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Monday, April 25, 2011

Barn Hop #10

Welcome to the Homestead Barn Hop! 

and Me!

I hope your Easter blessed and you're feeling refreshed.  It always feels like I'm in the home stretch to summer when Easter comes and goes. And there's so much to do! I had hoped to get even more done this weekend, but I spent almost the entire time with my foot elevated while taking Benadryl and Motrin because of a bee sting. 




Wednesday evening as I finished installing the new bees in their hive, I got stung on the ankle as I gathered up my supplies to leave. Some poor worker bee got caught in my sock and since I couldn't find it right away, it kept pumping it's venom in me until I could get it out (which was a while). I had meant to wear my gardening boots, but in my hurry, I forgot and just wore my tennis shoes. I should have stopped and changed. 

At first it didn't seem like too big of a deal, but after 24 hours, my entire foot had swollen and I had a fever. I'm hoping this was just due to the fact of where the bee stung me and since it pumped in more venom than normal because I do NOT want to give up beekeeping! I had the same reaction as a kid when I stepped on them barefoot, but last summer when I was stung on the arm, I had no reaction whatsoever. Pray that this was just an unusual occurrence! 

As for the bees, they seem to like their new home immensely. I've hobbled out there several times to see how they are doing and there's lots of in and out activity. The timing couldn't have been better. With all the rain we've had (and little sun), the wildflowers have been delayed and are just now starting to bloom profusely. Plus the creek out back is still running so that they have a water supply. I'll have to come up with a back up water source soon, because it won't run for long, but in the meantime, it's nice to have. 



I also got my seeds started this past week. Despite every mishap imaginable, they are doing well and sprouting away. I didn't get to use my soil blocker because I'm still trying to obtain all the ingredients for the potting soil recipe, so I used my paper pot roller instead. My 12 year old was able to make all the pots I needed which was a great help since it's a bit time consuming. I'm still hoping to use the soil blocker for starting a lot of flowers for cutting just as soon as I can.

The chicks are growing and I'll be moving them to the coop this week although they'll still need the heat lamp because it's cool out there at night, but I'm going to need the lamp for the Freedom Rangers soon, so I need this group of layers to get acclimated as soon as possible. 

So that's a glimpse into what's happening at my homestead this week. How about yours? 


1. Write a blog post about what's going on at your homestead or a post on something you're learning or an item of interest that will benefit the homesteading community. Be sure to add the red barn button and link back here so others can join in the fun.


2. Come back here and enter your information in the Linky. Please be sure to link to your actual post (click your title and then copy the URL above) and not your home page so those participating later in the week can find your post easily. 


3. If you don't have a blog, leave a comment and tell us what's going on at your homestead!


Please Note: As hostesses of the Homestead Barn Hop, please understand that we reserve the right to remove any links that are not family friendly. While this may be subjective, we will err on the side of caution in order to keep our blogs appropriate for all readers. Thank you for your understanding!




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