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First, old ladies Janet and Rita - AKA Bluey and Bingo Heeler from Bluey, a cartoon my youngest niece, vom Smallhäusen, introduced me to while I was babysitting a week or two ago. They are hilarious! The costumes, the voices, the shoplifting, the driving, the absolute glee with which Bluey and Bingo portray Rita and Janet - and the reactions of their parents Chilli and Bandit - all combine to form a delightful two or three minutes of fun that had me almost crying with laughter.
There's a snippet of first appearance of Rita & Janet in the first minute of the video at the end of this post, but the video below is of the whole Heeler family having some fun:
(It didn't take many episodes for me to want a smoochy kiss with Bandit Heeler, either!)
. : .
Anyway, enough of adorable Australian cartoon dogs, let's have a look inside my allotment compost heap, shall we?
Ooh!
Oh, there's not as much as I expected. These honeycombs are only hanging from one piece of wood
I saw the bees on a warm day a month or so ago, but it looks like the combs are empty now and the bigger ones have turned black (mould?). I hope the queen is still alive in there somewhere.
. : .
Now for some garden growth:
Chocolate vine (Akebia quinata) flower buds & leaf shoots
Kiwi vine leaf buds
Foxglove seedlings - Chocolate (Digitalis parviflora) and Strawberry (Digitalis x Mertonensis)
Pineapple lily (Eucomis comosa) shoot
. : .
And back to the allotment to show you what I've been up to when not watching Bluey:
This weekend I dug up the apple and pear trees from Hexenhäusli Device's South Garden and transplanted them up to the allotment where I hope they will do much better (it's too shady at home for them). I moved the plum tree last week, and nabbed some errant tayberry canes from the abandoned allotment next to mine. I'm not sure where they're going to go yet, so they'll probably remain in those pots for a couple of months or so until I have a good tidy up.
. : .
I'll leave you with Janet and Rita in "Grannies":
(As well as contending with Winter Doldrums, Time seems to be escaping me more than normal these days. I will get around to visiting you all at your blogs some point very soon, I hope - and replying to your comments in the previous post!)
Cute cartoon! I love the picture of the honeycombs! I too hope the queen has survived! Nice to see a post from you.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Ms Proxima! I'm not sure about the queen - we've had rather a few warm days and I haven't seen any life in the combs, sadly.
DeleteLike is finally spring...at least somewhere. In a few weeks, Im sure with our current temps, things will be moving and blooming finally. A garden clean up is already scheduled.
ReplyDeleteI was glad to see a post. I was beginning to think the black hole that got MJ, Norma and a few other got you, Scarlett, Dinah... and what with Jon gone...we're dropping my flies.
I did skirt the edge of that black hole's event horizon for a while, but managed to slingshot away just in time for a garden clean up here, too!
DeleteOh, yes - we've come back to find loads of signs of Spring here, too - irises and crocus in bloom, and some gratifying signs of life on loads of fuchsias, and even the agapanthus we thought had corked it!
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of corking it - I hope you found some signs of life in that wild hive. Look forward to seeing the fruits of your labour at the allotment come summer! Jx
PS those Australian dogs left me cold, but then I am not, nor am I related to, a toddler.
Yes, Spring has arrived and there's loads of furit blossom on the trees and canes up at the allotment (no bee movements, though)!
DeleteLike you, I'm very pleased to find loads of new shoots on my fuchsias, and that the agapanthus has survived being half dug up (by Bitey), wee-ed on (Bitey again), and drowned (rain this time, not Bitey wee).
That's it the Winter Doldrums! I cajoled the MITM into writing a blog post because couldn't seem to find anything I really wanted to write about. Mistress Maddie was part of the inspiration for his post (cities you hate), anyway I think your garden looks as if it will be stunning come Spring, sweetpea! Thanks to BGM, I've become a defacto fan of The Loud Family. It's also a strange cartoon, but WTF it's SHARED activity that doesn't deman too much from me! xoxo
ReplyDeleteOoh! A MITM post? I must get over to your place v.soon.
DeleteIt's a friggin' wonder, any new year.
ReplyDeleteDoes it make sense to translocate these bee constructions, or be they better left where they are ? But then you probably need another composter ?
There's a county beekeper's association who might come and relocate the bees, but I fear there are no bees to relocate now, just the combs. I'm leaving them in situ for a bit longer just in case, and fortunately I have been given another composter by a fellow allotmenter.
DeleteYou'll soon be filled with the joys of spring, when the sap has risen, but do be careful, it can make you do daft things, like purchase a whimsical Mary Shaw painting and then being treated for shock afterwards by the paramedics, babbling 'what have I done, what have I done...' whilst wrapped in an aluminium blanket.
ReplyDeleteCrikey! A Mary Shaw? I hope the paramedic offered you a stiff one as well as the blanket?
DeleteAbout the bees...I can't be sure from what I see here, but I'd guess the queen and her hive have swarmed. something/someone may have disturbed them, but I'd guess hot weather forced a relocation. If I was there I could take a look, but I'd say they've gone. You can, however, take that honey if they've swarmed, but wait til evening when it's safer! A swarm is natural when a hive becomes too crowded; the bees will have "created" a new queen to take over when the originals leave. But what you have does not seem like a viable hive, just the honey stores. If you can contact a local beekeeper she/he will be able to help.
ReplyDeleteAh, thank you, Dinah! I think you may be right that they've all gone (or died - there were quite a few little bodies laying around) as the combs look empty of honey and I've not seen hide nor hair of a honeybee since that (relatively) warm day in January.
DeleteThose bees arrived in a swarm back in May last year and quickly set up shop in the compost heap, but perhaps it wasn't a suitable winter home?
Fab to see the allotment. I still miss our Pear tree. What variety is yours?
ReplyDeleteLovely to have you back
Thank you, Madam A! The pear tree that was in the wheelbarrow and is now in the ground is a Conference. The Horrid Pear Tree next to Allotment HQ (not pictured - behind me when I took the photo) is a Comice, I think. Although it may be firewood by the end of the year depending on how it does in the coming season!
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