Hi everyone. Happy new week to you. And hello to everyone who stops by for T day over at bleubeard's and Elizabeth's blog .
November is definitely here. Like many of you have already said, this time change has been an adjustment, and I'm missing the evening light. In the last week so many leaves have come down and the colors of October are gone. Since I live among some mighty oaks and they are always the last to fall, I still have a lot of leaves on the trees right around the house, but they are all brown and not prettily colored.
I snapped this photo Saturday afternoon while my husband and I were pulling in all the yard items (chairs, garden ornaments, a cold frame from my garden, the pots I plant with annuals on my back deck) into the screen porch. The plastic also went on the screen porch and now it's all closed up for the winter.
I stuffed the hive with bee fondant so they would have food, and then I wrapped the hive in 2 bee jackets. One slides down over the hive, and the other one covers the back and sides. The second one only covers that area because that is the usual wind direction and it works as an extra windbreak.
Then I stuff some garbage bags with leaves and shove them underneath the hive so they won't lose any heat or get any winds blowing in from below. I actually reused the partially decomposed oak leaf bags from last year because they are easier to stuff in the space than those with the freshly raked leaves. It's not pretty, but it works.
Since our temperatures can get down below zero degrees F or -17 degrees C, sometimes for weeks, we also need to put up a physical windbreak around the bees. We ran out of time on Saturday, and it rained Sunday, so that is still on the to do list.
Otherwise I spent some time this past week cleaning up my art space around squeezing in some art. I also took a trip out to King Arthur Flour in Norwich, Vermont to pick up a few items I wanted for my Christmas baking. It's about a 2 hour drive each way, but it's a fairly easy one. It was also a good way to cheer myself up regarding the dark, and the fact that last week was the 3 year anniversary of my Mom's death.
When I go I usually get a chai tea for the drive home. That's my ticket to T this week.
I also had a very bad lunch. 😉 They make the best rye flour brownies, so I got one of those to go too.
That's it for me this week. Wishing everyone a happy T day and start to the new week.
15 comments:
Yummy Tea and brownie! It snowed today in Toronto
Filling garbage bags up with leaves and putting them beneath the hives is a cool idea and I bet it works very well. I hope the bees will have it nice and cozy over the winter months. A rye brownie? I never had one made from rye, it does sound interesting and I would definitely try one - I love rye. Happy T day and have a lovely week, Erika. Hugs - Carola
The short days and long nights are looming here too, though at least we had a bit of sunshine for a while. Visiting King Arthur is neat.
You are always so well prepared! Love rye baked goods.
What does the plastic do, once it is placed over the screen porch? How cold is your winter normally?
Your pic of the closed porch made me a bit sad...
All the best to your bees - last Sunday bees were a theme at Shaun the sheep :-)
-17C?!!!! I sure will never ever visit in winter! Though once we had -22C at night, brrrr... the rails froze!
To the Tea, happy T-Day, hugs!
It's different here with the cold; I'd be happy if we had a real winter with nice snow here on the coast.
Well done for the bees, they must be feeling good in there now. You've been very busy, so now you can bake cookies next.
Carnival begins on November 11th every year.
The cake and coffee look delicious!
Happy Thanksgiving! Hugs, Elke
I am glad that you are taking such care of the bees, Erika. I hope the winter is not too harsh and they are able to survive. It won’t be for lack of effort on your part if they don’t. All the best - David
Erika, I am sending you lots of prayers and hugs for your mother. I find each year that passes even harder that I've lost my parents. the pain is always there. I dislike how dark it gets. At 5 it is dark here in Ontario. I can't wait for people to put up their lights so can look at them in the evenings. It brings a little joy when I look at lights. I didn't know you have bees! one of my dreams is to have bees one day and make my own honey. Your home looks cozy and beautiful. So happy you got a treat for yourself. It's very important to treat ourselves with yummy treats. :) Have a wonderful Tuesday and sending you hugs.
It looks like you did a good job in winterizing the hives from what was shown in the photos, Erika. Hope they make it through the New England winter which is forecast to be colder this year. I might have missed the posts in which you mentioned how much honey they produced this year. King Arthur is the only brand of flour I use for any recipe. We may have to make a return visit soon.
...I was ALMOST ready!
It must be a good feeling having everything ready for winter. Your winters are long and cold.
Great that you are able to protect those lovely bees. Sounds like a good idea those bags of leaves. Will they give off more heat when the leaves decompose or won't it get that far? I do hope the bees survive.
Driving a four hour round trip to get some flour? What is so special about that flour? But you did get a rye brownie, which sounds yummy. You deserve it after driving that far!
The porch looks very sad indeed, all wrapped up. Until next summer!
Happy T-Day,
Lisca
I was surprised you left your grill outside. Do you wrap it to keep the snow away? It looks like you have the rest of the ornaments and pots in the porch. At least they will be protected from the cold.
I truly hope your bees survive this winter. Looks like you are at least prepared.
I brought all my herbs in before it turned freezing here. Not an easy task, is it?
It's always fun when you take us to King Arthur Flour. And your Chai tea and rye brownie are making me hungry. Thanks for sharing your week with us for T this Tuesday, dear Erika.
A very sad sight to see your screen porch all covered for the Winter. Fascinating to see how you protect the bees. I hope we have a fairly mild Winter, too. Taking a trip to King Arthur is on my bucket list. Chai tea and a brownie is a little bit of heaven. Happy T Day
Sometimes we have to have a bad lunch! I'm hoping that if Rick and I do a roadtrip next fall, we can go to King Arthur! Maybe even when they have a class. I know it has to be hard to seal up the porch for the winter -- it's like closing the cottage. And I was thinking about your bees yesterday. One of the fellow artists in my sale is also a beekeeper. She has four hives and we were talking about the challenges of winter and such. (I'm buying some of her honey -- and she's also the best felter I've ever met. I need to take a class from her!). I hope they make it through this year -- and that you get a honey harvest too!
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