Pink, Turquoise and Oregano Loving Bees

{As a follow-up to The Great Sunflower Project, 

I counted one lonely bee on my sunflowers

during the 30 minutes.  

I did, however, observe three happy bees

 on my flowering herbs.

They like oregano very much.}

And as a follow-up to my addiction with Pinterest, I have been able to contain myself by only Pinning once a day after lunch.  These are from my board 'Pink and Turquoise' .  Lately I can't get enough of these colors, especially when they're together.

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So there you have it.  I've never given very much thought to photography before, but the more I look through these and play with Pinterest, the more intrigued I am to become a student of the craft.  

Hope you have a beautiful weekend.  And I sincerely hope our neighbors to the east are spared and kept safe.

     

                                    

    

      

I'm Hunting for Bees! The Great Sunflower Project

It seems as though everything in my garden has gone a bit haywire...our corn is 10 feet tall and I kid you not, our tomato plants are over 6 feet!  We have tons of green tomatoes and are just hoping that we'll get our late warm summer days in September and they'll ripen.


It's taken forever, but my sunflowers have finally bloomed!  And just in time - tomorrow is The Return of The Great Bee Count!  This is my second year participating in The Great Sunflower Project, a study put on by San Francisco State University.  Started in 2008, the project has enlisted people from all over the world to observe their bees on Lemon Queen sunflowers, with seeds provided by Renee's Garden.  Because it's been found that both honey bee and native bee populations are in trouble, this project was started as a way to gather information about our urban, suburban and rural bee populations.

Here's how it works.  I will sit in a comfy chair with a notepad in my lap and for 30 minutes I will watch. my. sunflower.  And I will carefully take notes.  I will count bees.  I know this sounds simple, but as I tend to do, I stress out about doing it right.  My instructions seem simple:  as a bee lands, I note the time, then keep an eye on him because I also need to note what time he leaves.  Perhaps you can understand how complications can arise when a second and third bee arrive, my cat jumps on my lap and the phone rings.  


I am told that I should see a bee pollinate about every 2.6 minutes. If I do a count and see more than 3 bees in 15 minutes, my garden is doing better than average (I will be so proud).  If I see fewer than 3 bees in 15 minutes it will mean that my garden has "low pollinator service" (how embarrassing).  All kidding aside, according to the study over 20% of the gardeners in last year's count never saw a bee!  That's not good. So wish me luck, and if you'd like to participate next year, you can join in here.

Seasonal Garden Party

Turn That Frown Upside Down

I've gotten myself into a bit of a frenzy from hearing so many dark and gloomy headlines this week.  One of the downsides of being a member of the super-sensitive society is that I hold all of this stuff in until I'm ready to burst.  So I'm off to the gym to release some steam - Week 1, Day 3 of my new running program - I'm using this Couch to 5K app to get me going again after not running for gulp...15 years.  So far so good.  The super easy format prompts you verbally when it's time to warm up, run and walk, kind of like having a personal trainer by your side for 30 minutes.
  
I just looked through my Pinterest board "Makes Me Happy" to help me lighten up a bit as well.  Thought I'd share some of my favorites.  

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Incidentally, my current running style is pretty much like that of the baby chick above...Happy Friday everyone, and I hope you have a terrific weekend.