The Beehive Shoppe took to the road. We were asked if we would like to set up a free display at the Delaware County Fair, to promote local small business….we decided to go for it. So here are a few shots ……
We are one of six 5×9 spots. That turned out to be a challenge to fit a store into.
Can you see why?
But we accomplished it!
Now we have 200 honey sticks to hand out on Children’s Day…..see you at the Fair!
Getting the right lighting for pictures can be a challenge, especially inside. Our house tends to be a little dark, so I don’t take too many inside shots. That really has begun to be a problem having a blog to post on now. And winter in New York can be very long! I need more than outdoor “snow” shots from December to May. I was talking to my sister-in-law (fellow blogger) about this, and she came across a blog with some help with photo lighting. Check it out HERE. So we showed this to the Beekeeper and he made a list and worked his magic.
The first shot is with what natural light I had in my kitchen (notice the shadow). The second is with my new photo lights.
Here’s a close up shot.
This is what the shot looked like with the lights in place.
And these are the lights that my hubby/handiest man that I know/”The Beekeeper” made for me. He made them a little bit sturdier than the original one in the above post, ’cause that’s the kind of guy he is and I wanted to be able to move them around a lot without concern. Thank you to Bob and Carlene for a great idea.
P.S. The little vintage camera is the latest addition to my “pop out” camera collection, see the others HERE.
P.P.S. And the bracelet made with vintage brooches, I made to wear to a family wedding HERE.
As promised in my “~ Catchin’ Up ~ ” post….here is the bee removal post.
The Beekeeper uncovers the hive. At this point we aren’t sure how big.
So he vacuums and removes some comb.
And begins tying the comb into frames.
and places them into the hive box.
Then to cut into the next section of the house….
lots more comb and lots more bees!
A little smoke…
some more vacuuming.
Time for a lesson…
more tying in comb.
Queen cells
drone cells.
This is where the bees go when vacuumed.
A successful removal. There were so many bees ( four cages ), that we decided to divide them into two hives ( they already had lots of queen cells to make a second queen from).
Both hive are doing great!
Berry season is upon us, so I started with strawberries.
Then moved on to currants ( these I actually had in the freezer, mine are just starting to ripen now, so I’ll be picking those soon).
I have to cook these some first and then strain through a berry bag to get the juice.
I do end up with a lot of scraps for my compost pile.
Then back in the pot to cook with the sugar and pectin.
Strawberry jam and currant jelly….time to get the store stocked back up!
Now to recap…first we have one of my three Clematis’, then coleus which is planted in a mixed pot on my deck, a blue Hydrangea, Achillea (I call this Yarrow), another Chematis, Astilbe, Sweet William, one of my many Hosta (not sure but maybe September Sun), I think this next one is in the Iris family (I have three colors, I’ve had them for years so I can’t remember the name), then pansy, an Iris bud and the same Iris open, Coral Bells and Blue Spruce, Stella de Oro Daylily, AnnaBelle Hydrangea, and Elderberry. Whew….that made me have to think! Hope I got them right, or at least close. I’ll do some more another day. I have a separate Hosta garden that I try to hide from the deer (Not always with great success, sadly!). If you’re a Hosta lover check this out, my sister gave me this great book on Hosta’s, after I did some gardening at her house for my niece’s graduation party, you can find it here. Happy gardening!
WOW! I can’t believe I let so much time go by since my last post….never again! (I hope!) A lot has been going on. I’ll back-pedal a little. Our sister did come to Florida (see last post), our brother went to Germany with their oldest son for the Nurburgring race, so that left us 3 girls (or We Three Graces) on our own. We ate out, we went to the beach (of course at Pass-A-Grille), we had mimosas on the dock and we talked girl/mom stuff. It was great…much needed “sister time”.
Then it was time to come home…
which wasn’t too difficult since we were all heading back to NY, and because the Beekeeper and I were patiently awaiting the arrival of our little “Brit”. We call her Spice Girl (because she’s spice orange, not at all a reflection of our musical taste, just thought I’d make that clear) and you can’t help but smile when you drive her. I’m sure you’ll be seeing her in future posts.
My youngest daughter and her little family came to NY for a visit. This meant that I finally got my two granddaughters together. I’ve realized how difficult it is to get 2 babies looking and smiling at the same time, but you get it …they’re both the most beautiful little girls ever! At least through Nana’s eyes. Lots of holding and kisses, and a big family dinner.
Then it was time for gardening, which is still going on. We’ve had quite a bit of rain this spring, so it isn’t going fast.
Now that we have our Mini Cooper we’ve found ourselves part of a fun group.
Can you find “Spice Girl”?
Yep, there she is!!! Little cutie!
And there’s the Beekeeper on the “big screen”.
It was a fun night. The best part was after they fed us all barbecue at the dealership, we caravaned over some hilly back roads to the drive in. Picture dozens of Minis lined up and racing over the countryside at sunset….FUN!
Then a family wedding on the hubby’s side at an old country inn.
Here we are..Woo Hoo!
And lastly, the Country Living Fair has finely come to NY!
And we went, and I loved it!
It was just like the pictures in the magazine, only more fun.
We shopped….
and wandered…
and ate
and brought home a few treasures.
We met a great couple from the area that just happened to have honeybees living in the back of their house. So we ended up going back a few days later for a bee removal. But I’ll save that for another post.
They did point us in the direction of Walkway Over the Hudson, which we did. Here are a few pictures…
… they also suggested this restaurant, which we also did. Great day, and long ride back home…but we drove Spice Girl so that was fun too!
Back in Florida….My sister-in-law picked me up at the airport and drove me to downtown St. Pete for a surprise….my brother and their wonderful neighbors had a place reserved for us at the park for movie night. Chairs, snacks, wine, the trees lit up with little white lights and Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks in “Sleepless in Seattle”. What a great, “welcome to town”!
Next morning I get to see my granddaughter, who’s now almost 3 months old!
Bob and Pat (the neighbors), took us out on their boat for a great tour of Pass-a-Grille (my favorite) and back up to Treasure Island for lunch. It was a beautiful sunshiny day, perfect for a boat ride….we were even entertained by some dolphins who decided to follow the boat for awhile….it was so awesome to see them up close! We’ve had dock time and yummy dinners, great conversation, lots of baby cuddling and still days left to enjoy with our sister, who arrives tomorrow night. What fun things will we find to do next?
We’ve (my sisters and myself) have taken on the challenge from “Fat Mum Slim“…..May Photo a Day. We’ve even started a new blog for the occasion…check it out WeThreeGraces.
Spring has finally come to Upstate New York, this could explain why I haven’t had a post up in so long….enjoying the sunshine!
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.
Ephesians 2:8
Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
Romans 3:24
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