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plan bee ...

Bees will travel a long distance from their nest to find pollen and nectar. Some bees dance, in a figure of eight, to spread the word of a juicy source! Plant Michaelmas Daisies in your garden and you will have bees buzzing with excitement on a sunny day.

Bees are nature's number one pollinator, but they're on the decline. That's why the Co-operative have launched Plan Bee. If you want to find out how you can do more for bees, click on the link.

It's busy being a bee! How about giving them a well-deserved boost with an energy drink. Mix two tablespoons of white granulated sugar with a tablespoon of water in an eggcup, and then place amongst a bee-friendly flower.

Please do not give them brown sugar, honey, Red Bull or Lucazade!

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some Shoreham Airshow shadowshots ...

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Another great day was spent at the Shoreham Airshow, which this year celebrates its 20th anniversary. With the first show raising £1,500, it now raises more than 1.5 million, with proceeds going to RAFA. It really is a fantastic day out, with something for everyone.

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A jaw-dropping highlight of my day being the appearance of the Avro Vulcan Bomber XH558!

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We only live a few miles away from the airport, so I'm really looking forward to seeing parts of the displays again from the garden, on its second day tomorrow.

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the birthplace of Thomas Hardy ...

Thomas Hardy was born in this cottage at Higher Bockhampton in Dorset on 2nd June 1840, and lived here until the age of 34.



It faces West, and round the back and sides
High beeches bending, hang a veil of boughs
-Domicilium

On the day we were passing the cottage was closed, but fortunately for us you can see much of the exterior and gardens from the track, so at least we were able to have a nose over the wall!



The cottage is the fictional Tranter Dewy's House in the novel 'Under The Greenwood Tree', written at the window seat of Hardy's bedroom.



Remember the 1978 dramatisation of The Mayor of Casterbridge. Alan Bates plays Michael Henchard, a man who under the influence of rum-laced furmity, sells his wife and baby for five guineas.

I'd watch it religiously with my Mum, and after we'd utter, many thankies, in the fictional county of Wessex dialect!

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