Here's the first fawn of the year, meaning the first one seen in or just outside our yard. I saw my first one 5 houses away on 5/25 -- but no camera.

I'm glad the fawns are here although in 6 months they'll just be part of the herd I frequently and loudly curse. My guess is that she's at least a few days old. In the past few years I've noted that the moms often hide the babies, sometimes in our yard or a neighbor's yard, for up to 18 hrs when they're very, very young. The moms stray away but the fawns stay put, even if a human gets very close. I guess this is when they are freshly born and they need to hide from prey, or gain strength, or both. This fawn teetered after mom, so I wonder if she's been tucked up for a day or so under one of the many ornamental grasses or low-hanging shrubs in this area, and she's now ready to eat her way through the neighborhood and park next door?

Isn't she/he adorable? Mom and her lady friend were vigorously cleaning her/him when I first saw the group in my next door neighbor's yard. Which caused me to say "oh look, Bambi has Two Mommies!"

And then they were gone. Except for a couple of hundred lost souls who still linger around the hive site.

So last Thursday night, May 26, a beekeeper acquaintance Steve came by in his borrowed pick up truck and took away my babies. It was the right decision. But that doesn't mean I'm happy about it. Steve reported a few days later that his little kids were being chased around his back yard by my mean girls. He has 2 other hives that have never bothered his kids, so I guess it's fair to say I DID have a slightly aggressive hive.

I concluded that they had to leave my house when both Doug and I found that we couldn't do much of anything in the back yard during the afternoon, especially the late afternoon. It was one thing for me to abandon outdoor activities in deference to the bees, but it was another to ask Doug to do the same. Plus, for the entire summer I would be worrying anytime a friend was in our back yard. I could no longer say "oh don't worry about the bees, they won't bother you."

Steve believes the hive doesn't have a queen (which maybe explains the bees' aggressiveness???), but now that's his problem not mine, and I confess to being happy that it's not my problem. I'm not sure I'm done with beekeeping. But I'm definitely not doing anything this summer...maybe next spring I'll revisit the situation. Or maybe I'll find some place nearby where an owner will let me keep a hive -- a church, a house with a very large yard, a nursing home -- and I can still be the primary beekeeper and visit often.

Meanwhile, I'm told that the lingerers won't stay longer than a week after the hive was removed, so that gives these girls 2 more days before I expect them to fly away. Or will they? I read that burning incense, lots and lots of incense, will drive them off. I need Joss Sticks. Plenty of Asian markets in this area. I'll search them out if the girls don't leave soon.

Boo hoo.

Bee Report: A Psychological Tale.

The short story is this: my hive swarmed in late April, and I still don't know if I have a laying queen -- a queen who has had a successful mating flight and is now safely inside the hive laying eggs.

The last time I looked inside, early May, this is what I saw. I didn't linger long enough to fully search for eggs. Still too much of a nervous nellie. But I may do an inspection today. It's also a perfect day for a swarm...nice quiet sunny day after many days of off-and-on rain and winds. The irony is (I think it's an irony) that if I do have a swarm today it means I DO/DID have a queen.

From the outside, the hive behaves perfectly normally. Lots of bees coming and going, guard bees chasing me away if I bother them, even a little bearding on the few warmish humid nights we've had.

I call this post a psychological tale because this hive still drives me crazy. Obviously, the condition of a beehive is not knowable except for those rare times when a human rudely and cruelly rips off the top of the hive and pulls out the frames, destroying comb, squishing bees and larvae, spilling honey. Oh it's a mess when I examine a hive. So I try not to inspect very often. Instead I worry, and read, and muse, and ponder about my beehive. Should I re-queen even though I don't know if I need to? How can I get up the courage to do a good, full inspection? The stacked hive boxes are really, really heavy so why am I risking my back health by not buying a bee veil and jacket for Doug or Greg, both of whom have offered to help me lift the damn things? Can you spell stubborn?

I think I've probably said all of this a dozen times on this blog, but I'm not going to go back and check. I apparently need to say it quite often.

Lilacs and My Lovely Little Sister.

Kathy came to visit briefly on Saturday; she had to be in town for business. She brought me these gorgeous lilacs from her house Way Up in The Hills, the same house our maternal grandparents lived in. The lilacs are from shrubs that my grandmother grew. Maybe they even go back before my grandmother?? If they were planted when the house was built they might be from the 1930s. The little picture of Kathy is one that hangs around my sewing and knitting boxes, which explains the condition (I really should put it someplace safe.) She's in her Brownie uniform and is probably in the second grade in this picture. Isn't she cute? The house has smelled heavenly since Saturday.

Talk about snarky. The New Yorker slipped these little cartoons into last week's issue. Guess they saw the end coming.

Don't you love the birds in his hair? But the toaster is my favorite.
Credit: Barry Blitt, for The New Yorker, May 9, 2011.

Oh, and these little cartoons are called "spots." Live and learn.

Anyone know what this shrub -- or weed or shrubby weed -- is?

Irises and Mexican evening primrose.

I know where the irises came from -- gifts from friends with too many irises -- but the Mexican primroses, if that's the right name, arrived mysteriously. They are very aggressive and maybe I shouldn't encourage them, but they give me the most beautiful pale pink flowers all spring and into the summer. Each year I get a little better about weeding carefully enough to allow them to spread throughout one of my side gardens. They'll have to battle it out with the also-invasive bronze fennel and the apparently invasive caryopteris. All so pretty. And I don't feel any guilt about having them because when I'm dead and gone and no one cares about this garden they will be overcome by the mile-a-minute weed. Now THAT'S an invasive plant.

On Sunday I went with my friend Susan to the annual Takoma Park, Maryland, house and garden tour. Beautiful old houses at the peak of spring.

I covet that metal aquamarine outdoor dining set in the backyard of one of these houses.

Nearly perfect photo. It would be fully perfect if someone photoshopped in Trump's head.

I apologize to anyone who is offended by my glee over the death of another human being. Or my wallowing in the press coverage of said death. Having no job makes me loopy and easily amused.

"...not walking this Earth again."

"... there is no doubt that we killed Osama bin Laden. It is important for us to make sure that very graphic photos of somebody who was shot in the head are not floating around as an incitement to additional violence or as a propaganda tool. That's not who we are. We don't trot out this stuff as trophies.

"... I think Americans and people around the world are glad that he is gone. But we don't need to spike the football. ...

...There is no doubt that bin Laden is dead. Certainly there is no doubt among al Qaeda members that he is dead. And so we don't think that a photograph in and of itself is going to make any difference. There are going to be some folks who deny it. The fact of the matter is you will not see bin Laden walking on this Earth again."

President Obama in an interview with Steve Croft of "60 Minutes." To air Sunday, May 8.

Lettuce? It came up in my veg. garden along with dozens of weeds. I ate it in a salad. It was a little bitter but nice texture.

May 1, 2011: The GOP nomination for President 2012. Check out No. 25, Jonathon Sharkey, wrestler and vampire from Florida.

Possible candidates, in no particular order. I'm sure I'm forgetting someone but I'll be updating the list.First debate is Thurs, May 5. Sponsored by Fox News. I'm not sure I'll watch it.

1. Pawlenty (Tim, former Gov MI)
2. Palin (Sarah, former Gov AL)
3. Bachmann (Michele, Congresswoman MI)
4. Gingrich (Newt, former speaker of the house/congressman GA)
5. Trump (Donald)
6. Daniels (Mitch, Gov IN)
7. Romney (Mitt, former Gov MA)
8. Huckabee (Mike, former Gov AR)
9. Huntsman (Jon, former Ambassador to China)
10. Paul (Ron, Congressman TX)
11. Santorum (Rick, former Senator PA)
12. Giuliani (Rudy, former Mayor NYC)

Outliers.
13. Christy (Chris, Gov NJ) -- has said he won't run.
14. Bush (Jeb, former Gov FL)
15. Perry (Rick, Gov TX)
16. Alan Keyes (former candidate for lots of things, including I think the IL Senate seat won by Obama in 2004….must check on that)

This shows the most recent poll results -- from realclearpolitics.com -- for some of the candidates. Real Clear Politics
Date 3/31 - 4/27/11

16.9% Huckabee
16.9 Trump
16.3 Romney
9.4 Palin
8.4 Gingrich
6.7 Paul
4.0 Bachmann
3.6 Pawlenty
2.6 Daniels
2.4 Santorum

Goldmine! Wikipedia shows these candidates also:

17. Herman Cain, businessman and radio talk show host from Georgia
18. Gary E. Johnson, former Governor of New Mexico
19. Fred Karger, political consultant and gay rights activist from California
20. Andy Martin, perennial candidate from Illinois
21. Jimmy McMillan, perennial candidate from New York
22. Roy Moore, former Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court of Alabama
23. Buddy Roemer, former Governor of Louisiana
24. Ole Savior, perennial candidate from Minnesota
25. Jonathon Sharkey, perennial candidate, wrestler and vampire from Florida

May 4 update: I forgot to add No. 26. Herman Cain (Georgia businessman, talk-radio host, and Tea Party darling)