Sunday, July 14, 2024

Sunday Art and Bees

     Hi everyone. I hope you're having a lovely weekend. It's been hot and now the humidity is ramping back up again at my house. I really want it to cool down at least with over night temperatures so I can get back out walking again. I miss my morning strolls a lot. So do the dogs, but between it being practically mid-day temperatures when I get up and all the deer flies, I haven't done much walking in the last couple of weeks.  It's even been too hot to read on my hammock on the screen porch many days 😢. Thank goodness for AC, though I hate to see what my next electric bill will be. 😏

    Today I'm joining Halle's Art Journal Journey challenge, Michele's Tag Tuesday challenge, as well as Gilena's Sunday Smiles

     Halle's AJJ challenge is "I  Have a Notion", where she asks us to use some sewing "notions".  I have an older sewing stamp set by Wendy Vecchi, and this is where most of the images on my page come from.


    I did add a cloth daisy chain trim along the bottom, and I also added little pink confetti flowers to it, but the rest of my page is stamped in pink and yellow.

For Michele's "Celestial" challenge at Tag Tuesday I made this piece.


     When I took this photo, the light was coming onto the tag from the top, so you can see the mica ink color much better than at the bottom of the tag, even if the bottom  has as much mica ink as the top. Anyhow, I like how it came out with the stamped stars and moon.All the images are from an oldie by Hero Arts, except the quote.  I especially like the layers die cut tag,

     The bees however do seem to love the heat. I went out and checked them early the other morning. They were  already out and about, and many more of them were very busy inside the hive.




I added the honey super (the smaller top box). The other boxes are pretty full with brood and honey.  I'll harvest whatever honey gets made in the honey super. And if they continue to be so productive, I'll add another box so the bees can make even more honey for their winter food.


Here I am standing down next to the hive looking back up to the house. My "wild" garden is blooming and the milkweed  is overtaking the path.


    Some plants had seeded themselves in this area a few years back, and I decided to turn it into  more of a wildflower garden. I have planted some things here (mostly plants I split or plants people gave me), and some of the plants are self-seeded wildflowers. This garden doesn't require too much maintenance because I don't weed it in the summer. I do some spring and fall work on it and let it be what it is going to be. (But the plants in it love it because it gets a lot of sun!)

   The milkweeds are from pods that I tossed in this area. In the last few years I ended up with a few wild milkweed plants that spontaneously grew in my veggie garden. I  harvested them like a crop. Only the crop was the milkweed seeds.  I tossed  the pods over in this area, and they grew.  I hope next year I'll have an even  bigger patch.


The other day I noticed my first monarchs visiting my milkweed plants. 😀


And here's one last garden view for this post. 


That's all for me today. Have a great rest of your weekend and start to the new week.







22 comments:

Angie's Recipes said...

Bees are working really hard! You are going to have lots of honey this year :-) The page looks lovely!

David M. Gascoigne, said...

If you get a chance to observe the Monarchs carefully, Erika, it is quite easy to see the female curl up her ovipositor to lay an egg on the underside of a leaf. Then if you are so inclined you can bring some indoors. It is great fun to watch them develop into butterflies. All the best - David

Tom said...

...I'm glad that your bees are enjoying the heat, I wish that I could say the same. Enjoy your weekend.

craftytrog said...

Beautiful artwork and photos Erika!
It's starting to feel more like summer here now, but thankfully not too hot. I hope you get some cooler temperatures to enable you to enjoy the outdoors again.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend.
Alison xx

Hels said...

You must have quite a lot of land to plant, feed and water, and eventually harvest. Do you do the hard work yourself or do you have family or paid assistance?

R's Rue said...

I love this. Happy Sunday.

Katerinas Blog said...

Your page is very beautiful Eriκa,
I really liked it.
ooo the bees work non-stop!
The butterfly is different!
Have a beautiful and creative week!

Christine said...

Lovely page and tag. Glad your bees are prospering.

Halle said...

Another awesome page for AJJ! Love the pink and yellow...makes me think of pink lemonade.
Your bee photos are gorgeous. And the yard!! love it!

Jeanie said...

It all looks fabulous, Erika. So, I know you lost a lot of bees but would you say you have more than before, if some survived? And I have no idea how much one hive would harvest. I find that fascinating.

kathyinozarks said...

I am so happy to read that this hive is doing well-and perhaps you can take some honey too. Your gardens are just lovely-I just gave up this year-so hot and humid too much rain the water problem that wasn't able to get finished-I am crafting instead haha
Happy new week Hugs Kathy

Gillena Cox said...

Luv your jpurnal page, great tag.
Happy Sunday. Thanks for linking to Sundaysmiles

much♡love

Iris Flavia said...

Oh, this is so unfair! You hate the heat I´d love to have and I´m freezing! Just think of Braunschweig when you feel it´s too hot, we have 16C/60F...
I think I have no style, but I love both your works!
And your garden - wild is great! Your bees are amazing. Hugs and to a great new week.

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

Your journal page is fabulous. I like the color combination you chose even though it is not one I would have ever considered. Thanks for sharing another great entry with us at Art Journal Journey using Halle's theme.

That's a great tag, too. I love the shape and the mica.

So glad the bees are doing well. That makes me happy. I bought some milkweed seeds. I even scarred them like it told me to do on the package. I have a few that are starting to grow. I think it will be another year before they actually will attract monarchs.

sirkkis said...

So nice dresses, I could buy both 😃
I neither can take my normal walks becaus it's too hot or rainy 😕
I hope your day now is good 🌻🐝🪲

pearshapedcrafting said...

I love your page Erika, great Summer colours! Loving the tag too! I am missing my visits to local gardens and parks too, sadly not because of hot weather. It started off lovely and sunny but now grey skies again. Good to know that your bees are enjoying your hot weather. Hugs, Chrisx

Divers and Sundry said...

I could look at your bees and your garden all day. What a wonderful space! I love that you have so many self-seeding wildflowers and that you've had such good luck with the milkweed. Nice!

I'm tryinta open up the house for a while every day, but some days are sooo hot!

Rostrose said...

Dear Erika, I am so happy that your bees are obviously enjoying the hot summer weather and your wildflowers too. There is nothing better than a wildflower section in the garden - it is easy to care for and good for the insects. There are also a lot of wildflowers growing in my garden, partly because they are stronger than the over-bred gardener's plants ;-)
Your journal artwork looks great.
All the best and a good start to the new week, Traude
https://rostrose.blogspot.com/2024/07/sommerliche-leichtigkeit-in-der-wachau.html

*Vicki* said...

Really love the bright happy colors on your page and that tag is super pretty with the shimmer! Looks like the bees are doing very well! I'm just happy to see a few on my flowers! LOL

Neet said...

Neither garment would be worn by me if they are to be dry cleaned but I do like your page - and it is different. Love the idea of the two colours, yellow and pink. Both are very summery and happy colours. The tiny flowers are a great addition and remind me of trims I have used in the past when I made dresses for myself.
Love the photos, not too sure about the heat you have been having, but glad the bees have been loving it. Sounds as if they are very busy at the moment and producing lots of honey for you. What do you do with it all? Someone near us has a sign outside the garden saying 'honey for sale' so they must have bees I would think.
Your garden looks great, glad it is attracting butterflies as they seem to be lacking in numbers here at the moment.
Hugs, Neet xx

Michele said...

i love your celestial tag, and what a unique shape! thanks for linking to tag tuesday! xo

pinky said...

Your tag is just gorgeous Erika. Again, I love the shape you have gone with and sweet wording! Thanks so much for inspiring us at Tag Tuesday!