MountainWitch ⛤

Woke up very early this morning to hundreds of lightning strikes right overhead and in the surrounding area. It was bonkers. One sounded like it hit the house (it didn't). Even my cats were freaked and they usually don't care. Now I see there is a fire start across the lake at one of our local repeaters. A small crew is up there now hitting it. Fingers crossed. A repeater tower farther away got burned 2 summers ago and was just rebuilt and back into service this spring. It's perilous up there.
#hamRadio

Tonight is the very last time that we (in my area in BC) will ever have to change the clocks. We are springing ahead for ever! I'm so glad that this ridiculous industrial practice will end. This makes me unreasonably happy.
#daylightsaving #whatever

Even though no fires are currently near where I live, we do have a lightning storm in the forecast and since the fire risk is very high, I put the harnesses on the cats to be able to catch them easier just in case. They hate it of course. This is Freya. She has given up all semblance of dignity and thinks she is only as good as the bucket of junk by the door. 😂 (No, that blue strap is not attached to her, and I realized the harness belly strap should be through the loop on the top and fixed it after I took the photo) My other cat who will not pose for photos when she is mad has perfected frowning... at me. 🙄

Good grief, never a dull moment. So I'm chilling on the veranda thinking about what to have for late breakfast and I hear the bees swarm. FFS. I split the one hive almost 2 months ago. I gave them both second deeps shortly after and honey supers a couple of days ago but did not have time to inspect. Sure enough, they are booming. So, watched the swarm land into my lilac bush about 40 feet from the apiary. High up but not impossible. So after they settled into a cluster, which turned out to be many clusters because lilacs are like that, my SIL went up the precariously perched ladder (REALLY precarious) and cut the clusters all down, some dropped, he managed to hang onto some, but they kept going back up. Finally, he cut the big main branch and walked it down the ladder. I had a deep with frames and foundation waiting on a tarp. There was no room to put the tarp directly under the bush so just off to the back a bit. It was chaos. Bees everywhere. No way to find the queen, just ridiculous amount of bees confused and slightly pissed off. But after a quick call to my inspector/mentor, who had a bit of solid advice, I managed to scoop the bearding and clumps on the tarp in. The rest followed. Crossing my fingers the queen didn't get injured. Waiting for dusk to carry the hive back to the apiary. Phew! So different from the sadness of last year's unattainable swarm.
#beeks #beekeeping #homesteading

Garlic scape day. I just made them all into pesto to freeze. Olive oil, lemon juice and salt along with the whole basket of scapes blended until smooth. I didn't put any cheese in because of a family member with dairy issues. I put it all in a freezer bag pushed flat so I can break a bit off when needed for potatoes, pasta, tomato slices or what ever.
#gardenmagic #harvest #midsummer

They stayed the night! I gave them a smorgasbord of food this morning (fondant with extra nutrition, pollen patty and syrup) to help them along and encourage them to stay. I gave them only non-drawn out frames because their little brains are wired to BUILD when they swarm. I hope they are content and stay. We'll sort out the apiary in a few weeks after they have filled out the frames. #beekeeping

I've got this one Hungarian pepper in a pot. It's suppose to have long black peppers that taste like jalapenos. Very goth. But today I noticed the flowers! They are so pretty!
#gardenmagic

These blossoms all smell divine and protect my garden Goddess Temple. There is something so magical about white blossoms. They glow in the moonlight.

#bloomscrolling #gardenmagic

So, here's the link to the petition to boot Hoekstra out of Canada. #canada #never51 https://www.ourcommons.ca/petitions/en/Petition/Details?Petition=e-7531

My bee inspector is so awesome. I was low key freaking out because my double deep hive was completely full of bees but no queen cells even tho the drone cells are abundant and the dandelions are almost over their first flush and it's hot as hell now. I was worried that somehow it wasn't queen-right. But the inspector found that the hive was perfect, and he helped me do a walk-away split. So, in a week I check for queen cells in one of them, and in a month check for new eggs in that hive. He also explained the other possibilities, and how to deal in case something happens to my awesome current Queen. Hail to the Queen Bees and to the lovely experienced inspector that always makes me feel "not dumb"... 🐝 🐝 🐝
#beeks #beekeeping #homesteading

I made a grazing bed for the chickens. Grass and dandelions dug up with the sod and roots and transported to the pen. They love it. Now if I can remember to water it until the roots take hold... I want to make another couple as well. I have dreams of a shady green pen for them. There is a plum tree and sprouts all over, a maple, and a spirea shrub all for shade and "hidey" cover. Now I want to get some things growing for them to graze on that they can't wreck.

#homesteading #chickens #garden

The Flower Moon is riding low just under the horizon tonight. The plum blossoms are fragrant, the frogs sing in the swamp. May this Bealtaine night manifest your desires with magic and will. Bíodh sé amhlaidh!
#Bealtaine #Paganism

Protect trans people.

#TransDayofvisibility

Erin Brockovich understands the assignment. https://brockovichdatacenter.com/

#datacenters #fuckai

An interesting perspective:
Our Civilization's Disease Has a Name: Windigo

"...A Silent Malignancy Feeding on Itself

What makes this system so difficult to confront is that much of its violence is concealed. In earlier eras, domination was often direct and visible. Today it’s frequently structural, embedded in the normalized architecture of everyday life. The smartphone in your pocket carries within it the suffering of child miners and exhausted factory workers continents away. The tax havens of the ultra-rich quietly drain public wealth from schools, hospitals, and essential infrastructure. Land grabs displace traditional communities while luxury developments flourish in their place. Democracy itself is captured by networks of concentrated power that operate behind the reassuring language of governance and reform...."

https://jeremylent.substack.com/p/our-civilizations-disease-has-a-name?utm_id=97758_v0_s00_e0_tv1_a1demo0eeb6it0&sfnsn=mo

#collapse #capitalism #climateCrisis #ecocivilization

So, I just got on Gander today as a beta tester I guess. Wooo, it's janky. I CANNOT figure out how to post a photo from my phone, and the text on the front page is cut off for some reason. But with us all being Canadian, it's a vibe for sure. I think it will be good.
#GanderSocial #Canadian