Riverside Apiary's new home

After we first moved in before we moved it

March 19, 2019
We made it home, although not until March 11 but never the less we made it.
The house had been locked up for 6 1/2 long years so needless to say, there was a lot of cleaning and organizing to do.
Our house is not the typical house and by now you probably figured it out that its a old church. We bought it back in about 2006   where it sat in a sorry state for many years, unloved. Over the years we have slowly picked away at it until it became a house.
The church first opened its doors in 1959 when the Bishop traveled by train from Giscome to bless it, Our Lady of Fatima. It only remained a church for about 10 years when it closed it doors forever and sat basically empty until we bought it.

When we first bought it, it was rather sad looking and it was no wonder no one ever gave it a second look. One of the little boys in the neighbourhood  shot out 9 panes of windows with a sling shot and there was broken glass inside, dead birds, bats and lots of flies and lord knows (no pun intended) what else. But we saw its potential.

When we first bought it

 

Back before the highway was in, the priests use to travel by train to some of the small towns. One of the locals would go over before the priest would arrive and light the barrel heater in the main room so it would be warm when he arrived. Once we bought it, we went ahead and wired it so we could have lights. We moved into it in 2007 and just recently have water lines run throughout it with hopes this summer there will be a indoor toilet and running water. For the time being....the little house (dubbed the Confessional) out back gets plenty of use. In 2010 we  purchased another piece of property out of the same estate and made plans to move the church onto that.
It was a big deal in Sept 2011 when the old Dome Creek Church moved down the road to its new location. The whole town came out.

The bell tower was removed for the move

The towns people following it down the road

So now that we are home. Maybe we can finally finish it and give it the love it deserves. But first......the bee yard has to be built before the bears wake up. So...the confessional out back will get used a little while longer

How it looks today

My bags are packed, I'm ready to go............

Now that i have put that song in everyone's head, let me share some exciting news. Its been 2 years in the making and I so ready. Riverside Apiary is moving and expanding...wooohooo.
Thats right, the Motel sold and we are heading home March 9th. I haven't had a lot of time to get real excited yet, as there is so much to do to shut down the business, change over addresses, pack plus all the other chores in the life of a Motelier. (is that a real word?)
Despite all the obstacles and hurdles....we are going to make it happen.  Like the other day,James took a load of stuff and his welding trailer home  and got 20 minutes out of town, when the engine in his truck decided to pack it in. Not the best of times to not have a truck! Anyways, we have some pretty great friends and its coming together.
So earlier i mentioned we were expanding the Apiary, i have ordered 4 packages of bees, which should be arriving near the end of May sometime. So once the snow goes, we will be busy putting in fence posts and building a bear proof compound for the future orchard/bee yard. 

So, a few weeks ago, i decided since we were heading home, i should bottle the Bochet (caramelized honey mead) I made months ago. A short time later some friends came over and Barb and I got to talking about mead. I mentioned that the Bochet was such a nice color and went and brought a bottle out to show her. Then we decided we should smell it...oh my, it did smell good. So out came the glasses. Now i am no expert in the art of wine tasting...but i do love food and really like to savor each morsel i put in my mouth, so  I tried to do the same with the mead. The two of us sat there, taking in the aroma and discussed what we smelt. Then we let it slide over our tongues. Oh it was so smooth and sweet, but sweet in a delightful way. We were so enjoying it, that the guys decided they needed to try it too.

It was a hit and i will definitely be making it again. Oh and after a couple (or more) glasses of it....i dubbed it Bitchin Bochet

Anyways, i should really go and get some more packing done. Not that i am counting or anything but there is  only 7 more sleeps and we are heading home to our little old church in the boonies.