Going the extra mile

Today’s guest picture comes from my sister Caroline who woke to an unusually coloured dawn over Portsmouth today. Shepherds were quaking in their boots.

We woke to a miserably grey morning here, and the day showed admirable consistency in remaining miserably grey all day.

I was happy to do some work for the Langholm Archive Group on my computer, looking out at the birds after breakfast . . .

. . .and before coffee with Margaret, when greenfinches were prominent to say the least.

I also found a moment when it wasn’t drizzling to sieve a load of compost. Mrs Tootlepedal is improving the soil as she does her autumn tidying up, and there has been a run on sieved compost.

Mrs Tootlepedal’s late lettuces have done very well, and are proving to be surprisingly sweet and crispy for the time of year. I had some lettuce leaves in my lunchtime bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich, and fortified by this, I went for an afternoon walk in some light rain.

After getting very wet socks on a recent walk, I have just purchased some gaiters, and I was keen to try them out today. I struggled to fit them properly, and Mrs Tootlepedal kindly suggested that I might like to watch a YouTube video to learn how to do it. I was too proud to admit that I needed help and didn’t watch the video. However I did secretly listen quite carefully while she watched it herself, and managed to get them fitted correctly in the end.

Now, well prepared for a rainy walk with gaiters, waterproof trousers and my big winter coat, I set out boldly to walk ’round Potholm’, and see what I could see on a very gloomy day.

To get a bit of colour on my walk, I took a picture of a nasturtium at our front gate as I left.

Otherwise, I largely found black, white and grey subjects, like this gull . . .

. . . and an old friend on an island in the river.

It was another day with no views of the hills. . .

. . . and mostly all that I could see was the track in front of me.

It was unseasonably warm though at about 15°C, and as I was well protected from the light but persistent rain, I was quite happy to potter along looking at fungi . . .

. . . and distant figures on the track in front of me.

I found a tree stump and more fungus at Potholm.

I crossed the river and found myself walking into a light breeze and more noticeable rain now that I had come out of the woods. I stuffed my cap in my pocket and pulled my hood over my head as I walked along the road past Milnholm farm.

A cow was no happier with the weather than I was. (All UK cattle have to have individual identification tags.)

The wall along this road is always a rich source of lichen, and as the clouds were very low, I looked at the wall instead of the hills. . .

Some way along the road, the rain eased off, so I pulled down my hood and would have put my cap on if only I could have found it. After patting every pocket, it became obvious that I had dropped my cap along the way, so I turned and retraced my steps until after nearly half a mile, I came upon it lying soggily in the middle of the road.

When I got going in the correct direction again, I found that the clouds had started to lift off the hills a bit . .

. . . and I could get a better view of the river below me . . .

. . . and, if I peered hard enough, even a glimpse of the mast on the top of Warbla ahead of me.

This was only a tease by the weather gods though, and the clouds soon came down again.

I had a last look at the trees beside the river . . .

. . . before getting onto the road back to Langholm.

It was not at its most beautiful.

I got home without getting too splashed by passing traffic, though I am always grateful for the opportunity to give motorists the enjoyment of covering an old pensioner with dirty spray when they drive merrily up the road without slowing down as they pass me on a wet day. Simple pleasures.

The new gaiters worked very well and my socks were snug and dry when I got home.

I took only my second flower picture of the day before I went in.

A cup of tea and a slice of toast with bramble jelly replaced any energy expended on walking 6 miles and I was fully restored when it was time for our regular Zoom with my siblings. We often share pictures on these Zooms, and today we got a visit to an art gallery and a canal.

Looking at the weather forecast, I can only hope that patient readers won’t mind a few more misty pictures in tomorrow’s post!

I couldn’t choose between two flying chaffinches for the flying bird of the day today, so I have put them both in as they flew past a disapproving greenfinch.