Today’s guest picture comes from my sister Mary’s recent visit to Wales. As she was with my sister Susan, a steam railway enthusiast, it is no surprise to find that they managed to fit in a train trip.
I had hoped to get a decent pedal in before lunch today after being rather short of pedalling over the past few days but although I managed to get going quite smartly after breakfast, I didn’t get very far. In theory, at 10°C it was quite a pleasant spring day but in practice, a brisk wind from the north ensured that that it was a pretty miserable morning.
Things weren’t helped by some light rain which started as I got up to Mosspaul. I didn’t have a visor on and my glasses were soon verging on the useless so instead of heading over the hill and down the other side, I cut my losses and turned and headed for home.
The brisk wind meant that I had averaged a measly 10½ mph for the 10½ miles up to the top of the hill but the same wind meant that I came back at 21 mph which made me feel a lot better about the whole outing.
There were no birds at the feeder when I got back so I went on a flower hunt instead. I found a couple of new ones…
..,.,and enjoyed a couple of old friends.
Mrs Tootlepedal had been off to sing with the church choir and when she got back, she busied herself with the task of putting everything back into the upstairs room. The effort of moving a lot of things out and then having to move them all back again is considerable and the only consolation is that she has been able to throw quite of lot of stuff which she hadn’t realised that we still had.
There is still decorating going on downstairs…
… but it is nearly finished. Then we need the electrician to finish and we will be nearly home.
After lunch, we went off to sing with our Carlisle Choir after its two week Easter break. The tenor ranks were very depleted by illness and people skiving off to rehearse for a musical that they are performing on Friday and Saturday with the result that myself and two ladies constituted the entire tenor section pitched against about 60 sopranos and altos.
Surprisingly, this turned out to be really good fun, partly because we could hear ourselves sing very clearly and couldn’t get away with anything less than our best and partly because the accompanist felt very sympathetic and gave us some good quality help round a couple of tricky corners. All in all, we sang fit to bust (but always tastefully of course) and we felt that we had upheld the honour of the tenor section very well.
The weather had taken a turn for the better in the afternoon and it was a lovely evening by the time that we got home. There were even some birds to watch. On the feeder….
….in the air…..
…and on hedges and bushes all over the garden.
Mrs Tootlepedal had put a venison stew into the slow cooker before she went to church and it made for a tasty evening meal.
On an editorial note I am keenly aware that the building works and my knee operation have meant that we have been very much confined to barracks for the past four months and as a result, my daily life and thus my diary too has been quite circumscribed. I would like to thank those regular readers who have had the patience to stick with me in these tedious times and all who take the time to make the comments which I enjoy reading. I hope that as the weather gets better, when the building works finally come to an end and as my knee continues to improve, then we can get out and about a bit more. I might also be a little less tired so that the quality of the writing, which has been decidedly stodgy of late, may improve too with a bit of luck.
The flying bird of the day was an evening chaffinch.
Tootlepedal's Blog 
Only a perfectionist like yourself could possibly find anything wrong with your blog over the past four months. I have enjoyed reading it as much as ever and find your dry wit as amusing as ever. Glad the choir practice was so satisfactory and thanks for the colour in your garden.
Ahhh…..we have wild dogtooth violets in the woods at home. They should bloom in June this year, well after I’m home.
I am looking forward to reading about your trip.
I think you have a very interesting life, even when you don’t go on trips.
The flowers are beautiful, especially the pansy and primula.
Our native dogtooth violet which we also call trout lily (Erythronium americanum) aren’t showing buds yet but the leaves have appeared.
I thought the pansy looked very rich myself. It was my favourite shot of the day.
I find your blog very entertaining and interesting to read and enjoy the wonderful and varied photographs and I only started reading it in December! Goodness knows what you got up to before that as I think you do plenty now !
I cycled 5000 miles in eleven months last year and I have only done about 600 in four months this year. It is a big difference.
You always manage to have several things to write about and get to be part of the daily story which make it interesting, including mixing your garden compost. 🙂
Garden compost is interesting, that is very true.
Lovely colours, Tom.
You never know, we might see you and those around you in a sitcom before too long. 😉
Fawlty Cottage perhaps?
I see from the other comments that I am not the only one who has enjoyed all your posts recently despite your circumscribed life. Beautiful flowers and birds – including the House Sparrow!
It just goes to show how kind people are when they are so polite to a person that they don’t even know. It is much appreciated.
I sometimes have trouble thinking of a comment that I haven’t left already, but I still love your blog as much as ever! With so much going on in your life, it’s a wonder that you’ve been able to post daily.
It is the regular commenters like you that keep me motivated on the days when my brain isn’t working 100 per cent.
Your blog is never stodgy!
You must have skipped a few of the dullest!
Decor is looking good.
I am looking at the photo of the house sparrow. I’m not sure what he has on his beak, but in the photo he looks like he has tiny teeth! A little Sparrosaurus rex!
Just crushed sunflower seeds I am afraid.
Given what your recent life has entailed you have kept going amazingly positively in all directions. Keep it up.
I will do my best.
For several reasons, your posts are unfailingly enjoyable. They evoke happy childhood memories of Langholm and it’s hinterland but your humour and energy always bring a smile to my face. My excursions to the “muckle toon” are infrequent but I hope that on one such visit, I might meet you in person to peruse the Langholm archive, reminisce our experiences of teaching, exchange interests in exercise and chuckle about whatever else arises. In the meantime, best wishes.
A very fine primula, and glad to hear you had such a good sing.
I just can second what others already wrote: A day without a post from Langholm is somehow incomplete. Thanks to your posts I already feel much at home in “muckle toon” and its beautiful surroundings. Thanks to you I enjoy lots of fine bird-photography. I admire your garden and the adventures around your end-wall. And I’m with you when it comes to spells of active slothfulness. So don’t you feel remorse of the content of your posts.
All right, I won’t. (Well, I probably will but I’ll try not to dwell on it.)
As your sister commented,I think you set very high standards for your blog! I always find your posts very interesting. Your lifestyle, countryside and wildlife is very different to mine! I find the everyday things entertaining too. I think it’s lovely that you share these details of your life. It is nice to follow your grandchild’s progress, your recuperation from your operation, the renovations etc. And of course your photography is excellent. Your birds are delightful. I wish I had so many at my place. Thank you. Much better than a TV series!
You are most polite. I am looking forward to getting more variety in the photos as soon as possible.
I am not being polite. I’m being honest. 🙂
As one who has only been following your blog for about four months, and is already breathless at all you manage to pack in, I await with great curiosity the accounts of your ‘normal’ life!
It’s always satisfying to have to hold a musical line when there are few to do so. Congratulations on having avoided the heading ‘The Three Tenors’ by the way.
Rare restraint.
Have loved the change of pace over the last few months. Shows the strength of your stories and photographs that you can make, what seems to you a less exciting time, still as good a read as always!
I will be a lot happier when I get my own computer corner back in the front room.
Simply – beautiful 🙂 ! Kamila
Circumscribed? Stodgy? Tedious? Pah! I suspect that you’re the only one who feels that way. Your blog is far more interesting (and educational) than any of the television channels to which I used to subscribe. Now get out there and take a picture of a moss-covered stone wall, or a robin, or Mrs. T. labouring in the garden, or . . .
I will do my best.
Your writing is never stodgy and I am forever amazed at how you manage interesting, delightful posts every day after doing so much, when I can’t even manage to read them all. Your Flying Chaffinches are spectacular.
It’s the advantage of being retired and having nothing better to do.
It has been just as interesting and amusing as ever, even right after your surgery, because of your great photos and your droll way with words. That is why there is a Mr. Tootlepedal fan club here on the Long Beach Peninsula. We don’t have formal meetings, but we do talk about you in the most glowing terms when any of us get together.
That is a very nice thought, thank you.
No Sir, never a dull moment! Your blog is full of the stuff of life and totally stodge-free.
Love the beautiful pansy and that inset shelf under the window is very cute!
You smooth tongued flatterer… but keep the nice remarks coming, they are much appreciated.
I always look forward to your blog! I find your daily adventures most interesting even if you don’t wander far afield. And your photos are always a treat. One thing I am looking forward to when I am off for the summer is getting back to having my morning coffee while reading your posts. Unfortunately my school year schedule doesn’t allow for such lollygagging in the morning.
I am happy to be a full time lollygagger these days.
I always enjoy reading your posts. Often I will see something that reminds me of something you’ve written about. The decorating seems to be going well although I have every sympathy with the moving of furniture. Such a chore.
We are nearly there now.