Category: weather

Freezing – 19 November 2025

Posted on by Zogman

Yesterday was wet. Today it was freezing with temperatures around -1ºc in the morning.

However, we were safely tucked up in bed by then. When I did eventually get up to make the breakfast for us, the temperature had risen to -0.4ºc. Positively tropical. Not tropical for us to get out of bed, though. When I took a proper look out the back bedroom, there was a covering of snow on the Meikle Bin and also a scraping of snow on the Campsie Fells too, but the sky was blue with just a few clouds.

We didn’t venture far in the morning, although I did take out a pair of secateurs and gave the Alec’s Red rose a gentle trim, just to remove the old flower buds. That will probably be the last cut for this year.

I went for a walk in the afternoon, well wrapped up, of course. Alex is still holding on to my Sony A7iii and the 25-105mm lens, so just for a laugh I took the A7c and a very old 28-70mm kit lens I got with the Sony A7ii a long number of years ago. I must have a look through the records to see just how old it would be. At the time I thought it was the bees knees, but now I see all its faults beginning to show. It’s not the best lens in the world, but it is better than nothing at all. PoD was a photo of a dozen Canada Geese walking from their feeding ground in St Mo’s park to the relative safety of St Mo’s pond where fewer predators threaten them. I’m guessing they were overwintering from their summer habitat in Alaska to our milder winters in the uk.

By the time I was walking home, my ears was getting chilled, but by adjusting my trusty St Andrews ‘Buff’ I kept them from getting frostbite.

While I was out, Scamp was making a rhubarb pie with some of the rhubarb Jamie’s had brought up with then the last time they were up in Scotland for a wedding. The rhubarb was really quite sharp and although it had some stem ginger in its mix, I felt it could have done with some more sugar. Pastry was up to Scamp’s usual excellence. Home made fish ’n’ chips for dinner, followed by rhubarb pie with home grown rhubarb. Excellent.

We watched another episode of Shetland and the plot thickens even more. Can’t wait for the next instalment.

Hoping to get to Glenburn tomorrow for a Tea Dance. However, it depends on the weather. Ice and snow forecast. Temperature just now at 11.15pm is – 0.9ºc.

It was Wet. – 18 November 2025

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It was wet from start to finish today.

Sometimes heavy, sometimes light, always wet. Thankfully we weren’t going anywhere today. The furthest I got today was a quick trip to the tip to dump some of the odds and ends we’ve gathered in the past year and some that have been lingering in cupboards for a long while before that.

Other than that, I set up a still life of Alstroemeria flowers and that became the PoD. Not great, but it worked quite well on such a dull day.

Dinner was pasta with tomato sauce and spinach. It looks like becoming a favourite in the house.

For once I watched the World Cup 2026 qualifiers because Scotland were playing in it. I wasn’t expecting them to win against Denmark. Imagine my surprise when they not only won that match, but won by four goals to two. Amazing or lucky? I don’t think it matters to the Scotland fans, judging by the antics on the park after full time. Good Luck to them all.

No plans for tomorrow, but it would be nice if the rain would stop for a while.

Another bright, but cold day – 16 November 2025

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The temperature when we woke this morning was 0.4ºc. At least it was still positive!

We both struggled with Wordle, but survived to tell the tale. Other puzzles were not as successful. It must have been the cold temperature that was doing it.

We didn’t actually do much and we certainly didn’t go far. The temperature did rise a bit in the afternoon, but not enough to entice us out, there was even some ice in the bird bath in the back garden. First time this season.

In the afternoon I managed a walk around St Mo’s to get some photos. The cloudscape was very nice, but by 4pm the sun was heading towards the horizon and the colours were changing. My favourite photo was another of the reflection shots I’ve become attached to. This time it was taken with the Sony 10-18mm lens. It’s really an APS-C lens, but it works magnificently on the full frame camera. It became PoD and was a shot looking across the flooded pond to a beautiful skyscape.

One circuit of St Mo’s pond was sufficient for me today, not because it was cold, although it still was, but because I was cooking a stubby short rib for my dinner. Scamp was having salmon. Her’s was cooked in about ten minutes while mine took three hours. Both were deemed lovely, but my short rib was a bit tough. It might have been left in the freezer just too long. I must go back to Muirhead to get another one, soon, and not keep it so long in the freezer this time.

We spoke to Jamie and heard about his plans for the next couple of months. It must be great to be going to warm places while we shiver, even if it’s not for the happiest or reasons. We also heard that he has a leak in roof somewhere. It’s in a place that wasn’t updated in his previous work. Thankfully he says it doesn’t look too serious.

Scamp and Shona are booked for on a one-day trip up north tomorrow. I hope the weather is kind to them. I might be taking some stuff to the skips.

Today was to be a lazy day – 15 November 2025

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We accomplished that task.

We’d half agreed that today would be a relaxing day after the comings and goings of yesterday. I thought we might go out for a while in the afternoon, but it just sort of drifted away. It was good to look out at the blue sky and the fluffy clouds, but the cold temperature didn’t encourage us to go out and experience it, so we stayed home and watched from the safety of the house. No point in going out into the cold and ending up with frostbite. Granted there was very little chance of catching frostbite, but was it worth the risk?

In the end we stayed at home. The cases had to be put up into the loft until it was time to take them down for our proposed visit to Calpe next year. Yesterday, Scamp had done a fair bit of tidying up and today was my turn. Shoes had to be put away and old trainers had to be disposed of. Two large boxes were taking up space in the small bedroom and they needed to be taken to the council dump. I shelved that idea until I knew exactly how many boxes were going. Anything to put off the decision. It looks as if I will need to do some work on the boxes in the coming days, but not today. Instead, I went for a walk in St Mo’s.

Two days of constant rain had flooded the pond up to but not quite over the path, but careful stepping was needed to avoid wet feet.  It’s been a long time since the pond has flooded.

It was indeed cold, only about 7ºc with a gentle breeze. I walked round the park and got a few photos. One that I liked was a low view through the reed and rushes and it became PoD. I walked down past the back of St Mo’s school to see if the flag irises that grow there were producing seeds, but I’m sure now that none will be fruiting this year. Maybe they are biennials and only produce seeds every second year. Either that or the strong winds we had earlier in the year damaged the plants. Whatever the cause, there were no seed pods to be seen. I walked back to the house and realised just how cold it was outside. You sometimes don’t realise until you are in a warm place.

Watched Strictly in the evening and weren’t all that impressed with the efforts of the dancers. Too many tears from the professionals and the competitors.

Tomorrow if the weather warms up in time, we may go for a walk somewhere interesting.

 

A different Doc – 13 November 2025

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This time it was Scamp who was going to the doc’s. I was just there to listen and to contribute a little.

In the morning I went to put some petrol in the Blue car, always useful. To get some chicken for lunch and some flowers to brighten up the house again because the last ones were beginning to wilt.

After lunch we just wasted time, really waiting for the clock to say it was time for us to go to the hospital in Coatbridge for Scamp’s meeting with the consultant. The weather was terrible, with torrential showers. but I’d set up a Google sat nav that told me where to turn right and where to turn left. So much better than the Nissan’s sat nav. We reached the hospital a lot quicker than the last time when we went on a tour round half of North Lanarkshire.

The meeting, this time was a fairly short session. Just going over what we’d discussed at the last meeting and confirming that Scamp was interested in finding out more about the Deep Brain Stimulation. That was all that was needed to set the ball rolling. The consultant also changed some of Scamp’s meds and that might reduce the tremor in the short term. Now we have to wait and see.

Drove home by a different and even better still route on roads we already knew, although we’d never driven them in the dark. Back home, lo and behold there was space to reverse into. You people with your own parking places don’t know how lucky you are.

We watched another Portrait Artist tonight and just like the last one this one was full of corruption. I think we need a someone to come out from Virgin to diagnose the problem.

PoD was a last minute photo of a Toblerone triangle with a wee daft story attached.

Tomorrow we’re hoping for better weather. I’m intending meeting Alex in the morning to talk about cameras. Hopefully we’ll get home before dark!!

The Dome in the rain – 11 November 2025

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Today Scamp and I went to Edinburgh on the train in the rain.

Scamp had asked for Afternoon Tea in The Dome in Edinburgh for her Christmas present last year. The year had been one of the most mixed up we’d ever had and the afternoon tea voucher had been put on the back burner. After we came home from the cruise in October, Scamp started looking for a suitable date to use the voucher, before we lost it! We finally decided to take a slot on the 11th of October and today we went to see how the other half lived.

Actually, they lived a lot like us. No fancy dresses, well, not very many, and no airs and graces. There were a few tables of “Ladies Wot Lunch” out enjoying themselves. We weren’t on the ground floor, but we did find one poor man who was – more about that later.

We were upstairs where the sparkles were quite restrained. We had a table for two and after we were settled, the cake stand arrived with sandwiches and sausage rolls (vegetarian for Scamp) on the bottom layer. The scones (orange and chocolate for me, plain for Scamp) with the jam and cream. The top layer was the cakes. Macarons, mini Victoria sponges and tiny choux buns too. I’ve probably missed out some of the delicacies, but you get the idea. I don’t suppose it would be any good to you Hazy, apart from the sandwiches there were eggs in everything!

We had tea (Peppermint for Scamp – Darjeeling for me) both served in the most awkward shiny teapots. Almost impossible to get a grip on and I nearly burned my fingers pouring them.

When we were done we walked down to see what the ground floor was like. Busy, was the answer. I don’t think there was an empty seat in the place. Upstairs the sparkles were restrained. Downstairs the were almost blinding. We wondered how much their heating and lighting would cost.

When we’d gone in and were being escorted to the afternoon tea room, there was a clatter from down on the marble floor. One of the waiters or assistants had fallen dropping something as he fell. He got up and quickly dusted himself down then promptly fell again. That’s what happens when you wear leather soled shoes on a wet, slippery floor. I hope he didn’t hurt anything more than his dignity.

It had been raining when we went in to the dome and it was still raining when we came out. We decided to go home. We walked to the station then ran to the gate, just managed to squeeze on the the train which was running late. Arrived at Croy and were told the taxi wait was 30 mins, It was still raining, so we waited in the waiting room. The problem was a three-way signalling system on the road for roadworks. We had another fifteen minute until we were on the road home. What is it with roadworks this year. They seem to be everywhere. However, we were just sitting in the car. I think I saw steam coming out of the driver’s ears. Who would be a taxi driver in the rain with three-way traffic signals?

Arrived to a warm house, and a cup of tea.

PoD was Paddington in St Andrews Park in Embra … in the rain.

I’ve an appointment with the doc tomorrow morning first thing.

Chasing the squirrels – 10 November 2025

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Annoying little “rats with furry tails”.

When I was making the breakfast I spied a grey squirrel walking vertically down the fence and investigating the pot that Scamp had planted some of her bulbs in. Usually I just open the kitchen window and that’s enough to scare them away. Not this one. It just looked up at me and I swear it grinned. Rattling the back door had no effect on it either. It wasn’t until I’d opened the back door and started to walk across the garden that it decided a few bulbs weren’t worth the bother and scampered away. I know it’ll be back, but before it does, I’ll lay down some hot pepper. My mum used to swear by it for chasing away cats and other creatures from her garden.

It was a fairly decent day, although my weather app on my phone was warning about heavy rain coming tomorrow, so I kept that in mind. However, nothing much came of it today.

Scamp went out to get some bread and something to put between the slices for lunch. Afterwards I drove over to the town centre. What a sad looking place it is now. All the upper shopping area is boarded up, the ‘going down’ escalator is boarded up too, although the ‘going up’ side is still struggling along. For how long, is hard to say. I was looking for a hard drive for my computer and did find one there that did the job, even if it cost about twice what my old, full one, did.

I drove back via the east end of Broadwood Loch. I was fairly sure there would be some gulls preening on the outfall of the loch and I wasn’t disappointed. Lighting could have been better, but “Beggars and Choosers …” I managed to get a few decent shots, enough to make it worthwhile. Enough to make one of them PoD..

Back home it was time to get ready to go to Kirsty’s class. A disappointing class tonight. Only two couples and one girl without a partner. Scamp and I were agreed that Kirsty just wasn’t prepared for tonight’s class and was trying to ‘wing it’. I’ve tried that myself in the past and it rarely works out well. So it was tonight. Maybe she just had a bad night. We’ll give her another chance next week. It must be soul destroying teaching to five people.

Back home we had a slice of Focaccia which was ok, just ok. I think I could have made better, but at least the one we had was just ready to heat in the oven. A real focaccia takes ages to make. We watched the trilogy of Monday game shows we usually watch. Very informative and we even got some right!

Tomorrow we might head east,

 

 

Walking in the woods – 9 November 2025

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The day started with heavy rain showers, then the sun shone.

I didn’t believe the weather forecast, but after lunch the sun shone.
I didn’t think it would last, but it did. That’s me. Always the glass half empty.

I laced up my boots and went for a walk, deep into the woods. I hadn’t been in the deep woods for ages, but with the leaves falling continuously these days, there was more light than normal through the trees. I walked for a while, longer than I’d anticipated and by the time I was thinking it would be a good idea to head for home, the good light was gone. Then I found today’s PoD. I’ve no idea what variety of fungi this one belongs to, but I liked the shape and colour so I snapped a few shots of it. If I get a chance in the next few days I’ll go back in and try for some better shots.

I also found a dead drone in the middle of the woods. I meant to photograph its details. Such a simple thing to do with a phone. If I get back to photograph the fungi, hopefully I’ll find the drone at the same time.

Other than that, it was a fairly usual Sunday. Late to rise and wasted most of the day. I really need to get up and out earlier. People post such wonderful photos taken out walking the dog in the morning, or just after sunset. Mayne I should get a dog! (Only kidding, Scamp!)

Spoke to Jamie in the evening and heard about his and Simonne’s week. It seemed like their week had been much like ours, with nothing much to report.

I bought a new pair of boots a month or so ago and haven’t worn them yet.  Yesterday’s walk gave me reason to question if one of my old  boots is leaking. Today’s walk confirmed it. It looks like I’m going to need to get the new boots out of their box and break them in gently.

So far, we have an unbooked day tomorrow. We may go out somewhere.

Another lovely Sunny Sunday – 2 November 2025

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The clocks went back an hour and for an hour after we got up, all the digital clocks and watches were frantically trying to keep up with what was happening. The analog clocks on the other hand were just taking things in their stride. After all, who cares if you’re an hour too early or an hour too late. Live life like and Italian and go with the flow. It may take me a few days to find all the clocks that need changing. I’ve just realised there’s another one that I’ve forgotten!

More autumnal weather. St Mo’s is just a small pond lined with rushes and some trees, but when the sun is fairly low in the late afternoon, those rushes and trees really shine for an hour or so, but not much longer than that. If you add in some dark clouds blowing past, you get a good tonal contrast That’s the story behind today’s PoD.

Scamp had been baking while I was out taking photos and there were two sultana cakes just out of the oven, smelling delicious when I came home. Our dinner tonight was a Greggs Chicken Bake with potatoes and veg, followed by a slice of Sultana Cake and Custard. What’s not to like!

Spoke to Jamie in the evening and he retold his mum about Ori’s resettlement in Canada and where Simonne was going this week.

Tomorrow we’re hoping for another day of reflections in St Mo’s pond.

Another wild day – 30 October 2025

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We drove to Glenburn for a tea dance and a party. The tea dance had more than its usual plate of cakes and biscuits. The party was to celebrate Stewart’s Big Birthday. I hope he enjoys it and has many more.

Just the usual tea dance folk dancing to the same tunes, but nobody was complaining, we certainly weren’t. Lots of opportunities to sit and talk, especially at tea time and nobody was bothered if you made the occasional slip up on your chassé or lead with the incorrect foot. It was a get together, plain and simple.

We left early as usual to avoid the schools coming out and the beginning of the homeward journey of the office workers. Heavy rain made the journey longer than we’d expected, but arrived home in a reasonable time.

With the weather and the nights getting dark earlier, I had no real chance to get any photos today, so my little Caganer, a small ceramic figurine of a person in a pooping position, which is considered a symbol of good luck in Barcelona agreed to take its place. It reminded me of my “… I think he’s doing the toilet …” joke. A story for another day.

Hoping for some better weather tomorrow.