THE WILD BEES AND THE HONEY MAN - PART I

I received a message by way of my father, via the local grocery store, from the resident bee-keeper and honey man.  The message was that news had reached him, via a neighbour, that there was a nest of wild honey bees in an old tree on my property - which of course I already knew.  The bees have never bothered me and I have never bothered the bees, though I often wondered what the honey might taste like after they have fed abundantly on the flowering basil, rosemary and thyme that grow in my kitchen garden.

Having lost a good number of his own bees recent, possibly to Colony Collapse disorder, the bee-keeper was anxious to visit and make the acquaintance of "my bees", in the hope of coaxing some (?) of them to take up residence in one of his hives.  The message ended, "he will come after church on Sunday".  As the aforementioned bees are about 40ft up in an old tree, that stands over 60ft high, this sounded like a very interesting, and possibly entertaining Sunday adventure, and I hoped that he had prayed well at church that morning before arriving.

So Sunday came, as did the honey man and his assistant as promised, and the process began.  There was much inspecting of the tree and eventually it was deemed that this was indeed a very good colony and that there was evidence to suggest that a huge part of the tree was already filled with honeycomb and wild honey. So the smoker was lit with a handful of dried grass, and overalls donned.  No fancy bee-keepers' whites here - good old work overalls and a straw hat with some rather manful stitching that secured the net was all that was required. Up went the ladders, followed by the honey men, into the canopy, and all I could think of was Alfred, Lord Tennyson and "The Charge of the Light Brigade":

Half a league half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred: 
'Forward, the Light Brigade!
Charge for the guns' he said:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

Onwards and upwards they went, puffing smoke and peering into the great abyss.  Bees began to hum and the area immediately around the honey men began to darken. There was shouts and exchanges of insults in French creole - "stand on there, you fool" - "no not there, stand here!" - "let me do it! - "stop being a coward" - "look out....." and then came an almighty crash as a rotten tree limb came crashing down, taking a section of the perimeter fence and my neighbour's banana tree with it and the bees burst forth.  Much waving of hands and "I told you so's" and down came the honey men. Thankfully, the bees did not swarm, but buzzed and patrolled their air space - like MIG fighters that had been dispatched to investigate intruders in a no-fly zone.

Eventually as the heated debate died down, I slowly emerged from my hiding place whence I had dove when the commotion begun.....thankfully, no one was hurt (apart from the possibility of a bruised ego for the senior honey man who was now being chastised by his assistant for pussy-footing around).

The honey men concluded that they needed the "big guns", and must return with a chain saw and better ladders or a platform.  In the meantime, all that could be done was to try to repair my fence and make the property secure.  As both have day jobs - the return match would have to wait until the weekend, and eventually it was decided that it should be the following Sunday.....after church.  I can see now why the trip to church is such a very integral part of the whole operation.

Closing score: Bees 1 - Honey men 0
Rematch Sunday (weather permitting). 

"Into the Valley of Death rode the....two"

 

The first few bees decide to see what all the disturbance is about

  

THE GARDEN WITHIN A GARDEN UPDATE - THE TOPSOIL RELOCATION PROGRAMME

Finally, a break in the huge system that has hung over our tiny island home these last two weeks (though I believe it is only a temporary respite).

A combination of dry weather, and the re-appearance of Handy Andy - something akin to the alignment of the planets - meant that we finally managed to make some progress on what had become a fenced  quagmire, rather than a garden, and home to the local frog population where they could be totally safe from dog-kind. As of yesterday, I have reclaimed my vegetable garden!

With the wood for the two raised beds duly installed, Handy Andy began the unenviable task of hauling the huge pile of delivered topsoil from the side of the drive, up the steep slope and across to its new resting place.  Sadly, it was not until this moment that I was able to get a really close look at the quality of the soil, which turns out to be a heavy clay, made ultra sticky and dense by the recent heavy rain. No bagged, graded or carefully prepared soil here! It's a case of Russian roulette and you take what you can get, huge boulders, tree roots and all.

No matter, an application of composted leaves, grass, wood chippings, and possibly some well-rotted seaweed, gathered on my next trip to the beach, should bring it to the quality that I had hope it was. 

Leaving Handy Andy to complete this soil relocation programme, I headed out to run a few errands, and get supplies for the old folks.  A couple of hours later, on my return, excited to see how things were shaping up, I hurried to check the progress.  It seems that:

a) my communication skills in the local French Creole is poorer than I thought;

b) one should always stay close when Handy Andy is doing something new, and

c) Handy Andy has not fully grasped the concept of the raised bed.....for if he had, he would  not have filled the area OUTSIDE of the raised bed with topsoil to the same level as inside, rendering the raised bed, raised no more!!

Thankfully, he had only filled part of this lower area, so I managed to stop him in his tracks, aided by an unexpected and sudden downpour which brought the work day to a convenient close.  Returning today, I've re-directed him to another task on the pretext that this new job is more pressing.

I haven't got the heart to tell him that the raised beds are wrong after his huge effort and great pride in managing to shift so much soil whilst I was out.  I will, instead, have to do some "adjusting" when he is off at the weekend, and explain afterwards that I changed my mind and doesn't it look better? It is so very much easier this way......

So, bottom line, we are making good progress in spite of the heavy weather and mis-communications. The seedlings are more than ready to be transplanted - I just hope they can hold on a little longer for the move to their new home. What a labour of love this little vegetable patch has turned into, but I feel sure it is worth it and we will be rewarded with much bounty for sharing and with which to barter.

The new shed/gazebo for which I have seen some most inspirational pictures this week (and yes, all are rustic, can be made from reclaimed timber, some of which I already have to hand, and within budget) will have to wait a while longer.

In the meantime, Handy Andy's enormous capacity for hard work, has been diverted to another small  retaining wall ahead of the rainy season (proper) and making the shed that houses the gravity-fed water storage tanks, a little more aesthetically pleasing.  In the process, I have added a little platform to the front of the watertank shed, just big enough for a couple of chairs, as this happens to also be the perfect vantage point from which to view the setting sun.  So all in all, a good few days work and another few tasks ticked off the master plan.

The area surrounding the vegetable garden, now cleared of the elephant grass, will be planted with fruit trees, eventually.

Stopped in the nick of time, the outer area being filled with soil to the same level as the "raised" beds!

 

Garden with a view : )

 

Meanwhile back at the water "tower" and terracing project...

The new terracing will prevent landslides, evidence of which is already showing as the soil begins to "creep".

What projects do you have occupying your time and mind right now?

HOLIDAYS ARE COMING....

ADDENDUM:

I wrote this post ten days ago and published.  So what's wrong with that, I hear you say? As written below, I headed off to the posh paint store, and to the only upscale home accessories shop on the island, with a real determination to buy something pretty.....(sadly, we do not have any vintage, junk or retro shops here).....then suddenly it hit me! What was I thinking?

• Isn't this exactly what I purport to have left behind? A hankering for things, just because there's a new dazzling colour in this season's paint chart or on the catwalks of London Fashion Week?

•  Isn't the little blue guest room functional, pretty and clean? And isn't that all holiday guests really want; somewhere clean and comfortable to rest after a day at the beach, or exploring the rainforest?  

So, I came home empty-handed and deleted the post.  However, on further reflection, I considered it was a good lesson for me, and one should learn one's lessons.  So I am re-publishing the original post, so that the next time I have an uncontrollable urge to spend money that could be better spent on something more useful (or even simply given away to someone in greater need), I will revisit this post. 

So here is the post in its original form. In fairness to Design Seed, they are doing a marvellous job of providing inspiration and great insight for those who do need help, and are seeking some creative guidance, and if that is you, dear reader, then you need look no further, because I feel sure you will find precisely what you need on their website. Unfortunately, I temporarily forgot, that I have no such need.....for now:

THE HOLIDAYS ARE COMING....
NOT "THE HOLIDAYS" - as in a certain soft drinks jingle ...but the summer holidays!

My brother has his first paying guests of the season flying in this evening - it's May, it's St Lucia Jazz Festival.....it's that time of year!

The time of year, when friends begin to make enquiries about when I will be around, and who else I have coming down to stay.  I often say to friends and relatives - "come anytime", and like to feel confident that when I say "your room is always ready" that this will be true.

To that end, I found myself looking at the little blue guest room and wondering if it needs a bit of a freshen up.  It hasn't been done that long, but high humidity and other tropical oddities, means that one needs to "freshen up" almost seasonally to keep things looking bright and welcoming. The truth is that a recent Facebook post by Design Seeds® ( http://design-seeds.com), suddenly made that particular room look a tad flat, and one-dimensional, and in need of a bit of a colour kick-in-the-pants!  After all this is meant to be a "tropical" home!  

THE INSPIRATION:  

http://design-seeds.com

http://design-seeds.com

Lord Leighton - The Music Lesson

freya art & design © all images contained 2012.

I foresee two issues:

1) Deco wise, the stores here seem to be way behind, so finding a reasonable match to the paint colour that Design Seed have inspired me to use, could be quite a challenge;

2) I am still firmly in the camp of less is more, and the most I may consider buying would be a few new throw pillows or some new fabric to bring the colours together, and of course just enough paint to bring an accent into the room.

So, with that in mind, I have a wonderful teal chenille throw and some turquoise china packed away, and have an idea to introduce just a splash of teal/turquoise into the blue room.   Minimal outlay, with maximum effect is the desired outcome.  Having been inspired by http://design-seeds.com's beautiful visual of a weathered, washed teal door, I'm considering painting the old white wardrobe this colour. 
I have a day off tomorrow as it's a holiday, so I will have a mooch around the delightfully, lovely home accessories store we have here to see what I can find.....I may even venture  to the Benjamin Moore paint store, which although rather expensive, will be a real treat as I don't need very much : )

I've added a canopy and mozzi net since this photo was taken

The canopy hangs from the vaulted ceiling, which can't be seen unfortunately! 

Can't decide if weathered/watered teal on that wardrobe would be too much?

A MATTER OF LIFE & DEATH....

I realise that the phrase "a matter of Life and Death " sounds rather dramatic, but it's been a strange week.

Fellow bloggers have been busily posting photos and accounts of new arrivals, and the beginnings of new life, in the form of ridiculously cute piglets, chicks, ducklings, goat kids, spring lambs, new puppies, marmalade kittens at http://aagaardfarms.blogspot.com/,  a new foal at www.stilettosinthemud.com/favorite-blogs.html, and even a baby donkey (can't recall who posted that).

And as if to maintain the status quo, my own animals have been on a killing spree, and I've had to "man up" and shovel up remains of two deceased possums (may they rest in peace). One appears to have been swiftly and cleanly despatched; the other "rent in twain" in a frenzied attack. A reminder that our cute pets are still hunters at heart, and no amount of petting, pandering or training can truly change their basic instincts that are embedded deep within their DNA.  They're just doing their job, for we ask them to keep rats away, but cannot hope to expect them to pick out a rat, mongoose or possum from a line up on a dark night. Even with a torch, I can barely tell which is which myself. In reality, my dogs are very friendly to people (perhaps they think THEY are people too?) and rarely even so much as bark at a human, with the exception of passing farm workers who go to and from their daily toil brandishing their machetes (machetes being the preferred work-tool for most here, and seen as an acceptable item to carry around - you can travel on an early morning bus and be surrounded by workers with a veritable armoury of machetes - in every shape and size. Strangely, this sight can strike terror and anxiety into the heart of any newcomer the first few times they encounter such a morning commute, but after a while one comes to realise that there is no malice, and it's no different to the carpenter with his work bag full of hammers and chisels - simply tools of the trade).    Anyway, as always, I digress........

Other matters of Life & Death, have included the passing of a dearest friend's father, who sadly lost his battle with cancer this week - a what an epic battle it was! He definitely subscribed to the "do not go gently into that good night*" school of thought.

He has been lying in state these past few days and many other friends have been to see him and bid him farewell. I have NOT - for me his body, lying in state, is just that....a body. The wonderfully charming, and gracious soul, who once occupied that body has now departed.  I will choose instead to remember, that same gentle man, as he was several weeks ago, when, although feeling rather unwell, made the time and considerable effort to call in to have afternoon tea with my mother. As though in some kind of ritual of mutual acknowledgement that time was running out for one, or perhaps both of them, and that this may be their final chance to "take tea" together.   After tea they bade each other farewell, and as I walked him to the gate, I couldn't help but wonder which one would be the first to leave us.   Since then, my mother has actually shown tremendous improvement and continues to soldier on.  Sadly, her friend John, was just too sick, and too tired.......

I have never been to a State funeral before.  The Prime Minister announced a few days ago that our dear friend had been granted this high honour. I hope that it will somehow be comforting to his family and friends, to give him this great send-off and final farewell by way of celebrating his life and his achievements. 

And whilst all this has been going on, I read of the passing of an amazing sounding lady, the artist Nancy Asbell, who although suffering from Lupus syndrome - a seriously painful and debilitating illness, continued to the end with the mantra "Celebrate the day! You never need an excuse to be inappropriately happy." - how wonderful, I like the thought of being "inappropriately happy", though I know there are those who, for some reason, feel that being inexplicably happy is in some way defiant or impertinent - either way, just simply not acceptable. I'm sure at some time in your life you've heard utter the phrase "what's (s)he got to be so ^*!%^&* happy about"?  Why do people say that? Surely we all have something to be happy about? What's so wrong with showing our gratitude with a beaming smile and infectious laughter?  I for one shall continue to be "inappropriately happy" at every opportunity possible. Are you with me?

*Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on that sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light. 

  

~ Dylan Thomas

TICK, TICK, TICK ....BOOM!

I apologise in advance to all those experienced homesteaders and country folk out there for whom ticks are just an annoying inconvenience that happens every summer and who will think me an ex-city-dwelling, drama queen.  For me, first-time dog owner and new tropical gardener, they were something of an unseen, and unknown, Nemesis lurking in the long grass.

Having finally gotten around to clearing a new patch of grass that had stood as tall as me (possibly taller), for many months, I was pleased with the new open area....the dogs however, were nothing short of jubilant. This newly cut grass was the dog equivalent of catnip. They jumped, rolled and cavorted from dawn 'til dusk and then headed home. I noticed a week or two later that George was scratching rather a lot, so decided to investigate - horror of horrors - he was covered in ticks!!  Big ticks, little ticks, tiny ticks - I have never seen one up close and personal (in fact I'd never seen one at all but recognised them from a recent feature by a fellow blogger.)

Out came the tick & flea shampoo and a good bath.....WRONG MOVE APPARENTLY!! The ticks only seem to get worse and HUGE.  "Do not attempt to pull them off" say all the instructions, this will only cause them to regurgitate the contents of their entire self into the dog's bloodstream (gross!) resulting in a potentially very sick, or even dead, dog!  What utterly hideous creatures - the more I read, the more every part of me itched at the thought of them....I read about prevention and natural remedies but somehow this seemed to be an urgent and desperate time that called for desperate measures. I apologise again, this time to all my fellow herbalist, naturapaths and DIY remedy experts - I confess I panicked and called the vet who came and administered a commercial brand of evil chemical tick killer....but it wasn't over by any means and the worse was yet to come.

The following morning where George had slept on the verandah, walked several ticks, as though out for a morning stroll - the rats were abandoning the sinking ship (mixed metaphors? - rats, ticks - the concept is the same)....utter revulsion engulfed my usual calm demeanour and "laissez-faire" approach and George was quarantined and confined to his pen whilst the mother of all clean-ups begun. (Don't despair dog lovers, his pen is some 15ft x 15ft square with a 4ft high lattice surround - it's a rather pleasant holding cell with a distant sea view and a paddling pool).

I scrubbed, cleaned and washed down every thing in sight. I gathered all visible signs of ticks or tick-like life (including an errant jumbo oat flake and an apple seed) and destroyed them.....and yes, I used a chemical spray, but confined to a bucket with a lid on - a makeshift tick gas chamber.  I am not proud of myself - these creatures caused all my ethics to be lost in an instant - live and let live, stay natural, ban chemicals....how easy it is to slide when you find the one thing that makes your flesh crawl and your scalp itch at the mere idea of them!

The oddest part in all this was the fact that Ilsa had no ticks at all - they do EVERYTHING TOGETHER, and go EVERYWHERE TOGETHER - so how was she unscathed in all of this?

The vet said, "perhaps George has had an encounter with a frog?"......."perhaps"?  there is no perhaps about it, George adores teasing and tormenting frogs, no matter how often I chastise him, many evenings he returns home with the tell-tale foaming of the mouth where he has gotten too close and been squirted by one of the many huge frogs or toads that we have here.  Ilsa on the other hand, will watch and bark but will never touch the frog.
 "So....", enquired I of the vet, "what has the frog got to do with ticks?"
"Frogs have ticks" says the vet, "and if George has been playing with frogs, there is a high chance he will pick up ticks from them"....
"who knew?".....not I, for sure.

Whilst I momentarily lost my cool on the discovery of these heinous creatures, I cannot begin to contemplate harming, destroying or driving out the entire frog population from an acre of bush and storm drains. George seems to be undeterred by any of the usual punishments and continues to stalk and terrorise the local frog population. 

HAPPY CONCLUSION: it's been two weeks since the last tick sighting and both Ilsa and George's coats are clear and glossy - George has stopped itching and calm has returned to Happy Hippy Haven and the whole place is as shiny as a new pin.....but what next?  I've tried to keep the grass low, but having Trevor the gardener come when he says he will is one bit of magic that I haven't found a spell for....and widespread spraying is out of the question. 

APOLOGIES FOR BEING AWOL & MIA

Dear readers,

Sincere apologies for being so very quiet - I've heard that some of you are missing me - how kind you are! : ))

Ma had taken a bit of a dive, health wise, and things got rather hectic but the cavalry have arrived in the form of my sister from the UK and the return of my sister-in-law who had gone to the UK for a month to make the acquaintance of her two new grandchildren.  Ma has improved hugely in this last week under a new doctor and a new medication regime......so normal services will be resumed shortly.

In the meantime, I've been trying to keep things ticking over with quick, short posts via my facebook page.  https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Happy-Hippy/269710913099463?ref=tn_tnmn

I know it's no substitute for proper updates and news.....but it helps.

Wishing you all a wonderful week ahead.

WATER PREPAREDNESS

Contrary to expectation, and something of an anomoly, as we head into the rainy season, water shortages and water storage have been on my mind.

My experience thus far has been that when the island has high or sudden rainfall, the reservoir gets filled with silt and debris as water thunders down the mountainsides and rivers burst their banks. The result is heavily muddied waters and the need to close down pumping stations whilst the mud settles...hence no mains water.

Coupled this year with a further complication - it seems that following the passage of Hurricane Tomas, the water company believed it had removed much of the silt that had settled in our main dam/reservoir and that all was hunky dory. However, as water levels have dropped through this dry season, they have become acutely aware of the fact that a 20ft depth of what they assumed was safely stored clean water, is in fact 20ft of mud!  So a re-hash of calculations means the possibility of two things:
- if it doesn't rain soon, they will run out of water much sooner than anticipated;
- if it does rain torrentially, the silt will be disturbed and the water will require additional handling before it can be pumped.
- Either way, there are likely to be disruptions to supplies.

So, my efforts (and budget) this week have been rallied around the issue of that all-important and magical resource that we cannot do without - WATER!

Et voila! The completion of a much-pondered solution; a pair of gravity-fed water storage tanks are now purchased, plumbed and filled with 1200 gallons of water.  When full, the system will auto-switch to sending mains water direct to the house.  I know this is all very obvious to many, but growing up in the city meant I never had to think about where my water was coming from - it was just there whenever one turned on the tap.

The next major water projects include:
-  the creation of a rainwater-gathering system. This may have to be as simple as some rain barrels for now as to build a proper concrete, plaster-lined cistern would be too costly at present
- then there is the question of water for the new veggie garden which is some distance from the house, so requires a deliverable short-term plan for both a mini rain-water gathering system and piped mains water if I am to grow anything.......seems I shall be a very busy bee in these coming weeks.

In the meantime, having chosen the highest point on the whole plot, the tanks are fully operational. My eldest brother, who is an electrical wizard, kindly installed a pump for times when levels get very low - but for the most part, the high position and gravity will do the job very nicely and the pump will get very little use (hopefully).  At last, it seems there is some benefit to this very steeply sloping site!

When time and resources permit, I shall ask Handy Andy to plaster the blocks and add lattice doors and "windows" to prettify the structure, but right now, as far as I'm concerned it's a beautiful sight and will mean that I won't have to go 15 days without water as I did the last time they shut down the pumping station.

Nine months later - looking as though it's been there for years and working perfectly!