Sweets from my sweet, to celebrate 4015 blips

It seemed fitting that I’ve renewed my annual subscription today, the actual day I posted my 4015th blip, to mark a total of 11 years of posts, despite it having taken very much longer than that. I started in October 2010, and I remember well the occasion of the very first photo I posted.

Today’s blip records the wonderful present that Woodpeckers bought for me in Dubai Airport while she waited between flights from Chennai and London Gatwick a couple of weeks ago. She’d had a wonderful though brief holiday. I wanted to be able to remember the exquisite marzipan ‘Delicces’, as the box described them, before I consign them to history. I love marzipan as she knows and I was amazed at the colour and delicacy of these sweets. Thank you, Woodie! xxx

Sharing my life with Woodpeckers is a wonderful thing, and we’ve also both been blipping in parallel since I first began, having been introduced to Blip over a pint with ‘DailyKeith’, https://www.blipfoto.com/entry/2010498088388528499, At the time he was a near neighbour in Stroud, but he and Dot moved to Cardiff some years ago, and his blipping eventually stopped. Woodpeckers however is much more determined than me and she has posted nearly continuously, which puts me to shame, as she combines it with her working life, her wonderful stories and witty pertinent writing, whereas I am a rather lazy retiree.

I’m not a very regular or assiduous commenter, though I do appreciate those who manage to do so, and I try to respond when I can. I’m pleased to say I still communicate with some of the first Blippers whom I met here, who’d also started at about the same time as me. Many have fallen by the wayside. I miss the delights of the near daily chats with ‘Molly’, aka Amalarian, who died so suddenly after posting only 460 times. Her wit and insight brought me such fun. I also miss the presence of jkj10, whose portraits have inspired so many people. I’m glad that we were able to enjoy swapping Spotify music playlists and even to have a Blipmeet together near Paddington station, one of her key stomping grounds and locations, beside the Regents Canal where I’d lived on a boat in Paddington Basin in the late 1970s.

Now I’m pleased to say that out of the blue I’ve gained a new Follower from Australia just two days ago, which is one of the delights of being a Blipper. New doors open, new worlds are observed and sometimes even friendships are made. I hope to continue for sometime to come, whilst exploring and expanding my own photography and seeing the many worlds we Blippers all record in so many differing ways. 

But also out of the blue came a sombre message from a former colleague that my friend Jeff Baynes had died recently, after a long illness. He was a cinematographer and artist of some note, who also directed various tv programmes and short films. Jeff gave me my initial break into the tv world when I was his runner when filming the music video for ‘Free Nelson Mandela’ by The Special AKA. I then worked for him for several years in various capacities, before moving on to make tv documentaries myself. RIP Jeff Baynes.

Of course I must thank all of the Blipfoto Community but particularly those at Blip Central who offer their time, energy and expertise to keep our distinctive world running for us all, its members. Finally, where would we be without our founder, JoeTree, whose vision we all benefit from every day. Thank you Joe.