The girls had a great afternoon when our niece and nephew came to visit.

They had a blast running around with people their size!!!

Can't you tell:)

Seven Month Baby Bump!

Pensez-vous que l'hiver sera rude?

Our buddy is back......

A month and a half has gone by since we haven't seen his little, furry, black striped, sweet face. And I have to be honest in saying, that I was beginning to think that Ash had possibly moved on.

But I didn't give up hope. I was dreaming about him pretty regularly.  I thought it was possibly cause he was just on my mind so much. I missed him. I loved his nightly company. But when David told me that he had some dreams about him too- I knew that Ash was something important in our lives. He was more than just a wild animal getting an easy fill of food.

I was on the phone with my Mom last night talking about how for the past couple of nights- food had been disappearing from our porch again.

Yes, I still ( even though Ash wasn't showing) leaving scraps of meat on the steps in hopes that he would show and know that we still had an open door (and heart) for him.  If he didn't show the crows would get it in the morning, and I was ok with that.

But as I just mentioned, I noticed that food had disappeared from the porch before morning. "It had to be him!" I told David.  But David is the voice of reason, ad he told me it could possibly be a skunk now trained to eat hotdogs each night from our porch.  I said if it was a skunk, " then we now have a pet skunk."

But the other night, The hotdogs were gone within the hour of putting them out. And I just knew it had to be Ash- what other animal knew that when the porch gate was open, and the light on- that there would be supper ready?! Only Ash.

So after explaining this all to my Mom she came up with the great idea of putting some lime, or flour on the steps to see what animal tracks walk thru it.  Lime or flour wouldn't hurt the animal, and we would have our answer!

So after getting off the phone with her, my loving husband grabbed a cup of lime and walked out to the porch.  He made it to the door when he yelled - "He's here?!"

I ran.

My heart racing.

Outside sat out little friend. Beautiful as ever. Full tailed, and sweet faced. As if he never left us.

As you can see in the picture I can't wipe the smile off my face. Here he was back again on our porch eating some turkey meat (we had run out of hotdogs) looking at us with those big red eyes.

My heart is racing just thinking about it.

So why does this make me so happy? 

Why would a rather pesky animal to most people bring such joy to the Glory Downs Farm?

My only explanation is that God knows I see Him in all nature. 

I feel like He is sending this foxy companion as a reminder to how beautiful the natural world really is. How all creatures of Our God and King, can bring His love.  Its more than an animal drooling when he hears a bell ring (Pavlov) Its an animal warming our hearts and reminding us how sweet Our God truly is.

I look forward to hopefully seeing Ash again tonight. And I look forward to thanking God for the lovely treat that His reminder is<3

The Bee Doctor

When transporting potentially sick bees, its best to keep them in a ziplock baggie in case they puke. You don't want bee puke (which is actually honey) all over your dash would you? That stuff never comes out.

I've been observing the bee's on a regular basis now that they weather is warm, and they are getting busy.  Its nice to see any new pollen colors they are bringing in loaded to their bee knee's (true story, and true thing) and try to find out which kind of tree it has come from.  There is some sort of excitement that comes along with finding out another type of tree is now in bloom- and so early in the season too.

So upon observation yesterday (ooh that sounded smart) I noticed that the bee's have been coming in with red dots on their foreheads.  The more I watched the more I saw coming in with this war paint like dress.

My gut reaction said its "probably," pollen and not to worry- this IS the first spring I have seen bee's become active and awaken from winter slumber (gosh another smart sounding line). But my other gut (yes sometimes I have two) said "it could be mites."

Bee mites?

Yup.

They get them too- 

Its kinda like bed bugs and lice combined forces.  The varrao mite in particular will lay eggs in the broods comb (typically drones) and when the bee hatched from its comb you will see these little red dots on the bee's furry back.  The mites seem pretty harmless, but what they do is suck the hemolymph out of the poor little bee. The bee's born with the mites nesting on their bodies will emerge from their comb with what looks like shriveled wings. Most of these bee's will be unable to fly, making them utterly useless to the rest of the hive, and only consuming food stores. Eventually this mite could devastate the colony in 12 weeks time. And you as a bee keeper will be shit out of luck.

Ok- so I thought, "instead of panicking and looking up on the Internet about mites ( which will only lead to doom and gloom, and weirdo beekeepers opinions) why don't I take a couple bee's to the vet.

Alright so there is no such thing as a vet for bee's or a bee doctor, but it got you to look this far at the blog post didn't it?

Keep reading please.

I took a couple of the gals that didn't quite make it into the hive last night, and froze up on the ground.  I grabbed the ones with the most red dots on their foreheads and put them in a baggie to drive down the street to the local beekeeper and supplier.

When I walked in I was immediately dropped into a conversation about how terrible the mites were over this past winter and how colonies in the area were being tormented by these red terrors.

I swallowed hard. Here I was walking into a bee shop with a baggie full of what could be the enemy of the conversation.....just a young (maturity wise) dumb (brain wise) bee charmer, with a baggie full of bee questions.

It was my turn next to ask the owner of the shop my question. I mustered up what courage I had and swallowed any pride (for the moment) and ask my question. "Pollen, or mites?"

The answer was what I wanted to hear. It was pollen. Seems to be these gals were working so hard that when they came back to the hive to drop off their pollen store, they would cram their little heads so far into the comb that they would get this nice orange/red pollen stuck to their heads. Thus- decorating them.  

I sighed relief. 

But as the bee keepers looked at my baggie full of bees, we all seemed to realize at once that the gals had warmed back up- and were buzzing about the bag. Some were even eating the pollen off of one another, all seemingly checking on each other to make sure everyone was "ok."

I looked at the beekeepers around me and I told them that I must leave to get these gals back to work. Some chuckled while other looked at me as if a slave driver and muttered their opinions.  This, I was prepared for because bee keepers are really weird, unusual people. (but thats a story for another day) 

SO I got home and let the girls go back to work. 

Happy as can beee.

Why this is important.

"Together, we can fight a myriad of no feel goods!"

"Just ask the people who built the pyramids. They liked this stuff!

Sure they aren't around anymore, but they were smart enough to like honey and build things like pyramids.....surely they were smart about other things." "I, Honey, can do marvelous things of healing-like nature!" "I'm even good for your pets!" "Pets get allergies too!" "Whoofchoo!"

But I'm getting off point.

If this jar of honey could wear a superhero cape- it would.

Cycle, Inspire, Unite

Hey All! 

Cancer is not pink, its not a fashion statement, a passing fad, or a supporting bumper sticker on your car.  Its a terrible disease that needs a cure before it breaks our hearts anymore.   This is why I'm posting this blog. 

Cancer, hit home for us six years ago. Its been a long journey full of prayer and hope, and courage.  I know that I am not the only one affected by cancers ability to cloud our days.....  

Have you or a loved one suffered from cancer? I got a loving friend Gia, who is biking across America to raise money for cancer research. The proceeds go directly to researching for a cure to handing out hugs for the patients suffering. Here's how the donations help: 

http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2011-12-03/news/bs-ho-neighbors-ulman-fund-1204-20111201_1_colorectal-cancer-doug-ulman-cancer-survivor

Cycle, Inspire, Unite: mission statement: http://4kforcancer.org/who-we-are/our-mission/

Here's how you can help GIa reach her goal: She is biking from Baltimore, to Seattle and needs just a few more bucks to get her there!

www.4kforcancer.org/profiles/gia-sandor/

Thanks for taking the time to read and help<3

Sunny Side Day

As if heading to the beaches of Mexico, Andy Dufrense leaps from the roof of Fort Knox, after her daily escape from Shawshank.

Will she make it to Mexico and back to roost before the evening? Or will she just hang around the 

outside of the coop, eating worms, mocking the others still inside for their lack of risk?

Only Andy will know.