Category: St Mo’s

Toasting – 12 May 2024

Posted on by Zogman

Another warm day, but a close, uncomfortable heat, rather than the sunny summer heat we’d had last week.

It wasn’t too hot or uncomfortable to prevent Scamp from doing a bit of plant shifting in the back garden. Between us we have worked out a possible two tier plant stand between the greenhouse and the back fence. Plans are at the pie-in-the-sky stage, but we both have an idea what is needed. The problem is we may not both be thinking about same idea. Only time will tell.

After lunch I suggested we drive to Coatbridge to get a new toaster. The old Tefal single slot toaster has been working at less than 100% efficiency for a long time and we’ve been fighting a losing battle to get it to work. Today we made the decision to buy an new one. Not one of the all singing, all dancing gigantic ones, just a long slot one like the Tefal, but one that would work all the time. What we settled for was a twin long slot toaster. Slightly bigger than the Tefal but not by a lot. It would still fit into the space the old one came out of. It was a sad day to see the old one go, but that’s progress. We drove home and had to put the air-con on for the first time this year.

Before dinner I managed an hour in St Mo’s but that’s not where the PoD came from. I found a nice little bunch of Aquilegia growing beside the fence of a house on my way back home. They made PoD.

Today’s prompt was A Gemstone. Not being much of a gemologist or a jeweller, I asked my old friend, Mr Google and he pointed me at an Aquamarine which I purchased on-line so that I could sketch it for today’s prompt. It was a lot smaller than I’d anticipated, but with the help of a camera and a macro lens I got a big enough image to sketch the gemstone you see here.

You didn’t really believe that story, did you? No, I’m sure you didn’t.

Tomorrow Scamp needs to get her meds from the chemist and I need to give a thimble full of blood to the vampires!

A Lazy Day – 11 May 2024

Posted on by Zogman

Yesterday was a rush, but today was a day to relax.

We walked down to the shops to get some cheesey bread, ordinary bread, potatoes and teacakes. After yesterday’s buying spree, today’s was frugal.

We walked back up the road and after lunch, Scamp installed herself in the wee patch of sunshine that had appeared in the back garden. I walked over to St Mo’s and got today’s PoD which is a Common Carpet Moth.  I’ve not started on the prompt for today which is An Umbrella.  I might manage to squeeze it in after I write this.

It was  a beautiful day again today, temperature in the mid 20s centigrade.  We sat in the garden for most of the afternoon and enjoyed the sun

Dinner tonight was Spaghetti with Crab and Chilli.  Long, long time since we’ve had that.  It was delicious.

That was our lazy day.

I just got a red alert on my phone for a possible Aurora!  I’ll believe it when I see it.

No firm plans for tomorrow, yet.  Maybe a walk down Glasgow Green.

 

Chef for a day – 10 May 2024

Posted on by Zogman

I’d done some prep yesterday, but today I was cooking a full three course meal!

Scamp left to go to FitSteps just before 10am and was back about fifteen minutes later to report that there was work being done on all the roads leading to the town centre. There had been no notification of the works and there were no diversion instructions. She was not a happy bunny.

To make the most of a bad start to the day, we drove to Tesco to stock up for tonight’s dinner for Crawford & Nancy. Drove home and decanted all the food and drink, then I drove up to the fish van at Calders and picked up tonight’s slab of cod which would be the centre of the main course.

A bit more prep after that because Scamp always says that the “mise en place” as the French describe it, preparation, is the key to success when cooking. It worked for me. Almost an hour later I was prepared and had some free time to get today’s PoD in St Mo’s. It was a male Wolf Spider looking for a mate. They’re called Wolf Spiders because they don’t build webs, but stalk their prey.

Today’s EDiM prompt asked for A Bridge. I chose the railway bridge that carries the Stirling to Glasgow line over the Luggie Water. It’s really quite an old bridge, stone built and bears the name SCM1 132/676. Wouldn’t it be so much nicer if the had called it the “Bridge Over Luggie Water”, but the railway companies aren’t very romantic, so SCM1 132/676 it is.

Back home we had the living room to clear and the table to set. By 7pm we were ready to receive visitors and there they were at the door!

After getting drinks organised I started in the kitchen. First task was making the filo pastry nests for the starter. I’d already measured and mixed up the egg and milk for the nest and it was just a case of pouring it into the nest, adding the chopped up veg and cooking the four ramekins in a water bath. One down!

Next was Bacon and Peas with Cod. I’d made the bacon and peas many times, but I’d never fried the big chunks of cod in butter before and was a bit worried about making a mess with this fairly expensive chunk of fish. However, it all just worked and, although it would have been better with a bit of salt, there were no complaints.

Finally it was Creme Caramel (the grave symbol still doesn’t work on a Mac). All that was needed was to extricate it from the ramekins and serve. It looked the part and, even better, it tasted right! One more thing to do and that was to make the coffee which turned out strong, but otherwise it was fine.

Finally I could relax and enjoy a wee dram or two with Crawford because Nancy was nominated driver.

When they’d left I checked my phone and saw Fred’s photos of the Northern Lights. I got one grainy green photo on my phone, but nothing on my camera. Maybe being slightly inebriated contributed to the lack of photos.

Hoping for a lazy day tomorrow and maybe another chance of an aurora photo.

Meeting Erin – 7 May 2024

Posted on by Zogman

Today we were going to meet John and Marion’s new granddaughter, Erin.

In the morning I did a bit of more mundane work and ordered a replacement bus pass after the last one failed to connect on the bus.  It’s supposed to arrive within 14 days.

Scamp was really excited about it and I must admit I was looking forward to see the new baby too.

When we got to Hamilton, the star hadn’t arrived, so we sat and talked to John and Marion about how their lives were going to change over the next year. They seemed perfectly happy to be stand-in parents. I expect we would be the same.

We had lunch while we waited. It was home made Veg Lasagne and it was lovely. I must get Scamp to coax the recipe out of Marion. I din’t used to like veg lasagne, but now I prefer it to the meat version. Dessert was Apricot Trifle and it was very, very good, with crushed amaretti biscuits on top.

Just as we were finishing, Laura arrived with Erin. I’d forgotten quite how small, new babies are. I’d also forgotten about the little details like tiny little nails on her fingers and how bright blue her eyes were. I tend to forget these things after forty odd years. Scamp was obviously desperate to hold Erin and as soon as she had her cradled in her arms, she went straight into ‘Mother Mode’. The room was totally silent too, everybody’s eyes on that baby. Not long after that, the spell was broken when she started to cry. Laura did the thing every parent does and put her knuckle into Erin’s mouth and said “Yes, she’s needing fed.” Even I remembered that feeling of a baby’s gums trying to suckle your finger. So off mum and baby went to feed her and change her nappy.

We sat and talked with the new grandparents while this was happening and heard about their plans for holiday this year. Aruba sounds very exotic and it’s just a bit north of Trinidad. They are meeting up with friends there but it’s a long flight.

Erin was much more relaxed with a full belly and a clean nappy and John was having a great conversation before it was time to mother and baby to drive home. It was a great experience, but I’m glad we could hand her back when it was time to go. Did I have a chance to hold her? No, not me. I’m of the the Kevin Bridges group. More “How you doing mate?” than Goo Goo. I’d be terrified I’d drop her or something similar.

Soon after Laura and Erin left, we did too. Back home I changed into walking clothes and went for a walk in St Mo’s which is where today’s PoD came from, a pink Bluebell. Is that an oxymoron? On the way back home I stopped at the chip shop in Condorrat for a small fish supper that would be our supper. Very nice it was too.

Today’s prompt was for a pencil sharpener. This is my pencil sharpener. It’s a Swann Morton scalpel holding a Swann Morton No 11 blade. I used to use a standard sharpener with a built-in tub to hold the shavings, but the scalpel allows me to shave a much longer and narrower point on the pencil which doesn’t need sharpening quite as much as a standard rotary sharpener.
The only problem with the scalpel is that changing blades is difficult. I use a fine pair of pliers to twist the blade out and carefully twist a new blade into place. Oh yes, and remember that these are surgical quality steel blades. They are liable to cut more than pencils if you’re not careful!!

Tomorrow we may go for coffee with Isobel. It all depends on when a coffee delivery arrives for me.

Dancin’ – 4 May 2024

Posted on by Zogman

This morning we drove over to Brookfield for today’s dance class. The first class in about a month for various reasons.

I wasn’t really looking forward to today’s class. All those long lie ins on Saturday mornings were over today. Back to the grind stone. Actually it wasn’t all that bad, in fact I have to say I really enjoyed it.

First dance was the White City Waltz. Scamp said we knew it and I took her word. The demo that Stewart & Jane did reminded me of it, but after the first bit I was lost again. I think that maybe Kirsty goes too slowly at times, but S&J sometimes go to quickly for my wee brain to catch up. However, after two or three tracks we were dancing it like we’d always know it.

Next was the new Rumba routine. Again it looked insurmountable until you broke it down and found we knew most of the moves from previous dances and, although it took longer, it did eventually all go together.

The third and last dance was a Cha-Cha and the same as the Rumba, we managed to put all the moves in at the right time. We both made mistakes, but in the end we were dancing it fairly competently.

Drove home and after lunch we didn’t do very much. Scamp wasn’t feeling great and thinks she might have hay fever. She’s been taking Sudafed but it isn’t helping much. Later in the afternoon I went for a walk in St Mo’s and got a couple of decent photos. The PoD went to a branch of May blossom. I was intending to bring back dinner for both of us, Chicken Chop Suey and a portion of Fried Rice each. However when I phoned the Golden Bowl I was told their card machine wasn’t working and it would have to be cash. I’d only £12 in cash and that wouldn’t cover it, so I walked home, got the money and went over to Condorrat to pick up the food. I’ve now heard of a few places only dealing in cash transactions. Maybe they don’t want to pay the overheads the banks charge for the machine transactions or maybe there’s another reason. The food was good, just not as good as I remembered it to be. Next time I’ll return to my usual of Special Chow Mein.

Today’s prompt was “May the Fourth be with you” (4th of May) or a bee or a fly. I tried sketching a Lego Stormie minifig and I tried a honey bee. I tried a hover fly, but finally I settled on the flying assassin of ponds. The Dragonfly. They are such beautiful flyer. So skilful in the air, but such ferocious killers of other insects. I love them and I wait impatiently for the first ones to hatch every year. This is my sketch of a Common Darter (male).

Tomorrow we may go for a walk if Scamp is well enough.

 

Dancin’ – 2 May 2024

Posted on by Zogman

Another fun-filled day at Glenburn.

Actually it was quite a good day. Beautiful weather. If it hadn’t been for the cold wind, you would have believed it was summer.

In the morning I was still puzzling over that cryptic message on the iMac. I then did what I should have done in the first place and copied the first line of the message and pasted it in Google. There were a mass of complaints about exactly the same message as I had. It seemed that the problem is most prevalent on Mojave and later operating systems, including mine, Monterey. Most of the replies gave the usual ‘helpful suggestions’ like “Just do a restart, that will fix it” or “Use Disk Utility”. Neither of these work, but then I found a suggestion to dig into the Library module and search for “/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports“ then find and delete “Sleep Wake Failure” in the Diagnostic Reports. That sounded like a solution, but we were going dancing and Scamp was getting ready to leave, so I put the idea on the back burner until we got back.

At Glenburn we were sitting at the same table as Barry and Cath, who are a laugh. We think Barry was a polis before he retired and he now does executive tours of Scotland, mainly for Americans coming off cruise ships, or flying up from London to ‘do Scotland’. He tells some wonderful stories and I think most of them are true.

We danced a bit of everything today and excelled at none. Not really surprising, considering that we’ve had about four weeks without teachers in the last two months. We did eventually manage to almost complete the Waltz Nioli, but it was a struggle. We quickstepped round the hall without bumping in to anyone, but again, it wasn’t great to watch. Our greatest success was the Tango we were learning in Kirsty’s class. We actually finished the routine and it was so good to dance on a real floor with room to move, instead of on a postage stamp.
There might be a dance class on Saturday, but we think the teachers are off again for another fortnight in the sun after that, “Working”, they call it!

On the way home, Scamp wanted to pick up her dance shoes that the woman in Fitness Fashions was repairing for her. We were late getting away from Glenburn, but we did manage to get to Rutherglen before the shop closed and picked up the shoes. Another tick in another box.

I went out for a quick walk when we got home, but before that I searched out that Sleep Wake Failure script and dumped it in the bin, then emptied the bin. It worked! Twice now I’ve started the iMac and there was no warning message. Success!
I brought back about a dozen photos from the walk and the PoD turned out to be a bunch of Cowslip flowers that had been thrown into the pond at St Mo’s. I’m guessing it was some children who did it. I thought it made an interesting photo.

Dinner tonight was Fish Fingers, Egg and Spaghetti. You just can’t go wrong with that!

The first two sketches are done and posted for EDiM. First one, Lighthouse is a bit ropey, but the second, Chicken, is quite acceptable. More practise needed.

 

Tomorrow, Scamp is hoping to go to FitSteps in the morning and I’m intending going back to Larky to get my second eye pressure test.

 

Old Friends – 29 April 2024

Posted on by Zogman

I met Fred and Val today for coffee and a long blether..

Three Cortados, one each, and we were off discussing what was going on in our worlds and what we were doing. Val had a new whizzo electric wheelchair and we were impressed with its manoeuvrability which he was keen to display. We exchanged books I returned two to Fred and gave him one. Val got another one of mine and Fred gave me one of his. Fair exchange is no robbery! Another round of Cortados was needed to keep the talk going, and I think we spent about two hours discussing everything from politics to religion. Fred, remarkably, had a lot of good things to say about the now resigned former First Minister Humza Yousaf. I think we were all in agreement that he had been handed a poisoned chalice. Val’s wife had been to Tesco and by the time we were breaking up, she arrived and we agreed to do it again in about a month. I think I’ll put a note in my diary to book another meet-up.

Back home lunch was a soft roll with banana and a chance to listen to the resignation details. Poor bloke, hung out to dry by all and sundry, including myself at times.

Later in the day I went for a walk in St Mo’s in the rain.  First rain for about a week, but I got a few shots. PoD went to a close-up of moss, cladonia and some seed heads. Don’t ask me why, it just spoke to me!

After dinner the TV went off. At first we thought the circuit board had tripped, but then Scamp found a message on her phone to say that most of Cumbersheugh was without power. It took about an hour to get it back on. In the interim, Virgin Media claimed that they were the ones who were working on the repair! That would be a first. I think this fault was more like a substation outage, than a Virgin one.

Finally we agreed on a hotel for Gillian and Ed’s wedding. All booked, but not paid for yet. I felt the tension go out of Scamp when she got the confirmation. The delay was mostly my fault for not doing my bit earlier. However it’s done now and we can go to a wedding DV.

Tomorrow is a day for doing the messages. Maybe we’ll manage to get some real rolls, not the silly softies we had today. Mea culpa!

Off to Larky – 25 April 2024

Posted on by Zogman

Driving up to Larky this morning to get my annual eye check.

It was the usual rigmarole, reading from the charts and assessing brightness differences between the green and red panels. The “Is it better with … or without? … With or without?”. Then the hated spot the white light test.The outcome was that I’m slightly more shortsighted than I was last time. I’ve to go back in a week to have some checks on my eye pressure done. It was a new optician who looked as if he’d just finished secondary school, but that’s probably just a sign that I’m getting older!

I’d managed to break my old sunglasses earlier in the week when we were in Sunny Dundee and Scamp encouraged me to “get a DECENT pair”, ie not a pair of Poundshop ones. I bought a pair from Boots and they worked well, They would have been perfect to cut out the glare from the drops the optician had put in my eyes today if I’d brought it with me! The glasses were in my raincoat which was in the house.

I’d driven us up to Larky, but Scamp was driving us out into the countryside because I couldn’t see to drive. We went to Chatelherault for a walk and a bite to eat afterwards. It was a lovely afternoon and warm when we were in the sun and out of the wind. We walked over the Duke’s Bridge to the Cadzow Oaks and sat under one of the ancient trees. Then we walked back to the cafe for a coffee and a scone each.

Scamp had to drive home because I still wasn’t safe to drive. I know she doesn’t like motorway driving, but there wasn’t really any other option today and she managed perfectly well.

Later in the afternoon I walked down to the shops via St Mo’s to get some chicken for tonight’s Paella. It was on the way to St Mo’s that I got today’s PoD which is, I think, some apple blossom from a low branch of a tree.

Back home and after dinner, I managed to work out how to get Lightroom to automatically apply lens correction when importing photos. I realise this will mean nothing to anyone reading this, but it has been bugging me for a couple of weeks now and I was one click away from fixing it last week. However, finally I’ve found the answer until Adobe ‘improve’ the procedure. I’m going to put a link at the bottom of today’s post to remind me!

Watched another two episodes of Death in Paradise – Series 1. One of the best nonsense programmes on BBC. Ok, the accent isn’t quite proper Caribbean and the acting is a bit wooden, but it’s easy, relaxing watching. So much better than the last series.

Tomorrow we’re back to normal again, hopefully. Scamp’s intending to go to FitSteps and I’m maybe going to have a quiet hour reading.

Link: Automatically apply lens correction when importing photos.

 

Dentist – 18 April 2024

Posted on by Zogman

Not for me, thankfully, but for Scamp.

We did very little in the morning, just attempted to solve Wordle ( I did eventually find it, but it took a while) and I’m still looking for today’s pangram. It’s probably under a cushion somewhere.

At midday Scamp got ready to have her temporary tooth remove then the old molar from the back of her mouth extracted. Next she had an x-ray taken, and a new temporary tooth rebuilt. That was a lot of work and a lot of anaesthetics to deal with, but she came back with a smile on her face, as always. Brave girl.

It does look as if most of my seeds have now sprouted although some took a lot longer than others. Still no sign of potatoes in the fancy double skinned bucket, but it has been unseasonable cold. There’s time yet for them.

After lunch, and after Scamp was safely ensconced on the couch, I took the A7 for a walk in St Mo’s in the drizzly rain. Not much to see today, but I did get one decent shot of a fern unfurling its leaves. Like my seedlings, it’s a bit late, but getting there. I extended my walk down to the Shops to get some flowers for Scamp and some sweeties for me. Well, it is Thursday for me as well as Scamp.

Dinner tonight was Haddock Risotto, the easy one, made in the oven. By that time Scamp was able to eat again and her tongue had done one or two circuits of the new mouth and tooth.

We watched the final of The Apprentice even although there was no doubting who was going to win. I’ve said this before, and I’ll probably say it again. The program needs a revamp. A replacement for Lord Sugar. He’s becoming repetitive. Oh yes, and a new scriptwriter to put the jokes back in the crackers.

The fern was the PoD. Not the best shot, but it’s in and posted. Got myself another ‘Explore’ for the view looking up the South Tower of Bothwell Castle. That was a brightener.

No plans for tomorrow, but I really must tidy up the back bedroom soon.

 

An early rise – 13 April 2024

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Not an enforced wakening, just neither of us could fall back asleep, so we agreed to have and early breakfast instead.

We were up and dressed just after 8am on a day that seemed to throw everything at us. Rain, hail, sunshine and a strong wind were the main factors in our weather and they cycled throughout the day.

We chose to drive to Stirling to go to Waitrose for ‘The Messages’. Maybe an odd thing to do on a Saturday, but we needed some essentials and we were fed up with Tesco, so Waitrose was probably a better option, besides, they do a good, fairly cheap packet of tea. We had half intended going for a coffee in Stirling, but the opportunity didn’t arise, so after we’d packed all the bags into the car, we just drove home, unloaded them and had lunch.

After lunch, inevitably it was time to empty the wardrobe. I hadn’t realised I had so many pairs of jogging bottoms. ‘Athleisure’ I’m told is the modern description. I knew I could probably hire a stall in The Barras Market to sell all the surplus tee shirts I have and also sweat shirts with stains on the front, but Joggy bottoms? Some of them, possibly all of them, have to go. Once I’d helped Scamp clear out the clothes, I started looking through the old record of work books from a pre 2014 life, knowing they would not be looked at again until the next spring clear out. Instead, I pre-empted that next clear out by getting rid of most of them today.. Not everything that came out of the wardrobe would be finding its way back in. The same would be true of my chest of drawers and various other glory holes in our room. Phase 2 was complete.

By the end of the afternoon the remainder of the storage areas had been emptied, or checked to see if they could simply be moved without emptying. When we were satisfied that we were organised, Scamp went downstairs for a coffee and I put on my walking boots and went for a walk in St Mo’s. It was still a wild day with strong winds and the occasional sharp shower. I went for a walk in the woods, but after seeing how many big strong trees had recently blown down I thought it wasn’t the most sensible place to go for a walk. However, I got a few shots of some Horse Chestnut trees opening up their buds to expose their big leaves and some had the candelabras of flower buds ready to open. One of those shots got PoD.

Back home the oven was on, ready to take a Charlie Bigham Tikka Masala curry we’d bought in Waitrose in the morning. It was a surprisingly filling dinner.

There was nothing worth watching on TV, so Scamp and I sat and read for a while and I had another of the instant whiskey cocktails Jamie and Simonne had given me. Tonight’s offering was Whiskey Sour which is basically Bourbon and Lime Juice over ice. Very refreshing.

Tomorrow we are intending starting Phase 3 of the grand plan, painting the remaining walls.