Today’s guest picture shows Great Malvern as seen from the top of a hill. Needless to say it was my brother who had nipped up the hill to take the picture. He likes a hill.
I am posting very early today as Mrs Tootlepedal and I are catching a train to Glasgow to hear Verdi’s Requiem performed by one of our Carlisle conductor’s other choirs. It should be a treat but thanks to railway line closures for maintenance work, we won’t be back home until the early hours of tomorrow morning.
It was a sporadically rainy day today and very grey so not a great day for taking pictures, cycling or doing anything useful in the garden.
The garden is enjoying the warmer wetter weather.


Mrs Tootlepedal picked up a walnut flower from the ground.
Mrs Tootlepedal had an Embroiderers’s Guild meeting and I went for a walk in the hope of seeing something interesting.
I saw quite a lot of interesting things, like swallows glued to a wall…
…and a grey wagtail flitting along the river and a tree creeper living up to its name…
…and a few ducklings…
…and a very busy nuthatch coming and going to its nest…
…and going and coming…
…but the light was so poor that it wasn’t taking any pictures of them.
I looked at trees instead.

There were all sorts of things dangling off them.
So that kept me happy.
I noticed a few more things as I walked round the Scholars’ Field.
And a very fine honeysuckle flower in our hedge when I got home.
The flower of the day is a standard rhododendron which I met on the Lodge Walks.
If we get up to Glasgow and back safely, I will report on the concert tomorrow.
Loved the swallows, hope the Verdi was worth the trouble and expense!
Love the Verdi Requiem. I can’t think of a better gallery of photographs to get me in the mood. My hostas are huge this year too, due to a lot of rain, I think. Bird photos are delightful, particularly the clinging swallows and creeper. And nuthatch. And ducklings, wagtail…
Love the close up shots of the flowers and that stunning array of trees- just beautiful. Enjoy your evening.
Thank you.
I can see the Malvern Hills through my bedroom window.
You are fortunate.
Yes! Generally fortunate. 🙂
Um… does a walnut flower come from a walnut tree, or is it just one of those misleading names!
It had fallen from our walnut tree.
The honeysuckle is a beautiful thing to find in the hedge and the rhododendron a beautiful thing to find on a walk. Ours are still a week or two from blooming.
We are getting our spring in a rush after a long cool spell.
Ducklings!! I’m very impressed with those un-nibbled hosta leaves.
They look good, don’t they.
Hope you enjoyed the Verdi and it was worth the journey.
The Lodge Walks look very inviting in their spring greenery.
The swallows are quite amazing in their ability to hang on the wall. I saw this all the time in my childhood home. The flower of the day is stunning!
I like rhododendrons a lot. They have chopped a lot of the ones growing wild down because they were becoming too invasive.
hope you have had a wonderful time, love that view of Great Malvern. Just as I remember from having walked up there years ago
🙂
Hope you enjoyed the concert.
Lovely bird pictures, I’m pretty sure those are House Martins though 🙂
You are probably quite right about the birds. I was in a hurry to get the post posted so I apologise for not checking things out.
Thank you for that view of the Lodge Walks. It s one of my favorite areas from your trips.
It is always a pleasure to go down the Lodge walks
In spite of everything, your photos reveal a glow from every leaf and flower – lovely post!
Looks like a superb day – the hosta looks fantastic.
Hostas do well in our garden and Mrs T has quite a lot of them as a result.
lly fresh and healthy, and free from snails. 🙂
Yes, that is odd but very pleasing.
That should start “Unusually…”
I knew that. 🙂
🙂