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Bee watching
People who don’t keep bees think this is weird, but one of the relaxing things we do around here at Maywood is to go down by the bees and just watch them. It’s a nice spot for sitting, down the hill from the house, tucked back in the woods. It’s very secluded ( in spite of… Continue reading
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Lip balm
Making lip balm is one project I’ve been wanting to do with our beeswax. It is relatively easy and foolproof. The success of a lip balm has more to do with preference than with messing up a recipe. (This reminds me of a time when I made chocolate truffles as Christmas gifts. The raspberry truffle… Continue reading
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Purifying the beeswax
The most obvious advantage of maintaining bees is to have honey. A secondary advantage is to have the beeswax. It’s an amazing product with so many practical applications. Last year we harvested our first honey. This year we want to find uses for the wax. The first step is to get the wax from the… Continue reading
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The birds, the bees, and…zucchini?
The reason I grow herbs is because they thrive on neglect and poor growing conditions. They are basically edible weeds. The reason I grow herbs outside is so that God can intervene on their behalf. Vegetables, on the other hand, must have their needs met in order to be fruitful: sunshine and space and proper… Continue reading
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Comfort
“Home is where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in.” So said Robert Frost. A grandparent’s home, that’s where you go when you don’t want to go home. A grandparent’s home is where they roll out the red carpet. If you’re really lucky, your grandparents live next door to your… Continue reading
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One box of spaghetti
How many people can you feed with one box of spaghetti? Or to rephrase that, how far will one box of spaghetti go? When I was growing up, my mom fed nine of us with one box of spaghetti. She usually cooked capellini, I think because the strands were thinner and it looked like we had… Continue reading
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Tapenade–the real stuff
If you don’t like black olives, you can stop reading now. Tapenade, real Provençal tapenade, is all about black olives. I often see olive fixings labeled “tapenade” but they just look like diced olives. The real stuff, what you’ll find at the outdoor marché in Aix en Provence, is purply-black, spreadable, and packed with exquisite flavors. I started making tapenade following… Continue reading
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Harvesting the honey
Let the honey harvest begin! Sunday afternoon John began harvesting honey. A sudden thunderstorm cut his work short, so he only pulled frames from one hive. The rest will have to wait until next weekend. He was able to pull ten frames of honey from that one hive, yielding about four gallons of honey. We’ll know… Continue reading
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Back from the beach
Beach view through the porch railing It was a hot week in Cape May, but not nearly as uncomfortable as what we came home to. After a week of ocean breezes, the stifling humidity at home is really oppressive. How am I going to tackle my summer to-do list if I feel like a slug? I had already… Continue reading
Slightly Off the Grid 