BOMBUS PASCUORUM

…..otherwise known as the common carder bee, found on one of the daisies missed by Mr. HCB when he mowed the lawn recently.

I found out that this particular bee feeds on a variety of wild flowers, of which a daisy is one, and you can see that it is a fluffy, gingery bumble bee.  Often found in gardens and woods, and on farmland and heaths, it is a social bee, nesting in cavities, old birds' nests and mossy lawns and I can assure you, there is plenty of moss in our lawn.

I was quite late leaving the Radio Station because having done a couple of recordings for my Street Challenge, I then decided to edit them there.  When I got home, Mr. HCB was still busy in the garden, so I decided to have a wander around to see what was about.  I found something that I thought would be good for the Abstract Thursday challenge, but then saw this little carder bee, so went back in for my Lumix camera and fortunately, it hadn’t flown off by the time I got back.

We had a great time with our granddaughter and her boyfriend last night.  After our meal, we played "Splendor", a game they had bought recently - and although I didn’t really understand it at first, soon got the hang of it and subsequently won!  

Here is the link for the recipe for the Butternut Squash, Sage and Mushroom Risotto I cooked last night but it doesn’t actually mention mushrooms.  However, I used two packs of chopped chestnut mushrooms, and decided to cook them in the oven, whilst the butternut squash was roasting.  I chopped up the sage stems and a few cloves of garlic, having found out that they both loved garlic, and it all turned out well.  I might even roast the sage leaves for the top in the oven next time, because it was quite a challenge stirring the risotto and keeping an eye on the sage sizzling in a frying pan, to make sure they didn’t burn.

“If the bee disappeared 
     off the face of the earth, 
          man would only have 
               four years left to live.” 
Maurice Maeterlinck : The Life of the Bee

P.S.  Thank you for all your kind comments and stars for yesterday's Blip, which are much appreciated.