The guest picture pf the day comes from my ex-colleague Marjorie who is on a toot in the Highlands and came across a well known road sign. It is famous enough to have figured in a TV quiz show last week.
The sign made an excellent guest picture today as it was an exceptionally dull day here today.
This was the mid morning view from an upstairs window on one side of the house…
…and this was the view from the other.
Just for the sake of a little colour, I looked down at the garden while I was there.
There is not much to be seen but the hedges and lawns please the eye even in the middle of winter.
You may notice that there are no birds at the feeder in the picture above and that stayed much the same all day. It might have been a bit too windy for them.
It was certainly too windy and gloomy for me and I was happy to have a cup of coffee with Sandy in the morning to help to pass the time. He has been suffering from a very painful back which limited his Christmas plans in a big way, but he was a bit better today and had almost enjoyed his walk down to visit us.
Unlike yesterday, when it was at least dry, there was a perpetual fine mist/drizzle in the air outside today which made walking unattractive. In the circumstances a trip to Gretna Shopping Village seemed like a good scheme.
This time, again unlike yesterday, the enveloping gloom did not let up at all as we went south and it was just as miserable in Gretna as it was at Langholm.
They have a very jolly Christmas tree though.
Being what they call an ‘outlet village’, you can never tell what stock the units will have on hand when you visit Gretna. We went in search of shoes for Mrs Tootlepedal and socks for me and came back with a vegetable chopper for Mrs Tootlepedal and a pair of pyjamas for me. We weren’t unhappy. That is the nature of shopping at Gretna.
And that was our day. It was fairly dull in every way (except for the coffee with Sandy) and I even made some dull soup for lunch.
There is wild talk on the weather forecast of light winds and sunshine for tomorrow but I will believe it when I see it.
A jackdaw was the only bird that I saw on the feeder today. Sharp eyed readers may be able to see a flying jackdaw in the background and that was the closest that I came to a FBotD.
Tootlepedal's Blog 
I do love your sense of humour!
I liked the wit of the village people who organised the twinning.
Now you have me wondering if our Boring town has an equivalent sign. Perhaps we’ll need to take a small detour if ever we head up to Portland someday.
Hope the sun popped out on your side of the globe, as ours did today after several dull or boring days.
We did get the sun. I hope to see a picture of the sign if you do get to see it.
Your garden looks very good despite the gloom. Glad you had fun shopping.
We had the same kind of day here with everything nature could throw at us, including thunder and lightning.
I hope Sandy’s back will give him some peace soon.
The garden is beautiful, as always.
Sandy is doing his exercises conscientiously so I expect his back will improve.
I love the road sign. We do have some unusual town names here in Oregon like Boring, Halfway, Rufus, and good old Sweet Home, although I think none compare to Bucksnort, Tennessee or Toadsuck, Texas, or Toadsuck, Arkansas.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toad_Suck,_Arkansas
That is a lovely garden view from upstairs. Mrs. T has done a lot of hard work.
Hard to beat Toadsuck as a name, I agree.
I initially didn’t believe the customer who told me about the name. I figured it was a joke. 🙂
I can see why.
Your garden looks lovely from on high.
I like to look out of the window at it.
Shopping in Gretna sounds way more fun than going to the mall!
I must have exaggerated the fun a bit then. It is not the most exciting experience. 🙂
Your garden was the winning shot today.
Your post hit the nail right on the head, but you make even a dull day entertaining up there in the Borders. Your garden is amazing. Cheers
The garden does give all year pleasure. Mrs T is a canny designer.
That she must certainly is! Cheers.
What a well-timed guest picture, Tootlepedal
She knows what my blog is usually like. 🙂
Funny sign pairing.
Thank you. Good wishes (and hope of good weather) to you.
Snow is the good weather. 🙂 As long as it is not constant.
Great road sign! Like the misty photos too. The evergreens in the garden give it a lovely structure even though it’s missing all those colourful flowers that I love through the other seasons.
It seems Boring is also paired with Bland in Australia. Interesting post. 🙂
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boring,_Oregon
I will check it out.
It restores my faith in humanity to find that Dull, Boring and Bland can get together in an organisation. 🙂
Love your guest photo in this post – it’s little things like an otherwise ordinary signpost that can brighten an otherwise ‘dull’ day!
I am fortunate with my guest contributors.
“This is the nature of shopping at Gretna”…most amusing because we live in an area with nothing but tourist towns and it can be tricky to buy practical things.
Your garden has such excellent bones, and I always love an overview of it.