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An early start.  Taxi through the morning fog into Glasgow Airport and then off to Lundinium to visit the family.  Pretty faultless flight with an excellent bump-free landing.  Picked up at the airport by our son-in-law and whizzed through byroads and shortcuts to avoid the dreaded M25.  Strangely it’s colder down in London than it was in Scotland.

We hadn’t picked the best seat for photography, but to be honest, we were pleased just to get a seat and be on our way south.  We had some lovely views climbing out of fogbound Glasgow.  Strange to see the fog so localised around Glasgow and the Clyde.

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It’s a Christmas tradition, or has been for the last five or so years that we go for a walk around the big pond (Real name  Broadwood Loch AKA the big pond) on Christmas Day.  Today was cold and I was still feeling a bit fragile after my recent stomach bug, but I bundled up well and off we went.  Couldn’t believe how mild it was once we were out.  In the shadow areas it was cool, but not really cold.  Such a surprise and the sky was blue!  I know that ‘up above the clouds there is always a blue sky‘ so said Turin Brakes and it’s true.  However, here in Scotland, we always expect grey skies and are rarely disappointed.  Today was an exception, but it was Christmas Day!

First up were the gulls.  They are always there at the outfall of the pond.  They rarely seem to feed there, just congregate, preen and practice their landings.  Oh yes, and they crap a lot too.  I can understand that part.

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Further round there’s a little stony island which used to house a swan colony.  Now it seems to be overtaken by cormorants.  These birds seem to be taking over many of our inland waters.  Years ago they were only (rarely) seen on the coasts.  Comments by email or the comment box.  I found them difficult to photograph because they look completely black unless the light is favourable.  Did I mention that photography is all about the light?

Finally, half way round I spotted this group of plants growing on a fence post.  Now I’d just have passed by if it wasn’t for the contre-jour light illuminating the greenery.  Did I mention that photography is all about the light?  Oh yes, I just did!

All the shots taken with the Nikon D7000 and the Tamron 18-200 lens.  Not the sharpest lens I’ve ever owned, but one of the most versatile.  Until I can afford better, it will do just fine.

… Finally.

Don’t look too closely Hazel, none of them are yours!

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Not had the best three days in the world, but hopefully, fingers crossed, wood touched, I’m on the mend. So this is just a quick catchup as I’ve only been doing the minimal amount of photos just to keep the 365 up to date.

Nobody sits on this seat because of the tentacles.

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Knitted Christmas Pudding.  Knitting doesn’t get tougher than this.

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At least the weather is looking better.  Managed out for an hour in the fresh air which was a bonus.
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It’s got to be done. You simply have to travel east to Embra just before Christmas. It’s all about the atmosphere and the crowds. It wasn’t as freezing cold as I’ve seen it sometimes, but it was quite cold. Had decided to go to Bar Roma for lunch, but shock horror, it’s not there any more. There’s a Tex Mex place where this brilliant Italian restaurant used to be. Had to go to Zizzi’s instead. Quite good, but not the same. Oh well, that’s progress I suppose. The dark side of progress is Flickr currently. Tonight the upload engine has been struggling for the last 15 mins to upload 3 images. It’s fine to have a fancy new interface, but if the infrastructure isn’t there, you are seriously wasting not just your time, but also mine. I’ve already dropped Blipfoto because of the same problem and it looks like Flickr is dead in the water too.

Bloke having a cigarette outside his house. Nothing unusual there, except this bloke lives in a first floor flat above a shop. So he climbs out the window and has a seat set up on the roof of the shop. Just wrap up well for the chilly Embra weather. Well done pal, problem solved.

A pretty sunset over Princes Street Gardens.  Lovely colours.

You simply can’t visit Embra without taking a picture of the castle.  Ask any of the oriental visitors who throng there every day of the year.  Having said that, it’s difficult to get a clean shot of the castle without including some of the Christmas tat.  I like this one because the silhouettes enhance the colours in the sky … again.

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When I woke this morning the sky was blue and the few clouds around were tinged pink with the rising sun.  I had a few things on my to-do list, so I got right down to it.  First was a walk to the post office with yet another batch of Christmas cards.  It was cold but bright when I left.  On the way back I was walking into horizontal sleet, and from there the day went downhill.

This was the view on the way home, just as the sleet started, the M80 with the inspiring architecture of Cumbernauld in the background.  Such a lovely morning.  The only thing it had to recommend it was the fact that all those drivers were either going to work or at work and I wasn’t.  Every cloud etc.

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Pity about the tree in the foreground. I’ve asked them to cut it down to give me a better view of the hills, but for some reason they refuse.

Another wonderful day shopping in Glasgow (sarcasm alert).
+  Got parked no problem
+  Bluetooth headphones are great in crowded streets

–  Subway was mobbed
–  It rained all afternoon
–  The shops were mobbed

I was shopping for a Chrissy prezzy for my wife, so I started by putting on my invisibility cloak, also known as headphones.  I’ve found you can wander round any shop with these things on and nobody bothers you.  They don’t have to be connected, they just have to be visible to others.  People see them, not you.  Hence the invisibility cloak.

I wandered around Marks & Spencer looking at ladies “lingerie and sleepware” and was amazed at the number of men walking around holding up different pieces of “ladies lingerie and sleepware”, while trying desperately not to make eye contact with each other.

The other thing that amazed me was that queueing was cancelled for the day.  There I was in a shop, having selected a piece of “ladies lingerie and sleepware”, not for myself I hasten to add, I waited where the sign said queue here ↓.  This bloke walks past me and plants himself in front.  I tapped him on the shoulder and said “Excuse me, there’s a queue”.  “Oh” he said, “I didn’t know there was a queue.”  “Well, there is,” I said “I’m in it and I’m in front of you.”  Then I realised my mistake.  I still had my invisibility cloak on.  Must have nearly given the bloke a heart attack, hearing this voice appear from a pair of headphones!

Don’t try this at home, children.  These are highly trained professionals who have, prior to this performance, completed an exhaustive risk assessment.  You can’t just pick anyone off the street and expect them to juggle flaming clubs.

If you want to get a hat ….
… get a head.  If you don’t have a head, this bloke will sell you one.

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Both of them good for you. Curry brightens the tastebuds and confession is good for the soul (so they say). We were in Stirling and it seemed a good idea to go for a curry. The Indian was packed as usual, but shock horror, no Chicken Tikka Chilli Bhuna on the menu. Oh well. Needs must, I had to make do with a normal Karahi Bhuna. It was a bit mild though. No chopped up chillies in it. Then on to Waitrose where I saw this wee bear on a shelf.

Possibly he was waiting for someone, or maybe he was just having a rest from the Christmas shopping. It does take it out of one. The confession? Oh, that stays between the the two people involved.

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Out a bit earlier today and a longer walk along the old railway from Auchinstarry.  Not much to see, although two pheasants were having a loud conversation across the Kelvin burn. No deer, few birds and no flowers of course.  Seems like only a week ago I was spending an afternoon among the blue flowers, but that was way back in the sunny summer weather.  Today was dull and quite chilly.  Hard underfoot with the ground still frozen from the recent low temperatures.

I saw these tiny little seedheads which looked like miniature tulip flowers, but try as I might, I couldn’t get both heads in focus at the same time, so I opted for the front one in and the rear one out (of focus).

I don’t know what these red berries are, but I guess they are poisonous or else the birds would have scoffed them. They did seem to light up a dull day and the grass leaves made a great frame for them. Natural Ikebana.

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It was a wee bit later than we intended going out this afternoon and the result was the light was falling away greatly before I got any photos taken.  We walked from Auchinstarry towards Twechar and then crossed the bridge over the Kelvin and took the path through the plantation to the canal and from there back to the carpark.

I liked that there was a bit of detail in the sky and the bare trees created a good foil for it.

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I liked the colour in the sky here and the textures in the foreground.