Turning the feet over

Today’s guest picture, sent to us by their proud grandfather and used here with the permission of their mother, shows a talented trio made up of Mrs Tootlepedal’s great nephew and nieces giving the von Trapp family a run for their money.

After our chilly spell, the thermometer rose today and the snow and frost disappeared.  On the down side, some fairly persistent drizzle arrived instead.

I was very pleased to have the grey morning brightened by the appearance of Dropscone bearing the traditional Friday treacle scones and we enjoyed a cup of coffee, a chat and the scones in the kitchen while Mrs Tootlepedal went off to have coffee with ex-work colleagues elsewhere.

When Dropscone left, I looked at the birds and found that it was largely a goldfinch day.

In spite of the rain…

…they arrived from all directions, left…

…right….

…and above.

Perhaps because of the rain, there were outbreaks of ill bred behaviour involving shouting  between goldfinches…

…and between goldfinch and chaffinch.

I dithered about after lunch, hoping to go for a cycle ride as it was warm enough at 5°C and the rain stopped from time to time.  Needless to say I only had to put my cycling gear on to make it rain quite hard.  I was just contemplating the bike to nowhere in the garage when the rain eased off to a light drizzle and I set off up the road.

By the time that I had done three miles, the rain had cleared and although it was still a dull day….

…I was able to cycle 20 miles without getting really wet.  As this was the first ride for some time, I was pleased to have done it and I was even more pleased to find that it seems to have helped my foot problem rather than harmed it.

When I got home, Mrs Tootlepedal broke from her crochet work to make me a cup of tea.  She has been beavering away at the blanket and it is growing bigger all the time.  She has just downloaded the new set of colours and is already hard at work on them.

45 double rows of colour represents three weeks of hard work but the final number of rows is still a secret so there is much work still to be done.

Upstairs the gesso on the rocking is quietly drying.

I made a sausage and tomato stew for my evening meal, making use of a tapsi recipe to provide it with a spicy flavour.  This was a result of the excellent meal we had had in Edinburgh yesterday which included a tapsi dish.  Although my stew was nothing like a genuine tapsi dish which should be vegetarian and baked, I did use a lot of vegetables and the flavour was excellent.

Alison, my Friday night accompanist, is still recovering from a shoulder injury so there was no music in the evening but she and Mike came round anyway and we enjoyed a glass of wine and conversation instead.

All in all, a dull, damp day passed as pleasantly as it could.

A final goldfinch in the morning drizzle is the flying bird of the day.