I am short of innovative guest pictures at the moment but luckily my brother saw a lot to interest him on his visit to Ely Cathedral. Here is the magnificent organ. He tells me that the casing is by Scott, modelled on that in Strasbourg Cathedral but you knew that of course.
The day started out very grey, damp and drizzly and it got progressively worse as far as greyness went, although there were moments when the drizzle eased off and became merely moisture in the air. The Met Office tells me that the humidity was at 98% to 99% all day.
On the plus side, it had become rather warm and the thermometer got int0 double figures by the end of the day.
It was too depressing to go cycling so I was quite glad to have the excuse of going off to sit in the new ‘Welcome to Langholm’ hub in the Market Place for a couple of hours. It was very peaceful there.
The afternoon was brightened first by a visit from our neighbour Liz and later on by the welcome reappearance of Mike Tinker, calling in on his return from a holiday in New Zealand with his wife Alison. They had left just before the recent earthquakes which must have been very frightening and depressing for the people of Christchurch and the surrounding areas.
In between the visits of Liz and Mike, I peered out into the gloom to see if there were any birds about.
The goldfinch in the second picture has an identification ring which I don’t see very often on goldfinches.
I spent most of the afternoon putting some music onto the computer to help me learn a tricky song that the Carlisle choir is singing so the day wasn’t wasted.
Things looked up a bit in the evening when first my flute pupil Luke came round for a play and then, after tea, I went off to play trios with Mike and Isabel. (This is another Mike, not the one just back from NZ).
We played all the way through our new Mozart trio for the first time and ended up tired but happy.
It was definitely a day for a leaf of the day so here is a spirea…
…and it was definitely not a day for flying birds as you can see.
Better weather forecast for tomorrow but rather annoying that we can’t see the splendid moon tonight.
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Loved the leaf of the day and glad Mozart came to your rescue.
We’re supposed to have a day just like that tomorrow.
The spirea has great color. It would make a good replacement for invasive burning bush.
Good luck with your gloomy day.
It was a gloomy one!
Beautiful leaf of the day! We can’t see the moon either. I am glad your friends have returned safely.
They enjoyed the holiday but were pleased to be home safely.
The leaf of the day is quite beautiful. No need to feel disappointment about the moon, though, other than your weather. I saw it last night while driving home from the mountains, and yes, it was big and round, but it didn’t seem noticeably different than other full moon nights. Having the mountains as backdrop as it just peeped up was pretty darned cool, though, I must admit.
There were complaints locally from people who saw it in the early morning that it didn’t live up to the billing.
We didn’t see the moon here last night, or will we see it tonight. We’ve had plenty of rain and gloom to keep the moon at bay.
The spirea leaves add some bright color to this time of year.
Your robin seems to spend a lot of time behind bars for such an innocent looking fellow. 🙂
Looks can be deceptive. We are hoping for a moon glimpse tonight but it seems to be clouding over as I write.
Yes, the spirea is definitely photograph of the day. No sign of the moon here.
A hint of moon is showing on the horizon as I type this but I think it will end up like last night and disappear behind the lurking clouds before we get a decent glimpse. There are those that cast the moon as the villain and cause of our recent seismic activities. Here on the Homestead we’re not convinced.
Maybe your FBotD was not your best work, but the sulky goldfinches had me smiling 🙂
I hadn’t heard about the moon suggestion. It sounds a little far fetched but what do I know.
We share your scepticism and the Engineer among us has done a great many calculations that seem to back up our gut feeling.
Your title brings back fond memories of Educating Rita.
A good piece of work to recall.
Bright and pretty leaf of the day to lift the gloom of the damp and the drizzle. Friends returning, Mozart playing, birds scoffing but no moon – 3 out of 4 – you’re on a winner!
I shall endeavour to look on the bright side of life then.
I also vote for the spirea leaf as the photo to cheer some one up on a gloomy day!
Sensible chap.