Our New Little Man

 He has no name yet, but today we went and got a little man to be a companion to Sunshine.

He snuggled under my arm on the way home (he was on Mark's lap). We knew he was bigger than her, because of them being different breeds, but when we put them together, wow, he looked huge.

He was very nervous of her at first. It was funny, she would attempt to go nuzzle against him and he would flinch like she was some monster. He kept backing away and trying to get away from her. He settled pretty quickly, I was talking to him the whole while and she's not nervous of us at all now, so I think that helped.

Then he met the dogs and he's never been around dogs, so that gave him the jitters again for a few.

He ended up with the pink collar on as it was too big for her (it still is on him) but, because he's skittish, we needed to be able to walk him between the pen and the crate in the house. Even as young and small as he is, he is strong ... he pulled Mark all over the front yard. 

We've set up the 2 crates next to each other, and fresh hay and water for now, and a handful of feed. This way, they have each other's company, but they also have their own space.

I just have to ponder the correct name for him. It will come. I liked Ozy for Ozymandias but when I re-read the poem, it was more or less aobservation that things do not last so I kind of decided that was a no.Mark suggested Bucky (because he's a boy) but that's a local BBQ chain so I don't feel right about that either.

Meet Our Newest Family Member

So, today we went and picked up our new baby girl. She's 11 weeks old. We've named her Sunshine. She is a tiny little thing but a bundle of energy and personality. She explored outside and didn't want to come indoors as it got dark outside. You can get a gist of her size - this was her lying across my lap in my car.

The dogs have been introduced to her (through the bars of her pen). Brunel is the calmest and I think will eventually be her best buddy and protector. Lightning, who is nervous of new things (people/dogs, etc) didn't snarl, bark or bare teeth and got whimpery so I am thinking that he will be ok too. Rover is extremely excited, and pawed at the pen, which made her nervous. Because of his prey instinct, I'll be taking more time to make sure he and she are ok together.  

She seems comfy enough in the pen. I got her hay for her bedding, rather than straw, that way she can munch any time that she wants to. I had forgotten how nice the smell of fresh hay was. 

Tomorrow she will be even happier, as she will have a companion. We will be picking up a little boy so she won't be lonely.

We Finally Got Some Rain ... And I Got Stung

I am very thankful today for the rain. We planted the hummingbird vines around the bee enclosure a few days ago, and despite watering them in, it's good to have them get a good soaking naturally. All of my trees also will be happy.

Unfortunately, it would seem that one of the strays that comes to eat is either pregnant or lactating. She is not the one that began our putting food out, this is yet another. We're now putting out double the food. I have no idea how we can trap these as they don't always come at the same time, and not always every day.

As for me, we-ell, yesterday I got stung by one of those bee type flies. Thankfully not one of our bees as I know I'm badly allergic to them. Well, this striped fly stung me on my forehead, and gave me quite a headache for a couple of hours, and then started swelling me up!

It was awful, although the oddest thing was, when the swelling started the headache stopped. It had puffed up my forehead a bit, and the pain had been mainly over my left eye. You could barely see the tiny red spot where I was stung, it was smaller than a nasal pore! As you can see, my eyes aren't sorted yet but I'm doing antihistamine pills every 6-7 hours at the mo, so hopefully this will dissipate soon. My eye itched badly and I had to not give in to rubbling it, then it got crusty and dry and I had to clean it and put drops in to replenish the moisture. 

What a palaver!

A Pretty Restful Day ...

 Except for the fact that we had taken my walker out of my car and forgotten to put it back. OOps! We got to my massage appointment and it was an "oh no" moment. Hubby helped me stagger in and down to the rest room, then back to sit down and wait for my appointment time ... but then, when he went out to get my book for me to read during his appointment, found an old cane that I used to use, which did help although I am much unsteadier than I was. At least I had something rigid on one side, and a human on the other! We don't intend repeating the experience - hubby put my walker back in my car as soon as we got home!

We didn't go down to the property today, but hubby has gone dumpster diving on the building sites that gave me permission to do so. His last trip, Monday, gave us some sweet pickings: chipboard/asb sheets (2, nothing wrong with them and not even parts, these were 2 complete sheets!), some 2" x 4"s, a very nice shelf length plank, and some odds and sods. Very useful! Brunel has gone with him, it's Bru and daddy time.

We took those pieces over yesterday, and took Lightning to have mummy/daddy time. While we were there, we watered the fruit trees with the soaker hoses that hubby has now rigged up. It's all progress, it may be slow but it's slow and steady, and starting to come together.

The bees, wow! Hive 2 is thriving, they are going to town doing all the stuff bees do.

The pic is from the back side, so hive 2 is on the left. Hubby had taken the water trays off to clean and refill. Hive 1 is slower, but they are working hard and starting to get it together after the messed up start.

They are definitely the calmer of the 2 hives, the bees in Hive 2 are more aggressive in ways. Mark has to suit up to do anything major with them.

They are busier at the front of the hive too, whereas (with less bees) Hive 1 is a lot slower.  They all seem happy though, and that's all that matters. Happy and healthy. They do all seem to be going all over the property and we do have flowers in bloom (roses) and the brambleberry bushes are ablaze with lots of blossoms. There's going to be some awesome picking there!

I'm trying to think of how to make a sugar-free jam (since Mark is now on insulin).  I found one recipe that is just berries, lemon juice and chia seeds, so that's one option I may try. I can freeze some but methinks I'll have plenty to share!

My bee homes for the wild bees came today so we'll take them down tomorrow evening and set them on 2 trees in different areas. Methinks they'll be happy too!

Look Who's Nesting In Our Creek!

We were out at the property today and look who has made a nest in the creek area!

Having seen a mama and goslings earlier, elsewhere, I'm hoping this one will hatch babies soon. It'll be lovely to have them wandering nearby. I don't need to intrude, I can watch from afar.  I just love that I'm being blessed with beautiful blessings like this, over there.

Hubby's bees are doing good; he added more frames to the hives as they are working hard at what bees do. I'm happy they've settled in and like where they are at. We've prepped a lot of plants for them to have a variety of places to get nectar. We want happy healthy bees.

Jel and Mark swept and mopped some more of the building, it is time consuming but we are making headway with getting all the clay dirt out. Still a ways to go before we will be able to say "c'est finis" but every bit done is a step towards not having a mucky floor.

Jel had brought over 2 friends who are going to hunt the hogs for us and get rid of them, so that they don't tear up my veggie plots or the orchard. 

All in all, it was a good day.

Plantings, Plantings And More Plantings

 We've been busy, taking advantage of the nice weather and going over to the property to get things done. So many dreams to come true, but for now, one step at a time, one day at a time, and adding to the garden space. 

Hubby planted the gladioli bulbs down by the creek netween and either side of the 2 calla lilies (that he discovered were actually 3 as there was another a short distance away). That should look very welcoming when they are all in bloom.

Yesterday, I pot planted a grapevine and 2 plum stumps (saplings), well watered in seed starting mix ... and the pots are composting ones so there's no real transplanting to be done.  Once they start growing we can just plant the pots in the ground. Today I had another order delivered, 2 plums and a kiwi, and have done the same. I need to get a couple more kiwis, and then will need a pergola/lath house for them to vine up. Hubby is going to work on the grapevine supports this weekend so's we can get all our grapevines transplanted along it, in a row.

We checked the bees yesterday and both hives are doing fine.  The one is still busier than the other, but the other is doing well, so we are happy (and so are they!).

Hubby's also been moving mulch from the piles and using them to fill in ruts along the driveway, and to cover some of the red clay before we get rain again and end up with mud, mud, mud. He's putting some  up the front where our ground is uneven and where we'll be adding soil and planting the rose bushes soon. 

Just so many places for it to go, and so much to do and he's just one person.

Yesterday, as we were leaving, we saw the little stray mama dog. She was a bit skittish but we both stopped and spoke to her, and we'd left food out for her at at the barn. I just wish she'd be on the property when we are there.

We'll be heading over again later, after we do the school run, amd my grandson and Miss Lily will be coming over to hamg out with us for a little while.

So, We Are Still Learning!

So, despondent about our bee loss, I called the Carolina Bee Company   to try to see what we may have done wrong and if our depleted hive stood a chance at survival, and were given some awesome advice ... and learned something we didn't know.

It seems that, when you have 2 new hives (or more) close together, that one Queen may give off stronger pheromones than the other, and that bees from the other Queen may just decide to migrate to her hive rather than stay in their own. Apparently, it's called "drifting". Hmmm, who knew! We hadn't had that problem last year as we only had the one hive.

The remedy, since neither Queen is yet free of her "box", is simply to steal a frame or two, from the now overloaded one, and then seal the "weaker" hive for 3 days so that the bees cannot come out of that hive, and they - apparently - will bond with the Queen in there and strengthen that hive.

So that's what Mark did.

When he opened the tops of both hives you could immediately see that - yes - the one was definitely overloaded, as you can see in this pic and the other had no frame activity going on, as you can see in the pair together, in the pic below. 

Mark suited up since the stronger hive was the aggressive one on Saturday, with the bees that actually chased him! Today, though, they were actually quite docile and well behaved so he really needn't have bothered. We're just glad that the man at the Carolina Bee Company was able to help us remedy what had been a very distressing situation for us.

Mark also planted my one Calla Lily down by the creek near the one that is already there, and we have Gladioli bulbs that we're going to put between, and either side of them, to add some colour (and bee food) down there.

I ordered 2 wild bee houses to put up near the house, so that the Carpenter Bees, bumble bees and wild bees all have places to stay as well. I could probably have made them myself but easier, and possibly even cheaper, to buy.

I guess, soon, I'll have to look for some gourd bird houses too.

I love how things are coming together over there.

At home, this morning, the great grand-puppy was ill with diarrhoea so I had to dose him up with some Probios and a pill from the vet. He has a very sensitive stomach so I'm so careful with his food but apparently, last night, his mama gave him some pork off her plate ...poor baby paid dearly for his treat but is ok tonight and much happier for feeling better.