A mysterious and exciting letter arrives!

At teatime yesterday I asked Wilson, 'Stands the Church Clock at Ten to Three? And is there Honey Still for Tea?'

Err, no. There wasn't. Apparently Polly had had a bad day and there wasn't enough honey to go round. In fact, there wasn't any honey at all. Wilson has confessed that he is 'Mystified.'

But he is not discouraged: he answered the door this morning and the postman handed him a large 'To Be Signed For' envelope. He scurried off to the tumble dryer to open it in private.

I expect I shall be told of its contents in due course…

Honey for tea!

Wilson has put a vase of flowers in the niche next to the Bee House, so that Polly doesn't have to travel too far to work while she's settling in to her new home.

He's also left out a tiny jar, for Polly to put her honey into. 

He's promised me honey for tea tonight — I'm really looking forward to that!

Polly moves in!

A bee has moved in to Wilson's Bee House! 

When she alighted on one of the flowers in the garden, W immediately sprang into action: he picked the flower, carried it round to the bee house and poked her into one of the 'apartments' with a stick.

He then explained to her that this was her new home, and henceforth she would be known as Polly. W told me that she took this news very well, saying 'Zzzzzzzz zzzzzzz' which, although he doesn't fully understand it, probably means 'Okay, thankyou.' 

Or possibly, 'Why did you poke me with that stick?'

New House!

Wilson can be very handy around the house… as long as he's doing a job that interests him!  

After just 20 minutes with my cordless drill, two boxes of screws and seven strips of Rawlplugs his new Bee House is now installed on the Folly, ready for its new occupant. 

I asked why it took so many screws and Rawlplugs, and he told me that he didn't want to risk the Bee House falling and injuring Polly. 

I think the only risk of it falling is from the weight of screws he's used!

Collateral damage to my VISA card...

In much the same way that, when we pop in to Waitrose for a litre of milk Wilson finds a trolly-load of other shopping we can't manage without, so it was at the garden centre. Between the Insect Hotel section and the Exit, we passed any number of plants W just had to have. 

This bee is turning out to be an expensive pet… and we haven't even got her yet!

Wilson makes preparations for his new pet!

This morning Wilson reminded me of my promise to let him have a pet bee. 

Half an hour later he popped Antony and Tiny Toy into the salad drawer of the fridge (he said they couldn't handle the heat) and we set off to the Garden Centre to choose a Bee House for Polly. 

I had no idea there would be so many to choose from! 

Wilson feels the heat!

Following yesterday's brief blip in the weather, today the air feels even hotter, the sun even fiercer. 

Straight after breakfast Wilson headed to the pool, admitting he was relieved he no longer lived in his ancestral homeland of Costa Rica. 

'I just couldn't stand the heat, New Dad!' he groaned, dabbing some Factor 50 on to his nose. 'It's totally doing my nut in!'