Bumble Bees and Blueberries 5.26.14

When we were at Jim’s cousin’s in Ovid..I asked how they pollinated their blueberry farm. Val said that Bumble Bees were the natural pollinators.

My son, Dave, has a few blueberry plants in his yard and I saw several Bumble Bees on them.

 

I’ve seen very few Honeybees up this way. I know they must be here but so far I haven’t seen a single one.

There were at least 4 Bumble Bees working the half dozen plants.

I remember when my brother was a little kid..about 5..and he caught a Bumblebee in his hand….after getting stung…he brushed it off his hand and said “hot birdie, hot birdie”. I can understand why he caught it….they are cute little fuzzy things.

You can see several small grains of pollen on the hairs of this one.

It’s amazing how beautiful God’s little creatures are if you take the time to look.

5.22.14

Our next camp site was at Jim’s cousins in NY. Dick and Arlene have this neat little cottage on a lake.

The lake  was affected by the same rains that flooded Pen Yan. It is supposed to be way out there beyond the trees that are in the water. It had receded at least 10’ when I took this picture.

We spent 2 nights at the camp and had a great time. Hope to see them this winter in NC.

The Hudson was a hit with the people at the Senior Club they run. Jim met a gentleman that had served on the same ship…just at different times.

We headed towards Plattsburg. This is where we had our lunch break.

 

We were lucky enough to get there the day Sue and Jeff were taking their boat out of storage. It is kept indoors at a marina but moved to another for the summer. We dropped one car at the summer marina. Jim is coming to let us know they were there for the ride to the winter storage marina. The boat was in the water…waiting for the move.

View out the forward window. Jim didn’t feel well so he skipped the trip on the lake, and took the car home.

Jeff, Sue, a boating neighbor, John, his dog Toby, Jeff and Sue’s dog Max and I made the trip. First run of the season and started out as a nice easy cruise. Once things warmed up and seemed to be working OK…he opened it up and put it on plane to make sure everything was as it should be. It was.  Great ride. I am used to 4 or 5 mph…

Here’s Max. Toby is about the same size. They hadn’t seen each other since last summer. It was fun to watch them …they were long lost buddies.

and here they come….

Here’s their boat in the summer slip. It is a 37’ Four Winds. Very comfortable. Sue calls it her lake front property, and they spend weekends on it. It’s amazing how much room it has below deck.

Sue and Jeff had more company that afternoon…. another couple, with their little dog Harley. I think it was named for the Harley they had on the trailer. They keep their boat at the same marina. Harley, Max and Toby are all good friends. Harley is a tiny little poodle. It is fun to watch them together.

After another great dinner (Jeff cooks a mean steak) and a few hands of cards…..we headed to bed for an early start to Vermont in the morning.