Today’s guest picture comes from my son Tony, who was walking his dogs along the canal in Edinburgh when he came upon this barge. Thomas Telford was born in Eskdale.
The chief business of the day was saying farewell to Mrs Tootlepedal. She is going to stay with her mother for a few days and this was such a sad event for me that it rained all day here in sympathy.
I took her to Carlisle to catch her train and was hoping that the weather might be better there, as it often is, so that I could go for a walk after waving her off. It turned out that the wet weather was all embracing so I went home and spent a dull afternoon indoors.
I did get a moment to stare out of the window before we went to Carlisle.
My usual friends were on the seed feeder and a dunnock had taken over the fat ball nibbling job from the robin.
It rained quite steadily so even a short walk wasn’t attractive and the only cheer came from the indoor jasmine.
It is doing very well and I just hope that I don’t kill it before Mrs Tootlepedal returns.
There really wasn’t much to say about the day so I am not going to say it.
The Burns supper last night went off without incident and both the toast to the Immortal Memory and the incidental music throughout the evening were very good. I had one good moment. The raffle, which is drawn just before midnight at the end of the proceedings, is always a bit of a trial after the speeches and songs but I managed to persuade the audience to keep very quiet for a while and it was drawn and distributed in record time and we got finished just before the witching hour. Hooray.
The flying bird of the day is a determined chaffinch.
Tootlepedal's Blog 
Well done for having such a command of your audience. Hope Mrs T isn’t leaving you alone for too long.
That flying chaffinch looks like he’s tucked in for a ski jump. Hope your weather improves.
It got better, thank you.
I expected the good news about the draw to be that you had won something wonderful!
No such luck.
I once won a 5 lb chocolate bar in a raffle. It is the only thing I have ever won.
I won three prizes in our choir’s Christmas raffle. This was a most unusual haul but I did buy a lot of tickets.
What a drear day you had. I am pleased the Burn’s Night supper went so well. Raffles can get so long-drawn-out especially once people have had a few drinks and everyone is chatting! The jasmine looks beautiful.
The jasmine has come on very well once it was moved to a windowsill where it gets a bit more light.
Hurry home Mrs T!
Hear hear.
What a sad title! Herbert to the rescue saved you from a miserable day. It will all get better soon!
The days are getting longer even of they are a bit grey.
Hope your speech went well.
I had to look up Thomas Telford; he was quite a man.
The indoor jasmine is a pretty plant. If it smells anything like the outdoor version your house must smell like a little slice of heaven.
We’ve had drab, blah weather too. Hopefully the sun will shine on both sides of the Atlantic sometime soon.
Thomas Telford was indeed an outstanding chap and although he wasn’t exactly born in the town (8 miles or so away), we are all very proud of him.
I read that he was born in Langholm on Wikipedia.
I hope Mrs T returns soon and it stops raining. Gloomy over here on the other side of the pond too, but with demonstrations at the airports. I love the Dunnock.
A bit gloomy all round. I hope spring brings better weather and better politics.
Oh yes, although the latter seems almost too much to hope for. (!)
Gosh, it does not seem like a year since the last Burns supper. I googled to see what Mr Burns might have to say on that topic.
This day, Time winds th’ exhausted chain;
To run the twelvemonth’s length again:
I see, the old bald-pated fellow,
With ardent eyes, complexion sallow,
Adjust the unimpair’d machine,
To wheel the equal, dull routine.
Except your routine never comes across as dull!
It is perhaps a bit duller than literary licence makes it appear.
Telford was quite an interesting person. There is even a town in Pennsylvania named after him.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Telford
He certainly was. We have a street named after him in the town and he endowed our original library too.