Bumping into a pal...

The lovely man and I met this friend while we wandered about in Stockbridge yesterday. It's always nice to see friends unexpectedly. Here she is with him.

Later on we met some other friends and had a lovely Thai meal. Here's another picture with sleepyduck near the castle. The restaurant wasn't far from here.

I have been very lacking in inspiration and motivation lately and have been erratic in looking at blogs. I will catch up soon. I was feeling a bit low last week as I heard that I didn't get the job. I gave a good interview and was second best yet again. Sadly that isn't enough when it comes to job interviews. My lovely weekend has cheered me up and I shall be back with a vengeance next week. 

Another photofriend has begun a blog. Do check him out at http://themindlesseye.blogspot.com/

Visit to Glasgow Museum of Transport

It was a lovely weekend with the lovely man as usual. We went to Glasgow's Museum of Transport as it will soon be closing and moving to another venue. We've been there and taken photos before but it was nice to go back. My resistance to setting the ISO high meant that I didn't get as many good photos as I should have but I liked this one in mono. I love the floor pattern in that bit of the museum.

After that we went to Mother India - just opposite Glasgow's Art Gallery and Museum. It's a great restaurant that serves Indian food in a tapas style so you buy lots of little dishes. The food is excellent. 

I'm having some trouble concentrating as I haven't heard how I did in my job interview yet. I'm hoping I'll hear tomorrow but I hope you've all still got everything crossed. 

Hope you've been having a lovely weekend. I'm a bit behind with all of your blogs but I'll catch up soon.

Chinese New Year in Glasgow

I could hear drums as I walked along a street in the city centre today. The source of the sound was this group who were celebrating Chinese New Year. I watched the dragon dancing for a while. In this shot it is leaving the building. At one point inside the restaurant I could see people standing and holding glasses up in the direction of the dragon.

It was a pleasant interlude to witness on my trip today. I was out looking for interview clothes and am now equipped for Friday afternoon. Hope you've still got those fingers crossed for me.

Finger puppet fun

This little chap didn't want to feed the ducks yesterday. I don't blame him as it was a bit grey and damp. Instead we had a lot of fun with finger puppets. We also had cake. Yum!

Here are some pictures of the stars of the show.

You may notice a a shady character in the background... 

Here's another shot I really liked.

It was a lovely way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Cow disguises itself as a car

I heard the moo but I wasn't sure whether I was seeing a car disguised as a cow or  a cow disguised as a car. The view from behind clinched it when it flicked its tail. 

Cars do not have tails. It must therefore have been a cow disguised as a car. Good disguise don't you think?

It's been a lovely weekend. Mr Duck and I had a bit of a wander around the Royal Mile before going for a meal in a Kurdish restaurant with a friend. I took the opportunity to get some lensbaby pictures and took a few that I liked.

Here is the lovely duck himself.

It's a little tricky getting the focus as sharp as I'd like when trying to capture what's happening around me since the lensbaby requires manual focus but it was nice to be playing with it again. All these are yesterday's photos and there are many more on my Flickr page http://www.flickr.com/photos/impoftheyard/

I took some lovely pictures today which I'll share with you tomorrow as I've still to sort them all out. Those of you who explore my blog links may have noticed a new one. It's called Stretching my Comfort Zone This is definitely worth a look if you are interested in photography. I particularly like this woman's colour projects. 

I hope you've been having a good weekend. It's time for me to make a cup of tea...

Seeking signs of spring

I was in a very springlike mood this afternoon when I went out in search of a pint of milk and some signs that spring was approaching. The first thing I found was in the frozen pond.

Not very spring like but pretty, nonetheless. 

The poor ducks and other birds were inclined to mob passersby with bread as there still is not a lot water that isn't frozen. I hadn't seen so many of them here before. 

After I searched and searched I saw a couple of tiny buds on a branch that looked like they might be pushing the tiniest bit of new growth. I looked a many branches before I saw this. I did photograph it with my macro filters but not very successfully without having a tripod. 

The other sign of spring I saw was the behaviour of the pigeons though I have to confess, I've seen them trying to charm the girl pigeons all through the winter. 

It would seem for now that my belief that spring is on its way remains an article of faith rather than something I can find much evidence for here yet. It remains bitterly cold but the sunny afternoons we've been having are cheering though I still do envy those of you across Europe who are seeing the spring well on its way.

Do you think they saw the camera?

I have a liking for candid shots so here's one. I don't think they spotted the camera at all. Do you?

I had a lovely evening catching up with old friends. I've only seen the person on the left twice in around 20 years. It was good to catch up.

Now I'm home and I have the munchies so I'm off to raid the cupboards....