The Buzz…

This weekend kicked-off my new hobby, Beekeeping. first we bought two hives from a local farmer. He’s eighty-six and can no longer tend his bees. Second I bought a book to learn what I needed to know. Third I inspected the hives. If this sounds off-the-cuff, it is.

The Wife has wanted bees for twelve years. More than once she’s mentioned that we need to get bees. Two factors working against us getting bees has been: bees sting and I hate the taste of honey. Well last month she informs me that two hives are for sale by a farmer with health issues. Recognizing the subtle poke-in-the-ribs ploy and realizing that I’d put it off long enough I acquiesced. Usually she has to drag me kicking & screaming towards anything good. This time was different. I’m in a very good place now and can stand to deal with something new. So I simply said, “Great. When can we go get them”.

Please note that I know nothing about bees. That, however, changed immediately. Apparently you can only move hives at night! Which means that I had to manhandle two hives in the dark without any prior experience. Noooo…that wasn’t intimidating at all! Yikes! I felt like I was a bomb technician on his first day trying to disarm The Holy Hand Grenade. Lift them up, whole hive. Place in back of truck. Drive home. Carry hives down dewy grass hill to place in prepared spot. IN THE DARK! Real hives. Fifty-thousand bees each. Yet, it went off without a hitch!? Hallelujah!

Well we bought some basic equipment and did the inspection this weekend. We learned a lot more. Namely that bees are loads of fun. We also found out that Farmer Ben did not (could not) do any maintenance last year. I’ll need to replace several of the ‘Suppers’ and get some hive structures he never had.

The inspection was a real family event. Kid One hasn’t been that excited since he caught his first fish. He was helping me whether I wanted his help or not. After I cracked open the hives the whole family just walked up and stuck their heads next to the buzzy bees to see inside. I felt stupid since I was the only one wearing a bee net yet all of us were poking around in the hives. I though Kid Two was going to climb into the hive and take up residence. After all she is a Princess & I did tell her about the Queen.

Well After taking a full inventory of what parts of the hives need to be fixed I began looking at it’s health. One hive had lots of brood cells and one short super must have weighed forty pounds with the honey in it. The other hive was producing Queen cells (not good) because they are out of room. I will add suppers to that hive. All in all I can’t complain. The hives are healthy enough to grow as big as I want them to. With the fixes I have to complete (I’m taking a half day off of work tomorrow to deal with it) I will learn much in the way of maintenance that a book could not convey. All’s looking very good for my new hobby. Especially since the taste test went very well and got six thumbs straight up.

Now is that fresh or is that fresh?

Can’t take it back

◊

At the speed of sound

Are words etched in this moment

Forever branded

◊

Unreasonable & Yelling

◊

I’m assigning blame

To common imperfections

Hand picked illusion

◊

T.V.

◊

With absolute power

Reality is altered

Fitting the desire

◊

NO, I’m not in Jail!?

And which one of you jokers wrote that on the stall door? Jeez, can’t a guy put in some extra time at work? Oh and to the person who took the Sharpie into the bathroom; I’m not from Nantucket! And I never said anything that crass!

Through my Office Window

I am sitting in my office banging away on the ‘puter when I see a flurry of activity out of the corner of my eye. I turn to look and see a Sharp-Shinned Hawk take down a pigeon. Fortunately the windows at my office are one-way so the hawk can not see that I am only EIGHT feet away from it. To top it off my handy-dandy camera is sitting on my desk. Below is one minute out of about fifteen it took for the hawk to eat lunch. Pigeon, Mmmmmmm..

*

*

Wednesday’s Walk

At the beaver dam

The Water is flowing & the Spring Peepers are peeping

*

*

Mana from the Bloggosphere

I subscribe to some blogs because they offer poetry, others for inspiring photos, many for shared life experiences. Well Melinda from Inspiraculum has Poetry, Photos, & my favorite experience, food. She posted a recipe for Bacon & Egg Pie. “If your happy and you know it clap your hands!” So, with much groveling & begging I got The Wife to make it for me. Why didn’t I cook the dish? I burn water that’s why. Moving right along . . Melinda calls for a single sheet of Puff Pastry. We, or The Wife that is, used two sheets so as to be enough for four servings. The dish was a Home Run and will be seen again and again for years to come. Thank you Melinda. *For those about to Indulge. We salute you*

An Ordinary Day

I do many different things at work. One, of which, is to check contractor compliance. There are two of us that do this. One in the north and me in the south. As usual I rolled up to a job site the other day to administer a weekly inspection. This was the first time I would meet this crew since they started working in my area. They are typically up north. I jumped out of the truck and walked toward the work deck. I was looking for the owner/foreman when up popped some old guy. He had to be eighty or so and wearing a hard hat and safety vest. I thought to myself, ‘what’s a guy this old doing on a job site. He can’t possibly be working here‘. As the old guy walked up to me I bid him good morning. He says something and then keeps talking.

Well what can I say. This old guy is also a little guy, plus he apparently doesn’t talk loud either. This is important because we are surrounded by heavy equipment, that’s moving: you know, BEEEEEEP BEEEEEEP BEEEEEEP, Rawrawr Rawrawr Rawrawr, clunk clunk whomp! So here I am trying to make first contact with a contractor and instead I’m standing next to Benny Hill’s little old sidekick who’s lips are moving but for all intensive purposes nothing is coming out. So I smile and nod my head a lot. I still want to know why this old man is here? Eventually the crew’s owner sees me and comes over to talk. He, the owner, says something and the old guy walks away.

Now the owner, Larry, and I have lots to talk about and for two hours he and I go over every aspect of his business while walking throughout the site. finally I was satisfied that we understood and were on good terms with each other. As I was concluding the conversation I, offhandedly, mentioned the old guy and asked who he was.

Larry informed me that the old guy’s name was Tommy and that he was the father of one of the men on the crew, Bobby. Larry then told me that Tommy has cancer and was given six months to a year to live last fall. He went on to say, as I was suddenly silent, that he hired Tommy so he and his son could spend what little time he has left together. It seams that the crew was in agreement that Tommy would be better off working with Bobby than at home sitting around worrying about his fate. Larry explained that Tommy could only make it to work several days out of the week. That they gave him the lightest jobs he could still handle. Ironic since, as it turns out, Tommy was a renaissance man when younger. He taught himself how to handle most equipment. Then, naturally, taught his son how to operate just about everything too.

Larry said that hiring Tommy was the best way to handle the situation. He then looked down at the ground and shook his head. He said that he wouldn’t know what to do if it was his daddy.

Larry’s company is very successful and he is one of our best contractors. Larry is well off and in his mid thirties. I like Larry. I like him a lot. Not because he has good business sense but because he will do for his employees as much as he would do for himself. That is not a common quality anymore. I feel both saddened and privileged. I hope I get another chance to talk to Tommy. He saw the doctors again last week. I need to find out how it went.

***UPDATE***

Tommy went to the doctor last week and was told that his cancer has moved faster than they thought it would and into everything. He took this very hard. He did not come back to work last week or this week, though I understand he can still get around. His son is still at work and the crew is worried about both of them. Call me naive but I’m still hoping for the best. Larry and I spent thirty minutes talking about our respective fathers. As I told my son, I will still be trying to impress my dad even when I’m eighty and he’s gone. I think most guys are like this. The one’s that can be that is. Which is probably why we won’t let go so easily.

Valentine’s Day or Where’s my bullet proof vest

My daughter’s school was closed on Valentines Day because of snow. Which means she won’t be receiving any valentines from her class mates. Being Dad, it falls on me to get her the only valentine she will receive today. On the way home from work I stop at the store to do some shopping. I find a sweet little heart shaped balloon which will be worth more to her than all the gold in the world. Its cost is two dollars. So, at a quarter past five in the afternoon on Valentines day I buy an “I love you” balloon for two bucks at the supermarket. At sixteen past five in the afternoon on Valentines day I get the “I hope she kills you in your sleep” look from the cashier at the supermarket. Well at least I made my daughters day…

I’m such a puttz!