The bees that visit adore these drumstick alliums
This is my pic. I try to plant alliums and purple geraniums for the bees as they love them and the bees need all the help they can get these days. These (allium sphaerocepahlon or round headed leek) flower later than the big ones that we have in the Spring. We get visited by bees with many different coloured bottoms; red, white, yellow and orange, we get small honey bees, large bumble bees, solitary bees. I think there must be lots of bee keepers in Bristol. Sometimes they fall asleep on the alliums and I find them there in the morning waiting for the sun to warm them up.
Brian came out to see if he could take a better shot and the bee flew behind his glasses. He closed his eyes and waited politely till the bee left. He needed pudding though to compensate…
So later on as I was pretending to clear the shelves in the garage I found Dan Lepard’s Plum plum pudding on the shelf. It hasn’t escaped my notice that this is July but I never want to eat Christmas pudding at the right time, so it seemed the perfect opportunity to have a hot steamed fruit pudding for supper. So here we are, pudding made last November, eaten a mere eight months later. All good things are worth waiting for!
- A mature pudding contemplates its demise
Out of the pan…
and into the tum….
Zeb Bakes 
Wow ! What a fabulous photograph ! I adore purple geraniums – I bought two pots from one of the many impromptu nurseries that spring up around this time of year at our local car boot , and I can’t wait until they mature ,next year or the next, and we get lots. Yours look beautiful ! I loved the bit about the sleeping bees – aw , bless them , I can just imagine them nodding off , happy and drunk on fine geranium/allium pollen ! We have had lots of bees here too this summer – thankfully. A lovely post , it made me smile .
Hi Iawg!
It’s quite hard to photograph bees, they vibrate so busily. Look at the lovely photos Blue has just sent me! Aren’t they fab?
Aaaah …. ’tis too hot for Christmas pud.
That bee on the other hand, everything about it is just lovely (colours, forms, the lot).
A few years ago, I took these (not as good as yours, but I had fun taking them)
Photos by permission (I hope OK?) Copyright D Hanlon
Blue, I think those are much better than mine actually :) I’ve put the links so the photos show up direct in the comment so everyone can see how gorgeous they are ! My camera is a little Lumix only.
They look lovely on your Blog and I’m honoured :)
I would love to know how to use a camera properly, but unfortunately you only have to mention the words ‘ASA’ or ‘shutter speed’ and I go all blank (another retirement project for me perhaps?).
Jo, that’s amazingly coincidental – I found the last of our mini Christmas cakes in the outside fridge yesterday, and cut it up to eat! Jinx! It was perfect too – mature and quite boozy. :)
Love your bee photo – you do better with your little Lumix than I do with mine! I’m worried about bees, so it’s nice to see that you still have lots in the UK.
No, I think it is telepathic food synergy. The question is who spotted their pud first and beamed the message over….
I’m worried about the bees too. They are in decline here too.
See recent Telegraph article which I just found…
but this sounds more likely….
Beautiful pictures- I’m worried about bees as well- and pray for them often! They seem to be rather plentiful right now, but I keep remembering those frightening educational shows where they show empty hives and people in Japan hand pollinating because the bees can’t keep up. (sob)
I’ve never actually had a plum pudding.
I’m going to have to remedy that this Christmas.
(Btw- thanks for your comment on my bread post. :)
Oh I think I would need a pudding to compensate if a bee flew behind my glasses too…and that looks just the pudding to do the job. Plum pudding always so delicious.
Monkey Boy had his first encounter with a bee recently, he had picked up a dead one and got stung. Apparently they can still sting an hour after dying. He is a little wary of them now…
Poor Monkey Boy! I didn’t know their sting went on after death like that….. :(