(I have it on Good Authority!) Now I know what all the squawking was about the night before last.
I tried to tell you. Says Tui.
Two tiny tiny kittens. As long as my thumb. I heard their mewling after the milking yesterday morning and look what I found tucked away behind a bale of straw.
I got in trouble for taking photos without Author’s permission. I hope they have their mothers eyes.
She is quite the sweetest little mother.
Coincidentally I took Scrapper to the vets for his wee op yesterday as well. Though that is a little like shutting the gate after the horse has bolted or whatever that expression is.
I called the bee man and he is sending me a new queen. By yesterday morning all the bees from the weaker hive had jumped ship and moved to the stronger hive. So I am to carefully take two full frames from that hive and move bees back to join their new queen. I am to lock down the entrances for a few days. Then he said to change the shape of that hive as bees do not recognise colours they recognise the shape of their home. So each hive should have a different kind of weight on the top. I shall give these guys a V shaped tower of little red bricks so there is no confusion. He said sometimes he pins a plastic triangle on the front or writes a big number, all these things help the bees to get used to their new home. Interesting isn’t it.
I also learnt from the bee man yesterday that dandelions are the best flower for the bees in the spring, as they produce both nectar and pollen and are the first to flower. Our humble dandelion which is prolific in the wild grasses out here is bee gold. So no more mowing the dandelion flowers – let them grow and flower in your lawns. You will be doing your early bees a great favour. Dandelion leaves make a good salad too you know, we had some with our greens last night. 
He has dispatched a new queen for me (he only had two left!) and she should arrive this morning. She will come with a few bee attendants. Once again she will have a stopper in the box made of candy that the other bees will nibble away at so that she is slowly released. By the time she is out she will be their queen.
My yellow magnolia has begin to bloom. Here is a close up!
I love this tree.
Good morning. I hope you are all well and busy. I do apologise for not being able to visit your sites as much as I would like at the moment. Spring is a busy time but soon we will calm down again before harvest time and I hope to zoom about a bit more then.
Oh and no roofers yesterday but they are hoping to come today. Of course we have bendy tree weather this morning so I am not sure if they will come today either. And the dry-waller got his weeks mixed up and will come next week I hope. Ah well. We will get there.
Today, after I have visited my old people with meat loaves and clean washing, I shall garden and make bread and do lots of ordinary things. Daisy is giving so much more milk now that she is on grass (a couple of hours in the morning and the same in the afternoon to avoid the bloat) so I am going to begin a few more Parmesan cheeses.
I can hear Author, that tiny mother cat who is no more than a kitten herself, calling to me from the steps, she wants her milk!
Have a lovely day.
your friend celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
71 responses to “New babies in the loft!”
New kitties are always fun. So glad you were able to get another queen. It’s definitely a busy time of year. We’re trying to finish up school for the year. We have about 3 weeks to go! The learning never stops though even after the bookwork is done. Love your magnolia tree. We need to go pick greens also. It’s going to be a good day for it. Have a great day, Celi!
I have always thought that farms were the perfect place to home school children, there is so much to learn besides the books, though when I was at school I LOVED the books, and school.. c
It must be wonderful to have creatures being born around you all the time. I know you deal with death too. But all these pregnancies and babies make one very happy. At least they do me. The green is gorgeous too…spring has sprung.
I was thinking this yesterday too charlotte, the green is heaving out now, we are quite busting out all over!! The changes are very fast in this side of the world because the season is so short i suppose… c
Never seen a yellow magnolia before and never knew dandelions were good for bees! Live and learn. Morning miss c!
Morning miss t, darling girl, this magnolia is called sunburst and I planted it right by the verandah so that I cannot possibly miss its display.. c
Congratulations…..new pussies., and oh how sweet they are. I have been following four new Burmese kittens on my web-cam and it has been so exciting watching them grow….
You do have fun with your Farmy….your energy must be inexhaustable…always on the go!
That is good that you have a new Queen …Long may she reign! I never knew that about Dandelions, no more cutting them down or pulling them up..now they are a protected species in my garden.
Have a lovely day and take care of yourself
Maybe you could put a sign on your lawn saying I am saving my dandelion flowers for the bees!
AWESOME – we have kittens – as you well know Celi, my FAVOURITE! Oh they are just adorable! Wish I could have more fur babies, but alas my hubby would not be thrilled – actually it is quite simply a big fat NO, when I even mention the idea. Then again, I don’t think my 3 would be thrilled to have any more siblings either.
Yay, I can clearly see Spring on the farmy!
Have a beautiful and happy day.
🙂 Mandy xo
I agree with you I should adore to have a kitten again, but since the loss of our last cat a few years ago my other half says adamantly NO MORE CATS. Luckily we are visited by a lot of neighbourly cats.
Oh no, how very sad you hubby has said no to more cats. Mine are my children and I hate the thought of being without them. How lovely though that you have neighbourly cats who come and visit you. 🙂 xo
Morning Mandy, Morning Viv, I was only out for a minute, and like the good friends you are .. you let yourselves in, put the kettle on and had a good natter!..Excellent c
Just the way it should be xo
I’m glad the bees went somewhere safe while they wait for a new queen. Hopefully the kittens will give Tui ideas of her own 😉
Hmm Dandelions I always think of them as white round fluffy things – is this the same plant just different stages or are SA plants something else I wonder? Sounds like you may have received an unmated/poorly mated queen the first time, hope second one fares better. That yellow Magnoiia is gorgeous and the kitties so sweet. Morning Miss C have a good week. Laura
The round white fluffy things are the seed heads – we call them dandelion clocks. Children blow at one and however many puffs it takes for all the seeds to disappear, that’s the time! The countryside and gardens are full of the golden flowers here as a result of that clever seed dispersal!
Thanks Viv 🙂 Seems to be my yellow flowers get mown like C said. Must change that next spring. Laura
Morning Laura, (Viv thank you for bringing in an extra cup, you are great, I have been busy this morning!) .. the queen died in the cold, still in her box, poor wee thing. But we have lovely warm weather on the way and her people will be much more organised and will keep her nice and protected this time.. fingers crossed.. c
I’m glad the bees have gone to stay with friends while the new queen is in transit. Hopefully he kittens will give Tui ideas of her own 🙂
Hmm, I am thinking that maybe the peahens are too young, it seems that all they are doing up there is getting fat.. In another few weeks Iet shall let Kupa back out, and the girls can follow when the gardens are a bit bigger, I am hoping that they will go back into their Penthouse to roost each night so i can lock them back up when the grapes are ripening! morning mad.. c
oh… arent they cute!! isnt tui also supposed to have small ones?
morning cat, how is the weather in israel? tui and pania were meant to lay this year but nothing so far!! c
I love the kittens!!! So sweet!!!
Morning beth ann, have a glorious day.. c
Thank you! Already got the walk in before the rain so now I can settle down to do the work at hand!
What a cool kitten surprise! I thought at first that the surprise in the loft was newly hatched peacocks!!! I can’t wait for that!! Did I tell you our broody hen has hatched 7 ducks and one guinea already? We put 6 chicken eggs under her and hope they hatch next! As to the wonderful coupe, building (as most other things) doesn’t happen as planned…..as I know you well know! xo
Your broody hen is a star hatcher, I want a pea hen like that, no luck so far though.. c
Good Morning,
Love the baby kittens, I miss having barn cats & kittens. Here we have just a gentle breeze this morning. Hope it doesn’t become the bendy tree kind later. Didn’t realize magnolias came in yellow too. There are lots of the pale pink and some deep pink ones around here. Yesterday’s wind was hard on the petals, but lovely to watch them floating around the trees. Bees are so very complex little creatures. I knew they really like to visit the dandelions but always kind of figured that that was their only option in early spring. Makes you wonder if some of the problems with bee die off is the urban lawn owners war on the lowly dandelion.
Evidently it is is all organised so that the spring wild flowers carry bee friendly food, amazing isn’t it, now I feel bad pulling dandelions out of my garden to feed to the chickens, but the wild grass pathways are full of flowering dandelions so I think there will be plenty! c
The dandelion/bee connection just got me to thinking that maybe the herbicide war on dandelions is effecting the bees. Here the bees can have at it with any dandelion in the yard. The dandelions in the garden however are toast. I’ll plant flowers for the bees to use later in the summer. As I went to the kids’ school yesterday I noticed that the grounds are covered in a carpet of dandelions, it is really pretty. Across the street the yards are 90% dandelion free, Except for the area along the sidewalk. School grounds are on the south side of the street, houses are on the north side of the street. South winds are prevalent this time of year. Makes me smile.
Smile from me too!! c
Thank you for a lovely cheery-uppy post today, Celie. I was feeling a bit down anyway and now I must go and do battle with the tax return. Good luck with the new queen and with hive-sculpture!
Vx
And thank you so much for joining into so many conversations, I love to see you popping in and out like a little bee yourself spreading information and smiles about.. c
Fascinating information about the bees.
I have never heard of kittens so small – unless you have gigantic hands which I suspect is not the case.
I don’t have gigantic hands, but the mother is only a kitten herself, thank goodness she only had two.. I am feeding her extra so they grow fast.. c
Ah, sweet baby kittens. I remember the thrill of searching for newborns in straw each spring.
Thank fully that is all though, i really don’t need too many more cats! c