ON MY TRAVELS . . .

We took the camera along while driving around the area this weekend. It’s apple blossom time, and the trees are just starting to wind down. (But did I take a picture of the trees? Nooooo! It just didn’t occur to me.) But I did take a picture of the beehives.

As you know, there’s a problem with bees. Colony Collapse Syndrome, where the bees die. Is it a virus or some kind of mites killing them? That’s two of the theories. So we were pleased to see so many buzzing hives. And since the fruit crops depend on bees (they grow apples, cherries, and peaches around here), they’re an important (vital) part of the fruit-growing industry.

We stopped at the local nursery to pick up a couple of hollyhock plants. As you can see by the pictures, there’s a lot of gorgeous annuals just waiting to be planted. The problem: in this climate, it’s really not safe to plant anything but pansies until Memorial Day.
The nursery has many greenhouses filled with flowers. We noticed a hummingbird darting back and forth, but not settling on any one of the millions of flowers. He reminded us of an alcoholic in a liquor store-- not sure where to start first.

Not everything is beautiful around the county, as evidenced by this trailer we came across. There's a lot of poverty out there, and for some reason there's a breed of people that just collects junk--and lets it rot in their yards. Dogpatch is alive and well in rural New York.

And now the hollyhocks are planted. And of course, the nursery doesn’t tell you what color they’re going to be. (Probably because they don’t know.) And since it’s a biannual, they may not flower this year. Well, I guess I always did like to be surprised.