Bees, clean-up and cheesy beans

Worked hard today. My cousin, visiting from California, came over to help.  (okay, I could think of better ways to spend a sabbatical but I won't turned down help!)  

After showing him around the place he dug right in ....grin... and planted 5 ..hmm or was is 6 austree willows .  They are a fast grow wispy summer sprites of a tree.  They are easily rooted from cuttings off a main tree.  We don't want them to think they aren't anything special so I have named them Liam, Sabina, Fiona, Miles and  Finnegan. Lovely. 

Next up ..bee check.  Looking good and back from the winter hiatus.  Gorgeous little ladies.  The bottom two supers are full and now it's our turn.  Our honey supers are on and the girls are beginning to fill them in and working hard.  

Uh-oh something large has been hanging out back here.  Coyotes perhaps? 

We thew some wildflower seed out around the bee area last fall. Looks like a few seeds took root.

Okay, back to work up at the house. We had to clean up this mess. 

And turned it into this!

We didn't see Dude much. He was, yes, on the tractor somewhere on the property. 

Just when we are having fun the skies turned like velvet pillows and not the good kind. 

It was nice to get some rain.  I went in to finish up beans I had put in the crock-pot this morning and had been soaking all night. 

Here's something easy.  Cook the beans all day with a teaspoon of baking soda to eliminate some of the gas issues. 

Then mix in a jar of chilies, can of tomatoes, half of an onion chopped, and 1/2 cup of goat cheese or  1/2 package of cream cheese.  Salt generously and add black pepper. Mix and melt. Then eat topped with hot sauce and serve with naan (bread). Ymmmmm. 

Canned chilies waiting patiently between the pickled carrots and peppers but not far from those sassy canned apples.

Dude likes his with jalapeno queso blanco. 

Cilantro is in the dehydrator and masking any bean aroma. 

I am obsessed with two books right now and must get back to them. Pillars of the Earth (has anyone else read this and thought it smelled a wee bit like Game of Thrones or vice versa?) and The Sweet Life in Paris. 

I'll end with this little fellow as Dude is riding off into the sunset ...somewhere.   *wink*

peace, health and happiness