July 5, 2013 · 6:05 pm

Happy Birthday America!

Traveling outside of America has made me a better American!  I spent a short time in Croatia and learned to love my liberty in a way that no classroom or textbook ever could.  I have a friend who is Croatian and I affectionately call him a Cave Man.  He has a gruff demeanor about him and protects his soft marshmallowy center.  My time in Croatia taught me that there is a whole country out there (probably many more) of people who are fearful.  I traced the bullet holes in the many buildings with my fingers and witnessed the efforts to restore their infrastructure. I saw the results left behind years later in a village that was ethnically cleansed. Communism has been over for them for years but they still live with the residual fear of someone knowing too much about you.  My first trip to a modern grocery store was a real eye opener.  My hosts were so proud of the choices they had.  I smiled and agreed with their obvious excitement.  The vast choices they happily showed me were not choices by American standards.  The one brand of laundry soap now came in plain powder or liquid, no other scent or brand choices. 

I have had my early days of being a starving college student and an impoverished young married.  I never lived with the reduced liberties that these folks live with every day.  To my Croatian friends and readers, no disrespect has been meant in this writing.  I loved your country and the people and their spirit.  Trust won too easily has no value and I will always value my days in your beautiful country.

This 4th of July we put out our flags (yes that’s plural) and invited family and friends.  The Italian’s were cooking!  My daughter made Arancini’s the way Nona made them, we BBQ’d ribs and steak, had corn on the cob and potato salad and of course apple pie and ice cream for dessert!  A big thank you to the vets and service people who paid for my liberties.

God, please continue to Bless America!

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June 19, 2013 · 10:43 pm

Success! Homemade Solar Wax Reducer!

I told myself when I began my beekeeping hobby that I would not spend a lot of money on it.  Right!  Have you told yourself that before?  I have spent a lot more than I ever thought I would.  The sales of honey don’t quite match up to what I spend somehow.  Beekeepers must love the hobby to say involved.  I have plenty of family and friends who like to help me consume my honey and it does make a wonderful gift.  I love the wax as well.  The candles smell yummy, even when they are not burning.  When they are burning, I don’t have to worry about the wax dripping.  It also makes great soap.

Separating the wax from the unusable debris and any residual honey is a messy, time consuming process.  After rendering the wax in my kitchen I began my research into doing it outside of my kitchen!  I really wanted to go solar but everything I was finding was costly.  I just didn’t want to spend the money.  I found a YouTube video that was close to what a wanted but was still too complicated.  So I came up with my own design.  It has worked great, cost under $5.00, and I can do it outside.

The materials I used were a purchased Styrofoam cooler, a black trash bag, some painters tape, a piece of clear Lexan I had in the garage, a small black lasagna frozen food tray, and an aluminum cake pan.  I lined the cooler with the black trash bag and then taped it around the outside of the cooler to hold it down.  I fit the frozen food tray into the cooler to catch the clean wax.  Then, I punched holes in the bend of one short side of the cake pan with a fine tapestry needle (not a small as a hand sewing needle but not a large as a wool darning needle).  I fit the pan inside the cooler at an angle and taped the un-punched side to the top edge allowing the punched side to hang above the frozen food tray.  The wax cappings were dropped in the top part of the cake pan and the Lexan was just laid over the top.

I went away and left it alone and came back the next day.  Sweet!  The clean wax had melted and collected in the frozen food tray along with some excess honey.  The debris was left behind in the cake pan which I have been able to reuse several times before cleaning or throwing away.

This method has been great and allows me to process wax when I pull one or all ten frames of honey from a hive.  The bag did melt in one place but I’m still happy with this method!

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May 10, 2013 · 10:45 pm

Note to Self: Wear Gloves!

This post from May 10th got lost in the draft bin but I thought it was useful so here it is!

Sorry for the delay in posts.  My truck has a new battery, my new swarm has a new hive box and home and are very happy.  In the process of relocating the bees to the stand at 10:30 p.m., I noticed some leaves had blown around the legs of the stand.  I reached down and swept them away and as I did so I thought to self, self you really should be wearing gloves for this, it’s awfully dark.  Ouch!  Was that a stick that poked me? 

No it wasn’t a stick, my biology friend went through the entomology of insects with me and determined I had been bitten by a Jumping Spider, technically non-venomous.  Side effects included a right hand the size of a boxing glove, headaches, muscle pain, nausea and last blackish swollen feet.

I did not have a bull’s eye wound, no oozing, no tracing and the swelling went down nicely.  I guess I should count myself lucky that it wasn’t something really nasty.  Still a little bloaty but all the other symptoms are gone, gone, gone.

Did you ever do something and as you were doing it thought to yourself, I shouldn’t be doing this?

More time to read!

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April 17, 2013 · 8:53 pm

Hope

 I’ve been meditating on the word hope lately.  There are so many people struggling with life out there finances, jobs, relationships, emotions and just fear in general.  So much fear… I have always had a deep and abiding faith Christ, even as a child.  I know that this faith is a gift from God now that I have lived life a bit and can see my sunset, hopefully from a distance.  I desperately miss my beloved but I have hope that I will see him again.  Some days the pain of separation is so great I truly do feel like I’m in the middle of a soul shattering earthquake.  More days than not my emotions are better and I can feel the hope.  I’ve had to wear big girl pants most days now and can’t afford to allow myself the luxury of too many pity parties or a slide into depression. 

My truck had a dead battery and I need to transport a new swarm capture.  (Moving bees in the passenger compartment is not recommended!)  The timing was not good; it never is, especially when dealing with wild animals and insects.  The pressure of a daily schedule, of the need to pick up my new capture, the help that wasn’t helpful and enough clutter from a busy life and schedule almost did me in.  I sent the “help” away and still wearing my big girl pants got the truck started, late, but start it did.

Today is a new day, I drove the truck, have nothing scheduled tonight and will pick up the bees after work!  I woke up this morning with a scripture reference running through my head.  I do not have tons of scripture memorized, I don’t beat people up with a Bible or any religious book so I was surprised that Galatians 3:9 would not go away.  I was clueless what it was so, I looked it up.  “So then those who are of faith are blessed.”

Hope, could that be the shield against today’s anxieties and depressions.  Faith, trusting that God is still in control as America (and myself) are not.  I am truly a blessed woman, counting my blessings and looking at the full glass (it is never really half full) overflowing, pressed down for full measure.  It’s spring and the promise of forgiveness and renewal can be seen everywhere.  Now that I have been relocated to an inside office and lost my big picture window to the world, I go outside every day, close my eyes and lift my face to the sun.  My doctor said it was good for me!  It is!  Be kind and gentle to yourself my blogging friends, you are the best friend you will ever have.  Where is your hope?  I challenge you to do some senseless kind thing for yourself and for one other person each day.  No matter how small or how great, to quote Nike, just do it.

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April 10, 2013 · 11:17 pm

The Queen is Born – Long Live the Queen (Bee)

 

I confess to ignoring my Bee yard during the time that I was having difficulty doing basic tasks after the death of my husband. I lost three hives, I believed I lost four. (Two to ant invasion, one to moths) All something that an attentive beekeeper would have prevented with easy mechanical means. This video chronicles my attempt to split a hive by digging through the packed brood cells and cutting off a queen cell. Something I was not looking forward to doing and as it turns out, I didn’t have to!
Great footage of the inside of a healthy hive.

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April 3, 2013 · 6:03 pm

Serenity Doesn’t Come Easy

I’m back from a favorite trip to Morro Bay.  It was wonderful to spend some time with my host just hanging out and talking.  Watched a few Sci Fi shows and a couple of chick flicks.  Did our nails like teenagers (did you know there are magnetic polishes now?!) and did hand work.  Really enjoyed the food and the long walks on the beach.  There are two things in nature that seem to really calm and center me, the ocean and a redwood forest.  I’ve always felt you can hear God breathe in a redwood forest.  I have so many happy memories of family time spent camping when my Dad was alive.  The teaching moments on a camping trip have served me a lifetime already.  He would pull the truck up to the campsite and everyone would pile out and go canvass the entire site looking for trash, broken glass and anything that might be non-native or hazardous.  Then we would create our home away from home.  After spending a week or two, even a few days, we would canvass the area again before we left it.  Dad always said to leave a place better than you found it.  If you borrowed something, you gave it back better than it was loaned to you.

I am continually introduced to individuals that are suffering from some form of severe anxiety.  Their lives are full of the stress of living a lifestyle while being unable to stretch their time and dollars from that lifestyle to their beliefs.  It cannot stretch that far without changes.

“We live longer than our forefathers; but we suffer more from a thousand artificial anxieties and cares. They fatigued only the muscles; we exhaust the finer strength of the nerves.”  Edward Bulwer-Lytton (1803-1873)

My recommendation, less time at Starbucks and more time on the beach and in a redwood forest chatting with God.  Hey, it works for me! I’m already planning my next trip!

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March 11, 2013 · 9:48 pm

Beautiful Days and Nights

This is my favorite time of the year, even with my allergies. I’m lucky enough to have the fruit trees in my yard bloom in succession. The floral show begins with a well developed plum tree, moves on to the apricot, cherry, limequat, apple, early and then late peach and almond trees. The olive trees (2) join in there somewhere and the blackberry bushes delight my bees by blooming most of the spring and summer. The season ends with a flourish as the Cottonwood trees dump fluff all over the lawn in the heat of summer.

This wonderful show can be seen from my patio! This weekend we hauled out the 8′ folding tables and had a traditional Italian feast of…Mexican food…LOL! Seriously, I love the laughter, hugs and kisses and the delight as the children run full out in the yard. What a great day to be a kid! What a great day to be a mom and grandmom! It was a treat as my daughter made it up from Morro Bay and it is great to have her home. I don’t think I heard a disparaging word all night.

My sons “of my heart” split a particularly dense and well seasoned oak log and built a roaring fire in the fire pit when the light faded. We continued to enjoy the night with birthday cupcakes and citronella candles flickering in tune with the fire pit.

I think I shall take a snapshot of Saturday night and save it in my soul. My treasures.

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March 6, 2013 · 5:46 pm

Ode to Blazer…

Resampled_2012-12-11_07-34-11_952
My old friend finally broke down on the freeway,
On the ramp and off the very next one, coasting all the way,
‘Twod seem an easy thing to do for a vehicle bought used in 2002,
The Trans shop says too much to repair, sell you must.
So I find myself following the tow truck to deliver Blazer, crying all the way,
Don’t get me wrong, it’s not the piece of metal,
The memories are strong of my daughter and my beloved,
Of friends and family and days gone by,
Oh the places we went, the hours upon hours spent with my beloved,
Falling asleep to the sound of waves pounding or the birds and wildlife and their morning song.
But most of all, the hours that will never come back, I miss my beloved and his constant care for me,
I miss the man that was kind and knew the value of love and mercy,
He kept my Blazer in top shape, his language of love was acts of service,
I will continue to be worthy of being called his friend, his wife,
Until we sing God’s Favorite Song of All,
So I end my mourning song for Blazer,
Farewell Blazer my 4 Wheel Friend, but worry not, you will come back as a Toyota:-)

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February 28, 2013 · 10:35 pm

Bees – How Sweet They Are

Bees in Hive Box with 2 Supers

Bees in Hive Box with 2 Supers


Last night I finally gave up procrastinating and made the trek, all 150′ of it, to check on my Bees. It’s a good thing I did, No danger of colony collapse disorder here! More like danger of swarm because there was NO ROOM left in the hive box. Full to capacity with wax, honey and of course beeeezz. I pulled about 30 lbs. as a band aid last night and gave them another Super to roam in. I scraped out the honey and comb from the frames I pulled and will give the frames back to the hive box tonight. The bees clean up the frames of left over honey and wax and begin again. I love watching them as they lick up the honey. These are Italian bees, what else would I have? They are so soothing. I love putting my hands on the sides of the hive in the hot summer and feeling the life inside as they fan their wings to cool the box.
I think my bees just might have to play a supporting role in my little romance story.

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February 28, 2013 · 10:11 pm

Bees – I’ve Been Framed

This is a photo of a full “frame” of honey, notice how they start building “outside of the frame”. I would have been very unhappy if I had waited another week and they all swarmed away. The ladies are much happier now they have room to grow in!Full frame with few bees 9-17-11

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