Today’s guest picture come from our daughter. She got a camera for Christmas and I am glad to say that she seems to following in her father’s footsteps.
Here, my footsteps took me down to Canonbie after breakfast where I was giving a talk on my photography hobby to the small Probus club there. There was a hiccup at the start when we couldn’t get the projector to work but a spare was found and I soon got under way. I don’t know whether the listeners enjoyed the talk but I certainly enjoyed giving it and I had to be forcibly restrained from going on (and on and on) when my hour was up.
When I left Canonbie, I went on down to Longtown to pick up my speedy bike which had been having new mudguards fitted. It turned out that it had needed a new bottom bracket too as I had feared so after lunch, I took it out for a short ride to see if everything was working properly.
I had time to look round the garden before that though, while Mrs Tootlepedal made potato soup.
It will have to go some to compete with the ones that are already in full flower.
A smart yellow relative of the onion has popped up too.
And the orange hawkweed is really getting into its stride.
This is the effect with the grass that Mrs Tootlepedal grows the hawkweed for.
There were several frogs in the pond but these two appealed to me most.
After lunch, there was a brisk westerly wind blowing so I headed north, hoping to get some shelter from the hills along the Esk valley. Parts of this road are severely potholed and I had to take great care for the first few miles. The hills did offer some shelter and I enjoyed the ride and was happy that the bike seemed to be working well. I had my phone in my pocket and took a picture or two to show just how green the country is looking at the moment.
Between dodging the potholes and ducking under the crosswind, I didn’t post a every impressive time but I thoroughly enjoyed the ride all the same. It would be hard to not enjoy a ride through such lovely countryside on such a pleasant day.
When I had returned from my cycle ride, we went for a walk with Pat, our guest. We parked at the English Church and walked up the Lodge Walks…
…and then along the road to Holmhead…
..before cutting through the woods and coming back along the path at the top of the bank.
There were wild flowers on every side of the roads and tracks from the gentle….
to the fierce…
..and sometimes in the middle of the track too.
One of the oddest things we saw was this tree kneeling on the remains of a stone wall.
It was a real summer day.
We were quite ready for a cup of tea when we got back.
In the evening, we deserted Pat for a while as we went to our Langholm Sings choir practice. We will be singing our specially composed song when the Queen’s Baton relay comes through the town next week and we are supposed to know it by heart so a few runs though it tonight were helpful. When we had finished with that, we had a good time gargling our way through some very varied numbers and at times quite surprised ourselves by making a good noise. I have wasted a lot of my life not singing in a choir.
We are all going to Edinburgh tomorrow to visit Matilda.
The non flying flower of the day is a pink by the pond.
Tootlepedal's Blog 
I’m always so impressed with your flowers! Unreal! Your daughter’s picture is very good, great bokeh too! She took after the old man I see! 🙂
The flowers are more obliging than the birds and always stay in the same place.
Beautiful green views on your cycle ride and lots of lovely flowers. What a strange shaped tree! I wonder how it got to look like that.
I think it is a root of a tree that has got mixed up with a wall and demolished it.
The landscapes are beautiful and I love the kneeling tree. It’s a lot of fun to find such unusual things in the woods.
I like Mrs. T.s pairing of the grass and orange hawkweed. I’m not sure I would have thought of doing that. It works well and looks very natural, just like you would see here in meadows.
She has always hankered to have enough land to plant a meadow.
I’m very fond of peonies, and the coral one is glorious – I’ve never seen one that colour.
I am looking forward to seeing it fully out.
The kneeling tree is fantastic. It looks like it could get up and walk away at any moment – I might too, if I were kneeling on a stone block.
I think in fact that what we are seeing is the root of a tree that was growing on top of a wall and has gradually broken the wall down.
Annie took a great picture to start the blog and everything after was so good I couldn’t pick a favourite though the frogs almost won. Glad the choir practice went well, good luck for the great occasion.
It’s not everyday that one finds a kneeling tree! What can I say, other than I loved the flowers and the landscapes.
I have passed it before without registering it at all.
Very impressive guest picture. Glad you had such a beautiful summer’s day and rounded it off with an enjoyable sing.
zauberhaft!
Danke.
What great photos! Especially enjoyed your daughter’s and the frogs.
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What an amazing kneeling tree! Is it a holly, or are the leaves giving me some visual misguidance? Lovely to see photos of the Benty, the superb naturalistic hawkweed ‘meadow,’ and stunning flowers in the garden.
It was a holly. We think the kneeling limb is a root from a tree that was originally growing out of the top of the wall and which has gradually become exposed as the wall has collapsed.
Thanks for this. It’s seemingly left the tree with aerial roots, as I imagine from the image.
Hi, what is the name of the non flying flower of the day please.
It is Mrs Simpkins Feathered Pink
The peeking frogs, the kneeling tree, the hawkweed meadowlette – all of these made me smile on a gray windy day. The thistle, though . . . the sight of thistles makes me weep, as I spend altogether too much time extracting them from the Cowboy’s curly fur.
I am sorry to evoke such disagreeable thoughts.
I hardly know what to add to all the kudos, I agree with them all. Your daughter’s photograph was quite ambitious if she just got the camera and very well done, a true testimony to your influence. I am wondering when the countryside is not green. The beautiful day did make it more so!
This is generally a green and pleasant place but in the autumn and winter, the hills go brown.
All that rain has worked wonders on the countryside around you. It looks like a lovely cycle.
It is not only England that has a ‘green and pleasant land’.
Superb photos, as always, but I especially enjoyed the peeking frogs and the tree roots on the wall!
The tree roots were quite something.