All right so far

Today’s picture is of a water lily in the pond.  For some reason they never seem to open fully out.

We are nervously waiting for the hurricane formerly named Katia to arrive but meanwhile, after a late breakfast,  I had a pleasant pedal round the morning run in dry and warm weather. It was as warm as it has been all year and there was even a ray or two of sunshine at times. The wind was quite brisk by the time I got home but nothing ridiculous.

We had a cyclist going from Edinburgh to Durham staying but pedalling seventy miles into the wind and rain yesterday had somewhat diminished his enthusiasm and available energy for cycling again today so he had a good lie in and talked of catching a train for the last part of his journey today. I wouldn’t blame him. Cycling is supposed to be fun.

I would have pedalled further but Mrs Tootlepedal was going out and we were expecting some end to end cyclists so I was needed to hold the fort during the afternoon because you can never tell when cyclists are going to arrive. After Mrs Tootlepedal had gone out, I made a banana and walnut cake for our guests. It is a very simple recipe which I can manage.

During the afternoon, there were some very sharp showers and I wondered how much our visitors would be enjoying themselves. In the end they arrived quite late having come down from Edinburgh and once again having endured rain for some of the time and a strong wind in their faces for all of the time.  They were remarkably cheerful under the circumstances, even after meeting two log lorries going at full tilt, never a happy experience.

One of them, who is hoping to become a qualified bike mechanic shortly, spent some time with a little help cleaning and repairing all three bikes. That’s my kind of biking partner.

The weather had taken a turn for the better in the evening so while the bike maintenance was going on, I mowed the lawns.  They have stood up to the rain very well.  Although the newly sown grass is showing no signs of life, the existing grass is still growing like the clappers.

I spent a lot of the afternoon watching the Walker Cup golf from Aberdeen.  They were playing at a course beside a beach where I did a fair bit of running training when I was at College in Aberdeen.

I did take the camera out into the garden after the worst of the rain was past.

Nicotianas at the front gate

My evening snack

Gazanias gamely battling on

A new flower has appeared. They were a present to Mrs Tootlepedal from Liz Kean, a colleague at work.  They are growing next to the chimney pot under the bird feeder.

They are another South African plant that does well here.

Nerines

They should look very good when they are fully out.

We have had a bit of a glut of broad beans so Mrs Tootlepedal searched out a recipe for a broad bean bake.  She was able to use parsnip, carrot, thyme, chives and parsley from the garden along with the beans so she was very pleased.  I was very pleased because it turned out to be very tasty.

There was not much of interest on the bird front today.

Yet another sparrow

I have learned a lesson which I didn’t really need to learn because I knew it already. I bought some fat balls in the market when I was in Carlisle the other day.  I was tempted by the moderate price compared with my usual ones. The reason for the cheapness became apparent when they disappeared like snow of a dyke, especially when it rained and since I had to refill the container twice as often and they weren’t twice as cheap, this was a fine example of a false economy.

The result can be seen here..

Hungry birds

I filled up with the better balls and was able to take a slightly disturbing picture of a blue tit with a fully rotating head.

Having it both ways. You may have to look at this twice.

I admire the staying power of this clematis which has been out for months.

We are expecting the bad weather to arrive tomorrow night and I have obtained a set of tent pegs so that I can peg Mrs Tootlepedal down. I wouldn’t want to lose her.

I end with another go at capturing the full beauty of the sedum head. A garden in miniature.