Bee the solution...

Morning... went out for dinner with friends... drank pineapple juice x 2... got to bed by 12pm... have headache this morning... not able to do late nights, anymore... I must be getting old!!!

Putting that aside, (having had my egg money stollen, yesterday, again - this happened to me last year, too) I've decided to go and pay a visit to the other roadside stand owners and see what measures they have put in place to try to avoid theft.  It seems everyone knows who these people are and I have just become another target, among many. So, the eggs are out, again... we'll see what happens next...

My friend is a bee keeper and belongs to a small syndicate who meet together and enjoy the benefits of bee-keeping. We spoke about the issues of pesticides and said that although campaigners for the banning of pesticides are well meaning, the problem is that the local government and bodies who deal with such issues, do not have an alternative in place for the substances which have been named for being band. This means that should these substances become banned, people who are desparate to protect their crop, may take other measures to do so and cause even greater problems in this area.

In effect, what we should be doing, in my view, is to be campaigning for the solution to the problem first... finding out what is being done to replace the offending substances and then supporting those projects, only if they are approved, of course... and then, there is the 'organic' movement - I need to learn a lot more about this.

I once heard someone say that; we need to decide to be part of the solution. By that I understand; if the problem is too big or is something we cannot actually deal with personally, what we need to do is, look at what we actually can do, and focus on that. So, one thing I do, do - even though it may seem insignificantly small is, I leave part of our lawn to turn to meadow and I leave flowers on trees, rather than remove them to make elderflower cordial, for instance. For now, the cordial can wait - as the bees are more important, to me. I am by no means saying, don't buy elderflower cordial, I'm simply saying, I chose to keep the flowers on my elderflower tree, rather than remove them to make home-made cordial. I hope you are getting the picture.

In the meantime, sewing commences... I have some cheerful bunting to make!

I do hope you have a productive and pleasant day!
Catherine...x