This is it – our last attempt with bees. We’ve done a lot of work to make sure we are sucessful this year. We won’t purchase more next year – so hopefully we can get more than a 50% survival rate. We bought our packages this year from Starr Farms out of Creswell Oregon. This

Continue Reading “Spring 2021 – Bee Install”

We just completed our first major spring project of 2021. We had high hopes for the bees last year. We had four strong hives, a good start to the summer, treated early for mites. We decided not to harvest any honey and leave it to overwinter the bees. Our goal was to overwinter all of

Continue Reading “Apiary Move”

We’ve off and on worked on eating a more plant-based diet like a Mediterranean Diet with mixed success. While we like it – it’s easy to slip back into the regular American diet with a ton of red meat and sugar. I’m getting older, and fatter, and need to really consider getting back on the

Continue Reading “Tagine Cooking”

Our Greenhouse was built by previous owners. We aren’t sure by whom, but we think it might have been the original builder on the property. He was a handy woodworking guy and did some rather interesting and what I would consider tedious things. The benches for example are all hand-built with perfectly made wood slats.

Continue Reading “Minor Greenhouse Renovation”

We started Geocaching back in 2007. We had read about it online and thought it was a great way to get outside and challenge our sense of awareness. Our Son was interested so we started locally when we lived in Florence and really enjoyed it. Over the years our interest is on again/off again –

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I’ve still been brewing, but I’ve slowed down a little. We had a ton of mead in bottles and needed to drink some down to avoid buying more bottles! Some of the earliest brews have aged over a year and turned out quite well. Our strategy is to set at least one bottle aside and

Continue Reading “Cranberry Mead”

Bridgett has experimented with making homemade cheese. If one has a cow or goats it’s a great way to process and store excess milk. However, we don’t have a cow or goats… However, we are both interested in doing things ourselves – We have a source locally for both raw cow and goat milk, and

Continue Reading “Cheesemaking”

Having options for things to do with the horses is a challenge in the wintertime, especially with COVID related restrictions. One of the great locations near us that hosts the Working Equitation shows Bridgett takes part in hosts the National Mountain Trail Championships each year. The Oregon Horse Center (OHC) main arena is huge –

Continue Reading “Mountain Trail Course – Oregon Horse Center”