felines of Fall

I'm not sure why "they" say the "dog days of Summer"...but if Summer has gone to the dogs, then Fall is certainly the domain of cats. Our two little lions aka tiny tigre' are frisky and as happy as can be with the cooling change in the weather. As their human "attendants", Dino and I visit with them regularly in their "habitat" and think up ways to keep them amused. It is amazing what you can do with recycled items...lumber scraps became a climbing "tree", broken bricks now border a kitty Zen rock garden, a horse water trough turned upside down is a feeding platform, and scraps of rubber stall mats make cushioned landing spots. Today we turned another piece of rubber flooring into a sort of swinging cylinder large enough for both cats to lounge/play in. It is just slightly less than obvious that as a child i wanted to work in a zoo.

A little over a year ago, we had no cats and no "plans" to change that...then we were sent a little angel. That's another story, a good story, but for another time. Happy with our good luck charm of a barn kitty; we did not go looking for a second cat. But the universe had other plans. Plans for us? Maybe. Plans for our first cat, Cowboy...definitely. Plans for the lovely and talented Ruby...well, let's just say maybe SHE planned the whole thing!

Honeycomb photos

Packaged raw honey in the comb. Yum!
Comb honey before cutting and packaging.

Here are the photos of yummy comb honey after being harvested and packaged using Dadant comb honey kit.

If you want to learn more about harvesting your own organic raw honey, free of pesticides and antibiotics...try this link http://61bd08327p6rcsj6ial71-t6nb.hop.clickbank.net/

until next time, be wild...eat honey!

honey harvest

I love honey. Especially comb honey since it is the purest and least processed form of honey. That is why I set up my hive to extract honey in the comb...and after harvesting about 18 lbs two days ago, I am so happy I did! Granted, I ate so much the first day I almost made myself sick...but it is sooo good. The bees made a dark amber honey mostly from sage, California buckwheat/buckbrush and rabbit brush, though they do have access to an orchard of rare medlar fruit trees. Happily, I had assistance from the hive's new gaurdian...thanks Deandrea! It seems fitting that the bees are becoming a team effort.
So if you love honey and you can't remember the last time you could buy comb honey, you really must consider keeping bees. If you are not sure how to begin, check out the ebook listed to the right (photo of beekeepers suited up) . Consider doing it with a friend or neighbor since you will have plenty of honey to share. And like most activities, it is more fun when people with the same interests join together. Also it will keep you motivated and committed when you have support from others.
I will post some pics of the honey ASAP. I am looking forward to expanding the hive in spring. For now the bees are settling in for the winter. Until next time...Bee wild, eat honey!
~Jenna

Local Produce!

I was so excited to find out the produce we have seen growing in Walker Basin is available to purchase at the roadside stand on Fri and Sat from 2-5 p.m. A local farmstand has been a longstanding wish of mine. Despite the fact we had quite a large veggie garden until recently, I had pined for things not growing in ours. Corn, for example, is something best grown on a larger scale than makes sense for two people. Our new Walker Basin produce stand has corn, melons, squash, tomato, tomatillo, green beans, cucumber, green onions, beets and more. Labor Day weekend, Dino and I picked up a little of everything and had THE BEST stir fry of zuccini squash and baby corn with green onions. You could taste how alive the food was. I have included a picture that does not do justice. I will follow up with a picture of the farm and address. When heading toward Lake Isabella from Twin Oaks it is on the left side of the Walker Basin Rd...you can clearly see the corn and pumkins near the road. I hope people will check it out and support them so we can all enjoy their efforts.

Foxy

Well, the bear has been gone for a few days now. But this cute little fox has been a frequent visitor to the compost. I guess we won't be getting any good compost for a while since half of what we put in there is being eaten by wildlife. Oh well. At least we got these cool pictures. By the way, the wildlife camera takes pictures during the day too but it seems that all the action is after sundown. The great thing about these cameras is the ability to get good pictures in the dark without scaring off the animals. There is no "flash" so they continue to go about their business. Thus we have many action shots of this fox hopping around and digging in the compost. I am going to find out what type of fox this is. If anyone has any ideas please post a comment. Till next time!

New 'Bear Cam' pics

Close ups of our recent visitor. FYI, bears love equine senior feed. This one busted up a container of it in our feed room. Guess I need to "bear proof" the feed room. We got some good pics of a fox too.

Bear Cam

OK. We set up this wildlife camera before we knew we would get a bear, but it is now officially known as the "bear cam" due to the awesome shots we have of the culprit raiding our trash and compost bin. We also captured most of the body of a ringtail cat, very elusive animals that few people have seen around here. I just found out recently that they even existed, and how funny that a few days later we got one with this camera! We had this camera set up before on a different property very near here for quite a while and never got anything more exciting than a coyote and jackrabbit even though it was aimed at a water source.

Enjoy! ~Jenna