Category: St Mo’s

Friday, Fridges, Coots and a Coy Crow – 29 April 2016

Posted on by Zogman

combo bFriday used to be the beginning of the weekend, especially on a long weekend.  Friday is the only day I regret being retired because you don’t get that TGIF (or TFIF for the atheists).  My dad was right when he told me “you don’t get weekends when you’re retired.”  Not to worry, the rest of the week makes up for Fridays!

Scamp wanted the drain in the fridge unblocked.  It’s a messy, awkward job that means the fridge has to be angled out from the wall so I can clean the drip tray at the back after unblocking the drain hole in the fridge itself, then drag it back in.  Only, this time when I dragged it back, one of the little wheels at the back came unstuck.  The axle had come loose from the wheel and in an attempt to fix it, I tried to drive out the axle using the screwdriver as a drift (<Technospeak> a DRIFT is a bar used to push another into or out of place </Technospeak>).  It didn’t work.  The axle got jammed in part of the chassis of the fridge.  Oh well, I’d just have to forget the wheel and use a packer to sit that corner of the fridge on.  Switched it on and … the light came on, but the compressor didn’t.  Shit!
Left it for about 10 minutes to settle but still no go.  Switched it off and made a cup of coffee while Scamp priced a new fridge.  I imagine I had rattled the compressor too much by hammering the drift.  After the coffee and the shock that the most expensive fridge she found was £9900, I switched on the fridge and Lo and Behold, it sprang into life.  Obviously my analysis of the situation was correct and the refrigerant just needed to stabilise itself.  Phew!

Went for lunch at Cotton House, then had Scamp’s tyres checked at Jim Dickson’s and finally booked her car in for MOT next week.  Lunch and housekeeping dealt with.

Walked over to St Mo’s and took the “Big Dog” AKA Nikon for a change.  The batteries in the Nikons last forever compared to the Olys.  About 750 shots at present with the battery on category 2 out of 4, 1 being New.  Got some shots of mummy coot sitting on a nest with at least one wee red chick in it.  Further on I actually framed my shot to include the round out of focus light.  The rest of the shots were too poor to bother with.

On the way home, I saw a crow having a bath in a puddle.  I thought it would make a good shot, so I brought out my camera.  The crow took one look at me and walked away.  Ok, camera back in bag and walk away.  Took a few steps and watched the same crow walk back to the puddle again with its towel over its shoulder.  It saw me watching again and did an abrupt about turn.  I didn’t want to delay it’s bath time any longer and turned my back on it before its bath water got cold.

Manic Monday – 25 April 2016

Posted on by Zogman

comboMost Mondays are manic for one reason or another.  Usually because they are formulaic in that we both float about in the morning, then have lunch and immediately after that Scamp goes to pick up some of Gems while I pack my bag and head off to the gym.  Get back once Gems have dispersed, grab a quick PoD and then make dinner before we go to salsa practise.  Back about 9.30, process the pics and write up the blog.  Manic.

Today we went to the pool for a swim because Scamp’s shoulder isn’t up to gym type exercise.  Swam for a while before the pool got ridiculously crowded (eight people trying to swim lengths were five are uncomfortably close).  Spent some time in the sauna and the steam room, then came home for lunch and for Scamp to pick up Gems.  I tried to paint for a while in the afternoon but I couldn’t concentrate, so I booted up and went for a walk to St Mo’s.  I immediately noticed a couple of deer right in front of me.  I tried a few shots but they were all views from the rear.  I didn’t bother to post them because nobody is interested in deers’ bums, except perhaps other deer and since, to the best of my knowledge no deer are visiting my blog or Flickr page, I thought I’d give the photos a miss.  I did get some nice (well, I think so anyway) contre-jour shots of trees and leafs, oh yes, I also got shots of a patient hoverfly and a shivering butterfly.  Taken in a hail storm while the sun was shining – It’s Scotland, you get used to that kind of weather.

That’s about it for Monday.  Not quite as manic as usual and not as formulaic as it sometimes is.  It just takes a little change to make all the difference.

Dickheads, Dobbies and Dough – 15 April 2016

Posted on by Zogman

comboToday was compressed into the afternoon.  We didn’t do much in the morning, but after lunch we went to the pool to test our theory that Friday afternoons are the best for swimming.

It would have been apart from a family of dickheads (isn’t it nice to be able to say what you feel without some censor redacting part of your prose).  The Dickhead family seemed to think that they owned the pool and freely ignored the signs that said ‘No Jumping’ and ‘No Diving’.  Still, the pool was big enough to accommodate us all, especially after I ‘accidentally’ swam right into Dickhead Junior when he stood right in front of me.  I could have avoided him, but why bother.  That’s what he expected me to do.  You must expect the unexpected.  I did smile and say “sorry”.  After that the Dickheads were no more trouble.

Went to Dobbies for a coffee and a browse round.  Scamp wanted compost and some more pots for hers and stuff.  We had our coffee and after discussion, decided that it was too wet to get the compost, better to wait for a dry day.  The pots were no use without the compost, so we crossed them off the list too.  Did get some seed potatoes and nasturtium seeds.  Plenty of time for compost since low temperatures are predicted for the weekend and I don’t think we’d be planting anything out in cold weather

Made some dough for pizzas for dinner and went for a walk to St Mo’s while the dough proved (rising process).  Got there and found I’d brought the wrong lens.  Not to worry, I’d just use what I had and change my subjects accordingly.  What I got were more shots of the leaves on 13th April which I now think are Dogwood leaves, thanks to The Beechgrove Garden. The other shots are of blackened rosehips and green shaving brushes from Larch trees.

After a miserable day with on and off rain, the sky cleared when I got back and blue sky moved in.  To be expected really as the forecast is for frost and ice overnight and a clear sky would pave the way for that.

Just walking in the rain – 13 April 2016

Posted on by Zogman

combo bIt’s been a bit of a mixed up day. It started off dry then it rained then it was dry for a while then it rained again. We had both decided to go to the gym in the morning. It turned out to be early afternoon, but who cares. Pool was busy when we got there, so we agreed to do a bit of gym work first. It looks like about 1pm is the optimum time for a swim. The “brown towels” (the spa folk) go for their lunch then and the pool empties. At least it did today.

After our lunch the sky cleared and the rain stopped and I went out to St Mo’s to get some photos, armed with both Olys in my new bag. I hardly got out the door when the rain started. However, I plodded on and got some shots of coots’ nests. I don’t remember ever seeing them before. Saw a deer, but it was off too quickly for me. There were lots of snails and slugs about, so that may be a sign that the worst of the frosts are past. Finally got some decent shots of bursting buds. Impressed with the sharpness from the Panasonic lens if I switch off the vibration control and rely on the in-camera anti-shake. Another lesson learned.

The Birds and the Bees – 3 April 2016

Posted on by Zogman

combo bThis was a very lazy, wet day with one bright light.

The rain was on and off most of the morning and afternoon, but Scamp was determined to do something about our summer holiday and we are now booked on a 14 day cruise to the western Mediterranean.  We’ve been to most of the places on the itinerary before, but it will not be a great hardship to visit them again.  Now all we have to do is pay for it.

The rest of the day pales into insignificance.  I went for a walk in one of the bright spots of the afternoon and got the photos above in St Mo’s.  I’m not sure if the insect is a hoverfly or a honeybee.  My money is on hoverfly because there is no evidence of a honeybee’s antennae.

A Dull Day – 28 March 2016

Posted on by Zogman

comboOverall, quite a dull day, well dull in as much as we didn’t go anywhere or do anything.  Just a normal working day, but without the work.  It looked like nobody else was working either because few cars moved from their parking places outside the house.  The weather was a lot better though.

The only thing I did do was to go to the Spar shop in Condorrat via St Mo’s of course.  I got a few arty shots and a couple of landscapes, oh yes, and a tin of spaghetti.  The spaghetti came from Spar, not St Mo’s and the landscapes came from St Mo’s, not Spar.  I hope that has clarified the situation.  Tonight’s dinner was fish fingers, egg and spaghetti, courtesy of my walk to Condorrat.

First episode of Maigret played my Mr Bean.  Really quite good, but I kept expecting him to start talking gibberish and was disappointed that he didn’t.  Having said that, I hate Mr Bean with a vengeance and I liked the realism of Maigret.  Worth setting a series link.

Weather tomorrow is to be similar to today, so I think we must get out and “DAE SOMETHING”.  That’s the plan anyway.

April Showers in March – 27 March 2016

Posted on by Zogman

combo bI started writing this, sitting in the Winter Garden at the People’s Palace on Glasgow Green with Scamp, having a late breakfast on a sunny intervals day.   We’d agreed this morning that that we’d go for a walk along the Green on this, the first day of British Summertime.  There were a few hardy rowers on the Clyde, but they were few and far between.  I’m guessing that some were absolute beginners just deciding whether or not this was a sport for them.  If there was a day to test it out, a cold, windy one with a strong current would be a good one to dissuade the unsure.  Although there were many sunny intervals, there was also a cold wind and on the way home from the Green we drove through hail showers.  Having said that, the sunny intervals made up for the wetter, windier times.

When we got home, I went out for a walk in St Mo’s hoping for some more shots to bolster the ones from Glasgow Green and the People’s Palace.  I got not one photo, in fact the camera hardly came out of the bag, so all of today’s shots came from the earlier photo-fest in Glasgow.  The daffodils were from our front garden and I have no idea who the sleeping beauty is (bottom right).

It was good to have some longer periods of sunshine today after the clocks went forward, even if we did lose an hour of sleep last night.

Hoping for more sunny intervals and even some short April showers (in March) tomorrow.

Two in a row – 20 March 2016

Posted on by Zogman

combo bWow!  Two sunny days in a row.  Allegedly this is the first day of spring, but with two sunny days in a row, it could be summer.  Not the start of summer, but summer itself.  Equinox be damned.  Everything could go downhill from here.  Despite the fact that the days are getting longer and the nights shorter, if it’s not sunny tomorrow then it’s a case of “nights are fair drawing in”.  Still, in the spirit of spring, Scamp got the mower out and cut the front grass.  This was swiftly followed by George across the corner getting stuck in and cutting his grass too.  I think he was slightly miffed that Scamp had beaten him to it.  I’d have cut the grass myself, but I know Scamp likes it done to her own formula and if I’d have done it, the stripes on the front lawn wouldn’t have been perfectly parallel, so I let her have first dibs.  Such a gentleman me!

What I did do was take myself off to St Mo’s to revel in the inexplicable second day of sunshine.  There weren’t many creatures to photograph.  No deer, no Mr Grey, not even a frog pushing its head above the pond surface.  What I did have was some low angle light to play with, so I shouldn’t complain.  Took the “Big Dog” (Nikon) with me as Little Dogs (Olys) are getting tired of being the general ‘dogsbodies’.  Managed to get most of the photos taken with ISO settings of under 2000.  It’s amazing what you can do when you have directional sunlight.  I was a bit concerned by seeing what I think was another ‘photog’ walking along the boardwalk.  I don’t know who he or she was, or how they worked out where “St Mo’s” is, but they must know that St Mo’s is mine and mine alone.  Yes, I’m willing to share it with others, but only if they write to me asking for permission first.  So, if you are reading this, interloper, do the decent thing and ask permission before you trespass on my personal space.  You have been warned.

Looking forward to see what tomorrow will bring.  Hopefully more sunshine, I’m not greedy.  Just one more day would be good.

A grey start with late brightness – 17 March 2016

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combo bThe day started off very dull and grey.  Scamp went off to meet a friend for coffee in Hamilton and reported that the weather there was much better than here in Cumbersheugh.  Nothing surprising there with our omnipresent Cumbersheugh Cloud.  I went up “The Toonie” to meet Fred for a coffee.  It’s not as if we don’t have coffee or coffee makers at home, it was just a coincidence that we were both meeting different friends for the same beverege.  Had a natter with Fred and we set the world to rights as usual then the unthinkable happened.  The Costa repair man came in to service the coffee machine and they could only provide tea.  Now I’m perfectly happy with tea, but as far as I know, Fred only drinks coffee and beer.  Hardly ever spirits and never tea.  So we had to either walk to the other end of the centre and enter the dingy Costa there or sit coffee-less in the light.  We chose the latter.

When I came home, via Tesco as I was cooking tonight and Dobbies because I wanted to be self-sufficient in mint for mojitos, the weather was definitely brightening up, so I got my boots on and went over to St Mo’s to get some foties.  Got a couple of shots of a pair of deer and a lot of contre-jour ones against the low light.  The monochrome one of the trees was a happy accident.  I was trying to  work out how to use my phone to geotag the photos in the new Oly and just took a grab shot.  When I got home, I found that I had indeed geotagged the shot but it was unremarkable and was destined for the bin.  I must have pressed a hot key that did a basic conversion to mono and when I was doing a final check of shots for the bin, I liked the result.  Not PoD, but interesting enough to save.  Have a look at it on Flickr viewed on the lightbox (press L) and see what you think.

Back in the old routine – 15 March 2016

Posted on by Zogman

combo bIt was a struggle but today we set off for the gym and a swim. The gym was tough, but I did my 6 torture devices and proceeded to a busy pool where I managed a couple of lengths without bumping into anyone, but gave up as more people entered the water. Went and sat in the steam room for a while before finishing off with five minutes in the jacuzzi. Exercise done for today.

Managed a short walk through St Mo’s later in the afternoon and caught a couple of oystercatchers unawares, then got another shot of a duck lifting off. Took “The Big Dog” (yes, JIC your terminology is rubbing off on me) with me today with the Tamron in place. It seemed to behave perfectly, mainly because I was limiting the ISO to about 3000, not its usual 25000. At least that gives the lens a fair chance to show its mettle without having grain the size of golf balls.

Other than that, it was a dull day with a cold biting wind, not a bit like yesterday. Might as well have been in Corralejo!