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!