This morning I rose before I wanted to, made the normal breakfast and got dressed. I noted that there was a little more traffic on the road than usual but lighter than a normal school day – school is due back today, so the lack of traffic must be down to me being earlier than usual. That’s something to note for future use.

Painted Lady on the front brickwork

There was a Painted Lady sunning itself on the front of the bungalow when I got home. I took a couple of shots with my phone but the shadow of my sticks, held under my arm as I struggled with the phone, scared it away. It seems wrong to refer to a butterfly called a Painted Lady as “it” but half the Painted Ladies that I see must be male and it seems even worse to call them all “she”.

I still don’t know how to download photos from the phone, so I used a simple and direct method, as seen in the second photo.

Me and technology are not friends, so I transferred the photo by photographing it

We have had a surplus of tomatoes this year, even on our few plants. Julia made tomato sauce yesterday and it will be going into ratatouille, pasta bake and curry this week. Now the weather is cooling, I feel more like cooking.

Today’s emails brought a copy of an on-line haiku magazine. This was a surprise, as I had not had a rejection from them. Sometimes it happens.  Things must inevitably slip through the net when dealing with hundreds of emails. Paper is so much simpler to keep track of, but I try to be paperless and often lose track. However, it’s better for the planet and, to be honest, more convenient for me. I rarely submit if people want paper submissions.

Painted Lady on Red Campion

Anyway, I had been needing some haiku to round off my submissions for this month and this gives me ten to use. I just had a look at them and, despite none being accepted this time, feel they are in with a chance if given a second chance. There is always a little sunshine if you look.