Today’s guest picture comes from my Manitoba correspondent Mary Jo. She is on a visit to British Columbia, and sent me this fine shot of a lake between Vernon and Coldstream.
It was snowing heavily when we went to bed last night, so we were both pleased and surprised to wake up to a sunny day without a flake of snow to be seen. The crocuses were very pleased too.
And I expect that this pair of jackdaws in the walnut tree were quite pleased as well.
Even the oxalis on the indoor windowsill seemed happy.
Margaret popped round for coffee, and then I had another look round the garden. Nancy, my archiving friend, who had come round earlier with some more sheets of entries for the newspaper database, had been very struck by the crocuses, so I went to have another look.
Mrs Tootlepedal spotted a bee on a snowdrop and I found some more crocuses . . .
. . . and some more bees (or bee look alikes).
It felt very springlike, in spite of a chilly wind.
The strength of the wind kept me off my bicycle in the morning, and after lunch, I had a choice. I could wait to see if the forecast was correct and the wind dropped later in the afternoon, in which case a cycle ride would be fine, or I could get impatient, not trust the forecast, and go out for a walk while the going was good. Walking into a wind is much more fun than cycling into one and I was impatient, so I put my boots on and went for a walk.
I didn’t regret my choice, even though the wind did drop and a later cycle ride would have been quite possible.
It was a perfect day for a walk, and I took so many pictures as I walked the circular route round Whita Hill that I have put them into galleries over which the discerning reader may skip at speed. Readers with time hanging heavy on their hands may click to get the bigger picture.
Gallery one: Going up the road to the White Yett and onto the moor:
Gallery Two: Going across the moor
I met some charming animals on my way down to the crossing of the Tarras Water.
There were a lot of goats waiting for me in the field that I had to cross to get to the bridge . . .
. . . but they were not bothered by me at all, and kept grazing quietly as I walked past. They may be wild goats but they are not fierce wild goats.
I crossed the bridge as there was far too much water to think of using the ford.
Gallery three: Crossing the Tarras:
Then I walked up to the track from Perterburn to Cronksbank.
Gallery four: The other side of Tarras water:
I recrossed the Tarras Water below Rashiel and took the road up to the bird hide. I sat for a while in the hide, eating ginger biscuits and Medjool dates to get up strength for the final miles.
Gallery five: The bird hide side:
As I sat in the hide, I got the opposite of a birds eye view.
. . . and there was a welcome number of birds to view. Volunteers have been keeping the feeders filled.
I had another choice when I left the bird hide, should I go back by the road beside the river, or by the track through the woods? I chose the woods . . .
Gallery six: Going home:
This time, I did have some regret about my choice of route. The sun had come again, and walking through the woods is always a treat visually, but the recent rain had made the tracks very boggy in parts, and I had to keep my head down and my eyes on where I was going to the extent that I couldn’t enjoy the scenery as much as I would have liked.
Still, I survived without slipping over and getting muddy, so maybe it wasn’t such a bad choice after all.
The Esk has gone down a lot since yesterday, but it was still in a lively mode when I came to cross the suspension bridge, just before getting home.
I took things very easily as I walked round, conscious that I had had a hard time walking two miles yesterday. But that was a cold and rainy day, and this was a day to lift the spirits. I managed to cover just under ten miles today at a sensible speed without any difficulty. The mind is a wonderful thing.
A good day ended with a cheerful Zoom with my brother and sisters. My brother reported that Derby is suffering from serious flooding, so once again, we thanked our lucky stars that Langholm has been spared the worst of the bad weather.
The flying bird of the day is a chaffinch. (I would have liked to have had a fine bird from my moorland walk to show you, but as I specially took my bird camera with me, it is needless to say that I didn’t see a single bird of interest, or indeed of any sort at all.
Tootlepedal's Blog 
The low sun on the crests of the Esk makes an unusual picture.
It was very striking in real life.
I like the photo of the pines at Middlemoss very much; it has great depth of field. I was also impressed by the Esk’s crests.
I don’t know where those crests came from. They almost looked as though they were going back up the river. I am glad that you liked the pines shot. I liked it too.
It was great to see so many crocuses blooming, and the shot of the oxalis is excellent.
The tree covered in catkins shouts spring.
That was a beautiful walk, and 10 miles is something to crow about. I don’t know if I could do that many or not.
It is surprising how far you can go if you adopt a pace that doesn’t tire you out.
It’s more my feet than anything else.
Special insoles for arthritic toes have been a great help to me.
I’ll have to look those up.
Nice to see the bees (or whatever) and especially the one in the snowdrop. That was a grand walk.
Beautiful pictures, especially the horses.
I thought that the horses were lovely.
The Esk still looks very wild in that photo. I am glad it has come down a bit. The flowers look exuberant in the late winter sunshine, and those wide views of the countryside are always a pleasure to look at.
The photo of the jackdaws reminded me of the Roman god Janus.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janus
A bit of a two faced fellow.
Ten miles is not to be sneezed at and we have benefited from a range of photographs.
I was pleased with the distance after a poor outing the day before.
A fine display of crocuses. Glad you had such lovely weather for your walk. Enjoyed all the views, and the pictures of the horses and goats.
Great header picture displaying the sunshine, loved all the pictures of rushing water and the views over to the Lakeland hills.
What a beautiful hike and the weather looked great. We will have a sunny and calm day tomorrow. đŸ™‚
Not before time.
Wonderful landscapes and the sunshine served you well. Ten glorious miles. And happy Jackdaws too.
Mrs T likes the way that jackdaws sit in pairs with their mates.
Great that you captured them. đŸ™‚
A beautiful day all round. Love all the galleries with their different themed photos. A joy to read and view – stunning sunny crocuses!
That’s a fair old walk,which I think would have tired me out,as you said it wasn’t great cycling weather.
Some great gallery shots,especially the leaning pines at Middlemoss..they have done well to stay rooted after the recent batterings they’ve had.
They were protected from the worst of the wind in storm Arwen but I am amazed that so many trees stood up while so many fell. It is hard to make out quite what happened with the wind.
I like the Jackdaws couple, hanging out together, enjoying the crocuses too. I enjoyed your walk, you got some beautiful shots, so glad to know your wild goats aren’t fierce and you weren’t forced into a running mode.
Running mode? You are talking ancient history there.