A short break

Today’s guest picture in another Lake District bridge from Paul. This one is Goody Bridge near Grasmere (he thinks).

We were promised another wet day here and we got one. It rained persistently all morning and our chief activity was looking out of the window and saying, “It’s raining. “

It was very windy too and Mrs Tootlepedal went out into the garden (in the rain) very early on to see if she could save some battered sunflowers. There were survivors but one of the biggest bit the dust.

When I went out to photograph the damage much later on, I took a lupin picture too just to put a bit of colour in the post.

There was nothing else to say about the morning.

After lunch, the rain got lighter and I watched the birds for a bit. The feeder was very busy and there was a good deal of competition for perches.

A very soggy goldfinch made several efforts to find an empty perch…

…and when I looked around, I found that it was under pressure from a youngster which was flapping its wings at its parent in a very demanding way on Mrs Tootlepedal’s fake tree. The goldfinch did get to the feeder and hung on to it under enormous pressure before rejoining the still demanding youngster on the feeder pole.

I have never seen a bird swing right round a perch like that before.

The mayhem continued….

…but I left them to it and went for a walk.

The forecast had suggested that there might be a window for a walk between half past two and four o’clock, and for once, it was absolutely spot on.

Mrs Tootlepedal didn’t have quite the same confidence in the forecast as me and left me to go on my own.

The rain had actually stopped but it was still not a day for any views with the tops of our hills in or touching the clouds.

It was still windy too as I went along the track to the Becks Burn so I took a picture of a gate which was unmoved by rain or wind.

There were lots of wild flowers to enjoy in the gloom as I pottered along.

When I got to the Becks Burn, I walked a few yards upstream to see how much water was going over the little cascade there. There was so much that I couldn’t get down to look at it from below the falls and had to peer nervously over the edge from above.

When I went down to the bridge, I could see that the water was still eating away at the bank where a walkway has been undermined…

…and I took extra care as I walked past the spot.

The bridge across the burn is still looking pretty sound though….

…and I was greeted by a delightful natural arch on the other side.

I crossed the burn and walked down the road to the Auld Stane Bridge, exchanging glances with this fine looking horse on the way.

And then, rather than go home by Gaskell’s Walk again, I climbed up the hill to meet the track down to Stubholm. I turned off that track and walked through the Kernigal Wood…

….to the Hungry Burn before going home past Stubholm.

More wild flowers were to be seen on the way.

And I thought that this one was worth a picture of its own.

There was quite a lot of fungus to be seen too, some in the darkest parts of the wood, but not quite enough to fill a full panel so I have thrown in some moss on the park wall too.

When I got to the bottom of the hill down to the park, I was pleased to see a good number of yellow balsam flowers out.

These are very pretty flowers that hang down from the stems of the plants.

I got home in perfect time as the rain started again as I turned into our street.

We had scrambled eggs with the first courgette fritters of the year for our tea. I am hoping for a good crop of courgettes because Mrs Tootlepedal cooks a mean courgette fritter.

If the forecasters are right, the week is going to end with much better weather than it started with. I certainly hope that they are right.

The flying bird of the day is a siskin, happy to find a free perch..