Category: bees

bees · Books · Flowers · Garden

Back to Bees

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I never think of myself as a non-fiction reader and yet here I am, having recently finished reading Michelle Obama’s ‘Becoming’ and one of my favourite summer reads this year was ‘Robbing The Bees’ by Holley Bishop. It’s a mixture of fact and fiction (faction, narrative non-fiction?) published in 2005 and hugely enjoyable. thumb_IMG_2221_1024

The thing is though, it only heightened my wish to have bee hives. I’m like a child who wants a pet and is not thinking at all about the practicalities.

One of the things I love about going to farmshops and summer fairs is the chance to buy local honey and after reading Bishop’s book I’ve been left thinking that I should eat more honey, with all its health benefits. In fact I think I’m going to try to have a spoonful of honey every day.  What a lovely thought!

 

Bees on the Comfrey and the Borage

bees · Wildflowers · Writing

Ten Minutes to Spring

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How do I feel? I want to catch this moment! Paint it, sing it, tell it, share it!

The sun is warm – yes! – and blinding me as I write this.

Ten minutes in the garden, I’ve been telling myself. It’s a way to get started. Well, it always stretches, doesn’t it? That’s a good thing though.

So, today it was the turn of our ‘wildflower patch’. thumb_IMG_0201_1024It was so successful last year but over the winter it had become covered in long grasses and piles of damp leaves.

I picked up the long handled rake ready to attack then suddenly noticed a fresh green shoot sticking up. Of course! I had planted some bulbs in the autumn. I’d nearly forgotten about them. What a gift!

With care, I raked away. More and more shoots began to appear and the ground cleared easily.

I’m a bit nervous, will the wildflower area be as good as last year with so many insects enjoying the flowers? Well, I guess only time will tell but now I feel at least we’re off to a good start.

So my thought for the day? Begin with ten minutes and scrape away carefully, let’s see what’s underneath. It’s a trick I’m trying with my writing.

 

 

Looking forward to using this – a gift from a lovely friend!

 

bees · Wildflowers

Wildflowers

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Where flowers bloom, so does hope. 

Lady Bird Johnson

All summer I have asked in every garden centre I’ve been to (and there’s been a few!) if they had any Borage plants or seeds.

I must have been too late though as there was no sign of either.

I had read Borage is brilliant for bees so was quite enthusiastic to have some in my garden. Eventually I thought, I’ll just have to wait for next year.

Imagine my surprise when on returning from two weeks away my little wildflower garden (planted with a packet of un-named seeds) had turned from this to this!

I had a sneaking suspicion that the little blue star flowers might in fact be Borage and they are! It was growing in my garden all along! Right under my nose.

Funny how often things turn out after all.

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Borage (Borago officinalis) also known as star flower.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Molly appreciates the wildflowers too!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A cottage garden!

 

bees · Flowers · Happy

Bee Happy

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I wrote a blog post last week and for some reason it didn’t save.

Not a great start to a Monday morning when I was hoping to just check it over and publish.

Still, oddly enough the post was about little things and how they can make you happy. In the scheme of things I decided, this was not a big thing and certainly wasn’t going to make me unhappy.

In fact, in a cup half full sort of way, perhaps it was a good thing? Maybe the post wasn’t that great anyway and now this was a chance to start afresh?

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Top 20 things to make you happy

A few years ago I cut out this clipping from a newspaper. For a while I hung it up in the kitchen and then I used it as a bookmark. I hadn’t seen it for sometime and had forgotten about it until thinking about this post.

On my way to try and find it amongst the mountain of books on my bedside table it was there; lying on the floor in front of me!

Somehow it must have blown off the table as I picked up a book that morning! Bizarre, definitely meant to be anyway!

 

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Taking part in the bee count makes me happy!

 

 

Taking part in the Great British Bee Count has made me really pay attention to the beauty and intricacy of flowers. I’ve spent a few moments each time watching the bee at work, an amazing sight and well worth taking the time to see. Definitely a small thing I would like to add to this top 20.

 

 

 

So, here we are, blog post written, photos included, a small thing but certainly one to make me happy – I could add it to the list above.

I’d love to know, what small thing makes you happy, is it on this list or something different? 

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The beauty of an allium.

 

bees · Books · Inspiration · Knitting · Libraries · Reading

Connections

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Funny how little things link together throughout your life.

At the weekend I had a day of ‘connections’.

I was lucky enough to attend a writing course run by David Gray on behalf of the SCBWI.

What a treat, to take part in a writing course and be surrounded by books! The course took place in the fantastic setting of Dunfermline Carnegie Library, which, linked with the new museum, galleries, reading room, cafe and much more, looks out over Dunfermline Abbey.

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Wonderful view from the Carnegie Library

Afterwards we had a look at the super  ‘Blooming Marvellous’ family friendly gardening exhibition and it even had knitted flowers!

 

I grew up hearing the story of Andrew Carnegie and love the way his gift has just kept on giving. Dunfermline was the world’s first library to be funded by Andrew Carnegie and it opened in 1883.

The library was busy, even on a rainy day, and I’ll definitely be back to spend more time in Dunfermline.

So many things I love all together in one place; writing, reading, gardening, art, museums, knitting (and a cup of tea!) – truly a day of connections.

 

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Bee on the raspberries

 

bees · Books

Bees and Books

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Bees, butterflies, birds, insects, flowers, trees, I think perhaps a garden is one of my favourite places to be. thumb_IMG_9038_1024

Now, team that up with a chair, a book and a sunny day – it just can’t get any better! (Okay, maybe we could add in a cuppa there!)

Sitting outside I can see the apple and cherry blossom are looking their best ever this year in the garden we’ve tried hard to make as bee, bird and butterfly friendly as we can.

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I’m so glad we did, especially after I finished reading our latest book group choice; The History of Bees by Maja Lunde.

 

It is a sobering thought to consider a world without bees.

With this in mind, I’ve joined the Great British Bee Count (on until June 30th 2018). Hopefully every sighting will help to inform the national Pollinator Monitoring Scheme.

What’s next? I have a copy of ‘The Bees’ by Laline Paull sitting on my bookshelf, time to switch the kettle on and find that chair in the sun!

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