This site is about my life as a farmgirl, wife, mother and grandmother. We have a beautiful granddaughter and the cutest grandson. We own two farms in Craig County Virginia, leasing one and raising beef cattle on the other.
The honeybees
Like several farmers we’ve spoken to, our honeybees didn’t fair well this winter. We had eight hives and lost all but two.
Bee house and time to check the hives spring 2013.
One of the two hives is very active and the maple tree pollen is heavy this year. The other hive has never been real strong and swarms itself to death every spring. We are going to try a couple of changes this year, one of which, is bringing in a new queen.
The first hive is weak but alive and the third hive is strong and working hard.
Time will tell but we have to work fast since the orchards are full of apple buds and will blossom full in the next week to 10 days.
The bees are cleaning house much like I do in the spring. This is one the hives that didn’t make it during the winter.
Hubby has cleaned up all the hives that didn’t make it and have them ready to try to catch some swarms a little later. The hives that made it will now have two chambers for raising brood and when the right bloom pops out in the forest fresh supers will be placed on each hive for honey making.
We have so many honey customers that depend on us each year to provide the liquid gold that is a big commodity these days. I’ve been asked to place it in our local artisan center but it doesn’t last long enough to get it there. Now, we sit back and wait and pray that we will be blessed with lots of the sweet nectar.
2012 GoldBeautiful quart jars of honey and honeycomb straight from the hives.
I am a wife, mother, and grandmother that lives on a farm in Craig County, Virginia and I am retired. I love to cook, read, quilt, craft, garden, hunt and take long walks in the woods. I have one gorgeous teen granddaughter, a wonderful little grandson and two beautiful and caring children, boy & girl.
I've been married to my farmer husband for 46 years and he's the "love of my life"!!
I love doing things the "old" way such as canning, making maple syrup & cider, handcrafts and baking. I've taught myself to crochet, embroider, and quilt with help from my paternal grandmother. I could read until the cows come home.
We live off the products we raise and hunt for the most part. We run 75 head of cattle on our farm, 30 chickens, three rabbits and one dog. I help my husband with the cattle, feeding the livestock, hauling in firewood, fence repair, and general maintenance on the farm.
I was a stay-at-home mom to my children and then went to work when they finished high school. I was a cook at a School for At-Risk Teens and part-time substitute teacher. Then I started work at our local Farm Bureau and stayed there for 17 years. I worked at Virginia Tech for almost five years and decided to take early retirement in July of 2015. NOW, I'm a full-time farmwife and loving every minute of it!
I love to read fiction and the Bible. I'm currently hooked on quilting novels and Annie's Attic mysteries.
I started this blog in 2011 and have met so many interesting bloggers and have kept up with my friends through my blog.
I love to hunt with my bow and rifle and with a camera. We hunt to fill the freezer and cellar but would never kill anything for the fun of it.
I have friends and family all over the United States. Some of my ancestry last names are Bradley, Dickson, Hylton, and Rose.
I've lost both of my parents to brain cancer and miss them very much. I have one sister and four living brothers. I was raised in Paint Bank VA and moved to New Castle VA when I married. I went to school in Waiteville, WV, Gap Mills, WV and New Castle Va with a short semester of college at Virginia Western Community College in Roanoke VA.
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This is the blog for our little farm in Skagit county. Here we have Shetland sheep and Nigerian Dwarf goats. In addition we have donkeys, cattle, pigs, chickens, geese, and peafowl. The blog describes the weekly activities here.
countrygirl-lifeonthefarm 
Yes, the Artisan Center could use some!
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