Category: weather

The world’s gone mad – 23 December 2021

Posted on by Zogman

Everyone in Cumbersheugh was going shopping this morning, including us.

We drove down to the shops, because we were going for a chicken and it was probably going to be heavy. It was drizzly raining and I didn’t relish the thought of humphing a heavy chicken up from the shops in the rain. Life is miserable enough without making it worse. Anyway, that’s what I bought a car for. It’s a great thing a car, especially if you can find a place to park it!  The carpark was chockablock!

There was a long queue outside M&S and Scamp was already in it when I had finished locking the car and footering about. The queue went down fairly quickly, but it’s depressing to think that this is the way it’s going to be for at least a month. Maybe it’s just M&S, though because none of the other shops had a guard stationed at the door, counting them out and counting them in. We did get in, eventually and found almost all we needed, then we drove home in comfort.

The next thing to do was to load up the chopped up cardboard box that has been languishing in the back bedroom and take it on a one-way trip to the crusher. It really does do a great job on cardboard. Minces it up and crushes it into neat blocks. Don’t know what it does with them, but I’ve heard rumours. As well as the cardboard I’d also brought the old Wii surfboard thing that we used stand on and it would say “Measuring”. It won’t say it anymore because the Wii went away a couple of weeks ago and the board went into the General Household skip today. I had to be more careful with the twirly long lasting lightbulb that apparently contains mercury and can kill you if you even look at it the wrong way. It went into shelf with all the other curly long lasting lightbulbs that didn’t last. The guys who work in the Recycling Centre probably lob them all into the skips once everyone’s gone.

I got PoD at the Recycling Center. Lots of jolly little toys were spaced around the place, there was even a life size Santa waving to all the girls and boys. The folk that work in the place really do put on a good show every year.

On the way back I dropped in at Fred’s and gave him his card, a bag of brandy truffles and a wee prezzy for his birthday which is on Saturday, Christmas Day. It must have been a bummer for him having Christmas and Birthday on the same day with nothing to look forward to all the rest of the year. He gave me a bottle of Monkey Shoulder, a mini bottle, bigger than a miniature and smaller than a half bottle. Very nice too.

Driving up to the Recycling Centre the traffic was awful. Queues everywhere. I imagine some were heading for the vaccination centre, the rest were invading the shops. It was madness. Thankfully there was hardly any queue at the skips. Wait until Monday there will be plenty of folk there then, ridding themselves of the packaging from their children’s toys.

Back home there was a lovely smell of soup as I opened the door. That was tonight’s dinner sorted.

The last thing to do was get my hair cut. It’s been on my mind and on my head for too long. Today I sheared myself and Scamp removed all the bits I missed. It felt a lot better to be rid of it, although I’ll curse myself the next cold day!

That was it for Christmas Eve eve, the day before Christmas Eve. Not a lot of plans for tomorrow. I think we’re hoping to take it easy. Weather looks cold and dull.

The first step to a brighter day – 22 December 2021

Posted on by Zogman

Today the sun set ONE minute later than yesterday, but that minute was important.

I didn’t really notice much difference in the light, but Scamp was certain it was lighter this morning than it was yesterday. I’ll go with her answer.

There were presents to wrap this morning and after that, Scamp drove up to Tesco and I drove up to Costa for coffee and a panettone with Val. The panettone was his idea and with him being an Italian, I went along with it. Also he was paying today, but that’s by the way. We talked about many things, but all things tech really. Really enjoyed the conversation and actually enjoyed a toasted panettone dunked into coffee although Val says that the toasting of it isn’t very Italian. It was a cold day with rain turning to a hard sleet called Freezing Rain. It’s harder than sleet or hail and remains frozen when it lands on the ground. Dodgy stuff to walk on apparently. I offered Val a run home and for once he accepted. This wasn’t a day for going for a walk.

While I was out with Val I got a message to say that a parcel was going to arrive today in about fifteen minutes.  I phoned Scamp, but I needn’t have worried, she was at home by then and ready to receive the parcel.  Parcels have been whizzing around the country these last few days.  Thankfully I think most have now arrived at their recipients, although one more may still be on its way.

Back home I dumped the camera and we went to visit Margie. By then it was less cold than it had been, you couldn’t say it was warmer, that would give the wrong impression. We spent an interesting couple of hours talking to Margie and hearing her stories of the Larkhall folk who were in her ward at the hospital. She was shocked at the language they used, but said that they had hearts of gold. She was even more shocked when Scamp told her I was born and brought up in Larkhall. After coffee and Stollen (which she told us was meant to represent the baby Jesus lying in the manger) and with a few more stories told, we took our leave and drove home.

I didn’t have a photograph for today and couldn’t think what I would do for it. Eventually I settled on the Fairy at the top of the Christmas tree. Last week it was the turn of ’Fairy Nuff’ to shine. Tonight it was the fairy with the new white dress who shone, and she became PoD.

Later when we were watching Christmas University Challenge, a question was about a Christmas speciality which represents the baby Jesus wrapped in swaddling clothes in the manger and we laughed, knowing the answer was ‘Stollen’!!

Tomorrow Scamp would like to do some ‘light shopping’. I think that means we’re not going to buy the entire Tesco, just a selection from it.

A walk in Glasgow and a short day, the shortest – 21 December 2021

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We decided we’d go into Glasgow for a walk to see the lights.

There weren’t nearly as many folk wandering the streets of Glasgow as there were a couple of weeks ago when Alex and I were there. We walked down Bucky Street and thought the crowds were sparse. Only half the stalls were in St Enoch’s Christmas market and Argyle street just had normal weekday shoppers. When we walked up Queen Street the streets were almost deserted. I think we were both shocked by the lack of footfall at what should have been the busiest week of the year. Only Covid seems to be doing good business!

Back home, another parcel was ready to be posted and although I had taken a few shots in Glasgow, I wasn’t sure I had a worthwhile PoD, so I took a camera when I went out to post it. For some reason, and for the second time I’d been at Condorrat post office recently, it was surprisingly empty. Maybe everybody is ahead of the game this year and already have all their cards and parcels posted. It’s either that or, as the lack of crowds in Glasgow would seem to indicate, nobody’s buying presents or spending cards. Anyway, parcel posted and cards too, I went for a walk in St Mo’s woods. Couldn’t find much sign of life animal or vegetable, but I did see the wee pond reflecting a leafless tree and took some shots of that. It was one of them that made PoD. A photo of Bucky Street from the Concert Hall joined it on Flickr.

That was about the end of the excitement and the exercise for today, but I did achieve my 10,000 steps which I haven’t done for a long time.

Today was the shortest day and it felt like it too. From now on the days will get longer, the sun will shine bright and longer and that will cause the temperature to increase. Oh look! Another flying pig!!

Tomorrow I’m out for coffee with Val. A chance for some ‘tech talk’. Then in the afternoon we are hoping to visit Margie. Getting out and about for a change.

Longing to get past the shortest day

Posted on by Zogman

Another day with almost no daylight.

It becomes tedious. Day after day with no directional light. On Friday I drove to Fife and spent half an hour there in glorious sunshine. I might have to head east again to get another dose of vitamin D. Today was so dull, I swear the sun didn’t rise above the ground at all.

Scamp drove away to meet her big sister for a coffee. She told me she was going to take the long way round to the town centre, just to give the Wee Red Car a good chance to fully charge its battery and basically get everything moving again. It seemed to work, because when she came back she was smiling. It’s good to be independent and not rely on others. I’m just glad the battery held its charge, but I think it’s just the cold weather and Scamp not being able to drive for a month that allowed the battery to discharge. Or it could be that the wee car is getting fed up with all those dull cloudy days too.

While she was out, I started the tidying up of the back bedroom. It’s going to take more than a morning’s work to get it back in business, but today was a start. The sofa is almost cleared and the table too. I chopped up that enormous packing box from last week. We eventually found we could do without it. There are a couple of fairly large expanses of corrugated card that might hold a coat of gesso and fit on a drawing board, so I could paint on them. The rest of them will go into the paper shredder at the skips. If I get things sorted I can maybe get my sewing machine out and take up the second pair of lined walking trousers. Maybe!

When Scamp returned she brought me a bottle of gin, a present from June. A birthday present for my 70th last year! Typical June. When she says she’s going to do something, she does it. Maybe not right away, but it’s there in her head and she is a determined lady when she puts her mind to it. Scamp even sang Happy Birthday to me from June. What a lovely surprise.

We’d a lot going on today. Your parcel was picked up right when DPD said it would be and it’s now winging its way to you, pair, Hazy and Neil. The lady who does the Covid survey was coming in the afternoon to take samples and ask us questions. A mysterious parcel was dropped at the door by the Amazon man, but now it’s disappeared! With all that going on and with the lack of light, I’d no real opportunity to get out for a walk and some photos. Instead, I got the Benbo tripod out of the car and took some photos in the garden. That way I could use as slow a shutter speed as I wanted to get the low ISO number that would ensure I didn’t have ’grain the size of golf balls’ as we used to say back it the ‘wet film’ days. The best one, and PoD, was a low level shot of a Christmas rose, one of Scamp’s favourites called Christmas Carol. There are others too on Flickr.

I toasted June with a G ’n’ T tonight and Scamp had a glass of wine. Well, it may be dull, but it’s nearly Christmas.

Tomorrow we may go out somewhere for a walk or maybe a stroll round Glasgow.

 

A dull day with a walk through – 19 December 2021

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It didn’t really rain today. It felt like it couldn’t be bothered, so it just smirred all day.

We were having lunch when Scamp realised that we hadn’t recorded The Andrew Marr Show. We watch it religiously every week, hardly ever missing an episode of his highly entertaining current affairs program. It’s not really meant to be entertainment, but watching him baiting politicians of all parties is simply excellent viewing. We missed it today because we’d forgotten to add it to the recording schedule. Worst of all, it was his last show because he leaves to host a new politics show on another channel. We needn’t have worried because with the miracles of a new set top box and iPlayer, it was already there for our edutainment.

So, we did get to watch him achieve the impossible by getting Sadiq Khan to answer ‘Yes’ to a question. Brave man Mr Khan having the courage to answer a question so clearly. Sajid Javid was a much slippier customer and manage to complete the ‘Yes – No interlude’ easily (too long ago for most of you to remember. Google Take Your Pick.) I’ll miss watching Andrew Marr on a Sunday morning.

After that I fitted the fully charged battery to the wee Red car. It now starts, or at least it did this afternoon without a problem but the radio still has the Wait 1 Hour message that its had since we tried the wrong pin months ago. How many hours do we have to wait?

Finally I went for a walk and got today’s PoD. A spider web with some water droplets hanging from it. Not startling, but at least it’s a photo and it’s in. It was just miserable out and that constant smirr was in the air all the time.

Talked to Jamie and he gave us a virtual conducted tour of the inside of THEIR new house. Quite a difference from the last time we saw it. It just looks like a home now with their own furniture in it. I know that Scamp is desperate to see it properly, but with the best will in the world, it won’t be until about next March, all being well. That’s a long time to wait, but better to be safe than sorry.

Scamp is booked for coffee tomorrow morning and I’m waiting for the DPD driver to come and collect a parcel. After that, the lady with the swabs and the questions is coming to see us. Busy day.

Fog – 18 December 2021

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Thick, then thinning. Wet and clinging. That’s fog.

For a week my phone’s weather app has been predicting fog on Saturday. Today it changed its prediction to sunshine. Unfortunately it had already ordered the fog and, like on Amazon, once you’ve paid for it, you’re already too late to change the order. So we had that grey sheet of obliteration all day.

Last night we got the message that today’s dance class had been cancelled, so the silver lining to that cloud was that we had more time to parcel up the prezzies and send them on their way. I say ‘We’, but you all know that it’s Scamp who does all the work. I just do what I’m told (for a change). Today was no exception. Hazy and Neil’s parcel needed a firm top for the box, so I cut a bit of heavy card from one of my big A1 sketch pads and it fitted perfectly. Scamp was ordering and paying for the delivery label the we hit the first problem. The printer wasn’t working. The PC said the printer couldn’t be found. Of course it was because of the new modem which had a new address and password. There was a neat solution, of course. You only need to bring the printer near the modem and press a button on the modem and on the printer and the two will connect without the need for a password. It’s never that easy. This must be a slightly newer version of the modem. It was only after a lot of swearing and searching on the InterWeb that I found you have to hold the WPS button down for about five seconds then do the same on the WiFi button on the printer. With our old modem you just pressed the WPS button, no need to long press it. Once that was cleared up and the labels printed and fixed on the parcels we could relax.

Well, not exactly, that was the next problem. The time was 12:10 and the Post Office closed at 12:30 today, so I got my jacket on and legged it over to Condorrat to hand the parcel over. Thankfully there was no queue and I got it into the bag and the receipt in my hands just as the Parcelforce men were loading the sacks. One down.

With a bit of time to spare now, I went to the butchers to get stew for my dinner this week, plus some Tattie Scones, plus four black puddings, plus a steak pie for my dinner tonight. Walked back to find Scamp had tidied up the carnage in the living room and it was time for a cup of Sumatran coffee. Hazy and Neil’s parcel is going DPD for logistical reasons. That is, I’d already paid for the DPD delivery before realising that we could have sent them both by Parcelforce.

After lunch Scamp and I went out in the fog for a walk round St Mo’s. It was that creepy fog that is thick in some places and non-existent in others. I grabbed a quick shot of a bloke striding home along the path through the trees and with a bit of work, that made PoD. Lots of spiderwebs revealed by the water droplets courtesy of the fog. Very etherial but very few that made a good shot.

Steak pie was lovely, if a little sparse in steak. I couldn’t tell you when I last had a butcher’s steak pie. Half of it is gone with the other half for dinner tomorrow. Scamp had a white dinner Cauliflower and Potatoes.

Later we watched a stretched out Strictly. We weren’t totally surprised by the winning competitor, nor were we impressed by the performance. The worst thing was the time wasting that was going on. I gave up after a while with all the weeping and ‘emulsion’ people were showing. How many crocodiles did they need to collect all those tears?

Thanks for the email address Hazy. We did eventually get signed in and found the film we were looking for on Amazon Prime, plus another one I wanted to see.

Tomorrow looks a bit like today, foggy. Maybe another walk in a different direction.

Off the leash – 17 December 2021

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Scamp was out at a Witches Christmas lunch at Moira’s. Do witches ‘do’ Christmas? Isn’t that an oxymoron? Or am I just showing off now? Answers on a postcard please.

That was after a rather fractious morning. I thought we were going to Torwood and Scamp thought we were going to Calders. After a dodgy manoeuvre crossing lanes in a thankfully fairly quiet motorway and a great deal of swearing on my part and silence on Scamp’s we did arrive safely at Calders. Later I apologised and agreed that she was right (as always).

Then, heading home empty handed, Calders not having the plant she was looking for, we dropped in at Tesco, looking for a box big enough to pack some (a lot of ) Christmas prezzies. Again I returned empty handed. No packing boxes big enough for our needs. We tried M&S, but still no packing boxes. Finally I tried Iceland and asked one of the assistants if they had any empty cardboard boxes. She asked how big and I made the usual accurate dimensions by holding my hand, palms facing and moved them from about 300mm to about 1m apart. Yes, about that size. She returned with a box nearly big enough to fit my car in. Yes, I said, that would do nicely. Thanked the young lady and we drove home with the box, now folded down, still taking up all the space in the back of the car.

After we’d bundled the box out of the car we had just enough time for a coffee before we headed off to Dunnipace to Moira’s house. As we were heading east, the sky was lightening and there was blue sky out there. After I dropped Scamp off at the lunch / party, I headed further east, asking the sat nav to give me directions to Kincardine in the Kingdom of Fife. It found it without any problem and soon I was driving over the Kincardine Bridge and parking.

I took the Benbo tripod with me. It lives most of its life in the boot of the blue car. Took my Sony A7 too. I knew where I was heading and soon I was set up on a strip of sand by the river with just enough time for half a dozen shots before the tide started lapping around the feet of the tripod. I moved back to the asphalt path and walked round the bridge itself, marvelling at the light and the open space here. Less than half an hour later I was walking back to the car, talking on my phone to Fred who had phoned me for a wee blether. After we’d said our bit and then said our goodbyes, I drove home with enough time for a plate of soup before the Tesco man brought three boxes of messages. I just decanted everything from their crates and left them on the work surface, the cooker lid and anywhere they’d sit safely, then phoned Scamp for an update on the time to pick her up.

Checked the photos and knew right away that they were a good set. Fifty three shots taken, five rejected immediately. That left 48 good sharp shots. That must be a success record for me. Phoned Scamp at 5pm to tell her I was on my way. I always get lost going into Moira’s estate. Today I’d set myself markers and knew where to turn left and when to turn right. For some reason it worked perfectly. Spoke to the witches. Moira as welcoming as ever and Annette pretending she was drunk and convincing nobody. It’s all just a laugh and good friendship. Unfortunately Covid had put an end to the Auld Guys coffee mornings in Costa and beers in The Horseshoe Bar. Maybe they’ll return next year, but I have my doubts. Dinner for me was a rather excellent, but gigantic pizza. Half waiting for me for lunch tomorrow.

The real bad news of the day was that the dance class has failed to generate enough interest from dancers this week and Stewart informed us that it is with regret that tomorrow’s class is cancelled. I hope this is all to do with last minute Christmas shopping and not Covid and it will return stronger in the new year.

PoD was a picture of the Kincardine Bridge with afternoon sunshine lighting it up.

Tomorrow we may go for a walk somewhere scenic and somewhere without shops.

Another dull, wet day – 15 December 2021

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It rained all day today, but Scamp went out for a walk in the rain.

It was a busy day, though. While Scamp was out posting Christmas cards the engineer arrived to service the boiler. While he was working away Hazy phoned. I just knew she was more interested in getting more information from her mum than talking to me, so I asked her to phone back which she did. Scamp arrived back just in time to save me pulling a cupboard apart to find the maintenance log for the engineer to sign. He gave us a lot of useful information in the time he was here. He showed us a much better way to use the central heating and keep the house warmer too. It’s always good to get information from someone who knows what they’re talking about. In half an hour he passed on more useful knowledge than the bloke from Scottish Gas had given us when he was fitting the boiler. So, the boiler was fine, as you’d expect considering it’s just over a year old, and the house is now a lot warmer without getting too hot.

Once he was on his way, we settled down to hear what was going on in Hazy’s house, while one of her cats was screaming to be fed. Poor wee soul hadn’t been fed for years apparently. Worse still, that bad girl was too busy talking on the phone to do anything about it. Scamp related her tale of woe about NHS waiting lists and the difference if you’re willing to pay. I hardly got a word in edgewise, but that was probably for the best ”It’s always good to get information from someone who knows what they’re talking about”.

After lunch Jackie phoned and I took the opportunity to boot up and go out for a walk in the rain. If it was good enough for Scamp, it was good enough for me. PoD came from that walk and is one of those little weeds I delight in photographing with raindrops clinging to the bracts that used to hold flowers. There is a saying “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” My thoughts today were “If life gives you rain, photograph it.” That’s what I did. Of course the photo is slightly fake edited. I used the new masking tools in Lightroom to blur the background while keeping the subject sharp. It’s not perfect, but it’s a pretty clever tool.

I walked down to the shops and got some frozen sweet corn to make Celeriac and Sweetcorn soup. It sounds awful, but it actually tastes very good. We were both agreed on that.

Years ago I made an adjustable lens hood for one of my Oly lenses. I found the drawing for it tonight and managed to export it from the PC to the Mac and print it out from there. Transferred it to a sheet of neoprene and lo and behold, it fits the new macro lens that didn’t come with a lens hood. I need to get some black velcro tomorrow to finish it.

That’s about it for today. Like I said, it was a busy day. I think we may be going to the Fort tomorrow.

Going to see the Eye Man – 14 December 2021

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Another dull morning, but for once weather wasn’t on our minds.

After lunch we got ready and headed off to Ross Hall Hospital. It was a murky looking day and immediately we left the estate, the automatic headlights came on. Once we were booked in, Scamp went off to be measured for the new lenses, then they put drops in her eyes to dilate them and the optician checked her eyes and did the same tests that Scamp had at Hairmyres. I got to sit in on those tests too. Next we went to speak to the surgeon who talked her through the operation, and answered the few questions she had. Then he booked her for the procedure on the 17th of February which is a great deal better than the 12 months she was offered at Hairmyres. It would have been sooner, but the specialised lenses she’ll need will take longer to make than normal lenses. I do believe she is relieved!! Ok, it’s private and quite expensive, but it will be done a lot quicker that on the NHS. Also NHS wanted her to wait three months from getting the first eye done to getting the second. Ross Hall said one week! The date of the first procedure is our wedding anniversary too!

The drive back was horrendous. Some poor bloke had broken down in the overtaking lane of the Kingston Bridge and the traffic was backed up for five miles. Took us an hour and a half to get back. For once we weren’t all that bothered. We’d put a big tick in a big box today. Best of all, she can now put her contact lenses in again and put the glasses in their box. She looked like Scamp again!

Dinner tonight was a curry ready-meal from M&S. Butter Chicken for Scamp and Chicken Jalfrezi for me. We even had a wee drink tonight to celebrate the occasion.

Maybe if that poor bloke hadn’t broken down on the Kingston Bridge, I might have had a chance of a photo over in St Mo’s, or maybe not. PoD today was a traditional shot of Fairy Nuff on the Christmas tree.

We’ve got an engineer booked to service the boiler tomorrow morning and I’m hoping against hope that the sun will shine after that and I’ll get a chance to put the new lens through its paces.

Magpies and mushrooms – 13 December 2021

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Photography started really early today.

While I was making breakfast today I watched a magpie struggling to peck some fat from the bird feeder in the garden. It was sitting on a low branch, too low for it to reach the bird feeder, but it didn’t have the sparrow’s and blue tit’s ability to hover and feed. They aren’t quite as elegant as humming birds, but they do get the job done. Poor magpie eventually gave up, but not before I’d taken a few shots.

After breakfast we drove up to NEXT to get a parcel Scamp had ordered and was delivered to the shop. We were still waiting for the other parcel that should have been delivered to the house on Friday. It was a Christmas present for Nancy who we visited on Saturday. That’s why alternative arrangements and prezzies were required. Next we drove down to Tesco at Craigmarloch and got Scamp’s meds, plus some food necessities. Milk, veg, yoghurt, two bottles of rum and a bottle of wine, oh yes, and bread. Just the essentials!

Back home and after lunch I booked an engineer from Virgin to come on Thursday and see what can be done about the modem. Then it was time to go for a walk in the woods with a camera or two. My favourite from that trip was a close up shot of some deformed mushrooms. They almost look as if they had deflated, like a burst football. It was that image that made me think they might be ageing Puffball mushrooms. They became PoD and I’ve just had a message on Flickr confirming that they are indeed puffballs. It’s good to have experts on hand, even if they are virtual experts.

Not a lot else done today. It was quite dull with no texture in the sky until quite late in the afternoon, then the setting sun found some blue sky and proceeded to change its colour to a lovely shade of violet. Dark at the top and lighter lower down. It was such a pity there was nothing to give a focal point of interest, although I did of course photograph the sky anyway. Not long after I arrived back home the missing parcel arrived. Allegedly it should have been here by 1pm. It finally came around 4pm, but at least it did come!

Tomorrow we have an appointment with a consultant to hear what he has to say about Scamp’s eyes. Hopefully he will be able to give us a more realistic time frame for the procedure than the NHS.