Author: telboy2

Tour de France

While the race is still on, it did pass through the village, but a little bit ago.

So better late than never.

The village was, of course,busy. A good atmosphere and great to see so much going on. We decided to find ourselves a spot on the vallée road in order to give ourselves a long view of the lads as they came through. We arrived in good time and prepared:

Even the ‘gina’ is branded with the Tour:

The more entertaining aspect was the arrival of the caravan- that is the promotional floats that threw out merchandise to spectators. We were avid collectors.

And then the race came through:

So we saw the racers. Others came through in bunches and slowly. We did not appreciate until we watched the tv highlights that there had been a crash just up the road, out of our view, on exiting the village.

We collected our goodies and walked home and watched the rest of the race on the highlights. The finish up the hill just outside Mûr de Bretagne looked impressive. Maybe next time we will go there. See you in three years?

Garden

It is currently warm and dry. The grass is growing more slowly; which is good.

We are working on the wild flower development with some small success. More seeding done after grass removal with the expectation that we will achieve some flowering success.

There are some flowers out that the insects like.

Hiroshima

Not really Hiroshima but the ‘Bullet Train’ works very well ll over. And the drivers wear proper train driver hats!

An unplanned event was a visit to the baseball. Clearly a big sport in Japan and a great family event on the Friday night.

There were a few north Americans playing. I quite quickly reacquainted myself with the rules and appreciated the skills.

As with the US they like to make a little entertainment in the 7th innings.

I am now a ‘Carps’ fan and have the cap to prove it.

Of course we visited the peace memorial and had a guide to help. It was a stimulating experience, with an explanation of the events and then a visit to the museum to explain and recount events and experiences of the local population.

An historic image of a standing building. Plus a lovely meal.

Swarm

So last week, the evening before we were due to leave for a week the bees swarmed. Only three days after they arrived. I was happily sitting in the garden when I heard a lot of bee noise and then realised that there were thousands of them close by.

Why they swarmed is not clear. Stress from the travel? Too long in nuc and overcrowding? Did not like the new hive? There were no clear queen cells that I saw before the swarm, but that does not mean that they were not there!

Fortunately they went to a low branch in a tree in the garden.

I quickly read my bee manual to find out what to do and they behaved well and were a textbook case.

I shook the swarm into the box, turned it upside down and the rest of he bees walked in so that they could find the queen.

The process was completed when I then transferred them back to the nuc.

It was certainly a steep learning curve.

A week on and the swarm in the nuc are active and I think that I have seen the queen. In the original hive the remainers are there and active. Too early to see a new queen? Next week will be instructive.

Kyoto

Blogging after date but that is the way it goes sometimes.

We arrived in Japan from NZ and Melbourne after following the advice of Lei much to the annoyance and frustration of IQ.

First stop Kyoto after landing at Narita and making our way to central Tokyo to pick up the bullet train.

We arrived at the accommodation late in the evening after a taxi ride with a very patient man. He was very tolerant of us. The property owner was vert welcoming- really a theme for the week.

We managed to navigate the metro- overground and underground – eventually. Different lines and different companies! But with the use of electronic card on out wallet- all became easier. I did like the fact the drivers and station staff all wear proper uniforms and caps!

We enjoyed the food tour to the market as well as the trip to the gardens. We had great experience with the food we ate. The sushi on conveyor belt which we struggled to work out how the system worked. As with so may places in Japan the ordering was via a screen. As means of needing less staff I think. It was the delivery that was difficult for us- which dish belonged to us?? The first place we found in the evening- by accident- as the original venue was closed to sit -ins- was great. All Japanese customers and such simple but beautiful food.

There are so many temples in Kyoto- it does seem unnecessary to just concentrate on the best well-known. We were happy to see a few different sites and walk around for a few kms.

Then the owners of our accommodation were kind enough to drive us to the station to catch the train to Hiroshima.

Bees are here

The arrival of bees at long last. It has only been in gestation for about three years. I did my learners course at Ealing Beekeepers about 4 years ago and I had the input from Johann at the allotment.

I ordered the bees in January and they arrived 2 days ago. They are Buckfast which are meant to be a more mild mannered breed. The queen is 2025 so the colony is small and relatively immature.

The colony arrived in the polystyrene ‘nuc’ after another hour in the car. I think the bees were somewhat stressed.

I followed the advice of the man in shop and bought and used an insulated frame to help conserve heat as the colony only takes up half of the ruche. I also have used feed – glucose sirop – to give them a boost and because it is a low time currently for availability of pollen and nectar.

They do seem to have come to life a bit today. The weather has been warmer and maybe the bees are more settled.

I have been concerned as some bees have congregated under la ruche today. Are they stressed? Are they disoriented because they left the nuc first and then cannot find the opening? I did lift some up to the landing strip and they did wobble slowly inside.

I rechecked la ruche today. The bees are feeding from the nourisseur and I think I saw the queen. There seemed to be a lot of activity. Some maybe all ok really. On verra.

Graduation Ceremony

Our trip to New Zealand for Joseph’s big day. Great event with the processional entrance, artistic performances, the filing of thousands of of new graduates with all the interaction from the families in the audience.

Joseph looking good and looking proud when receiving his certificate. Loved it all.

Then to the parade: