The swarm....

So C was coming home from surfing on Saturday and notices a swarm of thousands of bees around the tree in our front yard. It is possible that they are Africanized bee's (Killer Bee's) but not super likely. I found this info on Wikepedia:

When honey bees swarm from the hive they do not fly far at first. They may gather in a tree or on a branch only a few meters from the hive. There, they cluster about the queen and send scout bees out to find a final location. The swarm may fly for a kilometer or more to the scouted out location.

Swarming creates a vulnerable time in the life of honey bees. Cast swarms are provisioned only with the nectar or honey they carry in their stomachs. A swarm will starve if it does not quickly find a home and more nectar stores . This happens most often with early swarms that are cast on a warm day that is followed by cold or rainy weather in spring. The remnant colony after having cast one or more swarms is usually well provisioned with food, but the new queen can be lost or eaten by predators during her mating flight, or poor weather can prevent her mating flight. In this case the hive has no further young brood to raise additional queens, and it will not survive.

We are going to give them another day or two to move on before requesting that the HOA gardener "take care of" the honey bees that have gathered in our tree. Bee's provide such a valuable service, I hate to kill them but NIMBY--not in my back yard, or front yard as it were.

Nursery...almost completed!!

C finished painting the nursery --he made the stencil and painted the waves around the room. Isn't he wonderful? All we have to do is put up the curtains my mom made for us and a few wall hangings and we are done! I'm still feeling pretty good, although I have my glucose test tomorrow...Fingers crossed I pass. C and I are still swimming together a few times/week. Went to dinner with some friends here on St. Patty's day and had a fantastic time. We can't WAIT to welcome baby Aria!

C turns 36 on Monday!!

I got him a PS III. It doesn't just play games, it also plays DVD's in high-def. Pretty exciting. He also received PJ's (work attire=) from his Dad, shirts from his mom, Longboard magazine from my sister C and BIL D, Claim Jumper gift card (Cheesecake Factory-like local chain) from my sister S and BIL H, a PSIII game "Resistance" from my sister J and her partner Dugart N--they know how he loves those first person shooter games, last but not least a mug warmer and glass cooler for his "office" from my mom.

Recipe

My friend Christine is a great cook and caterer. She has been encouraging me to eat some of the mega foods: salmon, blueberries, spinach etc. The latter two I like but the former, ugh! That is until she gave me her marinade recipe: Cube ~16 oz of wild salmon, combine 2 tablespoons of the following: olive oil, sesame seed oil, soy sauce, honey, brown sugar. Add some garlic and sesame seeds and broil for ~6-8 min/side. I have it with some water chestnuts and it is FANTASTIC!!

Introducing Aria at 24w4d

Here she is! There are two pictures of her face in profile with her little fist close to it and a picture of her femur (thigh bone). Why post a femur picture? If you look closely at the bottom of the femur picture it says 27w3d -- her femur is measuring 3 weeks ahead! Doc says she is going to be a long tall baby!!

Woe is me....

C bought a deep fryer yesterday --wth? I came home from work and he had the deep fryer, powdered sugar and "refrigerator" biscuits--you know, the "Hungry Man" exploding can kind. Apparently when he was growing up his dad used to make donuts for the family using the deep fryer, those biscuits and powdered sugar. C made them last night and they were---amazing! Better than Krispy Kreme glazed!! No kidding. I was shocked! Tonight he's making fried chicken. I was only up a pound a week for the last 3 weeks, thanks in large part to swimming, but now all bets are off.

Speaking of swimming--I've never enjoyed it more! I'm only doing 800-1000 yards in about 30 min but it feels glorious! C and I go up to the local outdoor community pool about a mile away (heated to about 86 degrees) and split a lane.

Thank you, thank you, thank you !!!

It was WONDERFUL to see everyone at the shower on Sat!!! I had so much fun catching up with everyone and opening the cutest baby gifts ever. Watch future posts for pictures. Special shout out to Mom, sisters C and S for putting it on and providing such terrific food! My friend A who went to boarding school in the UK tells me it was the best tea she's had in ages! Loved to see everyone. Miss you guys everyday.