Our First Fire of the Season & Busy Honey Bees

We woke to a nice chill in the air (53 degrees, not too bad, but all the windows were open so it was cold inside) and decided it was time for our first fire of the season (in our wood burning stove).  We've considered it before, but were waiting until we could really enjoy the contrast of the warmth inside and the chill outside.  It was lovely...

 ...Mountain Man and I with cups of steaming coffee, gazing as the flames danced before us.  Pogo and Fluffy enjoyed the warmth too, each stretched out near the stove.  A perfect way to begin the day!

But then it was time to get busy.  Johny finalized the deck plans in order to get the supplies.  I cleaned and went to pay a long overdue visit to Bertie, my friend up the mountain (it was a nice visit and she showed me her most recent acquisition of exquisite costume jewelry...there might be a gem or two hidden in there too).  The day progressed busily as always.

Speaking of busy, I was fascinated by the honey bees working busily on our Rose of Sharon bush.  I now KNOW the meaning of the term 'busy bee'. 

This is a honey bee,doing her daily work.  Notice the pollen all over the flower.

She is a worker bee, and sucks the nectar through her tube like tongue, then stores the nectar in her honey belly (a separate stomach from her food stomach, though she can access it when really hungry).  You can see her tongue in this photo.  Pollinating is really a secondary job, though, as you can see, they are quite effective, considering how much they collect on their bodies as they go along sucking nectar!

Look at her!  Full of pollen!

I found this bee on our porch banister, trying to clean itself.  It is covered in pollen!

Fascinating creatures.  And harmless as long as you don't distress them; they are not aggressive and prefer sucking nectar and pollinating things than stinging humans:)

Thanks for reading my blog, you are the best f/f/r/s/f's, see you tomorrow,
Lise