Today’s guest picture comes from my brother Andrew. He has been on a short holiday where among other things, he enjoyed the sight of this church perched on the very edge of Rutland Water.
As we made our way back from Marlow to Langholm, we had a journey of many parts today. We started by being given a lift to the station at High Wycombe by Mrs Tootlepedal’s kind sister-in-law Frankie. We arrived at the station just in time to catch a fast train to Marylebone Station in London. The fact that it was a fast train gave us enough time to visit a Morrocan cafe before walking along to Euston Station where we met my sisters Susan and Mary, and enjoyed a chat with them, embellished with coffee and toast.
The train from Euston left on time and moved smoothly over the 300 miles to Carlisle in three and a bit hours. We had time to visit a bookshop before catching the bus to Langholm.
Our journey ended with a walk from the High Street to our house, crossing over the newly re-opened Suspension Bridge on our way.
The weather was sunny as our train sped north, but dark clouds loomed up over the hills across the valley as we got near Carlisle, and we were treated to a series of brilliant rainbows. They were not easy to catch through the speeding train’s window.
It was sunny while we waited for our bus opposite the Citadel in Carlisle . . .
. . . but there were dark clouds there too and we were treated to another rainbow.
It had obviously been raining in Langholm while we had been away, as there was quite a bit of water in the rivers, so we were a bit apprehensive as we approached the garden gate. There were over two inches of rain in our rain gauge when I looked, but our dahlias had kept their heads up pretty well, and were still smiling.
The tall Michaelmas daisies had survived, although they were leaning over . . .
. . . and the nerines seemed completely undaunted by the weather.
A little red rose was looking bit depressed . . .
. . . but Crown Princess Margareta looked totally cheerful.
The biggest surprise to me was how well the Stargazer lilies were doing.
I didn’t spend long in the garden as a cup of tea and a family Zoom beckoned from indoors.
Although it was brought about by the sad occasion of Mrs Tootlepedal’s mother’s funeral service, the visit to the south has been a good experience. The funeral service itself and the family gathering afterwards were both more uplifting than mournful events. When the riverside walk and the meeting with my sisters are added in, the whole trip will be remembered as a very positive time.
The weather for the next few days looks as though it is going to be both cold and wet, so we may not feel quite so happy to have got home as we feel now.
I hope to get back to normal service in writing a full blog, and reading and commenting on other people’s posts tomorrow.
Tootlepedal's Blog 
Your correct usage of apostrophes in the strings of possessives makes my retired teacher’s heart happy! (I know you are also a retired teacher and do know how to uses apostrophes, but so many don’t, and I believe in celebrating small pleasures!).
On the very-odd-weather front, I wore shorts today on the first of October. My favourite season is autumn with light jacket weather, so I hope we don’t jump straight from shorts to snowsuits.
Your neighbour in Saskatchewan here, MJ. And shorts and tshirt weather here also.
But I have my snowshovel ready just in case…
I hadn’t noticed the apostrophes, so I will go back and look at them again.
I try to keep up my use of apostrophes, correctly. But, no doubt, retired teachers will spot the odd, I hope, misuse. Cheers.
I’m glad the flowers made it through the rain. The stargazer is beautiful, and probably very fragrant as well.
I’ve never been on a train that went that fast. It must take some getting used to, especially after riding the slower steam trains and diesels.
I’m happy to hear that the trip went well. Nice rainbows.
They use welded rails so our train journey is amazingly smooth and you don’t get a great feeling of speed as you go along.
Wonderful how public transportation works in England and Scotland.
Would be impossible for us to get home from New York City using public transportation. With very careful planning, we could get to Augusta, a small city around 12 miles from our town of Winthrop. No public transportation between Augusta and Winthrop. Sad.
W e are a small country geographically which helps. Sadly, government after government has favoured car transport over public transport so we are not in as good a position as we should be.
We are in the same position are Laurie. There is virtually no passenger bus service in the province, no passenger rail, and one shuttle service that will provide service to and from the airport in Winnipeg. If you don’t have a car, you are well and truly stranded in MB.
Did you ever have a good bus service?
We have never had the kind of public transport that was efficient and timely enough that people would use it instead of a personal vehicle. We used to have Greyhound Bus Lines that served small towns, but it was not what your would call “good”. Years ago it might have been one bus a day, and by the time Greyhound went out of business a few years ago, the runs were once or twice weekly, and many towns had been cut from the schedule. You couldn’t blame them – they were often running with parcels and just a few passengers.
Sigh.
Lovely to see the undimmed flowers in your garden despite the rain, I really enjoyed your pictures of the stargazer lily.
Your nerines and lilies put on a fine show to welcome you home. It was lovely to see you at Euston.
It is good to know that all went well. You have given us an interesting account of the return trip. I have enjoyed these photographs.
Thank you. These were days to experience rather than take pictures.
Youn made good use of the light and the rainbows – the garden has kept well for you
We were relieved to find that it had not been battered to death.
I’m sure
Good to see a lovely rainbow welcoming you home and bringing you peace and comfort after your days away. I’m having a number of days away from WordPress but I’ll be back in a while!
I look forwards to seeing more of your visits and and your lovely garden.
I am glad you had a good trip and a celebration of Mrs. Tootlepedal’s mother’s life. The rainbows and cheerful garden flowers welcoming you back seemed to agree. I don’t see where you have slowed down from blogging at all… I will try to be better at keeping up with you.
The flowers are gorgeous. I have nothing but lawn in my backyard, and I desperately want to add some fruit trees, vegies, and color. We have these industrial strength sprinklers there, though, so not sure how to economically remedy that!
It will be an interesting challenge for you. 🙂
The flowers look refreshed after all the rain, and still so colorful! The double stargazer lily is real beauty, as are the nerines.
The nerines are great ‘end of season’ flowers.
Love your Stargazer lily photos! The flowers did indeed welcome you back home with smiles.
You folks do manage to get around it seems. And rainbows for frosting! Then to be greeted by smiling dahlias and daisies and the rest!
I’m so sorry for Mrs T’s loss. Mothers have a special place in one’s heart. It’s good to hear that the visits helped to lift spirits. 🙏
It was a very good trip and the funeral arrangements could not have been bettered.
That is good to hear. I’m glad the family could gather together.