Category: Trees

Dancin’ – 6 January 2024

Posted on by Zogman

Scamp was out first to defrost the car. We were driving to Brookfield for the first dance classs of 2024.

The temperature was hovering around zero when we drove out to Brookfield, but the sun was almost blinding, shining from a bright blue sky. Thankfully we got there without any roadworks apart from the usual 40mph drag through central Glasgow.

First surprise was that the tiny dancers, who usually take ages to leave the hall, had already gone! Maybe someone had complained. I should have asked Jane if it was her. Only four couples ready and waiting to go dancing. Last in were Peter and Gillian who travel almost the same distance as us.

First dance was the Blue Angel Rumba which we’ve almost mastered and was the gentle entry into this years dances. Next was the, new to us, Christmas Waltz. It looked complicated, but taken in bite sized pieces it wasn’t so bad, although there were a few unpronounceable and complicated bits to it. In retrospect, I think we managed not too bad in it, but it will need some practise during the week to cement it into my head. Finally a fast and frantic Samba with Samba Walks, Botafogos and Voltas. Voltas were described by Jane as “Like kids pretending to ride a horse”. A sort of “John Wayne dance step.” Google it and you’ll see what I mean. By then, my little brain was full to bursting and I was glad to change my dance shoes for clumpy black street shoes and drive us home.

Lunch was two bits of bread with a slice of square sausage between them. Scamp had similar with an egg substituting for the square sausage.

I struggled for a while trying to work out what was going wrong with the 2024 catalog on Lightroom. Eventually I gave up and as the sun was still shining I went for a walk in St Mo’s. The road and paths were quite slippery, but the boots coped with it. The sun was low by the time I was walking along the path behind the woods and I got a few decent shots of the trees and the shadows they were casting. One of them became PoD.

Dinner came from a cold walk over to Condorrat to Golden Bowl. As I was coming back I could see the mist lying about a metre above the grass. Quite creepy looking. I tried to photograph it, but failed to get the impression I was looking for.

Later in the evening I tried again and almost managed to repair the damage to the catalog. I gave up and left it until tomorrow when hopefully a night’s sleep will make things clearer

Temperatures around zero predicted for tomorrow. That will decide what we do.

 

That’s more like it! – 26 December 2023

Posted on by Zogman

We woke to a beautiful sunrise, but cold. Just 1ºc.

John next door was struggling to walk down the path because yesterday’s rain had frozen and the pavements were a sheet of ice. Also, he had an infection in his foot and was having to walk with two sticks. I gave him a bit of support down as far as his door. I was worried incase he fell because he’s a big bloke and I wasn’t sure I could have lifted him. However, he got home.

Knowing just how icy it was out there, We weren’t all that happy about going for a walk, but later in the day after tomato soup and croutons for lunch, we risked a walk round St Mo’s. It didn’t feel all that cold, probably because there was no wind. I know Scamp isn’t too impressed with St Mo’s, so I suggested we extend the walk out of the park and down towards the shops, but bypassing them down to the underpass and back home from there. That seemed to be the correct direction and distance for her. Back home it was coffee time for Scamp and cocoa for me.

Tonight I was making dinner and it was Smoked Haddock and Leek Risotto. The leeks in the fridge had seen better days, so I lifted a couple of our ones. Not very thick, but long enough to make up for their lack of girth. The risotto turned out a bit thinner than usual, but passed the taste test with both of us. The addition of a few prawns didn’t do any harm to the mixture either.

I had taken a total of three photos today. That must be worlds worst record for me. And that was on a bright day! PoD was a girl walking her dog along the path I always scour for potential subjects. A bit of Lightroom and Photoshop did wonders to the originally dull photo.

It looks like it’s back to rain again tomorrow. I can’t say I’m surprised, or delighted. We may need some messages some time tomorrow no matter how wet it gets from Storm Gerrit.

Chatelherault – 19 December 2023

Posted on by Zogman

Out on a photo walk with Alex.

I was due to pick Alex up at his house around 11am, but after getting up at about 4.30am to take some paracetamol to numb the pain from toothache, I wasn’t sure I’d be meeting him any time today. However, when the 8.30am alarm chimed out its merry tune there was no sign of toothache.

The early rise and the alarm were because we’d booked the man from Hannah and Howie to come and service the boiler. He was supposed to arrive between 9am and 1pm, and I was glad we’d set the alarm for 8.30, when he knocked on the door at 9.05. It only took him half an hour to do the service and report that nothing needed replaced this time, but maybe we’d need a gasket replaced at the next service, which should be in a year’s time. One thing done.

Scamp asked me to take her up to Tesco to get more messages, so I dropped her off and drove on to Motherwell, had a chat with Carol and Alex and I drove over to Chatelherault on the outskirts of Hamilton. While we were sitting in the car talking, an unusual bird swooped down not far from us. At first I thought it was a Shrike, but Alex though it might be a Jay, and when we got a good look at it, that’s what it was. Not very common this far north, but I think Hazy gets them in her garden.

It was a wild day with sunny skies one minute and torrential rain the next. We walked down past the Three Hard Men, the statues of David Livingston, William Wallace and Robert Owen cut from steel plate. I got a few shots, but wasn’t really struck on any of them. Alex, of course, got a cracker of a shot!

We walked further on to the old Avon Bridge where we saw a Kingfisher about a year ago, but the Avon Water was in spate, or probably more likely just running off a spate, but far too fast flowing for the kingfisher to show today. As we turned to climb the hill that would take us back to the Big House, we felt the first spits of rain. We’d both been watching the clouds rolling in and as there was no shelter, we just had to plod our weary way back through the rain. We got passed by about a dozen cyclists who must have been as wet as us, if not wetter. It was lovely and warm in the cafe though and we got a table without any problem.

I had just been given a tray with our two coffees and two scones when the woman at the till said the system had gone down. She took a note of our order and said she’d let us know when the system was back in business again. After our coffee and scone lunch, we sat and talked a while. People were being served again at the counter and it looked like the rain had stopped and the sun was shining again, so went back and paid for our lunch. The woman seemed surprised that I’d bothered to come back, but maybe it’s just auld guys like me who do that. Anyway, she gave me a wink and gave me a discount for being honest!

Alex suggested a walk to the Cadzow Oaks, the ancient oak trees that surround some earthworks. The oaks have been dated to the mid 15th Century. That kind of ancient. Some of the oldest living trees in Scotland. The earthworks are a mystery. Nobody seems to know their significance, and there is no clue to who built them. The oaks always make me think of the Ents that Tolkien wrote about. We both got a few photos of them, quite a few! One Ent photo made PoD. Then the rain threatened again and we walked back over the Duke’s Bridge to the car. I drove Alex home and we planned another outing between Christmas and New Year, probably to Glasgow if the weather behaves.

Scamp had been busy while I was away. There was mince cooking on the stove and a lovely smell of baked cakes from the oven. They were Dundee Cakes with a lovely mixture of fruit in them, as well as a measure of Black Bottle whisky. I’ve only had one, because although the paracetamol had done its job, I didn’t want to risk another early morning second dose.

Tomorrow, coincidentally, I’ve a dentist’s appointment to repair a broken filling, so I’ll maybe ask the lady dentist if she’ll have a look at my dodgy molar. Scamp is booked for lunch tomorrow at Calders. Hopefully I’ll be able to speak properly when she gets home, if my jag has worn off by then!

Good news – 14 December 2023

Posted on by Zogman

A phone call brightened my day today.

I had a morning phone consultation today giving the results of a “Stool Test”. That’s a euphemism for a ‘poo test’ which is also a euphemism, but I won’t drop down to that level! You know what I mean. I had the test done a just over a week ago because my red blood levels were low and today’s phone call from the doctor was to tell me that everything was normal again, apart from a slightly low iron level  reading, but that can be countered by eating more green veg and the occasional rusty nail. That was good because a Whisky and Drambuie mixture (which is called a Rusty Nail) is my favourite drink of the moment!  But seriously, that was a weight off my mind. Even better, the sun was shining!

First stop today was Tesco for some messages. I also deemed it appropriate to get a bag of Jam Doughnuts. I felt I’d earned it. I bumped into Fred who told me that Val seemed to be on the mend. That cheered me up too.

Back home, after lunch I got started making tonight’s dinner which was Minestrone soup which had lots of green cabbage in it, but no rusty nails. It’s a good workout for the arms, chopping onions, carrots, leeks, cabbage and half a lemon. they are all bunged into a very big pot with some water, salt and pepper. The whole mixture is brought to the boil, then left to simmer for an hour or so.

While it was simmering and Scamp had promised to keep an eye on it, I took a few odds and ends to the skips and tossed them in. I’d half intended to go for a drive to take some photos, but:

A. There was hardly any useful light by then.
B. I had a plan for a photo for later.

With that in mind, I drove home instead.

While I was out, Scamp had been wrapping parcels and filling Jiffy Bags with the contents. All very neatly done. I think I’m going to be taking them to the post office tomorrow, but I’ll keep you posted (Ha, ha ‘posted’ get it?).

For most of the remainder of the afternoon I fought with Microsoft 365 trying to work out what I was doing wrong and what was causing a ‘Trust Error’. Eventually I gave in and went online to Mickysoft chat line and was told it was probably the browser that was causing the error. Sure enough, I changed from Firefox to Chrome and everything went smoothly after that. Well, as smoothly as any Mickysoft program can work.

Just before dinner, Scamp got a garbled message from a woman at British Gas, attempting to explain how they were going to fix the problems with the Smart Meter not connecting to the billing system. It sounded like a load of waffle to me. She even said that if all else fails, they could return us to the old system where we would be have no on-line connection to the company.  A bit of a backward step?  Surely not!!!  This only came about after Scamp contacted the Ombudsman’s office again and asked what BG were doing, because we had had no response from them.  It’s amazing the power you have that you didn’t know you had!

The soup was a bit thick, but tasted remarkably good, given that there is no stock in it, just veg and water, basically. I’ve only just realised that I forgot to add crushed macaroni into the mix for an extra half hours cooking. I think that would have made it even thicker, so leaving it out was a worthwhile accident.

Today’s PoD was the photo I had planned for today. It’s the traditional Fairy Nuff on the tree. She doesn’t get out much, but when she does, she looks really regal.

Tomorrow Scamp is intending going to the final FitSteps class of the year. I might put another layer on my painting, or I might just go to Condorrat to post the parcels.

Disaaaaaaaster Day – 24 November 2023

Posted on by Zogman

Do you know those days when nothing goes right? That was me today.

It started when the phone rang about 9:30. The surgery calling to ask me to get my bloods done (I had them done yesterday). When I told them that, the lady on the other end rambled on about they needed them done again, then proceeded to give me a date on the day I’m supposed to get my results! Eventually she gave in and said the sister could take my bloods then! What? After I’ve had the results, of the bloods I’ve still to get taken? I’m beginning to lose faith in this surgery.

I put it to the back of my head and when Scamp was off to her FitSteps class, I started making the tomato and red pepper soup which was the starter for todays dinner with our friends from Hamilton. Once the soup was simmering I left it and started to wash the inside of the front windows which were really needing done. Halfway through, I accidentally bumped over the water bucket which, thankfully, was only about a quarter full and washed the rug in the living room as well as the windows. Two towels and the hairdryer got rid of most of the wet stuff and the windows were clean!

By then the soup was cooked and I allowed it to cool for a while. I had a cup of coffee to recover then started blitzing the soup, only for a cup full to spray over the cooker.

They do say bad things come in threes. I think I got my three today.

Just to put the morning behind me, I went for a walk over St Mo’s and got today’s PoD which I’ve photographed quite a few times, but it was the shadows stretching out along the path, rather than the trees that made today’s version special.

Dinner went well with Tomato Soup as a starter and Apricot Glazed Chicken and Lentil Traybake for the main followed by Toffee Apple Treat for dessert. Lots of stories told about holidays and folk we know and we eventually got to bed just before 1am. Very late for us.

Tomorrow is forecast to be cold. We only might go out. It depends on how brave we feel.

Glorious Light! – 30 October 2023

Posted on by Zogman

Today was a much brighter and much colder day than yesterday.

We watched the Mexican GP and it was a fairly lively affair with the home boy, Perez going off at the first bend after attempting an overtaking manoeuvre that was always going to end in tears for somebody. After bouncing his car around on the run-off area, he took it back to the garage and said “It’s Broke!” In Mexican I presume. Of course the golden boy won the race as Scamp had predicted he would.

Today was Monday and Monday is a day for doing shopping. Nothing fancy, just the messages. The boring stuff like bread and cauliflower, rice and coffee, fruit and onions, essentials. Plus a bag of jam doughnuts and a couple of bottles of wine. Because man cannot live by bread alone, and neither can woman! Tesco shopping it was today. We talked about going to Morrisons or Waitrose, but neither of us were interested in travelling far afield. Sometimes it’s better to stay local.

When we got back it was lunch time and that meant the rest of the soup I made yesterday. It was thicker today and the taste was stronger. Just the thing with a slice of bread ‘dooked’ in it. When that was done I waited long enough to see what the weather was going to do later in the week. Then got my boots on and my jacket with the inner sleeve still damp from yesterday’s soaking and drove over to Fannyside where I thought I’d get some autumn colour from the trees. While I was off in the country, Scamp was brushing up the leaves in the garden, in the sunshine.

The light was nothing short of amazing today. After yesterday’s rain had cleared the air, you could see for miles. I was heading for the old ruin of Jawhill Farm. The farm wasn’t really the centre of attention today, it was the trees that were the stars. They were that lovely rusty gold colour that leaves get just before they fall and the sun was getting low in the sky picking out the textures in the farmers’ fields. Blue sky overhead with just enough broken clouds to give a bit of interest to the scene. These days don’t come often, so we have to make the most of them. It’s a pity the cold east wind was really cutting. I was glad I’d picked the heavy Bergy jacket, rather than my fleece.

On the way back to the car I passed three cattle, two cows and one bullock in a field. I just had to have a picture of the bullock. Its coat was almost the same colour as the leaves I’d been photographing and it only had one horn. I don’t know what the story was there. The farm house made PoD, but the bullock got second place.

Today the penultimate prompt for Inktober 2023 was Rush. I duplicated it and it became Rushes, Bull Rushes. I’ve been reading some comments about the prompts this year being a bit too obscure and I have to agree. There have to be better prompts than the ones we’ve been given recently. For the past few years these one word prompts stump a lot of people who then give up on the whole thing. Anyway, today’s sketch was done in fountain pen and a water wash to get some shading.

Tomorrow we have no plans, but the weather looks good, but cold again.

A walk in the woods – 15 October 2023

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Another bright day that really deserved to be appreciated from outside the window.
A bright day, but a cold start. When I was making the breakfast it was 2.1ºc. That’s kind of cool, too cool for my liking. However the heating had kicked in and the house was warm. Thank goodness for the Hive.

We decided on a walk in Colzium estate in Kilsyth. My reason for wanting to go there was to see the colours of the Acers, but I was a bit disappointed by how few of the trees were showing off their colourful leaves that usually brighten this month. However, all was not lost because one tree at the top of the main avenue was a burst of colour. I grabber a couple of photos, one of which was vastly over exposed, but back home one touch of the computer keyboard and it became PoD. The washed out colours came back as did the detail in the leaves. Technology can be amazing when it works.

We walked on round the Big House and up the drive to the Tak Ma Doon road, then down through the trees to the main path that follows the Colzium burn up to the wee narrow bridge at the top. On the way I got another interesting shot of one of the many waterfalls the burn splashes down on its way to the more gentle stream through Kilsyth itself. I got one good shot of the waterfall and three that the camera thought were more interesting, Shots of branches and leaves. The first shot, the one I took, not the camera is available to peruse on Flickr.

We crossed the bridge and walked down the other side of the burn to the road at the bottom. There’s a cafe on the other side of the burn and we went there for a coffee each and a cake to share. There were two big family groups who had nabbed all the seats, but we weren’t bothered. We walked further down and found a whole line of unused seat on the rise above the bandstand. A perfect place to look out over the estate and enjoy the coffee and the cake and a chance for a selfie!

When we were walking back to the car we met a bloke who asked if I’d taken any good shots. Then he told me he’d spotted a kingfisher beside the Colzium Burn where it runs through a park in the town. He admitted that he hadn’t brought his camera, but I will make sure I take mine the next time I’m in Lidl!

Back home, lunch was tea and toast for Scamp and Brie, Apple and Honey on brown bread. Our own apple too! Lovely and probably much better for us than the usual Sunday fry-up.

Scamp was desperate to cut the back grass, so I kindly let her, then John next door knocked on the door and asked if he could borrow our strimmer. His had broken down halfway through strimming his front grass. I didn’t mind, because I’d volunteered to strim our back grass and that would put off the inevitable.

Unfortunately, John brought the strimmer back and I gave in and strimmed the edges at the back garden. Then I cleaned both the mower and the strimmer and gave them a liberal spray with WD40 and put them away for the winter. It’s unlikely we’ll get another chance to cut the grass this year.

Dinner tonight was Sea Bream with Potatoes, Peas and Sweet Corn. Perfectly cooked by Scamp, of course.

Spoke to Jamie later and discussed plans for next week. All seems to be in order down south and the pair are still keen to get some serious walking done. We’ll just watch!

PoD was indeed the first shot of the day, the beautiful colours of the Acers. The prompt for today was “Dagger”. I drew a Dirk, a Thrusting dagger, Wikipedia calls it. It’s Scots name is Sgian Dubh, meaning Black Knife. This sketch is loosely based on my own Sgian Dubh which I only wear with highland dress at weddings.

No plans for tomorrow, although clearing a bedroom will be on the cards I fear!

Old friends and Drumpellier – 3 August 2023

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Scamp suggested a walk in Drumpellier. It had been ages since we’d been there, so I agreed.

I know that face. We were just getting out of the car when I saw Brian Gregg walking along with his wee boy. He seemed surprised to see me and asked “Do you come here often?” When I said we did, he looked a bit disappointed. Probably thinking “Am I going to meet them here every week?” Then he relaxed a bit and told me about his near misses looking for a permanent position at a school nearer to home. Also about dodgy interviews in North Lanarkshire. No great surprise there. Everyone has stories about questionable tactics in NLC. However he eventually got a placement nearby and seemed to be enjoying it. That is if you can enjoy the last few days of your annual holiday. He was heading home and we were just starting our walk.

Today we were going anti-clockwise round the loch. That’s our usual direction. We’d chosen one of the side paths and were just at the point where we could lengthen the walk or keep it short when the rain started. Not heavy real, just a drizzle, but enough to make ripples on the standing water beside the path. I suggested we take the shorter route just in case it came on heavier. We followed the path for a while then Scamp suggested we take another side path, up a hill. We walked up clambering over tree roots and round established trees. When we got to the top the path turned and went back down the hill in a slightly different direction, bringing us back to the path we’d just left. When we came out of the cover of the trees the rain had gone, so we walked up the hill to the cricket pitch. A cricket pitch in Coatbridge who would have guessed that? We sat for a while there then walked back down again. It was just that sort of day!

Back beside the loch we went to the cafe to get lunch. Roll ’n’ Tattie Scone for Scamp and the ubiquitous Roll ’n’ Sausage for me both on dry rolls – no butter. A cup of boiling hot coffee for me and peppemint tea for Scamp. Then back home to get some fruit and sweeties at Tesco.

PoD was a photo of an oak branch with a single red leaf among the green. It made me think, is this autumn coming already? Surely not.

Scamp made dinner which was the same as yesterday with a Wagu burger in place of the bacon and an omelette for her. Burger was ok. I bought it in Waitrose the other day because it was cheap. Glad I didn’t pay full price.

Scamp is out early tomorrow to get her tooth repair completed. She is expecting to get the crown fitted after having waited quite some time. We may go out to lunch afterwards if the dentist says that’s ok!

 

A day in Japan – 17 May 2023

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Scamp was out early this morning to get her hair cut.

When she came back I was just finishing hanging out the washing. It was a lovely morning again and we discussing where to go when Scamp said she fancied going to the Japanese Garden near Dollar. I tidied up the things I was messing about with on the computer and off we went.

Scamp had bought the tickets online before we left, so we knew we’d get in, but we had to squeeze into one of the last three spaces in the overflow carpark. Then it was just a case of picking up a map and walking round the pond. We’d been before back in October last year and had seen the place in its autumn colours. We were hoping to see it in its spring regalia, but we were disappointed. A few of the azaleas were flowering in bright yellows and one or two rhododendrons were also flowering but everything else was green. It seems like it’s not just us who are running about a month late this year.

On the map we’d been given there was a mysterious number that would apparently unlock a gate. We looked where we thought the gate should be, but it wasn’t there. Finally we found it at the other end of the garden. There was a keypad on the gatepost and when we punched in the mysterious number the gate opened to allow us into the woodland walk. For the most part the walk was through woods, as you’d expect, but we could see a children’s adventure playground at the top of a hill, but ignored it and walked on. That’s where we found the ‘village’.

The noticeboard explained that last year’s storm ‘Arwen’ had felled or damaged a lot of the trees in the garden but that even the damage led to new beginnings. It was scamp who say the first tree stump with a heavy rope wrapped around the top and a variety of mosses and little trees growing in it. Then she saw the houses. Taller stumps topped off with roofs and with windows and doors added. Loads of these tree houses making something new from Arwen’s destruction a nice bit of creative thinking.

We wanted to have a coffee and a bite to eat, but the cafe was understaffed and there was a half hour wait before they’d be taking orders, so we left.

Scamp suggested we go to The Bothy for lunch instead. It was a great idea, but everyone of the townships we drove through had 20mph signs on entry. Why? There was no-one on the streets? We reached the cafe and after a bit of a wait we did get lunch with a cafetière of good coffee for me and peppermint tea for Scamp. Happy, we drove home.

Neither of us fancied dinner tonight and just to finish off the day I washed the car. I know it will be covered in seagull crap tomorrow, but I washed it today.

PoD was a view through one bridge to another in the Japanese Garden.

The prompt for today was A Pencil Case. This is my go-everywhere pencil case. Unfortunately, today it has no pencil in it, but the prompt only asked for the case! So I fulfilled the brief. The case does contain a pencil sharpener just in the unlikely event that a pencil jumps into the case and needs sharpening. This is the slimmed down version of the real pencil case which holds so many odds and ends that I have difficulty zipping it up.

No plans for tomorrow. It all depends on the weather.

The gardens needed it – 8 May 2023

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Today was wet. It went from drizzle to full on downpour, but it was wet all day!

We weren’t going far today anyway. I might have gone in to Glasgow to get myself a new suit, a dark suit, both my other suits are light grey and a dark one would be a change. Also, only one of my suits actually fits me, the other one fits like a sugar bag. Not a good look. Anyway, that decision was taken away from me with one look at the weather. The furthest we were going today was Tesco.

Just a normal Monday shopping trip. Nothing exciting unless you class short dated tomatoes, carrots and onions as exciting. Three bags full it was today, all bundled into the boot and drove home.

What we did do was give our plants a bit of a soaking in the rainwater. My two chilli plants seemed to come to no harm in it and Scamp’s Cerinthe seedlings seemed to grow even taller after being in the downpours.

After lunch I gave in, put on my boots and my walking trousers and went out looking for a photo that would become PoD. It was really wet wherever I went and after about half an hour I was sure I could feel that squidgy sensation that you only get when you’ve got a leaky boot. But I was out in the middle of the park when it made itself known and I still hadn’t got that magic PoD. Then it appeared. It was a water droplet hanging from a larch needle. I took my time and eventually shot half a dozen frames of it. One of which I deemed sharp enough to become the PoD for today. Then, and only then, I squidged my way home. The sock on my right foot told the tale. There was a leak and it looks like there is a crack in the tread of my boot and that’s where the water is getting in. It might be a cut, not a crack, but the result is the same. I wouldn’t think it’s repairable, although someone on YouTube will know different, I’m sure. I might need to shell out for a new pair of boots now.

Today’s EDiM asked for An Ant. I originally thought of drawing a couple of Leaf Cutter Ants, but couldn’t find a clear enough photo to draw them from. I finally settled for a Flying Ant. There were a lot of these scary looking beasties flying around last year, I seem to remember. Apparently there is an actual Flying Ant Day. In the UK it seems to be around the 17th July. It all depends on the temperature and windspeed. There, I bet you didn’t know that!

Tomorrow we’re booked for lunch with Shona. Not sure yet where we’ll be going. Like the Flying Ants, it depends on the weather!