Flutterby Patch

Thinking of bees

Yes, I know it's a bit late to be showing you pictures of apple blossom but it makes the prettiest picture. And just think of all those ripe rosy apples that will be ready for picking in late summer.

In spring our little orchard is always alive with the sound of busy bees working their way from flower to flower, but there could be troubled times ahead.

Honey bees around the world are suffering from a deadly virus that is eliminating thousands of colonies with the result that in some places fruit blossom is not getting fully pollinated. The worry is that if these busy little insects continue to disappear there could soon be an enormous shortage of fruit and veg worldwide.

Wild bumble bees do an excellent job pollinating our fruit blossom but when warm spring weather suddenly turns chill (which it frequently does in Britain) these fluffy little creatures become tired and lethargic and seem to give up the will to live. If a warm day suddenly turns cold and the sun disappears behind clouds I know I will find at least one solitary bumble bee sitting motionless on the driveway. Touch him and he won't fly away but simply raises his legs as if to say "keep away, I'm cold and tired"...... This is when I know it's time for action!

I put a pinch of sugar in a teaspoon.

Then I pour on 2 or 3 drops of warm water and mix well with my finger until all the grains of sugar are dissolved. (As an alternative to sugar you can use a tiny amount of honey)

Then its back to the sleepy bee with the restorative mixture. Just one drop placed right under his nose and the sweet smell attracts him immediately and he will sup it for several minutes.

Then, with his energy restored, he'll walk a short distance to get his bearings and fly straight back to work on his favourite flowers.

My dad, who was an amateur beekeeper, showed me how to help bees in this way when I was a child and I've always done it. Its my little way of repaying the tiny creatures that do so much for us.

Where would we be without them?

Until next time,
Eli

 

Sunshine and smiles

Just two days into April and the sky in north west England has changed from dismal grey to deepest blue so I'm taking my camera on a little wander round our garden. I hope you'll join me.

The pink Camellia blooms are bursting from their buds in rapid succession and are certainly enjoying the warmth of the sun on their faces.

The early flowering heathers have been blooming since January and are always welcome providers of colour during the long dark months of winter.

I love this combination of light mauve and purple produced by two different heathers that have lovingly intertwined over the years.

Primroses grow everywhere in the garden. They thrive in damp places so are spoilt for choice in our wet climate. They love to nestle at the base of stone walls or on mossy banks.

Daffodils are the main players at this time of year and their delicate perfume fills the air on sunny day like this. Clusters of them emerge from the borders and lawns every year without fail. Unfortunately, in their enthusiasm to grow there are often a number of casualties that have been knocked over by wind and rain. So every year I pick the damaged blooms and take them indoors. I have already picked a number by the time I reach this spot.

An avenue of daffs guides us down a long path to the far corner of the garden where we have an area for making and storing compost and a place for a (large) bonfire.

And here we are at that far corner of the garden. The compost area is on the right and the bonfire area just behind me.

Back to the house now to give the damaged daffs I have picked a refreshing drink of cool water. Remember the wall my husband was repairing a few weeks ago? He finished it in record time and the steps are now swept clean and all is tidy again. A splendid job!

And here is a vase of orphaned daffs, I've placed it on the old dresser in the dining room. I love the combination of yellow blooms and blue and white china.

After all the daffs have been put in vases its time to take a quick trip to the local supermarket and I thought you'd like to join me. Past the lake we go with wonderful views over the distant Lake District mountains. Just look at that fresh green hue on the trees, it really lifts the spirits.

And after a short car journey we arrive at the supermarket where I do my weekly shop. Booths is a family firm with a number of stores in north west England. It is of course in direct competition with the big multiples that dominate the British market but despite this is doing rather well; and long may it do so. The supermarket building was once a Victorian station and engine sheds. The buildings were converted in the early 1980s to create a large modern food hall. The current station is now to the left of the car park behind a tall fence....

....and we can see a train just arriving.

I get a few strange looks as I climb on the wall and lean over the fence to get a better picture of this very smart locomotive. Only three carriages but it is sufficient for the area. Most people travel by car these days but the train is well used by the many overseas visitors that come here and of course local people can be whisked away to Manchester and London and all the places in between.

Here we are at the store. I'll leave you outside admiring the pots of brightly coloured polyanthus that are on sale whilst I go inside to pick up a few essentials. 

What a sunny sight we see on the homeward journey; a large patch of celandines growing in our lane beneath the hedge. Like us they are pleased to greet the sun.

There are hundreds of them looking just like little yellow stars in a glossy green sky.

Back home to unpack the groceries and we'll enjoy a welcome mug of tea whilst seeking more information about celandines. This book never lets me down. Its the 'Reader's Digest Field Guide to Wild Flowers' and has hundreds of gorgeous illustrations of British wild flowers with loads of added information. The little yellow flower we saw in the lane is the lesser celandine (ranunculus ficaria). It flowers from February until May, opening fully in the sun and closing when the weather is dull.

The book tells us that Lake District poet William Wordsworth loved the celandine so much that he was moved to write no fewer than three poems about it. In fact his sister Dorothy wrote in her journal (April 1802) that she had to walk endlessly backwards and forwards with William whilst he repeated the first celandine poem to her and he wouldn't give up until it was finished, by which time it was 5 o'clock. She goes on to say that after he'd finished he had to retire with a bad headache... Hardly surprising!!

Here is the first verse from:

The Small Celandine by William Wordsworth

There is a flower, the Lesser Celandine,
That shrinks, like many more, from cold and rain;
And, at the first moment that the sun may shine,
Bright as the sun itself, 'tis out again!

 Until next time
Eli

Wordsworth's Daffodils

Imagine the scene.... It's early spring in the year 1802 and you are walking with your brother in the English Lake District beside the lake known as Ullswater. A truly beautiful place in pleasant weather but today the water reflects the moody grey of the sky, the mountains look menacing and the wind whips icy rain against your face. You trudge along beside the lake sheltering as best you can beneath the narrow belt of trees that grows between the lake and turnpike road just a few yards away.

Keeping your head down you travel ever onwards. Then suddenly you come across a scene that stops you in your tracks. Daffodils! Growing beside the lake, dancing in the breeze. Might this cheerful view not inspire you to write a few lines of verse. I think by now you'll have guessed where I am headed!

The brother and sister in my little story were William Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy. In 1802 Dorothy wrote about this day in her journal and later William recalled the experience in his now famous poem.

I've been waiting for the just the right weather to photograph the exact spot where the poet had his spark of inspiration and yesterday was perfect. I travelled to Ullswater (just a few miles form where I live) and found just the scene I'd been hoping for. 207 years after Wordsworth passed by, in the same place, beside the lake, beneath the trees, daffodils were still fluttering and dancing in the breeze. That is the beauty of this lovely area, so much of it has remained unchanged from the days when the poet lived here.

I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud

I wandered lonely as a Cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and Hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden Daffodils;
Beside the Lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:-
A Poet could not but be gay
In such a jocund company:
I gazed---and gazed---but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude,
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the Daffodils.

The little daffodils growing beside the lake are native British wild daffodils -Narcissus pseudonarcissus

I have a copy of Dorothy Wordsworth's journal which she kept from 1800 to 1803 (see below). Dorothy's original hand written journal is in the Wordsworth Museum in Grasmere. 

The journal was written whilst the Wordsworths lived at Dove Cottage. From this link you can look inside the cottage and also view the other homes the family had in the Lake District.

Dorothy writes in her journal:
'When we were in the woods beyond Gowbarrow Park we saw a few daffodils close to the water-side. We fancied that the lake had floated the seeds ashore and that the little colony had so sprung up. But as we went along there were more and yet more; and at last under the boughs of the trees we saw that there was a long belt of them along the shore, about the breadth of the turnpike road. I never saw daffodils so beautiful'.

'They grew among the mossy stones about and about them; some rested their heads upon these stones as on a pillow for weariness and the rest tossed and reeled and danced and seemed as if they verily laughed with the wind that blew upon them over the lake'.

I'm finishing this post with a photo I took of St Patrick's Church in Patterdale, not far from the scenes above. Built in 1853 it makes a pretty picture with its churchyard full of daffodils.

Until next time,
Eli