Category: Rain

Rain, Sun and Wind – 2 July 2023

Posted on by Zogman

Three words to sum up today as far as weather goes. There was rain. Sometimes heavy sometimes light, but always there on the horizon. Then there were occasions sunbursts, sometimes while the rain was falling, but welcome when they appeared. Lastly there was wind for the third day recently. Gusty wind blowing in from the west. Very unseasonable weather after a Flaming June.

Scamp was out planting her new flowers. They are a white Salvia and a white Penstemon. Both in the new pot she bought (but didn’t wear) yesterday. They are now ensconced in the front garden to strengthen the barrier and hopefully prevent the Scottish Terrier from round the corner from crapping in our front grass. If that doesn’t work, then we’ll have to resort to digging pits with sharpened spikes at the bottom, between the pots or the ‘nuclear option’ – Land Mines. Anyway, for now the flower pots are doing a good job of keeping Hamish at bay. In the afternoon I swear I saw Scamp out in the front garden watering the plants while the rain was tipping it down. I now have seriously concerns about her sanity.

Later in the afternoon I put my boots on and went for a walk in St Mo’s, hoping to get some photos of some yellow Flag Irises, but was disappointed to find that they were long gone. That spell of hot weather had forced the flowering of these elegant plants way ahead of their usual blooming time. What I did find was a couple of Batman hoverflies, so called because they have what looks like the Batman symbol on their thorax. Then a Five Spot Burnet moth feeding on its favourite knapweed flower. After some discussion with myself, the Burnet moth got PoD.

Watched a crazy Austrian GP with almost half the field succumbing to five second penalties for exceeding ’Track Limits’. For once, Charles Leclerc didn’t find the wall!

We don’t have any plans for tomorrow.

 

The day the rains came in Dubrovnik – 15 June 2023

Posted on by Zogman

… and forgot to stop!

Things we’ll remember:

  • Waking to rain on the balcony.
  • Heavy rain, light rain, but constant rain.
  • Breakfast in “Smash ’n’ Grab”.
  • Constant messages from the Cruise Director.
  • Warnings to those going home to stay in your cabins until called.
  • Went for a walk in the afternoon.
  • Almost cut my hair – or got it cut.
  • Saw the ‘battleship’ and the armoured car.
  • No cats in the armoured car.
  • Watched the rain forming rivers on the windows of “Indigo”.
  • Tapas for dinner – excellent.
  • Show was “Movies”
  • Aka the professional male dancer’s flies burst open during his routine!
  • Nearly dropped his partner when the ship moved for him!
  • Brambles for two – very nice!

 

A mixed up day – 9 May 2023

Posted on by Zogman

One of those days when one thing changed everything.

We were supposed to be going to lunch with Shona, but after a flurry of emails between her and us about a problem getting Ben to go to school meant that we had to reschedule to next week. It was disappointing for all of us, but I think it was the best thing to do in the circumstances. We’ll hope that Ben is more amenable next week.

That left us with a day to fill. I’d called off a photo walk with Alex on Wednesday because I’d planned to go into Glasgow to look for a suit. Maybe if we went to Glasgow today instead, I could speak nice to Alex and we could get that photo walk on Wednesday after all.

So that’s what we did. Scamp confirmed a date with Shona for lunch next week, I sent Alex a text explaining that a slot had opened on Wednesday for a walk and a blether. I’d one more call to make and that was to the electrician who fixed our dodgy wiring a couple of months ago and got him to give me a call with a suitable date to come and fit a new distribution board. All done we headed over to Glasgow.

We went to Slaters, as more than half of Glasgow do when they need a new suit. Service was as smart as ever and we left a few quid lighter but with a suit, a shirt and two ties. Scamp had her eye on something in M&S and while she went there, I walked up to leave the suit bag in the car at Buchanan Galleries carpark. As I was walking across the JL bridge I looked out over Glasgow as I usually do and the rain was bucketing down, but the sky was brightening, highlighting the rain against the dark of Queen Street Station. That made a PoD photo, for sure.

If you read yesterday’s blog you might remember that I found a cut in the tread of my boots and I said “I wouldn’t think it’s repairable, although someone on YouTube will know different”. Well, someone did and I’ve possibly found a solution. It’s a tube of repair glue stuff that might stop the leak for a while. Thankfully Tiso on Buchanan Street had it in stock, so I bought a tube. Now I need a wee drop of Isopropyl alcohol to clean the tear. I bought a bottle of Surgical Spirit today that might do the job, but now that I think about it, I’m sure the liquid I use to clean the camera sensor it indeed Isopropyl alcohol. I’ll check tomorrow.

Just as I was leaving Tiso, Scamp phoned to ask where I was, we met up and went to Paesano for lunch. We were served by a grumpy looking waitress who was maybe just having as bad a day as Shona.

Scamp had bought rather a pretty dress in M&S for a lot less than my outfit cost. But in my defence, it must be nearly nine years since I bought a suit.

The photo of ‘Raintown’ did indeed make PoD and it was also my 10,000th photo on Flickr!

Today’s prompt was for “A Rock or A Stone”.
I thought long and hard about this prompt considering and rejecting an actual rock (boring), Edinburgh Rock (porous soft multicoloured sweets), Edinburgh Castle Rock (the rock the actual castle stands on) and the Bass Rock which is a gannet sanctuary in the Firth of Forth. I finally settled on a stick (or a stalk) of seaside rock.
Probably a British tradition, it’s a hard, slightly porous candy stick with letters formed into it that run all the way along its length. Traditionally white with pink writing inside a shiny pink shell. Delicious and deadly for teeth!

Tomorrow with the agreement made that we intend going for a photo walk, I’m hoping to meet Alex in Glasgow.

 

The gardens needed it – 8 May 2023

Posted on by Zogman

Today was wet. It went from drizzle to full on downpour, but it was wet all day!

We weren’t going far today anyway. I might have gone in to Glasgow to get myself a new suit, a dark suit, both my other suits are light grey and a dark one would be a change. Also, only one of my suits actually fits me, the other one fits like a sugar bag. Not a good look. Anyway, that decision was taken away from me with one look at the weather. The furthest we were going today was Tesco.

Just a normal Monday shopping trip. Nothing exciting unless you class short dated tomatoes, carrots and onions as exciting. Three bags full it was today, all bundled into the boot and drove home.

What we did do was give our plants a bit of a soaking in the rainwater. My two chilli plants seemed to come to no harm in it and Scamp’s Cerinthe seedlings seemed to grow even taller after being in the downpours.

After lunch I gave in, put on my boots and my walking trousers and went out looking for a photo that would become PoD. It was really wet wherever I went and after about half an hour I was sure I could feel that squidgy sensation that you only get when you’ve got a leaky boot. But I was out in the middle of the park when it made itself known and I still hadn’t got that magic PoD. Then it appeared. It was a water droplet hanging from a larch needle. I took my time and eventually shot half a dozen frames of it. One of which I deemed sharp enough to become the PoD for today. Then, and only then, I squidged my way home. The sock on my right foot told the tale. There was a leak and it looks like there is a crack in the tread of my boot and that’s where the water is getting in. It might be a cut, not a crack, but the result is the same. I wouldn’t think it’s repairable, although someone on YouTube will know different, I’m sure. I might need to shell out for a new pair of boots now.

Today’s EDiM asked for An Ant. I originally thought of drawing a couple of Leaf Cutter Ants, but couldn’t find a clear enough photo to draw them from. I finally settled for a Flying Ant. There were a lot of these scary looking beasties flying around last year, I seem to remember. Apparently there is an actual Flying Ant Day. In the UK it seems to be around the 17th July. It all depends on the temperature and windspeed. There, I bet you didn’t know that!

Tomorrow we’re booked for lunch with Shona. Not sure yet where we’ll be going. Like the Flying Ants, it depends on the weather!

Rain – 30 April 2023

Posted on by Zogman

It was hard to decide if it was just starting to rain, or just finishing a spell of raining when we woke. In actual fact it was just trying out the different textures of rain to see which it liked the best. That too was a difficult decision for the weather, and one it toyed with for a good few hours before finally choosing to stay dry and allow the sun to shine.

There were things to do today. There was milk to buy and a sensible plain loaf, a cake wouldn’t go amiss either, cakes never do. There were people to bump into. People I hadn’t spoken to for years. The people, or person in question was Mary Jane Hunter, ex of Cumby High. She and Scamp had a lot in common apart from height. They had both had cataracts removed and corrective lenses inserted that took away their shortsightedness and gave them a totally new view on life. It’s nice to meet folk you got on with years ago and who you still admire.

Back home Scamp had covered the draining board in the kitchen with an off cut from a waterproof table cover and was potting up her ten Cerinthe seedlings to separate them and to give them a chance to develop better roots. I liked the idea and planted out some Acer seeds my brother had given me last autumn. They had been in plastic bags in the little greenhouse to keep them dry while they ‘conditioned’. Apparently the exposure to sub zero temperatures is needed for them to germinate once they are planted out in soil.

Dinner tonight was Potatoes with Carrot and Onion Mash. Protein was Hoggit Shoulder Steak for me, bought at the farmers market in Embra yesterday and Salmon for Scamp. Unfortunately for her, the salmon just didn’t taste ‘right’. So it was a vegetarian dinner for her. My hoggit was excellent soft and delicious. (2mins 30seconds per side and 5mins resting time). I couldn’t eat it all, so I’ve about a third of it sitting in the fridge for tomorrow or Tuesday. Bananas fried in Rum was requested was requested for pudding. It was excellent too. Hot, sweet, sticky orange flavoured rum coating bananas sliced long ways. Sounds messy and it was, also sounds a bit sickly and it was, but we both enjoyed it. Can’t remember exactly where I first saw it being made, but I think it was on a cruise, years ago.

Because of the rain, I couldn’t be bothered wandering around St Mo’s, getting wet and not finding anything worth photographing, so today’s PoD came from the garden. It’s an Aquilegia playing host to a family of greenfly. I think I might have to evict them soon. As usual with macros, I didn’t see the greenfly until the images had been loaded into the computer.

Spoke to Jamie and Scamp was delighted to hear that he has taken her advice and cleaned all the glazing panels in his greenhouse. They have had a few days of good weather and have almost all the flowers planted now.

We have no plans for tomorrow, and it looks like more rain.

Off to Embra – 29 April 2023

Posted on by Zogman

It was not a very nice day today, so we got the train to Edinburgh to see if it was any better there.

It wasn’t. It was just the same smirr falling from the same sky on different buildings. So we put our hoods up and walked Morrison Street then through the canyon at the Conference Centre and on to Lothian Road where we stopped for coffee at Nero. Thankfully the coffee was better than the watered stuff we seem to get in Glasgow nowadays. I must try the Black Sheep coffee shop in Glasgow to see if it’s an improvement. After coffee and a pastry each, we walked through the Farmers Market (which does seem to have its fair share of farmers and fishers) and I got myself a shoulder slice of hoggit which is a beast that’s older than a lamb and younger than a sheep. Murdo rears hoggits. I always try to get meat from Annanwater Farm in the farmers markets, because it is consistently good quality.

We walked on to the Grassmarket with its collection of stalls selling what is really just tourist tat. While we were there we had a look at the menu for Petit Paris, but decided it would be too busy on a weekend. Better to go on a weekday. The crowds were thickening now. Some of the individual in the crowds were very thick, standing in the middle of the road taking a photo of the castle on their phones, oblivious to the horns of cars blaring right at their backsides. They thought this was Scotland. Land of tartan and kilts and castles, but no cars!

As we climbed up the curving hill of Victoria Street the crowds and the queues got thicker. Thick enough to stand in a queue, in the rain, to walk round a Harry Potter shop. Needless to say, there weren’t many Scottish voices in that queue. We walked on. Eventually we got to JL Edinburgh. This was what JL looked like in Glasgow before it became a clearing house for all the second hand stuff that folk found they could live without. Scamp found stuff there that were on her shopping list for today. I walked round the “Toyshop” on the 5th floor and just looked at stuff that I couldn’t, or wouldn’t afford.

When we left JL we went looking for somewhere to eat, eventually settling on Wagamama. We had to wait for a table, but in out of the rain, thankfully as the rain was getting heavier as the day wore on. We were served by a Japanese lady who was careful to point out that my Grilled Chicken Ramen would be a bit ‘bland’ and when I asked for her suggestion she chose Shirodashi Pork Belly Ramen and she was right! Scamp had Chicken Raisukaree curry which looked very pretty and apparently tasted great apart from the ‘squeaky’ sugar snap peas!

Suitably fed we walked to the station just as the train was pulling in. We were entertained by two Edinburgh intelligentsia. The lady was the ‘numbers’ person and the gentleman was the investor, preparing to make his first million just as soon as he was old enough to buy a scratch card. It was an education, especially because they were both deadly serious.

Well, the rain hadn’t stopped all day, but by the time we got home it had dried up and at about 6pm a watery sun shone for a while.

PoD turned out to be two workers on the top of a multi storey block. I’m guessing they’d a current Working At Height certificate.

No plans for tomorrow.

The Messages – 22 April 2023

Posted on by Zogman

According to the weather fairies, it was going to rain today. They were right, but only just.

The morning was lovely, well, again it was lovely to look out at it. However, it was still cold outside. We had agreed last night that we’d go shopping today. Not Tesco or Lidl, we’d been there during the week. Instead, we were going to Stirling – to Waitrose. Waitrose just sucks you in and makes you spend more than you’d intended to. Whereas, in Tesco and to a certain extent, Lidl you know where everything is and you can buy the things you need, rather than what you want.

When we got home there was a cardboard box that had dropped through our letterbox. Inside were six little plant plug plants, Busy Lizzies. Tiny little plants that are now in the greenhouse until they get strong enough to be planted out in the garden. Strange to think that delicate little plug plants are delivered by post.

Scamp found a suitable hanger to hold a fuchsia and it’s now hanging on a hook in the back garden. While she was gardening, I took the Sony A7 out with a couple of lenses for a walk in St Mo’s. PoD turned out to be a close up of some larch needles positively glowing in the afternoon sunshine.

By the time I got home the clouds were beginning to mass and as I’m writing this, the first rain in a week or so has been falling.

Dinner tonight was a Veg Lasagne by Charlie Bigham. This is the third one we’ve had (not tonight, we’re not that greedy!) and they have all been exceptionally good.

Tomorrow we are expecting more rain and cold winds from the north. Brrr!

It rained – 10 April 2023

Posted on by Zogman

As predicted by the weather fairies, Monday morning was wet.

Instead of sitting at home, Jamie drove us to a garden centre fairly nearby. I really think this was a trial for Scamp because, while Jamie and Simonne were loading plants into the boot of the car, Scamp had to accept that live plants wouldn’t survive a five hour plus rail journey with two changes on what was going to be busy trains. We had lunch in a wee cafe at the garden centre and Scamp did get some seeds to take back. Not quite the same as live plants, but the consolation prize.

In the afternoon the clouds lifted, the skies cleared and the sun shone, so we all went for a walk. Much the same route as my walk yesterday, but much longer and covering different areas of the nearby countryside. With my ultra-wide angle lens on the A7 I got some quite excellent landscape shots and some pretty shots of daffodils in the churchyard of the church next door to the house. The landscape got PoD.

Unfortunately we were going home tomorrow, so after dinner we were packing bags and taking more last photos. Then Jamie came in to the living room and said “There’s a kestrel in the front garden.” My cameras were packed away, but I did manage to get two fairly decent shots of the young bird before it flew off on those narrow wings.

We watched the final episode of the strange South African film and were left wondering what to think about the even stranger ending. I won’t say any more, just in case you ever watch it.

Tomorrow we make the trek up north.

Rain, Rain, Go Away – 5 April 2023

Posted on by Zogman

It rained today. In fact it rained all day and it’s still raining.

We had Easter cards to write and then post, which was good, because we were going to Tesco anyway and could post them there. It was just a bit of light shopping, bread, a bag of rolls and a carton of milk. Oh yes, and two bottles of wine plus two cans of G&T. Like I said, light shopping. Just for a change, Scamp drove us there and back.

Back home and after lunch we started throwing things into bags. Counting in the socks and underwear then adding another one or two for luck. It looked like the rain was getting a bit lighter and there was just the chance of some sunshine too, but it was just a ruse by the weather fairies. The rain strengthened and the sunshine went to some other boys and girls. I’d thought of taking some indoor ‘flower’ shots, but risked it with a few shots of Scamp’s Helebores that sit by the back steps. Their full name is Heleborus Orientalis Lenten Rose. The ‘Lenten’ part is to signify that their flowering period roughly covers Lent.

Dinner was paella which I thought was nice and dry, but Scamp thought it was just too dry. We never can agree on food and cooking. However it tasted fine and used up some chicken thighs that had been languishing in the freezer for a long time.

In the evening I threw more things into a big red bag and I’ve just remembered I have to add the Gorilla Pod.

I think that’s us about done. Early rise tomorrow. Hope the rain has stopped by then!

Up in the sky – 20 March 2023

Posted on by Zogman

We didn’t quite make it up above the clouds where there is always a blue sky, but we were close.

Today we were going for lunch in Glasgow. We walked to Condorrat to get the bus, because drink would be taken.

It was good to get someone else to do the driving, even if it was a ramshackle bus we were on. Every few stops it would give itself a shrug and I was wondering if it would get going again, but it did and it got us in to town a lot quicker than the sluggish X3 would.

It was a dismal day and we were heading out to alongside the River Clyde on an X19. Another case of the “X” not meaning eXpress, but it was an interesting journey, especially when the bus changed lanes going over the “Squinty Bridge”. Oh, it was strange to be driving on the right hand lane and then crossing back to the left lane when we were across. It was also a pain, because we’d missed our stop and had to walk back of the Squinty Bridge in the rain to find our destination. Thankfully we didn’t have to change lanes.

We walked straight in to the Red elevator of the Radisson Red boutique hotel and took it up to the 9th floor and got a table. It wasn’t right at the window, but we still had a decent view. Scamp had booked it a few weeks ago and we were both impressed with the food and drink, although I only had a beer. Scamp had Strawberry Fields Forever which was a take on a Strawberry Daiquiri. Maybe just a bit too sweet. For food we shared Salmon Teriyaki, Spicy Chicken Bao Buns and Cauliflower Pakora which had the strangest sour coriander dip. Strange but absolutely lovely. I didn’t like the salmon, but that’s just me. Scamp said the spicy chicken was too strong for her taste, but we both agreed the cauliflower pakora was excellent. The view was great, but it would have been so much better if the drizzle hadn’t dulled everything down. There was no attempt to rush us through our lunch and we both had coffee afterwards. It was a lovely lunch and I think we’ll be back, but only if it’s another “buy one, get one free” offer.

We walked back to the bus stop and got an X19 back into town. Scamp and I both had things we were looking for. I was looking for water soluble graphite pencils to try on watercolour paper. Scamp was buying prezzies.

We got the X3 back home because although it’s slow, we don’t have to walk too far to get home.

PoD was a two frame panorama created in Lightroom and tweaked in Photoshop.

We had a really good day. Good food, interesting food too and great company. It will be better in the summer I’m sure.

We have no plans as yet for tomorrow.