Today’s picture is of a quizzical blackbird
For the first time for quite a few days the wind wasn’t blowing hard this morning. As a result, Dropscone and I fairly whizzed round the morning run and enjoyed our coffee and scones in a very good mood.
Mrs Tootlepedal had gone to get her hair cut (very successfully) and then gone to work. I had time to take a few garden pictures before she came back.
We were invaded by jackdaws and rooks this morning and in the end, I chased them off, as they knock the feeders off the tree. There were some smaller birds too.
It is surprising how much of the seed I buy ends up on the outside of the birds’ beaks and then falls to the ground. It mostly gets eaten there too but you would think the birds would be neater eaters.
Mrs Tootlepedal is very fond of decorative foliage and here is a pulmonaria leaf from near the front feeder.
..and this is a rodgersia. It has needed special cossetting to make sure the cold weather hasn’t damaged it too much.
The white rose has come out well but because of the wet and windy weather, it is another plant that will be almost over as soon as it has come out.
I scarified the front lawn and mowed it but it is still scarred by pearlwort and is not looking as good as I would like. I mowed the other lawn and it is looking not too bad. Mrs Tootlepedal took a walk round the garden when she came back from work and here we see her on the lookout for any intruding weeds or any plant needing care and support from the wind.
After lunch, Mrs Tootlepedal set off on a 15 mile cycle ride while I prepared some music for the evening’s recorder playing. It took me quite a lot of time but the group thoroughly enjoyed playing the piece which made it worth while. It would have been even better if I hadn’t managed to sellotape a sheet of the tenor and a sheet of the second treble part together by accident but we rose above this minor detail.
Before I went to Carlisle, I had another walk round the garden with Mrs Tootlepedal. I must say that her plants do set off the lawn very well.
The lawn is constantly being pecked by blackbirds and there must be a lot of worms about as you can see from the size of this blackbird youngster. No wonder his/her dad, pictured at the top of the page, is looking a bit quizzical.
The evening recorder playing was even more enjoyable than usual with a mixture of early and modern music and two sorts of biscuits with our cup of tea.
Tootlepedal's Blog 
Glad the two ends of your day went so well. I liked the baby blackbird and all the lovely flowers.
We, like you, very much enjoyed Joe’s film.