Bee March

On Wednesday, in the late afternoon, I was out enjoying my garden when I noticed at first what I thought were thousands of knats flying around my neighbor’s house two doors down. When I realized they were too big to be knats, it dawned on me that it was a whole hive of bees swarming.

I do not like stinging insects but they were far enough away that I was not freaked just fascinated. I kept going outside every so often to keep track of them as I watched them slowing swarming closer. Then they were next door with a few scouts checking out my porch. Now I was freaked!

I didn’t go outside to keep track of them anymore, just watched from the window. It was almost evening and they had alighted in the persimmon tree next door in a basketball sized clump.

Next morning I checked and found them still there. By noon, when it looked like they thought they’d found a new home, I called a beekeeper. He talked my ear off telling me that he "was on his way to relocate some queens and their hives . . . seems that when a new queen is born and challenges the present queen, usually the old queen has to leave the hive and set up another hive somewhere else and the challenger gets to keep the present hive and carry on . . . but this old queen was a tough bird and wasn’t going anywhere . . . so the new queen had to move and that’s when he was called in to move them . . ." or something like that. I began to space out when he started telling me why he couldn’t come until two in the afternoon ". . . had to help his brother clean out his deceased father’s garage . . . and his brother had complained because he thought his father had collected so much stuff, but he (the beekeeper) thought that was hilarious because his brother collects just as much stuff . . .".

Finally, we agreed to meet in the afternoon and he would collect the hive ". . . and give me a three month guarantee . . . because usually another hive will follow a few days after that one, catching the previous bees scent and want to set up shop . . .."

Long story short: the bees were gone when I came home from my errands and I was glad I had taken a picture of the hive in the morning.

Spring in the country

In November I left you with pictures of the dried hills. Today our day in the country is bursting with new life. I’m a hopeless romantic when it comes to the landscape. I love to be out in the spring air, driving, seeing the animals and taking pictures every time the spirit moves me. I guess that’s why I started this blog.

A friend of mine who is exhausted from taking chemotherapy every week told me she enjoyed the pictures on my last entry about spring. She misses being out in the garden because she’s too tired; a sober reminder that every breath I take and every flower and tree I view is precious and shouldn’t be taken for granted, ever. And maybe it's a bit of encouragement to keep this blog going.

After a breakfast at IHOP we headed up to Table Mountain to drop a few coins at the Casino. I captured some of the old oak trees on the way. I love trees (and who doesn’t like oaks).

I’m working myself up to getting out my oil paints one of these days and maybe these pictures will be the inspiration I need.

On the way the wild mustard

poured over the hills like liquid honey.

We passed a cattle ranch and an old barn.

A view of Friant Dam from below. . .

. . .and above

Have a happy Easter week.

Spring?

I smell spring again.

I’m coming out of hibernation not a moment too soon. We are tickling the 70 degree temperatures here in Fresno and it’s been my cue to come out from my cave existence where I’ve been huddled by the fire for the past three months, reading. No, I didn’t abandon my blog, I was just so introverted this winter, I couldn’t write a thing.

So, my first travels this year were around my garden where I’ve been discovering a few emerging bright spots. My favorite— the violets.

They sprang up two years ago on the spot where
my beloved male dog Rusty’s ashes lay— bright reminders of his sweet temperament.

Our orange tree is drooping with more oranges than I’ve ever remembered seeing in the twenty-nine years I’ve lived in my house, not to mention the kumquats.

Fred bought a three inch high magnolia tree at the Arboretum in Golden Gate Park, S.F. years ago when we first moved into our house. It remained in a small 4 inch pot on the patio for years and I thought it would never grow up. When I finally decided it needed to be in the ground and found a place for it in the yard, it shot up and exploded into a beautiful tree.

Now, I look out my kitchen window every week after Christmas, waiting and anticipating the dark flower pods that slowly form on naked branches, finally opening to reveal these beautiful white blossoms each year in Feb./Mar. This week the first one opened (with a little help from me).

While visiting my sister-in-law's today, I had to take a picture of her already blooming magnolia, a different variety.

And, I couldn’t resist including this picture of Fred

with his sister’s dog, Mel, (I think he was named that because he is so mellow). He loves to be in someone’s lap all the time--any body’s lap will do, then he’s a happy camper.

Enjoy spring when it arrives for you!