Category: photography

Merchant City Festival – 18 July 2025

Posted on by Zogman

Today we were going in to Glasgow for a bit of fun and to hear a man singing.

First Scamp had her first FitSteps class in a few weeks and by the look on her face it had been quite exhausting. Kirsty sometimes get a bit carried away with her keep fit class and what better day to get carried away than the first day back ‘at school’.

I decided we should go to Glasgow in the car. Buses can be a bit hit and miss in the summer, so, better to use transport you can rely on … ours.

The road to Glasgow was extra busy today, then Scamp said that today was the first day of “Glasgow Fair”. Years ago when I started work, Glasgow Fair was a week or sometimes a fortnight long and almost every works shut down for those two weeks. Now it’s not nearly as stringent a rule, but still some people keep to the old ways and have two weeks off in the middle of July. Maybe Scamp was right and maybe all these cars were heading to Glasgow or Edinburgh airport to get away for a while.

We got parked fairly easily in the JL car park which tended to add weight to Scamp’s theory. We walked down to the two or three streets that were cordoned off for the Festival, but we were too early. We mingled with the thin crowds who, like us were waiting for the fun to begin.

We decided a coffee and a panini would help pass the time. Scamp wanted freezer bags in a wholesale shop too, so we got those further along the street. By the time we got back the clowns were out as were the Scottish Ballet team and a couple of giant moving statues. A bloke who I thought was part of the show started a conga line and lots of folk joined in. The line was held together with old aluminium folding seats. Then the bloke gathered the seats up and stashed them before climbing up a niche in a wall with his feet on one side and then he managed to squeeze his back into the other side before edging upwards to a balcony easily two storeys above. We’re not sure now if he was a performer or just a nutter, because he followed the balcony round and disappeared round the back of the building! Weird!

Scamp found an old friend from Salsa days and stayed talking to her for a while. I was waiting for Finlay Napier to begin his hour long slot. I didn’t think Scamp would enjoy the music, but I was wrong. She likened him to Michael Marra a much lamented Scottish singer-songwriter and I could understand why.

When he was finished, we walked back to the car, but first Scamp wanted to look at a skirt, so I wandered round the Buchanan Galleries until she came down the escalators with a big fancy dress box and a big smile on her face. I had a smaller box and a smile on my face too. It was a rechargeable hand held fan I’d been looking for, for weeks. Of course it wasn’t for me, it was for Scamp. I think she liked it.

We drove out of Buchanan Galleries into a solid wall of cars. It took us over half an hour to clear about 100m of congestion before we could insinuate our way on to the motorway. I’d hate to have to do that every day.

PoD is one of about a dozen photos I took today of a man up on a cherry picker finishing off a graffiti portrait of a girl on the five or six storey gable end of a building. Amazing to watch.

The computer is still complaining and running really slow, but at least it’s cleared its own congestion in iCloud Drive which I couldn’t do. Amazing things Apple hardware can do.

Today was dry, but very close and clammy. Tomorrow we are forecast for rain and thundery showers. I don’t think we’ll be driving far tomorrow.

 

In the Ancient Woods – 16 July 2025

Posted on by Zogman

Today Alex and I went for a walk in the woods.

Special woods, these were the ancient Cadzow Oaks. They are estimated to be nearly 800 years old. Many have fallen now and some have been vandalised, but a gallant few are still alive and producing leaves and acorns.

It’s not a long walk from the cafe in the country park to the oaks, and it’s all downhill to start with to cross the Duke’s Bridge over the Avon Water, but then it’s a drag of a walk back up the other side to the oaks themselves. However, it’s worth the walk. It really is. It puts me in my place every time I see them, amazed that they are still standing, still producing leaves and acorns after about 800 years. I sat for a while today just looking at these giants, and some of them are giants, imaging how the landscape would have looked back in the time of Robert the Bruce when the trees were just saplings.

We had been hoping for the sunny skies the weather fairies had promised, but although the skies were clear in the early morning, by the time we got to the oaks, we were treated to a white sky and the very occasional break in the clouds.

Strangely, Alex and I took exactly 45 photos each today. Not a great score, but enough for us to need another coffee back at the cafe to sustain us. After that I drove back home, via Motherwell to drop Alex off at his house. He suggested Glasgow for our next outing, all being well. I think I agree with him. It’s been about a month since we’ve been. There will surely be something new to photograph.

Scamp made Carrot & Lentil Curry for dinner. It was a bit salty, but will improve and settle into itself in a day or two.

As regards yesterday’s computer disaster, the laptop and the desktop computers are linked with iCloud Drive. The laptop is almost back to normal, but the desktop is hanging by a thread now. One nudge in the wrong direction and it will be curtains. So I’m afraid I’m going to bite the bullet and buy a new one. I’m intending going in to Glasgow this week to ask one of the ‘Geniuses’ at Apple for their recommendation, but I know it will be a case of don’t fix it, buy new.

PoD was the remains of a fallen Cadzow Oak with a live Beech tree behind.

Tomorrow I’m intending to drive to Falkirk tomorrow to pick up some coffee from “Henry’s At Home” my go-to place for decent coffee beans. Meanwhile Scamp is hoping to pick up her repaired bracelet, also in Falkirk.

Things to do – 9 July 2025

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It’s not often I have a list of things to do in the morning, but today I had.

I was up and showered early(ish) this morning and drove to the health centre to book an appointment for my annual check-up along with the inevitable blood letting. Just for a change I got a pleasant receptionist who actually helped me without any of their usual harrumphing. It won’t last, I told myself. The next time I come in, it will be Gort the Alien. Anyway, I got the appointment for the blood letting and for the dreaded meeting with one of the sisters. I don’t know if there are any doctors in the health centre now. It seems to be run by the receptionists and the sisters or the nurses.

Relieved that one of my tasks had been completed, I drove on to Tesco, Big Tesco as it’s known in the town. Every time I shop there, I feel that things have been moved and even the direction arrows have been rearranged to make it more easily accessible. At least that’s what we’re told, but I think they just do it to ensure that you walk the longest distance, searching, always searching for that lightly seeded brown loaf or the pot of flat leaved parsley that used to be in the same section as the leeks, but which has now disappeared completely. Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve seen others like me wandering the aisles with the same blank look as me. However, today I did find almost all the items that were on my mental list (I’d left the physical list at home). Feeling fairly please that I’d managed to get most things on my list and therefore ticked the second box, I drove home.

Back home, Scamp was repotting some of yesterday’s plants and pruning others. I decided I’d tidy up the Rhododendron by removing the old flower stems. It’s a fairly easy task and I’d already cleared half of it a week or so ago. The bush looks so much better now it’s done.

Later I took my A7ii fitted with a 50mm f2.8 macro lens and proceeded to photograph a few flowers in the back garden. My favourite, and PoD turned out to be a close up of a wild orchid. I used manual focus with Peak set to medium and Red. That was a note to self, as I’m sure you guessed. Just in case I look back at the photo some day and ask myself how I took it! Simple.

Dinner was a mixture of pastas with mushrooms, tomatoes and onions, with a squirt of tomato paste and half a tin of chopped tomatoes. A typical “what have we got in the fridge?” dinner.

Tomorrow, Scamp is booked to go to the hairdresser in the morning and I’m intending to read in bed.

Out for a spin – 8 July 2025

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Just a run round old haunts.

We spoke to Hazel on a bright sunny morning. We had a good blether about people we knew and books we’d been reading. Caught up with what the foxes were doing, which was appropriate, because foxes were playing a big part in my book today.

Once we were all up to date with each other, Scamp and I struggled and complained about Wordle and all its hangers on. We seem to do nothing but moan about the links the setters find for the morning puzzles, but we still do them religiously, every day.

We both agreed that the weather was too good to waste sitting in the house and we went for a drive over to Gouldings Garden Centre in Rosebank partly to have a spot of lunch and partly so Scamp could ogle the plants on display. Scamp had Mac ’n’ Cheese for lunch and I had what was advertised as Chilli con Carne. I’m not so sure there was a great deal of Carne in the Chilli. There did seem to be a little bit of sugar in it though, which was strange. Scamp said her Mac ’n’ Cheese was a bit sweet too. Hmm were Gouldings kitchen trying to mask something in their lunch menu? Maybe.
When we were leaving with a handful of plants each, I bumped into an ex-teacher, with his wife. It’s been ages since I’ve met him, but he hasn’t changed … thankfully.

We drove along Clydeside for a while and then turned off, heading for Kirkmuirhill and found ourselves behind a slow moving tractor on what was in effect a single lane road. It was a slow crawl through Auchinheath to Kirkmuirhill where eventually the tractor turned off and we had the road to ourselves. Eventually reaching Lidl in Larkhall where we got a flowerpot for one of the new plants and a bottle of Hortus gin for me. I think Scamp enjoyed the run in the country and so did I. We’ve now gathered a few more plants for filling up borders and replacing older ones.

I took a camera and a 50mm f2.8 macro lens out for a walk when we got back. Got a couple of decent shots among the many I took. PoD went to a Cucumber Spider wrapping up its prey. The spider is easily recognised. It’s bright green with a red spot on its bum.

Tomorrow I should book my annual bloodletting at the doc’s, since they asked so nicely, and there may be plants that need a new home.

 

Keeping Busy – 30 June 2025

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It was a day for tidying up the place, at least a bit.

Scamp handed me a big bag full of stuff that needed to go to the tip and then found another bag that could also go to the same place. Both were going to ‘General Household’, the councils catch-all for things that don’t have an exact skip to go into.

“Were do I put this home-made high intensity laser generator?”

“Err, General Household mate.”

Once that was done and the old dance shoes, cutting boards, broken seats and all sorts of other stuff, I was free to go for a drive and hopefully find something interesting to photograph … I did put the camera in the back seat, and not the boot, didn’t I?

Yes, I did, because when I got to my usual walking path at Fannyside, the black Lowepro and camera were on the back seat. I was hoping to get some photos of dragonflies, but none were flying today. What were flying was a group of Starlings. A ‘murmuration’ is the common name for a crowd of these birds, but I think I prefer a ‘Chatter’. It seems more like the noise they make, especially the young ones. I found that name on the interweb tonight!
The group must have been young birds, because they didn’t fly in the tight groups or indulge in the complicated wheeling patterns we associate with a murmuration.

One of the ‘Chatter’ groups made PoD today spaced out along some telephone wires, like musical notes on a stave … or a stave with three lines, anyway.

Back home we were working in the garden again. More fine tuning rather than the heavy work we’d been doing yesterday. Scamp was redesigning the layout of an awkward corner of the back garden and the changes she made created a totally different look to that area. A great improvement.

Drove home with some essentials. Milk and bread with an Apple Turnover to share.

Dinner was a typical Monday meal. Pasta with Tomatoes and Tuna. Nothing fancy.

It was clammy and sticky today. Not a great day for working, so that was partly why we restricted our workload.  We watered the garden for the first time in ages, and it did seem fresher once we were finished. Hope it’s a bit cooler tonight, cooler than last night at least.

No real plans for tomorrow, although maybe those trainers will still be in Tiso!

An early rise for me – 29 June 2025

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Just after 7.15am I was up and dressed and driving. Nowhere interesting though.

In fact I was going to get some fruit for Scamp’s breakfast. I tried M&S, but they didn’t open until 9am. Instead I carried on to Tesco in the town centre as they have the earliest opening times, 6am I’m told. It’s a long time since I’ve been up that early. My basket today held strawberries and raspberries, plus a carton of blueberries to add to my porridge. Drove home as Scamp was waking up and wondering where I’d been.

With breakfast consumed by both of us, we needed a plan for the day. Scamp wanted to get a few of our flowers planted in pots, or in some cases replanted, and a bit of tidying done to the back garden too, but not until the clouds had cleared from the skies and the inevitable puzzles were completed.

Also, I remembered to photograph a vase of Peony flowers. Alex and Carol had sent them last week when Scamp was feeling a bit low. She had been gently teasing the petals all week to encourage them to open. Today they did. I sent Alex and Carol the photo.

Now we could get started. We mixed up some compost, adding Perlite and pebbles to aid drainage and soon the first plant, Achillea was ready for watering. Next was a white Astilbe, one of my favourites. My mum used to call Spirea. Now that I see it, it doesn’t really look like Spirea, but someone had told her it Spirea many years ago and the name had stuck.

After lunch, Scamp started strengthening the fence between us and our new neighbours and I forked over a shallow bed beneath the back wall. I don’t think anything will grow very well there. Too many roots criss crossing the bed. However, maybe we’ll manage to something planted there.

By then it was time to tidy up and to rearrange the pots to make best use of the space and just change the scenery a bit.

PoD was the photo of those peony roses.

Dinner was a salad for starter, a tuna steak each and potatoes and tomatoes. Dessert was more of Jamie’s rhubarb with custard. You can’t get anything more traditional than rhubarb and custard!

Watched an interesting Austrian GP. Lots of thrills and spills and a surprise exit for one driver.

We have no real plans for tomorrow, but a new pair of trainers is still on the shopping list.

Overnight rain – 26 June 2025

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Not that it mattered to us because we’d be inside for most of the day.

Spoke to Hazel in the morning and heard of the depredations of the foxes in the new rockery and their strange habit of dragging some of their ‘toys’ into the garden too. Apart from dynamite, I don’t think there is very much you can do to scare off foxes, and apparently the use of dynamite for control of animals is now frowned upon. It wasn’t like that in my day, I’ll tell you!

We were attending a funeral for the mother of one of my best friends in the afternoon. It was a long route from the church to the crematorium and then back to Airdrie for the meal. It’s like a wake is in Ireland. Lots of folk telling stories, drinking and exchanging memories of the deceased. I always feel out of place at events like these, but it’s a tradition and traditions have to be upheld.

Back home we found that the dog from next door had ‘done its needs’ in the back garden. I wasn’t happy about it, but I think I’ve managed to repair the hole in the fence where it got in with some bits of rope and a bag of cable ties. It should keep the rascal out of our garden until my friend, the joiner, and I can get a proper fence made.

While we were working in the garden, I turned over a compost bag and found, uninjured, a large night flying moth that may or may not be a A bit of research with Mr Google leads me to believe it may be a Large Yellow Underwing Moth. If it’s not, I’ve wasted my time typing its long name out. Quite a large moth and with a dark colouration.

I managed to coax an Astilbe plant with its fluffy white flowers into a pot while Scamp watered if for me. The garden is looking neat and tidy now which is a great bonus.

We got a message from the mountaineers showing the lovely weather in Arran. Pity we didn’t get a chance to enjoy it!

I may be getting encouraged to purchase a new pair of trainers tomorrow. More spending.

 

The mountaineers – 25 June 2025

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Not us! Not a chance.

Today our son and his wife were driving up to Scotland for an overnight stay before they headed over to Arran for a series of guided walks, some of which will entail a fair bit of climbing. We had we’d stay at home and give encouraging advice.

One thing I must say about our son is that he is amazingly accurate with his predictions of time and timing. Today after a journey of about six hours, he was only TEN minutes outside his predicted time. That’s accuracy.

With a little time on hour hands, we tidied, Scamp cleaned and I stuffed things into cupboards where they will never be found again for months, perhaps years. Finding them will be a great surprise.

I was chef for the day and dinner was Chicken and Pea Traybake. I spent a fair while chopping up leeks, but then there was little else to do before the chicken was roasted and the peas were cooked, so I took a camera over to St Mo’s and found a bunch of pink flowers worth photographing. I was sure they were Red Campion, one of the first flowers I learned about after daisies and dandelions. I checked with Mr Google and found I was right. Ragged Robin and Red Campion are very alike, but the smoothly rounded petals told the story that these were Campions.

Dinner was a success and Scamp had made a large Tiramisu for dessert. Only half of it was consumed today which will hopefully leave lots more for us two gluttons tomorrow.

A couple of glasses of red for Scamp and me after the climbers made their way up the wooden hill and my eyes were closing.

Early rise for the youngsters tomorrow. We might have a lie in.

Shopping – 23 June 2025

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Today we were going shopping.

It was a day of hit and miss showers. Also, it was much cooler than it has been of late which was great for sleeping in. Those hot muggy days of last week were not the best for trying to get some rest.

Instead of doing the usual Tesco run we went to Waitrose in Stirling for a change. Wow, did we have a big shop today! I was beginning to think the boot wouldn’t be big enough and we’d need to buy a trailer. It’s not often we’re tempted by the variety of goods on sale there, but we were today. I’m sure I heard the wee Blue car groan when we shut the boot.

We had just unpacked when there was a knock at the door and there was a delivery man with what obviously was a box of flowers addressed to Scamp. The card inside was from Alex and Carol. We found out later it was because I’d been saying that Scamp seemed a bit down lately and Alex must have picked up on that. Such a kind thing to do. Thank you Alex and Carol.

After lunch I wanted to go out and get some photos and left Scamp reading at home. I got a few shots, most of which were of insects or wildflowers. Insects always seem to have their own agenda and either stay put for a while, or are off ‘doing things’ immediately you point a camera at them. I must have found the lazy ones today. One was a strange looking red eyed fly and the other was a little pure black insect that I’d have called a ‘Buzzer’ if I was fishing. Both flies were hiding under leaves or sitting on leaves. Either way they were sheltering form those hit and miss showers I was talking about. Of the two, I chose the Black ‘Buzzer’ as PoD.

As usual I’d been carried away with photographing insects and plants and forgot the time. Scamp was going to a dance display arranged by one of the Witches. By the time I got back she was almost ready for Jeanette Witch to pick her up.

I’d had mince for dinner yesterday and today I was converting it into Spag Bol. Not a difficult task and I soon had the feeling that the plate I was using wasn’t really going to be big enough, so I ate as much as I wanted from an excellent Spaghetti Bolognese then put the remainder, regretfully, in the bin. Dessert was the last squat peach. Just as lovely as the first one had been, two or three days ago.

Scamp staggered in just before 11pm and raved for a while about the dancing those girls and one boy could do. I’m glad she enjoyed it, but I’m not so sure I would like it.

Tomorrow I may be going to get a new pair of trainers. The ones I got from Go Outdoors are ok, just ok. I’m sure there are better ones out there.

The day that the rains came – 22 June 2025

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We asked for it yesterday and today it arrived.

It actually arrived overnight, the rain, that is. Varying from light showers to heavy thumping down torrents. All of it very welcome. Every time the rain halted for a few minutes, Scamp was out moving pots and making sure everything got its share. Me? I was doing Wordle, although I did go out once in my bare feet, and in the rain, to right a pot that had fallen on its side. Quite breezy today too.

I think the worst of the rain (or the best, it depends on your point of view) is now past and we have a bit of sun shining on us for a while, but the temperature is a much more sensible 17ºc, warm enough without going crazy.

I couldn’t be bothered with going out for a walk today, so instead I worked inside clearing out some stuff (very little) and reorganising others. In the end I still had the same amount of stuff, but felt better because I’d done something constructive. If questioned about it, I’d argue that it was all down to the rain.

Dinner was potatoes and ratatouille for Scamp and potatoes with mince for me. A sensible and enjoyable dinner, especially when I knew there was a coffee cake that Scamp had made for dessert.

We spoke to Jamie and Sim in the evening and discussed the final details for an upcoming visit. It will be good to see them both again. It’s about six months since we last saw them.

PoD was a view of the Campanula that dangles from a hanging basket all year round. Such pretty wildflowers.

Tomorrow I think we may be going shopping.