Today’s picture shows a meerkat which I found giving me the eye when I went into the kitchen tonight. I suspect that the various needles of Mrs Tootlepedal may have something to do with it.
After the photofests of the last two days, today was a lot quieter. It was another cold, grey morning but once again the wind was very light and there was no threat of icy patches so Dropscone and I set out for a morning pedal. Although it was quite clear in the town, by the time we had gone four miles up the Wauchope road, it had become very misty so once again I turned back at the five mile marker and did two laps of ten miles, mostly mist free, while Dropscone vanished into the clouds on his way to Paddockhole and back over Callister. Once again the scheduling worked out well and I only had to wait a minute or two for Dropscone to reappear at the spot where we had parted forty five minutes before. My trip was a mile shorter and much easier than his and that is how it should be because he is fitter than me at the moment.
His Friday treacle scones to go with our Ethiopian coffee weren’t up to the usual standard of beauty because of an ill advised purchase of supermarket flour but they tasted just as good as ever. I won’t say which supermarket sold him the dud flour because I don’t want to embarrass Tescos.
After my shower, I had some business to attend to and when I had done that, it was lunch time. Mrs Tootlepedal was at work again to day (she has to work to keep me in the style to which I am accustomed) and joined me for a light meal. We are both trying to get our weight down and she is doing better than me by sticking very religiously to a meal plan which gives her good results. I have done 200 miles on the bike on the last eleven days which is good but have eaten a lot of cheese, bread and potatoes which is not quite so helpful.
The feeder was frantically busy at times to today and it was mesmeric watching the birds whisk in and out.
There seem to be more and more bramblings visiting every day.
With my camera aperture as wide as I can get it to let a little light in on these grey days, it is noticeable what a difference a few inches makes as to whether a bird is properly in focus or not.
After I had completed my business and lunch, I walked up to the High Street, keeping half an eye on the weather to see if another misty photo opportunity beckoned. It soon became clear that conditions were not the same as yesterday as although it was still a bit misty, I could see the tops of the hills.
I replenished my stock of cheese at the local deli, purchased a fancy piece of mounting board for photographs and walked home again quite pleased that there was no need to climb up a hill again today as my legs were feeling the recent cycling activity quite noticeably.
Instead of going for a walk, I wandered round the garden and admired some of Mrs Tootlepedal’s ornamental grasses, still featuring even in the middle of winter.
My dieting plans went to pot as I was tempted to buy a chocolate éclair and some more potatoes at our corner shop and used the potatoes to make a tasty tomato and potato bake for my tea. In the evening, we were joined by Mike and Alison. Alison and I played some of a sonata by Daniel Purcell which was new to us and needs a bit of work. We will come back to it. We played some old favourites too and enjoyed ourselves though my brain was often not quite in gear and I made a lot of mistakes.
I am happy to have made good use of the cycling weather of the past week and a half because we are threatened with ice and even snow over the next few days although the forecasters are not prepared to put their money where their mouth is and tell us if it is definitely going to snow. It is going to go sub zero though. On the plus side, it hasn’t rained since Monday.
A chaffinch posed for flying bird of the day.
wonderful…love the little mouse too!
Thank you.
LOVE the meerkat! 🙂
It was very fiddly to knot in that furry wool so I don’t think we are going to get a pack of them.
I can only imagine how labour intensive such particular stitches are – perhaps he will be an only child, eh? 🙂
Mrs Tootlepedal has indicated that this will be the case.
I am being very successful with my meal plan till about 3 p.m. every day. I fall off the wagon (peanut butter cookies and coffee having much to do with that) and get back on the next morning. Argh. This was much easier when I was 25.
Peanuts very bad! Luckily I don’t like the taste of them at all so I am not tempted by peanut butter.
The title of your post reminded me that when I first subscribed to your blog I thought your real surname was Tootlepedal!
It is more euphonious than my actual name. I don’t know why I adopted an alias when i started the blog. It just seemed like the sort of thing one did. You are more straightforward than I am.
My favourite pictures today were the splendid array of perching birds and Mrs T’s cleverness with her needles, well done that lady!
A most impressive meekat. Glad the weather allowed you to have a good bicycle ride. Enjoyed the brambling arc and goldfinch picture.
I don’t wish to upset anyone who might be reading this blog in less than stellar weather conditions but we are now in the south of Spain and the temperature is around 20C and the sun shines from morn ’til night!! Just as I followed the goings on in the \Muckle Toon from cold and snowy Canada so will I be from these much kinder climes. Best wishes and thanks Mr. T and a happy new yeat to you and Mrs. T. (and Dropscone).
Well done. You have of course upset us as you meant to do. Have a lovely time in Spain and don’t think of us for a moment.
I like so much the birds. My boyfriend has very birds: agapornis, diamante mandarín, tórtola diamante, codornices china, etc. Greetings!
I love sandwiches, chips, curry and rice…. Need I go on? If I didn’t cycle I’d be the size of a house, not the mere half I am. Great to read your post and your commentators comments. Cheers.
I love to eat. I found it quite hard to moderate my intake when my cycling mileage halved last year. Glad you enjoy the posts.