Today’s guest picture comes from my brother Andrew. He passed the Derby Islamic Centre on his walk today.
The temperature had dropped quite a bit overnight here and there were interesting patterns on the Velux window in the bathroom when I got up.
Happily for us, it was not icy when when we went out after breakfast to walk to the church. We enjoyed the sunshine.
As well as singing the hymns with the choir, I had the task of reading the lessons and also of reading out the sermon supplied by our stand in minister who is busy at her own church in Canonbie on a Sunday morning. It was quite hard work doing both, but the hymns were excellent, so I enjoyed the service.
After a coffee when we got home, I looked to see what business was like on the bird feeder.
A siskin was doing a very good impersonation of Jean Paul Belmondo smoking a cigarette in a moody French film
Lots of chaffinches and the occasional sparrow were flying about .
A quick check in the garden produced a starling and a blackbird on wire and roof, with a sparrow checking out the grooming habits of another starling on the holly tree
A pigeon flew overhead.
Back inside and looking out, the sun picked out a female blackbird, a male chaffinch, and a goldfinch whose sex I cannot determine, but possibly a male..
Even with my electric bike now available, I thought it was too cold at four degrees for a cycle ride, so I went for a walk before a late lunch instead.
I didn’t have a great deal of time to spare before our visit to the Carlisle Community Choir practice in the afternoon, so I bustled round the five mile Potholm walk without stopping to take too many pictures on the way.
Gulls at their post on the Kilngreen caught my eye, as did a stranger among them, possibly a black backed gull in winter plumage.
When I got to the North Lodge and looked up the valley, a hint of white on a distant hill turned out to be a dusting of snow.
It was snow and ice free at my level though, and the walking was very good.
The sky had clouded over at the start of my walk, but the sun came out as I got up towards Potholm and I enjoyed the views over the river.
I was a bit taken aback as I went down the hill towards the bridge at Potholm to find that a landslip had nearly taken away the track.
It was safe enough to pass the landslip by, and I hope that they don’t feel the need to close the track. It would be greatly missed by the walkers who enjoy going ’round Potholm’ as I was doing today.
At the bridge, I found that the river was high enough to cause the trees on the bank to have their feet in the water.
In the nearby fields, sheep were not looking particularly happy about having turnip for their lunch
The sun had gone in again as I walked along the road past Milnholm, and I only saw this one last glimpse of it on my way home
The metal poles which make up the fencing along the road to Langholm were well covered with green mould and I took a picture to try to show this. The camera was less was less impressed by the greenness than I was, so I wasted time on the photo editor again this evening. The result is not true to life!
A blackbird greeted me when I got back to the house.
Mrs Tootlepedal had been busy making parsnip soup while I was out walking, and it made for a very welcome lunch. I had worked up quite a good appetite and my walk recorder told me that I had only stopped for two minutes in total to take pictures on my walk. I had gone quickly enough that there was enough time left to have another look at the birds before we went to Carlisle.
Siskins were back.
The drive to the choir in Carlisle went very well, and the practice was good too. We are learning three new songs, so there was plenty of work to do.
The temperature had dropped to just above zero by the time that we drove home, but the roads had been well gritted and there was no danger of ice. A simple meal of salmon cooked in butter and lemon by Mrs Tootlepedal made for an excellent end to a busy day.
The flying bird of the day is two sparrows, coming and going simultaneously.
Tootlepedal's Blog 
Another great guest picture and I loved all of the bird photos, as usual. I am glad that your track was not taken out completely by the landslide. No doubt your congregation appreciates the work your choir puts in practicing hymns – new and old. Well sung hymns adds so much to any church service.
With our choir numbers down to very low levels, we mostly sing the hymns at sight and as the congregation numbers are low too, services are rather subdued affairs.
That is probably an issue with most congregations these days.
I enjoyed the photos from your day, and the birds and commentary, especially the siskin “smoking” the sunflower seed. The one last glimpse of sun on the green field caught my eye, too.
Looks a bit wet and cold in your area. We are having a windy and rainy day here as the temperature falls.
We have turned to bright and much colder here today.
I hope the landslide doesn’t affect you (and others) from walking. We have not been able to walk along some tracks because the grasses have almost covered some areas.
The water seems very high if the tree trunks are in the water in that level, is that usual in winter in Scotland?
We expect to get a lot of rain in autumn in a usual year and winter is often wet too so the river level is not out of the ordinary at all.
What a lovely area you call home! The bird with the cigarette was funny. 😁
janet
It appealed to me. We do like our surroundings.
I like the ostrich feather patterns on the windows.
The snow on the hillside made a pretty shot.
The fields are amazingly green there. They should be white but they’re still brown here.
The frosty patterns were a beautiful but a not entirely welcome sight. 🙂 The farmers are very good at growing grass round here.
Great ice patterns on your velux ! The sheep clearly have their supply in. 🙂
I hope the landslide will be repaired soon.
I can’t see an easy way to repair the landslide.
Another lovely post with some fantastic pictures. Have you ever been to New Zealand? Lots of good birds here.
My oldest sister and younger brother have both lived in NZ for some time in the past (Auckland and Wellington respectively). It sometimes seems as though half of Langholm either lives in or is visiting New Zealand at any given time (four friends are going next month) but we have never been.
🙂
Your window shots remind me of the unheated bedrooms of my childhood. That is a very dicey landslip. We do walk quickly when it is so cold
We don’t heat the upstairs of our house and rely on running into bed at great speed.
🙂
I used to close off part of my previous home in winter, making a trip to the loo seem like going to an outhouse!
My camera sometimes doesn’t get the colors right either. I didn’t know that sheep were fed turnips. Wonderful to be able to fit a long walk in a busy day.
They will get grass and silage as well.
Haha! I loved the siskin shot. And the sheep in the turnip field.
I like the turnip field shot a lot. It looked like a hard meal ahead for the sheep.
Laughed out loud at the comment re the smoking French bird! A busy day on one that should be a day of rest! Landslips are a nuisance watch out for the H&S brigade! Great bird portraits to enjoy.
I tried to look like that siskin when I was a student.