Category: Lunch

Off to the east – 27 March 2023

Posted on by Zogman

Not the Far East, just following the Forth.

It was a lovely day. In fact it was just as the weather fairies had predicted, bright, clear and cold. Just 0.2ºc above zero when Scamp was making the breakfast.

We decided we wouldn’t waste any time, we just drove over to Aberdour in Fife. The last time we’d been there was in January last year and it had been bright, clear and cold then too. After a bit of indecision Scamp remembered the street we needed to go down that would take us to the Silver Sands that Aberdour is famous for. I remembered the big, almost empty car park that those in the know use. We parked there and walked down to the sandy beach.

Scamp had been intending to walk the shore path to Burntisland, but instead we found ourselves following our noses and discovered not one, but two lighthouses, what looked like a gun emplacement from WW1 or WW2 we weren’t sure. The other thing we found was a memorial to Wee Alfy. Not much more information, except a plaque with “In Loving Memory of Wee Alfy 1986-2004” and an engraved picture of a leaping fish. It was on a sturdy table that looked as if it had been used for a barbecue and was built on a concrete and steel frame.

We walked back to the path that would take us to Burntisland. It was a decent path we were on with a plenty of climbs and then slopes down the other side. Well used too by walkers, joggers and cyclists. Everyone out to make the best of this spring day that was warming up nicely. Well, the path would have taken us to Burntisland if we’d had the time, but after walking for about an hour we stopped for a seat and made the decision to go back, because our destination wasn’t getting any nearer. The path was just as interesting on the way back. We were getting hungry by then and waited in the queue to get a table for lunch at the cafe. Scamp had Tuna & Cheese sandwiches and I had a burger. A bacon and cheese burger. It was truly the worst burger I’ve ever had. The meat itself had been reheated a few times before it came to me. The bacon had been fried to within an inch of its life and the cheese. I hate to think to the torture that had been inflicted on that oily orange slab of bubbling something. Take heed, if you are ever in the Sands Cafe, do yourself a favour. Eat one of your shoes rather than risk the burger. Your stomach will thank you for it. The slice of tomato was the best bit and the chips were excellent. We walked back to the car and realised why it might be worth the £2 to park on the lower car park. That is one long, steep and twisty bit of road.

We drove home via Tesco for milk and bread. Then Scamp wanted to do some deadheading that progressed into pruning and then there were plans to be made for the new peony rose we bought. Later, when the gardening work had been completed we used some of the straw that came with a Golden Anniversary rose to stuff a bird feeder and hung it on the tree in the garden. It was Scamp’s idea after I saw a blackbird with a beak full of twigs and leaves, presumably for nest building. Let’s hope some of the birds can use some of that straw.

PoD turned out to be a landscape shot taken on our walk to Burntisland.

Tomorrow Scamp is intending to have coffee with Isobel and as it’s forecast for rain, I may stay home and do that painting I’ve been dreaming about.

 

A dull day – 14 February 2023

Posted on by Zogman

Not a lot to say about today other than I got my hair cut at last.

I had intended to cut my hair myself with help from Scamp for the bits I can’t reach or see, but things got in the way and instead I earmarked today for the great shearing.

Scamp was staying in to meet up with Annette, so I drove to the station and left the car there and got the train in. So much easier and less stressful than driving in to Glasgow when the schools are on February holiday. Unfortunately, the train was full of Grans and Granpas with loads of weans, trying to keep them amused for the three extra days they’re on holiday – the weans that is, not the grandparents. They’re on duty every day, it seems. Glad we’re not in that subset of humanity. Also, and even more unfortunately, I’d left my earbuds at home. Noisy weans and no ear defenders is no fun for anyone.

For once there was a queue for the barbers, but I didn’t need to wait long before the Big Grumpy Guy invited me to take a seat. He’s cut my hair the last twice I’ve been in The Nile Barber’s. The last twice he’s been fine, the first time he just grumped all the time. His style is a bit rough and ready, but he’s quick and very little chat, which suits me.

With that done I walked up to JL to get some stuff for Scamp and while I was there I had a spot of lunch in the cafe. Lovely chunk of sourdough bread stuffed with tomatoes, peppers, roast broccoli and pickled cucumber. Strange mixture but it tasted fine. That and a cup of coffee that tasted of coffee, which is a bonus.

Took a walk down Buchanan Street and was heading for HMV to see if they had cheap cordless earbuds or an adapter for the S22+ and got sidetracked walked back along towards Waterstones before I remembered I didn’t have a voucher for another ‘real’ book. Decided to cut my losses and come home.

As the train slowed into Croy I could see I could see the layer effect of mist on the Campsie Fells, but by the time I got to my favourite place to photograph it the mist was receding but the sky had added a new dimension to the scene. You lose some, you win some. Actually that’s a lie. The mist was receding, but the sky was featureless, so I pasted in one of my own and that looked more like the view I’d seen from the train.

Came home to Mac ’n’ Cheese ’n’ Bacon. Delicious, especially with a blob of Fruity Brown Sauce! Thank you Scamp.

Today’s prompt was The Green Card. We don’t have Green Cards in the UK, at least not yet. So I thought I’d try an alternative solution, as I usually do.  Three playing cards, all aces (it’s an unwritten compositional rule that you should always have an odd number of objects. It just works) then I invented the Green Card, the Ace of Shamrocks. A lucky card. The Ace of Shamrocks trumps all. Why not? I wasn’t going to attempt to sketch Gérard Depardieu or Andie MacDowell and as I’ve never watched the film, I couldn’t select a scene from it. This is more fun. I like inventing things.

Tomorrow we’re both going to be busy all day with lots of little things to remember.

Still recovering from yesterday – 12 February 2023

Posted on by Zogman

It’s Sunday. It’s ok to lounge about on a Sunday.

Basically that’s what we did. We lounged about the living room. We watched Laura Kuenssberg savage another politician and when they’d dragged his bleeding body away, it was lunch time. We had two rolls left over from yesterday’s lunch, so that’s what we had. Scamp had an Omelette on a roll and I had Bacon ’n’ Egg on a roll. Neither of them looked very appetising, but that’s not the point. The point is to use up what’s in the fridge and that’s what we did. Actually mine was really good and I didn’t hear any complaints from Scamp.

In the afternoon Scamp walked down to the shops to get some bits and pieces for tonight’s dinner which was to be Fennel with Cod and Prawns. Another case of using up what’s in the fridge and freezer. Fennel from the fridge, Cod and Prawns from the freezer. Every little helps.

When she came back, I went out for a walk in St Mo’s. It was lighter than I thought outside and the reason was the clouds ,that seem always to be there these days, were just that little bit higher. High pressure is in charge according to the weather fairies. Buds were bursting in the trees and I did photograph some, but it was a splash of bright yellow lichen on a park bench that got Pod. In case you’re interested, it was a Xanthoria parietina. The strange thing about it was that the park bench was made entirely from recycled plastic. I wonder where the lichen gets its nutrients from. I know that some lichen have been known to digest plastic, but not this common and garden variety. Unless it’s learning! Thoughts of “The Trouble With Lichen (John Wyndham) spring to mind. Anyway, that was a bright splash of colour that got PoD.

Spoke to Jamie later had heard that Simonne is halfway on her trip to Japan. Stopover in Kuwait and onward and eastward tomorrow. We talked a while about meet-ups in the spring. Where and when are not agreed yet and will need all three parts of the family to agree on dates and place. I meant to tell you Jamie that I’ve signed myself up to Audible today. Two free books for the first month. I’ll let you know how I get on.

Today’s prompt was The Graduate. The Graduate is one of the films I have seen a few times. I liked the music and I liked his sports car. I wasn’t enthralled by the story, but everyone said you had to go and watch it because of ‘the scenes’. I preferred to watch ‘the scenes’ of Dustin Hoffman driving that red Alfa Spider across the bridge and thinking “one day, maybe …”

Tomorrow we’re hoping to go to see Andrew in Falkirk, but we’ll be going in a blue car.

 

Happy Anniversary to us – 30 January 2023

Posted on by Zogman

Not the legal anniversary, that’s still to come, all being well. This is the one that matters to us.

We were getting the bus in to Glasgow today. I like to have my earbuds with me when we go on the bus. It helps to pass the time and Scamp says she doesn’t mind, but I couldn’t find the little white pill case that holds the earbuds anywhere. I only spent about ten minutes searching for the case, but eventually we had to leave to walk to Condorrat to catch the bus.

Walked through JL and out into Buchanan Street and from there to coffee in Nero in St Enoch’s. Then we got the subway to Kelvinbridge and walked to La Lanterna in the West End. The place wasn’t busy to start with, then about half a dozen girls rolled in and the silence was shattered. Scamp had arancini as a starter and veg lasagne. I had bruschetta as a starter and meat lasagne. I wouldn’t say it was the best lunch I’ve ever had. The bruschetta was a slice of French bread, no garlic and cold. Basically it was a roll ’n’ chopped tomatoes. Scamp was happy with her arancini but wasn’t so complimentary about the lasagne, while mine was fine. Maybe not their finest offering and a relatively uninspired menu overall.

We walked up Great Western Road and had a drink in Oran Mor, then got the subway back to Buchanan Street. Scamp got some Rituals shower foam then we caught the bus home.

I’d taken some photos in Glasgow with the A6000 and my favourite was a grab shot taken through a window in Cafe Nero. That became PoD.

Remember that white pill case with the earbuds. It turned up, sitting on the duvet in our bedroom. I was sure I’d looked there and it wasn’t to be seen. The fairies must have brought it!

Tomorrow we have a table booked for lunch with Crawford & Nancy and June & Ian. I’ve been warned not to have the coffee as it makes Costa coffee look great. I’ll heed the warning.

What a difference a week makes – 27 January 2023

Posted on by Zogman

A week ago Alex and I stood on the pier at Culross in ‘the golden hour’ and shot off over 100 frames between us. Today I took about 20.

Last week the sun during that hour was glorious, as were the colours it produced. Today there were light patches in the clouds, but no actual sunlight and no shadows either. What a difference a week makes.

Scamp suggested a drive to Torwood Garden Centre to buy some seeds this morning. I added that after we visited Torwood, we should continue on to Culross, sorry Hazy. (Hazy absolutely hates Culross which we now call “The ‘C’ Place”) Alex and I had lunch in a wee cafe there last week and it’s not far from Torwood. After a lot of discussion we settled on lunch at Culross and leaving Torwood for another day. Scamp was adamant that would give us both some time to do what we wanted. Me to take photos and her to read in the car with a view to look at occasionally. That worked for both of us.

I walked to the end of the pier, just like last week, but the view, without the blue sky and the sun wasn’t quite what I’d hoped for. I took a few photos and then we went for lunch. Scamp had Mac ’n’ Cheese and I had Stovies. Much more like my mum’s stovies than anything I’ve tasted. Chopped up potatoes, onions and sausages with a heavy gravy, that’s typical stovies. I thoroughly enjoyed them while Scamp said the Mac ’n’ Cheese was quite good. Damned by faint praise I think. Fed, watered and photos taken, we made our way home. Into the deeper gloom of Cumbersheugh.

Scamp’s cough is definitely becoming less noticeable and that’s a good thing, but she didn’t want to go to dance class tomorrow just to be sure she wasn’t going to pass it on to anyone else. She had also cancelled today’s FitSteps class for the same reason. We’re still not sure if we’ll go to tomorrow evening’s Ballroom Social. I leave it up to her to decide.

So, the visit to “The ‘C’ Place” was the highlight of the day. The photos weren’t brilliant, but I didn’t find a PoD which is the view from the end of the old pier looking over the Forth estuary to Edinburgh.

Tomorrow we may go out again in the afternoon. It depend on the weather.

 

What a delightful day – 5 January 2023

Posted on by Zogman

 

Yes, that was sarcasm!

Dry early in the morning, but after that the rain came and forgot to leave. Also the rain slid in quite quietly, but got stronger and heavier as the day progressed.

I suggested that we go to The Bothy near Stirling for lunch and Scamp readily agreed. It’s a nice wee cafe/restaurant at the foot of the Ochil Hills. We’d been there before and I had great memories of the Sri Lankan Lamb Curry. Maybe I’d have something different this time.

The place was busy when we arrived and they were handing out buzzers which isn’t really a good sign. We were told a wait time of about fifteen minutes. Half an hour later our buzzer buzzed and we were shown to our table for two. A quick glance at the menu while Scamp was looking for her glasses confirmed my choice. There it was on the menu Sri Lankan Lamb Curry. My day was going to be fine and hang the bad weather. Scamp chose Mac ’n’ Cheese, her second favourite on the menu. We weren’t disappointed.

After our I grabbed a few photos of the Ochils with the rain clouds misting them and a massive flock of geese in the field at the bottom. A panorama made in Lightroom from three of the frames got PoD. I had another try at photo of the Wallace Monument without the irritating electricity lines catching the eye, but it didn’t work, so I went with the geese on the grass at the foot of the hills. Then it was time to drive through Stirling because Scamp wanted to visit Dobbies. However, the shop was doing its Twelfth Night changeover from Christmas to Valentine’s Day, so it was, in a word, shambolic. We drove home.

For a three cylinder car the Micra fought its way through torrential rain and standing water to get us home safely and in good time. We stopped off at Tesco for a bunch of flowers for Scamp (it was Thursday, remember) and to see if the rum tanker had made it through. Flowers were bought, but no sign of the rum yet.

We watched the first episode of The Apprentice tonight, but it was more of an advert for Antigua than the usual contest, but the usual n-hopers were there and one of them got fired.

It’s a windy night tonight, but it might be a dry afternoon tomorrow.

Out to lunch – 24 November 2022

Posted on by Zogman

This going out to lunch is becoming a bit of a habit, I hear you say. We would disagree.

Today after we’d solved Wordle and Spelling Bee we got a bit better dressed and drove over to Motherwell. When we parked at Alex and Carol’s house, Alex told me to park the car and we’d take his daughter’s car to Gouldings for lunch.

It was very, very busy at the restaurant. Usually they hand out a buzzer to tell you when your table is ready. Today that wasn’t going to work. Today we had to queue. Actually it didn’t take that long for the queue to go down and we were seated at table 40 out of 41. Take 41 tables and multiply it by 3 to get an average of 123 people all eating or drinking or just talking at the same time with the kitchen and servers keeping things going smoothly and you see just how efficiently this restaurant works. I’m not going to list what everyone at our table had for today’s lunch, but I’d say that we were eating, drinking (non alcoholic) and talking for a couple of hours and it was really good.

Scamp hadn’t met Alex or Carol for close to twenty years. In that time three children had arrived in their family and two of our ‘children’ had been married. There was a lot for the ladies to catch up with. Alex and I had already talked these things through over the past year and a bit.

We had a walk round Xmas which had been delivered to the nursery, almost replacing the plants that are usually sold there. After the walk through and the disbelieve at the number of light-up reindeer that can be crammed into a given space. Although according to the signs in Xmas, you can run 1,000 LED lights for thirty days for 55p. That’s what they say, but how would they go about proving it? And why?

Alex drove back to Motherwell and we said our goodbyes and then drove home. It was a much brighter day than we’d expected with a sunset beginning at about 3pm. Thankfully I’d grabbed a few shots this morning in the garden and I managed to create a PoD from one of them. It wasn’t what I intended, but it made a decent abstract after being dunked in three pieces of software. Sometimes Ansel Adams quote about ‘Taking’ a photograph and ‘Making’ a photograph rings true.  Just in case you’re interested, it’s a macro of part of a Curly Kale leaf.

Tomorrow Scamp is intending going to FitSteps and I’m hoping to stay home and drink tea!