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Bring in the Bees!

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Our little piece of land came with an established agricultural tax exemption for bees. So, it only made sense for us to keep that in place and bring some bees to the property. We were surprised to learn that a couple of our kids had a little interest in beekeeping and although they didn't live anywhere near us, it was encouraging to hear their enthusiasm about this new venture. Our county has a reputation of having a very strong beekeeping community. We joined a hobby beekeeping club and took a full day class at Texas Bee Supply, a bee supply place near us. The club still isn't meeting in person due to covid, however the class was great and very informative. Who knew there was so much to learn about keeping bees?! We ordered 8 hives and waited for their arrival in March. In the meantime, we built stands for the bee hives, hoping we chose a good location for them. We also needed supplies...lots of supplies! Included in that list were bee jackets/veils and gloves for protection, ...

Dream Come True

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In October 2020, after a year dominated by Covid-19, we closed on a 12.3-acre parcel of land near Blue Ridge, Texas. I'm not entirely sure when my desire to own a piece of land was born, but I'm pretty sure it's been with me for most of my life. I married my high school sweetheart five years after we graduated high school. He grew up a city boy, albeit one with some country relatives. I grew up in a small town with a family garden, and farming ancestors. I always assumed my dream of farm life was not part of our future and I was OK with that. After moving many times and experiencing several new homes in good school districts, we moved to North Texas as empty nesters. We settled into a historic home and began planting roots with the intent of making it our final residence. I don't know what made me start looking at listings of land. It was an exercise I had gone through other times that were somewhat entertaining but resulted in nothing. This time was different. I found ...