Water drops

Today’s guest picture comes from my sister Mary’s recent visit to Grasmere. The rhododendrons there were in fine condition.

We had a second damp day in a row here today, but we were a lot better off than they were just down the road. My sister Mary was due to catch a train from Penrith to London this morning, but all trains north of Preston were cancelled due to flooding, and my recorder playing friend Susan was unable to use her work car park in Carlisle because it was flooded too. We were lucky that we didn’t get much over half an inch of rain in Langholm during the last two days.

Luckily, my brother was on hand to drive Mary to Preston, and she got back to London safely. For reasons which are opaque, he drove on to Goole.

Dropscone came round for coffee, and he was in good form. It was his birthday yesterday and he will be older than me for the next six months. This rightly makes him feel a bit superior. As a mark of the improvement in his health, he is going off to help with the officiating at an international boys golf competition near Edinburgh next week. To celebrate his birthday, we had ginger biscuits as well as scones with our coffee.

The rain was light but persistent, and it was drizzling when I went for a walk round the garden after Dropscone had gone on his way. There was plenty of cheerful colour on a dull day . . .

. . . and even a bee or two.

More subdued colours were available too.

Mrs Tootlepedal was at a Langholm Initiative meeting all morning, so I took the opportunity to put a week of the newspaper index of the Archive Group database. We have just received a request for copies of various articles from a lady who found our website very helpful in her family research, so it is good to know that our work is useful.

Then I made some lentil soup.

While the soup was cooking, I checked on the birds. Once again, the feeder was pretty quiet, with only a redpoll in evidence . . .

. . . but he was soon joined by a siskin who kept a wary eye out as he picked at the seeds.

A blackbird perched on a pole nearby.

Mrs Tootlepedal returned in time to have some soup for her lunch.

After lunch, I decided that the rain was light enough to make an outing on my e-bike a good idea as I hadn’t been for a bike roide for a couple of days. Mrs Tootlepedal did consider joining me for part of the trip, but having looked at the conditions, she decided that sewing a dance costume for Matilda might be a better idea for her.

Of course the weather gods were keeping an eye on things, and as soon as I started out, the light rain got a bit heavier. The wind was behind me though as I cycled down through Canonbie, and that made the rain a lot less noticeable. I enjoyed myself and kept up a good speed.

The journey back from the bottom of the by-pass was a bit more like hard work, with wind and rain in my face for a lot of the time, but the rain often eased off and I had good waterproofs on, so I never got soaked, only a little damp.

I passed what I think is water dropwort when I left the main road.

Mrs Tootlepedal is not convinced that it is water dropwort, so I will keep an eye on it and take more pictures as it develops. Google thinks that it might well be, but it is not always right.

There was not much colour on a very grey day to say the least, but buttercups along the roadside did their best.

The last time that I went past a tree at Chapelhill, the cows were getting shade from the hot sun under it. Today they were sheltering from the rain. It is an all purpose tree.

A little further on, I met some two pairs of Belted Galloways. Both youngsters moved further away from me as I got out the camera.

As I got near home, I was able to admire my now favourite sycamore.

I needed a complete change out of damp clothes when I got in, but I wasn’t cold or drenched, so I was very happy to have stretched my legs a little on an unpromising day.

To complete a Tootlepedal day, Susan and Jenny, two of our recorder group, came round to play trios in the evening. Our fourth member, Sue, who lives out in the country, was surrounded by floods, and thought it wiser not to venture out. We had a good evening of music, particularly as Jenny got to play some pieces which she had never played before.

We finished the evening with tea and biscuits, and Mrs Tootlepedal joined us for some good conversation.

With the gloomy conditions and light traffic at the feeder, I didn’t catch a flying bird today, but the blackbird on the pole was just about to fly so that was the best that I can do. (I was too slow, and it was out of frame when it actually took off.)