Tarnside Hawthorn

I've seen blips of girly legs climb high into spotlight, but I never expected my own to get so much attention and reach such dizzy heights here. Your responses were fabulous and hysterical. I would guess a lot of the views are from people returning to keep up with the comments. You are an amazingly witty and clever bunch of people. I've been in a meeting most of the day but it's been so much fun to catch up with your suggestions at odd moments during the day. They've really put a big smile on my face. Thank you all again.

I have to admit that it was a bit tongue in cheek because I actually had no intention whatsoever to shave my legs, and that resolve has only really been confirmed by what you've said. Although, at a practical level, I just don't have the time for such vanities, the main reason is that it just doesn't fit with my self-image. It's so at odds with how I see myself that I would be extremely uncomfortable walking around with an absence of leg hair. I think I would feel quite naked and exposed - and highly self-conscious. I think some people are quite happy to change the way they look, and adopt a different persona accordingly, but I've realised that I'm not very keen to do that. I hate wearing a suit, for example, because it doesn't fit with how I see myself. It's just not who I am.

I enjoyed a wonderful blipmeet last night, meeting someone brand new in SnapshotSam, which was a delight, and also an old friend who has just started blipping in Jonnieb1. He and I know each other from being close rivals in fell races over the years. We go a long way back. In truth he was always a better runner than me but I got the odd victory, sometimes as a result of applying a bit of local knowledge like when I beat him into 2nd place in winning the Beamsley Beacon Fell Race through knowing a better descent line. Remember that one Jonnie? Couldn't resist mentioning that as it was one of my finest moments. The odd thing is that we probably found out more about each other last night than we had done in the previous 20 years!

I'm still struggling with the last vestiges of this cough so decided to take another day off from the bike and took a walk on the moor this evening instead of going out on the club ride as planned. There was some wonderful cloud action going on (captured brilliantly by Mr. Covered in Bees here) and I took some spectacular landscape shots, but in the end I kept coming back to this shot for my blip. The Hawthorns are in blossom all over the moor right now. They are a truly beautiful sight. They have to be in my journal and tonight is the night. This one is for TJ. She loves her Hawthorns too.

PS Just realised that my year ago shot was one of my early favourites, taken on a similarly sunny, cool and breezy evening on the moor.