The Orchard

Over the winter, I had some bad luck with the fruit trees I planted last fall.  It seems that rabbits really like the tender sweet bark of young fruit trees.  In their search for food in the snow, they chewed the trunks of my new trees.  I noticed this earlier in the winter and bought some "trunk guards" from home depot.  They were about 8 inches long, and I doubled them up on each tree for about 16 inches of protection.  That sounded pretty good until it snowed... a lot.   With the snow so high, the rabbits used the trunk guards to rest their paws on while they gnawed all the bark off the trees!  I now see why people shoot rabbits.  I can relate to Elmer Fudd.

Anyway, I'll wait for a few weeks to see if the trees survived.  I figure if they bud in a week or two, they might survive.  If they dont, I'll plant some new ones.  I think the honeycrisp apple will be fine.  The macintosh is probably gone.  The bartlett and comice pear are on the fence.

I stopped into Jungs on the way home yesterday to see how much a replacement tree might cost.  Their bareroot section opened up on Friday.  As I walked in, there on the right was the sweet cherry tree variety I couldnt find last year!  Needless to say, I left with two cherry trees (one black gold, one white gold).  They were developed at Cornell University, so my hope is they will winter better than most sweet cherry types.  Trees have it a lot harder than I thought, frigid cold and rabbits.  Who knew?!  I also talked with a gentleman there about rabbits and I think I have a plan for next winter.  The orchard is currently 6 (possibly alive) trees.  I doubt any of them will fruit this year, but the wild plum trees should make up for it.  We should have a bumpercrop of plums!

T-Minus 1 Month

So I'm about 1 month away from my bees arriving.  Things are coming together.  My dad glued back together my "bee feeder", which is nothing more than a wooden slat with a circle cut out of it the size of a mason jar lid.  Its good to go now.  I still need to paint the hive.  I've got some white primer paint and then Emma wants to paint a bee on the roof.  I think I'll let her!  After that, its just waiting.  Oh, and I need to get bee veils for those of you who want to get closer to the hive.  Let me know if you want one!

Spring Ahead

I got back yesterday from a great trip to Spring Training in Florida!  I visited my friend Henri and went to three ball games, Tampa (Yankees), Clearwater (Phillies) and Orlando (Braves).  The most memorable thing from the Yankees game was trying to sell my extra tickets.  They put is in a "bullpen" area for scalpers and I got to wrestle with the professional scalpers to sell the tickets.  I felt like I needed a shower after standing with those guys!  At the Clearwater game, we were part of a stadium record crowd.  It was packed!  The park was really nice, with Philadelphia cheesesteaks and a 692 foot Johnny Damon home run.  Seriously.  The sign he hit it by said 692 feet.  Longest. Homerun. Ever.  Ok, not really, but it was a nice homerun.  Here's a picture of the Phillies spring training home (thats David Price on the mound):

In Orlando, the Braves spring training is on the Disney property.  Henri is a vacation club member there, so we got a villa at the Animal Kingdom lodge, with a Savannah view!  Right outside our room were giraffes, wildebeests, ostriches, and African cattle.  I woke in the morning to the sound of a warthog oinking!  Very cool room - highly recommended!  Look closely below and you can see the cattle and an ostrich (sorry, phone camera doesnt have zoom).

The Braves game was also very fun.  It was at the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex, which was also hosting a cheerleading competition and a lacross tournament.  Think dolled up 14 year old girls in way too much makeup, mixed with shirtless 17 year old boys carrying lacross sticks.  Yeah, we hurried into the game as quickly as possible.  Chipper Jones hit a homerun in the game and looked great.  At least players older than me can still smack the ball!  It was a nice trip; not a cloud in the sky, shorts on for the first time in 2011, sunburn on my neck and a smile on my face.  

Thinking Inside the Box

I bought a new office chair today to see if it will help my hip bursitis.  I was noticing my hip hurt more after sitting in my office chair so I wanted one with more cushioning.  Anyway, this isnt a blog post about a chair.  Its a post about a box.  The box the chair came in to be more specific!

The kids decided the box was really a car.  They colored it all up and made it into a convertible.  On the inside front, they taped a steering wheel.  Yep, they've been playing with a cardboard box for about an hour!  Here's some photos of the new drivers.

This box is going to be pretty great for dad too.  Apparently corrugated cardboard makes for excellent smoke in a bee smoker.  There's a reason the cardboard box is in the Toy Hall of Fame people.  

Winter Sports

Sorry again for the long delay between blog posts!  My deadline at work has passed, so I should have energy at home again!

Emma went for skiing lessons late last week!  There is a ski hill in the town next to ours (Tyrol Basin) that offers lessons for kids.  Below is a video of Emma skiing (turn off the volume)! Not bad for a first timer!  Here's hoping this shows up in an olympic montage someday!

Erin got to do some skiing with her too.  Definitely something they will do again next winter!  Me, I'm looking forward to spring.  Spring training that is.  I head to Florida to see some games with my friend Henri next Thursday!  Where did I put those shorts?