Yesterday when my husband was doing some work with the bees, he called and asked me to share this message for him on my blog.
“The Carniolan honey bees (which are the breed we are raising this year) are the nicest bees.” In the past we have raised other breeds of bees and have found varying degrees of aggressiveness when working in the hives. He has not experienced any aggressiveness while working with these. According to this site their temperament is only one of the favorable traits of the Carniolan bees, but for us much of that remains to be seen. At this point we are pleased with our decision to keep this breed and if they survive though winter we will be thrilled.
As we turn the corner toward summer I’m going to back up into May and share some of the things that I didn’t get a chance to blog about as they were happening.
MOTHER’S DAY
Sunday, May 8th was the perfect day for the Mother’s Day picnic we had planned at the farm. Before going to the farm, I took a short walk in our back yard to see if the trilliums were coming up in the woods. My mom loved trilliums and each year on Mother’s Day I look for the trilliums because they are normally in bloom. This year they were not.
All of our spring blossoms are running about two weeks later than normal this year due to cool and wet weather conditions. Our cherry tree was full of blossoms the week of May 8th and buzzing with pollinators. Last year on April 21st I blogged that our cherry tree was blossoming, and we were worried about freezing temperatures that were in the forecast.
My two youngest daughters came out for the picnic. They brought me this t-shirt from all four of my girls.
Love you girls! 💞
RAISED GARDEN BEDS
I had mentioned in a previous post that we decided to plant some of our garden in raised beds this year. With prices skyrocketing, buying lumber to use as garden beds was not an option.
We decided to use something that we had on hand and were not using for anything else -barrels.
My husband cut the barrels into various sizes.
The portions that had a bottom in them he also drilled weep holes to allow for drainage.
We put paper bags on the ground before placing the barrel pieces in place. This will keep weeds from growing up around the garden beds. After we placed the beds in place we added a layer of pea gravel to help with drainage. We then added our soil mixture which included some topsoil and sand.
The tomatoes were planted deep in the barrel to help protect them from the elements.
They continue to grow upward, reaching toward the sun.
Marigolds are said to help protect against various pests so we planted some with tomatoes and peppers.
We also planted green bean, beet and carrot seeds – they have begun to sprout. Some of the beds are awaiting the arrival of our new strawberry plants.
OTHER GARDEN NEWS
The cabbage that we had planted in the ground, earlier in May, is looking good,
as are the potatoes.
This past weekend my husband finished planting tomatoes, peppers and eggplants. He has also planted sweet corn, a patch of buckwheat and a patch of alfalfa.
The garlic is up and looking good.
My husband finished up the blueberry patch. It is now robin-proof (we hope). Bring on the berries!
The apple trees blossomed and are now making fruit.
IRRIGATION
This pump is placed in the pond to pump water out. It is run by the windmill.
I don’t remember what day it was when my husband put the pump in the pond (sometime in the first half of the month). I do remember that, in my opinion, the water was not warm enough to be in.
I think my husband agreed.
One hose connects from the windmill to the pump. It pumps air into the pump when the windmill turns. Water comes out another hose that is connected to the pump. We run that hose into a tank like the one in the picture below.
These tanks are raised above ground level and a garden hose is connected to a spigot near the bottom of the tank. When we open the spigot gravity feeds the water though the garden hose, so we are able to water our plants.
BEES
We are not the only ones who have busy. The hives are all very active. After my husband removed the feeders and added new boxes, he said this is the nicest breed of bees he has ever worked with.
BEAUTY
When I left for my vacation the forsythia were still blossoming.
When I returned the lilacs were blossoming.
Their beautiful fragrance carried in the wind.
(I didn’t get a picture of them, but the trilliums were also blossoming at that time.)
My husband discovered these mushrooms growing near the prayer garden. While they look much like a morel, we are not mushroom savvy enough to try them. We decided just to let them be.
WISDOM
Lastly, I wanted to share this message. It’s what my sisters call tea bag wisdom. Some brands of herbal teas print inspirational messages on the tags that are attached to the tea bag. I received this message on my tea bag about a week ago.
I updated my phonebook last week. Not the one that is stored in my phone. This phonebook is a small pocket-sized book that I bought many years ago to write down all the phone numbers of people I call regularly. I carried this book in my purse so that I would always have those numbers with me in case, for some reason, I was unable to access the numbers stored in my cell phone. Several months ago I bought a new, smaller, purse and when I transferred stuff from the old purse to the new purse I decided the phone book, that I had not used in over 10 years that I had been carrying it, was something I could do without.
A situation that arose last week made me aware of my error in thinking.
Here’s what happened. It was late morning when I ignored an incoming call because I didn’t recognize the phone number. It was over an hour later when I looked at my phone and discovered I had a voice mail. The message was from my daughter (#3). It went something like this – Mom, I’m at the airport waiting for my flight. I’m using the bartender’s phone because mine is not working. Could you try to call my phone. Also, I need you to get ahold of S (her boyfriend) and have him pick me up at the airport. You have my itinerary so can tell him what time and where to pick me up.
I tried calling her phone but my call went straight to voicemail. Then my phone rang. Caller I.D. showed the same unfamiliar number #3 had called from earlier.
When I answered my daughter asked if I had tried to call her phone. She explained that her phone had vibrated but when she answered it there was only dead air. She repeated her request that I contact S and ask him to pick her up when her flight got in since she wouldn’t have her phone to be able to call for an Uber or Lift ride. She was able to give me her flight information but what she couldn’t give me was S’s phone number. She did not have it memorized or written down.
A couple of years ago, when they first started dating, I had requested that she email me his name, address and phone number, as a safety precaution but I had never written it down or stored his number in my phone. I’m sure that info still resides amongst the many emails I have not deleted but tracking it down would take some time and effort. I asked if one of her sisters might have his phone number. She said that one of them might be able message him on Facebook.
When I hung up, I called daughter #2 and explained the situation. She wrote down the flight info and said she would try to reach S via Facebook. She called me back a few minutes later saying that she was able to reach him and gave him the information. I then called #3 back and told her that S would pick her up.
A few phone calls and a flight delay later #3 called me, from S’s phone, to let me know that he had picked her up and they were on their way home. I saved his number in my phone and added it to my (written) phonebook. #3 also agreed that she would make a list of important phone numbers to carry with her. Lesson learned.
When I learned of the opportunity to go visit my sister (K.C) and brother-in-law for a couple of days I knew it was something I couldn’t pass up. It was two years ago this month that they retired and moved to their home in Tennessee. Since then, I had seen them one time when they returned to Michigan for a visit. I had not yet been to visit them.
A few weeks ago, my other sister (#3) told me that she and her husband had decided to take a 4-day weekend and go to Tennessee for a visit. They invited me to go along. It would be a short visit because both the first day and the fourth day we would spend 11 hours in the vehicle traveling there and back. My husband would stay home with Ranger to care for the chickens and all of the garden plants.
It is truly a spectacular part of the country/world that they live in, but the best part was being able to spend this time with some of my favorite people.
I’ve decided to share some of my photos without narration – the beauty speaks for itself.
A Short Walk Before Breakfast
Mountain Tour in Off Road Vehicle
Elk River Falls
Thanks for visiting. Are you planning a vacation this year?
Don't Eat It! Soap and Skin Care 