What are you doing today?

[Larissa]

Good morning!  Today started out so-so... I remembered to bring my leftover lamb chops & roasted potatoes for lunch from last night's Valentine's dinner, but forgot to pitch my reading glasses back in my purse, so I get to squint all day.  Fun.

Also fun is the fact that it's supposed to snow all day.  Blech.  But then tomorrow, 55 degrees.  So weird.

Tonight I need to pick up a jump rope and exercise/balance ball for a fitness challenge I've joined, and then someone's coming over to buy a dozen eggs.  And for the challenge, I've got to spent half an hour on the stationary bike.  I look forward to it.  Funny thing... I joined instagram a while back, but have never posted a single thing.  Well, for the fitness challenge, we've got to post pix to instagram.  So here I was, agonizing over what should be my very first instagram pic, and it's going to be me on a bike, and my new fitness gear.  LOL!

[MsMartyD]

Don't forget to  coordinate your  pony tail ring with your clothing.....   and do that make up   just right!   
Enjoy!!!!!

[Larissa]

LOL, I'm so not the gym fashonista!  I've resigned myself to changing into workout pants, but likely with a mismatched t-shirt (the "Bees make me happy.  You, not so much." shirt I'm currently wearing).  And I probably won't even bother putting my hair back; it depends how much it's annoying me. 

[Larissa]

Halloo!  Work today, EC meeting tonight, exercising after that.  I'm debating between the bike and jump rope.  Opinions?  I did the bike yesterday, and also bought the jump rope yesterday.  I haven't jumped rope since at least 1988.

And I'm in a good mood because I dressed nicer today and am sporting my Valentine's present from E - a tiny sterling and diamond bee necklace.  I love it!

[MsMartyD]

I love it too!   It's lovely!.....Go ahead and do the jump rope  while you can.....   The day will come when you won't be able to jump....   Ask an elderly lady in your family or neighborhood why......After  you give up jumping  you can  bike till the cows come home.
Re:  dressing  nice.....   Mama used  to tell me  "If you look good you feel good  and if you feel good  you do  good."   Her grammar was  much better than that  but  some of the old sayings  don't lend themselves to proper grammar. 

[iKnitQuiltSew]

So did you bike or jump rope, Larissa?  The bee pendant is gorgeous! 

You are 100% correct MsMarty...  my doctor as well has told me "no running or jumping."

I have been sewing literally in circles it seems for days!  But my quilt is going on the quilt frame tomorrow.  Then I will be quilting in circles!

Have a great evening everyone!

[gemlover]

Started posting my faceted stones today, took a little work to build up an inventory.  First is a 0.3 carat ruby, a fantastic buy,  Will be posting more rubies and sapphires as the week progresses.  Otherwise, we have the usual South Carolina weather, freezing one day, in the 60's and 70's the next.  Woke up this morning with ice on truck, temp is already almost 50 two hours later.

[Larissa]

I ended up on the bike last night.  By the time I got home from the Environmental Commission meeting at 9 p.m., I scarfed down the dinner Eric had made - rice & beans & chicken - and then was too stuffed to try jumping around.  Dinner was great, but definitely not light.  The bike was as good as it was going to get.  Today I'll jump rope because I'll be home at a normal time.

So today is just work & exercise.  Now that started to warm up yesterday (in the 50s, although pouring rain), the sap is running again, so we need to keep an eye on the taps again too.  Got over 5 gallons yesterday alone!

Sandi, I can't even express how much I love that quilt.

And John, your stones make me wish I made jewelry, which is pretty funny because I have absolutely no desire to actually make jewelry.  I just want to need your stones!  And ruby is my birthstone, so I've got an extra affinity for those.

Marty, it's true about the looks.  You just feel taller when you know you look good.

[Larissa]

Halloo!

It's been crazy busy here, even more so than usual.

I've been working some extra hours (yay, OT), and Friday night was the monthly bee meeting, at which we ordered SEVEN more nucs, in addition to all the splits we're planning, so we're looking at going form 10 hives to nearly 30 come spring.

Saturday we ran up to the beekeeping supply place, and brought friends too, who just ordered their FIRST two nucs (yay for new beekeepers!) Friday night at the meeting and needed literally everything to get started.  Got them all their stuff, got us some of our stuff, went to dinner at Keenan Ales (a great craft brewery in Kingston, NY), and by then I was so tired I fell asleep in the car on the way home.  Thankfully, it was E driving & not me. 

Yesterday we got up early to meet a realtor about a piece of property (that we're not buying), then cleaned the chicken coop, boiled down 10 more gallons of sap into 1.5 pints of maple syrup, and check on the bees.  I gave most of the hives more food & did a mite treatment on all except two because we ran out of the strips, so we're getting two more from a friend & doing them this week.

Today is work and tonight book club.  Oh, and so last night I also baked a maple buttermilk pudding cake for tonight's meeting.  Hope it's good, the recipe is from Food & Wine, so I have high hopes.  And I got to use maple syrup from our own trees and eggs from our own chickens. 

[Larissa]

Good morning-almost-afternoon!

Book club last night was fun, and the maple buttermilk pudding cake with unsweetened whipped cream was a huge success.  If you've got some maple syrup hanging about, I highly recommend.  http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/maple-buttermilk-pudding-cake

Had a tough morning this morning, though.  Work today, exercise tonight, and other than that I have no idea what we're doing, if anything.

[trusk4u]

Took advantage of the nice weather and started some pruning. I cleaned up a tree on the side of the house and a couple bushes in the back. I'll be working out front next, but probably not for a couple weeks yet. The city doesn't start regular brush pick up until March, so I don't want piles in my front yard just yet. Besides we are expecting snow again.

Terry used some of the remaining walnut he had and made a bench for the foyer. It's been nice to sit and put on/ take off boots, shoes, etc. Now he's been making some cutting boards. I will be very happy when he gets his workshop built. First we must sell our NC house though. We've had quite a few showings and possibly a couple of interested buyers. I'm trying to not get too excited just yet.

Starting to get things together for our daughter's upcoming wedding. It's gonna be different that's for sure. They are into scifi and games so some of that is being incorporated into their attire. They asked guests to wear something along those lines too. I have earrings from the Lord of the Rings collection. Hubby had a friend make him a Dr. Who bow tie and pocket square. I think this is going to be so fun!

Time to go and feed the girls and give them their pills. Then I will get started on dinner. Experimenting with a new recipe tonight. I'll let you know how it turns out.

[MulchandMore]

Larissa, that cake looks so good, I can almost taste it!, But I want my whipped cream sweetened please, maybe a tablespoon of syrup whipped into it??

Terresa, good luck with your house, it sounds like this realtor is on the job! I can't imagine doing yard work yet, we still have snow and icy paths to the driveway, thanks to kitty litter and wood ashes, they are walkable, but with it getting colder we won't be down to grass for a while yet.

Sandi, your quilt is looking good. When is your first show?
Ours is a small one the first part of March, and surprisingly we're almost ready for it 

[iKnitQuiltSew]

Thanks, Bev!  Our first show isn't until April 23rd.  We're not gardening here yet either!

[Larissa]

Congrats on your daughter's wedding, Teresa!  Sounds like a fun theme to me, but then again, I'm a big nerd too. 

I wanna see photos of the bench & cutting boards!  We bought a beautiful black walnut cutting board at the garlic festival, so I know they're awesome.

LOL, Bev, I'm normally the same way, and the spoonful of unsweetened whipped cream I tried was just wrong.  But with how sweet the cake is, you really do need unsweetened cream to cut it.  It works.

I blogged what our "early spring" (in bee calendar) looks like:  http://reefbotanicals.blogspot.com/2016/02/its-spring.html.  Pouring rain today, working, and nothing specific tonight.  Should do some laundry, will definitely exercise.

[trusk4u]

I love the quilt Sandi! Of course you always make such awesome stuff!

I thought I attached a picture of the bench in my last post. I either forgot or it didn't stick. Anyway, here you go with the bench. Cutting boards aren't done yet.

I saw your posts about the cake on FB too Larissa. Looks and sounds so yummy! Is is similar to a honey cake? I love Honey Cake!
With our expected bad weather, I made Split Pea Soup and fresh whole wheat bread for dinner. I've had this yeast for quite awhile and I felt like trying to make some bread. I used a recipe that my Mom used to make all the time. Super easy and fairly fast. We are expecting 3-5" of snow. So far it's just been a lot of rain, but I can see it starting to transition to sleet a little. It will be done by the weekend which is good. We will be in Chicago for our Zoey's 4th birthday! Well, a small break in the precip, so I am going to get the girls out. Later guys!.