Big Roof, Bees, Santas and Memories!

The roofing guys said they would be here at 6:00 Saturday morning.
I happened to wake up at 6:00! It was DARK so I went back to bed!
Louis Dean said he woke up at 6:30 and they weren't here. It was still dark.

However, by the time we got up at 9:00 - they were hard at work!

That's their big welding unit.

This place was a zigzag maze of electric cords, air hoses, tape measures and all sorts of things!

Ronnie even has cool ladders.

I wouldn't trust getting up on one of these!

That metal pole is 14 feet high.

The rook is a foot lower in the back and when he said he would cut it off. I didn't realize he would use a torch. So cool to watch from the doors and windows.

Sherry told them they could use her tractor and they did.

She actually used it with the auger on to dig the holes for the poles.

Then they used it to move the heavy iron pieces around.

These two guys are SO strong!

Ronnie is bigger and huskier while Mike is smaller but lean.

From what I saw - they are equal in strength.

They started sometime after 7:00 Saturday morning and finished before dark!

Sherry and I served up hamburgers and all the fixings!

Chips, pickles, potato salad and baked beans.

Plus lots of cold bottles of water!

The roof is up and I will take some good pictures of it tomorrow.

It's red - but it's red side UP and I can't see it!

The bottom - which I CAN see - is an ivory color.

We have more work for them to do when we come back towards the end of the month.

We already set the date for them to come and skirt the top....five feet from the top.

I'm thinking skirt three sides and leave the end facing the fields through the bathroom and shop windows unskirted.

The skirting at the other end (where Louis Dean parks his truck) will go down to meet the carport they will build. It won't be so high and I can maybe SEE the red on that one!

Still....I'm wanting the skirting to be red also.

Ronnie suggested a sandstone color for contrast but, since I can't see the red on top, I don't think contrasts would be what I'm looking for!

I told Louis Dean, "I want to see RED!!"

They did an excellent job and Dean and Sherry sat out with us on our now new PORCH and watched the sun set and the moon rise. What a great day!

This Sunday morning came early!

Sherry and I donned our bee suits and inspected our hives.

This is our original hive and is still doing well.

I'm thinking we may need to requeen it since this will be the third year.

We put two squares of Bounty paper towels on top of the brood box in each hive to keep the wax moths away.

We also inspected the hives for mites and found some in twp of them.

Not many but we still need to treat for them.

The way we did it was to collect 100 or so bees.

This equals about a cup.

Put them in this Easy Check thing that has alcohol in it.

Sherry asked me this morning if I had any alcohol and I said, "What vintage??"

The alcohol kills the bees (some must sacrifice for the health of the hive) and you shake the container really hard. 

You pull the strainer up which contains the dead bees and then see if there are any Varroa mites floating in the alcohol.

In the morning, we will again suit up and treat the hives with Apivar.

We watched a video today after we came in from working with the bees and then did some research.

Sherry has a package of Apivar strips and we will have to take the supers off each hive and get down to the brood box. We will slide two strips of this chemical treatment - which will not affect the honey that the bees will be feeding on this winter - between the frames and secure it.

Then replace the supers and move on to the next hive.

That's probably the last time we will open the hves until we check them in the fall.

And speaking of Fall!!!

Which starts on September First for ME.....is coming soon!

Exactly 28  days and four hours from this very minute!!

I can't wait!

After we finished with our bee work, I made a simple cereal and fruit breakfast for Louis Dean and me and then I went back to bed. And I slept like a rock!!

The only other 'work' I have done today is art.

I'm telling you what! These 9X12 canvas board paintings are sucking my soul!!

That's what Sabrina used to say about a project that used up every bit of umph you have!

I'm happy enouh with the ladies but the guys have given me grief!

This one looked like Richard Geer for awhile and then morphed into an older Tom Jones.

I signed my name and it's mostly done but I need fresh eyes to put the last details in.

Same with this one.

Sometimes it's the tinest of strokes that will pull a painting out.

Small paintings have always been harder for me than large canvases.

I packed up the art supplies and made the table pretty again but I am not taking the art things home with me.

I will be too busy packing away the patriotic things and hauling out all my sunflowers and fall debris to paint. Best to jsut leave them here.

Here's a photo from three years ago that popped up on Memories today.

So much has changed in the 6-7years we have been here. The camper went back and forth a couple of times before settling down in its forever place and growing roots.

Another memory from yesterday was this photo of our camping spot at West Lake RV Resort.

We moved the camper down there in late August 2012 and lived in it until moving back home on Easter Sunday 2013.

You can read My Moving Story here!

This photo was on August 1, 2012.

Logan and I six years ago.....

she's always been my Mini Me!

I will close this journal entry on the early side tonight.

Now it's time to go out and sit on the front PORCH and watch the campfire.

One more day and we go home on Tuesday!

We've been here a lot this month!