The English Armchair Abroad

Bees - Follow up

The sun was shining this morning, the wind had calmed down and the chill was out of the air so hubby and I went up to find out once and for all what was going on.  I want to thank Jen from  The Domestik Goddess  for her comment on my previous bee post  and her subsequent advice and help when I emailed her.  The kindness of strangers takes on a new meaning in the blogging world.

We took the opportunity to open both hives and the good news is that the queen is definitely in the strong hive - we found her - and there was evidence in the form of easily visible larvae that she is laying.  There were very little honey stores - the bees store honey in the frames and consume it as they need - but the fondant icing which I put there earlier in the winter has hardly been touched.  We know they are out flying and bringing in lots of pollen and the Oil Seed Rape crops are flowering in our area.  It isn't time yet to put on a super - a super is a second box with smaller frames which goes on top of the main brood box and this is where the bees put the surplus honey; in other words OUR honey! - but it seems, at least, that all is well.

The bad news, albeit not unexpected, is that the second hive is definitely no more.  It had plenty of bees from the first hive in there "robbing" whatever was left in the way of stores and honey and I can only say they've done a remarkably good job of emptying it out.  So we left it open and will go up later to collect the hive and the frames - we tried to brush the bees off but there always more to take their place so we decided to leave them to it.  Our consolation, and it's not much, is that the colony that died was the very aggressive colony so at least we no longer have that to contend with.  The remaining bees are so docile you can stroke them!

Our concern now is why did that colony die?  It has always been the weaker of the two and I am fairly sure that the problems started with my beginner's clumsiness.  I suspect that it just never recovered.  If that's the case then we can learn from our lesson and move on.  If, however, it was because of disease then the worry is that the remaining hive will be diseased also.  I don't think there is anything we can do other than wait and see.

Google Page Rank - blah blah blah!

Congratulations to one of my favourite bloggers, Polly Peirce who has managed to achieve that almost impossible accolade:  a Google Page Rank.  Boy, I'm jealous!  Why does it matter?  I don't know really but certainly it's an indication that people are reading your blog.

In desperation I asked my techie son if there was anything I could do to improve my chances of a Google Page Rank.  I was expecting some sort of explanation about SEO's, keywords, links, trackback, followed by a happy half hour being shown what to do - ie he does it for me.  How silly can you get?  I should have known that all my new-found enthusiasm was going to get the following response:

"Sure, write about something people actually want to read about.  That might help."  Grrrrr!

Bees - dead or alive

I am now totally confused.  I have two hives in our garden and since the end of last season I have been concerned about one of them, frankly believing it would not survive the winter into this spring.  We are new to beekeeping and so inexperience was bound to play a part in the destiny of this poor colony.

Still, it was still very much alive on Friday morning.  I had a quick peak under the crown board and bees were definitely there.  They have stores in their frames and in addition I had put a candy feed in there for them.

Saturday was a lovely sunny day with lots of wind.  The bees from the strong colony were out collecting but as usual the weak colony were doing nothing visible outside the hive.



This is the strong hive - I'm not the best photographer in the world and bees have a habit of moving just as the shutter goes down.  Still, if you look carefully you can just see a couple of yellow sacks of pollen being taken into the hive.

That was at 10am.  At 12 noon I went up there again and what a difference.  Bees were EVERYWHERE and all over both hives.  By some quirk the strong colony are yellow bees and the weak one has black bees (don't ask, I'm not sure!).  It was the yellow bees I could see and a fair few dead black bees lying on the ground.  I came to the conclusion the hive was being robbed of its honey.  This usually happens when the colony is unable to protect it through weakness or ill health.  I wasn't totally surprised but as I was on my own I couldn't open up the hive to see what was going on inside.  With so many dead black bees lying on the ground I came to the conclusion that the poor things hadn't made it and the colony was dead.

This morning I went up to the hives again.  A wet morning I thought I would open up the "dead" hive and take it back to the barn to clean it up.  Luckily I opened it up carefully (I hadn't bothered to put my veil on - oh how stupid can I be?) as it was full of bees buzzing happily!  Unfortunately I had to close it up quickly and didn't get a good enough look to see the colour of the bees.

Now I have a a whole host of questions.  Are the black bees dead or alive?  If they are dead who is in the hive?  Did the strong colony perhaps swarm and are now happily rearranging the furniture?  That would, I believe, be unusual.  If the rain ever eases up I will go back there today with my keen-eyed son and take another proper look.  I will keep you posted but if my typing is erratic you'll know the bees have had the last, stinging, laugh.

Recycling waste

About six years ago our youngest son came back from school and gave me grief about the rubbish bin in the kitchen.  I had a composting bin for fruit/vegetable scraps but everything else went in the bin.  We probably got through a couple of bin bags per day mostly with that wretched packaging that covers everything from toys to meat in the supermarket.  And so it was, with this 8 year old giving his mother a hard time, that we entered the world of recycling.  We were both late in world terms and early in local French terms.

We had to start gradually.  I put three plastic boxes in the shed outside the kitchen and spent ages taking out of the bin what others, less keen than me and R, had put in.   Then I realised that one of the biggest problems was that the rest of the family simply couldn't be bothered to take the trip across to the shed - well, it must have been at LEAST five metres and just occasionally it was even RAINING!  So I bought the plastic boxes inside the kitchen and that changed everything.  Now we empty the bin about twice a week, three times if we have a lot of people staying.

Soon afterwards our department bought in a recycling system coupled with an incentive:  a reduction in our council tax if we recycled more.  Basically we would pay for 26 rubbish collections per year and would be charged more for each collection over the 26.  They too decided to make it easy and provided us with special bins so we no longer have to go to the dump - although we can for larger items.

What happens to all the stuff we recycle?  A lot of it is plastic so I went on the hunt to find out what recycled plastic can be used for.  I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised.  It turns out all that plastic waste from supermarket packaging goes ... straight back to wrap up dog food and the like!

Take a look at HDPE Regrind if you want to read more.

Birthday presents

So what do you give your husband on his 52nd birthday?  It's not easy.  Especially as I've asked him what he wants every week since Christmas and all he ever says is "Oh I don't know.  It's too far away to think about that now." 
Well inevitably the date got closer but he didn't change his reply.  Perhaps a new calendar would have been appropriate.  The only suggestion he has given is a kayak.  We have a river near here and I must admit kayaking down the river is lovely.  Coming back up again is another matter!  Anyway, we can hire kayaks not too far away and given the price of one we can probably hire several!

So, obviously, I bought him an egg incubator.  He loves the chickens, we have a cockerel, it just seemed obvious.  And it was original.  (I might add there are other presents coming but Amazon has let me down for the first time ever.) 

We celebrated his birthday the evening before so that Granny and Mrs G could be with us.  He was given two kiwi plants by Mrs G - a male and a female as you need a pair to produce fruit;  what else from a gynae! - and a wonderful book from Granny.  Oldest son gave  him a very smart tennis bag as he's in the village team this year and it looks better than a supermarket bag.  Youngest son's present hasn't arrived yet and middle son is away.  That just left mine which he kept until last.  There were the usual comments about my wrapping paper - old newspapers as I prefer to spend the extra two quid on the present and not on the paper - and then as he carefully unwrapped it a silence followed by "What on earth has she bought me now?"  General laughter and then a conversation explaining the facts of chicken life to Granny who couldn't quite work out how we knew if the eggs would be fertilised or not - over to Mrs G who has more experience than us at explaining these things...even to octogenarians!

But the best remark came as we went up to bed.  "Thank you darling for my incubator.  It's just what I've always wanted!"

I will let you know how we get on with our first batch of home grown chickens.  He is actually quite excited now - I mean, he can kayak down the river at any time can't he?

              

What makes blogging fun?

Now there's a question and I really don't know the answer.  I do know that since this blog started I've had enormous fun looking at other blogs and then of course I look at links they have to other blogs.  And so it goes on.  Wasting time my 14 year old calls it.  I prefer to call it research.

I can't remember how I found Pollys Peri-wrinkles & Piercings.  I sort of stumbled across it I think.  I love reading her muses on life and about her work making cards and wedding stationery.  Well, with any luck I won't be needing any wedding stationery but I am thrilled that I am the winner of a competition she ran on her blog and I'll soon be receiving some of her hand-made cards.  She has even been kind enough to say she will include an embossed card for me to send on to Blind Granny.  I will let you know when they arrive but in the meantime she has an Etsy Shop where you can see some of the work she has for sale.  It's early days for the shop and like all these things will take a bit of time to get going but I'm sure it will be a great success.

Shrinking Jeans

It is a truth universally acknowledged that an octogenarian Granny in possesion of any appetite at all must be in want of regular meals and good food.  As a result my jeans seem to have shrunk.  I can think of no other reason for the tightness around my thighs...So I'm back on a diet and daren't wash the jeans until some sort of order has been restored.

Actually, I blame the gynaecologist.  She made mealtimes such fun that we just sat there open mouthed and wide-eyed as she told us, not stories as she was never indiscreet, but anecdotes or just one-liners.  Granny told her about her elderly brother-in-law having to take a heart pill when he was driving around the Winchester by-pass.  "Oh yes," said Mrs G, "That pill is well known.  Men particularly like taking it as it helps them in bed."
Or slightly more explicit words to that effect.

Anyway, as a result more cheese was consumed and cheese goes on bread and you can't possibly eat cheese in France without a good glass of red wine.  No wonder my jeans have shrunk.

Mrs G's parting shot was at airport security.  My husband ran a toy/gadget company until two years ago.  Sadly it closed but we still have a room full of samples and old stock.  One of the most popular things he sold was a "humdinger".  Basically a large piece of fluff with eyes on it which would react to noise or bumps by laughing and jiggling up and down.  Mrs G was thrilled when he gave her two of these for her granddaughters.  Into her handbag they went and all was well until security searched her bag.  They put the bag down quite hard and of course the wretched humdingers started jiggling around.  Eyebrows were raised and questions asked.  "Oh, that's just my vibrators," said Mrs G, "I thought it would be easier if I kept them in my handbaggage".  Eyebrows shot up even higher and jaws were heard hitting the floor.

The extraordinary thing about Mrs G is that she looks just like everyone's image of "a little old lady".  She could be cast as Miss Marple in the next Agatha Christie.  Until she started changing the script that is!

      

 

Living in a parallel universe

My mother-in-law came to stay for Easter and bought with her a 76-year old still working doctor/gynecologist.  The mix has been explosive in the sense of total chaos and ridiculous conversations along the lines of:

"Can you pass the bread?" 
"Whose dead?"

Generally I feel as though I've been travelling through a parallel universe watching chaos all around.  But it's been great fun.  Apart from anything else my children have discovered that perhaps having a gynae mum would be even more embarrassing than the mum they have.  Conversation has been surreal. 

Tomorrow they are leaving and tomorrow is also my husband's birthday.  As a result we are celebrating today.  I've been busy with the cushions and when I came into the kitchen for a cup of coffee Mrs G looked like a rabbit startled in headlights.  Cake equipment was lying on the draining board and the recipe book was open.  They'd been making a cake.  And what a cake...

Now the flour in France is not self-raising.  You have to add baking powder.   As a result the cake is a little, er, flat.  Actually, a bit thicker than a pancake wouldn't be too far from the truth!  The icing is, well, butter really with some brandy sort of mixed in.  However the decoration is wonderful.  Bay leaves and lavender have been torn up and his name is clearly visible on top of the cake.  It will be a delicious, if original, cake and a lot better than the raspberry tart I bought ready made from the shop!  What's missing in baking powder has been more than made up for in love and thought.

This birthday has been causing me the most almighty headache.  But I can't write about that until tomorrow as it will give the game away. 

      

 

Curtains for sale

I have done the most awful thing and send someone photos that are too big for their dial-up connection.  So I am posting the same pics here in the hope that they can view them.

The four curtains (ie two pairs) are each 388cms long and 170cms wide.  There is a hem at the bottom of 16 cms. 



If anyone else is interested in buying let me know and you can have first refusal after the current interested party.

Cushions Galore!

They are rare indeed.  That client who returns again and again, is always courteous and positive and best of all has the most wonderful taste - which I realise is subjective.

I have one such.  She has been loyal to me from the start and gave me my first "proper" jobs when I first started my business.  Since then she has come back many times with pieces of fabric she has "found around the house" - not the attic but that sort of thing! - and as some of these fabrics date back to the 80's and possibly earlier they are really special. 

I am currently working on a bolster cushion for her and today she came round, I thought, to discuss this and also fabric for some sun mattresses.  Well, she turned up with a typewritten list with a zillion things on it and a huge shopping bag of fabric scraps.  I am still swooning from the work she has given me!!  They are all cushions of one sort or another but in such a variety of fabrics.  Photos when they're done later in the spring.

A while ago I was asked to reupholster a chair for someone and she chose the most awkward velvet with a huge amount of man-made fibre in it.  It was also ice blue which didn't do much for me but I tend to ignore clients' colour choice as what looks awful in the workroom more often than not looks great in their house.   No, the problem with this fabric was that it had a huge amount of static and whenever I cut it the edges frayed very badly and very quickly.  There was also a piped box cushion to go with it and the fabric was so thick the piping was a nightmare.  For a week I was convinced that I would never trust a client to choose their own fabric again and various somewhat uncharitable thoughts went through my head.

Just as I delivered this chair (delighted client I'm relieved to say!) my wonderful client bought me the most beautiful piece of raw silk and asked what could be done with it.  The feel of this silk restored my faith in clients and made me more forgiving towards the others.   

So I was thrilled when she bought back the last remaining piece of this silk today.  Just enough to make another small cushion.  I can't wait!