Category: St Mo’s

A cold and frosty morning – 17 January 2016

Posted on by Zogman

combo bWell, that’s the way it looked when we got up.  When I say ‘got up’, I really mean got out of bed, looked out the window and went back beneath the warm duvet again.  I’m not sure if it had snowed during the night, but the temperature was hovering around zero, so it might have.  Didn’t do much in the morning apart from clear up the kitchen a bit.

In the afternoon I struggled into my boots and gaiters to take a walk across to St Mo’s.  Lots of deer tracks, but no sign of the actual beasts themselves.  Spent some time watching the coots and ducks sliding across the frozen pond.  Managed to find a puddle hidden under a covering of snow on a layer of grass.  It was deep enough to reach up to my knees and cold enough to take my breath away.  That alone shortened my walk.  No tramping through the trees today, not with frozen tootsies.  Got a few photos of tracks in the snow, but nothing interesting.  There wasn’t really enough directional light to create the shadows you need when photographing snow.  Came home, dried off and stared at a glowing screen 1 for an hour or so.  I don’t suppose I will ever learn.

That about wraps it up for today.  We should have gone to salsa tonight, but the weather station said it would snow and the temperature was dropping from its high of 3ºc and we weren’t really all that bothered.  Hopefully we’ll go to class tomorrow.  Tomorrow is another day.

  1. “Maybe we spend too much time looking at glowing screens.” 22 December 2015 ↩

A bit of culture, sew there – 14 January 2016

Posted on by Zogman

Combo bAnother bright morning, bright but cold.  Since I was going to a sewing machining class, yes, that’s right a sewing machining class in Glasgow tonight and I wanted to see where it was, we decided to drive in to Glasgow.  It was really quite easy to find and it was near Kelvingrove Art Galleries, so it made sense to just stop and smell the roses, or look at the pictures.  It’s ages since we spent any time in the (F)art galleries, many more ages since I took a critical look at the paintings.  I won’t say I learned a lot, but I did see some intersting techniques that I’ll have a go at.  Since we were on quite a tight time schedule we left without listening to all of the organ recital, but it didn’t look as if Bowie was on today’s playlist.

I had an hour or two before I needed to get my threads and needles ready, so I went for a walk through St Mo’s.  Saw a deer in the distance, but that was it as far as the wildlife was concerned.  Even Mr Grey was absent.  Got some pics of frozen and snow covered toadstools.  We don’t often get toadstools in January, so this is another sign of the mild weather of the last few weeks.  Temperature is dipping quite drastically now though.  Frosted cars in the morning and the grit lorry making its rounds tonight.

Speaking about tonight, I drove into Glasgow to go to the Sew Macho class.  Couldn’t find the actual studio at first.  Luckily there were other dressmaking hopefuls there too and one of them knew where we needed to go.  Only four in the class and I, of course, was the oldest by far.  It was a really, really interesting introduction to the mysteries of the sewing machine.  When I was at school I wasn’t allowed to take Home Economics  – boys did Woodwork or Metalwork and girls did Cookery or Sewing and never the twain would meet.  I’d played about with Scamp’s sewing machine forty odd years ago, but apart from making strings of little ducks and little dogs, I didn’t do anything with it.  I was always scared I’d punch a hole in my finger with the needle, or I’d break the needle, maybe even both!
Tonight I learned to:

  • Set up the machine.
  • Spool the bobbin with thread and load it.
  • Do Single Stitches
  • Do Zig-zag Stitches
  • Make a Simple Hem
  • Make a Blind Hem
  • Sew in a patch
  • Sew on a button

All taught with good humour and confidence by teacher Jenny.  I even managed to patch an old pair of jeans.  I think I will dig out the old sewing machine and see if I can remember some of the techniques.  You never know, I might even make myself a tee shirt … someday!

A little bit of colour – 10 January 2015

Posted on by Zogman

combo bThere wasn’t much light today and it was raining. It was one of those days when you just wanted to roll over and pull up the duvet. I rolled over and pulled up the duvet.

After lunch, I was determined to find some colour in this drab landscape. The rain had turned to snow, well, sleet really, but that didn’t put me off. I’d found a long lost pair of snow gaiters and intended trying them out. To be honest, there wasn’t much snow lying, but the gaiters would keep some of the mud off my jeans. Or so I hoped. Actually, they worked quite well and I’m glad I found them.

Mr Grey was available for a couple of shots before he got fed up posing and flew off. Other than that and the ubiquitous swans, there wasn’t much moving at St Mo’s today. Can’t say I blame them. I got a few shots of some water dripping from dried up weeds (how do the weeds stay dry in this weather?) before I stuck the Oly back in the camera bag and headed for home. If you look closely, there is some colour in the shots, just not a lot.

A little splash of sunshine – 6 January 2016

Posted on by Zogman

combo bAlthough the day started with the usual dull, dull, dull, by midday it was beginning to brighten up a bit. Since Scamp had burned out the shredder yesterday, ripping up almost half a ream of out of date receipts, we had to consign the old shredder to the council tip and then go buy a new one. One out, one in. A good rule to start the new year with.

Went to Robroyston to check out the variety of shredders available. Available was the key word in the last sentence. Argos had the cheapest price for the one she wanted but, as with so many stores these days, they didn’t have any in stock. It appears that the only way some stores can survive the cheap prices of online shops is to advertise cheap deals on their website and expect you to buy online and then pick up at the shop. The shop then doesn’t need a great warehouse in-house so to speak, but to have a warehouse near at hand from which they can quickly have the goods delivered. Curry’s did have the physical shredder in stock and in the shop, so although it was more expensive, we bought it there.

While Scamp was shredding away happily this afternoon, I grabbed a chance to walk in the sunshine in St Mo’s. Got a few snaps of Mr Grey before I got too close and he flew off to his favourite hiding place among the bulrushes. Not long after that, the light levels started to fall off and we were back to four figure ISO values, but I did walk in the sunshine for a short while.

It’s a new dawn, it’s a new day – 1 January 2016

Posted on by Zogman

combo bA late start after a late night yesterday.  Typical of New Year’s Day.

Kippers for lunch that kept reminding me of their presence all day after that, despite a couple of cups of peppermint tea.

Went for a walk round St Mo’s with Scamp. Tried to feed the ducks, but it was the gulls and the swans that got most of it. I’m not sure Scamp enjoyed the walk, but she didn’t complain too much.

After the walk, I made Carrot and Cardamom soup from my new Nigel Slater book, thanks Hazy and ND’A. Then made bread for dinner tonight. Both of them were very tasty. Steak for dinner with brussels, cauliflower and roast potatoes. For Scamp’s dinner, substitute salmon for the steak. Coffee afterwards was the Christmas coffee blend Jic and Sim brought me. Very nice, better in my opinion than the Guatemalan, although I will of course have to compare them again in the next few days. Thanks to you two too. So, it was a family New Year’s meal, with everyone represented. Just as it should be.

An Uplifting Day – 27 December 2015

Posted on by Zogman

combo bWe woke to sunshine.  Real, unabated sunshine with drying streets too.  Scamp needed to go shopping, so we had to risk driving out to Tesco with no hope of getting a parking space when we got back.  When we got back after an altercation with a total prick in the carpark. – As an aside, I’d like to say that one of the great benefits of having your own little slice of webspace it that you can say what you really feel without fear of having it redacted by some pinhead admin.  I am the admin so I’ll say what I like. –   Anyway, the prick took umbrage at me bumping a car’s wing mirror (not even his car) with my trolley.  After emptying my trolley, I just gave him a smile as I walked as slowly as I could in front of his car.  One of the great benefits of being old is that you can do things like that.  If the aforementioned prick wants to scream and shout at you, all you do is grab your chest and stagger around a bit and watch the colour drain from his face.  Then you smile again, stick your tongue out and walk away.  It’s a brilliant windup.  Yes, I know ‘boy’, ‘crying’, ‘wolf’ etc. Until then it’s still great fun and to be recommended for dealing with angry pricks.

Got back to find that there was a wedding stretch limo reversing tentatively up the hill near our house.  To accommodate it, I had to park miles from the house and carry the bags down the hill.  Is that what they call ‘Karma’?

After a cup of coffee I went for a walk to St Mo’s armed with the Nikon and 70-300 and also the old E-PL1 with 9mm.  Got a few shots, but for once the 9mm failed to perform.  Don’t know the reason why.  It might have been too slow a shutter speed because there was a considerable blur in the images, but this is the first time I’ve used that camera/lens combination.  Maybe I’ve gotten so used to the remarkable E-PL5 that I’d forgotten how limiting the ‘1’ is.  Must do some more tests before I can make a reasoned judgement.

After that we were waiting for JIC and Sim to arrive from ‘darn sarf’.  They made really good time and were great company tonight.  Let’s hope the weather holds out for tomorrow, because it’s been a great day today, weatherwise and a very entertaining one too.

Don’t cross your legs – 24 December 2015

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DSC_4649- blog--358Scamp thought I wanted to go in to Glasgow today and I thought she wanted to go in. It wasn’t until we were walking down Bucky Street that the crossed wires became untangled. We had travelled in on the bus and had just been to John Lewis where I showed Scamp the toy I’d like in my Christmas stocking, an Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark II. Apparently Santa may not have any left as a lot of boys and girls have asked for that self same thing. Oh well, never mind, I’ll just have to wait until it turns up on MBP, second hand.

Went and had coffee in Cafe Nero at St Enoch’s, then headed back up to Sauchiehall Street. Blacks were having a closing down sale and I managed to snag myself a new Berghaus jacket. Maybe not as good as an Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark II, but a lot more practical.

Just missed the bus home, but that’s about par for the course at the bus station and got talking to a wee visually impaired man who told me you should never sit with your legs crossed because it restricts your circulation. You won’t feel it at the time, he said, but it will get you later. I don’t know where he got that information from, but he was quite adamant about it.

Weather was mixed. Beautiful bright sun one minute, torrential rain and hail the next. Scamp says we have to blame Storm Eva for that. When I got home I slapped some paint on a canvas while I waited out the hail storm that was battering the window and then went out for a walk around St Mo’s. It didn’t rain, but the sun didn’t shine either. Managed one shot of a confused wee green shoot that thinks it’s spring. I think there are more cold winds, hail showers and possibly sunny intervals between now and then. Keep your fingers crossed ….. but not your legs!

I saw the sun today – 20 December 2015

Posted on by Zogman

combo bToday we woke to sunshine.  Real sunshine from a blue sky with little pink clouds.  After half an hour, the pink clouds had turned gold as the sun rose a bit higher in the sky.  Amazing.  It didn’t last of course.  An hour later the rain was torrential – but the sun was still shining!  It wasn’t a sun shower though, the rain went of for a full 15minutes without relenting and the sun still shone.  Then, just as the sun disappeared behind the grey clouds we’ve become accostomed to, the rain stopped.  Strange weather.  At least the rain stayed off for most of the day after that although the clouds stayed, always threatening more of the wet stuff.

Since Scamp had done most of the cooking yesterday for J&M, I though it was only fitting for me to ‘recycle the dishes’ as they used to say in the Fairy advert (other washing up liquids are available).  Most of the heavy lifting had been done last night by the dishwasher, it was just the garlic encrusted pans and trays and the bowl that had contained the marinade (garlic) that formed the bigger part of today’s work.  It didn’t take that long really and I felt better for doing it.

After lunch I made the decision to risk getting soaked in the hope of getting some photos over by St Mo’s.  I was just walking over to the pond when heard a loud croaking above me, and there was my old friend Mr Grey, flying in for his own lunch.  I stalked him for a few shots from the relative cover of the Scots Pine wood, but I really wanted to get some photos of him taking off and soon I got my chance.  I thought I’d got some decent shots, so set off to annoy the deer.  The deer must have heard me coming because they were all hiding.  I did find some deer hair on the ground.  I remember deer hair from using it to tie fishing flies – many moons ago.  No blood, so are the deer moulting, casting, whatever it’s called when they lose their winter coats in this strange warm, dull, damp climate we live in now.

Daylight was fading so it was time to head for home.  At the wee pond, there was Mr Grey again, so I got a few more shots of him flying off to the middle of the big pond where he knew he would be safe from my depredations.

Such a (Mr) Grey day.

Cold and Frosty – 13 December 2015

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combo bOut just after 10.00 this morning to make the most of the bright light, blue sky and ground frost.  Just a quick trip to St Mo’s to see if there were any deer around (there were) and if there were any photo opportunities to be had (there were).

I had hoped that Mr Grey would be out near the shore fishing for food, but as I was walking across the road, he was flying above me in the opposite direction.  I did get a shot of two one-footed coots on the icy pond.  I guess it doesn’t hurt so much if you only stand on one foot, because only one foot freezes at a time.  I walked down through the deciduous woods without a sign of any deer, then when I was almost at the small pond, two of them ran across my path about 100metres away.  I walked on a bit and startled another group of five or six younger animals who sped away fast.  I didn’t attempt to photograph them, it was just good to see them run.

Walked on over the hill at the road and got a few more shots of frozen leaves and dried thistles.  The stuff most photogs like me take.  My kind of photos, Scamp calls them.  I liked the light on the pine trees beside the path from the boardwalk and got some good directional light on them.  After that, it was back home for tea and toast.

Didn’t do much else other than make some bread and cook the venison I got yesterday for my dinner.

At night it was the Salsa Christmas Ball.  I think we both had a ball, despite the floor being sticky with something unmentionable and there being very little room to dance when it seemed that everyone was on the floor at the same time.  Because neither of us had work in the morning, we could stay as long as we liked.  We liked midnight as a time to stay until.  By then I’d danced with seven girls which must be a record for me.  Still to see the Photo Booth photos, but I’m sure they will be hilarious.  Great time with great people.

The day that the rains came down – 29 November 2015

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ComboThis was yet another day of torrential rain.  We are certainly making up for the Indian summer we enjoyed in September.  Or, maybe it’s just the monsoon season!

Just before lunchtime, the clouds parted, the sun shone and the rain dried up.  I put a pair of wellies on and went for a wade around St Mo’s.  There wasn’t much wildlife in evidence, but the bright directional sun did light up a few things.  The usual clichés like raindrops on oak leaves and see through birch leaves.  The snow on the Meikle Bin gave an interesting landscape shot that looked better in mono than in colour.

After lunch we watched the Andy Murray building the foundations for his startling win which would seal the Davis Cup win for Great Britain.  We should have been watching the final Grand Prix race of the year, but BBC switched the sports round at the last minute and it was only Scamp’s skill with the Tivo box that saved the day … again.  Pity it was such a boring race.

Not long after I got back from my walk, the rain returned with the wind for a while.  The wind is predicted to reduce during the night, but unfortunately the temperature will reduce too and leave us with the prospect of ice and snow tomorrow.  That may make life interesting for Jackie who is staying with us for the next few days and travelling to Embra by train.