St Mo’s – Page 87 – My Photo Blog

Fish Suppers – 13 December 2016

Posted on December 13, 2016 by Zogman

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

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

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

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

Postponed again – 10 December 2016

Posted on December 10, 2016 by Zogman

Today we were intending to go to Embra on the train. After yesterday’s experience on the train back from Glasgow, I thought it would be better if we travelled on a weekday, preferrably a middle weekday when the hordes were at work and not congregating in Embra as they undoubtedly would be today. We decided to go to Stirling instead on the train. Then I realised I had a parcel to pick up from the post office and that it would be silly to backtrack to the railway station just to get the train which would probably be overcrowded too. Ach, to hell with it, let’s just go to Stirling by car. Not entirely novel, but it’s what we bought the car for in the first place, to travel where and when we wanted. Such convoluted arguments, just to go shopping!

Stirling was busy, but the carpark was fairly empty and we happily paid £1.40 for a day ticket. You can’t even get an hour’s parking for that in Glasgow. Wandered round the farmer’s market in the main street and I got a piece of Flat Iron Steak. Something I’ve amazed butchers with my knowledge of in the past, but never handled before and never eaten either. It comes from the shoulder blade of the beast you know! A fact I picked up when talking to a chef on a cruise ship. It looks like a nice piece of meat and I’ll tell you about it once I cook it. Other than coffee in a Cafe Nero and more redacted purchases, that was it for our visit to Stirling, although I did have an interesting talk with a salesman at the Stormfront (Apple Reseller) shop. I was pleased to hear that although he was enthusiastic about the Apple hardware, he was less impressed with the knowledge and attitude of the sales staff in Apple shops. I may go back to view the merchandise again once I’ve investigated it a bit more. Three years warranty also enticed me.

When we got back there was just enough daylight left to grab my cameras and head off to St Mo’s for a few photos. Of all the shots I took, my favourite was the one with the heron isolated among the reeds.

Dinner tonight was once again from Bombay Dreams, although this time I was less greedy and have left enough for lunch tomorrow. Very circumspect for me.

Tomorrow? Preparing for the Grand Salsa Ball and little else.

An Early Rise – 25 November 2016

Posted on November 25, 2016November 25, 2016 by Zogman

Up and out of bed before 8.00 this morning, but it wasn’t the desire to take photos in the frost that was sparkling in the morning air that got me up, it was someone knocking the front door. It turned out to be the wrong address. The gas man was actually looking for the bloke next door. However, it did get me up and that led to me achieving yesterday’s target.

Walked through St Mo’s and got a few photos, some of which are in the matrix above. There was quite thick fog when I left the house with a temperature of -5.6ºc, but when I reached St Mo’s a few minutes later, the fog had gone, taking with it my chance of some ethereal early morning shots. I did see a deer, but it was far to far away and moving like the wind.

By the time I got home, Scamp was scraping her car and since I was meeting Fred for coffee later, I decided to clean mine too. The joker who lives a couple of doors down had parked next to me last night and left my car in the shade of the early morning sun that I’d hoped would have thawed it out. People should think before they park next to me. So it was frozen hands for me before lunch, but at least the windscreen was clear.

Met Fred for coffee and swap shop. 2 CDs from him to me. 1CD from me to him. Not a lot to discuss today and I think the cold is getting to all of us. He’d done some sketches of course and so had I, but not as many from each of us as we’d had in the past.

Fred had to leave early so I did too. I walked along the Luggie again and, probably with the thought of sketching in my head, got a quick sketch of a bridge done. Not the most beautiful structure, but architecturally interesting and demanding from a perspective viewpoint. It’s not quite finished, but it was quite cold and my fingers were getting numb and I’d got a likeness of it. I had my leather gloves with me, the expensive ones. Two pairs for a fiver in Perth one year! I should have worn the fingerless gloves Hazy gave me to keep my hands warm but my fingers free. They’re not just for FOTO GRA4s! (in joke). They’re going in my jacket pocket tonight. I got some photos down the Luggie too.

From the 44 photos I took today, I whittled them down to 14 and from that I chose my 5 favourites. That’s what you see above in the matrix.

Be careful how you touch the blog today as it might still be a bit greasy, that’s because dinner was a small fish supper for Scamp and a special fish supper for me (fish in breadcrumbs) eaten with the fingers of course. I was feeling generous, so I shared my special fish with Scamp.

Looks like it won’t be quite as cold tomorrow. Ice is nice as long as it doesn’t stay too long.

A bright sunny day – 23 November 2016

Posted on November 23, 2016 by Zogman

It was a very bright morning and a very cold morning too, but I decided to get up early (well before 10am) and get out for a walk in the frosty air. It was quite a good decision. I took the Nikon with the 70 – 300mm lens and the 105mm macro too. Just in case there was a decent chance of getting some landscape shots, I took the Oly EPL5 with a 12-32mm lens. It’s a compact wee camera and lens and can fit easily into my pocket. Suitably dressed in warm clothing I headed over to St Mo’s and got some decent shots of the frozen plants and stuff. Only saw a couple of deer in the distance and didn’t have a chance of capturing them in Ones and Zeros on the card. Came home and had a hot shower to heat myself up and a cup of coffee to warm me internally while I processed the shots and uploaded three of them to Flickr, the three above. That was the end of my photographic endeavours for the day.

After lunch which was a couple of bowls of Scamp’s excellent soup, we drove up to the docs to see what medication we needed for foreign climes. It turned out that we needed a Hep A booster and a Tetanus. Neither were essential, but we decide we’d be better with them as they’re free anyway.

After that it was time to sort the dinner and get ready for Wednesday Salsa. As usual, it was cold in the hall, but after a full beginners class we were helping in and an ‘advanced’ class, we were feeling the heat. The advanced class was nowhere near as demanding as our Monday group, but did give us some well needed exercise.

It looks like another cold night tonight and an equally cold day tomorrow. Coffee with Val tomorrow and maybe a trip into town after that.

Just an ordinary Scottish day – 16 November 2016

Posted on November 16, 2016November 16, 2016 by Zogman

Windy, wet, sun and cold. Four seasons, sort of Scottish.

Today was Scamp’s turn to have needles stuck in her and lasers fired into her too. She had to go to the physio to get some treatment for her ankle. Something to do with her Achilles Tendon, or Archimedes Tendon as I got it wrong. Like me she wasn’t really all that bothered with the acupuncture needles or the laser and she’s got exercises to do to. Only five reps, three times a day not ten, three times a day like I had. That’s a bit unfair, I think. Sexist or ageist or shoulderist or something.

When we got back, I went for a walk over to St Mo’s in the sun, but ten minutes later the sun disappeared. I managed a couple of shots before the gloom and rain arrived again.

Spent some more time consolidating my photo collection and being side tracked just looking at the photos. Attempted to use File Juggler which is supposed to be a filing assistant on the PC. The best one apparently. Filing on a computer pivots on the use of folders, as anyone who has work with Windows, OS X or Linux will know only too well. Unfortunately after trying unsuccessfully for half an hour to move folders using File Juggler, I discovered this on the company website :

Question – Can File Juggler manage folders?

Answer – No, unfortunately not. File Juggler handles only files.
I plan to add this feature later.

This was followed by a link to a page that had nothing at all to do with File Juggler or the author’s apparent abortive attempt to implement this feature, which he seems to feel is not really all that important. I’m guessing he’s never worked with Hazel on a Mac. I got all my folders nested exactly as I wanted them in ten minutes flat using a script I’d written in Hazel. Sometime you just have to leave the PC to do what it does and get the work done on a Mac.

Salsa tonight. Helping in a beginner’s class at 6.30 then an advanced class at 7.30. Great fun as always.

Weather to get colder tomorrow. Pack wooly jumpers, wooly hats, warm gloves and snowshoes JIC and Sim!

So long Leonard – 11 November 2016

Posted on November 11, 2016 by Zogman

On a dismal day like this when I was coming down from another great holiday, the news that Leonard Cohen had died during the night was quite a shock. I’ve been singing his songs in my head all day. I hope, wherever he is, he is happy.

It was cold this morning, just below zero with a blue sky and that sharp feeling of a winter day. However, it didn’t last long and the clouds rolled in, the temperature rose a bit and it began to feel damp and dreary.

Went for a walk over St Mo’s and that provided today’s pics. Spent the rest of the day getting the blog up to date.

Tomorrow will be a better day.

A day of two halves – 22 October 2016

Posted on October 22, 2016October 22, 2016 by Zogman

Left home on a bright sunny morning heading for Perth to get essential supplies of tea and coffee. Scamp was going to a Christmas musical with her aunt. A Christmas musical in October? Really, that’s just a wee bit ridiculous. Yesterday at the Art Galleries I saw my first Christmas tree this year. Too early, people!

Most of the journey to Perth was fine with great visibility but about ten minutes out of the city the mist came down. After that the heavens opened up to dump gallons of rain on me. Well, it felt like it was all just on me, but I suppose others were getting wet too. It stayed like that for the two hours I stayed in the Fair City. I’d had enough. I had my coffee beans, my tea leaves and a piece of cheese as a bonus. Home was calling. When I drove back down the road, at exactly the same place where the rain had started, the rain almost stopped. The rest of the drive was in the dry and when I got home, I got out of the car into sunshine. I presume the gardens in Perth need the rain.

A roll ’n’ sausage improved my state of mind as it always does. Went for a walk to St Mo’s with the Nikon to get some photos. There wasn’t much to see, but lots of little fungi and those big ones too. The flowers in the wildflower garden are a joy to behold. Thankfully the gardeners haven’t cut them down with their usual unthinking efficiency. At least, not yet.

Dinner tonight, once Scamp arrived back was courtesy of Golden Bowl. Chicken Chop Suey and Fried Rice times two. Delicious as usual.

I couldn’t settle on a subject for tonight’s Inktober drawing and then I found it, sitting right in front of me. What better subject on a Saturday night than a bottle of beer? Difficult because of the symmetry of the bottle and also because glass is difficult to render in pen, I find. I did use a bit of brushwork to even out the glaze, but other than that it was just pen work. Quite happy with it.

Tomorrow? Who knows. Possibly a walk if the rain stays away in Perth and doesn’t travel down south, but other than that I’m open to suggestions. Hoping to get some sketching done outside.

The Weather Fairies Lied – 16 October 2016

Posted on October 16, 2016 by Zogman

They promised us sunshine. I think they must have had their fingers crossed behind their backs.

It started off dull, but we were expecting that. We knew it would brighten up around midday. However, when the wee hand was at 12 and the big hand was also at 12, the weather was much the same. It stayed that way with the occasional bright spell through the afternoon. I risked a half hour walk later in the afternoon and got a fairly decent portrait of a swan and a shot of a ‘Black Panther’ salute from a bush before the rain put an end to play.

Drove in to Glasgow in bright sunshine, but the sun was low and distracting. One of those days where you wish it was dull like in the morning. It might be boring, but at least there’s nothing to blind you. Salsa was very energetic and very, very enjoyable. I think Scamp was wondering what was coming next a few times when I started to string two or even three half moves together in a sequence. It must be really hard being a follower at times.

Tonight’s Inktober sketch is of some Lisianthus flowers in a vase on the table. I keep wanting to call them Lissajous which are a totally different kettle of fish. As far as I can remember, they were produced on an oscilloscope when we were studying AC current at college, back last century some time. Google it, that’s the best idea. Anyway ‘flooers’ as I call them are sometimes a picture of last resort, but these ones were quite a challenge. Pen was a blue Linc Saffron from the Pound Shop. Quite high quality rollerball pen, made in India. It has a tendency to smudge when wet, but dries to a water resisting finish, at least the black does. I’ve been using them for years now. If you see them on sale, buy a pack. A pound well spent. Paper was my favourite Pink Pig sketching book.

Not sure what to expect from the weather tomorrow, but hopefully it will be better than today.

Clingfilm – 11 October 2016

Posted on October 11, 2016October 11, 2016 by Zogman

A strange title, but hopefully all will become clear – like the clingfilm 😉

Lazy start to the day, but that usually happens on a Tuesday after a busy Monday with two hours of dancing and an hour of driving, then preparing the photos, posting them and then blog writing. I’m not moaning about, just explaining why we almost broke our self imposed rule of Up By Ten. The light seemed to be improving in the morning and I grabbed a few shots of the Gazanias in the hanging basket with their covering of raindrops from the showers during the night.

What to do with the rest of the day? We couldn’t decide where to go, because we had decided we’d go out. Dinner was sorted and we needed nothing extra for that. It was finally settled when Scamp said we didn’t have any cling film and that called for a visit to Lakeland. Scamp also wanted to get some flowers to plant in my raised bed for some winter colour. We could achieve both aims with a visit to Lakeland and Dobbies just outside Stirling. What exciting lives we lead when our day revolves around Clingfilm and Pansies!

We came back from Stirling over the Tak ma Doon road. Usually it’s a scenic road with plenty of opportunities for big-sky landscapes. Today heavy clouds had rolled in and everywhere was dull. Oh well, I still had the pics of the Gazanias to fall back on. Just to make sure, I went out to bother the wildlife in St Mo’s when we got back. Just missed Mr Grey, but he saw me and was off like as shot. More snails up trees. It seems that they favour Ash trees. Disturbed a couple of deer and this time I got a shot I liked. One young doe ran when she saw me, then turned and watched to make sure I wasn’t following, giving me the chance I needed to take the shot. I don’t know what kind of fly was on the tree in the other shot. It looked a bit like a mosquito, but on closer examination, the head looks more like a Jenny Long Legs (Crane Fly). Don’t know.

Today’s Inktober (Number 11) is of Monday’s Daily Sudoku which was completed yesterday (Monday) and was lying on the coffee table in front of me, so, like the hand yesterday, it wasn’t going to go anywhere. Fred P can do quick portraits or caricatures of people sitting near him in Costa and they always look like the subject. I just can’t draw fast enough to grab a likeness. It’s all about confidence I think. Anyway, I’m happy enough with today’s quick sketch. Made some more fruit scones tonight. I did think of sketching one of them, but they move off the plate too quickly.

Don’t know what’s happening tomorrow because we’ve got clingfilm now, so possibly no need to go out. Jamie G our Salsa teacher is off on business tomorrow, and we don’t know who will be taking the class. It’s not worth driving for an hour through Glasgow’s Wednesday evening traffic only to find it’s a, how shall I put this, less entertaining teacher. Maybe we’ll stay in and watch a film instead!

Autumn – 5 October 2016

Posted on October 5, 2016October 6, 2016 by Zogman

Earlier in the week there was mist in the morning and today I noticed that the leaves were turning, but I stuck to my pledge not to photograph the sugar colours and I stuck to my self imposed ban. As you can see, it was flowers that took the brunt of my photography today. It was a nice bright day with good directional light in the afternoon.

Those photos accounted for an hour in the late afternoon the rest of the time was spent farting about on computers. There’s probably a perfectly good verb for wasting your precious time trying to get the electronics inside the CPU and its various siblings to to do your bidding, but ‘farting about’ is an adequate substitute in my opinion. The less said about the detail, the better.

<Rant1>
Drove through horrendous traffic in to Glasgow tonight to get to the STUC building in reasonable time. Nearly knocked a bloke off his bike.

Doesn’t he realise that I own the road?
Doesn’t he know that I’ve got right of way simply because I could knock him down and kill him with my tonne of pretty coloured steel?
Doesn’t he know that the person on the roundabout has right-of-way?
Does he want to have “But I’m a cyclist, give me room” chiseled on his tombstone?
</Rant1>

<Rant2>

After losing my temper with the world, the cyclist and Scamp we made it in to the STUC building for salsa class in time, only to find almost the whole building was taken over by an LGBTI group. What the hell does the ‘I’ mean? Isnae sure? It looks like it’s like Countdown:
Consonant, consonant, consonant, consonant, oh, better have a vowel. Rearrange them into a well known phrase or saying. Failing that, decide on a use for the acronym.

</Rant2>

Now mentally knackered after navigating through the traffic and physically knackered after two hours of salsa I’m writing the blog at 11.15pm because the person who runs the salsa class decided undemocratically to make all the classes start half an hour later. Some people are great at business, but are just not people-people, if that makes sense. After you ask folk if a change is ok with them and they tell you that “No, it isn’t”, then that’s the time to have a rethink, not just carry on regardless. That was probably rant 3.

I did manage to get a quick sketch done for Inktober 2016. It was a bit of a crash at the last minute, but it was completed. A partly blind drawing, that is you don’t look at the paper when you’re drawing, you just concentrate on the subject. I did correct myself once or twice, but for the most part it was blind drawing. It probably looks like that, but Inktober is not about skill and ability, it’s about putting pen to paper, daily.

Looking for a relaxing day tomorrow. May let the train take the strain. Hoping for even more late sunshine.