Monday Blues: Those

Yes, those. Those things that make pincushions of the tops of your hands, leave your shins looking like your acupuncturist was a rank amateur, a medical quack. Those thistle, so symbolic for Scotland, so annoying, if not painful, growing here alongside the trails.

I am not sure it this is milk thistle or one other of the noxious thistles brought over from Europe, but they are a certain hazard growing alongside narrow trails in the spring, and seem to be even more aggressively growing this particular year after the deluge of winter rains.

Your medieval gauntlets or your thickest leather gloves might be the wise choice right now. A machete or scythe would be helpful - lay them low before they go to seed.