Bee Plate Find

Sweet find at a local Goodwill store, this little bright blue plate with a bee on it.

Bee Plate Find

I was literally taking refuge in browsing when I came across this little find at one of our local thrift stores. 

The day had not gone as expected. I was trying to sort through the twists and turns without jumping to conclusions with only partial information and yet feeling like the developments were not headed in a good direction when I saw bright blue. 

As I approached the blue, I also spotted the little purple flower at the bottom, and then the hand-painted bee towards the top. The whole landscape appeared to be something a child would have drawn.

It's not easy to find bee items, let alone charming ones like this one. It was enough to distract me for the moment from the swirling information going around in my head; I concentrated on the plate and what drew me to it.  I liked the bright color, the whimsical bee, the simple flower. A friend who is also a beekeeper immediately came to mind and I wondered if she would like this for Christmas. Then I saw the motto at the top.

One of my favorite mantras is that life is all about choices; it's not so much what happens to us but what we do about it that counts. I had just reminded another friend of this recently; it was time I took my own advice. No, I thought, this is going home with me.  I had just the spot for the plate over the daily calendar in my kitchen, a good reminder to start my day not only being grateful but choosing to "bee happy."

Waiting in line to pay for the plate, I turned it over to see how much it would cost and literally laughed out loud.

The back of the plate was even better, it seemed to describe the kind of day I was having!

Glazed and confused. That was me that day but I was choosing to make it better. And how appropriate that I should find this reminder at the Goodwill.

Charlotte

Beekeeper Tree Topper

Charming flying angel chasing a bee is my Christmas tree topper this year.

Beekeeper Tree Topper

Ever since I can remember, our Christmas trees have had an angel as a tree topper. 

Our first ones were beautiful wax-faced angels my mother hand carried from her days living in Germany, followed by hand-carved ones from Brazil. Somewhere along the way, those angels made way for a handmade fabric angel a neighbor made my Mom. Then for many years, there was a lighted angel bright enough to substitute for an aviation homing beacon my kids liked a lot.

This year, as I was contemplating getting an angel for the first tree I was putting up for the first time in a number of years, an angel appeared all on her own. They have a tendency to do that, don't they. It was a little ornament an office colleague had given me years ago as part of an office Secret Santa gift exchange shortly after I started keeping bees.

She was such a favorite, I kept her hanging from a plant in my office all year. When I retired, I combined all of the ornaments and re-discovered her as I reopened the boxes. She's perfect, a little gardening angel in a wide brimmed hat chasing a wayward bee. That would be my kind of angel!

Charlotte

Handmade Lightbulb Bee Ornament

This old lightbulb was painted and recycled as a bee ornament gift.

Handmade Lightbulb Bee Ornament

A work colleague and beekeeping student gave me this handmade recycled lightbulb bee ornament last year. He said his wife made it and I thought it was so clever to recycle an old lightbulb yellow and black, then add pipe cleaners to the head for antenna.

The wings are wire, and the other charming feature is the wire stinger added to the back. 

Wire glued to the back gives this lightbulb bee a little stinger.

I think someone was paying attention in class!

Bees and beekeeping haven't made it into the marketplace as favorite Christmas tree ornaments yet so nice to have a handmade one as a gift from someone who also now has the beekeeping bug.

We warned you in class, beekeeping can be addictive!

Charlotte

Halloween Honeybee

My friend Mary Frances dog Freddie in his bee costume Halloween 2016. Bzzzz!

Halloween Honeybee

For the first time in years, I noticed there are a lot more bee Halloween costumes available. It's easy to assume a beekeeper already has a ready costume with his bee suit but finding a good bee costume can be a challenge.

Many costumes confuse honeybees with bumblebees and one I saw on the shelf called a wasp a bee. They are cousins but definitely different species.

So it was delight that I spotted this bee costume on my friend Mary France's dog Freddie. Freddie is cute as button as it is but this bee costume was just, well - wait for it - the bee's knees!

This costume would be easy to make if you could find the right fabric, maybe something in fleece. The head piece would be more of a challenge but let's face it, Freddie makes it worth it!

Charlotte