Sunday, April 28, 2019
Ralphie tipped 9
Yes, RR, behind me by 2 in the tipping comp, had a full board this week, caught up on me by one. Good thing I had $5 on his tips and collected $159. Never thought I'd be barracking for Hawthorn but there I was biting my nails.
Wednesday, April 24, 2019
Good Friday
Late last Thursday, the day before Good Friday, I was picking bay foliage in Gembrook, for the reason that if I got some of my picking done before Friday then I would have a few days relatively free to work at home before customers came on Monday to pick up their orders. These customers usually come Saturdays but had put it forward to Monday due to many of their customers being closed over Easter. I was so looking forward to catching up on house and garden duties at home.
It didn't work out. I had been to the farm on the Thursday, I can't remember what I did and it matters not, but I came home early, after catching up with young Sam, a uni student, who does some casual work on his days off uni. I had to get back early as Lib needed someone to go with her to the optometrist in Pakenham. She'd been having some trouble with her vision, dark shadows, and when making the 3pm appt with the opto he said to bring someone who could drive her home as he would put drops in her eyes so he could examine better, these drops would give her blurry vision for a couple of hours.
I got home with little time to spare but Gord said he'd go with Lib so I went picking after a cuppa and was away a couple of hours. They were back when I returned so before putting my bunches in water I went in to see how Lib got on.
"Not good," she said. "He thinks I might have a detached or torn retina. He says I should go to Emergency at the Eye and Ear Hospital in Melbourne tomorrow as it can be serious if not attended to and lead to blindness."
"Bugger," I replied. My heart sank immediately, but I thought oh well I have till Monday to fill the orders. "Well we'll leave pretty early if we can."
I went outside to get the foliage into buckets and Gord came out with the phone and handed it to me. It was my good friend Pat MacKenzie from Warrnambool who said he was in Melbourne and would like to come up and see us tomorrow. I explained Lib's eye situation and we exchanged mobile numbers and I said I'd ring him when we got to the hospital, maybe we can meet up in Melbourne. It was toward midday when we got there and after letting Lib out at Emergency and finding car parking I rang Pat's mobile. He and Carmel were across the road in a cafe so they came over and we all sat in Emergency waiting room catching up on news in between interviews with the desk clerk and nursing staff. After about an hour they took Lib in for examination and it was not long before they called me in. Lib's retina was detached and she was operated on that afternoon and admitted as a private patient. Therefore I would not have to wait around for hours till Lib could leave, and I would not have to have her back there at 8am when the surgeon would come to check her.
So I went with Pat and Carmel back to the cafe. They bought me lunch and I'm so grateful that they were there, not just for renewing aquaintance, but because their attendance lifted me (and Lib) out of our tension and anxiety. A difficult and depressing day had a silver lining and it was as if fate or my guardian angel had arranged them to be there for us. They are truly special people.
The cafe we were in must have been under a hospital. A big tall bloke came in pushing a new born in a small hospital pram thing with a perspex/plastic cover. I recognized him as Mark Jamar who played some years at Melbourne then at Essendon. I had a chat to him and wished him well. He said he now had two sons, hopefully one will be a father son selection at Melbourne, and now another for Essendon.
I picked Lib up on the Saturday. We had lunch on the way home and found a 24hr chemist to get the cortisone drops she must put in her eye 4 times a day for two weeks. She can't see out of the crook eye (which looks sunken back), just blur, which can last for 2-7 weeks. The poor girl is miserable and can't do much. We have to go back to the hospital on Friday for a follow up Drs appt. Touch wood all will be well. I'm doing my picking tomorrow for Saturday, early as Friday will be a wipe out workwise.
Poor Lib sure has had a pummeling this last twelve months.
It didn't work out. I had been to the farm on the Thursday, I can't remember what I did and it matters not, but I came home early, after catching up with young Sam, a uni student, who does some casual work on his days off uni. I had to get back early as Lib needed someone to go with her to the optometrist in Pakenham. She'd been having some trouble with her vision, dark shadows, and when making the 3pm appt with the opto he said to bring someone who could drive her home as he would put drops in her eyes so he could examine better, these drops would give her blurry vision for a couple of hours.
I got home with little time to spare but Gord said he'd go with Lib so I went picking after a cuppa and was away a couple of hours. They were back when I returned so before putting my bunches in water I went in to see how Lib got on.
"Not good," she said. "He thinks I might have a detached or torn retina. He says I should go to Emergency at the Eye and Ear Hospital in Melbourne tomorrow as it can be serious if not attended to and lead to blindness."
"Bugger," I replied. My heart sank immediately, but I thought oh well I have till Monday to fill the orders. "Well we'll leave pretty early if we can."
I went outside to get the foliage into buckets and Gord came out with the phone and handed it to me. It was my good friend Pat MacKenzie from Warrnambool who said he was in Melbourne and would like to come up and see us tomorrow. I explained Lib's eye situation and we exchanged mobile numbers and I said I'd ring him when we got to the hospital, maybe we can meet up in Melbourne. It was toward midday when we got there and after letting Lib out at Emergency and finding car parking I rang Pat's mobile. He and Carmel were across the road in a cafe so they came over and we all sat in Emergency waiting room catching up on news in between interviews with the desk clerk and nursing staff. After about an hour they took Lib in for examination and it was not long before they called me in. Lib's retina was detached and she was operated on that afternoon and admitted as a private patient. Therefore I would not have to wait around for hours till Lib could leave, and I would not have to have her back there at 8am when the surgeon would come to check her.
So I went with Pat and Carmel back to the cafe. They bought me lunch and I'm so grateful that they were there, not just for renewing aquaintance, but because their attendance lifted me (and Lib) out of our tension and anxiety. A difficult and depressing day had a silver lining and it was as if fate or my guardian angel had arranged them to be there for us. They are truly special people.
The cafe we were in must have been under a hospital. A big tall bloke came in pushing a new born in a small hospital pram thing with a perspex/plastic cover. I recognized him as Mark Jamar who played some years at Melbourne then at Essendon. I had a chat to him and wished him well. He said he now had two sons, hopefully one will be a father son selection at Melbourne, and now another for Essendon.
I picked Lib up on the Saturday. We had lunch on the way home and found a 24hr chemist to get the cortisone drops she must put in her eye 4 times a day for two weeks. She can't see out of the crook eye (which looks sunken back), just blur, which can last for 2-7 weeks. The poor girl is miserable and can't do much. We have to go back to the hospital on Friday for a follow up Drs appt. Touch wood all will be well. I'm doing my picking tomorrow for Saturday, early as Friday will be a wipe out workwise.
Poor Lib sure has had a pummeling this last twelve months.
Sunday, April 14, 2019
What a Weekend
The weather for the weekend was perfect. Mild, sunny, still, autumn at its best.
I'm pleased to say the two new queens I introduced last Thursday week were accepted and they are laying well. A beautiful thing to see. The colony at Leanne's place which has been difficult to handle for a long time were docile and content on Saturday when I checked. Amazing really, because the bees are still all the progeny of the old queen, but the new introduced queen seems to have worked a spell over them. Her newly laid brood will not be born for a couple of weeks but the hive seems already transformed from savage to calm.
I'm pleased to say the two new queens I introduced last Thursday week were accepted and they are laying well. A beautiful thing to see. The colony at Leanne's place which has been difficult to handle for a long time were docile and content on Saturday when I checked. Amazing really, because the bees are still all the progeny of the old queen, but the new introduced queen seems to have worked a spell over them. Her newly laid brood will not be born for a couple of weeks but the hive seems already transformed from savage to calm.
Tuesday, April 09, 2019
New Queens
We returned from our blissful holiday in Adelaide last Thursday week. It looked like no rain had fallen during our ten day holiday, so dry and parched was the landscape. Fortunately our friend Sandy had done a good job watering our pots and small vegie garden while we were away and I had watered the young plants in the garden before we left and there were no losses.
First day back Friday 29 March was warm to hot with a fair wind, most unpleasant as I worked reluctantly. I ordered two queen bees from a breeder in Qld, thinking that if I could autumn requeen two hives that were poor all season then next season may bring better result. The forecast was not good for the weekend. The breeder said he'd send the queens on Monday and they'd probably arrive Wednesday, by which time I thought the weather would have to have improved. Saturday 30th turned cold and it rained all day pretty much, just the excuse I needed to have some rest. There was 30- 50 ml of rain in the district, still waiting for friend Glen to tell me how much fell here on this side of Gembrook.
Sunday I was on roster duty in the museum. It was very quiet. I enjoyed Beryl's company.
Come Wednesday, full of expectation that the queen bees would arrive, excitedly I went up to the post office. No queens at 10.30am, mail clearance finishing time. It was a pleasant day, mild sunny morning. They told me the queens may come about lunchtime, the post van picked up and sometimes brought more parcels. What do I do? I decided to find the old queens in the hives and kill them, thinking that even if the queens did not come for a day or two it would be alright, at least I'd be able to put them in the queenless hives quickly even if the weather was not ideal.
I found the queen quickly in the hive at our place and pinched her head off, something I do not enjoy, but necessary. The other hive at my friend Leanne's place was more challenging. I couldn't find her. This hive had been savage and difficult for some time and I confess to not being well practised or skilled at finding queens. It's something, like many things, that if you are doing it often you get good at it, but that was not the case for me. Compounding the difficulty, clouds had blocked the sun, the bees were so hungry, the hive dry with no nectar coming in, so the bees were quick to anger, and if you don't find the queen quickly with combs all around the open hive robber bees are on the scene. It took strength of mind to continue. I decided to shake all the bees from the combs into an empty box above a queen excluder above some brood and smoke them down hoping I'd then find the queen who would be stuck above the excluder. Whether this would have worked or not I don't know, because as I picked up the lid covered with bees, the last thing to shake, I spied her hiding in the corner.
By this time the hive was highly agitated and robbers were rampant. I was equally agitated and greatly relieved at finding her majesty, the dark mother of this angry colony. This time the head was pinched with relish.
Back to the post office I learned the queens had in fact arrived, but I took them home and inserted them the next day into the the two now queenless hives, giving the them a day to quieten down and adjust to being queenless. The candy in the queen cage escape takes a day or so for the bees to remove, by which time the queen and her escorts have acquired the scent of the hive so that they are accepted by the colony and not killed as aliens. I will check the hives when the weather is good in a week or so and I will be overjoyed if the introduction of the new queens has been successful and they are rearing new brood.
Each night I go to bed and think with some satisfaction that I have done it, what I had planned to do for some months. I'll let you know if I was successful.
First day back Friday 29 March was warm to hot with a fair wind, most unpleasant as I worked reluctantly. I ordered two queen bees from a breeder in Qld, thinking that if I could autumn requeen two hives that were poor all season then next season may bring better result. The forecast was not good for the weekend. The breeder said he'd send the queens on Monday and they'd probably arrive Wednesday, by which time I thought the weather would have to have improved. Saturday 30th turned cold and it rained all day pretty much, just the excuse I needed to have some rest. There was 30- 50 ml of rain in the district, still waiting for friend Glen to tell me how much fell here on this side of Gembrook.
Sunday I was on roster duty in the museum. It was very quiet. I enjoyed Beryl's company.
Come Wednesday, full of expectation that the queen bees would arrive, excitedly I went up to the post office. No queens at 10.30am, mail clearance finishing time. It was a pleasant day, mild sunny morning. They told me the queens may come about lunchtime, the post van picked up and sometimes brought more parcels. What do I do? I decided to find the old queens in the hives and kill them, thinking that even if the queens did not come for a day or two it would be alright, at least I'd be able to put them in the queenless hives quickly even if the weather was not ideal.
I found the queen quickly in the hive at our place and pinched her head off, something I do not enjoy, but necessary. The other hive at my friend Leanne's place was more challenging. I couldn't find her. This hive had been savage and difficult for some time and I confess to not being well practised or skilled at finding queens. It's something, like many things, that if you are doing it often you get good at it, but that was not the case for me. Compounding the difficulty, clouds had blocked the sun, the bees were so hungry, the hive dry with no nectar coming in, so the bees were quick to anger, and if you don't find the queen quickly with combs all around the open hive robber bees are on the scene. It took strength of mind to continue. I decided to shake all the bees from the combs into an empty box above a queen excluder above some brood and smoke them down hoping I'd then find the queen who would be stuck above the excluder. Whether this would have worked or not I don't know, because as I picked up the lid covered with bees, the last thing to shake, I spied her hiding in the corner.
By this time the hive was highly agitated and robbers were rampant. I was equally agitated and greatly relieved at finding her majesty, the dark mother of this angry colony. This time the head was pinched with relish.
Back to the post office I learned the queens had in fact arrived, but I took them home and inserted them the next day into the the two now queenless hives, giving the them a day to quieten down and adjust to being queenless. The candy in the queen cage escape takes a day or so for the bees to remove, by which time the queen and her escorts have acquired the scent of the hive so that they are accepted by the colony and not killed as aliens. I will check the hives when the weather is good in a week or so and I will be overjoyed if the introduction of the new queens has been successful and they are rearing new brood.
Each night I go to bed and think with some satisfaction that I have done it, what I had planned to do for some months. I'll let you know if I was successful.
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