Bumble Bees at work my little visitor

Whilst at work I had myself a little visitor or should I say two!

These little fellows were helping me weigh up some seed. It was so nice seeing these majestic creatures flying around me and then landing on my seed.

I believe this species is Psithyrus Vestalis otherwise known as the Cuckoo bumblebee.

I had this little guy land on the sleeve of my jumper where he must have sat relaxing for almost an hour where he landed.

I read somewhere that these little fella's can be quite a nasty little thing to other bee species and will work their magic at wiping out other queen bees.

There are only 6 cuckoo bumblebee species in the UK. The 2 main features that these bees have that set them apart from other bumblebees include: Back legs that are covered in hair, with no pollen baskets – you will never see a cuckoo bumblebee with pollen lumps on its legs. The wings that appear dusky or dark.

The Grand Canyon tour by papillon helicopter

I loved visiting the Grand Canyon, boarding the helicopter was one of the most memorable days of my holiday. From the speed 140 knots to the  height that we flew at what takes in the car over 4 hours to get to the sky walk we flew past it in 20 minutes.
The view from the sky was incredible on the cloud free day. The soundtrack played through the headphones fitted the flight perfectly.
As we flew across the hoover dam, we were told that the water levels were at 35% capacity due to the draughts in California.  When looking at the water  I could see where the water was at one stage and where it is now due to the white walls which is caused by the water washing the dirt away from the walls of the Lake Mead and the Colorado river.

To see the canyon in person is beyond wonderful and to describe the sights is hard, because no matter how hard  anyone describes it you can not imagine the colors or the hidden depths of the canyons. The Canyon where we flew in was 35 miles wide. 

The Papillon flight pilot was lovely and answered every single question that was asked by the 5 other tourists in the helicopter.
I was lucky to sit in a window seat  whilst my dad had one of the middle seats in the row. The other tourists on board the flight were Australian and Spanish.  The pilot put on a Spanish tape after he explained pieces for the rest of the people onboard.

The company Pappilion provided transport to and from an airfield about 45 minutes away from the Luxor hotel that was included in the price of the flight.

I hope to go back to Las Vegas again in about  10 years time and I will  be going on this flight again when I go back.
I would recommend this to anyone that visits Las Vegas to go  on the tour with Pappilion at half the cost of the other tour operators  it's worth the 5 star score from me.

I love bumble bees !

In our garden we have 8 rather large lavender bushes, that play a role in keeping the bumbles that I love so busy. I know I've posted pictures of them before so dont judge its just for a dying breed that is so necessary in our day and age ( if you don't know what they do then look it up).

The happy little buzzing that I hear all day from the garden and the zipping little bodies in a rush to get somewhere and yet nowhere.

After what seemed to be forever of me trying to convince TJ that the bees will not hurt us we ended up saving one from drowning in the paddling pool.

I asked him to hold it on the peg not just for pictures but to build his confidence up and help him to understand that bees are not built to hurt us,that they are just busy working their butts off to make their Queen bee happy.

Half drowned blonde bumble bee

Honey bee

It's been a while .... I'm sorry!

Over the past few months I've been stuck in a rut. Missing certain elements from my past and that's all it is memories playing in the back of my mind constantly.
I am truly grateful for these memories as without them I would not be the person I am today.
Who better to bring me out of this rut but one of my oldest and dearest friends. Distance is now an issue as she lives 5 hours away with her husband and 2 absolutely fantastic little girls.
Today we met up for the first time in about a year took Tj and the girls to the local park. We talked the kids ran around playing and the dog well, she ended up in the algae filled lake :/ .
Whilst the kids fed the ducks and met a puppy labrador in training to be a guide dog, my friend and I slowly wandered behind chatting about the kids and how much things have changed since she was here almost 10 years ago.

Between running around waving at the passengers in the park train a strange thought suddenly came to me, Tj is no longer a child but a young man.

I was so glad to see my friend after so long and I wish it could be more often.
I had an amazing time and such a good catch up.

Tj and her eldest J. Are so cute together holding hands and walking the dog. They both looked beyond a doubt like a couple on a date.

Canoeing down Wareham river

Tranquility at its best.

I don't often take TJ Near the sea. It's only 5 minutes down the road, lately I never seem to have time to do anything. My days are filled with silly tasks that take up so much time.
Today I just took the time with Tj and went canoeing although the tide was out when we arrived, we popped into the Saturday market and brought a net and bucket to fish with while the tide was low and waiting till it came in.
We payed for an hour to canoe up and down the river. I was so proud of Tj getting the hang of paddling together as a team.

The Wareham canoeing hut on the Quay provides life jackets for everyone of all shapes and sizes.

There are many types of boats available with engines and others without. 

I would recommend if you haven't already rented a boat to do so.
It was so tranquil and such beautiful scenery up and down the river. I for one was so glad I took the time to go today.