Thursday, September 22, 2011

Women's Show ~


Join me for the Anchorage Women's Show!
Sullivan Arena

Friday, September 23rd
Saturday, September 24th
Sunday, September 25th

11 to 6 pm
~ civilized hours ~


featuring

Loose beads, tools & findings
Art glass for body & abode
&
Glass by William


He's very motivated to sell some of his work
to fund his Lego collection!

                    

So, if you need some Halloween art stop bye my booth & shop! 
You'll make a 7 year old artist very happy!

Monday, September 5, 2011

It was a war ~

It was a war & the drones lost!

They've been tossed out of the hive by the workers as
 they are expendable going into the winter.


It's hard to tell but there are lots of bees in the grass.
While cleaning up the bodies a not-quite dead
soldier had a last hurrah & stung me between my toes!

OUCH! 

A lesson to not wear sandals around the hives.

Sunday, September 4, 2011

Say Hallelujah!

It was a fabulous day at the Alaska State Fair!
We renewed our public radio membership &
 received 2 free tickets to
"A Prairie Home Companion."

Courtesy of Minnesota Public Radio & KSKA.

Here's Garrison Keiller preaching to the masses.
On the mountain top...or at least in front of it!

(That's beautiful Pioneer Peak behind him.)

A sunny day, live radio show & the Alaska State Fair ~
doesn't get any better.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Wonky Comb ~

In between rain showers & downpours I've been trying to get into the bee hives.
I have two supers of honey to harvest & wonky frames of comb to check on.


This is what it looked like the last time I checked one of the hives a little over a week ago.
Two separate combs built together on one frame ~ one started from
the top & one from the bottom... 
 Stuck together!


It's beautiful white comb on the top & gooey, honey-filled, comb on the bottom.


Here you can see how the two combs are overlapping.


I removed one of the combs & in doing so the other
comb bent at a right angle to the frame.


Here it is after beekeeper surgery...all tied up with string.
Some beeks use rubber bands to hold the comb in the frame
 ~ & I've tried that in the past ~
however this hive has removed the rubber bands & strewn them in the lawn when I tried to fix up their poor engineering previously.


My theory is that they don't like the smell or texture of the rubber
and prefer the organic cotton string(?)

Hey....that might be a good science project!
For William...not me  :)

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Two Busy Little Bees!


Thanks Aubrey & Will!

These are my two seasoned honey processors.
They know how to crush the comb to release the honey,
bottle & taste test it.

Delicious!

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

The Bounty!

We're just back from Denali Park & the garden is overflowing!
I'm not sure how in 5 days the raspberries are exploding.
William & I made 2 batches of jam (about 15 jars) before we left & now we
have enough berries for at least another 4 or 5 batches.

Jam anyone???

We have golden raspberries that we love. 
BIG, yellow, & yummy!



And red raspberries of the Sitka, hardy Alaskan variety.


Overflowing flower pots.


Even though I have raised garden beds, I've never been able to get zucchini to grow without
getting rotten.  This was a little, cast-off, zucchini plant that I stuck in a big flower pot
& now has four good sized zuks growing.


We love our garden ~
It's the bounty on the season!

Monday, August 15, 2011

New Addition

We're pretty thrilled~!


We have a new addition to our family.
We've waited since Halloween, after losing Rudi-Pa-Tuti but it was
worth the wait for Coki (as in "Coki Roberts").

What can I say?? 
We're Public Radio employees (dh) & fans.
It's a total compliment as this little puppy girl is
smart, sweet, & sassy.

I have some girl friends who keep telling me she needs a middle name.

Really?

Any suggestions, anyone???

Welcome to our world Coki girl.