Today’s guest picture was sent by my friend Mike Tinker who encountered a bird cherry tree on a walk near Brampton yesterday. The tree had been completely defoliated and had been covered up in a weblike material by the bird cherry ermine moth. He tells me that the tree looked as though it had been wrapped in cling film. Creepy.
Our spell of dry and fairly warm weather continued today and I paid some attention to my general tiredness and instead of getting even more tired by bicyling, I spent a very leisurely day relaxing, helping a little in the garden now and again and chatting to Granny.
I wasn’t entirely idle as I found the energy to mow and edge a lawn and clip four of the box balls round the front lawn. All the box balls are now clipped and only the short hedges remain. Mrs Tootlepedal did one of them today. She would like to take at least one of the little hedges out to reduce the clipping load but they do give very good definition to the garden so they will probably survive.
I thought that I had taken pictures of all the roses that were out today.
[Top left to bottom right: Crown Princess Margaretha, Goldfinch, Rosa Mundi, Jacobite Rose, Special Grandma, Gallica Complicata, Moss rose William Lobb, Lilian Austin, The Wren]
…but I realised too late that I had missed out the Queen of Denmark.
Our old lawn water sprinkler has broken down so we have got a new swirly watering device to attach to the hose and I set it up to water one of Mrs Tootlepedal’s flower beds. I like the pattern’s that it makes.
I walked round to check on the tadpoles in the dam behind the house. They were still there.
Alison Tinker suggested that these may be toads and not frogs in the making as the toads spawn later then frogs and often in running water too. I shall keep an eye on them as they develop if I can.
The two Fuchsias in the garden are not looking very good in spite of much cossetting but the old fashioned Fuchsia on the back wall is thriving on benign neglect.
Two clumps of Ligularia are just beginning to come into flower.
I enjoyed a defiant rose adding a touch of pink to a mass of blue and white in the border beside the front lawn.
We had a tasty hard boiled egg salad for lunch with home grown lettuce, locally produced tomatoes and cheese from not far away so we felt we had done our best for the local economy as well as eating good food.
Some persistent squealing outside the kitchen window caught my attention. A young starling was wanting his lunch too….and this very moment now please.
The parent flew up to the feeder and the baby practised looking pathetically hungry.
It worked.
Soon a sibling arrived.
This proved too much for the parent who flew off followed by two wailing youngsters.
After lunch, I went off to the Tourist Information Point at the Kilngreen for two hours where I saw not a single tourist and gave out not a jot of information. As I had newspapers to read, a crossword to do and a bag a very unlocal cherries to eat, the time passed pleasantly enough.
As a reward, I got myself a an ice cream from the van on the Kilngreen when I shut up shop and ate it while looking at birds on the river bank.
I was watching a wagtail….
…when a disturbance behind me made me look round.
The resident heron had arrived and was being harassed by furious gulls.
The heron looked a little nervous but stood its ground, occasionally fluffing itself up .
The gulls kept circling round and shouting at it which gave me the opportunity to take a picture or two…
…before I cycled home.
Here I indulged in some top quality idling, helped by having Wimbledon tennis on the telly but I did get up from time to time to check on the seed feeder to see of any finches had arrived. There was a trickle.
I saw a flock of goldfinches not far away a few days ago so I am hoping that they will make an appearance soon.
We had a very brief flying visit from a coal tit too.
Mrs Tootlepedal was working away in the garden all this time so I went out to check on her activities and couldn’t resist yet another shot of the Eryngiums which are probably now at their peak of blueness.
In the evening, Mike and Alison came round and Alison and I caused several notable composers to spin rapidly in their graves as we did a bit of violence to their music but, as usual, we enjoyed ourselves as we did it.
The flying bird of the day is one of those complaining gulls. This is a young black headed gull.
Tootlepedal's Blog 
Beautiful. I love the fluffy heron. That tree is pretty creepy. Will the tree die now or can it recover?
Looking at the experts, it seems that it may be able to recover next season but not to full health.
“Quality idling.” There’s a phrase I hope to put to the test in the coming years!
It is not easy. It requires dedicated practice and a sympathetic spouse.
I think your herons are nicer looking than ours. I think they have more white on them.
That’s a great selection of roses and the eryngiums have beautiful color.
Mrs Tootlepedal, who took the eryngiums out of a flower border and parked them in a veg bed, is looking at them in a new light and I expect to see them back in a border next year.
I agree with Allen, your herons are better looking than the ones in the states, at least in the northern states. And, the flower photos were superb!
I will look again next time I see a heron on a North American blog and see if you and Allen are right. (You are bound to be right of course.)
Such wonderfully colourful images, Tom. I hope you are dealing effectively with your general tiredness, and not spending too much time at the computer instead of acquiring sufficient beauty sleep.
I am failing badly on that front. I should take fewer pictures but I am addicted.
This is a common problem, Tom.
You may have been tired but excellent pictures and a witty commentary made reading your blog a pleasure indeed.
Great pictures – loved the framed roses. Beautiful pictures of the wailing youngsters an the fluffy heron.
Some beautiful work, and I love babies feeding with mama birds. Nice shot.
Thank you.
So many things to enjoy in this post: beautiful flowers, the pathetic, begging starling, the funny, fluffy heron, gorgeous gulls. And best of all the very witty commentary that made me laugh. I had to read segments to my hubby when he heard me giggling! 😀 Excellent all around, Tom. I never would have known you were tired!
I am sorry that I disturbed your hubby. I hope that he wasn’t too cross.
I don’t know how I’ll ever keep up with you but it’s delightful when I do get a chance to check in. Love the fledgling-feed-me shots. I used to get kid starlings outside my old apartment but I never get to hear or see them anymore, now I realize I miss them!
They are very appealing. Thank you for finding the time to drop in and comment.
I will try to stop by more often. I need a scheduler, then I would be a more regular follower.
Any visit is welcome, don’t harass yourself.
I saw a gorse swathed in web some time ago in the New Forest and it turned out to be a nest of tiny spiders. Isn’t nature wonderful? The garden is looking as lovely as ever and I like the gulls 🙂
Gulls are my friends as they glide slowly by.
You have a wonderful collection of roses in your garden and you have photographed them beautifully as usual. I loved the baby starlings – starlings are very dear to my heart.
I always look forward to the murmuration at Gretna.