Globetrotting
Here is the quilt on which I worked today. I now am up to date on this block of the month project, though there are a few others to do. This one is Pat Sloan’s Globetrotting and each block represents a country. http://blog.patsloan.com/2013/12/pat-sloan-globetrotting-new-free-block-of-the-month.html
The first block is the big center block representing Washington D.C. that I showed you before.
Then come the smaller blocks which will circle around the center. The first is Venice.
Then Chicago,
then San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Each block is a mystery until that month.
In between doing blocks, we had the windows washed, the water system worked on and the gate which is not working looked at – all done by someone else. We went to the store for more bee food.
Bananas and other
We will be watching tonight’s health lecture which runs all week, if you are interested. They have been super good. Here is the site:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48Zbw_kkECE
Yeah! we finished extracting the honey {11 pints) and cleaned the extractor. This took up the morning and would you know when I was in the tub with my hair wet and water still going, the phone rang. It was the produce man with overripe bananas which we were to come get. Then the doorbell rang. Fortunately, DH was home and answered that. Now please explain why both had to wait until I was really busy.
No photos of the honey as we put it all in used margarine tubs for our own use.
The bananas are all cut and in the freezer. They will be packed in baggies, ready for smoothies.
And here are the skins. 
Guess what we did with them. Threw them to the chickens, of course, but got this surprise.
New block created and bees delivered
The early bird gets the worm, or in this case gets to make a quilt block before she has to go pick up bees. This is a large center block.
I started by making the half square triangles. I absolutely love this tool for making them, so will show you how it works.
First draw down the middle and then on either side of this ruler.
Then sew just to the outside of the line on the block, so that you don’t make the block to small. If you just barely sew beside the line, you will have it perfect.
After sewing down both sides, cut it in half down the middle and square it up with a ruler. I put tape on my ruler so it was easy to line up.
‘Then put the diagonal line on the ruler on the diagonal line on my square. That way I know the block is square
Look at how these blocks look when lined up as we normally do.
Now here they are on point. They really look different!
Here is the other block for this square
This large block took 4 of each of these components plus a white center block and a border. See how much easier it is when it is all broken down like that. I love that quilting is so much like jigsaw puzzles.
BEES
I thought perhaps you’d like to see how the bees come. They are driven up from California and I pick them up at the bee store in this box. I then bring them home, remove the queen who is in her own tiny box, and quite literally dump the workers in the hive. They are all over the top of the hive which I can’t show because I only have two hands and both were busy with bees. The queen box 1 x 2 inches has a cork on it which I have to carefully remove so the queen doesn’t get out and replace it with a marshmallow. This little cage is then put down between frames and her workers eat through the marshmallow and release her into the hive. This can take a day or two and by this time, all the little bees are happy. This is such a new place for the bees and they are all confused for the rest of the day, however bees follow the queen so by dark, they are all inside the hive. Tomorrow I will remove this transport box and in two weeks put another hive box on top of this one so they have more room for brood and honey.
Then it was off to plant the peas, which hopefully the chickens won’t scratch up.
Marvelous arboretum day!
What an absolutely stunning day! We took lunch and a change of clothes with us for after church and drove north to the Seattle Arboretum. I took lots of photos, so it was difficult to choose which ones to show you the beauty of our spring.
We shared a perfect day with some of the family.
Really seeing
Many times I am so busy running, or doing whatever I think needs doing, that I don’t stop and really see what is right in front of my eyes. Take this familiar little dandelion. It is not so simple, but rather complex. Aren’t they beautiful and the same color as the daffodils. When I look in the pasture, the mass of yellow looks so bright and happy.
This morning, I took a good look at them. I never realized they have a wonderful little circle in the middle as they are blooming. It’s gone when they are in full bloom, which is when I usually look at them.
And I noticed a lot of rhododendrons starting to bloom. My bleeding hearts are really opening up and the Daphne in front is starting to open.
The winter plants on the right are still in bloom. It really does look as though spring is here. I even went and peeked under the straw where I was sure the peas did not make it (only planted 4 feet of them). There are a few venturing out of the ground, so will plant more on Sunday.
Today, I retrieved my sewing machine from the “machine hospital”. Then checked out a new yarn store that I have been wanting to visit. Lunch out and a few groceries completed the trip. It’s really difficult to stay in with weather as beautiful as it has been today.
Bee Ready
The two new colony starts will be here Sunday, so today we set up their new hives. We are choosing to go with the more shallow Western boxes as they hold about 55 pounds compared to 80 which is just too heavy. As soon as they are happy in their new home, we will add more boxes, one at a time, depending on how the flowers, weather and all go.
Then off to extract honey from the hives whose colonies did not make it through the winter. There wasn’t much extra honey. It appears one colony starved to death and I’m not sure what happened to the other. Maybe the same thing. No bees in either and very little honey stores.
Here is how we get the honey out.
This is the extractor.
Looking down inside, we put 4 frames in at once (to balance)
We go round and round and round with the handle and using centrifugal force, the honey appears out the bottom of the canister.
After the round and round part, we take a break. Tomorrow, we will finish it up and clean it all up for end of summer again. Hopefully we will have the motor on for next time.
Now the relaxing part was to do this month’s block for the Aurofil BOM. These are the blocks so far.
Jonah in the whale’s belly or Silkie in the big mouth
How I wish these chickens could tell us the stories they have! We were trying to catch a month old silkie chick when Lacey (Great Pyrenees) caught on. She knew she could get beneath those rabbit cages much easier than I could. So she caught the chick for me – or so I thought. But apparently she thought this was a game. She carried it carefully in her mouth as she jumped through the chicken door and out into the pasture, this little one peeping as it is being carried. Bill finally got Lacey’s attention and made her understand that it was our chick, NOT hers. She put it down and the chick is fine, though it certainly must be telling its roommates about that ride. Life even on a mini farm is simply not boring. (no photo — to busy trying to catch chick without it getting hurt).
Now the standard size chicks are in a chicken tractor in the chicken house and the bantams are in a netting enclosure over by the greenhouse.
Here they are too afraid of all this much space to move. But don’t let them fool you, they will soon be looking for escape routes.
