The other day, I saw the coolest looking bee I’ve seen in awhile (aside from the Mason Bees that I saw last summer–I didn’t even know they existed!). It was a fat, furry black and yellow bee with an orange “belt” around the middle. It was very docile and barely moved and I came sooo close to petting it because it was big and fat and fuzzy and cute, and I’m sure it would have let me. I looked it up online and found out that it is, not surprisingly, called an Orange-Belted bee (aka Tricolor Bee). I managed to take some pictures of it, however most of them were pretty fuzzy (macro mode wasn’t working for some reason, I think there was too much sun reflected off the house siding). Anyways, here is my only decent pic of it:

I used to be so afraid of bees, until I realized how beneficial and necessary they are. And I also realized that they are much more docile and beneficial than their EVIL counterpart, the wasp. I have been stung by bees once or twice but I’ve been stung by wasps a lot more times (and the bee stings were accidental, whereas the wasps were just being EVIL). I hope we have more bees in our yard soon. I plan on planting some bee-friendly flowers, like bee balm. I also read that they like single-petalled flowers (meaning one layer) rather than multifoliate flowers like fancy roses, marigolds, etc.

The garden is starting to perk up. My spinach has now broken the surface and they are starting to raise towards the sky. I think I already mentioned that I’ve been seeing sprouts in my potato beds, salads, and garlic. Last night, I got impatient and planted a few things in my second square foot garden: more yellow onion sets, early globe onions from seed, kale, and something else I can’t recall at the moment). ***Oops, gotta run. The sky just turned grey and the wind is blowing so I have to bring in my seedlings*** Oy. Okay, I brought them in and of course I dropped one on the dining room floor. Again. So now I have to vaccuum. Anyways, where was I? Crap, I lost my train of thought.

Anyways, lunchtime. For lunch today, I had to throw something together because we need to get some groceries desperately. I found a tin of tuna, so I made tuna melts on the last of the semi-stale baguette. I toasted the baguette with some olive oil, then added the tuna (mixed with a weee bit of mayo, and some freshly ground pepper) and topped with sliced tomato, basil and garlic paste, and cheddar cheese. Back in the oven for 1 minute and -bam- tuna melt, served with a cup of butternut squash soup. Yummy! Here is the picture:

I made some for my sister too. Her verdict? “Very good, indeed” (said in a weird, fake British accent).

In other news, I went a little crazy on Amazon and bought some cool homesteading/urban gardening/etc. books. They were all on sale and I saved a whack of money (albeit money that I don’t have LOL). I also subscribed to Mother Earth News, a bimonthly magazine about gardening, homesteading, the environment, etc. It looks really cool! You can also purchase a CD with all the back issues from 1970 onwards. Here are the books I ordered:

• Berdardin Complete Book of Home Preservation
• Independence Days by Sharon Astyk
• Back to Basics by Abigail Gehring
• Homesteading by Gehring
• The Backyard Homestead by Carleen Madigan

Yes, I have a book addiction. I don’t party, don’t do drugs, don’t buy a ton of clothes, etc. but my biggest expense is my Amazon addiction. I get obsessed about something, read everything about it, try it, and then move on to the next obsession. Hmm, maybe I should talk to somebody about that LOL.

Time to run. I have to clean up the earth in the dining room before my mother sees it and loses her mind.

Ciao!

D-