tractor – Slightly Off the Grid

February 14, 2014

Snow Bees and Honey Butter

There’s a break in the weather. After a foot and a half of snow, Mr. Beekeeper trudges out to the tractor to plow before the next batch of snow comes in this evening. The “break” means that it is merely raining. “Merely raining” means that the foot and a half of snow is getting packed Continue reading

beekeeping, country life, food essay, honey, honeybees, recipes, tractor, weather

beehives in snow, bees in winter, honey butter recipe, old Ferguson tractor, plowing snow, pumpkin bread recipe, snow

January 22, 2014

Pioneer Chronicles or More Reasons Why I Don’t Do Camping

Never underestimate a snow storm. I should know this by now. Twenty years at Maywood. We survived the Winter of 1994 when the stream froze and the ground was white with snow and/or ice from Christmas until the first day of spring. We sledded groceries down to the house…when we could get out to get groceries. Continue reading

country life, Hereford Zone, tractor, weather

Hereford Zone, humor, I hate camping, maywood living, pioneer life, snow days, tractors, winter

January 4, 2014

In the bee’s midwinter

In the bee’s midwinter frosty winds made moan, Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone. Snow was falling, snow on snow, snow on snow In the bee’s midwinter not so long ago. Ok, so I changed a couple of words. Winter has hit hard with the New Year. Six inches of fresh snow blanket Continue reading

beekeeping, country life, Hereford Zone, honeybees, tractor, weather

beekeeping, bees in winter, Hereford Zone, maywood living, snow days, winter weather

January 28, 2013

Hey, Murphy, pass the hydraulic fluid

Q: What does one do the Sunday between football play-offs and the Super Bowl? A: The things that didn’t get done while lolling on the sofa quaffing beers every Sunday since August. One could watch TV–there’s a Barry Manilow themed ice-skating show on. That’ll get a man outside doing manly things quicker than you can say, Continue reading

country life, Hereford Zone, Mondays at Maywood, tractor, weather

Barry Manilow, Downton Abbey, furnace repair, humor, maywood living, mondays at maywood, Murphy’s Laws, snow days, Super Bowl Ravens, tractors

November 12, 2012

The busy beekeeper tries to tuck the bees in for winter

A twenty-five pound bag of sugar is empty in the kitchen. Dinner was delayed because the stock pot of bubbling sugar water was taking up most of the stove space. All of my pyrex casseroles are filled with sweets that we won’t be eating. A five gallon bucket and a paint stirrer are coated with sugar Continue reading

beekeeping, country life, gardening, Mondays at Maywood, tractor, weather

autumn leaves, beekeeping, honeybees, maywood living, mondays at maywood, tractors, winterizing honeybees

August 3, 2012

Honey Harvest 2012

If there’s anything more satisfying to a beekeeper than seeing buckets of harvested honey, it is seeing that golden sweetness in jars. It’s a little bit arrogant on our part to take pride in a good harvest since the bees make the honey, but there’s enough work on the part of the beekeeper to justify it. Continue reading

beekeeping, beeswax, country life, honey, honeybees, Mondays at Maywood, tractor

bee escapes, beekeeping, fume board, harvesting honey, honey, honeybees, maywood living, mondays at maywood

April 9, 2012

Little man hands

It was too quiet Friday morning, so I looked outside and saw the little guy working on the tractor with PopPop. From the upstairs window it was just the cutest thing. Then I went outside to inspect closer. Oh my. Grandson was busy at work scraping gunk off the tractor engine. This is a 1952 tractor Continue reading

country life, family essay, Mondays at Maywood, sawmill, tractor

grandparents, maywood living, mondays at maywood, sawmill, tractors