I'm BACK!

Wow, we had a busy, fun summer! Living without internet, but LOTS of other things! Company, adventures, fun, good food--you name it!

There is real news forthcoming--I promise! I just wanted to let you know I am still alive!

Au Revoir!

We are getting rid of internet for the summer, in a grand attempt at getting outside and doing "non-electronic things"! Which is a lovely thing for the children, but also affects me a LOT. Since I am the worst offender at spending mass amounts of time on the computer!

Which is a long-winded way to say, I probably won't be posting much.

Some of the most exciting things in a child's life only come once a year...Christmas, Birthdays, Halloween, and then (when they get a little bigger) Colossalcon! It seems hard to believe that only a few years ago, I was pretty unaware of the existence of fan conventions. I vaguely knew that there were Sci-Fi conventions where weirdos dressed up as Klingons, but that was about it. Now I know that there are conventions for EVERY fandom--if you love Star Wars, Anime, playing games, Dr. Who, Harry Potter, Steampunk or almost anything else (!) somewhere there is convention hall full of people just like you! Now I have more experience, I love the enthusiasm, creativity, acceptance, cheerful friendliness that abounds at conventions. While at first it is a little odd to see people in long pink wigs or Pokemon costumes, it is no stranger than those hardcore Cleveland Browns fans who paint their faces (and, horribly, their naked bodies!--some things should stay covered!) I have had a houseful of excited teens who worked on costumes and preparations and had an amazing time together!

Now I need to go take a nap!

New Arrivals at our house!

and not what you were thinking!

Today, the new fridge and upright freezer arrived! YAY!

The old fridge made it, but it was a pretty close thing! The new fridge is almost exactly the same--black, side-by-side (we need the handles so we can lock it--SmallDaughter is very naughty about the fridge!)--however this one doesn't have an ice dispenser in the door.

Since we never used it for dispensing water or ice (it's last service was as the fondly remembered accidental "snickers bar dispenser"), we decided we would rather have the space!

Also--the new fridge is shockingly blank. No recipes or menus chalked on it. No job lists or coupons on the sides. Weird.

A Very Tired Butt

Today I drove (according to my car's odometer, that I reset this morning when I filled the gas tank), 275 miles. That means I could have gone someplace exciting like Chicago or Indianapolis or Pittsburgh to see people I love. I could have gone anywhere in the entire state of West Virginia, or at least half of Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan or New York State. I could have gone to Toronto (which requires a stamp in my passport, oooooH!). Did I go any of those exciting places? No, actually. I went to boring local places--and back--multiple times. There were many good things accomplished, much good was done--but as a road trip it was pretty lame.

Trying new things

So, one of the side aspects of taking apart and recolonizing the beehives is that I had some un-needed beeswax. In the form of (mostly) brood comb. In case you didn't know this (I know I sure didn't!), when the bees first make the wax, it is the palest white/yellow (virgin wax). They make LOTS of cells of this, which serve different purposes at different times. Sometimes they store the pollen the worker bees bring in, so they can eat it later. Sometimes they store honey, which is capped with more pure virgin wax for storage. Sometimes they store brood and little baby bees, and in the process of hatching, pupating and emerging, that wax gets brown (almost black eventually) and pretty gross.

There are lots of ways to process beeswax, and it is a pretty simple to do--put the chunks of wax in a deep, old pan (that you never want to use for anything else, ever again!), fill it with water, bring it to a boil, than let it cool. The wax floats and cools into a disc. The water with a full load of nasty residue (which is called "slumgum" is left behind. You can skim out the solids and load them into cardboard egg cartons--after they dry they make dandy firestarters (it is still well permeated with wax!) or you can give it to chickens (they love it!), or you can pour the whole mess on your garden or compost pile, where it is an awesome enrichment. If you want the wax to be purer, you can melt it again, for further refinement.

The process of melting the wax is easy, and it made our whole kitchen smell--exotic. A very strong smell, but not unpleasant--very floral and honey/sugar scented.