Category: photography

Doing the housework – 14 March 2022

Posted on by Zogman

Scamp was off to meet Isobel for coffee and I was staying home to brush the stairs.

I can see why Scamp didn’t want to do the job because all the dust might irritate her recently operated on eyes. There was quite a load of dust, dirt and general detritus lodged in the folds of the stair carpet and she was correct, the best way of tackling it was to get down on my knees and brush it out with a stiff brush. It took a lot longer than I anticipated and eventually I gave up using the shovel to hold all the grit and just brushed it into the middle of each tread, then used the portable Dyson to sook it all up. Then I started on the landing using the same technique, but it was much easier. No need to climb the north face of the Eiger as you scrub. Much easier on the flat. Soon it was all done.  One of the most delightful things today was walking barefoot up the stairs after they had been brushed and Dysoned.  The treads felt so soft and springy, it was worth all that work.

After that, and before Scamp returned, I started collecting the bits and pieces to go in the box with the Sony A7ii camera that was going to MPB. That’s the original Sony I bought in October 2020. It’s going to MPB to help pay for its younger brother who is working very hard for me every day. So many different cables, adapters, chargers and a massive brick of a manual that tells you nothing, but takes a long time to do it. Finally got everything collected and fitted into the box, just as Scamp came home and the rain came on.

After we had lunch and after I’d struggled with today’ Wordle puzzle, I was hoping to go out and find something other than frogs to photograph, but the rain stayed on. All afternoon it stayed on and eventually I put my boots on and went out for a walk. Knowing that I’d find something interesting … and I did. I was walking through a bit of mixed woodland behind St Mo’s park when I found a flower on a tree, then another couple. Not missing an opportunity like that I took a few shots. Then I saw what looked like a whole tree covered in white flowers. I think it’s either apple blossom or wild cherry (Gean) coming out a bit early. After about a dozen different photos I went for a walk down the avenue of trees and found a neat little larch flower with raindrops on it. Took a few photos of that too. That’s when the rain came on. It just got heavier and heavier. By the time I’d reached home I was ‘drookit’.

Scamp suggested Amatriciana which is Tomatoes, Bacon, Pinch of Chilli flakes, Onions and Pecarino cheese. It sounded like a plan and that’s what I made for dinner, served with Spaghetti. Long time since we’ve had that, but I hope it won’t be that long until we have it again.

After dinner while Scamp was reading I finished packing up the camera for the DPD driver to collect tomorrow. Wrote an email to Alex and confirmed Wednesday as a coffee meet-up with some of the Auld Guys.

PoD was a branch of those white Gean flowers that Scamp described as a flight of butterflies. I understand exactly what she means

Tea and coffee incoming tomorrow and cameras outgoing. Other than that, nothing planned, but I’m sure a walk will be squeezed in somewhere, possibly with photos.

Going for the messages – 9 March 2022

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Some days are filled with sunshine.  Other days are dull.  Today was dull and the highlight was going for the messages.

Scamp drove us to The Fort today, or to be more precise, she drove us to Morrisons at The Fort.  We needed some messages and it was a dull day.  Also the wee Red car needed a run to charge its battery and to get its wheels moving again.  Scamp doesn’t like the twisty roads I drive on to The Fort and also there were roadworks on part of that route that were predicted to last for months and months, so we went by an alternative route.  It took us through Stepps, Ruchazie, Garthamlock and finally Provanhall, not Easterhouse, Provanhall.  There is a difference. I admit I was lost for most of the journey after Stepps.  There page markers had nearly all disappeared.  Where was the Golfers Rest?  Where was the bit of the canal that used to run parallel to the road. The Monkland Canal.  Gone was the answer.  Then as Scamp recited the names of places as we drove past, bits of it came back.  All things change.

We missed a turning at The Fort and drove on to Morrisons.  The order we visited them in was unimportant.  We bought some messages, but the main thing that Scamp had come for Branston Fruity Sauce was unavailable.  It wasn’t until we came home and I did a bit of internet digging that we discovered that Rich and Fruity Sauce, had been added to the list of over 400 products have been recalled after they were found to contain the carcinogen Sudan 1.  This was a bit surprising and worrying as the recall happened in 2005 and we still have an ‘in date’ bottle of the sauce in the cupboard!  I blame Brexit.

On the way back we did stop at The Fort.  Scamp wanted to go to M&S and I wanted to look for a book in Waterstones.  Both of us came back empty handed.  Scamp couldn’t find anything that suited her and I refused to pay £16 for a book I could get for £9 in Amazon.  She drove us home and I managed to find some of the places that I’d lost on the way in, or to be more correct I managed to find a school where the Golfers Rest used to be and a motorway slip road that was the Monkland Canal.

In the morning I found today’s photo in the bathroom.  It’s a close up of Scamp’s swimming goggles that she wears to prevent soap from getting in her eyes when she’s washing her hair.  I liked the water droplets on the goggles and the shine on the chrome tap.  There’s a group on Flickr where some of my photos land, called The Monochrome Mind.  For the first time in ages, I saw this photo in Black & White, not colour.  It went in to that group today.  A wee abstract for a change.

We had fish ’n’ chips tonight for dinner.  Smoked haddock and chips to be more precise.  Best bit of fish I’ve had for ages.  Beautifully cooked by Scamp.

Tomorrow it’s sequins and dance shoes.  We’re hoping to go to a tea dance in Paisley.

Off exploring – 8 March 2022

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This looked like the last good day for a while, so we went walking again.

We were off to East Kilbride today to Calderglen Country Park. One of EK’s best kept secrets. I think they just want it kept neat and tidy with none of the scruff from Glasgow and North Lanarkshire allowed access. But the reckoned without us. We’d been there before, when there were signs showing where it was and how to get in, so we got in!

It really is a lovely park with walks through steep sided glens and bridges across rushing streams. Well, actually it’s just bridges across the same rushing stream, but who’s counting. Most of the paths were in good nick, but there were a few places that could perhaps have done with a fence to prevent the unwary from taking a tumble. We didn’t take a tumble, but the opportunity was there. Light was lovely, especially since the trees are still bare, allowing it to shine through the branches and cast long shadows on the ground.

As we walked, we both remembered different bits of the path as we reached them. I’m not sure we had walked the full circuit we did today, the last time we were there, but certainly bits of it were familiar. I made a few miscalculations photographically speaking. I was finding it difficult to get focus on a big patch of snowdrops through the tracery of tree branches and set the camera to manual focus just to check that I was controlling it, not the other way round. It was only after taking a good dozen photos, I realised I hadn’t set it back to automatic. Luckily nobody but me would notice the difference! In fact the PoD was one of the slightly out of focus shots.

Lots of folk with lots of dogs. I think we only passed two people who didn’t have a four legged animal trotting along beside them. Most of the folk were friendly with a smile and a “Morning!” However, there were some who didn’t recognise our faces and just KNEW we were outsiders. Maybe Glasgow ‘Keelies’ or worse still, North Lanarkshire Louts, here to steal our scenery or leave litter everywhere. They were the ones who didn’t speak.

We had hoped to have a seat, a coffee and a bite to eat at the end of our walk, but there was a 20 – 30min wait for a table at the cafe and food was going to take between 15 and 20mins. Gone were my chances of a roll ’n’ sausage with fried onions. Instead we both settled for a flat white and slice of tipsy cake to eat in the car. Eat in the car, because there was a really cold wind getting up and we didn’t want to sit on the wooden benches in the outside courtyard chittering. Drove home afterwards with half the tipsy cake to eat later.

That was about it for the day. Dinner tonight was Muttar Paneer (Peas and Indian cheese) for dinner. Scamp made the dinner, I made the flat bread.

Happy 8th Wedding Anniversary to Jamie and Sim. Hope you had a great day.

Tomorrow looks wet, in fact I do believe the weather is practising as I write! Maybe another bread kit tomorrow.

A really Yuk day – 28 January 2022

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The highlight of the day was either shopping in Tesco or getting petrol in the same Tesco.

The Tesco shopping was in the morning. Nearly a highlight was bumping onto Colin and Evelyn in Tesco car park. Sorry you didn’t quite make the highlights Colin & Evelyn. Better luck next time.

We went home and had pizza for lunch. Really nice extra thin Pizza Carbonara by Pizza Express. I commend it to you.

Later in the afternoon I decided I’d have to go out and get petrol, because I’d less than quarter of a tank left and we are intending to drive to Bridge of Weir in the morning and although I had enough to get there, it would be nice to be able to get back home again. With the tank almost full, I took the blue car for a run just to see if there was anywhere nearby with sufficient photons available for capture by the pixels in the sensor of the camera. It was dull, but I did find a spot looking over Condorrat that seemed promising, or as promising as Condorrat gets. I took a few photos, but I knew as I was pressing the shutter that it was a pointless exercise. I came home.

A glass of wine and a bowl of home made paella made me feel better. So did Scamp’s happy smile. I think she may be getting excited with the prospect of saying goodbye to contact lenses. No matter how dull the day, her smile brightens it.

We watched a dire episode of Death in Paradise which was nowhere near the highlight of the day. DiP used to be a fun escapist romp in the sun. In this latest series they’ve tried and failed miserably to be a real action cop show. Stick to a format that works for you and gives us a bit of Caribbean sunshine, please. Leave the real acting to those who have trained for it.

We got an email from Jamie to say that he’s back home safe from his US trip. Lots of stories, hopefully, on Sunday. That is, if jet lag doesn’t get to him first.

None of the Condorrat pictures got past the first cull, as I suspected. PoD went to a little fading flower from a pretty bunch of cut flowers that are suffering in the overly warm dry living room. Central heating just kills flowers.

Tomorrow it’s a fairly early rise for dance class. Can’t say I’m looking forward to driving in the gales that are predicted for the weekend, but at least we should have enough petrol to get there and back.

Walking in the woods – 25 January 2022

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We went to Drumpellier today just for to get out the house and go somewhere different.

Not Broadwood and not St Mo’s. Just for a change we drove to Drumpellier and walked halfway round before entering the woodland. Long wide path that cuts straight through the woods. On the right there’s scrub land and on the left long grass and wilderness … and deer today. I saw only one, quite far away and then another appeared and then more until there were about seven of them. One young buck with velvet still on his antlers and I think the rest were female, hinds. By luck I’d brought the A6000 (don’t groan Jamie, I’ll keep it fairly light today). The A6000 and the long tele lens. However I forgot the snooker player’s maxim “chalk the cue before you take the shot” and took all the photos with the lens wide open. That’s not good. It was after we walked away I noticed and stopped the aperture down a couple of clicks (that’s ‘togs talk for dial in a bigger number). Next time I’ll remember … maybe.

We walked on then took the sharp left turn to the winding path through the trees that finally brings you out at the far end of the loch that seemingly almost everyone walks round ignoring the woodland with the deer and the different plantations that divide it up. On a good day with bright sunshine it’s a great place for a walk. Today it was cloudy and dull, but a walk in the fresh air is always a good thing. Especially as the eagle eyed Scamp had noticed that the cafe near the car park was open again.

So after our walk we had a coffee each. Scamp had a toasted teacake and I had a scone that crumbled away in my hands. More went on the table and the floor than in my mouth. Perhaps that’s a sign. Eat Less Cakes read the invisible sign! The coffee was no better. Scamp had a latte and I had a flat white. The only difference I could see was when she made the latte, the lady poured the hot milk in first and then the coffee. With mine it was the opposite way round. Both seemed to have the same half gallon of milk. That’s 1.893 litres in new money. Probably a slight exaggeration.

We drove home and I walked over to Condorrat to post a letter then emptied today’s photos into Flickr and perused them for an hour or so. Best of the bunch by far, and PoD was a shot, taken at the correct aperture setting, of some old waterlogged tree branches which I hope led your eye to the tree in the mid ground with the little opening at its base. Probably a fairy’s tree. A Coatbridge fairy. Not a lot of them left, I’m told.

Tonight being Burns Night we had the traditional Haggis, Neeps and Tatties. The haggis this year was a veggie one and didn’t suffer too much for being that. Lentils, mushrooms, spice and beans replaced minced unmentionable bits of a sheep.

We watched the second last episode of Around The World in 80 Days. Honestly, this serial gets better and better each week. We both agree now that we’ll read the book to see how close it is to the serial.

No plans yet for tomorrow. It looks wet in the morning, but might dry up later. Who knows.

 

 

Off the leash – 24 January 2022

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Scamp was heading out for lunch with the rest of the Witches. I was given free run of the house.

After she was picked up by Jeanette I did think of driving out somewhere to get a few landscape photos, but the sky was that moody overall grey and without some directional light I’d be struggling to make a landscape look interesting, so I chose to wait for a while. I thought about starting a painting, but couldn’t decide what to paint. These dull days make it difficult to find an interest in anything. I did for one foolish moment toy with the idea of clearing up the back room, but one look at the enormity of the task was enough to disabuse me of that task. Instead, I had lunch. Beans on sourdough toast. Earlier I’d picked up Jamie’s transatlantic plane on Flightradar 24 and lunchtime gave me a chance to check his position. He was about halfway across the Atlantic as I was scraping the last of my beans from the plate.

I’d a letter to finish off and once I’d done that, it looked like the sky was brightening up with a bit of movement in the clouds, so I got my boots on and the camera sorted and went out for a walk in St Mo’s. The woods were looking bare. Bare trees, dried up grass and not a lot happening. I did try to grab a few shots of lichen and moss and also a few late season fungi, but nothing new. Nothing exciting or interesting. The most interesting was a leaf spread over a fallen log and worn almost transparent by the elements. That might look good reduced to monochrome. I walked further than I’ve gone for ages, across the boggy grassland almost beside the slip road from the motorway, but the landscapes were all the same. I’d taken them all in the past. However, when I came out of the woods the sky was definitely clearing and Jamie was heading south towards the eastern edge of Canada at about 38,000ft.

Heading back towards home I got a decent shot along the length of the boardwalk with the 18mm lens sporting its washed and clean lens hood. Also I took two shots looking towards the breaking sky over the pond. Both were taken in portrait format, one to make the most of the sky and the other to show the silted up edge of the pond. I intended to join them together in Photoshop. That was it for the photography and it looked like Jamie was now even higher at 40,000ft and crossing the border into the US. I hoped he was actually on that plane and had managed to get up for that 4am taxi!

Scamp was home by the time I got back and we compared our day. It would seem that the Railway Inn is worth a visit some time judging by the praise it was getting from Scamp. It would be good to start going out to eat again, now that the restrictions are being relaxed. We might even get to go back to salsa with a bit of luck!

Scamp’s lunch was Macaroni with Chips. My dinner was Tagliatelle with a meat Ragu. More in the pan for tomorrow or to go in the freezer to be discovered some hungry day.

I watched as the Airbus turned on its dogleg to final and landed in a place I’ve never been and am never likely to see with my own eyes. I hope you get to read this Jamie and aren’t too bored with all the photography talk. Enjoy your visit to the Big Apple.

The PoD is the two part picture, assembled and manicured in Photoshop then finished off in Lightroom. The others I took today are on Flickr.

We have no plans yet for tomorrow. Sometimes that’s the best way.

 

An early rise and a Munky – 22 January 2022

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Up and out to go dancing again.

Drove through one of those mornings of strange light, with bright clear skies on one side and dark, heavy clouds on the other. Two Worlds we called it and that’s what it felt like driving out to Brookfield.

We were first to arrive, so we sat in the car and wondered what Stewart and Jane had in store for us today. The answer came soon enough when they pulled up and we all filed into the hall. First one was an easy Mambo Marina. Just a little bit of fluff to get us on our feet, then it was back into the Rumba which Jane had changed again, much to Scamp’s chagrin, she’d changed the part that she, Scamp, had struggled with and finally solved. Jane thought her new version was easier for most people, but quietly Scamp muttered that she didn’t think so. It didn’t matter to me. I couldn’t quite remember the first version and I certainly couldn’t do the new version. I thought I was doing well to remember the Mambo Marina!

We struggled our way through the Rumba and then finished off the class with a couple of fairly simple sequence dances. ‘Simple’ as in most of the class could do them, but not all at the right time. It was good to try the Vogue Waltz again. We’d first learned it at the Perth dance last year and it had been a bit of a favourite for both of us. Scamp because she thought it was elegant and me because I didn’t make too many mistakes.

We headed home through a bit brighter landscape with most of the black clouds gone, but as we neared Cumbersheugh it just grew darker and darker and I realised I wouldn’t be taking many outside photos today, if any.

I had initiated one of those awkward ‘chat’ sessions yesterday with someone called Martin at WEX, the company I’d bought the Sony A7iii from. Sometimes when I switched off the camera, I could feel the shutter closing then re-opening. I’d never had this happed on any other cameras I’ve had (and I’ve had a few). He said he’d look into the problem for me, but I thought it was just a brush off. However I got an email from him before we went out this morning, explaining that he’d consulted with Sony and it was actually a sensor cleaning procedure that happens occasionally. I’d mulled this over during the day and couldn’t quite understand why the shutter in the camera would have anything to do with sensor cleaning. So today I went to see if anyone on the InterWeb could verify his findings. It was only after I’d rephrased the question a couple of times that I got what might be the answer. It’s not sensor cleaning, it’s a procedure called sensor mapping or pixel mapping. I won’t annoy Jamie by going into the details, but apparently it’s an automatic procedure in a few Sony cameras, mine included. So it looks like ‘Martin’ might have been on the right track, but got diverted onto a different path!

I spent what was left of the afternoon playing catch-up with yesterday’s blog because the lighting was just so poor as to make outside photography a pointless exercise, then I remembered the Munky The munky had featured in a few tabletop shots in the past, then the big guy sort of lost his head, literally. The other day when I was dusting a bookcase (yes, Scamp has trained me to do simple housework), I found a box with lots of minifig accessories. Amongst which was the lost Munky head. I thought a little tabletop jungle shot might be appropriate to celebrate. So, here I present today’s PoD which is Munky restored to his previous glory, along with Mini Munky.

Tomorrow we have no plans and the weather doesn’t look much better than today.

The Smiddy – 20 January 2022

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Out to lunch today.

Drove over to The Smiddy at Blair Drummond because it was a lovely spring-like January day and because the food is generally good and not too expensive. Great scenery too looking across the carse to the hills in the distance. I’m sure I’ve said all this before, but it bears repeating. The management of diners is improving because, while you still can’t book a table, you do get given a buzzer now when you arrive. This is a good ploy on their part, because it allows you to wander round the shop that is joined on to the cafe. While the cafe food is reasonably priced, the articles on sale in the shop range from expensive to exorbitant. Bottles of beer in the shop are more than twice the price of the same in Tesco. Lady’s masks, very prettily embroidered, are about £13 each. I though £15 was expensive for three reusable ones in Boots. Now I’m recalibrating.

We did have to wait a bit more than the ten minutes we were told when we entered, but we did get a table today! Service was slow. I had a home made beef burger that came with warm (ie, not hot) chips and the usual salad. Scamp had a Mac ’n’ Cheese also with those, just warm, chips. I don’t think they were deep fried chips, more oven baked, but they looked hand cut rather than reconstituted. But service was slow. I was glad that Scamp suggested we have coffee after we’d had our lunch. Coffee arrived without a spoon. It’s little things like that, that make you question whether you will rush back again. Yes, I realise it’s mid week and yes, I realise it was lunchtime, so it was busy, but if you want people to keep coming back you have to be on the ball these days.

I did take a couple of rushed shots while we were there, but the light was gone by then and it was my own fault for not taking them before we went in. Maybe next time, if there is a next time.

Back home after stopping at Lakeland/Sainsburys on the way for the makings of tomorrow’s pudding, I decided there was just enough light to get an hour in St Mo’s to bolster my collection from The Smiddy. It had been freezing during the night and the ponds were still frozen even late into the afternoon. I tested the ice on the wee pond and deemed it strong enough to hold the weight of the Sony with kit lens. It held, just, although there was a skin of water on top of the ice, so I was ready to whip it up and out of harm’s way at the first sound of cracking. As it turned out, the shot didn’t make the cut and PoD is a photo taken standing, with both hands on the camera, of the wee frozen pond.

WiFi disappeared tonight again at almost the same time it did yesterday. This time I phoned to complain and hopefully get an explanation. I got a sort of explanation that it’s an on-going repair. ‘They’ thought they had fixed it yesterday, but then found that the repair had failed today, so ‘they’ were working on it again tonight. I don’t know who the mysterious ‘they’ are and why they are only allowed to work at night. Maybe ‘they’ are nocturnal. Maybe Virgin are employing vampires who can’t work in daylight. That might be the case, because they are bleeding us dry for a service that’s not up to standard. The WiFi came back after a couple of hours, but the member of the Help Team I spoke to said it might happen again tomorrow until they find a solution.

So, I’d better get this posted in case it all goes a bit tricky again! Working tomorrow making dinner for Crawford & Nancy. Soup’s made tonight. Pudding is almost finished, but still lots to do tomorrow.

Almost cut my hair – 10 January 2022

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I didn’t actually. It’s much deeper.

“Almost cut my hair” is a song by Stephen Stills on the “Déja Vu” album, away back in 1970. It seems to be about almost making a bad decision, one you will regret for a long time and once that decision is made, you can’t go back to how it was before. Today started as a dull day and just got more gloomy as the morning changed to afternoon and by about 3pm there was no point in going out to grab a photo. I almost decided to call a halt to the 365. I’m finding it harder to get fresh ideas for photos. The lack of decent directional light, day after day is part of it and I think the other part is needing to get out and look for new photographic opportunities. So, almost cut my hair, but not quite, not yet anyway.

What I did do was to dig through the archives to find some old stuff, old digital negatives from Skye and places like that. Places we haven’t been for a long time, years even, and try processing them again. Today’s one is on Flickr if you wish to have a look.

Today’s PoD turned out to be two little cat salt and pepper pots. Scamp bought them some years ago in a warm place. When they sit on the table they make us smile and remember past holidays. The are awkward to use because rather than having one hole in the top for salt or lots of smaller ones for pepper, both of them have three holes. It makes it a game of chance, a lucky dip whether you get salt or pepper.

We did go for a spin today over to Coatbridge to buy a WiFi extender. Two boxes, one you plug into the mains and connect to the modem. The other you put somewhere with a poor wireless signal. Plug it in to the mains and search for it with whatever device you are using. Once you find it you type in the password from the box and like magic it connects through the first box to the modem and you have an excellent signal. That sounds a bit complicated, but it is much simpler to do than to describe. Best of all, it just works!

I also got some more photo paper and made us a calendar for the toilet. I know it sounds sort of weird, having a calendar in the toilet, but every month in it has a different holiday picture. Like the wee cats it brings back memories of warmer places. The ‘real’ calendars are printed and bound and ready to fly to deserving people in the next few days. I’ve even done a “Where Was It Took” page especially for you Hazy. I’m struggling at the moment to remember how to mail merge it from Excel to Word.

That was about it for the day I almost cut my hair. We had pasta and tomato sauce for dinner. Scamp had bought M&S Plant Kitchen veggie balls. We tried them in with the pasta and tomato sauce. They were boggin. If you’re ever in Marks and you see them, just walk on by. That’s our recommendation.

Tomorrow we’re out in the morning but the afternoon doesn’t have anything planned for it. You’ll find out if we do anything interesting. No hair will be cut!

The last one this year – 31 December 2021

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Sometimes you just have to drag yourself out to take the last photo of the year.

This was the last day of 2021. A day for thinking back to those warm sunny summer days, both of them. When the rain didn’t fall incessantly and you could ignore the weatherproofing of the camera and lens combination. When the wind doesn’t blow the flowers around just as you’re about to press the shutter button. Alas, the reality was another dull, dreary grey day. However I did go out dressed for the weather and took some photos, just like most of the other 364.

That was later in the day. Earlier a parcel had arrived that was bound for my old pal Fred who turned 70 on Christmas Day. I parcelled up the tee shirt and drove up to his house which, luckily, is only about ten minutes by car. It’s nearer an hour if you’re walking, but today wasn’t a day for walking. It was tipping it down. Torrential rain in the early morning had given way to just rain by midday. I caught Fred just as he was coming out of his car and handed over the parcel. I was going to head back via Tesco, but Fred told me there was a queue to get in to the carpark that started at the roundabout about 100m away from the actual carpark. I decided to drive home instead. There wasn’t anything on my list that was essential.

Even earlier, just as we were getting up and admiring the beautiful rain, we got a message from Jamie and then from DHL to say that a parcel would be delivered in about half an hour. We quickly dressed and unlocked the front door luckily just in time to collect the big box the man had left on the step. He looked soaked as he waved and got back in his van. The box contained a lovely hamper hand-made from willow and inside was a great selection of chocolates, biscuits jams and wine. Thank you both. That was a lovely surprise on the last day of the year.

I suggested pizza for dinner. Home made pizza. Scamp seemed happy with that. It used to be a tradition, pizza for dinner on Friday. I made the dough with plenty of time to spare for it to rise then cleaned the downstairs toilet, hoovered the downstairs rooms and then went to look at today’s photos. They were a mixed bunch. Some good, some not so good, but one stood out for me. A little dried out weed whose flowers and seeds had gone but the skeleton of the plant remained. It looked just like a Japanese pagoda to me, and that’s what I called it. The Pagoda Plant. It was PoD. The last PoD of 2021.

The pizza was exceptional. By far the best I’ve made for a long, long time. Scamp had Tuna and Sweetcorn I had Anchovies and Tuna. Both were finished with only crumbs left behind.

It’s been another strange year. Lockdowns, vaccinations, boosters and the constant threat of Covid, but it’s the holidays that will stick in my memory for a long time. Especially the first one in July when all three families came together in Cumbria. I’ll also remember climbing the Nine Standards with Jamie, Simonne, Sheila and Vixen. That was a tough one, but I did make it to the top and it was worth it. You were right, Jamie, it was a lot easier going down.

Tomorrow we have no plans. The weather looks like it might be better than today, so maybe a traditional New Year’s Day walk.

Tonight at 4pm Scamp noticed that it wasn’t quite dark outside. There was a little bit of light in the sky. The days ARE getting longer, we’re coming out of the dark.