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.

Highlights From Summer 2012

BAILEY AND MILES ARRIVE!

Bailey and Miles came to Idaho so they could be here when Isaac got home. I of course forgot to take the camera to the airport to get a picture of them arriving. Plus their flight was early so I wasn't even there to greet them getting off of the airplane. But here is a cute picture of Miles we had taken while he was here. It is a good thing he is crawling in the picture because he learned to do that while he was here.

 

 

 ISAAC'S HOMECOMING

 Isaac returned home from serving his mission in Teresina Brazil on June 13, 2012. His sisters were excited to have him home. So was I!

 The whole family at the Idaho Falls airport. Since leaving on his mission our family added Miles and Brooke. Well done, Good and Faithful Servant, Elder Robertson.

 

TEXAS OR BUST

 At the end of June, Eric and I set out on a road trip to move him to Houston, Texas. This was construction going on in Wyoming near Kemmerer. It is a tunnel for migrating animals. The traffic goes under and the animals go over. We drove through a lot of smoke! I saw smoke from the Fontenelle fire, Ft. Collins fire, Colorado Springs fires. The trip took us 2 days. The first night we stayed in Westmeinster, CO and the second night in Ft. Worth, Texas. We arrived in Houston on the third day and got Eric moved into his appartment. It is a lovely place complete with a pool and fitness area. The photo below is Eric in his new place.

 Saturday we had a chance to drive around and get a feel for the area. It was a rainy day which made it a bit cooler, but not much. Our first stops were to find the temple and the church. The Houston Temple is beautiful. I don't know why the photo is sideways. I tried to change it, but it would not budge. Just turn your head sideways :) Sunday we attended church in Eric's new ward. It was a very diverse ward. Much different than Idaho! The people were friendly and I think he will enjoy it there. Then the bad part of the trip came....I had to leave to return to Idaho. Bailey and Miles were still here and I had to get ready for our next summer event. I must admit I shed a few tears while sitting in the airport and still do everytime Eric comes home and has to leave. It will be a very LONG year.

MIRANDA THE STUD!

Miranda decided to train for a half marathon this summer. She worked very hard and was very diligent in getting her runs in daily. She was also working full time. These are her running shoes all lined up. I think the first pair are from her early XC days, the middle pair are from her senior year and her freshman year of college and also the pair she did her 1/2 marathon in. As a reward, I bought her a new pair to start training for her next event. Who knows when or how far that will be?

 Coming into the finish line and she still has a smile on her face! Maybe she has the smile because she is coming to the finish line.....hmm. The half Marathon she ran was in Driggs, Idaho. It was the John Colter Half.

FOREIGN EXCHANGE STUDENT ARRIVES!

On Aug. 4, 2012 our foreign exchange student arrived. Her name is Shu-Han Liao but she goes by Micon (Mee-Ko). Abby and I were at the airport awaiting her arrival. She is joining our family for the upcoming school year from Taiwan. Upon arrival we came home and she promptly took a nap. I could tell she was exhausted. 

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK

We wanted to show Micon around the area before school starts. So on a weekend when Eric was home from Texas we took a drive to Yellowstone. Micon had never heard of it before. We assured her that we were taking her to a very famous place and she would see people from all over the world touring there. The very first people we saw and heard were speaking Chinese. That brought a smile to here face. 

 Geyser Basin

 Old Faithful

 Brink of the Falls - Notice the beautiful rainbows.

 

AROUND THE HOUSE AND YARD

 Even though we will be moving to Texas, we planted a big garden. As I am taking care of it by myself I often ask myself why? This is the garden shortly after planting. Probably the only time there wouldn't be any weeds. We planted a couple weeks earlier this year. Eric just couldn't wait! All would have been well except for the freeze in June just after the plants were all up. We covered most of the garden so the freeze only stunted things for a little. Now it is a jungle!

 We gave Micon a chance to pick beans. She was a good sport about it. We have a ton of Sunflowers this year. We did plant some, but most of them came up from seeds that dropped last year. They are pretty and the bees love them.

 

OTHER PROJECTS THAT HAVE KEPT ME BUSY

I talked Eric into letting me get a new bedroom set, one with matching dressers and headboard, night stands. It didn't take much talking...he is so good to me. Anyway we had this old dresser for the past 22 years. It is a sturdy dresser and well made but it was pretty banged up from so many years of use. I decided to refinish it and put it in the room Micon is in. Paige helped me do a lot of it. I learned some valuable lessons...the most important is to not put a coat of polyeurothane on at night. I was doing this project in the garage and the lights were one and the bugs were gathering around the lights and then dropping into my wet paint....I had to sand it down the next morning and try again. I think in the end it turned out nice. And notice the blue wall..Paige, Abby and I also painted the room a nice light shade of blue.

 

ANNIVERSARY!

Eric and I celebrated 27 years together on Aug. 24. Luckily it was a weekend he was home from Texas. We were able to spend the day together, go out and eat and walk around the greenbelt. It was just very nice being together! I am looking forward to many more years together. 

A visit to Buhl

We decided to take a trip over the long weekend to visit Leslie (and Paige and Brent too). We arrived on Saturday. We braved the wind and cold and fed corn to the ducks that live down the lane from Paige's house. We went to Twin Falls for dinner and a little shopping much to Eric and Brent's dismay. We played Quiddler. Paige was the lucky winner. Leslie was so fun. I wish I had taken pictures of us playing in her fort. Sunday we attended their ward. They have a very friendly ward. That evening we enjoyed brownies and a game of 5 Crowns. Paige was the winner again. Maybe she was cheating...hmm. The weather wasn't very good. It was cold and windy, but on Monday we journeyed out anyway. We drove to Balanced Rock. I have always wanted to see it since I taught about it when I taught Idaho History. It was very cool. I will post pictures.

Balanced Rock from the parking area 

 Eric, Leslie, Abby, Paige, Brent and Remi ready to hike up the hill

 Marie and Abby below Balanced Rock

 Balanced Rock right at the tip of my finger

 Paige, Abby, Marie posing

 Balanced Rock

 Eric standing at the base of the rock. He was tempted to try and push it over. Can you imagine being the person that toppled Balance Rock, and ruining one of Idaho's unique landforms?



Eric and Abby decending the hill. Another view of the rock. 

We had a fun time. I wish we were closer so I could seem the more often. I guess I can't complain too loudly about 3 hours...it could be worse...We only get to see Bailey's family once or twice a year..Philly is too far.

Salsa and other stuff.

Happy 50th Birthday to Eric! We spent his day making Salsa and drying apples. And obviously from the pile of dishes behind him, washing dishes. That was my job.

Eric and I both took a day off from work and we stayed home and made salsa. When it was all said and done we had 28 pints of medium salsa and 28 pints of hot salsa. The hot isn't really that hot, but since it is the one that we put the ceyenne peppers in we called it hot. Both are very good and I am glad to have salsa back in my food storage. The only bad part was we had to buy tomatos. We had tomotos in our garden, but when the bulk of them were ripe the peppers weren't ready and then we had a couple of hard freezes so our tomatos were not good.  We have also been drying a lot of apples. We dried pears too this year and they are yummy. We canned apple pie filling and Eric canned a few quarts of pears. (Bless his heart). That was one of the chores he gave himself on one of his Fridays off. He found out it wasn't very much fun to can stuff alone and so he only did enough pears for 3 quarts.  Here are some pictures of the salsa.



I love the color and texture of fresh salsa. I wish I could also post the wonderful aroma that was coming from this pot.