5 Home Remedies for Honeybee Stings

Hey y'all!  Since Jesse and I became beekeepers, one of our most asked questions is, "Do you get stung a lot?".  Well, not really, but it is gonna happen every now and then.  So for those times of the occasional honeybee sting, here are 5 home remedies to help bring down the swelling and ease the pain a bit.  Always try to remove the stinger as soon as possible.  You can use your fingernail, a nail file, tweezers, etc. to scrape it off.  The sooner it is out the better to reduce the amount of venom being injected.

1. Ice
Place ice pack directly on the affected area.  This one is pretty obvious and does wonders to reduce the swelling.

2. Baking Soda
Shortly after getting married, I had my worst incident with being stung a whole bunch.  We tried lots of different methods and this one really did help ease the pain for me.  Directions: add just enough water to the baking soda to make a paste that is thin enough to spread on the sting, but not so thick as to be clumpy and just fall off.

3. Honey
Apply honey to the affected area, but of course only after you've left the beeyard or you'll pick up a bunch more bees. ;-)

4. Apple Cider Vinegar
This one stings a bit, but eases the pain after a just a second.

5. Mud
And lastly, rinsing the sting with cool water and applying mud or dirt mixed with water also soothes the pain and reduces the swelling.  Be sure to clean and wash it off when your done.

I hope this helps for anyone that is wanting to start beekeeping or

for anybody that gets around a grumpy hive of honeybees. :-)

Thanks for stopping by.

Spring Has Sprung on the Farm!

 Hey y'all!  We've been enjoying such a lovely couple of weeks of spring here on the farm!  Here are a few pictures as a sneak peak into what's been going on around here.

We built a new raised bed for mulch gardening this year!

 A homestead just wouldn't feel right without lovely roses to enjoy.

 Gavin helping us build our new entrance gate.

A post all about that will be up soon. :-)

 Some of the lovely herbs from the garden.

Oregano, spearmint, parsley, and basil.

Having fresh herbs to use is such a joy!

The blueberries and blackberries are almost ready.

I can already taste the delicious jellies and jams!

 We have had a huge abundance of strawberries this year.

Gavin has LOVED helping us pick them everyday.

 Our little hard worker coming in for a drink.

He like his mini mason jar glass.  He was actually a salt & pepper shaker,

but works great for a cute little toddler glass. :-)

The sunrises have been misty and beautiful every morning!

Have a very blessed day! :-)

What have y'all been up to lately?

Cheery Spring Dishcloth Easy Crochet Pattern For Begginers

This is a quick and easy little pattern for a dishcloth, made with cheerful, springtime colors, that I came up with last year and am making many more this year while experimenting with other colors as well.  I love this pattern because it is so fast to make and the tight stitches make it very functional for everyday use around the kitchen.  It is also a great pattern for beginning crocheters to make since it is so very easy and fast to complete. 

CHEERY SPRING DISHCLOTH

Made with cotton yarn

and a 1/9-5.50MM hook

Row 1: Ch 23, sc (working in back loops throughout entire pattern) in each st across, ch 1, turn

Rows 2-23: Repeat Row 1, 22 times (on last row do not turn): do not finish off.

EDGING

Rnd 1: Sc evenly around entire Dishcloth working 3 sc in each corner; join with slip st to first sc, finish off.

What have y'all been making lately?

DIY Fresh Fruit Popsicles / A Healthy Summer Snack For Toddlers (and adults!)

Hey y'all! I'm so excited about the recipe that I'm sharing today!  I am constantly on the lookout for quick, healthy toddler snacks and these are perfect.  These fresh fruit popsicles are great as an easy snack for little ones (or anybody) to cool off with on a hot summer day!

Gavin LOVES them and had so much fun helping us make them!

You'll only need two ingredients:

Fresh Fruit (whatever kind you've got)

&

Coconut Water

We used strawberries (we have a TON from our garden),

blueberries, grapes, and kiwi.

Cut up the fruit and fill the pospicle cups with them.

Next, pour in the coconut water.

Then just put them in the freezer until they're ready.

That's it!

Enjoy! :-)

One very happy little boy!

What are some of y'all's favorite summertime treats?

Do y'all have any healthy toddler snack ideas?

If so I'd LOVE to hear them!

So Much To Be Thankful For

Hey y'all!  Well, we're finally back to the blog!  Sorry for the unintended break we took from here.  We have been very busy over the past few months with building our house, growing our home-based businesses, and also growing personally as a family.

The Lord has truly blessed to us and we've got so much to be thankful for!  As humans, sometimes we can get caught up in the troubles and worries of life and forget to take a step back and look at the big picture, and notice all of the countless blessings and joys that are right in front of us to enjoy!  Jesse and I just celebrated our third wedding anniversary back in March.  It does not seem like we've already been married for three whole years!  So much has changed in three years and we as a family have come so far in our relationship with the Lord and with each other.  I can't wait to see what God has in store for the rest of our lives!

As far as progress around our homestead goes, we've been building more on our house (another blog post on that to come soon) and setting up more raised bed, mulch gardens which is exciting and they are very beautiful!  Also, being self-employed, one of our main concentrations lately has been on setting and accomplishing goals in all areas of our life and on the growth, focus, financial aspects, and productivity of our businesses.  We are so very excited about the Sawmill Shed/Office Building that is going up right now too!!! Yay!

Freshly cut lumber

Working in the office

"Brown paper packages tied up with string..."

Love getting to wrap and ship our

packages for Wright's Trading Post.

Making and decorating our products to be unique,

beautiful, and special for our customers is definitely one

of my favorite parts of the business!

Aaaaaand......I've saved the best news for last!  Our family is expecting it's

newest little baby Wright on September 15th! :-) <3

What are y'all thankful for right now?

Have y'all been setting and accomplishing any goals lately?

"O give thanks unto the Lord for he is good:

his mercy endureth for ever." Psalms 107:1