A day of good things

Today’s picture, sent to me by my sister Susan shows a very rural looking bus stop which is in fact in the middle of London.

The planets stood still in their course this morning, as Dropscone appeared for the morning pedal.  The reason?  We went on a different route.  Yesterday’s ride along roads coated with dung caused me to suggest a change of routine and Dropscone kindly agreed to the novelty.  We went along a route which I have begun to use quite a lot recently and which I enjoy.  The route goes over Callister, down to Waterbeck and back by different routes and then back over Callister in the opposite direction.  It is 21 miles long so the distance is much the same as our usual jaunt.

It starts with six miles of gentle climbing but as Dropscone is currently cycling well within himself, this is not such a problem for me as it is when he is on top form and leaves me panting behind up the hills.  It is better cycling than our usual route because it doesn’t have even half the number of road junctions and twists and turns and doesn’t involve any leaf strewn cycle paths.   It is more exposed to the wind though.  This factor came into play today as we had to pedal the outward journey into a very stiff breeze but we just put our heads down and got on with it.  We enjoyed our coffee and scones all the more for having cycled the last six miles downhill and downwind.

The opportunity for taking original flowers pictures is decreasing by the day and birds will figure more in the autumn and winter months.

A goldfinch appeared at  the feeder today, the first for some weeks.  The last one I can pin down on the blog was in early July.

Not quite as bright red on the head as I expected

The sparrows were on their usual merry-go-round.

Even a blue tit got involved in the hurly-burly.

Although it was breezy, the day turned out to be dry and so I took the opportunity to cut the new grass as some of it is getting quite long.  The mower didn’t make a great job of it and just knocked some blades over instead of cutting them because they are young and wet but it is a start.  While I was in lawn care mode, I started spiking the front lawn.  I do this with a garden fork and it is a time consuming business but I got a quarter of the lawn done and top dressed it with sand and brushed it in.  There is a certain simple pleasure to be got from doing mindless, repetitive and boring tasks though you feel it mostly when you stop.

I took a walk down to the Wauchope to see how the chestnut branch was doing.  The men from the council had disappeared it.

Considering the damge to the tree trunk itself, I wouldn’t be surprised if they take the whole tree down too in the course of time.

When I got home, I noticed this dunnock helping to tidy up the area below the feeder.

I got out the slow bike and pedalled round to the Kilngreen to see what was doing there.  The ducks were in a very agitated mood, making rude faces and gesturing at each other for some reason.

There was one very large duck who was behaving in quite an imperious manner.

The heron seemed put out by the bustle and was sitting on a gate on the other side of the river.

(While we were cycling home this morning at about 20 mph, we were easily passed by a heron.  They fly at an unexpectedly rapid pace, considering how lazily they seem to flap their wings.)  I cycled home over the Castleholm but the overcast day didn’t offer any chances to take an exciting photo.

After tea, I went to Carlisle to play recorders. Susan was away at a business meeting in Edinburgh so I went by myself and because there there were only four of us, we played a number of baroque pieces on three recorders with a  harpsichord accompaniment.  This made a pleasant change from our usual consort work.

A day that includes cycling, lawn care and recorder playing must be counted as a good day, especially if it doesn’t rain.