Finally a tootle but no pedal

Today’s guest picture comes from Tony in East Wemyss. It shows what estate agents call a “doer upper”.

We had another beautiful day here, with dawn to dusk sunshine and a cooling breeze to keep things tolerable.

My joints were a bit creaky, so I was in no mood to rush about and took my time before going out for a walk round the garden.

The sun has brought things along, and the view along the back path is much improved over last week.

Even the azaleas are making an effort…

…though there is still some way to go before they are fully out to say the least.

A poached egg flower (Limanthes Douglasii) caught the sun in a very appetising way…

…and Mrs Tootlepedal pointed out the first Siberian iris, which is oddly enough to be found in the vegetable garden. Don’t ask me why.

A jackdaw on the electricity pole kept an eye on things while we got the chairs out for coffee in the garden.

Cooled by the breeze and sitting in the shade of the plum tree, we had a very pleasant time over coffee with Ken, Liz and Margaret.

After coffee, Mrs Tootlepedal went off to do some business while I went round to the shop. By coincidence we both cycled home at the same time and Mrs Tootlepedal drew my attention to the oriental poppies flowering along our back wall. They do not lack zing.

Things are a little more subdued in the garden but there is plenty of colour if you look.

We are still in our blue period…

…but the rhododendrons are doing their best to provide a counter balance.

After lunch, I mowed the lawns in an attempt to improve their looks. They were still a bit scruffy thanks to the great pecking affair. While the front lawn still looks rather sad and bare, the middle lawn is improving.

Lunchtime was enlivened by a WhatsApp video call with our granddaughter Evie in London. We are hoping that she will be able to come and visit us in real life in the not too distant future.

I was intending to go for a cycle ride in the afternoon but I made the mistake of sitting down after the lawn mowing, and I found it too hard to get up and get going again. I may even have fallen asleep on the sofa.

I did get as far as going back into the garden again where I looked at an allium…

…and our resident blackbird looked at me…

…but that was as far as I got.

In the end, I took a very short walk down to the river in the late afternoon to see if there were any birds about. I wasn’t expecting to see a lot as there were a good number of young people leaping into the Wauchope off the wall beside the river in Caroline Street with many a merry cry and much laughter. It was good to see a beautiful day producing so much fun.

Rather to my surprise, I did see a lot of birds in the air above the Esk when I got round the corner and away from the hubbub. There were ducks flying in all directions…

…and swallows skimming the water and swifts screaming past in high in the sky…

…and oystercatchers more than matching the children with their strident cries.

I went down to the river bank and enjoyed the wildflowers as well as the birds. There was clover and ribwort which I hadn’t seen there before.

I would have liked to have stayed beside the river a bit longer but the sibling Zoom was due soon and I wanted to pop into the park on my way home.

The colour of the clover beside the river nicely matched the colour of the Herb Robert on the park wall…

…but green of the leaves above my head surpassed both of them.

Looking across the park towards the river, the poplars and a copper beech made a pretty picture.

The Zoom meeting went well and it was followed by a tasty meal of mince and tatties for tea.

Then the outstanding moment of the day occurred. I went off to play trios with my friends Isabel and Mike on piano and cello

None of us have played music in earnest with other people for fourteen months, so it was a shock to the system to start again, but we battled through three sonatas and agreed to meet again next week. It was fun to play again, but it was lucky that no one but us was listening as we were understandably rusty. At least I have the motivation to practise my flute now.

The (low) flying bird of the day is an oystercatcher from my visit to the river.