Winding Things Up......

 Our week here is done and we are winding up our projects and preparing to go home tomorrow.

One of the fun things Louis Dean and I did yesterday was to taste test all our honey from the past 3 years. 2019 was our first year to keep bees and we didn't harvest until August - which we learned is too late. Why? 

Because once the bitterweed and broomweed bloom - the bees use it to make honey and it tastes just about the same as the name implies. 

**Source**

Bitterweed......

**Source**

Broomweed.....

We had two hives in 2019 with two honey supers (boxes) on each one.

We kept the spring honey - in the lower boxes - separate from the summer honey which contained bitterweed. Notice the honey from that year is darker?

Sherry purposely mowed down the offensive weeds after that and we harvested earlier last year and this year to avoid the bitter honey. Once we have our honey, the bees can use all the bitter and broom weed they want because now they are storing up honey for their own use in the winter.

Since this year was so weird, we had no spring honey whatsoever. Only summer honey - mainly from.....

Horsemint.....

and mesquite blooms.

We both agreed that 2021 honey taste the best yet!!

Yesterday I proclaimed the Santa Express a done deal!

It must dry and be glazed and then I am going to take it to Amber so she can photograph it for my Christmas card this year. I can paint but I am not a good photographer!

Louis Dean picked and shelled purple hull peas and then I picked some more!

I'll go out in the morning for one last pea picking adventure before we go home.

We can shell them later.

I'm freezing them for cooking this fall and winter.

Now he's watering the black eyed peas!

They played out last month and we did a second planting - they are looking good!

Since Sherry and I had such an early morning on Friday, we slacked off on our bee work for Saturday and then went out to the apiary this morning before the heat of the day arrived.

While we did not NEED a smoker, we always take one with us just in case.

Sherry does all the heavy bee work - lifting the boxes and such - so I am trying my best to learn how to keep a smoker smoking! It is a fine art!

There's about to be another nectar flow and the beeyard has a good many flowers in it - right by the hives!

I never get tired of seeing our bees and listening to them hum.

We treated all the hives - brood boxes as well as supers - for small hive beetles.

**Source**

We have these little contraptions that we pour vegetable oil in and the hive beetles go in there and drown.

Our bee work is done - for now.

Next trip down, we will be building more brood boxes and supers and putting together more frames.

We still have 3 swarm hives to rescue - including one right here in the shop building next to the camper.

By October we should have 9 hives!

By the way, ALL 6 of the ones we have now look really good and healthy!!

My grandson, Levi, asked me to paint a picture for him!

I'm not finished yet.....this was just the first session of basing in but it was a lot of fun.

First time I've ever done something like this but I enjoyed painting it and look forward to finishing it when we come back down here in two weeks.

I love the sign Summer gave us a few years ago.......and it's true!

What heppens here WILL be posted on Facebook!!

These are two of Dean's favorite t-shirts and he thought I might do something artsy with them.

They are too fragile to use in quilts so I wrapped them around a stretched canvas!

Instant ART!

I'm going to close tonight's journal entry with photos of my brother, Lonnie......

Here he is with both of his sons.....

......and their wives and the grandchildren along with Michele whom he calls his 'Beautiful Bride.'

I love family photos and I love Lonnie and all his family and was so happy to see them all together.

I want to get a pic of me and mine this year. I don't think I have ever had one of all of us.

Oh, Happy Day!!!

Welcome August!

While she may not be my favorite month - she is the older sister of September!