A Poppy for a Little Bear

Hullo. Remembrance Day is coming up (Nov 11) and it's a big deal up here in Canada. Everyone wears a poppy and I wanted to wear one too. The only problem is... they aren't really little bear size.

I do rather look like I have a target on me... Plus... ours has a long straight pin that is guaranteed to poke holes in fingers... and likely into my belly! Not a great idea. But... last year when I was in London at this time of year... I saw different poppies.

This is what a standard UK poppy looks like. I think it's made out of paper and they must have a pin behind with a clasp. Much better than our straight pins.

 But even more exciting than that... they sell little lapel pins!! In all sorts of styles! Soooo... I made Mama shell out £2 and buy one.

See... hmmm.... kind of fuzzy.

See!!! Last year was the 100th anniversary of the start of WWI so this one commemorates that.

It fits perfectly on my bomber jacket lapel.

Now I won't feel so under-dressed when I go out.

Oh... and on the other label is a pin I dug out of the archives... It commemorates the 150th anniversary of the Geological Survey of Canada (that was back in 1992... so we're at 173rd anniversary now). But... I'm a bit lopsided with only one lapel pin so this balances me nicely!

Sweet Peas Grow Up

Way back in... April? Early May?... Sandy was biking down some back alleys and found this... someone had planted a little garden outside of their back fence.

Mama said that they were baby sweet pea plants! Along with some other things in front... who knows what they might be. Sandy waited patiently for the sweet peas to grow up but... Mama said it would take a while and not happen in a day!

(Or even in two days... or three days)... So Sandy waited patiently and yesterday... was rewarded!!

Oooh ahhh... they are getting very tall (but Mama says they will get even more taller!) They are very colourful too and smell wonderful.

And the little tiny seedlings in front have also grown up... into many-coloured poppies!

They are red and orange and salmon coloured and yellow and white and even striped. But they are not half as big as some of the other poppies Sandy has found. There must be many different sub-species... just like with bears!

Flower Finder

We all know that Sandy is just trying to be helpful but sometimes... he gets in the way. Sandy saw some most-gorgeous poppies!! Pink as well as red, and he wanted Mama to take some photos because they looked so pretty. But they were also very large and...

"Here Mama, let me move this one for you"... hmm... that didn't work too well...

"Peek-a-boo, I see you!"... Hmm... that didn't work too well either! These flowers are very large and it's hard to take a good picture with a little bear slipping between the flowers. The solution is obvious... zoom in!

There... that's better! Or... Mama could just give Sandy a job to do so that everyone is happy! Hold this flower Sandy!

And then a close-up as well... very pretty!

But no bees hanging around these flowers! They must have heard that a honey-hungry bear was lurking in the neighbourhood... hmmm....

Bees and Poppies!

Oh my goodness... Sandy was practically beside himself today! For weeks now, he's been fixated on some pictures that Jerry and Ben posted on their blog... pictures of huge, bright red flowers called poppies. They are sooooo beautiful. And Sandy has been a tad jealous and sad that he doesn't live in a place with poppies like that... sniff. But today... today... Sandy was walking down the sidewalk and happened to look down a back alley where he saw this...

Oh my goodness... poppies! Bright red poppies. They attracted Sandy like a bee is attracted to honey (or like a bear is attracted to honey)!

They are so beautiful... Sandy can't quite get enough of them after seeing so many white and yellow flowers!

But the poppies don't just attract little bears... they do also attract bees!!

Can you see the bee in the flower?? Sandy better be careful or he might end up sitting on a bee! And where there are bees... there must be honey (yum)!

Here's a better picture of the bee... Sandy tried to follow the bees to their hive, but they kept flying over fences which he couldn't scale. Poor Sandy!