Today’s guest picture comes from my sister Mary. The fox sitting on her neighbour’s shed, is right beside the light that is supposed to discourage it.
We had a fleeting visit from our son Tony, his partner Marianne, and their two dogs at breakfast time this morning, They stopped in to give the dogs a run about on their way to a holiday in Wales. There was a slight panic when one of the dogs mysteriously disappeared. A search party was formed and was about to set out in the rain, when we found that Milo had managed to lock himself in to the garage. We were amazed that he hadn’t barked while he was in there.
There was great relief and the visitors resumed their journey south. They sent a message later to say that they had arrived safely.
It was a very wet morning. Mrs Tootlepedal went off to a meeting at the Langholm Initiative, and I was supposed to go volunteering on the Tarras Valley Nature Reserve. I had just decided that I wasn’t going to go because the weather was so foul, when the rain stopped and it brightened up a bit. I changed my mind and drove up to the meeting spot.
Needless to say it started raining again as I got there. We were taking the tree guards away from the hillside where any of the trees that we planted a couple of years ago had failed. It proved to be less of a task than we might have expected, because most of the trees that we planted are doing very well, though not all of them have grown enough to show over the top of the guards yet.
It was hard work just walking among the wet tussocks, let alone carrying the posts and guards back, but we collected quite a few, and felt quite pleased with ourselves and the trees.
While we were slogging across the hill, I spotted the first orchid that I have seen this year.
Luckily for me, Kat our leader had a bit of a cold, so we sensibly didn’t stay out for the full two hours. As I had a bit of time in hand, I drove up to the bird hide when we had finished, and sat rather damply watching the birds there for forty minutes. It was time well spent.
The rain stopped while I was there, and the reflection pool looked very inviting, but not inviting enough to tempt any birds to have a drink or a swim.
Mrs Tootlepedal had got home by the time that I returned, and we had lunch. After lunch, I had a walk round the garden in some sunshine. Mrs Tootlepedal is really pleased with how well her delphiniums are standing up to wind and rain.
And I am happy too, because I like to take photographs of them.
Other flowers were available.
The forecast was very dubious, with showers predicted, but it looked fine for the moment, so ignoring a very strong breeze, I got my electric bike out, put on wet weather gear, and went off for a short ride.
As it turned out, I was rather overdressed, and I had a dry and mostly sunny outing on the shortest route round the Solwaybank wind farm. It was tough going out, but a breeze coming back. The bridge was my turning point, and after that, I could relax and enjoy the views.
It was a social day after I got home, with just enough time to take two more flower pictures, the Queen of Denmark and a well opened out peony . . .
. . . between Zooms, first with our granddaughter Matilda and our son Alistair, and then with my brother and sisters. Alistair and Matilda had been caught in torrential rain in Edinburgh in the afternoon, so we were lucky here.
After the Zooms and our evening meal, we welcomed a visit from our friends Mike and Alison. Alison and I played three recorder and keyboard sonatas, while Mrs Tootlepedal and Mike chatted, and then we joined them for some general conversation.
After three warm days at the beginning of the month, the temperature has struggled to get above 15°C (60°F) even in the middle of the day, so we are hoping for some warmer weather soon. The weekend is not promising, but it does look as though next week might be a bit better. This will be very welcome as walking about in winter clothes, and putting the heating on in the house is not good for June.
There was no time to watch the birds in the garden today, so the flying bird of the day is a blue tit from the bird hide.
Tootlepedal's Blog 
The Reserve volunteers look thoroughly sodden – everyone did well to persevere.
The fox in the guest photo may not be popular, but it makes an excellent photo! And so is that shot of the bridge at your route’s turning point – it looks like a calendar photo.
Final comment – don’t Tony and Marianne have three dogs?
They did, but Tara succumbed to old age recently.
Please pass on my condolences. Losing a much-loved pet leaves a rather large hole in your heart.
I will.
I can imagine the panic caused by Milo’s disappearing act. Lovely to have them pop in, though.
It was good to see dogs and owners too.
That’s a lovely picture by Mary. She and I do not always agree on its subject matter…
I know.
“Needless to say it started raining again as I got there.” That has happened to me many a time. The weather gods like to have a good laugh! Be careful when you ask for warmer days. They may hear you and turn on the blast furnace. 🙂
I enjoyed your photo selections, especially the orchid. It looks like you had a variable weather days with some beautiful sunny interludes for your bike ride. The scenery is beautiful!
There is little or no hint of a heatwave in our forecasts at the moment.
It was nice to see one of your orchids again. We don’t see many here.
It looks like the new phone is doing a good job.
I can imagine what it was like walking on those wet tussocks. No fun; I do it every spring when I look for skunk cabbages. It’s hard on the ankles these days.
You can’t even enjoy the view because you have to watch where you are putting your feet so carefully. But at least that helped me spot the orchid.
Love that final action shot! BTW – it was 15C here today.
Warmer than us for most of the day then.
Not good for June.
Mary’s photograph is beautiful!
It was a striking image.
Well done on the volunteering. At first glance the peony picture looked like a nest full of clamouring hungry babies
I agree about that.
I think I’ll go for the lovely Queen of Denmark rose rather than the peony this time!
You and the other volunteers are hardy folk to be out in the rain….volunteers make a big difference to the community.
To tell the truth, in the grand scale of things in the nature reserve, we few rather elderly volunteers do just a tiny fraction of the huge amount of the work that needs to be done, but we get great satisfaction out of our labours and we do do useful things.
A very positive way of volunteering!
Well done the volunteers. Glad the trees are doing well.
Good to see the variety of birds at the hide.
A soggy morning but well worth the effort. lovely bird and flower photos. Love the fox photo so wily!
It is a very noisy animal though.
We have also had the heat on. I’d rather that have that than intense outdoor heat but still….
I admire Mrs T’s delphiniums, have only managed to grow them successfully once!