Category: weather

A late night leads to a late morning – 12 July 2025

Posted on by Zogman

We were slow to rise today. Too much moon gazing last night.

It was going to be another hot one today, in fact the temperature did reach 29ºc in the afternoon, as predicted by the weather fairies. We did attempt to sit outside at the front of the house, but had to give in and move to the back garden, despite a whole bunch of children from next door, all having a wonderful and noisy time splashing in a paddling pool. Water and Sun are the main constituents for fun when you’re under 10, I think. I can’t really testify to that, but I do remember going with my mum on a bus that took us down to Millheugh and going paddling among the rocks in the shallow water to catch minnows which we called Minnens. I also remember stepping on a broken bottle there and getting a taken back to the doctor’s in Larkhall in one of my mum’s friend’s car to have it checked out. I’ve still got the scar to this day. No stitches nor anything, just a big plaster and either TCP or Dettol.

Back to the 21st century, Scamp and I had lunch inside because it was too hot outside today. Later we found a fairly cool spot in the back garden after the noisy weans had gone somewhere else. Scamp and I went for a walk in St Mo’s which is where today’s PoD came from. It’s a Common Blue Damselfly and it sat there posing for ages. A big blue dragonfly was patrolling the pond at the time, but it hardly stopped its circuit, so I didn’t get a photo of it. Sometimes they choose a resting site, a boulder or a bulrush that it will cling to for a while as it scours the pond for interlopers, but not today. Too busy.

I was on dinner duty today. Scamp had made a lovely light salad a couple of days ago, but mine was going to be different. A mixture of sweet and savoury. An apple, a pear, strawberries, beetroot, cucumber and lots more went into the bowl, along with cooked chicken breast pieces and some lettuce. I was quite proud of my creation. It was based on a salad Simonne had made for us a year ago. It was a success, I’m glad to say.

Thankfully the temperature is going down again as the sun sets. We’re hoping for a slightly cooler day tomorrow too.

Another day in the sun – 12 July 2025

Posted on by Zogman

Scamp was out in the early afternoon, meeting a friend for lunch.

While she was out, I started dismantling a couple of bird feeders. One had been partly demolished by a squirrel a couple of weeks ago. The other one was almost new, but just wasn’t fulfilling the brief, so it too was being taken to pieces. The problem with the second feeder was that when I was filling it with the fine seeds I’d been using ran right through it. I reckoned I needed a baffle or a temporary block in the metal mesh tube that makes up the body of the feeder. I cut a piece of brush handle and roughly shaped it so that it would reduce the volume of seeds going into the tube. Then I needed to fit the wooden block into the mesh tube and screw it in place. It took me some time and a lot of swearing to get it into the place I’d selected for it.

On the first test, it seemed as if the model worked, but still too much seed was flowing down the tube and out at the bottom. I set it up hanging from a tree branch in the garden and it appears to work … partly. Now I think I need to reduce the seed flow a bit more.

By the time I’d cleared up the workbench and most of the mess, Scamp had arrived back home. With the temperature rising we had lunch in the garden and discussed our mornings. Then, as the sun was brightening the back garden we sat and read for a while. PoD was two Osteospermum flowers soaking up the sun

We were heading to Larky for dinner with Crawford and Nancy in the evening and we sat on their patio and blethered for an hour and a bit, had a light dinner inside and then retired to the patio again to get a conducted tour of the garden. Later we watched the full moon rise and rise above the trees. A very mystical sight and one I’ll remember for a long time, I think.

We drove home and arrived back at the house just after midnight. A wee dram for me and a G ’n’ T for Scamp completed a lovely day out with friends. I’ll remember the guitar next time Crawford … promise.

Tomorrow the temperature is forecast to be at its highest. With 29ºc predicted.

Sitting in the sun – 10 July 2025

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Scamp was up early to go to the hairdressers. I didn’t need my hair dressed, so I stayed at home.

Scamp returned home looking wonderful and without a hair out of place not long after I started today’s Wordle et al puzzles. She had about an hour free before her next appointment, this time with Isobel.

When she had left to meet Isobel, I took one of our folding seats out to the front and read another chapter of “Stone and Sky”, the latest Ben Aaronovitch book. It’s probably the most confusing Rivers of London book I’ve read so far. I keep thinking I’ve read it before, but I haven’t. Sometimes it reads like a Young Adult book, sometimes it’s Police Procedural. Sometimes it’s about fairies and unicorns. Always it’s worth reading and now at book ten in the series, it’s getting complicated, but I know it will mostly all turn out fine in the end.

It was hot today. Not just warm, but hot. I think the maximum temperature that was reached was just over 25ºc which is hot for Scotland. Tonight the weather fairies were warning us that it’s going to be even hotter tomorrow. I don’t think I can take much more of this heatwave nonsense!

After Scamp returned with all the gossip from her meeting with Isobel, we had lunch and Scamp went in to Gardener mode and I just kept out of the way. Eventually I decided to take a walk to St Mo’s and get some photos. There didn’t seem to be too much insect or animal activity, so I headed down past the back of St Mo’s school and found today’s PoD waiting for me. As far as I can see the mating insects are Five Spot Burnet Moths, but what is the creature below them, breaking free of its cocoon? Another Burnet Moth perhaps? It doesn’t look like one. Maybe some clever person will be able to ID it.

Dinner tonight was a salad with baby potatoes, beetroot, feta cheese, prawns and lettuce. I’ve probably missed something out, but you get the idea. We washed it down with a half bottle of Bijou white wine. Highly recommended!

And that was about it for today. A hot day due to get even hotter tomorrow. Speaking about tomorrow, we’re hoping to go out for dinner with our pals in Larky.

 

 

Out for a spin – 8 July 2025

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Just a run round old haunts.

We spoke to Hazel on a bright sunny morning. We had a good blether about people we knew and books we’d been reading. Caught up with what the foxes were doing, which was appropriate, because foxes were playing a big part in my book today.

Once we were all up to date with each other, Scamp and I struggled and complained about Wordle and all its hangers on. We seem to do nothing but moan about the links the setters find for the morning puzzles, but we still do them religiously, every day.

We both agreed that the weather was too good to waste sitting in the house and we went for a drive over to Gouldings Garden Centre in Rosebank partly to have a spot of lunch and partly so Scamp could ogle the plants on display. Scamp had Mac ’n’ Cheese for lunch and I had what was advertised as Chilli con Carne. I’m not so sure there was a great deal of Carne in the Chilli. There did seem to be a little bit of sugar in it though, which was strange. Scamp said her Mac ’n’ Cheese was a bit sweet too. Hmm were Gouldings kitchen trying to mask something in their lunch menu? Maybe.
When we were leaving with a handful of plants each, I bumped into an ex-teacher, with his wife. It’s been ages since I’ve met him, but he hasn’t changed … thankfully.

We drove along Clydeside for a while and then turned off, heading for Kirkmuirhill and found ourselves behind a slow moving tractor on what was in effect a single lane road. It was a slow crawl through Auchinheath to Kirkmuirhill where eventually the tractor turned off and we had the road to ourselves. Eventually reaching Lidl in Larkhall where we got a flowerpot for one of the new plants and a bottle of Hortus gin for me. I think Scamp enjoyed the run in the country and so did I. We’ve now gathered a few more plants for filling up borders and replacing older ones.

I took a camera and a 50mm f2.8 macro lens out for a walk when we got back. Got a couple of decent shots among the many I took. PoD went to a Cucumber Spider wrapping up its prey. The spider is easily recognised. It’s bright green with a red spot on its bum.

Tomorrow I should book my annual bloodletting at the doc’s, since they asked so nicely, and there may be plants that need a new home.

 

Sunshine! – 7 July 2025

Posted on by Zogman

At last we had a day of sunshine with no rain. Hopefully it will stay around for a few days before we start begging for rain again.

Fred phoned me this morning just as Scamp and I were heading out to get the messages and Scamp insisted I take the call. We had a long blether about friends and the stupids who run the health centre. Thankfully Fred didn’t get a chance to sidle into his favourite subject, Politics. Just a blether.

When Scamp returned and I brought in the bags from the car and we had lunch. After that, Scamp started planning changes to the back and front garden. Some plants aren’t doing very well and need to be moved to cooler positions, while others that need more sun are being sent to the front garden. It’s a constant cycle in a garden.

Just exactly on time, a box arrived from Parcel Force. Most unlike them to be on time. Inside was a new battery for the small Dyson cleaner. They really know how to make things easy for you. I took out three screws, removed the old battery and replaced it with the new one. Done and dusted in less than five minutes. Why can’t everything be as easy as that?

Later in the afternoon I went for a walk in St Mo’s, mainly to test out an old lens I’ve had for years and hardly used. It’s a 16-35mm f4 Sony and although it produces decent images, I don’t use it enough, so it needs, like the plants in the garden, to be moved somewhere else. I’m not sure yet if it’s going to go, but it’s a possibility.

It was quite warm, but windy today which meant it was difficult to get the picture of the day to sit still long enough for me to get the photo I wanted. Eventually after about a dozen shots, I got what I wanted. The photo is of a Soldier Beetle sitting by itself on the head of a Cow Parsley plant. I liked the ‘bokeh’, the out of focus blobs in the background.

Scamp made dinner tonight it was a simple meal of trout fillet with Cornish potatoes dressed with a salad of lettuce, apple, shallot, pepper and tomatoes. All very like what Simonne made for us last year, down in Dent.

Well, the sun is still shining and the skies are blue. I think you could say we got our wish today. Tomorrow we’re intending going looking for Parsley plants for the planter in the garden.

Repetition – 6 July 2025

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Different day, but same rain.

The rain wasn’t torrential today, and it wasn’t even continuous, but it did seem as if it was raining every minute of the day. Actually there were times when the sun shone brightly, but behind every cloud there is RAIN. My son and his wife are almost praying for rain down in the south, and we are trying to get rid of ours for a few days.

Genesis summed it up in the song Mad Man Moon (1976)

“… Within the valley of shadowless death
They pray for thunderclouds and rain
But to the multitude who stand in the rain
Heaven is where the sun shines …”

After lunch, Scamp and I sat and watched an absolutely crazy British F1 GP and, as I followed those twenty odd folk driving through the blinding rain of a thunderstorm, I thought again of those lyrics. Was it worth it I wondered? I lost count of the number of cars reduced to scrap in a couple of hours. However, I must say I was glad to see Piastri being taken down a peg. That was satisfying.

Dinner was a new Scamp version of Mac ’n’ Cheese. Slightly different layers and with a very nice topping of Panko Breadcrumbs.

PoD was a photo of a yellow Aquilegia that arrived late to the party, but looked quite startling against the dark green foliage in the background.

Basically that was it for today. Rain, Rain, Lunch, F1 GP then Rain to finish the day.

No plans for tomorrow.

More Rain – 5 July 2025

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I’m going to use my mum’s chant on the weather:
“Rain, Rain, Go away. Come again another day.”

I’m getting really fed up with the constant drizzle. It just drags you down, and although a month or so ago we were praying for rain, we’ve had enough now, thank you very much.

We did get past the door today, though. Scamp and I went for a walk down to the shops and came back with two big shopping bags full of food for today and probably tomorrow as well. The parking situation is so bad on our street, nobody wants to move out of their space for fear of not getting back into their parking place when they come back. We need the council to take the bull by the horns and mark the parking spaces properly instead of allowing any Tom, Dick and Harry from just parking their car anywhere. It wouldn’t cost very much to white line the street and then we’d be able to see who the unthoughtful parkers are. Annoyingly, some of the streets in our area have already been white lined, but that was about three years ago, and there has been no further action on the matter.
There, now my blood pressure is back to normal again.

I went for a walk in St Mo’s in the late afternoon and found a baby’s dummy (or pacifier if you’re posh) lying on the path. That gave me an idea for today’s PoD. One of the dozen photos I’d taken was good enough to pass the test and did become PoD.

Dinner was a Smoked Haddock Fillet with Cheese Sauce for Scamp. I had a Lamb Biryani. Both from M&S. Where would we be without you!

That was the end of a rather boring day. We’re hoping against hope that tomorrow will be just a wee bit drier and a wee bit sunnier.

Rain – 4 July 2025

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Light rain, heavy rain, torrential rain and rain driven on the wind. All types of rain welcome here today.

Maybe ‘welcome’ isn’t the correct word. It started off as a dull day and ended up as a really depressingly wet day. If we hadn’t needed some chicken breasts for dinner I wouldn’t have moved past the door.

PoD was another posey posted through the letter box. Such a nice surprise. Thanks again, Hazy.

The highlight of the day was the Paella I made for dinner. It tasted great, although there probably was too much chicken in it.

I think we’ve had enough rain now so could you please turn the tap off? Hope the message gets through to those who can control these things.

Maybe tomorrow will be a better day.

Dancin’ – 3 July 2025

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For the first time in what seemed like ages, we went to a Tea Dance today.

It was one of those terrible days with pelting rain one minute and sunshine the next. Mostly it was rain today, though. We drove to Glenburn in the afternoon along with about a dozen other couples. Not a great turnout, but enough for a quorum. Also, with the schools in Scotland being on holiday, probably a lot of grans and papas would be on child minding duty. Most of them wishing they were dancing instead.

Stewart and Jane did their level best to draw us out on to the floor with a Lace Agate Swing. A little bit of everything in this sequence dance, covering spins, chassis and even a couple of fishtails. I filmed it and watched the recording on my phone later in the session, but wouldn’t say I remembered all the steps, or the sequence of them. It was fairly fast too.

Just as a bit of an experiment I wore my Dance Sneakers rather than my usual Black & White leather dance shoes with the suede soles. I’m glad to say that the dance sneakers were just as comfortable as the traditional dance shoes, if not more so.

We danced Waltz, something that might have been a Rumba and a Cha-Cha with a lot of sequence dances in between to pad things out. We left, feeling we’d really enjoyed today, then Stewart dropped his bombshell. There would be no dance class on Saturday because Brookfield hall was being used for a summer feté. The dance teachers are off on holiday (teaching) for the next three weeks, so the next dance class won’t be until August. A long time to wait.

We left early as usual to avoid the traffic, then I drove straight into that traffic. It was a long slog down to and over the Kingston Bridge and it was all done in torrential rain. The big heavy clouds we had hoped to leave behind us, just followed us home.

Dinner tonight was Bacon and Borlotti beans, one of Jamie and Simonne’s recipes that we use quite often.

PoD turned out to be Willowherb a much maligned wildflower that brightens up rough ground everywhere.

I don’t believe we have any plans for tomorrow.

Going Home – 2 July 2025

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Not us this time, but our son and our daughter-in-law, heading for home after a week in Scotland. Hoping to see them again soon.

They were leaving early, so it was an early rise for us too. Then the house seemed so empty after the hustle and bustle, but good to hear a few hours later that they had arrived back home safe and sound with Vixen.

I was raining when they left us. I had been intending to meet my brother for a photowalk somewhere interesting, later in the day, but a WhatsApp message from him an hour after the climbers had left made me thing it wasn’t going to happen today. He said the rain was really heavy in his neck of the woods and to be honest, it had been raining constantly all morning with us. I decided the best thing to do was to cancel today’s walk and try for another day next week when, hopefully there would be at least one dry day. Not too much to ask, surely.

That left us with a whole day to fill, then Scamp reminded me that she was going out to lunch with Shona which left ME with a whole afternoon to fill. I had two posts to upload and two blog posts to write up, so it wasn’t really true to say that I had a ”whole afternoon to fill”. It was already filled.

A cup of coffee first and I got the photos uploaded. The blogs took longer, as blogs usually do. I was half way through the first one when I realised the rain had stopped and the sun was shining. I took that opportunity to grab some photos of flowers in the garden. One of them got PoD. That one was the low viewpoint shot of an orange Dahlia. Scamp’s first attempt at growing miniature Dahlias. Safe in the knowledge that I had at last one photo in the bag, I finished off both the blogs and posted them. The rain returned for another quick splash and then the sun shone again for most of the evening.

Dinner for me was beef olives with onions, potatoes and carrots. Since Scamp had already had lunch, she managed to scrounge a few of my potatoes.

A fairly busy day for both of us.

We’re hoping to go dancing tomorrow if the weather plays nice.