Having been a blood donor since 18, I appreciate the inconvenience and sometimes discomfort of donating. Watching Sam walk steadily last night for the first time in a very long time I appreciate the wonders blood products can cause. This is one of their minor miracles. He ran a 100 degree temp and for a while his blood pressure soared, but he gritted his teeth and sat the infusion out, in great discomfort. His IV line was burning badly, so he asked them to do a new one this AM. He is so hopeful now that he has started walking better.
Macks and I found out that there is a doggy daycare in C-ville, behind Bodo's Bagels, and off US 29. For $22 they will let him play from 7AM to 5:30 PM. That might be useful if Sam has to be hospitalized again.
Honey Bear, the neighbor's female who seems to stay here more than there is in full heat now and Macks is frantic. A part-lab is hanging out in the yard, waiting for her to be ready. I have her on the downstairs porch with food and water to keep her from being bred. It is more dangerous to spay her if she's carrying puppies.
Back to C'ville, and to see who's at the dog play lot...
Friday, August 12, 2005
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
Trip to CharlottesVille
We went over to C-Ville to get Sam an IVIg treatment for his peripheral neuropathy. Apparently his version is an autoimmune problem. This treatment is designed to get his immune system to stop destroying his myelin sheath, the insulation on his nerves. It usually tires him; more with each treatment.
Macks went with us and he and I found an off-leash dog play area. I look forward to going there tomorrow and watching him gambol with the other dogs.
I have been looking for a good explanation of the blood lipids (fats) for my sister, CH. I recommend the June 28, 2005 Jane Brody article in the NYTimes.com (Archives: Know Your Numbers and Improve Your Odds). It's the best short explanation I've seen.
Macks went with us and he and I found an off-leash dog play area. I look forward to going there tomorrow and watching him gambol with the other dogs.
I have been looking for a good explanation of the blood lipids (fats) for my sister, CH. I recommend the June 28, 2005 Jane Brody article in the NYTimes.com (Archives: Know Your Numbers and Improve Your Odds). It's the best short explanation I've seen.
Tuesday, August 09, 2005
The Dark Side of the Diplomat's Life
From an e-mail to a friend, passed along to us:
I think enough has been said on the subject of diplomats' lives abroad, but I also think some people have skewed ideas about "diplomacy" in today's world, and assume it's all big embassies in capital cities. Not nearly! So here goes:
This State Dept representative is assigned to a Provincial Reconstruction Team in Afghanistan. I share a dusty tent with three other guys (including a very capable L-- diplomat), and we can't keep it clean because of the incessant dust storms that send 95mph whirlwinds through the area every day. The wind last week was much stronger, and the tent next to mine simply disappeared. The sink spigots and showers are outside, near the outdoor toilets - all about a block and a half from where I sleep. We get one hot meal a day. My feet are cracked open from wearing heavy boots and never having a flat surface to walk on (the camp is covered with loose stones to keep the lunar quality dust at a livable level, and there is no asphalt road or flat sidewalk that I know of anywhere in this area), and the temperature extremes have removed - painfully - a thick layer of skin from my face and head. My clothes are always dirty because of the dust, and because we have to wash our clothing in mesh bags that can't be opened during the washing. But this is the pleasant season, because roads to Ch-- become inaccessible most of the winter, and the temperatures in this mountainous area hover way below zero. And yeah, my colleagues and I will be staying through it all.
I meet with Afghans of all kinds all day long, and I conduct my meetings in Dari. Yes, I speak it, along with a couple of other regional languages. (But I am also giving an English class every night to our local interpreters, so that they can communicate with the soldiers better.) My colleagues and I walk on the streets, go shopping, visit the local villages, listen to what the Afghans are saying and laugh and joke with them, and in general cooperate with our Afghan friends here on a range of assistance projects involving the local schools, bridges across the town river, construction of better facilities for the town hospital and general security for the upcoming elections so that the voters in this Province can cast their ballots freely and safely. In between these activities, I try to write reports that will help the State Dept and NATO recipients understand this area better. And late in the evening, I finally get to my email (we have a generator here), where I sometimes enjoy the luxury of accessing Gulf List to remind me that there is a wider world.
The funny thing is, there are lots of diplomats like me in places like this in Afghanistan. Americans and Europeans and many others who have left their cuff links and silk ties and dark suits back home. We tend to show up for meetings with back packs and wearing jeans. And funnier still, we think we have the best of worlds here. I know I wouldn't trade my tent for the biggest Ambassadorial residence in London, Paris or Rome. If any of the recent critics of the State Dept and other countries' foreign services care to make the 3 day overland trip here (via a very bad dirt road from Herat) I would be happy to introduce them to this version of the diplomatic life.
I think enough has been said on the subject of diplomats' lives abroad, but I also think some people have skewed ideas about "diplomacy" in today's world, and assume it's all big embassies in capital cities. Not nearly! So here goes:
This State Dept representative is assigned to a Provincial Reconstruction Team in Afghanistan. I share a dusty tent with three other guys (including a very capable L-- diplomat), and we can't keep it clean because of the incessant dust storms that send 95mph whirlwinds through the area every day. The wind last week was much stronger, and the tent next to mine simply disappeared. The sink spigots and showers are outside, near the outdoor toilets - all about a block and a half from where I sleep. We get one hot meal a day. My feet are cracked open from wearing heavy boots and never having a flat surface to walk on (the camp is covered with loose stones to keep the lunar quality dust at a livable level, and there is no asphalt road or flat sidewalk that I know of anywhere in this area), and the temperature extremes have removed - painfully - a thick layer of skin from my face and head. My clothes are always dirty because of the dust, and because we have to wash our clothing in mesh bags that can't be opened during the washing. But this is the pleasant season, because roads to Ch-- become inaccessible most of the winter, and the temperatures in this mountainous area hover way below zero. And yeah, my colleagues and I will be staying through it all.
I meet with Afghans of all kinds all day long, and I conduct my meetings in Dari. Yes, I speak it, along with a couple of other regional languages. (But I am also giving an English class every night to our local interpreters, so that they can communicate with the soldiers better.) My colleagues and I walk on the streets, go shopping, visit the local villages, listen to what the Afghans are saying and laugh and joke with them, and in general cooperate with our Afghan friends here on a range of assistance projects involving the local schools, bridges across the town river, construction of better facilities for the town hospital and general security for the upcoming elections so that the voters in this Province can cast their ballots freely and safely. In between these activities, I try to write reports that will help the State Dept and NATO recipients understand this area better. And late in the evening, I finally get to my email (we have a generator here), where I sometimes enjoy the luxury of accessing Gulf List to remind me that there is a wider world.
The funny thing is, there are lots of diplomats like me in places like this in Afghanistan. Americans and Europeans and many others who have left their cuff links and silk ties and dark suits back home. We tend to show up for meetings with back packs and wearing jeans. And funnier still, we think we have the best of worlds here. I know I wouldn't trade my tent for the biggest Ambassadorial residence in London, Paris or Rome. If any of the recent critics of the State Dept and other countries' foreign services care to make the 3 day overland trip here (via a very bad dirt road from Herat) I would be happy to introduce them to this version of the diplomatic life.
The Lost is Found: A Peripatetic Bag
Fedex says that the wayward bag from Grenada was mis-sorted and landed in Miami. It's being sent to DC, where I will have to go to get it. Better to drive six hours to pick it up than confuse the FedEx folks by changing the address for delivery. AS is on her abbreviated honeymoon and GT started Pathology classes this morning. I put a note on Instant Messaging so she'll know asap.
It's raining and drizzling so I can only dash out for short forays, but I picked the greenbeans since the wetness seems to enable them to be seen. I also found that the long sleeves of the rain jacket help protect me from the fiery itch they cause. I thought we'd picked the tomatoes clean, leaving only green ones. They must have ripened overnight!
Today is going to be a bookkeeping day. Since I have everything on auto payment I only have to do this about once every three or four months, and this is a good time.
Also, since I'll be gone most of the days this week I will spend Saturday making Blackberry Jelly to box up with the rest of the canned goods to take to DC when I go pick up the wandering Bag!
It's raining and drizzling so I can only dash out for short forays, but I picked the greenbeans since the wetness seems to enable them to be seen. I also found that the long sleeves of the rain jacket help protect me from the fiery itch they cause. I thought we'd picked the tomatoes clean, leaving only green ones. They must have ripened overnight!
Today is going to be a bookkeeping day. Since I have everything on auto payment I only have to do this about once every three or four months, and this is a good time.
Also, since I'll be gone most of the days this week I will spend Saturday making Blackberry Jelly to box up with the rest of the canned goods to take to DC when I go pick up the wandering Bag!
Monday, August 08, 2005
Back to the Wonders of the Real World
It was a lovely interlude, and a lovely wedding of two classy people. My brother was a generous host, and my sister stayed with us so we got the maximum out of our short time in Pensacola. GT worked hard at her role as the Maid of Honor to AB (now AS). We stayed at the Hilton Garden In on Pensacola Beach. It is very family and child friendly with shallow pools with fountains for the kids to run in amongst. P&B's two girls, 5 & 8, were adorable flower girls, taking the role very seriously. They impressed us all with their excellent behavior. In sum, it was as picture perfect a visit as it could have been. We all caught up on each other's lives and laughed alot at our various soap operas!
I returned in good shape, found tall weeds in the garden, but help coming to tackle it, in the form of BG's daughter and sister.
GT is back in Grenada, facing a term of Pathology, where they learn the symptoms of most diseases. I wish there were two terms of that, but surprisingly there's only one: Very Intensive !!
Sam and Macks are glad I'm home, too.
I returned in good shape, found tall weeds in the garden, but help coming to tackle it, in the form of BG's daughter and sister.
GT is back in Grenada, facing a term of Pathology, where they learn the symptoms of most diseases. I wish there were two terms of that, but surprisingly there's only one: Very Intensive !!
Sam and Macks are glad I'm home, too.
Tuesday, August 02, 2005
Saturday, July 30, 2005
A Happening Place!
GT is in Texas, but her luggage from Grenada is still in La-La land in the FedEx system. They want itemized lists with actual values,,, but will only reimburse $100. Go Figure!!! Bureaucratic rubbish!
The tomatoes are ripening, and we gave away a bushel of them and a bushel of cucumbers and other Veggies to the local Food Pantry. It's the constant picking that keeps me going.
The B'hse got rented. A retired single man was happy to pay the price to occupy it until he can find acreage for his retirement home. Next time I'll raise the price!
Macks is settling back into the routine. Sam is much more relaxed with him home, and now wants a breeding female! Another German Shepherd to take up floor space! I'm happy with a house full of dogs, but I worry that Sam might not like it as well as I do. He talks of building a dog pen. I'm OK with that - if it's only used when we're gone, but not as a normal thing. I'm researching tracking collars!
The weather has turned cool and drizzly. The bees don't like to have their hives opened on overcast, and especially on drizzly days. It makes them bad tempered. I'll wait for sunshine! I have to start joining up hives so that they can organize and build up for the winter.
The tomatoes are ripening, and we gave away a bushel of them and a bushel of cucumbers and other Veggies to the local Food Pantry. It's the constant picking that keeps me going.
The B'hse got rented. A retired single man was happy to pay the price to occupy it until he can find acreage for his retirement home. Next time I'll raise the price!
Macks is settling back into the routine. Sam is much more relaxed with him home, and now wants a breeding female! Another German Shepherd to take up floor space! I'm happy with a house full of dogs, but I worry that Sam might not like it as well as I do. He talks of building a dog pen. I'm OK with that - if it's only used when we're gone, but not as a normal thing. I'm researching tracking collars!
The weather has turned cool and drizzly. The bees don't like to have their hives opened on overcast, and especially on drizzly days. It makes them bad tempered. I'll wait for sunshine! I have to start joining up hives so that they can organize and build up for the winter.
Thursday, July 28, 2005
Prodigal Dog: Macks
Macks is Back!!!! A lady called from Curdsville area, where he'd been spotted and said she was holding him for us. One look and I knew. He was glad to see us. He'd be fairly well cared for, and been tied up since Sunday by another woman who'd then given him to a friend. The woman we got him from saw him on US 15, knew he'd escaped from the man and took him home. No names given, since it's a small town. Sam is paranoid he'll run off again. I'm resigned to it.
You can't keep a wandering dog home, unless you're willing to tie or pen him. I won't do either. So we're ordering a tracking collar.
You can't keep a wandering dog home, unless you're willing to tie or pen him. I won't do either. So we're ordering a tracking collar.
Sunday, July 24, 2005
Hot Smot!!! Killer Bees are softies!
I girded my loins, ankles, & wrists with duct tape, double dressed and, taking a big smoker, went into that "Hot" hive this morning at about 8AM. They'd had a change of attitude! Maybe they were sleepy? Who knows? I reorganized the hive to suit myself: put the queen down on drawn empty comb, separated by a super of undrawn foundation from the brood in shallow combs, that I've been trying to empty, with a queen excluder to assure that the queen stays down while the brood hatches up above. Thank goodness for marked queens, since I'd never have found her without the marking. So I went into a few more hives, and then came inside due to the heat building up under all the clothes and duct tape. Shoot, I thought I'd have bee covered gloves like I did last time I opened those girls. Situationally bad bees.
Friday, July 22, 2005
Sweatin' with the Bees!
Went into the bees, until 10 AM when I had to go show the B'house to a potential tenant. Just before Sam called me to go, I hit a really HOT, angry hive. I walked off into the trees - they followed... So I left the hive open. I didn't get back until 2PM, too late into this super hot day to go out in full regalia and close them up. I've napped and cooled down. It's 5PM and I'll go out and close them up, clean up my mess and come in for a shower. Beekeeping is a good way to be sure your sweat glands work properly!
If I can, I'll get up at 5AM and go back into the bees for a couple hours early in the AM before I go to DC.
Away I'll Go...
Leaving home is very hard. Living here is such a comfortable routine. Away, I'll have to readjust myself or my environment. Probably good for me, since I'll appreciate home more when I return.
The list of preparations is long: Clean the Van; Straighten the house and wash all the clothes, kitchen, baths; stock up on the necessities; Arrange for someone to pick the garden and distribute the vegs, and someone to water it.
In FWB I need to attend to the water problems in the big house, find out why the guys haven't put siding on two rental houses and get the MH lots into order for renting out, since I've finally made a decision to do that and not to sell them. I got a fair offer, but turned it down since I'd only Net 3/4 of it and couldn't find an investment that would bring in the same income. At least it flushed the covey. CH is coming home in Sept and will work to get the lots in shape to rent. I need to see WH and CI to find out if they've done anything about the estimates of costs to develop the property. I also need to start the bidding process on the adjoining strip of land. Lots of work and too little money.
I'll be in FWB for about two weeks, so I'll have time to relax a bit, too; maybe I'll read the new HP book. Difficult for me to relax away from home.
Sam is sanguine with my absence. Two weeks is enough so that he'll get used to doing for himself. BG will come twice a week and his buddy EFL will check on him. Without Macks here (he hasn't come home) there is less chance of a fall. Macks absence also means Sam can leave the house without worrying about him. We still miss him, though.
We're having to put our oldest dog, Pat, to sleep today. CC came and dug a deep hole with the new tractor and front end loader. Jim will come over and give him the anesthesia as gently as possible. I wish they'd let people make they're own deaths as easy. Poor Pat has suffered for the past weeks, with no hope of better days. I'll still sob, though I know we're doing a kindness. Sam is heartbroken, with no Macks to console him.
Susan, our disabled daughter, will be very happy while I'm gone, because she'll play Queen of the House, without the limits I enforce. We'll see how she does. I might be pleasantly surprised.
The list of preparations is long: Clean the Van; Straighten the house and wash all the clothes, kitchen, baths; stock up on the necessities; Arrange for someone to pick the garden and distribute the vegs, and someone to water it.
In FWB I need to attend to the water problems in the big house, find out why the guys haven't put siding on two rental houses and get the MH lots into order for renting out, since I've finally made a decision to do that and not to sell them. I got a fair offer, but turned it down since I'd only Net 3/4 of it and couldn't find an investment that would bring in the same income. At least it flushed the covey. CH is coming home in Sept and will work to get the lots in shape to rent. I need to see WH and CI to find out if they've done anything about the estimates of costs to develop the property. I also need to start the bidding process on the adjoining strip of land. Lots of work and too little money.
I'll be in FWB for about two weeks, so I'll have time to relax a bit, too; maybe I'll read the new HP book. Difficult for me to relax away from home.
Sam is sanguine with my absence. Two weeks is enough so that he'll get used to doing for himself. BG will come twice a week and his buddy EFL will check on him. Without Macks here (he hasn't come home) there is less chance of a fall. Macks absence also means Sam can leave the house without worrying about him. We still miss him, though.
We're having to put our oldest dog, Pat, to sleep today. CC came and dug a deep hole with the new tractor and front end loader. Jim will come over and give him the anesthesia as gently as possible. I wish they'd let people make they're own deaths as easy. Poor Pat has suffered for the past weeks, with no hope of better days. I'll still sob, though I know we're doing a kindness. Sam is heartbroken, with no Macks to console him.
Susan, our disabled daughter, will be very happy while I'm gone, because she'll play Queen of the House, without the limits I enforce. We'll see how she does. I might be pleasantly surprised.
Wednesday, July 20, 2005
Counting Down to Florida
I'm leaving Saturday to pick up my daughter, GT, at Dulles and we go to FWB, FL on Monday. Two weeks gone,,, OH, NO!!
The To-Do list is huge! Garden, Bees, House, Groceries, BB JELLY!!! I'm going out and spend this 102 Heat Index day picking berries. The ones in the sun have dried up, so I'll go into the brambles in the woods. I wear as little as possible, because skin is easier to shed the thorns from than cloth! I'll be full of tiny thorns, and all scratched up, also covered with Poison Ivy. The Tecnu poison Ivy wash will eliminate that, so I wade into it happily, now. Hope for a bucket full! I'll rinse the bugs out and put them into the freezer for when I get back and can make jelly. Early morning in the woods.... Bliss!!
Tomorrow morning is Bee Business. Assess the Hives, put on supers, join up weak to strong. I'll try to do it in the Wee Hours at barely daybreak. It's even too hot in the evening.
The To-Do list is huge! Garden, Bees, House, Groceries, BB JELLY!!! I'm going out and spend this 102 Heat Index day picking berries. The ones in the sun have dried up, so I'll go into the brambles in the woods. I wear as little as possible, because skin is easier to shed the thorns from than cloth! I'll be full of tiny thorns, and all scratched up, also covered with Poison Ivy. The Tecnu poison Ivy wash will eliminate that, so I wade into it happily, now. Hope for a bucket full! I'll rinse the bugs out and put them into the freezer for when I get back and can make jelly. Early morning in the woods.... Bliss!!
Tomorrow morning is Bee Business. Assess the Hives, put on supers, join up weak to strong. I'll try to do it in the Wee Hours at barely daybreak. It's even too hot in the evening.
Monday, July 18, 2005
Mission: Blackberry Jelly
My brother has run out of blackberry jelly. A real crisis. He's stopped asking, begging and crying for me to make some: He Demands it, nay, Orders me to make it! Really!
OK, I really want to make some blackberry jelly. But things keep getting in the way. Such as work on the garden, social obligations, etc.
I have finally picked some, and I'll persevere, and he, sweet, patient brother, will have his blackberry jelly! It's a necessity.
OK, I really want to make some blackberry jelly. But things keep getting in the way. Such as work on the garden, social obligations, etc.
I have finally picked some, and I'll persevere, and he, sweet, patient brother, will have his blackberry jelly! It's a necessity.
Proud Women Warriors
A friend asked his granddaughter, who now runs Humint Teams in Baghdad, how female soldiers were doing, given the recent spate of female casualties and renewed press speculation on the merits of assigning women to combat units. Here is her response:
"My females and males have the exact same jobs and responsibilities. We are all Gunners, TCs, Drivers, Collectors, whatever the mission dictates. We wear sterilized uniforms and no one is special in our missions. Everyone pulls security and everyone is as capable as the next person regardless of gender. Having females allows us to get closer to the truth in some cases, especially with other females in this Iraqi society.
Anyone here is at risk from mortars, rockets, SAF on the FOBs and lately the rash of EFPs everywhere, even places that used to be "safe." All of this and I am still statistically more likely as a female to die in a car accident at Bragg or just outright die in the DC area by about 7% higher chance. At least I have a job I love and I can make things happen. It is really, truly amazing what my teams have done for intel in this area. Of course I can't say more than that. I love you guys and the care packages are great thank you. We are on a "no mail" streak again. Love, V.
"My females and males have the exact same jobs and responsibilities. We are all Gunners, TCs, Drivers, Collectors, whatever the mission dictates. We wear sterilized uniforms and no one is special in our missions. Everyone pulls security and everyone is as capable as the next person regardless of gender. Having females allows us to get closer to the truth in some cases, especially with other females in this Iraqi society.
Anyone here is at risk from mortars, rockets, SAF on the FOBs and lately the rash of EFPs everywhere, even places that used to be "safe." All of this and I am still statistically more likely as a female to die in a car accident at Bragg or just outright die in the DC area by about 7% higher chance. At least I have a job I love and I can make things happen. It is really, truly amazing what my teams have done for intel in this area. Of course I can't say more than that. I love you guys and the care packages are great thank you. We are on a "no mail" streak again. Love, V.
Sunday, July 17, 2005
Hot Time in the Country!
We had a nice, if VERY HOT, lunch in the garden with our guests. Lots of iced tea, food and fresh hot rolls to put honey on. Sam told stories, and the guys who'd trekked from DC listened raptly. Each got some 1-1 time with Sam on rambles in the gator around the farm and a Sayler's Creek tour. One is a publisher, one is a preacher, and our favorite guy is doing Intel in the puzzle-palace.
JFL brought her 3 year old G-daughter. We all rested our eyes on her. She's like an animated doll, exquisitely beautiful, but alive.
Everybody learned how to stay cool in the heat, and I regretted having the lunch out there, but we all managed. The fans and cool cloths around our necks and shoulders eased us. A bonding experience, unique in these days of A/C. When I judged the heat was at it's peak I asked the group to move to the basement living room, no A/C, but cool enough. I think they had a good time, all in all.
JFL brought her 3 year old G-daughter. We all rested our eyes on her. She's like an animated doll, exquisitely beautiful, but alive.
Everybody learned how to stay cool in the heat, and I regretted having the lunch out there, but we all managed. The fans and cool cloths around our necks and shoulders eased us. A bonding experience, unique in these days of A/C. When I judged the heat was at it's peak I asked the group to move to the basement living room, no A/C, but cool enough. I think they had a good time, all in all.
Friday, July 15, 2005
All the World is Local
Yesterday was a beautiful day, except for the humidity. Overcast with a dribble of rain off and on. I wish our stamina was up to the tasks we need to do. We worked in the garden until we were about to drop, rested and worked some more. Went to bed tired! Tomorrow we have guests and I have to do lunch for 7 in the garden... That will take up all day today and tomorrow.
GT's in Italy, and her baggage is still in Grenada, after seeing Hurricane Emily come through. I wonder if it got wet? Emily is now a Cat. 4 and headed for Texas, better them than us AGAIN. P'cola/FWB seems to be a magnet for hurricanes.
GT's in Italy, and her baggage is still in Grenada, after seeing Hurricane Emily come through. I wonder if it got wet? Emily is now a Cat. 4 and headed for Texas, better them than us AGAIN. P'cola/FWB seems to be a magnet for hurricanes.
Circumstantial Happiness
I sure must love gardening. There is no end to the weeds, I can see them spouting behind me as I pull them up before me!! Sisyphus had a harder job though. As I sat and rested my eyes on the trees I realized how HAPPY I was. How I want to remember the soft silken feel of the breeze on my sweaty skin, and the sound of the trees and birds, along with the insects. The smell of the dirt and fresh vegetation is so sweet. I can hardly describe the feeling of contentment. If someone was making me do this task for a living or rushing me in it, I'm sure I'd be cursing it! Not happy at all. Circumstantial happiness, accidentally stumbled upon.
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
Dennis the Menace
The Florida houses escaped flooding by Hurricane Dennis. AF stayed in the two main houses, for which I'm very grateful. Dennis turned out to be a very small, but strong storm, concentrating it's power in a small area, unlike H. Ivan, which stretched all the way across to J'ville on the East, and N.O. on the West. Hope we don't get another Super Hurricane like Ivan for a long while. A&J's church on the beach in P'cola, where they are to be married in August had it's roof removed again. The church had just finished refurbishing from the Ivan damage.
Catching up with my tail!
Gwin has come, shopped to replace her lost luggage, and gone... to Italy for a couple weeks time with my brother's family. Like some tribes in Africa, our family seems to depend on Uncles as Father figures. My brother, raised to be a good Father, falls into this role easily and generously. He has taken Gwin almost around the world on his family's trips. A 'Mensch" in every good thing that yiddish word implies. Gwin returns as generously as she is given.
Sam and I are trying to conquer the weeds in the garden. Sitting down weeding a row, it feels as if the miles of weedy rows will never be cleaned. Once cleaned of weeds, the plants will grow vigorously. Otherwise they will struggle. Thank goodness for machinery. The rototiller, a Troybilt Horse, is powerful enough to dig through our heavy clay. With the liberal application of horse manure, the tilth of the soil is looser, not the usual concrete we normally have. I need to talk to the local horse farms to see if I can collect their manure! What a windfall that would be!
I played Mah Jong with a new group yesterday, for a few hours. Nice to see new people, and I had to dress better than usual. I'll break them into my normal way of dressing slowly. I'm allergic to fancy clothes, preferring my jeans and tees exclusively.
Sam and I are trying to conquer the weeds in the garden. Sitting down weeding a row, it feels as if the miles of weedy rows will never be cleaned. Once cleaned of weeds, the plants will grow vigorously. Otherwise they will struggle. Thank goodness for machinery. The rototiller, a Troybilt Horse, is powerful enough to dig through our heavy clay. With the liberal application of horse manure, the tilth of the soil is looser, not the usual concrete we normally have. I need to talk to the local horse farms to see if I can collect their manure! What a windfall that would be!
I played Mah Jong with a new group yesterday, for a few hours. Nice to see new people, and I had to dress better than usual. I'll break them into my normal way of dressing slowly. I'm allergic to fancy clothes, preferring my jeans and tees exclusively.
Saturday, July 09, 2005
The Differences between Farming and Gardening
• You care for a garden; work a farm
• You weed a garden; harrow your farm
• You cultivate your garden; plow your farm
• You use your hands in the garden; a tractor on your farm
• You pick from the garden; harvest the farm
• Gardening is a hobby; farming is a living
• Garden fruits are counted in the tens; farm harvest is measured by the bushel
• Gardens grow flowers for blooms; farms grow flowers for seed
Can you think of any others?
• You weed a garden; harrow your farm
• You cultivate your garden; plow your farm
• You use your hands in the garden; a tractor on your farm
• You pick from the garden; harvest the farm
• Gardening is a hobby; farming is a living
• Garden fruits are counted in the tens; farm harvest is measured by the bushel
• Gardens grow flowers for blooms; farms grow flowers for seed
Can you think of any others?
Coping, without an old saw!
I've been on tetter-hooks since Thursday... waiting for GT to leave Grenada, where she's in Med School. She's due to leave for Italy on Monday, so she's just going to be in the US for a drop off of her large bag; kiss all and leave again, not to return until the 23rd.
Hurricane Dennis is the delaying factor. It hit Jamaica; she's flying Air Jamaica. She was scheduled to leave last night, but it crept up to Saturday PM. I'd hoped to meet her in NYC, but now it'll be in DC, and maybe only for a day, or shorter.
I've been coping with my frustration by reading, frozen in time until the call comes. I should be working, but that would take me farther from the phone.
Macks disappeared at about 8:30 AM on Wednesday. My velcro-boy decided to go see the puppy down the way, then must have seen a deer and lost his way home. He ended up late in the day about 5 miles across the river at a huge estate owned by a local lawyer. It was my call to my bro-in-law's radio station that connected loser and finder. The L's who found him fell in love with him! Meanwhile we, the left behind, had a really bad day. I was getting ready for my trip to NYC and could only tour the area a certain amount. Sam had meetings, but fretted. D, the stepson, improved my perception of him by taking the JD Gator into the woods and looking all day. I won't forget that.
Hurricane Dennis is the delaying factor. It hit Jamaica; she's flying Air Jamaica. She was scheduled to leave last night, but it crept up to Saturday PM. I'd hoped to meet her in NYC, but now it'll be in DC, and maybe only for a day, or shorter.
I've been coping with my frustration by reading, frozen in time until the call comes. I should be working, but that would take me farther from the phone.
Macks disappeared at about 8:30 AM on Wednesday. My velcro-boy decided to go see the puppy down the way, then must have seen a deer and lost his way home. He ended up late in the day about 5 miles across the river at a huge estate owned by a local lawyer. It was my call to my bro-in-law's radio station that connected loser and finder. The L's who found him fell in love with him! Meanwhile we, the left behind, had a really bad day. I was getting ready for my trip to NYC and could only tour the area a certain amount. Sam had meetings, but fretted. D, the stepson, improved my perception of him by taking the JD Gator into the woods and looking all day. I won't forget that.
Thursday, July 07, 2005
Friday, July 01, 2005
Be Coooool, Stay Coooool!
How do I stay cool in this 97F heat? Well, first I wear as little as possible, to let the air evaporate my sweat. I turn on the sprinkler and work in and around it. I soak a kitchen towel, wring it out and put it around my neck, or over my shoulders. And especially I start out in the cool of the morning and let my body get used to the heat as it rises. I drink lots of water, preferably iced, to cool my core temperature. I work slowly and rest in the shade when I can. Coming into the A/C is the last resort. Today I went swimming in the lake. Under the foot and a half of hot surface water was water that was almost icy, but probably about 60F or so. The depths are probably 55F. It was really cold! I wish we had done the geothermal system when we had the chance! Just pump the coolnes up out of the lake!
Hot, Hotter, hottest: Life in the garden!
Today the heat index is supposed to hit 105F. As a former Florida girl I am thankful that the Virginia Sun doesn't get as fierce as the Florida Sun. So I am working a little, resting and working a little more. Boy, does A/C feel good! I hoed a few rows this morning in the cool and shade. Bit by bit the weeds are getting whacked. And the squash just keeps on coming. Soon I'll take it to the Post Office so the neighbors can get it. Then I'll take a pile to the Food Bank. No one is exempt from Squashing!
Thursday, June 30, 2005
Pawnbroker Susi
One of our family is chronically short of money,, so I have become his 'Pawnbroker'. Rather than 'Loan' him money, which he can't repay, I will 'purchase' the Civil War artifacts that he treasures (he finds them in this area) at wholesale prices, labeling them and storing them until he can earn the money to redeem them. Over the years he has sold many of these at a fraction of their value when he needed the money, and deeply regretted it when he was making money. I hope to at least stop that, and maybe he will then sell them the slower, more profitable way.
Latest from Troops
This came in over the transom... I have sanitized it to protect the writer.
Whatever your politics, please send your best to our troops this July 4th.
Subject: Iraq Update
Dear Friends,
And more than four months later, another note. True, I am not the most
faithful correspondent at the best of times, but the way time moves here is
like nothing I have ever experienced. Minutes can last all day, and months
can pass instantly. Not a good excuse for my delay in writing, but there
you have it.
We have gotten into a routine within the brigade where we deploy for six
weeks, return to refit for three, and out again. At my last note, I was
still in Fallujah, tracking unit administration after a frustratingly short
time in actual combat to the north of the city. The day-to-day work of the
unit (any unit) is not especially interesting, but it's worth mentioning
that across the board, our Iraqis impressed all of the Marine and Army units
they worked with. Near the end of the Fallujah deployment, two thirds of
the advisors within the brigade swapped out with a replacement unit, leaving
me as one of the three most experienced advisors here, with less than 60
days in country.
I am not sure how exactly the Army personnel folks decided whom to send on
this mission, the main effort of Iraq war. A guess is that, with Special
Forces being busy right now, they figured one bunch of elderly senior NCOs
is as good as another, so they sent us a bunch of Army Reserve drill
sergeants and basic training instructors. Oddly enough, but for a few
exceptions, our elderly reservists are working out brilliantly. Their age
and maturity have actually worked in their favor (more level headed, less
prone to panic), and many have prior active duty time. At this time, I am
the only Regular Army major assigned to an Iraqi unit at or below division
level. My NCOs make me look positively youthful, and I am the youngest man
on the team, though I am second in charge. Pretty scary, when you consider
the fact that there are NCOs fighting over here who were not born when I
first joined the Army. Well, thankfully none of them are assigned to my
brigade team!
A couple of observations on the Iraqis as we finished our Fallujah mission
and began to redeploy. The brigade commander was dissatisfied with the
performance of one of his battalion commanders, and relieved him. The
battalion commander complained to higher levels, and ended up keeping his
job. The brigade commander was corrected for not seeking guidance from his
higher HQ, despite having a strong case for the dismissal of the officer in
question. The Old Iraqi Army aversion to initiative is not yet dead, even
at the highest levels. This should not, of course, be a surprise-every army
has its politics. To get great generals, we will have to grow them-they
cannot be hired off the street. So, for the time being, we are stuck with
merely good generals, until we can train a new crop. Good should be enough
to get us through, though, especially compared to the opposition.
The Iraqi tendency to narrowly define one's sphere of interest is alive and
well also. An Iraqi house usually has a walled courtyard. Trash is dumped
over the wall-not in my yard, not my issue. Thus, when an Iraqi unit
departs an area, if they are not made to police up after themselves, they
will not do so-none of the "leave it a little better than you found it"
ethos here! When our brigade's main body departed Fallujah, the results
were predictable. Decaying food, filthy uniforms, equipment, etc., all
scattered around the place they had lived. Defies description-I'll show you
the photos if you visit! Easily preventable by an old Iraqi hand, but we
had none at the time. We all learned fast, though. The Iraqis have made
positive strides in this area since Fallujah, as I'll discuss in my next
note.
Back home in Baghdad for three weeks, the Iraqis went on leave, and the US
advisors prepared for Christmas. I had a little tree from my wife and kids,
and several packages from my family. Many of the others had similar setups.
We were all also very happy to receive Christmas cards from an Elementary
School class in Florida. It is wonderful to have the public support we have
been blessed with here! Christmas, and then New Years', passed almost
quietly. On New Years' Eve I was on the roof of my barracks, talking on the
satellite phone, when I was sent scrambling for cover by the sound of a
single incoming 122mm rocket. Part of a second later, I realized it was
actually a red parachute signal flare that one of the British officers from
another unit here had earlier told me he was going to fire off at midnight
in lieu of fireworks. I had heard parachute flares before, but the things
sound different after you've had rockets fired at you! Made for a slightly
elevated heart rate.
After sweeping away the Christmas tinsel and wrapping paper, we packed up
again and went off to Mosul, this time to help secure the town for the
January elections. The elections went quietly for us, thanks in part to
aggressive patrolling beforehand, but we managed a casualty around that time
anyway. A US advisor found a way to shoot himself in the upper arm while
clearing a Soviet pistol he had been carrying, so our higher HQ immediately
issued a blanket prohibition against using "non-standard" weapons. This was
a good move on higher's part-many of the midlevel HQ loafers who almost
never leave the Green Zone were carrying around AK-47s with folding stocks,
and, in at least one case I saw, a 90-round drum magazine. Not sure what
the HQ types meant to convey with their weapons choices (most heavily armed
PowerPoint mechanic in Baghdad?), but the new policy coincided with the
arrival of a shipment of US M4 rifles (shortened M16s) to our brigade
advisors, so I was at last able to swap out the Iraqi Army AK-47 I had been
carrying for five months for a lighter, handier rifle that doesn't draw as
much unwanted attention.
After the election, several of us took a convoy up to Dahuk, a trading town
within the Kurdish part of Iraq. What a difference an involved population
makes! The Kurds have been semi-autonomous since after the 1991 war, and
they have made the most of it! The entire area was secure. For the first
time since arriving in Iraq, we were able to walk in a town without
bulletproof vests, our rifles slung over our shoulders. I window shopped,
bought bread, and ate in a restaurant-luxuries I had not been able to enjoy
since arriving in Iraq. I know that all of us spent much more money than we
had intended. If the rest of Iraq could see Dahuk, this "not shooting at
the Americans" thing could become a trend! I hear the south, Basra and
environs, is the same.
Sadly, it was not a trend in Mosul. After the elections, stepped-up
operations in western Iraq caused a good number of the insurgents in the
Ramadi area to flee towards Mosul, giving us more targets, and more action.
A terrorist sniper scored several good hits on advisors, with one going
between a Marine First Sergeant's flak vest and his back, giving him a scar
across his shoulder blades. An officer was knocked unconscious by a round
that struck his helmet, and a friend of mine was shot in the face and
evacuated to Germany (he's fine-he has been critically injured on and off
duty more times than I can count, always does well). A number of advisors
were also hit by IED ambushes. Luckily, nobody's injuries were fatal.
Still, by the time we left Mosul, we were ready to leave! An officer I met
who had served in the area earlier with the 101st Airborne Division said
that right after the invasion he'd been able to walk the street and buy food
from the local markets, but those days were over by the time I got there.
Mosul was also noteworthy because it snowed while we were there. Many of
our Iraqis from the south and west had never seen snow before, so it was a
nice break from operations and staff work when we made snowmen and tossed
snowballs at one another. For most of us, myself included, if was a brief
chance to be 14 again.
Air power hasn't been particularly important in this war, but when you need
them, they are great to have around. I was with the Iraqi brigadier general
who commands our brigade during a visit from Mosul to Talafar, where we had
a battalion going house-to-house rooting out terrorists. They had hit a
point where they were stalled by one persistent shooter hiding behind a blue
pickup truck. Most of a company had been shooting at him, but just when
they thought they'd killed him and they started to move forward, he would
pop back up and send a few more rounds their way. The battalion senior
advisor got on the radio and learned that there were USMC aircraft nearby,
so he asked them if they could help. They were able to. There was a sudden
roar as the airplane raced to its target, then a loud explosion and black
smoke cloud. No more bad guy, and no damage to the house he was standing
next to. Nobody compares to the US when it comes to putting steel on
target! The brigade commander and I had been observing the fighting from an
elevated position (for a better view), and were taking heavy, but
ineffective fire (enemy small arms fire here is not very accurate). After
the explosion, the rest of the terrorists stopped firing for the day. I
guess they realized they weren't going to be able to top the day's
entertainment from the Marines, so they went home.
Shortly before we left Mosul, I bumped in to two soldiers from my parent
unit, here to observe operations in Iraq so that they will know what their
training focus should be. When I am with a regular unit, I normally have my
head shaved on the sides, and only a little hair on top. Here, to keep from
frightening my Iraqis, I wear my hair in a longish civilian cut, within
regulations, but only just. The haircut threw them off-neither of these
men, one of whom I have pulled jumpmaster duties with several times and the
other of whom had worked for me for the year before I came here, recognized
me. After we got together and they figured out who I was, I took them to
our Iraqi camp and gave them a quick rundown on our training and operations.
Amazing how small the Army can be!
Well, that catches me up through Mosul (end of February). All in all,
things with our Iraqi brigade are proceeding extremely well. Not sure why
the media always finds the weaker Iraqi units to report on, but I can assure
you that the units in the papers are not the whole story, and that my
brigade is not the only one that is reaching our level of professionalism.
Salaam! I will try to get my next note out faster.
Whatever your politics, please send your best to our troops this July 4th.
Subject: Iraq Update
Dear Friends,
And more than four months later, another note. True, I am not the most
faithful correspondent at the best of times, but the way time moves here is
like nothing I have ever experienced. Minutes can last all day, and months
can pass instantly. Not a good excuse for my delay in writing, but there
you have it.
We have gotten into a routine within the brigade where we deploy for six
weeks, return to refit for three, and out again. At my last note, I was
still in Fallujah, tracking unit administration after a frustratingly short
time in actual combat to the north of the city. The day-to-day work of the
unit (any unit) is not especially interesting, but it's worth mentioning
that across the board, our Iraqis impressed all of the Marine and Army units
they worked with. Near the end of the Fallujah deployment, two thirds of
the advisors within the brigade swapped out with a replacement unit, leaving
me as one of the three most experienced advisors here, with less than 60
days in country.
I am not sure how exactly the Army personnel folks decided whom to send on
this mission, the main effort of Iraq war. A guess is that, with Special
Forces being busy right now, they figured one bunch of elderly senior NCOs
is as good as another, so they sent us a bunch of Army Reserve drill
sergeants and basic training instructors. Oddly enough, but for a few
exceptions, our elderly reservists are working out brilliantly. Their age
and maturity have actually worked in their favor (more level headed, less
prone to panic), and many have prior active duty time. At this time, I am
the only Regular Army major assigned to an Iraqi unit at or below division
level. My NCOs make me look positively youthful, and I am the youngest man
on the team, though I am second in charge. Pretty scary, when you consider
the fact that there are NCOs fighting over here who were not born when I
first joined the Army. Well, thankfully none of them are assigned to my
brigade team!
A couple of observations on the Iraqis as we finished our Fallujah mission
and began to redeploy. The brigade commander was dissatisfied with the
performance of one of his battalion commanders, and relieved him. The
battalion commander complained to higher levels, and ended up keeping his
job. The brigade commander was corrected for not seeking guidance from his
higher HQ, despite having a strong case for the dismissal of the officer in
question. The Old Iraqi Army aversion to initiative is not yet dead, even
at the highest levels. This should not, of course, be a surprise-every army
has its politics. To get great generals, we will have to grow them-they
cannot be hired off the street. So, for the time being, we are stuck with
merely good generals, until we can train a new crop. Good should be enough
to get us through, though, especially compared to the opposition.
The Iraqi tendency to narrowly define one's sphere of interest is alive and
well also. An Iraqi house usually has a walled courtyard. Trash is dumped
over the wall-not in my yard, not my issue. Thus, when an Iraqi unit
departs an area, if they are not made to police up after themselves, they
will not do so-none of the "leave it a little better than you found it"
ethos here! When our brigade's main body departed Fallujah, the results
were predictable. Decaying food, filthy uniforms, equipment, etc., all
scattered around the place they had lived. Defies description-I'll show you
the photos if you visit! Easily preventable by an old Iraqi hand, but we
had none at the time. We all learned fast, though. The Iraqis have made
positive strides in this area since Fallujah, as I'll discuss in my next
note.
Back home in Baghdad for three weeks, the Iraqis went on leave, and the US
advisors prepared for Christmas. I had a little tree from my wife and kids,
and several packages from my family. Many of the others had similar setups.
We were all also very happy to receive Christmas cards from an Elementary
School class in Florida. It is wonderful to have the public support we have
been blessed with here! Christmas, and then New Years', passed almost
quietly. On New Years' Eve I was on the roof of my barracks, talking on the
satellite phone, when I was sent scrambling for cover by the sound of a
single incoming 122mm rocket. Part of a second later, I realized it was
actually a red parachute signal flare that one of the British officers from
another unit here had earlier told me he was going to fire off at midnight
in lieu of fireworks. I had heard parachute flares before, but the things
sound different after you've had rockets fired at you! Made for a slightly
elevated heart rate.
After sweeping away the Christmas tinsel and wrapping paper, we packed up
again and went off to Mosul, this time to help secure the town for the
January elections. The elections went quietly for us, thanks in part to
aggressive patrolling beforehand, but we managed a casualty around that time
anyway. A US advisor found a way to shoot himself in the upper arm while
clearing a Soviet pistol he had been carrying, so our higher HQ immediately
issued a blanket prohibition against using "non-standard" weapons. This was
a good move on higher's part-many of the midlevel HQ loafers who almost
never leave the Green Zone were carrying around AK-47s with folding stocks,
and, in at least one case I saw, a 90-round drum magazine. Not sure what
the HQ types meant to convey with their weapons choices (most heavily armed
PowerPoint mechanic in Baghdad?), but the new policy coincided with the
arrival of a shipment of US M4 rifles (shortened M16s) to our brigade
advisors, so I was at last able to swap out the Iraqi Army AK-47 I had been
carrying for five months for a lighter, handier rifle that doesn't draw as
much unwanted attention.
After the election, several of us took a convoy up to Dahuk, a trading town
within the Kurdish part of Iraq. What a difference an involved population
makes! The Kurds have been semi-autonomous since after the 1991 war, and
they have made the most of it! The entire area was secure. For the first
time since arriving in Iraq, we were able to walk in a town without
bulletproof vests, our rifles slung over our shoulders. I window shopped,
bought bread, and ate in a restaurant-luxuries I had not been able to enjoy
since arriving in Iraq. I know that all of us spent much more money than we
had intended. If the rest of Iraq could see Dahuk, this "not shooting at
the Americans" thing could become a trend! I hear the south, Basra and
environs, is the same.
Sadly, it was not a trend in Mosul. After the elections, stepped-up
operations in western Iraq caused a good number of the insurgents in the
Ramadi area to flee towards Mosul, giving us more targets, and more action.
A terrorist sniper scored several good hits on advisors, with one going
between a Marine First Sergeant's flak vest and his back, giving him a scar
across his shoulder blades. An officer was knocked unconscious by a round
that struck his helmet, and a friend of mine was shot in the face and
evacuated to Germany (he's fine-he has been critically injured on and off
duty more times than I can count, always does well). A number of advisors
were also hit by IED ambushes. Luckily, nobody's injuries were fatal.
Still, by the time we left Mosul, we were ready to leave! An officer I met
who had served in the area earlier with the 101st Airborne Division said
that right after the invasion he'd been able to walk the street and buy food
from the local markets, but those days were over by the time I got there.
Mosul was also noteworthy because it snowed while we were there. Many of
our Iraqis from the south and west had never seen snow before, so it was a
nice break from operations and staff work when we made snowmen and tossed
snowballs at one another. For most of us, myself included, if was a brief
chance to be 14 again.
Air power hasn't been particularly important in this war, but when you need
them, they are great to have around. I was with the Iraqi brigadier general
who commands our brigade during a visit from Mosul to Talafar, where we had
a battalion going house-to-house rooting out terrorists. They had hit a
point where they were stalled by one persistent shooter hiding behind a blue
pickup truck. Most of a company had been shooting at him, but just when
they thought they'd killed him and they started to move forward, he would
pop back up and send a few more rounds their way. The battalion senior
advisor got on the radio and learned that there were USMC aircraft nearby,
so he asked them if they could help. They were able to. There was a sudden
roar as the airplane raced to its target, then a loud explosion and black
smoke cloud. No more bad guy, and no damage to the house he was standing
next to. Nobody compares to the US when it comes to putting steel on
target! The brigade commander and I had been observing the fighting from an
elevated position (for a better view), and were taking heavy, but
ineffective fire (enemy small arms fire here is not very accurate). After
the explosion, the rest of the terrorists stopped firing for the day. I
guess they realized they weren't going to be able to top the day's
entertainment from the Marines, so they went home.
Shortly before we left Mosul, I bumped in to two soldiers from my parent
unit, here to observe operations in Iraq so that they will know what their
training focus should be. When I am with a regular unit, I normally have my
head shaved on the sides, and only a little hair on top. Here, to keep from
frightening my Iraqis, I wear my hair in a longish civilian cut, within
regulations, but only just. The haircut threw them off-neither of these
men, one of whom I have pulled jumpmaster duties with several times and the
other of whom had worked for me for the year before I came here, recognized
me. After we got together and they figured out who I was, I took them to
our Iraqi camp and gave them a quick rundown on our training and operations.
Amazing how small the Army can be!
Well, that catches me up through Mosul (end of February). All in all,
things with our Iraqi brigade are proceeding extremely well. Not sure why
the media always finds the weaker Iraqi units to report on, but I can assure
you that the units in the papers are not the whole story, and that my
brigade is not the only one that is reaching our level of professionalism.
Salaam! I will try to get my next note out faster.
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
Gardening Report
I've got to put up some pictures. The big garden is up about five inches, and the raised beds are doing well. I'm already covered up with squash, but tomatoes aren't red yet. We'll have a bumper crop of everything. We had a big meal with all our own veggies, and a store bought chicken. I still miss my girls.
Bees are OK
The bees are building up or maintaining. I treated the ones that had EFB again, twice. That makes three treatments. Some have recovered and taken off, if the other's don't respond I'll have to do something drastic. I think that the old comb I have is spreading the disease. I'm segregating it for removal.
The woman who came to look at bees is very nice, but probably needs to go into it slowly. She got a little concerned when they started flying. I made sure she didn't get stung... she left, and I finished going through the rest of the hives: one apiary a day. Too many to do in a day, especially these hot days. Yesterday I released a queen that I'd caged because the workers were balling her. I had caged her and joined her small hive with a queenless hive next to it. I released her into the lower, larger hive four days after the join-up.
I need to go back in today and finish the third treatment for the some remaining hives. Thank goodness for my pencil notes on the sides of the hives; writing in a notebook and referring to it is too cumbersome.
The woman who came to look at bees is very nice, but probably needs to go into it slowly. She got a little concerned when they started flying. I made sure she didn't get stung... she left, and I finished going through the rest of the hives: one apiary a day. Too many to do in a day, especially these hot days. Yesterday I released a queen that I'd caged because the workers were balling her. I had caged her and joined her small hive with a queenless hive next to it. I released her into the lower, larger hive four days after the join-up.
I need to go back in today and finish the third treatment for the some remaining hives. Thank goodness for my pencil notes on the sides of the hives; writing in a notebook and referring to it is too cumbersome.
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
Bee Musing
I go into the bees tomorrow with a woman who's got the "Bound to's & Can't help it's" about beekeeping. She really, really, really wants to have bees in her tiny suburban yard. I know how she feels, though. I was the same way and tried to talk myself out of beekeeping for a couple of years. Now I have about 30 hives, more or less. She's due here at 7AM and we'll look into all the hives, checking for queens, joining up the ones that are queenless, supering, and checking on the health of the brood since their bout of AFB. I plan to go into all of them over the next few days... in the cool early mornings. Since our current cool weather has gone.
Most of the splits need to be prepared to go into the winter by adding the supers that they can start storing their honey in.
Some of the larger hives have got some nice honey already and need to have it moved up into the upper box to free up space for the queen to lay in the lower box. I aim for 3 mediums for overwintering as both honey storage and brood box, so now is the time to get them drawing comb for their winter storage. Since I have Russian type bees they winter on much less honey than Italians. They are known for having small clusters and being very cold hardy. Mine seem to build up fairly fast in the spring, and will swarm before they've even filled out their brood box.
And this is the time of year to order next spring's queens from Purvis Bros @ Mountain Honey. I am pleased with the development of the one's I got this spring and will test them by not treating for varroa this fall or next spring. I expect to lose half of my hives and split from them to build up again next year. Of course, I'll feed them the HFCS I held back from last year's order.
Most of the splits need to be prepared to go into the winter by adding the supers that they can start storing their honey in.
Some of the larger hives have got some nice honey already and need to have it moved up into the upper box to free up space for the queen to lay in the lower box. I aim for 3 mediums for overwintering as both honey storage and brood box, so now is the time to get them drawing comb for their winter storage. Since I have Russian type bees they winter on much less honey than Italians. They are known for having small clusters and being very cold hardy. Mine seem to build up fairly fast in the spring, and will swarm before they've even filled out their brood box.
And this is the time of year to order next spring's queens from Purvis Bros @ Mountain Honey. I am pleased with the development of the one's I got this spring and will test them by not treating for varroa this fall or next spring. I expect to lose half of my hives and split from them to build up again next year. Of course, I'll feed them the HFCS I held back from last year's order.
Gardening IS exercise!!
I've been so tired that I fall asleep whenever I sit down in this chair to write. Lordy! How did the old-timers survive?
I've set up home base in the garden, taking a cooler and all the comforts of home out each morning and enjoying the birds in the cool air. Then the heat comes creeping up and I'm like the frog in the pot: If I start out cool I won't jump as the surroundings warm up. I keep hoping that I'll get heat tolerant. At least I'm brown as dirt, so it doesn't show anymore. I have a farmer's tan and white feet!
I've had Chris helping me, and without him to do the heavy work the gardens wouldn't be planted. It would be MUCH cheaper to buy our veggies. We've spent a fortune on paying him. Next year I'll be able to start early and get more done myself. I've been up at 6:30-7:00 AM and out asap, and not coming in until 8:00-9:00 PM. I have my bottomless bucket so I don't have to come in much.
The raised bed garden set-up will be semi-permanent, so I won't have to go through this every year. With the raised beds full of good dirt I can just keep adding compost and more good dirt or mulch to keep them going. I will be able to plant in them before the last frost because I can cover them with either frost cloth or plastic.
The two 1/4 acre strips we have plowed up are planted in enough vegetables for us and the whole neighborhood, 19 ninety foot rows: 6 rows of Sweet Corn interplanted with beans: Fordhook Limas & Kentucky Wonder Pole beans, then two rows of watermelon: Sugar Baby and Florida Giants, two rows of cantaloupe, four rows of squash: Summer Golden and Black Beauty Zucchini, one row each of Tenderette string beans, Thorogreen Early Limas and Blue Lake string beans and another Lima bean whose name I forget. It was exhausting to plant in the 95 F heat and it'll be even more exhausting to harvest.
Why do we do this? Atavistic behavior, that's what I think.. Like watching a fire or running water. It touches something deep in us that harkens back to our dirt scrabbling ancestors.
I've set up home base in the garden, taking a cooler and all the comforts of home out each morning and enjoying the birds in the cool air. Then the heat comes creeping up and I'm like the frog in the pot: If I start out cool I won't jump as the surroundings warm up. I keep hoping that I'll get heat tolerant. At least I'm brown as dirt, so it doesn't show anymore. I have a farmer's tan and white feet!
I've had Chris helping me, and without him to do the heavy work the gardens wouldn't be planted. It would be MUCH cheaper to buy our veggies. We've spent a fortune on paying him. Next year I'll be able to start early and get more done myself. I've been up at 6:30-7:00 AM and out asap, and not coming in until 8:00-9:00 PM. I have my bottomless bucket so I don't have to come in much.
The raised bed garden set-up will be semi-permanent, so I won't have to go through this every year. With the raised beds full of good dirt I can just keep adding compost and more good dirt or mulch to keep them going. I will be able to plant in them before the last frost because I can cover them with either frost cloth or plastic.
The two 1/4 acre strips we have plowed up are planted in enough vegetables for us and the whole neighborhood, 19 ninety foot rows: 6 rows of Sweet Corn interplanted with beans: Fordhook Limas & Kentucky Wonder Pole beans, then two rows of watermelon: Sugar Baby and Florida Giants, two rows of cantaloupe, four rows of squash: Summer Golden and Black Beauty Zucchini, one row each of Tenderette string beans, Thorogreen Early Limas and Blue Lake string beans and another Lima bean whose name I forget. It was exhausting to plant in the 95 F heat and it'll be even more exhausting to harvest.
Why do we do this? Atavistic behavior, that's what I think.. Like watching a fire or running water. It touches something deep in us that harkens back to our dirt scrabbling ancestors.
Wednesday, June 01, 2005
I'll report on the Bees ASAP
KT, the Virginia Bee Inspector, found ONE cell of American Foulbrood in the bees... but you who are knowledgable know there's more... It's everywhere, waiting to pounce on the unexpecting!
I'll report on all of that when I can stop and write.
Thanks to all of you who are logging in. You're encouraging me!
I'll report on all of that when I can stop and write.
Thanks to all of you who are logging in. You're encouraging me!
Andrew's African Reports
May 30, 2005
“A Little Girl”
I could have cried when I heard the story. What struck me was the sincerity and the goodness of heart of my favorite teacher, Ma’am Shinwana, when she told me about a girl in her class who had stopped going to school. Keep in mind, as you read, that this teacher is a real exception to the norm. I work with over 60 teachers and there is only one (that I witnessed) whom children have come back to visit after they have left the school – Ma’am Shinwana. Nearly all of my other teachers would have never even noticed that this girl was missing.
Ma’am Shinwana started by telling me how she would normally give old clothes to children in her class whom she could see were very poor. Apparently, there was a girl who had stopped coming to school and Ma’am Shinwana realized that it was because the girl was embarrassed to come any more because she did not have decent clothes. Ma’am Shinwana felt that she should be more willing to buy new clothes for the children in her class so that they are not always wearing old clothes and so that they could also have something new. She, thus, went to the girl’s home and took her to a local dressmaker to have her fitted for a new uniform. It cost R 90 ($15), which Ma’am Shinwana did not mind paying for. She spoke of how excited the child was to be able to come back to school and of how the child was like a new person with a smile on her face every time she walked in the door.
The love that was coming forth from this teacher was so contrary to everything else I experience here from the teachers, and it just washed over me. I thought of how cool it was going to be to hang out in heaven with Ma’am Shinwana.
For a second time the girl was not coming to class and Ma’am Shinwana shared with me how she went to the girl’s home to see what the problem was. Upon going to where the girl stayed, she spoke of her fear of being robbed. She shuttered while recalling the living conditions. She found the parents and other family members smoking marijuana while the girl (a fourth grade learner) was cooking and serving everyone. The excuse given was that there was no teacher at school. Ma’am Shinwana had been away from school for about 10 days on account of the death of her brother in law. I can assure you that culturally a teacher’s absence is absolutely normal and commonplace, and that the family simply preferred to take advantage of the opportunity to have a domestic servant around in the form of their daughter. The situation was rectified and the girl started coming back to school.
A third time the girl ended up absent from school, and a third time Ma’am Shinwana inquired as to what was keeping the child at home. She had been aware that a few weeks ago there had been a death in the girls family (the girl’s aunt) and naturally she would have spent a week away from school…but over two weeks was too excessive, and Ma’am Shinwana confessed to me that the family might not have the money to have had a funeral yet. When I asked why they couldn’t just let the child come to school, I was told that it was probably their custom to keep the girl until the aunt was buried.
Ma’am Shinwana was right. There had not yet been a funeral because the family did not have the R 2,000 necessary to bury the deceased. So the body lay at the morgue and the girl at home. This went on for about three weeks. The day that Ma’am Shinwana was telling me about this story, it just so happened that a girl from a local NGO came to collect data on our orphans and vulnerable children. Ma’am Shinwana used this as an opportunity to get the “social worker” involved, and ultimately it was decided that a meeting should be held with the concerned parties. Two days later a meeting was held with the social worker, myself, Ma’am Shinwana and the Principal, a community leader, and the father of the girl/ brother to the deceased. It was decided that the group of people should go to another local school where a couple of the teachers had experience in dealing with this sort of situation. Ultimately, they were able to get the corpse buried free of charge.
That such a meeting was taking place, was amazing for me to see. I did not even think about how the meeting took two days just to happen, or that that nothing had been done to solve this problem for three weeks. I was just encouraged that the problem was addressed in its own time. In my other life, I would have been horrified that such a thing could go for three weeks without being dealt with, but rather I was reassured by the ultimate solution: the corpse was not allowed to rot. For me that was a sign of hope. Though her schooling will likely change nothing for her, the girl is now back in school and that also is a sign of hope.
May 30, 2005
“An Outreach”
Last month, in April, I helped to organize for a group of University Students to come and visit my schools for an outreach. I had an idea/vision of how everything was going to go, and my vision turned out to be too small for the bigness of what God had planned.
You just never know how many children are going to attend an event like this, and so my expectations ranged from 50 to 150 children. I remembered Saturday Bible Studies where only 5 children came and I remembered more successful events, so I just was not sure what to expect. My expectations, it turned out, had been too limited – over 250 children came. Amazingly all our food needs were met to the “dollar.”
Part of my prayer had been that the teachers would pick up the heart of God for the children. Before the event ever took place, I was struck by the contributions that the teachers made to help make the event successful. There were several things (regarding cooking) that I was not aware that we needed, but I had my key teacher with me and I was certain that Nurse would sort out the missing links. She did. But, for the first time, she did so with the help of the majority of the staff at Dan School. There were teachers who never had anything to do with my Bible Study Group who came on the Saturday just to cook all day for the event. I was shocked and overwhelmed with gratitude. Basically, I had limited my vision of what we could do based on the few teachers whom I knew would be reliable, but other teachers decided to get involved and for the first time they took my vision and made it bigger. You can guess as to how often this has happened before – never. So often it is the other way around…my vision is taken and squashed to the point that I was even hesitant to plan for this event in the first place!
Every teacher there stayed around the whole day and was vital in helping with the games. It had been my desire that my teachers might pick up something from the interaction between the team and the child, for interactive learning just does not happen here. Since this event my teachers have used some of the very games themselves. Just yesterday, I was asked to help set up an obstacle course “just like those other people did.” A real change had taken place in the hearts of the teachers and when someone asked me why I thought this happened now, the answer was a simple one…God.
The effect of the outreach was hardly lost on the children. At a subsequent meeting they sang all of the new songs they had learned and reenacted all of the skits…some of which even I had forgotten about. The children were better then I have ever seen them. And for that day they were free to be children – a freedom our children rarely get!
When lunch was served, I made certain the children ate first, which turned the cultural norm on its head. The children were placed first. The teachers did not even seem to mind having to eat last. They were too busy noticing how much the children were enjoying the meal and being served by their teachers and by the group of white people.
Even now I still hear some of the children at church (where the team also came) singing some of the songs or calling each other names using the names of the clowns.
I’ve tried in my own strength for nearly two years to do many of the things that happened on that Saturday, and have experienced little to no success. In one day God did everything I could have hoped to do and more!
……But God!
“A Little Girl”
I could have cried when I heard the story. What struck me was the sincerity and the goodness of heart of my favorite teacher, Ma’am Shinwana, when she told me about a girl in her class who had stopped going to school. Keep in mind, as you read, that this teacher is a real exception to the norm. I work with over 60 teachers and there is only one (that I witnessed) whom children have come back to visit after they have left the school – Ma’am Shinwana. Nearly all of my other teachers would have never even noticed that this girl was missing.
Ma’am Shinwana started by telling me how she would normally give old clothes to children in her class whom she could see were very poor. Apparently, there was a girl who had stopped coming to school and Ma’am Shinwana realized that it was because the girl was embarrassed to come any more because she did not have decent clothes. Ma’am Shinwana felt that she should be more willing to buy new clothes for the children in her class so that they are not always wearing old clothes and so that they could also have something new. She, thus, went to the girl’s home and took her to a local dressmaker to have her fitted for a new uniform. It cost R 90 ($15), which Ma’am Shinwana did not mind paying for. She spoke of how excited the child was to be able to come back to school and of how the child was like a new person with a smile on her face every time she walked in the door.
The love that was coming forth from this teacher was so contrary to everything else I experience here from the teachers, and it just washed over me. I thought of how cool it was going to be to hang out in heaven with Ma’am Shinwana.
For a second time the girl was not coming to class and Ma’am Shinwana shared with me how she went to the girl’s home to see what the problem was. Upon going to where the girl stayed, she spoke of her fear of being robbed. She shuttered while recalling the living conditions. She found the parents and other family members smoking marijuana while the girl (a fourth grade learner) was cooking and serving everyone. The excuse given was that there was no teacher at school. Ma’am Shinwana had been away from school for about 10 days on account of the death of her brother in law. I can assure you that culturally a teacher’s absence is absolutely normal and commonplace, and that the family simply preferred to take advantage of the opportunity to have a domestic servant around in the form of their daughter. The situation was rectified and the girl started coming back to school.
A third time the girl ended up absent from school, and a third time Ma’am Shinwana inquired as to what was keeping the child at home. She had been aware that a few weeks ago there had been a death in the girls family (the girl’s aunt) and naturally she would have spent a week away from school…but over two weeks was too excessive, and Ma’am Shinwana confessed to me that the family might not have the money to have had a funeral yet. When I asked why they couldn’t just let the child come to school, I was told that it was probably their custom to keep the girl until the aunt was buried.
Ma’am Shinwana was right. There had not yet been a funeral because the family did not have the R 2,000 necessary to bury the deceased. So the body lay at the morgue and the girl at home. This went on for about three weeks. The day that Ma’am Shinwana was telling me about this story, it just so happened that a girl from a local NGO came to collect data on our orphans and vulnerable children. Ma’am Shinwana used this as an opportunity to get the “social worker” involved, and ultimately it was decided that a meeting should be held with the concerned parties. Two days later a meeting was held with the social worker, myself, Ma’am Shinwana and the Principal, a community leader, and the father of the girl/ brother to the deceased. It was decided that the group of people should go to another local school where a couple of the teachers had experience in dealing with this sort of situation. Ultimately, they were able to get the corpse buried free of charge.
That such a meeting was taking place, was amazing for me to see. I did not even think about how the meeting took two days just to happen, or that that nothing had been done to solve this problem for three weeks. I was just encouraged that the problem was addressed in its own time. In my other life, I would have been horrified that such a thing could go for three weeks without being dealt with, but rather I was reassured by the ultimate solution: the corpse was not allowed to rot. For me that was a sign of hope. Though her schooling will likely change nothing for her, the girl is now back in school and that also is a sign of hope.
May 30, 2005
“An Outreach”
Last month, in April, I helped to organize for a group of University Students to come and visit my schools for an outreach. I had an idea/vision of how everything was going to go, and my vision turned out to be too small for the bigness of what God had planned.
You just never know how many children are going to attend an event like this, and so my expectations ranged from 50 to 150 children. I remembered Saturday Bible Studies where only 5 children came and I remembered more successful events, so I just was not sure what to expect. My expectations, it turned out, had been too limited – over 250 children came. Amazingly all our food needs were met to the “dollar.”
Part of my prayer had been that the teachers would pick up the heart of God for the children. Before the event ever took place, I was struck by the contributions that the teachers made to help make the event successful. There were several things (regarding cooking) that I was not aware that we needed, but I had my key teacher with me and I was certain that Nurse would sort out the missing links. She did. But, for the first time, she did so with the help of the majority of the staff at Dan School. There were teachers who never had anything to do with my Bible Study Group who came on the Saturday just to cook all day for the event. I was shocked and overwhelmed with gratitude. Basically, I had limited my vision of what we could do based on the few teachers whom I knew would be reliable, but other teachers decided to get involved and for the first time they took my vision and made it bigger. You can guess as to how often this has happened before – never. So often it is the other way around…my vision is taken and squashed to the point that I was even hesitant to plan for this event in the first place!
Every teacher there stayed around the whole day and was vital in helping with the games. It had been my desire that my teachers might pick up something from the interaction between the team and the child, for interactive learning just does not happen here. Since this event my teachers have used some of the very games themselves. Just yesterday, I was asked to help set up an obstacle course “just like those other people did.” A real change had taken place in the hearts of the teachers and when someone asked me why I thought this happened now, the answer was a simple one…God.
The effect of the outreach was hardly lost on the children. At a subsequent meeting they sang all of the new songs they had learned and reenacted all of the skits…some of which even I had forgotten about. The children were better then I have ever seen them. And for that day they were free to be children – a freedom our children rarely get!
When lunch was served, I made certain the children ate first, which turned the cultural norm on its head. The children were placed first. The teachers did not even seem to mind having to eat last. They were too busy noticing how much the children were enjoying the meal and being served by their teachers and by the group of white people.
Even now I still hear some of the children at church (where the team also came) singing some of the songs or calling each other names using the names of the clowns.
I’ve tried in my own strength for nearly two years to do many of the things that happened on that Saturday, and have experienced little to no success. In one day God did everything I could have hoped to do and more!
……But God!
Tuesday, May 24, 2005
Friday, May 20, 2005
Bee Inspector coming Monday
I went into the hives and found three with diseased brood. Research about the two types of Foulbrood, American and European, has convinced me that this is European. The major difference is that the brood becomes diseased before capping. American Foulbrood, the worst kind shows up in capped brood, and causes it to die and become a gluey brown mess, ropy and thick, eventually drying to a brown scale that is glued to the inside of the cell. European Foulbrood causes the larvae to turn yellow-brown while curled at the bottom of the cell and can then become either a gooey brown mass or a white scale on the inside of the cell. Both have an odor, but American Foulbrood is much stinkier. Mine smells vinegary, but only from closeup. I closed up all three with #8 mesh and let the foragers drift.
Our Bee Inspector will make the final decision. He's also burdened with the job as State entomologist so I am grateful to him for coming. I didn't treat with the symptom suppressing Terramycin this spring so this tells me that I have had the disease all along, but kept it from doing serious damage. I'll probably destroy the bees, brood especially, treat the boxes with a torch and toss the sterilized frames. After cleaning my hive handling stuff I need to go through all the hives and look for other signs of EFB. I hope to do that on Sunday pending clear weather.
Our Bee Inspector will make the final decision. He's also burdened with the job as State entomologist so I am grateful to him for coming. I didn't treat with the symptom suppressing Terramycin this spring so this tells me that I have had the disease all along, but kept it from doing serious damage. I'll probably destroy the bees, brood especially, treat the boxes with a torch and toss the sterilized frames. After cleaning my hive handling stuff I need to go through all the hives and look for other signs of EFB. I hope to do that on Sunday pending clear weather.
Sunday, May 15, 2005
Good Girl, Susi !! Woof! Woof!
I'm going to church instead of communing with the Lord in the bees. Oh Well, you know where I'd rather be. I bet I lose a swarm because of this. :-( I'll skip out of Services, though and go to Wallie Mart World and do the two cart thing while most of the folks are occupied in church. Most folks go to church around here, so I can bank on WM to be empty, stocked up and have cashiers ready for the after church shoppers. That mean I can't get to the girls until late (80F & showery).
I'm hoping that my Dau, in the Caribbean had a good party on the boat yesterday. It's a tough life, but with some benefits!
Yesterday I took a 7 year old girl into some small nucs with me. She was in the children's bee-suit and well duct taped up, but nervous. I showed her how to take deep breathes and purse her lips to defuse the tension and she relaxed, enjoying poking the workers who had their heads in the cells. The girl bees act surprised and run off. We saw a big queen and I showed her the big bumbling drones who don't sting. Afterward she helped pick lettuce and played with a drone. A real delight!
Then I went to Bee Buddy's bee meeting covered dish party. Told them the news about bees from the Internet and ate too much. Brought two groups back and then went back to help clean up. Took Macks who evoked whistles from all who saw him. He was so well behaved that most folks asked 'Where did you get him?'. Got home too late and realized I hadn't told Poor Hubby where we were. Bad Girl, Susi!! Whine....
I'm hoping that my Dau, in the Caribbean had a good party on the boat yesterday. It's a tough life, but with some benefits!
Yesterday I took a 7 year old girl into some small nucs with me. She was in the children's bee-suit and well duct taped up, but nervous. I showed her how to take deep breathes and purse her lips to defuse the tension and she relaxed, enjoying poking the workers who had their heads in the cells. The girl bees act surprised and run off. We saw a big queen and I showed her the big bumbling drones who don't sting. Afterward she helped pick lettuce and played with a drone. A real delight!
Then I went to Bee Buddy's bee meeting covered dish party. Told them the news about bees from the Internet and ate too much. Brought two groups back and then went back to help clean up. Took Macks who evoked whistles from all who saw him. He was so well behaved that most folks asked 'Where did you get him?'. Got home too late and realized I hadn't told Poor Hubby where we were. Bad Girl, Susi!! Whine....
Friday, May 13, 2005
Hot Mama's Happy!
Lord! It was really hot yesterday. The paper says it was 86F, but in the sun it burned. I have a farmer's tan to prove it. Sitting in the shade with Macks at my feet and a cold glass of water in my hot hand was BLISS. I thought of the scene in one of the 'Godfather' movies where Don Corleone sits in his garden, among his tomatoes with a grandchild: He chases the giggling toddler through the hot summer garden and drops dead of a heart attack. Dead amidst his happiest time and place. The old murderer truly didn't get the death he deserved, but he got one I'd prefer. The older I get and the more lingering painful deaths I see the more merciful a quick heart attack seems. Dear me, how did I go from bliss in the garden to that? Forgive me my meandering.
We had a huge thunderstorm at almost dark yesterday. I took the opportunity to work in the greenhouse until the rain let up. It was a gully-washer. Of course it put water in the basement again, too. We really need to tear out the wood part of that wall and stop those leaks. I have that to tend to this AM, before the bees.
I aim to spend most of the day in the bees, since it will be a reasonable 69F. I need to release the queens and use push in cages for the ones that haven't been in them yet. I haven't fed yet, since there is a nectar flow, but there are some small hives that may need help(either a pollen patty or syrup), either to thrive, or to draw comb. I have 75# of sugar that should be made into syrup just in case. Rather than using the kitchen I'll use that outdoor grill with a burner to boil the water and make 2 parts sugar to One part water syrup. I can dilute it later, or use it for winter feed. It won't sugar out in the summer heat, but won't sour of go 'off' like thinner syrup will. Basically I just need to look at the bees. Some might (hope!) need more room.
We had a huge thunderstorm at almost dark yesterday. I took the opportunity to work in the greenhouse until the rain let up. It was a gully-washer. Of course it put water in the basement again, too. We really need to tear out the wood part of that wall and stop those leaks. I have that to tend to this AM, before the bees.
I aim to spend most of the day in the bees, since it will be a reasonable 69F. I need to release the queens and use push in cages for the ones that haven't been in them yet. I haven't fed yet, since there is a nectar flow, but there are some small hives that may need help(either a pollen patty or syrup), either to thrive, or to draw comb. I have 75# of sugar that should be made into syrup just in case. Rather than using the kitchen I'll use that outdoor grill with a burner to boil the water and make 2 parts sugar to One part water syrup. I can dilute it later, or use it for winter feed. It won't sugar out in the summer heat, but won't sour of go 'off' like thinner syrup will. Basically I just need to look at the bees. Some might (hope!) need more room.
Wednesday, May 11, 2005
Beds in Progress
RB came and finished filling the raised beds. He says there are at least two, maybe three tandem dump truck loads left to bring. He'll get his new dump trailer and/or a manure spreader to haul out the rest.
Sam may want to spread it over his corn and squash growing areas. It kills me to use it that way, but it will really boost those areas, which are orange clay now.
I've started planting the tomatoes and CC showed me how to make big cages out of the large-hole welded wire fencing. He makes it look easy. I'll try my hand at it when I finish the planting and look in on the bees again. The tomatoes look so tiny spaced out for their full growth. I'll have four beds of tomatoes... almost 50 plants. I guess I'll can tomatoes this year! And give them away. And give them to my bee buddy who sells produce. If we have good weather. Last year was so wet everybody's tomatoes rotted.
I need to test and then lime the tomatoes and put down a sprinkler hose and heavy newspaper mulch to eliminate weeds. Lots more work, but then I can sit back and enjoy.
The greenhouse seedlings are about half sprouted. I had to put the shades on because of the heat buildup, but it still gets warm. I'm hoping the lettuce won't be too late for the cool weather, but...
Sam may want to spread it over his corn and squash growing areas. It kills me to use it that way, but it will really boost those areas, which are orange clay now.
I've started planting the tomatoes and CC showed me how to make big cages out of the large-hole welded wire fencing. He makes it look easy. I'll try my hand at it when I finish the planting and look in on the bees again. The tomatoes look so tiny spaced out for their full growth. I'll have four beds of tomatoes... almost 50 plants. I guess I'll can tomatoes this year! And give them away. And give them to my bee buddy who sells produce. If we have good weather. Last year was so wet everybody's tomatoes rotted.
I need to test and then lime the tomatoes and put down a sprinkler hose and heavy newspaper mulch to eliminate weeds. Lots more work, but then I can sit back and enjoy.
The greenhouse seedlings are about half sprouted. I had to put the shades on because of the heat buildup, but it still gets warm. I'm hoping the lettuce won't be too late for the cool weather, but...
Monday, May 09, 2005
Party Time
We have a big party in the downstairs yard off the back porch for the musicians playing and teaching in the Music Festival. It means that I will have to make it "Pretty" for them. Wine and Cheese, I think. I'll make something for it, who knows what... maybe some cheese bits. That's cheese straw mix that is stretched by adding rice crispies. The full flavor is there, but with an added crispness from the popped rice. Not hard to make, and really good. They keep well, too.
Lot's of work to do!
Macks and Amelia's
Those who've looked at the archives know how much I love my German Shepherd Macks. Well, we have SEVEN cats, too. The Alpha Cat, the Number One Cat, 'She Who Must Be Obeyed' is Amelia, the smallest female cat. She is tailess (by birth), de-clawed and mostly grey, with white feet, white tummy and mostly white face. She prevails by stealth and cunning, ambushing the larger cats from behind doors, etc. She is fearless... and fast!
The Day The Dog Came was a terrible day for the cat population who reside in the house. They retreated upstairs to our daughter Susan's room and sat at the top of the stairs waiting for THAT BEAST to leave. He didn't. He not only stayed, but he stayed in their sitting room with their people.
Time went on.
Only Amelia came down. Gradually she has acclimated Macks to her presence, hiding under furniture and putting her soft paws on his nose when he gets too close. He's a very smart, calm dog. She's a very smart, persistent cat. I watch her train him daily.
Right now he will lick her and she will roll over on her back and get him to snuffle her tummy. They seem to be comfortable together. Amazing.
The Day The Dog Came was a terrible day for the cat population who reside in the house. They retreated upstairs to our daughter Susan's room and sat at the top of the stairs waiting for THAT BEAST to leave. He didn't. He not only stayed, but he stayed in their sitting room with their people.
Time went on.
Only Amelia came down. Gradually she has acclimated Macks to her presence, hiding under furniture and putting her soft paws on his nose when he gets too close. He's a very smart, calm dog. She's a very smart, persistent cat. I watch her train him daily.
Right now he will lick her and she will roll over on her back and get him to snuffle her tummy. They seem to be comfortable together. Amazing.
Better than a Mink Coat!
RB came with his little John Deere and brought a load of really well rotted horse manure. OH MY !!!!! I wanted to roll in it it was so pretty... I LOVE good dirt.
There's at least two Tandem Dump loads full of it waiting to be hauled over. RB has promised to bring it all. I called Lori and raved over it thanking her for her generosity.
I think with RB and helper's labor hauling the dirt and all the other costs that these raised beds will end up costing the same amount that my Sis-in-Law paid for her sheared mink coat. I'd rather have the dirt! It's just as black and lush.
I found two huge worms as big around as my little finger and longer than my palm. Sweetie will have all the fishing bait he needs.
The plants already growing in the two beds are huge. Much bigger than I'm used to. The cabbage is heading up and I had to cut one head of broccoli because it was almost flowering. Peas are coming in now and I picked some more tender collard leaves. It's hard to keep up with the leaf lettuce. I wish some of those folks who want it would come pick.
There's at least two Tandem Dump loads full of it waiting to be hauled over. RB has promised to bring it all. I called Lori and raved over it thanking her for her generosity.
I think with RB and helper's labor hauling the dirt and all the other costs that these raised beds will end up costing the same amount that my Sis-in-Law paid for her sheared mink coat. I'd rather have the dirt! It's just as black and lush.
I found two huge worms as big around as my little finger and longer than my palm. Sweetie will have all the fishing bait he needs.
The plants already growing in the two beds are huge. Much bigger than I'm used to. The cabbage is heading up and I had to cut one head of broccoli because it was almost flowering. Peas are coming in now and I picked some more tender collard leaves. It's hard to keep up with the leaf lettuce. I wish some of those folks who want it would come pick.
Found homes for all
When I went back to make up a nuc, I found a nice strong split I'd made up in March was Queenless. So, after I restored the big black queen to her former nuc, I put those frames into a cardboard Nuc box and used the wood nuc box for two frames of the queenless colony's brood and put the two new queens into push-in cages in the divided queenless colony. I had to brush alot of house bees into the new nuc box so they could care for the new queen. The ones who have been outside will return to the original hive, but at least half will stay.
Sunday, May 08, 2005
Let's ALL pray for GT! Neuro is the Devil!
I've been holding GT in my thoughts and prayers. She's passed Immunology, and has Neurology on Monday AM. I hope her absorbant mind can bring up the details when she needs them.
Trashy Queen!
Last night I found a queen that had escaped into my bathroom trash... I couldn't believe it!! I rushed out and got a queen cage with some sugar in it, which I softened with a drop of water, and put her and a seemingly lethargic worker in it. Both revived with the soft sugar. I went out after Sun Sch and started looking in each Nuc for the worker I must have installed instead of the queen I found.
Later: Well, I looked at all the queens in the Nucs and none are workers. I have to suppose that I got an extra, probably unmated, queen mixed in with the workers accompanying the queens. If I did, and I hardly credit that I did, I should be glad.
Also, I found a queen that I missed, or that was out mating when I moved around the hives and opened them to make these ten Nucs. Who knows. Anyway I now end the day with three queens. I need to make up two more Nucs and replace the "Found" queen in the nuc she was found in. My notes this year consist of penciling on the side of the hive. Not sophisticated, but I won't lose them.
I made up these nucs on the 5th of May and so when I find any eggs I suspect a queen. Finding Queen cells with larvae along with no eggs mean the nuc (small hive) is queenless. I'll keep these queens overnight, with some workers to feed them and go into the nucs that I had doubts about tomorrow and even Tuesday, if necessary. If they aren't queenless they won't accept a new queen.
If the queen I got by mistake was unmated she may be past the mating phase by the time she is released. If she was unmated they should not react to her like a mated queen because she doesn't smell strongly enough. All the queens I found in the nucs were drawing very strong responses from the workers, i.e. the workers were flying to the queen cage and crawling all over it, licking the queen, etc. I was supposed to get marked queens, but only half were marked. If they were all marked I could sort it out! Oh well, back to the Bee yard to make up two nucs so they will settle down overnight and I'll put these two queens in them in the early AM. And then to give the hive back their queen I stole. They know within minutes when the queen is gone... No queen smell. So I'd better do that first
Later: Well, I looked at all the queens in the Nucs and none are workers. I have to suppose that I got an extra, probably unmated, queen mixed in with the workers accompanying the queens. If I did, and I hardly credit that I did, I should be glad.
Also, I found a queen that I missed, or that was out mating when I moved around the hives and opened them to make these ten Nucs. Who knows. Anyway I now end the day with three queens. I need to make up two more Nucs and replace the "Found" queen in the nuc she was found in. My notes this year consist of penciling on the side of the hive. Not sophisticated, but I won't lose them.
I made up these nucs on the 5th of May and so when I find any eggs I suspect a queen. Finding Queen cells with larvae along with no eggs mean the nuc (small hive) is queenless. I'll keep these queens overnight, with some workers to feed them and go into the nucs that I had doubts about tomorrow and even Tuesday, if necessary. If they aren't queenless they won't accept a new queen.
If the queen I got by mistake was unmated she may be past the mating phase by the time she is released. If she was unmated they should not react to her like a mated queen because she doesn't smell strongly enough. All the queens I found in the nucs were drawing very strong responses from the workers, i.e. the workers were flying to the queen cage and crawling all over it, licking the queen, etc. I was supposed to get marked queens, but only half were marked. If they were all marked I could sort it out! Oh well, back to the Bee yard to make up two nucs so they will settle down overnight and I'll put these two queens in them in the early AM. And then to give the hive back their queen I stole. They know within minutes when the queen is gone... No queen smell. So I'd better do that first
Wednesday, May 04, 2005
Windfall
Went to DC to sign papers for the sale. Everybody in the know was walking around with a huge grin. One woman resigned, but my brother sent her manager to get her to delay it, at least, so that she'd get paid for the shares of stock that come with the job. She didn't know about the sale and she'd do herself out of considerable money if she left before the sale was closed. Big-hearted brother couldn't stand for anyone to be left out of the windfall.
Most of the small stockholders didn't know about the sale and the fact that they would soon have money. I wish I could see their reactions.
Most of the small stockholders didn't know about the sale and the fact that they would soon have money. I wish I could see their reactions.
Sunday, May 01, 2005
Fishing!! What Life is ALL About
BG brought her daughter and G-dau to fish. They put a hook in and pull out a fish. That's the way to fish! Mostly small fish, but one med size crappie keeps getting hooked again and again. The six year old is having a blast. It's a gorgeous day: cool air, warm sun!
Feeling Human Again
Sam noticed I had drunk only water this AM.... and got me a regular Coke. It was like a miracle. I felt better right away. As far as I can figure I'd morphed from regular Migraine into Caffiene withdrawal Migraine. Once I got some Caffiene the pain meds could deal with the regular Migraine. Thank goodness he noticed. I was so fuzzy headed that I hadn't.
Lesson learned.
Lesson learned.
Migraine. Woke up at 3:30 hurting and took tylenol. Asleep it doesn't hurt. Up at 6:30 to sit in recliner and sleep. It hurts less sitting up. Can't focus very well. Weepy eye on the left, aching side. Classic migraine. Whole left side aches, neck too. Centered behind my eye and temple. Nausea comes in waves. I ate two buttered toast and kept it down, then took 800mg Ibuprophen. Usually that does the trick. Not this time. Slept upright until 10AM and ate a beef sandwich. Kept it down and took two more acetaminophen. Pain is more tolerable, but still there. Any movement intensifies the pain.
Can't concentrate well, or follow a story in the paper. Eyes keep closing, and mind skitters away from complexity or light. Listening to NPR is OK, but more like background chatter.
It's a beautiful day outside. I have to get organized for the splits to start the new queens. I have to get ready for the trip to DC. We're out of almost everything. A Walmart trip is needed.
Everything will have to wait until I am able.
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