The Grass/Land - Ice On Everything and Then a Blizzard

Ice On Everything and Then a Blizzard

When we woke up at 4:30 this morning there was a sheet of ice on everything at the farm.  The gravel driveway was as slippery as the wooden porch.  By 6:30, when I was supposed to leave for work, there were 17 major car wrecks across the metro area and four of our highways were closed due to accidents.  I decided to spend my day at home, instead of sitting in traffic jams.  The snow started about 10:00 am, but the winds are calm, so the blizzard hasn't gotten here as of this writing at 3:00 pm.  Our spoiled horses have been in the barn all day.  They were out last night and even they were covered in ice this morning.  They were happy to come inside. 

Maybe this will be enough for a hay crop this year!


Blizzard WarningCOZ041-046-172200-
/O.UPG.KBOU.BZ.A.0003.130417T2000Z-130418T1200Z/
/O.NEW.KBOU.BZ.W.0006.130417T2000Z-130418T1200Z/
ELBERT/CENTRAL AND EAST DOUGLAS COUNTIES ABOVE 6000 FEET-
NORTH AND NORTHEAST ELBERT COUNTY BELOW 6000 FEET/NORTH LINCOLN
COUNTY-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...CASTLE ROCK...ELBERT...FONDIS...KIOWA...
LARKSPUR...AGATE...HUGO...LIMON...MATHESON
752 AM MDT WED APR 17 2013

...BLIZZARD WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 2 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 6 AM
MDT THURSDAY...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DENVER HAS ISSUED A BLIZZARD
WARNING...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 2 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 6 AM MDT
THURSDAY. THE BLIZZARD WATCH IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT.

* TIMING...SNOW AND STRONG WINDS WILL SPREAD ACROSS EASTERN
COLORADO THIS AFTERNOON. THEY WILL GRADUALLY DIMINISH FROM
NORTHWEST TO SOUTHEAST OVERNIGHT.

* SNOW ACCUMULATIONS...3 TO 8 INCHES.

* WIND/VISIBILITY...NORTH WINDS WILL INCREASE INTO THE 20 TO 35
MPH RANGE BY LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...WITH GUSTS AS
HIGH AS 50 MPH. THIS MAY PRODUCE BLIZZARD CONDITIONS WITH
VISIBILITIES AS LOW AS 100 YARDS.

* IMPACTS...TRAVEL MAY BECOME IMPOSSIBLE DUE TO POOR VISIBILITIES
AND SEVERE DRIFTING SNOW...ESPECIALLY IN RURAL AREAS. ROADS
CLOSURES EAST OF DENVER WILL BE POSSIBLE.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A BLIZZARD WARNING MEANS SEVERE WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE
EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. FALLING AND BLOWING SNOW WITH STRONG WINDS
AND POOR VISIBILITIES ARE LIKELY. THIS WILL LEAD TO WHITEOUT
CONDITIONS...MAKING TRAVEL EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. DO NOT TRAVEL. IF
YOU MUST TRAVEL...HAVE A WINTER SURVIVAL KIT WITH YOU. IF YOU GET
STRANDED...STAY WITH YOUR VEHICLE.

The Bees - Two New Queens with their Swarms

Two New Queens with  their Swarms

Last weekend we picked up our new bees.  Each box of bees came with a can of nutrient solution, and a little box with the queen in it, suspended in the box.  We have Top Bar hives, so we watched about 5 videos online to refresh us as to how to hive the bees and the process went very smoothly.  The bees were calm and sweet and the queens were each set loose in their respective hives without incident.

In one hive the bees quickly and quietly formed an enormous ball around the queen.  They were very inactive and almost all stayed in the hive.  The few that were stuck in the box found their way into the hive and disappeared. Some came out to drink and a couple drowned in the water pan.  But the first hive was very quiet.

The second swarm was much more acrive.  From the beginning there was a lot more general activity, buzzing around, going in and out.  But everything seemed fine.  It was a warm afternoon with an abrupt weather change on the way.  Towards evening, I photographed the insides of each hive.

Above is the second hive on the first evening.  About 3/4 of the bees are gone.  

 

The two photos above show two bee balls in the first hive. 

It looked to me as if the two queens had both settled in the first hive and that most of the bees in  both boxes had followed them in there.  I don't know why they would do this.  The queen that we put in the first hive was smaller than the one that we put in the second hive, but they both looked active and healthy. 

Update 4/16

I asked a colleague beekeeper about what I had observed and he said he would just leave them alone and let them sort it out.  I was relieved to hear that because the weather had been very cold, wet, and unsettled and openning up the hive and trying to locate the queens and stir things up didn't seem like a great idea to me either.  So we left them to their own devices.

Update 4/17

We have had another big rain/ice/snow event and there are supposed to be blizzard conditions tonight, so my husband checked the hives through the windows without opening them.  It was dark, but he could see no bees in the second hive.  There were still two bee balls in the first hive, but one was on the floor and one was on the ceiling.  Having the queen go to the floor does not seem like a good sign.  I guess time will tell.  We insulated both hives well, but it has been very cold.  And I am not sure where these bees came from.  We got  them from a supplier, but they were shipped in from somewhere; probably someplace warmer than it is here.  

Update 4/25

We had wind chills below zero.  We lost both swarms.



The Food - A Spring Blizzard Brunch with a New Combination

A Spring Blizzard Brunch with a New Combination

This morning we awoke to a cold, wet and blustery storm.  There wasn't so much snow, but the storm had come in last night with a forty degree temperature drop and rain.  So there was some much needed moisture even though we couldn't shovel it.  It is supposed to keep snowing here until five tomorrow morning, so we may have to shovel eventually, anyhow. 

For a mid-morning brunch we made farm sausage, gravy and french toast from home-made Italian wheat bread and duck eggs.  First course was french toast, sausage and gravy; and second course was french toast, berry compote, maple syrup and cinnamon.  The new combination was pairing the french toast with the sausage and gravy.  It was pretty delicious.  I think it was the eggs and the gravy flavors blending that was so pleasing. 

I suspect I have shared the recipes for these things before, but just so you don't have to search, I'll post them again. 

Farm Sausage Ingredients

1 lb of ground pork
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp sage
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
pepper to taste

Mix thoroughly with your hands and shape into patties.  Cook, covered, on low for about 15 minutes a  side, uncovering for the last few minutes to brown.

Gravy Ingredients

flour
whole cow or goat milk
salt to taste

Sprinkle enough flour into the sausage drippings to absorb them.  Cook on high until it starts to brown.  Add cold milk all at once, (about a cup for every tablespoon of flour) lower heat and begin to stir.  Stirr continuously until the gravy is thick and even and starting to bubble.  My mother always said to let it bubble for about a minute to get rid of the raw flour taste.  Add salt to taste.

French Toast Ingredients

4 duck eggs (or 6 chicken eggs )
1 tsp. vanilla
3 tbs. top milk or half and half
4-6 slices of bread
2 tbs. butter

Whip the eggs, milk and vanilla in a bowl.  Soak the bread on both sides in the egg mixture and move to a medium/low heat frying pan in which the butter has been melted.  When the bread has all been nestled in the pan, pour the remaining egg mixture over it. Cover and cook slowly until golden brown.  Turn each piece of bread and cook the remaining side until golden. 

On the Side

maple syrup
fruit or berry compote
honey
cinnamon

 

The Food - A Birthday Celebration with Fast Easy Cioppino

A Birthday Celebration with Fast Easy Cioppino 3/25

Ingredients

3 tbs. olive oil
1 large fennel bulb, thinly sliced
1 onion chopped
3 large shallots, chopped
2 tsp. salt
4 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
3/4 teaspoon dried, crushed red pepper flakes (more to tast if desired)
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 (28 oz. can) diced tomatoes in juice
1 1/2 cups dry white wine
5 cups fish stock (chicken if you can't find fish)
1 bay leaf
1 lb clams, scrubbed
1 lb mussels, scrubbed and debearded
1 lb uncooked large shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 1/2 lbs assorted firm-f;rshed fish such as halibut or salmon, cut into 2 inch cubes.

Directions

Heat the oil in a very large pot over medium heat.  Add the fennel,onions, shallots and salt and saute until onions are translucent, about 10 minutes.  Add the garlic and red pepper flakes, and saute 2 minutes.  Stir in the tomato paste.  Add tomatoes with their juices, wine, stock and bay leaf.  Cover and bring to a simmer.  Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer until the flavors blend, about 30 minutes.

Add the clams and mussels to the cooking liquid.  Cover and cook until the clams and  mussels begin to open, about 5 minutes.  Add the shrimp and the fish.  Simmer gently until the shrimp and the fish are just cooked through, and  the clams acompletely open, stirruing gently, about 5 minutes longer.  (Disgard any clams and mussels that do not open.)  Season soup to taste with more salt and red pepper flakes. 

Ladle the soup into bowls and serve.

I couldn't get live clams, so I used frozen ones.  They were delicious.  And I had to use chicken stock. 

Add some warm, fresh bread with olive oil and this is a wonderful fancy meal!

The Riding/Training - Gus Does Some Hill Work 3/30

Gus Does Some Hill Work 3/30

 

After some lunging, my husband took his horse for some much overdue hill work around the farm.  They looked wonderful and had a great time.  Jealous!