No, really. Does it feel like Spring where you are?
It doesn’t from where I sit.
In case you haven’t heard, this has been a bad Fall and Winter for Oregon. So much so, I’ve entertained the thought of moving back to southern California.
Let’s start off with October.
McMinnville and Salem both set records for the amount of rainfall (many other places too). We live between the two. Talk about depressing. But, it was only October. We still had hopes of staying afloat.
Portland broke the old record of 23 days of measurable rainfall by a five-day jump to 28 days. We also had our year’s worth of rain in about four or five months.
In November, I had a hysterectomy. It was successful but didn’t go as planned. Rather than a couple days to recover I ended up with weeks of recovery. I was feeling pretty well after 3 weeks but then something happened to my left arm. The pain was unbearable, so I just didn’t use my left arm. Finally, I found a doctor to go to and was diagnosed with a Frozen shoulder. As of today, it is so much better.I Still don’t have my full range of motion but it is getting better with each PT appointment. Thank God for that cortisone shot.
Our December and January were FREEZING. Literally.
Our poor goats. They were either pregnant or giving birth in January. So much fun dealing with lows of 14°. Between kidding and the freezing weather, our goats have stayed inside more than they ever have.
Oh, guess what…February of 2017 was the wettest February in Oregon history.
Way to go February. We are so proud of you!
Remember that old saying, “April Showers Bring May Flowers?” I really hope that isn’t the case this year.
Well, I don’t care if it is raining again as I type. This weekend we celebrated spring by bringing our first two BEE HIVES to the farm. I am so excited.
Here is my dear friend Nancy. She actually bought us this hive which kick-started us into getting serious about bees. It is wonderful to have a hive with an established colony. I’ll be forever grateful to her.
She is taking off the top of the hive to see how the bees are doing and to show us the top feeders in this hive.
Here is the hive all put together. See the bees going in and out of their opening at the bottom? We located this one between the garden and the berry vines.
I took an all day Bee class back in March. So much information. Thankfully the new hive I bought came with all the basics including everything we need to start a hive and a DVD and books.
Here is our new hive. We painted it. We still have two more boxes that we don’t need to add yet. They are a pinkish red and a blue. To the right of the hive, you will see a cardboard box. That is our Nuc (Nucleus Hive). That box contains about 5,000 Bees. I’ll talk about nucs more in another post. 24 hours after setting it up, all the Bees are out of the box now.
Here is a front view. I love seeing the bees accepting their new home. We located this one near the majority of the fruit trees.
Here the bees are enjoying a Pollen Patty. It is important to get them some food right away. Because they are new to this hive we don’t open the hive for a few days so they have a chance to call it home. I also made them a simple syrup with “Honey B Healthy” to stimulate their immune system.
Did you know if you are going to move a hive, you either move it three feet or three miles. Since bees travel two miles out in search of nectar and pollen if you don’t move it far enough, they will keep going back to the place it used to be.
Today we finally got our vegetable seeds started. Michael did all the ones for the big garden and I planted carrots, beets, lettuce, kale and chard in one of our raised beds. Really looking forward to these sprouting up quickly.
We are also going to try to winter over some of the veggies this year.
No matter what, the calendar says it’s Spring. We have bees and the beginning of a garden. That is enough to give me confidence that Summer will roll around one of these days.
Wherever you are, I hope you have a spring in your step in anticipation of SUMMER.
Dear Karen: it’s good to hear from you. It has been a long, wet, cold winter and Fall. My husband and I have decided we need to spend a month in AZ next winter! I’m sorry to hear you had such a long recovery from your surgery. Glad you are feeling better. I’m looking forward to hearing how your bee venture turns out!
Oh it is great that you have bees. we are in the high dessert so we do not have as much rain just cold. We have 2 bee hives I love bees they are so amazing!!
“Not much rain.” That is music to my ears! Bees ARE amazing. Last year, the boys went to a homeschool outdoor school and Joshua asked if he could buy the DVD of the speaker on bees. Now to have our own it is really fun.
Take care,
Karen
Right now, any place warm sounds delightful. I can handle freezing temps better than I can handle rain. Rain goes straight to my bones. I’m cold all the time.
When I moved back to So. Cal. for my career, I was disappointed when it was 70+ degrees on Thanksgiving and Christmas. Right now, that sounds delightful.
I’m sure I’ll be posting about all I am learning.
Thanx for following along.
Hugs,
Karen
We have always wanted bees but I’ve never taken the time to learn about them or purchase a hive. Although neighbor down the street who we buy raw honey from brings their bees over to our cherry trees and apple trees and pear trees and Plumtrees to help us and to help him it’s a win-win for us
I too can’t wait for spring and the tulips in the Daffidil’s and pieces of blue sky are giving me hope to get me through till summer .
sorry my letter has some typos I am talking because like you I tore my rotary cuff and I’m in a sling until I find out if I need surgery this week after my MRI. please please pray I will not need surgery.
Yes, I think all the bulbs that bloom early are God’s way of helping us to hang on ’til nicer weather.
I’m so sorry about your shoulder. I’ll pray that there is another way to fix it without surgery. Shoulder problems really stink! I was bra-free for weeks. No way was I able to get my hand behind my back.
Take care and get better soon.
Hugs,
Karen
Those lucky bees! All those fruit trees to pollinate!
Xo, lisa
Yes! We figured we would have enough for the bees. I just wish it would warm up.
Have a great day,
Karen
It has been brutal this year and spring is sure taking it’s time. You have had it rough. I think it was hard for a lot of people this winter. I have noticed my cherry trees have not had the bees this spring so far. Not the swarm like usual Congrats on your bees and so glad you were able to get your garden started. I have decided to work in doors and planted a bit and cleaned pantries. May not be warm out but a candle burning and hot cup of tea still makes it cozy. Be kind to yourself and take it slow things will wait.
Yesterday when Michael started the veggies and I planted the cool weather crops in a raised bed, it was pleasant. Then this morning it was cold and rainy. But yes, a hot cup of tea always warms me through. Yes, I see the bees were mostly inside the hive today. I’m just praying for a lovely summer. Now that I’m feeling so much better I want to “get up and go” but I also don’t want to overdo it and hurt something else.
At least the rain is less than it has been and there is more blue sky peaking through.
Enjoy your “spring cleaning.”
Take care,
Karen
Seriously mom you want to move back to CALIFORNIA?
Love Joshua.
Oh my, you’ve had it tough. I hope you are recovering from your ailments well. Sorry about the hard times you have experienced.
Our winter had been the mildest, warmest, and most uninteresting winter ever. I mean, we had 75 degrees on multiple occasions in December and January. Want to move to Midwest instead of SoCal? We’ve got room!
Spring has been on and off. Sometimes very warm, sometimes just miserable. But not too bad overall. Onions have been growing all winter. Yes, we’ve been eating green scallions non-stop. Reg kale is a winner. It grows under the snow and tastes divine.
A bunch of stuff has been planted. My weeds now are old tomatoes and gourds, Can you imagine pulling out tomato plants because they are weeds? It hurts with every pull.
I don’t know why, but I really became set on bees this year. I haven’t been interested in bees in spite of my husband’s mentioning it in the past. Last year, he planted a field of buck weed on Kim Ridge. It attracted our native honey bees like crazy.
This winter, I had a swarm of honey bees living next to one of my rabbit cages. But it was winter and no flowers. So, I took a shallow container and gave them some sugar water. It rained heavily that day and my container became filled too high. The bees became attracted to sugar, but drowned in the high waters. I am a bee murderer! I felt so bad.
But now, I am really interested in raising bees. We have a lot of native bees. I have been talking to the Farm Mr. about taking up on bee raising. He thinks it’s a good idea, but I am slow on starting things like this. We sure have plenty of flora to support a bee hive. I just need the knowledge.