Deadlines and Bees.

Exams are coming up, and coming fast. I'm so stressed out about my grades. Everywhere I turn people mention something about colleges and scholarships and good grades - oh and by good, I mean GREAT. Basically, if you have suck-ish grades don't even bother trying to get into a great school....

Man! All this stress to maintain a good GPA. What has happened to the world? I wish I could live in a time where a college degree wasn't that big a deal... Scratch that, I wanna go to college....

I wish there was a time I lived in that didn't put so much stress on the teenage individual.

Much better.

Anyways, this is going to be a hard next two weeks. I need to buckle down and get to work!

Oh, and the bees aren't holding up very well this winter; I might have to let nature run its course and buy a new set of hives this spring. Poor things.

salem!!!

I took a mini vacation up to New England, to visit my grandparents.

Everything was AMAZING.

I want to move up north more than ever now! The trees were gorgeous, the towns were cute, and the food was.....hmmmmmm.

great food!

My friend made some empanadas. Considering the fact that she's part Cuban, they're the shizzzz.

Iron Fey series.

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTZ7rRcJWlTDkbURSgD2bQfgUKJaPlhTdxQbMxr-lh7p_guJpRFdXLpwIs_sqA7ludH_vUDtKtU_-n2m-hLT8HWa2QaPW_olJEdd6GecX45uuGwyeORU2J5s5KxTI82ZEPoDD99-aknz0/s1600/the+iron+king.jpgThis



Is a fairy series with a twist. Of course there's the Seelie and Unseelie courts, and the typical beautiful fey. But -----

There's IRON fey (; wicked cool.
Read it.

Yummy pictures from culinary(:

Lemon thins with a raspberry Melba sauce to add a dash of color. Chocolate covered strawberries - amazing!

Hemp crazy

I find it amazing how I can always make hemp bracelets, no matter where I am! I even made a new one on my bus ride. Awaiting the day I get new colors, and spiffy beads. My mom had a tie dye party a week ago with her friends from work. She have me one of the bags, which is officially hemp storage :?)

Cycle of Life can be a total Bitch.

Excuse my profanity up top, although it is true.
My worms died.
I'm crushed.
I put so much time and effort into caring for the sweet babies, and then when we moved they got infested with ants. A few days later after the ants they just disappeared. I don't know what happened to them. But they are gone now, probably dead.
I want more...

I think It is sad...

...that Vegan's don't eat honey.
They have no idea what they are missing out on. Honestly. Honey is sticky and sweet, and something that could never get tiring to eat. (Well, that last part mostly applies to me.) I mean, I was the kid who squirted honey into their mouth when they were little, I adore it that much.
They can never enjoy honey mustard, or honey with apples and cheese. Or honey-glazed meat (haha, well they don't eat meat to begin with, but whatever.)

Oh. My. God. They can't eat honey period!
Does that mean they can't take joy in buying Burt's Bees products, or Savannah Bee company products!? That they can't experience the lovely soft texture of their skin when they use a honey face mask?
They can't have that amazing Burt's Bees chapstick, or suck on honeycomb, or have that precious Royal Jelly lip balm. And the lotion.
Man.

I have come to the conclusion that life must suck for vegans, because if I spent my life without honey I would literally be depressed.
Those poor people.

Battle scars...and honey.

Stupid me, stupid stupid stupid. I went out to the bees this morning. I was too lazy to dress properly. Of course, I don't have those fancy shmancy bee suits - quite frankly, I find it idiotic to purchase those when you could just throw on some long sleeved shirt, and pants.



But me, I didn't even have those. See, I had just woken up, and was wearing some workout shorts and a spaghetti strapped tank top. Pair that up with some sandals (hastily thrown on) and a bee veil and that completed my "bee suit."

And I had not problems with it either, although I was stupid because everything was black. (Bee Rule: DON'T GO OUT TO THE HIVES IN DARK CLOTHES.) Could I have been anymore stupid?

But of course, the clothes didn't have that much of an affect when I did go out. It was my finger, my damn finger. One of the girls snagged me on the knuckle, and the poor thing was swollen for two days.

Couldn't even bend my finger.

I had to tough it out though, and stay with the hives to finish getting some honey. :)
We didn't end up taking a lot from this different hive, only going for one frame. But it gave us four jars, and it tastes wonderful. It's a lighter version of our old hive's bitter sweet honey.

Harvest Time

The bees did wonderful this year when it came to harvesting :)

The first harvest gave us more than 25 jars! And the second harvest was only a couple of frames that were leftover from the first, but we easily got about 10 jars.

To think, that was just from one hive. If we had four....hmmm hmm. To the farmers market we go!

:)

Pictures from BPSC

I finally got some pictures from my week at horse camp! Here they are.

Below: I'm on Banjo, the last one to the left with the funny stance. From me over it's Emily on Foxy, Chelsea on Boca, Jamie on Sugar, Ally on Binki, Cammie on Jazzy, and my sister Alexis on her horse Red.
Below: With the campers.

Below: Dawwwwwwey! Me and my little boy Banjo!

Below: cross country course, me and Red.

Below: a little mini named Charlotte

Guitar Hero!!!

Aha! Yeah, right.
So I've taken guitar lessons for a couple of months and quit. I just got swamped with other activities, and guitar got so frustrating because I guess I thought I'd become GREAT right off the bat.
But I'm now trying to get back into it. My fingers are in pain.....
Teaching myself, with the help of certain people of mine that play, and also the help of youtube and guitar websites. Go Internet!

Currently teaching myself: Banana Pancakes - Jack Johnson.

Even Addie loves Guitar :) I bet she'll be very musical when she gets older!

More food from today (=

Aww, a Paradise roll. Tuna / Mango /Cream Cheese / Masago

(Masago: The roe of Capelin fish, which resides in the Arctic and Atlantic oceans.)

And last....my mom's order. Bolsot. It had this funky taste to it, like smokey. But my mom is crazy for it. Lol.

Toot-a-loo!!!

Some good eating

I spent the day with my mom. We went shopping! Ah, we're such shop-a-holics. When I stepped into global's I almost bought everything in the store.....And I got some clothes from T.J.Max....and then.....wait for it.....I BOUGHT A BIKE!!


Now we will go on bike rides, my mom and I.


We ate sushi, at one of my favorite restaurants in gainseville. Miya's has some great food!


I got the paradise roll, along with a bento box, while mom got Bolsot. We were satisfied, more than satisfied. We were in paradise (hehe, get it? I got a paradise roll!)

Below: Pickled radish.

Below: Kimchi. A fermented spicy Korean dish that has cabbage, raddish, and green onion in it. It was amazing! I could taste the spice but the tangy sour balanced it out so it didn't burn my throat.

Below: Julienned potatoes in a mayo sauce.

These were the side dishes that went along with my mom's dish. ^^

Graceling and Fire

The first, Graceling, is an amazing book that takes you into a different realm, where the people of seven kingdoms are known to obtain a "grace",or special power. They have twp different eye colors, and are wanted by the king as tools to be used. It tells of a king's niece who is graced with fighting....but read the rest to find out what happens!

Fire, is with different characters (save one!). But instead of Gracelings, there are things called monsters....regular creatures with unnatural beauty that are vicious and can control minds. The protagonist, Fire, is the last human Monster.

MUST READS

Bridle Paths Summer Camp of 2010

I volunteered at this camp that my sister's friend's parents run every summer in Bronson. I admit that the camp wasn't THAT special. At points it was unorganized and I heard from returning campers that in previous years it was much, much better than it was this year.


But, alas, I did have a good time there! I got to volunteer for a week, while my sister was a counselor. (IS a counselor. She goes back tomorrow for another two weeks. I'm going to miss her!)

Anyways. The girls were awesome! I sort of floated between different cabins, talking to everyone. I was sort of a camper, but not really. And I had privelages of a counselor and helped the girls when they needed me. My favorite cabin was cabin one! And it was very cool how the horse stalls were attached to the cabins!


I rode many different horses. Baxter - Lazy, old horse. Kahlua -- A very pretty Buckskin that had a hard mouth, but besides that she was good.



Of course I rode my sisters horse, Red. She took him along for the camp as a lesson horse, and one girl was having trouble with him so I hopped on and straightened him out. And then got to do Cross Country with him!!


And one of my favorite horses ------

BANJO!


The first night we came a counselor named Courtney rode him, and he wasn't the best. All jittery and needed a REALLY light hand on the bit or he would continuously toss his head. The girl that was assigned to him was scared, really scared. And then two girls switched and they were fine, but he still had problems.

So. On the weekend was MY time to ride, and I decided to ride him cause we didn't want any of the campers taking chances on him during a trail ride. I almost rode bareback, but found a saddle. And we ran out of pads, so I used a blanket (See? Unprofessional!)


He had such a light mouth! Literally, if you would pull back he would throw his head in the air. It was ridiculous.

So, I experimented. Since I WAS in the western saddle, I wondered if he would neck rein....and the entire week of English riding wasn't meant for the little western horse ;) And I also figured that maybe if I leaned back while moving the reins back and not really putting too much pressure on the bit, he would respond. And the rest of the ride he barely ever tossed that head.



I didn't trot too much, because we were getting acquainted, and it was a little stormy. (He is such a spook, that in the middle of tacking up he startled over a Popsicle, and stumbled around with flared nostrils and white eyes for all of 5 minutes. It took a bit to calm him, and then I left the lead rope untied in case that happened again.) Plus I hate gaited horses, ugh! Just hate them. And he was part gaited. So it didn't feel too hot riding that trot and canter. (Yes, we did canter in a field for all of 10 seconds :) )


But he is a sweetie! And he has a licking problem!

Ahaha!

Anyways, I'll post all of the pictures I have in a later post! I already got carried away writing in this one....
Toot-A-Loo!!!

Moving Has finally Come!

Yes, we did it :) We moved; moved OUT of that house with the crazy landlord, and INTO a very nice and very old house where things that are broken get fixed. And fixed fast.

Everything is getting settled, and now all we have to do is hang things up on the walls.

The maintenance guy told us that the lady, Mrs. Roberts, who used to live here had died in the house. And this morning at four my mom woke up to a big crash, followed by pattering foot steps and someone closing the door. No one was up. When my dad checked there was nothing there.

And strange...the dogs never barked. Not once.

Hmmmm, this could mean something. And if it does, too bad. Cause I like the house :)

And look at the kitchen!!! I just love it!!!!

Food websites :)

http://foodgawker.com/

A website where people can post pictures of their food creations!! It's really awesome!

I fell in love with this picture. I'm such a sushi addict!

http://www.veggiebelly.com/
This website is also a good one, especially if you are strictly not eating meats. But I haven't explored it as much as the previous website, although it does look like a good one!

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner

http://www.breetanner.com/

You have to read this, if you liked Twilight.

Yes, I admit, I am a tad bit of a Twilight fan, but nothing over the top. The movies sort of ruined it for me, though. I read the book for the first time when it wasn't a big hit, about four to five years ago.

Anyways! I'm not done with this yet, but will be soon. And I admit, it's very well done :) Kudos Stephanie Meyer.

Babysitting

For the past two days I've been watching my niece for my sister, while she goes to job interviews and such.
The little gremlin and I went to the bookstore, and she had a blast hording around little books and stuffed animals.
Even as I type she's with me, on the bed, watching Wee Sing movies. We ate pasta and a banana and she did pee once, on the bed. (But I cleaned it up.)
Her only problem is she wants to stick EVERYTHING in her mouth. I almost died of fright when I saw her munching on something. I ran over and ripped it out, and when I proceeded to yell at her she only laughed.
She's too silly :)

Cheese!

Went to a cheesemaking class at the library and learned a lot of helpful things :)

I want to make some. I need to make some.

One more exam tomorrow, and then school is gone and the Summer is here.
Going to bed!
Toot-a-loo.

Cookies

Fiddled with cookies in Culinary...well, actually, I was working a different area in the kitchen and just so happened to wander by when the 'experiment' popped out of the oven. It's sugar cookie stuffed with this jam filling. And haha, doesn't the face look like either a Pug, or a Monkey?
Chef Morris thought I was insane.

Wants, needs, the general stuff in life.

I'm dieing for some sushi right now.

I'd like to have school end. Forever. Like oh no, it's vanished into oblivion.

And I want to start a journal for the bees, and the garden.
- To document everything that I've grown, all of the harvests, happenings, basic day to day
activities of the hives.

And I think any old journal would work, but it has to be pretty.

I want a picture printer, so I can print out the pictures I really love!

Or maybe I could just journal through blogging???
...
...
Eh, too much technology!!!!!
Good Lord.

Oh man, tonight I have like no homework. None, whatsoever. I feel free, totally in bliss right now!
Greek drama festival is over, just took my geometry test, and Biology isn't due for two days!
- GDF = Big Greek acting play production. Very serious. Very stressful, and very fun. I hope I make finals! But then again....even more work if I do, so hope I DON'T make finals.

Wild Rabbit

Stella got out, and now she doesn't want to go back in her cage. She's offically our wild rabbit, and even though she's skittish she sticks around our house. In fact, she's becoming way more friendlier now then when she was caged.

So yesterday she was on the porch and followed me all the way into the back, when I was checking out the bees. She hopped circles around me for minutes, and I'm not sure why she was doing it but it was a good laugh for me!

She even played, and cuddled, with Tiger. :) And all the cats, besides Sushi, were out with me, just chilling.

Good times, good times.

Harmony Garden

Is one of my favorite places to go.

I'm not sure, I THINK it's in gainseville, but then again, I am horrible with directions and I pay no attention to where we're at every time we go.

It's this old house they turned into a shop, and they have a ton of land. There's flowers EVERYWHERE. And citrus trees, and row upon rows of tomato and chili and basil.

They have metal racks for vining plants, and cool looking birdhouses that are made from the oddest materials, and honey and soaps that smell great.

Annnnnd, my favorite thing(Well, everything there is my FAVORITE.) is the glass mushroom statues. Cute cute cute!!!

Mother's day

I found out what I want to get my mom, for the big day.....but I'm scared she won't like it.

And can't say anything on here - There's possibly a chance she might read this.

And I need a ride to go get the goods.....fml. I GOT TO GET IT!!!!!!!!!! I wonder who would be willing to drive me....hm.

Fugees

I was in Culinary the other day, with Bernesia panning potatos.
Of course Chef Morris wanted more rosemarry on them.

Morris. "I want Rosemary! Where is my rosemary?! You're killing me, killing me slowly."

Bernesia. "Heeeey, I know that! From the Fugees, that'e my song, been stuck in my head all day. Killing me sloooowly. Aha."

Me. "What? Fugees....Never heard of them."

Bernesia. "Huh? How can you not hear of - what, man?"

So, I looked them up, google was handy.
And holy fudge this is my group.

The Fugees.
I heart them.
Favorite is probably Ready or Not, and Cowboy.

Beastly

Found about Beastly the book is turing into Beastly the movie. Trailor looks good, hope the movie turns out well :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Neo6W1f7hyY

Addie's first birthday!!!

Our little baby is growing up....and stuffing her face with mom's famous buttercream icing cupcakes - better even than the Savannah, Georgia cupcakes we buy when we visit the city.

A note on fanfiction

Basically....some stories on there, er, how do I put this nicely? Well, they just shouldn't be there. They ultimately, epically suck. suck butt. They're just plain horrible. Why can't people see that???



I have this labeled as great reads, but it's anything BUT a great read.

The author on fanfic. that I truly love, is
http://www.fanfiction.net/u/1059896/

Literally, the best stories I have ever read on there.

some eggs Benedict anyone??

So, CIA instructer came to EHS to do a demo for our class. He made a Hollandaise sauce, and showed us how to pouch eggs. And then we toasted some english muffins and opened up a back of really good ham slices....and asked for volunteers to make your own aggs benedict

So I raised my hand, even though I'm extremely shy.

And here's how it turned out

Bee Adventure

I went to see the bees with my mom today....so much activity!!! We painted two supers, orange and blue (But not for Gators) and took them out to put on the hives.

They needed the supers. Bad. One of the hives began building brood cells between the top super and the bottom box, so when we took off the super it split open the larva cells. In half, so we could see white glistening larva everywhere. Some were even half formed into adult bees. It was fascinating to witness, but also sad because we accidentally killed them.

My hive was queen less. We took a frame from the "larva" hive and gave mine some brood. I'm scared....but I think - and hope, and pray! - that they'll survive. We'll have to order a new queen for them.

So, besides that, everything was good. :) But they do have a case of mites....so we powdered sugared their little bee booties, and keep giving them treatment until they are good and healthy bees!

I love my bees.

One flew into mom's veil.....ahaha - BAD BEE.

Rock Star :)

I'm taking Guitar lessons!!!! Slowly working my way up to being quite excellant.

Madness

Adalae is a walking machine!!! She does it all by herself now, and giggles the entire time.

I love my little neice :)

Preparing the bedding............