I have had such a awful day today. I can’t explain why, but if you can imagine your worst nightmare then this was in that calibre of days. I have spent the day locked in my office with the two Louises trying to sort a huge problem out. My business world is truly in tatters. Talk about going from the dizzy heights (Tuesday) to the depths of despair. I still don’t know if it is resolved so my weekend is now ruined because I know I won’t sleep a wink until it is sorted one way or the other.

Because of this, I ended up getting trapped at work until way after the close of play. I got stuck in traffic on the motorway and missed my hair appointment so I have no relief from my ever growing mane, which I was so looking forward to getting tamed.

We had invited DMs folks round for supper too so I had to dash into the house and, still in my work clothes, make supper. Whereas I thought I would have enough time to prep the food before they arrived and then spend a delicious evening in good company, having taken their picture before supper and so my PotD would be done, I ended up still prepping while they were sat in the garden with David enjoying a drink. Food overtook my plans for taking pictures.

By the time I sat down at the table to eat, all I wanted was to relax and not worry about anything. DMs folks are lovely and really good at that so we did have a wonderful evening after all, except the bit when I was wheeling out the pavlova (yes, I do get stuck in certain things for a while, we also fed this dish to Beth and Sab as well as Becky and Iain recently) and I moved a glass, which I put onto the granite ‘Lazy Susan’ on our table and it fell over and smashed. Thankfully it was empty so at least red wine didn’t get sloshed everywhere but we did have a shower of glass land all over the table and the patio. Whoops – it really isn’t my day!!!

As we were sitting chatting at the table, looking through the doors of the conservatory, I noticed the now dead flower of the ‘bird of paradise’ plant. Its spikiness even though it is completely spent seemed like a good representation of my own situation, defeated but still spiky and with an air of life even in a dire situation. So it became my own inspiration for my shot.

I always love the light in that room – it has such a warm ambience and feels very Mediterranean. I can still appreciate its beauty even in my panicked and terrified state. Perhaps this means there is hope for me yet? Anyway Cheryl – the answer to your question is ‘no, I don’t feel a sense of accomplishment, all I feel is drained and exhausted’…..so much so that for me now making a simple decision that I should be able to make without even a second thought is a huge challenge. I cannot believe this but I stood in Sainsbury’s this evening and because they had no ripe avocados I was so phased I stood there crying. If I wasn’t exhausted all the time, I could have thought of something else to make that didn’t need them but all I could do was cry. Luckily (!) for me, there were some organic ones in a different place in the store that were just about ripe so I ended up not needing to change my plans…..

Last year, I was photographing my baby and two years ago, I was enjoying an evening out with my two friends, Jules and Suze!