Lorihadams-- hi guys...been busy!

[lorihadams]

Oh, I also got some plants in the flower beds, some black eyed susans, daisies, and aster.

We also got the slide show finished for this weekend's VBS ice cream social and our new pastor was voted in by 98% on sunday!

 

[lorihadams]

Okay.....I am sooooo excited!!! I was in TSC yesterday looking for grain free dog food, which I got by the way, for Tonka and I went over to take a look at the bulletin board. There is a beginner beekeeping class on Sept 2 and hubby wants to go with me!!! So excited!

With all these fruit trees we planted we definitely need some bees. I tried to plant bee friendly plants in the landscaping around the house too. I have plans to put in some flowers in amongst the garden space and now we just have to do all the prep work and maybe we can get bees!!!!!

We took the children for a walk yesterday after we fed uncle T's cows an apple and we walked some of the trails in the woods that we know the deer follow. I also scouted out a place to move my tree stand to or for hubby to set up his climber. We have a place in mind but couldn't go over there to look cause 3 does were out and about and we didn't want to spook them. Had the kids with us and you wouldn't believe all the mushrooms we saw! They were all different colors....I even saw a blue one that forms a little cup and holds water. Red ones, orange ones, brown, white, little ones, big ones the size of plates, tiny ones the size of peas, it was fascinating.

The only downside to our walk yesterday was that I looked down at my foot as I was turning up my jeans to keep from stepping on them and it was covered in little teeny tiny seed ticks!!! We're talking like a hundred little ticks the size of the head of a pin. It looked like my foot was crawling. Totally gave me the heebie-jeebies!

When we got home we all got undressed in the big bathtub and left our clothing in there, Maddie and I took a shower and scrubbed our bodies with a scrub brush and DR. Bronner's peppermint castile soap. Then we followed up with a tick search after we dried off to get any that had bitten us, had to scrape them off with my fingernail they were so small. Then the boys repeated what we did and then hubby and I checked each other......with the door locked. Who knew ticks could be so romantic? *blush*

Then I washed all the clothing in hot water and dried in the dryer last night and cleaned out the tub that was crawling with ticks from our clothes. EWWWWW.

Hubby is getting ready for goose season and has revamped the website.... www.webfootmafiawaterfowl.com

He is getting booked up quickly and I hope we have a better year. We have a new investor and we are hoping to "trim the fat" and take over the business from 3 of his partners that are really dragging us down.

We have the side job coming up the week of Sept. 11....a friend is putting on a concert for wounded veterans and Charlie Daniels is going to headline! We've been keeping it under wraps but now we can talk about it. We are also getting the guy that won America's Got Talent last year, Kevin Skinner....the former chicken catcher

Hubby is going to be a stagehand for 4-5 days and will be getting paid $450 per day!!! We are hoping to pay off the new lawnmower we bought several months ago.

God is good!!!

 

[lorihadams]

Oh, and I don't know if I mentioned it but we think Maddie got ahold of my wedding ring and yesterday hubby found in between the front seat and the console of the car!!!! Whew! It's been gone like 2 weeks.

 

[framing fowl]

Good news all around!

 

[keljonma]

Wonderful news about the beek classes! They are DEFINITELY the way to go because not only will you get great (needed) information, you will make some great contacts that will really help you with equipment, getting bees and beeking chores per season, etc.

I would also advise you check with your local public library and start reading anything you can get your hands on.

Beekeeping for Dummies is a good beginner book - but there are a ton more out there as well, so I would definitely look out for them. One of my favorite beek books is 50 Years Among the Bees by CC Miller. He is the one who invented a number of beek items, including my favorite, the Miller Feeder.

Beemaster.com is a great site! John Clayton, the site's creator and admin, provided some of the pics in Beek for Dummies.

Our county's beek association has really low annual dues - $5 per couple; but this always depends on your local club. Our monthly meetings start at noon with a potluck lunch and the actual meeting runs from 1 to 2 or 3 (depending if there is a speaker). I think they are always a worthwhile connection to the beek world.



Sorry to hear about the tick situation! That is just so yucky! Hopefully your poultry will help keep them in control. We are getting hit with fleas really badly this year.... hot, rainy and humid all summer. Thankfully they aren't as bad as ticks.

 

[Farmfresh]

Save those tick bodies ... Just in case any one gets sick in a week or so. Keeping those ticks can really help a doctor diagnose a tick born illness.

We learned this one the hard way. I hope you all never have the experience.

 

[lorihadams]

We have a house showing tonight or tomorrow!!!! I'm trying not to get excited yet but our house has only been on the market 1 week. This guy is coming from PA....crazy. Hopefully it will lead to something good....fingers crossed

Went to the library and then ended up watching my friend's children for a few hours and took the whole brood to the park after storytime and then she treated us to lunch.

We have our new babysitter here for dinner so she can see the new house and hang out and get to know the routine for when she comes and sits for us in the future. This is exciting for us cause we NEVER use a sitter.

The kids are so cute...they are showing her all the new library books we picked out today... We also started Stuart Little yesterday and read the first 5 chapters. My goal is to read 1 chapter book per week with the kids....I'll be going to my mom's house and digging through my stash.

I plan on doing the Little House series, The Boxcar Children, Charlotte's Web, and then I need to look at some book recommendations for more. I have the first 20 books in the Boxcar Children series and I am looking for a set of Little House books to buy. For now we can get them from the library but I would really like to have a set of my own. I was also thinking of Anne of Green Gables but I have never read any of those.

 

[framing fowl]

Congrats on the house showing! What a morale boost. Although I hate the ups and downs. You tell yourself not to get excited and worked up but I always did anyway. Keep us posted!

One of my fondest childhood memories is being read to by my Mom. She read us some light stuff but she also read us crazy stuff like Lord of the Rings and Kipling and Mark Twain (but not Huckleberry Finn or Tom Sawyer.) Oh, another good kid's author is Jim Kjelgaard. Not sure if I spelled that right but he has an awesome dog series. If they like horses Marguerite Henry's are good too!

 

[PamsPride]

My kids don't like the Boxcar children...to scary.

Mandie....I think that is the name of it. Excellent series!!

Found it!!!!
http://www.mandie.com/mandie.htm

This girl is always getting herself into sticky situations. This was my favorite growing up! If you like Little house on the Prairie and Anne of Green Gables you will like this.

 

[Farmfresh]

Another series to check out is In Grandma's Attic. Really great stories with great morals.