Today’s guest picture was sent to me by my son Anthony. It shows his dogs scampering about on Portobello beach on the shores of the Firth of Forth. The dog on the left must have been going a lot faster than the dog on the middle to be so out of focus.
After a night of heavy rain and strong winds, we were more than pleased to find no signs of dampness in the front room. Long may this continue.
On a less happy note, we had to drive down to the people who sold us our new multi fuel stove. I didn’t put this in the blog at the time because it was so annoying that I was speechless but when we lit it last week, it only took half an hour for the glass in the door to crack terminally. This turned out to be caused by over-tightening of the holding screws by the supplier so a new one was provided.
While we were down that way, we visited a handy garden centre and brought some expensive goods from their fancy food hall. As this included some very tasty cheese, the journey was wasted.
We lit the stove when we got back and on this occasion the glass did not crack. We are encouraged. It certainly heats the room up well.
It had been a very gloomy and wet morning but things brightened up a bit after lunch so Mrs Tootlepedal and I went up to the new hide at the Moorland feeders. While I looked at small birds in the trees, Mrs Tootlepedal sat in the car and scanned the sky for hen harriers. She saw a female very close to and came to tell me about it (after it had gone).
I made do with some local residents.
The sharp eyed will have noticed that all the birds so far have been ringed. There were some others which had not been netted so far.
There are now some handsome benches in the new hide and handy shelves for a thermos (had I thought to bring one).
We were just having a cup of tea when we got home when Sandy arrived. After the cup that cheers, Sandy and I went off for a brief walk. It was brief because the light was already fading and rain threatened.
We did a quick tour of the Duchess and Jubilee bridges. The wild garlic is beginning to grow in the woods…
…and soon the familiar smell will be all pervasive on this walk.
The heavy overnight rain had filled the river up…
…in contrast to the low levels of the past week.
I kept an eye out or tree borne lichen.
…but took a shot of a mossy wall in the name of balance.
A dash of colour in our next door neighbour’s garden alerted me to the first flowering currant of the year.
We got back to our respective homes without getting wet and I settled down to some serious resting.
As my recent cycle outings have left my knew nee a little puffy, I was pleased to have the excuse of some very strong winds and rain to keep me off the bike for this weekend. I am not so happy to see that the strong winds are forecast to last for most of next week too.
I did manage to find one flying chaffinch in the morning drizzle.
Tootlepedal's Blog 
The beard lichen looks a lot like a bristly beard lichen (Usnea hirta.)
I’d love to walk through that wild garlic. We have an invasive weed here called garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata) and it smells delicious when you bruise it.
You don’t need to bruise ours when it is in flower. You can’t avoid the smell.
Your stove story is flabbergasting!
It was a setback. We were so excited when we fired it up.
Nice looking bird pictures! 🙂
It has been most enjoyable entering your world for a stretch of a couple of weeks worth of posts, and one nice things about falling behind is that I get to read a lot of droll comments, as well.
The commenters are are good bunch who work hard.
Thank goodness the stove problem was easily remedied but the disappointment on that first firing must have been enormous. We too have the huge winds and they are due to stay as long.
I hope yours die away unexpectedly…and ours too.
That is a cracking headline. You must make some wild garlic pesto as part of your mediterranean diet.
How annoying about the stove, all that hassle getting it and the new one in and out of the house. I loved the colour of the flowering currant and your birds pictures taken at the hide were excellent.
Glad your multi fuel stove is working satisfactorily now after its annoying start.
The hide sounds a great addition to the Moorland Bird Feeders – remember your thermos next time.
Oh dear, the incident with the stove does sound annoying. I hope they were apologetic? I have never seen a flowering currant. How very pretty it is. The lichens and bird pics are excellent as usual.
What mattered was that they got a replacement without quibbling.
I love the tree borne lichen picture.
I look at it every time I cross the Jubilee Bridge.
Well, the stove may have been an irritation, but at least the new wall hasn’t leaked yet after you’ve spent so much to repair it! Yes, next time remember to bring the thermos that you’ve forgotten every time you’ve been to the new hide. 😉
I will try but I am old and things slip my mind.
What a lovely selection of very colourful birds!
My mother has a multi-fuel stove and it is wonderful. I recently had to get some new glass for it and it isn’t cheap but fortunately we don’t have to do it often and it is easy to fit. The wild garlic looks good.
We are hoping not to have to do it again for a long time!
Love that title…very smart 🙂
Hooray for the stove glass being replaced without question, but irritating that it happened in the first place – even if the trip it ensued included cheese.
You have to make the best of these things and the cheese turned out to be very tasty indeed.
Beautiful bird pictures Mr T. Love checking out the photographs on your blog, as well as your witty turn of phrase. I agree with your other readers – witty subject line. Wasn’t lost on this old brain of mine.
I have been following your new wall – if you know what I mean. Pleased to see it up and working. And now your new stove is working too. And your new knee is working pretty good as well. Hope the puffiness settles down.
Been flat out for a few days – retirement you know – so it’s great that a wild storm has woken me up (it’s 1.42am) giving me the time to catch up with your blog.
It’s an ill wind….
Lovely bird photos again and it’s good to see the currant flowering. I’m glad you got your stove fixed too.
We were pleased about that. We were looking forward to using it a lot.