Today’s guest picture shows my friend Bruce’s dog Guthrie relaxing in Sheffield where he is on holiday. He had two walks yesterday and felt the need of a little lie down.
As my knee was still sore, I was in full Guthrie mode today and did very little of note. Another cold, windy, grey day helped ease the pain of having to waste time. I did put a couple of weeks of the newspaper index into the database so that was a plus point.
I set the camera up on the tripod again so I didn’t have to stand around holding it up but the gloomy weather made good bird shots impossible. I clicked away though.
It was very windy again and the roses and delphiniums are getting a battering but the day lilies are coming out as though there might be going to be no tomorrow.
I found some sheltered poppies and as always, was interested in the differences between very similar flowers.
They all look much the same from the side. I took another set of shots a little later.
You can see that the bees had visited the one on the right.
I tested out the knee with a walk round the back of the house….
It is looking quite colourful along the back wall.
Going back to the front, I had another look at the alstroemeria, which I think are well worth a repeat viewing.
The arrival of the Ligularia….
…and the first phlox of the season….
…is welcome, but these flowers bring a definite late summer air to the garden which is most unsatisfactory because we haven’t had a proper spring yet, let alone early summer. It feels as though this year is going to be over before it has started. I shall be interested to see the Met Office statistics when they come out.
After lunch, I tottered up to the High Street, sold a few Archive Group postcards to the paper shop and settled down for two hours of dispensing wise advice to tourists in our new tourist information office, which is ideally situated in the heart of the town.
Had there been any tourists, my advice would have been indispensable but since there weren’t any, it was useless.
The problem of getting tourists to visit this beautiful corner of Scotland seems insoluble. It would need huge investment to get tourists but without tourists, you can’t get investment.
I tottered home again, even more slowly than I had come out and watched the Open Golf.
In the evening, my flute pupil Luke came and we had a very productive practice. He has really got the idea that he needs to work at improving things himself and not rely on me to tell him all the time. His counting was (almost) flawless this week.
After tea, I went off to play with Mike and Isabel and we had a most enjoyable evening. I drove up to see how my knee and driving got on together and took another little tour afterwards. The results were promising and I hope to drive to Lockerbie tomorrow so that I can catch the train to Edinburgh and visit Matilda.
The flying bird of the day is a sparrow.
Tootlepedal's Blog 
I’m sorry your weather is so disappointing. We have summer here at last and I hope it drifts northwards to you very soon. We experienced the English version of your gloomy weather when we were staying in the Lakes last week. Such a pity about the lack of tourists. I have been trying to persuade my family to holiday in Scotland for years but without much success so far.
It is a pity becuase if they like the Lake District, the Scottish highlands would be a joy to them.(Apart from the midges of course).
Ah yes, the midges. I remember a holiday I took as a girl camping on the shores of Loch Lomond!
They are a real pest.
When I saw the opening shot I thought you were going to say the dog days of summer were upon you. It’s too bad that you can’t get more than a day or two at a time.
I know people who have vacationed in Scotland but I don’t suppose one or two families make much of a difference. If I could afford it England and Scotland would be my destinations.
The alstroemeria is a really beautiful flower and that’s a perfect photo of it. I’ve been having a lot of trouble with yellow lately.
Yellow taxes my camera to the limit. All yellows are the same yellow to it. Bright reds are not good either but they are treatable in the editor. Scotland gets lots of tourists but they don’t come to us.
The townsfolk there should be careful what they wish for, tourists may seem to help the local economy, but then you’d be stuck dealing with jerks like me while I stayed there. 😉
Seriously, I’ve seen a few of the smaller towns in northern Michigan ruined by the tourist trade. As soon as the town becomes a tourist destination, big money outsiders move in and the locals end up in worse shape than they were in to begin with.
Sorry to hear that your knee is still bothering you, and that the weather has been so poor there, maybe the two things are related. I hope that both improve soon!
We don’t want hordes of tourists, just one or two a day would be welcome.
How to lure tourists without selling out…it’s an age old question. I wish your gorgeous patch of the globe all the best in solving it.
I’m glad the knee allowed for a little road tripping (we call it tiki touring here) and will allow us all to catch up with Matilda tomorrow 🙂
🙂
Sorry about your knee, the lack of tourists and the boring weather. However Luke getting himself together and your enjoyable evening sounds more positive. Good luck in visiting Matilda, hope your knee copes.
I do hope you’re able to make a trip to visit Matilda and it helps lift your spirits. Knee pain is so very frustrating. I’m glad at least that the weather was a bit miserable anyway so you didn’t feel you missed much outdoors.
I always wanted to learn to play the flute. I wonder if I am a little old now though. Perhaps I wouldn’t have the patience. It sounds like you must be a good teacher if Luke has been doing so well.
The close-up shots of the inside of the poppy flowers were very interesting and pretty. I would enjoy having that up on my wall. I am fascinated by the close-ups of flower insides at the moment.
I will do my best to promote your beautiful part of Scotland to any friends who plan to visit. Scotland is a very popular destination for Australian hikers travelling overseas.
It helps to have the right shaped mouth but making a start on the flute is not hard. I would advise trying to borrow an instrument and see if you took to it before buying one.
Lovely picture of Guthrie.
Very sorry about troublesome knee. A wonderful array of flowers in your garden.
Sorry not to keep up but is your sore knee waiting to have an op or is it the one already operated on? Hope the first.
It is my unoperated knee to which I gave a bit of a surprise when I fell down a hole a few days ago.
I hope your dodgy knee doesn’t interfere with your visit to TWGT.
I know what you mean about it seeming like summer is coming to a close before even properly beginning – that has been the story here as well. I hope your weather improves, along with your knee!
That would be a most desirable outcome.
Lovely flowers as ever. I’m with you on the weather. Im still waiting for spring too.
Next May.