A busy Saturday

Mama and I went shopping Friday evening. I had to exchange a saw blade I had bought at Harbor Freight and she had to check out Hobby Lobby. We did not stay out long and were back home a little after 7 pm. When we got back home, I went to work getting the swarm traps ready to set out. It is a little early, but I thought I should get it done since the colonies in all our hives are very busy right now. I spent an hour or so in the shop rearranging again and was very pleased with the new setup.  Early Saturday morning I set one trap in a tree at the East edge of our property and since I had enough frames to do so I set a trap near the active hives at the South side of the property. This time, I will check the traps several times per week to ensure we do not let the bees they attract get too far ahead of me in building their new home. I only have one hive available so I will keep only one swarm, but I have plenty of people in the Bee Club who will take the other swarm should I be able to attract two swarms. I consider it part of our conservation service to get as many swarms into domestic hives as I am able to catch. When I checked the trap nearest the hives yesterday evening, I saw a lone bee checking out the trap. I will check the one I hung in a tree this evening.

Mama went to Trade Days so I took on the chore of cleaning the coops. I also cleaned and sanitized the boy goat’s shelter. It was long overdue. In order to house the waste from the coops I expanded our compost bin. Now we have the extra capacity we need to keep things clean. Once I was done scraping the floors of the coops, I got the tractor fired up and swapped the hay forks for the bucket and attached the brush hog to the tractor. That took a lot longer than I thought it would – almost an hour – but I did get it done. I was able to get in the garden with the tractor and shred a lot of the accumulation of leaves near the raised bed. I do not have room to maneuver the tractor in all the areas I needed to take care of the piles of leaves, but I got what I could. I felt a little better about it. One of the issues with having the leaves cover the ground is the possibility of snakes hiding in those leaves. Especially copperheads. That is why I like to get them all removed. I have waited a little longer than I usually do to get them cleaned up, but I will get it done eventually.

I moved on to taking apart pallets I had stacked behind the pig pen, but I only got three of those pallets disassembled before I needed to shift gears. Trace, Krystal and their crew were coming over for a meal of burgers, sausages and hot dogs. I took the boys fishing for an hour or so just to keep them occupied while Trace went to pick up Krystal and Savanna. Trace and the boys had been working at BBTI. Leo was the only one of us that caught a fish. It was a good one, but we released it back into the lake. No sense getting all the required tools to clean only one fish. Mama seasoned the burgers and they turned out great. I had not eaten since very early in the day, so I was hungry when the food was finally served. We sat around and talked for quite a while as the boys played outside. They were in no hurry to leave and we were not in a hurry for them to go.

When I went out to close up the chickens, I found all the chickens roosted at various places near the coop. The boys had closed the gate to the coop yard and the chickens could not get back inside – so they did the best they could. We have repeatedly cautioned the boys to keep the gates shut – and they did. We just forgot to make clear that that one gate has to remain open. It took only a few minutes for all of us to get the chickens back into the coop and close them up properly, but it was a hilarious few minutes. None of the boys wanted to touch a chicken so they were more in the way than they were a help to me and Mama, but Trace managed to catch a few and get them into the coop. It all ended well.

Sunday afternoon we went to Grandma and Grandpa’s to meet Norman. He had set aside a set of five tires for me to use on the truck. They are not new, but they match, they are a very good brand, and they have twenty or thirty thousand miles left in them. I will get them mounted as soon as possible. Having five will allow me to replace the spare tire also. They should do me for several years. We were supposed to pick up a chair also, but for some reason I was not informed about that, so we left without it. Mama and I will go back this evening to retrieve the chair. It will replace the one recliner we kept from the pair we bought years ago in New Jersey. Mama is thrilled about that upgrade. I am pleased with the tire upgrade. A win-win.

Norman is vacating the place where he has been living in West Virginia and moving to Florida. So, all his belongings are being brought to Grandma and Grandpa’s house. If that move actually happens, Grandma and Grandpa will go with him. They are excited about it, but they are trying not to show it.
It would be a good move for them, and it would help Norman to protect his homestead as he works his business hauling for hire.

Another win-win.