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Long live the queen
Getting a new hive of honeybees established is exciting but sometimes exasperating. Lately it has been more exasperating. Last year was so exasperating that not one of our new hives managed to survive even the summer. We strongly suspect the problem was the queens. When they arrived last year, the queens were so small we… Continue reading
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If you paint the door…
The front door has been a mess for years. And for years I have said, “The door must be redone before Thanksgiving!” And Thanksgivings came and went. And the door just got more and more mortifyingly ugly. Why, you ask, can’t you just redo the door? What is your problem? In the immortal words of… Continue reading
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Nougat Non-Non
I should have bought the salted caramels. Then I would have some to share because they would not have ended up in the trash can at Paris Charles DeGaulle airport security. We were vacationing in Port en Bessin, Normandy. After enjoying coffee and pastries in the brisk morning sun at Café du Port, we explored… Continue reading
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Slightly Off the Grid
Dueling blog posts, that’s what I’m envisioning. My sister-in-law and I will be in France for two weeks, and I just know that all the amazing décor over there will inspire endless blog posts from her over at Now That You are Home. But someone has to chronicle the other side of the trip. For instance:… Continue reading
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Sleeping Beauty Gets Power Tools
Thanks to the miracle of 20 volt rechargeable lithium batteries, I now have my own weed whacker and hedge trimmer. It’s high time. After 17 years in this house, the woods are reclaiming the property. We’re close to the Sleeping Beauty scenario in which I (the Beauty) fall under a magic spell (my bed) and… Continue reading
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Emily and The Tree
Little Emily loves the Japanese maple in the Maywood yard. It’s over fifty years old, planted by Emily’s great-great grandmother Retta. And it is the perfect tree for little ones to learn to climb on. The main trunk divides into two very low to the ground, so little legs can easily climb into it. The… Continue reading
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Spring SnowBees
There are 58,000 bees in the basement. It’s the end of March. We turned the clocks to “summer time” two weeks ago. Last week the vernal equinox made it officially spring. Today we took delivery of four new packages of bees. And it’s snowing. At 9 a.m. we head to Snyder’s Apiary in Whitehall, windshield wipers brushing snow… Continue reading
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Bees in the mancave? How cool is that?
It started as a joke at choir rehearsal. The bitter winter killed off all the bees and some wise guy suggested that we bring them inside for the winter. Roars of laughter as we all contemplated John and the bees watching football in his mancave. More laughter at the death glare I shot at my… Continue reading
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Squirrels with tiny shovels?
You know it has been a long winter when the woodland critters start digging themselves paths through the snow. This morning, I looked out the kitchen window to see not just prints but a regular daggone pathway leading from the house to a hydrangea bush. I figured it was a squirrel route, but squirrels (like my students) don’t have… Continue reading
Slightly Off the Grid 