Buzz buzzz

Yesterday evening we collected our bees! This has been an ambition for years and I cannot believe we have finally done it. We had to go late in the day to ensure as many as possible were back in the hive. Our mentor put a travelling screen on top of the brood box and we put everything in the boot of our 4x4. A few stragglers followed the hive into the boot and sat on the screen for the journey home. They did not enter the car! Once home I put on my suit to sort the hive out. I had to put in the feed tray and reconstruct the hive. When I took the screen off loads of bees flew out and landed on me. They are small and very gentle and at no point did I feel threatened. I managed to get most back in the hive and left them to settle in.
This morning I had a look when I let everyone out and all was still. After taking this photo I sat for a bit as the sun was coming round. Slowly bees started to come out and fly off. Two landed on me. One on my bare hand but they just had a look. I chatted to them as you are meant to and eventually they flew off. I plan to spend lots of time watching for now. On Friday I will open the hive again to check the status of the sugar syrup and to see how the building work is doing. Hopefully there be lots of fertilized cells. I have no chance of finding the queen but as long as I can see activity I will know she is there.
I feel very calm around my bees but know at some point I will be stung. All bee keepers are. I will always put on my bee keepers suit when doing anything with the hive as I am still very much a novice.
I am now looking forward to next year when hopefully I can harvest some honey.
I think it can be safely said that my old work colleagues would not recognize me now! My son in law who lives with us calls me a belated hippy! I guess I am!

On a lighter note...my latest finished project

This is the old bed I bought for €25 and restored. I have never done anything like this before but really enjoyed doing it. It was very dirty with mucky fabric. I had to go to Caen to buy the tool and the upholstery pins but it was worth doing. The fabric I bought from an English company as France does not have the sort of fabric I like! I found the chalk paint in a new shop we have here that has lots of craft things at sensible prices.
We found some dormer window rods that sit above each window. You need a double sided curtain as the curtain swings open against the cheeks of the window so when the curtains are closed I used the same spotty fabric. For when they are open I used a blue and white star fabric.
The room is very much home made but that is how I like it. It fits in with my new way of life.
This has given me a big boost as it shows what our home will be like once finished.
On a completely different note...we are collecting our bees Tuesday evening. They are settled in our hive and our mentor says they are very gentle..no stinging! Long may that last! I have not cut the grass in the orchard for weeks due to all the clover. My lavender is just starting to flower too! I will have to put some fondant in the hive to feed the bees until they have established their food source but the clover and lavender will start them off. I have also moved the bird bath into the orchard to provide water for the bees. This is a very exciting development.

So what happens now?

been a busy week with brother in law and his wife staying and 24 hour Le Mans in the middle. All overshadowed by the referendum.
I love the race, the atmosphere and all the wonderful cars people bring. Even Brad Pitt could not resist this year. It seems to me corruption for the sake of monetary gain is everywhere. This year was an anniversary for Ford and they were heavily promoted. The rules for the GT pro class say the car that races must have a road car too. Ford brought out a new car for the race with a road car due next year. Rules bent for no doubt a large donation the the FIA and ACO. At the practice Ferrari, Aston Martin and Corvette were all faster. Turned out Ford sand bagged! Deliberately went slower. The other cars were penalized! For the whole race up until the last hour Ferrari were second. Ford complained their race lights were incorrect in the final hour. After the awards Ferrari were disqualified giving Ford 1, 2 and 3. They had to hand over the cup! As much as I enjoy the event I will not support corruption so will never go again.
So, England want to leave Europe. Fine but what does it mean for us? We have invested a lifetime of savings in this property and cannot afford to go back. Life at least could become very uncomfortable here. Already we get less for our pounds so will have to tighten our belts for the foreseeable future.
We thought about applying for French citizenship but doing that will mean we will not get our pension due in 6 years. We have not worked in France long enough to qualify for their pension. We have worked hard since moving here but now face the prospect of having to walk away. Will England help us? No way!

Update

sorty it has been a while...busy, busy. By the end of each day I just fall into bed exhausted. My brain works overtime thinking through everything which wakes me up after a couple of hours. I usually come downstairs and read for a couple of hours. This means I start the day tired but have so much to do.
The back roof is nearly done. It has taken longer due to heavy rain. This has caused leaks into the house that has been very hard to deal with. We now have felt on the roof for the first time which has already made a difference. I hope for the first time this winter we will not be so cold indoors.
We have P's brother and wife arriving next Tuesday for 10 days. This made us decide to sort out the spare bedroom. What a task! We had to build a wall and incorporate a wardrobe into it. If Insay so myself it does look good. We had an old armoire that had good doors but a damaged body. We have used the doors. I will put pictures up when it is finished. We then had to stain the beams and pain the walls that were bare plaster. We bought an old French bed with a padded fabric head and foot. It needed restoring. I have painted the frame with white chalk paint. It took ages to remove the upholstery pins but it is now ready for the new fabric which I plan to do tomorrow. I then have to make the curtain for the dormer window. P has started laying the laminate floor after which he has to attach the skirting boards. We should be ready in time.
Today we took the brood box to our mentor who is collecting our bees next week. He will keep them a few days to settle them in our brood box. Within two weeks we will become bee keepers. I am entirely comfortable around the bees now. My next smallholder meeting is at the end of the month and is about bee keeping. By then we will have had the bees for about a week. All good stuff.
My six chicks are now out and about and mixing happily with the flock. The plan is that the boys will be for the freezer! We all want to be self sufficient with meat. We plan to take on two lambs next spring and keep them until around November then have them slaughtered. We will use a barn and set it up as a store room. We will put a big chest freezer in there and shelving for all the jams, chutneys and bottled fruit. Slowly we are becoming a proper smallholding.
I still do not know what the referendum will bring but am trying to ignore it until I have to do something. Hopefully nothing will change.