Farmer plants 1.2m sunflowers as present for his wife

(Image credit: Oleg Elkov/Alamy Stock Photo )

published 3 August 2023

A farmer from Kansas planted 1.2 million sunflowers as a surprise anniversary present for his wife. Lee Wilson, who met his partner Renee at high school, told reporters that he’d asked himself “What’s a guy get his gal on their 50th?”, then decided to sow an 80-acre field four miles from their house with sunflowers, because he knew she liked them. With the help of his son, Wilson planted the field in May, and managed to keep its existence a secret until he revealed it to Renee. “It made me feel very special,” she said. “It couldn’t have been a more perfect anniversary gift.”

Former paratrooper completes 19,000-mile UK coast walk

A former British paratrooper has completed a 19,000-mile walk of the UK coastline. Chris Lewis, 43, set off from Llangennith beach on the Gower Peninsula in 2017 with £10 in his pocket and just a few days of supplies. Since then, he has adopted a stray dog, raised £500,000 for an Armed Forces charity and become engaged to – as well as had a son with – a woman whom he met along the way. “This walk has restored my faith in humanity, and hopefully other people’s, too,” he said.

A Norwegian woman and her Nepalese climbing partner have completed the fastest ascent of the world’s 14 highest mountains. Kristin Harila and Tenjin Sherpa achieved the feat in three months and one day – three months and five days faster than the previous record, set by Nepal-born British climber Nirmal Purja. Both teams used oxygen and helicopters. On her way down from K2, her final summit, Harila, 37, paid tribute to Tenjin Sherpa, saying: “I would never have been able to manage this feat without him.”