Roll Call: Friday, June 26th

[jezzie]

ooops - sorry - overslept

BBL.

[SuSUN]

Good Morning Jezzie,

Yes, me too finally got some good sleep. Its a lovely sunny day again up here temps going thru the roof so probably thnunderbumpers soon.

I am off to work just for this aft and I am off for the weekend. Feeling a few aches and pains in my back this morning after helping my friend yesterday pack boxes lugging them back and forth from her basement storage area up and down the elevator about 5 times.
I may go back on Saturday to help with the move or Sunday to help her unpack, the latter seems more appealling to me right now.

At least the scales dropped this a.m. been eating off track so maybe that's all I needed to get the metabolic rate to change, plus the physical activity. So plan ont he straight and narrow again now to try to reach my goal 4lbs to go!

Waving to All that visit today and hope to bbl...

Susan
129.2# this a.m.

[Kenwyn]

Most of the bees in a hive are female. They are the ones that do all the work...Gathering nectar and pollen, cleaning the hive, taking care of the young, the drones (males) and the queen. There are enough drones to mate with in case a new queen is born. They all hang out at the corner bar waiting for a virgin queen to take flight. In the fall the worker bees literally drag the drones from the hive (kicking and screaming I imagine). They are just dead weight and extra mouths to feed thru the winter. In the spring when the queen starts laying again more drones will be born to be on hand just in case a new queen is born needs a mate.

Good morning all!

UPS misdirected my new queen yesterday and she did not arrive as expected. Hopefully today. But I paid for next day delivery so will have to call the queen breeder and tell them to get their money back from UPS and hopefully give me a credit my credit card. I'll try to get some pics when I open the hives today to install the new queen.

Lainey -- I'll have to try the green storage bags. I don't think I've heard of the storage containers though. Are they very expensive? Worth the cost though if it saves the fresh veggies. Shivering at the thought of your huge flying roaches!

Way2 -- Love the "not to soon baboons". I'll have to tell that one to my grand nieces and nephews. Maybe we'll start something.

Cookie -- Just thinking about the 104 temps makes me wilt. I'd be hiding in my nice cool basement all day!

Sheila -- I remember when there used to be Piggly-Wiggly up here but haven't seen one in years. I thought they had gone out of business.

Lots to do today in the garden as rain is predicted for tomorrow so I'd best get out there. Hopefully my queen will be here early enough so I can get her in the hive. I can't be opening the hive in the rain.

Jezzie, Susan, Verleen, Doris, Jim, Weezie, Loretta and every one else.
Have a great day!

[Verleen]

Good morning. Jezzie, it just doesn't seem right to post without a picture greeting me......lol. Maybe you will before I get this post done.

This morning I cleaned the door to the stairwell. I will paint it sometime today before Rich leaves for work in case I fall off the step stool. It looks like its going to pour and maybe thunderstorm any minute. I hope it gets rid of the humidity but sometimes it just makes it worse. After 2+ mos of non stop working around here, my body has crashed. One little task puts me down for the day now. If its not lightening out, I may sow some succulent seeds in the greenhouse and repot a plant.....if I have the energy.

Tomorrow, Cathy, Rich and I are taking our one parrot, Rudy, on a picnic to the lake. She loves to go. I need to go to the grocery store but will wait until it isn't storming outside. I'm a wuss.

Lainey, congrats on the weight you have lost so far. I don't think I've noticed those green bags you mentioned. Do they sell them in the grocery stores? Those flying roaches and wood roaches are huge and are not house roaches that infest big city bldgs, although they get in. We had a wood roach scurry in through an open door when we lived in GA. That thing was as big as a mouse. When I started spraying it, the wood roach started chasing me. I jumped on a chair and it started up the leg of the chair. My first husband was laughing his head off. My current husband would have caught it and made a pet out of it.

Way1, re "not too soon, baboons". I never heard that one before. I fix lamb chops once in a big while and make them with balsamic vinegar, rosemary, garlic and dijon mustard.

Kathy, keep telling us about your bees. I find it very interesting. If you introduce a queen of a different variety to a hive, do the bees accept her right off the bat? I have thought of having a hive myself, but I'm not sure there are enough blooming plants around for the entire season. No one else seems to plant gardens around me. Only non-flowering trees and shrubs. I do see honey bees but not many. Lots of wasps, hornets and yellowjackets.

Doris, you can't hear anything in this house unless you are right in the room. So it doesn't bother anyone if I clean the bathrooms or vacuum. Maybe it has something to do with the high ceilings or the bricks that line the exterior walls as insulation. As for the gardens, the 140+ daylilies that I planted in late April are now greened up which means their root systems have established. The other plants are doing okay. Some, like the rhododendrums are just lingering. I have never had success with acid loving plants. But I have been putting sulphur down around them. The azalea is doing good and has grown, so I don't know what's troubling the mini rhodos. Too soon yet to know if all the 100+ irises will thrive. I can tell you that the weeds are prospering!

In the vegetable gardens, the peas have pods and blossoms. The lettuce, swiss chard and beets are doing great. The cukes are finally growing. Its been so cold for them. The tomatoes are growing. I'm not happy with the beans. Something is eating the edemame soy beans, bush and pole green beans. I don't like to use pesticides, but had to dust them with some sevin or I would lose them. They don't have blossoms yet, so won't affect the bees.

Gladys, I never think you are lazy either. If I lived in your humid and hot climate, I would do nothing but lay around. That humidity just sucks the life out of me. Sheila, it bothers my lungs also. I have pulmonary dysfunction from the polio. So the humidity in the air displaces oxygen and I don't get enough oxygen. Well we all don't get the same level of oxygen when its humid.

Louise, your shrimp sound delicious. Something my daughter would love.

Loretta, how's your arm today? Better I hope. I have to watch my time on the computer too. Any type of repetitive action is bad for me.

[mrsadm]

Hi Ladies, mind if I jump in?

I'm back to low carb after great success a few years ago, then gained much of it back (I know, same ol' story). Just bought the 1972 Dr. Atkins book on ebay to refresh my memory about the original plan.

And I just turned 55! ARGH!

[mykneesareback]

It's funny how much the 1972 Atkin's book seems to be selling nowadays. Just like the early Weight Watchers books, they are selling like hotcakes, people are getting sick of those darned points too. lol

Thanks for telling more about the bees Kathy, I had no idea. The life of the bees sort of mimic the lives of humans in some ways, don't you think?

Jezzie, I'm happy you got to sleep in awhile.

Verleen, your garden sounds like it's doing well, seems everyone has stuff that doesn't measure up all the time, at some point due to many reasons. It's entertaining to see it every day, my dh loves to check his yard out each morning to see what's "new". Makes him happy, even the work, he is out weed eating right now while it's cool.

Susan, you are a saint to help your friend like that, good things will come your way for doing that!

Lainey, thanks for telling me about that online plan, I didn't have a good feeling about it either. I got the "D-Tour" book and will follow that next week, it has lots of recipes in there for one person, so will try some different types of food for a change of pace.

Waving at the rest of you, I need to finish my exercise bike and then fix breakfast fritatta for myself, it's almost 9 AM, gotta scoot this butt out of here.

Have a good day.
OOPPS, Forgot to say WELCOME to the MRS.S


Doris

[vessel of prayer]

Originally Posted by mrsadm

Hi Ladies, mind if I jump in?

I'm back to low carb after great success a few years ago, then gained much of it back (I know, same ol' story). Just bought the 1972 Dr. Atkins book on ebay to refresh my memory about the original plan.

And I just turned 55! ARGH!

Just jump right in. Nice to have you here!!

[Verleen]

Mrsadm! I'm always glad to see some youngster of age 55 join us......lol.

[way2fluffy]

Hey all!
It's a beautiful day here, hope you are enjoying no matter where you are. We are headed up to the lake for the weekend<----so spoiled.
It took me all day to plan the east coast college tour for my DD. Now that it's booked I'm getting happy about the time we get to spend together!
My kids are all getting older, my baby is going to be a high school sophomore....I look at this time as 'gravy'....I used to worry that if I died young no one could raise my kids....so now that they are more independent, it's all 'gravy' anytime spent with any of my children is 'precious time' now. I feel very blessed today, sorry if I'm getting mushy. But I can't help but think back to when I was my DD age....the only plan offered was nursing school in town but rooming there or community college in town and living at home.....I really wanted to go to 4 year college but my parents said no...too far away. I got out of high school a year early (3 high schools in one bldg due/2 white flight to the suburbs) ... they let you go to college for one year and then gave you your diploma IF you didn't get anything less than a C in your course work....one D and you had to repeat your entire senior year of high school the next year.....but I wanted OUT of my house for sure.....
babbling....
I guess the point is that my kids have so many choices and it's great. And when I think about where I came from and how my life has turned out....well I'm just blessed, because things could have totally turned out differently.
So if you are still awake......have a great day everybody!!!!

[jezzie]

Welcome mrsadm - fifty-five is such a wonderful age ( and so is sixty-six )

Susan: WTG on your loss - you are always so good at bouncing back after a gain.
And what a good friend (and neighbor) you are.

Kathy: Love that I really do learn something new everyday.- I never realized that
worker bees are female. Always assumed there was only one female.

Verleen:Related to your step stool comment. Not sure when I noticed that I was
holding on to something to get on my 12" high step stool.

Hi way2, Sheila, Doris, Loretta, Jim, Lainey and all others. Has anyone heard from Kerri?

[KrisA]

Hi, everyone!

I have some catching up to do but it just started thundering like crazy so I'm shutting down my computer right now.

bbl.

k

[Kenwyn]

My queens finally arrived. The shipper is issuing me a credit for shipping. I paid for next day shipping and UPS sent it to the wrong place so the package arrived a day late.

they are now safely installed in the hives. I'll check in a couple of days to make sure all is well.
Some pics of the hive:

A close up of the bees in the hive, nurse bees on a frame of brood..the cells that are covered with a tan cap contain bees in the final stage of metamorphosis and the queen cage between the frames

[Kenwyn]

Jezzie -- the panda is sooo cute!

[Kenwyn]

As long as I'm posting pics, here's the before and after of my porch project. It was very awkward to stand on the steps to open the door so I put a small deck on it.

[weezie]

Hi all-

I finally caved in and put on the air conditioner. It's not that hot (only 85), but the humidity is off the charts. The a/c helps dry it out a bit. We have a severe thunderstorm watch until 10 p.m. Just hoping we don't lose power.

Susan - congrats on the loss! If you don't mind my asking, how long did it take you? Since I hit 50, the only time I've lost a decent amount (down to 140) was accidentally, under extreme stress. I seem to be stuck between 150 and 160. Ick.

Kathy - I am fascinated with your beekeeping. We have quite a few bees around, ranging from little tiny ones to giants that appear to be almost 3" long. Not sure where the hives are, though I suspect there is one on our roof.

Way2Fluffy - What schools are you looking at for your daughter? I went to Trinity College in Hartford, CT and my stepdaughter went to Mount Holyoke. Mount Holyoke is just beautiful. Trinity is also, though more urban an environment. Both schools used to have decent grant money if that is a consideration.

Verleen - Rudy, the parrot, on a picnic??!!! I LOVE it! Please take pictures if you can.

Mrsadm - I love your stat descriptors - too funny.

Jezzie, Doris, Sheila, and everyone else - hope your day has been a good one.

Tonight is leftover crab cakes and salad - no need to cook - yay!

[vessel of prayer]

I love the bee pics. that is too cool I never knew they were female either. Always thought they were male workers. wow.

Love the porch. I wish I had a screened in one that u could sit on .
Jezzie, love every pic u post. but that panda is adorable.
Heat is horrible. I live closer to Dothan AL than I do Panama City and temp today 101, tomorrow record breaking 102 without heat index. Monday is suppose to rain and drop to 91. I might need a sweater. weezie, humidity is horrible. I agree with u.

WTHluffy, isnt it great to wake up feeling so blessed? I have days like that too. Today was one of them.

waving hi to everyone. send me crab cakes please.

[mykneesareback]

What a cute little Panda, my goodness!!!


If I didn't have a shellfish allergy, I'd take all the crab you have, but you can keep the cake part. Gee, I wonder if anyone has ever made a "real" "crabcake", you know, like a chocolate cake I mean??

Back to fixing dh's breasts for dinner, I coated them with dry salad dressing for a change of pace, hope they turn out ok.

Later.



D

[Loretta V]

Back to fixing dh's breasts for dinner. That ought to be some dinner, Doris.

Busy day. DS was here and we went to get the door and then he installed it while I played with Leah.

[mykneesareback]

lol Loretta, yes, he enjoyed those breasts, I dipped them in Hidden Valley Ranch powdered salad dressing and baked them.................

Did you pick out a nice door Loretta? We could use a new one, ours is over 32 years old, and the storm door part is beginning to fall apart when we take it off and on according to the seasons.



D

[Norfolk Mermaid]

but it is that sail boat I want on~
The heat here is disgusting with no let up in sight. The only plus is I am drinking gallons of water and lime ades with stevia.
The Zone is going so very well but I am taking forever to eat two rotiso. chickens from Sam's Club- at 3 ozs a meal it will be hard to use up. Those silver containers are from the now defunct Sharper Image but I did see some somewhere else?? maybe it was the food network. Mine are a pale cantoloupe color and they are amazing. The green bags are As Seen On TV at the dollar store or big lots...just everywhere.
I never made it to the store so the Jeep is on the street waiting to go, I back it out as my neighbors bedroom is next to my drive-way and I do not like to make car noises.
Work in the potting shed has finally made some head way and I will move to the garage where at least there is elect. and fans. That will really be easier on me but I need to attack the weeding SOON as it is now out of control and looking real bad. I would like to wait for a rain and then a day so pulling will be a bit easier. I have one of those kneelers that you fit inside and the arms on each side really solve the getting up problem.
Another babblier here.
The Bees are so fasinating.
I have read that the inside of banana peels are great for insect bites and plan to pick up some small ones... I sure have not seen bananas on the zone but the bug bites are killing me even with repellent. WHINEy, whine. Wellcome to Whine Country.
Gotta go,
take care all and see ya soon baboons.
Elaine

[vessel of prayer]

Doris, maybe thats what I need , some ranch dressing. lol. ok. i wont go there. hahahah.

I am wore out. tired, etc. going to get a bath and finish my second book. its almost done.

[mykneesareback]

It wasn't bad, you mix the packet of ranch dressing powder with 1/4 cup of bread crumbs, and you dip your breasts in that and bake them.


Time for bed for those on the other side of our coast.


Doris