Creating a buzz

This is the time of year when a huge sense of relief usually settles on me; the munchkins go back to school. I feel guilty even as I write it but to be honest it has seemed to me that parenting is basically an exercise in guilt and sometimes it is more of an endurance exercise. As it is I feel relieved that they return to some sort of normal routine, that I do not have to try and work out how best to entertain them and that finally I can get the house tidied up a bit because the mess drives me crazy. This summer I actually gave up cleaning up after them and for the last week and a half of the holidays I decided to leave it all until they went back...then of course felt guilty for being so lazy that I was not prepared to spend two or three hours cleaning only to find it all made messy again before I had even sat down. Well this summer I have found it relaxing to be able to sit and watch the bees for half an hour or so every couple of days as it is almost a form of meditation watching them zoom in and out of the hive carrying different colours of pollen, looking in the hive when doing weekly checks and seeing all of the larvae and how far they have spread inside the hive. When I am not checking on my bees I am researching and reading about bees. It is hugely relaxing.

Pollen watching

My current reading book

 I brought a couple or drones in to the kitchen for the munchkins and my OH to hold so they could all get used to being around bees. Drones are the male bees and they do not have a sting so they can be handled without any fear whatsoever. This worked really well to calm everyone until they decided to explore the kitchen and JR ate them. It sounds cruel but it was very quick and I am not sure if they would have been accepted back into the hive by the workers if they smelled different or because it is the time of year when the workers usually get thrown out. Now seems as good a time as any to mention that I named the bees after characters in my favourite series; the workers are Esme (all of them), the drones are Ridcully and the queen is Granny. Gold stars to everyone who can name the series and author.

drone in my hand as I write out my hive check notes

I have a little folding stool that I take into the woods when I go t see the girls and I sit next to the hive and watch them for a while until I feel more relaxed and now JR comes too. He doesn't chase Esme and he doesn't try to eat the bees but he sits under the stool and watches them with me which is kind of nice. At the beginning of this week I went and did a hive check then spent an hour splitting wood (who needs the gym?) and after I filled the trailer I took it home and stacked it. My hope is to fill the wood shed and lose an extra inch or so from my waist but either way it is all good. As I was filling the trailer I saw this huge buzzing thing that was definitely not a bee, it was a wood wasp. They sound loud and look scary but they don't actually sting which is really reassuring when one lands on your leg because they are about 4cm long and it looks like they have a big sting but it is an ovipositor which she uses to lay her eggs on the pine tree. Still didn't like it though!

wood wasp with ovipositor clearly visible

In between the cleaning and hive checks there has been a rush in the Christmas crafting area. 'Why so early?' I hear you ask, well this year not only do I have  a lot of people to make things for but I am also hoping to make enough little things to have a stall at one of the local Christmas fairs so I had better start now if I want to be able to get it all done. In the past two weeks I have made one shawl, one pair of fingerless mitts and one toddler hooded cardigan for gifts as well as two baubles for the fair.

crocheted snowflakes and knitted 'scarf'

Looking back I can see it has been busier than I had thought. Oh well, time to go as I have some knitting to crack on with but that is after I go and pick a bunch of roses, the ones that were not ready for the wedding but will get ruined by the rain this afternoon if they are not picked.

Hugs from Haggis land,

Jx

larvae visible and a bee hatching in the top right corner

Beekeeper now

In case things were not hectic enough just before the wedding I decided to take a course about beekeeping. A friend of mine has several hives and suggested to me that the woods would be a good place for some hives so added to my interest in regenerating the woods, my love of honey and my interest in traditional past times it was only a matter of time. Years ago as a child I was stung twice when playing in an allotment not that it matters but I was right by the rhubarb so since then I have been very wary of bees but at some point in the last few years that has stopped and I cannot pin point when. The course was very well set out by the local beekeeper's association and in the afternoon we donned the massive suits and opened up the hives to take a look inside. It seems the tutors watch you as much as you watch them though and when I had gone to the loo I saw a small hive perched on a water butt only a few feet away and was completely absorbed by watching the girls zoom in and out with a funny wobble on the approach when they were fully laden with pollen, so much so that I did not see one of the course tutors watching me and how close I was to the hive without a suit on (about 10 inches). It makes sense that they want to check we do not freak out and panic when the bees fly close to us. JR doesn't join me when I do the checks as he likes to try and catch all flying things.

When I knew that I had a place on the course I bought a hive and a set of tools including the smoker and spent a couple of afternoons assembling it and my OH helped me to get it set up in the woods.

      

Once that was done I checked on the water situation as bees need a source of fresh water but not too deep as they will drown also they need a decent amount of forage so I tramped about to check what flowers were out and what they would have to keep themselves busy. Collecting my NUC (nucleus of bees, usually 5 frames of bees with a mated queen, bees and brood which is the sealed eggs) was nerve wracking and exciting in equal measure although the munchkins were not happy to have the sealed box in the back with them so they were put in the boot and wedged in so they wouldn't bounce about. Unsealing them was very unnerving too but my suit had not arrived by that point then transferring the frames into the hive was something I had skilled help with from my friend who had suggested bees to start with and her dad. My bees are Buckfast bees which have proven to be calmer, more productive and good in this climate. We have a very short season up in Scotland and a wet summer like this one can kill off whole colonies as they starve if they cannot get out to forage.

I have been going up to check on the girls as much as possible and keep the sugar syrup topped up to help them increase in numbers so they are prepared for the winter ahead. Luckily my OH encourages my fascination with these creatures and when I go to check on them I will sit next the hive afterwards and watch them bringing in pollen of many different colours.

Pausing after a long flight

Rush hour at the end of the foraging day

I wonder if they have flight control bees?

For some reason I thought it essential to keep a diary of each check, noting how much syrup they take down, how active they are, whether I see the queen, whether I get stung (not yet!), what colours of pollen they bring home. Identifying the pollen is interesting and I have already seen two types that are not found in the woods which shows that the girls are foraging a decent sized area. With the idea of regenerating the woods and providing good forage for the bees I have bought some wildflower seeds which are bee friendly and plants which are native to this area so next year I am hoping the girls will be making lots of honey. I have already seen lots of eggs which my queen has laid, lots of honey the girls have capped ready to get them through the winter. When my father in law was here he was very interested in the bees and came up to see them in their hive and took some pictures.

Yes, that's me in my suit, lifting out a frame to check it.

My suit is so comfy and I have lots of room to move, bend and lift, and do a funny space walk which I do every time. It was not the cheapest of suits but it is sturdy and should last a long time. https://www.bbwear.co.uk/beekeeping-clothing/fullsuits/bb1

The girls have drawn out the foundation wax and have started filling it with nectar. See the whitish line near the top? That is capped honey, three cells of it.

The view as I look in the brood box where they live. You can see which frames are new and which came with the NUC.

There will be updates and more photos if only because I have no pictures of the dark grey and white pollen they have been bringing in over the past two weeks.

Hugs from Haggis Land,

Jx

North 500

Seeing as a lot of people who had travelled all this way to come to the wedding stayed for the following week we did as much as we could with them; a visit to Johnston's woollen mill, a beach bbq, Landmark adventure centre, fish, chips and drinks round here and a trip on the Keith to Dufftown rail line. After a hectic fortnight we packed up the car and went on a tour of North Scotland with our munchkins, JR, some friends and their daughter. This popular route has some wonderful roads and challenging stretches too.

We spread the drive over 5 nights with two nights in the last campsite at Applecross although honestly we may do this again with two nights at each site so we can explore the local area even more. As we drove we could see 50 shades of green and when the sun came out another 10 shades popped out at us.

The cliff tops at Dunnett Head

across the water from John O' Groats

It was odd to see that the heather over the hills looked like such a muted shade of purple and yet when we drove through more wooded areas the purple of the heather popped out at us. We saw highland cows, sheep in the road and more ruins than you could keep track of.

 



One funny moment happened when we drove over to the Isle of Skye and we were following our friend only to see he had left his wallet on the roof of his car and, amazingly, it had been there without falling off for a few miles by this point. Needless to say we pulled over very quickly to retrieve it! Having walkie talkies in the cars so we could contact each other was useful and we were surprised to remember them.

classic picture

an oyster catcher we saw when we paused for lunch

lobster pots at Plockton

We had initially planned this trip over a meal and made a list of places we wanted to see and we managed to fit most of it into our action packed few days. One place we went to was a village called Plockton and I admit that I did not see that it was at all distinguishable from anywhere else we had been and so wondered why our friends wanted to go there. Until lunch. Oh, yes, lunch. We went to the Plockton Inn http://plocktoninn.co.uk/seafood-restaurant-and-bars/ and everyone enjoyed their meals. I had the seafood platter...

Best seafood platter I have ever eaten. The cockles, mussels, salmon and trout were smoked at the Inn.

As if my food heaven was not complete we went to the Applecross Inn  http://www.applecross.uk.com/inn/ dinner after a visit to Skyeskyns https://www.skyeskyns.co.uk on the Isle of Skye and I had the langoustine caught by a man who works there. Beyond delicious and we are definitely going back!

One thing we noticed as we went from one campsite to the other was the sheer number of the people doing the same route as us and the sense of camaraderie between bikers, young couples, old couples and young families alike. It was a wonderful trip and one we will remember for a very long time; a brilliant honeymoon and an excellent trial of my new tent. JR was quite calm and slept comfortably in our double sleeping bag and I had some very deep sleep to recover from the previous few weeks.





The only bad thing about going on a drive like this is that we feel happy with the thought of moving to an even more remote area but wherever we are I am sure we will still send Hugs from Haggis Land.

Jx

The bay at Durness where I took my morning dip in my birthday suit

The Wedding

The past few weeks have been a total blur. Honestly. We had family and friends arrive as much as a week before the wedding to help prepare things which was brilliant. It turns out I was losing sleep about the dress; since my dress fitting I had lost 10lbs which is great but not so much for the whole having a dress that fits really. Luckily my OH's mum is very handy with needle and thread what with being part of the Tewkesbury Abbey sewing guild  and all. She laced me into my dress and worked out it was not ridiculously long, maybe a tad but not enough to warrant hours of us snipping and sewing, although the weight loss did not affect the dress too much once the corset was done up tight. I'm waffling, I know but even looking back on the time seems a bit odd. We had so many people coming in and out of the house and I got to meet a lot of my OH's friends who are all so lovely, very much as described.

Both of us enjoy a decent cheese and after a visit to the cheese pantry at Ardesier we chose some lovely cheese for our 'cake'. It was fun to dress this myself after doing the flowers.

From the bottom; one cheddared cheese, blue cheese, ewes milk cheese, smoked cheese and goat cheese hearts

When my OH was on his last shift before his leave started I sat and sewed a quick veil. I hadn't been sure about one but seeing as even the slimmest of people, which I am not, get a bit of 'back cleavage' when laced up I decided a veil would cover things up a bit. Another evening I had a crafting frenzy and made three little jug covers with circles of muslin edged with some old lace scraps and beads from my sewing box after I realised the jugs of summer cup would need to be covered.

ready to start

sewing the lace on by hand took a while

with some beads to weigh it down enough that it does not fly away

the finished item

One thing I could not decide on then ran out of time with was what shoes to wear. I had bought some gorgeous Ruby Shoos but the idea of walking about in them all day made my feet ache before the shoes were even on but I found a solution which was a lot more me...

A lot of the day is a happy smiling blur, all I know is that when I walked in and saw the look on my OH's face nothing else really existed. It was a fun day with some music, dancing, children playing and a couple of kilt malfunctions. My bouquet ended up being a simple bouquet of my pink Sceptre d'Isle roses from David Austin. In the end I didn't wear my wedding shawl as my many layers of dress kept me quite warm so even though it was not the warmest of days in North Scotland I still had to duck outside to cool down.

The hog roast was delicious thanks to Jamie from http://www.hog2roast.co.uk/?menu=wedding&no=1 and there was not as much left over as we had thought although plenty to give everyone who came to lend a hand clearing up a decent sized roll.

There is so much more I could tell you but it is impossible to tell you what a wonderful day it was, how many people made the day so much fun and so special but best of all that day is the day married my best friend and became his wife.

Mr & Mrs xxx

Hugs from Haggis Land,

Jx