Bees Beat Crab Apple Blossom

Jackie, with token assistance from me, continued with planting and watering today. I mostly rambled around, carting a few items along the paths.

MarigoldMarigolds

We have a selection of marigolds;

Ajuga and pulmonaria

ajugas, such as this one blending with pulmonaria, are popping up everywhere;

Bluebells Spanish

and our monstrous Spanish bluebells are thriving on the enriched soil.

Among the recent plantings along the back drive are

Osteospermums 1Osteospermums 2Osteospermums 3

three different osteospermums.

My friend Julie at https://ramblingsfromjewels.wordpress.com/2016/04/30/blushing-rosy/ has displayed a fine crop of crab apple blossom. This alerted us to the fact that we are  a little behind her part of USA.

Crab apple blossom

Ours still look like this.

Not prepared to wait for their nectar, bees have already arrived in Downton, and restlessly search such as

Bee and honesty

humble honesty,

Bee and lithodora

and little lithodora, also on the back drive.

No one plant satisfies, so the insects rapidly flit about from one to another and my lens must catch them on the wing.

This evening we dined on pork rib rack in barbecue sauce, somewhat charred because we rather overextended our drinks session in the rose garden, and Jackie’s lovely vegetable rice. I drank more of the Margaret River cabernet sauvignon and Jackie drank Hoegaarden.

Just as I was about to publish this, Matthew telephoned with a story I might like. He had watched a courier ringing the doorbell of his neighbours across the road. Several times. He thought it a bit strange that they did not answer because he knew they were in. Eventually the deliveryman asked Mat to take in the parcel, which he willingly did. When he gave it to the neighbour she said ‘Oh. That will be my new doorbell!’

When I’d finished cackling, I had to pass the phone to Jackie for him to repeat the tale.

 

73 comments

  1. Lovely photographs as usual and funny the story about the doorbell. Poor deliveryman, he probably did not know it was the new doorbell 😀

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  3. The sight of bees always brighten me up. I have noticed a decline in their numbers here so I am putting in more flowers for them, though without much sun on my plot it is a challenge.

    I’m glad to note that your postmen are not drones and human enough to hand a parcel to a neighbour instead of leaving a card for you to do a pick up at the post office. I have trained mine to leave the parcel at the door 🙂

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  4. Such a gorgeous array of flowers. I can only imagine how it looks when everything is in bloom at once!! As for the doorbell, that little ditty made my day!! 🙂

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    2. Oh, Bruce! What does one DO with a persimmon? Our house is on an old persimmon farm (as the old farmer once stopped by and told me). We still have a few trees – but try as I might I cannot think of a thing to do with them – they seem to be all seeds & what’s not seeds is sour.

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      1. There are two types of persimmon (sort of!) First of all the orange fruit looks gorgeous on the tree!
        There’s a sweet sort that is developed for eating like an apple (it still have fairly large pips), and there’s the really horrible one that feels like you’re trying to eat cardboard or lick dry concrete! This later sort is solely for making jams and chutneys etc. It sound like you’ve got the latter version! Think of quinces – unedible but makes lovely preserves!

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        1. Oh, thank you, Bruce, for clearing that up. I was confused by people saying they were delicious, as, you are right – I have the cardboard \concrete version. I have not yet mastered jellies. Perhaps I will try steeping them in vodka. . .

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  10. 🙂 Love the story – good on Matthew for for sharing it! More fabulous bee photos, I don’t know how you do it Derrick! And your opening paragraph made me smile – such a picture!

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  12. Lovely way with those flower pics, Derrick. The doorbell story triggered a memory. In parts of the Southern U.S., it is considered rude to press the doorbell if you know the residents. Only service people do that. If you are a friend/family member, you knock. It took us a while to understand that one. ☺

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  13. What a gorgeous garden you have. Most people knock on our front door because they can’t find the bell, which is rather puzzling as it is at eye level, just to the right of the door. 🙂

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  16. Your bee photos and collection of flowers always warm and charm my heart, Derrick.
    The barbecue sauced rib racks, which were charred due to a longer drink session in the garden, brought smiles and a little envy, too. Sounded yummy and funny. 🙂
    Oh my! I loved the ending best of all. Laughter before bedtime is wonderful and freeing. Kind of slap happy! Have a great week ahead. Sorry I fell behind a bit.

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  18. Growing up, we had 2 crabapple trees in our front yard. The next-door neighbor used to make preserves out of them for the neighborhood.

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  20. Again those flowers are so beautiful and the bee looks so pretty! A funny and strange story that you would read in a book, a man bringing your doorbell but you cannot hear him ring, haha

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    1. Thanks, Lynn. I don’t know if you are familiar with ‘The Two Ronnies’, a great comedy duo. Mat said the story would make a good one of their sketches.

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  22. Not too far behind… those crab apple buds look like they’ll be opening very soon. 🙂 Lovely photos as always Derrick…

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  24. Funny video – reminds me of the old Carol Burnett show. Bravo to you for figuring out how to put that in there. A+ my friend. Lovely flowers, Derrick, and the doorbell story is a treasure.

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  25. Lovely, delightful spring flowers! 🙂 The first and the last photos are so beautiful, love the details.
    Btw, have you tried the Lightroom yet?

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  30. Everyone of your beautiful photos in every post I read I like very much. They do good for my soul and creativity! Thanks 🙂

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