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.

The iris is gorgeous and those poppies truly have zing. Another family visit? Yay!! And the trio back in action again…things are looking good at your place!
For the moment at least but we have learned not to get too optimistic.
Congratulations on the resumption of live music!
Thank you. We were happy.
It’s nice to hear about people getting back together again after such a strange year.
That’s a nice shot of the ribwort. Not an easy one to get.
I like the poached egg flower and the poppy too.
It was slightly odd but we soon relaxed when we started playing.
I like the church in the header! As for Tony’s “doer upper”, we call them “fixer uppers”. We’ve been working on ours for 6 years now, though I wouldn’t have enough ambition to tackle the one in Tony’s picture! 🤔
6 years is a long time!
We moved here because of that lovely creek. We’re perched on a steep bank where we watch the wildlife go by. In recompense we’re giving the house itself some much needed loving care. I suspect it will end up being a work in progress for years to come. Another 6 years with any luck…
I hope that the house stays perched and doesn’t end up in the creek!
Wonderful that you could play with your friends! Hope you see your granddaughter soon.
We are keeping our fingers crossed that there isn’t a step back in the progress towards normality.
Right? How hard that would be.
It would indeed.
These are all fine photos, and I enjoyed them very much, especially the overhead greenery. That is a great composition, very restful, and would be beautiful up on a wall.
The high temperature have started here. It was in the mid 80s today, and will be in the 90s tomorrow.
We got near 80 today and it was too hot for comfort.
91 here today. It’s only June 1st. 😦
Phew!!!
Little did we know what was coming, eh?
The green overhead is beautiful!
I thought so. It was better in real life though the camera had a good go at it.
I agree. So glad you were able to make music with your friends again after so long, it must have been delightful.
Beautiful pictures and what an excitement to play a flute trio after so long.
For me the poached egg flower was very surprising !
It certainly enjoyed drinking in the rays of the sun.
The flying bird is a great catch. Today I am going to obey my knees and have a day off weeding and refurbishing paths – just saying
Good scheme.
A beautiful, if not very active day. How wonderful to get back together to play music!
It was a treat if not quite as good quality as we might have wished. 🙂
That brickwork definitely needs repointing. Your blog post has certainly captured a taste of the start of summer coming to life.
It has come in a rush but is very welcome.
Way to go on your flying bird of the day! The capture of the ribwort caught my eye as quite artistic, love it!!
I like ribworts a lot although they are quite common and unnoticed in general.
Lots of great photos to enjoy. Love all the shots of the flying birds and the colourful flowers in the garden. A tootle at last- you must be very pleased and a visit soon from the littlest member of the family will add a chortle to your tootle!
We are even considering going to visit her which would be very daring.
Sharp in take of breath here! It would be daring but so worthwhile!
We are in no rush to make up our minds….but we would like to go.
So very nice that you could have a tootle! The back path photo is very appealing.