Blowing in the wind

Today’s guest picture comes from my sister Mary. She visited Eastbourne with a friend during the week, and took this unusual picture of the tennis tournament there.

After a night of more wind and rain, and a heavy shower in the morning when we got up, Mrs Tootlepedal went out to consider the fate of the tall delphiniums. It was not good, as many had been felled by the elements . . .

. . . but some hardier stems remained upright.

. . . as I found when I went out after the rain had stopped and the sun had come out.

The lawn was covered with philadelphus petals . . .

. . . but there were plenty of flowers looking well in spite of everything, including the other delphinium . .

. . . Crown Princess Margareta . . .

. . . and a freshly flowering Dutch iris.

Mrs Tootlepedal went out for coffee with her ex work colleagues while I had a quiet morning in reading a magazine.

I looked up from its pages from time to time to check on the birds.

After lunch, I had another walk round the garden, where there are still no butterflies to be seen, though there were some bees hard at work . . .

. . . and as it looked as though it might stay dry for a bit, we ignored the brisk wind, and decided to go for a e-bike ride.

It did stay dry, but the brisk wind proved impossible to ignore once we got going. After battling into it for seven miles, we changed our projected route of a 26 mile circle to the right round the Crossdykes Windfarm, to a more sheltered 20 mile circle to the left round the Solwaybank Windfarm.

This led us past the spot where I recently stood under some trees during a hailstorm with thunder and lightning overhead. It was a kinder scene today . . .

. . . and you can just see Mrs Tootlepedal disappearing into the distance while I took a picture of a roadside fuchsia.

A bit further along the road, there was a good crop of orchids on the verge.

As we passed the windfarm, we disturbed a group of cattle. They bounded off, and then stopped, turned, and gave us a hard stare.

When you are cycling with someone else, you can’t stop all the time to take pictures, but I did manage a group of what I think is hawksbeard . . .

. . . and Mrs Tootlepedal pointed out a good clump of vetch waving in the wind.

In spite of the brisk breeze, the turbines at Solwaybank had not been going round when we first cycled past them, but as we came back down to the Wauchope road, we could see that they were turning vigorously. Perhaps they had been switched on to provided extra power as people came home and put the kettle on after their day’s work. The ways of the grid are very mysterious.

Just before we got to the Wauchope road, Mrs Tootlepedal spotted a pair of oystercatchers on a large mound of old manure. Looking at the picture, it appears that they may have a nest site there.

The breezy ride was very invigorating, but we were happy to get back home for a cup of tea, before the regualr Zoom with my brother and sisters. They had been very active. My brother had been to a concert in the cathedral in Derby, while my sister Caroline had come up from Portsmouth to have lunch with my sister Mary in London, and then they had all managed to get home again in time for the Zoom.

A day which had started out looking quite wet and miserable, finished pretty well with sunshine in the garden . . .

. . . and a rhubarb crumble and custard for pudding at our evening meal. The weather should be calmer and warmer tomorrow.

The flying bird of the day is a siskin.