Lazy W Marie

Carpeing all the diems in semi-rural Oklahoma...xoxo

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Archives for September 19, 2014

a series of events

Happy Friday!
For Friday Five at the Farm this week,
A story in five parts.

1. I planned to run early this morning in the cooler temperatures, but we woke up to the most glorious sea of dense gray fog all over the farm. It was thick and cottony, wet on our skin. And visibility was maybe twenty feet, so I didn’t want to navigate the rocks and sandy back hills almost blind.

2. Instead of running early I spent some extra time with Chanta. While he munched sweet grain in the barn, I brushed him and untangled his mane. I stroked his legs and brushed him some more. We sang Beatles’ songs to each other and prayed for my girls together. By the end of his bowl of grain he was nearly asleep and I was sweaty and covered in his loose silvery blonde and golden brown hairs.

3. I did some other animal chores and planted a few more small plants then watered everything deeply, taking the opportunity to rinse off some of that horse hair. The herb garden is looking pretty good. It gradually changes shape and color toward the end of summer, and the newness seduces me. As I watered plants there, the sun rose to about halfway past dawn and started to scrub out the fog. So gorgeous. Handsome was home working on his ’68 Camaro which he recently painted satin black. Quite a sight.

4. So then I went for that run I was craving. I was already wearing my trusty running shoes, although they were soaking wet now and covered with not just horse hair but also chicken poop and hay. I found a water bottle, iPod, and earbuds and walked to the back field to start finding my rhythm.

5. At mile 3 1/2 I saw Geoffrey (our playful gray and white barn cat) stalking something in a big burn pile behind the pond. He’d followed me out there but is so easily distracted. His twitching tail had caught the attention of Meh, the baby llama, who was sneaking up on Geoffrey while he sneaked up in whatever was hiding in the burn pile. I laughed, finished my miles, and walked uphill in my squishy, filthy Brooks running shoes to eat breakfast.

The End.
Happy Friday!!

the following photo is unrelated to the story but you might like it anyway…

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all abuzz at the oklahoma state fair

Yesterday I volunteered at the Great State Fair of Oklahoma, helping to man the beekeepers’ table as part of Ag-Tropolis. I am part of a wonderful statewide community of beekeepers, and part of the reason we are at the fair every year is to educate the public and hopefully influence more people to consider raising their own honeymakers. Just like before, I had the best time. The hours flew past and I made tons of happy memories.

To start the day, I arrived at the fairgrounds an hour early and thoroughly enjoyed walking around the clean paved streets, smelling the yummy foods cooking (but not the trash that would accumulate later in the day), gazing at the colorful signs and banners. I had so much fun recalling childhood memories of the Space Needle and Cottonwood Trading Post and so many other wonderful things. Remember when the monorail was still open?

 

Oklahoma State Fair 100 Years
A Centennial of Memories

 

 

OK state fair space needle
funnel cakes, colorful flags, and the Space Needle

 

Dan's famous Indian Tacos
I resisted the lure of fair food, but homemade Indian Tacos might have to make an appearance at the farm soon. Because YUM.

 

And like so many public spaces in Oklahoma City, the fairgrounds boasts really nice gardens. Simple, native, well kept, and lush. They might be easy to overlook if your garden philosophy is that everything has to be roses, shapely boxwood, and fancy details. But if your soul sings with wild color and free-form shrubs, then a bright, cool morning with time to stroll would be well spent at the state fairgrounds.

 

vitex and lantana bee garden oklahoma
I found this pretty little garden overflowing with vitex and lanatana, two beautiful and bee-friendly plants, both native to Oklahoma.

 

Once inside the expo building where Ag-Tropolis was located, I felt totally at home for more modern reasons. The sights, smells, and sounds of a barnyard were all around me, just like here at the farm. They had amassed chickens, goats, donkeys, and yes… even llamas. Since I’d seen horses and bison outside, the only Lazy W animal missing was a macaw.

 

oklahoma state fair butterfly house
Look at all these butterfly silhouettes! Absolutely magical. The netted room within the big expo hall mesmerized me all day.

 

oklahoma master gardeners at the state fair
These lovely ladies were working the booth next to ours, as Oklahoma Master Gardeners. They are also friends with my teaching mentor, Schroeder Wilson. I was so happy to meet them!

 

It is no secret how interrelated gardening is with beekeeping. The two arts do more than overlap; they compliment each other beautifully. Necessarily, even. So how perfect that the beekeeping booth was adjacent to the Master Gardeners’ booth. I introduced myself to the gardeners there as a current student and enjoyed all the congratulations and encouragements you would expect from passionate, happy birds of a feather.

 

bee friendly flowers
Our beekeepers’ booth had this display showing some examples of flowers useful to bees and not.

 

zinnias for honey and zinnas for butterflies
Although these are both zinnias, can you see the difference in the accessibility of the pollen? The flatter, more open one is more useful to honeybees, and the fuller, double bloom is more useful for butterflies.

 

As always, a day at the beekeepers’ booth afforded me the chance to meet so many interesting people! Of course there are the fellow apiarists. So smart, so friendly, and so open to discussing methods, histories, gardens, you name it. I love listening to how other beekeepers answer questions, too. Early Wednesday morning a gentleman asked Rick (pictured below in yellow) about getting stung, does it ever happen? Rick’s answer was priceless, “Yes. Plumbers get wet and beekeepers get stung.” Ha!! I laughed so hard. My sudden, ungraceful laughter echoed in the huge concrete room and then a donkey brayed back at me and I was embarrassed and pretended to be reading something important but my magazine was upside down.

Dang it.

This kind of thing happens to me a lot.

 

Rick Schantz Kenuc Honey Company Oklahoma
The Schantzes own and operate Kenuc Honey Company right here in central Oklahoma. They are such a warm and friendly couple, fun to hang around with, and so smart. Their adult daughter is building her apiary skills and aiming to become the state’s first female commercial honey producer.

 

manual crank honey extrator oklahoma state fair
The gentleman on the far left is a local beekeeper focused on honey production for his home brewing of mead. He was generous all day with his knowledge of honey extraction and drew a crowd over and over again.

 

oklahoma raw local honey Kenuc
Speaking of drawing crowds, the Schantzes sold jars of their raw local honey hand over fist. Isn’t it beautiful?

 

As for my contribution to the cause, even with Papa Joe’s journals to read, my apiarist knowledge base is elementary at best. But I do possess a deep well of appreciation for the craft. So I spent the day inviting people to share their stories of having grown up with bees, of having wild bees on their property now , of wanting to raise bees for their gardens, and much more. I love that so much! Talking to bee-inclined adults (especially my elders) is half of the thrill for me. The other half of my fun is talking to the kids who run up to see the cool gadgets like bellow smokers and hive tools and veils. They often start off proclaiming a hatred for bees, a fear of bees, or just the opinion that bugs in general are icky. (I think that last part is because we are the very next booth after the tables and Plexiglas boxes full of scorpions, tarantulas, etcetera.)

But with one or two encouraging sentences, young people can be persuaded to reconsider the gentle honeybee. And if you are a little girl and you want to try on my pink bee suit… then your future is sealed. You are going to want to become a beekeeper now.

Or maybe an astronaut.

Or a Power Ranger.

 

little girl beekeeper
This sweet little girl told me her aunt works on a bee farm in Mexico. She intends to visit her soon and was really excited to wear my suit, even though it was a million sizes too big! I wanted to gently squish her in my arms with hugs and kiss her pretty face. So cute.

 

We met the sweetest young couple during an extractor demonstration. They were just married and spending their honeymoon weeks on a cross-country road trip. They seemed genuinely interested in starting their own apiary, and the Mrs. kind of joked that it is on their five-year plan.

Can I just take a moment to say how much I love it when young couples make five-year plans? I’m not teasing you exactly, although it does blush of naiveté; I mostly mean to celebrate your ambition and positive outlook. May the Universe work on your behalf, in the most wonderful ways.

 

Congratulations to this gorgeous young newlywed couple! Oklahoma wishes you many decades of happiness and adventure. And may your future hives overflow with honey. xoxo
Congratulations to this gorgeous young newlywed couple! Oklahoma wishes you many decades of happiness and adventure. And may your future hives overflow with honey. xoxo

 

What a packed, informative, motivating, and happy day at the fair! I stayed a bit longer than I had planned and would have stayed even longer still if we didn’t have a lovely night at the farm to enjoy. Chores, dinner, loved ones, and quiet time with Handsome all waited for me.

Have you been to the Oklahoma State Fair yet this year? What is your favorite building to visit? What is your craziest food indulgence? Did any vendors (like me) tempt you into a new hobby?

A man only learns in two ways.
One by reading and the other
by association with smarter people.
~Will Rogers
XOXOXOXO