Free but at a cost

Today’s guest picture is from my walking friend Mark. It comes from yesterday’s walk, and I think it shows the airy views better than any I used in yesterday’s post. His phone camera works well.

Today was quite a contrast with yesterday. I did have some conversation with a friend, but it was over morning coffee indoors in the kitchen when Sandy paid his weekly visit, and I didn’t walk anywhere, as it rained almost all day.

I got a chance after Sandy left to walk round the garden while the drizzle had paused for a moment. The light wasn’t good, but I tried to capture some fresh colour.

New azaleas and rhododendrons are appearing daily.

The tree peony flowers are more visible this year than they have ever been before. Normally they get hidden by the leaves before I can get a picture of them.

The first yellow potentilla flowers have appeared . . .

. . . while some aquilegias showed their faces while others kept their heads down.

Euphorbias never fail to amuse me . . .

. . . and the white clematis beside the front door impresses . . .

. . . as sweet rocket, alliums and geraniums increase daily.

It wasn’t a day for finding bees or butterflies, so I looked for things that might be eaten later in the year.

Growing veg and fruit is never straightforward, what with pests, blight, late frosts, hungry birds and other troubles, but things look to have made a good start.

Because siskins are very messy eaters and the large flock of chaffinches which have been cleaning up the fallen seed under the feeder have temporarily disappeared, it is getting messy under the feeder. The scavenging was left to a single blue tit and a few redpolls today. The blue tit looked a bit overwhelmed by the task.

Up above, more messy siskins made things worse and a redpoll or two joined in.

A siskin sheltered from the rain in the willows.

Since it wasn’t a day suitable for gardening, walking or cycling, we took the opportunity to drive over to Gretna to take back my new pair of boots which had proved faulty. The shop took them back without any discussion, and arranged to send me a new pan as soon as possible. This was very satisfactory, but as we celebrated by going to nearby shops in the outlet village, the outing cost us more in the end than writing off the faulty boots and buying a new pair on the internet would have done.

Still, I now have a much needed new pair of trousers and a shirt, along with what I hope will be a very comfortable pair of lightweight waterproof walking shoes. Mrs Tootlepedal acquired a jumper.

We spent the afternoon looking at the rain through the window, and watching a good stage of the Giro. Grand tours are just thing to pass a few hours on a wet day. I did manage to put a week of the newspaper index into the Archive Group database and add another scanned parish magazine to the website.

We have been given a splendid collection of photographs of life in Langholm in the 70s, and Sandy is getting busy adding them to the group’s online photo collection. He will have plenty to do to keep him occupied on rainy days.

The rather fuzzy flying bird of the day is a redpoll.

Various pleasures

Today’s guest picture comes from my Somerset correspondent Venetia’s recent trip to Dunster. She liked the Yarn Market there.

I had a fairly full day today. It started with the arrival of my walking friend Mark, who came after breakfast to pick me up for a walk in the hills of the Hermitage valley, accompanied by his faithful dog, Henry. The forecasters had changed their minds wildly over the past few days, but finally they settled for promising us a dry and warm day, and luckily for us, the forecasters had got it right. We had pretty well perfect weather for our circular walk up to the boundary between the Borders and Dumfries and Galloway regions, starting and finishing at Twislehope road end.

Both Mark and I took pictures as we went round, and he has kindly given me some of his. If you see an old man in a red jumper in a frame, Mark took the picture. The others are mine. He supplied the map of the walk which we did in a clockwise direction, starting on a good track to the gate on Hartsgarth Fell, marking the county boundary.

From the gate, we ploughed across rough ground to Scawd Bank, looking left down into the Tarras Valley Nature Reserve as we went, and then looking over the Hermitage valley when we crossed back into the Borders Region on top of Scawd Bank.

Then we followed the Millingwood Fell ridge down back to Twislehope Hope. It was steep at times, and I had a moment when I felt that I might not find it easy to continue with my poor head for heights. However, with Mark’s encouragement and Henry by my side, I held my nerve, peered over the steepest bit, and then could see my way down.

The camera flattens things out, but I have put in a couple of shots to try to give an impression of the slope.

We stopped for a snack at the bottom of the ridge, and then strolled back along the farm track to the road end, passing some wild goats on the way. It was hard to tell who was more surprised, us or them.

Mark is a wizard at finding good walks to do, and this one was ideal for me. A delightful walk along the burn to start, followed by a steady pull uphill with ever changing views to keep up the interest. A change of terrain in the middle, and then a challenging but not ridiculous descent back down with more good views on the way, and a lovely stroll to finish off. For a shortish seven mile walk, it certainly packed a lot in.

Mark came in for a bowl of soup and a cup of tea when we got back in time for a late lunch, and then when he left, I went out into the garden where Mrs Tootlepedal had been busy while we were walking.

There was new life to celebrate . .

. . . and old friends to greet again.

We surprised a siskin at the pond and found a bee on the abundant ajuga.

It wasn’t long before it was time for a Zoom meeting with our son Alistair and our granddaughter Matilda. They were in excellent spirits, and Matilda told us that she is going to take part in no less than 10 numbers in her forthcoming Dance School’s annual show. Her memory must be a lot better than mine.

There was time for a little mowing in the garden and along the dam, and then we were back in for our second Zoom of the day, this time with my brother and sisters. It is very good to keep up with them in this way, which we started during Covid and have kept going ever since, but we are going to see my brother Andrew and sister Mary in the flesh in a couple of weeks. That will be even better.

Then there was just time for a quick evening meal before I went off to the monthly meeting of the Camera Club. We had a good turnout this month, and a very good selection of pictures. The theme was bridges and we got a lot of good ones, with the pick probably being supplied by Mark. It showed a terrifying suspension bridge high in an alpine gorge on a Via Ferrata. It was so dizzying than even looking at the picture made me feel very queasy. However, the high spot of the evening was not a bridge at all, but a dazzling array of pictures of the aurora borealis taken last week by Inigo from the Tarras Valley Nature Reserve team. They were simply sensational and rounded off a really enjoyable day.

The flying birds of the day are four siskins taken in unhelpful light.

Rumbles

Today’s guest picture comes from our friend Mike. He is currently on holiday in sunny Wales, and sent me this shot of the bridge over the River Wye at Builth Wells.

The forecast for our weather here today had been altering every time that I had looked at it, so we expected changeable weather. However, we didn’t get the change until the late evening when some thunder, lightning, and heavy rain signalled the end of our spell of sunny weather. It was almost a sunny day but it was a cloudy day too, as the weather hung about waiting for the change. I found it rather oppressive, and after church in the morning, I did very little apart from wandering about the garden saying, “I feel a bit tired.”

The garden is far from tired.

I did spend a little time trying to take a decent picture of a flying bird, but I was short of patience and got a mixed bag of sitters instead.

Under the circumstances, it was all too easy to sit down and watch a great deal of today’s stage of the Giro. It was not very exciting to say the least until the final few kilometres, and even the commentators were laughing at their own efforts to find something pertinent and original to say. They managed to pass the time painlessly though, as they have had a lot of experience watching hours of cycling with not much happening. Italy looked beautiful.

When the stage ended, I thought that I ought to do something, so while Mrs Tootlepedal went out to do some gardening, I went off for a three bridges walk. Thanks to the warm weather, children and dogs were playing by the waterside so birds were few and far between, though one regular was on its favourite rock.

I proceeded on my way along the Kilngreen slowly enough to be able to spot an orange tip butterfly having a rest from its usual incessant fluttering.

After that, I crossed the Sawmill Brig and walked round the Castleholm looking about as I went. I liked the newly repaired wall, the rowan blossom, the racecourse in waiting, the burgeoning oak, and the azalea peeping out from behind the trees along the Lodge Walks.

And these of course.

When I got to the Duchess Brig, I went round the pheasant hatchery loop before crossing the bridge.

I added ivy leaved toadflax and vetch to my collection of wild flowers as I went along the top of the Scholars’ Field . . .

. . . and finished my walk with a view of the rhododendron in our garden taken from the road.

A joint effort in the kitchen provided us with a meal of cauliflower cheese and mushrooms, followed by rhubarb crumble and custard. Fortified by that, we were able to withstand the shock of the thunder and lightning later on.

My failure to catch a flying bird of the day was a subject of conversation at the feeder late into the evening.

Feeling the heat

Today’s sensational guest picture was sent to us by our son Tony. It shows the northern lights as captured by his partner Marianne’s daughter Tash in East Wemyss last night

We went out late last night ourselves to try to see the lights, but we were unsuccessful, and the best we could come up with was this shot of the almost new moon.

When dawn came, we enjoyed another warm and sunny day here. In fact it got so hot in the middle of the day, that we couldn’t stay out in the garden for too long without getting cooked.

I prudently started the day very slowly, and didn’t get going until it was nearly coffee time. I ventured out into the garden and had a look around. A new geranium has appeared which a bumblebee found as interesting as I did. You will have to agree that one of the pictures is definitely the bees knees.

I walked up to the town to get some milk and rolls and on my way I stopped to enjoy the view down the River Esk . . .

. . . and the activities of martins flitting across the Wauchope Water. You have to have sharp eyes to spot the one in the first picture below.

When I got back, I started on shifting the contents of compost bin B into compost bin C. I took it very gently with lots of stops for rest and a drink of water.

I noticed a lone campion in our mini wild flower meadow on the drying green as I went in for lunch.

I finished the compost job off after lunch, and had another walk round the garden to celebrate.

Two blackbirds kept an eye on me as I went round.

Mrs Tootlepedal had been busy in the garden too, and we needed a moment to cool off before we set off on our electric bicycles to see if the bluebells on the hillside just out of town were ready for viewing yet. They were not quite at their best, but they were still quite a sight, and well worth a visit. I don’t know why the sheep don’t eat the bluebells. They eat almost everything else and the only other flowers on the hill were two tormentils.

We cycled home and had a cup of tea before setting off out of the other side of town to visit the bird hide on the Tarras Valley Nature Reserve. Before we left, I checked our bird feeder and was happy to see a chaffinch.

When we got to the bird hide, we found that there were much the same birds there as there are in our own garden. Then, the sharp eyed Mrs Tootlepedal noticed a willow warbler on a spruce tree. It wasn’t on a willow, but it was certainly warbling. A siskin went for a drink in the reflection pool.

With nothing much happening, we left the hide and walked down the track towards the river, passing a bright yellow broom bush and many promising trees which were planted after the larch wood was felled a few years ago. They should provide good homes for birds in the years to come.

We didn’t get as far as the river as a very steep bank was involved. When we got back to the hide, I stayed for a while in the hope of seeing something interesting, while Mrs Tootlepedal set off to cycle home. I didn’t have to wait long before something interesting appeared, even though it was hiding behind the peanut feeder.

It was a greater spotted woodpecker and it stayed for quite a while while I snapped away.

When it flew off, I got back on my bicycle and followed Mrs Tootlepedal home. I didn’t catch her up, and this was not surprising, as she told me later that she had hit 28 mph going down one of the hills on her way back.

It was nearly time for our evening meal so that concluded our activities for the day.

I didn’t manage to catch a flying bird of the day today, so a redpoll at the bird hide is standing in.

Sadness on a beautiful day

Today’s guest picture comes from our friend Gavin. He spotted this turkey vulture on a visit to the California Bay Nature Reserve.

We had a beautiful day here today, which provided a backdrop to a sad occasion. We went to the crematorium in Carlisle for the funeral service of an old friend, Peter, with whom we played many games of mixed hockey in the days when we were all a lot younger. He was Dropscone’s brother-in-law, and Dropscone gave a touching memory of him at the service. Peter’s wife and two of his daughters spoke too, and it was very moving to listen to them paying tribute to a really nice man.

The crematorium is set in expansive grounds and we liked this prunus, a model of what we hope that the tree that we have had to prop up in our own garden will turn into in time.

The service was at one o’clock, so I had time to walk round the garden after breakfast.

I filled the feeder, and we were rewarded with visits from many redpolls . . .

. . . and just because I said yesterday that they had disappeared, a lone greenfinch arrived today.

Then we were visited by David, who supplies our excellent olive oil, for coffee just before we left for Carlisle. He had come back from a short break with his wife in the north east of England where they had encountered donkeys, museums, cathedrals and a stately home. They had had a good time.

We did some household shopping in Carlisle on our way back from the funeral, and arrived home in the mid afternoon. For the first time this year, we felt rather too hot for comfort after the drive, and we were happy to get into the cool of the house.

After a snack, we went out into the garden where I did some mowing while Mrs Tootlepedal did some serious hoeing among the potatoes.

Then, as the sun had dropped a bit in the sky and it wasn’t so hot, I popped out for a quick whisk round my familiar Canonbie route on my push bike. I did it in the opposite direction to my usual choice, and it gave the ride a fresh feeling. Everything is very green.

I had paused for a moment to catch my breath on the top of the steepest hill of the day and take in the view, when I found myself to be an object of interest.

Other cows were available.

I saw some more pine cones today, not Korean but Scots.

I got home in time to get changed and go out to see the Pipe Band and the Town Band parade through the streets, encouraging the townsfolk to go along to the Buccleuch Centre for the election of the cornet for this year’s Common Riding in July. No fewer than six candidates have put themselves forward this year.

The last frame shows the Town Band walking past our house while not playing. We have been in this house for forty nine years years, and they have gone past every year but they have never played.

I walked down Caroline Street in the gap between the bands and was impressed by the gardeners’ work there.

So it was mixture, a sad day, a beautiful day, a day of looking back and remembering, a day of spring promise, a day when another year in the community life of the town really got started. Some things end, others begin.

The flying bird of the day is a siskin.

Making the most of the weather

Today’s guest picture is another from my brother Andrew. He was much struck by this fine floral display on a recent walk

Our spell of good weather here continued today. It is supposed to go back to being cooler and wetter next week, so we are enjoying the dry and warm days as much as we can in the meantime.

I filled the bird feeder after breakfast, and there was fairly steady traffic. Bird behaviour is a mystery to me. Not so long ago, we had dozens of chaffinches, both at the feeder and scurrying about picking up seed underneath it. It was not unusual to see thirty or forty of them. Today, I saw none. I don’t know where they have gone. The greenfinches have departed as well, and we are now seeing mostly siskins, though there are goldfinches and some sparrows too. No redpolls today.

Dropscone came round for coffee in the morning, and in a mark of his progress, he was confident enough to walk across town carrying his scones with him for the first time since he came out of hospital. He was very cheerful, possibly because he is not able to play golf at the moment.

After he went on his way, I went out into the garden with Mrs Tootlepedal, and we did a lot of work between us. In between mowing the vegetable garden paths, sieving compost, and doing some shredding, strimming and dead heading, I found time to look at a few flowers too. The astrantia, ribwort and pink strawberry are new arrivals.

Mrs Tootlepedal was impressed by the staying power of our last daffodils.

After lunch, Mrs Tootlepedal went back out into the garden, and I took advantage of the good weather to go for a cycle ride on my push bike while wearing shorts.

I had another look at the fine blackthorn at Westwater on my way up to Callister. It was glowing in the sunshine.

Rather disappointingly, when I got to the top of Callister, I found that the longer views were very misty again, and this was made even more annoying by the blue sky that was very evident if I looked straight upwards.

Ironically, the poor visibility seems to arrive with the better weather, so perhaps it is dust in the air, either brought in from the continent or created by our local traffic. It didn’t spoil the immediate views as far as my cycling went though.

The little cottage is testing the view that a house divided cannot stand.

My route took me past the Korean pines at Half Morton, so I combined a stop for refreshment with a check on the cones. It is definitely a good year for cones, unlike last year when there were very few. Each tree seems to be at a different stage of development as far as colour goes.

Just as I was getting back on my bike, I saw a deer run across the road. It leapt a fence and bounded across a field.

I see deer from time to time on my rides, but I think that this is the first time that I have managed to record one in action.

The sun stayed out for the whole of the 27 mile ride, and I passed the first silage cutting as I got near Canonbie. The team were hard at work on one side of the road, and the grass had already been cut and removed on the other.

Rather than cycle back along the Canonbie bypass when I came to it, I took the narrow road to the Hollows that runs just below the main road. It provided a magnificent beech hedge, and a good if rather misty view up Eskdale when I got near to the Hollows.

I was going to spend some time looking for wild flowers in the verges over the last five miles of my trip, but I inadvertently looked at my bike computer just as I completed two hours. Finding that I done 22 miles, I became so obsessed with keeping my average speed above 11 mph until I got home that I completely forgot about the flowers.

Mrs Tootlepedal was still in the garden when I got back, but she told me that she had taken some time out to watch the finish of today’s stage of the Giro.

We walked round the garden before I went in to make a cup of tea.

A second helping of her excellent fish pie rounded off a very satisfactory day.

The flying bird of the day is a goldfinch.

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.

A mostly sedentary day

Today’s guest picture comes from my nephew Dan, who is visiting Italy. It shows the ceiling of the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Bergamo. There must be a lot of work for Bergamo physios treating tourists with a crick in the neck.

We had a warm, often sunny, and always quite calm day here today. I celebrated by spending many hours sitting down. I started by sitting down for a coffee with Sandy. As his walking has not got better, we intend to go out for a drive or two in the summer months. He remains remarkably cheerful.

We had a walk round the garden before he left, and inspired by that, I got out my camera and had a short walk round by myself.

It was good to see the bees getting stuck in. The one on the yellow archangel may be a carder bee.

Mrs Tootlepedal had gone off after breakfast to record some reminiscences of the community buyout with two other ladies who were involved in that great enterprise, and as she was still out, I roused myself enough to mow the middle lawn, leaving a bit in the middle at the far end for no mow May.

Then I had an early lunch and watched the birds. Redpolls and an anguished chaffinch were to the fore today.

Almost as soon as Mrs Tootlepedal had returned, I got out on my push bike to take advantage of the good weather.

With the temperature at 15°C (60°F) and the wind at 4 or 5 mph for the most part, it was a perfect day for a pedal.

With bridges on my mind, I went across to Hoddom and Brydekirk to catch bridges across the Annan Water, and took in a few others on my way.

I was spoiled for choice when it came to wild flowers. The roads were lined with them.

There wasn’t a moment today when I wasn’t enjoying myself, though a couple of obstructions did make me slow down. New telephone poles were being installed and potholes were being filled so I was happy to see the men at work, and they let me squeeze past.

After photographing the Hoddom bridge, I took a short diversion through the grounds of Hoddom Castle and was mightily impressed buy the rhododendron bushes just before I got to the castle itself.

Even when I wasn’t looking at flowers, bridges or castles, the roads themselves were very easy on the eye today so my journey was never dull.

I managed my route so that I had covered almost exactly 50 miles by the time that I got home. I adopted a policy of going along at a gentle speed throughout, and this greatly helped to make the trip easily the most relaxed and enjoyable of the year so far. Lets hope that there are many more days like this before autumn comes on the scene.

The 50 miles brought my push bike cycling miles up to almost equal with my electric bike miles for the year so far, so that was an added satisfaction.

Mrs Tootlepedal had been very busy in the garden with weeding, planting, and cutting back while I was out, and although she had done a lot, there was still some shredding left over for tomorrow.

She cooked a delicious dish of leeks and savoury rice for our evening meal, and we had a final walk round the garden in the evening sunshine after it.

All is good.

The flying bird of the day is a chaffinch.

I append a clickable map of today’s route for those interested.

Letting others do the work

Today’s guest picture comes from our friend Gavin. He is visiting his son and family in California. Gavin visited the Filoli house and gardens on a day out and enjoyed the gardens a lot.

Unlike sunny California, we woke to a grey and gloomy day here, with persistent light rain offsetting a generally reasonably warm and calm morning. I have been feeling a little tired lately, so I welcomed an excuse not to do anything more exciting than walk up to the town in the drizzle to buy milk and rolls, and walk round the garden for a moment or two. It was damp.

The first flower has appeared on our rhododendrons . . .

. . . and the weight of the rain sodden flowers on a prunus sapling caused it to bend down nearly to the ground.

We propped it up later on with home grown bamboo canes.

I spent some useful time entering another week of the newspaper index into the Archive Group database, and had a glance at the birds too.

Siskins can be very messy eaters, and a pigeon couldn’t believe its luck in finding so much easily accessible food under the feeder.

The persistent drizzle was interrupted by a very heavy shower of rain after lunch, and I made the mistake of casually glancing at today’s stage of the Giro which Mrs Tootlepedal was watching on her tablet. Watching other people cycling is very addictive. About three hours later, I was able to look away again after an unexpectedly exciting stage had drawn to a close.

When I looked up, I saw that the rain had stopped, so I went out for a three bridges walk. Everything felt very fresh after the rain.

From the Town Bridge, I watched martins nesting in the wall beside the river, and was very surprised to see one apparently sitting back and having a snooze . . .

. . . while others got on with the work.

I pottered along the Kilngreen while interesting birds flew past me too quickly for my slow reactions to catch with my camera. I settled for some lovely static spring colour after I had crossed the Sawmill Brig.

I walked round the new path on the Castleholm looking at cones. I am not a good tree identifier but these may be Douglas Fir cones . . .

. . . and these are probably scots pine cones . . .

. . . but these are certainly noble fir flowers and cones. This probably my favourite tree in Langholm.

As I crossed the Jubilee bridge, the sun came out, and it turned into a lovely afternoon for a walk.

Looking over the wall at the end of the Scholars’ Field, I could see a hint of blue. I walked up into the wood behind the wall to have a look.

It was quite a contrast to the dreary start to the day.

I had refilled the feeder earlier in the day, and when I got back from my walk, I found that it had already gone down a lot. The residents were very keen to shout at any possible intruders.

It was her mother’s birthday, and they were busy eating two kinds of cake, so we didn’t have a Zoom with our granddaughter Matilda today, but we did have our regular virtual visit with my brother and sisters.

The weather is unsettled at the moment, and the forecast changes every time that I look at it, but it does seem as though we might be in for a spell of warmer and possibly drier weather for the rest of the week. It will be very welcome, as this is a great time of the year to get out and about.

The flying bird of the day is a siskin.

Under a cloud

Today’s guest picture comes from my brother Andrew. He found the Derby Museum of Making in a reflective mood this evening.

We found Langholm under a cloud when we walked to church this morning . . .

. . . and it stayed that way all day. It wasn’t windy, so there was a strange sort of calm about the day. I hadn’t had a good night’s sleep, and I was happy to loaf about for the rest of the morning when we got back from church, while Mrs Tootlepedal was busy with errands and gardening.

In spite of a forecast of perpetual light rain, it stayed dry, and Mrs Tootlepedal got quite a lot of gardening done. I did some light dead heading and looking about.

A goldfinch was looking about too . . .

. . . while a sparrow grabbed a seed and took off.

Our neighbour Liz dropped in and exchanged some gardening talk with Mrs Tootlepedal, and while they were chatting, more visitors arrived.

After inspecting the possibilities of the lawn . . .

. . . they headed for the pond, where the duck tucked in vigorously . .

. . . and the drake did some pondside posing.

I took a picture of a Ballerina tulip . . .

. . . and went in to look at the birds and have lunch.

The siskins were as lively as ever . . .

. . . and it was good to see that the redpolls have become settled in our area for a while at least.

It was very difficult to get a reliable rain forecast, as the forecasters disagreed on where and when showers might appear, but it seemed that going north might be a good idea. I got out my push bike and set off up the main road.

It was dry, reasonably mild, and the wind was behind me, so I enjoyed myself for all of three and half miles. When I had got that far, I had not gone up much of a hill, but I had gone up enough to find myself in the clouds and getting wet. This didn’t seem like a recipe for fun, so I turned round and went home where it was dry.

I didn’t stop at home though, and after a quick word with Mrs Tootlepedal, I headed off along the Wauchope road, intending to go as far as I could before it started to rain there too. I made a diversion up and down the side road to Cleughfoot . . .

. . . enjoying the gorse and blackthorn, and narrowly avoiding being run over by a car which I met on a blind corner. I took to the grass verge, and was lucky to find a bit which was firm enough to allow me to pedal past the car and get back onto the road without falling off.

When I got back on to the Wauchope road, I headed on up towards Callister where the prospects looked rather gloomy.

Sure enough, once I had got a little way up the hill, I found myself in the clouds again . . .

. . . and getting wet.

This seemed like a good moment to turn for home, and I whizzed back down to the town with the wind helping me. When I got there, I found that I had covered 20 miles, so I was quite pleased with my outing, even if it didn’t go entirely to plan.

I celebrated by taking a picture of the yellow azalea which is trying its hardest to come out.

After a pause for rest and refreshment, I joined Mrs Tootlepedal in watching the last few kilometres of today’s stage of the Giro d’Italia.

In the early evening, we drove down to Kirkandrews on Esk church to attend the choral evensong service there. Much to our surprise, there was a huge queue of traffic on the road to the church which Mrs Tootlepedal captured on my phone camera . . .

. . . but fortunately most of the queue turned off . . .

. . . and there was plenty of room in the church at the service.

We had a light meal when we got home, and in the evening we watched a very interesting rerun of a Michael Palin programme on an enigmatic Danish artist called Vilhelm Hammershoi. I had never heard of the artist, but he certainly was an excellent painter.

The flying bird of the day is a goldfinch.