Summer Update

Posted on July 24 2016

It's been a busy & fun summer so far! Hope you're enjoying the great outdoors & all the activities that come with this time of year. Here's a little recap of some of what we've been up to.

In June, we celebrated Chris' sister's 40th birthday. It was a surprise held at Fort Edmonton Park's Capitol Theatre ~

Our posse snuck in before she arrived, along with 200 other family & friends!

The night was filled with entertainment including all 4 of Pam's kids performing on stage with dance, songs & acting (*photos courtesy of Deah Harrison*) ~ 

Our niece, Sunshine in the middle & nephew, Jonny below.

Our nephew, James in the red shirt performing a one-act & below, our nephew Jeffy was a pilot in a musical number. 

Chris & his bandmates also played!

And the birthday girl below, surprised & over the moon!

Chris (being past the 40 mark) had a more subdued birthday, but it was still as enjoyable. We went to Violino's restaurant & look at what Chris ordered! Have you ever seen Veal Parmesan this big? I ordered Lobster risotto & it was the best I've ever had (not that I eat a lot of lobster risotto).

June passed with lots of bbqs, gardening, visiting, canoeing & in July we had some special visitors come by... 

A swarm of bees! They landed in our neighbour's apple tree (the brown clump above) & after a little online research & a call out to #Yegbees, some beekeepers, who live nearby, came over to collect them ~

 

I found out that swarms happen when a hive becomes overpopulated.  They create a new queen at the hive & then, half split off with the old queen to look for new digs.  Because the queen is not a great flyer, they often stop to rest (hence what happened in our neighbour's tree), while scout bees go off to look for potential nesting sites (tree stumps, wood piles, attics... etc.)  When a scout bee finds a suitable place for the bees, it will come back & do a dance to indicate where the location is.

In this case, the beekeepers came & cut the limb off where the queen was surrounded by the bees & put it in a box. Her pheromones are so strong that all the straggler bees march into the box to be with her.  The beekeepers left the box for several hours to make sure that all the bees were collected & then they took it away. We found out later that their new hive is at the Youth Beekeeping Club of Northlands.  

We had even more visitors to the yard this month. Over 800 more, as we were on the Edmonton Horticultural Society Garden Tour. Needless to say, I spent a lot of time fluffing up the garden this summer ~ 

It's definitely motivational, knowing many garden enthusiasts are going to be swinging by to check out your yard!  Below, Chris chatting about the penny posts & pergolas with some of the visitors.

Judy & I put out a table of jewelry in the backyard & found that it attracted some of the visitors like bees to honey. :) We were really happy about all the wonderful people that came by; everyone I talked to was gracious, curious & appreciative.  Makes me proud to be an Edmontonian.

Despite how super hot it has been around here these days, I've been squeezing in a few beading sessions in the early morning hours before the kiln & torch heat the house to the point of no return & in doing so, melt me into a total puddle. The result has been a delightful series of sparkly centred, flat & wearable beads with punky polkadots that Judy has put together.  I just listed several necklaces & bracelets (along with penny charms, earringsrings) in the shop so take a little peek around if you like. And of course, feel free to contact me if you have any inquiries ~ 

Until next time, happy summer days!

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1 comment

  • Marilyn : January 24, 2017

    We really enjoyed your garden; we can imagine how much work you put into it.The girls & I came from Edson and saw your garden & bead display. I took a card; and would love to know where you ladies sell the beaded products so that I can purchase some. At this time I only know one other bead artist who lives in B.C. so I only see her once every two years.

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