midsummer

Hello, friends! I collected a few sprigs of lavender that I've been enjoying by the kitchen sink over the past few days, so I thought I would share it with you along with a little update of what's been taking place in my little corner of the world.

First, the bees are doing very, very well. Both hives are settling in nicely. We've been checking on them regularly, and have found both queens each time, saw eggs and larvae at different stages, scraped off a bit of extra comb and even had a few tiny tastes of honey! I am smitten. Adam really is in charge of the bee department, though - he has his beekeeper notebooks and makes the plans and does the research; I'm a more-than-willing participant.

I knew that it would be cool to have bees. I knew that I would be completely enthralled with them and have a sense of responsibility to my tens of thousands of fuzzy little wards. But what I didn't expect was how mindful I'm forced to be when doing the inspections. I can't be holding a frame of brood covered in hundreds of moving bees and looking for nearly-invisible eggs while checking texts or making a grocery list. The mindfulness is its own reward; the experience is such a fulfilling and pleasurable sensory experience that it would be a shame to be distracted. The hum of the bees working away at their tasks, the beauty of light reflecting on a nectar-filled cell, the stickiness of honey and wax covering fingertips, and of course the taste of honey are as rewarding as collecting a harvest from the vegetable garden. But my favourite is the scent - something elusive about the combination of warm moving bee bodies, smoke, honey, and wax is completely intoxicating. 

House news: we're still in our same lovely house, but just for a couple more weeks! We will be renting it out, have tenants lined up, and I'm optimistic that things will work out beautifully with this long and drawn out situation after all. We will be moving to our forever home and farm (farm! I feel like an imposter just typing the word) very, very soon. There are boxes and piles and lists everywhere, and we have some wonderful family who will be helping to look after the boys over the next few crazy weeks as we move. I am doing my best to relax into the whole situation and trust that everything will indeed get done, but the part of me that craves complete order before attempting a task is trying to resist a meltdown since the nature of moving house is such that it... well, it's chaotic and messy and everything that I don't do well with when I'm feeling stressed. Wish me luck and all of the patience, love, and kindness I can muster! It will all get done, and I will do my best to handle it gracefully.

Instead of thinking ahead, though, I want to savour the lovely times that I've already enjoyed over the past month. I've had several great visits with friends old and new, and that really is my favourite part of the summer. I really need that connection with people unrelated to my school-year work-life to make me feel like myself again. And there's nothing quite like a lovely chat with an old friend on a lazy summer afternoon. I've been lucky enough to enjoy several of those over the past few weeks, and I've tried my best to soak in every minute and save it somewhere in my mind for late November or mid-February when I miss it most.