2010 - Day Fifty Eight...

Okay, I think Pat (the tiara) is barking up the wrong tree on this one. It is still trying to escape its' inevitable faith, and I think it has put a little bit TOO much faith into these two gnomes. These gnomes have been hanging around the house for years (both here and at the Red Rock farm) and never once have I known them to have any interest at all in glitter and the big city kind of life. Well, just look at them...if they don't look like your typical 'bachelor farmers' I will kiss your old Aunt Mary at high noon on the corner of Sixth and Congress. Pat was thinking these two guys could help her escape, but I think it is just trading one pile 'o crap for another. I guess we shall see, but it has just one day left before the rest home. Only time will tell.

Today was a busy day, even if it was a Saturday. I took off for my bee keeping class, and I guess Konrad thinks I am kind of an advanced student (after all this was my third class) so he took me and three other students to a place somewhere near Hell-and-Gone but Konrad said it was in Georgetown...not any kind of Georgetown I know of, but I was not driving so I guess it could have been in Georgetown.

Anyway, the property was off a long dirt road, very much scrub and cedar trees, and probably five to seven acres. There were two Great Pyrenees dogs, a couple burros (or mules or Jack-asses or donkeys, I can never tell the difference) and some sheep and goats. One of the goats (his name is Walter) took a shining to me and I reciprocated. I have never petted a goat before, so that was kind of fun.

There were about five hives on the property, all right next to each other, and there was only activity in one of the hives. Konrad forgot his smoker, so we got a tin can and filled it up with dry hay and some dry (but damp) oak leaves and tried to get it to make some smoke. Not really too much success on that part, but then one of the students had a knife so we made holes in the bottom of the can and that made things work better. We also supplemented the dry hay and damp leaves with goat poop, and that made a pretty good smoker...okay, not nearly as good as the store bought stuff, but it worked okay.

The inactive hives had been active last year, but during the freeze, the bees in the other hives froze to death and there was evidence of a lot of wax moth activity. The remaining hive is a very strong hive, and no evidence of wax moths. Interesting stuff...it seemed the failed hives had already been compromised by the wax moths and the freezing temperatures just took a toll on them. Most of the dead bees were found all huddled together to keep warm, and some of them had their heads inside the cells.

Whenever you are working with bees and you don't get stung, that should be considered a good day!

I finished my class and headed into Austin. I had a two o'clock appointment to show property, and got all that done, and I was back on my way home by about 5 o'clock. We had chicken (or turkey) tamales for dinner, with chili and cheddar cheese on top. Good food for wintry weather (okay it was almost 70 degrees today) and it was a delicious dinner.

Tomorrow I will feed cattle, go to the front shed and try to go through a couple more boxes, and then we will head into Georgetown. We need some bird seed (Jody thinks we are the only folks in this part of the county that feed the birds) and of course there is the traditional weekend stop at Dairy Queen for spoilers that must be attended to.

That's it!

Deeds Changes, Actions, GOATS NAMED WALTER, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!