Today’s guest picture comes from my Somerset correspondent Venetia. She is wandering abroad again and has ended up with her head in the clouds in Madeira.
Our spell of good weather continues and although it means quite a bit of time spent watering in the garden, it is very welcome after two cold and rainy years.
I had a look round the garden after breakfast.
The hydrangea on the wall of the house is developing well.
I was drawn to plant patterns, both straight and round.
And there were bees everywhere.
Then Dropscone came round, bringing treacle scones with him and we had a cup of coffee or two before he went off to play golf.
After he left, I did some shredding of bits of box hedge as Mrs Tootlepedal is hard at work on a scheme to lower some of the box hedges round the front lawn. This is very labour intensive and she is resolved not to cut too much before the last set of clippings has been shredded.
While I was in tidying up mode, I trimmed the hedge along the road….
…and swept up the trimmings and shredded them too.
I followed this by mowing the middle lawn and putting the sprinkler on it.
I was ready for lunch by this time but was distracted by a couple of really impressive bumble bees with bright red tails. I think that they may be red tailed bumbles bees. This is just a wild guess.
They liked the chives.
After lunch, I got out my new bike and went for a cycle ride. I couldn’t get up any real speed today, perhaps as a result of my busy morning, but this gave me the chance to look around as I went along. There were any amount of wild flowers in the verges…
The buttercups let me know that they felt a little undervalued considering how much colour they add to my journey…
…so here is a patch of them at their best.
It wasn’t the wild flowers though that provided the most enjoyment for me today. The sun was shining, the countryside was green and the pastoral views were a treat from start to finish.
It was twenty seven miles of leisurely pleasure.
When I got home, I found that the indefatigable Mrs Tootlepedal had been planting things out all over the garden. Dahlias, cosmos, grasses and salvias had all found homes and I look forward to taking pictures of them as the weeks pass by.
I went out into the garden to do some watering and found another agitated blackbird…
…but this seemed more to be a question of claiming territory as I couldn’t find anything that it should have been alarmed by and it soon flew off.
I was looking at the newly trimmed hedge when I noticed that it had a thrush sitting on it. The thrush didn’t seem very impressed by my handiwork.
After tea, Mike and Alison came round and Alison and I had a most enjoyable time playing music. We don’t always get every note in exactly the right place but we always enjoy ourselves enormously.
I did try to get a flying bird picture but there are not a lot of birds coming to the feeder at present and with so much going on in the garden, it is not easy to find enough time to do a good flying bird job. I found two siskins today….
…but I think that I am going to concentrate on finding a good picture to be flower of the day for the next few weeks. If I catch a flying bird by chance, it will appear but I am mainly going to say it with flowers for a while.
The flower of the day today is Lilian Austin, a very pretty rose.
I would like to thank readers who have sent me good wishes for my health. I am just having a couple of precautionary checks while doctors consider this and that and I am quite rightly keeping extremely calm.
Tootlepedal's Blog 
I like the vertical lupine and the bee on the chives.
That’s a nice shot of the flowering grass too, and the landscapes are indeed a treat.
If the dahlias Mrs. T. planted are anything like last year’s readers are in for another treat. They were beautiful.
We hope for the best as always. You never know with plants.
I’m all caught up again and it was most enjoyable spending an hour or two immersed in your world.
Thank you for taking the time in your busy schedule.
Beautiful landscapes! 🙂
A post full of beautiful images.
Such a peaceful read on a dark and very chilly morning in the southern hemisphere!
Yes, you must be approaching your shortest day. 😦
I truly liked the patterned shots! Mother Nature is simply amazing with her artistic abilities. I look forward to a Flower of the Day. I suspect you won’t be lacking for candidates.
It is stopping taking pictures of flowers on these sunny days that is the problem.
I can certainly think of worse ‘problems’. 😉
I loved that thrush giving you a hard stare.
I think that the real stars at this time of year are the flowers, so while I will miss the flying bird of the day a little, I’m sure that the flowers will make up for that.
And, the flowers are amazing once again, whether from the garden or from during your ride today. I also enjoyed the blue skies and green fields, as there are so few days in a year when we are treated to those views.
I can’t complain about the greenness. It is superb just now.
I like the word ‘pastoral’ ..it sums up all your lovely landscape and flower photos and the care you are taking with your health. Looking forward to seeing your flower of the day….it will be so difficult to chose! Very impressed with your straight hedge trimming.
You are being polite about the straightness of the hedge trimming but there is an old and wonky fence underneath the hedge so I can’t get it any straighter.
I used to love the buttercups along the side roads in Ontario when I was a kid. Also the wild strawberries with wild rose petals made an impromptu sandwich.
We get a few wild strawberries here but not enough for a feast.
They used to grow on the side of the road–not in abundance, but enough for a fun snack.
Venetia’s photo is spectacular!
I liked it a lot.
The thrush reminds me of the jackdaw headmaster. 🙂 I enjoyed all the photos, but especially love the flower patterns and bee panels.
Wishing you good health, and many a fine bike ride to come.
Shortest day? Is it really that time already? We only just seem to have started the year.
That thrush does seem very disdainful.
Enjoyed the pastoral views. And playing music together with friends is always invigorating. I wish I had someone to play with…my guitars sit untouched for most of the time now.
If I am short of playing friends I have quite a few keyboard parts on my computer.
I love the photo of the thrush! My husband has been having a number of medical tests recently so I can sympathise with you and Mrs T.
I hope that he gets as satisfactory results as I have had.
Thank you, Tom.