Category: St Mo’s

Birlin’ round Stirling – 13 August 2024

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Scamp wanted to go to Stirling today, but couldn’t remember why!

Spoke to Hazy in the morning and found out about Neil forgetting his passport for travelling to Cologne and having to get his dad to drive with it to the airport. Silly boy!

We didn’t get as far as Cologne, we drove through the rain to Stirling and managed to find a parking space in the Waitrose carpark. Others weren’t so lucky. We walked in to Stirling proper because Scamp thought I need a new shirt. M&S was a disappointment in the Mens department. Very few shirts, in fact, very few of anything. Slaters on the other hand is unassuming from the outside. When you go in you’re met with a steep stair taking you up to the shop. Suits, shirts, shoes, jackets and jumpers all for men! No women’s department. Refreshing!

We stopped for coffee and a bite to eat in Caffe Nero before we went back to Slaters. I did get a shirt I liked. I haven’t tried it for size yet, but even if it doesn’t fit, I know I can exchange it for a better fitting one in any of their shops.

Then it was back to Waitrose for The Messages and as usual we came home with a lot more than we intended, but really, we expected that, it’s what usually happens. The drive home was again through the rain showers and the gathering wind.  Then when we got to Cumbersheugh the rain dried up, but not for long.  Soon the rain was hitting the window again  However, I managed to time a walk round St Mo’s well for a change and had a walk, got some photos and was back home in the dry. It’s not often I manage that.

PoD was a drone fly taking off from a Knapweed flower. Just a ‘lucky’ capture.

That was about all the excitement we could manage today. Better weather is promised by the weather fairies for tomorrow. If it appears we may go out somewhere.

 

Cutting the connection – 12 August 2024

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Heavy rain and hail during the night, but thankfully no thunderstorms.

I was off to the doc’s for a diabetic blood check. That took me out of the house and got me moving. The nurse who took my bloods said she hadn’t heard any thunder either but she’d heard on the radio that the afternoon was to a lot brighter than the morning. She must have known something I didn’t because when I was walking in to the surgery the clouds were gathering, but when I left it was to blue skies and white clouds. Things were looking up.

After lunch we did our usual Wordle and Spelling Bee and then Scamp was checking our bank balance and found that BT were taking more than usual for our BT account. After a few checks and some simple arithmetic we discovered that we were paying for at least one service we didn’t need. Long story short, we phoned BT and were shuffled from one department to another with a ten minute wait each time. Eventually when one department warned us that it was a 40 minute wait I’d had enough we gave them the nominal 10 minutes and hung up. Enough was enough. I think we’ll be cutting ties with BT. We only use the landline for talking to two or three folk and those two or three use mobiles anyway. Also with the impending change to the new digital network, landlines will soon be dead anyway. Bye bye BT.

I eventually got chucked out of the house about an hour later so that Scamp would have peace and quiet to do the ironing. I walked over to St Mo’s and got a few shots of dragonflies basking in the summer sunshine – Yes, the nurse had been right. The sun did come out and stayed out. I walked down to the shops with the knowledge that I had at least one photo in the bag.

Came home with some fruit and veg because it was my turn to make the dinner, pasta with tomato sauce. It turned out looking a bit of a mess, too many ingredients, but I’d got some chorizo in M&S and I slowly fried it in a separate pan and added it to my portion of the dinner. Still not delicious, but very nice.

The PoD was a male Common Darter demonstrating a yoga pose. I think it was downward-facing dog.

Tomorrow we may be going shopping somewhere.

 

Wild Weather – 9 August 2024

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We woke to high winds with gusts in excess of 45mph. Wild weather.

Scamp was out to FitSteps in the morning. Wild winds couldn’t stop her doing her keep-fit exercises. I stayed home to read and to challenge myself with Wordle and Spelling Bee. After that my whole day turned. I just felt deflated and had no wish to do anything. I don’t know what caused it. It wasn’t my “Black Monkey” feeling, I was just totally fed up, and nothing Scamp did when she came home could lift me out of the hole I was in. Even worse, I couldn’t lift myself out either.

Eventually after lunch she Scamp she was going to walk to the shops and invited me to join her. I did exactly that and we walked and talked as we fought our way against the gale. On the way back, as sometimes happens she sent me on a walk round St Mo’s while she carried the messages back home.

I did feel a bit better when I got home although I had a sore back and a bit of a headache, but after a couple of hours snoozing on the sofa, I woke to sunshine, internal sunshine at least. The ‘ennui’ if that was what it was had gone. Maybe my snoring had frightened it away or maybe the Black Monkey had stayed in St Mo’s to pester someone else. I don’t know. All I can say is that I was much happier than I had been this morning and glad to be back home again.

While I was in St Mo’s I got a PoD which was, as you can see, a bee busy collecting pollen from some pink Knapweed flowers With those 45mph gusts today I wasn’t expecting to see many insects, but a bee’s gotta do what a bee’s gotta do, I suppose.

Dinner was Coconut Curry with Haddock. It’s one of the dishes Jamie & Simonne made during the holiday. Another thing that probably helped brighten my day with is cheerful colour scheme and spicy flavours. I recommend it to you once the recipe gets to Neil to be included in the Foodies Book.

The wind outside has eventually died down and we have peace in the garden for a while. Hoping to go dancing tomorrow, all being well.

White Rabbits (x3) – 1 August 2024

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The first day of August and it had been raining during the night.

We haven’t had much rain during the second half of July, so it was a relief to see raindrops on roses this morning. It meant we didn’t need to water the garden today, but the clouds were the textureless milky white that we see so often.

While I was making breakfast this morning I spotted a wee pale yellow bird in the garden picking off the aphids from some of the plants. I managed five photos of it before it flew off and it looks like it was a Willow Warbler, but I’m not sure. I think one or two of them visited the garden about this time last year. Must check.

Scamp was off in the morning to meet Isobel for coffee. I stayed home to filter out the rejected photos and once I was sure I had ONLY the rejections, delete them permanently. Next task was to save the remaining July photos to an external drive for safe keeping. Then pack up those July photos and move them to a storage folder on the computer, before building a new folder for the incoming August lot! Actually it sounds a lot but it’s fairly easily done as long as you stick to the routine.

After lunch and when Scamp returned, she got down on her kneeling stool and finished off the weeding in between the bricks that edge the front grass. I grabbed the A7 and the new Tamron lens and went for a walk round St Mo’s then extended my walk to go to M&S for Thursday Things – flowers was the request today. We had been going to have paella for dinner, but instead Scamp opted for Fish Fingers, Egg and Spaghetti. Much easier and quicker. Maybe paella tomorrow.

It was another warm, bright day after the milky white clouds had been chased away, but it doesn’t look set to last. Rain is on the way according to the weather fairies. Well, the gardens need it.

PoD was a very bright red Common Darter dragonfly taken in St Mo’s.

Scamp has FitSteps booked in for tomorrow morning and I’m trying to work out why the A7 doesn’t do the latest tricks that the A6500 can do. They are almost the same vintage and actually the A7 has significantly more bells and whistle that the A6500. I’m sure it’s a switch somewhere that’s set and shouldn’t be, but which one?

Editing blogs – 30 July 2024

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Scamp was out this morning to have a blether and a coffee with her sister.

I stayed at home to edit and publish a week’s blog posts. They were shorter than normal posts, but I still had to go through the rigmarole of writing it in Day One (that’s what I’m doing now). Then logging in to my webspace and dumping the text in the correct place, before I sourced the photo that went with the text and posted it in the right place. After that I’d only another seven or eight to do. It gets a bit tedious, but it’s not all doom and gloom. I can look back a year and see what I was talking about then. I can search the blog for bits and pieces of my life that I’ve forgotten about. Occasionally I do feel I should just chuck it in, but as Scamp keeps reminding me, I’d regret it. But there should be an easier way to synchronise the writing with the posting.

I had just finished the last posting when Scamp returned from her extended blether with June. Both of them had lots to say and stories to tell, and you know what gossips, sisters are.

After lunch we drove to The Fort for Scamp to return a pair of sandals that looked good, felt good but not really good enough to splash the cash on. Luckily she’d only worn them inside.

Later in the afternoon I took the A7 with a macro lens and the Tamron zoom for a walk in St Mo’s. The Tamron got a bit of use, but the handy wee 50mm macro won the day, capturing not only the PoD of a snail snuggled into the leaves of an unknown plant, but also a closeup of a wee black fly that Google Images could not agree on the name for.

I watered the garden and the bloke next door’s too. We take turn about at watering the front gardens. Everything looked and felt dry. Such a strange thing about Scotland. Scamp may water the back garden tomorrow.

I’m hoping to meet my brother tomorrow and then we’ll drive over to Chatelherault for a walk and a blether.

 

Getting things done – 29 July 2024

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Another bright morning and the grass, front and back was needing cut. My job was moving the flower pots, about ten of them, out onto the path while Scamp did the actual cutting, then moving them back again. I helped with cleaning the mower once the difficult stuff was done, but Scamp has her own method for this and it’s not a good idea to try to do it any other way.

Lunch was next, and it was so memorable, I haven’t a clue what it was! Oh yes, it was a piece ’n’ ham that came all the way from Sedbergh.

I walked over to St Mo’s again in the hope that there would be some activity round the ponds, but there was none and I came home almost empty handed, although I did find a wee purple vetch flower willing to pose for me and it became PoD.

I actually spent most of the afternoon writing up a week’s blog posts ready for posting tomorrow. It was a bit of a slog, but it’s almost done now.

An early bed because my two weeks long struggle with The Ministry of Time is over. I finished it tonight. An interesting concept, but too much padding. I’m not sure I’d recommend it to anyone.

Tomorrow Scamp is meeting June for coffee and a blether and I’m intending to post the blog.

Back in the old routine – 28 July 2024

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This morning we did the Tesco run. After lunch I went for a walk in St Mo’s and it felt like we’d never been away. PoD was a damselfly with a bit of sparkle in its wings.

Dinner was Bacon, Cabbage and Potatoes. One of those fallback meals which remind you that you’re home.

Spoke to Jamie later in the day and found we didn’t have much to say. Everything was alright at their end an it was the same at our end. Just like it says at the top of this blog.

Back in the old routine.

Finding space – 18 July 2024

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It started in the morning when Scamp said that the blog wasn’t loading. An hour and a few quid later it was fixed.

<Technospeak>
Long story short, the problem with the blog appeared to be a lack of storage space on the Namecheap server. When I tried last night to install a WordPress update. It stalled and glitched upgrade, but more than that, it appeared to damage something. After an hour on a help-chat line I upgraded my 20GB of storage to 50GB. That should keep the wheels turning for a while.
That took care of the morning, but of course, I was now on a different server with a different address and I had to change the host name in all my email addresses. Not an onerous task.
</Technospeak>

Once I was back in again and the emails were working, Scamp suggested a walk to the shops would be good, so that’s what we did. As has almost been traditional after a walk to the shops, I carried the bag halfway home and Scamp carried it the rest while I went for a walk around St Mo’s. After about four years using the Sony A7 camera series I’d found another tweak that while not exactly guaranteeing a sharp, in focus shot every time, at least gives you a fighting chance. No need to explain it to you, but let’s just say it works. That’s what I was using today to get the PoD of a Crane Fly or a Jenny Long Legs to give it its proper Scottish name!

Back home Scamp made a prawn stir fry and it was really delicious. Meanwhile I bagged the stew and let it rest in the fridge.

It wasn’t the brightest of days. Still clammy but with a bit of a breeze, which made it more pleasant.  Maybe a couple of notches down from the unpleasant heat we’ve been having recently.

After the blog problem from the morning, I’ve been feeling washed out today and I’m hoping to get to bed before midnight. I expect you understood most of that jargon Hazy and I’m equally sure you passed it by Jamie.

Scamp is intending to go to FitSteps tomorrow while I stay home and do some tidying up.

 

Cooking, Grass Cutting and Rumba – 17 July 2024

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We spoke to Hazy in the morning. She told us she’d had her hair cut but we wouldn’t see it until Saturday when she and Neil are coming up. She’s like that, Hazel! I still remember being in the car with her, going to the church on her wedding day and her making poor Neil wait! Bride’s perogative, I believe. I have a long memory Hazy!

I did some shopping after we’d finished our call and took my “I’m away for the Messages” bag. Just my meds, some fruit for Scamp and a loaf.

After lunch I started to clear the top of the sofa in my room. It hasn’t seen the light of day for months now, probably since about March. So, it really did need a good clear out. A lot of stuff went in the bin because tomorrow is bin day and theres no going back after the bin is tipped into the bin men’s lorry. The sofa looks so bare now, but tomorrow it will be filled again with other stuff.

While I was doing that, Scamp was doing ‘grass hoovering’ in the front and back gardens. It looks a lot tidier now, but we’re due rain overnight and that will just encourage more growth. It’s a never ending cycle.

Later in the afternoon I made some stew for next week’s dinner. Not made on the hob this time, mainly done in the Le Creuset which allows the oven to do most of the work.

With the stew happily bubbling away, I went for a walk in St Mo’s and got the PoD. It was warm and still a bit close feeling today. The photo’s another one of a geranium this time with  with a little fly as a photobomber. I think every photo I took today had an insect of one variety or another in it, hogging the limelight.

We went dancing tonight and learned the first part of Kirsty’s new Rumba routine. As with all the best routines, it started off simply and then progressed to the more complicated bits. Next week she’ll be adding in even more intricate figures like the Hockey Stick and the Fan, but by then we’ll have forgotten what we learned tonight!

No real plans for tomorrow other than finishing the stew.

Driving again – 16 July 2024

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After yesterday’s driving extravaganza the last thing I wanted to do was drive today.

So I got in the car about 10am and drove to Falkirk. To the Ironworks Business Park. Nobody was about, so I phoned the bloke I spoke to yesterday. He said I was at the right place and he’d be with me in 10 minutes. He was as good as his word and he apologised for not speaking properly but he’d been to the dentist and one side of his jaw wasn’t behaving properly. Know that feeling? I do too!

I was there to get some coffee and he took my order and gave me a large discount for having come all the way from Cumbersheugh. I even got a free bag to carry the coffee home. I’ve since tested the coffee and found it just as good as I thought it would be.

Drove home and had a piece ’n’ banana for my lunch and Scamp copied me! I was just making the sandwich when I saw a magpie sitting on a branch of the rowan tree in the back garden. Usually I chase them off, but this one looked a bit sad, so instead I grabbed my camera with the zoom lens and got half a dozen shots through the back window. It’s always good to have a few in the bag.

I’d been worrying about the front tyres on my car, so I drove down to Jim Dickson’s garage in the village where ‘Young’ Jim pronounced them good for a few hundred miles yet. That set my mind at rest.

Back home I took the A6500 and the 70-180mm and went for a walk in the sunshine to St Mo’s. I got a few shots of insects and plants, but nothing outstanding. It was quite a muggy afternoon with hardly a breath of wind.

Dinner was pasta and tomato sauce with a whole bunch of basil leaves that I’ve been growing on the window sill. It was quite delicious, even if say so myself.

It’s just passed 9.30pm as I’m writing this and there is a lovely sunset building. After such an overcast, close afternoon it’s good to see a bit of sunshine.

No plans for tomorrow, but I might make a start on some stew.