We had a wonderful chat as he reminisced about farming in the 1930's and the great changes he has seen. It was fascinating stuff, he began working in farming when the power was supplied by horses, witnessed the introduction of tractors and so on to farming today with all the big machinery and technology which that involves.
John was born in Yorkshire and told us how he used to walk the two miles to school every day, only to have the first 15 minutes of every day designated for physical exercise - so after his young legs had walked two miles they would then have to do a series of PT exercises, followed by running twice around the playground at top speed. This was a small village school with one teacher and about 35 pupils.
We heard tales about his early days on a large estate - where, coincidentally, a friend of mine worked as a housekeeper, about twenty years ago. Small world!
Our talk moved on to cereal growing and John told us about how all those years ago a field of corn would be dotted with wild flowers, which aphids would live on, these in turn would provide food for young partridges. He also lamented the lack of skylarks and cuckoos, saying that as he used to work with the horses he would often hear five or six cuckoos and delight in the large number of skylarks.
He is a fascinating man with so many tales to tell, much wisdom to impart.
The bees quickly moved into their new hive and are busily working to make it feel like home.
Unfortunately, a couple of dozen bees got left behind. They are not at all happy. They are miniature kamikaze bees. This afternoon they stung my daughter on the head as she got out of her car - no provocation at all.
This afternoon, while we were working in the vegetable garden, George got stung on the ear. Another one pursued him into the polytunnel, followed him to the greenhouse and was hell-bent on getting him... I'm keeping antihistamine cream and tweezers at the ready....
What have we done to this planet?
ReplyDeleteThe recipe is on my comments page...so easy you will laugh.
Jane x
Hi Jane, Thanks for the recipe, I'll give it a go!
DeleteI love that - don't make eye contact... lol John sounds like such an interesting man, I love to hear stories about how things were. x
ReplyDeleteHello Cheryl, A big welcome to you! John is wonderful, he has a fund of stories to tell, all of them fascinating. I'm sure you would love to settle down for a chat with him...I love his horse, Arnold, too. He features a lot in this blog!
Delete...and make sure you're wearing dark colors! John needs to put those bees in time-out for being so mean;-)
ReplyDeleteHello Susan, That's a good piece of advice. I feel a little sorry for the few left-over ones - they don't know what to do with themselves and they are just taking it out on us...of course I would probably feel grumpier if I had been the target of a sting.
DeleteHope Jane doesn't take this amiss, but I'd be travelling with a fly swatter. A sturdy one.
ReplyDeleteHello Joanne, George has taken to always carrying something along those lines with him. I can't say I blame him! I'm still trying to just ignore them and hope they do the same to me....
DeleteOh dear, I'm sorry you're getting stung by naughty bees! The most important thing with a bee sting is to get the stinger out asap, as it keeps pumping venom even after the bee detaches. I just scrape them out with a fingernail. Scrape scrape scrape until it's out! Saves you the time of finding the tweezers, so less venom will get in.
ReplyDeleteHello Knatolee, I am getting much speedier at removing the stings and slapping the cream on - the cue is when I hear "aaargh! You *******!" from a man who rarely swears!
DeleteAnd run. Running is good! :) Angry bees will follow you for quite a ways, but eventually they get fed up.
ReplyDeleteIce is good for stings, as is a paste of baking soda and water.
Hi Knatolee, I've got plenty of baking soda, if needs be I'll try that one. Thank you!
DeleteThose renegade bees are probably lost and confused. It's a shame they're taking it out on your family! It sounds like John is a treasure trove of history. It would be fun to hang around him and learn more about the "olden days". It's always sad to hear how birds and plants have died out, however. We never know what we have lost until it's too late.
ReplyDeleteHello Ms Sparrow, I agree with you about the bees, I do feel sorry for them, they just don't know what to do.
DeleteJohn is terrific, his stories are always interesting, not too long, not too short, and he has that ability to paint a picture of a scene so that you can 'see' it perfectly. He has definitely seen some fascinating things in his life.
As a small boy I was always up to scrapes. The results would often be stings, which my despairing mother would rub with half an onion. Maybe it worked; maybe it didn't!
ReplyDeleteHoney is nature's greatest gift, even if we do get stung occasionally.
Hello Cro, That is interesting - and I do recall, somewhere in the dusty parts of my mind, that the onion trick was used by my mother - although my paternal grandmother preferred to use a laundry 'blue-bag' to soothe the sting. I hope I have no need to try either of them. I keep telling the bees that I mean no harm.
DeleteJohn's honey is really wonderful stuff.
Hello Elaine....there is nothing as good as honey from local bees. Spread it on a buttered slice of your home-made bread and I will be right over for tea!
ReplyDeleteHello Meggie, I shall expect you at 4pm. Home-made bread - which makes the best toast (in my opinion) and John's local honey, lashings of tea and conversation. What a party!
DeleteI think that teacher at John’s old school had the right idea-get them burning off lots of energy at the start of the day then they will settle and concentrate-especially useful if there was only one teacher for all of them!!
ReplyDeleteHello Green Dragonette, I'm sure you are right - especially useful for those children who hadn't already been walking a fair distance. Perhaps they should re-introduce it!
ReplyDeleteThose bees sound like a strain of killer bees and should be destroyed, most bees will not pursue like that and will only sting when protecting themselves from being touched. Your friend John should know, what an interesting life he has had among the birds, bees, and plants.
ReplyDeleteHello Linda, The bees are beginning to quiet down now, it is a shame that a few dozen got left behind when the swarm was moved, because they can't survive without the rest of the colony. I guess they were stressed, and perhaps just took it out on my husband and daughter!
DeleteOK! I guess I won't be visiting you in The Wood any time soon. It takes more than antihistamine to save ME from a bee sting.
ReplyDeleteJohn sounds fascinating. People have such fascinating stories to tell. Thanks for sharing some of his!
Hello Mitch, Oh dear, that is a real shame - you would have enjoyed hunting for dragons and trolls! We would also have had a splendid picnic!
DeleteJohn is wonderful, I will be visiting him again tomorrow, to see how the bees have settled into their new home.
sorry about the stings...our bees are much nicer then that!
ReplyDeleteEvery bee keepers delight to find a swarm. We have a list at our store of who's next to get a swarm when some poor, upset person calls.
Hello Linda, The bees are much quieter today and there are not so many of them. John was really pleased to get them. I will be checking on them tomorrow when I visit John and dear old Arnold. That's a great idea about the list.
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