Urban Sketching – Page 5

It Rained – 26 February 2017

Posted on February 26, 2017February 26, 2017 by Zogman

All day it rained. It rained heavy, it rained light, it rained sleet with an outside temperature of 9ºc (!), it pretended to stop, just to catch the unwary before launching another torrential downpour. We weren’t fooled. We live in Scotland. We have a hundred names for rain, just as the Inuits have a hundred names for snow. Most of the words for rain are suffixed with ‘AGAIN!’, or prefixed with ‘STILL’. Sometimes, in extreme cases, with both!

Lunch for me was last night’s curry reheated. I hope you’re impressed, N D’Ag. Not quite up to having it for breakfast – on toast, but getting there. Actually it was very good. Not as fiery as last night. After that I settled down to do a sketch for 28 Drawings Later … I wasn’t going outside to sketch. Watercolours or even ink pens and rain just mix too well, but not in a good way. In an experimental way, perhaps, but not a good way. Today I went back to Trinidad, at least in a photograph. The building is an old house at Mt St Benedict’s Monastery in Trinidad and it fair brightened up the day.

We had already decided on a Trinni dinner and that’s what we had. It’s Stewed Chicken with boiled rice, boiled cassava and fried plantain. Definitely a work in progress, but the fried plantain, although soft was the star of the show. Loser was cassava. Too much of a faff. We’ll take Madeleine’s advice and try frozen stuff next time. We were going to have coconut ice cream, but we’re leaving that for later in the week. The coconut has been drained, smashed, flesh peeled and blitzed and the pulp drained, so the hard work has been done.

The forecast is for a drier day tomorrow after a wet and cold start.

Out to Lunch – 22 February 2017

Posted on February 22, 2017February 23, 2017 by Zogman

It was another beautiful day. Cold, but beautiful. After seeing the fun the birds had at Madeleine’s birdbath in the garden in Trinidad made us decide to get one for our wee postage stamp garden at home. Today we set out to see what was available and at what price. We could also have lunch. Two birds, one stone, no killing was done.

I’d initially thought of driving to Dobbies near Bearsden, but decided to change our destination to Oakwood Garden Centre. We’d been there before and the food was good. You can see now that the real reason we were going was for lunch. Bird bath was just a ruse! Enjoyable drive through the countryside just north of Glasgow. Got there and the cafe was full, but they took our name and we were soon seated, with Scamp getting the good view out the window across the fields to the hills. Food was good, maybe mine was not as good as last time, but that’s being picky. This place serves real coffee. Strong, rich Columbian. Just the way I like it. Browsed the bird baths available and although I liked the one with the two cherubs, Scamp scowled. It will be a plain one, I think.

Drove home and dropped in at Lidl for some veg to make Minestrone soup. With it simmering away and Scamp ensconced at the ironing board, I went out to get some photos at St Mo’s. Thought of doing a sketch of the front / side of the sports barn, but it started raining, so I walked over to the pond instead. The rain didn’t last, so I attempted a sketch of the rear / side view and that’s what you see here. I think I should have stuck to the front view as the perspective gets a bit dodgy here.

There wasn’t much to photograph at the pond or in the trees, but I did get the shot above which I quite like with the contrast of hard and soft textures.

Salsa was good, if exhausting tonight. Almost the whole of a level 2 class, followed by an advanced class. I think I’ve finally mastered El Niño, but I won’t know for certain until Monday night when it will be put to the test again.

Storm Doris is heading our way – didn’t it drift our way when we were in Trinidad? Maybe it got lost. Anyway, amber alert for snow for Central Scotland tomorrow! Don’t think I’ll be going far, except possibly a walk to St Mo’s again to get some photos if all goes well.

No Dough – 20 February 2017

Posted on February 20, 2017 by Zogman

Scamp was at the physio this morning. I started a wee watercolour of the hills at the back, because the light was wonderful with wee floating cloud shadows drifting across them. It turned out better than I anticipated.

I’d taken a frozen chunk of dough out of the freezer last night and left it to defrost and rise overnight. It did defrost, but it didn’t rise. I tried to encourage the yeast to start working again by warming the loaf tin in some warm water, but it resisted my attentions. I eventually turned on the heating and put the embryonic bread on the radiator to warm up.

By then, Scamp had returned with her ankle strapped up and we had lunch before she went out to get Gems. I was swithering whether to go out on my bike, go to the gym or go for a walk. I’d a pain in my back and any of these would help. However, as the sun was still shining, I decided that the gym was out, and as there was a gusty wind, maybe cycling would be a bit difficult. So, by a process of elimination, a walk was the winner. I was looking for somewhere that would produce a photo and also a sketch. I finally settled on the railway again, because it’s near the hills and I quite fancied a photo of those cloud shapes on the land.

I got the photo, but saw nothing that encouraged the sketchbook out of my bag, then I saw the old house that I’d sketched before and that became my SoD (Sketch of the Day). It’s a strange house, with dormer windows, extensions and an old, old wall round it. There’s ivy too clinging to the gable end. The sketch is quite representative, but I think the chimney is a bit out of scale.

Salsa tonight was hard work. Hard work remembering the moves and hard work keeping going for a full hour after three weeks of lazing around. Still very enjoyable and although we only stayed for an hour tonight, we may go for two hours on Wednesday, all being well. Surprisingly, all the moves had names tonight!

No real plans for tomorrow, but we’re probably going food shopping. Oh what fun.

The bread? Oh, it rose perfectly, then it stuck to the loaf tin and just wouldn’t come out. I should have realised it had its own plans for the day when it took so long to rise.

Carrigan’s – 18 February 2017

Posted on February 18, 2017February 19, 2017 by Zogman

I went out for a walk along the railway in the afternoon. A dull day with little prospect of any photos, and that’s how it turned out. I took one photo before I went out and that was my PoD. It was of a plantlet on the spider plant that lives in the downstairs toilet. It reminded me of the Trinidad jungles!

On the way back along the railway, I stopped to sketch the house beside the canal with it’s extensions and odd angles. It was a better viewpoint from the one I’d done a few months ago and it was looking quite good until the rain came on. As I was closing the sketch book I realised that I was blotting the ink, but by then it was too late. When I got back to the car and took a look at the damage, it actually looked quite good. The rain had added texture to what would have been an empty page!

We were meeting Margaret and Billy Kent for dinner tonight in Carrigan’s in Hamilton. It was a great night. Just nattering and eating all night. Right now, I’m feeling pretty full. I may never eat again after a heavy three course meal, the star being the tablet ice cream! Peppermint tea to settle my stomach then bed, I think.

Flying Home, Going Home – 13 February 2017

Posted on February 13, 2017February 16, 2017 by Zogman

It was really one of those ‘all good things must come to an end’ days when nobody wants to actually mention the departure, but you can see it’s uppermost in everybody’s mind. So here I am sitting in a chair in a metal tube travelling at 592mph 39,000 feet above the Atlantic Ocean. I’ve just finished watching the confusing Dr Strange and the still funny Monty Python and the Holy Grail after rejecting the reworked Ghostbusters. Why do they think they can improve on the classics? In TT (that’s Trini TIme) it’s just gone midnight, so I’m really writing this the next day, but this is my blog and I’ll call it the 13th.

The holiday is done now, but what a holiday it was. We saw amazing things, we did amazing things, things we would never have dreamed of a few years ago. Now it’s just the long slog home.

Earlier today M&J took us to a shopping mall, and it was interesting seeing the variety of shops there, but to be honest, shops in malls are shops in malls wherever you are in the world.

The traffic was really heavy for our drive to the airport and I wondered for a while if the polis had set up a roadblock where they checked a random selection of cars, but it turned out to be just a slow day on the freeway and we made good time once the volume of traffic reduced further out of Port of Spain.

I got today’s sketch done at the airport, Piarco. It’s a mixture of perspective

and a couple of folk. I must try to sketch more folk. I keep falling back on perspective and buildings to get me out of trouble, but if I don’t start pushing the envelope, I won’t progress. Must try harder. Will post the pictures when I have time.

Lunch at Crews Inn – 12 February 2017

Posted on February 12, 2017September 9, 2017 by Zogman

It’s Sunday and Scamp was going to church with Madeleine and Jaime and I thought I should get up and do something too. So, after they’d left leaving Ori and I in charge, well, really it was Ori who was in charge and I was just getting in the way of his morning nap. With Ori concentrating on his sleep pattern,I started a sketch of the house from a viewpoint at the front gate. I gave myself a time limit of one hour and managed to get it completed in just over that time. I’m quite happy with it apart from one little mistake. By the time I was finished, I just had enough time for a shower before the others came home. Ori was still sleeping.

We had a light breakfast because we were booked for lunch at the Crews Inn at the place that begins with a C and I can never remember its name. I’m going to look it up now. Ok, it was Chaguaramas. Bing had the answer. I hate Bing – It’s like most things Microsoft. It’s crap. I did say ‘most’ things. Excel is brilliantly powerful and Live Writer is the best blogging prog I’ve used, but Bing is just painful to use. Why is it called Bing? Apparently because it was short and memorable(?), but we all know it’s Because It’s Not Google, and in my opinion, it never will be. Anyway, we were going to Chaguaramas for lunch at the Crews Inn. In the mean time I managed to capture a couple of shots of the Monarch butterfly that’s been annoying me all holiday. It thought it was out of reach, high in a tree, but it reckoned without the power of the 200mm lens on the Oly 10. It was snapped! As was the wee bit of bright pink blossom.

The Crews Inn is a lovely place, especially if you are a sailor. I’m not, but it’s still a great location, right on the seafront with a vista that takes in fishing boats, skiffs, real yachts and big mega pretend yachts owned, no doubt, by millionaires. We weren’t coming to see the boats, we were coming for lunch and I was going to have a glass of their very alcoholic Sangria. It turned out to be not as good as the last one the others had, but it was still very rich and tasty. I think we were all a bit disappointed when we were told that it was a buffet on a Sunday, but hey ho, it’s still food. Indeed it was food and food a plenty. We started with a salad and then went for the meat and fish option. Then there was the dessert menu to investigate. Really, I think Jaime and I did overdo it a little bit, well, a lot really. It’s hard not to when there is this much food on offer. That’s what I love and hate about buffets. I love the selection, I hate the fact that I just pig out. One day I’ll learn, maybe!

When we got home, I had to go for a snooze. The food and the heat just got to me. It was lights out for a while.

Later, we started the inevitable packing. I’m about half packed just now. I’ve now got to decide exactly what to wear on the plane and the train as we move from 25^o to 5^o.

Listened to some ‘pan’ from the semifinals at Savannah. It’s nothing like the real thing. Jaime is still listening to it on TV now. Despite my wee snooze this afternoon, I’m beat and beddy byes is calling. Good NIght.

Is this your minky? – 11 February 2017

Posted on February 11, 2017February 13, 2017 by Zogman

Today we set off after breakfast for Chaguaramas to walk into the Bamboo Cathedral.

I don’t know what I expected, but I wasn’t ready for the sign warning us to

Walk in groups
Don’t display cell phones or jewellery
Stay in well lit areas

I thought we were going for a leisurely walk. I forgot to pack the AK47 and stab proof vest. Bummer. However, once we walked past the entrance gate, I forgot all about that. This was jungle! Well, jungle with a wide tarmac road through it. The trees round us were enormous and there was some bamboo too, but nothing ‘cathedral-like’. Then we turned a corner and there was the bamboo. Not one or two clumps, but hundreds – everywhere. Now I could see the ‘cathedral’ reference. The bamboo arched over our heads from both sides and met in the middle making it look and feel as if we were walking through a green tunnel. We walked the length of the bamboo tunnel and then started climbing the hill at the end. As far as we could see, the bamboo was finished. We turned to go back and Madeleine stopped to ‘rescue’ a piece of vine from the depredations of some weeds. Jaime managed to wrap some banana leaf round it and tie it off with a bit of creeper to keep the roots damp until we got it home and could replant it. It was a rescue vine. We walked back through the Bamboo Cathedral and just before we got to the high trees, Madeleine notices movement in the bushes at the side of the road. I started mentally ticking off the warnings on that sign, then we all saw the monkeys.

Madeleine said they were Capuchin monkeys. I was too busy trying to get a decent shot of them in the low light that filtered through the canopy. Eventually, I gave up, switched on fast continuous shooting and fired off seven or eight shots at a time, gave the camera time to deal with them then fired off another seven or eight. I tried a video, but the Oly 10 isn’t really up to that kind of task, and when I checked later, there was nothing useable on either video. Everyone had a great time looking for new groups who seemed to appear from nowhere, climb high into the branches above our heads and jump the gap across to the other side Adult and babies all made the journey without injury although some were better at jumping than they were at catching the branches on the other side and there were a few almost tumbles. Once they were all over, they started feeding and it was time for us to move on. Great fun for all. All the time we were watching the monkeys, people were passing by, all saying “Good Morning” and none really batting an eyelid at the monkey gymnastics. I’m guessing this is a normal occurrence here.

When we got back to the car, we drove on to Macqueripe Bay where we descended the stairs, under the screaming people on the Zip Wire above us, down to the beach. Lovely little beach with what might have been a harbour at one end and a sort of short promenade above the sand. The water looked lovely and clear and I wished I’d brought swimming stuff. The whole place had a strange 1950s look to it and reminded me of the Lido at Bothwell Bridge near Hamilton. Lots of folk swimming and just enjoying the sun, but then it was Saturday after all. I got photos of some crabs before they dived down their holes. They were well back from the sea and I wondered if they sneaked down the steps onto the beach at night. From the promenade you could look out past an island to just see Venezuela in the distance.

After the short visit to the beach, we walked back up to the car and Madeleine drove us home via the supermarket which seemed to stock a lot of Waitrose goods. Which made me wonder if it’s an offshoot of that business. We saw all the usual supermarket stuff and then some things you don’t get back home, like Chicken’s Feet again. Scamp even took a photo of the aforementioned delicacy to show to the disbelieving ones back home. On that subject, I did spot a cafe on the road advertising Cow Heel Soup. Apparently it’s a local delicacy and the soup is really good. I just hope they wash the cow’s heels well before making the soup, having seen the stuff that cows walk through!

Lunch was stewed chicken with fried plantain and salad, followed by coconut ice cream. Maybe a notch down from the ice cream we got in Karawak, but still better than anything we get at home.

Today’s sketch is of the house across the street with a bit of M&J’s house added in to set the scene. Actually, after I was finished, I preferred the lightness of M&J’s house to the lumpy looking other house. The perspective is much more pronounced with the viewpoint closer to the small house. Worth another go, I think. Maybe tomorrow.

A Grand Day Out – 08 February 2017

Posted on February 8, 2017February 9, 2017 by Zogman

This will be a rushed post. It’s been a long day and we’ve crammed a lot into it, although it might not seem so with this compressed or condensed description.

The day started well and we left the apartment with the intention of visiting Scarborough and then heading to a beach, but that’s not how it turned out. Firstly we made a stop at the Magdalena Grand Hotel to see how the other half live. The hotel, which is quite grand and quite magnificent is surrounded by a golf course which has the usual water hazards. However, the water hazards on most golf courses don’t have warning signs saying ‘This lake contains caimans’. Thankfully we didn’t stop near the water. We did continue on to see the hotel and to walk the grounds as if we were staying there. It’s a technique I must learn some time. We were both impressed with the size and look of the building, but there weren’t very may folk staying there, so we did wonder how profitable it was. While we were there I got my first decent shots of Frigatebirds.

As we were leaving the weather seemed to take a turn for the worse with squally rain appearing. It had been threatening while we were trespassing on the hotel grounds, but now it was doing more than threatening. We carried on to Scarborough, and it did remind me of the English seaside town with the steep hills around it. Madeleine drove us to Fort King George and old stronghold, now open as a museum. Loads of interesting stuff to be seen and most of it was open to the public. That’s where we saw the cockerels and the hens. They seemed to have the run of the place. Jaime bought us some Tamarind Balls which are made from Tamarind paste with added pepper made into balls then covered in sugar. A strange sweet/sour/salty taste. Hard to define. Great place to visit. It was there too we found all these lovely butterflies. Butterflies in January? Who would have thought it? Aha, but this isn’t Scotland.

By the time we were leaving here the rain had started for real. No longer squally, but a proper downpour. After an attempt to outrun it, we gave up and headed with our sandwiches and juice back to the apartment where we had a picnic on the balcony. Not quite what we’d intended, but at least we were dry for a time. Then the rain started again and we took shelter inside. These showers continued all afternoon. I got fed up after a while and went out to walk along the beach. Unfortunately, the beach had disappeared under the heavy breakers of high tide, so I sat down and sketched a concrete seat as a possible subject. It rained again and I had to give up. At that point Jaime appeared wondering where I’d got to. We walked back and he showed me the fruits on one of the trees in the hotel grounds. I must remember to ask him what it was called. Before we got ready to go out to the restaurant Scamp wanted to dip her feet in one of the hot tubs. We sat in it for about half an hour while the rain made little soldiers on the surface of the water around us. What a strange feeling that was. When we finally gave up the hot tub, we went for a swim in the pool. The water was remarkably warm.

After our swim we went back to the room and Scamp went to shower and wash her hair. I grabbed my sketchbook and drew the view from the balcony. It’s not technically perfect, but it’s a better, and more interesting, drawing than the concrete seat. IMO.

Dinner was in Karawak restaurant and it was fabulous. Callaloo soup followed by Tomato, Basil and Olive salad then a main of steak or shrimp with rice, pumpkin and a sort of ratatouille served in a hollowed out half aubergine. Dessert was coconut cream cake with ice cream, sorbet or ice cream. It’s hard not to compare that with what we had on our first night here at the steak and lobster grill and it’s hard to see now how the S&L Grill survives against competition like this. The waitress worked the table with a great sense of humour that you couldn’t help but appreciate. The only fly in the ointment was the owner or manager, it wasn’t clear which, who only seemed to be interested in her regular customers and only gave us a cursory glance. She needs to take a lesson from our waitress. Nobody it that high and mighty that they don’t need to cultivate new custom.

Well, that was meant to be a condensed description of the day. I missed out the Karaoke because it was so bad, it wasn’t even funny, and no we didn’t take part.

He swims with the fishes – 07 February 2017

Posted on February 7, 2017February 8, 2017 by Zogman

This morning, Jaime said that he’d prefer to drive to Pigeon Point rather than take the hotel minibus. We’d already agreed that hiring a car would be good, so this just meant that the hire would be a day early and it would give us more flexibility with travel arrangements, so off he went to arrange the hire. When he came back, he told us there was one problem, his driving license was out of date and needed to be renewed. It could be done on Tobago, but with the present backlog in licensing, it would probably take a whole day. Since my paper license is no longer acceptable for hiring a car, the easy way was for Madeleine to hire the car. With that settled, they both went back to the hire firm to seal the deal and soon arrived with the car. Our bags were packed and we then went to Pigeon Point and parked ourselves under an almond tree on the edge of the glorious beach with that beautiful blue sea beyond. Pigeon Point hadn’t changed much since we were last there. The beach huts had been painted and had new roofs and there was now a new reception room for weddings and big parties, but apart from that it was the same.

Once we were settled, Scamp and I went for a paddle, but I couldn’t resist the pull of that blue water and the prospect of little brightly coloured fish in the reef just a few metres offshore. After all, for once I’d remembered to bring my snorkel and mask, so it would be a much closer look this time.

The water was much colder for swimming in than I had anticipated, but like always, you quickly become accustomed to it and are able to concentrate on looking for interesting things on the seabed. Unfortunately, the sea was rougher than it had been three years ago and the sand was being lifted from the floor by the waves, so my vision, even with the mask was limited. Further round the corner there is another smaller reef and it proved more interesting. At least there were some fish there. I didn’t want to stay there too long as I was out of visual contact from the shore and I thought Scamp would be worried I’d be swept out to sea or eaten by a giant crab. Actually it was Madeleine who was worried, not Scamp, but no matter, I’d snorkelled and I’d seen some fish. The next time we come back to Tobago – oh, yes, there will be a next time – I’ll bring flippers too. Ungainly on land, but so much more efficient for swimming.

Lunch was Bake and Shark from one of the booths on the beach, but three of us agreed it wasn’t a patch on the offering from Maracas. That and a couple of drinks kept us fed and watered until it was time to go home to Sandy Point. I got one sketch done in the interim and that’s this little doodle here. Not very impressive, but it fits the bill.

When we got home, Scamp and I went for a walk along the beach past the airport runway and passed a big poisonous tree. The sign said BEWARE of touching bark, leaves, fruit or anything to do with the tree as it poisonous and corrosive and can kill. Then at the bottom of the sign there’s a not to say ‘Don’t Panic’! Watched the pelicans fishing for a while. When we got back from the walk, we sat with our feet in a VERY hot tub. Then Scamp went back to the room while I did a sketch that I would fake as yesterday’s for the 28 Drawings Later page on Facebook. Just a slip of the pen really. I meant to write 7-2-2017, honest officer Winking smile

Dinner was a marvellous Stewed Chicken with Plantain and Macaroni Pie. Sorry Sim, yours was good, and it was a close run thing, but your mum’s had the edge this time.

Two rum ‘n’ coke’s while listening to the entertaining Calypso singer in the bar rounded the day off.

Just another Sunday – 05 February 2017

Posted on February 5, 2017February 6, 2017 by Zogman

Scamp went to church with M&J in the morning and I stayed home to clean up the blog and hopefully get some photos, but the rain came on. In fact, the rain came straight down. Ori (the dog) and I looked at one another and the silent message passed between us “I’m not going out in that!” So we waited and eventually the rain abated and became a drizzle, a warm drizzle that dried on you almost immediately. Also, the rain that had fallen had dried up too. Five minutes later the sun came out, but didn’t stay long because more heavy clouds came in. I gave up and sat watching the birds having their early morning bath. We really must get a bird bath for the garden at home.

When the promised rain failed to appear I changed into swimming trunks (they dry quicker than shorts) and went for a walk in the garden. Found an empty shell of a wasp’s nest and marvelled at the construction. Entrance / exit tunnel and all those little identical hexagonal cells, and all made from something as thin as paper. Amazing. I found a shield bug on a leaf looking like it was guarding its eggs. Even saw a little orange dragonfly, but it was far too quick for me. Gardens are wonderful places if you just have time to look.

Scamp returned with M&J bearing Doubles. Doubles are two squares of thin fried dough, wrapping up a paste of chickpeas, onions, pepper and spices. Apparently it used to be considered poor man’s food, but we all agreed it was delicious. By then the sun had come out and it was hot, so it was time to get some serious sketching done. So I put on my sketching hat, some sun cream and some insect repellent and went in search of a suitable subject. I finally settled on some plant pots hiding away at the back of the garden. I had a reasonable rendering of them when Scamp came to tell me it was lunch time. Lunch was a pork chop for the carnivores and salmon for Scamp the pescatarian with cassava root. We’d never had cassava before, but it was really tasty. Scamp described it well, as a nutty potato. We must search it out and try cooking it some time soon. Definitely on our to-do list. With lunch out of the way, I found a new subject. One that could be drawn from the comfort of the veranda. I chose Next Door’s Utility room with its big square plant pots on the roof. Both pots overflowing with roses. It was basically architectural with strong perspective, a happy marriage for me. I even added a wee touch of colour to add a wee bit of brightness. I liked it. Still do.

Remembered to take the photos of the wasp’s nest and got it done along with the flower photos before it got totally dark. Haven’t posted them on Flickr because it went into one of its ‘Bad Panda’ strunts again. Why do these things always happen on weekends? Because Yahoo don’t employ enough people to fix it. They want rid of Flickr which is becoming a money pit for them.

The remainder of the day was spent packing. Off on our travels again tomorrow with a bit of luck.