Today’s guest picture was sent to me by Tom, my South Africa correspondent. Having seen some proteas far away in New Zealand in a recent guest picture, he has sent me a picture of some proteas from South Africa itself (with other local flowers).
Once I had worked out that it wasn’t Wednesday. a notion which was firmly embedded in my mind when I woke up, Tuesday went quite well.
After breakfast, I cleaned the chain on the fairly speedy bike, purchased two bananas and set off to see how my legs were feeling. The council has recently resurfaced a short but hilly section of the road to Lockerbie so I thought I would go and give it a test. It turned out be very good and I was able to get full value from rushing down the hill on the smooth pothole free surface. This is always a pleasure. It is very annoying to puff your way to the top of a hill and find that the road is so bad on the downhill side that you have to creep down it with the brakes on.
In the end, I continued on to Lockerbie itself and then came home by way of Kirkpatrick Fleming, a round trip of 43 miles, without any complaint from either leg so the whole journey was most satisfactory. After a sunny start, it was overcast….
A view from the hill above Lockerbie looking west
….but warm and with light winds, perfect for cycling. I took a photograph or two as I went round.
A large mushroom by the roadside. It looks like a field mushroom but I would have to pick it to make sure.
The little church at Tundergarth
Just south of Lockerbie there is a huge stack of logs in a field. They have been there for some time.
A dock brightened up a banana stop.
After lunch, I gave Mrs Tootlepedal a hand in the garden and took a flower picture or two as well.
Mrs Tootlepedal tells me that these are sneezewort
The salvia seems to get bluer every day.
I like the hand painted look of this dahlia
The most productive of the clematis
A glimpse of sun on a cloudy day
The espalier has been cut back and the fruit revealed
The regal roses are enjoying the better weather.
Crown Princess Margareta
Queen of Denmark
At the moment, you are never far from a blackbird when you walk round the garden.
In the late afternoon, Mrs Tootlepedal went off for a cycle ride of her own and I finished sieving the compost in Bin D and started the task of turning Bin C into the now vacant Bin D. It will take a few days as I am careful not to wreck my fragile back by rushing the job.
In the evening, our friend Sue, who used to play with our recorder group, came over and we were joined by Susan for an hour or so of playing recorder trios. Sue hasn’t played for a year but soon got into the swing of things and we had an most agreeable evening.
After playing, we had a cup of tea and Sue, Mrs Tootlepedal and I spent some time enthusing about the joys of composting while Susan looked on quizzically.
All this activity didn’t leave me with much time for bird watching and once again a rather substandard flying bird of the day is the result.
You have a good crop of apples there. We have hardly any fruit this year and what there is, doesn’t look too appetising. I like the young blackbird photo and the roses too.
It maybe a reward for dashing round with a soft paintbrush in the miserable spring.
It looks like ample reward. Perhaps I should have done the same instead of staring gloomily out of the window.
It seems a bit foolish at the time but I think it has been worth it.
The ‘hand painted’ dahlia is quite lovely. My clematis are having a second bloom, which they don’t always do – seems to be a good year for them, both there and here.
I don’t think that we get second blooms on the clematis. You are fortunate.
A bike ride, slightly comically named plants, a musical interlude and compost conversation…who could ask for anything more 🙂
There could be a song there.
Glad that the cycle ride went so well. Like others, I loved that dahlia photograph, it could easily be a painting such striking colours.
Delighted to hear that the long ride wasn’t hard on your legs, hope it feels the same today. Shame not to use those logs soon.
Maybe there some seasoning reason for leaving them.
Delighted to hear that your knees both stood up well to the longer ride.
I think David Hockney would make a good job of painting those logs.
A long ride with no complaints from your legs, beautiful flowers (especially the roses), and working with and discussing compost, sounds like every one’s dream to me! 😉
It is but I am not sure that Susan was as excited by compost talk as the rest of us.
Your dock is very red there; a beautiful color.
I like the look of that dahlia too. It’s a beauty, and so is the yellow rose.
And it has sprouted up a lot of flowers so it is very good value.
Such a beautiful church. The dahlia is divine. I really liked the blue salvia, too, and of course the roses are always a treat to see.
The salvia is a knockout. There may well be more pictures of it to come.
Really enjoyed the evening, thank you!
It was a treat to see you.
Cycling, composting, chatting and photographing. What a lovely way to spend the day. You are doing well with those rides. I can’t say I’ve done anywhere near that mileage lately! The dahlia stood out for me too. As you say it looks handpainted.
Things are improving both as far as the weather and the wonky leg go.
Usually I like to read your posts on a daily basis but lately have been reading in catch-up mode (have had one of those flus that just won’t go away!) and so tired. You continue to inspire me and the delight me with your photos.
You are very good to take the time to comment under these conditions. Look after yourself, Julie.
I wish your pot hole fixers woild come round here and fix ours, even the pavements are hardly walkable.
Thanks to the mild winter, our roads are bad but not too bad at the moment. That is good.