Category: St Mo’s

Frost then Snow – 30 December 2023

Posted on by Zogman

We woke to thick frost over everything, but no snow.

The weather forecast device we have in the living room was predicting snow and the sky was the right colour for it. We reckoned it was only a matter of time until the white stuff started falling. Just about 11am the first flakes appeared, think and whisky, but soon they fattened up and when the wind caught them they started filling the sky. First snow we’ve seen falling since about February. We’ve woken to snow lying about a month ago, but this is the first time in months since we’ve seen it falling.

According to the weather fairies, the snow wouldn’t last, but would be replaced by sleet and then rain. It took a bit longer than we’d anticipated for that to happen, but after lunch I thought I could safely bundle up and go for a walk and hopefully some pictures in St Mo’s. The first shot I took turned out to be the PoD. It was a couple of folk walking home in the snow carrying their shopping. I liked the sky and the shape of the photo. I got about another twenty shots, but the snow was indeed melting now and it was slippery underfoot. Not from ice, but because the snow was lying on sodden ground and it tended to slide away from my feet as I was walking. I was glad to get home into a warm house when I’d done what I intended to do. By then the road up past the house was almost clear and slushy.

When I got home, Scamp was half way through a cartoon film, ‘Sing’. I usually can’t stand these digital cartoons, but this one was funny. Lots of one liners and smart comments. I watched it through from where I entered the story and could see why Scamp found it entertaining. We’ve lined up ‘Sing 2’ for the next dull afternoon.

Dinner tonight was to be Paella. Dead simple as long as you’re organised and I was. It turned out almost right. Rice could maybe have done with another five minutes cooking, but that would be nit picking. Watched the second semifinal of Christmas University Challenge. We’re leaving the final for tomorrow night.

That was it for a cold wet day. The snow was good for me. It gave me different challenges for photography and although I only took a few shots, I was happy with the three I short listed.

No real plans for tomorrow. We think we have everything we need as far as food is concerned, but if the weather is good to us, we may go for a walk somewhere local.

That’s more like it! – 26 December 2023

Posted on by Zogman

We woke to a beautiful sunrise, but cold. Just 1ºc.

John next door was struggling to walk down the path because yesterday’s rain had frozen and the pavements were a sheet of ice. Also, he had an infection in his foot and was having to walk with two sticks. I gave him a bit of support down as far as his door. I was worried incase he fell because he’s a big bloke and I wasn’t sure I could have lifted him. However, he got home.

Knowing just how icy it was out there, We weren’t all that happy about going for a walk, but later in the day after tomato soup and croutons for lunch, we risked a walk round St Mo’s. It didn’t feel all that cold, probably because there was no wind. I know Scamp isn’t too impressed with St Mo’s, so I suggested we extend the walk out of the park and down towards the shops, but bypassing them down to the underpass and back home from there. That seemed to be the correct direction and distance for her. Back home it was coffee time for Scamp and cocoa for me.

Tonight I was making dinner and it was Smoked Haddock and Leek Risotto. The leeks in the fridge had seen better days, so I lifted a couple of our ones. Not very thick, but long enough to make up for their lack of girth. The risotto turned out a bit thinner than usual, but passed the taste test with both of us. The addition of a few prawns didn’t do any harm to the mixture either.

I had taken a total of three photos today. That must be worlds worst record for me. And that was on a bright day! PoD was a girl walking her dog along the path I always scour for potential subjects. A bit of Lightroom and Photoshop did wonders to the originally dull photo.

It looks like it’s back to rain again tomorrow. I can’t say I’m surprised, or delighted. We may need some messages some time tomorrow no matter how wet it gets from Storm Gerrit.

And so this is Christmas

Posted on by Zogman

“… and what have you done:”

Christmas is such a strange time of year. Just after the equinox we, in the northern hemisphere, are looking for signs that the days are lengthening, while those in the southern half of the globe are preparing for autumn. It’s the same every year, but it still makes me think of John Lennon’s song. It’s a mixture of hope and sadness.

We had almost an hour’s worth of Zoom time with Hazy, Jamie, Neil and Simonne (alphabetically arranged – fairest way!). It was great to speak to and see everyone and to find out how everybody was getting on. Zoom is a great way of keeping in touch. I felt a bit down after the call was finished. The house seemed a bit empty, that’s the only way I can put it.

I had some lovely presents from everyone and Scamp’s “12 Days of Christmas” with a small present to open every day is a great idea. We tried not to spend too much on each other this year. In the past we’ve gone overboard, but that’s not what Christmas is about.

After a light lunch the rain that had been torrential for most of the morning just disappeared and left us with blue skies and a bit of sunshine. I made the most of it and took the A7 out for a walk in St Mo’s. I also had a bag of wildbird seed in my pocket and left handfuls here and there along the side of the path. I took a few photos, but one of the first ones I took of the river, that was running down a path through the woods, got PoD.

Dinner was an overcooked steak for me and also overcooked salmon for Scamp. Dessert was individual trifles. I thought they were a delight. However I think I might need some Gaviscon tonight with all the overeating and a bit too much drinking too that I’ve done.

I think that’s enough for tonight. I’m off to bed now, so thank you all for a wonderful day. Thoroughly enjoyed it, hope you did too.

Speak soon.

No plans for tomorrow, but the weather looks like it might be improving.

A break in the clouds – 24 December 2023

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That’s what I was looking for today, a break in the clouds would be nice.

However, the reality was different. It was raining and it was dull and it felt, at 11am that it was already heading to evening. But Scamp had a suggestion. I’d said I fancied scrambled egg with smoked salmon for lunch. I knew we didn’t have any smoked salmon, so she said, let’s walk down to the shops and get some. That would force us to get out of the house for a while and we’d get some fresh air into the bargain. Plus, she said we could split up halfway home and she’d carry the messages while I walked over to St Mo’s to get a photo. Deal done.

For once M&S wasn’t too busy, especially on Christmas Eve that was unusual. We weren’t buying much, apart from the obvious smoked salmon. I thought we should get some milk, just a small bottle and Scamp said we needed baking potatoes for tonight’s dinner. We got that and other stuff as well and filled a basket, then walked home. For the first time ever there were two different people selling Big Issues outside a couple of the shops. The first one we encountered was a young teenager and further down someone we took for his father. We both agreed that we weren’t sure about them at all.

We walked back and just as we’d agreed I handed over the message bag to Scamp and I went on to walk round St Mo’s. The rain had stopped now and it was also a bit brighter. In fact the clouds were opening up and the sun was trying to break through. I got a few shots, but nothing I was really set on. Halfway round the the rain came on again and I walked home.

Scamp was hard at work making scrambled egg with chopped up bits of smoked salmon. My job was to coax the ancient, cantankerous toaster to do its job and gently burn the bread and turn it into toast, but it just wouldn’t do it. Eventually Scamp just pressed the lever on the toaster and it worked. Was this a case of great minds thinking alike? Perhaps.

After lunch I looked at the photos and they weren’t really worth keeping, but I kept them anyway, because I hadn’t anything else. Then as I was standing at the kitchen window I saw the birdbath, full of water and with a quarter of a brick in it to allow the smaller birds to drink if they needed it without being submerged in the deep water. Did I still have the wee old man Minifig figure? The wee old man with the fishing rod? After emptying a couple of boxes of dismembered Minifigs, I found what I was looking for and after three, or was it four sorties out into the garden? I had today’s PoD of a wee old man fishing in the birdbath. That’s what makes a PoD so attractive. It’s having to think round a problem and make it work.

Dinner was tomato soup which I’d made yesterday. Then a baked potato each, halved and the inside scooped out and mixed with leek, cheese and smoked haddock that had been poached in milk and with the milk added to the mixture to thin it down a bit. The lot was baked in the oven or the grill, I can’t remember which, but it was Scamp’s magic working again. It was really delicious.

That was about it for the day. We watched the Great Scottish Book Club (Christmas edition) and it was a mine of information. I bought Pink Floyd’s first album, Piper at the Gates of Dawn, back in the late ‘60s. I learned tonight on the GSBC that the title derived from a reference to the god Pan in Wind in the Willows! Now I need to find out where the second album A Saucer Full of Secrets came from!

Tomorrow looks like a calmer day, but still with some rain. Hoping to do a Zoom call with the family.

Dancin’ – 21 December 2023

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We were back to a tea dance today after a long lay off.

First, earlier in the morning I went for a walk in St Mo’s to get a photo or two while Storm Pia was still giving Scotland a severe buffeting. It was gradually powering down, but it was taking quite a while. I was glad I hadn’t been there when Pia was at full strength.

I saw a blackbird fly into a tree and I’m sure he saw me too, but he turned away and tried the “If I can’t see him, he can’t see me” trick. As I took a few steps towards him, he caught me and flew away, but not before I had one more shot. How can birds navigate through that maze of branches? That final shot gave me a PoD. One in the bag on a morning walk. That’s good.

By the time I walked home, I had just enough time for a quick lunch before getting dressed for dancing and then we headed off to Glenburn for the last tea dance of the year. Despite the weather, it was a fairly easy drive to Paisley. The hall wasn’t very busy when we arrived, but the dancers gradually trickled in and the dance started with a waltz. I stumbled through the first track, but by the second it was flowing better. We danced Waltz, Rumba, Cha-Cha and three or four sequence dances. Really, the only one I completely messed up was the Quickstep which I knew I could do. Just not today.

As usual we left a few minutes early to avoid the schools coming out. However, it appeared that the traffic was light on both the M80 and the M74, also, thankfully, the wind had reduced to a normal breeze.

We watched what I thought was a tedious Celebrity Sewing Bee tonight. It was probably the worst of the ‘Christmas’ specials foisted on us these days in the name of entertainment. It’s just a bunch of has-been and never-was ‘celebrities’ getting their faces on the TV again. Bah Humbug!

Tomorrow I believe we need some shopping and there’s a chance we may have a pub lunch later.

Dentist – 20 December 2023

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Today I had an appointment with the dentist and Scamp had a lunch appointment with the other Witches.

My appointment with the dentist was in the morning. The easy part of it was the replacement of a filling that was coming loose, but I wanted her opinion on the big tusk at the back of my mouth that was giving me toothache. She checked it by tapping it with her scraper tool and also by scooting cold water on it and it passed the tests. Just to be sure she did an X-Ray and it came up clean, no sign of an abscess. Scamp thought it was the Edinburgh rock I’m addicted to and that a bit of sugar from it had got into the tooth. The dentist said Scamp is probably right, because teeth are porous (didn’t know that) and the sugar could pass through and cause the pain if it reached the nerve. She put some varnish on it and set it with an ultra-violet light thing. I’ll keep a watchful eye on it for a few days until I forget and go looking for that bag of Edinburgh rock again!

The filling was easily removed and replaced with a shiny new one that I’m hoping to keep for a while and not go poking at. It seem that the NHS are now recommending annual dental checks, not biannual as they were last time I had one. It’s just a cost saving exercise, I know, but at least Scamp and I are on the NHS list, rather than paying the full price as a lot of folk are.

By the time I got home, Scamp was ready to get a lift from Jeanette to Calders where they had a table booked. I had a couple of hours to myself, so I added another wash to the painting I’d been doing. What I SHOULD have done was check what that wash was supposed to do. That way I might have avoided the mess that resulted from adding paint where it shouldn’t go. Not to worry, it was a first attempt and I learned something. I think I now know what I’m meant to do with this second stage, so I might try again tomorrow on a clean sheet.

I decided lunch was on the menu and today it was going to he a Larky favourite of an egg poached in mince. Sounds disgusting? Try it before you condemn it. It’s delicious, especially served on buttered bread.

I thought I’d just enough time for a walk round St Mo’s pond before I lost the light entirely and that was how it turned out. Today’s PoD was a fairly close-up shot of a St John’s Wort plant that’s been growing quite happily through the summer, the rain of autumn and the frost and snow of early winter. I’m surprised that those big flat green leaves didn’t collapse under the weight of the snow last month, but there it is with them and the flowers still intact.

Walked back and hadn’t even taken my boots off when Scamp arrived in Annette’s car. Spoke to Annette about her fairly new hybrid Toyota and she told me she wasn’t impressed with it. Mpg is good, but not brilliant and it’s a bit sluggish on hills. However, we agreed on one thing. It’s much better than the Juke she had before. I think we’ll keep to the Micra for the foreseeable future.

I was just heading out to post the last two Christmas cards and I suggested I might bring back a fish supper for dinner. Scamp agree and that’s what we had. A lazy dinner for a change.

Tomorrow we’re intending to go to the last tea dance of the year. Let’s hope Storm Pia isn’t as bad as predicted.

 

 

Wrong day – 13 December 2023

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I decided I’d go with Scamp to meet Isobel, but there was a problem.

We got a phone call from Hazy this morning. Just a quick call to see how things were. She also suggested we should contact the Ombudsman again since we had heard nothing from them for over fortnight now. It was a fairly short phone call, partly because the cats were misbehaving again.

Scamp and I drove up to Costa on a cold but clear winter day and I dropped her off outside, then went to find a place to squeeze the car into. When I walked in to Costa, Scamp was on the phone and Isobel was nowhere to be seen. It appears that she got her wires crossed and thought that Scamp had said it was Friday they were meeting, not Wednesday. After some discussion, they agreed to leave it until New Year. Probably best.

With that done, Scamp asked me to drop her at the train station and she’d get the train in to Glasgow instead because she had some important business to conduct. After I dropped her off, I drove over to Stirling because she wasn’t the only person with important business that needed sorting out. Unfortunately neither of my articles were available and I was just about to do a solo photo walk when my phone rang. It was Scamp asking for a run home from the station. I explained where I was and that I was on my way back to the car, so could pick her up a bit later. We agreed an hour would give me plenty time to get back to Cumbersheugh and give her enough time for a coffee and a cake. So that’s what we did. I stopped at Tesco on the way to get stuff for lunch, then picked her up at the station.

Lunch for me was half a Ginsters Christmas Special Chicken and Stuffing pasty thing. Not very substantial, but I wasn’t really all that hungry and Scamp had already had coffee and cake in Glasgow. The sun was still shining, so I took a camera over to St Mo’s hoping for something interesting to take. There wasn’t much of interest, but I stood watching a man and a boy flying drones. Amazing height they reach quite quickly, these tiny flying machines. Still, they wouldn’t make much of a picture. What did make the Picture Of the Day was a purple lost glove hanging on an artistic park bench painted pink. I thought the glove and the bench made a good colour combination, plus it was bright and cheerful. We need Bright and Cheerful these days.

Scamp built the Christmas tree today and started adding all the new and old decorations.  We’d brought some decorations back from our summer cruise to Croatia. They are now on the tree.  It’s looking quite delightful. I’m sitting her finishing the blog in the dark and the lights are lovely.
Dinner was fish ’n’ chips. Home made variety. Very nice indeed.

We were dancing at Kirsty’s class later. We thought we were going to start the Foxtrot or maybe reprise the Tango, Waltz Nioli and Quickstep, bit Kirsty had other ideas. It was three different sequence dances. Just good fun dances we did. Lots of folk in the class tonight and we were definitely kept busy. No more classes until next year!

We watched the semi-final of Portrait Artist later and wonder what is in the heads of the judges. They chose two awful paintings and one decent one. Heaven knows what they’ll paint for the final.

Early shout tomorrow because I’ve a morning telephone consultation with the doc about my review results. After that, maybe shopping.

 

 

Coffee again – 6 December 2023

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Out in the morning for the third time this week, but this time it was both of us who were going out.

Scamp was heading for Glasgow to find an undisclosed purchase and I was going for a coffee. I gave Scamp a lift to the station and then managed to pick up a box of Christmas cards and had just enough time to write them before the meeting began

I was meeting Colin and John for coffee in Costa. I think I’ve had my fill now of poor coffee. Not terrible, just not good coffee. But I did have a good blether with Colin and John. I laughed when one of my FPs (Former Pupils) walked past pushing a pram, and who then did a double take at the sight of at least two of her former teachers sitting there. Even worse, she returned to the counter with another FP, presumably to corroborate her discovery that we were still in the land of the living!

After about an hour and a half we were talked out and went our separate ways. I drove home through what must have been freezing fog, I reckon. It certainly wasn’t very pleasant to drive through. I’d had the fog lights on earlier in the day, but didn’t need them on the way back.

After footering about for a while back home and once again praising a central heating system that keeps the living room at a comfortable temperature, I was just thinking about heading over to St Mo’s to grab some misty, if not foggy photos when a message from Scamp arrived on my phone to tell me she was on the bus home. That’s when I realised I was supposed to be making soup for dinner and I hadn’t started it yet.

The early warning gave me about 45 minutes to get going. It was another “What have we got that’s worth cooking” soup which finally settled down to be Leek, Red Pepper, Carrot, Turnip and Kale soup with a handful of Broth Mix added in for good measure. By the time Scamp arrived the soup was simmering nicely and I did go out with the A7 to get some photos.

There had been fog in the morning, but by the time I was in St Mo’s, it had dissipated and the temperature was dropping just like the weather fairies had said. The fog had left a light film of moisture on the branches and berries on the bushes and as the temperature dropped below zero, that moisture became spikes of ice crystals. Very pretty to look at but very cold. I got a few photos of them, but PoD went to a crop of a shot of wildfowl on St Mo’s pond. The crop made it look, to my eyes, like a sort of panorama. I was quite pleased with it. However a black & white image of a man and his dog walking over the boardwalk got more attention on Flickr.

No dance practise tonight because the teacher is crocked. She twisted her ankle when she was out walking her dogs at luchtime.  That’s a pity, because I’m getting to like her style and her classes.  Maybe next week.

We watched the final episode of Shetland and found out who the murderer was as well as discovering how the sorry tale unwound itself. Clever writing, producing, acting and scenery. I’m beginning to feel that I know what Shetland looks like now.

Tomorrow Scamp is out again for lunch this time with Mags and I may take the opportunity to do some painting or to go in to Glasgow. It depends on the weather!

It’s thawing – 4 December 2023

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Finally the rain was falling this morning and the snow was on the back foot.

Snow is great fun if you’re a youngster, but for the rest of us, it’s just something we have to work with until the rain comes or the temperature rises. Thankfully, the rain came today and the snow is all but gone.

I was out this morning for coffee with Fred. We met in Tesco and had a good hour or so’s blether about anything, but mainly we both just had a right good moan about everything. The coffee wasn’t all that bad, certainly better than a standard Costa coffee, but nothing to write home about. When we were done, we bumped into each other again and again doing the shopping round the store, but Fred was pushing a trolley and I was just carrying a basket, so I was finished first by a long way. We said “Cheerio’ and I drove home under a sky that was clearing quite nicely. Then it rained!

After lunch I finally decided that the weather was improving and I headed over to St Mo’s to see what effect the rain was having on the snow. Actually, the hard packed snow on the paths was almost all gone. Whereas in the areas where the snow was undisturbed, was where it was lingering the most. There is probably a good scientific reason for that, there always is, but I don’t understand it.

Back home and after a first run through the photos to weed out the weak shots and the no-hopers, I did a bit of post processing and one or two shots came out looking quite presentable. A wide angle shot over the pond got PoD.

Dinner was another “What have we got in the fridge” sauce with penne pasta. I wasn’t all that impressed with the result, but Scamp was. So I’ll accept that praise.

Today I did the climb up into the loft to find The Snowman table cover that has to come down early and be rolled out on the floor to allow the warmth in the room to soften out all the creases. As I’m sitting looking at it just now, it’s almost perfectly flat again after almost a year in the cold. I suppose being a Snowman table cover it will be used to the cold.

Tomorrow I have another morning appointment, but this time it’s at at the doc’s for may annual check-up. I’m sure the sister will have questions to ask me and I have a few to ask her. Apart from that, we have no plans for tomorrow, but I have a bag of sweeties that I’m hoping I can plunder when I get back!

Happy Birthday Hazy – 2 December 2023

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Happy Birthday Hazy.

Unbeknown to us, during the night, Mother Nature had seen fit to dump at least 40mm of snow on us. We didn’t ask for it, but then again, we didn’t pay for it, but it would have been only polite to tell us that it was coming. Admittedly, the weather fairies had been telling us for a week or so that it was snow was on the way, but to paraphrase Lou Reed “You can’t alway believer your weather fairies.”

As well as that, it was Hazy’s birthday today. That gives me yet another chance to say Happy Birthday Hazy! As if I needed another opportunity for that. Once Scamp and I had sung the obligatory Happy Birthday song we had a chance to sit and talk to her. Our conversation covered many topics like Neil getting ready to go to a wedding and bow ties for koalas. Just don’t ask. It would take too long to explain it. That was a great way to start the day.

I was fairly eager to go out and get some photos in the snow. Only ’fairly’ because I was eager to take some photos, but the weather machine was predicting low temperatures. But I dressed for the season and even wore my knee length gaiters, as well as boots, lined walking trousers, thick cardigan and double layer Berghaus jacket. If you’ve got to face the frozen snowy wastes of Scotland, do it comfortably.

The road into St Mo’s hadn’t been ploughed or gritted and was treacherous to walk on, as was the norm. The paths with the less hard packed snow was easier to walk on and I love the Crump, Crump, Crump as the snow moves on the boardwalk. Three lenses with me. One long, one medium and one very short. All were used and over 70 photos taken. For once, not very many of them were rejected in the first cull, but I’m sure more will follow on the second run through. PoD went to a photo of a lone tree in a grassy area of St Mo’s. The tree has a lovely shape, bent and twisted, and it stood out well against the sky. It was a good walk, but even although I was well wrapped up, I was feeling the cold when I was walking home.

Two pieces ‘n’ flat sausage for lunch warmed me up and so did the big long radiator in the living room. Most of the afternoon was spent raking through the photos and finding a group of them good enough for Flickr. Eventually I settled of three.

Dinner tonight was re-heated chilli from Thursday. It tasted good, but I had to agree with Scamp that it lacked texture. Certainly worth trying again.

We watched ‘Strictly’ and, as usual, disagreed with panel’s votes.

Tomorrow if the roads are clear we may go out for a run somewhere. Somewhere not too snowy if that’s possible.