I Like Bees

bee
Originally uploaded by staflo
"Bees do have a smell, you know,

and if they don't they should,

for their feet are dusted

with spices from a million flowers. "

by Ray Bradbury

When I hear bees humming in our garden, I smile, because I know they are working pollinating flowers, and making honey too.

Oh, and friends, my new book is available on Amazon at

Scrapbook of Motherhood Firsts: Stories to Celebrate and Wisdom to Bless Moms
Scrapbook of Motherhood Firsts

Chard Gone Wild

Here I am standing next to our ancient two year old six feet tall chard plant. We dug up all our Rainbow chard plants except this one, which is now more than six feet tall.

I am five feet four and the chard towers above me, so this photo shows it is actually seven feet tall. We took this photo on June 15, 2012. Last night my husband picked a few leaves and cooked them, though they are a bit tough. Rainbow chard is also called Bright Lights chard, and the stems are red, yellow, fuchsia pink, and green.
We have 4 baby chards planted and may keep this old one as a sort of science experiment to answer the burning question, how long can chard live?
See the Buddha in the garden? I have Buddha in the vegetable patch and the Virgin Mary amongst the flowers. She is near a rose bush I call the Mary Rose. You can't see her or the roses in these photos, and I will post some photos of her again.
If you search my blog subjects list you can find photos of Mary and the beautiful pink Mary roses.
Can you see my garden is wild? The songbirds and skunks and possums love it here. Hey, it is all organic.

Best Exotic Marigold Hotel for the Elderly and Beautiful

101006-144626-Mysore-India
Originally uploaded by PnP!

Yes, my husband and I saw The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel movie and we think it is best appreciated in the theater, so you can absorb some of the atmosphere of India, the street scenes, the market stalls, the buildings.

I recommend this movie, with the main characters being in the over 60s in age set, and include Judi Dench, Maggie Smith and Bill Nighy.

They are living on tights budgets in England and all receive brochures touting the magnificence of a hotel where British retirees will be pampered. The full name of the hotel is cute: The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel for the Elderly and Beautiful. Trusting the brochure each character decides to move to India. The hotel is managed by a sweet optimistic young man, played by Dev Patel. He is enthusiastic in his belief that his hotel, woefully run down, will be renewed.

I won't say more, don't want to give away the plot.

Gondola on Wordless Wednesday

Gondola
Originally uploaded by Stoper

I love Venice though I have not been there and last night finished reading A Noble Radiance by Donna Leon, the mystery series set in Venice.
This is the sixth book in the series, and the first is Death in a Strange Country (as I recall).