Adorable?

   Early this afternoon, I noticed a small bee on the rug in the upstairs bedroom.  This room is rarely used except when there are guests at the Little Bayou House so it usually stays relatively clean.  Why was there a bee on the floor?  I gently poked at the little critter and came to realize that it was dead...quite dead...dried and brittle dead.  So, I picked it up and carted the thing downstairs.  I passed Son on the way and showed him the tiny bee and that was when I noticed that the thing had the cutest, curled antennae.  Perhaps this occurred during or after the bug's death but it was just so cute that I had to make note of it.  Son looked at me and deadpanned, "Well, if you have to be dead, you may as well be adorable."  Alrighty, then.  I guess that is a life-goal...note...be adorable when you die. 

  Of course, as when I find any critter, I have to research about it.  This seems to be a small carpenter bee (according to a bug identification group). That is news to me as I am accustomed to finding those huge, bumblebee mimicking carpenter bees.  Apparently, those are "large" carpenter bees (Xylocopa) and my adorable, dead bee is a small carpenter bee (Ceratina).  (Mine is cuter and even has a more adorable name!)  The small carpenter bees do drill nesting tunnels but mainly in dead wood or in hollow stems of plants.  They visit whatever plant is in bloom to gather pollen to pack in the tunnels so their larvae have plenty to eat when hatching.  One odd (but equally adorable) action of this bee is that the first hatched are at the end of the tunnel and to emerge they have to work their way past their "unborn" siblings.  Each, in turn, gently moves the egg (or larva) next in line to the empty space.  The first bee hatched does this one by one until it can emerge from the tunnel.  Then, the chore is set to the next bee that is ready to emerge.  It must be a lot of work just to get to freedom!

  So, folks, the whole thing here is to set a goal...work hard but be adorable when your time comes.  In fact, be adorable all of the time and you just won't have to fret over it!

We are friends!

   Since my days are back to being boring due to a torn muscle, it is pertinent that I find ways to entertain myself.  There is nothing worse than trying to confine a normally active person.  For the life of me, I cannot sit on the sofa and do absolutely nothing.  Sitting and I are not good at working together.  That said, I head to the gardens.  In the Small Gardens, there are any number of things that can hold the attention for a while.  While I cannot do much as far as tilling the soil or pulling the spent plants, I can, at least, pick the tomatoes. 

  It was when I was in the tomato patch that one of my friendly garden helpers caught my eye.  Most folks would claim that this little one is more of a pest but I do not see it that way.  Even though carpenter bees can drill holes in anything made of wood...the fence, the gates...even the Little Bayou House...their ability of pollinating tomato plants makes up for the negatives.  It is a fact that carpenter bees pollinate as well as bumblebees which puts them right behind honeybees in line of importance to a gardener.  

  The bee this morning was just lounging about on one of the boards that line the pathway through the vegetable plot.  It was soaking up a bit of sunshine before starting its day.  Well, if the bee needed a few moments to get its act together, I may as well join it.  Plop!  I sat down next to the little cutie and started conversing (one sided, of course) with it.  The bee leisurely crawled about on the board then up on my hand.  Sweet!  The two of us sat there...alone in the world (or at least the garden).  

  It is nice to be able to share a bit of "quality time" with the critters I find in the gardens.  Not many folks make it down to the Little Bayou House to visit so I tend to pour out my troubles, share my ideas or make small talk with whatever critter happens to linger long enough.  We are friends...those critters and I...we are friends.