A wonderful day

Sunshine from the very start. After the daily animal chores a fun walk with the dogs so that they could do a bit of swimming however one can tell it's no longer high summer. Luna was shivering after her many jumps in to the river but after just a few minutes back in the sun and chasing a stick she was dry. Flash just paddled so wasn't quite so wet but with his very thick coat he needs hours to dry and tends to smell somewhat "doggy".

The Blip was taken on our way home where we had to continue having the sticks thrown. The photo is framed by a walking stick I use at this time of year to clear aside brambles etc and in winter to poke around in the snow, test out depth of holes/ditches etc. It was my father's and brings back wonderful memories of walks with him in Co. Durham. In his 80's he was faster than either Angie or me, even on the up/downhill parts around the River Tees at Middleton One Row. I haven't got as far as wearing a tie to muck out the horses but my father would not be without one for a walk outside the garden boundary. I guess a flat cap (got one), corduroy trousers (yes also somewhere in the cupboard) and a tweed jacket (yes if the moths haven't eaten it) together with a pair of Hunters wellies (no can't afford them), the walking stick and accompanied by Flash & Luna and I could think of starting a German "One Man and His Dog" (Link for non Brits!)

Tried to catch up on e-mails and found one saying I had a pile of Facebook messages (I am a twice a year Facebook user). Felt I was losing control, so switched off the notebook hoping they would go away and went to deal with the bees. It's feeding time to get them stocked up for the winter. I then decided to start an extra Blip Journal just for the bees as I would like to record a year of the work involved. I used to think honey was honey but now know much commercially sold honey has been filtered & heated to such an extent that all the good bits are gone and then sugar added to make it sweeter, milder, prevent crystallisation, make it squeazy easy to pour and no doubt make a bit more profit. After just a few months of working with the creatures, it is a mystery how Tesco's can sell a 340g jar of honey for £0.99p. (£2.90p/kg). In it's lifetime (6 weeks) a bee makes 1/10th of a teaspoon of honey and to make a kilo of honey, bees fly 176,000 km (4 times around the world and visit 4 million flowers. Now from the £2.90p you need to take away the packaging, transport, handling, profit margin etc!

The Bee Journal is simply a diary/record for me and perhaps MrB, comments are turned off as I want to prevent fellow Blipers thinking they have to visit or comment. Anything special will remain on this journal, so I am not even showing the Link/Journal name.

Talking of MrB, I had to call him on his mobile as I was having some problems setting up the food. He was in the middle of a farmer's field, raking and flatening the grass which had been dug up by a herd of wild pigs in the night. As the official hunter, it is part of his duties to repair such damage at his cost, just as he can be held responsible for deer eating young trees in the forest. Either he takes preventative measures (eg painting the saplings) or he might have to pay compensation! He says hunting is a hobby - one of many. As expected MrB accompanied by MrsB then came over just before it turned dark to sort out my problem. Thank you Peter.

Angie took 6kg (12 jars) weighing 8.5kg of MrB's honey by train & foot to her office in Munich and sold out within minutes. Tomorrow a repeat performance, this time in a rucksack rather than basket. At least 8 jars are already reserved. My honey is much too valuable to be touted in public, being reserved for a very special, distinguished clientele - non paying friends & family, but at least no shortage of pressies. Just wonder how long it will be before they complain about having cupboards full of honey and dreading our next visit, birthday, christmas....