Episode 58: COVID-19 Sucks

Welcome viewers! Glad to have you all back.  Hello new viewers.  Don't forget to subscribe to be updated on new posts, and join our group on Ravelry.

I am DaniGirlCO on Instagram and Ravelry.  Come and follow along.
Here are the show notes for Episode 58:  

On the Needles: 
Knitting Projects - 
FO's:  
Summer Sanctuary is finished.  Ends woven, washed and blocked.

Charity Hat #2.  Child or small woman.

WIPs:
Swirl E. Socks for my niece.  Took the heel setup out and am just going to do an afterthought heel.
Blueberry Waffle socks for Brian.  Using Lollipop Yarn self-striping in Blue My Mind.  Love it, but wound in ball so can only knit one at a time.
Prayer Shawl #6 is on the hook.

Walk on the Moon started the third color.  Rows are getting looooong.

Stalking:  

Acquisitions - Hue Loco Fall 2018 colors.  Still looking for Moss.  Kit for a Bronco's hat, saving for the DCS Pigskin Party.

Spinning Projects -

Under the Needle:
Sewing Projects -  One quilt guild holding meetings, the other one not.  
Block Heads 3 by Moda, a new block every week. 
Face masks for the family.  Trying different patterns.

Beading more stitch markers.  Fall tree, fruit.

In the Garden:  perennials from High Country Gardens were hit and miss, still have areas to fill in.  Reminding people that it's xeriscape, NOT xeriscape.  Didn't pick hops this year, but they did do well.  Planted strawberries and some herbs, and didn't get to harvest all the basil before the 1st freeze.  Yes, we had snow in mid September. Fires in Colorado have left smoky skies for the last month so it's hard to work in the yard right now.  I've been watching some online courses through the CSU Extension Master Gardeners program and really enjoyed it.

In the Beeyard - n/a

Off Topic:  
Watching/Listening: Brian's been riding his new bike almost every week.  After 3 years, I finally replaced my battery and got my bike running.  Love the feeling of accomplishment (capable) of doing the work myself.  Depression is a sneaky bitch though, because I cried on my first ride and can't believe I've let this go for so long.  Have enjoyed watching football again and of course I'm doing Fantasy Football.  Josh Allen is making me points.  Go WYO! 

Thanks for watching!

Episode 56: Same As It's Always Been

Welcome viewers! Glad to have you all back.  Hello new viewers.  Don't forget to subscribe to be updated on new posts, and join our group on Ravelry.
I am DaniGirlCO on Instagram and Ravelry.  Come and follow along.
Here are the show notes for Episode 56:  

On the Needles: 
Knitting Projects - 
FO's:  

Prayer Shawl #5 in Lion Brand Homespun on K hook.

WIPs:
1898 Hat with modifications for Brian.  Doing a Latvian braid and plaid pattern, but he requested "ear flaps."

Swirl E. Socks for my niece.  Stalled out on the heel.  Cat Bordhi's Sweet Tomato Heel.

Summer Sanctuary I picked it up again.

Walk on the Moon that I started for Nashville trip.  Yarn is a dream.  

Charity Hat #2.  Using donated bulky yarn that's just sooooo smooshy.  Improvising Breckle pattern for the top, designed by my friend Shilo.

Dragon No. 34 by Shibui Knits. Ready to cast on.

Stalking:  

Acquisitions - Hedgehog Fibers alpaca boucle and Smooshy for a cowl.

Spinning Projects - A wool, silk plied together to clean up singles that have been sitting around forever.  Bled like a head wound when soaking, and I know I dyed at least the silk.
Braid from 100th Sheep in Violet Headed Hummingbird that I've divided in thirds.  Singles are spun, now on to the plying.  Traditional 3-ply.

Under the Needle:
Sewing Projects - 
Block Heads 3 by Moda, a new block every week.
Quilting workshop in Feb with MJ Kinman about quilting gems, facets, and light.  Intend to finish block I made and use for quilting practice.

Beading more stitch markers, shamrocks and koalas.  Thanks to BeadCrumbsHawaii for the pattern.

In the Garden:  

In the Beeyard - 

Off Topic:  Croatia is OFF!  Other than cancelled trip and hubby working from home, life is pretty much same as it's always been.  A few more board games, pulled out the puzzles.  we've been sitting around the fire pit in the evenings when the weather is nice.  More of those nights, although it's forecast to snow on Sunday.  Been sleeping a bit more, but surprisingly depression hasn't worsened.
Watching/Listening: Lincoln Rhymes: Hunt for the Bone Collector.  Zooming with the knit ladies.  Not the best, but getting to see the ones who've moved away is nice.

Thanks for watching!

Episode 20: The Fate of the Bees

Thanks for coming back to watch My High Plains Life!  I'd like to welcome any new viewers we have. 
I am DaniGirlCO on Instagram and Ravelry.
Here are the show notes for Episode 20:  

On the Needles: 
Knitting Projects - 
FO's: 

Eileen Tee, by Coralee Meslin, out of Tahkli Yarns Sedona in kiwi, Ends woven in.  So it's finished finished finished.

WIPs: 
Blueberry waffle socks out of MadTosh Sock in Cobbler color way, no nylon so doing heels out of diff yarn

Celtic Myths shawl, doing the fingering weight pattern and turning out much better on the edging.

Stalking - nothing, trying to finish up WIPS

Acquisitions - fabric, I've been very bad

Spinning Projects -

none

Under the Needle:
Sewing Projects - 
Nicole's wedding quilt, some new blocks, about half done point.
Jo Morton reproduction prints and patterns club called Jo's Little Women, paper pieced pineapple block table runner, and little baskets wall hanging

In the Garden: landscaper hired, now I just need to plan the perennials.  Yes I'm an engineer and have it graphed out with existing plants to determine where I want things to go.
Rhubarb is up and I've already divided three splits off it leaving plenty behind.

In the Beeyard - And the bees are . . . 
Swarm season isn't generally until May, but need to act now to prevent losing any bees.

Off Topic:  
Watching:  Grocery Girls with Jodi and Tracie.  They've only been podcasting a few months and already have almost 8000 followers!  What's up with all the Canadian podcasters?
Went to a new doctor for an independent diagnosis for disability paperwork, and left with an optimistic feeling.  Playing with my meds right now and I can tell.
Went for first motorcycle ride of the season, it was nice to get out and blow the dust off.
First fire of the year, even smoked some cigars.  Nice to hang out and talk with the hubby.

Thanks for watching!

Is Anybody Out There?

I apologize for the time warp, but there's so much more time to post during the winter, when I'm not actually handling the bees.  

Aug 2013:

I thought all of our bees would be dead by now.  What with no viable queen laying since May, they should be.  Granted, we picked up some homeless bees during the Black Forest fire, but that was in June.  It's been at least two months, during which there has been no worker brood.  What the hell is going on?  I'll tell you one thing, being a beekeeper isn't boring.  I'm sure it will be keeping me on my toes 40 years from now.

After the last hive check, where we removed the second deep box due to the drop in population, we assumed it would only be a matter of weeks before it was completely empty.  There was no sign of Queen Catherine, the Carniolan queen I tried to introduce in July.  Then I get a message from Dick saying that there were still bees flying into the hive.

Sarah, Jason and I drove out and suited up to check for ourselves.  This is what we discovered:

Pile of earth beneath where the hive used to be.

A gopher (or something, not ants) had built a little hill of earth beneath the hive.  And there were still bees left!  We knew it wasn't viable, so we made the decision to walk about 100 ft away from the hive, shake off the bees, and load the bee-free equipment in my car.  We packed it all up and left nothing but a pile of dirt with lonely bees flying around it.  

I had a few stowaways in my car, but none of them bothered me on the drive home.  I unloaded the equipment and stored it away for the winter, with plans to start again next spring.

I love bees.

Quest for the Queen

We have not had good luck with our hive this summer.  Is there a queen, is there not a queen, is Beatrice dead, do we have a laying worker . . . are they all going to die?
Then, a surprise.  We did a hive check on July 3rd, and low and behold, we had bees!  Yes, there were quite a few fuzzy drones (left behind by the laying worker, no doubt), but where we'd thought to find an almost zero population, we had bees working both boxes!  Our best guess is that our laying worker died, along with some of the original bees, and we collected some foragers from hives that were burned out in the Black Forest fire.  Without a laying worker and a decent population, we could try introducing a new queen.  We added some sugar syrup to them, and I went in on an order for a new queen from Z's Bees.  

This time I got a Carniolan queen, instead of an Italian.  While not being as big honey producers, they're even less aggressive than Italians and suited to cold climates and high elevations.  They're smaller, darker, and just as lovely.  The new queen (Queen Catherine?) arrived last Tuesday.  I picked her up, carried her around in my pocket until I could make it out to the bee yard and install her.  

Keeping Queen Catherine nice and warm

I left the cork in the cage, and placed her crossways between two frames on the bottom box.  I wanted as much access to her as possible for the worker bees.  Then I closed it all up and left them to do their thing.  I'm slightly concerned because her abdomen isn't as large or fat as most of the queens I've seen.  I'm not sure if this is because she's a Carniolan, or if she was poorly mated.  I guess we'll find out in a few weeks.

Queen Catherine and her attendants

I returned on Friday and removed the cork.  I poked a hole in the fondant, so the bees could work on releasing the queen from both sides.  There were a lot fewer bees, but hopefully enough will survive until the queen can produce a new bunch of brood.  Keep your fingers crossed!

Hardly any bees left

The World Is On Fire

For anyone in the Colorado Springs area, you already know our world is on fire.  We have fires burning to the south of us at the Royal Gorge, and the Black Forest fire to the immediate north.  The evacuation area is about 4 miles to the north of me.  It smells like a camp fire, but of course it's the pine forest and homes that are burning.

I don't know why this fire is hitting me so hard.  The Waldo Canyon fire one year ago didn't stress me out this way.  I'm having trouble knitting.  Maybe it's because I know more people who are affected by this fire.  Maybe it's because my bee yard is in a mandatory evacuation zone (and I'm still waiting for Dick to email or call me letting me know he got out OK.  Dick, you out there?).  Maybe it's because I'm paying more attention to the outside world this year.  Who knows.

I'm watching a friend's dog for a few days.  They're in a mandatory evacuation zone.  I feel slightly helpless, and being able to do something is making me feel a little better.  Several of my knit group ladies are evacuated, and they're planning a special knit group session this weekend, which unfortunately I am unable to attend.  I would love to be able to hug each of them in person, just to make sure they're good.

Beginning of the Black Forest Fire, taken Tuesday from the edge of my neighborhood.

UPDATE 6/17/13: 75% containment, 511 homes completely destroyed, 2 deaths, and thousands still in the evacuation area.  Dick's place and the hive boxes are OK.