Be Nice

Bees Make it through winter

2010-04-20T12:54:00.000-07:00

Bees Make It Through Winter
After getting bees last year, I must admit I had a nervous winter,because you cannot even think about calling yourself a beekeeper until you have made it through winter.
I made my first inspections a week or so ago and they are all doing fine.

7/7

2009-07-07T15:40:00.000-07:00

Silent thing to eloquently say the unsayable
The victims of the London bombings were remembered today with fifty two stainless steel pillars mounted in four groups to denote the four bombs and the lives lost at each attack, each column representing an individual victim. The memorial is located in Hyde Park and if a column was raised for every person effected by the blasts ,we would fill the park,
Each victim was a person, an average Joe, a son or daughter going to work or coming home, just normal tasks being performed by normal people, They had no influence on the decision makers and may even have been sympathetic to some of the grievances of the attackers. The victims were from all parts of the world and where here for all sorts of reasons , because although Britain is not perfect, it is a tolerant and multicultural place to live, London will never forget the events of 7/7 now there are 52 reasons to remember those victims as people

King's Cross bomb

James Adams, Samantha Badham, Lee Harris, Phil Beer, Anna Brandt,
Ciaran Cassidy, Elizabeth Daplyn, Arthur Edlin Frederick, Karolina Gluck,
Gamze Günoral
Ojara Ikeagwu, Emily Jenkins, Adrian Johnson, Helen Jones,
Susan Levy, Shelley Mather, Michael Matsushita, James Mayes,
Behnaz Mozakka, Mihaela Otto, Atique Sharifi, Ihab Slimane,Chistian’Njoya’Small,
Monika Suchocka,
Mala Trivedi, Rachelle Chung For Yuen

Edgware Road bomb

Michael StanleyBrewster, Jonathan Downey, David Foulkes, Colin Morley,
Jenny Nicholson, Laura Webb

Aldgate bomb

Lee Baisden, Benedetta Ciaccia, Richard Ellery, Richard Gray, Anne Moffat,
Fiona Stevenson, Carrie Taylor.

Tavistock Square bus bomb

Anthony Fatayi-Williams,. Jamie Gordon, Giles Hart, Marie Hartley,
Miriam Hyman, Shahara Akther Islam, Neetu Jain,.
Sam Ly, Shyanuja Parathasangary, Anat Rosenberg, Philip Russell, William Wise,
Gladys Wundowa,

Be Nice To Bees

2009-07-06T08:56:00.000-07:00

Bee Beginnings

Circumstances kept me from keeping bees in the past, but things have changed for me and the bees, for me they got easier, for the bees they got harder. So I decided to stop being an armchair beekeeper and get on with attempting to keep bees, with the added bonus of a couple of jars of honey.

I have had an interest in bees since I was young, so had read books on keeping them, but theory is different to practical. “Bees don’t read the book”, a common statement in beekeeping circles I have discovered .My first visit to an apiary was as a guest of a beekeeper, who has mentored me for the last few months, and even given me a small colony of bees, or a nucleus as it is called. The local beekeepers association connected me with the beekeeper ,and this should be your first port of call if you have any ideas about keeping bees , the fear of getting stung is worse than the actual sting and I would suggest that if you have never been stung it’s something that you want to get out of the way before even going near bees, although rare, an allergic reaction to bee stings is not something you want to discover whilst going through a bee hive.

If you plan to keep them in your back garden neighbours can normally be won over with a promise of honey, a well positioned hive that does not aim your bees right over their patio, will also alleviate any fears of attack during barbecues. Or ask around for a small piece of land to put hives on, if you have no back garden.

Einstein has been credited with the quote that” If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe then man would only have four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants”, I can find no proof that Einstein actually said this, and as he was a physicist I doubt if he did, or if it is true that after the death of the last bee we will follow four years later, but at least eighty five percent of wild plants and most fruits are pollinated by bees, and the world would be a little less sweeter with no honey on my toast in the morning.

IF

2009-07-05T13:19:00.000-07:00

Centre court at Wimbledon is known the whole world over as one of the premier tennis venues, and history was made this year as the first flood lit game went late into the evening, made possible by the addition of a sliding roof, Andy Murray played Stanislas Warwinka in a game that had twelve million people watching on television , all hoping that this will be the year a British tennis player will win Wimbledon .
Never mind Andy, take heart from the inscription above the entrance of centre court . “ If you can meet with triumph and disaster and treat those two imposters just the same” the rest of the verse also makes some good points so here it is in full.

IF

IF you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!'
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
' Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,
if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!

Does A Bear Shit In The Woods

2009-06-30T06:25:00.000-07:00

Does a Bear Shit In The Woods

Dog owners should always clear up after their own dog, If my dog poos on the the pavement or a public place, I bag and bin it , or take it home . If I am walking along in the woods and my dog decides to dump in the middle of the path I just pick a couple of large leaves, scoop up the poo and throw it under a bush.

So I have no idea why some people insist on clearing up after their dog , and leave the poo filled bag for someone else to remove. A lot of councils have removed the dog poo bins as a money saving measure, so there will be no staff to collect bags of poo hanging on gates, or dumped by the side of paths, if you are one of these people, I am sure that you have good intentions, but . Shit is biodegradable, plastic carrier bags are not , bears shit in the woods all the other animals shit in the woods , so if your dog must shit on the main path, push it off , place it under a bush using a couple of large leaves, or take it home, because, there is no such thing as shit fairies to take it away!

2009-06-26T15:44:00.000-07:00

Where have I been

2009-06-26T15:21:00.000-07:00

I have been living rather than blogging , getting my life how I want to live it and to be quite honest I could not give a fuck if you are nice or not. This has been the problem ,the reason why I have not written anything , I have no idea of your circumstances ,so who am I to tell you to be nice, when your life or day may be full of shit,

I still think that in this negative, corrupt world we are in, there is a place for a bit of positive thinking ,and I still like to be nice to people I meet , I have realised from the moment you wake until you are asleep again someone somewhere is telling you what you should be doing , thinking or buying. Television and radio advertising constantly tell us how to live and think ,so I am opting out of the telling people what to do , if you want to be nice, it’s up to you, but hang around and read some of the things I am doing to make life better.

2007-10-31T13:55:00.000-07:00

Six Degrees of Separation
There is a theory that we are only six people away from anyone in the world, who ever you are, you are linked to anyone else by six people.
By the time your six friends have asked there six friends, and there six friends have asked six more friends, it soon adds up to a lot of people.
It works the same with being nice.
If you are nice to someone, they may be nice, and that will flow like a ripple in a pond after you have plopped in a pebble.
A smile is the facial equivalent of the pebble, most of the time, if you smile at someone they will smile back, it might, make there day, stop them from sacking someone, make them hire someone, go home and have sex with there loved ones, who knows what you could cause with just one smile.
Another good thing is that you use less energy smiling than you do frowning
So try it, practice on a few close people first, if you are not used to it.
then just smile, There is one other benefit, popular opinion always puts someone with a good smile high on the list of what the opposite sex looks for. So always smile.You never know who could be watching

2007-10-23T15:49:00.000-07:00

I wanted to write a blog about life changing things, like voluntary simplicity or changing the way we think about the big issues in life such as, but not only, famine , global warming, or the threat of terror.
But there are many blogs and web sites doing a better job than I could do, with more intelligent arguments.
So I decided to comment on what knowledge I have managed to pick up in my life.
Be Nice, that’s the main thing I have learnt after many years on the planet.
Have respect for everything, take responsibility for your actions, strive for quality.

But be nice to people , yourself included, and everything around you.

Now I am no expert at this, but I try, I also fail , so this blog is not only about what I know, but what I learn.

Below is a poem by Max Ehrman that is a good place to start as any.

Desiderata
Go placidly amid the noise and haste,and remember what peace there may be in silence

As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons.

Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons,they are vexations to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others,you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs; for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals;and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself.Especially, do not feign affection.Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.

Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline,be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labors and aspirations,in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,it is still a beautiful world.Be careful .Strive to be happy.

Max Ehrmann