then home to tidy up for an expected viewer [who cancelled at the last minute]...that was my day.
but on closer inspection.. I did notice flocks of finches flitting in the plum trees, through the vegetable garden and up into the apple tree. their tweeting making me lift my head from the task of hanging the washing out. magpies sticking their beaks into the grass to catch a worm or snail. apple leaves fluttering to the ground in their autumn undress. and bees, oh the bees.. lazily snuggling into the thai basil, the nasturtiums and borage. that lazy, autumn, fuzzy, snuggling that only happy bees can do... bees are in abundance in my garden.. but I have read that they are threatened in other parts of the world. sprays perhaps? or the mobile towers that seem to dot the worlds surface, everywhere.. or a virus? no matter what it is... a world without bees is a world without honey.
[an unused beehive in my garden. I was going to leave it here at Inglewood but have decided to take it with me. I have many unused objects in my garden, just for decoration. take the chandelier that I have hanging in the chicken house for instance. purely for decoration]so, just what can we do to encourage bees into our gardens? plant a bee garden. a garden full of flowers that bees love: blue is a colour that bees adore so borage is perfect. lavender and thyme. citrus trees and flowering herbs. clove pinks and lemon balm. just to name a few.
but most important is to stop spraying. It breaks my heart to know that people still consider spraying bees.
[other things: I don't like the taste of nettle tea, oatstraw is actually nice. the hot foot-baths: still not sure if they work yet but I will keep trying. I have a bubble of excitement in my solar plexus area and I don't know why.. life has something exciting instore for me..I love my life. I am happy]
9 comments:
"..take the chandelier that I have hanging in the chicken house just for decoration". Robyn, you're the best!
A chandelier in the chicken house? Those are pampered chickens indeed, LOL!
Hi Robyn. Yesterday when I was at HOJ for my coffee and writing I overheard a customer say he worked with a bee keeper. Well, I just had to talk to him. He said that there really was a bee problem but it was mainly with large honey producers. Smaller producers were not suffering from a lack of bees. Interestingly, he also indicated that along with pesticides, one of the biggest harms that bees are suffering from is weak genetics. He said many of the imported bees suffer from weak genetics and are dying off. We couldn't talk any longer but I was so interested I would have loved continuing talking with him.
Hope you have a great time at the movies. Gosh, it has been years since I have been to one. It's just far too expensive here. Thanks for the advice yesterday. I am drinking some green tea right now...iced of course. I always have to have cold things in the afternoon...even in the dead of winter. The people who work in the store get such a kick out of me buying iced coffee when it is almost zero outdoors.
Mary
hello my lovely~you sound so positive today :)
nettle tea is appaling stuff! i first tried it when i first became a vegetarian way back in 1981/2 and have never touched it since!
bee's are at risk due to something called colony collapse disorder :( but i have seen three huge ones in our garden today :)
I know there is some concern over the bee population....that it is dwindling but I have seen quite a lot of bees in our yard. They seem to like the rosemary, and there are many of them in our apple tree right now.
The way you described your garden today was so beautiful. I could feel your love coming through the words.
Glad to see you are so happy....Yes lets blog for ourselves and leave the rest to the universe...I think it is a great tool for exploration of our own thought processess...I look at how I respond to other blogs, comments etc... I watch my observations...Jealous, critical, agreeing...its all about how I deal with my world and this is a little micro world, one where we can view ourselves...even who we "like" and why do we like them...?! whoa! the posts take me on a journey, and one that I certainly never expected at times....peace and continued joy and of course like Laura says Gentle steps, Cynthia
Do you have summertime bugs where you live? I mean the nasty biting ones like black flies and mosquitoes?
There was a sweet beekeeper who sold his honey at our Farmer's Market (he just recently passed, market night's not the same without him). Anyway, he had told me that his bees had been fine though he knew other beekeepers had experienced Colony Collapse Disorder. He attributed his bees good health to his giving them an herbal supplement when feeding them after "robbing the combs" - you have to give them something to replace the honey you remove. He said one of the main ingredients in the supplement was thyme. I've been adding more thyme plants around the yard, since hearing that, hoping it would help the wild bees who visit here.
Just watched your film from Villa Eggplant and loved it. I miss having chickens sometimes - my mom and Nannie (grandma), always kept some hens and even the occasional rooster. I love listening to hens clucking to themselves. Thanks for sharing that. I'm sure they must love their Villa, complete with chandelier!
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