Organized!

In my quest to get things dejunked and organized for the big move I tackled a couple of cupboards today. I wish I had taken a before and after picture, but I never remember the before shot. So anyway I have a corner cupboard that has spinning racks and I have been keeping pitchers, tupperware containers with lids and water bottles in there. It was always a mess!! The lids were everywhere and whenever the shelves got spun things would fall off. So today I decided to fix the problem. I movede some of my appliances to the spinning shelves and put the tupperware with their lids on a shelf where they will be much easier to get to. I hope it helps!

Strange subject to blog about, I know, but I have been experiencing a major case of laziness when it comes to getting the house organized and things cleaned out. This was a huge accomplishment for me.

Homecoming 2012

 Abby was invited to the homecoming dance. We were able to find her a lovely formal dress at the second-hand store. Here is the front of the dress.

 And a back view.

 Black Converse were her shoes of choice....Now I know some of you won't agree with her choice, but the dance was held in a park, outside and the dancing was going to be done on the grass. Stilleto heals would not have been good for those conditions.

Abby with her date, Devon. I thought he was a very nice guy. I don't think I scared him like Eric would have.

 

Micon also attended the dance with other foreign exchange students. This is Anna from Germany and Micon before they left for dinner and the dance. 



Just Peachy

We have a peach tree planted in our "orchard." This is the first time that it has ever produced fruit. This is the one and only peach wehave ever harvested. We all go one slice and it was delicious. 

HONEY HARVEST 2012

Eric was home from Texas this past weekend so we decided that it was time to harvest the honey. Paige and Brent's family came over for the weekend. It was a fun weekend! Here are some photos of the process. 

 

 

Getting prepared

Leslie was interested in the smoker. She wanted to put her hands in the smoke. 

 Opening the hives. We started in Daisy (yes, we named the hives). Daisy looked to be the busier hive this summer. She was deceptive...not as much honey as we had hoped for.  

 Eric put a queen excluder in front of the hive so the bees could easily crawl back in after he knocked them off of the frames.

 Isaac and Eric holding a frame before the bees were cleaned off.

Brent holding a frame with capped honey. 

 

Eric shakes the frame to get a majority of the bees off of the frame, Isaac gently uses a soft brush to get the remainder of the bees off and Brent takes the bee-free frame of capped honey to a box that the bees can't get to. 

Once all of the frames are gathered they are brought into the house and the sticky part begins.  

Eric using a heated uncapping knife to open the honey cells. The tubs below are called uncapping tanks. (I think...I do not claim to be the expert)  



Sometimes the heated knife doesn't get all of the cell so then the frames have to be scraped with a pokey tool that opens the comb.  

The uncapped frames then go into the extracter. Isaac is hugging it because he loves it so much! Not really, it just gets wiggling around too much while the frames are being spun. 

This is unfiltered honey coming out of the extracter. As it comes out, it is being filtered for the first time.  Isaac is the silly one pretending to put his hands in it. 

Eric and Abby are working together to filter the honey the second time. The honey dripped through the first filter and into a bag that is filters more of the imperfections (bee parts) out. 

Filtered honey! We store it in 5 gallon buckets until we put it into the containers that we sell it in. The final total was just under 9 gallons. We were hoping for more, but someone must have forgotten to tell the bees. 

 

Here it is! Willowcreek Honey made special by Eric and Marie's bees. 

 

Then the clean up begins. This is the uncapping tank. It is out on the patio and the wasps and bees are having a hayday eating the leftover honey. 

This is the extracter...Eric set it outside so the bees could clean it up. They have been busy. I took this picture a day later in the morning and found that there are a lot of dead bees in there.

 Those of us that were not interested in getting up close and personal with the hives while the frames were being taken hung out in the shed and watched out the window. Leslie had fun making hollyhock earings and a beard. Isn't she lovely?

Grandma and Brooke! My job was to play with the grandkids and take pictures. And of course...clean up..I will be mopping up sticky spots for days and days.

 

Now after all of that... I am happy to report no person was stung, however Remi, Paige's dog got a sting in her ear. and we have honey for sell. We are selling it in 1 lb. containers. The cost is $6.00. Give me a call if you want some. 

First Day of School 2012

SENIOR YEAR! 

 

 

 Abby and Micon heading off to their first day of school.

 

School started yesterday in Idaho Fall for elementary, Middle school and Freshmen, Sophomores. Today was the first day for Juniors and Seniors. The reason for the different start days is because our district moved the freshmen to the high school, so basically yesterday was the first day of high school for all Freshmen and sophomores. I think the district wanted them to get a feel for the school before they added the Juniors and Seniors to the mix. Micon was very nervous, but I am sure she will do fine. Abby plans to take good care of her.

 

On another note...first day of school means we are back on a schedule! Yeah!





Oh, How Lovely Was the Morning!

Happy 81st birthday to my dad! And what a lovely start to the day!

Yesterday we received some much needed rain in Idaho Falls. This morning when I got up the fog had settled in around the horizon. The birds where chirping, the hummingbirds where fluttering around the flowers on the deck. I had to grab a camera to document the beauty of the morning.