Today’s guest picture shows Barrington Court in Somerset, recently visited by my sister Mary who kindly sent me the photograph.
We came to the end of our endlessly sunny weather today and to my relief at least, it was quite a bit cooler outside. It was still a pleasant day when we got up and after Mrs Tootlepedal had gone off to sing in the church choir, I ventured out for a few test miles on my speedy bike to see how the hip felt.
It was still abit sore when I got on the bike but as is so often the case, cycling was no problem once I got going. I intended to do an undemanding nine miles but I might have been tempted to go a little further if a few drops of rain hadn’t made me stick to my original plan.
There was a profusion of wild raspberries by the roadside …
…but they proved to be a bit past their best when I stopped to sample some of them.
It was just as well that I had not gone any further because once I had got off the bike, my hip was still quite sore. I abandoned any hope of doing some useful mowing and wandered round the garden instead.
The Shirley poppies that looked so good in Mrs Tootlepedal’a new border yesterday morning had all gone by yesterday evening. Fortunately they had been replaced as if by magic by a new set today.
There are a hopeful signs that the yellow crocosmia which are supposed to go with them will be on the go very soon.
The cosmos are looking better by the day…
…and are attractive to more than just my camera.
We were visited by Dropscone who came round for a late coffee after he had done a thirty mile ride. He was pleased with both his cycling distance and his recent golf round where he nearly scored a hole in one. I have decided that it would be too early to start pedalling with him yet so we are going to go out separately tomorrow morning and meet for coffee afterwards (if all goes to plan). Dropscone also brought round a couple of heavy rain showers but they soon passed.
It occurred to me while I was cycling this morning that the present bout of hip pain may have been brought on by lifting a couple of bags of compost a few days ago rather than by any cycling efforts. I know perfectly well that I shouldn’t lift anything remotely heavy but it is difficult to remember not to do something which you can in fact do quite easily and with no immediate ill effects. It is only a few days later that you realise that you shouldn’t have been so stupid.
The rest of the day was spent alternately resting and wandering round the garden to ease the discomfort that sitting brings on.
A new clematis had come out….
…and the honeysuckle on the fence is going full blast…
…and the variegated phlox has produced flowers.
The ligularia is coming to the end of its run and the red crocosmia is going to be over soon.
The current favourites of Mrs Tootlepedal and myself looked good today.
When the sun came out in the afternoon, it made a red Astilbe fairly sparkle.
The garden seems to be getting ever fuller of sparrow families.
Sometimes when I go out, twenty or thirty sparrows will rise up at the same time.
A series of rather dull posts recently have reflected some rather dull sitting down days so I certainly hope to be able to get about more next week.
Just at the moment, I am not very good at standing stock still with the camera in position and the zoom lens full out so unless I am lucky and a flying bird comes along as soon as I am in position, they are hard to catch. The flying bird of the day today therefore is not flying. It was flying before I took the picture and it started flying after I took the picture but I admit it wasn’t flying when I took the picture.
Tootlepedal's Blog 
I vote for the “couple of bags of compost” as being the primary cause of your current misery.
That bird look like he’s waiting for you and your camera for the flying bird shot! 🙂
He wouldn’t shift as long as I had the camera pointed at him.
I’m not supposed to lift anything over 5 pounds but I do so quite frequently. I often pay dearly for my stupidity, but a simple bag of groceries can weigh more than 5 pounds. I’m sure you must face the same challenges.
The flowers are very beautiful. I like that dark clematis and the shot of the astilbe is excellent. It’s not something I would have thought of.
Standing beside a hefty load and saying to your modestly sized wife, “Can you lift that please, Dear,” comes hard.
You’re lifting bags of compost when that could affect your cycling? Where are your priorities? You strike me as being a very level-headed fellow and yet you have completely lost your senses here.
Just kidding of course. Glad to see you are on the mend and you have a working theory on the cause. And congratulations on the flying bird pic. That is quite possibly the best “flying bird while at rest” photo I have ever seen.
You are quite right with your condemnation of my lack of good sense but it is hard to learn to be sensible after years of practising being a nitwit.
It looks like you’re raising fine crops of both flowers and sparrows!
The raising of the sparrows often conflicts with the other crops. They are not Mrs Tootlepedal’s favourite birds.
It is a very good non-flying chaffinch photo. I am glad you are feeling better. The wild raspberries were no doubt suffering from too much heat and sun and not enough cool and rain.
A friend found some in a shadier spot and said that they were very tasty so I am sure that you are right.
You need a servant for the heavy lifting!
Fortunately Mrs Tootlepedal is well up to the job.
Hope she gets good pay! 🙂
Regular annual increments and time off for good behaviour.
🙂
That non-flying bird looks decidedly grumpy that you did not catch it in flight.
Let’s hope the hip goes on improving and that you remember to be very careful about heavy lifting!
Lovely flowers, beautifully captured on camera.
One good thing about your poor hip for your viewers is all those splendid pictures in your garden. Very frustrating not to be able to lift stuff without damaging yourself, I hope you will have a second think next time and not do it
Those cosmos are so pretty!
They are indeed, especially when the sun shines.
Lifting compost should be crossed very firmly off your list of things to do!
It will be but I shall do something equally stupid instead.
The butterfly on the flower is a great photo, and the fuchsia and anemone are lovely. I enjoy seeing the berry bush, too. By the way, I did find some gooseberry jam, and without ginger added! I bought it at IKEA, the big, gigantic Swedish retail store that seems to be popping up world-over. The jam is quite tasty! Much thanks to your photo that brought it to mind! ~SueBee
There are those who think that gooseberry jam is an acquired taste that is not worth acquiring but I like it and I am glad that you found some.