More Bees!

Are y'all tired of hearing about bees yet?  I swear our property must be bee central this year!  I was able to catch another passing swarm today!  

I must admit that this one was much easier to catch than the last one. They spun around in a bee tornado for quite awhile in my pasture, and I thought they were going to rest up high in a tree, but in the end, they balled up on a cinder block that was sitting near a fence. Basically, I just found a good paper box with a lid, then I just picked up the whole block and put it inside. I left a spot for them to get in and out, and that was that!  Once inside, they began behaving as if they had always lived there. 

The only problem is that I don't have another extra hive, so we ran out to pick up lumber, and I'll start marking and cutting pieces for the new top bar hive tomorrow!  

One of my favorite things about the top bar hive is that, unlike a Langstroth hive, it doesn't require any highly specialized tools to build it or work it!

Don't Worry, BEE Happy! I Finally Caught a Swarm!

I think the title says it all.  I finally caught a bee swarm in my back yard!!  Here's how I did it!  

And there you have it!  I had to go ahead and move the bees into the garden the next morning and set the hive on a picnic table bench until we can build it a stand.  I hadn't anticipated the goats wanting to climb on the hive.  The move went just fine though, and as of this morning, they were beginning to build comb in their new home!  Yeah!!

Never Butt Heads with a Goat . . . You Will Lose

Let me make this clear.  It wasn't the goat's fault.  She is a very sweet goat, and she would never try to hurt me.  That being said, I'll tell you the story of how my sweetest goat landed me in the hospital this week!

Molly is my oldest goat.  We aren't exactly sure how old she is.  Last year, the vet deemed her "middle age," whatever that means.  Anyway, when Eric built the milk stand, he built it to accommodate his height and he built a set of steps to help the goats get up.  Of course, the goats absolutely refused to use the steps, preferring just to jump for it.

Fast forward a year.  Eric helps milk the cow often, but he never (ever) milks the goats.  I am in great need of cutting about 6 inches off the legs, but I haven't gotten around to it yet.  Molly is now reluctant to make the jump many days.  When she really refuses, I usually pick up her front legs and then pick up her back legs to get her up.

Well, yesterday I had taken down a banana peel as a treat for the goats.  (Goats think banana peels are candy, did you know that?)  Anyway, as I was picking up Molly's front feet, she saw the peel and apparently decided to jump for it.  She threw her head back in her attempt, and we bonked heads with a sickening crack.

I yelled for Erica, who ran to my aid, bringing me an ice pack and helping me back to the house.  I tried to walk it off, but I was feeling very off by the time I reached the house.  It was time to call in the big guns mom.  I am very lucky that she only lives 3 miles down the road and she rushed right over.  Meanwhile I asked the smart people in Facebook land for advice.  I received overwhelming advice to go get checked out, and for once, I felt bad enough to actually listen.

I had a major headache (duh) along with tingling in my extremities, confusion, and a general drunk feeling.  I was diagnosed with a mild concussion and a black eye.

My black eye is beginning to heal.
The funny thing is that she didn't actually hit me in the eye!

I thought I was better the next day once the major symptoms disappeared, but apparently, I wasn't out of the woods yet.  I have battled with bouts of fatigue, headache, confusion, fuzzy-head and irritability all week.  In fact days have gone by and I haven't posted about what happened because I couldn't come up with the words.

In better news, I've had a very good, productive day today, and I am finally feeling more like myself.  I hope it is here to stay, I've missed me!

Alabama Farmers Co-op Newsletter

May is an exciting month for us at Green Eggs & Goats!  We are in the Alabama Farmers Co-op Newsletter!  We knew that they were writing an article about us, but Eric actually thought it was just for the Blount County newsletter.  Also, we had no idea that we were on the cover!  It was a wonderfully welcome surprise for us!  

Anyway, if you are interested in reading the article, you can find it here!  

P.S.  Please don't tell Beulah about the article.  She already thinks she's famous and she's beginning to get a bit of a big head.  

I was also surprised to find out that I was quoted in the latest issue of Grit magazine.  I had no idea until my mom called.  I suppose, like grapes, good things come in bunches!

(Stay tuned for the next post when I reveal a MUCH less rosy side of the farming life...)

Liebster Award!

I'm so honored to have been given a Liebster Blog Award by a fellow blogger (and one heck of a cool young lady) over at Farm Life At It's Best!  It's kind of the chain letter of blog awards, but it sounds like a lot of fun, so here goes!

Post 11 Random Facts About Yourself

1. This should be easy, as Eric claims that I am the most random person he's ever met, and has requested that I not start ALL of my sentences with "This is random, but ..."
2. I'm an only child.
3. I occasionally teach swim lessons in my spare time (but I have decided not to do so this summer, as I have no spare time!)
4. Our family is featured in this month's edition of the Alabama Farmer's Co-op newsletter.
5. I have had 3 C-sections (not by choice!!) and I attempt to warn people against elective C-sections whenever I can.  (Major abdominal surgery isn't "convenient" people!)
6. I have severe phobias of several critters that occasionally show up here on the farm.
7. No, I won't say what they are, because people find it terribly amusing to try to scare me with them.  It's mean.
8. I'm having a terrible time finding a new church since our move, and it's really making me sad.
9. The longer I homeschool my children, the more I really wish I had been homeschooled.
10. I'm a HUGE Jimmy Buffett fan!  (And Garth Brooks, don't forget Garth!)
11. We are buying a pop-up camper tonight, but I have no idea how I am going to get away from the farm long enough to use it!

Answer 11 Questions Given to You by Your Nominator

1. What is your earliest memory?  Probably wondering why I wasn't allowed to enter the car through the window like Bo and Luke Duke.  
2. How has your life been different that what you'd imagined?  Well, I'm living on a farm instead of a sailboat, for one thing.  Also, I never expected how much I would dislike being an interior designer.
3. What was your childhood like?  Wow, that's a big question.  When I was young, we lived on several acres with cows, goats, a swimming pool and a huge garden (sound familiar?), but when I was 5 or 6, my parents decided we needed a larger house, so we moved to a subdivision.  I never understood why we would move away from such a paradise.  It took me awhile, but I have finally gotten it all back!
4. Do you have any favorite stories about your kids?  Do you want me to write a book?
5. How would you describe a perfect day?  Plenty of help doing morning chores.  No one puts their foot in the bucket.  Milk strains quickly.  Temperature stays in the 70s.  Gardening.  Cooking.  Eating.  Then going to the drive-in movies with my family (and not getting eaten my mosquitoes!)
6. Do you like your job?  I'm a wife, mom, farmer and a blogger.  I could hardly as for a better job.  Yes, I love almost every minute!
7. Would you rather have the power to be invisible or the power to read minds?  Mind reading for sure!  I'm already invisible!  For awhile we joked that I should join the CIA.  I would make an awesome spy, because no one ever remembers having met me...
8. Do you like your handwriting?  Yes, when I take the time to write neatly.  It's awful when I'm just scribbling notes to myself!
9. Do you use sarcasm a lot?  Do ducks have webbed feet?  
10. What is your favorite smell?  Something yummy baking in the oven!
11. What three possessions can you not live without?  I have really spent a long time thinking about this question, and I can honestly say that stuff is just stuff.  It can be replaced, or you can do without.  It's people who matter the most.  (But I'm a big fan of my coffee pot, my camo hat and my red lipstick...)

Nominate 11 Bloggers with Less than 100 Followers

1. Murano Chicken Farm
2. Sincerely Home
3. Thoughts From a Daughter of the King
4. Reduce, Reuse, Renewed
5. Feed-Sack Cooking & Life at Jamison-Trace Farms
6. This is harder than I thought, especially because not every blog has this listed.  How about this?  If you have a blog with less than 100 followers, and you want a shout out, leave a comment, and I'll add you to the list, OK?

11 Random Questions for my Nominees to Answer

1. Are you married?  If so, how long?
2. Do you have any children?
3. What was your favorite game growing up?
4. Do you consider yourself a serious person, or a goofball?
5. Do you feel like you have a calling in life?
6. What is your favorite color?
7. What is your favorite movie of all time?
8. If you could go to any live concert, who would you go see?
9. What superpower would you like to have?
10. Describe a pivotal moment in your life.
11. When was the last time you went on vacation, and where did you go?

Catfish Update!

Well, the whole family headed to the barn after dinner to do the evening milking and to care for the other animals.  Eric personally took it upon himself to feed the fish.  He apparently decided to feed them one at a time.  When I was about half way through milking, a distressed Lucas came running into the barn to tell me that daddy had hooked a catfish and he needed pliers to remove the hook!

Based on the sizes of catfish that we are seeing when we feed, we believe this to be one of the ones that we put into the pond last winter.  (Read about that here.) My has he grown!  

Eric and his dad took the kids to the pond to fish last weekend, and I swear they caught something with every cast!  In fact, Eric was so busy removing fish and baiting hooks last weekend, he never got his own line wet.  We have also found that the compost pile is still a great place to dig up worms and grubs for fishing!

One of the best things about this property is the relaxation that Eric is able to get by being able to "wet a line" after work any day he wants.

So what about you?  Do you fish?  Stock a pond?  Hate fishing entirely?  Let's hear all about it!

Swarm Part 2

As promised, this is the video that Eric shot of the bee swarm.  They were much closer to the ground when he started filming, so hopefully you will be able to see the bees much better in this one!  Enjoy!