Category: weather

Encouraged – 6 December 2021

Posted on by Zogman

Woke to rain, heavy rain, thumping down.

This wasn’t going to be a good photographing day by the looks of things. Sat down and got started on yesterday’s unfinished sudoku. There are six sudoku puzzles a week in the Times daily block. Five weekday puzzles were Monday is the easiest and Friday is really hard. You get two days to solve one weekend puzzle which is at times diabolical. On Saturday I started what looked like a remarkably easy one, but I wasn’t fooled. Last night I was still struggling with it. As sometimes happens, when I look at it afresh, like today, it just falls into place. Easy! With that done and after a false start, I got today’s done. That took me to coffee time. By the time I’d finished my coffee the sun had come out properly and the rain had stopped. That’s when I was ’encouraged’ by Scamp to go for a walk while the sun was out.

This was a two camera day. I thought I might get some decent light and with the kit lens on the big camera and the macro on the other one, I was ready for most things. I saw my first opportunity when I was walking up the path to the ’venchie. That was the abbreviated version of Adventure Playground. It’s a bit more upmarket than the one that two of my readers would remember, but is just as well used. By kids in the daylight hours and neds in the evenings. You don’t want to know what goes on in there after dark. You might think you know, but it will always be worse. Anyway, it was just a photo of a leaf and it was just to get the ball rolling so to speak. Next I found an old scarf tied to a tree branch. It has been there for years and is now growing all sorts of fungi and a nicely sprouting hummock of moss on top. Quite photogenic to a photog.

Walked over to St Mo’s where everyone but me had a dog. Dog walkers look at you kind of strange if you’re walking alone and without a dog on a string. Why? Dog-walkers, on the end of that bit of string is a creature that is one stage away from a carnivorous wild animal. And you think I’m strange? Some of them even have two or three of the things. Each of them capable of communicating with each other and planning your demise in a language no translator will be able to understand. I walked on.

I took photos of Cladonia lichen which I love and besides it looks as if I’m photographing a rock. Sometime I talk to myself while I’m doing it. That really spooks the dog-walkers. You can see them pulling their pooches away from the obviously deranged man in the old dirty jacket. You see how photogs get a bad name now? PoD ended up being a monochrome shot of a park bench in St Mo’s. The scarf came a close second and in third place was a rather limp nettle. All can be seen on Flickr.

After lunch I spent the rest of the afternoon trying and failing to avoid writing Christmas cards until dinner time. Spaghetti Carbonara followed by panna cotta.

A strange thing happend last night, just as I was locking up before going to bed.  There was what looked like an envelope lying in the garden.  I went out to have a look and it was indeed an envelope.  No address on the front, just a message Merry Christmas.  Inside was a Christmas card with a message “To you Stranger.  Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year”.  A random act of kindness perhaps?  Scamp suggested we put it in the window in the kitchen.  Hopefully someone will see that it was delivered and read.  There are good people out there.

Tomorrow Scamp has an appointment with the dentist and I’m taxi driver.

 

 

Out for a walk – 5 December 2021

Posted on by Zogman

Scamp wanted to go out for a walk today. I agreed.

We went for a walk around the exercise machines. As we were going out there was a Santa changing out of his suit at the corner. It turned out he wasn’t the real Santa, but was Angela, our next-door neighbour’s father changing back into his normal clothes after giving out the medals at the annual Santa Race which is run at Broadwood Stadium every year. A bit disappointing to miss the race this year because we’ve been to the last few.

I bowed to Scamp’s decision about where we should go for our walk round the exercise machines and although it was cold and a bit slippery in places we had a non-eventful walk. We stopped at M&S for some tangerines for Scamp and a bottle of full cream milk for me to make Panna cotta for tonight’s pudding. Mackerel for lunch for me and the usual black pudding and egg for Scamp.

After lunch I went for my second walk of the day, this time in St Mo’s, and a macro shot of a mushroom got PoD. Not the most magnificent shot of the week, but the best one of the day.

Dinner tonight was a yesterday’s soup for starter, followed by rough ribeye steak for me and a trout fillet for Scamp. Both served with potatoes and cabbage. Panna cotta for pudding. More panna cotta for tomorrow.

Spoke to Jamie later  and heard all about the trials and tribulations of moving house.  We’ve had them ourselves, a few times, but in a different century and a different world.

Watching the most ridiculous F1 GP where Hamilton is being helped by the stewards to bring it to a tie going into the final race. This isn’t racing, this is politics.

No plans for tomorrow.

Dancin’ Class – 4 December 2021

Posted on by Zogman

“Hooray!” Said Scamp.

This morning we drove through sleet and rain all the way over to Brookfield for the Saturday morning dance class. We got a rousing reception from Stewart and Jane. Maybe that was partly because there were only a few of us dancers there, five couples in total, not counting the teachers. We started with a couple of sequence dance tracks to get us warmed up, then it was into the Christmas Pudding Rock. I was glad of yesterday’s teaching session from Scamp and even with that it took me a few dances to get into the swing of it.

Next was the Rumba. What we’d started calling the Lockdown Rumba, but this was a more polished version of that dance and it had also been lengthened too with some tricky steps, mainly aimed at the ladies, thankfully. We made not a bad fist of it all in all, but with lots of phone videos to fall back on, I’m sure an hour of so’s practise at home will help us put it all together for next week. We finished off with another sequence dance and we were done for today. It’s not often I say this about dance class, but I did enjoy today.

Drove home through traffic that was just a little worse than our usual return journey. Weather was poor again, but I think the Christmas ‘run to the shops at the weekend’ has begun in earnest now. However with a bit of judicious lane changing we managed to get back in about an hour.

After lunch, the light was disappearing fast, if it had appeared at all. I gave up any hope of getting an outside photo today, then Scamp commented that there was a lovely break in the clouds, over to the west. I knew I didn’t have time to kit up and go looking for that light, so I had a look out the back bedroom window and that’s where today’s PoD came from. It’s a four frame panorama of the Campsie Fells bathed in the light from the ‘golden hour’. It only lasted about fifteen minutes and it was gone, but the photos recorded it.

Dinner was Sweet Potato, Chilli Flakes and Lime soup. It was a bit thin, but tasted fine, if a little spicy. More in the pot for tomorrow. Scamp had made Sultana Cake yesterday and pudding was that cake with custard. Just a Saturday night dinner.

Watched an interesting Dubai GP. Lots of thrills and spills. Driving like it should be without too much politics.

I think the iMac has just finished backing up to an external SSD drive. I’ll be interested to see how fast it boots from that.

We have no plans for tomorrow but I hope it’s a bit warmer than today when the temperature rose to a magnificent 5ºc.

Feeding the Jucks – 3 December 2021

Posted on by Zogman

Feeding the jucks with the wrong food, apparently.

It was a lazy start to the day. Not really cold, dull and cloudy with the occasional burst of sunshine. Not enough sunshine and not really warm enough to encourage me to leave the comfort of the house though. It wasn’t until after lunch that I took that step. Scamp wasn’t really interested in going for a walk, and I didn’t blame her.

The temperature was cooling down when I finally took the steps that led me outside. Toting both cameras again. A6000 with the macro lens and A7m2 with the standard lens for a change. I also had a loaf of green speckled bread under my arm to feed the ever hungry ducks and swans. That was my first task, to feed those hungry beaks.

A great way to start a food fight is to chuck a slice of bread into St Mo’s pond. Gulls, ducks, swans, coots and geese all diving in as if they’d never been fed for weeks. More like minutes, actually. With all the bread gone and the big daddy swan hissing his discontent at me, I emptied all the crumbs from the paper and went on my way.

I met a bloke who told me I shouldn’t really be feeding the birds with bread, because it’s not good for them. He wasn’t quite as confrontational as that, nor was he as blunt, but I got his message. I asked him what I should be giving them and he replied, sweetcorn. Apparently the enjoy sweetcorn and it’s good for them. Easily digested, he said. Then we discussed the age of the swans and how they live in different ponds, the same way we go visiting relatives and friends in other parts of the country. He did seem to know a fair bit about them and was happy to share his knowledge without making a nuisance of himself.

While I was walking round the pond thinking about what he’d said, I spotted some Canada geese in one of the quieter and deeper parts of the pond. Canada geese sometimes overwinter at the pond, but get a hard time from the resident two swans who are forever hustling them about. I took a few photos with the 6000 and the birds didn’t immediately fly away. In fact they swam a bit closer. I took some more shots with the A7 and the sun came out, lighting the trees on the far side of the pond. Potential PoD in the bag.

I was heading for the rough ground behind the pond hoping for a similar shot to yesterday’s with the low sun giving some warm light. I was much too early, probably an hour too early. I did get an interesting shot with decent light of a single cow parsley stem holding water drops in its claw-like seed heads. Another possible PoD.

After processing at home it was the geese that won the day, but the cow parsley shot is in Flickr for your perusal. Not a bad day’s photography, and a bit of information on feeding the swans stored away.

Dinner tonight was Chicken Biriyani. Spicy hot and not really a great taste. Apparently it can do some damage to your liver too. Don’t think we’ll be eating enough of it to do that much damage.

Tomorrow we may be going to dance class. To that end, Scamp and I had a quick practise of the Christmas Pudding Rock. Just a made up Christmas sequence dance. A bit of fun. Other than that, not much planned.

 

A miserable morning – 1 December 2021

Posted on by Zogman

But then it changed completely, just as the weather fairies had predicted.

I was out fairly early this morning. Collected my meds. Tuesday must be sick day because today, Wednesday, there was no queue outside the chemist and only one person in front of me inside. Next I posted a small parcel down south, Hazy. I’d a short list of things to get in Tesco while I was there and with that done, I drove home with the sky lightening all the time. It was beginning to look as if the weather app on my phone was going to be on the money with its claim for sunshine by 11am.

After a morning coffee I sat and wrote an email to Alex. Just keeping in touch and moaning about the weather. Then I grabbed my cameras and went for a walk in St Mo’s looking for something scenic in the sun.  It was cold, but at least the sun was shining and the sky was blue. On the way there I took a shot or two of the Snowberry bushes that grow beside the paths near the house. They’re well named with their bunches of white berries that look like little balls of snow. Since I was out fairly early, I thought I might get a shot of one of the St Mo’s deer. I did, but it was just a tiny speck in the distance. If you didn’t know it was there you’d miss it. The wee pond up next to the motorway exit slip road was looking good with the blue sky reflecting in it and the rusty coloured larches contrasting. I took quite a few of that scene, knowing that most would be culled in the first editing pass. Took some macro shots of the cow parsley seed heads, but I know I sometimes overdo them. I take so many, most of them fall on the cutting room floor too.

Back home, the DPD man came and took away another, larger parcel away to go down south.  It must be somebody’s birthday soon.  Then, and after lunch we discussed what to have for dinner. There’s not really much to debate, it’s Wednesday, so it’s got to be fish and probably chips. That’s when the postman arrived with a parcel for us from Hazy. It was a culinary advent calendar. Instead of doors, it has little cardboard holders with a sachet of spice or herbs in each one. At least that’s what we’re guessing is in them because Hazy has carefully covered the list of what’s in each day’s sachet. Smart girl! Scamp opened today’s which tasted like curry leaves in sea salt. I chose to make potato wedges instead of chips with the fish and we usually sprinkle them with a basil and salt mixture that Val brings back from Rome for us. Instead, today, we sprinkled Fleur de sel (Roasted Sesame, Coriander, Garlic, Cumin and Fenugreek). It was totally different from our usual basil salt and made a refreshing change. It’s my turn to open tomorrow’s packet. Thank you both!

Today’s PoD turned out to be the Snowberries. I liked it right away, which is always a good sign.

Tomorrow I think we may go shopping. Maybe just to Tesco, although we did book a Tesco delivery today too, but that’s for later in the month.

The lights came on – 30 November 2021

Posted on by Zogman

The sun didn’t want to come out to play today, except for about ten seconds in the morning.

I had a gossip with Fred in the morning. It’s ages since I’ve spoken to him and I had really intended phoning him last week. I really enjoyed his patter. Nothing is sacrosanct with Fred and everything is criticised mercilessly. I spent a good three quarters of an hour being entertained, and we did get round to serious topics too, like painting. Glad to hear that he’s framed his latest extended portrait landscape and hung it in the hall. Had to cut short our conversation when my phone told me it was running low on power, so I said my goodbyes and plugged it into the charger. It might have charged quicker if I’d switched the charger on, but I’m not sure. I did switch it on an hour later when the phone was completely dead for some reason!

I drove up to Tesco to get some stuff for the dinner just after lunch. I’d intended collecting my meds from Boots at the same time, but the queue was about six or seven deep outside the shop, so I decided another day would be better. The queue in Tesco for the Post Office was even longer, and I was glad that we’d decided to send a parcel down to Epsom way by DPD instead. It should be picked up tomorrow for next day delivery, Hazy!

When I got back into the car, the headlights came on automatically. It was that sort of day. Like I said at the start, I missed the ten seconds of good daylight in the late morning. But there is a 365 to be done and it needs a photo, so I drove home, parked the car, took the messages in and then went back out to see what the world had to offer. By ‘world’, I mean St Mo’s. I was heading over there just after 4pm and it was almost dark. It was a photo of an old tree that got PoD. I’ve photographed in bright sun, rain and snow. I just love the shape of the trunk. It looks as if it’s been in the wars and it’s survived the storms earlier in the week, I’m glad to say.

Thankfully there were no problems with the SD card today and although the photos weren’t earth shattering, the PoD completed number 334 of this year’s 365. That makes it photo 3256 since I started burdening myself with a 365, over 9 years ago.

Tomorrow we are hoping to receive one parcel and also for the DPD person to uplift another. We’re just keeping the wheels of industry turning. It looks like a cold, but brighter day. Maybe more than ten seconds of good light.

 

 

Tea Dancin’ – 29 November 2021

Posted on by Zogman

With a judge called Isobel.

It was a dull morning, but most of the afternoon would be inside, so we weren’t all that worried.

Picked up Isobel and drove through some soaking drizzly rain to Falkirk. Got to the church with a few minutes to spare and dropped the two ladies off as near as I could to the path to the church hall. Then I went to park the car. I walked back to the church and that’s when Scamp told me the bag with the shoes was still in the car’s boot. So I had to walk back and pick up the bag. Missed the first two dances as a result. Probably my fault. On the way back I managed to get a few photos of the church.

We were on the floor for more than a few different dances. Waltz, Tango, Foxtrot and Rumba, we stumbled through them all. Starting off badly, but improving as we went. That’s what happens when you’ve not danced for a couple of weeks. We also joined in with most of the sequence dances we know. The guy playing the keyboard kept everything going really well.

Things started to fall apart when we left. I had told Scamp that I’d bring the car up to the church to pick them up. Because Falkirk is a maze of one way streets and the fact that it was dark by then and raining, I struggled to find a way to the entrance into the church carpark and tried to phone Scamp to tell her to meet me back on the street where I’d dropped them off, but the phone kept going to voicemail. Apparently her phone was in the shoe bag which was now in the boot of the car. Not knowing that, I left a message on the phone. I finally found the street that took me to the entrance to the church carpark, but when I got there, No Scamp or Isobel. I assumed she’d got the message and had gone to the street where I’d dropped them off earlier in the day. I left and headed for the street . That’s when my phone rang and Scamp speaking on Isobel’s phone, asking me why I’d driven away! They had been sheltering in an alcove on the dark side of the church and had seen me drive in and then drive off again. All in all, it was a comedy of errors, just not funny. Not at all funny.

Just to put the tin lid on things, there was a problem with the SD card in the camera and none of my photos had been recorded. It would have been good if Sony had thought to put a big “NO CARD” message in the middle the screen, instead of a tiny little note in the top left corner of the screen.

They say that problems come in threes. I think I’ve had my three today.

The Christmas cactus stepped into the gap left but the dodgy SD card and that made PoD.

Hopefully tomorrow will be better than today.

Snow – 28 November 2021

Posted on by Zogman

Today we woke to snow, just as the forecasters predicted … for once.

Yes, a layer of the white stuff coated the paths and the grass this morning. The temperature was 1.1ºc. Above zero, but only just. I was thinking that I might go out and get some snowy scene photos, but then again, there was no real need to rush. The snow would probably be there in an hour or so too. Time to finish the chapter in my book.

I eventually pulled on my boots, got my heavy Bergy jacket and my furry hat. Then, armed with both Sony cameras I went off to the snowy wastes of St Mo’s. I did get PoD with the A7, but most of the photos were macros taken with the A6000. Surprisingly, when I got them processed, I had far more ‘keepers’ than I thought I’d have.

Back home, my next task was to decant some of yesterday’s leaves into the compost bin. The easiest way, and much to Scamp’s dismay, was to bring the garden waste wheelie bin through the house to the back garden. Then shovel the leaves into the bin. The contents of the bin were in far better nick than I’d have expected. There was a lot of good looking, well rotted compost in there and also a fair number of worms eating their way through what was left of some vegetable matter. The already chopped up leaves will give them something new in their diet.

Our own diet today was Tomato and Red Pepper soup followed by Pan Fried Chicken Breast with potatoes, broccoli and cauliflower. It sounds fancy, but I was cooking, so some corners were cut and some license has been taken with the description. The chicken was half the breast from the chicken I cooked yesterday. The broccoli and cauliflower were from an M&S packet and the potatoes were mingin’. Too old and mouldy looking. Still, pudding was an M&S Cherry Steamed Pudding. I could never have made that, but I could bake it in the microwave for 1min 30sec.

Spoke to Jamie and found out the full story of Simonne’s injured hand and the extent of the injuries. She’s back to the hospital tomorrow to get the dressing changed and check that healing is properly in progress. Neither dog seems to have any serious injuries.
Things seem to be moving on the house front too with some work already completed and others in the pipeline.

Today’s PoD is a view along the path to Condorrat with a tweak or two in Lightroom. Doesn’t it make it look cold!

Tomorrow we are intending to take Isobel to the tea dance in Falkirk. It’s a test too, to see if Scamp can manage to dance with the new glasses on. If it works we may attempt a class on Saturday. Temperature now is -1ºc. Below zero, but only just.

Hoovering the grass – 27 November 2021

Posted on by Zogman

Just like hoovering the living room, but better fun.

Last night Storm Arwen dropped a bundle of leaves in the front garden, a big bundle! I think it was the way the wind was swirling round the houses that caused a mini whirlwind which gathered all the leaves then when it ran out of energy it dropped them in the front garden. First task today was to gather them together and dump them in the bin. Luckily, a few years ago I got Scamp a leaf blower for her Christmas. When she cuts the grass, she uses it for blowing all the grass cuttings off the path and into the wooded area across from the house. It came with attachments that turned it from a blower to a ‘sooker’. I used it in ‘sook’ mode this morning to hoover up two black bags worth of leaves from the garden. As well as sucking the leaves up, it also chops them up, so we now have the garden refuse bin full of chopped up leaves. Some of it will go into the compost bin when I’ve time to decant them. It seems a shame to just chuck them out when they could be helping to make compost. With the path now clear and most of the garden holding only a sprinkling of leaves I reassembled the machine back to a blower again and it went to sleep in the cupboard again, dreaming of blowing grass again (not that kind of blowing grass 😉) .

After the ferocity of yesterday, today was a welcome relief. Just a quiet, cold Saturday. The furthest we went was a walk to the shops to get a chicken for tonight’s dinner, and, of course some ice cream cones, 99s. The shops were really busy. I don’t think people wanted to go far today because it was just above freezing and there were hints in the forecast that snow wasn’t out of the question, even to lower levels. Luckily none of the white stuff has been seen yet.

We watched an embarrassing special broadcast headed by Boris explaining the new procedures to tackle the latest Covid variant, Omnicron. Neither of us can understand how that man got into the position he is in. When reading from a script he is bearably literate. As soon as he goes off script he just rambles into unfinished sentences. The poor man is totally out of his depth and really should admit it.

PoD was a little Cyclamen battered and bruised from last night’s storm. I photographed it in the back garden this morning when the sun was shining and the temperature was just above zero.

Tomorrow we may go for the messages, just to get out of the house and I might remember to book a Tesco delivery too!

 

Arwen Arrives – 26 November 2021

Posted on by Zogman

A wild lady is Arwen.

Named after the Lady of Rivendell, Arwen is a storm that started battering the east of the UK this afternoon. I’d gone out in the early afternoon before she could swoop over us and it was bitter cold just about 4ºc which with windchill reduced to approximately -267ºc or thereabouts. At least that’s how it felt. However, I did get some photos and my favourite was the one you see above. It’s the pond at St Mo’s with Deone’s butterfly seat in the distance.

One circuit of the pond was enough for me today. The wind was beginning to rise as I was coming home and I was glad I’d my Bergy jacket with its fleece lining to keep out the worst of the weather.

Earlier, in the morning I’d washed the downstairs windows, but that only gave Scamp the opportunity to change the curtains. I did the taking down of the curtains, Scamp did the changeover and then I put the new ones up. Yes, she was right, they did need changing.

Earlier still, we spoke to Hazy and found what was happening down Epsom way. Lots of interesting things going on down there and we now have a singing school teacher in the family!

All that and a phone call from Margie to tell Scamp about her trips to hospital and the swearing from some Larky folk who were in the ward with her. I’d could have told her, that’s not swearing, it’s just the way they talk. The sweary words are just used as punctuation!

Storm Arwen has been making a nuisance of itself for some time now, since about 3pm, and is still roaming around the houses here.  It’s been gathering all the leaves from around the estate and dumping them on our front garden, then clattering them off our front window.  The storm doesn’t seem to be lessening  and it will be here for most of the night and some of tomorrow it seems. I don’t know how much sleep we’ll get, but it will soon be time to find out.

Tomorrow I’m intending cooking a roast chicken for dinner. I’m sure I’ll need some assistance from Scamp, but maybe not too much. I don’t think we’ll be going far until Arwen heads off south.