Annie has a pedal and a tootle

Today’s picture shows the cloisters at Salisbury Cathedral.  A big floor to scrub.  My three sisters visited it while on holiday earlier this week and my sister Susan sent me the photogrpah.

We had a beautiful early autumn day of 100% sunshine.  As a result, after a prompt breakfast, I got the speedy bike out and cycled up the main road to Mosspaul.  The views were gorgeous, just as good in their own way as the south of France or the Eden Valley.  Of course, we don’t get so many sunny days to enjoy the view as they do in Le Sud so I enjoyed this one while I could.

The clouds didn’t amount to anything and soon cleared away and a cross wind was the only fly in the ointment as I pedalled up the gentle gradients of the Ewes Valley.  The Mosspaul Hotel, after a period of closure, seems to be open again and judging from the number of cars in front of it, doing quite good business.

The steady drag up to Mosspaul took me 50 minutes but even with the persistent cross wind, the beneficial effects of gravity ensured that I averaged almost 18 mph on the way back down.  I stopped to remark on the bracken turning brown on the hillside as autumn creeps onward…

..and to admire a flaming tree opposite Whitshiels cafe, another autumn marker.

The phone performed well and I hope that I can keep using it as a camera and not to have use it to ring up the Mrs Tootlepedal Rescue Service.

After I got back, Sandy called round  to give Mrs Tootlepedal her winning embroidery back and present her with a fine certificate.  Annie looked at my pictures and with a fresh eye quite correctly pointed out flaws in the printing and presentation that would have contributed to my lack of success.  The lesson is always take trouble and take competitions seriously and not put in pictures just because you like them yourself  if you want to win prizes.   I should have got them prepared long before I went off on holiday and not at the last moment.  Mind you, I might have done that and still not won anything.

Mrs Tootlepedal had been singing in the church choir and when she got back and had been suitably refreshed with coffee, she and Annie set out on a cycle ride of their own round Potholm.

It was such a lovely day that I had to take some pictures of old friends from all round the world.

Japanese anemone, Scotch  marigold and Icelandic poppy

I also picked some raspberries and blackberries.  The autumn fruiting raspberries are really enjoying the weather at the moment.

After the ladies got back from their cycle ride, Annie and I played a few recorder duets while Mrs Tootlepedal converted the raspberries, blackberries and some windfall apples into a delicious crumble..  Then  It was time for lunch and we enjoyed some tasty goat’s cheese on toast.  I had bought the local goat’s cheese in Skipton yesterday and it would have been almost worth the whole journey just for itself.  Followed by the crumble, it made a feast fit for a king.

Annie has an appointment to  visit her granny tomorrow and so she had to catch an afternoon train back to London.  Mrs Tootlepedal took her down to Carlisle.

While they were out, I and mowed all the grass that I could find. The front lawn looked good later in the day in the evening light.

In this light you can’t see the moss lurking.

I can’t complain if the lawns are as dry and easy to mow as they were today this late in the season.

I took the lawn picture with the new phone.  It certainly enjoys a bit of colour.  I suspect that clever people have put some picture processing software into the phone to get the results looking so peppy.  I pointed it around the garden.

Mrs Tootlepedal looked at this picture and said, “It doesn’t look like that.”  It nearly does though.

I hadn’t neglected the birds during the day either.  The goldfinches are back in the category of regular customers as they are appearing every day.

The families of sparrows have largely disappeared and the chaffinches are by far our most frequent customers.

One sparrow to five chaffinches

The tit family are much in evidence.  Today it was the turn of coal and great tits to pose for me.

My sister Susan likes a perching chaffinch so here is one pretending to be a bee and perching on a sedum.

I took a final flower picture of the day as the sun got lower.

Nerines under the seed feeder.

In the evening, we went to the Buccleuch Centre for a reception with a finger buffet to mark the 90th anniversary of the Langholm Amateur Operatic and Dramatic Society.  I haven’t been active recently but in years past I have directed plays and operas for them as well as conducting and playing in the orchestra and Mrs Tootlepedal, who has directed several of their productions, still appears in the shows and makes costumes.   There was an excellent turnout of members and supporters of all ages and the buffet was very good too so it was an enjoyable couple of hours.

Annie phoned to say that she had got home safely and said that the late afternoon and evening sunlight had been so good that the train journey south had been as good as another holiday.  She pointed out that like me she had had both a tootle and a pedal so she had obviously had a good day.

Given the number of chaffinches around, it is no surprise that one of them is flying bird of the day yet again.

I have added another day of pictures to the second French Trip page.