Today’s guest picture shows a view of Utrecht taken by my brother after he had climbed 465 steps to get to the top of a very lofty church tower.
I had a very poor day photographically but it was good in many other ways.
The chance of catching a garden bird was limited by the noisy activities of the end wall wranglers who managed to get a considerable part of the wall into a skip during the day.
In the late afternoon, Mrs Tootlepedal and I went up to see what wasn’t there.
I spent all the morning driving from one side of the country to the other (not a long distance at one of the thinnest bits of Great Britain) to have a look at a replacement Kangoo in a garage just the other side of Newcastle upon Tyne. This was the longest drive the new knee has had but it stood up to the 150 miles there and back without any problem.
As I crossed from the west to the east side of the country, the sun came out and it was a glorious day in Newcastle. Not having a satnav in the car, I had memorised the route to the industrial estate where I hoped to find the car and I was very pleased to arrive there exactly as planned. I was less pleased to find that the car wasn’t there but in their other base, eight miles away on the other side of the Tyne.
Not having brought a map with me and the young fellow in the garage not knowing what a map actually looked like, he very kindly showed how to use my phone to find my way. Between his instructions and stopping to look at the phone, I found my way through the Tyne Tunnel to the other garage and got a short test drive in the potential replacement Kangoo. It all seemed quite satisfactory so I bought it and hope to get it delivered in Thursday. Buying a second hand car is always a gamble and I quite expect the wheels to fall off as soon as I start to drive it properly. Fingers crossed.
The drive back was marked by the change back from sunshine to cloud half way across the country but traffic was light and I was back home in time for a late lunch.
After a short rest, I decided to take the bull by the horns and take the slow bike off the trainer in the garage and put it onto the tarmac. It was so long since it was last out that I had to pump up both tyres but I was soon on my way up the Wauchope road and feeling very comfortable.
I managed to ride the three miles to Wauchope School at a very modest pace. I stopped to take a picture of the devastation the tree fellers have wreaked on the wood round the house…
…and a tree nearby just for sake of using the camera.
The journey home, being gently downhill, was easy enough and I was very pleased to have finally got started back on a bicycle. My 6.6 miles took me 37 minutes so nobody could accuse me of speeding.
In the evening, I added to my driving miles by taking Susan to Carlisle to play with our recorder group. We had a very enjoyable tootle and generally played with some accuracy and style.
As I had no opportunity to catch a flying bird today, I have dived into the archives and produced a flying heron from exactly a year ago.
Tootlepedal's Blog 
What an architectural difference between your first and second photos. But it looks as if there may be some valuable stone in the latter?
Glad you’re once more on your moving bike – a great leap forward, if you see what I mean.
The stone is not valuable being irregular and sodden. We hope to recycle the fireplaces if we can find someone who wants them.
Congratulations on the new used car (fingers crossed) and even more so for the first true pedal with your new knee! I had no idea when you explained how the wall was going to be repaired that they were going to tear it down, that must be a bit unsettling.
We are hoping for the best while sometimes fearing disaster. Things are going well so far.
It sounds like the knee and the car have become non problems. Now if that wall can get rebuilt it sounds like life will be back to normal for you and Mrs. T.
Your brother’s photo makes me dizzy, but what a view!
He has a great head for heights and likes climbing to the top of things.
Pleased to hear of your two wheeled expedition, looking forward to many more..
I am targeting a 100 miler before the end of summer.
Good luck but take your time..
I certainly will.
A red letter day, from construction to cars to cycling! Very pleased you had a successful run on the bike – congratulations!
Thank you, I am able to look forward with hope.
Cycling! Yay!!!!
Yay indeed and double yay!!
So glad to hear you are back on the bike. You would have driven close by our house yesterday. Next time stop by for a cuppa!
I had my eye so closely fixed on the road signs and the traffic that stopping was the last thin on my mind. Kind offer though and I will try to do better next time.
This catalogue of good news is extremely satisfactory for reader as well as writer
Utrecht, I got lost there when stopping for a break in pre satnav days and couldn’t find my way out.
Is there anywhere where you haven’t been lost at one time?
Sounds like you had a very satisfactory day. After all that pain with your knee it must be most satisfactory to use it more or less as normal. Loved the heron.
Your brother has a head for heights then. Curious as to what they’re going to rebuild your end wall with if they’re throwing all that stone away. You must have been delighted to get out on a bike again.
The stone is soaked through and no amount of rebuilding with it would be guaranteed to work so we are going for a thoroughly modern wall.
Assumed that after making the silly comment!
Not silly at all.
Really glad to hear you are out on your bike again; we must plan a little cycle near Talkin sometime
Absolutely. Organise a little sunshine and I will be there.
That sounds like a very satisfactory day. Delighted you managed to find a replacement Kangoo, and that you were able to get out and about on the bicycle to somewhere again.
Delighted that your outing on on the bike went well, and that you have a replacement vehicle. Does the large quantity of stone in the skip bin mean that it will not be recycled back into your house?
It will not. It is sodden through and through.
Wonderful news! Congratulations on the new Kangoo and the cycle ride. I like the tree photo (I just like trees) and the heron in flight. Do you know if the wood around the school is to be re-planted?
It will no doubt depend on whether grants for planting are available. In time it will grow if left to itself.
Such an action-packed day. Good luck with the new Kangoo. So glad your first expedition on the bike went so well.
It was a relief that I could actually pedal in real life.
I love the heron flying. I’ve been stalking one here. Hopefully I’ll be able to get a few more photos of it.
You have already had some nice pictures of it.
What a day!
We just need a little sunshine in Langholm to make things very good.
Kudos on the bike ride, Tom. Your brother’s photo is awesome, you can feel the height, which makes me dizzy, lol. And as always, love your GBH photos.
I wouldn’t get past the first fifty steps.
Your brother’s photo is soooooo cool!! I love it!
That’s awesome you got out the bike onto the road! I know it must have felt great! Congrats on the new set of wheels, I hope all goes well with it. Don’t even get me started on those pesky tree fellers. They like to wreak havoc here, as well.
These are trees that were planted to be felled so they are not destroying the natural environment, just making it look ugly for a year or two.
Well done for getting out on the bike. That really is progress. Hopefully the new car will be a good one. Are they re using the stones from the wall to build it back up? It would seem a shame to waste them.
The old stones are in rotten condition and good for nothing sadly.
What a shame
Hi there tootlepedal, great to see you’re truly back in the saddle, i.e., you’re cycling in the great outdoors. I was rather crestfallen at what you call your “slow bike”, as in looks it is very similar to mine, except, I see you have an internal gear hub. What hub is it? Forgive me, no doubt you have described it in the past, but my memory isn’t what it was. What was I saying? Lots of renewing going on in your home after renewing that knee of yours, and also the Kangoo. Do you use it to transport your bikes at all? I’ve always fancied something similar, for that purpose. Especially now we have the Pashley tricycle for her indoors, amazingly because it folds up I can get into my faithful little Yaris, but it would be nice not to go to the trouble of folding it up and back again twice every time we take our bikes somewhere for a pedal. Not that we’ve done that yet, work and life in general conspires to keep us away from a leisurely cycle. Sadly, her indoors, doesn’t have the luxury of a commute, down and up the beautiful Neath valley like myself, as a housewife looking after three young men and this aging welshcyclist. We have plans to really christen the Pashley with an inaugural ride asap. I’m off work today and over the weekend, but the clouds have opened this morning after a long cold spell, and I don’t fancy getting everything soaked, going through the riggammarole (what a great word if only I knew how to spell it, just hope you get the drift) of folding and unfolding in soggy conditions. Especially without the reward of treacle scones and coffee. This is a long comment, I know, but I was feeling guilty, for abandoning your blog for some time now, I love to keep apace with your exploits, even if you call my similar set up. a slow bike, lol. 37 minutes for 6 miles, is not slow in my book, unless the truth is, my Pioneer really is a slow bike, After all these years of my commuting, I don’t believe I’ll be increasing my speed at all, neither do I care that much, except when I’m left, as if stood still on inclines, by lycra clad roadies, and even the odd E-bike. But I do feel faster with the new back wheel on my Pioneer, all in the mind though, as the time to get home after my last commute was below average, I was knackered, these 12 hour shifts are catching up on me, strange though, if I don’t commute on the bike, somehow I feel even more tired, perhaps it’s something to do with getting that fix of fresh air. Driving the car seems mindless to me, it’s like being on auto pilot. Gosh, I do go on, keep the recuperative rides going and sensible, Rome wasn’t built in a day! I forgot, no surprise there, to mention the memories brought back by the word Utrecht in your blogs, can you call it a word or should it always be termed a name? Memories of schooldays, of history GCE O level classes, and exams, of one of my favourite subjects, History. I remember being down the Knapp baths swimming pool in that glorious summer that was 1967, when I had a tap on the shoulder, and heard the words “Feeling confident about the exam tomorrow Master Curtis, are we?”. With a wry smile on his face and a cruel glint in his eye, it was Bunny Hutchins. I did some last minute swotting that night, I can tell you, I did not fancy being made to stand up on one leg while stood on a chair explaining how I’d got things so badly wrong. No, Bunny wasn’t PC and wouldn’t survive in tour PC society.
Well I passed, and I often think about Bunny and all those masters of my schooldays, very fondly even the ones who I didn’t get on with. I wish my sons had had the luxury of a Mr. Hutchins. Sorry for going on, at least I can rest assured that I have now aided that recuperation of yours by driving you out on to that slow bike of yours for a tootlepedal and some peace and quiet. Cheers.
Well master Curtis, you certainly take the prize for the longest ever comment on the blog. Congratulations. The slow bike, which has a seven gear Nexus internal hub, is only slow by comparison with my fairly speedy bike, a much lighter Giant SCR which is in the bike shop at the moment. The slow bike has a belt drive and is very handy for pedalling round the town without the danger of getting oil on your good trousers.
We can get both our bikes more or less fully upright into the back of the Kangoo without having to take anything off. This is the reason we went for a Kangoo in the first place.
I hope the weather relents and you can get a good ride in over the weekend.