Category: Shopping

Shoes and Greece – 15 April 2024

Posted on by Zogman

How the other half live!

So, the story of the shoes:
Scamp bought a pair of dance shoes back in November last year. She wore them once to the gala ball in Perth, but found they hurt her foot. She changed the shoes midway through the evening and though no more about it. Recently she tried wearing them again and felt a sharp pain in her toe. When I had a look at the shoes and probed the sole with my finger I could feel something like the sharp end of a staple. Presumably that was the source of the pain she felt.

Long story short, she sent a message to the lady who owns the shop where she bought the shoes and today we took them in to the shop in Rutherglen for inspection. The owner recognised Scamp because we’ve both bought shoes from her in the past and agreed that a badly placed metal staple was the problem. She apologised and is intending to replace the shoes once her stock comes in.

We bought some fruit and bread, some solar powered lights and a new frying pan in a big Tesco not 100m from the dance shop then drove home in the rain. The fruit was for Scamp and June to have some refreshments on the four hour journey to Inverness, tomorrow. The frying pan was because we needed one and it was a bargain. £22 marked down to £8. Couldn’t resist a bargain. The lights were also cheap and Scamp has been talking about getting them for a long while. The only problem might be they need 48 hours of sunshine to charge them.  I don’t think we’ve had 48 hours os sunshine this year!

After lunch I went out for a drive, but couldn’t get parked in my usual spot at Fannyside because someone had dumped a big tractor there. Farmers! They think they own the place and can just park anywhere! Couldn’t find anything to interest me enough to take the camera out of the bag, so I just drove home. It was just one of those days!

When the rain went off about half an hour later, I went for a walk in St Mo’s and got a couple of decent shots. PoD was a bunch of daisies growing beside the path that leads to St Mo’s. The grass looks good and lush, but underneath it’s like a swamp. I fully expected a crocodile to be crawling through it. Everywhere seems like a swamp this year. Scotland seems to be getting the worst of the weather and to rub it in, the dance teachers keep sending photos of the wonderful places they are visiting. Today it was Rhodes in the Greek islands, and by the look of the photos, it wasn’t raining there.

Tomorrow we’ll have to be up early because I’m driving Scamp up to the bus station in the Town Centre. June has booked a taxi for herself. I have the rest of the day to myself, I hope, before picking Scamp up about 9pm.

Just for a change, the sun shone for a while this morning – 10 February 2024

Posted on by Zogman

It didn’t last, but it was a sign of things to come, hopefully.

We managed to get out early today, well, early for us at least. I suggested Stirling as the place to go and off we went. I’d checked the battery in the A6500 and it was in fairly good order. I checked the SD card and formatted it. Then we left for Stirling and halfway down the motorway I realised I’d left the camera bag (with camera) on the sofa in the house! Never mind. I had my phone with me that would see me through the amount of photos I’d take.

After cruising around a busy Waitrose car park we finally chanced upon a space and squeezed ourselves into it then we went for a walk round Stirling. We both wandered round our own collection of shops and agreed to meet up later, which we did. Scamp suggested an M&S curry deal for dinner and I agreed. Dinner bought we asked each other, did we really want to go for a coffee? Neither of us were all that interested, so we walked back to the car and dumped the dinner in the boot then went to see what we could find in Waitrose. I got a rolled breast of lamb that will hopefully become my dinner tomorrow and Scamp got a couple of nice pieces of fish. Paid and added the takings to the growing pile in the boot, then made someone’s day bay nudging forward into the long, long queue of folk cruising round looking for a free space. A delighted looking woman in a van was happy to take ours and we drove home.

It’s funny the way weather works. When we were driving towards Stirling the sky ahead of us was much lighter than that behind us. When we were driving home in the early afternoon, the light ahead of us was much lighter than that behind us again! How does that happen?

Back home I went for a walk in St Mo’s WITH the camera this time, but got nothing interesting, so I walked down through the muddy wilderness behind St Mo’s to the shops and bought a load of stuff we didn’t need, but which was well received when I got home.

PoD was a quick phone shot in Stirling of three folk sitting on a bench, each texting on their phones. It’s entitled “Happy Tappers”.

Today’s prompt was “Ash”. This tree might soon be a thing of the past with Ash dieback being so rife these days. In my own street about half a dozen trees were felled in autumn last year. Some of them weren’t even ash trees, which brings into question the integrity of some of the tree fellers the council employs.

Today’s prompt was ‘Ash’. I always liked playing with the ash seeds when I was younger. We never called them Keys, we called them ‘propellers’ because of their shape and also because of the way they spun when they fell from the trees. Let’s hope some clever folk can devise a way to save the trees and staunch the damage done by the disease.

Dinner was that curry and it still looks like the lamb breast will be tomorrow’s dinner for me at least.

No real plans for tomorrow. Maybe Glasgow Green.

Another year over – 31 December 2023

Posted on by Zogman

Well, almost over.

The day started with a visit to Currys in Coatbridge to get photo paper and a chance to browse the shelves for a new toaster. The one we have must be about 20 years old and has worked well, but lately it’s been struggling to hold the bread carrier against the force of the spring. I reckon it’s an electromagnet that either has crumbs or dust on its contact, or the wiring in it is getting weak and cannot pull the full magnetic force. If it’s dust, the portable hoover might just manage to clear it. If it’s the coil in the electromagnet, it’s beyond my ability to repair. The prices Currys were asking for a fairly ordinary toaster were in places eye watering. Who pays £200 for a toaster? I got the photo paper, but the toaster will have to wait until Tuesday at least, when the shops re-open.

We drove home and Scamp encouraged me to go out and take some photos before the light started to fail. That would be a sensible thing to do. After all, this was the last day in 2023 and a decent photo for PoD was compulsory. It arrived in the shape of an old park bench in St Mo’s. The bench is made of recycled plastic, but it has lichen growing on it. It must be something that’s added to the plastic mix when bulk it up or maybe to strengthen it. Surely ordinary lichen wouldn’t grow on pure plastic. I must ask a scientist some time. The photo wasn’t impressive when I took it, but separating it into its constituent parts made it a lot easier to work with and I was happy with the result.

Spoke to Jamie and heard that the weather down south was much better than we’ve been having. Hope Vixen’s leg improves soon.

I think that’s all for 2023. I believe 2024 is approaching rapidly, so I should really draw this last blog of 2023 to a close. I wish you all a happy and healthy new year.

 

Two go for a walk – 11 December 2023

Posted on by Zogman

The morning broke with the promise of a fine day, but would it last?

As we watched the clouds break and the sun begin to shine, the decision was made. We would go for a walk. I chose Drumpellier as the likely destination. I know Scamp likes walking in the woods and I do too. It’s usually a place where I can be sure of getting a photo or two, so suited and booted for a walk in the woods, we set off.

By around 10.30 we were walking between the two ponds that make up Lochend Loch. We were walking counterclockwise today, against the normal flow of pedestrians. We took our usual route, choosing the second path that offered us an entrance to the woods. It’s a long straight path that takes you deep into the woodland, then there’s an almost 180º turn and another slightly shorter path before we turned off as we usually do to climb up the long slope to the crest of the hill then down the other side. Every now and again we’d come across a handful of seeds scattered by someone on the side of the path with magpies and the occasional crows making a breakfast of them. We’ve often seen these seeds and wondered if it’s just folk like us, or maybe folk working in the park who put these seeds down.

There are a myriad of paths and trails all the way through the woodland. Some are obviously deer trails and some look as if they are ramblers trails, but we generally keep to the main paths and each of us has their favourites. Today we walked a shorter and less strenuous route than normal, then I suggested we add on a walk round the cricket ground. It’s strange to think that an industrial place like Coatbridge would have a cricket ground in a corner of the woodland, but it’s true. We walked back down the road that would take us back to the loch and from there, back to the car park.

We needed some ‘messages’ and I suggested Morrisons as a change from Tesco. That’s how we came home with three bags full of stuff. Scamp was delighted to find that Morrisons stocked her old favourite fruity sauce. I was delighted to find a bargain bottle of whisky. We both bought more than we really needed, but a change is as good as a rest, some say and we needed a change from Tesco.

I finally bit the bullet and drove up to the town centre to get my hair cut. I swear it took the girl less than five minutes to give me a number 3 on the sides and a number 4 on the top. Then trim my terrifying eyebrows. Worth the £7.90 she asked for, so I gave her a tenner!

While I was out, Scamp had put her fancy new Christmas lights round the wee tree Jamie and Simonne brought from their garden. The clever thing about them is that you set the start time for them, then they stay on for six hours and automatically switch off after that time.  So smart!

I got a few photos today, but my favourite, and PoD, was a view over Lochend Loch with the sky reflected in the still water.

Cleverly, Scamp had turned the chicken stock from yesterday into a small pot of soup by adding more veg. That was dinner tonight with an M&S pizza to fill a wee space if we needed it.

Tomorrow I think Scamp may be meeting June, Shona and Ian. I’m intending to stay at home incase a parcel arrives.

 

Another cold day – 28 November 2023

Posted on by Zogman

I suppose that’s the weather we should expect as we near the end of November.

Yes, we are nearing the end of November and the mercury in the thermometer is dropping. Today was fairly bright to start with. We went shopping in Tesco. I don’t think either of us were all that bothered with going far from home. That’s one of he benefits of staying in Cumbersheugh, there are plenty of shops. Not the most interesting shops and sometimes the selection isn’t all that great, but at least we are covered for the essentials of bread, milk, fish, meat and vegetables. As Scamp is ofter heard to say, “We won’t starve.” We should consider ourselves lucky. On the way home we stopped at Greggs for a Chicken Bake each for lunch and a surprise of a custard doughnut for afters.

I’d intended cutting my hair today, but decided it was too cold in the back bedroom to start any of that nonsense. I suppose I could have been brave and started the initial chopping in the living room, but even a Number 4 would have made for colder walks in this weather when we’re being told do expect -4ºc tonight. Maybe next week, then.

After my lunch had slid down I did take myself out for a walk in St Mo’s just as the sun was getting low. Not too low though, there was still enough light to stretch the shadows of the now skinny looking trees that have lost all of their leaves. But PoD went to a hardy lady jogger who did three circuits of St Mo’s pond. When she passed me on her third time round, I took a few shots and then went home with the hope that I could make a picture of it. It took a bit of time and a fair bit of jiggery pokery in Lightroom to get the effect I wanted, but I was happy with the result. Also on Flickr is a shot of the windows of the College of Building and Printing on Cathedral Street in Glasgow. It seems that it is a category ‘B’ listed building and therefore cannot be demolished, not can it be ‘messed about with’ too much. According to what I’ve read, it is being turned into a business hotel. Just now it’s a ruin, but I liked the patterns of the windows.

Scamp was chef tonight and we had Mac ’n’ Cheese with a couple of slices of streaky bacon on top. Maybe not her best, but far better than I would have made.

Also on the subject of food, we watched the final of Bake Off. I won’t tell you who won, but I will give this spoiler: It was one of the blokes! Not surprising as it was an all male final.

More plotting and planning between the ladies of the family booking our summer house and dealing with the financial side of things. WhatsApp was working overtime when I was out walking.

A quick practise of the quickstep again tonight.  I think I’ve mastered the turns and the steps and even the Twinkle, it’s just the speed of the steps that makes it difficult for me.  I seriously believe I will get better once I stop thinking about what I’m doing and just leave my feet to get on with it.  In the end, it’s all to do with muscle memory.

As I said earlier, the temperature is forecast to drop to around -4ºc tonight. Scamp is planning to meet Isobel for coffee tomorrow. Other than that, no plans.

 

 

 

Smelling Sweetly – 27 August 2023

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Scamp was off to a hotel in Glasgow to learn how to make perfume. I stayed well away!

Scamp met Annette on the bus in to Glasgow. I’d walked over to Condorrat with her and was quite pleased that I did, because it was there I found today’s PoD. While the two friends went in to Glasgow, I walked back home and, having my camera with me took to opportunity to get some photos of the Honeysuckle flower that was to be PoD. Back home I sat down to read another chapter or two of The Brass Verdict. I did a bit more clearing out in the back bedroom and also considered putting some air into the Kona’s tyres, but didn’t quite get round to that.

I checked the recipe for tonight’s Smoked Haddock and Leek Risotto – one of the easy ones that you bake in the oven and don’t have to stand for half an hour stirring. We needed a few things and I grabbed a bag and walked down to the shops. It wasn’t a heavy load to carry back, but I had bought more than I really required for dinner. I don’t think the recipe had mentioned Crunchy Ice Lollies or Jam Donuts, but for some reason both of those items had found their way into the message bag. How strange.

On the way back I found a strange looking object on a wall. It looked like the broken lid of a Jerry Can and had a flower growing out of the top. It looked a bit like an alternative flowerpot and was interesting enough for a photo or two. Try as I might I just couldn’t get a good shot of it. Eventually I decided I’d taken enough photos and spent enough time on it and walked up the rest of the way home.

It took about five minutes to process the honeysuckle flower. It took about an hour and a half to piece together two photos of the alternative flowerpot. In the end they both went in to Flickr, but the honeysuckle won PoD hands down.

I was just finishing the flowerpot when Scamp texted me to say she was on the bus home. I said I’d meet her at her stop and walk home with her because it’s a lonely path over the motorway and although it wasn’t that late, it’s always better to have somebody to walk with.

It seemed from her description that the perfume making was quite an interesting experience. Not just a cobbled together talk with a Powerpoint presentation and a bottle of smelly stuff to take away. There were 24 different ‘notes’ divided into three categories of Base notes, Middle notes and Top notes. All the participants could blend them any way they chose. Everything measured by drops, or even ‘half drops’. It sounded fascinating, but not really for me, I think! I did sample some of the testers and ‘Wood’ definitely did smell woody. Similarly, Passionfruit had that sharp sweet scent that only passionfruit has. But the one that stood out for me was ‘Rose’. I immediately smelled Turkish Delight which, of course is made from rose water. It sounded an interesting afternoon for Scamp and Annette and I don’t suppose the two glasses each of Prosecco did any harm too!

Watched a crazy Dutch GP with drivers splashing through rain, driving in the sun and finally back to torrential rain which resulted in the race being stopped until the clouds rolled away and the track dried out. An interesting race for once.

The Smoked Haddock and Leek Risotto was delicious, but that was more down to fresh smoked haddock than to my skill. We might make arancini with the leftover risotto tomorrow.

No plans for tomorrow.

Driving everywhere – 3 June 2023

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The dance class for today was cancelled due to too few numbers, so we used the daw wisely by tidying up loose ends.

We drove to The Fort in about 23ºc of heat with the intention of getting a pair of Crocs for me and a pair of shorts for Scamp. Neither of us achieved our goals and we went for lunch at Wagamama to console ourselves. Prawn raisukaree for Scamp and Chicken raisukaree for me (raisukaree = curry) with Ebi Katsu to share (butterflied prawns coated in panko and deep fried)

Fed and watered we next drove to B&Q to get an adapter that would allow the hose to be used from the kitchen tap without the use of a great deal of swearing and fountains of water. I think we got the right adapter this time, but I believe we may be testing tomorrow.

I fancied getting a hat (Hazy, similar to Neil’s) and that meant a trip further into darkest Coatbridge, but with the satnav to help us, we found Go Outdoors. There they had the hat I wanted in a size that fitted but at a price that was a little more than I’d intended paying. However, if you bought a discount card for £5 we got roughly £15 off the price and a further 20% off the remainder. That brought it down to what I’d call a reasonable price!! Pity they didn’t have Crocs!

We drove back to Cumbersheugh, trusting the satnav to get us back to ‘civilisation’ and I finally snagged myself a pair of Crocs to replace my ancient and crumbling pair I bought in Fuerteventura many, many years ago. Just a bit annoyed that I had to pay full price for them! Scamp also managed to get herself a pair of shorts and we drove home slightly emptier of pocket, but with new purchases.

Back home it was still hot, so to cool down I changed into shorts and went for a walk in St Mo’s. Managed to capture my first damselfly of the year, an Emerald. Also photographed a wee fly, looking a bit like a robber fly sitting on a buttercup. The robber fly got PoD. On the way back home I dropped in at the chip shop in Condorrat for a Special Fish Supper to share with Scamp. Sat for a while in the garden reading, watching the birds queue up to get some water from the birdbath.

We watched a fairly interesting Spanish GP tonight, with a few drivers demonstrating their off-road skills, but thankfully no crashes.

Got a message from Jamie to say their new boiler has been installed. Hot and cold running water is a great thing, isn’t it. That and a real shower! We know how you pair feel.

No plans for tomorrow, although we may water the garden, hopefully without flooding the kitchen!

In Glasgow – 29 May 2023

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Today we were going in to Glasgow.

It was what I would call “A Roaster”. I don’t know what temperature was reached but it was certainly in the mid to high twenties. We were on a mission though. We had a list of things to buy, or to be more precise, Scamp had a list of things to buy, but this time they were for me:
A pair of Crocs – Failure. Couldn’t get my size in anything other than white. Can you imagine me in a pair of white Crocs? How long would they stay white?
Dubbin for my boots – Success. Even if it was one and a half times the price of my old tin!
A new Concertina Sketch book – Success and I also got a ‘Rigger’ which is a very fine long haired brush for painting fine lines.
A Hat – Failure. The Tiso shop I was in didn’t have the fancy sun hat I was looking for, but it did have a cheaper version. Maybe …

That took us an hour or so of wandering around, then for lunch I suggested going to The Burrell. It was a good idea, but all of Glasgow seemed to be there. A lovely lunch there, although Scamp complained that the scone she had was a bit dry. I had the New York Special which wasn’t dry inside!

Drove back home and began to feel a bit tired, hard to explain. A fifteen minute snooze on the couch turned into a two hour sleep. I think I should have bought that hat and worn it to keep the sun off my rapidly balding head.

Eventually sat outside with Scamp and a bottle of beer.

Dinner was another Scamp salad with Tuna Macaroni, Baby Tomatoes, Grated Carrots and Peaches and a variety of leaves. Quite delicious and to finish a slice of M&S Bramley Apple Pie.

PoD went to a couple sitting in a chair at the end of a corridor at the Burrell.

Today’s prompt was Something Under A Magnifying Glass. I was initially at a loss as to what to draw, then I thought about the distortion a magnifying glass brings and this is the result. I’m not sure if the person holding the glass is being examined, or if they are examining ME!

Tomorrow Scamp is booked for coffee with June and I’m intending taking stuff to the skips.

 

A dull day with bright intervals – 3 May 2023

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Not all days are filled with sunshine.  A little goes a long way.

The weather fairies got it right for once. They predicted a dull day with occasional showers, and that’s what we got.

We had half intended to visit the Japanese garden today, but the weather kind of put paid to that idea. It was just dull and dreary. But it did brighten up by midday and the clouds seemed to hold the heat in, so I gave the Skye chilli plant an afternoon in the garden where it could soak up the warmth, if not the sun.

Scamp was determined to give the grass a second cut and with the mower this time, unlike yesterday’s strim of the back grass. That necessitated moving all the pots onto the paths, cutting the grass and then moving them all back again. Of course, as chief pot shifter I managed to put them back in the wrong places and that would never do now, would it. Scamp followed me round putting them and me in our place. We had just finished cleaning the mower when the rain started. A few minutes earlier and it would have been a rush to get everything in before the mini deluge.

The next task was to drive to Tesco to post a parcel and get one or two things we needed for lunch and dinner. Those “one or two things” filled a trolley by the time we were finished and cost a lot more than we’d intended.

After lunch, the rain went off and the sun shone. Today’s prompt was for Dandelions or whatever was in bloom. I thought I’d take a walk in St Mo’s and grab some photos of likely candidates for the Dandelion painting you can see here. There were quite a few as you can imagine and I soon had enough material to work with. None of the dandelion photos were really any use for Flickr photos, but I found a little fern ‘crozier’ that looked interesting and a branch of Hawthorn flower buds just ready to open. Both of them found their way into Flickr and PoD went to the hawthorn buds.

Dinner was a Tesco stir-fry. If you ever get the chance of one, don’t take it. Old tough cabbage and a handful of bean sprouts and carrots do not a stir-fry make. I’ll stick to M&S in future. Cheap sometimes is nasty.

Tomorrow I’ve the dentist in the morning, but the rest of the day is free … so far.

Rain – 30 April 2023

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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.