Today’s guest picture comes from my brother Andrew. Knowing that I like bridges, he has sent me this magnificent Derbyshire example.
We were promised a hot, sunny day and we got a pleasantly warm and mostly sunny day which was welcome. The wind was light and I would have liked to have gone out for a really long cycle ride, as this was the first really good cycling day for ages. However, it was a walking day on my two day rotating walk/cycle schedule and Mrs Tootlepedal rightly pointed out that long cycle rides are against the spirit of the lockdown rules anyway. So I stayed at home as I should have done.
The fact that we had that rare thing, a fine holiday weekend and light winds, neither of which we could make use of, unsettled me and I couldn’t get a grip on the day at all and I more or less wasted the whole of the good weather by mooching around the garden in a disgruntled mood, taking a lot of not very good pictures of bees. I didn’t even see a butterfly to lift my mood.
The tulips didn’t care about me and were very happy to see the morning sun.
And the daffodils, peeking over the back of the topiary chicken, laughed out loud.
And the Honesty looked promising.
In my search for bees, I saw a bee like object but as it spent a lot of time hovering in one spot before darting off to another, I don’t think it was a bee. My research tells me that it might be a bee fly but I am open to better suggestions.
It certainly had a long nose.
Then I saw this. It looks like a wasp to me.
I did see some bees.
And of course the blackbird kept its eye on me as I wandered moodily around.
It was a lovely day, about 15°C in the garden and the flowers and shrubs were enjoying life.
In our next door neighbour Liz’s front garden, a forsythia lights up the street.
And the plum blossom is coming along nicely.
I hope some of the bees and other insects get going on the pollinating soon.
I shifted some compost from Bin C into Bin D just for the sake of doing something. I thought about scarifying the lawn but decided that the forecast weather for the next few days didn’t look quite warm enough to encourage the grass to grow, so I went in and made sweet potato soup instead.
After lunch, I checked on the bird feeder and found a bird using it…
…which was a surprise.
Then I sat in the garden with Mrs Tootlepedal and we were serenaded by a song thrush in full voice. It sang in the walnut tree and then decamped to the roof of a neighbouring house and then came back and sang in the walnut tree again.
Then I went upstairs to put on my walking socks and inadvertently lay down on my bed and read a book for and hour or so. I don’t know how that happened. It happened to Mrs Tootlepedal too.
When we came down, we had a cup of tea and then we had a video call with Matilda who was enjoying a science experiment with her parents in their kitchen. It produced a very satisfactory amount of brightly coloured foaming liquid.
We followed that up with a Zoom chat with my three sisters and my brother with a late appearance from my brother-in-law. My oldest sister wore a hat and was very disappointed when we didn’t ask her, “Where did you get that hat?” She told us anyway. She got it in New Zealand.
After the call, I went for a quick walk just to stretch my legs and to try and shake off my lethargy.
It was still warm and calm…
…but the sky had clouded over and gone a genteel pastel shade.
A pheasant showed me who was king of the castle as I crossed the Becks Burn bridge…
…and I went back to the town along Gaskell’s Walk.
The path was dotted with wood anemones and there was a lot of golden saxifrage about too…
…but very little blossom. I think that this lonely patch is blackthorn.
After tea, I made some hot cross buns but like the rest of the day, they were vaguely unsatisfactory and I will have to have another try to see if I can make some better ones. Mrs Tootlepedal said that the one that she tried tasted okay, but they certainly wouldn’t win a prize in a beauty competition.
The bright spot was the appearance of a genuine flying chaffinch of the day.
I will pull myself together and be more cheerful tomorrow.
Tootlepedal's Blog 
Your laughing daffodils, bright flowers and bees have done a good job of lightening the mood.
Our feeder attendance including Mr. Chipmunk, has dropped off with the better weather. I have seen a few house finches stop by though.
Our feeder attendance has collapsed for no obvious reason.
I hope it is not disease.
It might be as there is always bird disease about.
What glorious tulips! And I do like that wee bridge. That sense of vague dissatisfaction is very enervating – I am afraid that it’s casting a pall over a lot of people of late.
I’ve been wondering – do you have a photo of what your garden was like when you bought your house? It would be very interesting to see what Mrs. T. started with.
We don’t. There was a good garden when we arrived but a bit neglected.
Lockdown blues today?
On the plus side the natural world is stirring at last.
That pheasant is a fine speciman
Definite touch of the blues. A feeling of life wasting away when you could be doing something more interesting.
I like the little white collar that the pheasants wear. They remind me of the celluloid collars worn in the 1800s.
I also like that pastel sky. It’s beautiful.
The plum blossoms are a joy to see. I hope to see blossoming fruit trees tomorrow. Cherries should be ready.
I know what you mean about the collars.
Beeflies are one of my favorite insects, plump and furry. I think your flying bird looks rather like it’s got a contrail. Must be going very rapidly indeed.
I’ll have to look at that picture again.
The day might have been unsatisfactory, but the pictures are fabulous. Especially the daffodils.
I liked the cheerful daffs I must say.
We are all going to have to put our best foot forward and show this virus that we will not be beaten and bowed – even when confined to our homes. The views of your garden are a delight and I appreciated the daffodils laughing out loud.
I am not sure whether keeping our heads up or really competent governmental management is the most necessary tool in dealing with the virus but in the absence of the second choice, heads up it is.
All those nice comments should cheer you up a bit. I loved the skyscape and your clever close ups of the insects whatever they were.
A fine display of tulips, and the pastel sky was very artistic.
Hope eating the buns provided at least some satisfaction. Beauty is not everything in a fine bun.
Beauty wasn’t anything as far as these buns went but they taste not bad.
You get days like this; We seem to be playing tag with them on the Homestead. Still, a bit of kiwi millinery and a virtual science experiment, sniggering folliage and a birdy serenade…it ain’t all bad 😊
No, it was a perfectly good day, it was just me that was a little out of tune.
Really good garden photos, despite your mood.
Thank you. Mrs Tootlepedal said that she don’t notice that I was gloomy which doesn’t say much for my normal cheerful manner.
🙂
We’ve had rain solid for this past week, a good thing to keep people indoors, but a bad thing when we can’t go out in the garden. I’m hopeful for a few dry days because otherwise I’ll be in the same mood as you. Great closeups of the bees and wasp, by the way!
The good weather has certainly helped the mood. But as you say, bad weather does keep in you indoors.
Something to add to my growing list of new knowledge: a dark edged bee-fly- thank you!. Lovely daffodil reflections in the river and plum blossom against a blue sky – perfect. The happy tulips and the laughing daffodils are my favourite spring photos today.
The bee fly is great fun to watch if you get the chance
So much here to tempt me into smirking. But I will resist the temptation. Thinking of your plastic heron and Mr Grumpy and Mrs T’s comment on your typically cheery demeanour it hardly seems fair to suggest that the ugly buns weren’t the only ones who were unlikely to win a beauty contest. So I will resist temptation and say I liked the daffodil reflection photo.
Good choice. I have never even won second prize in a beauty competition except when playing Monopoly.
I have to admit that I’m not surprised by this news.
Hoping your day starts out more cheerfully this time. Hopefully the bees will arrive along with your better mood!
Things were much better by the next day.