I
have wanted to update my blog for over a year, but there never seems to be
enough hours in a day. So much has
happened in a year it is hard to believe.
Let’s start from a personal perspective.
I am going to be a grandmother times 3 children. Katie my daughter and Tyler have been married
for over a year now and are expecting in May of this year. They are having a little girl. My son Sean and his fiancé Lyndsay are also
expecting a girl in July and finally Kevin and Jenny are getting married April
2nd and expecting a little boy in August. I am truly blessed. My son Drew graduated from Boston
Conservatory in May and is working as a professional actor and following in his
father’s footsteps. Life is good!!
Sean & Lyndsay baby girl
Katie & Tyler baby girl
Kevin & Jenny baby Boy
My
soaping business, Reeny’s Butterflies
Blooms and Bees is doing well, growing and gives me great pleasure and I am
striving to someday open my own small retail store. Until then I will continue to grow my
business and continue to share my joy of beekeeping and gardening. I was interviewed yesterday by Amy Hager of
the Artisan Life for a podcast that
will air sometime in April. We started
following each other on Instagram recently when I liked a picture of her where
she was body painted as a Queen Bee by another artisan. It is an absolutely beautiful painting. As a fellow beekeeper I fell in love with the
art work! I am sure it was an amazing experience! When Amy asked me to do the interview I was
excited and thrilled, and a little nervous because I do not truly represent the
artisan lifestyle. I am still working
for corporate America as a sales representative with deadlines, and sales
expectations. I love my job as it has given
me financial stability, and many benefits that make me appreciate life. But the Artisan life keeps calling me. It really has most of my life. When I was younger I was busy raising 4
wonderful children but always had some artistic or creative outlet. Back then it was music. My children are very creative and
musical. As I grew older and my children
have grown, my responsibility for caring for them lessened and I found that I
was constantly seeking to fulfill my creative nature, whether it was
needlepoint, scrapbooking, knitting, gardening, beekeeping or soap making. Doing this interview made me realize that I
am truly an artisan, and even though I have responsibilities to my current job
I am fulfilled by this creative nature that I possess. I look forward to posting a link on my
Facebook page for all to listen to.
My
yard continues to be in constant change.
The one thing that is slightly constant is that I do not have as much
time to keep it as manicured as it used to be.
That is mostly because of the bees.
As you all know from my past blog posts it is extremely difficult to
garden like I use to without the bees trying to eventually sting me. It is very hot in Miami to garden, in a full
bee suit. Secondly, my old yard guys
would not mow or upkeep the backyard. As
a result it became so out of control that it was impossible for me to tackle
alone. I have an acquaintance, Cindy
David, who I have known for many years.
Our children went to early school together. I learned a lot of what I know about
Butterfly gardening from her. Through
the years our lives have crossed paths on numerous occasions. She has owned her own landscaping business
for many years and spends a great deal of her time giving lectures and doing
landscapes for butterfly and pollinator gardens. Our lives recently crossed paths again and
she now is maintaining a few residential yards.
Her yard men happen to be beekeepers so they are not intimidated by my
bees. So I am thrilled!! My yard is slowly starting to take shape
again. On Friday we are checking out the
irrigation system and starting to plant a few pollinator plants. I am so excited! My yard use to give me such joy and I am
thrilled for the possibilities again.
Yesterday when I was talking on the podcast interview it had been some
time since I talked about butterfly gardening and I almost forget some of the
plants and books that were the foundation to my garden. I have been so busy over the last five years
beekeeping and making soap that I haven’t spent enough time focusing on my
garden. Hopefully that is going to
change. The interview yesterday prompted
me to write this update. Coincidentally
today Cindy called me and said she had some plants that she will be able to
plant on Friday.
This
year was not a great year for my hives!
I lost several to wax worms. I
had 6 hives most of the year, had as many as 8 and then lost 4 after doing
splits. It is always difficult as a
beekeeper to lose a hive. I am hopeful
that I will increase my hives back up to six again this year. It will soon be Spring and with that my bee
population will grow exponentially. I
will bet splitting my hives again will bring me 6 hives very soon.
On
a sad note it was not a great year for my animals. We had to put Snickers down, our Dachshund of
13 years. He had suffered with vertebrae
and disc issues for years and finally was unable to walk or enjoy life. I also lost all five of my chickens, who were
not just chickens but my pets. I wish I
had blogged about them especially since they gave me such joy. They all had names and were very spoiled
“Girls”. Every day they enjoyed fresh
papaya from my yard and would coming running when I came home from work. They occasionally would come in the house for
treats. Petunia would actually sit on my
lap and loved sitting with us. They were
much more than just chickens to me. I
came home from work one day to find 3 chickens dead and two more had passed by
the next day. The necropsy was negative
but I think they must have gotten into some poison or something. It was very hard losing them. I have almost gotten more chickens several
times, but I’ve always been afraid a hawk or predator would get them. Losing them again would be very
difficult. Also since I am fixing up the
yard I’m not really sure if it’s a good idea to have chickens again, since they
will probably destroy the landscaping very quickly. I am very glad I got to experience raising
backyard chickens. Maybe someday I will
have some again. Who knows??
Well,
that’s a brief synopsis of everything that has happened over the last year in
my life. I look forward to having
grandchildren and pray that all are well and my children have easy and
uneventful births. I will continue to
set goals to grow my business of beekeeping and soap making. I will try to be faithful to my blog and
continue to keep those that follow me updated on my adventures in my backyard
and my artisan lifestyle.
