Beekeeping in Redwood City

This Saturday was so awesome. I have always been interested in beekeeping but have never known how to get into it. So when I saw a Living Social deal for a beekeeping class in the area, I was ecstatic.  Andrew has never been keen on the idea of beekeeping as a hobby, but since he goes through honey quicker than I believe any other human does, he thought it could actually turn into something worthwhile for him and agreed to accompany me. The deal promised it would be a hands-on experience with organic beekeeping (wearing a super cool bee suit) and we’d leave with the knowledge to assemble and populate our own hives to harvest honey.  

When we arrived at Red Rock Honey in Redwood City, CA, we were pretty surprised that the location was actually a residence and not a commercial facility. We went in the back yard where the family had many hives. We sat on the porch, away from the grassy area where the hives were housed, and learned from the master beekeeper. This guy was so knowledgeable and talked for hours. I would have never thought there could be so much to learn about the hobby. After our brains were packed full, we suited up and went to a hive. The beekeeper took apart a hive, showing us each frame. We even got to see the queen at work! Notice in the pictures that he didn’t wear gloves. He never does, but did get stung once and acted like it was nothing. It reminded me of a couple years back when I got stung while camping and my eyes welled up in tears because it was so painful. And the rest of the day I could feel the heat radiating from it. Perhaps I’m just a bit of a baby (ok, I know that’s part of it), but bee stings hurt and his reaction was as if a fly landed on him!

At the end of the day we did a honey tasting. This tasting was better than Napa! It was Heaven for a honey-lover. We tried their different varieties and also comb and whipped honey. Honey is supposed to be an amazing superfood- used to boost immunity, a natural remedy for stomach ailments, and even has anti-cancer properties. So, really, we were just honey sampling in the name of health!

After all this, I’m pretty set on the idea of not starting a hive. There is just too much to learn and even if you do everything correctly, you will not likely have honey production until year #3. There are also way too many diseases that can wipe out your whole colony and they can even destroy your equipment. Andy and I will just stick to buying our honey. It turns out it’s actually very cheap for the amount of work (and love!) that goes into it.

Bringing Home Hank (Last Weekend, Part 2)

After our Saturday afternoon nap, we got back in the car and went to the San Francisco Airport Cargo pickup to greet and take home our new dog! Here’s the story on our new addition: When I was in Florida visiting family last month, I got an email from my cousin, Kati, saying that she needed to find a new home for her dog, Hank. Kati has a toddler who had startled Hank when she stepped on him and he nipped at her. Kati and her husband decided it would be best to find Hank a new home in case it would happen again. I knew this had to be heartbreaking for her, as I’m positive she had an incredible love for him. We had often sent each other emails talking and asking questions about one another’s dogs. Both Hazel (our dog) and Hank (her dog) are miniature dachshunds so it was great to have each other to share our similar experiences.  

I spoke with Andrew and we decided to offer to take Hank, knowing we could provide a good home and believing it would be comforting to my cousin to be able to get updates on the little guy. So we offered and soon we were scheduling a flight from Indiana to California to show Hank his new home. 

Waiting at the Delta Cargo hold for Hank to arrive.

Seeing Hank for the 1st time.

 

Andrew excited to have another man in the house.

Last leg of the journey!

First, we had Hank visit the backyard. Then we let Hank explore downstairs before he settled into one of chairs and took a nap.

That evening we kept Hazel upstairs while we watched a movie with Hank downstairs. We wanted to keep them separated and have Hank get used to us before meeting Hazel. We thought the long flight, new parents, a new home, and a new sister would be way too much for him all in one day.

 After church and grocery shopping the next day, it was time to introduce the two dogs. We had read quite a bit about integrating dogs in the same home, and chose to have the two meet in the park by our house. We were sure that if we brought Hazel into “her space” she would get territorial and defensive. Andrew walked Hank to the park a few minutes before I left the house with Hazel. When I got to the park, I had Hazel walk alongside Hank. Andrew and I had prepared for them to at least have a little scuffle, but they pretty much minded their own business as they kept on walking! They stopped just a couple times to sniff each other, then carried on.

We walked back to the house where we stayed in the back yard for a bit (we thought getting closer to the house with Hank would make Hazel anxious, but no problem here, either). Then we all went in the house. And I’m so happy to say that there have only been a couple small tiffs between the two. We'll be back in the coming weeks with updates on how the family is adjusting with our new addition!

Big Sur Camping (Last Weekend, Part 1)

Last weekend was pretty busy so we're going to break it down into two parts. On Friday we drove down to Big Sur, one of our favorite places in this area. The views of the coast are just amazing. It was pretty foggy on Friday (late afternoon-ish) so we didn't bother stopping to take any pictures and instead drove straight to Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park. Andrew set up the tent while I sat out our camping chairs. The guy is a pro at it so I leave it to him because I usually just end up getting in the way. And he did really have it up in the time it took me to set out chairs and put on my tennis shoes. We threw our stuff in the tent and drove over to Pfeiffer Beach. We hadn't been before but had heard of its purple sand which gets its color from the surrounding rocks. On our visit we only saw a few patches of sand with a light purple hue. We later found out that the sand gets darker the further north on the beach you go, where the following photo from LA Times Travel was taken:

Image source here.

Our photos show a much more "normal" color sand:

We left before sunset and went back to the campground and biked for awhile. Then Andrew built a fire where we sat the rest of the evening.

  

We woke up early the next morning, tore down our site, and stopped to get pictures as we left beautiful Big Sur.

Ever seen the "Happy Cows Come from California" ads? I believe it!

Then we drove onto Castroville, where the 53rd annual Artichoke Festival was taking place. Last year we just happened to stumble upon the festival when we were visiting Santa Cruz/Monterey/Big Sur. You can read about that trip here.

 

We walked around and checked out the vendors, then hopped back in the car with our freshly fried donuts and kettle corn (how I love fair food!) and drove back to San Jose. We were back in time to take a quick nap to energize us for our next big adventure this weekend...stay tuned for Timko Weekend Part 2!

Yosemite

This past weekend we spent a gorgeous day at Yosemite National Park. We headed out really early on Saturday morning (about 4am). The drive only took 3 1/2 hours but since we would only be there for the day, we knew we had to take advantage of our time and make it there early.

We were completely taken aback by Yosemite's beauty. We spent the day biking Yosemite Valley and doing a couple short hikes. We stopped at lunchtime and had a picnic where two very daring squirrels tried to take our lunch. It was cool to see for myself all the mountains and waterfalls I have heard about: Bridalveil Fall, Yosemite Falls (which were at their peak flow this month!), Vernal Fall, Half Dome, and El Capitan. The weather couldn't have been any better. It was just a truly amazing, fun day. Here are the pictures because they can probably convey our trip better than my words can!:





Greetings from Florida!

A few days ago I got back from a visit to Panama City Beach and Destin, Florida. Being back in Florida reminded me of a lot of things I loved that I took for granted while we lived there:

-The beach. I really didn't think moving away from the gulf was going to be that big of a deal for me because I thought I'd be close enough to the ocean in San Jose. But we were lucky enough to see it daily while living in Florida and now it's about an hour and a half away. And the coast here couldn't be anymore different than from the Florida Panhandle. It was so nice to see that powdery white sand and turquoise blue water again.

-The food. I got my fill of oysters on the trip. I'm in love with the things. I don't care for the raw ones but I flip for them when they're baked or fried. I also had tuna dip, fish tacos, loads of shrimp, scallops, a grouper sandwich, hushpuppies, and Blue Bell ice cream. And now I'm struggling to button my shorts. Totally worth it!

-Family. It was so nice to have plenty of time with my parents. My mom and I did quite a bit of shopping and beaching. We would sit on their back porch most nights and talk. I had missed the comfort I feel being in their home, laughing and sharing stories.

-Friends. My friend, Jacqueline, and I spent some time in Destin at the beach, went for a couple dinners, and met our friend, Mary, for a lunch overlooking the water.

Meeting Mary for lunch.

Jacqueline's daughter. She loves the beach and has the cutest swim suits.

-Nature. I didn't realize how much the lack of nature in a big city affects me. There have been many times when Andy will ask what I want to do for the day and my response is something like, "I just want to go sit in a park on some grass with some trees around." I miss seeing green things. And animals.

My parents' backyard, where there are plenty of frogs, lizards, and even turtles.

The sound of chirping frogs that I love. This is actually pretty mild.

It sometimes gets so loud it's difficult to talk over them!

It was great to get my fill of these things before heading back to San Jose. Next time I'm hoping I can have Andrew and Hazel join me. Because even though it felt like I was back home with some of my favorite things in Florida, it just wasn't home without my most favorite person and pup!