Chasing Mrs Tootlepedal

Today’s guest picture comes from Dropscone’s oldest son, Dennis and shows a fine aeroplane which he saw at his place of work. It was a bit different from the private jets he usually sees there.

It was a calm, dry morning and after breakfast, Mrs Tootlepedal felt that she had done enough gardening for the moment and suggested a cycle ride.

The weather looked to be steady enough for the immediate future so we set off on a 13 mile tour of the Bloch and Hollows. It was very pleasantly warm and the wind was light but there was enough threat in the cloudy sky not to make me want to stop too often for pictures.  I was tempted by this bright red dock leaf….

…and a fungus growing right on the edge of the road….

…but otherwise we just kept going.  It was lucky that we did, as it started to rain just as we got back to the town.  It stopped again shortly afterwards and let me walk round the garden.  Some photographers carry a little bottle to spray drops onto flowers but there is no need for that here.  If we can find a flower that doesn’t have drops on it, we raise a cheer.

A brief burst of sunshine made things glow.

And even the moss rose opened out to take in a ray or two.

In the pond, a frog lurked under the weed.  I am clearing off the weed a bit at a time but there is still plenty left.

The astrantias have lasted very well but they are beginning to go over now.

After a last look at the marigold…..

…or calendula as I know that I should call it, I went on a clematis hunt.

There are two more which haven’t come out yet and at least three that are over so I suppose you can say that we are well supplied with clematis.

At lunchtime the wind got up….

…and there were some terrific gusts accompanied by frequent heavy rain showers.  I tried to pick some blackcurrants but kept on getting beaten back inside as the next shower came along.

After lunch, Mrs Tootlepedal drove off to visit some garden centres and I walked up to the town to do my duty at the Tourist Information Office.  To coincide with this, a violent rainstorm came on, so fierce that Mrs Tootlepedal told me that she had to stop because it was too dangerous to drive.  I put on my waterproof trousers and clutching a brolly, paddled through streams of running water along the street.

It didn’t take long after I was soggilly ensconced in the office for the rain to stop and the rest of the day was still very windy but sunny as well.

I was interrupted several times today by genuine tourists seeking information and one of them even made an unsolicited £5 donation towards our costs.  It made walking through the rainstorm seem quite worthwhile.

The feeders were busy again all day but I chose to picture a couple of chaffinches in the plum tree for those who prefer more restful bird shots.

When I got back, Mike Tinker came round and we had a cup of tea.  Mrs Tootlepedal finally arrived in time to join us, having had to make a wide cross country diversion as the main road home had been completely blocked by a traffic accident.

In the evening I went up to Isabel’s to play trios with her and Mike and we chose such sensible tempos that we were able to play some of our pieces not only with accuracy but also with style.

I had a choice of flying birds today but as neither were very good and I couldn’t decide which one was worse, I have put them both in.

I’ll have to clean the kitchen window I think.