Happy Ho Ho

A boat across from us in the Vero Marina.  

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More photos of Vero...

Every day is a beach day.

Sunset at the marina

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Our favorite bar: Ocean Grill on the beach...

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Unbelievables...

Recently, a bee flew into the boat and resident bee keeper senses the critter needs lunch.  So out comes the honey from Maryland's Eastern Shore, a little gets put on bee keeper finger (I didn't have the nerve) and bee goes to town.  Too weird that a drone would forage in a trawler.  

The hood ornament that wasn't meant to be.

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That's all folks...

The unanswered question answered

Yes, we are in Vero Beach, Fl.

Winterizing the bees and some dubious updates

Bees hibernate at 50 degrees, meaning they stay indoors.  So, just before we left Md. last week, like a good bee keeper, Barry covered the hives in special bee blankets, which are black to absorb heat.   Also, he made sure to leave some food (left-over honey after humans raid it).  

If it gets above 50 degrees the bees will do a poop run, euphemistically called a "cleansing flight."

Unfortunately...

We have another hive down.  Barry started with three, but as of now, it looks like only one will survive.  I suppose I should do a trigger alert or something, but here is what it looked like inside on the bottom of the hive on the left.  Yes, they are all dead.

Barry's best guess is herbicide.  One possibility is a crop duster spraying for Johnson grass, a much-hated weed.  

TMI:  Introduced into this country as food for grazing livestock in the 1800s by Col. William Johnson, the grass is considered one of the world's 10 worst weeds.  Brought from Eurasia (wherever that is) to his farm in Alabama, the highly-adaptable weed remains Mr. Johnson's dubious legacy to the new nation.  It also causes cows to have gas and one herd might mean the evacuation of an entire county.  

Johnson grass

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An election report from the Far Side... 

Brothel owner, Dennis Hof, who is dead, won the midterm election for Nevada legislature -- and the race wasn't even close.

Owner of five brothels and reality television star Hof won a seat in Nevada’s heavily GOP 36^thAssembly District. The only problem is the 72-year-old was found dead on Oct. 16 after partying at one of his brothels all weekend in celebration of his birthday.

When Hof died weeks before the election, it was too late to remove his name from the ballot but he easily beat out his fellow Democratic candidate and educator, Lesia Romanov, with 68 percent of the votes. 

Raise a glass to The Far Side:

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"Where there's water..."



Barry and I will be showing our landscape photography from cruising the Chesapeake, the ICW and Bahamas.  The show is March 2019 at Artists Guild Gallery in Vero Beach, with a reception Friday, March 1 from 5 to 8 pm, the same time as Vero's monthly art walk.  

I know.  I'm telling you about an event that's a half year away.  Just "file it" and I will do a follow up.  

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That's all folks...

Sleeping dogs lying

Remember the bees...

And then there are two.   
Bee hives, that is.  The one in the middle didn't make it, partially because Sasha, the new Russian queen, didn't make it.  Her new hive mates probably didn't take to her, so the hive failed.

But, there is still honey to be harvested from the frames:

This process of brushing off the bees from the honey made them a bit upset.  Lots of buzzing around and six stings for Barry.

Vicki opts out of Barry's fighting off bees and catches up on the WSJ.  The image of Barry scraping off the bees and their flying all around his head getting into Smart Car is the stuff of nightmares.  

We take the frames into the Dreams Landing honey extractor system in the basement.  

 "Warming room" to keep the honey trays ready to be extracted.

Set-up in the laundry room with steel extractor and honey frames.  

About 20 bottles worth.  Much more next year.

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Photo ops...

Barry and Vicki pose for possible AARP ad

Ugly bug on flower

Victorian house on way to Eastern Shore bee farm 

 Dreams Landing Marina, view from our hill

Severn River sunset (taken by Gail Watkins while we have dinner)

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Meanwhile....

Barry is in Florida, dealing with the boat, which looks like a storage unit.  It is now in slip N-16 at Vero Beach Marina.

View of the bridge after Barry put up bimini.  Everything that might blow off in a hurricane had to be put inside while it was stored in Ft. Pierce this winter.  Unfortunately, the plug on the bottom of the boat didn't get pulled, so the bilge filled with rainwater, forcing the bilge pump to run until the batteries drained and the pump died.  Cost to fix: $1,395.  

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That's all folks...

CHANGE OF SEASONS...

Annapolis' main street "makeover"  

One day, our mayor put his finger to his chin searching for creative ideas and came up with this:  a bike lane and boardwalk on one side of Main St.  Mind you, it's only a trial until mid October and it only cost $80,000.  

Meanwhile, I'm told three bikers a day use the lane and, as you can see, not many pedestrians seem to want to enjoy the carbon monoxide.  The parking meters are there, but no one can park, thus relieving the city of that revenue.  The business people are furious because customers can't park and the restaurants can't serve people sitting at tables.  Residents just sit, drink-less and meal-less and wonder why.

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Official portraits of the new royalty...

Sofia

Sasha

Sofia and Sasha get their portraits taken.  The dot on the back is the universal way to separate the queen from the rest of the pack.  Not sure what they use for the dot....my first thought is WhiteOut.

And this is Sofia getting to know her new hive mates.  She obviously smells ok and has been accepted.  Wish we could do a cam like the osprey one so you all could check in on boring days to see how 60,000 bees are doing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blwj31F9aFs

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EXTRACTION TIME....

The date for getting the honey from the frames will be Saturday, October 20.  Barry is conducting the event with Stan and friends at the farm on the eastern shore.  Time TBA.

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THE BIG CALENDAR IN THE SKY...

Barry is leaving by car with his friend Tom Butz on October 22 for Vero.  They will then move Balboita from Harbourtown Marina, Ft. Pierce, three hours north to the Vero Beach Municipal Marina.  Vicki and yappers will depart from Annapolis by car a few days afterwards.  We will then indulge in a mindless, but soothing life on a marina queen until May.  Since we did not rent Dreams Landing this year, we will be coming up to Annapolis for visits in an attempt to keep some of our few remaining friends.

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That's all folks....

"It's better to be in the arena, getting stomped by a bull, than to be up in the stands or out in the parking lot." --Steven Pressfield, author of the "War of Art," a book about creativity

SPEAKING OF CREATIVITY....

UPDATE FROM BEEKEEPER BARRY

This week, two new queens were added to the hives.  (The others got a little pooped out and needed help.)  They cost $15 each and came in the mail.

Inside were cages with the queens: one Italian, one Russian.

Sofia and Sasha in their cages.  If this was a video, you'd see them wiggling around surrounded by a few helpers.

Empty cages after Sofia and Sasha were released. The way it works is the workers already in the hive eat through some sugar candy covering holes in each cage.  That way the queens can get out and the process allows enough time for them to acquire the smell of the hive so they won't be rejected.  It seems like getting along with a new group works as long as you smell ok.  Who thinks of this stuff?

MEANWHILE.....

The honey extractor arrived.  All $900 of it.

 And got piled into the BeeMobile and taken to the Eastern Shore.

Where is it now set up to do the extraction sometime this fall.

This is one frame of honey which will be extracted.

And put in little bottles.

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FINALLY, SOME RECENT PHOTOS...

High tide in downtown Annapolis (not from the hurricane -- all natural)

Views from our room at St. Michaels Harbour Inn and Marina, Miles River, Md. (last week's pop-up getaway)

That's all folks.