Fall Waxing Blood Moon
After reviewing the stats for ancientrails, I learned something old. During the time when Rigel and her sidekick Vega staged their break-outs readership went up. My assumption is that conflict drove the rise. Can man outsmart dog?
Chapter 14 or so. Vega and Rigel have not escaped the yard since the electric fence went up with the one exception I 
mentioned where Rigel opened the truck gate. There is, though, a follow-on. While gnashing my teeth about the escapes and to allow Vega and Rigel some outside time, I reversed field and put them inside the fence we put up to keep them out of the orchard. Did you follow that?
This only lasted for a few days while Kate and I gathered our strength and solved the larger problem, then we let them back out into the larger backyard. Now, however, Rigel yearns for those days in the orchard. So what does she do? Yes. She climbs into the orchard. Do you hear those teeth again? Right now I don’t know how she does it.
On another front. The bees. Mark Nordeen graciously set me in bee-keeping this spring with the loan of a bee suit as well as hive boxes and supers (for the honey). He came over frequently at first, then gradually let me handle the bees on my own. We are, however, in the fall and I need to make the bees comfortable for winter.
Since bees are warm climate critters, not even native to our shores, winters alone can kill an entire hive. As you can imagine, our winter puts a good deal of stress on a hive. That stress plus some disease and pesticides contributes to Colony Collapse Disorder.
Elise, Kate’s colleague and Mark’s wife, got a new horse, an heirloom breed and a black mare. While putting the horse in a trainer (Elise rides dressage.), the horse kicked Elise on the chin, threw her fifteen feet and knocked her out. The kick separated skin from bone around and below her jawline. She’s better, but still suffering head-aches and neck pain. As you might imagine.
Anyhow that means the bees and I are on our own on this getting ready for winter deal. A learning experience for me.
