Welcome Little Friends!

Today our most anticipated little workers finally arrived! My husband has been pacing and looking foreword to his new colony of Honey bees since last fall, and today,they're here! He & Tressa put together this hive super, should be well big enough for now. We have taken half the stretchers out to welcome home the new colony

When you order honey bees, this is how they arrive, in a screened in box. The tin can looking thingy on the top, is the container that holds their sugar water feed so they can eat on their trip home

So to get them out of their shipping container, and into their new hive body, first they are sprayed with sugar water~ this serves 2 purposes~ the first, it makes their wings sticky so they cant fly as well as usual, and second, gives them a little treat to eat and keep them preoccupied while your dumping them into the hive

So once they are sprayed, the feed can is carefully lifted out. tacked onto the top of the shipping container, is another little rectangular box, and this holds the Queen

She is larger than the others, and her body is colored, naturally, so she can be easily seen in the hive. There is a little 'candy' plug keeping her in there for now

So her little container is taken and hung in the center of the hive body~ the worker bees will eat the candy plug thru, to release her into the hive...pretty cool huh!

So with the Queen already buzzing her orders, we just dump the bees into the other half of the hive~ they instantly flock to her

The reason we really wanted our own bees is to pollinate our orchard and the garden. We have cherry& peach trees, several different kinds of apple trees, grapes and berries that the bees will pollinate for us. We as a people, are very dependant on the work of bees for our own survival, most folks don't realize how much they do for us. For instance, any dairy product you can think of, would not be on this earth, if it wasn't for the bees that pollinate the hay and grass and grain that the cows eat to produce that milk...and meat, that we eat every day.

The wax combs are replaced, carefully...

And the top is placed on the hive~ that's all there is to it!

Not as romantic as a bee skep, but we are happy with our new bees. The little feeder you see on their door, is a sugar feeder to keep them happy until the flowers bloom. We have strung an electric fence around this hive to keep the bears out, and Lumpy too, since he just needs to be in the middle of everything!

Could Spring actually be here????



Dare I to hope such a thing?! I am feeling a little better each day, thankyou so much for the get well wishes! I really do still feel horrible that I was not able to have a new dollye update this month~ the first time for me ever, since I have been on the web, that I missed one. I will have many new faces for you in May tho, so get excited, cause they're gonna be A-W-S-O-M-E!

I think, I am safe to say, spring has finally come to Colorado. We have the startings of green grass showing....I have a hyacinth that has 2 buds on it I keep peeking at each day, waiting with baited breath for it to open before the rabbits eat it! The Bloke is getting huge....this picture is about 3 weeks ago~ we have since moved him to a larger pen so he can zoom around. He gets so absolutely frisky~ just silly wanting to play, and he doesn't realize his strength of coarse, so we thought it best to find him a friend to keep him company. My husband, who seems to know everyone and their brother and their brothers uncle here in Colorado....said we should get him a goat. I was not to keen on the idea, until we got to Rainbow Ranch, just a canyon over from us, and I layed eyes on Ilona & George Eubank's cunningly sweet little goats! OHHHH MY~ I am so smitten with them!

Please meet 'Kate', the white one on the left, and Meisie, the black one on the right. Sweetest little girls you ever did see, they are 4mo. Meisie is a Kiko/Boer and Kate is a Boer cross. The adults aren't much bigger than this. Their coats are very wooly now, kind of like a sheep's~ and soooooo soft. (and to answer your question....YES~ you may indeed see some Meisie & Kate hair-do's on my dollys!)
I actually got Meisie first~ the black one....got her home and she just looked at me and her eyes were saying~ 'Where did everybody else go? Where are all my buddies?? Was I a bad girl?' ....well I just couldn't stand that look, and to hear her bleating for her friends, so went went back the next day and brought home Kate. As soon as Meisie saw her, she zoomed over to the crate and was SO happy! They been side by side ever since, and are getting along just fine with the Bloke. Perhaps we may have kids next spring :)

Ohh....and here is Lumpy.......being a lump! He has gotten as big as Yetti, our Great Pyrenees. They grow up so fast!

And Mr P.....the pappa pheasant. Mrs P was in sitting on her egg. Isnt he so gorgeous! Cant believe its nearly May already~ the children have the countdown to the end of school going~ 19 days I think it is. We get out pretty early here. I hope all of you are well, and enjoying all the gifts Spring has to offer!

Good Bye Marbles.......

Thankyou all so much for your very entertaining guesses in the Prims Mystery Giveaway! Some were really out there, but once I added the hint, it was quite easy to see, that poor little Fleur not only had her poke bonnet upside down for her photograph in Prims, but backwards as well!! Who would play such a horrible, nasty trick???? If you guessed 'Gilly', you were right! What a naughty girl! Well, what to do with such a willful sprite? Having 4 children, I have learned that to get anywhere with punishments, they must be in the right currency, specific to the child~ and Gilly, well, as you can see, I have taken away her precious marbles. What she held most dear to her heart, she has had to forgo.....perhaps she will be able to earn them back, we shall see

No more tomboy....no more playing in the fields with the boys....nope. As part of her punishment, she has had to trade her marbles for more ladylike pastimes~ we have already had lessons in taking tea with Fleur and the other girls, and each afternoon she will sit quietly, posture erect, countenance peaceful, and make lace. I have tasked her with 12 yards, enough for her to trim her new spring ball gown...oh yes, she will be a girly girl weather she likes it or not.

Now, Time for a Winner!

Donna Timms of N.C. woo hoo!!!! I have already emailed you about your pin dollye, so check your email box~ THANKYOU to all of you who played!

Keep on Guessing!!!

Ohh so many wonderful and insightful guesses have come in for my "Prims Mystery Giveaway"!! But, I hadn't realized that most are not so fully aware of proper Victorian fashion as I am, hint hint.....so I have decided to add a little hint here on the blog. Most have the culprit pegged completely....but her awful trick has gone by unnoticed to some~ look to the sidebar for an innocent creature, study her picture well, and then go back and look at the article, you will realize straight away what she has endured! Just email me your guess, and I will let you know if it is correct or not! I am a bit behind as I have been quite ill this past week, but am feeling much better now, and playing catch up~

Nature's Paint Pot

Good Heavens! Can you believe it is nye end of March already? Almanac says Spring is upon us, but with our huge snow yesterday, I had my doubts.....at least until I went out to feed and gather the eggs this morning! Just Look at all the beautiful colors! Who needs to buy egg colors at the store, when Nature has provided us such pretties. We have too many girls to count around here....always plenty of eggs! Our Rhode Island Reds & Plymouth Rock's lay the brown ones~ dark & light, and some with speckles....The Arricaunas lay the pretty light blue ones, the 2 bright white ones are duck, and the wee little army green ones are pheasant eggs

Here is an Arricauna egg & one of the pheasant eggs~ see how small they are~ so cute!

My little girl just started laying this past week~ she will be a year old in June~ we dont eat the pheasant we keep, just like having them around, they are sooo beautiful, and greet me with a loud screech when I go out in the mornings

Here are some of the duck eggs~ they are so heavy and big. You can tell a duck egg just by holding it in your hand~ the shell is so soft~ smooth as a baby's bottom! The egg on the right is from a white Peking, and on the left is from a Mallard..you can certainly tell the domesticated egg form the wild one. Duck eggs are used just like chicken eggs, but in particular, they are Heavenly for baking~ you wont make any better cakes and cookies than if you use duck eggs. mmmmmmmmmm

I love eggs~ and every now and again I will find a treasure after a wind storm~ blown out of a tree~ like this little wee weensie thing I found last year~ well, no I didn't find it! My son Josh was out and about and found it in the field~ came running in with 2 of them. I have no idea what bird they come from, but aren't they just precious? shown here with a brown chicken egg and green pheasant egg. I think they all together make the perfect basket of Easter eggs, don't you?

Thrilling News~!!

I am so honored to announce that I have been included in the premier issue of the new Stampington Publication, Prims. It is jam packed full of lovely dollys and art, it must definitely not be missed(and not just cause Im in there either!) I am so happy so many of my friends are there too~ Stampington has done a wondrous job and every ones art looks just D-E-V-I-N-E!

I got my issue in the post this last weekend, and it is one I will read again and again~ there are stories, recipes (the kind all us artists love to try~ like how to make things rusty and such), poetry, tips, and and and and!!! And look what is directly at the top of the cover, the title of my little piece~ five whole pages~ what a dream!

The Olde Towne Road is the main thoroughfare in my alter world, where I often make my days with my dollys. They all live there~ it is a happy and magical place that I really enjoyed sharing. Of all the beautiful places on Earth, my windy little dirt country road, flanked with green fields and wildflowr's on both sides, is my favoritest place of all....

Now don't forget about the "Prims Mystery Giveaway"! All you need do, is use your imagination and tell me WHO played an evil trick on one of my dollys, and WHAT that evil trick was! Its not hard, really!! Send me your guess on this post, or the original one~ and on April 15th Pip will draw out a winner from all the correct entries, and I will make them their own special pin dolly~ Good Luck!

Shhhhhh...Q-U-I-E-T..........

Have you ever wondered where those little balls of fluff come from that seem to 'grow' under your bed? You can sweep and sweep and sweep...and 2 minutes later, there is a little tumbleweed of fluff...merrily rolling around under there....
Sometimes there is just one, often, tho, there is a whole 'herd' of them...I guess that's why some folks call them 'ghost herds'...cause they don't know what they are or where they come from....or where they are on their way to, rolling about like tumbleweeds on the floor.
Now other folks, those who are a little more imaginative, call them 'dust bunnies'. They don't look like a bunny?....but they are dusty! Interesting.....

Can you keep a secret? I had never actually seen one before, but as I was sitting in my rocking chair the other day, quilting on my Baltimore, I kept hearing a little ruckus coming from my bedroom. Just a little soft ruckus...perhaps scurrying of little feet, and some faint giggles? But as soon as I stopped rocking, all was silent. I'm not getting around very well these days, so instead of getting up to go investigate, I just sat, still in my chair, all the while having my eyes fixed upon the reflection in the glass of my bedroom door.....minutes ticked away into nearly an hour, and that's when it happened. The little ruckus started up, and before I knew it, here came a ball of fluff, and trailing directly behind.. was the elusive Dust Bunny Ammericannus! She had a wee little stick, and was quickly batting & rolling her little ball of fluff out, down and around my bedpost...then came another, and another! Why~ they were having a race! It was the most amazing thing, I must say~and I rose from my chair as quickly as I could, but when I got to the bed, just the fluffs were left....and 8 weensie little wee twigs.

It was very perplexing~ I looked everywhere I could think of, but no bunnies, Just fluff. As I came back to sit down, a heard a little giggle, and snapped this picture for you! Seems, the D.B. Ammericannus is quite inquisitive, and they like to roll their little balls of fluff under everything~ even dollys little cradle. Can you see her there???? See her little perky ears sticking up behind there???

Turns out, they also have a sweet tooth, with a distinct weakness for chocolates. When I went to grab for my camera, a knocked a little chocolate egg off the table, and swoop, before I could bend over to pick it up, off it with with a little dust bunny madly rolling it over under my bookcase. Perhaps they are attracted to the shiny foil wrapper? It wasn't long, and I had all 8 of them out rolling chocolates around on my floor~ what a sight!




We have since become great friends, the 'Dust Bunnies' & I, and I would love to introduce them to you tomorrow, March 14th, on the TDIPT & EW Mercantiles~ I hope you will stop in!