Cops And Robbers

The barn antics of yesterday morning were not the end of the farm trauma for the day. Around lunchtime I went out to check the new hive and see if they needed anything - fresh linens, coffee and donuts, sugar syrup...

I like to just stand and watch my hives for a minute or two when I first get out there. BeeTV is fascinating. I've noticed that the bees in my oldest hive tend to fly in on the left side and out on the right side. And they fly in with legs so loaded with yellow or orange pollen you can actually see it from over 6 feet away.

Isn't that neat? (As always, click to biggify.)

This hive seemed odd though. There were plenty of bees flying in and out, but they didn't seem super organized and orderly (very un-beelike). Maybe because this was their first full day in their new spot?

Wait....some of those bees don't look quite right. (Our bees are the small yellow and black striped bees.)

And why are some of them literally rolling out the door and off the front porch?

Robber bees!!!

And the poor bees in my new hive were doing everything they could to defend their new home!

"(POW) Take that!"

"And THAT!"

"Hey lady! Could you put that camera down and give us a hand here? YEESH!"

Sorry guys - I'm on it!

I stuffed some dry grass in three quarters of the door to limit the size of the opening they were having to defend. It took awhile for everyone to figure out the new entrance, but within an hour, things were starting to settle down.

And now that I'm done with lunch again today, I'm getting ready to roll off my porch and see how things look out there.

Bee careful kids!

Why Can't We Be Friends?

Fun on the farm this morning...



Brushy!



Seriously Comby, you think you can take down a chicken?



Dude, can't you see I'm trying to sleep here?



Can't you do something about him?



Just for fun - I thought this was a cute picture left over from the weekend. Of course, not so great for vegetable matter (VM) dropping down into beautiful, clean, soft white wool, but hey, they're boys ;-).

Fabulous weather here. Hope everyone has the same.

Enjoy!

Sunday Stills

Our challenge this week is eyes.

"Yep, ya read right eyes. Someone once said eyes were the window to the soul, lets find out."

I've been out at the "The Bluegrass" all weekend. This stock dog trial is one of the longest-running and most prestigious trials in the country and draws competitors and spectators from as far away as Alberta, Canada.



Meet Hemp, a very nice young dog from Alta-Pete Stockdogs.

Doesn't he look look nice?

He might not if you were a sheep.

Eyes are very important for a working Border Collie. Not only are they expected to use their eyes to look far off in the distance to locate their sheep, but they then use that "eye" to persuade those sheep to go, or stop, wherever the shepherd needs them.



I don't like the look in that lead sheep's eye. This picture is actually Lad, a kennel mate of Hemp, who qualified as one of the top 20 dogs and made the finals today. Way to go Jenny and Laddie!



Back to Hemp. That's a pretty persuasive eye, eh?



It was an honor to be reflected in "the mirror to his soul".



Graham Lamb, on the other hand, was not impressed.



How 'bout them movie star eyelashes? As always, click to biggify.

For more Sunday Stills (even though it's almost Monday)...

For Jenny's very fun farm blog....

For more trial stories and results...

I Know It's What They Are Supposed To Do

Grow up that is.







Yikes!

The boys went with me to the stock dog trial today. I was going to be gone for too long and even though Graham Lamb is as big as Keebler, he's really only about 3 1/2 weeks old - still a baby and way too long to stay by himself all day.

They had a nice big shady pen and were a star attraction...until a middle eastern family came by and I caught the mother "weighing" the lambs :-O. They were (politely) escorted away.



We all went out to run around and eat some grass when we got home. Even Weaslie. If there's something out there a Corgi won't eat, we haven't found it.



Hmmm - I wonder if I can eat this...



Hey, where's the kitty going?

Graham has a real thing for cats. He just loves them. It's a good thing too, as a new stray has shown up. The "cat whisperer" (Saint Tim) has already "tamed" him down and named him Scrunchy.

Just what we needed, another cat (sheep, dog, horse...).

Keebles And Beets

Look! Another rainy day.



While normally I'd be thrilled about a cool, rainy day, the Bluegrass Classic Stock Dog Trials are this week and the rain is messing up my "vacation". This is my favorite weekend of the year. I set up my little Punkin's Patch tent, watch and listen to the dogs and sheep work all day long, visit with friends, make new friends, catch up on some spinning and knitting - in between eating the local scout troop's pancakes for breakfast every morning - and sometimes even take a lamb (or two) with me.



So, while the boys are sleeping and I'm watching the weather channel trying to figure out the best time to try to go get set up this afternoon, I'll try to clarify a question (or two) I've had regarding names around here.

Keebler - his nicknames are pretty obvious - Keebs, Keebster, Keebles...

Graham Lamb - he hasn't gotten into enough trouble yet to warrant anything more descriptive unless I'm calling them together and then sometimes it's Beets, but he doesn't seem to mind.

Iris - Iris Maybelle, Iris Maybelle McGillicutty, Mavis.

Miss Tilly - here's where it gets complicated. And sort of funny. Miss Tilly, The Garden Weasel, Weaslie, Miss Weaslie, Tilly Bobby, Short Round, Haz Mat, Cheesely and Dammit Weaslie (hey, she's a corgi - nuff said ;-). She adds a new name every few months, so I'll try to keep you posted.

Fiddle - Fifi or Wiwi

Eli - nothing

Brushy and Comby - nada

Claire Bear - frequently called Snowball (the Simpson's cat) or CB

We'll leave all the adult sheep for another day. The sun just peeked out, so I'm going to make a run for it!