Double cream

Today’s picture is another from Anne’s visit to Elgin and shows what is left of Elgin Cathedral which was founded in the 13th century.

We had another pleasantly warm day with a cooling breeze, only spoiled by the complete absence of any rain.  These are not words that have appeared on the blog before!

Mrs Tootlepedal and I found time to visit the garden after breakfast.

I was happy to see the first dahlia flower of the year as I had been tasked with keeping the potential dahlias healthy while Mrs Tootlepedal was away.

A new clematis, lurking in a philadelphus shrub has arrived as well.

While the dahlias and clematis are coming, the delphiniums are going.

They have stood up very well this year but the colour is fading fast.

I may not have thinned the plums quite as well as I should have.

Mrs Tootlepedal is very pleased with the variety of calendula she chose this year as it has a brownish outside which makes the flowers look interesting both as they develop and fade.

Combined with the bright red poppies, calendulas surround the new bench with colour.

We have had a lot of bee visitors in the garden lately…

…and these brightly coloured bumble bees have been very busy on the stachys, making the best of the last of the flowers.

My bumble bee knowledge is rather vague but these visitors may be common carder bees.

We didn’t have too long to enjoy the garden as it was the day that the cornet visits the church for a special service and the choir was going to have to be at its best with a large congregation expected.

We arrived in time for a warm up and were soon joined by the cornet and a good number of followers.  We were assisted by several additonal singers who had come specially for this service and it was a pleasure to sing in a well balanced and strong choir.  We sang the Hallelujah Chorus again and it went as well as we could hope.

We had a moment for a little gardening and a light lunch when we got back before it was time to take our singing clothes off and put our cycling clothes on.  Mrs Tootlepedal had been tempted by the offer of a cream tea at the Waterbeck village hall, ten miles away.

The joy of the potential cream tea was slightly modified by the cooling breeze which from a  cycling point of view was in fact a brisk head wind and the prospect of cycling up and over Callister Hill on the way.   However Mrs Tootlepedal was strong and both these obstacles were surmounted and we had a very good tea at Waterbeck which gave us strength for the return journey.  Although we had to go over Callister again, at least the wind was helping us this time.

I had my camera in my back pocket and stopped on the outward journey when Mrs Tootlepedal pointed out an orchid.

It shows how useful it is to have another pair of eyes on a ride as I had passed the orchid several times on recent rides without noticing it.

As we left the hall after our tea, I noticed a gathering of future suppliers of cream for teas.

I had read an article in a newspaper recently about the use of recycled plastic in road surfacing so I was interested to see this sign on a farm road.  It looks like a good use for recycled plastic…

..and according to the company’s website, it might even reduce the number of potholes if our council decided to use it on the public roads.

I stopped to take a view as we cycled up Callister on the way home and Mrs Tootlepedal took the opportunity to put the hammer down and leave me for dead.

This was the view I was looking at.

She did stop and wait for me further up the hill and I had time to look at wild flowers.

As we got nearer Langholm, the clouds broke up a little and it became a perfect day for a pedal.

There is another cream tea opportunity at Waterbeck next Sunday (they are raising funds for their church) and I hope that the weather will be kind enough to tempt Mrs Tootlepedal out again.

There was time for a little watering and garden wandering when we got back.

The first buddleia flowers are out and I hope that they will bring some coloured butterflies into the garden.  We have lots of white butterflies but peacocks, red admirals and small tortoiseshells are more photogenic.

The first runner beans of the season were included in our evening meal and not content with my cream tea, I had strawberries and cream for my pudding.

Then the day ended quietly with some sofa sitting in front of the sporting highlights of the day on the telly.

I didn’t manage to find a flying bird of the day so a standing collared dove will have to do.

Perhaps I should have gone for a bright flower of the day instead.