Today’s guest picture shows a Vulcan bomber, a relic of the cold war, flying over the Ayr air show. It was taken by Bruce who kindly sent it to me. We used to see these flying over our heads when we were very young, a visible manifestation of the possible end of the world.
It was a beautiful day again today with the added advantage of being reasonably cool. I don’t take well to hot weather so getting sunny days at this time of year is perfect for me.
While Mrs Tootlepedal went off to sing with the church choir, I took my time in getting ready for a pedal. I pumped up my tyres and added a little lubricant to the chain and finally admitted that I had no more excuses and set off for a gentle spin up the Wauchope road.
In spite of having had two days to recover, my legs were still feeling the effects of Thursday’s long ride and it took me quite some to get going properly but once into the swing of things I went along quite well. I stopped to admire two roadside trees near Dunnabie.
Owing to my late start, I didn’t have a lot of time in hand so I did a twenty mile out and back, turning at Grange Quarry.

I stopped again on the way home to admire a feast in a hedgerow on Callister.

Sandy told me later in the day that he had taken advantage of the good weather to get out an do his longest ever cycle ride, a brisk 22 miles round the morning run the wrong way. He was naturally very pleased. I see by checking his on-line account that Dropscone was also out, though much earlier than me, so the roads were fairly fizzing with elderly cyclists today.
Once home, I had time for a coffee, a shower, a poppy of the day picture…
…a chase round the garden after a pair of butterflies which were reluctant to pose for me…
…before it was time to jump in the car and head south to Carlisle.
We were going to our Carlisle community choir’s first practice of the new season and they had asked for us to go early so that we could have all the new music sorted out before the official starting time. The members responded well to the request and we were able to start bang on time.
Our excellent musical director is back again for the new session and he set to work with a will. He is going to try to get us to sing Exultate Justi in Domino by Ludovico Grossi da Viadana which will be quite a challenge for us as many of our members don’t read music well if at all and it is quite a complicated piece. Home practice will be required.
By the time we got home, the light was beginning to fade and it was possible to take a picture of the splendid bed at the end of the drive without the pale colours of the nicotiana making the camera blink.
All of these flowers have been raised from seed by the gardener and are a tribute to her hard work.
I did have time during a busy day to peer put of the kitchen window as I passed through. There was plenty of action to see.
As a result I have a flying chaffinch of the day to round off the post.
Final Note: On a very sad note, we learned today that our old friend and fellow archivist Jean had passed away peacefully in our local hospital. We will miss her a lot.

Sorry to hear about your friend.
Sorry to hear of your loss.
The picture of he Vulcan bomber reminds me of that incredible mission undertaken by the same plane during the Falklands Island War.
Thursday nights will never be the same.
I am so sorry to hear of the death of your friend. The tree photos are lovely, especially the second one.
Sorry to hear of the loss of your friend.
I’m sorry to hear about your friend Jean. At least you have some photos of her.
Your weather looks like ours is supposed to be! I am sorry to hear about Jean.
Sorry to hear that Jean had died though I know she hadn’t been well for some time. You will miss her. Lovely picture of Mrs T’s wonderful flower bed, a delight to the eyes.Glad the choir practice went well, the new piece sounds exciting.
Very sorry indeed to hear that Jean has died – a lovely picture of her with Mrs T.
Glad the choir got off to such a good start.
Blackberries look yummy!
They are first rate this year.
So very sorry about Jean’s passing. 😦
The poppy and butterflies are beautiful, as is the photo of Mrs. T’s lovely bed at the end of the drive.
Very sorry to read about your friend, Jean. Condolences from across the ocean.
Thank you. She will be missed.
I’m so sorry to hear about Jean. Such a terrible blow for you all I’m sure. What a lovely photo of her with Mrs T in her splendid garden though.
Thank you.