Today’s guest picture shows you-know-who enjoying a chocolate cake. It was sent to me by her proud father.
The day didn’t start quite as I had planned. Instead of leaping up and cycling into the middle distance, I staggered up, had breakfast and retired back to bed to read a magazine for an hour or so.
When I finally got up, I was just in time to help Mrs Tootlepedal. We had accumulated a very large pile of clippings from the front hedge and the two smaller hedges in the garden which she had clipped. We have a small electric shredder which is usually quite adequate for our needs but this pile would have meant a very long time standing and feeding the little machine. Hidden away in the garage, we have a large petrol driven shredder which we stopped using years ago basically because it was very noisy and smelly. But needs must so it saw the light of day again.
Mrs Tootlepedal was very pessimistic about the chances of it starting after being inactive for so long but much to our surprise, it started easily and the large pile of hedge clippings were turned into usable composting material in a quarter of an hour.
After the machine had been stowed away, I had a look round the garden.
New roses are appearing every day.
There were bees on all sides.
Brilliant clusters of flowers.
I like these two quite a lot….
…but not as much as I like the astrantia.
After lunch, Mrs Tootlepedal expressed a wish for a cycle ride somewhere new and as we have cycled round pretty well every road in the vicinity over the years, we packed the bikes in the car and drove thirty miles north and parked the car at the visitor centre at Harestanes.
Mrs Tootlepedal suggested that we should cycle to the village of Roxburgh about 6 miles away and make a circular route by coming back past the Waterloo Monument.
This turned out to be a very good plan indeed. The weather was perfect for cycling, the roads were quiet and well surfaced and there was something interesting to look round every corner.
We saw a huge fungus at Nisbet….
…the Cheviot Hills in the distance…
…white campion and strikingly blue comfrey in the verges…
…hares chasing each other through the fields…
…a picturesque lochan complete with many waterfowl…
…and if we had stopped for every photo opportunity, we would never have got round the thirteen and a half miles at all.
The roads were varied and the views often spectacular both to north and south.
Mrs Tootlepedal was very interested in visiting Roxburgh, as the original town was once a thriving market community but it has been written out of history and can no longer be seen. She was hoping for signs of ruins but rather disappointingly for her, it turns out that the name has been passed on to the little village that we visited today and it is two miles away from the site of the ancient town.
I was more excited by the modern village…
…which had an ancient ruin but more interestingly had the remains of two substantial railway bridges which once crossed the road which we use to enter the village.
It turns out that Roxburgh was a junction where the branch line from Jedburgh met the line from Kelso to St Boswells. As a result it also has a splendid viaduct where the Kelso railway (long shut) crossed the River Teviot. I love a good viaduct.
We cycled down Ferry Road from the village to the river and walked along to the viaduct. There is no need for a ferry now as there is an excellent footbridge attached to the viaduct.
As far as I can find out, the footbridge was part of the original design of the viaduct which is most unusual. You can see that it is perched on the piers of the viaduct.
I walked onto it and looked upriver.
As you can imagine, I spent a good deal of time taking pictures but in the end, we pedalled back up into the village and took the road back towards the Waterloo Monument. It can be seen from many miles away and one day (soon, I hope) I will come back and walk up the track to the monument itslef. Today, though, we cycled past it….
…and I had to use the zoom on the Lumix to get a good view of it. The views over the Teviot valley as we came down the hill back to Harestanes were outstanding.
All in all, we thought perhaps that it might be the best value thirteen miles that we have ever pedalled. The mild weather, light winds and occasional sunshine all helped of course.
We enhanced the drive home with some serious shopping in Hawick and arrived back in Langholm tired but happy.
I had no time for staring out of the kitchen window today so the flying ‘bird’ of the day is my cycling companion floating up a hill.
Your garden flowers are looking quite beautiful! I love your peonies especially; after a hot spell and thunderstorms, mine are done for the season.
That is the trouble with peonies, they are very susceptible to rain damage.
I like the yellow rose and I’ve never seen a yellow onion thingy. They’re usually white or purple.
I doubt that I would have crossed the footbridge but I’m glad you did because that’s a great view of the river,
I’m glad the bees are busier.
The bees are still not up to what they should be by any means but it is a relief to see more of them about the garden.
That’s a great photo of the astrantia. Now I’m off to find some chocolate cake 😉
Good scheme.
My husband tells me Hawick is an extremely pleasant town. Beautiful flowers and wonderful views. I like the viaduct and how nice to have a footbridge attached to it!
Hawick is OK but nothing like as wonderful as Langholm of course. The countryside to the north and east of it is delightful.
Of course! I am sure you are right – I would like to be able to visit your part of the country one day.
It is not far from the Lake District so perhaps you could combine a visit..
I think that’s a good idea!
Always open for coffee for fellow bloggers.
Thank-you Tom.
I don’t know which I like better, the view of the viaduct, or the view from it! Not only does Mrs. T grow stunning flowers like the astrantia, she has great taste in where to go cycling. The scenery was stunning.
I was very pleased with her route choice.
Everything is so green! When you are used to Browns and sages the bright green really pops.
There is no doubt that we are very green just now.
beautiful photo of Matilda enjoying cake.
Electric wood chipper? I didn’t know anyone made them. That sounds like something I should look into for here. I think we can rent one of the bigger gasoline powered ones from the Forest Service, but last time I looked into it, there was a long waiting list. Yes, they are smelly, but often necessary depending on the volume and diameter of cuttings to be chipped. We end up brush pile burning a lot. Most people do here, but I am not fond of putting all that smoke into the air, and I would rather have the mulch. The town specifies burn days, when atmospheric conditions are more likely to carry the smoke up and away.
The photos are beautiful, and I like the framing and grouping of the subjects. And as usual, love the countryside, and that footbridge.
It is a small electric shredder rather than a chipper and will deal with cuttings from shrubs. It is very handy as it disposes of small amounts of stuff as and when they are created by the gardener.
The footbridge was a great surprise. I have never seen anything quite like it.
What a superb cycle and what a super day. The Teviot valley looks so beautiful.
It is a very mellow place.
Loved the view towards the Cheviot Hills, what an interesting and beautiful ride.
Looks like a beautiful ride and the flowers are glorious!
Things in the garden are looking very well at the moment.
Chocolate cake, beautiful flowers, stunning views, hares and viaducts- a great blog of happiness for all.
I quite agree.
Indeed that was a high value trip for your readers, too.