed to happen at 20.30, so it looked like they were running at least an hour behind.  We, or to be more exact, I couldn’t be bothered waiting that long, so we headed for bed.  Scamp was keen to demonstrate that she, as Genghis Pathfinder had discovered a faster way to get from the main building to the room and, for once, she was right.  Full marks for Pathfinding, Scamp.

Less food tomorrow and hopefully some sunbathing with the possibility of a swim too.

A Busy Day – 2 November 2016

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02-nov

Some days there are loads of things to write about and some days, like today, are busy, but nothing all that interesting is happening.

Out this morning to meet Fred and Val for a coffee and a catch up.  We were all pressed for time for different reasons and had to rush more than normal.  Still a good sharing of minds 😉

From there I drove back home to pick up Scamp and drive to Falkirk.  We were running a bit behind time and perhaps that’s why we didn’t notice the ‘Road Closed’ sign.  We did notice the barrier across the road a mile or so further on.  The only way I was sure we could use was back a couple of miles at the roundabout and that’s where we went.  We managed to get to the office just in time.  Thankfully this was good news again and to celebrate we went for a coffee in a new cafe just down the lane from Andrew’s office.  The decor was good with guitars and mandolins hanging on all the walls, the coffee not so good.  Maybe it will improve with age.

Drove back and dropped Scamp off at the house where she had some work to do.  Drove up to Argos to get myself a 32Gb SD card to replace the 64Gb one I had bought from 7 Dayshop.  It was a good price for 64Gb, but the speed was dire.  Nice surprise when I went to pay for the 32Gb as it had 1/3rd off.  Glad I went there.  Managed to grab a couple of sunset shots at Broadwood Loch on the way home.

Back home had birds to feed because the greedy things have eaten all the peanuts already.  Hopefully this lot will last a little longer.  It’s an expensive hobby feeding all these feathered friends.

Tomorrow?  Who knows.