Gus's red balloon moment

There's a very long gap between the 730 and 1000 blip red balloon moments, in my case almost a year. A lot can happen in that time, though as it happens it has not been a hugely momentous or eventful period in our lives, except in one respect: the arrival of Gus on 27 December last year.

There could only be one blip today, it simply had to be Gus. He has enriched our lives beyond all measure. I never saw myself as a dog-person, much preferring cats for their independence, grace and aloofness. Yet Gus won my heart from the first day he was here, as he did Wifie's when she met him on the Knott and looked into his trusting eyes - as we now look into them in this photograph. There is real beauty in this little collie who spent his first five years working on farms, sleeping in cold barns, and living off scraps. We have seen him grow from a timid, slight creature who was afraid of becoming separated from his new people, to a strong and healthy dog, confident in his own individuality - yet still unfailingly polite, gentle and good-natured.

My twice daily walks with Gus have breathed new life into this journal. Almost every blip this year was taken on those walks along familiar routes, where we almost invariably found something less familiar. But for Gus, I might have run out of blip steam a long time ago.

Thank you to everyone who takes the trouble to view, comment, subscribe etc to this journal. Blipfoto remains a luxuriant oasis in the Internet desert, where people converge from all over the world, and share their daily experiences of the ordinary and extraordinary. A website of simple brilliance, we owe a huge amount to Joe and his Team for the enormous pleasure that we all get from our presence here.

ps my favourite blip since the 730th.