Okay at least one of those pesky resolutions which nag at us at the time of year is to not abandon this writing as obviously I did last summer.
BEES UPDATE
I did get discouraged when the bees swarmed and I had to replace the queen and I felt like I'd been sent back to Go for the third time.
So they did survive the summer in the heat and drought but I didn't feed them because I thought it would be better for them and I found when I opened the hive that not only had they not made honey for us but they ate all the honey for themselves. I double fed them and they seemed to have enough honey as the weather got colder. Yesterday the snow had melted (40 degrees), I visited the hive and saw many dead ones and their poop in the snow so there must be bees alive to have done that.
GARDEN
It was the year of the tomato. They were plentiful and looked like the pictures in the garden catalogs. We at the last one in December (after bringing the last green ones in and putting them in a paper bag) Also still have squash (acorn and butternut) There are about 2 dozen jars of tomatoes downstairs and many jars of jam in the closet so I did pretty well on the homesteading track.
CHICKENS
Lost a Rhode Island Red to a hawk yesterday. The snow kept them in one place and the forsythia is not as much of a refuge in the winter. I am about to clear out the space under the forsythia so they won't have to spend the next few weeks in the coop. I am guiltily glad that it was was of the older chicken who don't really lay any more. Since we decided not to put a light on in the chicken house this fall and winter, they have stopped laying and I just used the last eggs. Hate to buy them. We put a light in the house just the other day to start them up again and to make it cheerier for them.
