Burnt Beans and New Bees

Don't go outside and start working in your yard and think you will check the butter beans before they burn - nope, didn't happen - well, it did happen - they were smoking and not in a good way when I remembered to check on them!  But nothing caught on fire and I have potatoes, baked chicken and I'm going to make hush puppies so all is well.  Late afternoon the sun finally came out but it was a good day to work in the yard.  Spring in finally here with a little pollen too.

Mr. Ellis and I are picking up four bee packages on Friday. Two for him and two for me.  I will set mine up at the house rather than the farm.  I'll be feeding them for awhile and I can't drive to the farm every day.  When I move (and who knows the answer to that), Mr. Ellis and I will move the bees to the farm.  We are both rather anxious about getting bees again and have decided if these don't make it, we'll both stop keeping bees.   

Lecture at Logan's and Saturday Shopping

If you've never been to Logan's Garden Shop in Raleigh, it should be on your "to do" list.  They have been in Raleigh for many, many years and have great bedding plants, shrubs, trees, pots, outside furniture, garden art and a wonderful café for eating inside or out weather permitting.  Just a great place with knowledgeable staff and so much eye candy in the plant world.  

Bryce Lane

On Saturday they had a lecture on Houseplants and Succulents given by Bryce Lane, NCSU professor emeritus.  If you're into lectures, classes, etc. or anything to do with plants and get the opportunity, take one of his classes or check him out on YouTube and PBS "In the Garden with Bryce Lane".  He is an excellent speaker.  I was a little concerned about where the class would take place but they had set up one of those white plastic tents with plastic chairs.  The tent was full of young, old and in between gardeners.  The one thing I learned (well, there were several) was not to put gravel or anything in the bottom of the pot for houseplants.  And you can leave plants in the same pot for years - just take it out, give the roots a haircut (2/3 off) then back in the same pot with new potting soil.  Who knew!

So it was a fun morning and then on to errands with the rest of the world.  My main reason for being in town on a Saturday besides the class was to check on my granite for the kitchen countertops at the farm.  Believe it or not I didn't write the name of the granite anywhere and the sales person never sent paperwork and she is no longer working there and even though they found the granite order, I wanted to make sure it was what I had ordered.  Yes, it was and I'm still happy with what I chose.  Then on to Costco (for a return and impulse buying) and cheap pizza for lunch, Joann's for a couple of red fabrics (more impulse buying), Homegoods where I saw one of my cousins, TJ Maxx and then home to walk Lily since we're both out of shape. 

Shopping is exhausting!

Wine and Wallyworld

So today the sun was shining which has been very rare in our part of Eastern North Carolina lately and I was completely out of wine (yikes) so off to Total Wine.  I usually go to Costco but it's Saturday and it's insane there.  I got "several" bottles - I don't like to give out and just in case of hard times - well, you never know!  Saw an old friend in the parking lot so that was a nice surprise (you know you can never go anywhere).

So off to Wallyworld for a couple of things but everybody else had the same idea.  Lots and lots of folks.  Did my shopping, checked out and out to the parking lot where lo and behold I couldn't find my car!  Yes, that's true.  I won't call it a Senior Moment but it was pretty damn close.  I could not remember where I had parked and my key thing does not work so I couldn't beep it - ahhh!  So I walked around this humongous parking lot looking for my car.  This nice young man asked me if I couldn't find my car and I said yep, can't find it.  So he helped me look around and told me he couldn't find his car one time but that's because someone had actually stolen it.  But I did find my car, thank goodness, and I'm home now having a glass of wine. 

Lily is here with me, the kitty is outside probably trying to kill something and the chickens are in their house safe and sound.  So all's well that ends well!

Ah, Mother Nature . . .



Daffodils at the Farm
January 27, 2019

Yes it will . . . . no, it won't!

Well, that's the weather forecast for the past couple of days.  The possibility of snow and/or any type of freezing precipitation around here makes all the weather people crazy! 

But all that being said, we're getting a pass again.  Thank goodness.  It has been so dreary, cold and has rained more than you can even think about for the past couple of months. 

Now on to what's happening in my little corner of the world!  Mr. Ellis and I got together this past week.  It's been a busy time for him but he still has three hives of bees. We're already making plans to order packages in the spring.  I would like to have two hives again - they'll be down at the farm so a new experience all around. 

The little chickens are laying now - three eggs a day - well, really only two because Tiny's chicken lays in the coop and Lily goes in every morning and gets her egg before I can.  I've got to fix that situation - you know Lily is not hungry!

I have bought flower seeds already - cleomes (a dark pink), cosmos (pinks/whites and orange/yellows, Love Lies Bleeding, and some sunflowers

Okay - got to go.  That damn cat brought another mouse in the house and she and Lily are trying to catch it.  It's always something!

A New Beginning

Well, it's the end of 2018 and another year has flown by . . . I can't say I've done anything extraordinary - well I did go to England.

So on to 2019 and this is the plan - I'm moving to my Mother's home place.  After many, many years in this house, I will move back to the place where I grew up.  I am not a mover - I have lived within 50 miles of where I was born my entire life and have no plans to go further in my old age. 

With that said, I have a lot of work to do before I can move and even more after I move.

Another "blog" which I should have started months ago is in the works showing the change to the house and farm.  Yes, it's a small farm so I can have goats, a donkey, more chickens, bees and who knows what else. 

So the best to you and yours in 2019 and on to another chapter in my life.

Not my best day . . . .

So late this afternoon, I noticed a strange wasp entering the 2017 Hive and I thought it was a little out of kilter for that to happen. 

Well, let me back up for a minute - on the 16th of October the bees were flying around like lunatics.  There was a cold front coming through and I thought the weather was the reason.  When I checked late Thursday, dead bees were in front of three of the hives.  It was late and I wasn't sure what was happening so I put sugar syrup on all the hives again thinking mosquito spraying might be the culprit.  I talked to Mr. Ellis and later he called back and said it was probably robber bees.  I just didn't add two and two together at the time. 

Well, it was robber bees and then wax moths got in the hives and three of my hives were destroyed.  They were not strong enough to defend themselves and there was not a doggone thing I could have done to save those hives.   But the 2017 Hive was strong enough to ward off the robbers and they seemed to be doing okay and no sign of wax moths in the hive.  I closed the entrance to about 1" and checked the top super - there were lots of bees in the hive.

Until I looked today after seeing the wasp.  They're gone and what were left were dead on the bottom of the hive.  

Robbing is more common in the fall when the bees, wasps, etc. are looking for that last source of food before cold weather. Worker honey bees are normally law-abiding, industrious creatures, but sometimes they can turn to a life of crime – and it may pay handsome dividends.  Robbing begins when a few bees are able to enter a hive and return home with food.  This excites the other foragers to join the raid.  Before long a frenzy of robbing bees will be present at the front of the target hive.  Robbing will continue until the colony is killed and all the honey inside is gone.

I have made many mistakes in keeping bees but never have I lost all my hives.  To say I'm disappointed and upset about this would be an understatement. 

They have been such an important part of my life - I will wait till spring and then decide if I'm up to trying this again.