Today’s guest picture is a very unusual white thistle spotted by our neighbour Liz on one of her morning walks.
I didn’t really surface today until coffee time, delayed by a tricky crossword, a phone call from our daughter and general laziness. But to save time later, I combined coffee in the garden with a check on passing bee like objects…
And as you can see, there were plenty of them about.
There were butterflies too…
…some looking in better condition than others.
The rival roses across the path, The Wren and Lilian Austin are both looking better for some dry weather, although it has not been nearly as warm as it should be at this time of year….
…and I have filled out today’s rose panel with an Icelandic poppy as I have been neglecting them in my pursuit of new poppies…
…like these two.
After coffee, I set to work and mowed the middle lawn and then trimmed and shredded another section of the hedge between us and our neighbour Betty. Mrs Tootlepedal and Betty are now able to converse without having to stand on tiptoe and shout. There are still a few feet of hedge to go.
I took a picture of a calendula before I went in for lunch.
It was a day of scudding clouds with the possibility of rain never seeming to be too far away, but the morning had stayed dry and it was still dry after lunch when we took the wheelbarrow and a couple of buckets up the hill to collect some horse manure from our friend John’s stables. I had the great honour of wheeling the barrow back home…
…and I was so excited by this, that when we got back home, I left Mrs Tootlepedal to spread the manure where it would do most good and rushed off up a hill.
There were some black clouds about so I packed a rain jacket into my shoulder bag just in case and headed for the Meikleholm Hill, passing this picturesque gate just before I got on to the open hill.
Just at the moment, there are no sheep or cattle grazing on the hill and as a result, the ground was covered in flowers…
…though I was just too late to see the many orchids at their best.
I followed the path that contours round the side of the hill…
…before heading up towards the little col between Meikleholm and Timpen.
It was pretty grey and not a day for great views but when I got to the col, I could look over the valley and see a path that Mrs Tootlepdal and I had walked along on a sunnier day last month.
I could have done with some sun today but all the same, Timpen looked so inviting that I went through the gate in the wall and headed for the top of the hill.
It is always a pleasure to get to the summit at just over 1000 ft and look round.
This is the view to the north
It was cool and breezy on the top so I didn’t linger but headed back for Meikleholm Hill, and then took a more direct route back down.
On the way down from the minor summit of Meikleholm Hill I looked up the Esk Valley…
…saw a bee on a thistle..
…and raised my hat as I passed to a very pertinacious tree clinging onto the hillside.
The weather stayed dry until I got home and I got back in nice time to have a cup of tea and a marmalade sandwich with Mrs Tootlepedal. She had only just come in from her muck spreading endeavours in the garden.
After we had drunk a refreshing cup, we went out to dig up the first potatoes of the year from the vegetable garden. The late frost had caught out our early crop and they are looking rather small and have produced no flowers, so it was with some trepidation that Mrs Tootlepedal stuck the fork in the soil. We need not have worried. Although not astounding, the first plant produced a very reasonable and clean crop.
We had some with our tea of bacon and eggs and they cooked well and had a very good flavour.
I filled the feeder in the afternoon but the bird traffic was very light and the birds and I never arrived at the feeder at the same time, so there is no flying bird of the day today, just a blackbird feeling very cross about the whole situation in a rare sunny moment.
Footnote: For those worried about my poor wheelbarrow pushing style. I should say the wheelbarrow is set up for someone a good deal shorter than me (guess who) and if I want the front wheel to take the weight of a heavy load, I need to adopt a bent arm posture. I can wheel it with my arms hanging straight down but then I take all the weight on my arms.
Great shot of the view up the Esk valley,and the close up insects.
The light was better for the insects than it was for the views.
Lovely views during your walk. That’s an impressive amount of potatoes for a hill that was hit by frost. Ours are just starting to flower, so it will be a while before we’ll be able to eat butter dotted with a few baby spuds!
We should be alright for a month or two now as the other plants look better than that one.
What an honour to be entrusted to wheel the barrow home! Being at the other end of the height spectrum, I also find myself adopting odd postures to operate equipment effectively. Curse all those average folk who fit everything 😁
It is annoying, I agree.
Pushing a wheelbarrow uphill is never an easy thing.
That’s a nice crop of potatoes for one plant.
Even when they aren’t at their best your orchids are beautiful.
Happily, it was almost all downhill back to the house with the manure.
Goodness me! I had no idea that wheelbarrows could be set up for different people, like saddle heights on a bicycle.
Such beautiful views on your walk.
Exactly. Mrs T got a metalworker to adjust the barrow handles for her height.
I just caught up with your past week and there were some stunning captures, Tom! I very much like your new blog theme style, it showcases your photos larger and makes them even more impressive. Oh, those poppies!! ❤
I have had to throw away pictures that I might have used before because of lack of quality in the new format but still some fuzzy ones sneak in.
I know what you mean, I’ve had the same issue at times. We just have to go out again and shoot some more! And that, I will not complain about! 😉
Good point.
Few things are finer than new potatoes boiled and then buttered.
True.
Beautiful views – and a lovely gate!
I like the gate a lot.
The new potatoes looked good as did that tree on your walk.
What an energetic walk. Lovely views. Those new pots look good.
I’m pleased you explained the wheelbarrow technique. Splendid photos of flying subjects.
The world is full of things that are made for shorter men than me….though with age I am growing down to them.
Me, too. But the new chairs are still the first of the right height I have ever had.
New potatoes!
Yes indeed.
I have never seen a white thistle before. Thank you, Liz!
As always, I enjoy these colorful flowers, birds and scenes from Scotland. We have seen a similar thing here with the potatoes. Some flowered, many didn’t, but are looking like they may be ready to harvest. I should have a look. With any luck, I will have some good ones, along with some fresh onions.
We were very surprised that the potato produced so well without flowering.
I dug around one of ours last night and came away with a nice clutch of new potatoes.
Excellent news. It is always a nervous moment when you see of they have survived slugs and other pests.
Your bees are busily beautiful. We have been off to a slow start with butterflies but I did see my first Red Admiral last week. Lovely you can recycle the horse manure. In another life I had horses for a while, and you have rekindled at least some memory of it. I am constantly in awe of your part of the world accessible right outside your doorstep. Thanks for portraying it so well.
The fact that we can get out of town so easily and access to the countryside is enshrined in law is probably the best thing about living here.
Thanks to Mrs T photographic services on catching a fun shot of Mr T!! I also enjoyed the pictures on your walk, and the potatoes!
It is always good when potatoes taste good as well as looking good.
So very true.
Allan has been impressed with how good our new potatoes taste.
A wonderful selection of photos to enjoy: love all the ‘bees’ and the bee on the thistle, those beautiful roses and the stunning poppies followed by those views on your walk. Potatoes look tasty too…well deserved after all that wheel barrow pushing!
I needed a potato or two to see me through. 🙂
Wow those bee shots are absolutely incredible!
Thank you.
I would have been excited as well. I hear horse manure is great stuff for gardens!
It is very valuable stuff.
I was going to say that that wheelbarrow makes you look very tall!
Beautiful views from on high today.