A shopping bonus

Today’s guest picture comes from my Lancashire correspondent, Paul. He was on the shore of the Kent estuary recently, where he took this photograph of the fine Arnside railway viaduct.

We had a cool and cloudy morning here, but even on a dull day, the poppies outside our back window impressed Mrs Tootlepedal with their vivid colour.

As it was cool and cloudy, I was happy to sit at my computer after breakfast and make some small inroads into the backlog of newspaper index entries waiting to be entered into the Langholm Archive Group’s database. I stopped in time to have a quick walk round the garden before Margaret came for coffee. White was the theme, with the first sighting of a Jacobite rose, and some welcome white clover on the middle lawn.

After Margaret left, I had another walk round before going up to the town to do some shopping. There was a bit of colour this time. I like the apparent internal lighting in the nectaroscordum, nature’s light fitting.

I had prudently taken my bird camera with me when I went shopping, so on my way I was able to enjoy a grey wagtail visiting the Wauchope along Caroline Sreet.

. . . and a white duck as I came back over the Town Bridge.

The forecasters had suggested that the skies might clear after midday, and they were spot o. The day got brighter as I walked home.

I came back along the river and stopped in Caroline Street in the hope of seeing a house martin visiting a nest. I was in the right place at the right time.

To be honest, this wasn’t too difficult as the martins were flying in and out all the time.

I ended my little outing with an appreciation of the lovely set of lupins in our neighbour’s Kenny’s damside garden.

After lunch, I prepared a mince ragout for the slow cooker and set the breadmaker to make a loaf of bread. When they were safely on their way, I went back out into the garden and took pictures of two roses freshly out, Lilian Austin and the Queen of Denmark.

Then, feeling a bit tired, I sat on the sofa and watched the last half of the time trial from the Critérium du Dauphiné. It finished early enough to allow me out for a short zip round my familiar Canonbie circuit on my electric bike.

I keep thinking that the cow parsley and buttercups are going to fade away, but they are still providing a lovely backdrop for my pedalling on the back roads.

It was quite windy so I mainly had to concentrate on pedalling, but I took a few pictures as I went round.

A tree shaped for the passing traffic

Very low water in the River Esk at the Hollows

Pyrenean valerian getting ever taller.

Just before our evening meal, we went out into the garden to do some watering in the vegetable garden. I took a picture of the hose at work . . .

. . . and then wondered what would happen if I slowed down the shutter speed.

As I took the watery shots, I could hear a lot of buzzing. It was bees visiting the tiny snowberry flowers behind the compost bins.

I finished my photographic day by capturing a peony and a rose in the evening sunshine.

We are going to Manchester tomorrow to visit the new RHS garden there. We have our fingers crossed that the notoriously unreliable Transpennine Express train company will have its trains running on time. If all goes well, I will report back tomorrow.

The flying bird of the day is one of the house martins of Caroline Street.