i am impatient and want my yard, the first i have ever "owned", to be fabulous. instead, there is a gaping hole where paul ripped out a scraggly bush, a rotted stump that has spooky crevices where some troll might live, and plastic kid toy junk all over it. at the end of the day, i am plumb tuckered, and so this mess remains.
i'd have no problem if this was the backyard, where things can hide. but we have only a small-ish side yard, and so everything is visible and out there, and i kinda feel like "that house".
then, at the same time, fuck it---only about 28,953 things go on in a day around here to worry about it so.....but it's harder to say that than it is to keep trying to pick up, for some reason......
i dunno, what is the american obsession with yards anyway? i heard this ridiculous pesticide radio ad that rhymed "lawns are for hugs, not bugs." oh yeah, how bout a nice healthy hug after rolling around on my SPRAYED lawn. better than a bug bite! .....dumbasses.
the yard, when "finished" will have little to no grass. any bug that wants to can make a home in the flowers--although i will admit ticks sort of freak me out. there will be a few brick pathways and a few sitting area/hidden alcove type things for the kids. if all goes well, my dear husband will have purchased for me the 10 foot granite rooster i've had my eye on, or some other fitting statue, to grace the gardens witb ridiculousness. it will be photo worthy......
Trisha's Journal
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06/18/2008 14:17 #44702
exhaustion vs trashiness05/28/2008 10:25 #44471
more bzthe sound when i open a hive up is so incredible. it's surprisingly soothing. a lot of people are creeped out when i tell them about it, but a lot think it's awesome too. it is awesome. these photos are blurry but the others have too big of a file size, and i'm too hassled to try to figure out compression and all that jazz. in any case.....things are going swimmingly. not only will i have honey next year, but the fruit trees around the area should produce much better in the next year or 2.
between 2 frames
nice comb
queen josephine right in the middle there
between 2 frames
nice comb
queen josephine right in the middle there
05/16/2008 08:43 #44358
god save the queens
holy shit! i guess i could call myself a beekeeper now. this is a crappy photo, i keep meaning to take more but as soon as i open the hives up, i forget all about it. i never had a hobby before, where you forget all about the outside world. well, except reading, but you know. so passive.
queens jolene and josephine are thriving and laying eggs just fine, i believe. it's so neat to find her, so different amongst thousands, but hardworking in her way as well. jolene is more aggressive and the workers bang against my veil trying to attack. josephine nicely chills out, though it might have something to do with the fact that i usually open it up second and by then my smoker is going a little stronger. eh. maybe, maybe not.
i stole my first taste of honey yesterday from some comb i had to rip off. oh. my. god.
all in all things are going fantastically, i couldn't be more pleased! if they continue this way, i might just get a few jars this year instead of the none i had been planning on.
springfaerie - 05/17/08 16:40
I'm so, so, so happy that things are going well with your hives! I can't wait to see you all decked out in your bee-keeper gear!
I'm so, so, so happy that things are going well with your hives! I can't wait to see you all decked out in your bee-keeper gear!
paul - 05/16/08 09:37
Thats so cool. I think it would be great to have bes. Where do you live that you can do this? Or is it something someone can do in a city?
Thats so cool. I think it would be great to have bes. Where do you live that you can do this? Or is it something someone can do in a city?
04/28/2008 21:54 #44175
bee mommalike any new mother, i am nervous and scared kinda shitless, for soon 18,000 odd stingly flying honeymakin insects will be my charges. also i am nervous because this DEMANDS that i not just dabble in a renaissancelike knowledge of things, like all "lah-tee-dah, that's cool to know, i could totally ace that jeopardy category," as i am wont to say to myself. if i want honey (uh, YES) and if i want the bees to thrive and go forth and multiply (yeah!), i probably should know what i'm doing a little. and i just....DON't. right now, anyway. books can only take you so far, and to be honest i've been damned lazy about the reading in any case.
i am hoping it IS sort of like parenting, and you quickly get the basic hang of it or just suffer. they will for the most part take care of themselves (i hope the queen kicks ass).... and for the most part i will learn this year and not get any honey for meself. some pro at the meetings said after 25+ years you still realize how much you don't know. so that's ok. that's good.
i'm just feeling sort of like "what the hell did i get myself into??" ---all based on some romantic view i had of dancing insects, flower juice, and hexagons. god.
i am hoping it IS sort of like parenting, and you quickly get the basic hang of it or just suffer. they will for the most part take care of themselves (i hope the queen kicks ass).... and for the most part i will learn this year and not get any honey for meself. some pro at the meetings said after 25+ years you still realize how much you don't know. so that's ok. that's good.
i'm just feeling sort of like "what the hell did i get myself into??" ---all based on some romantic view i had of dancing insects, flower juice, and hexagons. god.
imk2 - 05/16/08 13:50
hopefget they won't get that weird bee virus that's been going around Killing bees
hopefget they won't get that weird bee virus that's been going around Killing bees
04/07/2008 21:26 #43942
i love housespaul once asked me what i love about buffalo, and it was during an i hate buffalo ebb. after thinking real hard, i answered "the houses." you could walk for hours, and spot hundreds of nifty little details you wouldn't find repeated elsewhere. there are some gems here too, but i really miss that about buffalo. god i could never live in the south, where so much is new.
for fun, i sometimes browse e-house plans but have been having some disturbing realizations come out of it. it's almost impossible to find one without the palatial master suite, which says a lot about homeowner/mom/dad/queen/king type stuff, and entitlement. then the outsides just look like monstrosities. it is the kind of "luxury" that is so barf-o-rama, new money & tasteless. i don't really get the whole "let's have an open floor plan downstairs" mentality when your bedrooms are compartmentalized and often, the "master suite" is set so so far away from the kids' rooms. if they cried in the night, they would have to mop up their own tears in their own bathroom, or run about 2K to the parents' room. that is so so sad.
i love this house, it's feeling more and more like ours (it's beginning to absorb us now)--- but i do not think it is the last house i will live in. i do not know where life will take us, maybe we will stay or go...if we stay eventually i would love to build a house, one i laid out a floor plan for myself, maybe partially dug into the earth. it would be so odd to live in a house no one else ever lived in.
for fun, i sometimes browse e-house plans but have been having some disturbing realizations come out of it. it's almost impossible to find one without the palatial master suite, which says a lot about homeowner/mom/dad/queen/king type stuff, and entitlement. then the outsides just look like monstrosities. it is the kind of "luxury" that is so barf-o-rama, new money & tasteless. i don't really get the whole "let's have an open floor plan downstairs" mentality when your bedrooms are compartmentalized and often, the "master suite" is set so so far away from the kids' rooms. if they cried in the night, they would have to mop up their own tears in their own bathroom, or run about 2K to the parents' room. that is so so sad.
i love this house, it's feeling more and more like ours (it's beginning to absorb us now)--- but i do not think it is the last house i will live in. i do not know where life will take us, maybe we will stay or go...if we stay eventually i would love to build a house, one i laid out a floor plan for myself, maybe partially dug into the earth. it would be so odd to live in a house no one else ever lived in.
metalpeter - 04/08/08 20:19
I just wanted to add that you are thinking about right now that you want the kids bedroom near yours so you can hear them. But see in the future you want it the other way around. You don't want to hear there music and if when they are older you or one of them is having sex you don't want either you or them to hear the others. My point is that what is good for now will change at a latter date. I don't own a house but I like pocket doors because they give the option of things being open or you can close off rooms. What is kinda annoying is when you have to go through one room to get to the kitchen and the kitchen doens't lead any where else, or when there are two bedrooms and only one of them leads to the bathroom, I did see that someplace but not sure where.
I just wanted to add that you are thinking about right now that you want the kids bedroom near yours so you can hear them. But see in the future you want it the other way around. You don't want to hear there music and if when they are older you or one of them is having sex you don't want either you or them to hear the others. My point is that what is good for now will change at a latter date. I don't own a house but I like pocket doors because they give the option of things being open or you can close off rooms. What is kinda annoying is when you have to go through one room to get to the kitchen and the kitchen doens't lead any where else, or when there are two bedrooms and only one of them leads to the bathroom, I did see that someplace but not sure where.
libertad - 04/08/08 07:52
That is one of the two things I like about Buffalo. The other would be the people. Really the houses are so great though. It can be tough watching some of them be neglected.
That is one of the two things I like about Buffalo. The other would be the people. Really the houses are so great though. It can be tough watching some of them be neglected.
tinypliny - 04/08/08 03:12
I am with Paul and also with the rest of you. I like open floor plans a lot. It just feels natural to be able to walk through from niche to niche without missing a beat. BUT I hate getting foodie smells all over my bed or my clothes. So I would love to have some limiting doors to the kitchen or to places with furnitures/objects which would take the smell on.
I am with Paul and also with the rest of you. I like open floor plans a lot. It just feels natural to be able to walk through from niche to niche without missing a beat. BUT I hate getting foodie smells all over my bed or my clothes. So I would love to have some limiting doors to the kitchen or to places with furnitures/objects which would take the smell on.
jenks - 04/08/08 01:06
i'm with you. hate the stupid mcmansions.
i'm with you. hate the stupid mcmansions.
drew - 04/07/08 22:35
but an open floor plan helps the party flow from the kitchen!
but an open floor plan helps the party flow from the kitchen!
paul - 04/07/08 22:02
I hate open floor plans. I get all agoraphobic without pocket doors keeping everything separate. No seriously though, I really do like having a kitchen with doors that close because then when something burns in the kitchen or you are frying bacon, it ends up smelling everything up.
I hate open floor plans. I get all agoraphobic without pocket doors keeping everything separate. No seriously though, I really do like having a kitchen with doors that close because then when something burns in the kitchen or you are frying bacon, it ends up smelling everything up.
drew - 04/07/08 21:41
I, too, am trying to open up the floor plan of my home. I like it when everything is accessible to the kitchen.
I, too, am trying to open up the floor plan of my home. I like it when everything is accessible to the kitchen.
james - 04/07/08 21:39
Buffalo has some amazing houses, and I am totally with you on the giant suite/false sense of entitlement thing.
But I love open floor plans. I love them so much. These cramped victorian quarters make me claustrophobic sometimes and there is no novelty like riding a bike in your own home.
Buffalo has some amazing houses, and I am totally with you on the giant suite/false sense of entitlement thing.
But I love open floor plans. I love them so much. These cramped victorian quarters make me claustrophobic sometimes and there is no novelty like riding a bike in your own home.
I used to harvest honey with my grandpa. It's the coolest thing I can remember doing as a child.
do they make the comb themselves, or do you like put in a starter frame and they fill it with honey? apparently I know nothing about bees. way cool though. have you been stung? i work with a girl who was a beekeeper for a lab or something... said after being stung a few HUNDRED times she stopped counting. said it's easier to wear no equipment and get in and out quickly and deal with a few stings, then to get all suited up and smoke etc, b/c she said that makes them a lot more mad. *shrug* I certainly don't know.