No clout casting

Today’s guest picture was sent to me by Bruce who has been up in the north.  It shows a tribute to Tim Baillie a canoeing gold medallist in the last Olympic Games.  It was put up by the Westhill Rotary Club.  Some research tells me that this gold medal came as a bit of a surprise, not least to the gold medallist himself.

The main business of the day today was getting aback on the bike after quite a few days of idleness.  The forecast assured me that it wouldn’t rain and that there wouldn’t be any gale.  It was too good and opportunity to miss.

I had forgotten to charge my phone so I had an hour to do the crossword and look at birds before I set out.

Goldfinches are very pretty birds. You can see why people kept than as caged birds in time gone by.

I have been feeling a little on the creaky side lately so I started off with some diffidence.  This feeling of uncertainly was exacerbated by the new gravel surfacing which I encountered on the Wauchope road.  It was inches deep and very tricky when I first hit it but it shortly levelled off and as it only lasted for about a mile, I was soon past it.

In spite of it being June and sunny, the day was still remarkably cold and I was glad to have a couple of layers on to keep me warm.  In the absence of the gales of the last two days, there was a steady breeze in my face and winds gusting to 20 miles an hour made sure that I didn’t get above myself.

I hadn’t got a strong view of where I was going but the wind seemed bearable and the cycling soon eased the creaks out of my system so I set myself a target of at least 50 miles.

I chose a route that would avoid any back roads that might have had the gravel treatment as well as any major hills.

As I cycled along, feeling rather chilly in the wind, I considered the old saying, “Ne’er cast a clout till may is out.”

It certainly didn’t seem like a good time to cast a clout (take off one’s winter clothing) even though the month of May is past.  On the other hand, I hadn’t seen any hawthorn or may blossom out on my travels.  I looked up the saying on the internet when I got home and was able to find any number of sites which confidently declared that the saying relates to the month of May and an equal number confidently stating that it refers to the flower.

As it happened, when I got near Brydekirk, I found a good show of flowering hawthorn…

…so May is past and the may is out….but I am still not casting a clout until it is a lot warmer.

I enjoyed this view of a river of plastic beside the real thing as I crossed over the Water of Mein.

There is a lot of this plastic about as farmers use it to grow maize as fodder for their animals.

The verges are getting more cheerful.

Wild flowers (and the obligatory pylon) near Eccelfechan.

A field of golden buttercups (with overhead wires)

I paused for a banana in Brydekirk on the banks of the River Annan….

…and then bypassed the town of Annan and pedalled past the first savings bank in Scotland in the tiny village of Ruthwell (it is now a museum) until I got to the Brow Well where I stopped for lunch.

The Brow Well  is a chalybeate spring, meaning that the water that dribbles from the spout low on one side contains significant concentrations of iron salts.  It was supposed to be good for your health to drink it although it didn’t do the poet Robert Burns much good when he tried the waters shortly before his death.   It is not a beautiful spot…

The paving is modern!

…and there is no water in it to drink even if you wanted to.  It stands close to the Solway shore….

Looking across the Nith estuary to Criffel

…but it was chilly and charmless in the brisk wind today so I ate my jam sandwiches swiftly and pedalled back to Annan.

With the wind behind now and with flat roads almost all the way, the journey back to Langholm was a breeze and a final loop round the New Town brought me exactly to 60 miles.  Those with time hanging heavy on their hands can find details of the ride here.

In spite of the rather grey look in my pictures, it was mostly a sunny ride and I enjoyed it until the last five miles, when I received a stiff letter of complaint from both my knees.

Mrs Tootlepedal had spent a busy day in the garden and was ready for a cup of tea when I got home.  Refreshed by a cuppa, I had enough energy left to mow the drying green and the paths in the front lawn before walking round the garden, camera in hand.

There is more colour every day.  This is the back path again seen from the other end.

The Japanese azalea has been out for ages but the others are joining in bud by bud.

Two new rhododendrons are adding colour to the picture….

…but the first one to come out is still the most beautiful.

Following the pink/red theme, Mrs Tootlepedal recently bought a pink strawberry and the first of the astrantias is looking potential.

The benches have offered useful shelter from wind and rain and Welsh poppies are growing though one, with aquilegias popping up though another.

Fortunately, Andy Murray was playing tennis in Paris and as it was being shown on the free to view telly, this gave us both an excuse to have a good sit down while we watched him battle through his match.

There were advertising breaks so I had time for the occasional look out of the kitchen window.  There were no starlings at this time of day today sadly.

A greenfinch head butted the upright pole in frustration when Andy lost the third set.

Something set the birds off. I don’t usually get five flying birds in one shot.

The evening was our own as Langholm Sings have ended their practices for the season after our concerts and we made good use of it by having a late evening meal after the tennis and doing nothing at all thereafter.

I am looking forward to seeing how my creaky joints feel tomorrow.  We are promised another reasonably fine day which will be good…if it actually happens.

The (only just) flying bird of the day is a siskin.