OHMYGOSH - I'm Becoming a Recluse!

Thanks to My Dear John and Thunder Roads Beth, I realize that I have been remiss in writing to this blog. My Dear John was convinced that Bernie and I had developed Cabin Fever and killed each other.

Apparently, this blog is not the only form of communication I've been neglecting. After about two weeks on the homestead my dear husband informed me that I stand in danger of becoming downright unsociable. He sited the example that I had only left the homestead once in two weeks - and that was to go to the dump. And I went unwillingly and under duress.

But I LIKE being here! I like Bernie being here with me. And I have a really hard time understanding why I should leave it. I mean Bernie has been taking care of everything here while I work in my office and he's great company when I'm not working. We have food, each other, beer, lots of honey, and constant entertainment watching the wildlife and walking through the woods, so it's difficult to think of any good reason I should leave here.

But there is no excuse for not keeping in touch, and I do apologize for that. I pretty much suck at blogging.

Things are going really well for us right now. Bernie is busier than a one armed wall paper hanger taking care of this place and moving us out of our home in town. He's been spending a lot of time getting the back hoe bucket repaired. I like it best when he works around here and I can hear him in the background as I work from my office. It's comforting. And it's also the only time I know for certain I'll get fed during the day. I've been busy with working from home during the day, and getting bath products to sell made in the evenings. And then there's always the view outside that demands attention......

Tonight we took the Trail Blazer up the Road Less Traveled and sat on a fallen tree and listened to the rain beat on the canopy above us. We sat there quite a while. Together. Silent. Listening. Watching. Finally the rain made it down to us and we went on to the house.

We are busy - and we are happy. We are finally taking time to enjoy every day. And we are enjoying each other more than ever. I guess you kind of have to do that when you live in the middle of 65 acres and refuse to leave it.

Oh - and Hersey, you don't have to be crazy to live on the side of a mountain. But it sure as hell helps.

Bee Free,
Penny

Busy as Bees on the Homestead

The past couple weeks have been very busy here on the homestead. Between moving, house guests, a biker event, and making soap, bath gels, and bath salts, we've been happily realizing our dream of living on this beautiful homestead.

I've had two businesses agree to sell my home made bath products and they seem quite excited about it. I made a big batch of oatmeal honey bar soap last week and set it on the rack to cure for the next six weeks or so. I'm pretty excited about this recipe, as I came up with it all on my own and attempted to make a very moisturizing, lathery soap - and I used the honey from our hives. We'll see how it turns out in a few weeks.....

I hope to have a page up on The Bee Buzz website soon to sell my products in the next few weeks. I'll let y'all know when I do that.

Bernie still doesn't really feel that he's quit work. Probably because he's working so much around here. He gets up early and gets busy right away. It amazes me how much he's accomplished in the past two weeks. I have noticed a big difference in him though. He's much more relaxed and layed back - almost to the point of annoyance. I mean he's always been fairly calm, but now he doesn't seem to get riled about much of anything around here. If I take off on a rant about what a mess the house is with this move, he volunteers to stay home the next day and clean it. When I got worried about one of the cats not acting right, he told me to make an appointment and he took her in to the vet. He's never taken an animal to the vet without me. He HATES taking cats to the vet! At least the "old" Bernie hated it. The "new" Bernie just loaded her up and took off. He even does the dishes now without me saying a word. And he puts them away when they are dry. Weird. It is down right weird. But I do think I can get used to this.

The bees seem to be doing really well, although there is another hive we are now concerned about. We'll take it apart next weekend and be sure the queen is ok. I hope this cool weather is to blame for the inactivity in that hive. We'll find out this weekend.

Life is good on the homestead. And it only gets better and better.

Bee Free,
Penny