Spring is early

The trees are starting to bud and its in the high teens so yesterday I decided to go check on my bee hives. Out of four colonies two succumbed to varroa mite infestations over the winter. I will have to be a bit more aggressive this year in trying to get rid of the mites. It was sad to open the hives and see the little clusters dead on the frames. Both of the dead hives had probably half their honey left so I ledt that out for the other hives to rob. Hopefully that will give them a boost this year and if I'm lucky maybe I can catch them before they swarm and divide the hives.

I'm also trying to buy a few starter colonies, called nucs, but I am waiting to get my registration number. Like everything in a nanny state the government needs to look over my shoulder until I incorporate and get big enough to make my own rules.

A sad goodbye

After nearly 20 years of faithful service my toaster oven has given up the ghost. This toaster oven heated a lot of meals for me ever since my university days. Even after I opened my eyes to the fact that bread is poor people food, not something one should not eat excepting starvation conditions the oven has broiled wieners, reheated spring rolls and cooked many a small meal.

It was an excellent gift bro and one that shall be missed. One last little look:

Two wrongs can make a right

I'm doing a Woodworking 101 course this winter to learn about joinery. In the past I've tried a couple of times to make frames for pictures but usually it hasn't worked and now I know why. Making a frame is not so simple as cutting some wood and glueing the corners. The glue won't hold on end grain so you need to insert a biscuit into the joint for the glue to hold. It's not that complicated so it's what I'll be doing in the future.

I do have one frame that is an exception. Despite not knowing or following the rules it has held up. I think it's because the frame is MDF moulding glued together with a particle board backing. These cheap materials doing have any grain, end or otherwise to pull apart with changes in humidity or temperature.

It's one of those rare instances where two wrongs have made a right. Wrong material plus wrong method but it has gotten the job done. Here's a picture:






















(the art in the middle is not my creation)