Category: St Mo’s

Short and sweet – 9 April 2020

Posted on by Zogman

Not a lot to say about today, so this will be short and sweet.

After the excitement of yesterday, today was a bit of a let down as far as the weather was concerned. I presume a lot of work went in to getting the weather just right for my birthday, so today was recompense for that. It started off dull and grey and eventually deteriorated into drizzly rain tonight.

In the afternoon I did manage to drag myself out to St Mo’s to get a few photos, but the PoD was taken earlier in the garden with a little bit of light, not actually very bright light, but light none the less and I’ll take that. The subject is Scamp’s Pieris, variety Forest Flame. It really lives up to its name with bright red leaves in the spring and the promise of its tiny little white bell flowers to come in late April and early May. It’s a real uplifting bush, especially on a dull day.

Yesterday both the usual park benches were in use and today nobody wanted to sit in the damp and decidedly cold east wind. I can’t blame them really. Lots of geese seem to have taken up squatter’s rights in the pond and the two swans are making a show of telling them who’s pond it is. Like two big white polis, they patrol the perimeter of the pond shouting “Move along there. Nothing to see.” In swan-speak, of course.

So that was it for today. Another two prezzies today, one from Neil-D’s mum and dad and another from Gems, well probably Margie really! Lovely lady.

Tomorrow we must a-foraging for milk, bread and possibly eggs. Just down to the local shops, because it’s unlikely there will be any slots for Tesco and we can’t understand the workings of the ASDA Click ’n’ Collect layout.

There you are. I told you it would be short and sweet, and it was.

How terribly strange – 8 April 2020

Posted on by Zogman

To be seventy.

After breakfast this morning I opened the parcels. These weren’t prezzies, they were gifts from my family. From my son and daughter, from my son-in-law and daughter-in-law. I really cannot put on paper just how humble I felt. You are all wonderful. I know this wasn’t the birthday celebration you’d planned, but your generosity, especially at this time is beyond words. I love you all.

I wanted to have a photograph to remember today. It was along the lines of a Paul Simon song “Old Friends”:

“Can you imagine us years from today, sharing a park bench quietly?
How terribly strange to be seventy.”

Around midday, Scamp and I took a walk over to St Mo’s. I knew of two park benches there. Both of them were in use. One with a mum phoning everyone in the western world, sequentially, one after the other and keeping the seat occupied. The other was home to at least two families of mums and weans who didn’t look as if they were going to move anywhere fast. We walked on and that was when Scamp noticed the “Bee Seat”. It’s a wooden bench seat in the grassy area of the park, away from the path, so I suppose it was an actual ‘Park Bench’ and it was quiet. I set up the tripod and took a few shots. I just knew one of them would have me moving. One would have either Scamp or me with our eyes closed and one or two would be fine. I was right. I picked the best one and it became PoD.

Back home and after a quick lunch, Scamp went out to wash her car. I thought it was a good idea, so once she was finished, I washed mine too, just to get the seagull crap off it. We spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying the sunshine and chatting to the next door neighbours at well over the recommended 2m distance. Me with a glass of beer and Scamp with a G&T. The neighbours were having a wee glass of something too. A very civilised way to spend a birthday afternoon.

I’d requested a mince pie for dinner, not to be confused with a mincemeat pie. This is a half a pound of mince seasoned with salt and Bisto and wrapped in flaky pastry. Baked in the oven for about 25 mins, or until cooked. Hot or cold it’s delicious. I had half tonight and will hopefully deal with the other half tomorrow. My cake was a Scamp speciality, a coffee cake, with just the one candle. Seventy would probably have set off the smoke alarm and been an absolute nightmare to blow out. We held off the lighting of the candle until we were on Zoom and all three parts of the family were together. It was good to see everyone together again, only two weeks since our last hook up.

Scamp, as well as providing the cake and the dinner had made me up a ‘Lucky Box’ with an assortment of goodies with the inevitable Toblerone. All the separate items wrapped up in tissue paper to make it even more festive. She also managed to make me a birthday card, a birthday banner and also posters. Such a clever girl.  Thank you, all of you who sent messages, e-cards and analog cards.  Thank you all.

All in all I had a wonderful ’Special Birthday’. One I really enjoyed.

Tomorrow we may go shopping for milk and bread. Just the basic staples.

Out in the world again – 7 April 2020

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We ventured out today, just for exercise. On purpose we didn’t go to the beach or to our second home in Fife.

We didn’t go out to the beach or Fife, but just in case there was somebody somewhere listening in to our conversation, Scamp sneakily said we could walk over to Condorrat (where there are shops that sell essential foodstuffs). That way, the powers that be, the police, the government and MI6 wouldn’t suspect that we were going to St Mo’s. It was a clever ruse, and it had me fooled too. I thought we were going to the butchers to get a nice juicy steak for dinner, but instead of turning right at the end of the path past the (now locked) swing park, we turned left, crossed the road and walked through St Mo’s. The diversion might have had me fooled, but the invisible trackers, that are now being designed to be injected into our bodies secretly in the anti-virus when its made, wouldn’t have been fooled by the change of direction. They would have reported back and sent a fleet of drones to pinpoint our location for a squad car of armed police to detain us under their new emergency powers. At least, that’s what I read on the InterWeb last night.

Anyway, in the real world, we went for a walk in St Mo’s. It was fairly quiet with no cars in the car park and only a handful of people walking around in the sunshine taking in all the vitamin D that was available. There wasn’t much to see, but I did take another low down landscape for St Mo’s from the far side of the pond. I’d say that it was the best of the photos I took today, but it was really one of only two photo that survived the cull when I got them into the ‘puter back home. The main reason I didn’t take any more was that the battery indicator on the camera was flashing red, warning me no doubt that it was about to shut down. I’ve never seen it flash red before and the camera did take about three hours to replenish the battery from my fastest fast charger, so it must have been pretty empty.

Back home I managed to repair the pocket on a pair of jeans. I hate throwing out a perfectly good pair of jeans, just because the pockets are worn through, not with cash I hasten to add, but with my keys. Making the repair pocket isn’t a problem, it’s the topology of pockets that gives me a headache. It’s like working with a cloth Klein Bottle, where the inside becomes the outside and vice versa, plus you have to work out how to get the bloody thing into a position that allows the sewing machine needle to do its work. Finally after three dummy runs, with me as senior dummy, I botched it together. It’s not the finest piece of sewing I’ve done, but I think I’ve saved another pair of jeans from the bin. Now I’ve just found another pair in need of a new pocket. I’ll possibly leave that until next week when my head has stopped hurting.

According to government sources tonight, Boris is in good spirits and is stable. It didn’t mention exactly what the spirits were and if it was overindulging in them that had led to the initial instability. We wish him well. Better the devil you know …

Tomorrow is the big day. The weather doesn’t look great, but I think we may go looking for a park bench, quietly.

Hard to believe this was a Saturday – 4 April 2020

Posted on by Zogman

I think it’s the lack of a routine that’s the biggest problem, that and the lack of a purpose.

If you don’t have a pattern to your life, the days all blend together such that when you wake up, well, at least when I wake up, it takes a minute or two to work out what day it is. I found the same problem when I retired, but even then, there was an underlying rhythm to life. Mondays were Gems and Salsa days, Tuesdays were free days, Wednesdays were dancing days too, Thursdays were ‘prezzy’ days and Fridays the weekend was in sight. Saturday and Sunday were The Weekend, even after Scamp retired, the same rhythm was in place. Now, for both of us it’s look in the fridge, do we need milk? Do we need bread? That’s about all the structure there is. I imagine it’s somewhat the same for most folk, even those who are working from home. It’s a strange feeling having to build some purpose into life.

Today was no different, although I did manage to score two topics off my To Do list. Still another couple to do. Spent most of the morning looking for a tiny scrap of paper with my cousin’s email address on it. I clearly remember tearing a receipt in two and writing down the address on it. I actually found at other half of the receipt , the piece without the address. That was in my wallet. The location of the piece with the address remains a mystery. I found another email address for her on my phone and wrote to her on that. The email hasn’t been returned by the postmaster, so I suppose it’s possible it’s landed somewhere, with someone. Hopefully my cousin. Why I didn’t think to photograph it with my phone I’ll never know.

I got a text message from an old colleague and one time friend until The Scottish Referendum split us apart. He on the YES side and I on the NO side. All the message said was “How are you? Long time no see.” I replied “We’re fine, but who are you?” Once he explained, it all became clear. We had a fairly lengthy text conversation, as if we’d never fallen out which ended with “Stay Safe and Speak Soon.” I suppose that’s a positive that’s come out of this crisis. In both of these situations, people are trying to make contact with friends and relatives. Putting the past behind us and building bridges. That’s what folk do. We unite against a common enemy.

Watched a live video by science communicators for children. Our Salsa teacher, Jamie G was on it. His topic was Coca Cola and the history and science behind it. It was really entertaining and educational too. He does tell good stories though, that’s what he’s famed for in class and this was no different. He started by pouring milk into a bottle of coke and finished by drinking the disgusting almost clear yellow liquid and telling everyone that it still tasted and smelled like coke. The previous presentation by a girl from New Zealand was about how soap can destroy the Coronavirus on your hands. Very simply explained using Topsy and Tim language that even I could understand. You know how to do that too JIC.

It took a long while before I managed to drag myself out to take some photos today. The PoD is of a Horse Chestnut bud just beginning to burst. Allegedly the tree got its name from the shape of the scar last year’s leaf makes when it falls off. If you look you can clearly see the horse’s hoof shape and even the imaginary nail prints on the stem below the bud.

While I was out, Scamp was making Treacle Scones. I had one with my tea when I got back. It was cold and windy outside and the scone went down a treat with the tea. Maybe the tiniest bit undercooked in the middle, but still lovely. A blast from the past. Dinner tonight was yesterday’s curry sauce poured over two boiled eggs, served with rice. Another recipe from a previous time. The book it’s in is maybe about forty years old. I remember getting it in Woolworth’s in Motherwell!

A parcel appeared to arrive by post today, but it has now disappeared, I know not where. Strange things are afoot these days.

Tomorrow? Maybe a communal walk. Maybe round Broadwood Loch again taking in some of the new routes that have been cut into the forest. It’s supposed to be the warmest day of the year so far and we’ve all been warned not to rush out to the beach. No beaches at Broadwood, so we should be ok.

More painting – 1 April 2020

Posted on by Zogman

Just brushing it on the front sills mainly. Oh yes, and some oil work too.

Scrubbed off yesterday’s paint from the back window of the living room. It flaked off really easily, so it wouldn’t have lasted very well. Gave it a new coat of that lovely rusty brown acrylic. I was actually wondering if I could use it as a primer for oil painting. The sand in the paint would give an interesting texture. But that was for another day. Today wasn’t nearly as warm as yesterday, so I got the jacket on and started scraping the front bedroom sills. They were a totally different colour from the back, so I suspect they hadn’t been painted as recently as the back. Lots of lichen on the concrete which was another indicator of the age of the paint. Slapped a relatively quick coat on them as it felt like there was just the hint of rain on the breeze. Next was the back bedroom and it was really flaky. Another quick coat. The tiny wee bathroom sill was last to be done because it’s such an awkward window to open fully and even then, you don’t have much room to work, but it was scraped, dusted and painted and we were good to go before the rain. In fact the rain didn’t materialise, it just drifted by on the gentle western breeze, cold breeze.

After the left overs from yesterday’s main courses (‘Rats’ for Scamp, stew for me) warmed up for lunch, we both went for a walk in St Mo’s. Still lots of people walking round the pond just to be out and about getting some exercise and some fresh air. I grabbed a shot of the larch flowers I’d seen yesterday and although the light wasn’t as good today, the photos were. One of them made PoD. Walked to Condorrat to get some chicken burgers, fresh chicken, some stew and some black pudding. Just to see how good the meat was. The Chicken Stir Fry was sold out.

Back home and after I’d confirmed that my shots had worked, Scamp started preparing dinner which was a roast chicken. I went and tackled the tree in the oil painting I’d been working on for the past few days. I’d sketched part of it in last night, but wasn’t really happy with it. Today was much better, probably because I stuck to the maxim Paint What You See, rather than what you think it should look like. Roast Chicken, roast veg and baked potato smells were calling from downstairs and I had to wash out the brushes and leave it for a while to go and eat.

Tonight, after the Portrait Artist of the Year produced a dire painting of Nile Rodgers, I went upstairs, finished the tree and signed the painting. I will do no more to it.

That was it for the day. Funniest thing was an April 1st joke on Facebook to the effect that as part of the Covid 19 precautions, Nicola Sturgeon had banned the sale of alcohol from midnight tonight. It shows how gullible we’ve become, because Scamp and I simply accepted it as verbatim! But then, it’s the sort of thing Nick the Chick would do, just to annoy folk!

No plans for tomorrow. Is there ever, these days?

Shopping, the new way – 31 March 2020

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New day, new rules.

Drove to Tesco today with Scamp, only to be told that the rules had changed:

  • One trolley per household.
  • One person per trolley.

Scamp had the shopping list in her head. She hadn’t committed it to her phone or a notepad, so she got to be the one to enter the golden portal to do the shopping. I went back to sit in the car and enjoy the sunshine, because the sun was shining quite brightly this morning. When she arrived back at the car, her trolley was brimming with stuff. All useful and mostly edible stuff too. Biggest shop she’s done in a long time, she said. Given that there was a bottle of whisky, another of gin and three bottles of wine, plus the groceries, I’d say we did not too badly from our big spend. Lots of folk were spending much more. Those were the ones with the extra large trolleys. I’m sure some of them had a forklift truck parked in the carpark to get their stuff home.

After all the stuff was put away, and after lunch, Scamp went out to ‘clear out the bin shed’. The bin shed is where lots of the gardening stuff is kept and it occasionally deserves a good clean out. By the time I’d changed into my painting togs, she had everything out of the shed and on the path. It was probably getting in poor Bobby Flavel’s way. He lives at the corner house and is never happier than when he’s got something to do. He’d already dug his garden, swept the path and then swept the road outside. No kidding! Now he was cutting the grass for Angela (next door) who is off work and self isolating. Not only cutting the grass, but also edging it too and doing a great job. Me, I had already scraped the front sill and started painting it. The external acrylic paint is great stuff, especially when painting on warm concrete. It dries almost instantly. So, it was like the old story about the Forth Bridge. When they’d finished painting it, the went back to the start and did it all again. Once I’d finished the 2.5m length of the front sill, the bit I’d started at was dry and ready for a second coat. Two coats should do. Next the back window that I did yesterday, but wasn’t satisfied with. I’d already scraped it too and gave it a fresh coat. Maybe one more coat for it will do, maybe tomorrow.

Would I? Wouldn’t I? Eventually I did go out for a walk in St Mo’s. Walking through the woods is perfect for isolation. Usually nobody and nothing there to bother me. Today was different. Turned a corner and less than 20m away was a Roe deer, a doe, happily grazing. Luckily I had the right lens on for once and got one shot. Then its head went up and away it ran. Took another shot, but I knew it was too soft. First one looked good though. I think it was the sound of the shutter that startled it. Next time I’ll remember to use silent (electronic) shutter. If there is a next time. This is the first time for months I’ve actually managed to get a decent shot of a St Mo’s deer, or any deer for that matter.

Walked back and took some shots of strange wee flower things on a little larch. They didn’t work, but I’m hoping to go back tomorrow and have another go, weather permitting, because we’re due some gales on Thursday. Possibly snow on Friday.

I did get one more shot and it became the PoD. A little clump of Coltsfoot Daisies growing beside the footpath on the way home. Lovely flowers, they bloom just around Easter every year. They always remind me of my dad for some reason. That’s not a bad thing at all.

I’d made stew for dinner tonight and it was lovely. Of course it was under the strict tutelage of Scamp, the number one stew chef in this house. I stewed a couple of sausages in it for good measure and they were the stars of the show. Left just enough to have for lunch tomorrow.

Practised our dancing routines tonight. We’re probably building in a lot of mistakes and short cuts I realise, but Kirsty’s not the perfectionist that Michael was, so it will be ok. What Michael did do, and did well, we both agree was teach us how to Jive and those moves are hard wired into our heads now. We reprised them too. Actually we remembered a lot of them we haven’t danced since about November last year. He might have been was a pain in the backside, but he did know his jive steps.

Tomorrow we have no real plans. Must get the upstairs sills cleaned down and maybe a coat of paint on them too. Must also get something done about staking the apple tree. Depends if we can get some wood from B&Q.

A little bit of sunshine – 28 March 2020

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Bright sunshine to wake up to, but it disappeared fairly quickly.

We didn’t have anywhere to go today. We had food for dinner and for lunch and anyway, there was nowhere that would welcome us. That’s one of the problems of this Coronavirus. Everywhere is closed. Heavens, even the children’s play parks are locked and bolted. Not that it makes any difference to the children, their mums and dads just lift them over the metre high fence and off they go to play on the swings and roundabouts. How they get them out and back home again is a different problem. We weren’t going to the play park today. The furthest Scamp went was into the front garden to repair the damage the cat had done to her planting box yesterday. It’s now covered with plant pots which should discourage the incontinent feline.

After lunch and after a consultation on what we’d have for dinner, I went out with the camera and the Benbo tripod slung over my shoulder on a strap that was originally for the Manfrotto tripod, but with a bit of adaptation suggested by Scamp worked well on the Benbo too. As has been the case these days, St Mo’s was buzzing, mainly with mums pushing prams. Social distancing is becoming more and more difficult with the number of folk wanting to use my park. I was heading into the woods where prams don’t go, so I would be safe from contamination. I was looking for the fungus with the oyster shell patterns I’d seen last week, but I didn’t find it. After searching through my images tonight I think I’ve worked out two places it could be, but that was no use to me in the trees. What I did find was today’s PoD which is three little sycamore seedlings growing in a cleft in a sycamore tree. I also found this strange black fungus which I think may be Black Tree Ear fungus so called because it is black, it grows on trees and it looks like an ear. I’m pretty sure it’s the fungus we bought and cooked from a Chinese supermarket last year. As I recall it looked dodgy and tasted just OK.

Came home to find that Scamp had been baking. Not one, but two cakes. We’ve sampled both and they passed inspection, especially the sultana cake with fruit soaked in Calvados. Dinner was fish ’n’ chips, home made because I didn’t fancy standing outside the chip shop waiting for my order to be called. Normally I wouldn’t mind, but there was a cold east wind today. Speaking of which, it was a lovely morning with bright sunshine. In the afternoon when I went out with the camera, it clouded over. When I came back, blue sky reappeared and the sun shone again. What am I doing wrong?

Splashed some oil paint on my painting board today and created another masterpiece. It’ll be tacky by tomorrow, so it should take another layer of paint. Quite like oil paint, much nicer to work with than acrylic. Seems to be easier to get bright colours with it.

No plans for tomorrow, but we may need some fresh veg, so a walk to the shops may be in order.

It was a dull day – 27 March 2020

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Not really a day for doing much. It started cold and dull and that theme extended through the day.

What we did do was go for a walk. Across to St Mo’s and round the pond once. Took some photos of what I think were rasp flowers, wild rasps. Not really much interest in them though, so the photos didn’t work very well. That’s usually the way of things when your heart isn’t in the subject, then you’re really only treading water. Not quite two weeks in and I’m becoming jaded. I took a couple of shots of a woman sitting with her dog on a bench at St Mo’s. Seemed to sum up Self Isolation. More like self enforced isolation. That became PoD.

Walked home and did a bit of watercolour painting. Again, I wasn’t really interested and it showed in the painting. Tomorrow I’ll slap some colour on the drab acrylic painting I tried yesterday and see if that lifts my spirits.

What I did do was clean the bathroom and ungunge the trap in the shower. I didn’t think it was really necessary until I started and then I discovered it really, really was necessary. Latex gloves are great things for using when you’re cleaning the bathroom, just incase you’ve not noticed, or not cleaned a bathroom recently. While I was gainfully employed with this work, Scamp was cleaning out her fancy steam iron. We were shocked at the amount of what looked like crystals in the tank. I presume these are left behind after the steam has been generated. It just shows that it’s not just pure H20 that’s coming through the tap. Scary. With the boiler cleaned out she was ready to do the ironing proper.

That was about it for the day. Blue Dragon Ramen Noodles with Chicken for dinner. It was a hit and a miss. I voted Hit, and not just because I made it. Scamp didn’t like the noodles, so it was a miss from her. May try another of their offerings, the next time I go for the long wait at Tesco.

Discovered that a cat had been using Scamp’s sweet pea box as a toilet, so today I sprinkled a fairly heavy dose of ground white pepper on the compost.  If you see a cat sneezing a lot, you’ll know where it came from.  Sorry Hazy, but it needs to be told how to behave properly.

No plans for tomorrow. Where can we go anyway? Enforced isolation is becoming boring.  However, it’s worse for some.  ‘Poor’ Boris has tested positive for Covid 19.  Is this to garner sympathy, or to show that he’s suffering with his plebs people?  If it’s good enough for Prince Chic, it’s good enough for Boris.  What a pair.

Breaking the rules – 25 March 2020

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We walked to the shops today, but I broke the rules by going out for a second walk later! Rebel!

We didn’t need much at the shops, which was just as well really. Like Sim has been complaining, no flour to be had anywhere, and of course, no toilet rolls. Well, not at the new shops anyway. They did have milk and they did have pancakes. They also had salt which has been in short supply too, so we got all three. That was about it. Walked back through very fine rain. That terrible wetting rain that just soaks you without you noticing it. It wasn’t cold though, the weather machine said it was over 12ºc for a while, so I gave my big Bergy jacket a rest and took my rainy coat instead. Much more comfortable and a lot lighter than the Bergy with all my odds and ends in the pockets. While we were at the shops, I saw a VW Campervan with two surf boards on top! I kid you not. Where were they off to I wondered? Maybe Tiree to catch some wild waves, or maybe just driving around looking cool.

I made a sort of pizza for lunch. It was the remains of yesterday’s flat bread dough, with some fresh flour, yeast, salt and water added. I think Scamp was right, I should just have made a proper pizza and been done with it. As it turned out, it wasn’t all that great. A bit doughy in places, but excellent in others. Baked it in the microwave using convection oven setting for about 12minutes at 220ºc. I’ve written that so I will remember it the next time I want to make a pizza in the microwave. I might not remember it, but I’ll know where to look to find it. That’s one thing Google has taught me.

After lunch I got itchy feet again and went out looking for something interesting. Yes, I know you’re only supposed to be out ONCE a day for a walk, run, jog or cycle, but I’m a rebel and I was going to tear up the rule book and put it in the bin. I wasn’t going to throw it away, I’m not that much of a rebel. I found a use for all that rain, it gave me a chance to capture today’s PoD. Just a little grass stem holding all those raindrops on its hairy surface. It would only work with that fine rain we’d been having. Heavy rain would have wetted the surface and prevented the surface tension on the raindrop from forming a shield for the enclosed water.
Then when I was coming back, I spotted a little ladybird, the first I’ve seen this year nestling under the cover of a leaf and spotted with raindrops too. Two good subject in one day.

We did a bit of a dance practise later in the afternoon. Waltz Nº1, Waltz Nº2, Quickstep and Foxtrot. Not all perfect, but adequate, considering that this is the first practise of the Isolation. Possibly Jive tomorrow.

No real plans for tomorrow, so if you’re reading this Boris, I don’t expect to be breaking the rules tomorrow. I’ll be a good little prole and not go for more than one walk.

Mothers Day – 22 March 2020

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I made the breakfast. I even sliced up a banana for Scamp, with none for me. I did this only for Scamp on behalf of the weans … and because banana on my porridge would be a step too far.

Today was shearing day. The thatch that’s been growing under my nose and around my mouth was getting far too lush. It had to go. So I took it upon myself to give it a quick Number Four. I possibly could have gone to a number three, but it was just 1.9ºc when I was making breakfast and, at my age I need a bit of insulation on the upper lip and the chin, so a number four it was.

After hacking away for a while and washing all the clippings away I felt ready to face the day. Scamp was already speaking to Hazy on the phone when I went downstairs. She didn’t even notice my carefully sculpted facial hair. Neither did Hazy, but as this wasn’t a video call or FaceTime, I’ll forgive her. It was only hours later when I told her about my barbering skills she looked and said “Oh, yes”. That’s all you get for all the planning and careful cutting then. Hmph!

It being Mothers Day, Scamp had the choice of where to go for our daily walk. She chose St Mo’s surprisingly. I thought she’d want to go to Broadwood, which I find boring, but she likes. No, she thought there would be fewer people at St Mo’s after yesterday’s crowds at Drumpellier. It was another beautiful day and there were a few folk, mainly mums and dads with a single wean. They weren’t observing the proper social distancing rules, but I suppose they were all living under the same roof, so what’s the point of maintaining the 2m exclusion zone when you’re outside if you’ll be sitting in the same room when you get home. I did get what turned out to be today’s PoD on our walk, it was another of those flowering currants, but this time about half of the flowers had opened. I was hoping to get a chance to take some more later in the walk or even later in the day, but technology got in the way. After we’d done our circuit of St Mo’s, Scamp suggested we walk down through Condorrat and over the ‘Red Bridge’. That extended our walk a bit, even if it was beside a busy road, still quite busy even with so much isolation going on. The motorway however was almost deserted. I’m pretty sure we could count on the fingers of one hand, the number of cars and lorries that passed under our feet as we crossed the Red Bridge. The M80 was carrying its lightest traffic load for a long, long while.

After we got back, Scamp took the bull by the horns and instituted a video call to her sister in Skye. I was most impressed with the ease she did it with. A real tech genius Scamp is. I’ll be going to her for help with all my problems now!

Later, I thought I’d go for a solo walk around St Mo’s to see if Mr Grey had returned. He had, but he was away on the far side of the pond, well out of reach of the 200mm lens. I tried to get some macro shots of some nicely lit moss spores, but for some reason still to be explained, the shutter seemed to fire, but no photos were recorded. That’s the reason we ‘chimp’ (check the image on the back screen of the camera) but I had confidence in the ability of the E-M1, misplaced confidence it seemed.

Dinner tonight was the second half of the Thai Chicken Stir-Fry for Scamp and the first half of a Beef Stir-Fry for me. Both with egg noodles instead of the usual rice for a change. Scamp’s was fine, if a bit oily. Mine was so hot it would have set the oil on fire. The girl in the butchers said it had “a bit of a kick”. I’d say! A kick like a mule. I’ll treat it with caution when I get round to eating the other half. It’s in the freezer at present, I hope it hasn’t melted anything in there!

Spoke to JIC later and got his take on Covid 19. He’s much more down to earth than the BBC. It’s good to hear a more reasoned, grounded voice on the subject.

Tomorrow we may go for messages. Just ordinary messages and if we find toilet rolls, buy lots and lots of them!