Reflections

Today’s picture is a copy of Sandy’s prizewinning photograph of his and Anne’s grandsons and I put it here as a mark of respect to her on the day of her funeral.   They are part of her ongoing legacy.

It was a brilliantly sunny morning but it was moderated by a decidedly chilly wind and so I put on a thick jacket and set out for morning pedal by myself.  Dropscone was away playing golf so I went on a different route to the normal morning run and headed for Paddockhole.  Curiously, although I had slept very badly, I felt a lot less tired today and I thoroughly enjoyed a gentle tour through the countryside.  Especially the ten miles home, with the fresh wind behind me.

Near Paddockhole, I passed this old tin shed…

…and as I was thinking of Sandy as I pedalled, I noticed it in particular because he is fond of photographing buildings that have seen their best days so I stopped to take a photo of it.

I had a moment to walk round the garden when I got home.

I am rather addicted to taking pictures of rough behaviour at the feeder but there are quiet moments too.

A chaffinch heads for the feeder

Two chaffinches make up for the lack of colourful plums in the tree.

There are still a lot of bees and other insects buzzing around.  They were very scarce at the beginning of the year in the cold spring but the wet summer has not discouraged them.  The Michaelmas daisies are the target of choice at the moment.

There was only one butterfly to be seen today.

The ungrateful clematis still won’t smile properly at us.

Mrs Tootlepedal had put in a couple of hours at work and she arrived home not long after me and it was soon time to go to Anne’s funeral in our local church.  It was well attended and well conducted and even the weather cried a bit when we were up at the cemetery on the hill overlooking the town.  It was a very sad occasion, not least as Anne hadn’t even begun to enjoy her retirement before she became ill.

After the funeral, I ate a hasty lunch and went off to the tourist point on the Kilngreen where I sat pointlessly for two hours.  There were a few visitors’ cars parked along the river but when I went out after locking up, I could see that in most of them, people were sitting quietly, enjoying the view and the warm sun without having to face the chilly winds outside.

The resident heron looked pretty cold and miserable itself.

When I got home, the feeder was empty and so I filled it up and, just for fun, hung it and the fat ball feeder on different to the usual sides of the feeder pole.  It didn’t faze the birds at all and within seconds of my disappearance indoors, a horde of sparrows arrived.

There was a small army of them and they were soon joined by chaffinches

This was too much for one sparrow who made a beeline for the exit.

I don’t know if this was the same bird returning a moment later.

Although it was cold in the wind, as you can see it was a very sunny day so I went to see whether the pink rose and liked the day at all.

It is trying really hard.

I went indoors to do a bit of work and later went out in the low evening sunshine to pick a dahlia to take a photo of indoors.  While I was out there, I admired a clump of Mrs Tootlepedal’s grass, caught in the late rays of the sun.

Not all grass has to be mowed to within an inch of its life.

The sun picked out the many colours of the stones used to build the oldest part of our house.

My sister has asked me what the show is that I am preparing pictures for.  To give it its full name, it is the 163rd Annual Open Show of the Eskdale Agricultural Society to be held on the Castlehom in a fortnight.  The photographs appear in the industrial section of the programme along with the baking, jams and jellies and needlework.  The industry presumably being the industrious work of the housewife indoors as opposed to the easy work of the agriculture of the menfolk outside.

This was the best that I could do with the dahlia.

It’s a like it or hate it sort of picture I think.  It is more or less as shot.  I haven’t tampered with it significantly.

Although there were plenty of flying birds in the garden, today’s fliers are represented by three shots of gulls on the Kilngreen.  I love these small gulls and their elegant, lazy flight.

For those interested, clicking on a photo should bring up an enlarged version.