Today’s guest picture comes from Gavin, who has been on holiday in the north east where he came across Donald Trump’s new golf course. He says it looks very good and thinks that Donald should maybe concentrate on golf courses more and give up thoughts of ruling the world.
I had a gentle day day today, anxious not to upset my legs after they rebelled during Wednesday’s pedal. I ate a leisurely breakfast, nodded to a siskin outside the window…..
….spent quite a long time cleaning my chain and finally got out on the fairly speedy bike.
It was another dry day but cloudy and a bit chillier than lately. The wind wasn’t strong but it was behind me as I set out so I enjoyed the first 23 miles of my trip. The last 15 miles, going back home up the hill and into the wind were cautious as apart from looking after my legs, I hadn’t got enough food with me for a major effort. I stopped a few times as I went round to look at wild flowers….
…and towers…..
….a village hall….
…and signs of autumn in the hedges.
I was hoping that the cloud would thin out and the sun would shine but it did just the opposite. It was still a pleasant day for a cycle ride though and even though my average speed was modest, I enjoyed myself. My legs continued to grumble but mostly under their breath.
When I got back, I walked round the garden.
The nasturtium on the front wall of the house has now grown above the gate.
I went in to have a late lunch and struggle with the crossword and when I looked up, the sun had come out and I went out too. The garden was buzzing with insects so I looked at them. There were butterflies, penny plain….
…and tuppence coloured.
There standard hoverflies….
…and a great selection of small flies, which all look the same until you peer really closely at them.
Those last three on the sedum may all be the same sort. It is hard to tell.
I had hoped to take a final picture of the pair of poppies but one had given up so I took a close up of another one for today’s poppy parade.
The Lilian Austin rose is having a final fling in the better weather and I was able to find three flowers showing the progression from new to old at the same time.
When I went inside again, I noticed that the goldfinch and some of the young had returned.
I was rather full of minor aches and pains so I forwent a walk and retired for a good, long soak in a bath in an attempt to ease things off. I rose out of it in time to make an omelette for my tea and welcome Mike and Alison round for their customary Friday night visit. In the absence of Mrs Tootlepedal (who is visiting her mother), Mike watched the first game of the Rugby World Cup while Alison and I applied some more polish to the Telemann Partita that we are practising. It is a lovely set of short pieces and fully repays a little work.
The flying bird of the day is a siskin.
Tootlepedal's Blog 
Great macros! 🙂
Thank you HJ.
I agree, great macros. Inside the poppy is my favorite.
The garden is still looking beautiful.
It is holding up very well. The recent absence of rain has let things dry out.
Beautiful macros! Particularly like the butterflies. And poppy parade is still going strong, although one was gone.
With the poppies coming and going quite rapidly, there is always something new to catch the eye as the parade passes.
Gretna Green always reminds me of Regency romance novels where couples are running off there to elope. I love your close up of the poppy. I used one of your poppy pictures the other day to show a friend the difference between a poppy and a tulip (of all things). Wonderful pictures as always.
People still come here in floods to get married though it is not quite clear why. Perhaps they too are carried away by the romantic name. The place itself it not quite so romantic when you get there. They know how to do weddings though. It is big business.
What a colourful garden your excellent photographs display. The Telemann sounds just the thing.
The insect pics are excellent and I love that close up of the inside of the poppy. How beautiful! I’m glad the sun came out for you again. What a quaint little village hall.
It is owned by the community now and they are trying to get it used as much as possible, which is a very good thing.
Such varied colours, Tom. Wonderful!
It’s a good time of year.
The macros of the flowers and insects are all terrific, but the image that moved me the most was the one of Robgill Tower over the Kirtle water. That scene looks as if it were made to be photographed.
I would have liked to have had a better camera with me and the sun in a better place but you can’t have everything.
Your flies seem much tamer and certainly more interesting than ours.
Generally they are easy to live with. I never realised that they were so colourful though.
Agreed on the Trump comment. Good grief!
Worse than good grief as we see it from over here.
I can’t believe any even follow him. He seems a joke!
It is a mystery to me.
Who knew flies were so pretty?
Other flies?
🙂
I’m still laughing at your reply to unionhomestead! I too, love the macro shots – those insects are beautiful.
Things keep surprising me and I wish that I had opened my eyes a bit earlier in life.
I think very few of us can really appreciate these small things until we approach maturity.
When I was little, I thought that flies were just beautiful with their greeny-black gloss. Thanks for reminding me of that.
Re Trump: He seems like a joke but it is scary that some people like what he has to say.
It will be interesting (and a bit alarming) to follow his adventures.
The garden always looks lovely and I’m quite jealous of all your butterfly visitors. We have had so few here this year.
We have only had one or two.