A questionable sort of day

Today’s guest picture shows the elegant ceiling of Bath Abbey.  Venetia took the picture when she was there with my sister Mary recently. I always think that these places must take a lot of dusting to keep them clean.

It was a day of questions.

Would I do anything useful after breakfast?  Yes, a little dusting and cleaning.

Would Dropscone come round for coffee?  Yes.  Hooray.

Did he bring any scones?  No.  Boo hoo.

Was there anything new to see in the garden?  Yes.

Berberis and peony flowering

Were there any other plants worth a look?  I thought so.

Mrs Tootlepedal’s new rhododendron is as red as red can be.

Allium bulgaricum also known as Nectaroscordum siculum var. bulgaricum.

Are we going to get anything to eat?  Yes.

Any interesting birds about?  Not many, just a dunnock.

This questioning mood was brought on by having to prepare a quiz for the choir social in the evening.  It is amazing how much time writing sevehty questions takes.  It is not just thinking up (or stealing) questions and answers, there is worrying about whether they are too hard or too easy and considering whether the questions are interesting in themselves.  And then there are the questions to which you think you know the answer but because it is a quiz, you have to double check,

Still, it got done in time for me to sieve a little compost, shred some prunings and go out with Mrs Tootlepedal for a bicycle ride after lunch.  It was only eleven miles long but it is probably the most interesting short ride round here.  There was one question left.  Was it going to rain?  The forecast said that there was a 50% probability of rain but luckily we got the other half and it stayed dry.

The route starts by going up to Wauchope School but then it veers off up a little valley.  The last time we cycled this, the road to the farm at Cleuchfoot was in terrible condition and full of enormous potholes.  Today we found that the council have been busy and it is now as smooth as a baby’s bottom…

The road to Cleuchfoot with a perfect surface.

…and a pleasure to ride on.

Once through the farm, the valley gets narrower and the road rougher….

…but it too has been repaired so there were no potholes….and there were floral consolations.

Then the route turns and leaves the valley floor, following a timber lorry trail over the shoulder of the hill.

This road was also in good repair and we were soon able to look back to the road that we had come along.

With one last push…

…Mrs Tootlepedal floated over the summit and we looked down the long (and bumpy) straight on the other side.

There were floral delights here too.

One of a very bright bunch of red clover that caught my eye.

We got back to the Wauchope road and stopped for a moment at the new bridge at Westwater.  It seems no time at all since it was built but already the bare banks of the burn below are getting blanketed by a meadow…

…and on the bridge itself, the shiny new sandstone parapet is covered in a ghostly pattern of lichen.

The journey home was aided by a brisk following wind and as a result of the new and improved surfaces and the push home, we were very pleased by the whole outing.

The hawthorns are just turning a little pink along the road side.

There wasn’t a lot of time after we got home before we were on the go again, this time off to the Cricket Club for the choir social.  There was a smaller than hoped for turnout of members but there were enough to make for a convivial evening.  The quiz was received in a good spirit and the scores were very close.  There was a good spread to follow (Mrs Tootlepedal’s contribution was a tasty flapjack)  and then we had a little singsong to round the evening off.

Now we wait for September to start another  choral year all over again.

The final question of the day: could we get home without getting bitten by midges?  Just.

The flying bird of the day is a chaffinch.