By: Blonde Two
During my Dartmoor walk on Saturday, whilst at the first tea break at Great Staple Tor, I must have been overcome by some kind of Blonde Sun Blindness because I took my walking top off. You will be relieved (or maybe disappointed) to hear that I did have a vest top underneath. I have no idea why I committed this walking sin but can remember thinking, “I am going to get so burned” as I packed my top away into the rucksack that didn’t contain the sun cream that I thought it did.
Sadly I was right and came home with some new, weird and wonderful red stripes in the pattern of rucksack straps. Looking in the mirror now that they have turned more brown, I have decided that the top half of me looks a bit like a tiger (remind me some time to tell you the story of Six-Foot-Blonde and the tiger.
Another unfortunate outcome of Dartmoor walking in the sunshine is caused by the wearing of close fitting, strong sunglasses. I find these rather necessary, particularly as I drove up with the car roof down (lovely). I have left many pairs of these sunglasses up on Dartmoor and hope to find some of them one day. Anyway, it was so shiny that I kept my sunglasses on for the whole five hour walk and, by the time I arrived back home and took them off, I had the most fantastic panda eyes.
I know that a lot of you lovely Blondees and Blondettes like to keep an eye out for interesting Dartmoor wildlife. Next time you are bird spotting or caterpillar counting and see a panda or tiger striding across the tors – don’t be alarmed, it is probably just a sun-burned Blonde!
Did you leave your sunglasses at South Stack ? These could be a rare find for collectors of Blonde Two sunglasses being found outside of Dartmoor!
You should start your own range of designer products called Blonde on Blonde!
South Stack? It looks nice, I would love to go there with or without my sunglasses. I have been known to wander off track sometimes and even get a bit confused but I am pretty sure I would have noticed walking that far.
I have made a concerted effort this year to not wear my sunglasses when out in the sun because I always end up with horrendous panda eyes which the kids then take great joy in laughing at!!! However, the sun gods obviously feel the need for me to have lines of some sort and I’ve ended up with those horrible lines on my neck that obviously form when the layers of skin/fat roll together and get no sun????? My kids and hubby have found this really very amusing – I have not so now plaster half a bottle of suncream on my neck to stop it getting any worse. Trying to think which animal has just a stripey neck!!
I think you were very brave going onto Dartmoor at the weekend – it must’ve been boiling. I happily sat on Bantham Beach while the girlies went body boarding and hubby went surfing. I even hobbled down to the sea (got a few funny looks with my crutches and giant leg brace!!!!) and had a paddle!
Now this is why I wear a baseball cap. I also noticed with sunglasses that they put a different tint on the world. Many’s the time I thought I must take a photo of this scene, the colours are so fantastic … only to find my [rose tinted ?] sunglasses had misled me. Now what I see is what I get.
Aah! Now if you should find a walking stick nestling alongside the sunglasses, it is almost certainly mine, be it on Dartmoor, Helvellyn or South Stack – or the most recent one – somewhere along the River Otter. I have a nice line in scarlet arms tonight. Broke my golden rule and went butterfly surveying in short sleeves and got roasted right royally.
What a forgetful lot we are! If you make a tour of Dartmoor the weekend after Ten Tors, you can pick up all sorts of useful equipment. Shame that we are all too knackered after that mamouth weekend to do so!
Hee – next time you need a new tent, make friends with someone who is going to the Glastonbury Festival – my decorator said he could have brought me dozens, if the space under the stairs wasn’t already stuffed to the brim!