Give bees a chance

I saw a bumper sticker a few days ago that said, "Give Bees a Chance." It was referring the problem of colony collapse in bee hives that seems to be threatening various crops in parts of the USA. I guess they're worried about almonds in California, for example. I checked the native plant garden in the back yard for bees and found lots of them. Honey bees, waspy looking bees and the distinctive bumbles. I tried to get some photos of the workers and was at least partially successful. They were all over the purplish flowers in the photo. I don't know the name of the flowers, but the bees were pretty fond of them. The bees are doing just fine in this part of the Saintly City.

The flowers, even the commercial ones are very pretty this time of year. These are growing in a pot on the patio, sitting there radiating their beauty.

It was a really nice day. One of the nicest of the month, if not in the history of days. We had nine geezers at the tennis courts today. We've evolved ways to deal with odd numbers by playing a version of five person tennis that rotates in a new player after every game. It makes it hard to keep track of the score, but no one seems to mind. We play and then go home and forget the results anyhow. That's kind of the beauty of playing with codgers.

 Today we played a bit over two hours, and we finished it was 75º F.

Gardens

"Jardins" means gardens and there are plenty of them in Paris. I walked down the Seine towards the Jardin des Plantes this afternoon on a day that changed frequently from rain to bright sun. Along the Seine is a park "Musees de Sculpture in Plein Air" that features open air gardens and sculpture. The tourist boats were going by as I walked and as I enjoyed the varied modern sculpture. This was a favorite with the Seine behind it.

At the entrance to the Jardin des Plantes, there is an old sculpture, I think of its founder. Beyond are all sorts of plants from all over the world, including food crops like squash and rhubarb. There is also a small zoo on the site which I did not visit (I like the Como Zoo in St Paul). There were also a lot of blooming flowers brightening the afternoon.

It's a large often visited space in the middle of a large city.  The sun shone when I entered but by the time I reached the far side, the rain was falling again.  Who doesn't love Paris in the rain?

There is a small park across the Seine from Notre Dame Cathedral, Garden of St Julian the Poor is a pretty good translation. This photo of the flowers with the women behind them among the pigeons holds a surprise.  Some perhaps homeless guy is sleeping on the grass behind the ladies.  It was a nice day and who doesn't like a nap on the grass on a day like this?

We ate at a Japanese restaurant across the street from the park.  It was good food and about the right amount.  A good evening in Paris.

Three Hundred

It is nearly July and the tiger lilies still look like this. There are no flowers on these plants. It was a late season and the tigers are still trying to catch up.

It was a rest day for the tennis part of tousan. I walked around the neighborhood for about an hour this morning, along Grand, up Victoria to Ashland, then to Oxford and home. It was a pleasant day in the 70's and there were a lot of people outside enjoying a very pretty day. There was a reasonably strong wind, but no problem for a pedestrian.

I kicked the soccer ball around with Herb after the Euro 2008 championship game on ABC. Watching the really skilled players seems to encourage me to see what skills I have in the game I have been watching. The same thing often happens after pro football games, an activity where I have a trifle more skills. The team from Spain beat Germany 1-0 in a very entertaining game to win the championship of Europe.

The Prairie Princess will be visiting again this weekend for Independence Day. It will give me an opportunity to learn some more about prairie vegetation, especially the kind that regularly shows up in city landscaping projects.

Summer Sunday

The Prairie Princess is on her way back to the Blue Stem Prairie after a long weekend in the city. It was good to see her and spend some time together, but the prairie job beckons. I took her photo with Herb in front of the house just before she left.



The flower of the week. I should know the name of this flower. It's growing just outside my back door so it's familiar. I'll see if google images helps any. I used the macro setting on my camera to get the dimensions to stand out a little bit.



It was also a lazy tennis day for me. It was a day off from the courts - the first since Tuesday of last week. I managed to sneak a nap this afternoon before I transplanted PP's cucumber plant to a much larger pot. It'll be fun to see what produce flows from the backyard garden.

Spain beat Italy in a shootout to advance to the semis of Euro 2008. I think that they are now the favorite to win.

Wimby starts tomorrow in England. Federer is seeded one among the men and Raphael Nadal is number 2 as he continues to be a threat to take over the top slot in men's tennis. He has yet to hold that position, but has been number two for a very long time. It should be fun.

There's a Hare in Your Flowers

It's starting to feel fallish in the great outside. Frost has appeared in many parts of the state and the equinox lurks. I went to find some flowers before they disappear. These are in Como Park in the flower beds that are meant to attract butterflies. The fall seems to be a good time for flowers, although the flutterbyes were not around today.


I walked around to the far side of the garden and encountered this wild hare. He's a park hare, so wasn't easily startled so I was able to get three photos of his quivering nose. This is the best of them. He represents wildlife in St Paul. He has a cousin that lives in my back yard.


We chatted with the Kagami Sensei again this morning. Her jellyfish bite is healing up nicely. She reported that she spent last weekend camping out and participating in a Japanese "rave." She had a pretty good time, I guess. She also was able to view cormorant fishing - a Japanese fishing strategy that uses bird eating fish to catch the fish and then forces them to give them up after they have been swallowed. It's a tourist attraction for Gifu City. She's doing well.

I played a couple of sets of tennis with the geezers at Marie Park this evening. The long shadows of sunset come earlier and earlier. The failing light makes for interesting points. We'll be taking the games inside in the near future, I think. Tennis Dennis stopped by to chat with the other geezers. He has had his cataracts fixed, with some minor complications, but will be back to the tennis courts in a couple of weeks.