Today’s guest picture comes from my brother Andrew. He found some good weather today to visit the Lenton Firs summerhouse with its 200 year old rockery. It is in the grounds of Nottingham University.
We had another fine, dry day here with light winds. It had been cold overnight and once again the day took its time to get warmed up and we were happy to wear coats as we sipped coffee in the garden with Margaret. But by the time that we had finished our coffee, it was a lovely warm day and I went to get my pocket camera before wandering round the garden.
I pointed it out of the window at the birds as I walked though the house…
…and then I pointed it at things that were poking though the soil and bees that were visiting the hellebores.
We spent some time planting out the new blackberry bush that had arrived yesterday. It came in an enormous pot so we dug a deep hole for it, but when we took it out of the pot, it had a rather small root system so we had to fill the hole back up again. Mrs Tootlepedal was a bit disappointed as she could have purchased a bare rooted plant a lot more cheaply. But the plant looks healthy enough so we will wait and see.
After lunch, I had another look at the birds while I was upstairs. There was coming and going.
Then I went for a short cycle ride down to Canonbie. The temperature had hit 60°F (15°C) by the time that I set off and conditions were very pleasant. All the same, a view over the countryside behind me as I climbed up the hill from Wauchope Schoolhouse…
…showed that spring has still a long way to go before our hills turn green again.
The felling of the Kerr Wood has gone on apace, and a vast space has opened up…
…but it has given me a new view of the Lake District hills which wasn’t there before. (The view is new. The hills have been there for several years.)
Daffodils are coming out in Canonbie…
…and it felt like a very good day to be out on a bike.
It didn’t do my back as much good as I hoped and I eased things off with a quick look round the garden when I got home. The pale crocuses on the sunny side of the hedge are over and done with. On the shady side though, they are flourishing.
And the rhubarb is developing in a scaly sort of way.
It won’t be long until crumble time now.
There was plenty to look at…
…though to be fair, the lovely white rise is in a vase in the kitchen. Our neighbour Margaret gave a bouquet of them to Mrs Tootlepedal as a gift when she came home from hospital, and they have lasted remarkably well.
I am keeping an eye on the frogspawn but there is not a lot of excitement there yet.
Above my head, two starlings shimmered in the sunshine.
As the cycling hadn’t done my back much good, I wondered if a short walk might help, and Mrs Tootlepedal came with me round a brief three bridges outing.
We didn’t see a dipper or a wagtail but we did see the first blossom on the trees beside the river…
…and the oystercatcher pair were at home.
The sun was dropping in the sky and my camera made the view from the Langholm Bridge look rather muted…
…but it took a totally different view of the day when I extended the zoom and pointed it at Castle Hill.
They are doing works at the Kilngreen, and it looks as though they are in the process of installing electric car charging points there. I hope that they get well used as they should be a selling point for the town from the point of view of attracting eco minded tourists to visit and stop here.
We cut across the Castleholm instead of going right round the path and came to gate beside the row of pine trees..
…and crossed the Jubilee Bridge, noting the willows shining like little lights in the gathering gloom.
We paused to chat to Mike Tinker who was working in his garden as we passed. He has fine catkins on his contorted hazel.
I have tried walking, cycling and sitting as well as exercises for my back without making it any better, so I am a bit at a loss as to what to do for the best. A day of rest might be a good idea but sitting down definitely makes it worse. I think that I’ll just have to be patient and wait while it sorts itself out without any help from me.
The flying bird of the day is a chaffinch.
Tootlepedal's Blog 
I’m glad you explained that that pinky, crinkly picture was rhubarb. I might have thought it was something you found at the butcher’s otherwise.
Pity about the blackberry bush. I could have let you have some of the very fructiferous bramble from my garden for nothing.
This should be a little less prickly with luck. 🙂
True. My bramble is both fructiferous and spiniferous.
Hats off to your fine descriptive language.
The emerging rhubarb looks a bit like brain tissue. I enjoyed all the photos from your mostly sunny day, and am pleased to see the elongating embryos in the frog spawn. They look healthy. The starlings are beautifully iridescent.
Our day is ending in rain here after a morning of passing spectacular cloud forms. I got my first Covid vaccination today.
I am glad that your vaccination programme is going ahead. When will you get your second shot?
In three weeks. They assign the day at the time of the first vaccination.
That is much quicker than us. They changed our interval from three weeks to three months to get more people vaccinated once.
It doesn’t look like your willows have much longer before they’ll bloom.
I love new rhubarb leaves. You got a great macro of it.
Nice to see the row of daffodils too.
I may have already mentioned that I use a crème called “icy hot” which helps my back. I don’t know if you have it but you might have something similar for muscle aches. Most of my back problems are caused by muscle spasms these days.
My problems come from muscle spasms trying to protect a long term damaged back. I just need to get the muscles relaxed again and all will be well until I do something stupid again! Thank you for the suggestion.
We both have the same problem then.
Sorry about your back! That line of daffodils is beautiful.
There should be plenty of daffodils beside the roads for me to enjoy over the next weeks.
Like Laurie, I enjoy that bright row of daffodils next to the road. The light in these photographs is particularly lovely. Here too, the late afternoon light is softening, giving even mundane objects a lovely hue in the late afternoon.
Autumn light is often mellow here.
I liked the ‘muted’ view from the Langholm bridge and that newly opened view over to the Lake District hills. It is so good to see all the spring colours and I am only sorry that your back is no better.
Very sorry about the bad back. Hope it will recover soon. You made the most of the glorious sunny day – good to see all those signs of spring.
I wonder if you have ever tried a TENS machine? Jackie used it to good effect some years back
It is a good suggestion but I hope that I will crack the problem before needing to spend money. 🙂
🙂
What a lovely day and great temperatures ! We only had +3°C today, sunny but a nothern wind blew strong. You made a nice trip and it was fun to read about it and to dream away by looking at your pictures.
After some cold months, it has been good to get warmer weather but it has got colder today again.
Sorry to read about your troublesome back…has the doctor ever suggested any remedies? Laughed at your comment about the hills! Love the golden row of daffodils and all the other signs that spring is starting up. Looking forward to seeing more of those pretty blossom flowers appearing soon .
I have had the back for a long time and it is quite manageable. I even had an operation on it 1981 which did some good. It just needs care and constant moaning to make it better. 🙂
I love the “willow lights”, what a good way to describe them!