Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Bees Please

IMG_4172

It's not really a New Years Resolution because I usually break those in the first week of January. But I'd like to think of it more as a good intention. This year ( amongst other things) I am intending to be a lot more frugal and where possible make my own things rather than buy them.
Last year my husband and I made our own candles which turned out to be a whole lot of fun. We tried making our own bread ( which was a little less successful but we are persistant). We had chickens laying an abundance of fresh eggs for us and of course we made some homemade Toys for the Toy Society. Last year I got out the knitting needles and made a whole slew of scarves for Christmas gifts and for my children to weather the particularly nasty winter we are experiencing in the Pacific NW this year. There is our family blanket that I knitted and my hopes are to again plant a vegetable garden come the spring.

IMG_3916

But something else that I would love to try is making my own honey! I doubt that I will ever actually get to do it due to our suburban location and the hazards of kids with bee allergies...(I can already hear my neighbors letting out sighs of relief)....but maybe one day.

IMG_3908

While we were on vacation we stayed with my husbands brother who kept bees and the honey they produced was magnificent.

IMG_3900

Apart from a few bee stings here and there...(which I admit could present a few problems)...the bees seem like the perfect pets. They produce mountains of honey and once you have their hive set up they do everything else themselves. You don't even have to feed them! (My dogs who are currently fast asleep lying on my feet will have to pick their game up this year if they don't want to be replaced by bees)

Monday, January 5, 2009

The Adventures of Paloma

paloma
A number of people have emailed me asking about Paloma and how she enjoyed her vacation?
I had hoped to periodically blog about Paloma's adventures while I was away but due to lack of reliable internet connection I have had to save the telling until I got home.
Paloma (which means dove or pigeon in Spanish) was quite the diva to travel with.
She and I were at odds right from the get go .
It all started with her unhappiness about the accomodation I provided for her inside my camera bag. She demanded to fly first class and was disgruntled at being relegated to "cattle class" with the rest of us.
She managed to be an exceedingly ungrateful guest while we were away and she developed a nasty habit of expressing her displeasure by pooping all over people's furniture.
It turns out she is quite the partier and has an obvious problem with binge drinking as some of the photos attest..(we are planning an intervention later this month).
She managed to ruffle more than a few feathers too. She had a run in with my sister in law who threatened that Paloma could end up replacing the turkey for Christmas dinner.
So now we are back home she has been returned to the perch on her birdhouse to contemplate her behaviour or risk being left behind on our next vacation.
Sheeeesh....birds!

Sunday, January 4, 2009

Christmas Toy Drop Update

Here is the posting of the Toy Drop on the Toy Societies blog

http://thetoysociety.blogspot.com/2009/01/christmas-drop-98.html

http://thetoysociety.blogspot.com/2009/01/christmas-drop-99.html

Drop # 98 & 99. I can't wait to see who the new owners are!

Saturday, January 3, 2009

Toy Society Christmas Drop

IMG_4551

This post is a little late.
The Toy Society held a worldwide Christmas Toy Drop on the weekend before Christmas. For those of you unfamiliar the Toy Society, it..."is a small project spreading the love throughout the streets. Nothing to it really just a bunch of handmade toys looking for a nice home."
So this was a synchronized drop across the world in an effort to leave behind a little bit of anonymous Christmas spirit.
I made the toys here at home in Washington and they were packed away in my luggage and taken to Australia.

IMG_4553

The toys accompanied my family and I to the Sunshine Coast in Queensland where with the help of my daughter and niece we found just the right place to leave them.
We left the first one in the cafe we frequented every morning for our coffee fix...Le Monde on Hastings Street, Noosa

IMG_4555

And the last one we left tied to this hysterical looking tree at Noosa beach on the boardwalk. (I had to tie the twine...the girls thought the tree was "gross" and wouldn't touch it....sheesh!!!)

IMG_4558
The toys were both gone when we came back a few hours later to check....I wonder where they ended up????