Bee Joyful

School started back up a couple of weeks ago and we began a new season of classes and activities. I am so thankful for our many blessings and the many wonderful people in our lives.  Rick brought his co-worker, Andreas, home to visit with us. He is over here from Germany and it was  great talking to him about so many things.  Alex took this photo. Alex took this one too! He is so creative. Rick and Andreas went to TKD with Addison. School is in full swing, but in the afternoons, we try to meet up with friends and get some play time! Our lit group took a trip to the Country Doctor Museum. It was so interesting to see the old medical instruments and hear the stories. The ECU medical school now owns the museum, which is the doctors former home and practice. Lots of hands on activites and very interesting stories. It was really interesting to me since I saw so many things that I would see in my grandparents homes, and Popop's house. It made me ...

The bees took off last winter and I don't know what happened. A lot of bee keepers in the area had similiar reports. And they left all the honey so we worked all day to extract it... Hot knife (it is really hot!) to get the caps off...  We used the extractor and the hand method. The extractor is the way to go. Tons for work with both but easier with extractor... Rick got into it too. Using all his strength to squeeze the honey from the comes through the cheesecloth... And then we make need to clean the wax so we can use it. I made my own sunscreen this summer using our own beeswax. It is the best! Olive oil, coconut oil, shea butter, beeswax and essential oils. Then you add zinc to block the sun. No chemicals, good for your skin, and sunblock! I am going to make all my own lotions now. Yummy!!!! Rick realizing this is his bag he used on his adventures 20 plus years ago... Before the took off in the morning, we got them a ton of chicke...