WELL we all made it through another day and another night in one piece peacefully. Such a beautiful day yesterday. I have decided that TonTon is actually sleeping with Mama because she is casting such a big shadow.
Do you see? Mama has a dogs tail, someone is using her as shade. How embarrassing!
Daisy has been experimenting with war paint because someone else in the barn yard is taking ALL the attention. It was so warm yesterday that they gathered under the mulberry tree even though it has no leaves yet.
A curious thing happened when I went to take a shot of the bees. They are carrying pollen into the hives at an astonishing rate and I wanted to capture an image of their little legs laden with the good stuff and I found this instead.
I have zoomed in a wee bit for you, which reduces the clarity but we don’t mind this once. Look closely at the bouncer bee. They call them doormen bees but I prefer the word bouncers. The Pub Bouncers in NZ are usually handsome, well dressed gentlemen with good teeth. They stand smiling at the doors of most of the bars at home. They are not doormen, though they will open the door for you. They all carry this underlying animal, barely in check, and their eyes in their smiling faces ceaselessly cruise for battle. You behave yourself in these bars or you will be getting a tap on your shoulder. And it is not a nice tap.
In that shot above, a bouncer has ranged out on his muscly legs to confront a blue fly, obviously the fly is either inappropriately dressed or drunk. I am thinking drunk to even think about getting into The Hive. The Hive is a very private bar. Now look closely, do you see?, There is another even tinier fly sat on top of the blue fly. Is he trying to talk his way in? Does he think that piggy back bugs get in for half price or something? Well, he is not getting in in those shorts and jandals I can tell you that. They are going to be bounced right back out of there, down the steps and onto the footpath. Oh wait. Maybe they are the band! 
OK here is a better shot. The equivalent of rolling in the kegs. That bee on the right has pollen. A good haul. In March! And I think they are getting it from these flowers. 
The Forsythia. Our bees first real feast. I have planted a hedge of these. Next will be the pussy willow, which is about to bloom in the next few days! There is also a little tiny clover flowering already. The farmy is waking up!
And Queenie Wineti has been put out on one of the small meadows because The Bobby (you will remember that any steer we are fattening is called The Bobby and any sheep destined for the freezer are called Murphys), anyway The Bobby is behaving inappropriately. The Bobby has decided to stay a baby all his life. He had to be parted from Daisy because he wanted her to be his mother. I am trying to say this delicately. Suffice to say that he was not breastfed long enough as a baby. So he cannot be with Daisy because he will ruin her udder and now he has had to be parted from Queenie as well. Sigh. He is a nuisance this animal. Not one single brain in his head. Queenie is thrilled, as she gets to go out on the grass. First.
The grass is still too short, it will be at least three weeks before anyone else gets out there but I cannot put Queenie back into a dark barn pen in this glorious weather. Animals need the sun and the space.
We had a lovely wee visit at the Old Folks Home yesterday. The Old Codger was in the physiotherapy room. TonTon was greeted with shrieks of delight both from the staff and the residents. The Old Codger introduced him around with such pride. This is some bright dog, he said. It was the best visit yet. Ton just loved everyone and they cannot get enough of him. He almost wagged his tail right off. His presence turned into corridor gossip. People in wheelchairs were pushing themselves to their doors as we processed past to his room. The Old Codger waving like the Queen in her slow moving wagon. It was great.
As we were leaving, TonTon and I were chased down the corridor by one of the Occupational Therapy person who had heard me laughing with the Old Codger about bringing lambs in. (If Mama ever decides to give birth.) Nothing is private when you are talking to a deaf person. He said he would PAY me to bring more animals in. I said what about a calf or a pig or a chicken. He said he would clear a room. What about a cow I said, thinking of Queenie. How high, he said, moving his hand up and down in the air. I told him they are not house trained you know. He did not even blink. That is fine, he said. Many of these residents came off farms he told me, and most of them have given up animals. Just no ducks he said. Ducks scare me.
Good morning.
Fine and clear again this morning. The dawn chorus this is deafening today. Isn’t life just full of possibilities. And I have to say that I would not have thought of pursuing the therapy dog angle if you had not encouraged me, so YOU get to feel proud too. Now just imagine me trotting two little sheep around the healthy laughing wards! I am off to work now, The Farmy is waking up to another day.
Good morning.
celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
93 responses to “Bouncers in the Bee hive and a Most Unsettling Steer”
Glad all are doing well! We were off the web for the first three days this week and I am playing catch up. Paying bills gets hard when I haven’t worked in 3 weeks.
mercy, 3 weeks is very hard harold.. you need to start a campaign to let people know you can do all those little plumbing jobs and maybe even building jobs.. everyone needs someone for those handyman type stuff.. buy a ream of paper, make flyers and you and the kids walk around and put them in letterboxes. I know what it is like .. well you know i do, I am going over to your site to lecture you over there as well!.. c
About 25 years ago, a nurse was fired for sneaking in her lambs to ECU when she was off shift. We conducted an uproar. The old folks loved the animals and studies were everywhere about the good this sort of exchange provides.
Now? You should see the livestock that comes through our ECU – including a llama!
P.S. – Celi…I am so glad your hives are thriving. This is such a serious concern, this business of our bees. I am concerned everytime I see a bottle of bee pollen – or tablets. How can we not be affecting these little creatures if we’re always taking their pollen?! Am I off key? Guess I could google it…
I would love to bring a llama in .. they are so sweet.. alas i do not have one! wee lambies will have to do and isn’t it wonderful how we have gotton better with our care of the oldies! c
You watch it! The nursing home will be hiring those good-teeth bouncers to eighty-six you and your traveling menagerie. They’d never let you back in again so you’d best not do it, but it would be fun and sure liven the place up.
Looks beautiful out there! Mama is certainly getting big:). And how interesting about the bee bouncers!
This is all lovely and good, but no TonTon, no roosters. Oh well. I can’t complain though, brown cows and blue skies! Beautiful photos.
oops, i promise to do better next time! there was a tonton tail?.. c
Would Queenie hop in the car for a visit to the older folks? I’m sure she eveyone would love her.
I used to visit a nursing home where they had regular visits from an organisation called the city farm; it was formed to encourage city children to interact with young farm animals.
They tow a small trailer and take a couple of lambs, a calf, and whatever else is …. (lasooable) to the nursing home, all the folks know what day they are due to visit and they are taken into the garden to stroke and talk to the animals. They also bring two sheepdogs to keep order amongst the baby animals.
I would love to take Queenie, if only i could get her to sit in the passenger seat like a good cow! However I do have a stock trailer and the trucks. It has to be doable.. It really has to be! c
What a fun shot of mama with Tonton’s tail. They’re like two peas in a pod…sort of! Love the shot and the characterization of the bees. That’s really cool to see the one taking the pollen back into the hive. We are covered in yellow pollen here this weekend. Happy St. Paddy’s!
Morning betsy. happy St paddys to you too!
So interesting to see the bees at work. They must be so happy to have those yellow flowers to feast in. Great to see green in your pictures and that things are warming up (though cooling here of course).
Great post, Celi, and I LOVE the bees! How intriguing! They really are like pub bouncers.. 😉
Wow, those bee shots are amazing. What, doesn’t the OT want you bringing the rest of the farm yard with you?! No sense of fun. I think that there has to be a story behind the being scary of ducks. Liking your sunshine, so fed up of our fog. 🙂
He does want me to bring them which could be fun, maybe a few chickens and a lamb or two.. c
Do you think that They’ll notice?! 😉
Thanks for the close up of the bouncer bee as now I know what we saw on Saturday 🙂
Daisy looks pissed…I’m not even sure she’d have anything to do with her number one fan.
daisy is sick of being locked out of the paddocks, but soon, soon she can go back and graze for the summer.. c
That is so sweet that they want you to bring more animals! TonTon must have been a wonderful ambassador of good will. Interesting to see the bees, and loved your commentary about the flies. 🙂
I can’t tell you how thrilled I am to see that the Codger is in such a grand place that they will welcome animal therapy with good grace. It’s so obviously a fantastic medicine and spirit lifter for absolutely everyone in the place, and the OT is so right to recognize that many of the people there are from farming backgrounds and therefore all the more in need of good animal companions. What a blessing!
As I was reading this today, Lucy came up and recognized your animals and format. She said, “Remember the story about cats you read me? Is this another cat story?” She obvously remembers and loved that “Kitty Story” post of yours!
oh bless her heart well i hope we have some lamb stories soon!! c