A Bag, Belle, and Bees

So Thursday afternoon a friend of mine asked me if I wanted to go "sailing" Friday morning.  I could for a short while, but we are finishing up the pole barn today, so I need to be home after lunch....

CHA CHING!  

This leather bag is the same brand I wanted at the beginning of the summer, at a store, but it was $100.00.  I got it for $2.00!  Yes, TWO DOLLARS!  LOVE IT!

 

Got my Shug a London Fog, wool coat for winter, for $10.00!

 This quilt, for Coral Belle, for $4.00

 

 Bee Lady party tray for $1.00!

And these gauzy curtains that have pockets in them, to hang outside Coral Belle and give her an exotic appearance... somehow, for $4.00.

Not bad for a few garage sales.

Then Saturday, my Shug and I went on a date to a HUGE auction.  HUGE!

Too big actually.  It's a yearly event this church has, but I don't think I'll go back.
There were so many "rings" of auctioneers and so much stuff it was overwhelming.  I wanted this skinny little hall tree in the middle of the above picture.  But not for $20.00.  Especially after they left it out in the rain all night.  (sad face)

I would have given $20.00 for this!!!!  But I didn't stick around this area to see how much it went for.

 
What's this.....off in the distance....at one of the other rings...

 

I want this for Coral Belle's area!  My Shug says to go up to $50!  I secretly thought I'd go up to $75!  Guess what!  I didn't even get to bid!  $250.00!

And a friend of mine said, "well I can't imagine much of a calling for metal palm trees."

I imagine someone in town upsetting their neighbors about right now with this metal palm tree in their front yard!

While I was hanging around between a couple of tents, I noticed this guy on the roof of the church taking pictures!  OH MY GOSH he is really high up there!

I wanted these lamps for my kitchen

but I decided not to wait....it was taking way too much time to get to them....as you can see, there are "things" on top of and under the tables. 

I hope they finished up before church Sunday morning!

I left...with nothing!  

Oh well....I gotta hot new (old) bag for $2 dollah at a garage sale!

CORAL BELLE UPDATE

She's coming along nicely.  My Shug can't keep his hands off of her!  I know...I was fixing her up like a girl, but hey, if he wants to jump in there, I'm not going to stop him.  Actually, we have come up with a little plan.  On weeknights, he gets home from work late, he works 10 1/2 hour days, and he's usually exhausted.  So we are doing small things together on weeknights to move forward, such as camper stuff, pole barn stuff, odds and ends stuff.  Then on the three day weekends, work on the house.  So far so good!

So, there were two vents in the squares below, and the wood was somewhat rotten below them.  We are guessing a refrigerator or stove was in this area back in the day.  We took some aluminum and covered the vents so snow couldn't blow in,

then put the other half of this door over the holes so you can't see the holes.  I'm going to paint either all of it, or the inside of it with chalkboard paint!

He also fixed the door.  Well, I helped with the screen.  I was trying to find a before picture of the screen door and this is all I could find.

AFTER!  (there was a piece of metal in the camper that came with it.  That's what he fixed the door with.  And new screen which you can get for about $7.00 at home building stores)

A can of spray paint whitened up the hitch area and the bumper.

Lastly, I'm off to see a man about some bees.

It's a hive, not a swarm, which makes it much more difficult.

Cindy Bee

PS - I had this post ready to go yesterday (Sunday), but the battery went dead in my computer.  It's way dead...like it won't charge anymore.  Bummer....Anyway, I'll post about this hive adventure next.

Bees, Crochet, and Sailing!

Well I must say time goes too fast doesn't it.  My Shug is on vacation this week, we didn't go anywhere, and it seems I've had LESS time than normal.  

BEE STUFF

From my last post....you all were right...the queen was the one in the middle picture, and she is the bigger bee with the elongated body.  

I couldn't believe I actually got a picture of her.  You rarely see her.  She is usually covered by other bees, and she doesn't like to be in the light.  It was just a lucky shot.  

As for the winter die off.  You almost always lose a few hives during the winter months. 

  

During the winter... 

•  The queen will lay less eggs.

• The worker bees will cover the eggs with their bodies, and vibrate their bodies to keep the brood warm. They will not leave the brood.  So, if it is freezing cold all winter long, like it was this winter, the bees will starve to death before they will leave the brood.  

• The other thing is, they will not defecate in the hive.  So they never got a potty break this winter.  Imagine!

• And they cannot fly when it is too cold out.  A lot of people ask why we don't wrap the hives or warm them up somehow.  If you make the hives too warm, the bees will think it's warm outside and fly out of their hive.  They'll get a few feet and not be able to fly back.

  Now those are a few simple reasons why they could have died.  There are more complicated reasons such as mites, disease, and weak hives going into the winter.  It is a hard time to raise bees.

Also, I still have not heard from the company I ordered my bees from.  I did contact my cousin who has ordered from them before, and she said that sometimes happens with them during this time of year. I have called three times, left messages twice. I did find they have a facebook business page, and I do think they are legit.  I'm not sure I would order from them again.

CROCHET STUFF

So, besides working our bums off...I went to crochet group.  These pics are from a week ago.  My blankey is actually finished!  A finished blankey deserves it's own TADAH post though.

Debbie's Blanket

 The bag Kay is making.

Mandy's scrappy blanket

 Dusty's blanket

 Another blanket I started,

which I will tell you about in another post.

Lastly....

RUMMAGE SALE STUFF

My friend Marcia and I went "sailing" and I bought a few things.  This fairy house....

lamp (I love little lamps all throughout)

I bought this pot, which looks a little tuscan and I put the fern in it that my friend "K" bought us for earth day.

Make up bag .25!

Very colorful bowl!

Bottom and top of it.

 

So that doesn't come close to what I've done all week, but I'll stop here!  I'm off to visit a few of you before my Shug and I go on a date tonight.

Brenda....I will e-mail you.

Cindy Bee

Sailing on State Road 38

Last Friday, my sailing friend and I went....sailing! St Rd 38 was having garage sales from one town to another, with miles in between.

We stopped at several sales on the way there.

I wanted this.....but he wanted $250.00 for it as is, and it's broken! I was hoping this wasn't a sign of the way things were going to be that day.

Not to worry....and we weren't even on 38 yet!

Oh dear...this was after the first sale on 38.

This is Deb and this was her sale. She's counting what was our money and is now her money! Deb was having a lot of fun. You can tell she enjoys doing this kind of thing. After chatting with her a bit I found out she had a store, but closed it because of health issues, so keep her in your prayers please. Hmmm, what did I buy from Deb?

I bought some old Christmas garland. I like to decorate with old ornaments and do crafty stuff with it too.

I think I bought this pretty plate from her too. I'm getting rid of my platters, for pretty plates like this one.

And I bought this lamp. I think I bought something else, but can't remember what.

Off we go...I did not buy this tub, but I WANT it.

And the guy that had this tub has an 18 month old daughter and his wife is expecting triplets! And they did not use fertility drugs. His Mom is a twin and his wife is a twin. He refurbishes tubs like these for a living. You see folks, garage sailing is a social event as much as it is a good deal event.

After a couple more sales, we had to unload and reorganize.

Then, right after reorganizing we went to a sale and they had a car top carrier for sale!!!

SOLD!

Yeah we tied it to the car with wire ties. Hey it worked! No one had bungee cords for sale!

OMG I Want this sink for my kitchen. I could buy it and take it to the tub guy to refurbish. I LOVE IT!

So my friend is looking at it and says...what does the sticker say....hmmmm...."sssssoold. Sold." DANGIT!

We stopped at an herb farm and funny thing...they had two Adirondack chairs painted the exact color I've been thinking about painting two that we have. What do you think? I even had the paint chips with me!

I went to this herb farm for the last couple of years. The owner said, "I was wondering if the bee lady was going to come!"

Here are a few things I bought that day.

I want to cover this with some funky crochet yarn or material.

Thinking about going to Italy next year.

Now this...I think is a sign. I had this EXACT book when I was in 8th grade and taking guitar lessons. A couple of months ago I asked my Brother in law if he ever played his guitar. Nope, do I want to buy it? I've been thinking about it....do I have time? Probably not. But if I spent less time on the computer....maybe....
Look at the songs in the book.

FUN!

Here's one of the four sweaters I bought...might have to get one of these out today. I packed them to take to the new house. I also bought my Shug three shirts.

I love old unusual cookbooks like this one.

I did buy a couple of herb plants at the herb farm. Have you ever grown lemon verbena. Not to be confused with lemon balm. Lemon verbena is an annual here, lemon balm is like mint. You will never buy a plant more lemony scented than lemon verbena.

Buy one...you won't regret it. I rub my hands on it whenever I'm cutting onions or garlic.

I'm sure there were a few more goodies, but I need to get my day started. Have fun today.

Cindy Bee