Category: weather

Tablet, but not Mrs Tilly’s – 7 November 2021

Posted on by Zogman

It was a better day that it looked in the forecast.

According to the weather fairies we were to have a blusterous day with scattered showers. I’ll agree with the ‘blusterous’ part, but there really weren’t many showers, a few, but nothing to get upset about. After fiddling around doing basically nothing as you do on a Sunday morning, I decided to go and get ‘hands on’ with a tablet. Instead of depressing Coatbridge, we went to almost equally bad, Bishopbriggs. I did get the chance to try out a few and although the 10” iPad was lovely, I was looking for a small, probably 8” tablet that I could use as a Kindle reader. A Kindle reader with the added attraction of a games player for when the words get all mixed up, as they sometimes do, especially when reading a book with big words. I still wasn’t sure, so left empty handed again, however I did get some help from an assistant who obviously hadn’t been through the training centre at Currys, and actually ‘assisted’ this customer. He’ll learn that’s not the way it’s done.

After lunch and more faffing around, I finally decided the light was looking good enough for me to go and find a PoD. Lots of lovely low sunlight and that produced today’s PoD which was a fern leaf shot against the light. The leaf was almost transparent and you could see the shape of the spores against the bright green leaves. I quite liked the effect. There wasn’t much else to photograph today. Some fungi and more fallen leaves, but no deer or anything like that.

Scamp was in charge of dinner and we had the soup she’d made yesterday. It was maybe a bit spicier than she’d anticipated and the addition of three slices of red chilli on top just about set the roof of my mouth on fire. However, I survived after a cup of milk. She’d put a single slice of chilli on top of her soup, but after my reaction, it was promptly removed. The actual soup was quite delicious with just enough crunch in the kale to make it interesting without it overpowering the rest of the soup. Main was yesterday’s chicken served with potatoes and her signature mix of carrots, turnip and onions. I don’t know if that mixture has a name, but it’s absolutely brilliant. I made the pudding which was a steamed pudding served with a Morello cherry sauce. I say ‘made’, but that means I took them out of the packet and microwaved them for exactly the right time! I believe I may be allowed to make that again.

Spoke to Jamie later and found out that the news is there is almost no news. Things seem to move very slowly in Engerland! Most of the news was Scamp’s with her mixed up last few days.

Tomorrow looks wet, certainly a fair bit wetter than today. That will decide what we do.

Driving, Dancing and FPs – 6 November 2021

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Driving to Bridge of Weir at early o’clock in the rain.

The teachers wanted an early start today. Half an hour early to be more precise. I wasn’t too bothered until I realised I had about fifteen minutes to shower, shave and get dressed. I managed it … just! It was a really mucky morning. High winds, lashing rain and when we headed down the street the automatic headlights came on. It was going to be one of those days.

Despite the weather and threats of disruption on the motorway because of COP26, we made good time to the dance class and the room filled up quickly with far more dancers than usual. The teachers had decided that today was a reprise of all we’d learned so far. The only one we really screwed up on was the quickstep. The rest we fumbled our way through, but the quickstep wasn’t quick and most of my steps were in the wrong place. I don’t know if I will ever be able to be totally confident with that dance.
Sometimes, for me, the time drags in class, especially if I’m having problems with a dance, but today the time flew in. However, our lack of practise time in the past fortnight was showing. We need more time on the floor, especially if Scamp is going to be out of class for a month. We might ask the teachers for a private lesson or two to keep us up to date.

The drive back is usually a painful stop and go for about five or six miles as we near Glasgow, but today, perhaps because of the weather or the threat of disruption, it all went remarkably smoothly. In fact we took almost the same time for the return journey as for the outward one in the morning. That won’t happen every day.

There was more light as we left Glasgow and headed for Cumbersheugh and I was beginning to get hopeful that I might get out to take some photos, but the brightness was short lived and we were back in the land of gloom, wind and rain.

After lunch Scamp made some weird sounding Curried Kale soup which we have yet to taste, because it’s intended for Sunday’s starter, but which looks interesting. I took a walk down to the shops in the late afternoon to get a chicken for tonight’s dinner. We also needed potatoes, so that was a heavy bag to lug home. Additionally I took a long way home, hoping to get something worthwhile out of the day because the sky was brightening and the rain had stopped. PoD became A Road Less Travelled a gloomy path through trees heading towards an underpass. Nice bit of gloaming light through the trees warmed it up a bit. Just as I was heading down the path a workie said those worrying words “Were you my techy teacher?” I couldn’t deny it, he obviously knew me. He was great big towering bloke who I remember as a quiet wee pupil. He didn’t have a busy beard then either. Sometimes it’s good to meet FPs, especially when they speak to you. Not so when they shout your name across the street!

Tomorrow looks a bit like today, but hopefully with less liquid falling from the sky. We might get out for a walk.

 

Another beautiful autumn day – 3 November 2021

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Beautiful, but cold.

About 11am I finally relented and we went out for a run to Torwood garden centre. Scamp wanted a bag of compost, a pot to transplant the sempervivum collection and some autumn grass feed. I was just going along as driver. On the way back I suggested we go for a walk round Colzium. It’s a big house in a fairly large estate on the outskirts of Kilsyth. It’s famed for its Acer displays, especially at this time of year. We parked in the ‘car park’ which is a flat area of compacted earth, served by a dirt track road with pot holes that are more like bomb craters. Really, they are a danger to springs and shock absorbers. I really wish we had a council, one that works. NLC is BER.

Anyway, we went for a walk. I think every photo I took today had a tree or a leaf in it. The sun was shining and the trees were glowing in every autumn colour you could think of. Glory Be, even the walled garden was open! That indeed is a strange occurrence. OK, the cafe was shut, but it is November and a weekday. I don’t suppose there is much passing trade in Colzium. PoD was a low viewpoint photo of some acer leaves, just glowing in the sun. An against the light shot that made them sparkle. I just beat a panorama of the curling pond for first place. Go to Flickr and you’ll see the state of the curling pond, reputed to be the first curling pond in the world, now a silted up wasteland. NLC again.

On the way home we dropped in at Lidl to get some things and the makings for tonight’s dinner which was going to be quiche. Oh yes, and also a bottle of gin! I like Lidl gin, but keep it for weekends.

Back home and after lunch Scamp did think about going out and feeding the lawn, but it was cold and the temperature had reach its peak of about 9º around midday and was now starting to drop away. I don’t blame her for leaving it for another day. I was no better, I was happy to sit in the warm and finish a tough Sudoku. What exciting lives we lead sometimes.

The first attempt at the quiche was a disaster as the eggy mix started to leak through the bottom of the dish. Shouldn’t have used a dish with a removable bottom. Gave up took out the smoked trout and broccoli and binned the rest. Started again with a solid dish and that one worked well.

Watching a recording of Bake Off tonight I wondered why these people put themselves through it. All that faffing about just to get your face on the telly. The ignominy of getting it all wrong is fine when you’re at home, but in front of the viewing millions? I think not.

That was about it for the day, except on FB I read that the Aurora was visible in Glasgow tonight, possible something to do with COP26. Unfortunately now it’s gone quiet again. I’ve got the app now, though, so I’ll be checking for it.

Tomorrow were off to East Kilbride to see a man who will hopefully help Scamp to see better.

 

A lovely autumn day – 2 November 2021

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It was a cold day, but a clear one with blue sky and sunshine. A great surprise and a day we wouldn’t waste.

Scamp suggested three places we might go today. Either Culross, Dunfermline or Kirkcaldy. I had a few things to do on the computer first, but after that we could go. We decided that we were a bit late to go to Kirkcaldy, and I settled on Dunfermline, with the possibility of visiting Culross on the way back. Scamp agreed.

On the way there, we again met a cavalcade coming in the opposite direction. Fewer this time, but still with that ’do not get in our way’ attitude. Our drive went well until we were on the outskirts of Dunfermline and got stopped at a set of temporary traffic lights. Temperamental traffic lights with their own sequence of operations:

Red, Amber, All Off, Green. At this point, I started to move forward, but couldn’t see the road ahead for a traffic sign in front of me. Luckily Scamp could see and told me to stop because there was traffic coming towards us on the single open lane. The lights were still on Green for us, but still the traffic flowed past us coming in the other direction. Finally the lights changed to Red, Green, Amber and Red again, but the traffic coming the other way just kept coming. Eventually there was lull in the flow and a works lorry came out of our line and drove part way down the road before cutting in to the closed lane. I was right behind him and then everyone else followed me. We got through unscathed. It was a most bizarre situation and could have been really dangerous. I’ve saved the dash cam footage just in case some jobsworth decides I had run a red light. Maybe it’s a special light sequence for COP26, who knows.

We got parked easily at Pittencrief Park in Dunfermline and went for a walk in the autumn sunshine. We walked down to see the peacocks. There was only one male strutting around, but the colours in his tail feathers was incredible, sparkling in the sunshine. Three or four peahens came out to see us too. Their plumage is much duller than the show-offy peacocks, but I did get one shot I liked, this one

We walked round the formal gardens of the park and I got a few shots, but when I got them home they were disappointing, just not as crisp as usual, Scamp said that and I think she’s right. Mostly they were shot at around f16 which isn’t recommended. I must have twiddled the dial accidentally when the camera was in my pocket. That’s the only thing I can think of.

We had coffee in the posh new extension to the park pavilion. Coffee wasn’t all that posh. Mine was meant to be a cappuccino, but it looked like Scamp’s latte with some chocolate sprinkled on top. No foam and not much coffee either. However, the scones were lovely and fresh.
I did hear an interesting conversation there. An American bloke said to one of the servers “What is Coronation Chicken.” Her reply was “It chicken with a Coronation Sauce.” Well, that cleared it up nicely! He chose a chicken salad instead. I would have too.

We decided to take the longer, but safer route home via Culross. It was lovely just sitting watching the water and the light changing on the far shore. I took some shots from the start of the pier, and it was there I found the settings error. Fixed it and everything settled down after that. PoD was a shot taken there with some daisy-like flowers on the pier wall. I think now they were Chamomile.  Sorry Hazy, I hope that Culro$$ word doesn’t give you nightmares!

Drove home and decided I had enough time to wash both cars before the rain came on. As it turned out I had plenty of time, because the rain held off all afternoon. They look a lot better now, although I think I might take Scamp’s wee red car through the carwash next time.

No plans for tomorrow.

The end of October – 31 October 2021

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Halloween and the day the clocks went back to GMT, plus the end of Inktober 2021.

All that and it was still raining!

The only useful thing we did today was to walk to the shops to get some veg for me to make a veggie chilli. For something that changes every time I make it, I was surprised when it actually turned out quite well today. One courgette, one Red Pepper, half a Red Chilli and Onion (chopped fine), a Red Onion (quartered), a large Tomato chopped, a tin of Kidney Beans and half a tin of chopped tomatoes. The veg fried for five minute or so then the rest tossed in along with a teaspoon of cocoa powder (thank you Aunt Belle). Brought to the boil then simmered for about half an hour. Served with rice and pitta bread if you have any. It wasn’t blindingly hot, just hot enough, but Scamp’s Lime Cheesecake finished things off and performed any cooling action that was required.

After we returned from the shops and before the culinary skills were on show, I went for a walk in St Mo’s and got today’s PoD which was a tree sapling growing from a stump of a tree. I just liked the idea of a tree growing in a tree. Sketch of the day was for the final prompt of Inktober 2021, ‘Risk’, and was a glass of whiskey, half finished with a set of car keys beside it. We all take risks. Sometimes the benefits mean the risks are worth it. Sometimes they’re not. I’m not making judgements here, just drawing an ink sketch. Strangest thing though, when I was walking upstairs to photograph the sketch for posting. I always do it under my daylight bulb, anyway I was singing a line from a Roger Waters song ‘Four Minutes’. Listen to it and you’ll see why I mention it.

I’m rushing to get this posted before the month changes …

… It’s posted with less than a minute to spare, now I can finish it.  The day did brighten up a bit and later in the evening I went to the door and stars where shining in an almost clear sky.  I don’t think it will last, more clouds, more rain predicted for tomorrow.  I think tomorrow we might go shopping in the morning and Scamp has plans to have coffee with June in the afternoon.  I have a final sendoff planned for Inktober 2021.  It wasn’t my favourite Inktober, but I got all 31 sketches done in time.  That’s good enough for me.

Jagging in the Rain – 30 October 2021

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Scamp’s turn this time.

Drove up to The Link and Scamp joined the queue that took her through the different stages of the procedure for getting your booster jag and her flu jag. An experience we’ve both been through a couple of times now. She hadn’t been feeling brilliant earlier in the morning, but after the magic jags she was a lot better and improved throughout the day. It might be her new meds that don’t agree with her.

Of course it was raining all morning, but as we were driving home it did appear that the clouds were breaking and there was blue sky up there. After a light lunch I volunteered to go out and get dinner. Go out with a camera and get dinner, that is. I drove up to Fannyside and gawped at the colours and sharpness of everything. That’s what happens when you have three or four days of heavy rain, light rain and drizzle to wash the landscape clean. Not just the landscape, the sky too seems to get a wash down. All the dust in the atmosphere gets removed and you can see for miles. Late afternoon sunshine does help too, as do the scattered clouds being blown along by a strong, cold, western wind. It’s holes in those clouds that create little spots of sunshine on the land and give it texture. That’s what I was hoping for and that’s what I got today. It was a photo of an old ruined farmhouse on a hillock that got PoD, or rather, it was the lighting on the landscape that got PoD. The hillock and the old ruined farm were just props in the picture. “It’s all about the light”, someone once said.

When I got home, Scamp was feeling better, certainly well enough to enjoy a Bigham’s Fish Pie. I had a Lasagne. Both of them are expensive for what they are, but they’re worth it for the taste.

Watched another episode of Shetland and the plot thickens. After that it was time for Strictly, and as we hadn’t been able to get to the dance class today, this was our dance fix. I couldn’t be bothered with it after a while and gave up to write this and think about what today’s sketch, the second last one for this year’s Inktober, would be. I also listened to a track from A Momentary Lapse of Reason by Pink Floyd. Superb, although I never really understood what it was all about.

Tonight, the penultimate prompt in Inktober 2021 was ‘Slither’. I chose a snail as my muse. In the past month I’ve resorted to Google for some of my images, but this was one of my own photos, for a change.

Tomorrow I’m told we may be going for the messages. I’m hoping for some sun, I’m always looking for some sun or at least decent light, but I’ll settle for ‘dry’.

Another early one – 28 October 2021

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Taking the wee red car to get its yearly checkup. Always a case for heart in the mouth.

Drove down to the garage and waited. It was supposed to open at 9am, and although one of the mechanics appeared, it was still locked up. Eventually we left the car key with him and just at that moment someone arrived with the key to the garage, so we headed off home for breakfast, stopping at Tesco on the way for milk and bread. Unfortunately it was still before 10am so the other essential (alcoholic beverages) weren’t available.

A while after breakfast I eventually decided that it was dry enough to risk a walk in St Mo’s to get some photos. If the day brightened up later I’d get some more, but that looked unlikely to say the least. I did get some photos, but none of them were really contenders for the PoD.

Came home and we had lunch. Finished today’s Sudoku and started investigating the possibility of getting my phone to get itself an upgrade. I’d put a dodgy piece of software in it about a year ago that would prevent Samsung doing upgrades every second day. Now that software had disappeared, but its effect was still there. Eventually after consulting with the inter web I found that it hadn’t really gone. It was just hiding deep in the settings. When I too the plunge and switched it off the updates screen lit up. BUT I needed the phone because that was the number I’d given the garage, but once I got the word that the car was ready to pick up, I’d start the installation.

Hazy phoned not long after and she and Scamp had a long discussion about dresses for weddings. You will notice that the ‘wedding’ word is in the plural and it’s no surprise then to discover that the ‘dress’ word is also in its plural form. After the fashionistas had completed their discussion I managed to get involved in the conversation too. We talked for a while about family stuff, just catching up, really. Then my phone rang. The car had passed and been serviced, so was ready to collect. We talked to Hazy for a while longer then said our “cheerios”. Drove to the garage, paid our dues and drove home.

When I was driving back, the sky was definitely clearing from the west. By the time I got home blue sky was visible. I waited for Scamp to return then took my camera for its second walk today in St Mo’s. It was quite warm with beautiful light and I did manage to get a PoD. It was just a little weed that had been washed for days by the torrential rain and all its neighbours had been washed clean at the same time. They really sparkled in the late afternoon sun.

Dinner was Bubble ’n’ Squeak, a long time favourite of mine, but something I haven’t had for years. I even learned to make it myself a long time ago. I may have to relearn it.

The prompt for today asked for ‘Crispy’. I gave them a Crispy Cake. Made with Corn Flakes or Rice Krispies, it fits the bill for me. One of the few cakes Hazy can eat. It mush have been your phone call that put it in my head.

Tomorrow I go to see the health centre vampires who will want to take some of my blood. It’s almost Halloween, so it’s quite fitting.

Another wet one – 27 October 2021

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Where is all this rain coming from?

The rain seems never ending these days. If it doesn’t rain in the morning, it rains in the afternoon. If it doesn’t rain in the morning or the afternoon it’s a miracle. We haven’t had any miracles for a while. But we shouldn’t complain because some places in Southern Scotland have a prediction for 200mm of rain in a day. Thankfully, this far, we haven’t had that amount, but we have two water buckets and a watering can in the back garden. The smaller of the two water buckets has been overflowing for days now, the other bucket is three quarters full and the watering can will be full by now. Then the weather fairies have the cheek to give us more rain tomorrow.

I did nip out with the Sony and the big macro lens in one of the spells of drizzle to get some photos. The best one of the lot was the fuchsia that hangs from a hook on the fence. At least that wee flower has a chance to discard its excess water, the ones on the ground are now waterlogged. The fuchsia got PoD.

That was about the extent of my walk today. A wander round the garden (like a teddy bear) and a walk up to the corner to put the bin out.

Today’s prompt was “Spark”. What do you draw for that? I chose a spark plug. Without these little wonders of technology our petrol driven cars wouldn’t work. I did try to add a spark, but it didn’t look right, so I removed it.

Well, sorry people, that was it for today. Not a day for going out and not a lot that I wanted to do in the house either. Scamp made soup, so at least we’ll have something to eat tomorrow.

Out early tomorrow to take the Wee Red Car for its MOT. Then we’ll wander round the house with our fingers crossed until we get the phone call.

Dancing Central – 25 October 2021

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But first the doc’s.

Drove Scamp to her appointment with the doc. The doc shook her hand, gave her a prescription for some pills and said she hoped Scamp would feel better. It was a blustery day with occasional rain showers that came thumping down, seemingly from nowhere. We drove to the chemist which is conveniently next to Tesco and while she was in the chemist, I went to get some messages then we drove home and it was just after 10am! Unluckily for Scamp she had just missed the Parcelforce man who was supposed to be delivering a parcel today. Now she’ll have to wait until tomorrow.

We had a late breakfast and I messed about with the computer for a while, bought The Hidden Palace by Helene Wecker. Yes, Hazy, you talked me into it and I needed something well written after having ploughed through the latest John Connolly. I used to like his stories, but too much padding, too much history and too little story in this one. After that we watched yesterday’s F1 GP from Austin. Quite and exciting race for once with lots of action and a good finish.

After lunch it was a case of pack up your dance shoes and drive to another tea dance. This one was in Falkirk, in Central Region, hence the cryptic title to this blog. We’d been to a tea dance in Falkirk before the first lockdown, but only one, then everything shut down. That one had been in the Council Offices, but today’s was in a church hall in the centre of Falkirk. Lovely looking church with a reasonably sized hall but the bonus was the live music. A bloke playing an organ, not a keyboard, but an organ with foot pedals and stuff. Apparently he’s an opera singer, but makes a bob or two running tea dances in local churches. He was good, but hadn’t quite got the mark of the clientele. Twice he tried to get people up to dance Scottish country dance tunes. Once couple got up for the first one, but nobody did for the second! Just a bit embarrassing. We did all the dances that I was sure I knew and one or two that I was a bit rust on. Big bonus of this tea dance was that they actually had tea. Gorbals didn’t and that was a black mark against them. Extra big bonus, they had Tunnocks Caramel Wafers and also Snowballs. Scamp was peeved that she didn’t get a snowball. The company was a lot less friendly than other places we’ve been too. Insular or maybe inbred, difficult to tell, but none of the dancers spoke to us. Black mark against them, then.

We had got soaked walking from the carpark to the church, but when we came out the sun was shining. Not so shiny was Falkirk Main Street. If this had been America, there would have been tumbleweed rolling down the streets. Shop after shop was closed and boarded up. These days you only need one or two big shops to close and you’ve started on the slippery slope. It was really depressing. There were a lot of smaller shops on some of the streets off the main street, but some of them were almost certainly on a short let. The only shop that was busy was the big party shop. People were queueing all the way down its frontage, almost all with children in tow, desperate to get their Halloween costumes. We drove home and agreed that we’d go back to the next tea dance in the church, all being well.

Back home there was just enough light to allow a safari to St Mo’s. I got today’s PoD of a spider there. I think that was the last of the light just disappearing.

Dinner was Saturday’s soup with croutons and a pizza to follow. Today’s prompt was ’Splat’. My sketch of a splatted egg got Scamp’s approval with a couple of suggestions that I agree with, but by then it was too late to change things. The sketch this time is drawn on an A2 sheet of cartridge paper. A bit bigger than my usual A5! No eggs were harmed in making this sketch, only virtual ones!

Tomorrow Scamp is booked with the Witches for lunch. I have a few jobs to do in the house and also a prospective drive into the country if weather permits.

 

 

Under the weather – 19 October 2021

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Literally and actually.

Another wet day but I had a job to do today. I had to fix the broken lock on the bathroom window. Found what I needed at the B&Q website, but of course they didn’t have that cheap model in the store, only the dearer ones. I took one anyway after I’d checked that the screw holes in it lined up with the screw holes in the one I’d removed from the window yesterday. Drove back via Tesco for bread and a couple of bunches of carnations to brighten the kitchen and the downstairs toilet. Surprisingly the fitting of the new handle was simplicity itself after I’d confirmed that it could be used on the left side or the right side of the window, some can’t. Job done.

Lunch was a bowl of yesterday’s soup which was fairly tasty and warm. With a couple of slices of bread to dook in it, it was even better, but I wasn’t feeling too great. Aching shoulder from yesterday’s Covid booster jag and also that “coming down with a cold” feeling. Shivery and aching. That too could be from the jags, the flu jag this time. Scamp had a parcel to post to Skye, so that gave me an excuse to go for a walk with her to Condorrat. Came home via St Mo’s and I had a camera with me, so I took some photos although my heart wasn’t in it and it was raining. Best of a bad lot was a nettle that looked like I felt, washed out. That was PoD.

Scamp made dinner tonight which was chicken curry. Chicken Tikka Masala to be more exact. It was good and hot made from a Pataks kit. Another company jumping on the bandwagon that Spice Tailor started. I still think Spice Tailor is the best for range and taste although today’s offering would give them a run for their money. While Scamp was making the dinner, I was trying out my idea for today’s sketch. The prompt was ‘Loop’. Not the most interesting prompt, but it’s what I had to work with. I finally settled on a Mobius strip which is a loop with only one side. Its inside turns out to be its outside too. Just look at the sketch and you’ll get the idea. Follow the little cars and see where they go. It’s a fantasy Formula One race track called the Mobius Loop and yes, the cars do have to travel upside down. That’s what the magnetic tyres and the steel track are for! Following yesterdays lateral thinking again. I won’t say it’s my best sketch, but it’s different and it fulfils the prompt.

Took a couple of paracetamol after dinner and felt better. They’re beginning to wear off now, but I’ll take a couple more before I go to bed. I might even have a wee hot toddy too.

Hopefully meeting Alex tomorrow for a walk around the West End of Glasgow. That should be fun if I’m up to it and I think I will be.