The Bad News Bees

OMG, OMG, OMG...and I didn't get a picture of it.

I was sitting at the table in the kitchen reading my email and drinking a cup of tea and I heard a strange sound. I thought to myself, "What the heck is coming up the driveway now?" Thinking it was some type of farm equipment or tractor or something. I looked up at that point and looked out the window. To my horror it was a massive swarm of bees all flying madly around like they were really super pissed at something!! My first thought is KILLER BEES on a rampage. I SCREAMED for Buddy as he was just previously outside sound asleep on the deck. I ran from one end of the house to the other making sure all openings were closed off so they couldn't come in the house.

Still I don't have Buddy, he's nowhere to be seen and of course with my morbid imagination, he's dead on the ground after being horribly stung by bees. The bees, still flying around MADLY, went past the side entrance and then headed around the corner of the house. You could easily hear the mad buzzing through all the closed windows. The other three dogs who were previously sleeping in various locations around the house are all freaking out and barking. Partially due to the bees and partially due to me freaking out and screaming for Buddy who still hasn't shown up.

I ran back to the front door and very carefully opened it and looked for the mad swarm. I didn't see it on this side of the house so I yelled again for Buddy. This time he comes around the corner and runs into the house. His fur was all standing up on his back so I guess they freaked him out too and he headed for the hills until they passed the house.

Now there is no sign of them. I don't hear them. I hope to hell they don't come back!

Hmm, on a side note, I wonder if I should be reporting this to someone. MNR or whoever. What are your thoughts on this? Should I contact the Ministry and report a huge swarm of rogue bees? I fear that if they approached someone, they wouldn't hesitate to sting. They were super pissed.

3/4 of an hour has passed since this incident (which only lasted a couple of minutes, maybe less) and my heart is still beating hard and my hands are all shaky! Freakin' bees.

After 3 days of cutting

After 3 days of cutting
Originally uploaded by Beaker's Stained Glassworks

Well, it's finally done! Yay, the lawn is cut...lol. Doesn't take much to make me happy eh?

Good thing I got it done yesterday, currently we are experiencing some pretty intense thunderstorms.

There was so much grass that I don't think it's possible for my tractor to mulch the cuttings back into the lawn. I may need to rent a power sweeper or something. I just can't imagine trying to rake 3 acres by hand.

Well I guess it's a good day for inside stuff. It's too humid to wash floors but I still have enough stuff to keep me out of trouble for the day :-)

Tonight is our Fingers & Toes class at Woollys Yarns in Shelburne. I think we're learning toe up socks tonight...not sure. I will blog and post pictures of what we're doing later. I've been trying to finish up the other Feather & Fan sock made with hemp yarn. I'm at the heel flap on it so there's not that much left to do.

Well, I've been into town for my coffee and breakfast. My dogs are all sleeping in various locations around my house staying away from the thunder. I've checked my mail both electronic and the stuff in that box at the end of the driveway, posted some pics, now it's time to get some housework done...lol.

The thunder sounds far away now and it just got a whole lot brighter outside so maybe this will clear off and I can hang my laundry on the line rather than using the dryer.

l8r
:o)

Revenge of the Lawn

Long time, no blog. I'm a bad blogger person...bad bad bad. LOL. It's funny really. When I'm sitting on the lawn tractor for hours on end, I compose these awesome, articulate blog posts in my head. When I sit down in front of the computer to type them up, the only thing that comes to mind is "duuuuuhhhhh."

The summer so far? Rainy, thunderstormy, weird weather. We had so many thunderstorms in a row that the river that runs across the lawn in the spring was back with a vengeance! At the tail end of these thunderstormy days, I got some type of flu. I was down for the count for 5 days. It was horrible. I feel back to normal for the most part now, just get a little light headed from time to time still.

Well, all this rain has made for a very lush lawn indeed! Holy crap! I tried to cut with the secondary tractor as my Craftsmom was still down. We got the part in the mail to fix the blade assembly and Rusty put it back together for me. I got into the thick part where the river runs across the lawn and the cutters got stuck and I had much burning belt. The cutters wouldn't dis-engage so I ended up damaging the drive belt. It was a really old belt to begin with and needed to be replaced anyway so off Rusty goes to town to get another belt. I head back into the house as the little red tractor will not even go through this thick lawn. He comes back and puts on the new drive belt. After he puts the new belt on, he tries to start the tractor. Nope! The starter motor fried....lol..the Gods don't want me to cut my lawn!

Off on the road again, this time to a friend who does small engine repair to see if he has a starter motor for my wee Craftsmom tractor. Yup, sure enough...Chris has the part we need and back he comes home.

So after all this running around, I have my Craftsmom tractor back up and running. It's like a little bush hog on wheels, you can cut almost anything with it. I've finished the first cut and am about 25% of the way on the second cut.

I think I'm done for today though. My ears are ringing and I'm a wee bit sun burned. According to the weather network, it should be nice for at least the first part of tomorrow. I should be able to finish the rest of the lawn then.

Last week we had a nice unexpected visit from my brother and his family. They came on July 1st after he got off work. They live in Windsor which is a good 4½ hours away so the sun had just finished setting when they got here. We had a small fireworks display for Canada Day.

The next day they headed out to Inglis Falls for a day trip, I stayed back on the farm to get a few things done. The next day we went on a wee road trip. First to Markdale in the morning to have breakfast at Sidekicks Cafe. They make awesome food! If you're near Markdale, Ontario, and it's between the hours of 6 am and 2 pm, you should drop in and try something! We went from there to Meaford via some back road. Along the way we stopped to take pictures of Canola fields and Georgian Bay. We went along Highway 26 (I think) from Meaford to Collingwood where we attended our favourite store on the main drag, Altered Native. Oh yeah, we stopped at WalFart too...lol. We then headed back to the farm. Unfortunately my bro had to work the next morning at 7 am so they had to head back to Windsor around 7 pm. :-( Too short a trip.

It's so quiet here right now. Rusty and one son are in the shed fixing something (imagine that!), youngest son gone out with friends, oldest son not home this weekend. All the dogs are strewn about the floor in here sound asleep except Buddy who is on the deck just outside the door, also asleep.

There's a nice breeze coming in through the open windows and it smells so fresh and clean. I love living here! I can't imagine living anywhere else.

I promise to try and blog more frequently. Even if it's just a few words about what I'm working on.

:o)