In 60 Seconds or Less

Minus photos, still...but they're coming:

Linda--in love with the bees; ordered two more hives and bee packages (shipped from Georgia).  Most bees arrived dead, including one of the queens (and the other is iffy).  She's on her way back from having zipped up to Better Bee near Saratoga to pick up new queens.  Lesson learned--don't go with shipped bees.

Knitting--made a roll-brim hat!!!  Yep, me--I knit a hat, start to finish.  Okay, so I was ready to toss it out the window trying to finish off those final stitches with the circular needles, only to find out last night that I was supposed to use double-pointed needles for the final stitches.  Oh!  Is that what they were for???  Last night, officially started Linda's sweater (the sweater-knitting 4-part clinic) in a cozy Cascade 220 heathered burgundy; took it apart this afternoon when it got so twisted up I couldn't tell where I was at.  So far I'm liking knitting squares and rectangles better; circular needles are instruments of torture.  Gotta say this....Claudia of Country Wool is just fantastic.  I'm so far out of the league of the other students in the class, but she juggles assorted skill levels in a way that never leaves me feeling out of the loop or like I shouldn't be there.

Monday evening, for reasons we still don't understand, Zamboni died.  Zammy (aka Zammy Beans, Zambalya, ZeeBone, ZeeBee, Zamboni Macaroni) was a mushmelon of a cat, loving beyond all reason, affectionate and sweet-natured.  She never did learn exactly how to meow like a real cat, and from the very beginning, loved to be held like a baby.  Someone once commented that she had eyes more human than cat, and it's true.  She is deeply missed.  I realize, writing this, that I never paid homage to Cootie, who had to be put down not quite two months ago.  Age and assorted health issues had taken over Miss Coots, who had been blind since '06, and although her brave, sweet spirit was still fighting the good fight, her tiny body just didn't have anything left; we needed to let her go.  She too is missed terribly, and the house feels noticeably emptier with our two indoor (or mostly indoor in ZeeBee's case) cats gone. 

The end of May had me in a serious funk, and one of the things that came out of it was a renewed desire to finally get healthy.  Thanks to Weight Watchers, have lost 12 lbs so far.  It's a long, long road, but it feels like this is the right time.

That's the synopsis....photos to follow; wait till you see Linda's excellent, non-chemical solution to the Japanese beetle problem that ravages our grapes every year!  We're looking at the potential of several quarts of grapes this year and we weren't going to lose them to beetles...my beloved is one smart cookie!