Thanksgiving

Freedom From Want

This painting is also known as Thanksgiving Dinner. This was the third installment of Rockwell's famous Four Freedoms series.
The Four Freedoms paintings were inspired by a speech given before the United States Congress on January 6, 1941, by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Roosevelt enumerated four basic freedoms to which every person was entitled.
The first was freedom of speech. Second was freedom to worship. Third was freedom from want. Fourth was freedom from fear.

Raft Swamp Farms

http://www.raftswampfarms.org/

These great folks came to our bee meeting last month and talked about their farm and their bees. They have (if I remember correctly) about 8 hives around the farm.

Raft Swamp Farms is a 150-acre tract of land in the Antioch District of Hoke County, North Carolina, bordered on the west by Raft Swamp Creek.

A 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, Raft Swamp Farms hosts an organic farm incubator program where individuals can learn the art and craft of sustainable organic farming.
Interested individuals may apply to be incubator farmers at Raft Swamp Farms. Leases are available for small tracts of land. Incubator farmers receive hands-on training in organic methods and farm business management, have access to a community barn and shared farm equipment, and market their produce to residents of Hoke and other nearby counties.

This doesn't sound like such a bad deal if you want to learn about farming in the Old North State and to have equipment - well, sounds good to me.

Nice folks and if you're out their way, stop in to see them.

Orange Juice

Did you know . . . . . . .

There is more vitamin C in a single orange than in a full glass of industrial orange juice.

Truly fresh orange juice only lasts a few days. It if last for weeks (or months), it's an industrial product.

Until the Florida orange growers launched a campaign in the early 20th century to deal with their surplus crop, the only people who drank orange juice were Floridians who had a tree in their backyard.

Eating an orange (the inside not just the juice of an orange) lowers your cholesterol.

Brazil produces more oranges than the United States.

Orange trees are a symbol of love and marriage in many cultures.

To Be A Bee

Q: Do honeybees sleep?

A: Honeybees sometimes exhibit sleep behavior, although not exactly as humans experience it. Research has shown, however, that their muscles relax, body temperature decreases, movement is at a minimum, and reaction to stimuli is slowed.

Ida and the Bees

We've had a lot of rain - 3" yesterday mid afternoon. I'll check this morning and I feel sure the rain gauge is full. Lots of rain and crazy animals in the house.

The bees are fine but definitely not flying in this weather. Thank goodness they have plenty of food.








The swarm hive box was not painted and it looks a mess - it's okay but just won't last as long as the others.










Hive #4 - all the girls are inside their house which is where I headed after taking these photos.

Veteran's Day 2009

Let us never forget the sacrifices made for our freedom . . . .

Sesame Street 40th Anniversary

Sesame Street is forty years old today. Amazing! My girls and I watched this and I enjoyed it as much as they did. Bert and Ernie, Oscar the Grouch, Cookie Monster - I love them all.

Joan Ganz Cooney had the idea for "Sesame Street". She and other concerned people formed the Children's Television Workshop to develop this brand-new idea.

The first show was on November 10, 1969 and now it's the most popular children's TV show in the world. Sesame Street has layers of meanings in each show. There are some jokes for younger children (physical comedy) and some jokes for older kids and adults.

C is for Celebrity - there is a long waiting list of famous people who want to appear on the program.

N is for Neighborhood - the show is filled with girls and boys, young and old, and people of all races and backgrounds.