Today is the Feast of St Ambrose and is the patron saint of beekeepers.
I got out many of my bee friends and Norman help selected a few for display today.
Legend has it that when Ambrose was an infant, a swarm of bees settled in his mouth leaving a single drop of honey, said to be a sign he would become someone with a great sense of speaking . His preaching was reported to be sweet as honey.
I have been a beekeeper most of my life learning first from my dad and later in life on my own.
Here is my Dad raising bees in North Carolina.
This year was the first year we did not raise bees. We have lost them every year since we moved here. I live in NC and in Denver and never lost a hive. Now we live on the edge of a alfalfa field that gets sprayed by plane every year, a few times a year and I think that has killed off our bees each year.
We will rescue or get someone who has bees to rescue a swarm but we won't be buying any more packages of bees.
Most of the day was spent with my best friends. We gathered for a little food and alot of creating.
I made winter pajama pants for Dude. I got all but the drawstring and hem done. I will share that with you tomorrow.
I got a gift of a new skeleton friend and I named Fiona. She will get glammed-up on a later day.
Susan set forth with making paper gingerbread houses that looked adorable.
I can't show most of what we did since a bunch are Christmas presents.
A little after 3pm me and Fiona made the long trek home. We got home just in time to go to mass.
After mass it was our town's annual Chili Supper.
It was very good and filling.
Time to head home. I had just enough time to make today's Jesse Tree Ornament. Someone asked what is a Jesse Tree? Well the tradition is very old - dates back to the middle ages. The term Jesse comes from The Bible Isaiah 11:1 "Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit." Jesse is the father of King David. The savior was to come from David’s family line. It is the family tree of Jesus and each passage guides us to prepare for the coming of the Messiah.
December 7 - Jacob: Genesis 25:19-34; 28:10-18 Symbol: ladder
10 Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Harran. 11 When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. 12 He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13 There above it[a] stood the Lord, and he said: “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. 14 Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.[b] 15 I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
Here is the ornament I came up with- made with toothpicks and old jewelry stars.
That's it for today.
peace
