Category: Technology

Happy Birthday, Birthday Girl – 24 March 2021

Posted on by Zogman

Up and out fairly early.

Had to get up and go out to get the makings of today’s dinner which would be Cod and Prawns with Fennel and White Wine. Sounds really posh, but is fairly easy to do, successfully. However, it does require Cod and Prawns as main constituents and I’d forgotten to get them yesterday. Also, pudding would be Panna cotta which really needs double cream and whole milk, also on the ‘forgotten’ list. So a quick run up to Tesco was in order. Because the ‘birthday girl’ enjoys the odd glass of Kraken dark rum, and because of a price reduction of the same in Tesco, it seemed the right thing to do to add a bottle to the list. Managed to curb my spending to those essentials, and drove home.

After a light lunch and with the panna cotta cooling, we headed off for a walk round the Broadwood Stadium, route, because the clouds were gathering and it would have been pushing our luck to go the full Broadwood Loch path. On the way there, we saw a young deer buck happily grazing by the side of the path. I grabbed half a dozen shots of it before it loped off a few yards than stood in open ground staring at us and looked like it was saying “are you still there?” Spoke to a couple who were walking the opposite direction and agreed that the animals seem to be less frightened of us humans. Probably a side effect of Covid because a lot more of us humans are invading the animals’ space. Not only heavy cloud, but also a cold wind when you were exposed to it might have encouraged us to walk that little bit faster round the Broadwood paths.

When we got home I thought I might have just enough time to go round St Mo’s a couple of times to augment my deer photos. I visited the ladybirds still hibernating in the woods and grabbed a few shots just to remind me of when I’d last seen them, because they will be leaving soon. Nothing else interesting poked its head out to see me.

Back home it was full tilt into prep for dinner. One thing I’ve learned from Scamp and from my one day at cookery school is mise en place, or ‘setting up’. I’ve tried to use it more and more in my recent cookery. Just getting everything at least ready, if not measured before I start. It saves time when the gas is turned on!

Starter tonight was Pizza Bread Bruschetta. Main was Cod and Prawns with Fennel and White Wine. Pudding was Panna Cotta with Raspberries. All worked out well and were deemed a success.

Hazel and Neil had organised a Zoom call tonight with Jamie and Simonne for the Birthday Girl. We had an enjoyable hour talking to them all. What a wonderful idea Zoom is. Not quite as good as face to face meeting, but better than a simple phone call. Great catchup you people. Thanks for organising it.

Well, that was a busy day. PoD was a photo I took of blossom on a fruit tree near Broadwood Stadium. Those who are observant will notice that the blog is now HTTPS after I eventually set up my security properly. I don’t think it will make any difference to your connection, but if it does, drop me a line. Tomorrow, relaxing I hope!

Deep breath and here we go – 22 March 2021

Posted on by Zogman

Today I left Sierra behind and found Mojave.

I’ve been running Sierra on the iMac since I bought it about four years ago. It’s been getting slower and slower all that time. Finally, today, after making another backup and filing away some important passwords, I ran the Mojave installer and went to have my lunch. I fidgeted and paced the floor like a dafty on and off for about half an hour after that. Actually, the time scale the installer gave was almost correct and after an hour I had a new, responsive operating system. I’m quite impressed with it and have learned a lot in the process. The main thing I’ve learned is to let the computer and the code I’m injecting get on with things and don’t poke about in it. I’ll try to remember that when things go wrong as they did about half an hour ago when my memory usage was red-lining and one app was taking up twice as much physical memory as I have installed. Don’t ask me how that’s possible, I don’t know, but it just is.

It was a dull day, so I suppose it was the perfect day to do this kind of messing around. It didn’t actually rain, but it looked like it wanted to. Scamp was busy doing housework while I was pacing the floor and swearing at anything that got in my way. Eventually, I closed the computer down, grabbed my camera and went for a walk in St Mo’s. For the last week the weather has been really like spring, but today it was as if we’d returned to winter. Cold wind, grey sky and not a lot of light. However I was out. I did two circuits of the pond and then came home with a few photos, two of which got red spots, which means they were good enough to post on Flickr. PoD went to the photo of the red flower with the zig-zag stem. I also took a few shots of desiccated weeds. The structure of weeds is really interesting. As someone who used to make a living drawing structural steelwork, these featherlight vertical structures are amazing. They can sway in the breeze and not break. They have evolved to cope with wind, rain, snow, sun and ice. If you study them, they are incredibly strong for their light weight. Anyway, as I photographed some weeds a line from a George Gerdes song popped into my head, “Seeds that I’ve sown were all a bunch of weeds”. When I got back home I searched for George Gerdes and found that he had died of a brain aneurysm on January 1st this year. He was 72. We heard him sing at a Loudon Wainwright concert in Glasgow away back around 1974. RIP George. I loved the humour of your songs.

We had a quick attempt at the figure we learned yesterday, The Five Step, but after Scamp trod on my toe and I trod on hers, both by accident, we decided to call it a day and try agin tomorrow.

There will be some worried faces in the SNP party tonight since Nicola Sturgeon was cleared of ‘breaching the ministerial code’, which is legalese for ”She didnae dae it!” That means all those who had their daggers drawn ready to take her down will be keeping a low profile for some time to come. I’m not saying she’s vindictive, oh no, I didn’t say that. I’ve always said she was the best leader we’ve ever had. Ahem, I think I got away with that.

Tomorrow looks reasonable weather wise, but we may get some of the wet stuff.

 

 

Mothers Day – 14 March 2021

Posted on by Zogman

So like mothers all over the UK, Scamp had her breakfast in bed.

I joined her for a while, but I had ’Things To Do’. Things like finishing today’s Sudoku and making the dough for flatbread to have with tonight’s dinner. Things like clearing away the clutter from the back bedroom. All of which gave me no time to think about cleaning the sensor of the Sony A7M2. Anything to stop me from doing it. Luckily, Hazy phoned to wish her mum a happy Mothers Day. She also gave us an update on the new kitchen which appears to be nearing completion.

After the phone call, Scamp decided we should go for a walk. The length of the walk and the destination would depend on whether or not the rain stayed off. I had my doubts that we would get far before that happened and on this occasion I was right. We had hardly got 100 yards before the first drops fell, but we were out now and the destination was set at St Mo’s Park. Probably the shortest walk and definitely the most sensible, after our foray into the wilderness of Palacerigg during the week.

We did a circuit of the pond, saw some geese that were feeding on the grass beside the path which is quite unusual as they normally stay in the pond itself being carefully monitored by the two resident swans. There were two serious looking fishermen with serious looking kit. First time I’ve seen pole fishing being done at the pond. Most people who fish the pond carry the usual kit which is a spinning rod and reel and a selection of spinners, plus the inevitable half bottle of Buckfast. More serious ones bring a seat and an umbrella, a coarse fishing rod and reel with a collection of floats and half a dozen cans of lager. The blokes today were using fishing poles made of fibreglass or more probably carbon fibre, massive things about ten metres long. They had purpose build and chrome plated rod rests too. Most significantly, neither of them had any alcoholic beverages visible about them. Obviously serious, but not ‘real’ fishermen.

We left them to their Sunday morning entertainment and did two circuits of the pond, sheltering under one of the big conifers between circuits when the rain got too heavy. We declared that two rounds of the pond was sufficient and went home for lunch.

<Technospeak>
With the walk and lunch out of the way, there was no excuse. It was time to perform open heart surgery on the Sony. It’s not that I haven’t done this operation before. Anyone who owns a DSLR or a modern mirrorless camera with more than one lens has had problems with dust on the sensor. Called “Dust Bunnies” they are the irritating black spots that appear on photos. It’s not that I have had any serious problems with the cleaning process either. I did make a tiny scratch on the glass once, but it never made a bit of difference to any of my photos. The process is simple. Remove the camera lens. Put a couple of drops of extortionately priced sensor cleaning liquid on an equally extortionately priced sensor swab. Gently wipe the swab across the camera sensor. Flip the swab over and wipe it again in the opposite direction. Put the swab in the bin. With a bit of luck, you’re done. If not, you might need to go through the operation again with another gold dust swab.

I did all that and was happy with the result. Not perfectly clean, because the sensor never remains perfectly clean, there will always be bunnies somewhere and the replicate at an alarming rate, especially when you change lenses a lot, like I do. Maybe that’s why they’re called ‘bunnies’!
</Technospeak>

I was doing dinner tonight, but it was a simple Holy Cow curry. Simplest curries I’ve ever made. I commend them to you. I also made flat bread to go with it. Scamp did dessert which was meringue nests with tinned apricots. Tastes much better than it sounds.

Dance class tonight was checking on our Waltz and Rumba then Tango. Only about seven or eight steps, but so much to remember, like bend your knees, turn your feet out, tuck your right foot into your left instep. It seemed such a performance for half a dozen or so steps, but it did feel more like a performance than either rumba or waltz did. This was a whole new ball game.

PoD was a photo of catkins over St Mo’s. I took it after I’d done the open heart surgery on the Sony. Just to test that most of the bunnies had gone and that it’s little heart wasn’t broken. If that means nothing to you, it’s because you skipped the interesting Technospeak section!

No plans for tomorrow yet because we have a Tesco order coming some time in the afternoon.

Another early rise – 13 March 2021

Posted on by Zogman

Just because we don’t need to.

Third time this week we rose early. Instead of having breakfast in bed we had it in the living room, fully dressed. Only one of those times was enforced, the other twice were voluntary. Can’t say it made the day any better, or more memorable, but it meant we saw more of it. It may continue and it may not, but for the moment it’s fine.

It was a lovely morning with sun streaming in the window. However we were waiting, or at least I was waiting for a parcel from Amazon. One of the great things about an Echo/Alexa is that it spins a green light if you have a notification, which is usually an Amazon delivery. What’s not so great is when the lady in the grey cylinder tells all and sundry what’s in the delivery, especially if it’s Scamp’s birthday present and Scamp is sitting right next to me on the couch! Well, at least she knows now that I remembered what she asked for. The delivery usually arrives within an hour of the notification. Today? Six hours.

Lunch was a giant fish finger and an egg each.  I couldn’t resist taking a photo of the eggy face in the frying pan.

The rest of the day was dull. Weather wise and also emotionally. Not a lot to do, rain looked as if it was just about to pelt down again. Scamp went out to the shops for milk. I stayed in to wait for the parcel that was no longer a surprise. The rain didn’t arrive.

Later I went for a walk to find a PoD. It turned out to be some moss seed stems. Proper name, fruiting bodies, technical term sporophytes. Otherwise known as Green Blobs (when immature) and Brown Trumpets (when fully mature). The ones you see here were found on a tree trunk and growing head-down which didn’t fit my idea of the picture, so they were rotated and tweaked in Lightroom. It had stayed dry for most of my walk, but the rain came on as I was heading home.

Dinner tonight was a starter of pizza bread with olive oil, rosemary and sea salt. It started off as a bit of left over pizza dough from yesterday, but it tasted quite good, if a bit thin. Main course was another of Charlie Bigham’s ready meals. This one was Veggy Lasagne. Honestly I didn’t notice that there was no meat in it. It was quite delicious. Pudding was another CB offering of Sticky Toffee Pudding. Not as good as Scamp’s, but still not bad. Main and a pudding for two for a tenner.

That was about it for a dull day with an unwanted surprise.

Tomorrow breakfast in bed has been ordered by Scamp.

 

Just one of those days – 3 March 2021

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They say they come in threes.

Woke to the sound of something trying to find a way into the loft from the roof! I suspected a bird, but it could have been something more sinister like the squirrel that tormented us for weeks over a year ago. I’d boxes to put up in the loft anyway, so it was up, shower then grab a torch and a facemask. The facemasks we all have to wear these days are great for using if I have to go up into our loft and don’t want to breathe in the fibreglass fibres I usually disturb. The rat trap we had used against the squirrel was still there and still empty but there was definite activity and it seemed to be between the sarking and the roof tiles and it was definitely a bird. That means it has found an access hole in the gable end of the house. There is no way I’m going up onto the roof to fix it. That’s a job for a roofer. That was problem one.

The rest of the day went reasonably well. I sawed up the old steel clothes pole from the back garden. I used to be able to wield a hacksaw for hours of metalwork at work. Today I was knackered after sawing through an old, rusty hollow steel pole about 70mm diameter. Put the pole and a host of other clutter Scamp had found in a cupboard in the car and took it all away to the council skips.

After lunch I made a pot of soup for dinner and with it simmering away I went for a walk in St Mo’s and although the light was poor, I got a few photos. Certainly enough to create a PoD from. It’s a sepia toned shot of some moss fruiting bodies taken with the kit lens. Weather was mild, but when I was heading home it turned into a damp cold smirr.

After dinner we were just settling down to watch the final of Landscape Artist of the Year when the phone rang. It was my niece phoning to say that she and her son were locked out of the bathroom and could I open a padlock. I’ll explain. Her son, has learning difficulties and has a habit of sneaking into the bathroom and filling the bath which sometimes overflows and runs down into the person below’s flat. To stop this I put a hasp and staple on the top of the door and locked it with a padlock. Somehow the keys had gone missing tonight and her son needed to use the toilet. Could I help. Problem two. So I drove up to the house and unscrewed the staple from the door jamb. The easiest thing to do. Drove home. Accidentally pressed on the horn and no sound. Tried it again intentionally and still no sound. Problem three. I’ll check again tomorrow, but I think this will require a trip to the garage in Stirling.

Like I said at the start: They say they come in threes. I hope I’ve had mine for the month! Don’t know what we’re doing tomorrow. We’ll need to wait and see.

How much more rain is up there – 4 February 2021

Posted on by Zogman

I don’t know how much more there is in the clouds, but a lot of it fell today. All day!

It just never stopped today. Rain, rain and more rain. We spoke to Hazy on the phone for half an hour in the morning. Found out, among other things, that Neil D was doing a virtual parents night last night and has another one tonight. Tonight’s one has every slot filled. So that’s probably about two hours of non-stop talk. Rather him than me.

I was just getting ready to brave the elements and go out to shops after lunch when Fred phoned. I realise now I should have just gone and chatted with him on my rainy walk, but I’m an auld guy and I despise these youngsters who wander around shouting at the top of their voices, apparently to nobody. Maybe they are talking on their phones through the tiny mike on their headphones, maybe they are just pretending they have friends when they have none. It’s even harder to decide what’s going on when they’re wearing ‘Real’ wireless headphones that dangle like little white earrings and have no white cord connecting them to a phone. Anyway, you weren’t going to catch me doing that sort of thing, so I told him I’d phone him back.

Actually it wasn’t too bad walking in the rain. I quite enjoyed it, although I didn’t have a chance to take any photos. I did try, but it was impossible. Tomorrow’s prompt for EDiF is “Underwater” and that’s what today’s PoD would have been if I’d taken anything. As it was, I chose to walk home and photograph something at home. That something turned out to be a Delphinium flower. One of many in the bouquet we got on Saturday. I quite liked it and thought it looked like a nursery rhyme flower fairy. Scamp saw a unicorn in it. I wonder what you’ll see.

I did phone Fred, but he was busy at the time and didn’t pick up. He phoned back later in the evening and we had a good natter about painting and Landscape Artist of the Year with judges that were basically talking out of their collective backsides, although Fred used more pointed language!

I was late starting today’s sketch although I’d worked it out in my head before I started, The topic was ‘Winter’. I think it looks a bit twee, but some of the painting is ok. It’s done and posted in time and that’s the main thing. Tomorrow I’ll start early and get the drawing/painting done in daylight. That’s what I said I’d do today, but there just wasn’t enough daylight to draw by!

More rain and snow forecast for tomorrow. After that it dries up a bit, but it gets a lot colder too. You just can’t win at this time of year.

A day for recharging batteries – 31 January 2021

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After the biz of yesterday, we both agreed we needed a slower pace today.

We did think of going out for a walk in the morning, but although it was bright enough, it was cold and there was a scattering of snow on  the ground, so we talked ourselves out of it. I think I might have eaten just a little too much yesterday, so a light lunch was called for. On Friday I’d bought half a sourdough loaf I don’t really like sourdough bread to eat on its own, but toasted it is delicious, so we had scrambled egg on toast.

Feeling a lot better, I settled down to documenting yesterday’s highlights. My usual readers will probably have read all about it by now. Scamp was pruning the greenery that was covering some of the blooms we got yesterday and that made the display look even better. With photos and blog posted, I decided it was safe to go for a walk in St Mo’s. Nobody had moved from their parking spot today and I was loathe to give up my space and have to park by the side of the road when I got back from somewhere more interesting than St Mo’s. Besides, I’d left it a bit late and the light was already fading.

<Technospeak>
I walked round the pond, then out through the woodland looking for likely subjects. I wanted to try out a new focusing method on the Sony, called “Back Button Focusing”. I’d read about it before, but it seemed a bit complicated to set up although most photogs seem happy with the results. Basically, you nominate a button to be your focusing button and remove the shutter button’s ability to refresh focus. Then you can take your time focusing using the back button and when you’re happy, press the shutter to take the photo. It only took me about ten minutes to set it up and it did seem to work as described. I took some photos using it, but couldn’t work out how to return the setup to the camera default where a half press on the shutter sets focus. I decided the light was fading too much and I was almost sure I had at least one shot on the card that would make PoD, so I set off for home.  It had indeed worked. Most of the photos I’d take were solidly in focus. After re-reading the instructions I found the magic button on the camera that would not only return it to normal service, but could be used to switch on the Back Button Focusing again. PoD turned out to be a monochrome leaf dangling pitifully from a branch with new buds starting to form. The old and the new.
</Technospeak>

After yesterday’s overindulgence, tonight’s dinner was a much pared down affair. A simple Spaghetti a la Carbonara. It might have been even better if I’d cooked the spaghetti properly, but it was edible.

Dancing class tonight centred on the rumba routine we’d been learning and I’d been dreading. We had a practise before the class and it was going fine until the music started, then it went to pot. However by the end of the lesson it was looking and feeling much better. I actually enjoyed it.

Spoke to JIC and found out that Vixen now has an injured shoulder, caused, according to JIC, by her having two speeds, Full Ahead and Stop. After being out walks with her I can understand that.

A gentler G&T each tonight and an early(ish) bed again. Temperature is already heading towards zero. More snow predicted for tomorrow, the first day of February and the start of the 28 Drawings Later challenge on FB.

Back in business – 14 January 2021

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No more using the washboard in the sink and then pressing the water out of the clothes with the wringer.  If none of the foregoing made any sense to you, then don’t worry. You’re just too young to understand.

Snow, and lots of it was forecast for today. At least 10cm (4” in old money) would have fallen by 8am. I woke at about 630am and yes, there was a covering, but only that. Some footprints probably from Wullie, who lives at the corner, and Hamish the dog were visible, but it looked decidedly wet underneath. By 9am another scraping of snow had fallen, but already it was sleet that was falling. It looked like the weather fairies were crying Wolf! again. One day they’ll get it right and we’ll be caught out.

I got a text later in the morning to say that the washing machine would be delivered between 2.45 and 6.45pm. That gave me enough time for lunch and a quick walk round St Mo’s before they arrived. So after lunch I grabbed a couple of cameras and headed off to the snowy wastes of St Mo’s. Land of adventure and snow. Found a few worthwhile things to photograph. Dropped in at my old pal, the white spotted ladybird which was still dozing away dreaming of eating aphids. PoD was going to be either a slow shutter shot of some snowmelt running in a newly formed burn by the side of the path or a low viewpoint shot of some moss fruits poking their heads above the snow. After St Mo’s, I walked over to Condorrat to get bread and milk. On my way there I got the call from the Currys workies to say they’d be 20 – 25mins. Just enough time to do the shopping. They passed me on the way home. But the time I got to the house they had disconnected the old machine and were wheeling the new one in. It took them about 15mins total from start to finish.

One of the blokes had checked that it was taking water in and pumping it out and that the spin and wash were working. Then he set it up for an initial wash cycle of 30 mins to clean all the piping and the drum I expect. When they had left, Scamp read and reread the instruction book and so did I, but we were none the wiser. First attempt was a failure. Second one worked perfectly. I was surprised at how quiet it was on the wash cycle, but a bit noisier in the spin which admittedly was faster than the old machine. It did do a bit of a wobble dance at full speed. It’s early days yet, but it seems to do everything we need and none of the things that would only confuse us.

Dinner was to be Muttar Paneer (Peas and Indian Cheese) and since my writing was on the instruction book I got to make it. Many moons ago I went on a one day cookery course and they taught us about Mise En Place. It means “everything in its place”. Scamp always encourages me to do it and I did it today. It makes a great reduction to the stress levels when you have all your ingredients and utensils just there where you need them. I’d like to say everything went like clockwork, but it wasn’t quite as smooth as that. The curry was a bit hot, but very tasty. Scamp never even mentioned that the paneer was squeaky. One of her pet hates.

PoD turned out to be the moss picture. There just wasn’t enough water coming down that burn to give the impression I was trying to get and the 1/5second shutter speed meant there was a bit too much softness. Tripod next time and more water.

Tomorrow we have no plans. I got milk and bread today so there is no need for us to venture into crowded shops.

Washing Machine Blues – 13 January 2021

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It was one of those days that didn’t entice you to go out. Then the rain came on.

A request had been made for a loaf and I’m the bread maker, if not winner, in the house, so I weighed the ingredients and put them in the mixer and turned it on for ten minutes. Covered the mixing bowl with cling and left the bread to prove.

It was round about then the washing machine suddenly went silent and the spin light started flashing again. I knew the procedure. Turn it off, wait until the door clicks its unlock signal and haul out the two towels that were sodden with water then drain the sump. Load in one towel and a litre of water, switch it on and let it spin. It didn’t spin this time. Ok, unload it again, drain the sump and then leave it for a while, ten minutes should be enough, and try again. This time it worked. A wet towel came out. Nowhere near dry enough really, but a lot better than the waterlogged one we put in. Repeat the procedure from “drain the sump …” and try again with towel two. That one worked, but by this time, Scamp was researching washing machines with Which and pricing them on AO.com. I knew the game was up. We couldn’t go through this charade every time we had washing to do. I settled down to check Currys. They price matched everything Scamp was looking at, but could deliver and fit tomorrow. Long story short. The new washing machine is booked to be delivered and fitted tomorrow afternoon. The old one which weighs a hefty 65kb will be taken away by them.

By then it was time for the bread to go to second prove and nearly time for our weekly visit from Barbara. She arrived just as the rain got a bit more aggressive. We picked up our sample kit at the door and agreed we’d do the rest of the survey stuff over the phone. With that done and the samples picked up we could tick off another thing done.

I was having Blackpudding and Mince Meatballs with Marinara Sauce for dinner. Scamp was having Veg Sausage, Mushrooms and some Marinara Sauce. Both served with a baked potato. Bread was in the oven and came out looking a bit flat, but turned out to be perfectly fine.

After dinner I just couldn’t resist the temptation to drill out the drain plug in the washing machine to see what was causing the problem. I found it. The remains of an old school pencil smashed into tiny little bits and one big bit. Big enough to jam the pump. So I’d imagine the pump will have been damaged and we already suspected that the motor was ageing, so maybe that pencil did us a favour and forced our hand.

Neither of us was interested in going out today because it was really grim out there. Today’s PoD was an abstract. Two forks interlinked and lit by an LED torch. Various filters and presets added in Lightroom. Just a bit of nonsense to fill a space in the 365.

Heavy snow is predicted for tomorrow morning. It was predicted for this morning too and never materialised. Perhaps it just got the day wrong. Hopefully we’ll know tomorrow.

More snow – 8 January 2021

Posted on by Zogman

Woke to another dusting of snow. A light dusting this time.

Fed the birds to keep them happy and tried to defrost the birdbath, not that any of the birds would have been suicidal enough to attempt a bath in this weather, but they might appreciate some liquid water to drink. Lunch was Scamp’s savoury slice which warmed us up on a decidedly cold day. After that and a cup of coffee we felt it was safe enough to go for a walk to the shops to get today’s dinner. Which was to be Neil’s Italian Chicken.

On the way back I took a detour round St Mo’s in search of some beautiful sunny weather and some snow. I found both. The paths were slippy and I didn’t have my YakTrax with me, so I was trying to be careful and managed not to fall or even to slip … very much. Got my photos and even made my first ever video with the Sony camera. It was of a crow rolling in the snow! I’m guessing it was getting the snow crystals into its feathers to help it dust off the mites that were harbouring there.

Back home we spoke to Hazy who was eager to find out all about yesterday’s mysterious visitor. I was forgetting that Neil D had already performed the “cotton bud down the throat” trick with the same gagging response we had.

When we came off the phone we found that the washing machine was stuck at the spin cycle. It was still displaying 12 minutes to go, but the Spin light was flashing. Also there was a fair amount of water in the machine. We managed to get it to drain some of the water out and Scamp removed the wet clothes and took them up to drip off in the shower. Useful things showers! I found the drain pipe and drained off the remaining water, then tried to remove the pump filter. It wouldn’t budge. This machine is about 20 years old and I’ve maybe once needed to remove this filter. Either it is baked in or there is something inside blocking it. My money is on the second one and if I’m right, it’s money, some coins, that are doing the blocking. The only way to get into the filter is to turn the machine on its side and remove it from the bottom. Now that’s easier said than done because if I recall correctly there is a big block of concrete that acts as ballast for the rotation of the drum and moving that is going to be a job for a JCB. Scamp said a firm NO to that course of action. We tried the machine again and Lo and Behold, it worked. Not at its best, but we did get all the washing spun dry(ish). How long it will work before the aforementioned blockage returns I don’t know. We spent a good half an hour looking at prices and reviews of washing machines, then had a shortened version of the dinner we’d proposed, namely fried chicken with potatoes and broccoli. Then G&Ts all round.

Watched The Serpent on TV. Weren’t impressed, couldn’t be bothered with all the jumping back and forward through time so junked it. A bit of a wasted day, but it was good to talk to Hazy and I enjoyed both of my walks. PoD was a shot looking through the woods in St Mo’s.

Tonight a temperature of -7ºc is predicted. It’s already down to -6.5ºc, so it looks like the prediction may come true. Thankfully it may rain on Saturday or Sunday. When is the last time I’ve made a statement like that? I don’t think we’ll be going far.