keljonma's Front Porch - Settling in and adjusting

[keljonma]

Saturday I think we hit a high temp of 75, but we had our first frost of year last night!!! Today we have sunshine and 65.

TR has had the flu since Sunday and we have been taking it easy today, which is his day off. We got some more winter weatherizing done around the house. But TR is not 100% yet, so nothing major.

The Christmas Lima beans and the Scarlet Runner beans are doing well in this crazy cool weather.

Took a couple pics today.


Our old man out enjoying the sunshine. TR and Titan were laying out in the sun on that blanket, but Titan moved when TR got up to check the mail.

This is the view to the north. That is still the landlords' property back there, as they have 85 acres, most of it to the north of us.

 

[lorihadams]

Oh Kel, I would be ordering them now, not actually getting them until March-early April. The gentleman that does some of the lectures for us is willing to drive to north Georgia to get the bees if we have a big enough order.

He has bees for pollination and to him the honey part is just a perk. We have another man that lectures that is totally different....to him the honey production is number 1 on his agenda and the pollination is just a perk. They both offer totally different perspectives and don't always agree.

One uses two hive bodies with a queen excluder and a super on top and the other uses one hive body and one super with no queen excluder. We get into some very interesting discussions at the meetings.

I am looking at $65 for a 3lb package and $80 for a nuc. Which do you think would work better?

 

[keljonma]

Oh Kel, I would be ordering them now, not actually getting them until March-early April. The gentleman that does some of the lectures for us is willing to drive to north Georgia to get the bees if we have a big enough order.

He has bees for pollination and to him the honey part is just a perk. We have another man that lectures that is totally different....to him the honey production is number 1 on his agenda and the pollination is just a perk. They both offer totally different perspectives and don't always agree.

Sounds like a perfect Christmas present!

We have the same conversations around here - although I think the majority are in it for the honey, beeswax and propolis. Two members have won 1st prize for their mead. YUM!

One uses two hive bodies with a queen excluder and a super on top and the other uses one hive body and one super with no queen excluder. We get into some very interesting discussions at the meetings.

Queen Excluders - love or hate them - there doesn't seem to be an in-between with beekeepers. I got one because it was recommended for a beginner beek. The girls in the hive do not like them (ime this year). Italians are not especially known for their excessive propolis; however, they sure went to work on the QE after I installed it.

A QE is necessary to keep the queen out of the honey supers - so you don't get egg laying in your honey... BUT I personally think the girls did not put as much honey into the honey supers until I had moved some frames of honey from the brood super to the honey super. Then the girls didn't seem to mind the QE. Of course, what beek just starting has frames of honey laying around.

I am looking at $65 for a 3lb package and $80 for a nuc. Which do you think would work better?

I can think of 2 advantages and disadvantages to getting a nuc instead of a package.

DISADVANTAGES
1. You still have to have a hive - so the nuc makes your expenses for start up a bit higher.

2. There might be a chance of bringing hive beetle or varroa into your hive.

ADVANTAGES
1. The colony has a head start on building comb.

2. The nuc can be used for catching swarms...a good thing to have if your colony decides to swarm.

 

[keljonma]

Sunshine but very breezy this week-end. Today TR and I went to church for a prayer vigil. Our church's Welcome To The Future campaign begins tomorrow. It is an almost $3m project to add a new education wing and offices, parking, etc. We (the congregation) already have 1/3 of the money saved up already, we are praying that God speaks to everyone in the congregation about helping reach the goal of 1/3 to match the funds we have saved. The rest will be mortgaged, if necessary.

The voluntary prayer vigil was only for 1/2 hour and was a wonderful way to start our morning.

During church services tomorrow, we will be asked to pledge our sacrificial offering for the next 3 years. TR and I have been praying about this for 6 months now and feel God speaking to us and making us feel confident about our pledge. Tomorrow the church is providing a breakfast buffet after the 8:30 service and a lasagne luncheon after the 11:00 service. After both the financial secretary will announce the totals for pledges. Such an exciting time at the church!

After prayer vigil today, TR and I went to the Sonshine Shop to buy some cards. Then TR went to help some friends with a gutter project and I went home to play with the bees one last time for the year.

Hive #1 should be fine for the winter; with plenty of honey and pollen stored.

I added 5 frames of honey and pollen to Hive #2, so they should do well.

There is still a lot of stiff-leaved (purple) aster around and the girls of both hives have been out and about whenever we get some sunshine.

I had to add some shims underneath both hives, though, as the ones I had placed earlier weren't doing their job well enough. I noticed especially on Hive #2 that there was some water collected on the inner cover - so I need to make sure that won't happen after the weather turns wintry.

We were supposed to attend our Beek meeting for October today, but decided to put it off until next month.

The new phone I purchased yesterday is VERY high tech! I have a phone camera now! :

Have fun!

 

[keljonma]

Harvested some Cockscomb seeds this past week-end. I still need to gather up some Flamingo Feathers as well. I cut a bunch of the cockscomb and brought it in to dry. I'm hoping they will dry nicely enough to work as a dried floral arrangement throughout the winter. I am still harvesting scarlet runner beans and Christmas Lima beans. And both of these are still flowering.

Talked to Kel this past week - the grands are finally over the flu, but now she has it. Last week she and DGD made some casseroles for the freezer with some of their garden harvest. So, dinner is all set for the kids.

The United Methodist Women's group is having a chili dinner at the end of the month and I have volunteered to make some lentil (vegetarian) chili, jalepeno cornbread and an apple pie. Dinner tickets are pre-sale for $3/children (5-8) $5/adults (9 to 88) under 5 and over 88 are free. Tickets at the door will be $1 more.

I completed a half dozen more teddy bears and will be taking them to church this week. I am not sure if they will go to Africa with Matt and Alvina when they leave in December or if the bears will go to the Hospice Children's project the Mary-Martha Circle are collecting.

The 2nd and 3rd Sundays of November will be SERRV and Live Market Sundays. Our children's Sunday school classes do fundraisers for Heifer International. The 5th graders sell hard cooked eggs and work on the chicken flock donations for Heifer. I am donating the chicken ornaments I made to them so that they can sell or give them away. One of the teachers usually brings in a couple of her hens for petting and holding; which is quite a big hit. Naturally, I think that most of the hens aren't as pretty or as spoiled as The Ladies were......not that I'm biased, or anything..

I will be in charge of the sales tables for the items made around the world that we get through SERRV Market. Last year I was going to purchase a very beautiful basket for one of my sisters, but it was gone when I got out of Sunday class.


Yesterday was pretty exciting at church and it appears (from the last totals I heard) that the monies needed were pledged for the next 3 years - so our building project looks like it is a go!

I have meatloaf in the oven - so I gotta go!

Have fun!



edited for typos

 

[keljonma]

I completed a half dozen more teddy bears and will be taking them to church this week. I am not sure if they will go to Africa with Matt and Alvina when they leave in December or if the bears will go to the Hospice Children's project the Mary-Martha Circle are collecting.

I talked to Pat today, she says the bears will be going back to Liberia with Matt and Alvina, as a number of other women have been making teddy bears as well. I just need to get them to church soon, so they can get an estimated total for luggage weight.

The 2nd and 3rd Sundays of November will be SERRV and Live Market Sundays. Our children's Sunday school classes do fundraisers for Heifer International. The 5th graders sell hard cooked eggs and work on the chicken flock donations for Heifer. I am donating the chicken ornaments I made to them so that they can sell or give them away. One of the teachers usually brings in a couple of her hens for petting and holding; which is quite a big hit. Naturally, I think that most of the hens aren't as pretty or as spoiled as The Ladies were......not that I'm biased, or anything..

I will be in charge of the sales tables for the items made around the world that we get through SERRV Market. Last year I was going to purchase a very beautiful basket for one of my sisters, but it was gone when I got out of Sunday class.

I will be working with Samantha, one of the young moms at our church, on the SERRV market tables. Pat gave me the catalogue today, so Sam and I can determine what to order for sales. I am like a kid with the Sears Christmas Catalogue!

Yesterday was pretty exciting at church and it appears (from the last totals I heard) that the monies needed were pledged for the next 3 years - so our building project looks like it is a go!

Well, I guess I jumped the gun with that announcement. The totals for the mail in pledges haven't been counted yet, as the mail-in deadline is next week!

 

[keljonma]

Rain in the morning, sun in the afternoon. High in mid to upper 50s is the forecast for the rest of the week. Plus more rain.


TR is off work today, so we dropped some stuff off at church, are at the library and headed for Spiderweb to drop of some clothing donations. Then we both have class at church tonight - TR is in Disciples and I am in a study of the book of Hebrews. Today is Christian Cafe but neither of us signed up to help, and when we stopped at the church, Carole said she didn't need any.


Did I mention dgd, Cara, has joined the Girl Scouts (at the junior level)? Anyway, I dug out Kel's old GS vest and am sending it off to them. I also found a pic of myself in my Brownies uniform and one of Kel in her Brownies uniform and am having copies made for them. Then after Cara gets a pic of herself in her Junior's vest, we will have 3 generations of GS pics for the genealogy files. Actually, in my note to Cara, I told her to have her mom put on her vest so the two of them could get a picture of the 2 generations together in uniform. I hope that they do that, as I would love to have that picture!


I harvested some more cockscomb seeds today. The ones from yesterday are starting to separate nicely from the seed heads. I gave some of the flowers to Pat, as she gave me a number of flower seeds earlier this year for our gardens.

Like some cocks combs after a frost, some of the flower cockscomb have frostbite! The frostbite shows up as grey spots - much like on a rooster.

I have two vases of cockscomb flower heads on the table in the sun room. I hope they dry nicely, as they certainly provide a bright spot of color, which I am certain I will need during winter.

Well, I guess we better get over to Spiderweb, as they are about to open for the day.

Have fun!

 

[keljonma]

Night time temperatures are supposed to be in the 30s this week! The winds are about 25 to 30 mph. I think the high winds are what caused our electric to go out for a bit last night. TR was late getting up today because the power was still out. And I noticed that the cosmos stems are all broken today. And the poor plants still have unopened buds on them!

I went to Mary/Martha Circle today, where we tied a queen-size quilt that the rest of the group put together last Wednesday. We now have 20 quilts put together, and just 2 need binding added. Chris is taking them home today to finish the binding on these two quilts by next Wednesday. Soon we will be working on baby quilts for BabyCare in Ashtabula County; I think they provide the material, but I'm not sure. Someone donated 25 knitted preemie caps, which we will add to the 15 we have done. These will get donated to BabyCare as well.

I still have to finish making chicken ornaments for SERRV/Live (Heifer Project) Market, so I better get a move on them!

Today I harvested some of the Mammoth Grey Striped sunflower seeds and the rest of the Scarlet Runner beans.

I also cut down the peonies and roses for the winter. This week I think I will clean out the tomato/pepper/basil bed. I already removed all the peppers, and there are just 2 basil plants left.

I brought the rosemary, pineapple sage, chocolate mint, French tarragon, thyme and lavender in to the house. They are now in the sun room with the hens and chicks and the spider plant.

Have fun!

 

[TanksHill]

It sounds like you have been busy. The quilts must be beautiful take some pictures to share. Sounds like old man winter in knocking at your door. Buurrrrrr!!!!

g

 

[lorihadams]

Jealous.....I missed having a garden this year...