Puffed out, blown back

Today’s guest picture comes from my walking guide Mark. On Monday, his dog Henry, took him back for a walk on the hills that we had walked together on Saturday. Henry rested for a moment among the bog cotton.

We had another cool and dry day here today, and I was a bit slower to get going than I had planned. In the end, I had a cup of coffee and a ginger biscuit with Margaret and Mrs Tootlepedal before I finally got on my bike and headed north up the main road.

I was pedalling into a light breeze, and my plan was to cycle twenty miles into the breeze and then turn round and get blown home. As a plan, it worked well, though the breeze was a little stronger than I had expected. It took me an hour to do the first ten miles up the hill to Mosspaul. My bike computer told me that the next ten miles, still into the wind but gently downhill with a net loss of 473 feet, took me 44 minutes. The helpful nature of the wind meant that the first ten miles on the homeward trip, with a net gain of 473 feet also took me 44 minutes. From then on, I had wind and slope in my favour, and the last ten miles took me 36 minutes without me having to try too hard.

I stopped for a breather at Mosspaul on the way out, and saw that in spite of yesterday’s rain, there was not a lot of water coming off the hills.

Further down the valley, the water was low there too.

My turning point was at a bridge over the Teviot Water . . .

. . . which looks quite traditional but is in fact made of concrete.

I ate a sandwich there and saw comfrey and Welsh poppies growing nearby . . .

. . . with no insect visitors enjoying their charms at all.

Across the road, a hawthorn leaned down towards a stone wall.

On my way back, another patch of hawthorns caught my eye.

And I looked ahead at the mast on Glenrief Rig above Mosspaul.

The sun shone intermittently during my ride, but it was sunny when I got home and I found Mrs Tootlepedal working in the garden. My timing was good though, as it started to rain soon after I got in.

The rain stopped after a while, and when I looked out of the window at the bird feeder . . .

. . . I could see that the sun had come out again, so I had a look round the garden. The vegetable garden lupins are looking better every day . . .

. . . and other lupins are trying to catch up.

Roses generally are waiting for warmth but some are testing the air.

A blackbird hopped onto the front gate to see what I was up to.

The bird feeder was quiet again today, but there were one or two busier moments.

. . . and a pigeon or collared dove (I can’t quite work out which) circled overhead, trying to get the job of flying bird of the day.

I am a bit short of interesting pictures today, and this was because I had intended to go for an electric bike ride with Mrs Tootlepedal in the evening, and I was going to take some more interesting ones on that outing. However, when the time came to set out, looming clouds did not instil any confidence about staying dry, so we postponed the trip for another more reliable day.

We got news today that the Archive Centre is going to have to move its workspace out of the newspaper offices where it has a little corner. The newspaper itself is moving. We have been offered alternative accommodation, but it is going to require a bit of thinking and organisation to make the move. My head hurts in anticipation. Neither thinking nor organisation are among my strong points.

The flying bird of the day is a low flying siskin.