Today’s guest picture is another look at the supersized crazy golf course in Nottingham. My brother Andrew passed it on his way to classes at the university.
I was hoping for a bright day today so that I could take some seaside picture when I went to visit my physio who lives on the Solway coast. There has been a lot of loose talk lately about a ridge of high pressure with warm temperatures and sunny skies but wherever that was taking place, it wasn’t here. We were stubbornly stuck in single figures, under very grey skies and blasted by stiff winds.
The opportunity to sit indoors in the morning and admire the birds at the feeder was scuppered by two fly throughs from the sparrowhawk with the result that birds were very few and far between…
…and mostly hiding when they did arrive.
I walked round the garden but there was not a lot to see. The winter aconites are trying to open out…
…and the new sarcococca is doing well.
But that was it.
In the absence of interesting birds or flowers, I went off and did some singing practice in disgust and then after an early lunch, we set out to combine the visit to the physio with some shopping.
I picked up a big bag of economically priced bird seed on the way to visit a garden centre near Carlisle. Once we got there, Mrs Tootlepedal acquired some interesting seed potatoes and an azalea and I purchased a selection of cheeses.
Then we headed off to Annan where I had intended to do some more shopping and take a picture or two. Unfortunately, the middle of the town was clogged up with road works so we gave up and drove out to Powfoot…
…. to see the sea. It was gloomy but a dog was having fun…
…which may have helped to account for the complete absence of any interesting sea birds…
…although the sharp eyed Mrs Tootlepedal did spot a lone lapwing.
I missed the lapwing and took a picture of some seaside gorse instead.
The visit to the physio was useful and interesting but did not in the short term do anything to ease my foot troubles. She thinks the pain may well stem from injury to the tendons in my ankle as it is swollen. She wiggled my foot in many directions and was unable to find any other cause so that may well be the right answer. Unfortunately this means that I will have to wait for ‘time, the great healer’ to do his work but she did say that gentle but regular exercise is prescribed so that cheered me up.
She has put a tape down the back of my calf and along the bottom of my foot to give me some support so I shall try a little walk tomorrow and see how it goes.
I picked up a few walnuts in the garden today and found one or two ripe ones which Mrs Tootlepedal ate. She said they were very sweet. It is a pity that I don’t like nuts with so many lying around. This one seemed appropriate for St Valentine’s Day tomorrow.
In the evening, I went off to the Langholm choir where we had an enjoyable evening of singing. Our current set of songs are tuneful and not too hard which is just what I need at the moment.
While I have been idling about over the past weeks, Mrs Tootlepedal has been very busy.
She has got the first covering of undercoat onto the rocking horse….
…and has been very busy with her crochet hook.
The main body of the blanket is now complete and she is waiting to get the instructions for finishing it off with a border.
The winds are due to ease off over the next couple of days so I hope to get out on the bicycle again. A little sunshine would help.
The supply of flying birds was very poor today and this was the only one that I captured on camera.
