Good intentions..

So much for good intentions!  Honest, I had them.....good intentions to post more regularly, that is, but that's all they were....good intentions.  It was more important to me to spend quality time with our grandkids this summer and then use the time in between to catch up on all that didn't get done while they were here.  These visits during the summer are precious and will be gone before we know it....we want to take advantage of every minute while we can.

So far we have had visits from Nathan, Zach, Sierra and Kaila.  Next week Brandon will come for his annual   visit (school doesn't start until after Labor for kids in the Tidewater area).  It has been an interesting summer....each of the kids has an entirely different, unique personality, and it has been a treat to spend time with them and explore and cherish that uniqueness.

I love the look of complete concentration and focus on Nathan's face....

Nathan building his birdhouse

He thoroughly enjoyed anything to do with crafts....which I didn't mind in the least!

 

Zach, Nathan's older brother, was next in line for a visit.  He was an old pro since he had been here last summer.  He got to do the 17 mile Virginia Creeper bike trail ride with Papa....and loved it!

He also got to go to the races with us at Kingsport....and had a blast.  And of course, Papa loves sharing his love of racing with anyone....especially grandkids!

We were happy that we got to have Amber's two girls here this summer.  Sierra was first....and she seemed to enjoy everything, but spending time with Daisy was her very favorite thing!

She also enjoyed her bike ride with Papa on the Linear Trail in Erwin and stopping to spend some time fishing...even catching her first fish!

Kaila, on the other hand, LOVED doing big bubbles in the backyard

...and of course, being a "princess"!

Now for an update on our bee hives and honey production...

A couple of weeks ago, we took two supers of honey off of our first hive.  Two of the twenty frames were for comb honey....and we harvested a total of 55 lbs. of delicious honey from those two supers!

Unfortunately, our second hive (that was started this year) has not been doing well.  Somewhere during the early summer we "lost" the queen.  It looked like they were going to be able to requeen for themselves, but when we checked last week, it was obvious that they had not been successful....only drone cells.  So we got a new queen from a local grower and just released her into the hive on Thursday....should know soon if it has been successful or not.  If not, guess we'll wait until the spring and either do a split or start the second hive with a new box of bees/queen.  But in the meantime, we sure are enjoying the results of our first hive's hard work....yummo!

This week is a bittersweet one for us....yesterday we celebrated the homegoing of my dad's brother, my Uncle J.E., in Victoria, VA.  It is always sad to say goodbye to loved ones, but it is so reassuring to know that he is now celebrating in the presence of God with all of those who have gone before, including his beloved wife, Clara, and my own dear mom, Dorothy Fox.  How sweet it is to know that one day we will be rejoicing with them!  It was also good to spend time with relatives that we don't get to see too often, and now we are thoroughly enjoying some relaxing time with my brother and sister-in-law, Tim and Robin.  So far I'm not sure if Willie has enjoyed their dog, Dexter, or the hike around the lake more!

There have been a lot of other activities this summer, but it would make this post way too long to try to catch you up on all of those....maybe another time!  

It is my prayer for today that you will take time to enjoy the view....God has truly given us a beautiful world in which to live, and there are treasures around every corner....