Today’s guest picture was sent to me by my friend Gavin who is over on the east coast on a walking holiday. He passed this little memento of the war near Craster.
Mrs Tootlepedal spent most of the day embroidering in Hawick so I had a quiet day to myself.
It was another dry day so I had the opportunity to look at flowers in the garden though the brisk wind meant that I had to try to find the ones that were in a bit of shelter.
I didn’t have to look far to find some good colour.
Mrs Tootlepedal introduced two Gauras into the garden this year, one white and one red. The white one fell victim to the strong winds but the red one has survived.
The campanulas are getting a bit battered by the persistent breezes but some are keeping their heads up.
And the Martagon lily has got its dancing shoes on.
After a wander about, I went inside to drink, coffee, read the papers, do the crossword and keep an eye on the birds.
The blackbirds have been very busy and look as though they are starting another brood even though there are several developing young birds about. I like the way that they go black from back to front as they grow up.
The feeder was busy with sparrows, goldfinches, chaffinches and siskins all competing for a place on a perch…
…leading to some unfortunate outbreaks of hooliganism.
In the case, the chaffinch shrugged off the siskin and kept her place at the feeder.
After a good lunch of sardine and lettuce sandwiches, I got myself organised and went out for a cycle ride. The wind was gusty so I settled for a gentle 30 mile circuit and was happy to be blown home so that the return journey uphill was considerably faster than the outward journey downhill.
Did I mention that everything is growing?
There was only just room for the road between these lush verges near Gretna Green and I had to stop a little further on to let a rush of traffic go by.
I stopped for a drink and half a banana after twenty miles and admired the ferns beside the road.
I am trying not to take too many pictures but when I got home, the sun came out and so did my camera.
I am cycling slowly but consistently as my trip today was within half an hour
Mrs Tootlepedal’s orange geums are lasting well….
…and the melancholy thistle looked positively cheerful today.
Rosa Wren, probably my favourite rose in the garden has produced its first flower…
…and the giant ornamental clover has come out too.
I like to see the perennial nasturtium so I was pleased to see that it has survived the severe clipping that the yew it lives on got last year and has come back fighting.
Mrs Tootlepedal was back from Hawick when I got back from cycling and she was soon hard at work in the garden while I mowed the front lawn and put the sprinkler on the middle lawn. There is no rain in the forecast for the next ten days and with the temperature set to rise, I want to avoid the lawns drying out.
Following the doctors’ advice to get more iron into my diet, we had liver for tea for the second time in a few days. As I am eating plenty of greens as well, I will so full of metal that I will be liable to set of security scanners just by walking past them soon.
We had a sporting evening watching bits of football and rugby matches on the telly.
There is not just one flying chaffinch of the day today but three of them.
Tootlepedal's Blog 
It’s good that you didn’t do too much, because too much is too much. (Which just also happens to be the way that the French say enough is enough!)
Vraiment.
Mrs TP is to be commended on her gardening skills 🙂
I commend her every day.
The sweet William is pretty. I wish I could smell it.
You’re going to have a lot of fern spores blowing around soon, I’d guess.
I’m not sure I’ve heard of giant ornamental clover. I’ll have to look it up.
It has a proper name too but of course I don’t know what it is.
Stunning photograph of that Martagon lily, I liked the comment too.
Lovely Rosa Wren. I liked the rush of traffic on your ride.
Beautiful range of different coloured flowers to enjoy.. slowly and steadily…just like your lovely cycle ride….all very relaxing and enjoyable.
It is very nice to sit in the garden in our present spell of good weather so I am glad that the photos give some flavour of it.
The colors of the flowers in your garden are amazing! It didn’t matter that the growing black bird’s colors were more subdued, the flowers and the other birds made up for it.
The good weather helps a lot.
Another fine day in your part of the world, filled with wonderful images of the birds and flowers. I especially liked the Rosa Wren since I’m partial to roses, but all the flowers are beautiful. I may have said the same thing before, sorry, but it seems to apply to all your posts this time of the year, and I still look forward to every one of them to see the new flowers coming into bloom.
Mrs T tells me that I should not call it Rosa Wren as it is just a rose called The Wren but it is still very pretty.
Interesting the way blackbirds colour up. I like your traffic jam photo.
I had two Gauras at the previous house, both red. They are so beautiful when they’re blooming and the flowers seem to last quite a while. Pity the white one was knocked down by the wind. The shot of the Martagon lily with its dancing shoes is lovely. It does indeed look like it has dancing shoes. Can’t forget your traffic jam. Seems quite a few folks enjoyed that one along with me.
This is the first time that we have one so we hope it can survive our winter
Yes, dancing shoes! Perhaps when you’re not looking they dance around the lawn at night?
Almost certainly.
The photo of the hooligan siskin made me smile! Lovely flowers in the garden and great views on your cycle ride.
The siskins never give up.