Today’s guest picture is another from Venetia’s canal walk with my sister Mary. I like a bridge with legs.
After a chilly night, we had a chilly morning followed by a chilly afternoon. Sandy, who dropped in for a coffee told me that his thermometer showed an overnight low of -7°C which is unusually cold for November for us. Indeed, we have had some mild winters lately so this came as a bit of a shock to us.
The temperature hardly crept above zero all day so I was happy when Dropscone also dropped in for a coffee as it was far too cold to go out for a bicycle ride.
In the end though, I had to stop drinking coffee and lend a hand about the house as we are expecting a visitor tomorrow.
I did find time to check on the birds, but the cold weather had affected them too and there were not many about.
I got a fleeting glimpse of a chaffinch…
…and after a while, a goldfinch appeared. The reflection in the window made it look a bit as though it was dropping down a glass tube.
The robin paid several visits to the feeder area in pursuit of fallen seed…
…but in general there was not a lot to look at, so I made some lentil soup for lunch instead.
After lunch, I went for a walk. The skies were rather leaden by this time, but there was hardly a breath of wind and it was not icy underfoot, so it was pleasant enough for a stroll, especially as I was well wrapped up.
I checked the ice crystals on a sedum in the garden…
…and saluted a hardy perennial wallflower before I left.
The larches are rapidly going over and only the needles at the very tops of the trees are left to give a little late colour.
There was more colour on this tree growing out of a memorial in the Wauchope graveyard. It is doing severe damage to its host.
I had a look at my favourite lichen garden on the fence post beside the Auld Stane Brig. The pixie cups had been bejewelled….
…while other lichen on the same post was unaffected by ice.
The moss on the bridge parapet was almost invisible under its icy coat.
It was too cold to hang around taking many pictures and I had an appointment fairly soon so I was pleased that the path was easy to walk on…
…even though there was ice on every plant beside it…
There hadn’t been much melting during the day!
The smoke rising lazily from the chimney at Stubholm showed how still the day was….
…and there were still a few colourful leaves to be seen when I had passed the house.
When I got home, I was amazed to see the phlox was having a phinal phlourish. This is the plant that looks as though it will never die.
Nancy, the Archive Group treasurer came round to show me the accounts for the year. They are in a very satisfactory state and we should be able to go on with our work during 2020.
In the evening, Sue, Susan and Jenny, the other three members of our recorder group arrived and we had a very enjoyable hour and three quarters playing early music. The selection of music was good and we played it quite well. Who could ask for anything more?
The weather has warmed up a bit during the evening and it looks as though we might have a day above freezing tomorrow. It will still probably be too cold for me to cycle so I am going to get indoor cycling sorted out as I haven’t had a pedal for ages thanks to the cold spell.
Flying birds were few and far between today and I didn’t get many good pictures so I was tempted to use a fancy filter on my photo editor to make the best of this female chaffinch…
…and this male will be the flying bird of the day.
The ice crystals arranged themselves beautifully.
I like your bit of alliteration 👍
I’ve been using my “road to nowhere” lately to..its deadly boring,but I liven it up slightly by trying to keep my cadence in step with my playlists.
The Beatles White album is my current favourite,and actually probably my all time favourite of theirs..considering it’s 50ish years old it’s still sounds quite innovative imo.
We have got a exercise bike set up on front of a TV so I can get bored watching that while I pedal.
We too are having a very cold November and it’s unusual here as well.
That’s a great shot of the icy pixie cups, and of the ice itself.
It’s very nice to see the flowers, no matter what they are.
I fear that we will see no more flowers for some time now.
What photo editor do you use. I have been enjoying PhotoscapeX. The trial is free, and happily goes on forever.
I use Photoshop. It is expensive but I get a lot of use out of it.
You used to be able to outright buy it, but I think it is only subscription now, right?
That is right but I am still using the copy that bought a few years ago
The frost crystals are fascinating and beautiful!
I have also enjoyed the ice crystals as I do not get to see them where I live.
The ice crystals on lichens and other plants are quite beautiful, and make for some artistic photos. That phlox is amazingly hardy.
I join the chorus of approval of your ice crystal pictures, a wonderful sight.
Liked your robin pictures.
Robins and beautiful ice crystal photos to brighten a very chilly day. Love the frosty edge to the path leading you home.
It does look cold. We’re having a much cooler November than usual which isn’t a bad thing — fewer mosquitoes 😉
That is cold. Todays birds appear to be levitating.
Who could ask for anything more indeed? To me, the bird looked like it was dancing.
What are those flat stones arranged as a kind of platform in your picture with the colourful leaves, as you passed Stubholm? Where do you pedal indoors? I’m thinking of doing the same, but where do I set it up? Both my sheds are full to brimming. I am afraid the only time I get to cycle is on my commute, but now the canal towpath is out of bounds because it’s too dark, as there is no lighting along it’s length. When I attempted to cycle it last week on the way in for my night shift, in very heavy rain, I nearly ended up in the canal. Not a happy prospect this time of year. While cycling through traffic in the evening rush hour is now too frightening an experience for this pedaller,. Sad but a fact.
You have my sympathy as far as awkward cycling choices go. We have Mrs T’s exercise bicycle in the spare bedroom but it I tried it today and it doesn’t suit me at all unfortunately so I will have to get back to my old road bike on a turbo trainer squeezed into a corner in our garage. It is cold and gloomy cycling there but at least there are no icy patches.
Hi tootlepedal, Thanks for your response but I still don’t know what those flat stones are that are arranged in a sort of support for something. Down here in Wales and in Northern Ireland similar structures are at the roadside next to farms to put milk churns on for collection by the local dairy. Is thar what it is? Cheers.
Sorry about that. It houses a plaque on the far side which says that walkers are welcome.
Does that mean you don’t have stands next to the roadside by farms for the milk churns to be picked easily by the old dairy horse drawn carts? They are a distinct feature around all country lanes in Wales. I’m actually out pedalling this morning weather very mild, dry but a bit blowy. Fantastic! Just stopped at Scwd yr eira for an expensive sausage butty. Cheers
Perhaps we do have some. I will keep my eye out when i get back to cycling. Congratulations on finding a good day for a pedal, especially when it involves a sausage butty. (I am an egg butty man myself)
Nothing wrong with an egg butty, but sadly cycling homeward after my sausage butty, I had a puncture, and had to walk the last mile home. I believe I’ve fixed it. Do puncture patches have a best before date? Because, I couldn’t separate the paper covering from the patches in my puncture kit (they have been in my pannier bag for a very long time) so I had to wait for my son to bring a new supply home, in order to get the job done. No rest for the wicked. You could say I had a pedal and a gander today. I hope I haven’t plagiarised your style there? Good to swap comments with you today, cheers.
Bad luck about the puncture. I have been very lucky on that front in recent years. My style is totally open to plagiarism and it is a compliment to be copied!
Cheers tootlepedal
Lovely ice today. What a good reward for going out in the cold.
PS I am glad you don’t mind plagiarism because your blog has been a big influence on mine! Not in going tootling and pedaling but in the droll way that you write. I do find myself copying your sentence structure sometimes.
That is very flattering. I wish that I could work as hard as you.