Preparing for Easter

Busy doings around here today.  There's bread baking...


and cleaning...


or not...


and tie finishing...


and linen ironing...

as well as egg boiling and decorating.  Plus it's a beautiful day and we're trying to enjoy being outside as much as possible.  B. decided today was a good day to open up the hive and see how the bees are doing.

Smoking the hive

B. the beekeeper

The upper super with the top off.

One of the frames... if you look on the left you can see a bit of comb started.

Another frame with some bees.

More frames inside the hive.  B. found the queen on the one you can see in the picture.

Everything looks good.  Lots of bees and comb and capped cells.  I'm so impressed with B. for taking this project on and all the work he has done on it.

As an aside, I also wanted to share a household tip with you.  If you have any linens to iron (napkins or tablecloths), the easiest way to do it is to wash the linens in hot water and send them through an extra spin.  Then take them out and iron them immediately while they are still damp.  The very hot iron dries the linens and irons them all at the same time.  I also do the same with my high thread count cotton tablecloths (including using the very hot iron).  Oh... and while I inherited some of my linen, much of it I bought at rummage sales for very little money.  Keep your eyes open if you have always wanted some.  Linen napkins have a lovely, dressy feel and are really very durable and easy to take care of.

While we do all of these preparations to get ready for Easter, it is merely because they help to make the day special and stand-out from other days in the year.  They are not the purpose of the celebration, but merely window-dressing to the real celebration of the empty tomb and the end of death.

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