Bees arrive today!

Today I'm picking up a package of bees.  Im quite nervous, I did a few installs last year with my mentor, but it was over a year ago, and I had guidance. This is all on my own. Im nervous because it's also supposed to be kind of crappy out today and dont want to have to decide what is "too crappy" to install them into their new home.

The installation process is fairly easy. You take out the queen, set her aside, inspect her, hang her between frames in the new hive, and literally dump and pour the bees over her and into their new home. Then quickly close up the hive, and put some food on them to nourish them while the settle in, and are able to bring in food of their own. Im going to ask hubby to take a video of the install.

Ok, so here are pics hubby took during install.

 The package

Prepping the hive for install

Dumping the bees into their new home

Shaking the last few from the box (video)

Puttin' the girls to work....

I hate weeding. And have neglected the flower beds out front all winter long.  Weeding garden beds is one thing, but flower beds is another. They don't feed me, and are just to look pretty, so I don't usually want to weed them.  So, we built a 'grazing pen' out of PVC so we can move it across the flower beds, and the hens will eat the weeds for us.  I just have to put a couple of the hens in it, and take them out when they're done.  In the winter, it can also double as a cloche over the vegetable beds if we put plastic over it.

The RIR's are hard at work!

Shades of Green

My newest and largest creation. It measures about 50 inches across, and 35 inches deep.

Getting better at making rugs

I'm getting getter at making the rag rug with the toothbrush method.  I'm figuring out what works and what doesn't work for me.  Below is a picture of my 2nd attempt at rug making, measuring  35in x 22in.

And my 3rd attempt, my first try at doing a round one, pictured below. It is 28 inches across. I wanted to make this one bigger, but sadly ran out of yellow material. Note to self: don't by twin sheets, they are too small! Which is a shame, because I really love the buttery yellow color of this one.

Eggs again

Well, I'm finally getting eggs again.  The hens stopped laying in November because of the low # of hours of daylight, and due to molting.  The days are finally long enough (in combination with finishing their molt) which means I got my first egg of the year last week. Right now, just one of the Rhode Island Reds (RIR's) is laying.  One of the Black Star's looks like she is about to start laying (her comb is brighter, more red than pink). I could make them lay better/longer throughout the winter by providing an hour or two  of artificial light daily, but my coop doesn't have electricity. Some people do this, but I feel like if nature intended them to take a break for the winter, so be it.

First rug

 Today I finished my first "rag rug".  It's made from upcycled bedsheets torn into strips, then knotted together. There are several different methods to make them, but I used the "toothbrush" method (just google it).  Also, there is a crocheting method, which I'd like to try at some point.  As with all craft projects, the first try comes out "eh".   Here is the progression.

Baby Quilt

I recently finished a baby quilt for my brother and sister in law, so wanted to post pictures of it. I think it is my favorite one that I have done so far. I love the neutral colors, and I finally figured out why my sewing machine kept giving me trouble before.

It is made of cotton (the main print) and flannel squares.  The edges are sewn, the snipped, then washed and dried many times to fray the edges, giving it the fuzziness.  Each time it is washed, the edges will fray more, and the flannel will get even softer. 

This is the front, before the seams are snipped

 The back, before the seams are snipped:

 After the seams are snipped on the front, but before it is washed:

 Finished front!