Category: photography

A lazy start to a warm day – 28 June 2026

Posted on by Zogman

Not nearly as warm as it was down south.

The weather fairies had warned us of gusty winds and they were right. I think Scamp did two lots of washing, something that wouldn’t be allowed on a Sunday in stricter times. We didn’t go far. One of those occasions when a walk in the park was made more pleasant with a bit of a breeze.

I went for a walk in St Mo’s in the afternoon not really expecting any insect life in the winds and wasn’t surprised. What I did see was a snail crossing my path. It seemed to lose the grip on the dusty soil and rolled over its shell, then just continued on its way, as if nothing had happened. There’s a moral for us all there somewhere.

At lunch we watched Victoria Derbyshire go full “Laura K” of a couple of unsuspecting politicians. That was a nice line in sarcasm, Ms D! Laura would be proud of you.

We had a single chicken thigh in the fridge, but with the addition of a handful of prawns, some chicken stock and and a handful of rice I managed to stumble through the making of a Paella that really did taste good. My best for a long time.

We watched the Austrian GP in the early evening and saw some crazy driving. Not the most riveting race we’d ever seen, but it had its moments.

Spoke to Jamie in the evening and heard about the ‘heat wave’ they had been having down south, and were glad we had that cool breeze keeping our temperatures down. Even poor Vixen was looking for somewhere to lie low and cool down.

I’m hoping to get a lift to Glasgow to get my hair cut, if Scamp will run me to the station. Other than that, no great plans.

Out to meet a doctor – 25 June 2026

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Not just any old doctor, this was a consultant who worked in the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow.

We had to be there for 10.00am this morning. To make sure we got there with some time to spare, we got a taxi from the house to the hospital. It made sense to us because we wouldn’t have to worry about connections and one less thing to worry about is a bonus.

He wanted to speak to Scamp, not me, although he was happy for me to be in the room. The last consultant we saw, in Dundee, was efficient, went through the tests and answered our questions.

Today’s consultant went into a lot more detail and explained everything we needed to know without talking in “Topsy and Tim” language but not using too much technical language. We had a chance at the end of his tests and note taking to ask questions and he answered everything well. We didn’t feel he was trying to bamboozle us which was a complaint we had about the Dundee doctor’s explanations. I think we both went away feeling much better about the whole thing.

A coffee in the visitors’ cafe helped us get things sorted out in our heads and also gave us time to discuss between ourselves what we thought of the morning.

The hospital is a beautiful building, but we were both amazed at how noisy it was. Maybe I should rephrase that to “The hospital will be a beautiful building once it’s finished” It made us wonder how staff could work in a hospital that felt as if it was still under construction. It’s 11 years old and still needs maintenance.

We got a bus from the the hospital to Glasgow Central Station which is looking a lot better than it did a couple of months ago. Than we wandered along to Paesano. Since I wasn’t driving, I could have the luxury of a glass of wine with my lunch, Scamp had Prosecco instead.

We walked up to Buchanan Street Bus Station and after a few minutes wait, our bus pulled in.

All together an interesting day. I think Scamp is feeling better about the whole thing and will be looking forward to see what is going to happen in the next month or so.

PoD is a view looking up to the ceiling of the hospital and hopefully will give you an idea of its complexity.

Tomorrow we are expecting John and Marion for lunch. According to the Weather Fairies, we should expect Thunder and Lightning (“Very, Very Frightening) too. Oh yes, and rain!

Keeping up with business – 22 June 2026

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In the morning we drove to Falkirk to sign some pieces of paper.

In fact we had to sign six different pieces of paper each. In the end I was beginning to get writer’s cramp! Still it was worthwhile and we felt a lot better after it was done.

After all that writing we thought we deserved a coffee, so we drove to Morrison’s for a coffee each. Scamp suggested we also have a cake each to celebrate. Her’s was a teacake and mine was a jam doughnut. Then we simply loaded up a trolley and pushed it back to the car. But not before we stopped to have a look at a trio of ceramic garden pots. So, we added them to the car boot and headed home.

It was just beginning to drizzle with rain as we were leaving the car park. It had been threatening to rain all morning so we were prepared for it. A totally different day from yesterday.

By the time we got home we had driven out of the rain clouds, but the skies were still heavy with more rain. We had lunch and decided what our next job was. It was mainly planning. Deciding which plants needed to move and which ones would stay. Also we were beginning to see which ones preferred shaded areas and which wanted to be in the sunshine.

Later in the afternoon I went for a walk in St Mo’s. Not a long walk, just a chance to see if there were any interesting insects appearing now that the weather was improving. There were a few dragonflies scudding round the pond, but the most interesting one was a Scorpionfly. It looks like a Scorpion with wings. Vicious looking with what looked like a sting in its tail, but harmless to humans (or so say’s Mr Google).

Scamp was going out tonight to a dance demonstration. Not Ballroom Dancing, more modern dance. She and the rest of the witches were going to cheer the girls on.  Also, as promised, the rain disappeared and the sun came out!

PoD went to the Scorpionfly, by a long way. High on the checklist was a Heron. A rare visitor now to the pond!

Alas, Keir Starmer’s job has come to an end. He resigned today. I admit I wasn’t impressed by him, but I almost felt sorry for him today.

We have no plans for tomorrow … yet!

Flowers and Beasties – 20 June 2026

Posted on by Zogman

I was just looking through my June catalogs today and out of 20 photos in the month of June, 16 were of plants or insects. I think I need to get out more.

Last night we had planned to go to Edinburgh today. We were going to do a part of the Water of Leith Walk. We’d looked at the maps and checked the weather and everything seemed to be fine. We agree to get the train to Croy this morning then get another train to take us to the start of the walk. Continue along the walk then rejoin the road to Edinburgh after that. Unfortunately, we slept in and by the time we’d had breakfast it was realistically too late to do the walk. Maybe another day.
Then we read today’s news that a topless man was wandering around the streets of Leith with what looked like a knife in his hand. I’m glad we slept in today.

Today’s walk took me over to St Mo’s in the sunshine. I was looking for dragonflies, but there weren’t any about. There were plenty of damselflies, mainly Common Blues, but none of their big brothers and sisters. I settled for some Blues, but the PoD went to a Flag Iris with a snail sheltering under its leaf.

Dinner tonight was going to be fish & chips from Condorrat, but in the end we settled for a home-made version which was very, very good. Excellent fish made by our resident chef. Although I must admit that my culinary skills were called upon to ‘Flip the Fish’. I think that was what improved the taste of the fish.

For the first time in ages we got to sit in the garden with a glass of something and a good book until the clouds crowded in. Not a bad day after yesterday.

No plans for tomorrow.

Rain again – 19 June 2026

Posted on by Zogman

What a day. Rain started yesterday and seemed to continue all through the night.

Thankfully, it stopped about 5pm tonight. I was beginning to look for suggestions on how to build an arc. Not long after the 5pm turn off, the sun shone for the first time in about a week, the wind dropped and there was a lovely skyscape.

We drove up to Costa in the town centre to meet Shona. Scamp and her had a lengthy discussion around Ben. It seems that he is beginning to string sentences together now and is communicating for the first time. Long may it continue.

Isobel joined the group and got a chance to catch-up. Shona stayed for a while but had to go shopping. Isobel stayed to read for a while before it was time for her exercise class to start. We just went home to get lunch.

In the afternoon I put my rain jacket on and drove to The Shops and brought back some fruit and a bag that contained my new jeans from M&S. They fitted perfectly. Just the walk to the shops and back from the carpark and the walk to the house and I was soaked.

As I said at the start, the rain continued until 5pm before somebody turned the water off and it has remained that way until now. I hope I don’t mess things up now by saying that.

By the way, the PoD of two bees is actually yesterday’s photo. No way was I going out in the rain just to get a photo of two bees!

I believe there is football on tv tonight with Scotland playing Morocco. Please don’t let it get into double figures for the foreign team!

No real plans for tomorrow, but Edinburgh has been mentioned.

Another dull day – 18 June 2026

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I’m getting fed up with the constant dull weather. I think my weather needs an upgrade.

We drove to Torwood today to get a white rose. Scamp has been suggesting a white rose might look good in the garden. A way to add a bit of light to the garden. I had to agree with her. Our front garden has lots of colour, but not one white rose. We also needed a bag of perlite to help aerate the soil.

At the garden centre we found quite a few white roses and Scamp selected one she liked the look of, ‘Diamond Dad’. Well, it is nearing Father’s Day! She also picked up a white Campanula to finish off the white theme. The only thing we forgot was at the Perlite we came for. We had lunch in the garden centre too. Just a Toastie each with tea and coffee.

Drove home just as the rain started and that rain lasted all day. I imagine it’s still raining now.

We were intending to have a couple of friends over on Friday for dinner, but a last minute phone call told us that my pal Crawford had pulled a muscle in his back and was presently at the local hospital. We agreed to find another suitable date when he is feeling better. We had just finish agreeing food for Friday, so that was now on hold, but I started making the Courgette, Pea and Spinach we’d decided on as a test. It was a really heavy soup that will need a bit of work to make it edible. I think we’ll try it again some other time and maybe chuck out the recipe book too. Perhaps that was a lucky break!

PoD was a wee ceramic lamb I saw in the garden centre. It looked as if it was sniffing the flowers.

No real plans for tomorrow, although we may meet Shona for lunch. We may get some Perlite too, but not to eat!

 

A day in Glasgow – 17 June 2026

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Met my brother in Glasgow and we went for a long walk around the town.

Coffee first, of course in Nero and a chance to catch up. Finding out how his family was faring and telling him about our recent visitors. Then it was down to business. Where were we going today? We settled on staying in the centre of town and doing the usual tour of places we usually walk to. Admired some of the graffiti and criticised the rest. As we expected, Glasgow and Football were well covered. While we were in Cafe Nero I bumped into Jo Levy, an old friend and Salsa dancer, and got a great welcome from her and a friend she was with. She suggested we should all meet up for a dinner sometime. I agreed it would be lovely, knowing that it was unlikely to come to fruition. However, if you don’t try you’ll never get …

The weather wasn’t very helpful today. Lots of black clouds, but no real threat of rain. Alex wanted to have a look in at ‘Guitar Guitar’ on the premise of buying a new set of strings, but I saw him gazing lovingly at a few new guitars and wasn’t surprised when he didn’t purchase the strings. I know how his mind work. It works exactly the same way mine does.

After reaching the furthest stretches of our walk, we gravitated back to Paesano for a pizza lunch. Then we walked up Sauchiehall Street to see if the upgrade that had taken years to complete was worth the wait. I think it was, and Alex agreed. Now that the traffic problems have been mostly solved, the street really needs a clean up, otherwise the whole upgrade was a waste of time and money.

Walked up one side of ‘Sausage-roll’ street and down the other, then I found a PoD. It’s the still, modern looking architecture where Sauchiehall Street and Renfield Street join. That made PoD. It would have been better if I’d taken the time to use the wide angle lens for more effect, but maybe another day.

We said our goodbyes and agreed to meet again in two or three weeks. I’ll look forward to it.

My back is sore tonight and my feet are too. Maybe the new camera bag wasn’t the bargain I thought it was. Perhaps I should stick to the old, lighter Lowepro.

No real plans for tomorrow, but Scamp and I will put our heads together and hopefully come up with something.

The wanderers return – 15 June 2026

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Jamie and Simonne returned from their mountain climbing today.

In the morning we drove down to M&S. We’d usually just walk to the shops, but today we had quite a lot of food to bring back, so taking the car seemed to be the sensible thing to do.

Jamie had predicted that they would arrive back to ours by about 3pm. As usual, he was almost exactly correct, unloading the car at five minutes past three! You can always rely on him to get an accurate time check!

Back home and after lunch I went for a walk in St Mo’s. There wasn’t much of interest today, but I did manage to capture a nicely ball shaped Queen Anne’s Lace or Wild Carrot and that made PoD.

Dinner was all about soup and pizzas. Tomato soup and three different varieties of pizza. One large, thick rectangular one, one really hot and spicy one and an oval, thin one. Pizzas to suit everyone and almost all of them consumed while we talked at the dining table.

We talked for a while in the evening, exchanging ideas for the rest of the summer and hearing more about the walks the pair had done on Arran and the people, good and bad, they had met. Eventually it was time for the youngsters to head off to bed, and it wasn’t much later for us to do the same.

I think we’ll have an early rise tomorrow.

 

Training – 13 June 2026

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Today we went for a run to Stirling.

Drove to the station and left the car there. Then got a train to Stirling. At the station I bumped into a former pupil. I don’t know who was more embarrassed, her or me!. Thankfully she was going in the opposite direction to us.

An easy journey to Stirling, but the first time in ages we were only going for the run. No shopping in Waitrose, no driving through multiple roadworks, just a day out. We stopped at a coffee shop for refreshments before we walked into the centre of the town.

When we arrived in the centre of Stirling a military band was marching and playing in the town. We were just too late to see them, but you couldn’t miss the sound of the band and later the bagpipes. It was good of them to put on a show just for Scamp and me.

We wandered round the shops and Scamp got one bargain and I got another. Unfortunately the jeans I’d picked had drainpipe trousers and were far too tight on me. They will go back tomorrow, hopefully and I’ll get the proper jeans for me.

Lunch was a panini and a coffee in Nero, followed by a walk through the mall in the town. I nearly bought a book but held back because I’m already reading one and have two others on the side. Stirling seemed a dull and dowdy today. The weather didn’t help with constant drizzle, but it wasn’t all about the weather. So many closed shops don’t give a good look to a town.

Got the train back to the station and picked up the car, then drove home. We watched a less than exciting Spanish GP. Maybe it will liven up when the race proper runs tomorrow.

Spotted today’s PoD on a nettle and thought it was some new caterpillar, but it turned out to be Nettle Rust Fungus. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it before.

I actually enjoyed viewing Stirling from a different direction. Good to see some of the ‘old’ shops like the bike shops on the main street are still there and flourishing.

No plans for tomorrow.

Not quite such a wet day – 12 June 2026

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Driving round central Scotland looking for trainers unsuccessfully.

I got the message from Henry’s Coffee Company that a bag of coffee was ready to uplift. Drove to Falkirk, only to find that the shop was closed. A phone call sorted things out and the coffee would be delivered to our door today. That’s what makes Henry’s such a great company to work with.

We retraced our steps and drove to Go Outdoors next, looking for trainers. Not much luck. I saw one pair that were reasonably priced, but only one pair. We might go in to Glasgow tomorrow to see what Tiso has to offer. It all depends on whether Scotland win tonight. If they don’t, batten down the hatches and stay safe for a week or so.

Drove back home by the twisty backroads of Coatbridge and found the big orange parcel waiting for us in the usual place. Sent a thank-you message to the person who brought the coffee.

In the late afternoon I buckled up and went for a walk over to The Shops in and out of the rain all the time. Came home with another bag, sweeties this time. We watched a short episode of Hannah Fry explaining the benefits and pitfalls of AI. Quite interesting, and totally believable.

It had been a slightly better day than yesterday. A bit less rain and although there were a few times when the wind got bit high, at least the rain was lighter.

Hoping for a better weekend tomorrow. Also hoping that Scotland don’t do anything stupid.