Car Fixed, Bittties Go Outside, Bees and Naughty Chickens

So yesterday was sort of busy. But I didn't do a post yesterday because before I realized it, it was bedtime.

So yesterday started out with getting the kids up and off to school. As usual. Fed the dogs and cats. Took the dogs out for their morning potty. I tried to start the car one last time but she just wouldn't do it. Then woke hubby up. He called the tow truck. Once the tow truck got here, we headed off to the auto mechanic. Told them what was going on. Then we went and got breakfast.

Came home and fed the outside animals. Relaxed for a little bit. Then I got bored and went outside to plant strawberry plants and potatoes. Hubby was kind enough to come out and keep me company. I didn't take a picture of the strawberry plants because they just look like dead roots. But here's a potato going in.

Hubby watered the strawberries and potatoes for me and gave the ducks and chickens some fresh water in their kiddie pool. It was actually starting to get warm outside so he went back in.

I decided since it was so warm outside that I would bring the bitties out and put them in the cage below our bantam rooster.

As you can see from the picture, I put some house siding on the top of the babies cage so that the little rooster doesn't end up pooping on them. The cage was also hanging kind of wonky so I took some bailing twine and sorted of sewed the gap between the top and bottom cages. Basically used the floor of the top cage as a support for the top of the bottom cage.

I also decided to straighten up my hives a little bit. The longer/shorter ones are two half of the topbar hive I built. The other is the standard langstroth hive. That one belongs to my friend. She let me borrow it last year to try to get a swarm established. Another beekeeper gave me the swarm. But they didn't stay over the winter or they died out or something. There's still honey in the hive but some of it has crystallized.

But when I opened that hive, I guess some bees in the area smelt the honey and were flying around it. A couple of them landed on the hive but then took off again like they were undecided on what to do. I got this picture just before she took off again.

Finally, I took a bottle of lemongrass oil and put a bit in each of the topbar hives. Probably too much in one of the hives but that stuff came out a lot quicker than I expected. Maybe they'll like it better. Bees like the smell of lemongrass oil because it smells just like the smell they let off when they've found a new home and are letting the rest of the swarm know that this is 'home'. Some people call it the happy bee smell. Now, if you're around bees and you smell bananas. That means they're mad.

After that, we went to pick up my car. Apparently the idle motor had gone out on her. I guess it's a motor or something that keeps the engine running when you're not pressing the gas pedal.

So we got the car ($500, apparently the parts were pretty pricey. They did give us some discounts though.) and went and got dinner. Normally we don't eat out this much. But when you're running here and there, it's just easier to stop and get something.

Then hubby and daughter went home in his car and I ran by the grocery store. While in the checkout line I get a text from hubby asking if I'd let the chickens. No, I hadn't. Luckily my daughter ran out there and got them back in the pen. According to my husband she was almost like a military sergeant. Ordering them where to go and using a stick to guide them. She got them in there pretty quickly.

But apparently they'd been out enough to discover my freshly planted strawberry plants. Yup, they dug through my strawberry bed. I think they were more attracted to the freshly dug soil then the strawberry plants themselves. But they did dig up some of the strawberry plants and I'm sure buried most of them. I replanted the dug up ones that I could find and tried to even the soil out a bit. But we'll see what survives. I don't think they were in their enough to cause TOO much damage. But we'll see.

I don't understand how I didn't latch the door to their pen. I never miss that. Just for reasons like this. It's automatic anymore and I latch it without thinking. So I just don't get how I missed it.

After that I begrudgingly gave the chickens some food and fed the rest of the livestock animal. I took an extension cord and gave the bitties a light in their cage just in case they wanted the warmth. Then I came in the house, played a little World of Warcraft, realized it was past bedtime, took a shower and went to bed.

Today I hope to do some more weedeating around the sheep and pig areas so I can extend the electric wire a bit more and give them more room. But we'll see how the day goes. Wish me luck.

Anyway, almost time to feed the livestock again. So yall take care and have a good day.