A Pocketful of Gunge

 The forecast look promising enough for a bike ride later in the day when I woke up this morning. So after a rather half hearted attempt to do some housework I decided to get changed into my cycling gear and go for a short pedal. This the first  time I've been out in over a fortnight, due to various reasons but  it was worth the effort. 

With no winds to fight against it was an comfortable pedal without spending too much energy. There was quite a bit of surface water on the road that was coming down off the hills to contend with but nothing serious, but it did serve to remind me in investing in a pair of overshoes, I will seek advice from my cycling guru, Tootlepedal.

My next door neighbour was out cleaning has car as I was preparing to leave and he enquired where I was heading for, I said I had no idea but would decide when I got to the end of the street whether to turn right of left, I turned left, and headed off up the Westerkirk valley.

My first stop was in this pull off to get a shot off one  of Westerkirk's iconic views......

........the Gates of Eden.

Cycling on I came upon some healthy looking specimens of fungi on the verge of the road.

An example of the water that was coming off the hills after last nights rain.

I pedaled on up the road and was pleasantly surprised to see the phone box had been restored, maybe some of these multi national company's do have a heart and listen to local opinion, or maybe some political influence was at work. However it was nice to see back in place, and I'm sure a nice coat of post office red paint would set it off grand against a lovely background.

I moved on into The Benty, turning left and.......

.....right over the bridge and heading up the opposite side of the river to Enzieholm bridge before returning home. But before that .....

I manged to get a couple of pictures of the mausoleum and Westerkirk grave yard.

After last nights rain I thoght there would've been more water in the river.

On arriving at Enzieholm bridge I stopped to have the banana that I had put in my pocket but un fortunately I had put my mobile phone in the same pocket and the result was mashed banana that caused a lot of problems with the phone when I got home.

But never theless I headed home and was cheered up with some brief sunshine on the way.

 I did stop for a couple of shots of the Kirk as came through the village.

The rest of the afternoon was spent frustratingly trying to get the phone to work, apparently the banana gunge had jammed the volume key which had put it in a mode that Couldn't get out of. After some online help from a patient and helpful technician it was decided I needed to put the phone in for repair, but as strange things happen I set it aside and when I checked a while later it was miraculously up and running much to me relief.