Category: weather

The End of Summer – 17 September 2016

Posted on by Zogman

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Wandering around my own favourite wilderness and noticing the skies are empty of swallows. If it takes more than one swallow to make a summer, does a lack of them mean the end? I think it does. Then I spot a dragon. Is that the contradiction?We had intended going to Embra today, but it looked like being a nice day and I didn’t want to spend the day in a train or wandering around the shops. Too good a day for that and if the first paragraph is correct, we should make the most of the good days now. The upshot was that as usual, Scamp was in the garden and I did a wee bit of painting and grubbing around in WordPress without any great success in either. Eventually, I decided that the weather was settled enough for shorts and tee shirt cycling and went out to get some photos and also some brambles if there were any left.There were brambles a-plenty and I got just over 600g which is not too bad. Just over a pound in old money, or is that me mixing my metaphors or something? The sun was warm and although there were no swallows, there was a dragon later in the afternoon. I got some photos, but knew that if I went closer, my shadow would encroach on the insect and it would fly away. Dragonflies seem to be very sensitive to changes in light, or maybe they just don’t want anyone stealing their sun. I also grabbed a few shots of spiders, sorry arachnophobes, look away now. It’s the transparency of the body that I like about spiders, especially contré jour. I just had to experiment a bit more with the pinhole effect and got a shot of the Three Amigos with the camera sitting on a fencepost. The last shot was as I was coming home and the light was warming up. It took me some time to find the best VP for the shot of the hay bales, but I’m happy with this one. There was a fair bit of post-processing done to get it just the way I wanted it, balancing the light and dark areas of the photo without falsifying it too much.Came home and dinner was courtesy of Bombay Dreams. Great online ordering system and way too much for one meal. The rest for lunch on Sunday.Weather on the turn for Sunday with lots of widespread rain forecast.

[]: https://www.flickr.com/photos/ztf/

A day at the seaside – 16 September 2016

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We went to Ayr today on the bus, well, on two buses. We were out just after 9.30 to get the X3 to Glasgow. As usual it stopped at every stop all the way through Moodiesburn and Muirhead and this is called an Express service. The only Express part is where it wheezes on to the motorway for about three miles from Stepps to Glasgow. It’s a disgrace to call this an Express service. The only reason we use it is because it’s the ONLY service. Once in Glasgow we ran round the bus station and just caught the X77 to Ayr. ‘X’ means Express on this service because it enters the M77 motorway in Glasgow and doesn’t leave it until it reaches Prestwick Airport. Do you know, it takes almost exactly the same time to go from Glasgow to Ayr (37miles) as it does from Cumbersheugh to Glasgow (14miles). Arrived in Ayr to sunshine and blue sky.

Walked around the dilapidated town centre of Ayr, had a coffee then went for a walk along the beach. There was a cool breeze from the sea, but it was much warmer than the seasonal average. The tide was in and that’s where we saw the bear in the photo above. Really the only worthwhile shot I got today. It wasn’t until we were back in the town I realised that the lens had been set to maximum aperture. Never a good thing to do unless you have a really expensive bit of glass. I didn’t. It works well when stopped down to about f10 or so, but wide open it’s a bit cloudy and not very sharp. A bit like the way I’ve been feeling for the last day or so.

After lunch at Wetherspoons we headed home on the X77 then just managed to catch the Cumbersheugh bus in Glasgow. An ok day, but the weather was good and so was the company.

Tomorrow looks good on paper. Don’t know where we’re going, but the lens will definitely be stopped down.

It’s a small world – 15 September 2016

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Went in to Glasgow on the bus this morning to get my locks shorn.  It was really well overdue.  There are only two barbers in the shop I go to, both of whom have different topics of conversation.  The young one is the radical who follows the Russian news channel on the Internet and says they tell fewer lies than the BBC.  Not that they are more honest, just that they tell fewer lies.  There’s a subtle difference in the semantics I think.  The older man is more careworn and sarcastic.  He’s on his third marriage I think, which probably explains my description of him.  He was in charge of remodelling my coiffure today.  Topics ranged from the usual Scottish start: The Weather to remembering Strathclyde Loch being created.  It was after we talked about how the loch used to be just a fishing pond at the south end of Motherwell that he made the startling announcement “‘course I’m not from Motherwell, I’m from Larkhall.” “You’re kidding!” I said.  We exchanged information about areas of Larky, then streets and realised that we lived about half a mile from each other.  His father had been Mr Smart the headmaster at my primary school.  Well, not exactly mine, more like my brother’s.  I had Mr Crombie as my headmaster.  We never called them ‘heidies’ then, we were much better brought up in Larky.  It was only when I went into teaching that ‘heidies’ became synonymous with authority.  We talked about places we both knew and inevitably pubs.  A normal topic of discussion in a town with the greatest number of public houses per head of population in Scotland.  I’ve been going to this barbers’ shop for more years than I care to recall and had my hair cut by this man for most of them, only to find out today the he too came from ‘The Town Behind the Wall.’  Maybe I’ll explain that sometime.  A small world indeed.

Walked out into the sunshine and went down Bucky Street and out into Exchange Square or Royal Exchange Square to give it its full title, although the royal part of the name ceased to have any meaning when Glasgow Council acquired  the Royal Bank of Scotland building which dominates it in the late ‘40s.  See, you learn stuff on this blog.  Now the grand building houses the Gallery of Modern Art (the GoMA) and is home to all human life … and a few indeterminate other forms of almost sentient beings.  “Though I never perfected the simian stroll.” could have been written for this area.  Good hunting ground for photos too.  The central photo in the above mosaic, with judicious cropping gave the photos at the bottom and the middle left.  The other two were just a couple of quick grab shots.  They took about 5 minutes total to compose and shoot.  Given half an hour here on a reasonably sunny day you could fill an SD card easily.

That was it for the photography for the day.  Wandered round the centre of town, but didn’t see anything else to tempt me into digging the camera out of my pocket.  Got the bus home and found Scamp happily digging plants out, planting others and generally tidying up the garden.  To each his and her own.

Looks like the warm weather is gone for the time being and it’s back to more seasonal temperatures for the next day or so.  I blame getting the air-con fixed!

Too much time on my hands – 13 September 2016

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combo-cameras2It was a wet morning and it didn’t clear up until about 5pm, for an hour, then the dry spell was over and the rain came back. That’s my excuse for making it an indoor day today.

For a long time I’ve been following the exploits of one of my Flickr contacts, Jiffy Cat, presumably not their real name. For years now, Jiffy Cat has been experimenting with pinhole camera photography, and has recently been producing some interesting images. I believe the method JC uses is analog, ie. film, paper, developer and fixer with all the smelly mess that accompanies this process. I’ve had my time doing developing and fixing and I don’t want to go back to the mess or the stained fingers which made me look like a 20-a-day smoker. No, technology has moved on. I decided to make use of one of my older M43 cameras and make a real body cap lens for it. I cannibalised an equally old body cap, drilled an 1/8” hole in the centre, covered the hole with thick aluminium foil and punched a hole in it with a needle. That was it as far as the construction went. The only difficulty was estimating an exposure. It was all trial and error, but at least I could see immediately how successful or otherwise each shot had been and make corrections accordingly. The best shot I got was with ISO 100 and ‘shutter speed’ of 60 seconds. The top one took the bottom picture and vice versa.

While this was going on, I made a live backup of El Cap on to an external HDD using the excellent Carbon Copier. It took a little over 4 hours to complete the copy which is a long time, but that was both of the internal HDDs and the hidden recovery sectors too. Hopefully this will allow me to boot from the external HDD and reinstall El Cap if the need arises. I’ve used this method before when I added the SSD to the Mac and it was faultless, so I’m fairly confident about using it again. Sorry JIC, that was just gobbledegook to you, wasn’t it? 😉

Dull, but drier day forecast for tomorrow. Don’t know if it will be worthwhile going anywhere, but we live in hope.

Mr & Mrs Cool – 12 September 2016

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m9120800-flickr-256Mondays, like I said are fragmented days. If you don’t get things done in the morning, they’re not going to get done. It’s Gems after lunch and Salsa at night and only a few hours between. After salsa, I’m usually processing the photos I’ve been lucky enough to grab during the day, posting them and writing this blog. Thank goodness I don’t work any more. Today was a bit better, I did get some things done.

In the morning it was gardening. I was cutting down a tree that was growing over the path at the back of the garden. Don’t worry, it wasn’t the Rowan tree it was a wee Ash tree that has been growing out from the retaining wall. Last week I had pruned it with lopping shears and today I cut it down to the ground with a saw. Then I had to take the remains of it to the council tip. I also took some other odds and ends and dumped them too. While I was away, Scamp decided that more garden rubbish was needing removed, so after lunch I took the rest away. With a few hours free, I drove to Bonnybridge and got today’s photo, which is a tunnel under the Forth & Clyde Canal. You can read the story of ’The Radical Pend’ here.

This little bit of history has been on my doorstep for the thirty years I’ve lived just down the road from it and I never knew about it.

Salsa tonight was with Will as Jamie Gal was off on his travels again and it was fast & furious. With temperatures over 20ºc outside the hall, it was a hot night for all of us. However, when we got into the car and drove home the air-con kept us cool. That’s what the trip to Bonnybridge was for. Forty quid well spent.

Hoping for more warm weather tomorrow so we can sit in the car and shiver!

Sunny Sunday – 11 September 2016

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11-septWe went to Glasgow today. Since the buses run to their own timetable on Sundays, we drove in. It was a lovely morning and Scamp thought we might manage to have a coffee outside, but by the time we’d finished shopping, the wind was becoming a bit gusty and we settled for a coffee inside.

Dinner for me was a repeat of yesterday’s, Lamb, Chorizo and Puy Lentil Casserole, but this time made at home. It turned out as good as the Loch Leven Larder’s, if not better. Who am I kidding? Of course it was better! Slow cooked for six hours, it was great. Plenty left over for tomorrow’s dinner and maybe some for lunch later in the week.

I went for a walk to St Mo’s in the late afternoon and got a few shots, but the light was poor by that time and that resulted in a lot of digital noise which you can remove quite easily with Lightroom, but the price you pay is a loss of definition, so it’s a double edged sword. I did see a strange pink blossom at completely the wrong time of year. There were thorns on the stems and on the back of the leaves which look like bramble leaves. The plant seemed to be behaving like a bramble by climbing round other tree branches. Couldn’t believe this was flowering in September in Scotland!

No plans for tomorrow, because like most Mondays it’s eaten up with Gems in the afternoon and salsa at night. Might get some painting done. If not on canvas, then at least on the outside window ledges.

Loch Leven – 10 September 2016

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10-septWe’re sitting in the cafe at Loch Leven’s Larder. Been for a walk along the lochside and are both now ready for lunch.

Well the lunch was delicious. Mine was a Lamb, Chorizo and Puy Lentil Casserole. Scamp’s was a Smoked Haddock Quiche.

We had decided in the morning that it would be a sin to waste a good, clear sunny day like this, especially after yesterday’s rain, by wandering round the shops. We got the map out on the laptop and chose Loch Leven as the place to go today. It was a good decision. We parked at our usual place and walked clockwise round part of the lochside path. Walked a mile or two, had a seat, then walked back to the car. I managed to get a few photos of the corn fields on our way round the path. Scamp thought we might manage to get all the way to LLL, but it was way too far. Enjoyed the walk more than our usual anti-clockwise walk. Saw a powered glider. Not like a Grob, but with an engine on a pylon above the wing. Wish I’d got the registration letter, then I’d be able to look it up on the net

Drove home over the Forth Bridge and got a good look at the new bridge. I wonder what it’s name will be. Not the official name, but the one it will be known by, it’s Real name.

El Cap seems to be behaving itself much better than I’d anticipated. Got up this morning just before 6am and sorted the problem with the email not being recognised. Then I went back to bed. So far, touch wood, the new OS seems quite stable. Glad I did the upgrade.

Some say rain tomorrow. Some say sun. I’m voting for sun. Just like today.

No Mr Bond, I expect you to die – 9 September 2016

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img_3385-flickr-253-1Went to the physio this morning to have my usual bashing and needling, but he had another torture in store. “I think I’ll give that wee ligament a shot with the laser” He said. Immediately I thought of Goldfinger with Bond on the table and a laser cutting through a steel slab on its way towards him. Thankfully he wasn’t Goldfinger and he didn’t strap me to the table and slice me in two with a gigantic laser. The laser was applied from a small pen sized device and controlled from something that looked a bit like an old-style Mac. Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. Away back, years ago when I was at school, I recall memorising that acronym. I never did understand what it meant, but it sounded really clever. Once the laser had done its work, it was aided and abetted by another set of needles. Whatever he did, it worked. Shoulder feels a lot looser and I get an extra week’s reprieve before my next ‘manipulation’. Progress is being made.

Not long after I got back, the rain came on and forgot to stop. Since Scamp was off galavanting with her sister and Nancy, I had the afternoon to fill and it didn’t look as if I was going cycling, or even for a walk. El Capitan, OSX 10.11.6 was sitting there looking at me and I couldn’t not install it. It was a little hand grenade waiting to be thrown. I used to have a friend in Oz who use to refer to things like this as hand grenades. “What will happen if I pull this little pin out?” Well, the pin is out and there has been a bang or two, but nothing spectacular. I won’t say there has been no swearing, but there’s been less than I expected. The only thing I can’t get to work is the email for my old account. It’s amazing how the settings worked fine on Mountain Lion, but resolutely refuse to work in El Cap. Same settings, same mail app, different result. I’ll leave it until tomorrow.

Today’s photo is the apple pie Scamp made from the rest of yesterday’s pic.

Dinner out tonight at the Dead Deer. Just like old times, in our previous lives when we worked for a living.

Dry tomorrow apparently.

Not the best day – 8 September 2016

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img_3380-flickr-252We woke to torrential rain. It’s a great feeling to be able to lie in bed reading in the morning, knowing that lesser mortals are struggling through the deluge on their way to work. Sorry 😉

Around lunchtime we went for a swim at Stalag Luft III also know as Westerwood Leisure Centre. The new rules state that you will check in with your membership card. You must pay £2 (refundable) for a locker key. You must also sign in for the aforementioned key and must sign it out again when you leave. You must bring your own towel. For heaven’s sake, you’ll have to bring your own water soon. It seems as if these rule changes have been designed by committee. You know what I mean, someone has an idea, someone else has a different idea, then a third person also has a further idea. Rather than choose one of the ideas, the committee decide to implement them all, even if they contradict each other. As you might have guessed, a new centre manager is in place and it looks like she’s more of an idiot than the last one. Once we got in to the pool, we found that water aerobics was in full flow. No room in the pool, so we sat in the steam room while the steam was coming out of my ears. Couldn’t get in the jacuzzi because it was covered up, no doubt waiting to be fixed. Thankfully they had finally sourced a piece of wood and a joiner skilled enough to replace the missing slat in the seat of the sauna. Once the aquarobic group had left the pool, the spa girls took over the middle of the pool to have a giggle and shout contest. I’m going to suggest to the new centre manager that it might be a good idea to make the middle of the pool 2m deep, then the ignorant bastards would drown as they giggled and shouted. You might have worked out by now that I’m not a happy bunny. I don’t see why I should be paying for a facility that isn’t really meeting my requirements. Looking back a year in this blog I’m reading that at least twice and sometimes three times a week I was getting to the gym in the morning. That’s not happening now. It would appear that the new centre manager has taken the pleasure out of leisure. I’ll give it until Christmas and if things haven’t improved, I’ll cancel my membership, which would be a shame as Scamp appears to be satisfied with the changes.  By the way, we returned our keys but didn’t sign them out.  Oh, oh.  That will mean a visit to the headmistress’s room or lines for us next time.  “I must always remember to sign out my keys”.  “I must always remember to sign out my keys”.  “I must always remember to ….”.

Outside it was still raining and we went on a pilgrimage to find a new cable for Scamp’s old style Samsung tablet. According to the Internet, Maplin had the cable, but when we got there all five of the assistants were more interested in getting a group selfie than in actually selling anything. It never ceases to surprise me that this store is still in business.  They never seem to have anything useful in stock, their assistants have less knowledge than an Apple Genius and I rarely see anyone actually buying anything.
Tried Currys – Nope
Tried Tesco – None
Tried B&M – Nada
Drove to Glasgow to Staples and, you’ve guessed it, no Samsung cables. Even tried Poundworld with the same result. When we were driving home the rain stopped and the sun came out for a while.
Finally solved the problem when I went to the bloke in Cumbersheugh town centre who sells phone covers. He also sells old style Samsung cables. Got one, and now the tablet charges, but the rain is back on.

Today’s photo is of a selection of our James Grieve apples from our miniature apple tree. The rest were made into a lovely apple pie.

More rain tomorrow. Oh what fun.

The Accidental Selfie – 7 September 2016

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7-septSorry JIC, but we went to Helensburgh today. I thought it was only fair since we went to your sister’s least favourite place last week, we should go to your LFP this week.

It’s not my favourite place to drive to because it always seems such a dreary journey. Nothing much to see until you get past Dumbarton. As an aside, this is another Scottish anomaly. The town of Dumbarton is the county town of Dunbartonshire. That’s not a typo, Dunbartonshire with an ‘n’ and Dumbarton with an ‘m’. Why? Because that’s the way it is. Back to the story. Once you get past Dumbarton the scenery gets a bit more interesting with great views across the Clyde estuary to Greenock and Port Glasgow. Before then, it’s just motorway. Helensburgh is a very run-down looking version of its former self. Too many shops closed or in the process of closing on the main street to impress any passing tourists and although the front has undergone a bit of tidying up, it’s not the place it used to be. We walked along the front and I took some photos because the light is usually good there with the estuary and the hills in the background. After we walked back, we had chips and a pizza. Even the pizza wasn’t as good as it used to be. A sad state of affairs.

When we had stopped at the carpark there was a bus parked there with its engine chug, chugging away. It’s driver reading the paper Three hours later when we left, it was still chug, chugging away and he was still reading the paper. He must have been a very slow reader. Wasn’t there a law passed recently that banned drivers from having the engine running while the vehicle was stationary. Probably doesn’t apply to bus drivers. Either that or he hadn’t managed to finish reading that whole memo.

Helensburgh pier used to be a great place for sea fishing. I’ve fished there myself a few times. Like the town itself, the pier is looking a bit worse for wear now with more bits cordoned off or barricaded off than are actually useable. There were very few fishermen on it today, it seemed to be attracting more jakies than fishers.

The titular photo was indeed an accident. I was in the process of taking off the 9mm fisheye and had the 12-32mm zoom ready to go on when I inadvertently pressed the shutter. I like the finished article. It would be useful for keeping the weans away from the fire, if we had any weans or a fire, that is.

Went to Salsa at night. One class of sort-of advanced and one beginners. Great exercise. Bummer of a drive home. Motorway closed right through Glasgow. No warnings. No diversions. Just find your own way out, we’re not helping you. It took almost an hour to find our way home. A journey that should take 15 minutes.

Rain forecast for tomorrow. Don’t mind because today the weather was lovely, if a bit too warm for September.