"Bee" Happy

We got all of our bee supplies today!!!!

The bees themselves won't come until my birthday on April 26th (happy birthday to meee!!). It is actually a good thing since we purchased everything disassembled to save a little bit of money.

The start up cost for two hives, in case anyone is interested, is around $650. It is kind of like cloth diapering. A big investment up front but once things are established, aside from a new queen here or there, or replacing a lost tool, there's not a whole lot of future cost. I suppose growing your colony would cost more too but if you are doing that well, chances are you're making your money back and then some. It is an added bonus that once things are established, you'll be selling honey, wax, soap, candles, beauty products, etc. People love all things honey and with good reason! Raw honey is a super food and the most natural sweetener you can consume.

We are going to start assembling everything this weekend and I'll be picking up some paint while running errands on Thursday. I heard that you can get returned paint (not the right shade, size, etc) for pretty cheap so I'm going to give that a try. I also want to decorate them like the auction hives I saw at Bee School. Any artists out there? Will acrylic craft paint work over top of a laytex base coat? I'll also need to do research on how it will weather but I'm assuming we'll have to repaint them every now and then if we want them to stay looking pretty. I want to stay away from any oil based paint for many reasons.

Ayden seems to be cycling back into a more pleasant, independent phase. Last night was a great night, sleep wise, and the day was very pleasant. It is amazing the difference and this time was the first where I was confident that it was just a phase and that things would come back full circle to sweetness and calm.

He skinned his nose for the first time last night and it was awful. I think it was harder on David and me because he didn't cry any longer than he does when he falls down any other time. We also know that it was not the last time. Now that he's working on his running and climbing I'm sure we have many more bumps, cuts, bruises and possible broken bones in our future (KNOCKING ON WOOD!!!)

I substitute taught for a gal at the dance studio and made pizza when I got home. I made a cauliflower crust and my own concoction of pizza sauce. Last time we made pizza, I realized that I had forgotten to pick up a jar of sauce and had to wing it. What I came up with was so good, we decided to always use it for our sauce from now on. It is very quick, tasty and cheaper which is always a bonus.

Ingredients:

1 15oz can tomato sauce

1 6 oz can tomato paste

Salt

Garlic Powder

Onion Powder

Lots of Paprika

Directions:

Warm all ingredients together in a sauce pan

Use as any other pizza sauce.  Easy peasy.

Unfortunately, I didn't actually measure out any of the ingredients, except for using the whole cans of sauce and paste. Perhaps next time I make it I can share a more precise recipe. My advice would be to just have fun with it and add ingredients to taste. You really can't get it wrong!

It is supposed to rain here all weekend so we have a lot of indoor activities and to do's planned. I am so glad it is the weekend, we always love family time!!

~Sarah