Today’s guest picture shows another fine cycle path found by my brother Andrew, this one going through Alton Station. He says that he is surrounded by well signposted and maintained tracks. Lucky chap.
It was still dry but it wasn’t a very inviting day today, grey and rather forbidding. I took the hint and kept the bicycle locked away while I put a week of the newspaper index into the Archive Group database, prepared a beef ragu for the slow cooker and did a load of washing.
I also went shopping and in this exciting manner the morning slipped away. In the afternoon, I gave our friend Jeremy a lift to the Carlisle choir where we had a useful session getting a second look at a couple of potential pieces for forthcoming choir competitions.
In the evening, I ate the ragu with some tagliatelle and that completed my day. I am looking forward to the return of Mrs Tootlepedal from the deep south tomorrow.
The only other thing of note is that it began to rain in the evening.
During the morning, I watched the birds for a bit.
I have been eating a lot of delicious plums from our tree over recent days but they are coming to an end now. There are still a few fallen ones for disreputable looking blackbirds to peck at, both on the ground….
…and in the tree.
Those ones were just out of my reach!
On the new feeder, small beaks met big seeds.
I did take a stroll round the garden before hanging out the washing. The light was poor but the poppies tempted me all the same.
I went out for another short look after lunch while I was waiting for Jeremy to come round and managed to look past the poppies for once..
I picked some runner beans and froze them but there are plenty still hanging around….
…and there will be a courgette to go with them soon.
With the rain tapping on the windows as I write this, it is nice to be sitting in a watertight, warm front room.
The flying bird of the day is a chaffinch.
Tootlepedal's Blog 
So glad you have a warm dry room to enjoy as it rains outside.
I am still always mesmerized by both the similarities and differences in our climates. We are having an extended summer season which I believe will be the norm, but we are still winding down. no poppies, no sun flowers, they were spent more than a month ago. I hope to have my second harvest of string beans next week.
The cool wet summer has led to things still being here after they might have gone in other years. We haven’t had anywhere near a frosty autumn morning yet.
Wow, the sunflowers look amazing. What a crop. Love delicate and graceful poppies.
Mrs T has gone for the shorter versions this year which was lucky considering how windy it has been in general.
You’re lucky to still be surrounded by such a variety of flowers. They’re getting harder to find here now. The pink poppies are beautiful.
The things that have done well in this gloomy year seemed to have lasted better than usual.
Such a beautiful variety of blooms! We had some rain, but conditions are still fairly dry here as we head into autumn. Honeybees have been after the grapes, one of the few sources of food and moisture out there right now.
Do they do a lot of damage?
The sunflowers are still my favourite.
I like them a lot.
I like the new “outbreak”! Even without your experience with buckets and leaks, there’s something quite wonderful when you are snuggled inside, toasty and dry, on a wild and wet day. I feel that way in the middle of a windy snowstorm – except for the shovelling it presages!
Luckily it rarely comes to shovelling here but it is still nice to be cosy.
Ah, now that stove is going to start coming into its own. Garden still has great colour though.
I did have it on the other day just to make the room a bit more welcoming to a visitor.
It’s nice of you to leave a few plums for the birds, despite their appearance. As for the plums out of your reach, you need something like a ball retriever that golfers use to reach up into the tree and grab the plums without damaging them. The poppies are beautiful, both the simple and more complex ones, and I learned that orange and yellow together as in the mixed crocosmia makes a good color combination.
Dropscone has one of those ball retrievers when I think about it but I don’t begrudge the birds a little fruit. I have eaten plenty of plums.
I feel very remiss at not mentioning the poppy parade of late…beautiful – and excellent value, too 🙂 Love the seed sucking birds; one has the distinct air of Winston Churchill!
I hadn’t noticed that. I’ll look again.
I should have added that you are very good to plough through so many posts at one go and then take the time to comment. It is much appreciated.
The robin seems to be posing in ‘wild surmise’ mode.
Everything is so late this year even the blackbirds’ moult. I hope they get their feathers before the frost. I have enjoyed all the poppies you have shared with us. I think I might invest in a packet of Shirley Poppy seeds myself.
I was wondering why you still had poppies, and your comment explains. Except for a few strays, ours are gone.
I admire the pretty robins you have in your garden but I do agree – that one does seem to be giving you a displeased look. I’ve been enjoying your beautiful poppy shots recently. They have such delicate, pretty coloured petals. I rarely see poppies in gardens here. That’s an impressive cycling path in your guest picture also.
If you can’t have trains then it is always pleasing to see old railways made into bike trails.