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.
Some wonderful hill views today .
Is it me or are the sky’s somewhat brighter than they used to be?
They might be brighter. They certainly have a lot fewer airplane trails in them.
If you will persist on mentioning ginger biscuits, I might have to make some. And that wouldn’t be good for me, because I have no self-restraint when ginger biscuits are involved. And my recipe makes a very large batch. It will be on your head, Tom! 🙂
Mine makes 30 biscuits which seems a lot to me. Does yours make more?
Four dozen – which I consider a balanced diet, as it provides an even two dozen for each hip!
That is certainly a good number of biscuits but worth it if they are tasty.
The wind was so strong here today I thought it would blow me over. That, along with a temperature of 30 degrees F., made it seem like January. I wonder if our weather will turn when yours does. We are far from warm and dry.
Your hills do look a bit dry in today’s photos.
I like the tulip of the day and the fact that you can grow beans in April.
Mrs T points out that they are turnips and not beans! She has got beans but they are growing under the plastic bottles. It has been the driest April on record so far.
Beautiful walk. Thanks tom. Cant believe timpen is so dry. Well done though. Bloody steep!!
It is the driest that I have seen it.
Best rock stack I have ever seen.
I did not know I could plant beans this early. Oh, maybe they are “broad beans”.
Your bare hills make for much better views than our heavily wooded ones…
Mrs T points out that they are turnips and not beans! My fault.
The views from the top of your world are spectacular! Thank you for including that violet closeup, too.
The birds look like they are back to business as usual. 🙂 Numbers have dropped off at our feeder over the last week. One wonders where they go.
We had a good soaking rain here at both ends of the day today. The grass looks like it grew a few inches, and I will be out mowing soon.
A suggestion was made by an expert that when feeders number fall it is because tasty insects have appeared on the scene.
I hope that is indeed the case.
I wonder what “normal” will look like now. We move down a level on Monday night. I cant see there being much of a change for me, though.
To ac certain extent it will be a matter of what we want to do as much as what the authorities kindly allow us to do. I can’t see people in general being very keen to gather in large numbers for some time.
What will the ‘new normal’ be, we all wonder about that. It is wonderful that you can still get out and enjoy those beautiful views every day.
I was reading that your lockdown is very severe.
We are moving from Level 5 to a slight easing on Level 4 from 1st May.
Good.
I loved the shape, form and colour of the wing displayed in your flying bird shot.
A fine goldfinch indeed. Our euphorbias come in a variety of guises, but not that one. The panoramic shot is impressive.
For a small hill, it has great views.
Splendid panoramic view.
The view from the hill is breathtaking. Zoom sure makes our confinement better, doesn’t it? Good luck with the bike ride. As for normal…we shall have to wait for a vaccine before life begins to approach normal again. Sigh.
It could be some time.
Yes. Sigh. Makes me blue to think what Christmas will be like this year.
And when our choirs will next meet.
Yes.
Hi tootlepedal, Been away from your blog far too long, but things have been hectic down here. I sympathise with your feet, great post and pictures. Hope all you and yours are all staying safe. Cheers
We are all doing well. I hope that you have been getting the same good weather as we have been having.
Great weather, great commuting, cheers
Social distancing seems to have upset the goldfinches- they do say that being too close for too long tempers may get agitated! Lovely seashell display…so missing visiting the seaside! Lovely shot from Timpen…what a vista but looks like a jolly hard climb to see it! Thank you for doing it!
With the going so sweet underfoot, it was an easy climb taken at a gentle pace.
Fantastic beach art from your guest photo! All the spring flowers are looking so good too 🙂
I thought that the beach art was good too.
You have a nice selection of wild flowers, Tom and the tulips are very attractive. I prefer the simpler ones, too.