song for friday...song for a heartache

 Last Saturday night we went to watch Barney Bentall perform with Shari Ulrich and Tom Taylor.

Barney was well know back in the '80s & '90's for his work with The Legendary Hearts.

Trying to balance his life as a family man and a musician, he gave up touring and bought a cattle ranch in Alberta. I think he's the sweetest sounding cowboy I know.

 He's back in the music biz now, but as he puts it, "Only if a song won't leave me alone".

So there he is out there with his dogs, his horses, his cows, the cold, the dry and that big open sky...

...and by the sounds of it, a heartache or two.

 This song seems to tell an age old story of the fear of big love and how even no matter how much it scares you, grab on and go for the ride.

Is the Queen home?

Today Bob and Clayton came up to see how the bees were doing.

It's been 9 days since the set up and they wanted to make sure that there is a queen in each hive.

They also brought up some extra frames with honey started on them to give them a boost.

  So they donned their bee suits and got to work...

Bob wanted us to stand back a bit until he made sure there was a queen in the first one, otherwise they can get grumpy and a bit nasty...

After, they remove the top of the box then  they can get an idea of how they're progressing...

Looking good...lots of bees.

Now to check for the queen....

Somewhere in there is the queen but I'm not expert enough to point her out...next time I will pay more attention. I was just so thrilled to see it all up close!

Bob showing us one of the big drones.

They do not have stingers and are only used for reproduction.

After that, it's adios amigos and they are kicked out of the colony.

We also learned that if (more like when!) you get stung, you should scrape the stinger off instead of trying to pull it out.

If you pull on it you will only squeeze more toxin into yourself.

He likened it to grabbing a turkey baster with that squeezy thing on the end.

Honeybees loose 3-4% of their body mass when they sting which is why they die when they sting.

These are baby bees.

All of the light brown parts are cells with more baby bees ready to come out soon.

We got to hold a frame to see how heavy they are.

One day we will put on some bee suits and get up close and personal with them.

See all of that shiny liquid in the combs? 

That's blackberry honey!!!

We asked Bob how he knew and he said he could smell it.

I think I'll take his word for it and wait to have a bee hat on before I have a sniff.

They will add box sections to the hives which are getting full.

This is to give them more room.

If they feel too crowded, they will make a new queen and swarm out of the hive to find a new place with more room. Needless to say this is what you DON'T want to happen.

Just keeping the bees happy.

Perfection...

Sometimes I find a creature on a path who has died mysteriously.

I have a deep interest in studying such things.

To be able to hold, touch, examine something which would otherwise be unattainable, is a gift to me.

For example this barn swallow that Tom told me about a few days ago.

Today on my walk to the pond I found it...just lying there...perfect.

All that was missing were it's eyes.

I knew this would be a rare opportunity to see such beauty up close.

Even in the quietness of death there can be beauty and knowledge.

Quiet area...sshhh.....

Up beside the barn, there's a little pathway up into the woods...

Just to the right, before the gate I noticed this pretty stem of white foxglove...

Then...all of a sudden, a flush of bird wing flew out from behind...

So I looked up and there it was....

Well hidden in the ocean spray bush. 

A nest.

Of course I had to take a peak...

Just a wee bit closer....

Yes! As I suspected four beautiful eggs.

I moved away and sat quietly and sure enough, she came back...

Upon further investigation in my birds eggs and nests books, I found out that it is a Swainsons thrush, who I've been hearing a lot of all spring.

Now I know why! 

Will have to keep quiet around here for another week or so not to scare her away.

This is not my video, but gives an idea of the song...a upwards flute like melody..

Favorite place in the whole wide world...

Here we go...down to the river....Griffin's favorite place to go.

As soon as we make the turn onto the road for this walk, he knows...this is it!

He always runs ahead...and then back again as if to say...

"COME ON!!!   LETS GO!!!"

 Down we go...past the ferns...

The sun making dappled art of leaves on the path....

An old fence post from the farm that was here many years ago...

Out into the sun...

And to make things even more perfect....

Here comes Rosie....YEY!

...and down to the river where its all about swimming, balls and sticks!

Luckily the dogs were having too much fun to notice this hooded merganser and her sweet brood of brand new babies..

 After a few good swims we went up the path where the BIG trees are...

This cedar is probably about 600 years old and has sat on the bend of the river since Columbus sailed to find the New World...

Regina standing with an old growth fir. You don't see too many big trees like this so near to the village.

It's such a treat to have this place close to home....

Then it was out into the old farm fields...

In fantasy land, this is where my little stone cottage would be...with this old maple for a tire swing...

Daisies, daisies as far as you can see...

Yeeeehhhaaaaa!!

Beauty...

And the beast.

Up on top of the trail, we found this beautiful meadow of foxglove...

It was good to see the sun and feel some warmth on our faces...

The boys are back in town...

Every summer, when the field starts to get about hip height in grass, we bring in a horse or two to stay for a few months. They get to eat all the nice fresh greens and we don't have to mow.

Enter....Blue and Kicker. 

They belong to my friend Kelly who I met years ago when she was looking for a place to board Blue.

He lived here for about a year until Kelly and her hubby Scot, finally were able to buy land.

Now they are expecting their first baby any day, so the timing was perfect. Kelly can relax with the new baby and know that her 'boys' are happy and filling their bellies.

Blue is probably the most mellow horse I know. 

He is bomb proof and loves everyone and everything including our goat Leif.

They have had an on going love affair since the first day they met.

Leif is quite broken up when its time for Blue to go home at the end of summer.

Blue is about 20 now and was a rescue horse. He used to be a racehorse and at the age of 5 he was headed for the slaughter house. The marks on his neck are his tattoo from his racing days.

These horses are not treated well. When they hurt their legs, the managers numb the pain and make them keep going...no wonder at such a young age, they can't run fast anymore.

Here's Kicker (he's not a kicker, just came with that name) he's a young handsome boy who Kelly got to keep Blue company. She's worked hard with him and he's a good trail horse for her.

When they came up to our place this morning they had one thing on their minds...

munch...

munch...

and more munching!

Happy Days...