By: Blonde One

For the last few years (probably about 12) I have spent Mother’s Day up on Dartmoor with a bunch of teenagers that didn’t belong to me. These teenagers were Ten Tors teams and I made sure that every year as they got off the minibus I reminded them to do something nice for their mums when they got home. Very occasionally Little Miss Blonde was with me with the teams but usually she was waiting patiently at home for me to arrive: soaking wet, very muddy and very ready for a glass of wine. One particular year upon waking up to a misty murky Okehampton she appeared in my tent, presents in hand. She had bought a coffee press to go in my Jetboil along with a packet of good coffee and a pint of milk. It was one of the best gifts ever! The year before when waking up to a similarly misty and murky Okehampton, the Young Leaders took pity on Blonde Two and I and decided to forage for gifts for us. We ended up with a couple of twigs and a tiny gorse blossom! I think I still have the gorse blossom somewhere.

This year something amazing is happening … I will wake up on Mother’s Day in my own bed! I’m looking forward to this novelty a lot. There’s just one tiny problem … Little Miss Blonde is on the other side of the world in the Philippines! Typical!

She has, however, sent me some gorgeous flowers grown in the Isles of Scilly.