Never Cry Wolf

Recently we noticed a few bees here and there which managed to enter the house mysteriously and suspected a bee’s nest somewhere close by. Little did we know it was actually right inside the house. Since they were honey bees I did some research to find out whether it was possible to have the bees removed by a bee farmer and kept alive (as bee’s are precious to our environment). Unfortunately most of them were too far, and the one that I called that did it in our area was priced ridiculously high. We had to opt for the last resort which was to exterminate.

Actually the bee’s were coming in and out of a small crevice between the shingles and the bricks. We weren’t really expecting much because there would be about 30 bees flying around it at all times. The shingles had to be broken to see what was going on inside, and boy were we surprised at what we found. 11 honeycombs full of honey. We felt really bad about having to get rid of them but unfortunately they picked a bad spot to build a home! I have never before seen any real honeycombs in nature but they were aligned in perfect unison in rows. Truly awe-inspiring.

Closer look at the honey comb.

The neighbors dog trying to sneak a peek.

And how could we do a bee post without mentioning our very own busy bee shirt.

Thumbs up! Until next time..!

My Grandma used to have the most glorious, massive, colorful elevated garden. It spanned the entire length of the backyard of their bungalow and was deep enough that there was even a rock path in the middle that you could walk through. Now that I think back, I have no idea how she was able to upkeep such a massive garden! I’ll have to dig up some photos of it because that garden is one of the things I will never forget about that house, which I miss dearly.

Both of my Grandma’s also kept abundant vegetable gardens. They grew the most delicious cucumbers, tomatoes, carrots, etc. That’s definitely one thing I hope to have in the future, as well as grow my own herbs.

I’m drifting! The point of this post was to celebrate the appearance of a peony in the family garden. We’ve had the plant for years and this is the first time one of the blossoms have bloomed:

Nice, right? Well, it’s disappeared! It was there for maybe a week, and now it’s back to being a boring ol’ green shrub. What the heck? How do you get peonies to bloom and stay? Any tips?

If somebody asked me if I’m an organized person I honestly wouldn’t know what to say. I fall into traps of being either extremely disorganized and anally organized and I can’t explain it, it just happens in cycles! One bad habit is putting things I’m not sure what to do with in baskets until they accumulate into one huge bin of crap that I probably don’t want or need but feel I shouldn’t throw out. At times I can become overwhelmed and build up piles of things around me, but generally there is a method to my madness. When things do get too overwhelming and I’m in the right mood, I can clean and organize for hours until everything is back in proper order.

A perfect example of this is displayed below. I decided it was due time to dedicate a couple of days to cleaning my workspace. I am SO happy that I did because it’s actually enjoyable to work there now. I recruited Rose for a half a day for some help and support for the daunting task and once it got started there was no turning back.

Before:

After:

The “before” photo doesn’t look as bad as it actually was. Things were getting hard to access and it probably took me longer to do things just because I had to dig to get to everything. You may not even notice it but spending most of your day in a giant mess can be toxic and just straight up exhausting. One of the biggest improvements was putting up the shelves on the right (Ikea, $24!) and organizing our printed stock in there. Before they were in bins but this way makes so much more sense and is much easier to deal with. Sadly I had to remove the Kelly Gruber lithograph from above my desk to make room for a shelf but sometimes you just have to sacrifice for the sake of function.

It’s not completely tidied up, I still have to find some space for some extra stuff but it’s already so much better than it was before. Not to be COMPLETELY corny but okay, I will; a clean space really IS a happy space. Maybe this will inspire you to do some Spring cleaning of your own.

Crywolf’s cleaning tips:

• throw on some music, roll up your sleeves and get to it. the longer you leave it, the worse it will get
• recruit a friend, family member or someone who owes you a favor to help you
• invest in shelving/bins/organizing units. they’re relatively inexpensive and can make life much easier
• when in doubt, throw it out (or donate/recycle/you know)
• if you’re feeling defeated, take a break or move onto another section
• if you haven’t used it or seen in a year, you’re probably not going to miss it
• take a before & after so you can see how much you accomplished
• when you’re done, reward yourself

xoxo