Hello all!

ClaireM

Carolyn, it is wonderful how beautiful one single rose can be

I'm going to be gone (to Vancouver) for a few days and will be busy until Tuesday, so will leave you with this:


Going to pack then and

Oh, Thanks for all the welcomes. It feels very good to be here. You are a friendly group.
I will share pictures of my flowers and plants and especially the big beautiful honeybee swarm that came out of one of our hives the other day. We had just put a new box together and were ready to coax them into it. They have moved in and stayed in. Hurrah!

Claire, welcome. I am from Alabama-long way from you physically, but close on the forum. Oh my, that honeybee swarm would scare me to death. I can't wait to see the picture though.

Karen, love your picture collage. Have a good trip to Vancouver.

Cloudy and hot day after several very chilly one. Bet we will be wishing for chilly since we probably won't see it again until October Gotta run, lots to do. We are having our end of the season bowling party tomorrow. I have eggs on boiling to stuff and will make dip. I'll pick up bar b q, baked beans and mac and cheese from Full Moon tomorrow to take for supper.

See all y'all again soon.

Good Morning ELFs......

Claire, you know we have had a terrible drought here in Texas. We lost a lot of trees. It seems to be much better this Spring with abnormally high levels of rain (I love rain). On my morning walk one day months back one of the trees that was felled as it had died had a chunk carefully cut and not touched. Therein was a hive of bees and their honeycomb. I do not know where they took it, but it was treated very carefully. Since it was right next to the path I was able to truly view it. It was an outstanding moment.

Hi Annie....thanks about my rose. Currently the bush is not blooming and I await more.

Karen, have a great trip. See you on the flip side. Your pictures have been gorgeous. Give PYM a hug from his favorite friend of his mom.

Hi all else missing ELFs busy elsewhere (wanted to see how many times I could safely gramatically get else in there).
smiles and joy,
carolyn

Quote by: Woodlands Bleu

On my morning walk one day months back one of the trees that was felled as it had died had a chunk carefully cut and not touched. Therein was a hive of bees and their honeycomb. I do not know where they took it, but it was treated very carefully. Since it was right next to the path I was able to truly view it. It was an outstanding moment.
carolyn

Hi Carolyn, I agree with you. Natural comb when it isn't confined to the boxy frame is a wonder to behold, such graceful shapes, pendulous arches.
We had 2 swarms this year, one from each hive. We did not get them the additional space they needed in time so they split up. This means we have a fresh new queen in both hives, which is good. The first swarm was testy after being on a tree trunk for 3 days and rebuffed our best efforts to offer them a good home and they took off. I hope they found a beautiful, big hollow tree somewhere nearby.
The second swarm gathered itself into a tight ball at eye level and we just snipped the branch that evening and put it in the waiting box. Easy peasy. They were very docile (normal swarm mode) but for sure we had our suits on. I can mess around the hives just fine, but anytime I mess with them (rarely) I suit up. I used to be very afraid of bees as I would get stung all the time - more often by wasps, though.
I now work with them side by side in the garden and feel blessed by their attentions to my flowers. It's been a big accomplishment for me to overcome much of my fear (with all due respect, lol).

Hi Claire,

Wow, you have really taught me something new today! I have tons of little bees in my garden happily pollinating all the flowers. It is nice to see......I have to go meet my daughter so am on the run, but wanted to quickly respond.
smiles to you,
carolyn

Pray Tell - dedicated to White Rock

Eagle flew in with prey yesterday, bold as an eagle can be.
Pray tell, what is this prey that resides by the Bay,
nestling with eagles so high in the sky, while the world travels by,
it isn't the normal prey, so pray tell.

Squirrel like it appear, but at its rear,
there hangs a little white tag,
hmm, squirrels don't have little tags on their end,
so this is a stuffy, not fluffy, not prey like, but fun.

Pray tell Dad, what did you bring in, said the eaglets
so wondrously as it sat on the nest, with the fish as a pillow,
beneath and near the weeping willows looking down on the Bay.
But Dad with no sense of smell did not know, so we had to show.

Stuffy is a lovely, not a yummy to stuff their tummies,
it nestles so carefully on the nest,
a giggle here, a giggle there, it is a stuffed toy.
Oh my........and oh boy!

carolyn - copyright

cute!!