Driven not to despair but to Warrington

Today’s picture, taken by my sister Mary yesterday on a sunny walk in London, shows the rich and mighty competing to see who can build the silliest looking building.   The building on the extreme left is hors de compétition.

I’ve not much to say about today as it was mostly spent in driving Granny to Warrington and exchanging her for a nice packet of shortbread from Tresco where my brother-in-law and his family have been having seaside fun while Granny was with us….and then driving home without her.

I snatched a shot of a developing lupin before I left.

The journey itself was uneventful in the extreme.  We had been promised never-ending heavy showers but by good fortune, all but one of them passed either in front or behind us on the way down and the one we hit only lasted a few minutes.  For the rest of the time Granny was able to admire the beautiful hills that we passed through.  The traffic was so light that even with reducing my speed for the last 50 miles, we still arrived at our rendezvous half an hour early.

After coffee, Mike and Frankie arrived and we enjoyed a light lunch with them.  I had given Granny a bag of sunflower hearts to take home as she had been impressed by our finches and by coincidence, Mike presented me with a large bucket of fat balls.  The sparrows will be pleased as I had just run out of these.  We then set off on our respective return journeys.  There was even less traffic on my way home and the sun shone continuously until I reached the border, eight miles from home, when it started to rain.  I can’t remember a less stressful motorway journey of just under 300 miles.

The rain out paid to my plan to go to check on the nuthatches to see if the young ones have left the nest and instead I stood at the back door and enjoyed a lively few minutes of action from the siskins.

My new lens has arrived at the shop in Carlisle but the repair to my old lens, essential for agreeing a trade-in price, has not yet been completed so I am waiting impatiently for a call from the camera shop.

Meanwhile I looked at a few flowers when the rain relented.  The garden got a bit of a battering from wind and rain today and Mrs Tootlepedal said sadly that everything had been flattened.  She was a bit pessimistic because some things had survived.

The orange hawkweed is progressing nicely.

A new poppy was sensibly keeping its petals shut until a better day.

The old one made a contrast with a bright new daisy.

A reader had said that I shouldn’t badmouth the nectaroscordum without looking up at its flowers.  I can’t bend down that far but I held the camera underneath and clicked hopefully.

It turns out to be the street light of the vegetable world.

I prefer the aquilegias which look good from above and below..

And that was that.

The flying bird of the day was caught with a cheerful floral background.