The guest picture of the day comes from a visit to Wakefield that my brother made a few weeks ago. The theatre there is a handsome but modest building as befits a down to earth town.
After some quite heavy rain overnight and a rather misty, murky morning, today turned into a very pleasant day. I might well have gone cycling after breakfast but I decided to postpone any decision about that until I had gone up to the Moorland Feeders where I was acting as a fill-in feeder filler for Sandy who is basking in the sun somewhere in the far south.
I was greeted by a rather grumpy pheasant who only got off the gate to let me through with the greatest reluctance.
I filled the feeders and found that it was warm enough to sit in the hide without a coat (which was just as well as I hadn’t bought one) and so I sat for a while and enjoyed the birds.
There were the usual suspects both big….
…and small.
And one or two less usual things as well.
There was also a major fungus outbreak at the foot of a tree near the hide.
I made it home perfectly in time for coffee and then I decided not to go cycling again.
It was a great day to be out in the garden though so I went out into the garden.
I was pleased to see, along with the usual red admirals….
…that we had a small tortoiseshell in the garden as well.
These have been very scarce this year.
There was no shortage of bees and hoverflies (and smaller flies too) once again.
It is very gratifying to find that Mrs Tootlepedal has planted so many attractive flowers that the garden is filled with flight and sound on any vaguely sunny day.
Mrs Tootlepedal was busy developing her new plans for the middle lawn and flower beds and while she was working, she noticed that our silver pear tree had actually produced a few silver pears.
Nearby, a cotoneaster was much brighter.
The walnuts keep falling off the walnut tree, some of them assisted by jackdaws and crows like this one which was perched on the very top of the tree this morning.
Soon it was time for lunch and I decided not to go to Edinburgh with Mrs Tootlepedal to see Matilda this week.
After Mrs Tootlepedal drove off to catch the train at Lockerbie, I decided not to go cycling once again but I did get the slow bike out to deliver a message to Nancy, the Archive Group treasurer, with more cash from the Welcome to Langholm sales desk. They sell postcards, local history books and DVDs on our behalf.
Since I was on my bike, I continued along the waterside in the hope of seeing the dipper. It was not there but a goosander kindly took its place and posed for me.
It really was a lovely afternoon so I pedalled gently on across the Sawmill Brig and up the Lodge Walks.
My intention was to take another picture of the tiny fungi on a tree stump which I had seen on a recent walk but they had faded away almost to dust. I looked around and saw a wonderful display of more conventional fungi on a tree stump on the other side of the road.
I cycled gently home across the Castleholm and even on such a warm and sunny day, I could easily see why they had had to cancel our local agricultural show while we were away in Marseille. Putting my foot down incautiously while pausing to admire the view all too easily led to my whole foot and ankle disappearing into the glaur. It has rained a lot recently.
When I got home, there was still plenty of time for a trip to Canonbie (or even further afield) but once again I decided not to cycle.
Instead, I retired indoors, practised the awkward song for our concert on Saturday (and all the easier ones a swell) and then had a long relaxing bath followed by a snooze.
It had been hard making so many decisions during the day and I needed a rest.
However, I have got my asthma medicine properly organised again and hope to be a great deal perkier tomorrow.
At last, a traditional flying bird of the day. This was at the Moorland Feeders. I am looking forward to getting the garden feeders up again in the not too distant future.
Tootlepedal's Blog 
All those decisions, no wonder you were tired! I do love the glorious colours of the flowers you photograph in your garden, they brighten up my life.
It’s nice to see all the flowers and all of the beautiful insects on them.
I don’t recognize any of the fungi. We haven’t had much rain over the last two or three weeks so they’re sparse here.
Nice shot of the smiling crow!
I had been hoping to see more fungus considering the conditions here.
Though I will miss the beautiful flowers and the insects that they attract, it will be nice to see more traditional flying birds of the day.
At first I thought that you were joking about the one legged chaffinch, but a closer inspection told me that it did indeed have just one leg. I’m glad that it is doing well despite of that.
I had to take a few looks to see what was slightly odd about its position on the feeder. It fed quite happily and looked very well, I thought.
I am glad this little bird is doing well.
You should feel proud of your birds pictures! 🙂
Thank you HJ.
How does Mrs Tootlepedal manage to get poppies blooming for such a long period, mine are long gone.Does she sow seed throughout the summer! Hope you are back to your usual self today, after a beautiful day yesterday the black clouds are looming , they say we might get remnants of a Canadian storm!! Oh joy.
Constant dead heading seems to be the thing that keeps the poppies going. If we don’t dead head them they quickly stop flowering. You seem to be going to get more rain than us.
Hope you feel better for a slightly less energetic day than usual. Great pictures of birds large and small.
Glaur is a new one for me. Scots seem to have a knack for wonderfully fitting words for all things gloomy, mucky, and despairing.
Glaur fits the conditions very well.
Beautiful day but so many decisions. No wonder you had to rest. But glad to read you got your asthma medicine organized. Very important!
I like to think that I can do without it but I can’t.
Unfortunately that is often the way it is with medication.
It’s always good to get asthma under control. Such a variety of birds, insects and plants today! I like the FBotD – nicely done!
It’s good to have a real flying bird for once.
I agree with all the comments above! Lovely post, lovely photos of flowers and birds and I’m sure you were whistling as you pedalled down the Lodge Walks- just so relaxing and calm.
It was a delightful afternoon to be idling about on a slow bicycle.
. . . brain power expenditure is taxing!
Very taxing indeed.
Thank you for posting the photo of the Lodge Walks. A beautiful scene, no matter what the season.
A very beautiful pheasant. I haven’t seen any pheasant here over this year. Occasionally we see a flock of them. Quail visit much more often.
Glaur would have been a very useful word in my past when I gardened on sticky clay.