Today’s guest picture shows my sister Susan and a friendly penguin at Sunley Hall, a magnate’s mansion. She was visiting it in the company of my brother who took the picture.
There was a bit of drizzle about and a gusty breeze but Dropscone and I were not discouraged and had a good morning pedal of twenty two miles out to Gair and back. Our local quarry seems to be providing stone for all and sundry at the moment so the only fly in the ointment was a steady trickle of big lorries passing us in every direction.
It is quite a hilly ride but the bonus was that the hills and the wind combined in a helpful manner to let us do the last 6 miles at an average speed of 21 mph which always cheers old men up. It makes us think that we might be real cyclists.
Mrs Tootlepedal was at a church choir practice and got back in time to join us for coffee. After Dropscone had left for home, Mrs Tootlepedal suggested that as the day was warm and almost sunny, she would like a pedal too and since I was in my cycling gear already, I accompanied her up to Wauchope School and back. We stopped so that I could take a picture of some bright orange lichens on the Auld Stane Brig.
The two cycle outings took up most of the morning but I did have a moment before the second ride to do some feeder staring. A new visitor appeared today.
After weighing up the scene, it joined in.
I think that there were two redpolls about and I hope to see them again tomorrow.
The light was just good enough to catch some action today.
After the second ride, I took the camera out into the garden. Spring is definitely springing.
There were scillas, bobbing about in the breeze….
…and Jet Fire daffodils nodding…
…and chinodoxa looking for some drying sunbeams.
A new wallflower is just starting…
…and the garden is starting to look a bit brighter all round.
There were two frogs in the pond. This was one of them.
That was the only opportunity that I had for taking pictures because I went off to play music with Mike and Isabel in the afternoon and by the time I got back, the light had been overtaken by grey clouds. The enjoyment of the music more than made up for being inside though.
My flute pupil Luke came in the evening. He has obviously been practising hard and is improving all the time. He has even been doing his breathing exercises.
The rest of the evening was spent in trying to sort out one of those annoying computer problems that haunt you because you don’t know what is causing them. I had been asked to update one of the websites that I manage but was unable to get my FTP link to work, rendering updating impossible, Fortunately for me, Luke’s dad is a computer professional and he kindly came round when all else had failed and pinpointed exactly where the root of the problem lay. Even more luckily it could be sorted out by a quick download and I was able to update the site successfully.
This rounded off a very good day after yesterday’s doze.
A flying bird was available too.
Tootlepedal's Blog 
I think the orange lichen might actually be green algae (Trentepohlia aurea) which can be orange or several other colors. I was fooled by it last year.
That looks quite right. Thank you for your help once again.
Exquisite photos. We had no Redpolls this year, nice to see they visit you.
I was cheered up by the visit.
Think that you might be real cyclists?! With the mileage you put in on your bike, I think you more than qualify. Wonderful to see that spring is springing for you. We’re still waiting for Mother Nature to pass along that message!
I hope it comes soon.
I have yet to see a redpoll around here this winter, they normally arrive in December and hang around until the first of March.
I’m partial to the flowers again in this post. At the rate things are going, you’ll have roses in full bloom before we see our first dandelion.
Things are a bit stop start in the garden at the moment and we are still in with a good chance of getting a frost. We usually get quite a lot of redpolls but they have been very rare this year.
If you’re not both real cyclists I’m not sure what is? You put in so many miles. Glad you were able to get out. The garden looks lovely too.
Real cyclists wear club vests and don’t smile at or even acknowledge cyclists on bikes with straight handlebars when they meet them. I am a leisure cyclist.
‘Real’ cyclists are very rude then!
They often are. Many are very cheery and give you a good wave.
Lovely redpoll photo, what a pretty bird.
One of my favourites.
Thanks for the frog and glad the pedalling went well for a change despite the lorries.
You have inspired me to get back on my bike tomorrow – I will keep you ;posted if I get beyond the driveway!
Go for it.
Unfortunately my hand/foot condition onslaughted me again.
That is a real pain in every sense of the word. Sympathy is flyng over the oceans towards you.
You’re riding your bike, which makes you a cyclist. Although we haven’t met in person, I am quite confident that you are real. That makes you a real cyclist. The fact that you managed a 21mph average speed for six miles makes you a very good cyclist.
I’m red hot down a gentle hill with the wind behind. It’s all the rest that makes me believe that I have some way to go before becoming a real cyclist. I’ve never shaved mu legs for instance.
Lovely spring flowers. Very pleasing to get the computer problem sorted.
The spring weather appears to be agreeing with Mr. Frog!
The frogs seem supremely contented and when the sun came out for a brief moment today, the pond was once again full of them.
Your garden flower photos have cheered me up, considering the long-term forecast here is for it to stay well below average for temperature, hovering just above the freezing mark for the next 10 days. I’m beginning to doubt we will see spring!
You seem to be having a really miserable winter. I hope that spring does come before it’s time for summer.
Yes, it’s been a terribly long and brutal winter (as reported in Quiet Solo Pursuits’ blog). I hope we get some nice, spring-like weather and don’t go straight to hot, humid and dry. But then, I guess it’s silly to be concerned about what the weather may or may not do, as there is no controlling it! Normally I try a bit harder to make the best of it, but this winter has seemed never-ending.
It seems from this distance to have been very difficult to live with but the bloggers that I follow whom it has affected all seem to be remarkably cheerful.
Flowers are looking pretty.
They are doing well under a fierce wind and a lot of rain until last week.
Oh! Where I live, Redpolls are scarce- what a pleasant visitor!
Always a treat to see one.