Sunday Stroll.

Apart from doing some odd jobs around the house I spent a very lazy Sunday in front of the TV. By late afternoon I decided to get off my backside and go for a stroll round the Lodge Walks. After the recent spell of sunny warm weather followed by showers the vegetation was at it's best.

I passed over the Duchess Bridge....

.....and stopped to admire the view upstream.

I passed the soaring Eagle which seemed to be keeping a hungry eye on.....

.......this small flock of sheep on the Castleholm.

This azalea is quite eye-catching and goes well with the green.

I passed the South Lodge......

....and made my back into town past the Kilngreen where the annual Muckle Toon Adventure Festival is being well advertised.

Recently brightly decorated bicycles have appeared at various locations in the town, and I suspect they are in conjunction with the adventure festival, I must congratulate who ever came up with this idea as it brightens up the town no end at a time when spirits need to be lifted, and if I was a stranger passing through I would seriously be tempted to stop and explore the place.

A Good Place To Be

Shot of the Day

Longtown Bridge

After breakfast and a shower I decided to start de-cluttering the house by emptying the bookcase of unwanted books and passing them on to the Heart Foundation charity. The reason I'm doing this is that I intend to put my house on the market in the near future and move into a bungalow which I own nearby. I've had plans drawn up to extensively extend the bungalow and they have been submitted for building consent. I intend to post regular updates on the project. I loaded the books into the car and took them down the bookbank at the Co-op car park only to find it was full. The books will have to remain in the car until such time as they can be passed on. 

By this time it was time to go to the Townhall Gallery to collect my pictures from the exhibition. Having done this I went to Wauchope cottage with Tootlepedal for a cup of coffee and say good morning to Granny. We decided an outing to the riverside walk at Longtown after lunch would be a nice idea.

I picked Tootlepedal up at the arrange time. On arrival at Longtown we sprayed our self liberally with insect repellent before setting off.

Tootlepedal sets the pace.

Our intention was to get some butterfly shots as there is an abundance of them here. This was rather more difficult than we thought as they tended to flutter about when approached and when you did find one that had settled it  was hard to get a shot with their wings open. Maybe more patience is needed.

A mother duck leading her duclklings over  the river......

......reaching the far side safely.

Arthuret Church stood resplendent in the distance. 

   

The meadows are a sight to behold.....

....as were these orchids.

 

This was a good place to be on a day like today, peaceful, relaxing and good company. By the time we returned to the car we were ready for home. I dropped Tootlepedal off and went home and made some bacon and scrabbled egg for tea.

When I went to put some kitchen waste in the compost bin I was greeted by a family of slow worms. I've had slow worms before but always the one which my grandson Joe named Patrick. Now they seem to be increasing in number,

Back Again and a Good day

Shot of the Day

Browhouses

I've not had very good year blogging wise. This latest lapse is due to  nasty bout of pneumonia which is taking a great deal of recovering from. I went back to work on a phased return basis which was good. Tootlepedal has been a great source of encouragement to my recovery, always suggesting trips out but none too strenuous. 

After some breakfast I headed to the moorland feeder station to do my turn at filling the feeders. When In I was up the previous week I had to beat a hasty retreat due the midges. This prompted me to purchase some of the recommended Avon Skin So Soft which I sprayed myself liberally with; I've no idea whether it worked or there were no midges. After filling the feeders I sat behind the screen and watched a pair or woodpeckers chase each other round tree trunk to tree trunk.  

I returned home for some lunch and a lie down to further aid my recovery. Fully refreshed I drove down to the the bridge near to what was Tarras Distillery with the intentions of walking up the track that Tootlepedal and I have done on several occasions but this time I thought I would go the whole length of the path which turned out to be rather disappointing as it petered out into nothing after a while. I reluctantly returned to the car and headed off to pastures new.

  Just a sample of the many species of grasses

End of the track

 This daisy seemed smile at me as I passed.

I ended up at Browhouses near Gretna, a placed that holds many a good memory, a place where you can enjoy a quiet walk meeting the odd dog walker. 

A pair of Shelducks

Looking over the Solway towards the Lakeland fells

Evidence of the errosion caused by high tides

  

More grasses

  

Himalayan Balsam. An intrusive species but more pleasant on the the eye than the noxious Japanese knot weed and I believe it produces very good honey

I walked along the coast line as far as I could and returned along the path that runs parallel between the coast and the M.O.D munitions dump 

I took this shot expecting a sudden burst of sirens and armed guards appearing from the undergrowth.

I have no idea

It has been a good day and good to be back in a blogging mood again.

Blowing the Cobwebs Away

On Saturday I joined Tootlepedal to keep him company for a while during his mid-day stint looking after the exhibition. I had been in earlier to show off our good work to two of my work colleagues Ian & Aileen Garner. They took their time studying the photos and were very impressed by the overall quality and variety of styles that were on show. Ian and Aileen have become allotment tenants in the last couple of years and are  now very keen gardeners so they were keen to come to my home for coffee and a look at my garden. I finally left them to wander round Latimer's Tardis like shop hoping to purchase a suitcase.  

I left Tootlepedal to attempt his daily crossword and went off to try and get some more shots of the nesting Swallows.

In the evening I was invited to join Carole and Malcolm and some of their friends for a Gurkha takeaway and to stay the night. This was very enjoyable with some light hearted conversation. 

In the morning Carole suggested a trip to Silloth for a walk to "blow the cobwebs out"! Believe me! it certainly did that. On the way we stopped for coffee and scones at a little 

This is the scene when we arrived. 

It was more like an Autumn day rather than the last day of June.

Even though it was rather cold and very blustery, it remained dry. We were just about to head towards Skinburness when Carole spotted a RNLI Lifeboat heading for shore so we waited to watch the manoeuvring skill it took to get the vessel back on shore. 

The landing cage being prepared

This manoeuvre obviously takes a lot of skill and it took several attempts due to the choppy conditions.

circling round for another attempt

Finally into the landing cage..............

.........on to the shore.....

......up the ramp....

....and a good hose down to get rid of the salt water.

All this was watched by a flock of local Common Seagulls

This one legged serious looking gull seemed to be managing quite well in spite of it's disability. 

We eventually continued on our walk towards Skinburness walking along these well built sea defences. Malcolm remarked on when they would have been built so a bit research revealed it all stared in the mid 19th century.

We made this beacon our turning point and made our way back to the car and then headed home.

 

This has been a thoroughly enjoyable weekend as it has, I hope for Mr & Mrs Tootlepedal who have their daughter visiting for a few days.