Here, there and everywhere

The picture of the day has been contributed by Zyriacus, a reader from Germany, and shows a bug hotel which he and his son constructed in his garden.  Everyone should have one. It was very nice of him to take the trouble to send me this picture and it is much appreciated.

Today the sun shone from dawn to dusk.  This was so unusual that people were walking the streets of the town talking in hushed tomes so as not to frighten it away.

I might have gone cycling as it was still just above freezing but it was day the of the Archive Group lunch so I decided to take things easy to prepare myself for this great occasion.  After a late breakfast, I walked up to the High Street to pay my newspaper bill and took the opportunity offered by the nice weather to walk back home by way of the Kilngreen and the Castleholm.

On the Kilngreen, somebody was feeding the gulls.  This one passed me with its mouth full of bread.

The gulls were circling about above my head.

Sadly this one got too close for a perfect picture

The heron was not in his usual place, which was surprising when food was about, so I went on over the sawmill bridge and took the new path past the castle.  It was a treat to be able to take a walk on a sunny day.

The view from the Castleholm

When I got to the bank of the Esk, there was the heron.

He was part of a small gang of ducks.

Some splashy…

…and some reflective

A tree trunk called out to me as I walked past.

This is a conifer

When I got home it was time to get ready to go out to the Eskdale for our annual Archivist lunch.  Twelve of us sat down to an excellent meal and conversation.  I had forgotten to take a camera so this gathering will only be recalled in the memories of those present  (i.e not for very long as we are all getting on a bit and our memories are not what they once were.)

Mrs Tootlepedal left the gathering to go a meeting of the Embroiderers’ Guild and after pudding and a coffee, Sandy and I walked back to pick up my car and then set off to use a bit of the sunshine up at the moorland bird feeders.  I was looking for a woodpecker…

Another one with one of Cat’s rings on.

…while Sandy was concentrating on a couple of feeders nearer to hand and I look forward to seeing what he took on his blog soon.  Behind us as time went by, the light was getting more and more golden.

In the end, we thought that the light looked more interesting than the birds so we packed up and drove back through the town and took the road to the White Yett.  We stopped for a quick look at the first corner.

The light on Potholm Hill looked promising

A horse in the field looked a bit morose

The sky was ablaze with colour…

…but we didn’t stop long as we wanted to get to the top of the hill before the light went.  As we drove up the hill and looked out along the Ewes Valley, Sandy remarked that it was this view that made him particularly glad to live in Langholm.   I agreed but thought that occasions such as the Archive lunch ran it a close second. We got to the White Yett just in time.

The cloudscape was spectacular.

Looking west

Looking north

Of course, these scenes are what the camera makes of them.  Here is a slightly less striking view when the camera is not pointed directly at the sky.

Looking back down the road

It was much more like the vivid pictures above than this shot makes it seem.  Turning round to look over Terrona hill, the last of the sun was catching a patch of mist.

It really did look like this.

And in a few minutes, the light had gone and Sandy and I were standing on the top of a hill in a bitterly cold wind with nothing to look at.  We wasted no time in getting back in the car and retiring home for a cup of tea and a biscuit or two.

After our tea, I took Sandy home and then returned for a nice sit down and a contemplation of a pleasantly varied day with good light, good food and good company.  As the song says: who could ask for anything more?

The flying bird of the day was one of those gulls.