The One That Got Away
Do you ever have days when all you wish to do is stay at home? I have oodles of days when that is my wish. This entire weekend I wished for that – but it didn’t work out so well. I don’t mean to complain, but I will be looking forward to the next day that looks like it might be one when I do not have any reason to get in the car and drive anywhere. So it goes. Something rather comical happened to adoring hubby and me today. I’m going to share it with you.
Mr. F had received three calls about bee swarms this morning, all with requests to have them removed. He called and asked if I felt confident enough to remove one by myself, or better yet with adoring hubby’s help. He told me he’d loan us an extra bee suit and gloves so he would be safe from stings. I was thrilled to experience capturing a swarm on my own. After all this is the business of bee keepers. We gathered all the necessary equipment, a sheet, a bucket, the bee brush, a fruit jar with holes poked in the lid, a hive box, lid and a net to wrap it all up in, and a ladder. This swarm was about 8 feet up in a tree. I had a plan of how we would capture the swarm and we were set.
We arrived at the residence and nobody was home so we began setting up our equipment. Hubby was having a little difficulty adjusting his bee hat to fit his head. As he was making the final adjustment I noticed a few bees buzzing near me but when I lifted my head and looked up there were thousands of bees circling above us. My first thought was several of the bees had gotten stirred up by the ferocious wind we were experiencing at the time, but when I looked at the tree and the spot where the bees were gathered, there was not even one bee there. Our mouths fell open in disbelief as those thousands of bees circled up and out of sight! Neither of us knew what to say or think for a few seconds and then we both just started to laugh. It’s swell when a husband and wife can dissolve into laughter together. It’s the best part of marriage. We look forward to our next opportunity to go on a bee keepers adventure together and I know my next shopping spree will be to buy my adoring hubby his very own bee suit and hat – one that easily fits his head!
A side note to my story is that Mr. Floyd was to pick up the other two swarms today and they also both took off before they could be captured. He received a call from another bee keeper who experienced the same incident today. Adoring hubby attributes it to the change in weather predicted to take place later this evening. I’m not sure the reason but find it interesting that it happened four times in the same day in four different locations with three different bee keepers attempting to capture swarms. What I do know is that bees have been around for millions of years and I’m reasonably sure they have one up on us bee keepers when it comes to what is best for them. Welcome to bee keeping!
Meantime it is a beautiful, warm, sunny, if terribly windy day in Texas. We will be grilling baby back ribs for our last weekend meal and my juicy tomato salad will be a wonderful side, along with corn on the cob and fresh-cut, sweet pineapple spears. I’m sharing the tomato salad recipe with you because with summer around the corner this becomes a staple in my home. I fancy tomato salad with just about anything. Be sure to have a warm loaf of Italian bread on the table for dunking in the dressing. That alone could be a meal in itself.
Enjoy!
Linda’s Tomato Salad
4 Roma tomatoes
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
dash of kosher salt
Shy 1/2 tsp. fresh ground pepper
1 tsp. basil
1/2 tsp. oregano
Slice tomatoes. Mix dressing ingredients together and pour over tomatoes. Set aside and toss gently several times before serving. I like my tomatoes at room temperature. Depending on how long you will be marinating the tomatoes you may need to refrigerate and bring to room temperature before serving.
