Bee Happy

I have a really, really busy life just now.  With Lorene going to school for 2 long days a week, (think 8-4 on Tuesdays, which means I'm there 7-5), that takes two days out of the week that is supposed to be keeping up my home management, my office management and my wedding management.  I walked a couple of days last week, but summer time with three boys means I don't need to walk at home. We are either walking to the park or running around outside. Walking to the park today meant pulling three kids in a recalcitrant wagon. Not that I do much running around, when the boys are out, I like to find a shady corner.

The weater is finally warming up and it is warming up in a lovely springlike way with 60 and 70 degree temps and not much wind. Most days, anyway.  

This day we were eating our lunch on the deck, playing around the pickup (the boys, anyway) and looking for common yellow sorrel flowers, which are really a weed, but they are so pretty. 

 I would pick and eat the blossoms when I was a kid.  The boys weren't impressed.  

I wanted to get all four hands of the hiding boys, but I missed my opportunity. 

Paislee gets to spend some time with her Auntie Rene and Zane is a wonderful "putter to sleeper".

It was Zane's turn this weekend to stay with Gramma and Papa.  We cleaned out the garage Saturday morning in readiness for bridal shower.  I dug out a bushy sort of plant that had roots from here to kingdom come and planted a new yellow knockout rose in that spot.  Jim is adding on to our chicken run to make a spot for the newest members of the flock.  I picked up Zane after supper and he helped me dig up rocks for that flower garden project that is now in it's third summer.  I am nearing the end of the project and the garden that runs the length of the shop building. 

Zane helped me some, Lynette put him to work with some spray paint, and Jim tried in vain to interest him in digging.  Eventually, the lure of technology drew him in and he played games on his phone.  (That phone is just for games right now.)

So here we are, third boy weekend in sort of a row and we went to feed the fish at the Archway, (the fish were at home this time), to investigate that Pawnee earth lodge that had fallen in, and to go through the archway itself.  I think Zane enjoyed pieces of it.  I would like to go through again and take my time.  Zane didn't rush through, but he didn't listen to all the stories he could have. They have a pretty neat set-up there. They have headphones and a wireless receiver hangs around the neck.  Then as you walk through the arch, you can type in or point the receiver at the numbers of the various displays to learn about the progress of the transportation from one end of the country to the other, from covered wagons and push carts, through stage coach and trains, to interstates and fiber optic cables.  

We had supper with some old friends of ours.  They are old in the sense that we have known them since before they were born.  They are taking up bees and we went out to see the hives. 

We got all dolled up in bee suits and went out to meet the bees.  

Zane is holding up a section of honeycomb the bees have made since their installation into the hive a few weeks ago.

Jenelle is showing us a drone and explaining how her hives work.  I think I would like to know more about how honey bees work. I've forgotten what I used to know. I know there are queens and worker bees and drone bees and they make honey comb for honey and egg laying and that's about it. 

The bees got all riled up with Jenelle taking out that piece of comb and showing us how much they have made so there we were in our space suits with bees flying all around us. It was a really interesting experience, but I don't want to try raising bees,

I forgot to mention the other interesting experience that started out the day.  The reason we need to know about Jim building the new chicken run is that when setting the corner post he cut into the phone line that runs into the shop.  He didn't think anything of it because we don't use that phone anymore in this day of cell phones and it doesn't have anything to do with the house phones. 

Just before 9 Sunday morning Jim got a call on his cell phone from the 911 dispatcher to check up on us because they got a no response call and when they tried to call back the line was busy.  Sure enough there was static on the line of the home phone, so after Jim explained about the hit line and that we didn't need a visit from the deputy sheriff, he went out to disconnect the line.  Just as he got in to change his clothes, here comes the deputy up the driveway.  I told him about the hit line, and Jim came out and Jim told him about the hit line and he went on his way.  I'm glad we were home.  What would have happened if we weren't?  

I'm not sure what happened here.  Jim thinks the shop phone line shorted out with the home line.  How on earth does all that somehow call 911?  Does that happen on purpose?  I have no idea, but if it does, that seems like a good thing.  It's nice to know they will check up on you, even if it is a bit embarrassing to have a sheriff's vehicle in your driveway on a Sunday morning.