As Busy as Bees, and I'm Not Kidding

 

Bob and Nick have embarked upon building an extension on our deck(s).  If you've visited, you may recall we have two smallish decks, and they weren't big enough to host an outdoor dinner, so Bob took action.  He and Nick have dug holes, moved boulders and rocks and mixed and poured two tons of concrete (or so they say!).  They have 13 supports in the ground and will be ready to begin the next phase when the June rains end.  

Here is a photo of the two of them at work. 

This was taken from the existing deck; you can see the pipes they had to move prior to pouring the concrete in the forms.

 Our friends, Bill and Mellie, loaned them a cement mixer when they got tired of doing it by hand.

The inside basement work continued when the drywall team showed up and worked for 5 or 6 days.  Here are the finished walls waiting for paint color decisions to be made.

View from the front looking to the storage room

Our future work space for mosaics and (Bob's) work desk

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, next we will pick out paint colors, choose a flooring and get to work on finishing this space.  You can see my EMPTY mosaic work table against the wall.











Now, the bee update.  We have three hives that seem to be thriving, although each at a different pace.  We have been warned that first year hives often don't produce extra honey (for us) as they are kept busy just producing enough honey to feed them throughout winter months.  I think one of our hives may dispel that idea, however.  With several months of pollen and nectar gathering left to go, hive "Due" is getting full of comb and honey.  FYI, the bees are "Italian Bees" so we named the hives Uno, Due and Tre to make them feel at home.  Here are some photos of what the yard is looking like.

There are thousands of wildflowers about to bloom.  We hope that keeps the bees busy and happy for several weeks.

And for some other photos, here is one of a Great Blue Heron that we spotted last week at the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge in the northern part of our county.  Also, I included some photos of wildflowers already blooming in our field.

 Hundreds of poppies have come up this year much to my surprise.

Also the first year for these to bloom, no idea what they are called.

I will add more photos of the field of wildflowers in a few days.  We've had LOTS of rain the past week so they should open up soon.