Honey Bees

Honey Bee Suite

I have a small garden in my Philadelphia backyard. I grow a few peppers, herbs, tomatoes, flowers. I have been very sad because the Bees seem to have gone away. We need Bees, so go here for some pet Bees if you like them. Most of the really good stuff we eat needs pollination by bees. No bees means less food.

On Sunday, I saw my very first Bee of the Summer. I was out in the garden, poking around in the Dill without my glasses. I was glad to learn that my eyes still work and I am not crazy. I saw a Bee. The Bees are coming back.

Bees are smart. They know who is growing those flowers. I have been given, while gardening, an affectionate bee nudge more than once. The Bees are making a comeback in Illinois too.

Native bee species spotted for first time since ’90s

COURTESY OF WILL PETERMAN / COPYRIGHT 2013

 By Sandi Doughton 

Bee enthusiasts beat the bushes Sunday to see if the colony of rare insects is still active, and biologists are planning conservation efforts.

More information is available at www.xerces.org/bumblebees. If you would like to be involved in our citizen science project moving forward, you can sign up at www.bumblebeewatch.org.

If you think you have observed the western white tailed bumblebee, please send a photo and site information. Please note that we cannot verify sightings without a photo, so please include one with your email. 

I fell on November 13 and sustained a concussion. I am meant to rest my brain and do little for the next few weeks.

It is go slow holiday around here until I can write, read and think better.

Philadelphia Opera Company - Musical Interlude for Attitude Adjustment

There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life: music and cats. - Albert Schweitzer

I shop at Reading Terminal Market weekly for fresh ground coffee and real bread. Iovine's for fresh produce. The Amish butcher for breakfast sausage and honey. Then I eat lunch at Pearl's Oyster Bar. Music and good food is Paradise.

I love the City of Brotherly Love. You never know when a random act of culture by the Philadelphia Opera Company may appear. 

Orange Bread

This Orange Bread is delicious all by itself or spread with Cream Cheese or Peanut Butter.

Quick breads are generally easy to make. This one requires cutting the Flour into the Shortening which is an extra step. The loaf is worth the bit of extra work.

Orange Bread

4 cups Flour
3 teaspoons Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Salt
1/2 cup Sugar
1/4 cup Shortening
2 Eggs
1 cup Milk
1 cup Candied Orange Peel
1/3 cup Syrup from Orange Peel

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift together Flour, Baking Powder, Salt and Sugar. Cut the Shortening into the Flour mixture. Beat Eggs thoroughly and add Milk to them. Combine with Flour mixture and stir in candied Peel and Syrup. Pour into a loaf pan and bake 45 minutes.