Up and running again…..well, walking again to be more accurate.

Today’s guest picture comes from a walk that my daughter Annie took in the Chilterns earlier this month, just to show that they have good views in England too.

I should start by saying a warm thank you to all those who wished me happy birthday and to those who have offered their hopes of a speedy recovery from my bug.  Their wishes and hopes have been fulfilled.

I had a really good night’s sleep which helped me to feel a lot better when I woke up this morning but having eaten no more than a single slice of toast and a handful of dates yesterday, I was still feeling a bit peely-wally in the morning and was happy to sit quietly until Dropscone appeared bearing a nutritious scone to have with our coffee.

I did look out of the window before he came and was pleased to see a great tit back on the feeder.

The chaffinch looked a little more dubious about it though.

While we were sipping our coffee, my friend Bruce rang up and suggested that I look out of the window at Whita Hill behind the house.

I think the the line of mist had thinned out slightly in the time it took me to pick up the camera and climb the stairs.

After coffee, I took a quick walk round the garden and was pleased to find a fine crop of home grown fungus on a tree stump on the edge of our drying green.

I am trying to use my fungus book and considered Hypholoma fasciculare as a suggestion. I am always ready to be proved wrong.

There is a regular robin coming to the feeder but it ainvariably waits until I have not got a camera to hand before it arrives and leaves as soon as I pick one up.  I had to make do with a goldfinch….

….who was soon joined by a friend, and blue tit and a greenfinch….

…until a small group of greenfinches claimed the feeder for themselves.

The greenfinches left as suddenly as they arrived and I put down the camera and made some healthy broth for our lunch.

We had been promised a frosty morning but it was above freezing when I woke up and it was a pleasant sunny day by the the early afternoon.  I did think of a little cycle ride but decided that a short walk was more sensible so I set out to see if some exercise would turn out to be a good idea.

It was.  I felt better for the walk and as always, enjoyed the chance to take a few pictures as I toddled along.

The fungus was fading but the lichen was very vibrant.

I went down to the Becks burn through the woods.

The old wall in the middle of the trees is a pointer to how many of the woods round Langholm are fairly recent commercial plantations.

Coming out of the woods on the Hallcrofts road, I thought that the time was right for a gnarly tree shot….

…pondered on the very interesting question of why one fence post should have a small mushroom crop on it….

…while one a few yards away should be absolutely smothered in moss….

…and enjoyed a view of Whita looking very different from the morning when it was wreathed in mist.

I was watched with interest by two horses, one on each side of the Becks Burn valley.

As I walked down towards the Wauchope road, there was a contrast in the light as I looked back towards the Old Stane Brig….

….and forwards towards Wauchope churchyard….

….but both views were equally agreeable.

Although it was very quiet at ground level, a glance at the skies above were a reminder that we live under a very busy air route…

…with planes going in all directions.

I was pleased to see that one of the fungi that I had photographed on my last walk down the road had survived the chilly morning.

Searching through my little book of toadstools, I wondered whether this might be a Clitocybe infundibuliformis.

When I got home, I took a shot of the front lawn to show that we are now almost wholly dependant on the golden box balls for some brightness.

We are still a month away from the shortest day but it looked pretty gloomy at quarter past three, even on a fine afternoon.  You have to be out quickly with the camera after lunch these days or the light has flown.

I should have had an afternoon of flute playing with Mile and Isabel, an evening flute lesson with Luke and a visit to the Liddesdale Camera Club with Sandy in the evening but I was anxious not to pass my bug onto anyone else so I kept myself to myself and stayed in.

My son Tony rang from Edinburgh in the evening to say that he too and his some of his family and workmates had been laid low by the bug and my Newcastle correspondent tells me that her family have been victims as well so I think we can safely say, in the phrase much loved by Langholmites, “There’s been a lot  of it going about.”

The other phone call I received was from the hospital inviting me to visit them on Sunday to get my new knee.  I was surprised that they have got an operating list for a Sunday and just hope that surgeon is not too upset at missing his golf when he is working on me.

I hope to be fully back to normal health tomorrow and might even be considering a gentle pedal.

In spite of the visiting greenfinches, the flying bird of the day is a chaffinch who arrived with some decent light.