Day #333 A Monkey Wrench in my Spokes

If you’re afraid of bees to begin with, you might want to skip today’s post.

I got stung again. Thursday morning, just one sting, on my left hand where the web of skin stretches between the thumb and first finger.

I was ready for it this time. Or so I thought. I came inside, took some Benedryl, and waltzed on through my day. The swelling just keeps spreading; it’s two-thirds of the way up my arm toward my elbow now. My whole hand, as you can see, looks like a stuffed sausage.

But then, Friday afternoon, one of the hives had eaten its way through the sugar water and needed to be refilled. Did I want a repeat performance? NO.

So I put on three layers everywhere:

>> long-sleeved blouse, winter jacket, AND my bee-inspector suit

>> two pairs of heavy-duty socks and my Wellington boots

>> slacks, sweatpants, AND those huge pants I bought at the Good Will Store

Before I went outside I wrapped a heavy scarf around my hair and topped it with – get this – a quilted, well-padded toaster cozy that’s patterned after a little English cottage. No, I did not take a picture of myself looking like that! Then I pulled the bee-hood over my head and zipped everything up.

Next I pulled on some heavy winter gloves – not easy over my swollen hand AND added my heavy-duty leather work gloves.

I looked like a cartoon version of the Michelin Man, but there was NO WAY a stinger was going to get to me.

Once I was ready, I took the fresh jar of sugar water outside, pulled off the empty bottle, replaced it with the full one, waited for the bees to stop flying around me, and came inside where I had to reverse the process. The gloves came off first, followed by the hood and the English cottage toaster-hat. And so on.

The good news is that, even if I looked ridiculous, I did not get stung. The good news where my hand is concerned is that, although I can’t flex three of the four fingers, I no longer have any wrinkles on that hand. That oughta be worth something...

BEEattitude for Day # 333:

       Blessed are those who aren’t afraid to look foolish, for they shall open whole new worlds.
 

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Green as a Garden Hose, the 3^rd Biscuit McKee Mystery,

is now available in mass market paperback

from World Wide Mystery, a division of Harlequin.

(Go to www.eHarlequin.com and search for Fran Stewart)

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Get Your Dog in My Next Book!

From now through the end of September, anyone who donates $10 to WAG, also known as the Walton Animal Guild, will be automatically entered in a drawing.

If you win, your dog will be in my next Biscuit McKee mystery!

http://www.wagwalton.com

The donate button is right on their home page

Every $10 donation is automatically entered in the drawing

See Blog #324 for the details.

Day #214 Ain't Technology Grand, Folks?

Thank-you to each of you who contacted me when it looked like I’d disappeared. I truly appreciate your concerns.

Blogger had some sort of problem and stopped all new blog posts sometime in the middle of Wednesday. I’m not sure how long it will take them to post the blogs I wrote for Thursday and Friday, and don’t even know for sure that this one will show up on Saturday morning just after midnight Eastern Time.

Hive entrance -- Whre'd the bees go?

Self-Portrait in the Bee Suit the First Time

I’m not going to worry, though. They’ll get through eventually. In the meantime, here are a couple of pictures to brighten your day.

BEEattitude for Day # 214:

       Blessed are those who take the time to reach out, for they shall find rest for their worries.

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The teeny details:

my books:  http://www.franstewart.com

my eBooks on Amazon for Kindle

my eBooks on Smashwords (for all other formats)