Of Honey Bees, One More Cookie/Race and Patrol Dogs

The honey bees from across the road have wasted no time getting to work this year.  Within hours of their arrival, I saw the my first visitor from the hives.

Last night while admiring our big apple tree, which grows little apples, I stepped closer.

The buzzing of busy bees told me the apple tree was experiencing its spring prep for the fall fruits.

Stepping even closer, I could see the bees at work.  Flitting from blossom to blossom, they paid no attention to me and my camera and stayed on focus.

So, I focused in as closely as possible with my lens.

It was a mesmerizing camera experience for sure.

Looks like we'll have lots of apples from that tree.  Because of their small size, they'll be perfect for a few batches of apple jelly.  

Yesterday was filled with more garden work, some lawn mowing and a couple of hours set aside to watch The Preakness.  I always watch the Triple Crown races until the Kentucky Derby winner loses.

Haven't watched The Belmont for a while, but it looks like the race June 9 will be a "must see." 

These races are fun because of my kids----not so much because they LOVE Thoroughbred racing.  My daughter Annie was attending a Seattle Sounders match in Vancouver at race time.  

She told me that she and her friends were sitting in the third row, so if we watched, we'd probably see her.

I told her it would be channel surfing only cuz I was watching The Preakness.  

When I surfed during the first commercials, I discovered that the Seattle Mariners vs Colorado Rockies match-up was the featured event on Root.

I figured Willie was probably watching that game.

I also sent a note to Annie telling her we'd have to catch the Sounders match on a rerun, adding that the Kentucky Derby winner and his jockey had Vancouver roots. 

Ironically, Annie was in Vancouver two weeks ago for a Half-Marathon when I'll Have Another (named because when cookies were served his owner would always say, 'I'll have another') won the Kentucky Derby. 

The reason I think of my kids with the Triple Crown:  Willie was born in 1977 when Seattle Slew won the Triple Crown.  Annie was born in 1978, the last time any horse won the Triple Crown.  That was Affirmed.

Of course, with my quirky perspective, I was starting to see patterns unfold. 

The Preakness yesterday was an exciting race, and to see I'll Have Another win made those patterns unfold all the more.

I called Annie after the race and left a message on her voicemail:  You're going to have to go back to Vancouver the weekend of The Belmont so this horse can win the crown.

Exciting, indeed, and I know I'll be planted in front of a TV on that day.  

And, what's with patrol dogs, you may ask.  Well, Kea is our patrol dog.  They could use her down on the U.S. Mexican border cuz she sees that all entities stay on whatever side of the fence they belong.

Most of the time. 

She works hard at patroling her premises every single day.

This weekend I've been letting Foster off the leash more and more.  I figured with only three dogs to watch, I could keep close track of him, should he wander too close to any danger, i.e., in with the horses or out on the road.

In addition, I'm hoping he will figure out where his borders lie and learn to stay inside his fences.

This morning I let him loose in the woods.  Foster loves droppings of any kind, and when ya let a guy roam on his own in the forest, he'll sniff all those piles and grab a few bites of those deer marbles.

Foster and Kiwi were into sniffing and grabbing when I decided it was time to get him back on the leash or we were never going to finish our walk.

Just as I did so, I heard Kea barking in the far west section of woods.

I figured she'd come upon a deer.

A second or two later, the barking stopped.  

I saw Kea racing with the speed of light down the north trail leading to the house.

Something was sending Kea back to where she belonged.

A second or so later, I saw the "something."  A coyote was racing as fast as possible, trying to catch up with Kea.

That's when I decided to yell.  

"Git . . .git!"

The coyote slowed, looked at me and veered off to the hay field and was almost out of sight when Kea's courage returned.

She wheeled around and raced off across the field with her "GIT" bark in full volume.

I decided after that incident that maybe Foster will stay on the leash when we go for our walks in the woods.

He may be able to outrun a coyote, but should he not get out of the starting blocks in time, the little guy could end up being breakfast in short order.

I don't think Foster will ever be a match for an encounter with a coyote. 

The peace of the woods was definitely disrupted this morning.  This morning's incident marks the second time Kea has gone running AWAY from another creature inside her fenceline.

The last time a mother doe chased her.

And, with mother doe season coming shortly, we could be in for more excitement while walking in our little refuge.

In the meantime, I'll be a bit more selective about when Foster gets to run free.

Happy Sunday.