I am super excited! We received a call that the bees were in on Saturday for pick up on Monday. I was tickled and anxious!
We chose to do a "No-shake" method for the bee install. We shall see if this worked well. The set up went well, though there was a bit of cursing from Mr. Awesome. I hadn't gotten some of the things ready which made it a bit more tense. I joked that next time I think I will do the installs from now on. He makes me more nervous because he is nervous.
We both had anxious butterflies beforehand. Me not having everything together was not my best idea. That added to the situation. I fly by the seat of my pants and think later... "Oh yeah! I should have...."
But what a great way to know someone really loves you when they are handling 10,000 bees! Gotta love that man! I'll check out whether the Queen broke free tomorrow or Wednesday.
We already had a big weekend gearing up for the 1st Flea market of the season for us to set up at.
Did I mention I am a terrrible procrastinator? I had to remind Mr. Awesome of a few projects I needed have done before Sunday. He jumped in with both feet of course I had forgotten that I needed to bake for a small contribution that needed to be delievered on Friday.
Glory be! My memory is not the greatest. I rely on post-it's, notes, writing on my hands, reminders on my Google Calendar, cell phone and a few other things. I say it's the Lyme but Mr. Awesome reminds me that it could also be my age.
We added 4 Amberlink chicks that are 4 weeks old. I am still mourning the death of my incubator. I really wanted to give the Duck eggs a whirl.
I haven't done much in the garden, the past few weeks though busy have been very tiring for me. I have finished a course of Doxy and now wait to schedule an appointment with my favorite doctor. Darned tax refund! It's been singled out apparently to research and recheck.
More garden progress:
Garlic is doing very well outside. The Asparagus has given us a sides on the side and continuous to grow wonderfully. I bought a few more Blueberry bushes from the flea market, have quite a few other plants ready to go into the garden soon! I do have to replace the seed starts I lost to that dang bunny.
That's all for now! I hope your week is as wonderful as you are!
BIG HUGS!
Mel
**UPDATE!**
This morning Mr. Awesome and I made the decision to check on the bees before I left for work. I was concerned over the events from the morning before. I asked my partner in crime if he was going to suit up or at least wear his veil. He smartly replied, "Nope! I'm just going to run away if I need to!"
GIGGLE!
I on the other hand wish to leave nothing to chance and suited up. He had gotten our frames, flashlight, brush and sugar water ready.
I admit both of us are nervous to do beekeeping. I wanted to do this for a variety of reasons.
1) To help do our part in saving the bees!
2) For honey and wax for candles, lotions, and more
3) Potentially for Bee Venom Therapy for treating my Lyme Disease
4) To conquer my fear of bees.
5) Help pollinating our crops
So I head out in awe he has gotten all this stuff ready. He is the most level headed, thoughtful, observant, quick thinking on his feet, and 2 steps ahead of me person I have ever known. I'm more, "Look something shiny!" or "Look there's a Chicken" kind of person.
We start.
I'm using slow movements and trying not to talk too much. He is not being bossy about it but trying to be helpful while also being noticeably nervous.
As we explore the hive I see the Queen cage has dropped to the bottom of the hive and now we understand why there was a cluster (bearding kind of activity) under the hive! They were doing exactly what they needed for the Queen.
I attempted to get grip on the Queen box while causing the bees to become a wee bit worried that I was harming their Queen. The gloves I wore aren't big or thick and there are about 50 bees covering my fingers as I fumble with the Queen cage. He handed me the brush to try to shimmy the cage out with the handle of it but it just kept sliding. I could literally feel the bees on the bottom of the hive playing a tug of war with me to get her.
Mr. Awesome at this point is getting flustered and wondering why am I going so slow. I am too nervous to argue or explain my actions. My gloves are slickery from the over abundant sugar water that was sprayed to help with the ticked off bees.
Mr. Awesome had the great thought of using the safety pin I had pinned on the front of my suit to attach the tab that is on the Queen cage to the back of the hive, just under the top cover. I had a dickens of a time getting it open though. First I needed to get the other cork out and the remaining bees on the cage and my gloves were not still not working with me. At this point Mr. Awesome is reminding me we have the brush to use, which I had used as well to attempt to help get the Queen cage but it didn't exactly work as it had in my head and it's covered in impatient bees!
My partner in crime is attempting to keep me calm at the same time he is getting concerned I'm not working fast enough. I could hear my heart in my ears! I'm not calm. He had to help me get the pin off my suit and he realized that it's not as easy as it looked. His hands were just as slick from the sugar water, making this task harder then it looks. Finally he had gotten it off and attaching it worked like a charm!
We put everything back but didn't put in one frame having figured we had aggravated the bees enough for one day. I plan on removing the Queen cage and inserting the frame in a few days or week.
We only had 2 passenger bees try to hitch a ride on us. One I found on Mr. Awesome and one that took a trip attached to the bottom of my boot. this brave fuzzy bee was quickly escorted them out the door.
What a way to start the morning!
I can not believe it's the middle of April! Where is the time going?!
The Cherry blooms and Lilacs are blooming. The smells are light and beautiful.
First the sad farm fail. Well, it's not really a fail just one of those things. My incubator died! I had placed Duck eggs inside in hopes of wee babies. It was up to temperature but in the morning it dropped like a lead stone.
The Amazing Jen has an incubator and I hope to pester her for a favor of Duck babies. We never had the chance to make it up to the local animal auction, though this upcoming Sunday will be the Flea Market and Animal Swap! I'll be setting up my wares this year depending on both how I feel and most importantly the weather.
My mulch pile is slowly dwindling which means I have been frantically calling and trying to figure out how to find more- FREE MUCLH!
Most local tree services here seem to charge and the group I had gotten it from last Fall has dropped off the face of the earth.
Our Asparagus is tasting wonderful! I plan to plant much more. I admit to be eating them as fast as I pick them. YUM!
A Rabbit has attacked my cool weather crop- Lettuce, Collards and Mustard Greens. We are seeking suggestions for deterring the offender before he eats more!
Mr. Awesome asked the local food bank we frequent if they could use eggs and they are happy to. I'm pretty excited as we want to give back to the community that is helping us.
He is also busy working on a variety of projects to continue to maintain, update and streamline our homestead. I wish I had an ounce of the ideas he has. He formulates ideas in his head, marches out for tools and viola! It's done!
Me? I more or less fumble and hope for the best.
The kids have came by with the baby recently. Short Stack is getting so big! China Doll surprised me with a beautiful painting she made. She is a talented Artist, now I'm not just saying that I'm serious. I'll have to share some of her stuff that was more along the lines of spooky.
We found Jas. Townsend and Son on YouTube which has given us the encouragement to look into Living History. We are both anxious to try tips and techniques we have found. Maybe someday we will dive into re-enacting! I think I may need to grow my hair out though.
The Amazing Jen invited a dear Friend- JV and kids, along for a visit earlier this week and we all had a good time so good JV and her Hubs stopped by yesterday to meet Mr. Awesome. I felt terrible I didn't think to offer them any grub. We hope to visit with them and Amazing Jen with her Hubs. (Both of these couples have a Sustainable living mindset)
Besides my awesome Sisters, I don't really hang with anyone. I was invited to another Jen's home a few weeks back for a Ladies night and we played cards- Skip-bo. I don't think I ever played that one before but had fun! I considered starting a Scared Sister kind of group. I haven't made it to Drum Circle since last year and miss that but what about creating my own? Not too many in my area that I have found that are into smudging, crystal, or earthy Momma's/Gal's. I may not be looking in the right spot!
I uploaded a few YouTube's so if you haven't visited our page please do soon. Find us as blessmeplease09 and have you found me on Instagram yet or FB Legacy Antiques & Estate Sales.
I hope your week is as wonderful as you are!
Mr Awesome has been keeping busy with various projects around the house and garden.
He staked out a pie shape for me to work on a Potager style garden! Worked on some electrical issues, put up trim in the kids rooms, worked on our mowers, took off the roosts from the old chicken coop, some plumbing fixes, moved several furniture pieces around the house and to the
barn and put up with me.
We had a visitor digging down under the front stairs so Mr. Awesome also threw more dirt down, added slate and I threw down some mulch in hopes of deterring our visitor. We'll see if this helps!
We have an outlet outside! Hooray! All of these things are small projects to him but they add up in the grand scheme of things.
I did plant a few of my cool weather plants in, herbs, sowed flowers and more veggies! I have been busy working on more Dreamcatchers to bring to the upcoming Fleamarket! I did have 2 women offer to buy them all but they never followed through.
My Duck egg hatched is a dud! My incubator decided it's not going to work and gave itself up to ghost. So no chicks but a journey to the farm auction is a maybe. Mr. Awesome meant to go but things just keep popping up.
I have been very off kilter, blame it on the moon or my cycle. I'm a mess! I felt like giving up the other day in regard to my health. I guess feeling a bit of despair and sorry for myself. I told Terry I feel just useless as a Wife and Mom right now. His reply is always tear jerking, super awesome, God I love this Man, sappiness and gushy.
My memory is flaking out, my parts are hurting, I feel awfully tired, my visits to nap time are coming more frequent again, I am stumbling often and dare I say I'm fearful of being bedridden again.
I wrote a email to my family advising of some final wishes. Now I have no intentions of going anywhere soon but the feeling darkness was strong the last few weeks. I'm normally a happy-go-lucky Lady but something is not quite right.
I've went dark on some of my visits to Social Media land. Opting instead for something less news worthy... Instagram and Pinterest! I haven't chatted with anyone or visited anyone for a LONG TIME. While I feel a deep need to reconnect with my family, I am just too exhausted. Too tired to talk sometimes and how does that make sense? Even eating requires effort. Well not that much if you have seen me.
I have opened some books I've been meaning to reed and started reading my Bible again. I need to journal and ground myself again, but felt it was a dire time to do some smudging. It's gotten to the point where I had to tell Mr. Awesome that he hasn't been so awesome (He's been a bit grumpier lately) and needs to find a job or something he can get out of the house to do. He is a stay-at-home Dad, unable to find work in his chosen profession and he considers his age, 59 years young to be a contributor of why he hasn't been able to find a position.
My job is fine. It is not rocket science. I meet wonderful people and it pays the bills. Though I managed to ask for a raise. I really don't want to go through the process of finding a new job or I may have to find another part-time one. But the hours are awesome! My side dream businesses are on the slow side leaving me to question my path/what I want to be when I grow up.
With my brain fog I forgot to pay a few bills so now we are a bit behind. Our tax return has been in process for more then 6 weeks, despite it being electronically deposited. Grrface!
In all this I am reminded that I need to be grateful. I had a hug out of the blue from a co-worker, a compliment from a guest that came out of nowhere to serve a reminder to me that there are many folks in this world that are suffering, had a loss, unemployed, in poor health or without the joys I have right now. I feel selfish for my feelings. So smudging seemed appropriate to break the tension in CasaMel's. I did a YouTube of a few basic information, also the prayer I used, links to other negativity busting ideas and my Bible info! Find it here- Go Smudge yourself! Dang full moon...
I am picking myself up, dusting myself off, lift my eyes upward and a quit my whining. Well, at least for this month...
We added 4 Amberlink chicks that are 4 weeks old. I am still mourning the death of my incubator. I really wanted to give the Duck eggs a whirl.
