Busy Bees Take A Break !

 This tea-time Tuesday is one I would normally save for spring when our honeybees are out & about  gathering nectar and pollen to feed their brood thus producing honey for us too. However, with record-breaking warm temperatures for us this January our bees are seeking nectar and pollen where there is none. The flowers are not budding or blooming because it is January. The bees are being supplemented by sugar boards my husband has placed in their hives so they do not starve.

 We have been blessed over the years to receive gifts from family and friends who know we love our bees. I am sharing a few thoughtful gifts, some I have shared before. Above ( top 2 pics) is a tin of specialty teas we received from my husband's oldest sister & her husband for Christmas. This treasury of teas has already produced some refreshingly delicious pots of tea when it was really winter around here, and now that we are experiencing temps in the 60's ( very unseasonable ) it is refreshing after working outdoors in the gardens and animal pens. (Thank-you Jim & Jean ! )

 The white mug in the background of this pic was a birthday gift to me from my husband's sister Alice & her husband. I use it all the time and now think every tea mug should come with a matching lid to keep the tea perfectly hot. I can put a teabag and boiling water in this mug, put the lid on, and sip hot tea for quite awhile. This bee themed mug with it's own lid is my teacup for Teatime Tuesday. The honeybee mug / lid came with a few other treats , one was the teabag rest where I have placed my snack of home-made peanut butter fudge , a gift from our daughter & her family. The tea time cloth napkin was a very pleasant surprise I received in the mail from a dear friend and beekeeper, Robin . (Thank-you Robin ! ) These special gifts are loved all the more because the people who gave them to us care enough to know what pleases us and makes us happy. Not only that, all these gifts came from very busy people who really do take the time to enjoy the simple things in life.

A poor old Widow in her weeds
Sowed her garden with wild-flower seeds;
Not too shallow, and not too deep,
And down came April -- drip -- drip -- drip.
Up shone May, like gold, and soon
Green as an arbour grew leafy June.
And now all summer she sits and sews
Where willow herb, comfrey, bugloss blows,
Teasle and pansy, meadowsweet,
Campion, toadflax, and rough hawksbit;
Brown bee orchis, and Peals of Bells;
Clover, burnet, and thyme she smells;
Like Oberon's meadows her garden is
Drowsy from dawn to dusk with bees.
Weeps she never, but sometimes sighs,
And peeps at her garden with bright brown eyes;
And all she has is all she needs --
A poor Old Widow in her weeds.” by Walter de la Mare

 

This poem reminds me of me and my days spinning wool on our front porch , wildflowers growing everywhere on Cedar Pond. As I sit & spin yarn I watch the bees gathering nectar and pollen , and often, more often than you would think, I watch the busy bees take a rest , perched on a leaf, a blossom, or a flat rock warmed by the sun. Busy bees taking a break ! All you busy-bee ladies make sure you take time to rest, sip a cup of tea, and remember the every day joys of life truly are simple.

 

Please join these ladies today for Teatime Tuesday as you enjoy your tea ~

Martha at Martha's Favorites *

Sandi at Rose Chintz Cottage *

Ruth at Antiques and Teacups *

Bernideen at Bernideen's Teatime Blog *

 

 

Tea Time Tuesday & Missing My Bee-Keeper

My husband had a milestone birthday this month. There is so much going on in our lives that has to be attended to right now we were unable to celebrate the way we had hoped. Plus, my husband, my bee-keeper, had to go out of town on business shortly thereafter.

The day my bee-keeper left for a few days I made a pot of tea in my bee-hive teapot and brought out this sunshine yellow teacup.

Doesn't this teacup cheer you up? Look at the happy yellow rings of color with little flowers and red / orange dots. Reminds me of my home raised chicken eggs after the chickens have eaten lots of greens fresh from the garden. The yolks will be a very deep red/orange this very color.

The yellow is so bright it seems to make the whole teacup glow.

I made peppermint tea,

and cut myself a piece of my husband's birthday cake. The cake doesn't look near as good as it tasted. It was a whip cream white cake. Happy birthday my Bee-Keeper and we'll have that birthday celebration soon !

I am joining these ladies for Tea-Time Tuesday :

• Sandi at Rose Chintz Cottage *
• Terri at Artful Affirmations *
• Martha's Favorites *
• Kathy at A Delightsome Life *

Spot On My Bee-Keeper

~My Bee-keeper, my honey, my husband! He and our oldest son have kept bees for many years...and after our son left home for the Marines and his own family, my bee-keeper kept the bees. My bee-keeper tends our gardens, orchards, and me! He loves to share the secrets of his bees with any who are interested. He shares the harvest of his bees with family and friends. ~Last weekend the bees showed signs of swarming. When my Bee-keeper checked his hives he discovered the bees had grown in such number that they needed new boxes added to the hive to accommodate them. He added the boxes and so far things have settled down in the hive and they have not swarmed. Any who note the time I publish my blog post will notice I am a night-owl, and my precious Bee-keeper is not...this might very well sum up his view of the hours in a day, "Morning is the best of all times in a garden. The sun is not yet hot. Sweet vapors rise from the earth. Night dew clings to the soil and makes plants glisten. Birds call to one another.Bees are already at work." William Longwood

Honey From the Honey Comb

~Bee hives here at Cedar Pond~

~"The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul,the statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes. The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever. The ordinances of the Lord are sure and altogether righteous. They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than the honey from the comb. By them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward." Psalm 19:7 - 11