weekending

friday night dinner out, just us girls, to the thai place in town
followed by close to an hour at the nearby playground (which we had all to ourselves) sliding and chasing and playing together like puppies
I needed that
we needed that, she and I
that hour dedicated solely to just goofing off together and playing
no chores calling my name, no laundry or what-have-you
she just kept laughing, saying "this is FUN!"
oh yes, my sweet one, it is

saturday morning breakfast scramble and coffee, fresh-squeezed grapefruit/orange juice
followed by a trip to the annual plant sale at the UNCA Botanical Gardens
we are changing things over, swapping non-native species for native, adding edibles wherever we can

we came away with quite a bit (pictured above), more than we planned:

-native witch hazel (this is what I was going for and there was one there, just one, waiting for me...)
-soloman's seal
-heuchera
-false indigo
-elderberry
-marginal wood fern
-southern lady fern
-sweet spire
-columbine
-beauty berry
-some zinnias & geraniums for instant gratification
-2 tiny black eyed susans and 1 tiny echinacea, picked up for $0.50 each at the rummage/plant sale at the Unitarian church down the road (I also scored a giant pine cone for free and a compost container with the little filters in it for $1.50)

we spent quite a bit of time moving plants around, digging some up, planting others and trying to come up with a general plan for things (plant things, anyway... I won't pretend to have a "general plan" for much else)

we opened up the hives, anxious to see what was happening and curious about the observation that the weaker hive now seemed to be a lot more active than the other....... we nervously peeked in and saw....

things are looking quite fantastic in there, really.  we think it's all good, maybe some of the bees just decided to go back to their original hive, who knows.  it doesn't look like a bunch of robber bees as far as we can tell. (which isn't particularly far but that's alright) we'll continue to keep a close eye on things

we saw both queens (we got them marked this year for quick and easy identification, best $3 I've spent in a long time..... it's so nice to just be able to see her quickly and not have to search)

they are drawing out comb like nobody's business, making bee babies and storing some honey
bringing in pollen on their heavy little bee legs and doing their little waggle dances for each other to tell everyone where the good stuff's at

we aren't using foundation this year, but are instead letting them draw their own comb from scratch
I was amazed to see how white it is
and so strikingly beautiful in it's pureness and not-so-simple-really simplicity
I have plans for a detailed bee post soon with way more pictures than anyone other than me probably cares to see, but I want Mike to write the actual nitty gritty of it since he's the one who is all on top of our new approach to things this year
coming soon, I hope

we picked a bowl full of strawberries and gobbled them up still warm from the sun


coffee and french toast Sunday morning and then

we spent ALL DAY outside busting our rears in the garden and yard (Mike's rear, especially)
by noon he'd mowed the lawn, worked on framing the stairs for the deck, taken down a large ugly shrub from our front yard and a small cherry tree for a neighbor (who is planting hazelnuts and pecans in it's place, mmmmmmm), and was on his way up three large white oaks to prune out dead wood

after a brief rest he was back at it, working on the deck and turning more of our lawn into garden so that we can squeeze in more tomatoes...
I transplanted seedlings, mulched, moved plants, pulled out plants, sifted compost and hung with Claire
we ate another large handful of strawberries
then ate dinner outside
watching the chickadees, wrens and robins on their nests nearby
oh, and a phoebe too, but we don't see her much


I may have started a bad habit tonight... blogging a bit while sitting on the toilet (like a chair, you know, not actually using it...... don't know if I'd admit to that or not) as she bathed.

well then

I'm tired
he must be exhausted

good night~




*linking up with amanda at habit of being