Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Bees, Mud, and Home Again! Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday

Monday was our last full day at the ranch.....although we spent part of that day in Waco.
It was the first time Louis Dean had been off the property since we arrived 8 days ago.
We ate a big lunch at Luby's and did some errands - as in picking up a prescription refill for me.
We use Walgreen's - both at the ranch and at home.
They are very kind and helpful in refilling whatever we need at either location.

We  got back in time for Sherry and I to do our October beekeeping chores.


First, we put together some new frames to replace some of the damaged ones as well as fill the vacant space when we took out the internal feeders.


I'm always excited to go out and work with the bees.


We were both in really good moods and it was wonderful that it wasn't hot!


We checked the supers and Sherry lifted the bottom brood box.
It should be heavy with honey and bees and it was. 


Beekeeping is a fascinating thing to do.
I've learned so much but nowhere near as much as Sherry has.
She does most of the work - like bucket feeding them once a week.


Everything looked good!
The bees were calm and I even took my gloves off to take the pictures this time.
Some beekeepers do not wear full suits and I have seen some videos where they wear only a headpiece and maybe the top part of a suit. Others do not wear gloves. I guess they may be more experienced and know their bees.

One couple in our group have several hives and one hive was so aggressive they were nearly afraid to go near them. Our president said he would switch out hives with them because they were fearful of their grandchildren getting stung. I asked them about that at the bee meeting last week and they said the bees calmed down and are no longer a problem. They think they were re queened.


Sherry is always learning and reading and keeping notes about what is going on in the hives.
She's going to print out hive inspection papers for us to keep track of all that we do.


We celebrated our job well done with a bottle of Red Cola from the Dublin bottling plant where Dr Pepper used to be bottled - before they sold it.


This is a different recipe but still uses pure cane sugar.
Dean brought it back for me when they got home on Sunday.
He likes it but this was our first time to try it and we like it, too.

Tuesday morning I woke up in the girl bunk to the sound of water dripping.
I opened the window thinking something was leaking only to realize it was raining.
We knew it was in the forecast but thought it would be later in the afternoon.


At first we were taking our time getting up and having our coffee fully expecting the little shower to go away - but it just kept raining. Not heavy but still.......it was getting muddy and that's not good when you are trying to get out. We decided to get a move on and it didn't take us long to pack up, load up, turn everything off and get in the truck.


We were a little worried about driving in the mud but if we didn't leave now it might be days before we could get out since heavy rain was coming that way.


We made it!!!!
Yay!

He got a LOT of mud on the tires!
But most of it came off as we drove down the gravel County Line Road spinning those tires!

We stopped in HIllsboro for a late lunch and Louis Dean was one happy guy!


It had already turned cold and rainy so he kept his big coat on and ordered coffee.


There's just something special about onion rings!
We ate those and took most of our meal home with us.

We left the ranch at 1:30 and arrived home at 5:30.


No surprises!
By 7:00 I was in the den with my feet up sipping a cup of Earl Grey tea by the fireplace.
Louis Dean took a nice long hot bath - with bubbles!
We watched back to back episodes of Bull and then went to bed with the sounds of rain, thunder and lightning. That makes great sleeping weather!

The front yard was littered with 'kindling' from the pecan trees this morning.
It was still raining so I went outside during a break and put the gutter extenders on.
So far so good! NO water or damp places in the house!


I spent a couple of hours this afternoon filling all our pillboxes for the next four weeks.
It's best if I concentrate when I do this so Louis Dean was in his music room and I had Alaska The Last Frontier on TV.

Mine....

I'm thankful that we are relatively healthy and grateful for modern day medicine.
Our boxes have both prescriptions, over the counter, and vitamins and such.

His....

I'm also thankful we only take morning and evening medicine!
I keep all of it in a small suitcase I can roll in and and then store away - taking out only a week at a time. It put me in mind of the nursing home where Lillian lives and the one who wheels this huge cart with every one's medicine in it and dispenses it door by door as she goes down the hall.
I had not thought before what an enormous responsibility that is.
I've taught Louis Dean to take his own medicine and by that I mean I do not even hand it to him.
He has to get it and take it so he can be responsible for himself.
And also to LOOK at it before he takes it.
His blood pressure pills are the size of a piece of lint so he's learned to count how many pills and make sure there's not two of something.
Even though he is borderline diabetic - he's not on any medication for that.
Over all we are both in pretty good health....although you wouldn't know it to look at our pill boxes!

It was 4:00 before I left the house today to shop for a few groceries at Aldi.
I'm fixing Hungarian Goulash for lunch tomorrow and Kimmy and June are coming.
Summer will be here later in the afternoon so she will sit outside with us to hand out candy.
We may need a heater for the front porch!



I like shopping at Aldi and the unique items they have seasonally.
Today I bought an assortment of cookies plus this wine from France.
It was only $5.99 a bottle while the supply lasts.
I decided to chance it and bought four bottles to fill up my wine rack.
Sure enough - it's really good!


While Louis Dean brought the groceries in, I went out and covered some of the flowers with blankets and towels. It's to be 31 degrees here tonight!
Louis Dean hauled his monster Aloe Vera plants in from outside and they are all in his music room.
I guess they will live there until spring.


Tonight we went over to Brenda and Billy's house and picked up the Rainbow vacuum I bought from the estate sale for Brenda's parents. My Rainbow was seriously crippled up and this one is smaller and not nearly as bulky as my old one. I'm so happy to get this! I am going to try to keep it as clean and nice as Mary did.

I wish I had taken pictures of Brenda's house.
It is beautiful!
She has incorporated lots of things that were her mom's.
For every item she brought in - she took one out.
What a great idea!

Next week I will be changing out my closet to the winter season and I am going to be ruthless!


17 comments:

  1. Welcome Home Linda and LD - things went well and no water problems is a huge bonus.
    Hugs.
    Joy

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  2. I love this picture of Louis dean in the restaurant. And what a pretty picture of you in the bee keepers garb! I have one of those four layer pill cases and fill it every four days. I am down to taking only eleven pills a day!

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  3. Through the rain, mud, storm, and cold, you two are safely home. I can’t get over how cold it is down there. Much colder than it is here, believe it or not. The jet stream is keeping us warm for now. I think I told someone that the gulf stream was keeping us warm. Ha! My head.

    Yay for the healthy bees. How amazing that cottage industry is.

    Enjoy your day...

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  4. Thankful you made it home safely and I am so thankful that your trip ended better than it started. The weather here is nasty too and I actually built a fire in our woodstove yesterday afternoon to take the chill from the house. I am so hot now though that I wish I would have just let it go out last night!

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  5. Whoa! Another full week. I'm so thankful you two got home safely.I know the stew will be yummy.
    Have fun with the trick or treaters!. Our temps are in the 80s today, and you're freezing! 😳 We'll have your weather by Sunday, though!💕

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  6. Marvin only wears gloves and his hood now that he is more comfortable checking on them. Now when he robs them he usually gets all dressed up for that because they do not like it, even when he uses the smoker. My granddaddy did not wear any protective gear and I do not know how in the world he did that. He had bees all his life and they were used to him I guess. We have decided that two hives are enough for us. WE will be heading there tomorrow for a quick visit. Marvin will be glad to check on his girls.:)

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  7. What I would give for some of those real Texas onion rings! Did you save me one? I'm glad you got back ok! Sure love your fireplace and all the twinkle lights! Enjoy your day sweet friend!

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  8. No leaks at the trailer or the house and that is good news! Glad you were able to get out and not get stuck in the mud. Nice you can work with Sherry with the bees, an opportunity to build relationship and learn makes for a win, win. Love that fireplace at your house and Happy Halloween.

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  9. Oh I'm glad you made it through the rain and mud! I hate driving in really rainy weather. I've been stuck in the mud before and it isn't fun. Very interesting about the bees and being re-queened, I know nothing about beekeeping! It's fascinating to read about it here and see photos!! Those onion rings, ooh lala. What a great deal on that wine! Happy Halloween Linda!!

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  10. So thankful that you got out without being stuck in the mud. It's raining here too. It will be a wet and cold Halloween. We took should see temps in the 30's tonight. Brr Chill. ..I'm not ready for that. Nice too you got home without any surprises for you so you could just rest and relax awhile. Hope you enjoy your Hope you stay dry and enjoy a Happy Halloween.

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  11. Linda, I always fell better knowing you and LD are home safe.You are like family in my heart, so I worry about you. Glad you were helping LD get to the gate. LOL. He did indeed look happy at lunch. I wish the pill box people would invent a huge monthly box that is big enough for those dang horse pills that some people have to take. Ted's meds are lower now and I could probably do those small containers now. LOL. I take one cholesterol pill ,an aspirin, and an over the counter tummy med. And while tending to Ted I even forget these at times. Gaa. Hope all is well after the rains. I love hearing about the bees. I hope you always keep us informed. : Blessings to all,love you guys, xoxo, Susie

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  12. Glad you made it home safe! You had an eventful visit this time but thankful those issues are all repair before winter sets in!

    You and Sherry are doing great with the bees!

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  13. you and sherry are so cute in your bee suits and so very BRAVE. looking at those bees makes me shiver and shake . glad you got through the mud and home safely.. no need for a heater here, we are still in the feels like 97 today but shouldget a little cool air, not cold this week end. I only do one week of pills and just that makes me crazy. Bob has a morning box and a night box. I have 2 morning boxes and 1 night box. that is 5 boxes for both ofus. if I tried to do them for a month it would not be safe.

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  14. It's finally warm enough here to stop running heaters in the morning. Funny you putting your plants 'to bed'. Have a nice time. Cheers

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  15. Whew...another adventure...Great "Mud" driving and time sure flies when you are at the ranch. Doesn't seem possible that it is time to go home already.Stay dry and enjoy the cooler weather.
    That's a "Passel" of pills you take but it's great to get them ready a month at a time.
    Love your Bees and all you are learning and doing for them.
    Honey...God's Nectar...

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  16. Is there anything you don't do, Linda? You constantly amaze me.

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  17. Welcome home! Although I think of your ranch home as home also. So glad there was no water in the house when you got there. Well, it is November so I guess the cold weather had to come sooner or later. Yes, be ruthless when changing out your clothes. That's what I have done. I have more clothes than anyone needs to have.

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