Sole survivor

Of all the sunflowers I planted this year, and there were two packets of seeds, this is the only one that survived the onslaught of things eating the seeds, hot weather, wet weather and being choked by weeds. But it is rather a beauty (in my eyes) even though it seems to be choosing to face away from the sun. Of course I have many other sunflowers in my flower beds - beautiful big yellow ones planted by the birds with their careless spilling of seeds from the bird table. So next year I am going to just leave all seeds on the table and let the birds do my work - they clearly have a higher success rate than me.

This morning was as painful as you might expect, particularly with the kids up at the crack of dawn to play in the pool - which was right outside the window where Mr B and I were ineffectually trying to sleep on a pile of sofa cushions and assorted bed linen. Much of the early morning (before anyone else was up) was spent with me pacing the house in search of cooler temperatures and ending up standing in the back doorway hoping none of the neighbours were up early to see me barely clothed and very disheveled looking. The dogs looked a bit confused.

Once we were all vertical and the kids could be prised out of the pool we headed home for a day of snoozing. In fact, despite all the daytime snoozing, Mr B and I were fast asleep in front of a fascinating legal documentary by about 9pm. And like the sunflower, I spent most of the day turning away from the sun too.