Today’s guest picture comes from our son Tony. He took this dramatic cloudscape over the Forth this afternoon. As you can see from the angle of the sea, it knocked him a bit sideways.

We were braced for a dramatic day here with Storm Dudley in the offing, but the morning was more miserable than alarming with steady rain.
The birds on the feeder kept an eye out for danger at first but soon settled into seed eating while the going was good.

Margaret braved the rain to come up for a quick cup of coffee. When she left, Mrs Tootlepedal helped me change to the lubricant in the hub gear box on my road bike. We brought it into the kitchen to give the oil a chance to warm up, and then Mrs Tootlepedal read the instructions while I got my hands dirty.

The sharp eyed will be able to see the syringe waiting to draw the mixture of dirty lube and cleaning fluid out of the hub.
After we finished with the bike, I made a spiced fruity wholemeal loaf in the breadmaker. This was an experiment as I had never tried one before. It involved two eggs.
The rain stopped after lunch, and as the wind had not got up as much as we had feared, I decided to go for a walk while I could.
I set off up the Wauchope road, passing a good flow of water going over the Pool Corner caul, a couple of gates, a fine old hedge, and an untouched crop of haws. (Click on the panel for the bigger picture.)





It was warm for the time of year at 50°F (10°C), so in spite of the wind, it wasn’t a bad day for a walk.
As I went up the road, I kept an eye out for hazel flowers among the many catkins. I saw one.

When I got to Bessie Bell’s, I scrambled down the bank to admire the cascade . . .

. . . and when I had scrambled back up again, I was met by a sharp shower of rain. I was almost thinking of turning back, but I had waterproof trousers and my winter coat on, so I boldly headed onwards, muttering imprecations about the weather gods . . .
. . .and about five minutes later, I looked up and was very happy to find that the sun had come out.

When I had the chance, I left the road for a few hundred yards and walked through a narrow wood beside the river. It is a favourite place of mine . . .

. . . and I was very pleased to find that it was largely undamaged by recent storms, though a couple of trees had been dislodged from right on the river bank and were now in the river.

Further along the road, I came to a wall that is home to many lichens. Today I was looking for a glint of red. I found one, and then a few yards further along the wall, I found a forest.



Since it continued to be sunny, I walked on until I got to the field where I had seen two buzzards on my bicycle ride yesterday. They had rudely flown away on that occasion, but that didn’t happen today, but only because they weren’t there at all.

There were just a few crows circling over the ruined cottage.
I looked round for something that was there, and found a nice collection of alder catkins waiting for some better weather.

I had got out of the most sheltered part of the valley by this point, and the wind was strong enough to persuade me that walking with it behind me would be more relaxing that continuing to battle into it. I turned and headed for home, under supervision.

The sun shone for almost all the way back and I was was fully aware of what a privilege it is to live in such peaceful countryside.



I had a final look at the water going over the caul at Pool Corner from above the caul.

I got home after a five and half mile walk which I had never expected to be able to enjoy in view of the gloomy forecasts. I even had enough energy left to get excited about a daffodil in the garden.

I had the last of the oatmeal biscuits with my post walk cup of tea, and then watched a bit of the Winter Olympics with Mrs Tootlepedal.
In the evening, we had our regular Zoom meeting with my brother and sisters, and found that it seemed to be quite windy everywhere.
However, we are hoping that our weather is not going to be anything like as bad as we feared over the next two days, although there are some bad conditions elsewhere. I looked on the BBC website and found alarming pictures of damage both to the north and the south of us. I can’t quite work out why is not blowing as hard here. I am just grateful that it isn’t.
I didn’t get a flying bird today as there were not many visitors to the feeder but this goldfinch summed up the morning quite well.

Footnote: The spicy fruit wholemeal loaf came out well but is a rather odd creation. I don’t know if I will make it again. Perhaps it just needs getting used to.
Gorgeous photos!
I enjoyed these late winter photos, and the patch of cladonia with their red caps was a special treat. Tony’s guest photo was striking! Those look like mammatus clouds.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mammatus_cloud
I had never heard that term before. Thank you for the link.
The sky in Tony’s wonderful shot looks quite formidable, and the sheep is posting quite beautifully for you. I’m glad to see what looks like a study looking light fixed to the rear carrier on your bike 🙂
I have front and rear lights which I use from time to time but I tend not to cycle when it gets too gloomy.
The sheeps looks like it is a little concerned you are out walking: “have you not heard the forecast?!” Hooray for the daffodils…Spring really is just around the corner
It is good to be surrounded by concerned sheep. One need never feel lonely here.
It was great to see the budded daffodils and the hazel flower.
That’s an amazing amount of moss on the hedge. It seems the moss tries to cover everything that isn’t moving there.
I hope you won’t see any damaging winds. You’ve had your share.
We are getting more and more moss in the garden as the climate changes.
Just love all that moss on the hedge and in the woods. The red lichen forest find is awesome!
People may well wonder what I am doing by the side of the road with my nose stuck in a wall but they are missing a treat as they flash by in their cars.
It was pretty much h the same weather here in Wisconsin today, 50 degrees and windy but no 🌺.
It got a lot colder here today.
Sure hope the storm doesn’t hit too hard! Will be waiting to hear.
It is looking bad but not too bad at the moment.
Hope it stays that way! I’ve seen some pretty wild pictures on BBC News.
We missed the worst here.
I have particularly enjoyed the cascades of water today – I do not see much water these days, although am pleased to see that one of the dams in the countryside is gradually filling up.
In spite of quite a lot of grey days, we still haven’t had a great deal of rainfall.
Glad you got a good walk in despite the weather forecast.
An unexpected day to treasure. Reading that so far (last year?), 8,000,000 trees have been lost in the UK in the winds. Fingers crossed for the rest with what is coming.
It definitely looks like a few more are going to go but perhaps not here.
Thanks for taking us on this beautiful walk. I hope your bike got a good revision 🙂 Now you have extra speed 😉
Last night we had a storm and an other is coming tomorrow….
It will de a few days before the weather calms down enough for another bike ride, I think.
Is caul a Scots word?
It seems so. Derived from the Gaelic caol, a narrows. The English word would be weir, I think.
Thanks
A cold wind was blowing all night here, sending a blanket of snow over everything. Tomorrow’s set to warm up again, which will certainly melt the snow. A day of snow now and again is fine with me, but I could do without the wind. Glad you’ve missed it so far.
We might get some brisk winds and snow tomorrow morning but time will tell.
What treasures to discover on an unexpected walk . Love your detour stroll through the wood with the light shining through- just perfect. Your son’s cloudscape photo is very dramatic and scary!
They didn’t get much of the storm though.
There were a loot of pictures of those clouds on the internet as they were so unusual.
At least your storm had a name. Ours wasn’t worthy of a name, to my knowledge. The rushing water and catkins are my favorites.
Every Tom, Dick and Harry of a storm here has a name these days. There is a feeling that it is making them get above themselves.
I’ve have heard of hub gears but that’s the first one I’ve ever seen,with a belt drive as well it must be low maintenance ,with not much to go wrong..very good indeed.
Nice to see the promise of spring with your emerging daffodil flower.
That is why I got the belt drive and the hub gear. Low maintenance is useful when you have old and crinkly fingers.
I enjoyed seeing your lichens and the alder catkins. Your catkins appear to have more red to them. Our lean more to the orange or yellow sort. Oh and I do like the supervisor you encountered… though he looks a bit startled. What a pleasure to join you on your tootlepedals… 🤗
It makes the walks more interesting to me to know that I have good company on them.
The stone bridge on the curving road is very pleasing to look at.