I took these pictures a couple of weeks ago and I've been meaning to post them. The Crocosmia "Lucifer" is done blooming now, but as you can see, when the flowers were out the bees were loving it!
They go head-first into the flowers, which seem like a fairly tight fit...
...and then they have to back out.
It's kind of amusing to watch. But as I said, they've now moved on to other flowers. There's plenty still blooming out there: the lavender, the dahlias, the inulas, the agapanthus, the Japanese anemones.
Apologies for being scarce in the blogosphere over the past couple of days. I am buried at work at the moment, trying to gear up for the new school year. We always have a lot of tasks to complete, like removing graduated seniors and their families from the library computer (which takes hours), organizing all the magazines that have arrived over the summer, figuring out displays and getting the physical space ready (making sure the furniture is in the right place, the shelves are organized, etc.). A surprising amount of stuff gets moved around during routine summer maintenance.
This year, some of the library plants have required extra care. We have a Christmas cactus that seems to have come down with a rip-roaring case of mealybugs over the summer, so I brought my rubbing alcohol and Q-tips to work yesterday to solve that problem. Plus I've been trying to complete paperwork relevant to settling my mom's estate. It's always something!
I normally read blogs during downtime at my desk at work, but I've had no downtime. Hopefully that will change soon. By the time kids arrive next week things should be more normal, and hopefully even before that!
22 comments:
I love how you find time to tend to the plants amongst the chaos of a new school year.
These photos are wonderful but my near-phobia of bees makes it impossible for me to dwell on them. Maybe it's time to work on that.
It does surprise me that a behind the scene systems don't automatically remove students who are no longer at the school.
The photos are so good. Phone camera?
Mealy bugs don't seem to like high wind areas so can you position yours to get more of a breeze once the mealy bugs are taken care of?
There seems to be a lot of manual work in your systems, removing seniors, etc. And in the other sense, moving furniture. And mealy bugs! Welcome back to work.
It seems like the person/people who created the database driving your system would have come up with a quick and easy way to remove everyone who had graduated in 2023, for instance.
My parents once saw a bee like that back out of my ear canal. I can still remember them marveling how funny it looked while I was in tears and crying in pain.
Great shots of the bees ... it's like they can reach out and touch Mitchell!
I always love watching bees do their thing. So much more industrious than I am. Ha!
Great shots, Steve!
And yes, this has got to be a very busy time of year for you but soon you will have everything moving along smoothly. Hopefully this year will be less fraught than it was last with your parent's attempt to ban books from your school.
I remember those busy days of getting ready for the students. Hope all goes well this year, Steve.
While I was still working, I would tell myself and some of my coworkers, to not make a project harder then it actually is! We were in a law firm's word processing department, so it was good advice when deciphering lawyer's handwriting!
I hope you check out Bee Haven Acres beautiful pictures today! Flowers are in bloom all over the place!!
I am surprised by all the work you do to get ready for school to begin. I'm glad that you got it done and will be ready when the students arrive.
Lovely photos of the flower and bee.
We don't appreciate the work librarians do to keep up a well organized library.
that crocosmia is so brilliant and a great shot of the bee. thursdays are the day I have no time to read blogs and sometimes Fridays so I get it.
Bees are such amazing creatures. I love seeing them work flowers... backwards, forwards, any direction!
You should get a bonus for tending the library plants in addition to your regular work.
You captured some great "bee" photos!
It seems like a very busy time of year in lots of places. Hopefully it will even out soon. There have been back-to-school activities even where I work.
Back to School is always a shock to the system AND schedule. I still remember the time I came in to work in my room and my mini-fridge was sitting on top of my desk. Made it difficult to get anything done.
Oh, I think everyone understands that occassionally life interferes with our online lives. :)
I did not realize that back to school was so labor intensive. Libraries don't organize themselves, I guess.
"There's always something", indeed - words to live by :D
We've all been there, so no worries!
I have one Lucifer plant in my garden -- the others never "took." That shot of the bee is absolutely fabulous! Good luck at work -- those early days back anywhere always seem like a mountain of work.
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