The Beehive and Goals

Bees and honey has always been an integral part of my life. My parents had a beehive on their place all my life...yes, there are a few bees buzzing around here and there and when other kids came over, there was always the standing dare of kicking the beehive without getting stung...but what I remember most is the rich honey that we used on fresh bread and the sweet honey comb we chewed on like gum.

So, much to the Penny Pincher's (could also be called the Bee Hater) dismay, I insist that we have a honey hive incorporated somehow in our garden. I can already see it - painted a pale crisp yellow...five boxes neatly stacked with the honey bees busily working to make our honey. The Penny Pincher is sure that we are going to be slapped with a lawsuite. However, a beehive in your garden is now the hottest trend - Michelle Obama just announced the other day that the White House will be making its own honey from the beehive in the new vegetable garden (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090320/ap_on_go_pr_wh/white_house_garden)!

Our plans for the back yard our currently on hold for two reasons: A) The Penny Pincher and I MUST finish the stairs inside the house before starting any new projects (repeating this matra over and over); and B) All the leaves from the Oak trees need to finish falling before we bring in new mulch and dirt.

However, we already have a couple of big backyard projects underway:

1) All the rotten trees have been cut down and taken away
2) We leveled off the top half of the yard with a 2 1/2 foot white limestone retaining wall and brought in 13 yards of fill dirt. On top of that, we built a nice little picket fence to divide the yard and put down sod on that half of the yard. This top level is our dog's paradise.
3) The wood deck has been torn down and they are putting the finishing touches on the our stained and stamped concrete 300 sq. foot patio raised 2 1/2 feet from the ground. We still need to install the French doors in place of the windows that lead off the sunken living room of the house (instead of the big step down from the dining room).