Category: weather

Yet more bloodletting – 5 December 2023

Posted on by Zogman

Today I had my annual checkup with the nurse.

Actually the checkup today was with the sister, as these annual checkups usually are. She checked my BP, then tried it again. On the third try, I asked if there was something wrong and she said my BP was quite low. After she had looked at my record she asked me if I would mind them reducing some of my meds. Mind? I said I’d be delighted. I’ve felt for months if not years that my blood pressure meds are too low and nobody listened, now here was somebody listening. Long story short she has reduced one of my BP meds by half for a month and will monitor it after that. That, and the fact that and having lost a bit of weight and was stabilising at that, was the good news.

The not so good was that my vitamin B12 level was lower than it should have been and the doc wanted to get more blood tests. She took the blood and said the doc would review it in a week or so. So now I wait to see what the doc has to say probably in a phone consultation in a week or so.

It’s always the same when I got for an annual checkup. One good thing and one not so good. That’s life, I suppose.

That left me with the rest of the day to play with, but it wasn’t a playing day, in fact it was dull and dreary. Cold too, with the temperature barely reaching 3ºc. At least it was a positive temperature, not sub zero. We should be grateful for small mercies!

Finally, later than I’d intended the sun broke through the clouds and I dragged myself out to St Mo’s for a walk and hopefully a photo or two. I think I left it just too late for the good light, but I did get some sunset photos of the light through the trees. My favourite, and PoD was a shot over the pond of the gulls and geese circling and trying to find a bit of clear water to land on in the middle of the partly frozen pond.

Tomorrow another early(ish) rise and coffee in Costa with Colin Campbell and John Malley. Looking forward to that.

 

It’s thawing – 4 December 2023

Posted on by Zogman

Finally the rain was falling this morning and the snow was on the back foot.

Snow is great fun if you’re a youngster, but for the rest of us, it’s just something we have to work with until the rain comes or the temperature rises. Thankfully, the rain came today and the snow is all but gone.

I was out this morning for coffee with Fred. We met in Tesco and had a good hour or so’s blether about anything, but mainly we both just had a right good moan about everything. The coffee wasn’t all that bad, certainly better than a standard Costa coffee, but nothing to write home about. When we were done, we bumped into each other again and again doing the shopping round the store, but Fred was pushing a trolley and I was just carrying a basket, so I was finished first by a long way. We said “Cheerio’ and I drove home under a sky that was clearing quite nicely. Then it rained!

After lunch I finally decided that the weather was improving and I headed over to St Mo’s to see what effect the rain was having on the snow. Actually, the hard packed snow on the paths was almost all gone. Whereas in the areas where the snow was undisturbed, was where it was lingering the most. There is probably a good scientific reason for that, there always is, but I don’t understand it.

Back home and after a first run through the photos to weed out the weak shots and the no-hopers, I did a bit of post processing and one or two shots came out looking quite presentable. A wide angle shot over the pond got PoD.

Dinner was another “What have we got in the fridge” sauce with penne pasta. I wasn’t all that impressed with the result, but Scamp was. So I’ll accept that praise.

Today I did the climb up into the loft to find The Snowman table cover that has to come down early and be rolled out on the floor to allow the warmth in the room to soften out all the creases. As I’m sitting looking at it just now, it’s almost perfectly flat again after almost a year in the cold. I suppose being a Snowman table cover it will be used to the cold.

Tomorrow I have another morning appointment, but this time it’s at at the doc’s for may annual check-up. I’m sure the sister will have questions to ask me and I have a few to ask her. Apart from that, we have no plans for tomorrow, but I have a bag of sweeties that I’m hoping I can plunder when I get back!

Just above zero – 3 December 2023

Posted on by Zogman

Not much above zero, but a move in the right direction.

This was another day for not straying far from the warm house. I did go out for a while, but only as far as the garden, wearing wellies. They are quicker to put on and take off than boots and although clumsy, you can tramp through lots more stuff without worrying about water or snow leaking into your socks!

The road outside is passable now, I think. It’s not the going down the hill that bothers me, it’s the coming back up again, especially if it’s icy. But even with that improvement it didn’t encourage me to walk over to St Mo’s just to see the same hard trodden snow and a few weeds fighting to rid themselves of the snowy covering. I suppose I could have taken a few ‘camera on the ice’ shots, but I’m always caution with these pictures. One crack in a thin bit of ice and I’d need a new camera and an almost equally expensive lens. All for a few shots that I’d probably discard in the first cull.

Instead I managed to get a few close ups of desiccated flowers and little bits of colour among the white of the snow. When you’ve been sitting in a warm room for almost two days, you forget just how bitingly cold it is outside. I managed to get three decent photos that would find a place on Flickr and my favourite, and PoD, was the wee bell shaped flowers. I say flowers, but I’m guessing they are really the sepals, that protect the flower buds. Anyway they looked too fragile to survive in this ‘real’ winter that’s suddenly descended on us.

Dinner tonight was Fishcakes for Scamp and Stew and Sausage for me Both served potatoes. The dessert was Scamp’s Christmas Sponge with Amaretto Mincemeat which sounds a strange concoction, but it really works.

A rather cobbled together Sunday Strictly. One person dropped out due to ‘injury’, so he forfeited his place. That meant they had about an hour to fill with anything they could get their hands on, because there was no voting nonsense tonight. It was really quite sad to watch. Too much waffle, too much junk. We turned it off.

Spoke to Jamie later and heard of their problems sleeping in a cold house with a steel roof and no upstairs heating or insulation. I do not envy them that. Jamie was also bemoaning the problems with more planned rail strikes. It’s the drivers this time and while I sympathise with their need for a decent wage for a decent day’s work, it seems that every month there is another group of rail workers going on strike. This seemingly continuous strike action won’t win them any sympathy from the travelling public.
End of rant!

Hoping to meet Fred for coffee and a blether in Tesco tomorrow.

Happy Birthday Hazy – 2 December 2023

Posted on by Zogman

Happy Birthday Hazy.

Unbeknown to us, during the night, Mother Nature had seen fit to dump at least 40mm of snow on us. We didn’t ask for it, but then again, we didn’t pay for it, but it would have been only polite to tell us that it was coming. Admittedly, the weather fairies had been telling us for a week or so that it was snow was on the way, but to paraphrase Lou Reed “You can’t alway believer your weather fairies.”

As well as that, it was Hazy’s birthday today. That gives me yet another chance to say Happy Birthday Hazy! As if I needed another opportunity for that. Once Scamp and I had sung the obligatory Happy Birthday song we had a chance to sit and talk to her. Our conversation covered many topics like Neil getting ready to go to a wedding and bow ties for koalas. Just don’t ask. It would take too long to explain it. That was a great way to start the day.

I was fairly eager to go out and get some photos in the snow. Only ’fairly’ because I was eager to take some photos, but the weather machine was predicting low temperatures. But I dressed for the season and even wore my knee length gaiters, as well as boots, lined walking trousers, thick cardigan and double layer Berghaus jacket. If you’ve got to face the frozen snowy wastes of Scotland, do it comfortably.

The road into St Mo’s hadn’t been ploughed or gritted and was treacherous to walk on, as was the norm. The paths with the less hard packed snow was easier to walk on and I love the Crump, Crump, Crump as the snow moves on the boardwalk. Three lenses with me. One long, one medium and one very short. All were used and over 70 photos taken. For once, not very many of them were rejected in the first cull, but I’m sure more will follow on the second run through. PoD went to a photo of a lone tree in a grassy area of St Mo’s. The tree has a lovely shape, bent and twisted, and it stood out well against the sky. It was a good walk, but even although I was well wrapped up, I was feeling the cold when I was walking home.

Two pieces ‘n’ flat sausage for lunch warmed me up and so did the big long radiator in the living room. Most of the afternoon was spent raking through the photos and finding a group of them good enough for Flickr. Eventually I settled of three.

Dinner tonight was re-heated chilli from Thursday. It tasted good, but I had to agree with Scamp that it lacked texture. Certainly worth trying again.

We watched ‘Strictly’ and, as usual, disagreed with panel’s votes.

Tomorrow if the roads are clear we may go out for a run somewhere. Somewhere not too snowy if that’s possible.

Frosty white rabbits – 1 December 2023

Posted on by Zogman

A cold and frosty day.

Scamp was going out to FitSteps in the morning and I volunteered to drive. This is the first day we’ve had to scrape the car since about February. As we were leaving Scamp pointed out a roughly 15cm long icicle hanging from the boiler exhaust guard. I took a few photos of it and when I got back it had grown to almost 30cm, so that is where today’s PoD came from.

Lunch was in Brodens with a disappointing steak pie for me but an excellent fish ’n’ chips for Scamp. It could be a change in kitchen staff that’s to blame. I hope so. I got some stewing steak and some mince in the butchers on the way home. That will be going in to the freezer tomorrow I hope, to be rediscovered and used some day soon.

That walk over to Brodens in Condorrat was the extent of my exercise today, but Scamp had an extra hour at Kirsty’s class to boost her total.

I was reading last year’s blog the other day and I may take my own advice when I said that if you want to get any decent photos, you need to be up and out before midday. Any later than that and you are battling with the fading light. It’s good advice, I think, although it’s hard to generate the interest in getting out in these cold mornings.

Tomorrow we may go out for a walk down Glasgow Green, but it depends on the weather, as always in December.

 

Another cold day – 30 November 2023

Posted on by Zogman

It was only just above zero when we woke, and then it cooled down!

Scamp was going out for lunch with her pal and I had a plan for some photos. I wanted to get out and find somewhere nearby that wasn’t St Mo’s. I gave Scamp a lift up to the cafe at Calders where they were meeting up and then I drove over to Fannyside after I’d bought an almost daylight bulb for my new lamp. It’s slightly warmer than my real one, but it’s got an Edison Screw fitting and the old one is bayonet, so at least it fits the lamp.

There wasn’t much to see at Fannyside. All the leaves have been blown away from the beech trees now and they just look bare. Five sheep, four ewes and a ram had a look at me and questioned what I was doing in their territory. The ladies were unsure whether or not to approach the man with the metal tube, but the ram was giving me the side eye and they all stayed away. I took their photo anyway, which was quite good, because that became PoD.

Not long after I came home and dumped the photos, Scamp phoned to say she was ready to come home too. I drove over to the village and picked her up then we went home via Tesco to get some veg and stuff to make a veggie chilli. We were driving out of Tesco when I saw a sunset building up. I drove round to the car park at the rear of the building and grabbed five shots before the sun completely disappeared. My favourite of the five is on Flickr. A Tesco Sunset.

I made the chilli in the Magic Pot and it turned out quite well, except it was meant to serve 4. It’s more like 400. I think most of it is going in the freezer for a quick meal some day.

We watched Masterchef tonight and I hate to say this, but I’m actually enjoying it. We also watched another Portrait Artist. The numbering of the individual episodes is chaotic. None of the numbers are correct as far as we can see.

Tomorrow Scamp is planning to go to FitSteps or I may drive her if the roads are dodgy. Hoping to get to Brodens for lunch. Steak pie for me, hopefully. Don’t know what Scamp will have.

Cold – 29 November 2023

Posted on by Zogman

The outside temperature this morning was two below zero.

Scamp was going out to meet Isobel and I was staying home with the intention of going over to St Mo’s to get some morning photos. I had a couple of ideas that I wanted to try.

I did get the photo I wanted, but, as usual it was a different one that got PoD. The winner was a photo of a piece of Oak Moss in a tree. I’t’s called Oak Moss, but it doesn’t just grow on Oak trees and it isn’t a moss. It’s a lichen. It was a once round the pond walk this morning, because the temperature hadn’t lifted by much and I was glad to get back to a warm house.

When Scamp arrived we had a plate of the lentil soup she made yesterday. We had bought rolls yesterday and hadn’t got round to eating any of them, so I had the idea of warming them up in the oven while the soup was warming in the pot. The heat from the oven did warm the rolls and also crisped up the outside skin of them.

We needed some fresh fish for tonight’s dinner and we also needed crème fraîche and white wine. The wine was for cooking with, I must stress that ;-). We walked to the shops to get the requirements and I was glad I’d got some photos in the morning and could just walk home. I was making Cod and Prawns with Fennel and White Wine. It’s a favourite in the house when we can get fennel, because it’s just not the same without its aniseed taste. Tonight it could have done with some extra salt I thought. Scamp said it was only the fish that needed salt. We can never agree with food!

Kirsty’s dance class was down to three couples or two and a half if we’re going to split hairs because one of the girls doesn’t have a partner but Kirsty stepped in to complete the three couples. We danced the Quickstep to begin with, breaking it down into three stages, then joined the three together to form the complete dance. Scamp had a bright idea of raising the tempo and we almost managed a full track at near typical Quickstep speed. I was impressed that I only really made one mistake.
Next was a reprise of the Tango and I know we’re going to argue a bit about the steps in this dance, but a variation that Kirsty put in seemed to simplify it. I could be wrong, and I usually am, but I’m sticking to what the teacher said!
Next was a simple new waltz that felt quite like our “Baby Waltz”. It was was easy and we managed it without difficulty, so we were told to do the Waltz Nioli instead. We finished up with Rumba One, a sequence dance we can do quite well. That was a full dance class today and a good reprise for those who are going to a ball at the weekend. We joined too late to get a ticket, but I don’t think either of us were all that interested.

Watched an episode of “Shetland” and became more confused about who was doing what to whom. Great series.

Tomorrow Scamp is booked for lunch, this time with Denise. Her son flies helicopters, real ones! I’m intending writing to Alex and hopefully to Val.

Another cold day – 28 November 2023

Posted on by Zogman

I suppose that’s the weather we should expect as we near the end of November.

Yes, we are nearing the end of November and the mercury in the thermometer is dropping. Today was fairly bright to start with. We went shopping in Tesco. I don’t think either of us were all that bothered with going far from home. That’s one of he benefits of staying in Cumbersheugh, there are plenty of shops. Not the most interesting shops and sometimes the selection isn’t all that great, but at least we are covered for the essentials of bread, milk, fish, meat and vegetables. As Scamp is ofter heard to say, “We won’t starve.” We should consider ourselves lucky. On the way home we stopped at Greggs for a Chicken Bake each for lunch and a surprise of a custard doughnut for afters.

I’d intended cutting my hair today, but decided it was too cold in the back bedroom to start any of that nonsense. I suppose I could have been brave and started the initial chopping in the living room, but even a Number 4 would have made for colder walks in this weather when we’re being told do expect -4ºc tonight. Maybe next week, then.

After my lunch had slid down I did take myself out for a walk in St Mo’s just as the sun was getting low. Not too low though, there was still enough light to stretch the shadows of the now skinny looking trees that have lost all of their leaves. But PoD went to a hardy lady jogger who did three circuits of St Mo’s pond. When she passed me on her third time round, I took a few shots and then went home with the hope that I could make a picture of it. It took a bit of time and a fair bit of jiggery pokery in Lightroom to get the effect I wanted, but I was happy with the result. Also on Flickr is a shot of the windows of the College of Building and Printing on Cathedral Street in Glasgow. It seems that it is a category ‘B’ listed building and therefore cannot be demolished, not can it be ‘messed about with’ too much. According to what I’ve read, it is being turned into a business hotel. Just now it’s a ruin, but I liked the patterns of the windows.

Scamp was chef tonight and we had Mac ’n’ Cheese with a couple of slices of streaky bacon on top. Maybe not her best, but far better than I would have made.

Also on the subject of food, we watched the final of Bake Off. I won’t tell you who won, but I will give this spoiler: It was one of the blokes! Not surprising as it was an all male final.

More plotting and planning between the ladies of the family booking our summer house and dealing with the financial side of things. WhatsApp was working overtime when I was out walking.

A quick practise of the quickstep again tonight.  I think I’ve mastered the turns and the steps and even the Twinkle, it’s just the speed of the steps that makes it difficult for me.  I seriously believe I will get better once I stop thinking about what I’m doing and just leave my feet to get on with it.  In the end, it’s all to do with muscle memory.

As I said earlier, the temperature is forecast to drop to around -4ºc tonight. Scamp is planning to meet Isobel for coffee tomorrow. Other than that, no plans.

 

 

 

Glasgow again – 27 November 2023

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Today we drove in to Glasgow, just for a change.

Actually we drove to The Fort today, but couldn’t find what we were looking for there and the place was really quite busy for a Monday morning. Even the gigantic car park at The Fort was nearly full. So we changed our plans and drove down the M8 to Glasgow which was busy, but not as busy as The Fort.

We took a walk through the Buchanan Galleries and then down Buchanan Street before we went for a walk round the partly assembled Christmas market in George Square. Not nearly as many stalls as usual and an ice rink that is a ’work in progress’. That is, not quite finished yet. A bit disappointing, really. Coffee in the new Nero Coffee House which is unlike most Neros in that it is light and airy with none of the dark stained wood most of them have. Quite impressive! Scamp had her usual Single Shot, Extra Hot, Latte and I had an Americano with hot milk on the side. Unfortunately I also had the new Christmas blend which I found bitter an unpleasant. I won’t be having that again.

It was a lovely day with bright sky and a few clouds. On the walk back to the car I got today’s PoD which was a bunch of weeds growing out of a poorly maintained brick wall. I liked the limited sharpness of the picture thanks to the new lens’s wide aperture. It’s amazing the difference a decent lens makes.

There was just enough light when we got home to make me want to get another photo or two in St Mo’s, but by then the light was failing and it had started to rain. I gave it two circuits of the pond and walked home.

I was on dinner duty today and it was Pasta Carbonara tonight. I carefully separated one egg yolk from the white and then added another two full eggs to the cup before I accidentally tipped it over on the worktop! Surely this wasn’t going to be another Disaaaaster Day! I managed to save most of the eggs and got them back into the cup, but then I had the mess on the worktop to clean up and egg white is such a sticky horrible thing to clean up. But in the end the carbonara was ok, just ok, but edible and the kitchen was back to normal again.

None of the photos I took were really good, so the Urban Garden retained its PoD status. I’m still working on another shot from Glasgow that might make it into Flickr tomorrow.

I think between Hazy and Simonne we’ve managed to find and book a cottage for a week next summer. That’s another little brightener to give us all something to look forward to. Thank you very much ladies for all your research work.

No quickstep practise tonight, but maybe some tomorrow if we’re not too busy.

Other than that, no plans for tomorrow other than a bit of light shopping, all being well.

A Dreich Day – 26 November 2023

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A early walk in St Mo’s today, hoping against hope that there would be enough frost left to allow me to get my picture, but knowing that there wouldn’t be. I was right. There wasn’t. However I did get the PoD which is a photo of a gaggle of geese, a pair of swans, innumerable mallards and one cormorant that thought it fitted right in and that nobody would notice. Even the ducks were laughing. The rest of the walk brought no more photo opportunities and it was one of those damp colds that seems to eat into your bones, so I walked home and found Scamp talking to Hazy on the phone.

After Scamp and Hazy had completed their discussions, I had a chance to talk to Hazy. Just talking about the weather, cats and how the ‘down south’ folks were getting on. Then it was time for Hazy to have a snooze and time for our lunch.

Today’s lunch and dinner were from the far famed “What have we got in the fridge and freezer” collection. Scamp’s lunch was yesterday’s potatoes fried with some baby tomatoes and a chopped up black pudding with an beaten egg to bind them together. Mine was the remains of a pack of padron peppers, a slice of spiced beef ham, a slice of bacon and a trio of baby tomatoes. Both lunches filled a space and, well, mine at least were delicious.

While Scamp watched a recording of Laura Kuenssberg’s Sunday politics show, I started the post processing of today’s scant collection of photos. Sometimes I enjoy the cut and thrust of Kuenssberg’s verbal fencing, other times, like today, I just can’t be bothered. I struggled for over an hour with one of the photos of some raindrops on a grass stem before I thought to myself “Why?”. Do you like it? Is it worth the effort? The answers were No and No, so I left it.

By mid afternoon it was time to raid the freezer again and this time Scamp found a large fillet of salmon and I found two beef olives. Both needed time in a warm place to defrost and then thaw out, so we left them to it. While Scamp booked us a week in the sun. Not tomorrow, and not next week either, but it’s booked now and the parking is too. With judicious use of Black Friday offers and discounts from last year’s holiday we cut a fair chunk out of the price. It’s nice to think, as the days get shorter and the snow is forecast by the weather fairies, that there are still warm places we can go to.

Watched the final Grand Prix of the year and of course the usual suspect won. It is almost as if they are working to a script, either that or some of the cars are powered by Sublight engine thrusters.

Spoke to Jamie and got him up to speed with our complaint to British Gas and the power of having an Ombudsman on your side. Heard about the problems dealing with English Heritage who seem to be working with quill pens on parchment. Although some of the more advanced drawings are done with fountain pens and paper.  It’s hard to believe what some of these people ask folk to do.

Tomorrow we may go out for a run to warm the car up and maybe get an ES daylight bulb for my new lamp.