Thursday, April 28, 2022

At the Ranch - Babies, Critters and Bees! Wednesday and Thursday.....

I went to bed at 10:30 on Tuesday night and didn't get up until after noon on Wednesday!
Plus I took a nap at 3:00!

I walked down to Sherry's after I got up and took a tour of the new babies.


These are two of the chicks that were in my foyer last weekend.
Nothing any more precious than baby chicks.


But baby ducks are pretty cute, too!
My all time favorite critter duty is letting the ducks out in the morning and back in the evening.
They march in and out like little soldiers.


These are not new babies but they are still very young.
Sherry does love the exotic breeds and that fluffy white one is special.


See that golden rooster?
He is mean.
He's pecked Sherry and Dean more than once.
Sherry had two mean ones but - someone wanted one of them - so she's down to one!
One MEAN one, that is.
She says he's mean because they have TOO many roosters.


This is a Naked Neck chicken....


with a naked neck!!


I like the pretty hens that let you pet them!


And the goats!


There's just something about the goats!


This is the 'baby' growing bigger and bigger!


I absolutely love Sherry's clothes line!!
Buttercups and fresh sundried laundry!
That's the country way.....

I was still so tired and so was Sherry after she got off work Wednesday.


Still.....we needed to check our beehives and plan out our bee work for the weekend.


The apiary is in such a beautiful spot on the ranch.
Close to the road and to water. 
It's important to be close to the road because a super full of honey weighs about 70 pounds and you don't want to have to haul that very far come harvest time.


This is such a pretty place.


Here is Dean all suited up and ready to work!


This is the only photo I got of the bees.
I didn't have my gloves on when I took the pictures and bees were crawling all over my hand but didn't sting me at all. Though I was half way hoping they would since bee stings are supposed to help arthritic hands. I will be braver next time we work the bees and keep my gloves off. We checked our five hives and all was well.
The traps for hive beetles needed to be refilled with vegetable oil but other than that, everything looked good. Plenty of bees and brood and nectar and pollen. All of this is evidence of a good queen and a thriving hive.


Then we come to the 'Speaker Box Bees!'
These were rescued back in February and they need to be relocated to a hive box.


Dean brought his power tool down and unscrewed parts of the box so we could see what's going on inside.


Bees can get into the strangest places.



The smoke helps calm the bees down when we do our inspections.
These bees were fairly aggressive.


We saw what we needed to see.
The box is full of bees and the honeycomb is from the top down.
That's good and will be easier to transfer to frames when we put them in a hive box.
And that's what we plan to do on Friday!


Rufus came to visit us when we finished with the bees.
Sherry and Dean brought down baked potatoes and pulled pork for dinner and I was so grateful. It's taken me awhile to rest up and I had to go to bed on the early side Wednesday night.


Thankfully, I woke up back to my usual self this morning!
I did my prayers and quiet time with my coffee and then spent the day doing some writing in my book and later on some art.

Louis Dean gave me a very real gift for my writing today.
If I had stayed married to Jesse, April 26th would have been my 59th wedding anniversary.
Some years I remember and some years I don't.
I remembered this year because I am at the point in my book - September 1983 - that is a difficult part for me to write.
I was talking to Louis Dean after our reading time and he said, "Just tell me what you are writing about." so i did, and he said, "Now go in there and write what you just told me."
Somehow that helped me so much.
I only write one hour at a time. My goal is to write every day but that hasn't really happened yet. Today I wrote the hour and, although it drains me to go back in time and relive a traumatic time, I was satisfied with what I wrote.
He said I should read it to him in the morning and then tell him the next part and go in and write that.
After I get to 1986 I won't have a problem because I have my handwritten diaries.
It's hard to tell your story. Hard to remember the devastating and crippling feelings of so long ago, I'm not the same person now that I was then and Louis Dean told me to remember that and write like I was talking about someone else.
He was such a source of encouragement for me today.

I took these pictures as I sat on the front deck watching him work this late afternoon/early evening.


Just a man....in dirty overalls......looking for a place to plow.


No spot is too small......


any spot will do.


....even around a tree!

I love how he loves to dig in the earth!!!









14 comments:

  1. Did you know that the Discovery channel has a new series called Bee Czar? It is about a team that go around saving bees and hives before people destroy them. I have been taping the shows. I never heard of a Naked Neck Chicken! It seems funny that there was someone who wanted to breed a chicken with a naked neck!

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  2. 99% of the time I think I'd blow bubbles and watch them drift aimlessly in prisms of color!!

    Loved seeing all the farm critters (especially the goats). And L D assisting you with your difficult writing for now

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  3. I have very few memories of my life, once in a great while i will have a pop up memory but not often. and the worst thing that even happened to me was the day i married my 2nd husband and i have no idea what the date was. I do remember the first 1963 sept 22 because my grandmother, my mother and me all go married on 9/22/23, 43 and 63... I could not write my history at all and sometime i think that is a blessing but others I wonder why i have no memories. Glad LD could help you with your writing. love the goats, i am not fond of chickens due to rooster attacks, that i do remember

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  4. You find the best graphics. So glad that you have been catching up on your sleep. It must be calming to have Louis Dean helping with the bees. His voice alone is steadying. He is giving mighty fine advice for your writing. A blessed Friday with the bees and a happy weekend.

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  5. Your time at the ranch always seems like such a healing time for you. Plenty of rest and good things and people all around you , yet quiet time too. That man of yours never seems to stop. always working on something. He makes work look like fun.

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  6. Oh how I love reading about your days,,,,you might feel like they are ordinary, bur perhaps that's what I love the most....y'all have fun and enjoy those relaxing days down there!

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  7. I am glad LD is encouraging you in your writing as I will be one of the first to purchase your book. You have always amazed me with your love and compassion for those near and dear to you. From the small amount you have shared here on the blog, I know it would be easy to just become bitter. You are an example of God's grace to all your readers Linda. We are home in Decatur for a bit...grandchildren events and such. We also have a tree that needs to be taken down in our back yard so we are attending to that as well. Of course, I am stitching a good bit too. I found the cutest blog, Pinker N Punkin. She is a designer who could be making some money off her cross stitch designs and all her crafts but she shares them freely online. I think you would like her blog if you have time to check it out. She is a country gal too.

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  8. The chicks and ducklings are always so adorable to see, Linda. Hope you won't get any bee stings even if they are rumored to help arthritis. And, Louis Dean is a wise man and helpful in more ways than in the yard. Also, thanks for the tip on Sara Lee Artesano bread which I saw in the supermarket yesterday and luckily it was on sale too!

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  9. I am glad you are back at the ranch where you can recuperate. Aren't those little chicks so cute and all the critters. LD is a special man and knows just what to say at just the right time. You make a great pair.

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  10. I'm so glad you took time to rest and recover..
    Louis Dean is a pure gem. The support he gave you on writing those difficult pages really shows where his heart is and how very much he loves and cherishes you. A true match made in heaven for you.
    I love the Aunty Acid quote today. I think I have to use it too.
    Sue
    https://allredmop.blogspot.com

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  11. Linda, Loved seeing the bees. They may have been stirred up by the vibrations of the drill. Loved seeing the baby critters. I went to Tractor supply and looked at their chicks. So cute. Linda, you know by now you can not keep a good man down. He just seems the nicest fellow. Loving to work is a bonus. LOL. Blessings to all, xoxo,love you guys, Susie

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  12. they say the past is a different country! LD gives such good advice. Cheers

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  13. You two have way too much fun out there on the farm! Keep writing, Linda. So nice to have LD encouraging you!

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  14. I’m so glad that LD had the right words you needed to hear! Encouragement is such a blessing!

    I remember you shared some chapters of your book a few years ago. What a testimony you have.

    You’ve surely been a blessing and example to me of how to be gracious and loving and kind to people!

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