Walk on

Today’s guest picture comes from our son Tony.  He was walking his dogs when he came upon this artful construction on the beach.

Our spell of sunny weather continued today, together with a gusty and cool wind from the east.  It got a lot warmer in the afternoon though.

The day started with the crossword and a visit to the corner shop to top up supplies, and I got back in time to find the street coffee meeting in full swing.  I joined in with a cup of Brazilian coffee and a ginger biscuit.

I left the meeting before it was finished and set about putting a little soluble fertiliser onto the middle lawn with the aid a watering can.  This was an effort to encourage the grass to show a bit more enthusiasm for growing.

Out of the wind, life was very pleasant in the garden and when I had finished the lawn care and some additional watering of shrubs and flowers round the lawn, I had time for a wander about.

In the sunshine, the tulips were glowing.

Mrs Tootlepedal pointed out a little violet modestly growing in a far corner…

…and I took a view of this wonderful euphorbia, one of the more curious things in the garden.

The little willow is beginning to burst out.

Having surveyed the field, I came to the conclusion that this was my favourite tulip of the day.

Mr Tootlepedal thought that this row of freshly thinned bean seedlings should take pride of place

We went in to have lunch and I was able to watch a small group of goldfinches on the bird feeder.  There were enough in the group to cause an outbreak of regrettable behaviour, with vulgar shouting…

…and some use of bad language.

I left all this behind me though and went for my afternoon walk.

I was quite happy to leave cycling for another day as there was still a brisk wind blowing.  Luckily it blew me up Meikleholm Hill.

The ground is so dry that walking up the sheep cropped grassy slope was a pleasure.  You can see that the sheep really do eat everything and to a certain extent, our beautiful green hills are a bit like a desert when looked at closely.

Still, it makes for good walking and I was soon at the top of the hill, looking back down towards the dusty track where I was passed by a timber wagon on my walk two days ago.

I walked on from Meikleholm Hill to the trig point on Timpen, and I took this shot of a normally very boggy bit of ground on the way to show just how dry things things are.

Although the lockdown is tedious, for cyclist and walkers, this has been a good time.  It will come as a shock to cyclists when the roads fill up with traffic again, and it will come as a shock to walkers when the boggy bits fill up with water.

Light cloud was drifting across the sky and it had got rather hazy, so long views were not very good, but looking down from the hill, the scenery was still attractive and the light seemed to emphasise the range of colours on the hills and in the valleys.

I took a panoramic shot from the top of Timpen and a click on the pic will get you the larger view.

Rather then head straight back down the hill into the wind, I walked on and drifted down over the edge of the hill towards the road which you can see below.

Fine views of the Esk valley were spread out in front of me.

Thanks to the excellent underfoot conditions (and a carefully wielded walking pole), I got down the slope without difficulty and was soon walking home along the road.

Here, away from the sheep, there were wild flowers to be seen in the verges, and a fine willow beside the road.

I left the road at the Potholm junction and walked down through the woods to the Duchess Bridge…

…which I did not cross.  I was tempted to cross it and extend my walk but my feet explained that they had had enough fun after three days of walks in a row, so I sympathised with them and took the direct route home

I saw laurel flowers, my first red campion of the year and the path was lined with celandine and wood anemones.

(The celandine picture is very bad but I didn’t realise that until I got home and I needed to make up a panel of four so it got in anyway.)

I was very much taken with the frame of daisies round the long jump run up on the Scholars Field.

I got home in time for a cup of tea and a ginger biscuit before joining the daily Zoom session with my siblings.

The end of our good weather is in sight but I am optimistic that I can get a couple of days of cycling in before the rain comes.  The forecasters have promised that the wind will drop and I hope that I can believe them.

It is becoming more and more apparent that things will not get back to “normal” for some time, and in the months to come, these last few weeks of sunny walks in the hills and valleys round Langholm may become treasured memories for me as it starts to rain again and we sit around waiting for a vaccine to arrive.

On that cheerful note, I leave you with a fine goldfinch as the flying bird of the day.