The battle of the bees

We've had a little battle raging in our back yard. It appears some bees decided it was a good place to live!
Bob noticed there were bees flying around one particular spot in the back. When he got closer, he saw a hole in the ground with lots of bees swarming around it.
Hmmm... This is a problem! We can't enjoy the yard, and it would be really difficult to mow the grass. So...
Bob tried to burn them out.

It was an adventure to even get close enough, but he did, pouring some gas down the hole, and then lighting it on fire.

It burned for some times

leaving this lovely spot in the grass.

However - within a few minutes, bees were coming back. It appeared that they had another hole to exit from, but we couldn't find it.

This was the next plan. My sister Cheri heard that if you covered ground hives with a tarp and secured it, the bees wouldn't stay because of the heat and lack of air.
This tarp stayed out there for a week.

And it seems to have worked! It's a good thing it's Fall though, because it left an ugly spot in the grass. Guess it's worth it though to avoid bee stings!

What a night!

I though I would share a crazy night we had last week. It was a bit frustrating at the time, but now I'm laughing, and I thought you probably would too.
Here's how it went:

11:45 - I'm up late, checking the computer before I go to bed, when the power goes off. The house is pitch dark, so I walk around with my laptop trying to find a flashlight. I find one, and shut the windows because it's raining in. Bob is somehow sleeping through this!
I get in bed, but then think - "I should call and report the outage", so I'm back up with the flashlight, calling the electric company. Then - off to bed.
12:30 - Heather wakes up and realizes we have no power. She gets up and tells us, in case we need to set different alarms. Back to sleep.
1:30 - I wake up because it's so hot. The windows are closed, and there is no power for the air conditioner. It has now stopped raining, so I open the windows. Back to bed - Bob is still sleeping...
2:15 - I wake up thinking I'm hearing a phone ring in the distance. It stops. A few minutes later, I hear it again. I realize it's the phone in our family room downstairs. It's the only one in the house that isn't cordless and therefore is the only one working. It stops ringing, but I go downstairs, unhook it and bring it up, connecting it in the kitchen. Back to bed.
2:25 - the phone rings again. I run and grab it. It's an automated call from the electric company. "Is your power back on? Press 1 for yes, 2 for no". I press 2 and go back to bed.
2:40 - I hear power equipment running nearby. I ignore it
2:50 - Bob is now awake and looking out the window of the bedroom. I tell him - "it's just the electric company working on our line" He says - "no dear - our electric lines are in the back of the house". Hmmm - he's right! Well, I don't care who it is at this point. Back to sleep, I hope!
3:30 - We are both woken by lights coming on. Hooray - the power is back! However, we now have to go around and turn off the lights. Then - back to bed!
3:45 - the phone rings. Bob answers it with a bit of a growl. Guess who? Yes, it's the electric company. "Is your power on? Press 1 for yes, 2 for no". He presses 1 and we go back to sleep.
4:20 - Bob's alarm goes off and he slowly gets up.
5:00 - My alarm goes off. It was a short night!

*When I left for work, I found out why there was power equipment running in the night. The picture above shows a big branch that came down from the neighbors tree. Apparently it landed across the road, so it had to be sawed and moved so traffic could get through.

Name that soda

Here's a fun little quiz for your Friday. Click on the box below and see how many different types of pop/soda you can identify without the name on the can.