Fall is in the air

Fall:

A couple weeks ago the weather had started to  improve. The sun came out for 3 days in a row and we could work outside without getting wet or wear a coat. But the mornings are cool now and when you look around the leaves have turned yellow. Fall is in the air. I love fall and the changing of the seasons. The smells and the ever changing landscapes. Even our bees sense the change. The scour the fields and meadows for the last traces of nectar or pollen. There is a sense of urgency in their actions this time of year. Like us....they are getting ready for winter, 

Its been a challenging year.

Food:

For the first time that I can ever remember, there had been shortages. People who have never planted a garden were buying up bags of potting soil and trying their hand at growing their own food. People were buying food and toilet paper like it was going out of style. Yeast, flour and sugar couldn't be found anywhere for weeks. People were getting back to the basics, of planting, bread making and cooking their own food. Then suddenly in Sept, canning jars and lids were flying off the shelves. Those shelves still sit empty.

I am so glad we live where we do. We have always shopped to have a full pantry all the time. Its not unusual for me to can 200-400 jars of food every year. We live an hour away from a very small town with limited groceries and about 2 hours from a bigger city. I don't like going to town often so this works for me. 

Bees:

 A week or so ago, we had a break in the weather, so it was time to address the bees. I was helping James build our front porch but decided if I didn't start with the bees I may not have anymore good days to do it. So I went over with the intention of trying to get at least 1 or 2 hives done. 

Up to this point I hadn't taken any honey off this year. I knew there wasn't going to be tons so left it as long as possible for the girls to enjoy. So armed with my smoker and a Rubbermaid tote I began. I was actually surprised at the amount of honey there was. I pulled off the top box and made sure every frame in the second box was full of capped honey, gave them a new bag of fondant and shut them up. I managed to get all 3 hives done and ended up with 2 boxes of honey for ourselves. We had a frame or two which had some uncapped honey and i knew it would keep. So while working on the front porch, i went and retrieved my frame stand and hung up that frame of uncapped honey. Our bees are located across the road from our house, so I wasn't really worried about robbing. Within a few minutes, a few bees appeared, within a hour the frame was full of bees removing the uncapped honey and taking it back to their hives. It was neat to sit and watch them work so hard.

Slowly the bees were arriving 

Determined to get every last drop

On Oct 13 after seeing that frost might be coming soon, i decided to get the candy boards I made in the hives and insulate the attic boxes. So in-between black clouds and pounding rains, I went over and got it done. So now I just need to wrap them, which I don't normally do until the end of the month or early November. However....I don't trust 2020 and have decided to wrap them around the 20th, give or take. Something in my gut tells me I better get it done earlier this year.

Homemade Candy Boards

Home & Garden:
It is now cool enough we almost need a fire everyday. However as crazy as it sounds....we still hadn't had a frost. Nuts eh. This is so unusual for us here. But I will take it. I had planted some sun flowers this year and they are just starting to bloom, I can now see the yellow of their petals. I may have to bring them in the house to enjoy, as i hear we are to get a frost in the next day or so. But that's ok I will enjoy them anyway I can. Our vegetable garden is finished and everything harvested. It was just a little container garden this year but it produced a surprisingly good amount of food for us. I have a nice amount of carrots in the cold room and sitting in jars on the shelves.  

Some of our carrot harvest 

Well here it is October 15th and a few days ago we finally got our 1st frost. Then yesterday we got our 1st snow fall.  I love snow?  I love the peacefulness of it. (especially if I don't have to work in it) I love how everything seems to slow down and I love that you feel the need to make homemade soups and bake bread. I know a lot of people do not share my love of snow and that's ok. I feel good knowing that my root cellar and the wood shed are both full. But when I sit on the couch by the fire, with a warm cuppa and a stack of seed catalogs, I will try not to feel guilty for hoping it  keeps on snowing.

 

Until next time..... Bee Calm  Bee kind  Bee Safe