Our Hearts are A Blaze

With Us

May 10th of 2010 -- September 27th of 2010

With his crooked smile and his huge heart, Blaze quickly warmed even the most skeptical of hearts. He had a personality, along with plenty of quirks, that made him instantly lovable. With Blaze's not so pleasant past involving being abandoned twice, and having the scars to show it, he should have been completely apprehensive of people. However, Blaze was just the opposite and was completely trusting and eager to please. He even humored us by nearly learning how to use the toilet instead of his litter box.

He also loved to be where we were at, especially if we just sat outside while he ran around the yard. He especially hated it when we had to go to work. His ideal life would have been if we just all stayed home all day, every day, took cat naps often, and left the door open so we could come and go as we pleased.

If we hosted dinner and ate at the dining

room table, and stayed there for conversation, he would wait patiently under my chair or beside the table hoping that everyone would relocate to the living room so that he could curl up on our laps.

He was forever envious of the computer. And would do his best to remove it from our laps, so that he could have the prized position to himself, and when he couldn't have our lap, he would hang out on the computer, often doing things to the keyboard that we didn't know how to do, yet alone undo.

He was also the best snuggler, and he loved to join us in bed -- unless there was a mouse on the loose upstairs -- and would purr and 'knead' at my old bathrobe (his favorite blanket) and sleep contently with us until we got up in the morning. He tried hard to not be the last one out of bed, as that would be lazy!

Blaze is buried by our house, in a sunny spot, near the end of the bench... so even in passing he'll remain close to where the parties are--among all the people--which is where he wanted and liked to be.

We continue to miss Blaze: His little pouch wagging as he ran up the walk, the way he wanted to lead the way and show us how to do things--like open the door, how he couldn't wait to get on our laps or to sleep on the bed, or to just play. He was a very special cat, and we will always love him. ♥

to bigger and better adventures Blaze

Hello! I am Mason!

Why I Want Mason Bees

It seems like a title of a grammar school essay.

Bees have become one of my latest interests. Bees are relatively cheap and easy to deal with. Especially Mason bees as they don't make honey or beeswax so they don't have any of the upkeep that honey bees require. However, they are great pollinators and will be incredibly helpful with our future of fruit trees, flowers, and fruits and vegetables.

To quote Wikipedia:

Mason bees are increasingly cultivated to improve pollination for early spring fruit flowers. They are used sometimes as an alternative, but more often as an augmentation for European honey bees.

Unlike honey bees (Apis), they are solitary; every female is fertile and makes her own nest, and there are no worker bees for these species. Solitary bees produce neither honey nor beeswax. They are immune from acarine and Varroa mites.

Most mason bees live in holes and can be attracted by drilling short holes in a block of wood. They are excellent spring season pollinators and, since they have no honey to defend, will only sting if squeezed or stepped on. As such, they make excellent garden "pets", since they both pollinate the plants and are safe for children and pets.

And look at their pretty houses:

This one can be purchased here.

Meanwhile, ETSY has several as well. Including some gorgeous ones that are made in the UK. I am still trying to convince them that it would be worthwhile to send me one here in the states. It may be a long shot... but a girl can dream right?

However, if you are in the mood for a DIY project... which can I say could turn in to an amazing Christmas/Holiday present.

All you need is a piece of lumber and a drill with a bit. I have it on good authority that you use a 5/16 inch bit and enough wood to do a 3" deep hole. You don't want it going all the way through. They aren't as pretty, but they are just as welcoming to the Mason Bees as the beautiful ones.

Stay tuned as I build my own Mason Bee hives. I will post pictures of the process as soon as I find some old lumber... or maybe some of the huge firewood pieces we got from Brian's parents!

Don't Make Major Changes the First Year

In August of 2009, 1 week before Brian and I got married, we became homeowners. In the whirlwind of festivities surrounding the wedding, the hugeness of our purchase didn't fully sink in.

Of course, with a house comes grandiose ideas of what you can do with it, and while I am sure Brian had some of his own... here are a few of mine:

• Make the house as green as possible.
• Redo the yard (or shall we say ornamental grass root ball) into a productive vegetable garden.
• Replace appliances with energy and water saving models.
• Make the 'loft' into a library.

I also have some nice structural plans for in the future, but to prevent you from thinking I am way over the top, I'll save those for another day BECAUSE we were told by everyone: family, friends, co-workers, and even our realtor said,

Do not make any major changes until you have lived there a year.

So we didn't. Ok... we kinda did.

• Make the house as green as possible.

1. I make all of our cleaning products now, with the exception of a few I buy from the Earth Friendly Products company--one of the leaders in Green Cleaning. I will post my recipes in a later post, as I have gotten requests from several people.
2. We do our best to not buy things that are single use plastic, or plastic at all if we can help it.
3. We compost!
4. We don't use paper towels any longer!

I realize that we still have much to do on this front. Some things that spring to mind:

1. Clothesline
2. Solar Panels
3. Rain barrels/grey water system

• Redo the yard (or shall we say ornamental grass root ball) into a productive vegetable garden.

What a project. My mom and dad came and helped remove the overgrown yard over Easter Weekend while Brian was at work. We raked, shoveled, and then tilled the land. We successfully grew 180 onions, 1 pepper plant (the peppers weren't happy with the tomatoes that grew un-trestled over where they were planted). Our 4 tomato plants grew amazingly and the bounty has been overwhelming. The vines are red with fruit.

In the picture to the left, you can see a tomato plant and peppers sticking up through the black plastic. We used plastic to aid in mulching the soil with compost, and also to keep weeds from springing up uninvited. Weeds will be a long battle that we will face.

We have lots more up our sleeves for our yard this year... including beans, garlic, fruit trees! Stay tuned! We are also working on raising bees and chickens (not together!)

• Replace appliances with energy and water saving models.

We got new toilets. Lovely Dual Flush TOTOs. They are an amazing difference from the f-ugly one piece toilets that ran and rocked. But we have much to do in this department, including replacing a washing machine that doesn't clean so well, and a refrigerator that is possessed by something.

• Make the 'loft' into a library.

My dad built us a beautiful built in bookcase. Pictured to the right. It is the main piece for our library. Now for redoing the floor and adding seating and a desk.

So. Now that the year is up. We can start making major changes.

So with tools in hand, follow us in our life on top of (and sometimes in the midst of) the fog.