Category: Street

A day in the Toon – 5 July 2023

Posted on by Zogman

We drove in to Glasgow today just for a wander and the chance of a spot of lunch.

We started before that, at home having a serious talk about money and cars and it looks as if the blue car will be staying for a couple of years.

In Glasgow we began in JL. There is so little in the ‘toyshop’ now for me, it was really only a cursory glance over what little they had to offer. One overpriced camera (second-hand, although JL don’t call it that). The shop now seems to have become a clearing house for goods bought and returned, unwanted gifts, but really, whisper it, second-hand. Maybe it’s a sign of the times, maybe it a warning sign of things to come! Scamp was luckier than me, she found a couple of things in the sales.

Walked down Buchanan Street and along Argyle Street, taking in the sights and sounds of Glasgow. Scamp went looking for a dress she’d seen in M&S a month or so ago, but we came out empty handed.

By this time lunch was on our minds, but we couldn’t settle on a place to go. There is a new restaurant in Exchange Square and we thought that might be good to investigate. It used to be Zizzi’s, but now it’s called Banca da Roma. The building used to house the Bank of Scotland back in the dim and distant past. Lovely big space with a high, high ceiling with glass panels that spread sunlight over everything today. I had Porchetta con Salsa Verde as a starter and Rigatoni Amatriciana for main. Scamp opted for Forcaccia con Rosmarino as a starter and Spigola e Spinaci which is Grilled Seabass with sautéed spinach. Service was a bit slow and the food when it came was, to my mind, quite expensive for what we got. As a lunch it just about managed to fit the bill, but the portions were small. There was a 12.5% service charge at the end of the meal which might be standard practise in London, but is not common in Glasgow. “Style over Substance” was how Scamp described it and I couldn’t have put it better myself.

Walking back to the car I noticed a wee man painting en plein air in St Vincent Street, using oils. He was doing a pretty good job of it too amid the tourists and the traffic. I took a few shots over his shoulder and one became PoD.

Drove home after a relaxing day and started the procedure to get some of the scrapes on our car repaired using Smart Cover which we’d paid for when we bought it and never thought we’d use. I think it might be a long process.

Hoping to go to Dunfermline tomorrow with Alex. Today was a lovely warm day. Hoping for something similar for tomorrow. Scamp will be hoping for the same as she’s intending to cut the grass again.

Money makes the world go around – 6 June 2023

Posted on by Zogman

The money in question was foreign and old.

The money was Kuna abbreviated to kn, and the part of the world was Croatia. When we were last in that neck of the woods, last summer, we hadn’t spent as much kn as we’d intended to, and when we came home it was squirrelled away for use when the time came to travel to that far land again. Unfortunately we hadn’t noticed that on the 1st of January 2023 the kn was replaced by the Euro. Scamp had noticed this earlier in the week and after a bit of calculation we discovered that our 1500kn was worth about £150 if we could get somewhere to buy it.

We were going in to Glasgow today anyway to swap out a shirt I’d bought, not noticing it was a ‘Tailored Fit’ that wouldn’t fit my not quite svelte body. We’d drop in to JL first to see what they’d offer for our kuna. The answer was that JL didn’t buy kuna because there is no demand for it now, I suppose. However the cashier said she thought Euroexchange at the opposite end of Buchanan Galleries were still buying Kuna. We trotted along and after a couple of phone calls we were told that they would buy back most of the notes. Some of our smaller denomination notes were too old and virtually worthless, but we did get a fairly decent exchange rate for our out of date Croatian money. Quite delighted we walked on to Slaters where the shirt was exchanged for a ‘normal fit’.

On the way back I could feel that the unexpected money was burning a hole in Scamp’s pocket. But she is much more cautious than me and would only part with the ‘lump sum’ if she thought she was getting a bargain, and it appears that nothing she saw fitted that bill. Lunch was in Paesano and it was just as delicious as usual, sorry Alex! Coffee in Nero was the last stop before we drove home, but on the way there I took a few photos of the Donald Dewar outside Glasgow Royal Concert Hall. Donald Dewer, in case you don’t know, was the inaugural First Minister of the Scottish Government. That became PoD.

Sun took a bit longer to come out today. Maybe it wasn’t quite sure if those clouds were going to break enough to make it worth its while and it was late into the afternoon before it finally made up its mind to shine. Even the, there was a cool breeze. Maybe this is the end of summer, when it’s only just begun.

Tomorrow Scamp is getting her nails ‘done’. A birthday present voucher from her big sister that she’s finally used. Hope they aren’t those ‘Tiger Claws’ I see some women with!

Another day in the Toon – 27 November 2022

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We’d discussed the possibility of driving home via Glasgow yesterday, but the weather was so depressing, we left it until today.

It was a much better day today. Sunshine aplenty from early morning, so we drove in to Glasgow. Scamp had things to buy and I had photos that would need taking. Between us we achieved our stated goals. It wasn’t quite as cold as we’d thought, but when you were out of the sun it gave a better picture of the air temperature. Maybe it reached double figures, but not by very much.

We also made some time for coffee and a cake, but decided we’d just go home for lunch. The Christmas Market was jam packed with punters today, so we gave it a body swerve and headed up Buchanan Street. There were four little groups of children dressed in costumes and all well chaperoned who were performing dance routines all the way up the busy street and collecting for charity. I think we saw four of the groups, some with five or six dancers, some with just two, but all were very accomplished. We also saw a bloke who was jumping through flaming hoops and hoops with knives round the edges. He was collecting too, but not for charity!

I found my PoD at the bottom of the street. A low level shot of a bloke selling helium balloons. Those big bunches of brightly coloured vinyl balloons and I was lucky enough to catch him removing one to sell to a little girl. That was my picture of the day right there. I got a couple of mono shots too that made it to Flickr.

Back home and after lunch Scamp headed down to the shops to get a chicken for dinner while I worked on the photos. By the time she was coming home the light was beginning to fade, but by then the photos were uploaded into Flickr, so I didn’t need to worry about going out for more shots.

Dinner was roast chicken with potatoes and roasted veg and it was quite delicious. Pudding was just as good. It was a slab of ice cream with meringue crumbled over it. A healthy squirt of raspberry sauce finished it off.

Spoke to Jamie later and broke the news to him that we wouldn’t be coming down to their house for Christmas. The trains are too risky with every week bringing more strike announcements. The flights are overpriced as a result and for him to drive to the airport and back, picking us up and then delivering us back again would take a large chunk out of his day on what should be holiday time. We did say that we like to come down in the spring and we’ve agreed a possible time. Hope you’re not too disappointed Jamie. Glad you’ve booked a trip to see Jaime in Trinidad.

That was our day. Tomorrow we’re hoping to take Shona out for lunch. Out to lunch again, I hear you say?! Well, we haven’t been out for lunch this week yet. Mind you, it’s only Sunday!

 

Every light a red light – 31 July 2022

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We drove to Bishopbriggs retail park, more to get out of the house than any great desire to participate in any retail therapy.

Scamp was looking for a chance to refill the medicine cabinet. I was looking for a replacement Giotto Rocket air blower. I use it to blow dust off the camera sensor and I fear my 2007 model is blowing more dust on than its taking off. I didn’t find one in Currys. I didn’t really think I’d get one there, it’s a bit of niche tool. Scamp did, however, stock up on over the counter antiseptics, plasters, mouthwash and all sorts of fun stuff. While I was off the leash I bumped into a former colleague who was shocked to learn that it was 8 years since I’d retired. Her gaze went a bit distant when she said that she had maybe another 8 years to go before she would be able to retire. I smiled and told her she’d enjoy it when the time came. She was kind enough to smile back.

When we were heading back to the car I suggested that we drive in to Cowcaddens and walk to WEX to get the aforementioned Giotto Rocket. Scamp was in agreement as we had nothing else to do. I’d forgotten about the swathe of roadworks and closures that are going on in Glasgow at present. We managed with the help of the sat nav to avoid most of them and got parked, but only after we’d stopped at just about every red light on the road in. We walked over to Bath Street and climbed up the big hill then went down the other side, then found the shop shuttered and with a notice to the effect that due to unforeseen circumstances it would be closed today the 31st of July. Bummer!

We walked back to the car and drove home, but not until I’d taken a few photos in the uninspiring chasm of Cowcaddens car park. You can see what I did with the photos in Flickr. The other photo I took that I liked was a shot looking up Hill Street in town, with St Aloysius Church at the top.

Back home we both worked in different rooms taking things out of cupboards and putting them together, rearranging them and putting some back and more rearranging. Oh what fun it was. Well, not really, but it has to be done.

Dinner was trout fillets with potatoes and cauliflower. Dessert was an M&S apple pie. Then we sat down to hopefully enjoy a Hungarian GP with George Russell ending in the gravel trap in the first lap. That didn’t happen, but at least Verstappen showed him a clean pair of heels to finish first after starting in 10th place. Hamilton too beat Russell leaving him in 3rd place. If you didn’t want to know the final score you should have looked away just after “… M&S apple pie.”

Spoke to Jamie and heard about his win at a Shortbread Baking competition at work and his preparations for his last week with his present company then a week long summer holiday before starting his new job. Good luck with all of that, Jamie.

Tomorrow I may phone WEX to make sure they are open for business before I commit myself to driving in to Glasgow again. Hoping to avoid most of the red lights!

Messages – 23 July 2022

Posted on by Zogman

Today was one of those dull days where the sun can’t be bothered getting up, so it doesn’t.

In an attempt at finding something to get us out of the house today, we discussed what we’d have for lunch, but that discussion didn’t get us far. More constructive was the next discussion about what we’d have for dinner. Scamp said we needed a few messages and the answer to today’s dinner would be found in what messages we bought. Fine, we were on a roll. Where to go for the messages? I suggested two birds with one stone. We go to Morrisons and get the messages then have lunch in their cafe. That was the plan there and then. We’d drive to Falkirk to Morrisons for messages and lunch.

Drove to the shop, got the messages and put them in the car. Then things started to a bit awry. The cafe at Morrisons is now staffed by a large computer screen where you select and pay for your food. I don’t know how this works if it’s busy, as they can only afford one screen. No humans were to be seen. There was a till, but nobody in charge of it. Ok, I could do this. One scrambled eggs on toast. One filled roll with sausage. One peppermint tea. One Americano coffee. It’s a pain in the backside because you have to confirm everything after you’ve selected it. Paid it and got my receipt. When I turned to go away, the screen flashed up a message “Cafe Closed”. The time was 2.10pm. According to the website the cafe is open until 6pm, and it advertises an “All Day Breakfast”. All day seems to end just after 2pm.

Went for the coffee and the tea. Coffee was easy. Press the button and the coffee is brewed into the cup. Tea is a bigger problem. Hot water is dispensed, but where’s the peppermint tea bags? Eventually found someone at a till and asked where the tea was. The answer was a backhanded “It’s in the pots.” Where’s the Specialist Tea then? After a bit of huffing and puffing she brought out a small wicker basket and pushed it towards me. I think she’d used up her vocabulary on our previous conversation. I picked one and thanked her. A grunt and the basket was gone as was its guardian.

Then we waited. And waited. And further waited. Not just us, either. Half of the cafe seemed to be waiting. Eventually, 40 minutes later a roll with two barely warm sliced sausages along with the toast and scrambled eggs arrived. No apology. No sorry for your wait. We were the lucky ones. The others started forming a queue for their money back. I know Morrisons is in trouble. Now I know why. The most disorganised, unsupervised and plainly rude staff I’ve ever met. They deserve to go down with the sinking ship.

We drove home and it rained. Not a lot, and not for long but it did rain. We’d decided to buy in a curry for dinner.

Scamp phoned Jackie who claimed she was just about to phone her. Everyone always says that, don’t they? I know I do it all the time. While they were on the phone, I went out to St Mo’s for some photos. Decided to take a waterproof from the car and was glad I’d taken it because the rain came tipping down. Walked twice round the pond and got some photos of black currant bushes that would put ours to shame, growing without any care or weeding, planted by volunteers years ago. I nearly pinched some, but didn’t. On the way home I found my PoD. The light was just right for a view down the path through the trees, then this bloke appeared and the shutter clicked!

I eventually ordered a curry for both of us after a disgruntled half hour or so. Something was annoying me and I couldn’t decide what it was, so I went in the huff. So childish, I know. So me. Curry only took just over 45 minutes to arrive and it was really, really nice. Best one I’ve had from Bombay Dreams in a long while.

We watched an old episode of Death in Paradise while we ate. Neither of us could remember seeing it before. Strange, as I thought we’d seen them all.

It’s raining tonight, just as it was forecast to. It will do the garden good to get fresh rain water into the plants roots.

Tomorrow we have no plans.

A day window shopping in Glasgow – 12 July 2022

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Well, I was window shopping, but I didn’t buy anything. Scamp was shopping for ‘things’.

After some discussion today, I drove in to Glasgow. Scamp offered to drive, but I knew she doesn’t like driving in to Glasgow, so I said I’d drive. It was fairly easy to get parked in Buchanan Galleries, probably because it’s holiday time, but Glasgow was busy, probably because it was holiday time! Lots of people coming out of Queen Street station and just standing there with their phones or a map in their hands. I always feel sorry for them. There really should be a kiosk near the exit to help visitors, even those from Embra!

We walked down Buchanan Street (note, I’m giving it its ‘proper’ name today). I was looking for a pair of trainers. I’ve been looking for a pair for a while now and I now know that the problem is, I just don’t know what I want. We went in to Tiso and I tried on a couple of pairs that looked like what I thought I wanted, but I didn’t like them, or they weren’t comfortable. The bloke who was serving me couldn’t have been more helpful. He didn’t push me in any way or for any make. He just explained the benefits of the different shoes they had and left me to make up my mind. I may go back before the weekend and seek his advice again.

Scamp in the meantime had visited the first shop on her list and had secured the purchases she wanted. She was now complaining that a second shower gel she really likes is being discontinued. Why do people do this? The same happened to me with Grass shower gel in Lush. They discontinued it, even after saying it was one of the most popular sellers. Hazy found the same with Lush a few years ago. I understand that there is a constant need to push new products, but think about the consumers please!

We walked along Argyle Street to have a bite to eat and a coffee in Nero. Scamp chose a window seat that gave us a panoramic view along this busy street. That allowed me to grab a photo or two of folk just walking. Nothing fancy, no ND filters, just ordinary folk going about their business. Something I’ve not considered before, but it was interesting, just people-watching.

When we left there, fed and watered, Scamp wanted to go to M&S and I didn’t, so while she walked round the store, I took more photos: Pigeons on the disgustingly dirty glass roof over the entrance to Argyle Street station, A bloke sitting reading a paper which became PoD. I’d have taken more, but Scamp reappeared and we walked back and I got quite a decent one looking along an alley off Buchanan Street.

Driving back home, Scamp noticed that the heavy clouds, that had been blocking the sun in the morning and most of the afternoon had broken and blue sky was appearing. Were we going to have a decent evening? I hoped so. And so it was. I transplanted my teasel seedlings into individual pots and also potted up the last few kale plants. Scamp did some potting on too, giving two cuttings she’d taken at Jamie and Sim’s garden a new pot and fresh compost because they were building strong roots. After dinner we sat in the garden and read. I finished my latest book and now I need to start on one that Fred gave me.  FInally we had to go in because the temperature was dropping.  It had been a good day.

We have no plans for tomorrow yet.

Girls day out – 24 June 2022

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Scamp was going out to lunch and drinkies today.

We sat about in the morning wondering if the sun was going to come out or it the rain was going to fall. As it happened, the sun did win for most of the day. Scamp went down to the shops to buy enough booze goodies to take to Denny. I stayed at home and splashed some more paint on a failing painting.

After a meatfeast lunch for me (corned beef and roast ham with a touch of HP sauce) we started off. Scamp wasn’t so bothered because she was expecting to be waited on hand and foot In Moira’s new summerhouse (NOT a shed!). We picked up Jeanette and headed to Denny. For once I found the correct route to Moira’s house, and only made one mistake when I was heading home!

Back home I finally gave up with that painting, turned the page and started another one. I was getting no further with that one, so I left it to be continued at a later date and took two cameras out to St Mo’s to look for inspiration. Inspiration came late. After a couple of circuits of the pond, I had very little of interest. Finally, walking home I passed a woman carrying two bags of messages. When she was far enough away, I took a few shots of her with the LensBaby on the A6000. With a bit of Lightroom jiggery pokery, she became the distant subject of the PoD.

Scamp arrived back home around 6pm after an interesting day. Dinner was a home made pizza. To my mind the rosemary focaccia I made with the leftovers was far better than the pizza, but Scamp disagreed, as was her right.

Tomorrow we may go in to Glasgow to see the Pride march. We won’t be taking the train, though, because the trains are AFF! Another rail strike, the third this week had made sure we’ll be driving or busing in.

A walk in Glasgow and a short day, the shortest – 21 December 2021

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We decided we’d go into Glasgow for a walk to see the lights.

There weren’t nearly as many folk wandering the streets of Glasgow as there were a couple of weeks ago when Alex and I were there. We walked down Bucky Street and thought the crowds were sparse. Only half the stalls were in St Enoch’s Christmas market and Argyle street just had normal weekday shoppers. When we walked up Queen Street the streets were almost deserted. I think we were both shocked by the lack of footfall at what should have been the busiest week of the year. Only Covid seems to be doing good business!

Back home, another parcel was ready to be posted and although I had taken a few shots in Glasgow, I wasn’t sure I had a worthwhile PoD, so I took a camera when I went out to post it. For some reason, and for the second time I’d been at Condorrat post office recently, it was surprisingly empty. Maybe everybody is ahead of the game this year and already have all their cards and parcels posted. It’s either that or, as the lack of crowds in Glasgow would seem to indicate, nobody’s buying presents or spending cards. Anyway, parcel posted and cards too, I went for a walk in St Mo’s woods. Couldn’t find much sign of life animal or vegetable, but I did see the wee pond reflecting a leafless tree and took some shots of that. It was one of them that made PoD. A photo of Bucky Street from the Concert Hall joined it on Flickr.

That was about the end of the excitement and the exercise for today, but I did achieve my 10,000 steps which I haven’t done for a long time.

Today was the shortest day and it felt like it too. From now on the days will get longer, the sun will shine bright and longer and that will cause the temperature to increase. Oh look! Another flying pig!!

Tomorrow I’m out for coffee with Val. A chance for some ‘tech talk’. Then in the afternoon we are hoping to visit Margie. Getting out and about for a change.

Down the Green – 1 August 2021

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We went for a walk this morning.

It’s been ages since we’ve been down Glasgow Green. It used to be a favourite place for a walk, but we’ve been staying closer to home recently. Maybe it’s time we stretched our boundaries and found some new places to walk and also remembered old ones. Today we remembered old ones.

The park had changed a lot since the last time we’d been down there. The boathouse that stands on the banks of the Clyde just before the weir is under renovation, as is the riverbank from there to the weir. Not sure what they are doing and there are no signs to say what work is being undertaken, so maybe it’s going to be a secret submarine base or something like that. Much more information about the restoration of the boathouse which is now going to be a community hub of sorts with other areas inside, not just storage and repair areas for boats. Might be a good thing to give a wider section of the public a chance to use this space, not just the rather elitist rowing community.

We walked on and watched a man feed the ducks and saw the frenzy of wings as the gulls tried to steal everything white in the water. Most went for the bread, but some fought for a piece of white plastic bag. Each gull sure that it was theirs until another flew in to steal it. We walked on to the suspension bridge but there was little to see there. The university boat club who own the upstream boathouse were going out in fours, but we got bored waiting for them to do their downstream run.

I wanted to go for some photos in The Barras so we headed over there next. It’s just a shadow of its former self, but there was certainly more activity today that the last time we walked there. Good to see the trade in knock-off DVDs and CDs is still good and folk are making a dishonest bob from it. Scamp was half looking for a new kitchen carpet, but there weren’t many worth buying today. I got a few decent street photos, but very few were in focus. The Sony A7ii is noted as being particularly poor in the focus department. Some day I’ll trade it in and maybe get an A7iii, but not this week!

Back home Scamp went for a walk to the shops while I tried to fix the fairy lights on the back fence. The solar panel seems to be charging and the battery is holding a charge, so I suspect a break in the cable. Not easy to find and not easy to fix either. Cheaper to buy a new one.

When Scamp came back, we emptied the Tattie Bag and got enough for two dinners from it. We might empty the second bag next week, all being well. We might need to water it too, because the one we emptied was bone dry.

Dinner was a burger for me and a salmon fillet for Scamp. Both served with fried onions and our own potatoes.

I went over to St Mo’s for a walk, but didn’t get anything worthwhile. PoD went to a photo from The Barras of a group sitting having breakfast in Gibson Street.

Watched the carnage at the start of the Hungarian GP, then saw Hamilton attempting and almost failing to pass Alonso to come third to Ocon who won an amazing victory. I think the unlucky Verstappen was tenth after being caught up in the stramash at the start. If it wasn’t for bad luck he wouldn’t have any luck at all.

All in all, not a bad day. Tomorrow we may ‘stretch our boundaries’ if the sun shines.

Today we went to Glasgow – 12 July 2021

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Off to the Toon

We drove in to Buchanan Galleries this morning and got parked on level 3. Until Covid-19 made home working the norm and commuting a thing of the past, parking anywhere below level 5 would have been impossible. Today it’s become just a normal occurrence.

We walked up a busy Sausage Roll Street (real name Sauchiehall Street). I went left to get my hair cut and Scamp continued on to look for a dress shop. While I was waiting for the sole barber to finish the bloke in the chair, I noticed Scamp outside. I wondered what could be wrong, but it turned out that the shop no longer existed. Like so many it had become a victim of the same change in ways of working that allowed parking on level three of the car park. It is down to insufficient footfall. The barber, when he was cutting my hair said the same thing. He finished cutting my hair around 12.30 and I had been the second customer that day.

I met Scamp and we went for a walk through the town. Nobody in the Central Belt talks about the City of Glasgow. Glasgow is The Town or The Toon if you’re my age. Edinburgh is A City, Glasgow is The Town.

I wanted to have a look in a charity shop that used to specialise in cameras and lenses, but I think they are just starting to get back on their feet after the stramash of the last year and a half. They didn’t seem to have anything to interest me. We walked down to Argyle Street and for coffee and a bite to eat in Cafe Nero. Then it was on to Queen Street where Scamp wanted to visit Next and I didn’t. I did wander into and out of Cass Art. Nothing much to interest me there. However I noticed a shoe style that Scamp likes in Shuropody next door. Managed to catch her as she was walking past and she got a new pair of shoes that she wears about the house like slippers! We went home.

The day had improved greatly since we left the house and when we returned, Scamp set to, to rake up the leaves from next door’s tree. It might be in Angela’s garden, but it will always be referred to as Betty’s tree, Betty being the previous tenant. I got my, now manky, shorts on (retrieved from the washing basket!) and took my Sony with the Sigma lens for a walk in St Mo’s. I took lots of photos, but really wasn’t all that impressed with the results. The PoD went to a picture of another battered and bruised butterfly. This one was a Ringlet. Second favourite was this one, taken outside the GOMA on Queen Street.

Dinner tonight was Pasta with Pesto. Too much garlic in the pesto and maybe a mixture of leaves is better than just basil. I’ll try to remember that next time.

We watched the first University Challenge of the new series and saw Glasgow Uni soundly beaten by some London mob. Really, they both were thick! I think I answered almost as many questions as either team. I don’t think the London mob will go far.

Not a bad day. Scamp came home from The Town with a new dress and a new pair of shoes. I came home with a new haircut. Number 3 on the side and back, Number 4 on top. Apparently that’s called Two Guards!

Tomorrow we’re probably going shopping … or so I’m told.