Hive Painting Day

   This past Sunday afternoon a dozen or so talented people from different corners of our life descended on the farm for some art and fellowship. And of course there were snacks. It was a two-fold event, intended on one hand to decorate my two unfinished wooden bee hives and then on the other hand to start some wedding preparations. (The wedding is in exactly eleven days, folks. The air is thick with anticipation!)

   I had sort of planned to participate in the painting of the wooden-ware, but as the artists moved around and manifested their ideas, I wanted nothing more than to watch the magic happen.

   Haley and Lauren came prepared! They had ahead of time sketched four or five possible hive illustrations and did a wonderful job bringing them to life! 

 

   

   This is Juliana giving me a slightly skeptical look and Mysti focusing intently on her first wall. Mysti, freshly twenty one, is our youngest book clubber. She is also on the brink of graduation form hair design academy. Congrats, Mysti!!

   This is Mysti's first beautiful creation of the day, the painting on which she was concentrating so hard in the photo above. I groove this so much, you guys! The lettering is almost old fashioned, which is perfect.

   Mother and daughter, Marci & Juliana, starting their purple wall. This is a custom-blended color, which later they coated with blue glitter! I am flat out crazy about these ladies. And not just because Marci is a phenomenal cook. But that does not hurt one bit. 

   Marci is never very far from a Diet Coke. That is a cold, hard fact.

   Here is Haley concentrating on her beautifully detailed bee mural. It doesn't show in this photo, but one of the bees on this wall has arms extended, cradling a huge golden chunk of nectar! Or it could be honey, the girls informed me. Love it. I would never have thought to paint that.

   You might remember that Tracy accompanied me to that first bee class back in March. She is always up for a new experience! Here she is again, cheerfully painting this field of flowers, which I immediately loved to pieces. To my eye, her abstract blooms resemble Coreopsis, poppies, and gladiolus. Wouldn't it would make a great stationery set?


   I did not realize the day of our painting fun that Tracy's birthday was right around the corner! Happy Birthday, sweet woman! You are setting such an incredible example for your kids, feeding that happy appetite for life.

   Can you even believe how sweet and bright these girls are? By the way, Lauren is Tracy's youngest and Haley is Lauren's friend. They are sheer joy to be around! Well mannered, protective of the little kids, and just plain happy. When all the bee art was complete and they had each made a tie-dye shirt, these girls dove right in and helped with wedding prep! Thank you ladies.

   Our Lazy W ranch brand!! Thank you Mysti, this is so darn cool as beans. Now if we could only figure out how to get the brand of each of our tiny little bees...

   Everyone was in awe of the glittered side of this hive! 

   Here is Tracy adding some cheerful polka dots!

   

Can you see those painted little paw prints on the concrete? 

   They came from this dog. His name is Buster, and he is a natural-born goose herder. He can swim in muddy ponds. He can paint sidewalks like nobody's business. He can beg and jump three feet in the air. But he is terrified of running horses. Everyone has a kryptonite.

   The sun began to sink behind the pond as the hives were relieved of every last speck of bare wood. The visiting artists started looking around the farm for more blank canvases and found them in cotton tee shirts and old worn out fence pickets.

      Can you see the lettering? This is a carving, not a painting. It says, "BEE'S HOUSE!" That should clear things up around here.

   Priceless. I can't help but think this needs to go to the girls' mothers. So sweet.

  As I mentioned, we did more than paint hives on Sunday. We circled the wagons for some brass tacks wedding crafting, too. But those photos and stories will come later...

   

  That is all I have time to write, you guys! Any second now I am off to Noble, Oklahoma to adopt my two fuzzy little colonies! Wish me luck. I'll check in tomorrow.

Pollinate Your Friendships

xoxoxo