New Bees!

we picked up our package of italian bees last saturday from beez neez apiary in snohomish.  We hived them on the same perfect northwest spring sunshiney day.

i had my 8 year old helper with me and it's a good thing i did.  you can never have enough hands during hiving.

in this three pound package the bees are clustered all around their queen.

 

here are some hive parts in our field

 

jasper is spraying the bees with sugar water to keep them calm while we prepare to hive them.  the jars full of sugar water will feed them when they are hived and until they are ready to forage on their own.

one more spray before we pull the queens cage out.

the sugar water can, inside the box, has to be taken out to slide the queen cage out.

here is the queen in her cage

here i am pulling out the tiny cork that holds her in so we can direct release her.

the feeding can had been replaced while we released the queen.  so now i am prying it out again to dump the bees in their new home.

the bees are calm from the sugar syrup and they don't just all swarm out at once.  you actually have to shake them out.

dumping the bees

the top box is just hiding the jars of sugar syrup the bees will be feeding on.  soon the top box will be full of frames that have foundation wax for the bees to build their comb on and fill up with honey and brood.

happy bees coming and going on a lovely northwest afternoon.

all the shipments of bees and queens were delayed this year because of the bad weather in california, where they come from.  so our carniolan bees wont be here for a couple more weeks. 

i had enough equipment to start two hives this year.  excited about that.  maybe, finally, i'll get some honey to make my elderberry mead in the fall.  yum!

off to portland, oregon on the train to stay at the ace hotel and see the head and the heart,

xoxox

jennette



Vintage Sewing Cards

by Hazel

what do y'all know about these sewing cards?

the back

how old do you think they are?

bear

i have had some before that seemed just as old.

bear, back

I found these on Etsy but they are very cutesy...

mine seem older...

fish

are they mid-century?

fish, back

could they be turn of the last century?

crown

could they be Edwardian?

crown, back

could they be Victorian?

candle

i wonder how old Hazel was when she did these.

candle, back

did her mom help her?

bird house

or her big sister?

birdhouse, back

did she make them in school?

fishing

or by a cozy fire at home?

fishing, back

did you ever have sewing cards?

fish bucket

i don't remember having sewing cards.

fish bucket, back

i'm just curious.

girl

i just wonder.

girl, back

*****

working on some vintage tapestry bags when i have time to sew.  but mostly working in the yard to get it ready for our big music-fest birthday party in June.  we had a stage built!  and the gardens are starting to look fabulous.  finally.

xoxoxox

jennette

Painted Bus

saw this cool painted bus at the grocery store the other day

love seeing artistic expression like this in the rural suburbs

looked like someone could be living in it

what a fun adventure you could have going across country in this!

plenty of space to bring your friends and collect your junk!

this section offers me inspiration for the '61 vintage Fireball, which will be getting a new creative paint job soon.  can't wait!

and i will have updates on the interior progress as well.

you'll be amazed!

xoxox

trying to stop being sick

jennette



Peacock Bag

hi friends!  long time, no post! 

sorry for the bad photos here.  bad lighting.

this is a short, squat, square bag i made from an embroidered peacock runner.

close-up of the peacock embroidery.  there was on one on each end of the runner so i intended to make them into pockets on a bag.

this is the table runner

here is a photo of the inside of the bag.  i used a vintage floral to line the bag and a linen napkin for the inside pocket.

silly self-portrait of me sewing the bag

inside view

i placed the pockets on the end of the bag.  one on each end.  and used some of the left over fringe from the runner to go across the top of each pocket.  i just used some old canvas for the main bag body.

i used a woven fabric strap for the handle.  for some reason i always seem to find these at sales and now have quite a collection to keep using for straps.  you might remember i used one here for the oil painting tote bag.  anywho, this will be for sale soon.  either in my Etsy or down at the shop.  have at it!

off to a dear friends moving away party and trying not to cry,

xoxox

jennette



Suspender Overalls

i found this awesome pair of overalls at the thrift last month.  they had some old stretched out elastic material attached to the strap.  someone did a home job on these.  here is the old elastic strap material:

the blue and white stripes match the overalls but i like the contrast of the straps i used to replace the old ones.  blue and green.  the new straps were born from an old pair of suspenders i had in my stash.  these ones still had some good elastic to them.

i've been wearing my overalls all over town!  they are super comfy and good for working on my bee hives or in the studio.  i can dress them up or dress them down.  i love me a good pair of vintage overalls!

back to work,

xox

jennette