Paying for pedalling procrastination

Today’s guest picture comes from our son Tony who was walking his dogs before six in the morning when the sun came up in East Wemyss a day or two ago.

It had rained in the night here, but Mary Jo’s scientific rain gauge was wasn’t even up to half an inch when I checked in the morning, so it hadn’t amounted to much. It wasn’t too windy though and the clouds were quite high, and thus I thought that another morning bike ride would be a good idea.

Foolishly, I let my eye stray to the crossword after breakfast. I didn’t get out on my bike nearly as early as I had planned.

The going was still good when I set off, but a couple of rumbles of thunder and a sprinkling of light rain as I got near Canonbie lent wings to my feet in an effort to keep ahead of the oncoming weather. Unfortunately, the wings were not of the best quality, and the rain caught up with me when I still had two miles to go. A short but sharp shower ensured that I got home in quite a damp condition.

Because I was racing the rain, I only stopped once to catch a cow of the day . . .

. . . and a rather misty view up the valley towards the viaduct that took the railway line across the border in days gone by.

The rain stopped after I got home of course, and then it came and went throughout the rest of the day in a way that made planning difficult.

Mrs Tootlepedal and Matilda had cycled to the park while I was out cycling, and Matilda and I made another excursion there in the afternoon, but a lot of the day was spent indoors and Mrs Tootlepedal introduced Matilda to the delights of embroidery. Matilda was a willing pupil and produced this fine work for her first effort.

Matilda and I filled the bird feeder and there was a good supply of siskins in the morning . . .

. . . and a starling made a flying visit.

In the afternoon, a slender flying bird met with a hostile reception . . .

. . . and we had some added greenfinches later in the day.

Although it was rather sploshy, we did get out to play in the garden a bit, and I took a few pictures of damp dahlias and soggy sweet peas . . .

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. . . and a wet water lily too.

The snapdragons have done really well, and we are cutting them back as they go over in the hope of encouraging side shoots to provide more flowers.

Alistair and Clare cooked us a very tasty vegetarian evening meal, and this rounded of the first of quite a few rainy days to come if the forecast is to be believed.

I didn’t have a lot of time to stand looking out of the window, and the only flying bird I spotted was this goldfinch leaving the scene at speed.