March 26, 2009

Catching up

March 25, 2009

Another batch of rainy days has arrived. It looks like we are in for 3-4 days of clouds. I really am enjoying rainy days more and more lately. Tomorrow I will be running errands and working in town, so it can rain all it wants. I was hoping to get the chicken pen finished ASAP, but this will just be good patience practice.

We have managed to accomplish a lot in the past few days. Large sections of the garden have now been prepared and planted with early spring greens, peas, broccoli, etc. The first of our greenhouse plants are coming up!! We check on them several times a day, looking to see if any new seedlings are pushing their way out. It's so exciting!

Our most relieving and gratifying accomplishment of the past few days was the completion of our regularly scheduled spring bee-hive maintenance. Bee-hive maintenance requires a combination of good weather and a tranquil mind, a tall order sometimes, especially when the very thought of getting up-close and personal with 50,000 stinging insects can chase away a tranquil mind on even the most beautiful of days. We began in the usual way, by approaching our bees with a puff of smoke in their front door to "calm" them. Apparently not getting the message, they responded by getting irritated (would YOU be happy if someone was planning to rip the roof off your house and randomly move rooms about?). Of course this triggered our natural tendency to become fearful and agitated ourselves, which only makes matters worse. There is an amazingly direct and immediate connection between the beekeepers' state of being and the bees' mood. Our attempts to present a peaceful exterior had not fooled the bees for a second. After stepping away for a moment and taking some deep breaths, we were able to regain our confidence and trust and continue successfully (aka stinglessly) with our task. We both came away with a renewed sense of wonder and gratitude for our bees. They truly are amazingly gentle. They seem to trust us, despite our crazy intervenings in their affairs, surely we can do the same for them. And now, my little sister is embarking on her own journey into the beekeeping world. Go Jenny!! :)



March 22, 2009

When to say when - that is the question. It is very hard on these beautiful, sunny, early spring days to say enough is enough, job well done, and call it a day. The mental to-do list is never-ending, but my energy supply is not. Today was one of those days when I managed to go full-steam ahead until finally, when the sun was getting low in the sky, I hit my wall and realized that I was tired, dirty and desperately hungry. Of course, at that point I still needed to bring the goats in, put away tools and cook dinner. It sure does feel good to sit down and soak up the last rays of sun coming through the window. Dinner is a little bit odd, but it's the best I could do considering my random list of on-hand ingredients and need for quick improvisation before starving.

Joe spent the morning preparing sections of the garden and planting seeds, while I worked on manufacturing a second potting table for the greenhouse. After lunch he helped me finish up the potting table and situate it in the greenhouse before he and his mom headed to a Non-Violent Communication seminar and potluck in Floyd. I spent the next few hours in my newly organized greenhouse/shower planting seeds. I planted five flats of flowers - marigolds, dahlias, zinnias and misc - to be eventually transferred to the holes in the cinderblocks lining our garden beds. Vegetable gardens are so much more exciting with lots of color!



No photos until I find my camera. :(

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