Today’s picture is a squirrel from Regent’s Park in London. It is from my sister Mary.
We woke to a glorious blue sky and wall to wall sunshine. I rose, ate my breakfast, greeted Dropscone who had arrived for the morning pedal and then went back inside to put on my wet weather gear to deal with the clouds and drizzle that had arrived with Dropscone. We went round the morning route accompanied by more or less drizzle for most of the journey. We weren’t too bothered by this because the wind was a mere whisper compared with the past two days and it was good just to be out and about again. I was slightly concerned that my bike was feeling a bit wobbly as we went along but it wasn’t enough to make stop and check.
After the pedal, we enjoyed our coffee and scones and by the time we had finished, the sun was out again. With the sun came a more vigorous breeze so I was happy to have pedalled in the light rain and wind.
As the sun was out and the day was warm, Mrs Tootlepedal set about some garden housekeeping. I helped her put a good deal of material from the recently cleared border through the shredder. I also threw in some stubborn material from last year which had refused to break down in the compost heap. The shredder made short work of it all. We made room for the new shreddings by turning the last last lot into another bin. This was perhaps a job too far for my back and I left the rest of the hard work to Mrs Tootlepedal. She repaired the bin and put the new stuff in it while I spent some time admiring the grass growing in the new section of lawn.
After lunch I took the camera into the garden.
The good weather reminded me to look at my bike wheel as I was planning a long ride for tomorrow. The fact that I had felt a wobble was explained by three very loose spokes and when I couldn’t tighten them, I took the wheel down to the Longtown bike hospital where it was unfortunately declared dead. The spokes had actually broken through the rim of the wheel which is why they were loose. The bike doctor looked at me severely and said that the cause might be lack of cleaning of the wheel rims. I think it was probably the bumpy roads round here but I will take more care of cleaning my bike in future. He is ordering me a new wheel and I will just have to take the slow bike out tomorrow.
When I got back, Mrs Tootlepedal went shopping and I got my new toy out. In my recent spending spree, I purchased a little lens that sits between your camera and your zoom lens and doubles the magnification. It has some drawbacks as you can’t use the auto focus and it limits the f stops that are usable but it should be quite handy when birds don’t come as near as they should.
I went into the garden to try it out. It would be better on a tripod but I took a few hand held shots to see what it could produce. The photos aren’t very interesting but they do show that the gadget works.
I think that it will have its uses.
When Mrs Tootlepedal came back from shopping, we went for a little tour over Whita in the car. We parked in the shade of the Tarras valley at the new car park beside Tarras Lodge and walked up the hill opposite into the sunshine.
We paused briefly at the White Yett on the way back. The sun was low in the sky by this time.
During the afternoon, I noticed a flash of colour in the garden. The sedum had done its work.
It was very pleasing to get three different sorts of butterfly in the garden at the same time after having seen so very few of them lately.
Let’s hope that the forecast is right and we have a warm, dry, windless day tomorrow.
Tootlepedal's Blog 
Your new camera gadget seems to do a splendid job, what a good idea to buy it. Glad the weather is improving at last, our wind had completely gone away which is splendid.
Sorry about your bike, a lot of maintenance seems to be required!
Wonderful flower colours and butterflies. You must be very pleased with your magnification gadet. Hope you get your new wheel soon.
I hope you don’t point your new gadget at the neighbours windows
We are a very mature neighbourhood round here and our windows reveal nothing of interest. Not that I have looked.
Nice to see the butterflies. Lovely shot up the Ewes valley too, the light looks beautiful
I’ve missed some postings- I take it something happened to the bike wheel and your back? Looks like your new lens attachment is going to be a nice addition! It’s interesting that the monument and the aerial tower look so similar in shape! Love the butterfly pictures! Love the shot of the Ewes valley!