Today’s picture, sent by Bruce who is probably visiting his daughter, shows an elegant fountain in the forecourt of Sheffield station.
Cycling 110 miles in three days, including a ride with some stiff climbs, has had a bad effect on my get up and go and, as they say, it had got up and gone when I woke up this morning. As a result, there is not much to report today.
I did manage to get out into the garden by about midday and I had a look at the Shirley poppies. Mrs Tootlepedal was complaining yesterday that the packet of mixed seed which she had planted had almost all turned out to be red and she was rather disappointed. They are all rather red but there are differences to be seen here and there.
But she is right, most of them are red. She was hoping for some yellow ones.
They get their unusual name because they were bred by by the Reverend William Wilks, vicar of the parish of Shirley in England.
The Japanese anemones are doing well and we are hoping that some that Mrs Tootlepedal transplanted last year will bloom soon. This will be a bonus as they are supposed to be hard to get going.
The veg continues to thrive and a greengrocer in the town has gone on holiday as there is so little demand just now with everyone getting food from their own or neighbour’s gardens. We are in for a bean feast.
I managed to do some indoor work in the morning and have posted off some printouts from our local paper of a sensational divorce case from 1880 to a chap who lives in Wales. He found our archive while researching his family history. He is very pleased and we are pleased because it makes our work worthwhile if it is used.
I have also started printing out some pictures for the forthcoming round of local flower and agricultural shows which have classes for photos. As with last year, it is a sad fact that pictures that look quite reasonable on a computer screen, don’t always look so good when they are printed out.
The slightly cooler weather has brought more birds back to the bird feeder and we had several greenfinches this morning.
One even tried to get picked as flying bird of the day.
I found enough energy to mow the grass round the greenhouse but it threatened to rain for a moment so I made that an excuse for not doing any more.
After lunch, Sandy came round and we printed out some posters for a competition which the Archive Group is running to find four scenes of the town or its environs to make a new set of postcards for visitors to the town to buy. We walked round the town distributing the posters to friendly shops and hope that we will get some response.
After a refreshing cup of tea, Sandy suggested a trip to the moor to watch the harriers. We got to the moor but there were no harriers to be seen. That’s the trouble with children. They grow up and leave home.
I had to make do with a shot of a perching pigeon when I got home.
In the evening, Mike and Alison came round and I enjoyed playing some Daniel Purcell sonatas with Alison. I haven’t had much tootling lately so this was very welcome.
I felt much better at the end of the day as a result of a good rest and hope to be able to test out my new super cool cycling glasses tomorrow. I’m afraid that they may make me look like a teenage mutant ninja turtle but I shall ignore any ill-bred laughter as I flit by.
A chaffinch is the flying bird of the day, repelling any effort by the greenfinch to take the crown.
Tootlepedal's Blog 
Crumbs, I’m not surprised you need a quiet day!
Also, just to let the Archive Team know, I’m a researcher and your information has been exceptionally helpful to my endeavours. Thank you all for the hard work you put in!
That’s very good to know.
We’ve put a call out to local traffic to not be frightened by any mutant Ninja turtles seen in the Borders region in the coming days – it’s just the pillock Tootlepedle on his rounds 😉
Thank you. I don’t like to cause unnecessary alarm.
Couldn’t resist using your word pillock again – it’s such a long time since I heard it. Lovely.
If I were you, I’d blame my lack of energy on something in the water that you drank in the Evil Empire.
Sadly I only drank good Scots water that I had carried with me.
Thanks for the perching bird, I always like them whatever and wherever you photograph them. Not surprised that you had to have a quiet day, I would have looked forward to a quiet week!
i’m expecting a photo of the new glasses
Coming shortly.
I love the Shirley poppies. My mixed wildflower seed turned out to be all blue (so far) so maybe they colour coordinate them!
That’s a bit unfair. I dare say that the labour involved in putting a regulated amount of each colour into a packet might dent the profit margin a bit.