Phoebes and free bees...

Another long time since I have blogged!  It takes forever to upload my photos, and so I procrastinate writing day after day.  Now my son has shown me how to make the photos smaller so that my slow country internet can do the job, so hopefully that will help.

I have been meaning to blog about phoebes and free bees for over a month now...but the uploading thing has kept me away...But this weekend got real exciting with the bees.

We have had bees "hiving" in our chimney since we moved in.  We noticed them in mid-March, when the weather got unseasonably warm for a few days.

This isn't the best pic but it is difficult to zoom in and keep a steady hand when the bees are so far up.
We called a local beekeeper about coming to rescue them, but he kept assuring us that when May came and the weather was consistently warm, he would come and deal with them.

Yesterday, while working in the garden, we heard an incredible loud buzzing, and looked up at the chimney to see this.

"Our" bees were swarming!!!  They buzzed out of the chimney and into a nearby tree, where they all grouped together to protect the queen.

I called our local bee hotline, and was given so much information.  They hung like this on the tree for about 3 hours, apparently the queen sending out her scouts to find a suitable cavity to move to.  Once a new home was found, she gave the signal, and within seconds they all flew off over the house and down towards a local vineyard.

Amazing!!!  The beekeeper said that very few people actually get to witness such an event.  He said that approximately 60% of the hive will leave to set up new digs, so we do still have bees in our chimney, and probably a large quantity of honey as well.  He said it is better to wait until January to deal with them.  We are going to go to the next beekeepers meeting and learn more, and possibly be beekeeping apprentices.  There has been a very rapid decline in the honey bee population in the past few years, and apparently these Niagara bees have some special adaptation that has made them immune to the devastating mite.  Sounds interesting!!!

And these lovely phoebes have also decided to nest under the overhang of our side porch.

They sing "phoebe, phoebe" and have the distinctive habit of bobbing their tail as they sit.

Sarah thinks it is all quite fascinating.

So do we!!

Aplaca shearing...

It has been so busy around here (and my internet is being very slow) that I haven't had the time to get on here and update y'all.  There is really too much to tell in one post...bathroom almost done, lighting in, bedrooms painted...so one thing at a time.  That one thing would be alpaca shearing.

The couple who bought the alpacas a month or so ago, invited me to come to watch the shearing, and a few weeks ago I did just that.  What an experience!!  I am watching this all happen and snapping photos and thinking to myself, "Who gets to do THIS??!!!  I get to do THIS!!  Life is adventure."

First, these two shearers lead one of the alpacas to the mat, and put each of their feet into a harness.  Once they bring the animal down, these harnesses keep it still and stretched out so that the shearing process is safe and fast.

Once down, one shearer stays with the head of the animal, talking to it, keeping it calm.  The other begins the shearing, starting with the "blanket", which is the flank and midsection.  The fleece around this area is No. 1/top grade of the alpaca fleece.  As the fleece is removed it is put into a bag, one bag for top grade, another for second grade and another for discards.  Each alpaca has three separate bags and all is labelled and kept separate.  The animal is amazingly calm for the whole process.

They even get a new hair do!

A pedicure!!

And a grinding down of their teeth!  Then they look all pretty....and very skinny with no fleece!

All the white or tan alpacas were sheared first.  And then they began on the darker coloured ones.  This little darker one was having his very first shearing, and the shearers took his "blanket" off all in one piece, and it was absolutely incredible...thick and soft and almost black!!!

It was a great morning, and so interesting.  These guys know so much about what they do and are happy to tell you everything they know, so it was very educational.  They say that they will shear about 1800 animals this spring!

I will try to get some more of the house progress up tomorrow.  Off to do errands now.

Chef at work...

We finally have our kitchen together enough for J to come and cook us dinner.  The wait was definitely worth it.

He did have some help!

But mostly he just had company and admirers and supervisors!!

 

Including Sarah cat.  I absolutely love this Monet-inspired table cloth...it is so happy and spring-y.

Curried lentil soup and salad, then herb-encrusted lamb and mushroom risotto and then a cheese plate afterwards...it was all soooo good.  Thanks J!!

This is our new kitchen chandelier.  We found it at the thrift store for only $15, and then spray painted over the brass and the electrician wired it in just the other day.  It looks beautiful when lit.

We have been looking for a big harvest table made with reclaimed lumber, and were hoping for one large enough to seat about 8-10 people.  While at the antique store recently, the woman there said she knew of one for sale, but it was for seating 12-14!!!  We are actually going to go have a look at it!  The Lord is really changing our hearts and preparing them to receive people into our home.  Hospitality has never been one of my gifts.  In fact, it has always stressed me out a little because I am so not good at it.
But we are so sure that this house is a gift and we are SURE that it is way too big for us, and we keep getting pictures in our mind of it full of people.  A place of sanctuary and peace and restoration.  We continue to look with anticipation to what God will work in and through it.

When I in awesome wonder...

"Oh Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder...."

Consider all the world thy hands have made...

...thy power throughout the universe displayed...

Then sings my soul, my Saviour God to thee...

How great thou art...how great thou art!!"

And when I think that God, His Son not sparing
Sent him to die, I scarce can take it in;
That on the cross, my burden gladly bearing
He bled and died to take away my sin.

G. K. Chesterton said that, "Our world is not lacking in wonders, but it is lacking in a sense of wonder."

Our message in church today was all about making time to cultivate a sense of wonder.  I did that today.  I hope you did also.

Kitchen coming together...

If there is one thing that we are learning from the adventure with this house, it is that one thing builds upon another, and that patience is the order of the day.  It is a lesson in foundations.  Step five can not be done before step one and that is just the way it is.  When we get overwhelmed, we remind ourselves of this, and that we just take the step before us, one at a time.  It is a lesson applicable to many areas of life and one that I am finally learning to walk out in peace.

The kitchen is coming together.  Nothing could really be done until the floors were done.  But once that was all completed, progress was rapid.

We sanded the top of the "island", painted it, added new hardware and then moved it out to enlarge the kitchen space a little and now it is functional.  We need a few more stools!  Because the room is so large and bright, it really needed something to anchor it...so the bold wallpaper on the one wall helps to do just that.  The window frames still need painting, the dishwasher still needs to be installed, there is one set of cabinets still to paint, the electrician still has to install the lighting....but it is coming together.

This houses my Crazy Daisy pyrex!

When I start setting up little corners and canning salsa, I know that I am settling in.

Today is a day of rest.  I need to remember to take them.  Balance.  Today, "my girls" are coming over for tea and to share with each other our lives and what God has been teaching us.  It is a time of encouragement and community.  It is one of the many blessings in my life for which I am thankful.

Sharing our home...

Easter weekend!!  Two blessed mornings at church, being reminded of Jesus' awe-some gift to us!!

Two beautiful sunny days!  Family and friends to share our new home!!

Kordan and Lizzie came to stay for the weekend and it was great to catch up on their lives and to spend some concentrated time with them. 

Kordan's buddy Kyle dropped by and, along with Neil, went for a long bike ride around the escarpment.  While they were cycling, we went to a few local antique stores and found the cabinet/dresser that will be changed into our bathroom vanity.

Jarin and her good friend, Katie, enjoying a cuppa!

Lizzie on the tire swing!

Sitting around the campfire both nights!

Visitors who dropped by that we weren't quick enough to get a photo of were Barney and Cheryl, Jenny, Ty, and Dave.
We burned a whole lot of debris from the house renos and from the garden/yard over the weekend.  It was nice to get some things cleaned up.

This is our blackboard wall and this is the precise reason that we wanted one in the kitchen...so that people could play.

We are very thankful, once again, for the gift of this house and this land and were so very blessed to have had so many friends and family enjoy it too.

Alpaca moving day...

Our little herd of alpacas were moved this weekend to much, much greener pastures.  We met at 9 am, with a horse trailer and some additional hands to help.  The first group of five were the most difficult to move from the field to the trailer, mainly because no one really knew what they were doing.

These are the "girls" before they knew what was about to happen.  And this couple are their new owners...don't they look like great farmers?!
We let them eat and enjoy the peace, while the "engineers" figured out the whole trailer scenario and how to get it as close to the gate as possible, so that we would not have a herd of alpacas roaming down the middle of the local road.

The best strategy, in the end, was to hold a rope between a few of us, and herd just 4 or so alpacas down the field toward the trailer.

Then they kind of freaked out a little, and in the end it was just men and women lifting alpacas.

But, after three trips from our place to their new home, we got them all there safely.

As you can see, they really are in greener pastures, and seem to be enjoying their new "digs".

Their pen area at our place will stay fenced, and over the summer we will till it and add mulch and garden waste and try to condition the soil so that next year we can plant a vegetable garden there.

A good day!