The Latest in Bee News

The bees were inspected again today.  We were looking at them to make sure they are thriving (yes they are) and to see if there are eggs and larvae and what progress are they making on pulling comb in the new frames and all that good stuff.  Didn't see either queen, but they are there somewhere.

Taking apart the top of the hive

Smoking the little guys to calm their worried souls

The first hive showed no progress at all in the top set of frames that we put on last week.  This is all good, as they are pretty robust and seemingly busy in there.

Beginning the inspection of the lower brood box

A few more burr combs

The bees beginning to pull comb in the last few frames

One of the frames- notice the open cells, where brood has hatched out

Another frame- capped cells, worker bees, lots going on

Carefully removing the burr combs

You really can tell when the bees are irritated!  We used plenty of smoke this time- no stinging to report- yet.

Beginning to pull comb in the new brood box of the second hive

Busy busy workers tending to the young, making some honey, storing some pollen

All was well there, we will have to make more syrup for them by Wednesday or Thursday.  It is interesting for sure!!

Bees are more complex than one would ever have imagined, and it certainly is a spot of joy in the yard and in my life.

Gardening part 3- Ready, set, swat, GO

You can just about hear the commentary-


ANDTHEY'REOFF-

AND they took off from the gate fast, the peas and onions are in the ground- but look- here comes the rain and the gardeners are falling a few lengths behind.  Rounding the curve towards summertime, gardeners are starting to catch up by putting out their beets, potatoes, carrots and greens, but wait, here comes the flock of mosquitos that will drive them into the house early.  But the gardeners won't be defeated, armed with OFF and heavy clothing, they are out there in the back stretch putting in their beans and tomatoes. Rounding the final turn, the cukes and squash are being put in before the rains stop and the deer flys begin!!  It is a race to the finish- the crowd is going wild!!!  It is the gardeners winning by a glove!!

Can you tell I watched the Belmont yesterday??  HAHA

Anyway, it is a race to get the garden in right now, as it seems - finger crossed- that perhaps it won't get so cold as to kill off the plant-life.  We shall see.  Every night, the MA gets out to the garden and plants a little more stuff- tomatoes, potatoes, lettuce, greens, beets, carrots, etc etc.  I will be joining the party to do a little volunteering when it comes to weeding, but I am trying to get a handle on the flower gardens.

 

Things have grown like crazy with the  warm temps and the water that has fallen.  The flower beds have gotten so big, and so have the weeds.  But that is the way it goes!

So for the garden update, ready set GO and plant it all!!   The only limitations is the weather, your available time and your tolerance to mosquitos**.  The weather looks like nice and warm (not hot!) for the days and coolish evenings, which is really awesome for us here and relatively nice for the garden plants.  Occasional rain rounds out a fairly nice outlook for the next 10 days.

Enjoy your summer!!  I know I will!!

**Side note - I read today that because it got warm all of a sudden, ALL OF THE MOSQUITOS hatched at once.  With all the standing water, this was quite a crop. This same article also stated that this should be an average year for mosquitos.  I'll believe it when I see it!

Close encounter of the deer kind

So,  today, I was  minding my own business, mowing the lawn with the push-mower. 

 I do this for two reasons: 

1. I use push-mowing as a good form of exercise and

2. I HATE when there is a bunch of grass clippings in my flower beds.  So I go through all sorts of contortions to avoid shooting the grass in the wrong direction.  I am picky about that- don't judge me. So instead of getting snippy about it, I just do it myself.  

I don't know where the heck I am going

 I happened to look up rounding a corner near my patio table in time to see a very young fawn hopping over the stone fence and emerging from the hay field.  I was so surprised.  It saw me and I thought, wow,  maybe I can grab my camera, which was on a bench by the garden shed.  I really didn't expect to get a good shot as I thought it would run....... which it did NOT.  

Hey, this lady looks pretty nice 

The crazy little thing started heading in my direction!  So I took a few pix all the while it was heading towards me.  It ended up under my bench and then it walked right over to me.  I could have reached down and petted it.  Which I did not do.

I don't know, you don't look like mama

I had been shooting butterfly pix, so I had my long lens and didn't get the entire little guy/girl in the pic here.  Anyway, it must have decided to continue looking for mom, because he began walking towards the woods.

Mom said I should stay right where she left me, I'm in big trouble now

He just kept walking on his gangly little legs.  So tiny and fragile looking- it couldn't have been more than a day or two old at the most.

Let's see, is home over here?

It certainly was not what I expected!  

I better skedaddle on into the woods and wait for mom there.

Off he goes, I am sure mom will find him.  We saw an adult deer out in the field an hour later, I would guess they will be reunited shortly.

I am so glad that I am pretty consistent in having one of my cameras available at all times.  And to have the big lens was a massive plus!!  I don't think any of the photos are terrific, as I was working on automatic and a fast automatic at that.  But, even though I am ambivalent about deer, how could I not love such a sweet little thing??  BABIES- everyone together now-----AWWWWW!

THIS was an unexpected joy!

Rainy day foliage

As you can probably see as you go through these few pictures, it was a little bit of a gloomy Saturday.  It began merely cloudy, and so I spent part of the morning cleaning in the house before heading to the grocery store and to get more fly spray for the horsey.  This wasn't the best of decisions because promptly at 9:30 when I donned jacket and shoes to leave, the heavens opened and it began to pour.

Lady's Mantle -Alchemilla mollis 

Ah well.  I took some of these photos in the morning before the deluge and then some I took this evening.  I really like the overcast days for photos, it is WAY easier to expose properly.  In other words,  bright sun and deep shadows are difficult to deal with.  

Assorted hosta

Anyway, I hope you enjoy my study of (mostly) greenery in this lush rainforest of Northern Wisconsin.

Coral Bells- Heuchera 

Siberian Iris

Allium- Globemaster (I think)

Alchemilla mollis

Azalea- Northern Lights

Hostas- full sized and miniature, plus an oriental lily 

It is astonishing the speed and vigor of the plants as they grow right now.  We might not be thrilled with the rains, but the plants beg to differ!

I guess that is looking, rather ironically, at the sunny side of life.  And finding some joy among the water drops.

Rainy day cooking- vegetarian style (veggie burger and quick chickpea salad)

It's been raining off and on today, and so I have been doing a little of this and that inside.  A  little cleaning, a little clothes washing and I decided to look for something different to make for lunch.  My friend and coworker, Jen, made a KICK ASS tabbouleh a couple days ago, and I have been thinking about it ever since.  I was sort of looking for a grain based salad, but found a chickpea version instead.  AND I think it was a winner!  Plus I wanted to make my own veggie burger, I like the frozen ones,  but want to find one that can be a fast go to recipe.  The one I did here was good, but a little dry when grilled, I have to figure out a fix for it.  The flavor was good though.

Well isn't this a busy little picture!?!  

So first up Sweet Potato Black Bean Burger- adapted from a recipe found on the Hummusapien blog.   I looked at several other black bean burger recipes and they want  you to precook things, or prechill, and all this other nonsense.  I want something that you can throw together and cook.  Period. As per usual, I never seem to have exactly what a recipe calls for.  So there are several substitutions from the original recipe.

First up, I subbed in some pulverized oats for the flaked whole grain cereal (I don't eat cereal and the MA eats Honey Nut Cheerios- not the best idea for a veggie burger, I'd guess), and since I didn't want to drag out the food processor, I wiped out the coffee grinder and used that!

Next, I had no jalapeno so I put in some cayenne pepper for some heat, and I used 2 eggs instead of an egg and an egg white.  I mean seriously, what the heck am I going to do with that left over yolk.

Pulverized rolled organic oats

Cook and mash this dude

Chili powder, cayenne, cumin plus not pictured: smoked paprika

Mix all that stuff together

I decided to stick on a  greased grill pan and grill.  

 The recipe also calls for baking- and I opted for the slow grill route.  I really don't want to heat the kitchen up baking a veggie burger or 3.

The taste of this was good, but I would add way more of all the spices- I would prefer it a bit spicier!

Sweet Potato Black Bean Burger

1 large sweet potato, cooked and mashed: about 1 cup
1 cup of rolled oats- roughly pulverized
1/2 onion, chopped
1 can black beans- rinsed and drained
2 eggs
1 clove garlic, minced
salt and pepper
dash or two of cayenne
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp smoked paprika

Mix the whole thing up and shape into patties.  Bake in oven at 350 for 30 minutes or grill in a pan on low for 15 min or so.

I put avocado, onion and dijon on mine!  I'd put a squeeze of lime and hot sauce on the next time

This made 5 good sized burgers



The chickpea salad was something I had pinned on Pinterest at some point and is from Two Peas and Their Pod.

I was searching for something grain based, but this chickpea recipe sounded good and I had the avocado and the feta!!!  SCORE

I added my own spin to it when, I did not have any cilantro, by adding some fresh basil and then threw in some cherry tomatoes for color.  It is really so good.  I love lime, so that as the only major flavoring to pull it together was fine with me.

Tomato, onion and basil

Mix in the feta, drained chickpeas and diced avocado plus squeeze lime over the whole thing

The flavors in this salad are so good together.  I can see this stuffed inside a pita as well, or scooped on top of a lettuce salad.  Or mashed up a little and put in a sandwich- as was discussed in the original recipe.  I'll take the basil over the cilantro anytime.

Chickpea, Avocado and Feta Salad

1can chickpeas, rinsed and drained (I had my can of chickpeas in the frig so it was cold)

1 or 2 avocados, diced

1- 2 Tablespoons  onion, finely diced

2 or 3 Tablespoons chopped fresh basil

8 - 10 cherry tomatoes

1/3 - 1/2 cup feta

Juice of one lime

salt and pepper to taste

Combine and enjoy.  

This will be something that I come back to again.  I loved it and had to stop myself from eating the entire bowl.  It was that good.  

Quite an enjoyable way to spend a rainy Sunday!  Hope you are finding your joy too.

Birds and the bees- summer is a lot of WORK

Today was another warm one, but there were clouds around, so it wasn't bad at all.  Summer is making herself known!

Last week when the Mad-Middle son was here and we checked out the state of affairs inside the hives and things were rocking and rolling in there.  The frames are almost all full, just 2 in each hive are not started, so I guess this was just the thing to do.  The new "super" needs to be put on so there is plenty of room for the bees to continue their expansion.  If they feel cramped, they sometimes decide to pickup and move!  That would not be good.

So we donned the bee suits, which might be a good technique against the mosquitos!!  We then took a wheel barrel full of stuff over to the hives.  Frames for the super, the smaller honey boxes, and our requisite tools of the trade. 

Bee suit selfie!

All of the stuff 

 We had to unload the sugar water with the medicine for the bee runs (this still makes me snicker) from the super and then remove the divider from under that second box.  Then the super was replaced and the frames were inserted.  I think I am getting this vocabulary down!

removing the feeders

Smoking the little dudes to calm them

Giving the frames a quick look

Replacing the super

Inserting the frames 

I got to be the hander over person- I handed over all the stuff, all the while having my legs rubbed by this one down here.  She's such a lovey dovey. 

I also refilled the smaller jars with the rest of the sugar water- we will have to check the syrup later in the week, as they are going through it pretty fast.

Such a pest- lol

Sugar water feeders- you can see the bees getting the goodies.

You know you have to smoke the bees a bit when they are all lined up looking at you.  I hope you can see that

This is the divider, that goes between the brood boxes (super) and where we have the sugar syrup feeders.  The bees hang on until we replace it.

And we are in business- time to replace the door area and let them get back to work

 So after that was done, the MA finished the first of the bird houses.  A few weeks ago he totally rebuilt the horse fence.  While doing that some of our old bluebird houses were deemed unfit for habitation.  So using some old signage (the old Mathison and Oswald signs from the office) he cut all the parts for the houses, and then did some odd-ass stuff with yellow and black spray paint.  I did a lot of eye rolling this afternoon. Lol.

Anyway, I was there to witness the attachment of the first of 5 birdhouses that will be placed on the horse fence.  (reality: can I carry these things over to the fence and I "get to" see the birdhouse put up)

Finishing the roofing

Number one is in place!

With all this activity, went a lot of lawn mowing and weeding and garden planting and more weeding. Whew!  Gotta tackle summer with all the gusto that we can muster!

And that was a joy- and we will sleep well, too!  :)

Gardening in the Northwoods- the flower edition (and a side trip of trilliums)

The seasons change quickly up here and low and behold, it was snow flurrying about 2.5 weeks ago and now it has suddenly changed to  summer - we've had *2* 85 degree days- in a row!  What in the world happened to spring? Oh right, that was last week.   Silly me, thinking we might have some mild weather.  BUT I am not complaining about the heat, one bit.  I will complain about the mosquitos- that is the drawback of not having drought conditions....

A magnificent scene

Beauty in the north

Anyway, I have some lovely daffodils this year, but many of my clumps are getting a bit sparse, so it is time to divide them.  Well, not right now, I have to wait until late summer.  You need to let the foliage all die back naturally and really you should wait until at least August.  Then let the bulbs dry down a while and it can get quite cold before you replant.

Hyacinths

Now the trick is how does one figure out where one's daffodils are without doing a proverbial "stab in the dirt"??  The MA thinks that I can take good pictures of their location, which totally doesn't work.  For a variety of reasons.  I have come up with a good way, though, and that is to put a layer of pea gravel (or this year it will be sand) around the base of the flowers while I can see where they are and which ones were lacking in floriferous-ness.  It worked several years ago, so I have no doubt it will work for me this year.  My technique is to then dig up the clumps, replant a bunch of them, then toss the extras aside to get all mixed up so no one can guess which kind is which!  :D  Or I will attempt to perhaps put them in separate piles and try to keep them identified, but I wouldn't hold my breath if I was you.

Fritillaria or trout lily

I did some major weeding last night and tonight, and I have found that not quite as much stuff died as I thought.  I lost the usual amount of sempervivum and some of the fuzzy grey creeping thyme, and I imagine I am missing a few things that I have not noticed in the rock garden yet, but I found some of my favorite things.  And then a few of those things I realize in my hurry to escape from the mosquito onslaught I forgot to photograph.  Well, just  BOO.  I can catch them tomorrow.

Pheasant eye daffs under the lilacs

And I discovered this guy flying around!  I've not seen a sphinx moth quite like this

One of my mini evergreens

Sea Holly (ignore the weed remnants)

Rock garden Gentian

My fern leaf peony- not sure if this guy is going to bloom this year

Another sea holly- haven't finished neatening up this area- mosquito issues!

We also took a drive a few days ago, when the weather was a little overcast and cool (you know, that week of spring) to see the trilliums in bloom on Lakeshore Drive between Butternut and Schnur Lakes. So amazing this year- seriously it is worth the drive if you are within an hour or so of here.  It is like a carpet of trilliums that go on and on and on for a couple miles.  It is a pretty road anyway, but this is just spectacular.

I cannot tell you how wonderful it is to see all this green.  The leaves are almost fully developed, they are just a little on the small side yet, the crab apples and apple trees are starting to bloom and leaf out and the lushness that is the short season of summer in the Northwoods is upon us.  I intend to indulge in every moment of it that I can- at least until the mosquitos send me into the house.  But there is always tomorrow.

Until next time, find some joy and pass it along.