a dog goes out in the mid-day sun

Penny has helped with the garden today and done some sun-baking. All very well, except for the fact that the temperature reached 44°C today. (That's 111°F.)

'Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the mid-day sun,' as the song says.
But I think Penny's not mad, she's just loyal. So every time I ventured out to see how the poor sad plants were coping, or looked around to check there was still water for the birds and insects, she came out too.

The plants had a terrible time and not all the insects made it through the day, either. Here's a lovely beetle that died in the heat.









But this praying mantis made it, because I found it trying to get a drink from the tap - no luck of course, because of water restrictions the tap was off - and brought it inside for the day to sit in a jar on a little wet sponge.







Penny was quite chirpy for most of the day but flaked out on the floor of the kitchen when the power went off (and our cooling went with it). Thank goodness it was only for an hour or so.

Tomorrow is predicted to be equally hot. So once again it will be a restful day for Penny, except for those little excursions to check the garden.