Friday Follow-Up: bees in bonnets can be good (Follow ups on bees and SAINTS)

According to one source, when one has "a bee in their bonnet", it means that they are "being preoccupied or obsessed with an idea".


And when it comes to the "visiting bees" in my urban (New York City) terrace garden, I have been preoccupied, actually mesmerized, by the bees which have been feasting on my Hyssop plants. This is evident in the array of blog entries I have made on this blog regarding them, including ones that you may refer to by clicking here as well as here and here. Additionally I authored a post related to my "visiting bees" for nybg's (New York Botanical Gardens) tumblr that you may refer to by clicking here. Moreover, I have posted some images of my visiting bees within my Flickr Gallery. They are located in a set called the HYSSOP and the BEE, and you may view it by clicking here.

Even though there are two "visiting" bees that are "captured" in the photograph directly above, the bees which have been coming to my terrace garden are now fewer in number and they appear to be much smaller.



Juan V was over this past Tuesday afternoon, and we surmised that the little bees must be the ones that are sent out when the temperatures get colder. (-;
However, no matter what size they are, the concentrated efforts of my visiting bees are highly appreciated by yours truly.


The diligence and focus of these special insects is awesome and causes me to think that their very actions of seemingly "obsessing" on my Hyssop plants may be an "explanation" for the aforementioned phrase relating "bees in bonnets" to "preoccupation." My "visiting bees" continue to just focus on what they are doing, ignoring my gardening efforts as well as those of Juan V (which is good since we don't want to be stung). The results of our efforts can be glimpsed in an aerial view that he took of my terrace garden this past Tuesday (posted below). My "visiting bees" are off camera to the left doing their routine work

One of the pumpkins which is part of the Halloween decor can be seen smiling in the upper left portion of the image, but since Halloween is now four days away (including today), it will soon retire for the year, and I am afraid that my visiting bees will soon retire for the year too as temperatures drop. Even though these bees continue to nibble on my Hyssop plants, you can see (in the photographs posted at the beginning of today's blog entry as well as those below),

that the "visiting bees" are blending in more and more with the Hyssop Plants because they have eaten a lot of the "good stuff" (purple foliage) from the Hyssop already, and, also, the purple petals are beginning to drop due to wind which is brought on by  the fall season. Additionally, the Hyssop's petals are being knocked off by the heavy rainfall that we have been experiencing in the tri-state area. Still, because my Hyssop grows in containers, it can dry out even with rainfall, so I am doing my part to continue to hand water my Hyssop plants in an effort to continue their growth as long as possible and to provide "fuel" for my "visiting bees"; besides, as many studies indicate (including a report which you can read by clicking here) most every one knows bees "influence our foods by pollinating our vegetables, nuts, flowers and fruits."


Furthermore, as the aforementioned report points out, "all over the country bees are disappearing. Out of over 2.4 million colonies, over 25% have disappeared so far, and the causes aren't known. The American Apiary Inspectors say that they are talking about bees counting in tens of billions (and) . . . the bee shortage is getting worse now . . . the United States isn't the only country with the same problem. There are plenty of other countries throughout Europe and from other parts of the world."  


Evidently one of the main suspects is  a substance known as Imidacloprid (also known as Gaucho), which is a pesticide that is used all the time in Europe and America . . . (to keep) "pests away from home lawns, golf courses, and residential fountains."  Reportedly (in France) many bees died from being exposed to Gaucho, not because they were directly killed by it as a result of coming into contact with it, but because "they became disoriented by it, and so they had trouble reaching their hives"; the aforementioned article points out that  French beekeepers called the phenomenon, "mad bee disease" — I am here today to say, how could they label this incident "mad bee disease"  when in fact, the ultimate destruction of bees in this matter (making bees disoriented) is brought on by humans, which would make it a mad human disease not a "mad bee disease" — in my humble opinion.


However, the disorientation of bees brought on by being in contact with a side effect of a man-made chemical happens with humans too. I have seen this in the lives of the residents at a "home" where I have been doing volunteer work since 2003, as I indicated in an April 2011 post titled A & P Catholics.


One of the residents whom I'll call Ms. A (not the one pictured in the aforementioned blog entry nor the one seen in a post which you may refer to by clicking here) who lives there, has a habit of going into screaming fits where she seems to be yelling at imaginary people or reliving an awful memory. It only happens from time to time, but when it does the other residents' surmise that Ms. A is having a reaction to medication. They all seem to fear that they are powerless over meds which are prescribed and they live in fear that they will have a similar fate and be disoriented like Ms. A.


While it is true that I don't live in circumstances where I am forced to take meds, I can certainly empathize with the fears of the residents. Once upon a time, in the late 1980's I had a surgical procedure at a well known New York Hospital, and I was heavily sedated. The procedure took place on a Friday and it was one that required my staying in the hospital for a few days. A friend came to visit me and I complimented her earrings to which she replied, "I'm not wearing earrings!" For some reason, we concluded I was too high from the meds which I had been given. I felt out of control but the nurses would not stop giving me meds because my doctor had ordered them. Disoriented as I was, my survival instincts took over, and using the metal IV pole with attached wheels I made my way down the hall to a pay phone, where I made a collect call to my doctor, begging him to notify the hospital to take me off the meds. The next thing I knew it was the following morning and I awoke to find a private nurse siting there — asleep and snoring with a newspaper in her lap. For a number of years since that time, my doctor joked that I had called him  — collect — from the hospital.


However, residents stuck in living centers may not have the where-with-all to fight the issue regarding meds that are making them disoriented, and bees certainly are unable to fend for themselves in matters regarding pesticides. The only thing we can do, dear reader, is to pray that society will be kind to one another and to all living creatures. If this seems like a hopeless endeavor to you, than perhaps the saint whose works we honor and commemorate today can help.  After all, this day, October the 28th, is associated with Saint Jude, patron saint of hopeless cases.


As we come to the end of October, a month which begins on a saint's day, St. Thérèse de Lisieux, which was discussed in a blog entry which you may refer to by clicking here, and  has its mid-point  (October the Fifteenth) on another saint's day, Saint Teresa of Ávila, discussed in a blog entry which you may refer to by clicking here , it is only "politically correct' to include Saint Jude, whose intercession has reportedly helped many, including yours truly.


AND AS WE NEAR THE END OF ANOTHER WEEK , WE  WILL SOON BE NEARING THE END OF ANOTHER MONTH BUT NOT BEFORE WE CELEBRATE HALLOWEEN. If you are interested in getting any of my Halloween cards (that have been mentioned in previous posts throughout this month of October) you can view the selections of cards that I have designed for  Halloween via the Card Shoppe Pages of my web-site Patricia Youngquist Photo-Art. A link to the specific location for these cards within the Card Shoppe Pages may be found by clicking here. They are only available in boxed sets on the Internet due to shipping regulations. However, if you live in the New York City area, my Halloween cards may be purchased as "singles" via Gifts by Helen, the woman who sells the painted cat rocks which have been featured in a number of my previous blog posts that you may refer to with a downloadable brochure that can be accessed by clicking here or by referring to the labels menu on the left hand side of this blog entry and referring to either Gifts by Helen or Painted Rocks. Please click here for her vending location and her contact information. If you decide to e-mail her, please indicate in the subject line of your email that you read about her endeavors on this blog. And, if you would like to contact me about any of the content in today's blog post and prefer to leave your questions or concerns in a "comment" as opposed to sending me an e-mail, but you are new to posting things in a "comments field", you may click here for directions.

Friday Follow-Up: HERE'S THE BUZZ

As you may have noticed, dear reader, this past week, I have included two "extra" postings (Monday Musings on the 17th and Wednesday's Wisdom on the 19th), today (Follow Up Friday) will make it three extra postings outside of my Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday (an occasional special event posting) schedule — a "plan" which I laid out in a blog entry that I made this past January that you may refer to by clicking here.


Because the next several weeks will involve an array of Holidays and special events, and because gardening takes interesting turns at this time of year, and because these topics are often what I discuss in blog entries, I've been asked to include more postings at least until the end of the calendar year.
I am pleased to say that I feel honored and up to the task. Therefore my posting schedule until the end of the year will be as follows:


MONDAY MORNING:
Monday's Musings
TUESDAY MORNING:
If It's Tuesday it must be tumblr.(This was introduced in a blog entry that I made this past September which you may refer to it by clicking here.)
WEDNESDAY MORNING:
WEDNESDAY'S WISDOM
THURSDAY MORNING:
THURSDAY'S THOUGHTS
FRIDAY MORNING:
FOLLOW-UP FRIDAY
SATURDAY MORNING:
SURPRISE


Since today is my first follow-up Friday, I have had to include my new schedule, but, without further ado, here are some follow-ups, and they have to do with the newbie (ahem, new bee), whose image you see at the top of today's blog entry. As you have most likely surmised, from a number of my previous blog posts on bees, which you may refer to by clicking here  as well as here and here and here and here, I seem to have a "bee in my bonnet" when it comes to "using them" as blog topics! It may even seem to you, dear reader, that they have taken over my blog, in the same way as I describe them "taking over" my Hyssop Plants. My visiting bees have (through the efforts of yours truly) even appeared on tumblr, and, if you'd like, you may visit them by clicking here. Additionally, their images have earned them a place in two sets within my Flickr Gallery. One set is called the HYSSOP and the BEE , the other set is called Echinacea; and you may view either of them by clicking here.


The newbie, seen at the top of today's blog post, has her own story for today's blog post. The image of her that you see shows her with some of the succulents in my indoor garden. She is one of the figurines (OK she's a "fake" bee — the non-stinging kind) that have been added to the Halloween decor which I have added to indoor succulent garden, a decorating scheme, that I discussed this past Wednesday, and, if you'd like, you may refer to it by clicking here.


While it's true that my "visiting bees" are still busy in my urban (New York City) terrace garden, indulging in my Hyssop plants, and I have not tired of their presence, I don't want the succulents to feel left out, so I let them have their own version of bees, and, so far, there are four of them, clinging to a few of the assorted succulents which I have in my indoor garden as evidenced in the image posted below (which you may recognize from this past Wednesday's blog entry).

Like the whimsical figurines of the birds (seen to the left and below this passage), which have been placed amongst my succulents and Halloween figurines,

the bee figurines create an ambiance for my succulents, because they are "forced" to live indoors, instead of being able to enjoy being outside.

And, since I have decorated a portion of my terrace garden for Halloween, as evidenced in the images within my Flickr Gallery Set called "trick or treat?" which you may view by clicking here, and have discussed in previous blog posts which you may refer to by clicking here and here, as well as posts on tumblr which you may refer to by clicking here), it was inevitable that my succulents would want Halloween-specific decorations too! Not one to play favorites, I've let both gardens have a bit of Halloween cheer, as seen below in images of both gardens (indoor and outdoor respectively).

It is my hope in sharing a few of my decorating ideas with you, dear reader — although I am no Martha Stewart —  that you will be inspired to decorate for Halloween, AND you still have eleven days  (including today ) to do it; and  whether or not you are inclined to spruce up your outdoor space or living quarters in honor of Halloween, you still have time to send a greeting card to those near and dear to you. I have designed unique greeting cards for such purposes. They are truly special because they fold out into a picture which is suitable for framing! These cards are available via the Card Shoppe Pages of my web-site, Patricia Youngquist Photo-Art, and you may click here for a link to the specific page featuring them!


THAT'S IT FOR TODAY , BUT, IF YOU'D LIKE TO SHARE YOUR HALLOWEEN DECOR SCHEMES, PLEASE POST THEM IN A COMMENT, OTHERWISE REMEMBER, as always, dear reader, I appreciate it when you weigh in with your thoughts, ideas and reactions. If you are new to posting this type of thing, you may click here for directions.

OK, Where's the hive?

Even at this time of year — mid October — I still have bees visiting my urban terrace garden! This past July, as you may recall, dear reader, prior to my planting the Hyssop plants, some bees were feasting on my Echinacea plants, and if you'd like to refer to my blog entry on this "event", please click here. 


I am not sure if the bees that were here in July are the same ones that have been indulging in my Hyssop plants for the past month, or if this "current group of bees" just heard the buzz from their "comrades" on good places to "graze".


In any event, I have mentioned the visiting of these bees in previous blog entries which you may refer to by clicking here  as well as here and here and here, where you can read about them and where you may also see photographs of how much they enjoy my Hyssop plants! They still to continue to bring me joy and to amaze me, but I am bit surprised about their "addiction" to Hyssop, given that I have so many other "taste treats" in my garden including Lavandula angustifolia (English Lavender), Lavandula dentata (French Lavender) and a number of other herbs such as Echinacea as well as three types of roses, but the Hyssop seems to win every time, as evidenced by the image posted below, where one of the bees is indulging in the Hyssop, neglecting the rose which is right next to it.

Not sure what Hyssop is, dear reader? You are not alone, but what I can tell you is this, according to an article (about Hyssop) that I happened upon by Barbara Lardinais, "In 'the old days' before grocery store shelves were lined with cleaning products for every conceivable need, people used nature's products. Hyssop was readily available especially in the Middle East. Because it had detergent properties, it was widely used to clean sacred places such as temples."
(To read full article, please click here.)

The Hyssop plant doesn't sound like the most appetizing thing to me, but I would like to try the honey which my "visiting bees"  are most likely creating from it, unless "my bees" are making a cleaning product? (-;


All kidding aside, whatever they are doing, my visiting bees are mesmerizing, and I wish I could get one of them to "carry" a handwritten note by yours truly to their beekeeper, whoever he or she is, so I could meet him or her. Any ideas, dear reader, on how I might find out where their beekeeper is located? As precious as my visiting bees are, I doubt that they will play carrier pigeon as its probably not in their contract.


SO IF  YOU HAVE ANY THOUGHTS ON HOW I COULD FIND MY BEES' KEEPER, PLEASE POST THEM IN A COMMENT, OTHERWISE REMEMBER, as always, dear reader, I appreciate it when you weigh in with your thoughts, ideas and reactions. If you are new to posting this type of thing, you may click here for directions. ALSO (apropos of nothing in today's blog entry), if you have been busy as a bee and still have not had a chance to get Halloween cards — you only have eleven days to go — including today — please click here to view my selections of delightful greeting cards to honor the festivities.

On the Advice of Bobby McFerrin: "BEE Happy!"

I still continue to be mesmerized by the bees that have been enjoying the Hyssop which is planted in my urban terrace garden. While this image shows a single bee, I have many bees, busy at doing what they do, and they are a thrill to behold. However, I must confess that sometimes I feel like a voyeur when I am watching them, even if it is from behind the barrier of a view-finder.


I have joked with friends that I have "religious bees" because their primary focus seems to be my Hyssop plants as evidenced in the photograph posted in the right-hand corner, and I have posted some images of them in my Flickr Gallery within a set called the HYSSOP and the BEE.



Hyssop is referred to in both the old and new testament of the Bible. There are many articles about this fact already out there in cyber-space, and so I won't go into that within this blog entry — if you find this fact interesting, you may refer (for starters) to a link by clicking here.


As for "my visiting bees" and their relationship to my urban terrace garden, they, on rare occasion, stray from the Hyssop to "mix ingredients" with the other things which I grow in my garden such as my roses (as seen below). 

Plus from time to time, as if they were fine chefs, they dabble in the tiniest bit of "ingredients" from my Lavandula angustifolia (English Lavender), as well as Echinacea (which you may recall from a previous post that can be referred to by clicking here), and they have even been seen "indulging in" my Japanese Larch  AKA Larix Kaempferi: such gluttons my visiting bees!

I can't help but wonder where they are going with all the "stuff" that they are gathering from my garden. I assume that someone in my "hood" is a beekeeper, and I think it would be nice if "my visiting" bees, when transporting "ingredients " from the garden of yours truly, would take a note with them to let the beekeeper know where all the "goods" are coming from! It would be great if if beekeepers could put a chip on them such as owners of cats and dogs do with their respective pets . . . 

Hmmm, maybe I can think of a way to send a "signal" with the "goods" to the beekeeper, but, for now, I'll just enjoy them, and be reminded of the songster Bobby Mcferrin and his song, Don't Worry Be Happy.


Or was that "bee" happy? Click here to find out. (Hint it was just named one of the worst songs of the 1980's by yet another group who takes themselves way too seriously . . . )


P.S. As always, dear reader, I appreciate it when you weigh in with your comments, thoughts, ideas and reactions. If you are new to posting this type of thing, you may click here for directions.

"If it's Tuesday, it must be . . ." tumblr. Week One

Cheers! Happy last Tuesday of September, a great "excuse" to have a Bees Knees, a cocktail whose recipe is from the 1920's, and can be seen pictured above in a unique tumbler. Speaking of tumblers,  I am happy to announce the latest "buzz" regarding yours truly, The Last Leaf Gardener: As of this Tuesday, and, from every Tuesday going forward, I will be posting on The New York Botanical Garden's blog which is on tumblr. At that location, just as you do here, you can read my posts, as well as view my new photographs. However, "over there" I have the ability to display my images differently, and I think, dear reader, that you will appreciate the esthetic.

Hence, from now on, every Tuesday morning, I will post a link from here, to take you to where I am located. Just remember, if it's Tuesday, it must be tumblr. The post which I am pointing you to today includes a recipe for Bees Knees. This "taste treat" was brought to my attention as a result of my being mesmorized by the bees in my urban terrace garden, pictured above enjoying the Hyssop in my garden; and, as you may recall, "my" bees have been mentioned in previous entries on this blog. These entires can be found here and here respectively.


And now, without further ado, the link to find my musings and photographs on tumblr, as well as the great cocktail recipe is here.

"Although (MY) garden is a lovely place, was it worthy of so fine a guest?'

A dragonfly came to see me — or my Autumn Clematis — in my urban terrace garden earlier in the week, and since (A) summer is closing in on us (the season of autumn begins at five o'clock in the morning tomorrow) and (B) I live in a city, this was an unusual occurrence. Although the city I live in is New York City, and perhaps the creature had heard Frank Sinatra crooning, "If I can make it there, I'll make it anywhere. It's up you New York, New York . . . "
In any event, the lovely insect permitted me to take its photograph with the Autumn Clematis's flowers; and my seeing the creature enjoying itself prompted me to think of the 1971 Fleetwood Mac Golden Oldie known as Dragonfly, a song which was inspired  by "the tramp poet" AKA W. H. Davies, who wrote a poem about dragonflies which inspired the following lyrics from Fleetwood Mac:

"And when the roses are half buds half flowers

 And loveliest the king of flies has come — 

 It was a fleeting visit, all too brief

 In three short minutes, he had been and gone

 He rested there upon an apple leaf

 A gorgeous opal crown set on his head

 Although the garden is a lovely place

 Was it worthy of so fine a guest?

 Oh . . . 

 Oh . . .

 Oh . . .

 Oh . . .

Dragonfly, dragonfly, dragonfly . . . "

Long before this surprise and much appreciated visit, I had read (for full article click here) that the visit of a dragonfly is designed to remind us "that living is the moment, the breadth of now. Happiness is the spark within, new beginnings are possible, transformation can happen. There is hope and there is change coming." 

Well, change is imminent since today, Thursday the twenty-second of September, will be the last full day of summer for the 2011 season. Some gardeners, such as  the infamous (and recently departed) Eleanor Perényi, did greet the season of autumn with a "feeling of suspense"; in her book, Green Thoughts, in a chapter titled Autumn, Perényi pondered the season's onset in the garden as this :"When will the final curtain fall?"   

As for me and my gardening endeavors, I am too busy enjoying my fall blooming perennials and the bees playing with my Hyssop as discussed in this past Tuesday's blog entry to ponder "when the curtain will fall", and besides, my Autumn Clematis (a vine I have written about in a number of blog entries which you may refer to by clicking here as well as here and here) and I have just been visited by a dragonfly!


Hopefully, the dragonfly's visit a visit, that supposedly (as indicated in the aforementioned quote) is a symbol that "beginnings are possible, transformation can happen. There is hope and there is change coming" will prove to be prophetic: As many of you know, I have added my services of producing virtual stories and visual presentations to my on-line brochure, where information about my greeting cards that are about more than communication, invitations that preserve a moment in time and event program covers that enhance any occasion has been available.


I am very excited about the response I have received regarding my new endeavors, and, dear reader, if you'd like to visit my redesigned on-line brochure, please click here. Meanwhile, as an introductory offer, I will be giving boxed sets of my note-cards (including shipping and handling) to any referrals which result in a booking of my new services.

HAPPY LAST DAY OF SUMMER!

P.S. As always, dear reader, I appreciate it when you weigh in with your comments, thoughts, ideas and reactions. If you are new to posting this type of thing, you may click here for directions.

"Busy, busy as a bee" — My Bees and Me: Canterbury Tales in my Terrace Garden

As you can see, the bees that are in all of the photographs featured within this blog post are, as the saying goes,"busy as a bee". The origin of the common simile "busy as a bee" is thought to be from Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, (specifically The Merchant's Tale) written in the late 1380s. 

The following is the text, in Middle English and Modern English respectively, from Canterbury Tales:

"Ey! Goddes mercy!" seyde oure Hooste tho,

"Now swich a wyf I pray God kepe me fro!
Lo, whiche sleightes and subtilitees
In wommen been! for ay as bisy as bees
Been they, us sely men for to deceyve,
And from the soothe evere wol they weyve;
By this marchauntes tale it preveth weel."

"Eh! By God's mercy!" cried our host. Said he:
"Now such a wife I pray God keep from me!
Behold what tricks, and lo, what subtleties
In women are. For always busy as bees
Are they, us simple men thus to deceive,
And from the truth they turn aside and leave;
By this same merchant's tale it's proved, I feel."

This ancient comparison of women to busy bees is actually rather apt since every single worker Honeybee that you see out busily gathering nectar and pollen from flowers is a female. In the instances captured in the images posted here, the bees are loving the Hyssop in my urban terrace garden, and they are very busy gathering "ingredients" for honey.

Hyssop is a plant that has beautiful purple flowers that bees love to visit for its "pollens and nectar" according to an article by Donna Daniels. Whatever the reason is for the busy bees in my garden, these "girls" are not the only ones in my urban terrace garden who are busy. As a matter of fact, yours truly has been pretty busy tending to the herbs, flowers, vines, shrubs and trees which I grow there, and I have also been busy with redesigning my on-line brochure.

This brochure not only features links to view my limited edition of photographic prints as well as my line of cards that are about more than communication, invitations that preserve a moment in time, and event program covers that enhance any occasion; it also features links to view my virtual stories and unique presentations, a fairly new service which I now provide to clients.

I hope while the bees in my garden are busy gathering "ingredients" for honey from my hyssop that their "buzz" will encourage you, dear reader, to visit my updated on-line brochure and avail yourself of my products and services. Moreover, I am happy to provide you with a set of my cards for any referral that you make which leads to a booking.

That's it for now, however, as always, dear reader, I appreciate it when you weigh in with your comments, thoughts, ideas and reactions. If you are new to posting this type of thing, you may click here for directions.