It looks like we lost a hive to the cold

Or at the very least a lot of bees from one hive. The night they were installed it got very cold..

and I suppose they did not get huddled together close enough in time.  The other hive seems fine though, noisy and active. In fact late yesterday afternoon there seemed to be activity in both hives so we will see what the bees are up to. My greatest fear is losing a queen before she has set up house, so once I get a really nice warm day I am going to have to have a proper look.

If they kept the queen alive  they may struggle through. But it was cold again last night. In fact for a few more days it will not be very warm. To be this cold in late April was not planned for.

Daisy on the other hand is a very happy cow out on the grass. There is not a lot of grass yet, but only a couple of bales of hay left. So I have no real choice about letting her out for a few hours in the day. We have had a rocky start to the season and still it is blowing cold and the grass is very slow to appear.  But I am confident that we will muddle through. 

The weather does not bother the dogs though. Blue the Mouth (who was being called mouse for a few days due to his mouse-hole bed but he really does have a mouth like a very stern wide mouthed frog) and TonTon are the best of chums and do not mind the chilly winds at all.

The lambs escaped from the big field and wandered into the potato paddock, so being the opportunist farmer that I am I hobbled over and shut the gate on them. They are now officially weaned. Mama had such a time with her udder last year that I had planned to take them from her a bit earlier anyway.

And look what we had for dinner, on the grill. The sun came out and the winds died down and we sat outside to eat fresh asparagus. Bliss.

The asparagus is sparse but lets hope there are more on the way and they did not succumb to the drought last summer. Tasty wee morsels.

I foolishly got the kittens names mixed up yesterday. This is LuLu who really is a LouLou and it is Author who is looking so chubby.  That pain in my back was creating a muddle in my mind. LouLou is a very aloof cat whereas Author is quite the cuddler.

Good morning. My stupid back is improving rapidly. I wore a heated patch thingy all day yesterday (thank you for the advice) and have another one on now and they are doing the trick marvellously. I took some pain relief to stop me tensing up and as you can see we stayed on the move. Sitting is too uncomfortable anyway. So I think my recalcitrant back is on the mend. Which is just as well as  Our John is back to work today, being Monday, so I must be the brains AND the brawn today.  I will just go slow.

The day is dawning clear  and calm so far, so we will be getting some sun too which will be marvellous.

You all have a lovely day.

love from your straightening up friend, celi