Bees

So if you're not familiar with our bee story, let me give you a quick update.  Last March we bought an antique sink to make a fountain out of.  When we got home with it, Dan placed it in an old milk can out in the back yard, just to have some where to keep it until he was ready for it.

 

 So a week or two later we noticed a lot of bees flying around the sink, and realized a bee hive had been made in our milk can.  I was ready to call a bee keeper to have them taken away, but Dan is always up for an adventure.  That night he was talking to his dad and found out his uncle had a bee suit in his garage (that had been Dan's grandfathers), Dan decided it was meant to be, he was supposed to become a bee man.

All summer he had intentions to build bee boxes in the back of our yard, but never got to it.  In the mean time, our back yard looked like the 605 fwy with all of the bees rushing back and forth.  I was never a fan of them, especially after I was stung! 

So fast forward to two weeks ago.  Dan had just gotten home from a business trip and went out to check on his bees.  He didn't see any buzzing around, and when he got closer, he saw some ants on the ground near the hive, which ants and bees don't mix.  He realized all of the bees were gone.  We think all of the rain in December drove them away.  So he called us all out to see the results of nine months of bees....

 

I was amazed by what was in the milk can.  This picture is the bottom of it (we had to rip the bottom out).  It was lined with these honey combs.  For as much as I hated the bees, they really are an amazing insect.  How anyone wouldn't believe in God and creation after looking at this intricate detail  is beyond me.  Any way Dan took out each comb (I guess that's what they're called).  And in the end, we were rewarded with a sweet treat!

 We got about 8 jars of honey!  It really is better than anything you could buy in the store.  

Now we have decided on a new adventure this spring...chicks!!

Craft night

So last night we did fall crafts (see post below).  Here's our finished project:

Aren't those little guys cute!  I wish I could say I came up with the idea, but I didn't; I got it here.  I think hers are cuter, but these were a family effort so just making them was fun!  Ok, so I'm off for more caramel apple cider!

Fall

Fall is by far my favorite time of year.  Christmas is actually my favorite holiday, but since I'm always so busy in December I rarely get to enjoy the whole season.  But with fall, you get at least two months to enjoy the season.  I really wish I lived where the weather went with the season, but for now I'll just make the best of things here!  

So tonight was fall craft night.  I found a cute little craft on another blog I wanted to try, so to go with craft night we had this yummy treat -- caramel apple cider.  You know, the kind Starbucks makes.  I had ordered it once, and when I saw them make it I couldn't believe it.  They used tree top apple juice!  For the price I paid for that thing, I knew I could make it much cheaper.  And I used real apple cider, not the juice.

As far as the craft, stay tuned....I'll post the pictures tomorrow night!

Pancakes

Saturday mornings are usually the only day that I get to "make" breakfast for my family.  During the week and on Sundays we are are in such a hurry to get out of the house it's usually just oatmeal, cereal, bagels, etc.  But Saturdays are the one day I get to cook in the morning.   Each week is different, sometimes eggs (only poached for my family), waffles, pancakes or a breakfast casserole.  But when I do make pancakes I have always used a mix, such as Bisquick.  Seriously, I thought that was the only way you could make pancakes.  My mother was an avid baker, making wedding cakes as a business, and she always used Bisquick.  One day I was watching Alton Brown and he was make pancakes...FROM SCRATCH.  What a concept.   So a few weeks ago I was out of bisquick, so I ventured out and made them from scratch.  Holy cow, I will never go back.  They don't even taste the same.  And since I've decided to try and not buy anything with high fructose corn syrup any longer, I only buy real maple syrup.  Yes, it does cost a bit more, but I feel I've saving by not buying the mix. Plus, it is SO much better.  Seriously, I'm going on a fake syrup/Bisquick boycott.  You should too!

Jelly Day

So I haven't blogged in months, but I thought today's blog lived true to the name of my blog...making jelly. (You know, the country girl wannabe part). I came home Saturday to two 5 gallon pails of freshly picked grapes and two 5 gallon pails of oranges. Dan had been at his moms all morning harvesting. Aren't they pretty?
First we squeezed 8 quarts of orange juice. Seriously, fresh squeezed oj can't compare to the stuff you buy in the carton.

Next, it was time to clean and separate the grapes. This takes quite a while because you have to pick every grape off of the vine.
Next, you mash the grapes, then cook them down to release the juice. Pretty huh?

You have to strain the juice to get all of the pulp out. No more pictures because this part is so messy I couldn't pick up the camera. Then it's time to cook the juice with the pectin and sugar. Stirring constantly, so again, no camera. But I wish I had taken pictures of the windows. We had so many pans boiling my kitchen looked like a sauna.

But after hours of work, here was our reward.

Scipture challenge

I am participating in a scripture challenge you can find here. Here is my first one. The word we were given was Hope. The challenge is to find a scripture using that word and then scrapbook it.
When I think of the word hope, there are so many things that I hope for. I hope I can buy a new pair of shoes, I hope my kids will turn out to be good people, I hope that my dinner doesn't burn, I hope we can move to the country some day. But hoping for all of these things really doesn't matter. The only thing we truly need to put our hope in is God's unfailing love. Then everything else will come together.

Pizza Night

Friday night has been pizza night at our house for years. It used to be Little Caesars or Papa Johns, or whoever had a special going. But for about the last year we have been making homemade pizza on Friday night. One of our favorites is Spinach & Artichoke with feta. Tonight was not much different, but I did make a new sauce. I found it here on one of my new favorite websites. It was the best sauce I've ever had. Better than any take out by far. I also made a Canadian bacon/pineapple pizza, and thanks to the little one, we have pics to share. She's been taking pictures of all of our meals lately.