A good soaking, new wedding ring, bees, preparation

Over the past 24 hours we got a total of 3.5 inches of rain at the farm. That was greatly needed. As an added bonus, the temperatures dropped significantly. Our overnight temperature tonight is predicted to be 49 degrees. That is pretty cool for our area at this time. It is not a record low temperature, but it is chilly from our perspective. Overcast conditions, cooler temperatures and lighter winds than we have been dealing with recently all combined to make the last few days very enjoyable.

Our vegetable plants seemed to explode with growth overnight. They appear to like the stormy conditions. I suppose the lightening, which flashed off and on for the better part of six hours, helped with that growth. At one point, just after I had laid down, I saw the blast of a lightening flash through the heavy curtains in our bedroom. I thought to myself, “That was big!” and not three or four seconds later the percussion of the thunder accompanying that blast shook the house. I got up to check on Mama who was still on the sofa catching up on her online social attachments She excitedly asked if the rattling of the house had awakened me and even though I had not been fully asleep, I was certainly then fully awake. I am not sure how well our house would stand up to any direct assault from a really severe storm since the walls so tremble noticeably to the percussion of a close clap of thunder. We may never know, but it has been our safe refuge have so far.

Though the chilly temperature is a pleasant change for us, it is a life-threatening condition for the bees I separated out of a full hive into a much more challenging empty hive I am hoping they will quickly fill. For now, there may not be enough bees in the new hive to keep the brood warn through the cool nights. It is a lot of area to heat with the fewer occupants in the hive as it now sits. If they can make it for a few more days, they should manage, but there are no guarantees. When I made the split, the bees were very angry, very aggressive, and I got stung on my left hand several times. I do not know how the bees managed to sting me through my gloves but somehow, they did, and I have to admit to being a little hurried when I was making the split. So, in my haste, I probably exacerbated the survival issue they are dealing with. On the bright side, pulling out the frames necessary to make the split did not negatively affect to the original hive. Rather, it probably helped by adding some room to the full brood box. I will do a couple things to the new hive to help them conserve their heat and hope for the best.

Because of the stings I received, I had to cut off my wedding ring to allow for the swelling on that hand. That proved a difficult task to accomplish because the ring was tungsten and required me to use a hack saw to cut through the metal in order to split it open so it could be taken off. I have the flesh wounds to verify the story.

To replace the ring I cut off, I bought a pack of silicon rings. I do not know why I have not done that before. They are a great substitute for a metal ring and far safer. I can, for the first time in my married life, take my ring on and off at will since the flexible material easily slips over the huge knuckle on my ring finger. That’s kind of nice – and it is a lot safer and a lot cheaper. I got a pack of seven silicon rings in a variety of colors for less than seven dollars. Best of all, they are Mama approved! For lack of a better place to store the extra rings – I can only wear one at a time – Mama put them in her jewelry chest to ensure I could find them later. Probably a good idea.

I do not know if there is a real urgency, but Mama and I are beginning to set up a food bank for ourselves. I have looked online lately at freeze dried emergency food supplies, but the price is beyond our financial means and as I looked carefully at what type of food items the $850-$1000 cost for a three-month supply would provide us, many of the meals would not be something Mama or Victoria would eat. So, to meet the sense of angst I feel about accumulating an emergency supply, Mama and I have made a list of things that are readily available, easy to store and desirable enough that we would consume them in our standard diet. Having recently purchased a vacuum sealer we can secure the dry goods we are specifically accumulating and feel confident that we can set up our own emergency rations. We will save some money doing this ourselves, but we can be assured that all the food we have on hand will be eaten willingly.

As an added bonus, Mama and I are starting to dehydrate some of our fruits and vegetables to save them for future use. I wanted to avoid the thought of having everything frozen for later consumption. Freezing requires freezers and freezers require power. A I thought some of the issues through last night, as if on que, the power went out in the house. It was not out for long, but it was a good reminder that things may not always continue as they are.

Medications will be a challenging supply issue in an extended crisis, but, as much as is within my power to do so, I would like to be prepared where I can.