Tyred and emotional

Today’s guest picture comes from sunny East Wemyss and shows just some the lovely results of Tony and Marianne’s work in their garden.

We had another dull morning here, but it was dry and possibly even slightly warmer than it has been. I still put on my outdoor jacket when I went to have coffee with Margaret in the garden. Mrs Tootlepedal joined us for a moment, but then went back to painting the sitting room ceiling.

I didn’t have a very good night’s sleep and although the lawns could probably have done with a mow after coffee, I let the grass grow under my feet today. And saw some self heal flowering on the lawn in spite of the fairly short grass.

It is good to see that the lawn is not just a grass monoculture.

I picked the last of the blackcurrants and I think that I have just got enough to make a pot of jam or jelly now. I picked quite a lot of raspberries too and they appeared with some cream at tea time.

In between times I checked on the Wren and Lillian Austin. They continue to compete with each other for first prize in the beauty pageant.

We have a new rose too, as Golden Syllabub has put out a flower. It is rather overshadowed where it is and Mrs Tootlepedal is thinking of moving to a spot where it can get some space.

The moss roses were looking very sociable.

Some flowers are making a comeback after a quiet period. A little euphorbia has become acid green again after being in a brown study for a while…

…while the orange hawkweed has started a second crop after the first crop had all gone to seed.

There is no shortage of orange in the garden at the moment….

…and there are always Icelandic poppies popping up as long as keep dead heading them.

Almost unnoticed round the back of the house, the heavily pruned fuchsia beside the dam is flourishing….

I finished my garden tour with a look at a delicate astilbe…

…and went in for lunch.

After lunch, I had a look at the birds but things were very quiet today…

…so I went to the computer and put two parish magazines from 1969, which Sandy had scanned for me, onto the Archive Group website.

Then it occurred to me that I hadn’t heard from the bike shop about the missing part for my road bike so I rang them up. The part had arrived and I could either fetch it from Longtown or wait for them to post it to me. I had waited long enough, so I got in the car, joined by Mrs Tootlepedal who had finished her painting for the day and we drive down to the bike shop.

I negotiated the shop’s one way socially distanced system and got the part. The mechanic even gave me the specialised tool that I would need to unscrew the broken part and fit the new part. I was pretty happy but my happiness was considerably modified by the warning notice on the car’s dashboardwhich said, “Check your tyre pressure.” Obviously the garage had not managed to cure the slow puncture when the car was serviced last month.

However, when I got home the new part was easy to fit to my bike, and our friend Mike Tinker came round with his nifty tyre pressure gauge and foot pump and we restored the tyre to its proper setting. All was well.

I had hoped to go for a cycle ride to test out the repair to my bike, but by the time that we had had a cup of tea and a chat with Mike, and I had cooked our evening meal and eaten it, I just couldn’t persuade myself to get my cycling clothes on and make an effort. As it is due to rain all day tomorrow, it may be Saturday before I can give the new part a proper road test.

In the end a wander round the garden, in what were now quite pleasant conditions, was the only exercise that I took.

A potentilla at the end of the middle lawn has leaves that are just as attractive as its flowers, or perhaps even more so.

Mrs Tootlepedal’s favourite Indian prince calendulas were demonstrating the stages of their flowering.

Ready…

…steady….

…go!!

We may not be as sunny as East Wemyss but we have some nice Sweet Williams too.

I hope to sleep well and be a little less tired tomorrow.

The flying bird of the day is a chaffinch.

Footnote: sadly the news item on the Langholm Moor that was recorded earlier in the week did not appear on tonight’s Channel Four news as scheduled, having been overtaken by less interesting stuff. We will watch again tomorrow.