Where I Am Now ....

It has been an extremely busy summer and although it looks like I haven't posted in ages, I have! I started another blog on Wordpress to document my Beekeeping, Gardening, Guineas, etc. DebBeesHive on Wordpress I also just created a new blog here on Blogger for my Etsy life ... DebBeesEtsy DebBeesEtsy on Facebook

Yummy Honey and our New Etsy Team

Now that the holiday activity has calmed down I can take a short breather and reflect on the fast paced and fun end of the year that just rushed by!   Our Handmade Circle group on Facebook is growing daily and during December we had a Secret Santa event which turned out to be a fantastic way to get to know our members!  We each made a wish list (Etsy treasury) with items we would like and I had several honey items included on my list.  We plan on keeping bees and have ordered 2 hives that should arrive within the next week or so.  The bees will follow in the Spring and we will be receiving about 10,000 per hive!

My Secret Santa, who was revealed when my precious gift arrived, was Jayne Willis from Twiggy & Opal shop on Etsy.  She has a beautiful shop and is a beautiful person to go along with it!  Thank you once again for the honey gift Jayne....it IS delicious!!!  The honey mustard that came along with it is also remarkable!

The Handmade Circle group is expanding as I mentioned and we just recently created a Fanpage for members to post a daily listing and a place for the public to have a look at our handmade items.  A new Team Handmade Circle on Etsy was also created earlier this week and is going strong.  We will be hosting our first BNR as a Team tonight .... can't wait.  If you would like to read what a BNR is and the detail to go along with the one tonight - we have a few blog postings over at our Handmade Circle blog with all the information! Do stop by and just watch if you are curious how these work!!

Looking forward to a fantastic year ahead with my Bees, Gardens and all my HMC buddies :-))

Cardinals Galore!

Stop by Wordless Wednesday HQ for a look at many other great photos!

Happy New Year 2012!

Happy New Year!!

Wishing everyone a wonderful and peaceful 2012!

There's been alot of activity throughout the holiday season and as we head into the new year we look forward to many new and exciting challenges.  First on our list is learning all we can about beekeeping and planning the layout of the gardens.  Also improving our Etsy shop and adding more items ... pretty sure the honey won't be listed this year, but there will be garlic and dried flowers for crafting!  Right now we are holding a 15% off sale on everything in the shop and there are some wonderful flower seeds on clearance if you are in need of sprucing up your yard.

The weather here today is still holding at around 40-50 degrees but there looks to be a sharp turn for some cold breezes coming our way bringing us to the normal temps of 20-30 degrees for this time of year.  We are ready for 2012 and look ahead to many new adventures!

Easy Pot Pies

Just this past year we started making our own Pot Pies ... they are quite easy and so delicious!  We have made both turkey and beef using leftovers from the main dinner.  The only difference between making the two is with the beef, we started with a roast and cubed up the leftover.  Then we simmered it for an hour to soften it up before adding to the pie combination.  We used 2 1/2 cups of water and 1-2 bouillon cubes.  The pot pie shown is the beef version so I will continue with instructions for this one.

We cubed up carrots, potatoes and onion and added to the simmering pot and continued simmering until the veggies were soft.  Added canned corn and peas to this mix.  In a separate pan we made a roux for thickening.  Combine 2 tablespoons of butter with 2-3 tablespoons of flour and cook over low heat for about 20 minutes ... blending.  Combine everything into one pan and stir until thick and well blended.

Use a deep pie type container and pour all your pot pie ingredients into this.  Top the mixture with a pie crust and add fork holes for venting.  Bake at 375 degrees for 40 minutes.  You may have to cover the edges of the pie crust with foil if it starts to burn before it is finished baking.

 Healthy and Delicious!!

Happy Holidays Everyone!

The weather has reached the chilly stage here in Southern Illinois but not as cold as the winter days up North.  Today was probably one of the colder mornings with a heavy layer of frost and as I glanced out the window I was able to catch this fantastic photo of .... Rudolph??   How perfect on Christmas Eve!

My first selling season with an online shop has been exciting and quite a learning experience.  I have joined in a Huge After Christmas Sale that will be taking place starting the day after Christmas and running through the 31st.  Everything in the Growing Phases Farm Shop will be at 15% off during this time.  Now we develop a business plan for 2012 and formulate a plan for all the upcoming holidays - Valentine's Day is next!

I did plant some flower seeds indoors this past week even though it is very early!  Several flower seeds take a long time to germinate and grow rather slow ... lavender being one so I set them up under our grow lights and will watch for them to sprout.   Along with English Vera, I also purchased some Lavender Munstead since I read this is more fragrant.  I am also awaiting the arrival of 2 bee books I ordered from Amazon.   We have plans to start several hives and harvest honey and possibly beeswax ... another item for my new shop!

Wishing Everyone a Joyful and Relaxing Holiday weekend!

Winter is here

As I was sitting at the computer gazing out over the birdfeeder area this guy caught my eye.  What I found amazing was the design on his back feathers and then I had to figure out what type of bird he was!    I did my research and found this to be a the Golden Finch (male) in his winter coat....his bright yellow has faded and much more muted colors.  Yes, winter is here Mr. Finch!

And the seed catalogs have started to arrive in the mail!

These will keep me busy as I start to plan the garden ... still contemplating when to start the seeds indoors.  We are about a month ahead here so thinking next month and for sure by February.  Just last week I harvested some radish and baby lettuce (indoors for the lettuce) and enjoyed a remarkable salad.  In December no less!

I have been very busy with my Etsy shop and selling beyond what I had anticipated.  I do need to stock up and I sure have learned quite a bit ... look out next holiday season!

Along with the shop and Facebook group Handmade Circle I created, I started a blog also called Handmade Circle for more interaction with the group members.  Just today I baked this Out of the World Cookie recipe which I will be posting about tomorrow...did I say Out of the World???  I even used pecans from the local growers here .... how cool is that?!

Stop by tomorrow over at the Handmade Circle blog to check out this recipe ... Out of this world!  I sure hope everyone is Enjoying every moment of the Holiday Season!!