18 Jul 2012

Sun, flower

Sunflower

(Sing along now...)
I got sun-shiiiine, on a cloudy day...
When it's cold outside, I got the month of May...
I. guess. you'd. say... what can make me feel this way?

After the gloom of the slug post, I thought sharing a bit of mid-week cheer was in order (even though, for now, it's still raining here in London).

SunflowerTwo whole days of dryness in one week would be reason enough to celebrate this summer; yesterday was one of those days - albeit pretty overcast - and, on Sunday, we actually saw some blue skies in London. Yesterday evening after work, determined that summer will happen eventually, I took a stroll down to the veg patch to plan what needed to be done next.  Everything looked as it did when I left it on Sunday, perhaps the purple podded were a little plumper but the courgettes were no bigger, the climbing beans no taller. Then - whoop-di-doo! - I spotted that the first of my sunflowers had flowered!  Obviously the Sunday sunshine had worked it's magic.  Such a simple thing, but it definitely cheered me up.

I dashed home to get my camera and had to stand on two wobbly bricks and hold it up high, at arm's length, in the gathering dusk, to get this photo.  I confess I have used Photoshop to deepen the colours very slightly in the top photo to bring out the warmth of the petals.  I could almost believe the sun was shining!

According to online forecasts, the jetstream is moving north this weekend and, in the south at least, we will be basking in, err, 66 degrees Fahrenheit (19 celsius).  That'll do me.

Sunflower
Photo, untouched by photoshop.


For more feelgood cheer, try watching (or dancing to) this video by NZ band The Babysitters Circus:

So you say everything's going to be alright now
But how do you really know?
And I know everything's going to be alright now,
Cos that's the seed I sow.







14 comments:

  1. Lovely sunflower pictures Caro i`ll let you off the odd photoshop tweak (we all do it, some don`t admit it)its weird that we have had enough sun to get plants like these to flower.

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    1. Thanks David! I have no shame.... heh, heh. Given that it was gone 8 on a very grey evening, I was surprised that the pic came out as well as it did! And I do like the blog to look pretty! If these occasional bursts of sun continue, I may even have get my chillis to ripen!!

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  2. Wa-hoo sunshine. I can't wait. I'm off next week so would love to spend most of it in the garden. I did see something that looked suspiciously like a flower bud forming on one of my sunflowers.

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    1. Ah yes, that would be the perfect week off... waking up to blue skies and no work except a little pottering in the garden. If/when we do get a few days of consecutive sunshine, I think everyone's gardens will just take off. I'm concentrating on getting the weeds out this weekend! I don't want those taking off! Hope the weather is kind to you next week. x

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  3. Thank you for the sunflower and the video, I feel so much better now! Heavy showers this morning but bits of sunshine too so not all bad. Looking forward to the jet stream moving soon, hope they have that right!

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    1. Glad you enjoyed both, Pauline. Yes, it was a bit grey here this morning, too, but has cheered up nicely now. I'm beginning to wish I was by the seaside!

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  4. We're going on holiday on Saturday to Cornwall for a fortnight, we may have just picked the best two weeks of the year, time will tell. Wonderful sunflower pictures, they really are cheerful.

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    1. Thank you, Jo - I hope the forecasts are right and you get good weather for your holiday. Cornwall is the best place in the world when the sun shines but even if you don't get the weather, there's still plenty to do. And perhaps your plot will have dried out a bit by the time you come back!

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  5. It's said that sunflowers bring out the happy child in everyone, which must be why I like them so much! The untouched picture is terrific. xx

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    1. Thank you, Flighty; I did toy with using that photo to replace my header but perhaps I should find some veg for the header photo! Sunflowers always give me a good feeling as they remind me of being in the south of France, where whole fields of them are grown, so I associate them with warmth, blue skies, strolls by the Canal du Midi and being with friends. A nice memory! x

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  6. Don't you just love sunflowers - I only wish I had more but the slugs saw to that. Loved the video - there I was dancing along - happy summer music.

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    1. I'm waiting for the snails to finish mine off, Elaine - the leaves have been munched quite high up the stems so they obviously don't suffer from vertigo! Glad you enjoyed the video, it's definitely one to get the feet tapping (and arms waving!) - I've a feeling we're going to get some summer soon!

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  7. Gorgeous sunflowers, Caro. Mine are some way off flowering after sulking in the cold and wet but hopefully the predicted change in weather will spur them on. Spent the afternoon on the plot planting up my leeks in the sun it was lovely to be out in the sun.

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  8. Mine didn't flower until quite late last year, Welly, and then I had flowers right through the autumn. They seem to be very resilient so they'll get there in the end. What bliss to have some sunshine at last for planting! I fully intend to get some work done in the veg patch this weekend, hopefully in the promised sunshine. Lets hope it lasts this time!

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