Fishers Beehive Shoppe

~ Forgetting What Lies Behind ~

June 1, 2018 by Patricia Fisher

Not in the good Biblical way……but in the I haven’t been on my blog in so long I don’t remember how things work, kind of way! In all actuality, I haven’t done much of anything on my computer in months and it all seems like a foreign tongue. An upgrade to Windows 10 from my beloved Windows 7, may have been overdue, but has proven to be a regrettable move! I have decided to come off strike and brave this unwanted new world. Much to my dismay, this new Windows has stopped my old version of Quickbooks (because,of course they want me to upgrade that also), and has kidnapped my files. I’ve spent the last while (or months) ignoring this problem but it hasn’t gone away. So, at tax time I decided to get off the bench and back in the game (reluctantly). Although, instead of getting my numbers together, I decided to write about it instead…..can anyone say “procrastination”? Then to make matters worse I stopped typing altogether, grabbed pencil & paper and did tax season the “old fashion” way…..totally ignoring my laptop. Nothing changed!

So, here I am easing my way back into my little blog, please excuse the long silence. I looked back just to refresh my memory of how long it had been since my last post…..don’t look, it’s embarrassing! Worse is the fact that I wrote about journaling and treating my blog more like my journal (which I don’t ignore for months). Some might say give it up, but I’m too ~~stubborn~~ tenacious for that 😉 Anyway, there is new stuff on the horizon that I just might want to write about,so stick with me!

Do not despise these small beginnings…..Zechariah 4:10 NLT

Filed Under: Fishers Beehive Shoppe, The Inspiration Room

~ Rainy Monday ~

November 17, 2014 by Patricia Fisher

Dark, cold and wet….that’s what we had today! Add to that the fact that my little wood stove in the living room isn’t quite ready to “fire” up, that isn’t a recipe for a cozy day. We’ve spent the last two days extracting honey that we had been putting off for too long. What a big sticky mess! Glad that is done for this year. Now we can just enjoy the fruit of our (or the bees rather) labor.

On another note, back in June we started selling our antiques at a large multi-dealer shop called, Marketplace on Chestnut, as well as at our shoppe at home. First we started in a small spot then moved to a larger booth in October. We are enjoying the extra outlet for our finds, as well as all the new friends we’ve made… a few pics of the set up.

I spent a little time this week putting together more photo cards after my new display came in the mail. I was enjoying the process until I ran out of photo paper and had to quit. Wondering if I want to add these to our Etsy shop.

I go back and forth with whether or not I want to join Amazon Prime . It sounds like a good idea, but every time I look for a movie for us to watch, I can’t find one of interest. What to do!?! I could watch all four seasons of Downton Abbey again…plus plus…but could I get the Beekeeper to watch it? Doubtful, but a girl can try.

Filed Under: Fishers Beehive Shoppe, Honey Bees, Photography

~ All of The Flowers in My Life ~

June 2, 2014 by Patricia Fisher

There is one female family members missing in this photo (you know who you are….hurry home, we miss you!)

P.S. Your son took this picture for us. What a blessing he is.

Jan knows how to host a get together.

Sam, keeping away from the little girls.

~ And this happened ~

Coming soon to the Beehive Shoppe!

Beeswax lip balm & hand cream.

(As soon as I figure out labels!)

….and then this happened….

My baby girl and her baby girl went back to the sunshine state.

My skies are a little less blue….

Till next time…..

Filed Under: Family, Fishers Beehive Shoppe, Grandchildren, My Potager, Photography

~ Out of Hibernation ~

May 17, 2014 by Patricia Fisher

Eek….I haven’t blogged in two months! I told myself that “I haven’t had anything to say”, which may or may not be true. Trust me I have said plenty over the last eight weeks! I’ve even written some things down…in my journal. But, I did however take a breather from the blog world, posting myself and reading others. But I’m back, at least reading what others have to say, and maybe adding my two cents here and there.

Spring has finally come to the Northeast, and I think I can speak for most of us…..we’re thrilled, relieved, excited and very thankful! I’m sure this Winter wasn’t that much different than the ones of my childhood, but frankly that’s been awhile and I guess I’ve become a wimp. I was among those saying “UNCLE” this year!

So here’s what’s happening in our little world…..

We had three hives of bees that survived the long cold winter. We ordered in five more packages, they’re in the hives and doing well, and we have four more nucs coming soon.

Spring around here reminds me of when the movie The Wizard of Oz goes from black and white to color. Such a happy, hopeful, magical (not that I really believe in magic) moment. Likewise, we too have color again….YAY! Our Magnolia tree was beautiful this year, such a welcoming sight in the front yard, along with the Forsythia as a backdrop.

Lots of new plants “springing” out of the warm ground….Sunflower seedlings (from fallen seeds last year), I need to thin these and find new homes for some…Rhubarb (so cool looking)….peas just starting….and kale, that will produce through the late fall (gotta love that!)….and those sweet little survivor Johnny Jump Ups, that pop up even in the stones between my raised beds.

Riley and I have a lot of work to do!

We’ve been busy buying and reorganizing the shoppe, lots of fun new things to see.

I’ve been playing around with these wood blocks, leftover from one of the Beekeeper’s projects.

I finished this little afghan (thinking of lining the back with fabric, we’ll see). This is the same pattern as Angelina’s baby afghan.

This is my current project. I started this on the drive back from Florida. I think I have ripped out as much as I have completed. For some reason this pattern was tweaking my brain. It really isn’t difficult. I’m on a roll now. The pattern is called Daisy Garden, from this book, Crochet Afghans by the Pound .

This is what is taking precedence in my world right now…..my daughter and granddaughter flew in from Florida for a two week visit. I’m enjoying having all five of my children and three grandchildren in the same state. God is good!

This post contains my affiliate links

Filed Under: crochet, Family, Fishers Beehive Shoppe, Honey Bees, My Potager

~ Peach and Plum Jam ~

September 22, 2013 by pafisher

We only have one peach tree and one plum tree, and they are both young, but they are producers! The Beekeeper had to prop their limbs up to keep them from breaking under the weight of all the fruit. That always reminds me of Aaron and Hur holding Moses’ arms up during battle ( Exodus 17:12 ). I know, really one has nothing to do with the other, but still those propping sticks always bring that bible story to my mind. Anyway the point of all this was, we had a lot of peaches and plums this year, and they were delicious! So we ate some, we sold some on our little farm cart out in front of our house and I made jam. Here’s a look…

…just like that!

Delicious!

~ Here are the recipes ~

PEACH JAM

1 quart chopped peaches (peeled, pitted/cored)

7 1/2 cups sugar (mine came out a little too sweet for me…next time less sugar)

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 pouch liquid pectin

Combine fruit, sugar, lemon juice in a saucepot. Bring to a boil, stirring until sugar dissolves. Stir in liquid pectin. Return to a boil. Boil hard 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, skim off foam. Ladle into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Add lids and process for 10 minutes in water bath.

PLUM JAM

2 quarts chopped plums (pitted, but not peeled)

8 cups sugar (you may want more, mine came out a little tart, but I like it that way)

1 tablespoon butter (cuts downs on foam)

1/3 cup lemon juice

1 package of pectin

Combine plums, sugar, butter, lemon juice in a saucepot. Bring to a boil, stirring until sugar dissolves. I used my hand blender just a little at this point. Add pectin, return to boil, boil 1 minute. Ladle into hot jars, add lids. Process 10 minutes in water bath.

*my plum jam was silky smooth and a little thinner than the peach. I was really happy with it, but if you like it set up more cut back on the amount of plums per batch.

Happy Canning!

Filed Under: Fishers Beehive Shoppe, In the kitchen, My Potager Tagged With: peach jam, plum jam

~ Let’s Go To The Fair ~

August 13, 2013 by pafisher

The Beehive Shoppe took to the road. We were asked if we would like to set up a free display at the Delaware County Fair, to promote local small business….we decided to go for it. So here are a few shots ……

We are one of six 5×9 spots. That turned out to be a challenge to fit a store into.

Can you see why?

But we accomplished it!

Now we have 200 honey sticks to hand out on Children’s Day…..see you at the Fair!

Filed Under: Fishers Beehive Shoppe, Honey Bees

~ Time To “Jam” It Up ~

July 1, 2013 by pafisher

Berry season is upon us, so I started with strawberries.

Then moved on to currants ( these I actually had in the freezer, mine are just starting to ripen now, so I’ll be picking those soon).

I have to cook these some first and then strain through a berry bag to get the juice.

I do end up with a lot of scraps for my compost pile.

Then back in the pot to cook with the sugar and pectin.

Strawberry jam and currant jelly….time to get the store stocked back up!

Filed Under: Fishers Beehive Shoppe, My Potager Tagged With: currant jelly, strawberry jam

~ A “Honey Of A Day” ~

February 12, 2013 by pafisher

We extracted honey over the weekend, since we were down to two jars in the shoppe. We had a little extra help…..a taste tester!

First signs of spring 2012

frame full of honey

taking off the top wax layer

cranking the honey extractor (hard work for a little guy)

a little more muscle…

…and the pay off!

~Catskill Mountain Honey~

Filed Under: Fishers Beehive Shoppe, The Catskills Tagged With: Beekeeping, etsy, Honey

” Shop Talk “

January 25, 2013 by pafisher

Amidst the cold winds of winter, many projects are underway. A chair painting process is midway, I’ve run out of the right color of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint which I buy here, so more on that in a later post. We’ve hit several auctions thus far, many little treasures to show for it. But, alas, when it’s in the single digits outside crocheting by the fire sounds the best.

I did snap a few pictures this morning in the store while getting ready for a couple customers. So take a peek…..