A steadily busy day

Today’s guest picture is a detail from a beautiful wild flower meadow photograph taken by my Somerset correspondent Venetia. It features cowslips and orchids.

We had a slightly cooler day than yesterday, with a bit more wind and a bit less sunshine, but as it did not rain and was still quite warm, we did not complain.

I started my day by walking up to the High Street to pay for my next batch of bird food. My phone made a gallant attempt to capture a goosander standing on a rock just above the Kirk Brig.

When I got back, I mowed the front lawn and the grass along the dam at the back of the house, did some shredding, and had coffee with Mrs Tootlepedal. Then I wandered about the garden. I waas greeted by a blackbird . . .

. . . and saw several promising things, including a gooseberry, speedwell, alliums, sweet rocket and the first rose of the year.

Then Mrs Tootlepedal and I went shopping at the Co-op where I was waylaid by some raspberries which needed to be made into jam when we got home. While I was jamming, Mrs Tootlepedal was planting out broad beans, some in personalised greenhouses, and some exposed to the elements.

After lunch, I looked at a crow in the plum tree, smiled back at the geums, and checked the bird feeder . . .

. . . before setting out on my electric bike to tackle the breeze and some considerable undulations.

It was sunny when I started out . . .

. . . but it got a little cloudier as I went up past the Westerkirk Library, over the Enzieholm Bridge, past the Louping Stanes stone circle, and up to the bridge across the White Esk at Eskdalemuir.

Regular readers will perhaps remember that I passed another stone circle on my way up this road recently, and they may well wonder why there should be two stone circles so close together. It is my view that a travelling stone circle salesman arrived, and told the locals that their original stone circle was madly out of date, not at all fashionable, didn’t tell the time properly, and they would be far better off with one of his new smarter ones. “You call that a stone circle? It’s jut a pile of stones in a circle. Now my stone circles really are stone circles.”

At Eskdalemuir, I turned left and went over to Boreland. This road cuts across the grain of the land and goes continuously up and down as it crosses over small burns as well as the Black Esk. It is in good condition as it has been remade for the many timber lorries that use it as the big forests along it are cut down.

It was hard work as I was heading straight into the wind on this section.

My route today was rectangular and at Boreland, I turned left again and headed up to Corrie Common. The sun came out as I passed the picturesque church and headed up the hill.

The road to Corrie Common is not straightforward as there is a large dip in the middle. You can see the road climbing up the hill on the far side of the valley.

This second climb should be rewarded by great views when you get to Corrie Common, but today, as I climbed the hill, the afternoon misted over a bit, and by the time that I got to the bench, although it was still a pleasant day, there was no sign of a view at all.

The wind wasn’t helpful on this section either, and what should have been a whizz down the hill to Paddockhole, became a rather stately affair involving more pedalling than I would have wished.

It felt quite cool as the misty conditions persisted as I cycled back to Langholm on the last leg of my journey, and they completely spoiled what should have been a fantastic display of bluebells on the side of Dunnabie Fell.

It was slightly annoying that by the time that I got near Langholm, the mist had cleared . . .

. . . and Mrs Tootlepedal told me that she had had a lovely afternoon in the garden.

I did a little more shredding when I got back, refilled the feeder, and had a last look at the birds.

I had a late walk round the garden in the evening sunshine. The tulips are past their best now but still providing a lot of colour. The first polemonium was out. I think that I like the garden best on a sunny evening.

Mrs Tootlepedal had made fish pie for our evening meal, so that made up for any disappointment caused by the misty conditions.

The flying bird of the day is a goldfinch.

I append a clickable map of today’s route. As you can see from the elevation profile, there was a lot of uphill, and there wasn’t much flat road anywhere on the way round. The wind was across or against for three quarters of the trip. A good day for the electric bike.