Category: Sketching

Driving the 40mph motorway – 6 May 2023

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That motorway is the M8. No sooner is one set of repairs finished than another set are announced. It seems that we drive more miles at 40mph than we drive at 70mph. PITA.

Yes, we were off to Brookfield this morning for the first dance class after a three week lie up. I thought the Charnwood Cha-Cha would be the end of me. It’s not good to spring things like that on us without warning, or access to a defibrillator. The only thing I can say is WOW, that was hard work. Thankfully we knew all of the steps and I had a rough idea of the order they should be danced in.

Next was a new one, a waltz this time and we both think we were guinea pigs here to see how quickly we’d pick it up. Not that easy was my answer. Thankfully we both filmed it so we could watch it at home and work out what was being described in the walk-through. The Charnwood was a workout for the body. Joy’s Waltz (named for a friend of Jane’s who died in January) was a workout for the brain. Eventually we got the hang of the first three sequences and after watching the videos this afternoon we’ve got an even better idea of the bits we’ve never done before.

The final workout was another quite fast one, a Jive routine this time. It had a few routines we have picked up along the way in the last few years from different teachers, so it wasn’t totally alien to us, and not so fast that we were too exhausted to fit in the final sequence dance of the hour and a half, a Mayfair Quickstep. Just a fairly easy dance to ease us down to drive through the 40mph zones again on the other side of the road.

Back home we had lunch and watched the pageantry unfold in London. I took myself off for most of it as I’d a sketch to complete for EDiM. I was doodling a sketch on a bit of backing paper and the picture came to me. It was a highland cow, but there was too much rubbish on the paper and I knew I’d need to redraw it, so I left the rough there and went to get a photo for today. As I was walking over towards Condorrat, I noticed a snail tucked into a corner of a fence and knew that was the PoD. Of the three photos I took, the one you see here is my favourite. I also got a shot of the inside of a dandelion puff ball. It’s like the highland cow in that it’s not the finished article, but it’s worth another try, possibly in an inside setting with a camera on a tripod. We’ll see.

When I got home, Scamp was whizzing through the recording of the actual Coronation. It is one mighty big and complex piece of organisation. How they worked out how to get all those people into the cathedral and how they covered the lawn of the palace with the thousands of army, navy, airforce personnel from almost every country was astounding. I wasn’t really all that interested in it, I was waiting for Zadok The Priest to be sung. When it was, it was a little disappointing. Scamp said it was too fast and I thought it was lacking in power. Had we been conducting, heads would have rolled.

Dinner was from Golden Bowl. Scamp had her usual Chicken Chop Suey with Fried Rice. I had a treat that I knew I’d suffer for later and had Sweet and Sour Pork Balls and Fried Rice. I did suffer for it, but it was worth it. Pure decadence.

I redrew the Highland Cow and it does look better than the original. I’m happy with it and Scamp laughed out loud when she saw it. That was enough of a stamp of approval for me.

We have no plans as yet for tomorrow and there have been no street parties in and around Cumbersheugh, I’m glad to say, so not many sore heads tomorrow morning. Well no more than usual!

Waiting, Waiting, Waiting

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For the parcel to appear.

The parcel was for Scamp and it was being delivered by Royal Mail. According to Royal Mail it would be delivered yesterday, and I quote: “Thursday 4th May 2023 by 3pm*” note the asterisk! The parcel didn’t appear. Today I got a message from Royal Mail to say: Your parcel will be delivered Today, Friday, 5 May 2023* Between 12:07pm and 2:07pm*. Again, note the asterisks. If you read the very small print on the email you discover a footnote that says: *Please be aware any time or date shown is not a guarantee. This is their Get Out Of Jail Free card. The parcel didn’t arrive until 3.15pm. Why bother to give an exact time slot when you can’t keep to it. This new time slot thing is something they’ve pinched from DPD and others, but the difference is that, at least in my experience, DPD stick to their time slots. For Royal Mail it’s just a fantasy.

Right, I’m glad I got that off my chest. At least the parcel did arrive. We’d decided on risotto for dinner, real risotto for a change, made in a pot with a lot of stirring with the fancy risotto paddle. Scamp plumped for Mushroom Risotto and we didn’t have any mushrooms, so I loaded a camera and a couple of lenses into the bag and walked down to the shops to get some. As usual I came back with more than I set out to get, but at least I did get mushrooms. I won’t list all the other things I got, because you’d only get jealous! On the way there I found a clump of daisies and grabbed some photos of them. On processing the shots, I wasn’t impressed, so went out again with the LensBaby Sweet 50 and a +1 diopter Close Up lens (Don’t worry Jamie – that information is for me in case I need it sometime). The resulting photos were much better with a lot of swirly distortion round a sharp central flower. In fact one of them became PoD.

It’s ages since I’ve had to hand make the risotto and it was a bit of a chore, but the finished article, while looking a bit like lumpy porridge, tasted fine.

Today’s prompt was for a Traffic Sign. Mine is one of those old signs that don’t get used much and therefore don’t get updated. It’s actually a warning sign (triangle) for a level crossing without a gate or barrier sign. It’s a bit confusing because it looks like warning, steam trains ahead.

I spoke to Val this morning.  He’s not in a very good way, physically and is considering getting a motorized wheelchair.  He’s having difficulty standing and can hardly walk unassisted.  Having said that, he’s cheerful enough and we had a good blether this morning.  I must go and see him soon.  He was asking after Alex because he’s still interested in radio and so is Alex. It’s just a reminder that we’re all getting older and less mobile than we used to be.

Well, it looks like the holiday is over. Tomorrow we may be heading for an hour and a half lesson on Charnwood Cha-Cha, a new Waltz and the Jive routine we started before the Teachers’ holiday. Back in the old routine as they say!

I have a cunning plan – 4 May 2023

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But first I have an appointment with the dentist.

No need to worry about it. I was only on the dentist’s chair for five minutes max. She recited all those mysterious letters and numbers that dentists shout to their assistants who record these codes. She seemed delighted with the state of my teeth and I was delighted that I got off so easily.

Back home Wordle was a bigger challenge than normal, but I did manage to complete it with a little help from Scamp at level 6. The Phew! level. Then it was time for lunch which was a pizza that had been languishing in the fridge for almost too long.

This is where my ‘plan’ comes into play. I usually leave my sketch and painting until the evening, but as artificial light is quite ‘warm’ and that affects the colour choices quite badly, so today I wanted to get the painting done in the afternoon when the light is more natural. Today was Star Wars Day, May the Fourth be with you. Usually the topic asks for something to do with Star Wars, but today there was an option to draw a Tea Bag! That was what I was painting. I had the composition in my head and it involved a cup and a wet, leaky tea bag. It turned out almost as I’d imagined it. It was scanned as soon as it was dry and posted right away. First part of the plan completed.

I went for a walk in the afternoon, partly to get some photos and partly to get a curry from M&S. The PoD is a young fern shot against the light in the woods at St Mo’s. I actually got a few flower photos today. Another sign that Spring has sprung. Photos now processed and posted on Flickr.  Part two of the plan completed.

Both curries were very good. Scamp’s was a Prawn Bhoona and mine was a Lamb Rogan Josh. Both large portions and both quite filling.

The blog is posted before 11pm.  The final part of the plan is complete.  How long it will continue is a matter for conjecture!

Tomorrow Scamp is Fit Stepping in the morning and the rest of the day, hopefully, is free.

 

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.

Roaming with the Romans – 2 May 2023

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Walking in the footsteps of the Romans.

A man phoned from the Nissan garage today to ask if I’d considered what to do about the Micra.  He wasn’t due to phone until June, I now realise, but I agreed that we should meet to discuss ways forward now that the lease on the car is ending.  It might be an interesting conversation.  In fact I’m sure it will be enlightening, at least for one of us!

We went to the Fort later, ostensibly to get some milk and to get a birthday card for one of the witches and for me to find something to read in Waterstones. We achieved all but one of those targets, and the one that lost out wasn’t the book. Yes, you guessed it, we came home without the milk. So on the way home we stopped off at M&S for the missing milk and I also managed to pick up a cheese loaf which Scamp likes. Unfortunately there were no jam donuts, just boring ring donuts.

Back home Scamp got the strimmer going for the first time this year and massacred the back grass. It looked like a bad haircut when I was leaving the house to take some photos. Two weeks is all it takes …!

I was heading for what used to be a backroad to Banknock, not to be confused with Bangkok. I think it’s even further east than Banknock. Anyway, the road is blocked at a bridge over the railway that is a bit weak and can’t carry the weight of a car. Not the council’s fault say the council. Not the railway’s fault say the railways. The usual “It wisnae me” excuse by both parties. The roadblock means that there can be no through traffic and so very few folk us it any more, but it’s a great entrance place to the Antonine Wall which is where I was going. It’s one of the best places to see the actual turf and stone wall with the defensive ditch on the south side. There is an avenue of trees along the wall and a fairly well maintained path along it. The light was good when I set off, but as soon as I showed that I’d a camera with me, the sun disappeared. That said, it was a pleasant walk none the less and I did get a few photos. My favourite was a view over the fields to the Campsie Fells which did have some decent light on them. That became PoD.

Back home dinner was spaghetti alla matriciana which is Spaghetti with Bacon, chilli flakes, onions and cheese. It went down well, although Scamp is not a great lover of spaghetti, preferring pasta shapes.

Today’s prompt asked for “A Door”.
This is rather an old wooden, four panel door. The perspective is dodgy, something I hadn’t noticed until I scanned in the sketch. Never mind, it was just a sketch, not a masterpiece.

Tomorrow we have cards to write and post. Otherwise, no plans.

A day of comings and goings – 13 February 2023

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Messages were flying this morning.

Message from my brother to say he can’t manage a photo-walk tomorrow. Bummer. Cryptic message from John saying “Will you be in between 12noon and 1pm”. Another cryptic message from Hazy that just read “We’re off!” And all of this before breakfast.

After I’d replied to Alex saying tomorrow was going to be tight for me anyway, so not to worry. Then replying to Hazy to say “Enjoy the short break.” After these replies I began to wonder what John’s message meant. I’d a fair idea what it was and decided to keep it a surprise for Scamp. Next message was for Scamp. It was a phone call from Nancy wanting to arrange a date for us to go to their’s for dinner. Scamp got that sorted. I was hoping there would be a lull in the message exchanges just for a short while to allow us to get Wordle and Spelling Bee done and dusted.

Well, we did manage to get the essential puzzles completed and later in the morning Scamp said “Annette’s coming over to see me about 12 o’clock”. Oh oh! Now I’d need to say that someone else was coming over about midday too and, of course had to reveal John’s message. As it happened, Scamp managed to reschedule Annette’s visit to tomorrow and John was just dropping off a parcel and a card before he and Marion drove off. By now it was lunch time and then we were off to Falkirk to see the man who talks in £s and $s and occasionally €s.

Arrived in Falkirk right on the dot of 2pm. Andrew talked us through the money markets as he sees them with lots of interesting asides to keep us interested. We had some questions for him and he gave us good advice on how to deal with upcoming problems. We left after an hour bamboozled, but feeling more upbeat than I thought we would.

Back home I got a photo of a crocus flowering in the front garden and that became PoD. Just a lone yellow flower against a green background.

Today’s prompt was The Sting. I didn’t relish the challenge of sketching Robert Redford or Paul Newman, so I chose another Sting expert as my challenge. Wasps can be vicious insects. Unlike honey bees they can sting you more than once if they choose to do so. That has never stopped me from photographing them, but I tend to more than a little cautious when they’re around.

Tomorrow I’ve promised myself I’ll get my hair cut. I was going to do it myself, but better to get someone who knows what they’re doing to do it.

Still recovering from yesterday – 12 February 2023

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It’s Sunday. It’s ok to lounge about on a Sunday.

Basically that’s what we did. We lounged about the living room. We watched Laura Kuenssberg savage another politician and when they’d dragged his bleeding body away, it was lunch time. We had two rolls left over from yesterday’s lunch, so that’s what we had. Scamp had an Omelette on a roll and I had Bacon ’n’ Egg on a roll. Neither of them looked very appetising, but that’s not the point. The point is to use up what’s in the fridge and that’s what we did. Actually mine was really good and I didn’t hear any complaints from Scamp.

In the afternoon Scamp walked down to the shops to get some bits and pieces for tonight’s dinner which was to be Fennel with Cod and Prawns. Another case of using up what’s in the fridge and freezer. Fennel from the fridge, Cod and Prawns from the freezer. Every little helps.

When she came back, I went out for a walk in St Mo’s. It was lighter than I thought outside and the reason was the clouds ,that seem always to be there these days, were just that little bit higher. High pressure is in charge according to the weather fairies. Buds were bursting in the trees and I did photograph some, but it was a splash of bright yellow lichen on a park bench that got Pod. In case you’re interested, it was a Xanthoria parietina. The strange thing about it was that the park bench was made entirely from recycled plastic. I wonder where the lichen gets its nutrients from. I know that some lichen have been known to digest plastic, but not this common and garden variety. Unless it’s learning! Thoughts of “The Trouble With Lichen (John Wyndham) spring to mind. Anyway, that was a bright splash of colour that got PoD.

Spoke to Jamie later had heard that Simonne is halfway on her trip to Japan. Stopover in Kuwait and onward and eastward tomorrow. We talked a while about meet-ups in the spring. Where and when are not agreed yet and will need all three parts of the family to agree on dates and place. I meant to tell you Jamie that I’ve signed myself up to Audible today. Two free books for the first month. I’ll let you know how I get on.

Today’s prompt was The Graduate. The Graduate is one of the films I have seen a few times. I liked the music and I liked his sports car. I wasn’t enthralled by the story, but everyone said you had to go and watch it because of ‘the scenes’. I preferred to watch ‘the scenes’ of Dustin Hoffman driving that red Alfa Spider across the bridge and thinking “one day, maybe …”

Tomorrow we’re hoping to go to see Andrew in Falkirk, but we’ll be going in a blue car.

 

Dancin’ workout – 11 February 2023

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Today was a dancin’ day and no mistake. No respite either!

The warmup today was a the Cameron Quickstep. That’s almost half a circuit of the floor, even before the teachers begin to make additions. Apparently it’s really a sequence dance! I can’t see many Tea Dancers doing this one without a defibrillator nearby. We tried it slow – a walk through and it was achievable. Then the teachers turned the music on and it was chaos. What comes next?? Is it the Zig Zag or is it the Chair? Nobody seemed to know or care. It was that old joke, all the moves were there, just not in the right order. Eventually, and I mean eventually we worked out where we were, what comes next and where we were meant to be. After half an hour we were exhausted, well, at least I was. I had to have a wee sit down to get my breathing back to normal.

We left the quickstep behind and did a wee relaxing Bossa Nova to cool us down before we entered the next 30min class on Foxtrot. I thought we had this in the bag, but it was in the wrong bag, not the one I’d brought. After some corrections from Jane and then Stewart, we began to find the dance we’d practised for a couple of turns round the living room. The living room Foxtrot bore some resemblance to the Brookfield (big hall) version, but only an expert could see it. Again, eventually, we managed to put all the pieces together and it began to sort of flow.

Another break and it was time for the third half hour which would be Tango. We can do a fairly representative tango, but then the teachers decided to add in another part that was new to us. It wasn’t difficult, in fact it was similar to another part of the routine and that’s what made it difficult. It was similar, but not the same, possibly too similar. In time we’ll either work it in properly or erase it from our memory – probably the latter.

Just to keep our heart rate up it was a couple of Midnight Jives to finish. I’m not sure whether that was a dance class or a workout. It was good and we learned a lot, but I was exhausted by the time we were walking out into the drizzly rain.

Drove home again via the M8/M74 route and stopped for rolls and a Danish pastry at the shops on the way home. I was so knackered, I went for a 45min snooze in the afternoon. By then it was dinner time and we’d agreed on a fish supper each for dinner. I walked to Condorrat and was back in about 15 mins. Record time. On the way there in the gathering gloom I got today’s PoD which was taken in the Adventure Playground in the park on the path to Condorrat. Lurking around in a kids playpark after dark! That sounds dodgy, but I love these rough cut balancing toys they look so graphic.

Today’s prompt was The Big Blue. Not only had I not seen this film, I’d never even heard of it. The only Big Blue I was aware of was IBM! However, I went with the flow (no pun intended) and watched the previews on YouTube. Still it meant very little to me.
The deepest I’ve dived, personally, was 2m in the swimming pool at Butlins, or was it Pontins? I can’t remember. But I do remember it didn’t give me the urge to go any deeper. However, I do remember you needed flippers, and a mask better than the ones you got in Woolworths, so that’s what I’ve sketched and painted today. I like the mask. It’s quite manic looking. Like a Japanese Daruma with both eyes painted in!

Tomorrow we may be resting our weary limbs. We might walk to the shops if we can summon the energy!

Stitchin’ and Snowdrops – 10 February 2023

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In the morning, Scamp was off at her FitSteps class while I dragged out the sewing machine.

My task for today was to patch my torn jeans. I found a piece of fabric (Coffee beans – Hazy!) to do the reinforcement and struggled to pin it in place on the inside of the tear. Then I further struggled to get the jeans into the place to do the sewing. With the patch in place I could sew two runs of stitches, one down each end of the patch. Ideally I wanted to be able to stitch along all four sides of the patch and possibly another few runs in the middle. It couldn’t be done with the standard foot and although I had an embroidery foot for the machine, I hadn’t used it before, but after a bit of poking around the working parts of the sewing machine I worked out how to remove the standard foot and fit the embroidery foot. All I needed to do then was to cover the ‘dogs’ that pull fabric through the bit with the needle. With that done, it was a five minute job to fill in the patch with with an abstract pattern of stitches that held everything together and another five to return the machine to its standard setting. It probably sounds very complicated, but the embroidery foot is my magic solution to lots of my stitching repairs from now on. By the time I was finished, Scamp had returned with lunch that was heating in the oven.

Spoke to Hazy and discussed holidays and house improvements also Canute & Delia’s final closure of the shop.  Big change for them.  Glad things are going to plan for the early spring break for you and for ‘the fluffies’.  What will you do without your feline hot water bottle?!

After lunch Jackie phoned and I went out into the dull monochrome garden to look for something to photograph. I found some snowdrops and one of them got PoD. By the time I came back in and the phone call had ended, so had the light.

That was about the extent of a dull day. Paella for dinner tonight was fine, but not nearly as good as the stir fry Scamp made yesterday and I forgot to give her a mention for. My apologies, chef.

Today’s prompt was Chocolat. Apparently I had watched the film some years ago, but, obviously, it didn’t make a big impression on me. Toblerone on the other hand, does make a big impression on me (and me on it.!) Big chunks of chocolate with nuts and chewy bits. Delicious straight out of the fridge, just don’t break a tooth biting into it. I thought this Swiss delight deserved a splash of watercolour today.
I really like drawing food, because you can eat the evidence afterwards!

Hopefully we’re going dancing tomorrow, unlike last week when the class was cancelled at the last minute. Fingers crossed.

 

Good Dancin’ – 9 February 2023

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We drove to Glenburn today to get some dancin’ done.

We were driving in bright sunshine today. I could have been photographing things instead of driving through roadworks to get to two hours of dancing, but hopefully there would be sunshine when we got home, providing we got back before sunset!

We were a bit late getting to the hall, but we weren’t the only ones. Actually we danced well today. Quickstep was our star turn. We managed to finish one full set and continue on to the next which is a bit step forward for me. Scamp was guiding, of course, gently reminding me what was coming next and it helped build the picture of the routine in my head. That may sound strange, probably it is, but it’s the way my brain works. We’d practised the Waltz in the morning. Just a short dance round the living room, but very useful for keeping the steps alive for me.

As usual we left the hall early in the hopes that we’d be able to avoid the crowds of school kids and also the inevitable roadworks, but for once there were no gangs of school weans and even more surprising, we seemed to avoid the roadworks. We went with the M77/M74 route and it worked a treat. Yes!, we did get back before sunset and Yes!, there was still sunshine. Not a lot, I grant you, but enough photons were flying about to allow me to capture them on whatever magic flypaper is in the back of the A6000. Today’s PoD was a couple of catkins hanging from a tree in St Mo’s.

Today’s prompt was White Nights. I watched a bit of the film, couldn’t make head nor tail of any of it, so did a bit of alphabetical “jiggery pokery”. That’s a technical term that would take too long to explain.
Basically, I took the trailing ‘s’ from the title, then found an almost brand new ‘K’ in my pocket, so I added it to the start. “Fair exchange is no robbery”, they say. So here I present to you my interpretation of White Knight. Simples!

Tomorrow Scamp is intending to go to her FitSteps class and I’m hoping put some ‘scintillating stitches’ in my jeans to prevent a little tear becoming a big rip!