Major Decluttering And Other News!

My new stand-up recliner is in boxes in the living room, and hubby's new adjustable bed arrives tomorrow, so today is the "sort out the bedroom" day before tomorrow morning, when it becomes the "move-out-the-king-size-bed" and "move in the new stuff" major effort. Today is clearing shelving units and organizing in chests of drawers (yes, we're still pack rats but our messes will be hidden from view and -for awhile - organized.

I definitely do not need AVON papers from 10-15 years ago, LOL.I had a drawer full, all packed neatly in large envelopes. AVON memorabilia, that I'll be dropping off on team members the next time I go to Fountain Inn.

I reorganized my "reliving my childhood" into a plastic drawer-type tub, Bunty annual at the bottom, yarn, knitting needles, pins and darning needles oon that, and topped by my 2 Sindy dolls, some Sindy clothes and accessories.

Hubby found blueprints from a class he took when he was working construction in Florida in the 90s!

Damp-cloth wiping down everything and will lemon polish surfaces later.

The dogs aren't sure what's going on with all this hustle and bustle. We're hearing some whimpering, as they are not in here with us, and want to be. There's no room. Ha! Decluttering actually means there's a lot more clutter for a bit - I have piles of stuff on the bed to be put away in a new place. 

Hubby is about to take some stuff to donate to Miracle Hill, and pick up the dresser that he bought from there, yesterday.It has a (separate) thick glass top that our grandson, Dylan, will be coming over tomorrow to help him get off the truck. The drawers part should be ok for him to slide off by himself. That'll be replacing the shelves we currently have the tv on. Dylan coming over also makes a good excuse for him and Lily to have brunch somewhere with us. Good family time.

In other news, I've started on a new book. "That's God!" It's in its early stages yet but I'm hoping it'll come together nicely over the next few weeks. "Mister McAfferty's Cat" is proving a nightmare to have illustrated. I'm doing so many revisions, and getting bombarded by originals being re-sent, without the revisions or my notes being taken into account. Very frustrating. It's pushed my blood pressure up a few times as I've struggled to go back through old emails and pictures to see what I've said and done before, only to find that none of it seems to have been taken note of. UGH!

I was frustrated earlier in the week by the idiots who've been building a home behind us. They seem to like upsetting our bees. First time they parked a huge truck by them, left the engine running and proceeded to unload materials, where they could have parked infront of the house instead of alongside our fenceline. They were there a couple of hours. Poor bees were well stressed. Then, had another machine, maybe a mower or something, and blew sand all over the hive where he could have driven it the other way and blown it away from them. Again, stressed them out.I drove down to complain but he stayed on the far side of the house so as not to deal with me. 

My granddaughter and 2 great grands are on their way back from their vacation to and from Niagara Falls, with all the interesting museum and fun things along the way. From the photos she's been posting, they've had a blast!

Also, found out my grandson, Jacob, is coming to stay in a couple of weeks, all the way from England! Haven't seen him in over a decade, and he just turned 21! Excited, and so looking forward to it!

Catching Up On The Last Couple Of Days

It's been a good couple of days.

On Sunday, Angelica and Samantha put up some more of the fake ivy screen along the fence, which is blocking some of what makes the dogs go crazy. If it's not something loud, like a nosiy truck or school bus, and just maybe somebody on a pushbike or jogging, then it doesn't seem to bother them as much. Very thankful for their help, and they've done a good job.

Hubby and I were down the field. His bees already know him and he goes over and talks to them. It's neat watching their behaviour. 

We haven't mowed near the hive as there's a plentiful supply of dandelions to keep them happy until the wildflower mats flourish. 

Mark put up 2 posts and cable, and then planted 2 of the grapevines, as well as some other flowering plants.

The dogs got to come down there with us and after an initial sniffing sround the hive, they decided to leave the bees alone. We were a bit worried about Brunel, as he's an eejit sometimes and likes to catch flies and things that hover near him. Thankfully, he seems to have decided that's not a great idea with the bees.

Unfortunately, the promised rains didn't come, so I was out last night watering all the plants in the front yard, and we had to take a hose down the field so's Mark could water everything down there.

Mark had his appointment with his cancer doc yesterday and he is stable for now, white cells still high but red cells coming up, immune cells coming up and no kidney issues. YAY. His next apointment is in 6 weeks.

Tonight, we attended our great-granddaughter, Lily's, preschool graduation and it was lovely. The whole class sang, and performed to, 3 patriotic songs and did so awesomely well. All the families were very proud, and deservedly so.

 

Our Bees Are Home!

It's been another smashing day, and we've finally brought our bees home. 2 got out of the box, even as Mark was carrying them out of The Carolina Honey Bee Company. One landed on his arm as he walked across the road and he brushed it off and it followed him to the car, along with the other one. He put the box of bees in the back, and those 2 just kept crawling up my back window. I kept watch on them as we drove home. They did check back to the box (where the Queen was with the rest of her crew) but then played back up the window. All the way home.

They all seemed very happy with their new home. Some were a little slower at finding their way in but even those buzzing around weren't bothering Mark as he was doing stuff with them, and he wasn't wearing any protective gear at all.

I stayed in the car, as our ground is too uneven for me to walk on down there. 

The box they came in, with some bees still in it and others going into the hive through the entrance. Just off the right, level with the far end of it, is the berm that my hubby and grandkids shoot at. Unfortunately, you can see the house being built along our back fence line. Why would you build a house that close?

Close up of some of our new babies finding their way in. They are neat to watch. 

So now we just want to give them some space and let them settle in. 

Tomorrow, we'll be down there to plant some more vines and trees. We intended doing it earlier but hubby went to dig and the post hole digger handle snapped, so he has to geta  new one tomorrow in order to accomplish that.

Felt Like A Florida Summer's Day

Yes, it did! I got out of the shower this morning and had to close the window and put the AC on - I couldn't get dry fast enough. I was sweating while trying to get dry! The air was already getting warm and humid. Thankfully, the AC kicked in pretty quickly and I was soon ready to face the world.

We took my 3 newest books to the library for the local authors shelf. I'm hoping that local people will check them out for their children, and maybe buy them as gifts for them, their grands and great-grands. I'd love to have feedback on them from more than my family.

Lunch was a pita from Cava. I always do the "build your own" and have had some excellent compilations. Today's was a Honey Harissa Chicken with red pepper hummus, tomatoes, onions and cucumber. Hubby and I shared it, their portions are very good.

This evening, earlier, we planted 3 wildflower mats down by where the beehive is, so that - when they grow - the bees will have a nice wildflower patch to hang out in, close by. They'll also have all the other trees and plants we've been putting down there.

Then, I planted out the miniatures that we got from Lidl, in 4 window boxes. 2 were pink rose, yellow kalanchoe, pink rose, and 2 were yellow kalanchoe, pink rose, yellow kalanchoe. They should look really pretty once they are all established together.

Tomorrow is our big day, when we go to get our bees. I'm excited. Hubby's been refreshing his knowledge (his dad had bees, and then Mark had taken a beekeeping course a couple of years ago when we first decided we were going to get bees) by reading up on the subject.  We just want to be good bee parents!

Spring Plantings Are In Full Swing, And Other News

Spring has sprung, as we all know, and we've been busy planting. Hubby has been working on a flower bed in the front yard by the fence, I planted the mini roses in the window box, and today I planted the 6 lily bulbs that I bought on the weekend, and some of the cress seeds that came in the mail from a fundraiser for Upstate Animal Rescue Foundation of SC. I also have 3 seed mats from them, one for "honey bees"

and 2 wildflowers but because it's been raining for the past couple of days, I've not been able to get down to the field to lay the out near the beehive. 

Hubby has a couple of new rose bushes to plant down there as well. I want a lush retreat of scented flowers and shrubs down there so that I can enjoy the fragrance along with the running water sounds of the stream and pond hubby is building for me.

I'd bought 4 nice wooden planter tables and hubby put one of them together tdoay. I'm putting the window boxes in them with the miniature roses in, I decided they'd last longer that way. They are quite sturdy but take a bit of time to put together. I'm patient, and thankful my hubby does stuff like this for me.

They'll also be going down the field, to go in a V from the corner of the field, down the 2 fences, behind the beehive area. Just to have everything down there, neat and tidy, looking nice.

Hubby went back to work on Wednesday and oh! that 5am alarm was just sooo unwelcome! Since he only does part-time, and it's only 2 days a week, I must not complain. Bleary eyed I shall be on those 2 days!

We ran out of time with the dumpster due to the rain, so it went back today and I'll rent another in a few weeks so that the rest of the demolition of the old building can be completed, ready to concrete a base and get prepped ready for the new one.

On a different note, Mister McAfferty's Cat ... it seems my project is harder than I expected. So many revisions of illustrations, I got so fried, and have had to request them do them in order and we get them right before going to the next. I'm glad they are patient with me, I must be one of their most awful nitpicky authors.

That's about it for this time. It's still raining, and looks like it will be for much of the next week. 

Another glorious day!

Today's project, or rather, the main one, was to go get our bees but it didn't happen, as we didn't know we had to order them ahead of time. No worries, 17th May we will become bee daddy and mama. Meanwhile, their home is all ready and waiting for them. A VERY nice home!

On our way out to Traveler's Rest to the Carolina Bee Company we stopped by Greenville County Animal Care on Furman Hall Rd, to drop off 2bags of dog food and 1 of cat food. They desperately need donations, and - over the years - we've adopted a few furbabies from them. They do so many free services to try to support the community so it's our way of trying to help just a bit. Our 4 leggeds don't realise how lucky they are (or how pampered!).

Our second project, which became the only completed one, was potting some Walmart rescues (miniature roses) in window boxes. They were only $5 each on clearance, so we snagged 4 pink and 2 red, and got them all cozy together. Don't they look pretty?

I'm now thinking of trying to take honeysuckle cuttings in the next couple of days to get some started for down the field. I love the scent, and I know between those, the gardenias and the roses, our bees will be very happy.

 

Another Beautiful And Productive Day

Today's been absolutely gorgeous, overcast at first so that it didn't get over hot, and then the sunshine came out later this afternoon but with a gentle breeze to still keep us comfortable.

Hubby took 2 of our 4 leggeds to do a trash/recycle run this morning. Rover, the great-grand-dog, stayed with me and spooned with me for a while to get some special time snuggles with nanny. He doesn't travel well, he gets so excited and screams all the while (apparently a lot of pitties do this) so he gets nanny-time while Brunel and Lightning go with daddy in the truck.

Then, all 3 found a snake down the field.

It was a good snake, just curled up and looked at them like "go away, leave me alone". They were barking and hubby had to bring them back up to the house. When he went back down, the snake had slithered away. Mark said it was probably 6-7 feet long, and looked well-fed. This time of year the mice are in abundance so he's probably been enjoying them.

My author copies of my books came in, so I took 5 each of "Daisy May Explores The Heavens"

and "Rose's Rhymes For Children" to The Outlet & Boutique of Fountain Inn. I have a display there with copies of some of my other titles, including "In The Forest", In The Ocean", and a poetry/colouring book.

We also picked up a neat little miniature rose bush, and some planters, to continue our gardening ventures. Yesterday, it was a lemon tree and a kumquat tree, both "patio" versions that we got some nice big square pots for, so that they can be outside for the nicer months, and brought indoors once the weather turns cold.

Hubby has been busy planting grapevines, raspberries, blackberries, gardenias and roses, ready for our bees to enjoy ... and we set the hive up the other day and go to get them tomorrow!

Earlier he was under the house working on the plumbing for the hallway bathroom and the new shower going in there. Hopefully, we shall be able to use it next week.

So, that's life here in our little bit of heaven.