Today’s guest picture comes from Dropscone who has been in Glasgow getting a knee checked out. He took the opportunity to sample the Glasgow underground train service, popularly known as the ‘Clockwork Orange’.
We woke to a beautiful sunny morning today but the late September downside was in evidence in the form of a layer of ice on the car window with the temperature at 2°C. That was too cold for me to go cycling as I have already had one bad experience with a patch of ice on a sunny day this and I definitely don’t want another.
Mrs Tootlepedal went off for a fund raising coffee morning with friends and I hung about until the temperature hit 5°, finally getting going a bit later than was intended.
The wait was worth it though as it was a perfect morning for cycling, with light winds and hardly a cloud in the sky.
The newly surfaced road at Callister has got a sparkling fresh white line and was looking at its best.
I cycled through Gair and Eaglesfield and joined the old A74, going north through Ecclefechan…
..which is notable both as the birthplace of Thomas Carlyle, the sage of Ecclefechan, and the home of the world famous Ecclefechan Tart.
I kept going north until I passed the biggest wood burning stove in Dumfriesshire…
…where I turned west to cross the River Annan, passing the delightful Applegarth Church…
…and a charming cottage with its own clock tower at Millhousebridge just before I crossed the river.
I must say that if I had a clock tower on my house, I would keep the clock running on time.
Once over the river, I turned south and had a stop for a roll and a banana beside the Mill Loch in Lochmaben.
I found a bench in a sheltered spot beside the loch…
…and ate my roll beside Weigela and Himalayan balsam flowers.
I pedalled on southwards to the little village of Dalton where they had a really good idea in 2000….
…though the tiles are getting a bit discoloured with age.
My tour continued as I passed beneath the Repentance Tower at Hoddom…
…and then I followed the course of the river Annan down to the town of Annan.
Having crossed the fine bridge there, I was blown home by a friendly wind, stopping only to admire a fireless engine at the Devil’s Porridge museum at Eastriggs….
…and an even larger quantity of migrating geese than last time in a field near the border..
…with a few swans keeping themselves to themselves at the other end of the field.
Those interested may find further details of the ride by clicking on the map below.
The skies clouded over for the last part of the ride and I was glad to have been well wrapped up to counter the chill at the beginning of the outing. I was able to shed a few layers as I went round though.
Mrs Tootlepedal had had a busy day with the coffee morning followed by some serious gardening in the afternoon. This involved a lot of digging as part of the new plan for the top of the vegetable garden.
After a cup of tea and a look at the feeder, which I had to fill as it had obviously been busy during the day…
..I went out to inspect the works and take a picture or two of things that had survived the chilly morning.
Mrs Tootlepedal made herself some very good looking courgette fritters for her evening meal and I cooked up a calorie heavy dish of macaroni cheese to make sure that I didn’t fade away after my cycling efforts. (In fact, there is no chance of that as I am at my winter weight already and winter hasn’t even begun.)
The TV provided Gardener’s World and highlights from an exciting day of golf in France to give us both a good excuse to sit down and put our feet up in the evening.
The flying bird of the day is a sparrow.
Those tarts sound much like our butter tarts, except we usually use raisins. Currants don’t seem to abound here. Regardless, the tarts are dangerously delicious and must be carefully meted out if you hope to walk instead of waddle!
That is very true. They are a popular item round here.
A lovely post, wants me to get out cycling again.
Well you know who would go out for a pedal with you for company.
Lots of interesting history on this ride, and lots of beautiful views too.
I’ve never heard of the world famous Ecclefechan tart or the biggest woodstove, or even the repentence tower, but I like the name.
The handprint tiles reminded me of putting my own hand in a pie plate full of plaster in grade school. After it dried my father hung it on the wall.
I might have slightly exaggerated the fame of the tart. That was a good gesture by your father.
Oh, that cottage with the clock tower. I might have to use a cottage like that in one of my books. The question is, what will happen when the clock starts working again?
Perhaps all the things (good and bad) that have been frozen in time will come to life again.
Maybe!!!!
I have enjoyed the vicarious ride through very different scenery.
It was a nicely varied ride as far as the scenery went.
Loved all the shots you took on your ride, the ones by water and those two pretty buildings. Thanks for the fuchsia too.
What a lovely day for your very long ride.
I’m glad that you stopped during your ride as often as you did so that the rest of us could enjoy the sights that you saw. I’d never heard of a fireless engine before, but it does make sense for use near a munitions factory. It may be that the cost of repairing the clock is prohibitive for the people who own the house with the clock tower, at least the clock is right twice a day. 😉
I am sure that it would be expensive to fix the clock.
I have actually gotten back on my bike after 7 years! I can’t believe it has been that long, and I did feel a bit uneasy, but bit by bit. In 2011, I fell and broke a rib. That had followed being with my dog and being attacked by a huge dog, so getting back on made me remember those feelings! But I will persevere.
Oops, this is Apronheadlilly but I wasn’t signed out of a student account. 🙂
Not a great experience to have had. I hope that your restart goes well as cycling is definitely the way to go about.
I somehow used my student’s blog to respond. Oops. This is Apronheadlilly.
I realised that. 🙂
It’s amazing how many new interesting places you find to photograph and share. Lovely cycle ride in beautiful countryside. The ‘tart’ recipe looks good but the Burns poem is beyond me!
I agree about the poem. Not one of his that readily springs to mind.
I am amazed that you still have so many beautiful flowers in your garden despite the cool temperatures!
I am quite surprised too but it has mostly warmed up pretty quickly and it hasn’t been wet so that may have helped.
Ach, I like your wood-burning stove!
“140,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases displaced”
Your picture of the fuchsia prompted me to check on my little start from a cutting. It finally appears to be happy in its new location as the leaves have taken on more green and it has sprouted some new branches. Sometimes it seems to take a year or so for the plants to get acclimated and put out roots!
True but these ones were transplanted quite recently so are doing as well as can be expected and a bit more.
We had a light frost here last night. The porch thermometer read 35, but out in the garden and pinot vineyard is can run 4 degrees cooler. Squash, tomatoes and newly sprouting potatoes showed some frost burn.