Bees, game and dog drama

This time of year we are usually in the negative temps. Since Christmas we have had temps in the 50's. I have a litter of bottle fed pups here that have been able to be outside during the day (hallelujah!) and my bees have been out and about. I have been feeding them because there is nothing for them to eat and I worry that they haven't stored enough honey to last the whole winter. The few times I have cracked the lid and taken a peak, it appears they have filled both supers with honeycomb. Hopefully they had time to fill it with honey as well. THIS fall I am looking forward to a nice honey harvest. I am also going to need to step it up and build another hive because I plan on splitting my hive this spring. I can either order a queen for around $20 or I can put in a frame of day old eggs and hope the workers can raise their own queen. I think I would like to try letting them raise their own and if that doesn't work, I can still order a new queen. I am having some hangups with the bees because they have become so aggressive. I am more than just a little scared when I crack that hive open. I make sure the kids are in the house and there is no one in the area who is not protected. My heart thumps and my hands shake (not good when handling thousands of bees). As much as I enjoy my new hobby, is it worth being that scared of them as well? Something to think about I guess.

We have been eating deer and elk meat almost every day. We got a crazy amount of meat from that elk. I was really surprised as how many roasts and how many pounds of burger we were able to process. That is one chore I am glad to be done with though. My house smelled like blood for weeks. I couldn't seem to get it out of my hands and clothes and sink. I guess it is because as soon as we got one animal butchered, we would harvest another one. Hubby grew up hunting but has not been able to go since we had kids. It had been over ten years since he had been able to hunt big game. He is hooked again and is really hoping he will be able to draw out again. I am enjoying being able to walk past the meat counter at the grocery store!

I am up to my eyeballs in dogs. I have the four that are our family pets, four orphaned pups that need homes and one eight month old lab that is going to her new home soon (thank goodness). The lab, Magpie, is not allowing my hound to eat so he looks really bad. I had to bring him inside and feed him special food which also means I have to feed him pumpkin and special medication because he gets the runs every time he has to live as a house dog. He is also the same dog who is allergic to all grains and can't have dog food that contains ANY grain at all. I am so tired of cleaning up poo, it isn't even funny. The puppies make a horrible mess in their crate every night and because they are in the crate, the hound has to be locked in a bathroom. This morning I had to clean diarrhea off the floors, walls and door. I WANT MY LIFE BACK!! Once the lab and the pups are all in their new homes, I think I am done with the fostering. I will still work with the rescue, but I just can't handle the stress of other dogs right now.

That is what is going on in the life of Gracie. The short version anyway. There is actually tons more, but this is a blog not a novel, lol.