Category: skies

No rain today – 14 May 2017

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Well, today we were prepared for a total downpour and it didn’t happen, which was nice.

To make the most of this little surprise gift, we went for a drive.  I knew where I was going, but Scamp hadn’t a clue.  We were going to Devilla Forest in Fife.  We’d passed it many, many times on the way to other places like Dunfermline and Burntisland, but never stopped to investigate it.  It wasn’t until our last bus journey to Dunfermline it had lodged in my brain as a possible place for a walk.

It just over half an hour to get there and there was a nice big parking area.  We decided to do the fairly easy (45mins) and short Red Squirrel walk along to and round a little loch.  The path was fairly good underfoot, wide and winding through the pine trees.  Unfortunately, no squirrels of any colour were available for photographs today.  The best wildlife we saw, in fact the only wildlife was a pair of mallards on the little loch.  That said, the trees were alive with the sound of, not music, but birdlife.  Hidden wildlife.  A very enjoyable walk and one we’ll build on this summer we hope.

I had also noticed that the next turning on the road lead to a plant nursery and where there is a plant nursery these days, there’s a tea shop.  So it was with The Walled Garden.  Beautiful panoramic views across Fife from the parking area and that’s what got my PoD award.  The tea shop was fairly decent, par for the course and better than Dobbies.  Scamp got a Potentilla for the toilet bowl planter in the back garden.

When I came home there was enough time to go for a quick walk to loosen up my sore leg before dinner and I grabbed the opportunity to stride out along the Forth & Clyde Canal.  Didn’t get many more photos, but although the clouds were threatening, I stayed dry.

Haven’t seen the weather for tomorrow.  It’ll be a surprise.

Happy Birthday to Me – 8 April 2017

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Another year older.

After I opened my birthday prezzies this morning (thank you all!) and had my breakfast, it was time to head out.  My choice of destination.  I chose Broadford and that’s where we went today.  It’s ages since I’ve been to Broadford.  Obviously, we’ve passed through it ever time we come to Skye, but we rarely stop and get out of the car there.  Hazy phoned me just as we stopped and parked.  Had a pleasant talk with her, even if the temperature she was talking about down there was almost twice what we were enduring.  That said, they have the weather, we have the scenery and we were staring out  the windscreen at that sort of scenery.  Out across the water was the pier  and the youth hostel.   But, as Scamp said, no dolphins.  You can’t have everything.

We went for a walk along the shore walk, then down the road before Scamp found a coffee shop where we stopped for a coffee and a scone.  Unfortunately, it was a cheese scone and I ordered it with butter AND JAM.  Apparently, you don’t have jam on a cheese scone.  Coffee was the best I’ve had on the island with the exception of Jackie’s of course.  It was just after I started it, I discovered that I didn’t have my phone.  Oh dear, did I drop it on the walk or did I leave it in the car?  Only one way to find out.  I had to curtail my coffee and go find out.  It was in the car.  Thank you, the birthday fairies who look after lost phones.

Drove back up the road and parked ourselves by the slip to watch the waves and listen to the birds.  Went looking for photos and found that there were even more wee men parked around the boathouse.  I don’t know who is planting them there, but whoever they are, they have a great supply of araldite to weld them to the stone.

Drove Scamp back to the house and dumped the day’s photos on the Mac before venturing out for the last sortie of the week, up again to Loch Gangaig.  On the way there I caught sight of a couple of walkers up on a ridge heading for the Quiraing.  I was cold a couple of thousand feet below them and with the comfort of the car beside me, I’d imagine they were much colder and less comfortable where they were.  Got a few photos of the loch and one or two of the wee lochan I’d visited yesterday.  After that, there was nothing for it but to head back to Burnside for a dram and a plate of Mince ’n’ Tatties.  Superb.  Thank you Jackie.

Tomorrow, we drive south.

Ten hours in a … car – 5 April 2017

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Driving to Skye always makes me think of the John Mayall track, Vacation.  Not quite ten hours, but more than seven hours pounding the asphalt, travelling north-west.  Average speed, just over 42mph, but that’s because we are driving on ‘A’ roads for the most part.  In the seven hours we travelled, we could have flown to Italy, Malta or Cyprus, but we drove to Skye.  Weather – worse, scenery- no contest!!

Arrived just after 5pm after starting on time at 10am.  Just missed seeing Harry Styles for One Direction getting out of a helicopter at the Old Man of Storr.  Such a pity, even if I don’t know who Harry Styles or One Direction is!

Went for a walk to Staffin shore to relieve the aches in my legs and succeeded in doing just that.  Got some photos from the shore to bolster the pics from Loch Mealt that I took earlier.  Wish I’d brought my full size Manfrotto tripod, but the mini version worked well.

Chicken Curry for dinner tonight with a strong whisky and  a beer to finish with.

Hoping for a lazy start tomorrow and not too much driving.

Bow Tie – 14 January 2017

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Firstly, you will have noticed that there is no photo of the bow tie.  That’s because it’s not quite finished yet.  It’s a prototype, made from a pillowslip, not something you’d expect to wear to a posh do, but essential as a practise piece.  I learned a lot from making it and I made it exactly as if it was made from the finest silk.  I stuck closely to the instructions and followed every step.  I made mistakes along the way, but hopefully I have learned from them.  Tomorrow I hope to iron (yes, along the way I’ve also learned how to iron) the prototype and finish off the sewing.  I might even try to tie it.  Every day’s a school day.

After the sewing session, we drove to Vecchia Bologna for lunch.  The place was mobbed, Scamp said it was the end of an Itison voucher offer.  We had to wait a little longer than usual for the food, but when it came, it was as good as ever.  Neither of us wanted or particularly needed anything in Stirling, so we just drove home and I went out for a walk through the ice and snow to St Mo’s.  Managed to surprise two deer, but the quality was so poor, they didn’t get published.  I did, however like the shots from the Oly 5 with the 9mm lens and that’s what you see above.

Tonight, I made some scones and have bread proving as I write this hoping to get it baked later.  Baking scones, baking bread, sewing and ironing.  Don’t tell me I’m not in touch with my feminine side!

As a bit of serendipity, you should read what I wrote last year on the 14th of January.  There should be a link to ‘A Year Ago Today’ at the bottom of the right hand column.  Navigate to the 14th from there.  Amazing synchronicity!

 

Cauld day in the Toon – 13 January 2017

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We went in to Glasgow, drove into Glasgow.  The ring road was still being dug up and we weren’t sure the buses were running normally and besides, we didn’t want to be sitting in a bus whose heater was pumping out cold air for 45minutes.  That’s one of the reasons we bought a car.

I bought myself some interfacing for stiffening the cloth I’m going to make a bow tie with.  Got it in JL (didn’t get it delivered!) for £1.50!  The bowtie itself, the prototype, will be made from an old pillow case.  That’s the essentials bought.  This weekend I’ll try to put it into practice.

After JL we walked down Bucky Street and on to Argyle Street, then up Miller Street to Paesano.  For the first time ever, we had to wait for a table.  When we got one five minutes later the food was just as good as ever.

After being fed, we went for a coffee in Café Nero in St Enoch’s.  Scamp went to wander round the St Enoch’s Centre and I went to do a quick sketch of the suspension bridge over the Clyde.  It’s rough, but it’s done and it’s on time.

When we got home, Scamp realised that she had fogotten to post a card in town, so I volunteered to post it in Condorrat.  I took my camera of course and that’s where the sunset shot came from.  It’s more a gloaming shot really.  Gloaming means more than sunset.  It’s that golden hour before the sun sets and it’s also the afterglow from the set sun.

Gloaming.  Make it a word you use some time today, in its correct context.

Out To Lunch – 10 January 2017

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This morning, over a cup of coffee, we discussed what to do with the day.  We decided to go out for lunch because it was fairly bright.  The reason we gave was that we needed to get some compost to plant up the spider plants that have been languishing in water on the back window sill and we could get that at a garden centre and most garden centres have cafés now.  Devious, eh?   We had to drive through the roadworks going on all round the ring road.  Everywhere had closed signs and everywhere had diversion signs, sometime contradictory signs, but lots of them except where they’d be helpful.  Well, you’ve got to use the “Twenty seven 8×10 full colour glossy pictures with the circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one …”  (Alice’s Restaurant – Arlo Guthrie).  After we’d manoeuvred our way through the barriers, I thought we would drive to the garden centre out by Killearn, but the weather that way looked very rough.  Dark clouds and what looked like heavy rain.  The weather closer to home had deteriorated too, so we changed our plans and went to Dobbies at Bearsden instead.  As is usual in garden centres these days there are franchises and Dobbies now has an Edinburgh Woollen Mill within its shopping area.  I got another warm winter shirt – you can’t have too many shirts.  After lunch and after buying the compost, we drove home through brightening skies again.

By the time we got home the skies had cleared and blue sky was once again in charge.  While Scamp phoned her Cumbernauld sister, I took the chance to get some photos over at St Mo’s.  By the time I got over there, the sun was sinking, but the blue sky was still there.  Just a few shots in the bag, but enough for a PoD and then some backup.

I think we’re driving Scamp and her sister to Glasgow Airport on Thursday and it will be a fairly early rise.  It’s only her sister who is flying down to a funeral in Bristol, but Scamp’s going in to the airport with her to provide much needed moral support.  Hopefully I’ll have an hour or so in Glasgow to get this week’s sketch done.  Tomorrow, however, is free so far.  Weather looks wild.  Strong winds and the possibility of snow with more due on Thursday.  Oh what fun, but the combination might provide some interesting photo opportunities.

First sketch of 2017 – 3 January 2017

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Ordered a sewing machine last week to progress my dressmaking skills. Ordered it from John Lewis in Emba because the Glasgow shop didn’t have it.  I thought it could be delivered to the Glasgow store and I could pick it up from there.  No, they couldn’t do that because the machine was in the Embra shop, not in a warehouse (?)  Maybe that’s a logical reason to JL, but it made no sense to me.  Anyway I wasn’t in a rush to get it and there was no way I was going to drive through Embra to pick it up.  I was told it would be delivered within five working days.  I phoned the Embra shop this morning to find out which day it would be delivered.  Here is a synopsis of the conversation after I’d explained that I wanted to know which day it would arrive:

“It will be delivered within five working days”
“Could you be more precise” I asked?
“Eh no.  We don’t actually deliver it.  Because it’s a small article, it will be delivered by a carrier.” *
“So will I get a phone call or an email to tell me which day it will be delivered?”
*“No, but it will be delivered either today, tomorrow or the next day”
Now surprising as it might seem, I can count to five and then add on the extra days for weekends and holidays.
“So you’re telling me that in a company as large as John Lewis, and in this day and age, you can’t tell me the DAY that my sewing machine will be delivered?”
”Yes, that’s correct.”
“Well, that wasn’t very helpful at all.”

Now, remind me.  This is the 21st century, isn’t it?  Imagine if I was working and had to take five days off my work on the off chance that my sewing machine was going to be delivered that day.  I’ve bought a lot of stuff from JL in  the past, but I’m afraid those days are now in the past.  I had thought of buying an iMac from them because they offer an extra year’s warranty, but as their delivery methods are so archaic, I think I’ll shop elsewhere.

Out at lunchtime for coffee with Fred.  No Val today as he was otherwise engaged.  Good natter with lots of laughter.

Walked over to St Mo’s when I came back and got the first sketch of 2017 completed in about 15 minutes.  I keep meaning to time my sketches.  Must do it with the next one.  Two wee boys were passing St Mo’s when I was sketching.  I heard them laughing and looked up to see one of them posing for me.  I laughed and so did they.  Just wee boys.  An old man passed behind me soon after and he seemed to be struggling along with a stick.  He seemed bemused and looked as if he was wondering what I’d found to draw in this urban landscape.  But that’s it.  It’s Urban Sketching.

I got some sunset shots with the Oly 5 and processed them according to Laura Shoe’s video  and was quite impressed with the effect.  I’ll use that method of combining basic adjustments with an overlay of graduated filter.

June came over for dinner tonight and she and Scamp had a good gossip about everything and anything.

Tomorrow?  Don’t know.  Haven’t seen the weather.

Waiting for Barbara – 22 December 2016

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Yesterday we got a Christmas card from my cousin, Barbara.  I haven’t seen Barbara in years.  Tomorrow we’re going to meet another Barbara – the second storm of the year.  Definitely a different Barbara.  Today we got a taste of Barbara – the storm.

We drove to Currys at Bishopbriggs because they had the printer cartridges for my Canon printer.  I did think about buying a new printer because the Canon, whilst it still works, is getting old, but I’m still not settled on a make or model.  I really only use the printer at Christmas to print my annual calendar.  The rest of the time I just steal a couple of prints from Scamp’s printer.  Once I’ve got the calendar printed and out of the way, I’ll decide on the long term future of the IP4500.

After we came back and had some lunch, I went out in the torrential rain to get some photos.  One great benefit of the 365 is it forces me out to get some photos.  Some days I admit that I use the flowers or weemen to get something to post, but I personally see them as stopgaps at best and failures at worst.  Today I waited until the rain had passed and headed up to the Antonine Wall to get some atmospheric shots of the landscape after the rain.  Unfortunately, because of the gale force winds, the next blash (another Scottish word that describes a sudden downpour perfectly) of rain came battering down as I was setting the camera and tripod down.  However, the lighting was good and the clouds were exactly where I wanted them, so I carried on and got the shots.  There wasn’t much colour in the scene and what was there didn’t add anything, so I reduced both shots to monochrome in Lightroom.  Now I’ve got the camera and lens drying out in the warm living room hoping that there is no moisture in the innards of the lens.

We’d intended to go to Barca tonight, but the weather was against us, so we left it for another, drier day.

Tomorrow?  Let’s see what Barbara brings to the party.

Walking through the Gloaming – 15 December 2016

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I’ve started a bad habit of allowing the blog to get away from me.  These last couple of days have seen me in the morning playing catch-up to get the blog posted, yesterday’s blog that is.  Today I’m finishing today’s blog today.

Not a lot of work done this morning.  Scamp was hard at work buying Tesco again and cooking all day for the Witches Christmas Party while I farted about.  There, that’s the honest truth, well, almost the truth.  I did get my 2017 calendar sorted out, so that’s one thing done.

I went for more ‘messages’ – you remember what messages are, don’t you – after lunch and took Scamp’s advice to carry ONE camera with me.  I chose the E-M5 with a short zoom lens and no EVF (Electronic View Finder).  Very pocketable.   I walked the short walk round the railway walk, across the tree plantation and back along the canal while the light changed from blue to a glorious orange gloaming.  Some beautiful lighting on the hills, but the short lens was struggling to make anything of it.  By comparison, the short focal length lens made the skies look good.

Since Tesco was now closed for restocking, after Scamp had bought everything it had, I went to Kilsyth to Lidl to get some odds and ends there and in B&M (my new favourite shop).  Bought far more than I intended to, so Scamp’s enthusiasm must be catching.  When I got home and after dinner, I started on my part of tomorrows banquet.  Now, at 10.30pm I’ve done my bit too.  The pudding is setting in the fridge and the bread is proving in the kitchen.  Some more work to be done tomorrow, but less frantic I hope.

I’m intending giving the WCP a body swerve tomorrow.  I’m booked for coffee and a chat with Fred and Val tomorrow midday and after that, well as Del Boy said, “The world’s my lobster”.

Fish Suppers – 13 December 2016

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Didn’t feel too good when I got up and so we didn’t go to the pool for a swim as expected.  I blamed it on eating all the leftovers from Scamp’s party.  I should know better, but I just had to have one more rum ball, even though they aren’t truly round and had never been near a bottle of rum.  One day I may learn.

There was still a lot of things could have been doing, but I skilfully managed to sidestep them all.  It takes years of selfless dedication to achieve my high level of work avoidance.  I’ve learned from quite a few masters of the art in my working life and now I am benefitting from those years of study.  Finally got caught and put to work wrapping parcels.  With two of us on the task it didn’t take that long and the boxes are now filled and ready to go to Santa.  Post strike permitting.

Had a quick waltz round St Mo’s later, but had managed to miss the best of the light although there were a wide spectrum of colours in the sky, so that became my subject in the late afternoon light.  After that it was time to pick up Jackie from the station and go for tonight’s dinner which was fish suppers all round.  Had to wait for the fish and the chips, but that meant they were very fresh and really lovely.  Didn’t even suffer any after effects which shows how fresh they were.

Tomorrow?  It looks like rain and Scamp is going in to town to meet up with one of her friends for lunch and Jackie goes back up north.  I may paint for a time.