Art Gallery Curator

Today’s guest picture was sent to me by Dropscone.  He was on the hill at other side of the town a couple of days ago  He had gone to inspect the state of the golf course and looked back at the town below.

The morning was quite pleasant apart from a brisk wind but I couldn’t make any good use of of it as I had been asked to man the Tourist Information Hub on the High Street for two hours.

This task wasn’t as boring as it might have been if I had been anxious to inform any tourists (there  were none) because the local art club had an exhibition on and a steady trickle of art lovers came in to view the paintings and buy raffle tickets so I was mildly entertained.

I took a picture of the ‘Flood Pod’ in David Street as I walked home.

  It was delivered during the heavy rains on Saturday and must contain useful things of some sort but I am not sure what they might be.  Possibly there were empty sandbags waiting to be filled as there are plenty of these, now filled and waiting to be collected, lying about.

I got home in time for lunch, which consisted of bread and some of the delicious cheese which I purchased from the Producers’ Market on Saturday.

There had been a brief splash of rain but it had vanished by the time that lunch was over so, leaving the Turbanator at work, I went off for a walk.

I went round Gaskell’s Walk first without seeing anything more interesting than this lichen covered tree…

…and the brown fungus which I saw a week ago and which was still looking remarkably fresh after all the rain.

I walked along the Stubholm track and down onto the Murtholm where the puddles were more extensive than ever.

I tested out the zoom on NewCam and the heron on the right may be seen as a tiny dot in the far puddle in the left hand panel so I thought that that was quite impressive.

As I walked along the river, the little house on the far bank looked idyllic….

…until I looked more closely at the corner of the wall.  It is getting rather battered.

The NewCam was called into action again for a close up of a catkin and a zoom of a sheep.

I think it is going to be quite a versatile companion for a walk.  I should thank the New Hampshire Gardener for bringing this model (Panasonic Lumix DMC TZ-60) to my attention.  Among its other charms is the fact that it is ultra slim and light and doesn’t have a lens cap for me to lose.

I got to Skippers Bridge and checked out reports of damage to one of the piers.  It was easy to see.

I went down to look at the bridge from the other side.

When you think that the water was going  full pelt through all three arches on Saturday and would have been passing the spot where I was standing at more than head height, it is not surprising that there was some damage to the pier.

The bridge is important to Langholm and it was a bit reassuring to see that two men from the company paid to look after this vital link were taking a keen interest in the damage too.

The only alternative road down the river has been seriously damaged by the storm and is closed so they need to look after the bridge very carefully.

I walked back home on the other bank of the river stopping to look at some ivy….

…and the only tree left with any leaves on.

How it has managed to retain its leaves in the rain and gales is a mystery.

Crossing the suspension bridge, I looked up river to see the great pile of gravel heaped up by the flood.

There is always a dispute as to whether this gravel should be dug out from time to time or left.

On the other side of the bridge, a gang of ducks had found a quiet spot to rest from the swift flow of the river.  I stood on the Kirk Brig to watch them.

It is not often that you can look straight down on a duck.

Between curating the art exhibition and strolling around after lunch, I didn’t get a chance to look at the bird feeder today so I am sure we had the most interesting visitors ever.  They will have to blush unseen.

In the evening, I went to Carlisle with Susan to play with our recorder group.  Jenny, our host, luckily lives on our side of the town and well up from the river so our journey was safe and uneventful.  The playing was great fun and it was strange to have such a peaceful and enjoyable time in a town which has been so much in the news lately for violent and upsetting events.

I did find a moment to take one very bad flying bird of the day snap.