Honey time

 

My husband can get into some crazy things, y’all. Last year at the Georgia National Fair, we visited the bee booth that had a live hive sandwiched in plexiglass and he announced that we needed to get some honey bees. I have to admit he has dabbled in wine making, hard apple cider making, and has preserved a myriad of canned items and they have all been successful so I didn’t object-too much.  Since the hives are behind his sister’s house, I was terrified that one of the kids would get stung a million times like that boy on My Girl. More on that later.

One weekend in February, Justin stopped at a local apiary and bought two hives already set up with bees and all. He put them out and checked on them weekly. This past Friday, I took off work and it was time to extract the honey. It was a little tough and we learned a lot as we went along.  

Remember I said I was terrified of the bees swarming and attacking? Well, we only have two bee suits and a friend came over to watch Justin get the hives. I stayed back for the most part but one time I was a little brave and was able to sneak up behind Justin to snap this shot with shorts and flip flops on. Apparently we have docile, happy little honey bees.

 

Justin really impresses me with his knowledge of how the hive works, what all the technical terms are, and his ability to figure it all out. He even talked to the apiarist we bought the hives from and found out that a light dusting of powdered sugar will treat mites in bees. (That little bit of info is free for y’all.)

 

It’s a little difficult to see but those little shots of glistening is actually honey!

  

We took the frames home and scraped the beeswax and honey into a cooler that had a screen built into the bottom. More professional honey folks have centrifuges that spin the honey out to separate it from the wax, but we always have to figure out things the hard way instead of spending cold hard cash. It actually worked pretty well.

   

We let the honey filter through the screen into another bucket that was topped with cheese cloth. Let me just tell you--Justin and I couldn’t help dipping our fingers in there and eating it right out of the cooler.

 

We ended up with more than five FIVE 5(!) gallons of honey. I don’t think I typed that big enough:

FIVE!

  

We have to let it settle a bit more and pretty soon we’ll get to enjoy the hard work. Next on my project list is making beeswax lotion bars and candles. I have about 15 pounds of beeswax to work with.

Vera and Tervis: My favorites

 

I rarely am brand loyal. I have a cheap thrifty gene and hate to spend big bucks on a product when I can get something similar for a lower price, but there are two notable exceptions in my life: Vera Bradley and Tervis Tumblers.

I got my first piece of VB when I was in college. Justin got me a purse and a whole bunch of accessories in the New Hope pattern and I have been hooked ever since.

Since then, I have always enjoyed seeing what new fun patterns emerge each season. This week, I won a $50 gift card for one of our local shops, Traditions, on Facebook. Traditions has a lot of great gifts and fun stuff, but I knew immediately I would be getting a new Vera bag. Here she is! It’s the Hipster in Lime’s Up. I think it’s just perfect for the summer time.

Also, I mentioned a few weeks ago that I somehow managed to break my Tervis Tumbler. The return form said that I would receive my replacement in 6 weeks. Imagine my surprise when I got it in the mail after less than two weeks! I am so happy and I love the cute little Southern Belle artwork.

Long story short, I am glad to spend a few extra bucks to get quality products. Check them out if you haven’t before.

Weekend wrap up

Justin headed down south to Osceola County, Florida with a fellow firefighter and his dad to go turkey hunting. I am so glad that he was able to get his first turkey!

I went out Saturday and Wyatt racked up on toys at yard sales. I never pass up good books for him and my theory on toys is that as long as I can wipe it down with a Clorox wipe, it’ll be fine. I do this because the very first thing Wyatt does is put it in his mouth.

Rivers Marie turned 6 years old on Wednesday so we had a pool party for her on Sunday afternoon.

  

    

Wyatt had a blast with Rivers’ Disney Princess lollipop. He was kind enough to give it back after he had drooled over every inch of it.

Look at that face! My daddy said that’s the devil dancing in his eyes!

Changing so quickly

In February, I attended a baby shower for one of my three college roommates. We all got together for our first picture since our graduation from Georgia Southern in 2008 Erica’s wedding in 2009. It’s pretty neat to see how we have changed in four years: three marriages and two little boys later!

The Impossible

I did what I thought was impossible or highly improbable. I dropped my Tervis Tumbler Big T and it broke. Thankfully, they have a super awesome lifetime guarantee and in 4-6 weeks, I’ll be getting this baby in the mail!

That’s right! The only good thing that can ever come from a broken Tervis is “shopping” for a new design if you’d like. Can’t wait to get it back in.

Easter recap

It’s a week late, but here’s a quick recap of our Eater fun. We went to a fun egg hunt on Saturday, but Wyatt just didn’t get the concept yet. One other little boy wanted more eggs but his mom said he had enough so he started picking them up and putting them in Wyatt’s basket. Wyatt kept slinging them out and rolling them around on the ground

Here are a few shots of the weekend fun:

   

Here are a few shots I snapped under the arbor at Mama and Daddy’s house:

   

Very Vera Backgrounds

I know most folks know that you can download Vera Bradley computer backgrounds like this:

But did you know the download page also has iPhone and iPad backgrounds, too?!?

Here is my phone all bright and decked out in Twirly Birds Pink.

 

Download yours on the Vera Bradley website!

Mary Kay Andrews

Mama, Sami, and I got the opportunity to attend a luncheon supporting the Tift County Library Foundation on March 10. The keynote speaker was one of my favorite southern writers, Mary Kay Andrews. I discovered her books while I was in college and I have been hooked ever since!

I laughed when Mama and Sami were getting their books signed. All of my MKA books are on my Kindle. I guess I should have had her sign my Kindle cover. Here’s Sami’s:

Fun with his cousins

     

Wyatt got some good play time in with Jake and Ben. They rode him all around the yard in his new wagon for a good 30 minutes!