Daily Archives: April 21, 2012

Cinema and Television

Ten Canoes

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Spring                                                    New Beltane Moon

A cold, wet day.  Perfect for watching a movie.  So, I warmed up some brie, cut off a cluster of grapes and got an italian flat bread, gathered the remotes, inserted a dvd and sat back for an hour plus.

The movie:  Ten Canoes.  Fascinating.  Important.  Cross cultural.  A real voice, an authentic voice, one you have not heard.  Unless you’ve seen this movie.

A movie told by an aborigine story teller about a mythic time, not dream time, but a time when the ancestors still followed the law, the same law.  In the special features the aboriginal co-director, Peter Djigirr, said they made this movie to show the white man (balanda) that they had laws.  Otherwise, the white man comes more and more, lifting up their laws and the aborigine looks as if they have no culture.

Bees

Bee Diary: 2012

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Spring                                             New Beltane Moon

One of the new colonies is queenright for sure.  I saw the white, curled up worker bee larvae resting in their cellular incubators.  The other colony, I’m not sure.  It looked like there were some very early larvae on one frame, but that could have been my hopeful squinting, too.  I’ll have to check it again on Monday or Tuesday.

I did drop one frame, loaded with bees, during this hive inspection.  They spilled out onto the ground and an angry buzzing commenced as they tried to figure out what happened to their warm, comfortable work space.  Oops.  Haven’t made that particular mistake before.

There was plenty of smoke though and these bees seem, like last years, docile, not overly aggressive.  I’m glad, because I prefer using only the veil and regular garden gloves.  That way I don’t get overheated and my hands are easier to use.

 

Dogs, Family

Dogs and Granddaughters

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Spring                                                         New Beltane Moon

Homes have needs.  This one needs Kate to feel full and she’s gone.  I’m lucky I have the dogs or I would feel lonely.

The dogs get up very early, thanks to Gertie, usually around 5:00-5:30 am.  Kate, with her residency experience of sudden waking, working and going back to sleep handles this if only because I sleep through it.  She gets up, feeds the dogs and comes back to sleep.  Most mornings all four dogs come inside after their meal and then wait quietly until we get up.

This morning Vega and Rigel, our two coon hound/Irish wolfhound dogs, decided, as they occasionally do, to stay outside.  Vega will bark, sometimes 30 minutes later, to come back inside and Kate will get up and let her in.  Well, I slept through it this morning, letting her back in.

When I finally got up, I let Vega and Rigel inside and Vega was so happy she came in, spun around, jumped up on the window seat (her place), back down and spun around again.

Talked to Kate last night and apparently Ruthie, 6 year old granddaughter, really liked her rhinestone studded belt I picked out for her at the Stock Show this January.  “Are those real diamonds?” she asked.  She has the hat, the vest and now needs only the boots to be a real Jewish cowgirl.