TINY TUESDAY - CENTAUREA NIGRA

I met my friend, Linda, for coffee today and was quite excited because I had decided to drive myself, not having driven since the beginning of May.

When I told Mr. HCB, he asked if I would like him to come with me, as a passenger, and then meet me afterwards to go to Waitrose to buy some groceries.  

I could have stuck out for what I wanted, but decided that perhaps he was right.  I think this was a ploy on his part - albeit a loving ploy - to "let me go" but not too much - and it's sometimes good to let someone take care of us.  I have had to get used to this over the last few weeks but at last I am beginning to feel more confident going out on my own, which is great.

I love going to Waitrose because the wild flowers on the banks of the Wilts & Berks Canal are wonderful, and although this Common Knapweed looks large, it is in fact, quite tiny and really beautiful.  I know I say this a lot, but blipping every day encourages me to look more closely at nature and today was no exception.

Great excitement in our garden yesterday - we had a swarm of bees!  Fortunately, our next door neighbours are bee keepers, so Mike knew just what to do, and last night he and Mr. HCB, suitably garbed, collected the swarm and put it into the hive next door - who knows, we might get some honey soon - see my extra picture.

“What we do see depends mainly 
on what we look for.....
in the same field 
the farmer will notice the crop, 
the geologists the fossils,
botanists the flowers, 
artists the colouring, 
sportsmen the cover for the game. 
Though we may all look 
at the same things, 
it does not all follow 
that we should see them.” 
John Lubbock 
The Beauties of Nature and 
the Wonders of the World We Live in