"Science is like a miracle"

My chickens haven't been laying.  Oh, they've molted, yes.  I saw that.  I gave them protein to speed that along.  Even so, I haven't seen an egg in the nesting box since September.  Ug!  I hate freeloaders. 

I was just about to make myself a nice Coq au Vin, when I decided I should email my friend (and local poultry farmer) for some advice.  He reminded me that egg production is related to length of light and recommended I put a light in the coop.  Brilliant!  My husband hung a strand of Christmas lights in the coop and set it up with a timer.  The lights come on at 4pm and shut off at 9pm.  We set this up about a week ago, and today we got our first egg in months. 

I emailed my buddy to thank him for the advice.  "Science is like a miracle," he said.  Deep thoughts!  And wise words.

Dear Sitter...

It's been pretty blog silent around these parts, and for that I apologize.  My little babe, Elliott, has become my life.  As my baby's vision develops, my vision becomes more nearsighted.  I cannot see beyond his little face.  I hold him close, and TRY to get him to stare into my eyes.  The poor little wiggle worm just wants to squirm away, though, because the world is oh so amazing and interesting.  The more he wants to explore and see new things, the more I want just him.  Yes, I have a terrible, middle-school crush on my son.  I love him so very much.

 So, I think Dear Sitter will be a series on this blog, since I have many things to say to a potential babysitter.  I have had my parents, sister, and friends watch Elliott, and I even interviewed a stranger to sit, but I have yet to hire someone to take care of him.  Elliott is almost 8 months old, and I am not against hiring someone to sit for him at all, but nothing seems that important.  But tonight I left a holiday party just to come home and put Elliott to bed.  He needed sleep, but I would have loved to mingle with other adults.  And I was thinking, what would I tell a babysitter on a night like this?  Just off the cuff, I think it might go something like this...

Dear Sitter,
Don't get stressed out about putting Elliott to bed.  I used to worry so much when I was a new mom.  Putting my baby to bed seemed so mysterious and impossible.  But Elliott is easy.  He will go to sleep when he is tired.  How will you know he is tired?  He starts wiggling in your arms and rubbing his eyes.  He might yawn.  When you see any two of these signs, hold him and rock him.  Don't worry about giving him a bottle; he hates bottles.  I fed him before I left, so he is not hungry.  Just rock him a bit, and if he gets more wiggly, put him down in the crib.  When you put him down, help him to roll over onto his tummy because he only sleeps on his tummy.  I know about "back to sleep," but our Elliott is a roller and will get onto his tummy on his own even without out help. (He will cry and cry if you don't help him roll over.)  If he doesn't get more wiggly, he will fall asleep in your arms.  Bliss!  When this happens, put him in the crib and help him onto his belly.  Before you leave his room, make sure he can breathe easily, and put a light blanket on him.  Congratulations and thank you!  Please have some chocolate and relax.  That's what I do every night after he falls asleep.


And that is what I will tell him/her.  Someday.  Soon.

Problem Solved!

My hive robbery has slowed down and may have even stopped completely.  The solution was the wet sheet I draped over the hive yesterday afternoon.  Just hours after I applied the sheet, I could see activity at the front of the hive slowing down.  I didn't observe any more wasps entering through the crack where the cover meets the super (since the wet towel was in the way).  I took the sheet off in the evening to allow for night time ventilation, and this morning, activity looked normal.  It's about noon now, and the entrance has a bit of activity.  I saw some wasps in the grass in front of the hive, so I replaced the sheet. 

All in all, a wet sheet is a great strategy to stop hive robbing.  It seemed to help the bees get a leg up on their enemies, and it may have prevented a colony loss later on if the honey robbing perpetuated.  I hope the bees have enough honey left to make it through the winter, and I hope that not too many of the actual bees were killed in this epic skirmish.

Help! I'm being robbed!

The honey harvest is being postponed or cancelled.  There has been an attack on the hive.  I went out to check on the bees the other day, and I notice a great amount of activity at the entrance to the hive and on the front of the hive.  Upon closer inspection I saw that bees were fighting at the entrance and in the grass in front of the hive.  I also saw some wasps in the fray.  Hive robbing!  I put an entrance reducer on when I saw this, and the robbing continued but slowed.  Today I put a wet sheet over the hive.  I suspected that some of the robbers were getting in through a crack on the top of the hive.  The sheet leaves the entrance exposed and will hopefully block the "backdoor".

I'll keep you posted on the activity!

Harvest Honey, Honey

I plan on harvesting some honey in the next couple of weeks.  Not much, perhaps just a frame or two.  I want to compare this season's honey to last season's, of which I still have several pounds.  I don't have an extractor (yet), so I plan on uncapping the frame and letting the honey drip out.  I know this might take a while, but it's more of an experiment than a full-on harvest.

Did I tell you that I'm making mead with some of last year's honey?  I have a three gallon carboy bubbling quietly in the basement.  Mead takes several months to ferment, so I am patiently waiting on this project, watching the magic happen.  It's golden and cloudy with tiny bubbles rising to the surface.  (Oh, and since I love me a good fermentation project I am also making some stout.  I'll be bottling that this weekend!)

Cloth diapering

It may seem extreme to many people, but cloth diapering is alive and well!  Even in these modern times of ours filled with convenience items and speed.  Yes, cloth diapering can slow one down a bit, but for me, I like a little forced slowing once and a while.  I, like so many mamas out there, spend so much time tending to my little baby, and the extra seconds snapping on a diaper cover just roll into that. Oh, the days filled with soothing and napping and feeding and strolling...and laundry!  What did I do before my little one?

But I digress.  I am using both cloth diapers and disposable diapers.  I've found that the cloth diapers are great for those long days at home when I can spend all the time in the world changing Baby.  I use Cloth-Eez prefolds and MotherEase diapers mostly.  I love the prefolds- so classic and absorbent!  The MotherEase diapers are on loan from a friend and have lots of snaps for the growing babe.  Hubs loves these because they have a utilitarian feel.  And he doesn't mess with the Snapeez on the prefolds.  I have some BumGenius all-in-one diapers, too (liner and cover in one) and these are great for quick cloth diapering.  When I go out and want to show off my cloth diapering skills, I bring these along.  See?!  It's easy!

The disposables have been great for trips and over night.  Baby had a diaper rash for a while, and I think it had to do with the cloth getting wet at night and sitting on his skin.  The disposables were nice for keeping him drier while the rash healed.

More on cleaning the diapers later, but I've found the best way to get out poop stains!  I'll leave you with one word-SUN.

Maine vacation

There's nothing more restorative and refreshing than a week in Maine.  This year we stayed on Great Pond, one of the Belgrade Lakes.  It was a real family affair, with 18 of us total.  These were lazy days, folks.  Fishing during the cool mornings, swimming during the hot afternoons, and eating themed dinners cooked by a different family each night.  The food, oh the food.  We sure do know how to cook.  Lobster, London broil, tacos, gourmet pizzas, ahhh...  It was the first vacation for my new little 3 month old baby, too.  Oh, yes.  More on him in another post!