Candid Country Life

Monday, March 9, 2015

Australian Native Stingless Bees...

Russell and I went to an Open Day for Bees yesterday... We've had a native beehive since October 2011 and have not split it. Which also means we've never looked inside. They are incredible little creatures, that's for sure!

Yesterday, Dr Tim Heard opened up two of his hives. He's renowned for his very extensive knowledge on all things related to Native Bees. Gave me the confidence to try the same with ours in Spring, October probably.

Looking forward to seeing inside ours. Here's a few pictures of Tim's hives...

Blessings,

Tim on the left...

Smaller hive just split...

A stopper at the entrance for traveling...

Natives don't just use wax but also plant resin...

Beautiful bees building...

Saturday, March 7, 2015

Wolf Tail...

Tim requested very nicely that I make him one...

Am getting there slowly... Have no straightner though so am at a loss as to how I'll get around that.

Blessings,

Oven dilemma...

Last weekend I was to cook a roast. As the oven was heating up, sparks flew from the fan inside the oven... Smoke was inside too...

I'm so glad I have a top oven and was able to use it for the roast, though it is not fan forced.

My Dad was out visiting yesterday and he looked at it. Tim was a great help with holding it steady for my Dad.

End result... It needs a new heater coil, new backing plate, door seal and one of the screws has a little seal broken around it.

Will give it another lease on life and save us from buying a new one, for now...

Blessings,

New drawer...

My drawer in the bathroom has this amazing way of having things appear in it. Keeping freebies that don't end up being freebies... Keeping things 'just in case'. Well no more...

I either totally love it and it's very useful or it leaves the house. And that doesn't apply to just my bathroom drawer... And yes, humans and animals are excluded from that too bahaha.

Blessings,

Before...

After...

Graduating...

My nephew may have only just begun his last year at high school but already he's had his formal...

My sister Tina is very radiant in this photo with Sami... So beautiful...

Blessings,

Reminiscing...

My nephew Matthias asked me last Sunday, if I had photos from around the time when my family and I came to Australia... He needed it for a school project!

'Twas lovely to go down memory lane... Soooo long ago, nearly 32 years. We left Austria on 12 March 1983 and arrived in Brisbane, Queensland on 18 March 1983... We journeyed to Vienna, London, Paris, Singapore and Sydney...

Thought I'd share some photos...

Blessings,

Formal portrait we sat for, just before leaving Austria...

Tina, Lis and I on the day of having portraits done...

Lis and my Mum...

Always happy, Lis...

And cheeky, Lis...

The ladies in my family in our traditional clothes from Austria...

Me, Markus, Lis, Christian and Tina...

Lis and my Dad...

Lis kissing Mum ;)

The whole family...

Love my brothers and sisters...

I did it!!!

I finished last May really but Saturday we had a graduation ceremony for finishing TAFE!

I graduated with:

Certificate IV in Community Services Work

Diploma in Community Services Work

Diploma of Management...

There were 111 of us that attended the graduation and a total audience of about 500-700! It was sooooo wonderful. I also happened to be the only one graduating with three certificates, which felt strange but was a little bit nice ;)

Russell, Timothy and Joshua all attended with pride. It was their moment too as I couldn't have done any of it without them. They were the reason I got them in the first place...

We went to our favourite Chinese restaurant afterwards to celebrate :)

Blessings,