Today’s guest picture comes from my walking guide Mark. I had temporarily mislaid my cap, and he sent me this picture to show that I was still wearing it near the end of our walk on Saturday.

After two sunny days over the weekend, the new week started with a grey and intermittently rainy day. Under the circumstances, an idle morning seemed like a good idea, though I did manage to cook a batch of ginger biscuits and then wander about the garden for a short while.
The lupins beside the greenhouse are looking good . . .

. . . and I like them both collectively . . .

. . . and individually.

The veronica is looking more impressive every day . . .

. . . and the alliums are quite a sight too.

The euphorbia myrsinites is continuing its development upwards . . .

. . . while the cotoneaster horizontalis continues to go sideways.

I like the view from behind of the clematis hanging over the back door.

Birds came and went in the rainy spells . . .

. . . sometimes with one hand tied behind their backs.

We are seeing more sparrows at the moment.

After a quiet morning, I thought that I ought to do something in the afternoon. There was a suggestion of more rain in the forecast, and perhaps a heavy shower in the offing, but I wasn’t discouraged and got my bike out. It was lucky that I was well prepared with a waterproof jacket and suitable leggings and socks, because it started to rain quite steadily just as I set off. It didn’t last long though and after three miles, it turned into a pleasant day for a pedal, with light winds making life easy.
I stopped to watch a lapwing and a curlew flying in a field at Bloch Farm. They were too quick for my camera. Plants are easier to catch, and I stopped again to admire the cow parsley lined road near Tarcoon.

The occasional rain had not discouraged a farmer from cutting silage.

I pedalled on through Canonbie, thinking myself very lucky to be getting a dry outing, but my smug mood didn’t last as I came into a very heavy rain shower at the Hollows. The road was soon running with water, and I had to take care not to go though puddles that were hiding potholes. Once again though, the shower was only brief, and a mile later on, I was cycling on dry roads.
I stopped to take a picture of wild geraniums . . .

. . . and then again a few minutes later to tie a shoelace and turn on my cycle lights before I got to the main road for the last section on my trip. Not entirely by coincidence, I found myself right beside my favourite larch tree. The young cones are coming along well.

There was a tall wild flower growing beside the tree . . .

. . .which even with Google’s help, I cannot identify.
I was happy to get home without being rained on again, though I was still pretty damp when I arrived. A change of clothes, a cup of tea and one or two ginger biscuits soon restored me to normality, and I was able to go back to doing nothing for the rest of the day.
I did check on the feeder, and I found a fine example of a pigeon toed bird.

The forecast for tomorrow is much the same as for today, so there may be more ducking and diving to try to avoid showers.
The flying bird of the day is one of the sparrows.

Your Lupins are indeed splendid and also in perfect health..I think the cool damping weather is to their liking.
Well done for braving the rain on your bike 👍But it’s still preferable to the winds we’ve had recently.
I see that you got a good pedal in so I hope that this means that your are feeling well.
Your garden is absolutely beautiful! Sorry about the wet ride.
It is a good time of year for gardeners.
Those are luscious lupines. Your garden looks lovely even on a rainy day.
It is hard to tell without seeing the leaves, but your mystery yellow flower may be a Hypochaeris radicata.
https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/hypochaeris-radicata/
I’d rather vote for a Hieracium – Hawkweed. But this plant comes with about 800 subspecies. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hieracium.
Thanks for the link! Hawkweed is a possibility, though if I remember right, Tootlepedal is familiar with hawkweed and is is generally able to identify it, so I opted for Hypochaeris radicata (we call it Coast Dandelion here in my part of the west). Hard to say without seeing the leaves. We have both species here on the farm. Perhaps Tootlepedal will provide some more photos and give us a hand at pinning down this flower.
This did look like a hawkweed but as Zyriacus says, there are many varieties. If I pass it again, I will take more pictures.
Those lupines are great. Nice and tall and straight.
That’s a nice shot of the larch cone. The ones that grow here aren’t very big.
I didn’t know a pigeon’s feet looked like that, but I never was able to get close to one.
It was rather dull day as far as birds went. 🙂
Lovely pics. The lupines are gorgeous.
like the lupin(e)s a lot. More pictures of them will undoubtedly occur.
I’m afraid there has been some mistake. The picture from your friend is obviously of quite a young man. Perhaps he was confused when he took the picture, or when he sent it to you.
🙂
Your prose is a delight: pigeon-toed, ducking and diving, along with the descriptions of various plant developments 🙂
I always enjoy the opportunity to take a figurative or metaphorical turn of phrase and show the real thing.
Good to see you in the guest picture so nice and slim. Sorry about the rain on your cycle ride though you managed some excellent views nonetheless.
Seriously, thank you for including a picture of yourself as taken by your friend. You do look fit and quite young, especially considering that you have just walked 10 miles in the hills.
On another note, I have been listening on Youtube to the Winnie the Pooh stories read by Norman Shelly. I wonder about the Pool Corner you mention from time to time and Mr. Grumpy who lives near there. It reminds me of Pooh Corner where Eeyore lives.
I could easily act as Eyeore’s double as I have a tendency to see the gloomy side of life. 🙂 You can do a lot worse than listen to Norman Shelley reading Winnie the Pooh stories.
I like to think that I am reasonably fit but even I can’t pretend to myself that I am quite young any more.
The euphorbia is looking good, and the lupins are doing splendidly, as others have said.
I love the lupines in your garden. I remember that my gandmother had a lot of them in her garden too.
Sorry about the rainy weather, biking is more fun in the sun 🙂
A llot more fun. Some warm days without rain would be most welcome.
Some really good close-ups and witty captions
Thank you, you are most kind.
Lovely lupins and veronicas in bloom and now I know the name of the euphorbia too! The clematis looks very elegant and you look very dapper and countrified!
And they say that the camera never lies!
Have you been adjusting the green setting on your camera or has Scotland suddenly changed to a much brighter place? Having called every unidentified yellow flower “hawkbit” for years I just checked up and found there are only two sorts. So I couldn’t identify your yellow flower and the veil of self-delusion has been lifted from my eyes. I really must get better at identifying yellow flowers!
We have had so many dull days that I might have perked the greens up a bit. I apologise.
No need to apologise, I liked the effect. Was just checking if it was the photographs or my eyes. 🙂
It is very green here so even a little touch on the photo editor makes a big difference.
It looks like a tropical paradise . . .
Think temperate rain forest. 🙂
Yes, temperate, that’s the word . . .
Looks to me like Marc is a handy chap to have around… a hiking guide and cap mystery solver.
I envy Mrs T’s beautiful and well behaved lupins (and all the rest she grows so beautifully). I finally coaxed some blossoms from mine, but they’re quite straggly. Having seen Mrs T’s I’d be embarrassed to show mine, but the California poppies seem to be in their shining glory when lit up by the sun.
We are still waiting for the bulk of our poppies to come out.