Hello, we are Polly and Billi The Bees and this is our Guest Blog!
Welcome to the first day of Meteorological Summer! 🌞
As you can probably guess, we Bees are not great fans of technology.
However, some inventors – nicer and kinder than the Evil Inventors who brought you Pesticides, Self-Service Checkouts and 'Fortnite' – have invented something wonderful – something that could help you save a life:
THE BEE SAVIOUR CARD.
You can carry it in your purse or wallet just like a credit card, but instead of containing Money, it contains HONEY – or at least, a specially-formulated sugary stuff that can revive a sick bee who's been working too hard and can't fly – perhaps an urban bee, lost in the concrete jungle – and who wouldn't want that?
You can read all about BEE SAVIOUR CARDS at these interesting links:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/apr/24/bee-saviour-sugar-cards-could-help-starving-bees
https://saviourbees.co.uk/
https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/take-savethebees-to-the-streets
Anyway, we've been The Bees, and we'll see you all again next month – until then, BEEEEEEEEEEE GOOD!
We're off!
An air of suppressed excitement and keen anticipation (and one or two other things) pervades the car as we leave Uckfield.
Nërp has never been on holiday before and has no idea what to expect, while Byron's only vacations have been to stay with Wilson and me, so everyone's expectations are sky-high!
It's The Bees' turn to Blog tomorrow, so you won't see us actually in Margate until Sunday – a treat to look forward to!
... or not.
In the meantime, please think of me over the coming hours – long hours of being asked incessantly,
'Are we there yet?',
'Is it MUCH further?' and
'Can we stop to buy some sweets/drinks/comics/buckets & spades/novelty USB sticks?'…
I told Wilson about our planned long weekend in Margate, and before I could stop him he had packed his suitcase and taken it out to the car!
Calling back to me, he shouted impatiently, 'I've put my stuff in the Jukey, New Dad – LET'S GO!'
At risk of disappointing him, I explained that Byron, Nërp and I hadn't even started our packing, and that I had yet to book accommodation.
I told him I'd aim to get away Friday, and he ran off to 'help' Byron and Nërp with their packing…
Cursory research revealed (well, actually Nërp told me) the home of the Turner Contemporary Gallery to be not Moorgate (in Central London) but Margate on Kent's north coast.
Margate is a famous seaside holiday resort, and home town of the wonderful and iconic one-time YBA Tracey Emin!
While Wilson is not overly concerned with the Fine Arts unless they involve a depiction of himself, he is a great enthusiast of both the seaside and holidays – a short trip to Margate would give us all a seaside vacation AND fulfil young Byron's dream, thus killing two birds with one stone!
Or as Wilson prefers to put it (expressing the same idea without involving the gratuitous death of wildlife) throw two sixes with one dice…
Die.
Whatever – the English Language is littered with Irregular Plurals…
My curiosity now piqued, I persisted… and eventually Byron told me that Katie Paterson is an artist of whom he is a great admirer.
He'd read that she had an exhibition at The Turner Contemporary Gallery in Moorgate, and if it wasn't too far from Uckfield, he wondered whether we could visit…
I enquired what kind of an artist she is, and Byron told me she was a Conceptual Artist, and one of the reviews he'd read said the show is 'an overwhelming and fascinating experience – truly magical and remarkable.'
'I'd just thought it would be nice to be Overwhelmed and Fascinated by a Truly Magical Experience... but I shouldn't have brought it up – please forget I ever mentioned her name.'
At this moment, Nërp wandered past.
'Hi Biro!' he greeted Byron, 'Did I just hear someone mention Katie Paterson, the famous artist? I LOVE her work, although of course I've only ever seen it in reproduction, sadly.'
