Portrait of a lady

Grey days are hopeless for landscapes, but great for portraits. This lady was quietly chewing the cud on Arnside Knott, and consented to pose for a few photographs. She felt that she looked much more attractive in profile, since from the front her red fringe looked a bit like a basin cut, definitely in need of the expert scissors of Dancingninja. She told me about her work, sub-contracting for the National Trust, helping to improve the diversity of the limestone grasslands for attractive flowers and providing ideal conditions for butterflies like the Scotch Argus and Northern Brown Argus (both of which will soon feature in back blips). She and her friends are doing a good job, and the grasslands are noticeably richer than they were a few years ago. This year was good too for butterflies on the Knott, despite the appalling weather.

Well, maybe I have been slightly delirious as a result of the man flu. It turns out, though, that I was not in a state of delirium a week ago when I travelled back from London and glimpsed the fairy castle made of hay bales. My friend and colleague A not only saw it on her trip to London on Wednesday, but on the way back on Sunday she managed to film it on her Lumix. And there were some who doubted me. Ha!