Simple rose.

Some flowers are very complex and can also be bred with double the petals, they look very pretty. But bees and pollenating insects can’t get at their nectar and pollen. A massive bloom could make it difficult for bees to feed and collect food for their grubs.

So try and choose bee friendly plants, they often are labelled to help you chose them. And look for simple flowers like this where the central flower parts, anthers, stamens etc are easily accessible by the insects you want to attract.

You can also build bee hotels for solitary bees from grasses and sticks and small lengths of hollow bamboo. If you look you can find designs on line to work to. Have fun and support your local bees! I was speaking to a beekeeper today. He said one honeybee only makes about a twelfth of a teaspoon of honey in its lifetime!

Old Nokia

I just found this under a cupboard! It’s my old phone. Goodness knows how old it is, I don’t know if the battery will have corroded it inside. I’m thinking of finding out if it can be refurbished as my hubby doesn’t like smart phones and just wants something basic to ring home if he needs to. I will try and find out if it can somehow be upgraded to work on the right sort of signal. It must be several years old? Are they worth anything? So it’s not smart, but is it fixable?

Bunting

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Cloth bunting in a cafe we visited earlier. A simple way to decorate and cheer up a room.

Easily cut out of old cloth or clothes using scissors or pinking shears. Fold over the top of the triangle and stitch up leaving a hollow tube to thread some wool, string, or a line of material through. Or stitch them directly onto the line so they are at regular intervals. I don’t think it would be difficult to make this at home and hand stitch it. A fun sewing project.

Whoever made this chose some pretty patterned and coloured  cloth. It cheered me up.