The Reds Weekly Check-In, or, BEE Grateful

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Let’s check in on how we’re all doing, what reopening looks like in our neighborhoods, and any notable events from this past week or upcoming! Last week’s big event for me was a bee invasion upstairs - literally. My Guest Son’s room filled up with bees, much to his consternation. We could see them sort-of-swarming outside, going in and out of a crack between the main house and the addition. They were entirely peaceful honey bees, but even the most peaceable bees aren’t what you want to see inside the house - less so when you can see a hundred of them!

I contacted the Maine Beekeepers Ass’n and left a help ticket on their website, but it seems they’re more or less offline during the pandemic. Instead, we found help through Twitter! My oldest daughter, the Maine Millennial, tweeted about our...issue, and she got a DM from a beekeeper at The Honey Exchange. This led to a phone call, and within a few hours, a wonderful young woman named Thalassa Raasch was at our door, net hat and bee vacuum in hand.

With a little sleuthing, we discovered the bees were reachable via the inside wall of a kneehole closet in Guest Son’s room. We took out everything stored there (mostly old luggage, which I was happy to remove to the attic) and could see a brand new colony was trying to start itself in an uninsulated gap in the wall. (Old house - modern insulation was shoved in where workmen could reach and left off where they couldn’t. Please refer to past JRW posts where I complain incessantly about the cold.) Fortunately, we caught the bees before they were able to begin building, so it was a relatively straightforward job for Thalassa to suck them up into the bee vac. 

We got thank-you honey for saving the bees!

We opened up the windows, closed the door, and gave the room twenty-four more hours to clear out. Fortunately, when we went inside, most of the bees had escaped, leaving behind only a handful of tiny striped corpses to be swept up. Even better, Thalassa reports the bees have been successfully moved into one of her hives, meaning they, and we, can now continue to lead happy and productive lives - twenty-plus miles apart.

What’s buzzing in your life, Reds?

LUCY BURDETTE: That’s a wonderful story Julia! We are in Connecticut now, which is just opening up. I walked on the wild side and went to my favorite local bookstore, RJ Julia Booksellers. Everyone was masked up and there were markings on the floor showing us where to walk, and books! Thousands and thousands of books--definitely essential for these times! I’ve also been going to our farmer’s market on the town green. Again, masks and social distancing required. So many yummy veggies and good bread...I’m in heaven.

Bad news--we are worried about the spike in Florida and people getting crazy in Key West. Praying for everyone to stay sane and safe.

HALLIE EPHRON: The bee invasion sounds terrifying. We’ve had a swarm of thousands of bees take up residence hanging from a bush in our backyard (called the beekeepers and they were moved to safe quarters), but never IN the house. Yes, Florida looks ominous. Ditto Texas (sorry Debs). And Arizona not so good either. Time will tell.

I’ve been slowly crawling out. I went to my local grocery store for the first time, bought plants for the garden and fresh cherries and plums which, ordering for delivery, is a crap shoot.  I clipped my front hedges and the hedge clipper promptly died, so I ordered one from my local hardware store and went to pick it up. They are doing a busy busy business and had it totally under control.

Feeling like small bits of normal are creeping back. We’re in the suburbs so at least we can walk and sit out in the yard anytime we want, and I have great neighbors.

DEBORAH CROMBIE: Our little air conditioning issues are very tame compared to Julia's bee story! So glad you are now happily separated, Julia--a win-win!

Yes, Texas is very worrying. I think we are just now starting to see the results of our "opening" and all the Memorial Day festivities with no masks or social distancing. I don't want to contemplate what will happen in the next couple of weeks after all the protests here.

I've had two masked trips to Trader Joe's at senior hour now--so exciting to pick out my own produce and groceries!! Also, two outings to the farmer's market. It was very busy this Saturday, but more people were wearing masks than the previous Saturday, so maybe that's an improvement. I've also had a friend (waving at you, Gigi!) over for a socially distanced happy hour on the patio, ditto morning coffee with another friend. I would really really hate to give up these small gains, but I think a lot of people here have just decided the pandemic is over, which doesn't bode well….

RHYS BOWEN: We have finally made it safely back to California after 110 degrees drove us from Arizona. The drive went amazingly smoothly. We spent the night at a Hyatt in Pasadena where they have arranged everything really well. We stopped at clean rest area bathrooms. No problems.  Now we are enjoying cooler weather and we’re back in Marin County where everyone wears masks, is polite, and only a few things have opened up… yes, and they have 17 deaths to date. None of them recently.  So I feel much safer than crazy Arizona.

We also go to Trader Joe’s for senior hour. Very well done with no stress. And I’m busy with the edits of my new Venice Stand alone. I’m also on a cleaning and weeding out jag. I’m about to Kondo my house, after my Arizona home that has no clutter. I’ll be ruthless!

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Oh-- BEES! Oh my gosh, that is a nightmare. Just like everything else. Anyway, Massachusetts is apparently doing well, but we shall see. Reading about all of you is fascinating--truly. Jonathan and I are not budging. Not one bit. We have been home for 93 days. Not going anywhere. We have ordered groceries, ordered front porch chairs, ordered plants, planted tomatoes and basil, we have worked worked worked. Jonathan in virtual court, with the full array of personnel, I’m trying to write and be on TV (via Zoom) and it’s like--living on our own private planet. 

"Ryan could win a sixth Agatha with this one." !!!

Sometimes I actually pat the freezer to reassure it that  I am so pleased with it. My hair is awful, but I am persevering with many zooms and appearances and bookclubs, and THE FIRST TO LIE got a Publishers Weekly starred review so I am counting blessings.

I think the whole thing is horribly scary, insane, and I hope we can just all hang in.

JULIA: Check in time, dear readers! How are you doing, what are you doing, and are there any BEES involved? 

Got Jigsaw?

DEBORAH CROMBIE: Who would have thought a few months ago that jigsaw puzzles would be among the new unobtainable things? And did you ever think about how labor and time intensive puzzles are to manufacture? I loved this piece in the New York Times.

The template for every single puzzle is hand drawn, and no two pieces can be exactly alike! That is just mind-boggling. They don't just use any old art for the pictures, either, but commission the paintings specifically.

Luckily for me, I had ordered a puzzle for Christmas, which has been out on my dining room table since...January! It's only 500 pieces but I'm very slow. Not to mention that the cats have dumped the whole thing on the floor twice and I've had to start over. 

This puzzle is a Galison, and double-sided. Eeek! I doubt I'll ever manage to do the second side!

(When I went to the Galison website just now, every single puzzle is SOLD OUT!)

My idea when I laid the puzzle out was that I would have friends and/or family over to work it with me, but obviously that's not happening these days, and the hubby has no patience for it. So in the meantime, I think I need some puzzle working tips from people who are better at this than I am! I do start with the borders, and am sorting the pieces by color, as you can see in the photo above.

I have a couple more puzzles on order, although one was just canceled. Maybe the other one, a Galison I ordered weeks ago, will arrive eventually. Maybe I'll even be ready for a new one by then…

Reds, were you lucky enough to score puzzles? Are you good at them? Do you have a favorite puzzle brand?

RHYS BOWEN: I’m not usually a puzzle person, in fact the only time I’ve really enjoyed puzzles is with a big group at Christmas when the puzzle is out on a coffee table and everyone adds as they pass.

However I have a great desire to do a puzzle right now and of course my large stack of puzzles and board games are all in California while I’m in Arizona 

I tried ordering online. I thought I’d scored until I saw delivery date, May 15 !

Then I tried online puzzle which drove me crazy as you couldn’t see the picture at the same time as the puzzle pieces. Hopeless. But I have just sent off for quilt squares. I’ve never quilted but I’m in full Little House mode. Next— churning butter. 

HALLIE EPHRON: Right, do the corners first, then the edges, then work toward the middle. I used to love jigsaw puzzles but haven’t done one in years. Might be time to start. Though patience is not my strong suit. 

JENN McKINLAY: I love jigsaw puzzles! It’s been awhile since I’ve done one but I love it when it’s a group activity. And, yes, Hallie is so right - corners, sides, fill in the middle! Also, if doing it in a group, hide one piece so you get to put the last piece in. Can you tell I’m the youngest child and had to learn this trick the hard way?

DEBS: Jenn, you are brutal!!!!

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Ah, no, I really...don’t enjoy them. They take so long, and I guess I’m not spatial, and then, at the end, what do you do? Break them all up? Once a million years ago, my sibs and I got a jigsaw puzzle for my dad. It was terrific, with some of the shapes personal--a poodle, a scales of justice, a champagne bottle, a judge’s gavel, things like that. It was brilliant. We loved doing that one. In fact, I think I still have it! Hmm. 

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I’m not a jigsaw puzzle person - crosswords all the way for me. However, my mother always enjoyed working a jigsaw and HER mother was a fanatic. Grandma always had a puzzle going as long as I knew her, usually on a sturdy card table kept for that purpose. We would seek out extra challenging ones as birthday and Christmas gifts - oddly shaped puzzles, two sided puzzles like the ones Debs is doing, or, and these were really challenging - puzzles with no picture on the cover, just a vague or tricky description. (Those last were the popular form for jigsaw puzzles in the early 1900s.)

One thing I know is a must-have for jigsaw puzzle lovers - a puzzle mat! Two people can lift it and clear the table for a meal without disturbing a puzzle in progress, and the suede-like nap will help keep pieces in place, even when the cat jumps up to demand some attention!

DEBS: Julia, I do have a puzzle mat. It did not, however, keep the cats from pulling the whole thing off the table. And it shows the cat hair! I used to have a puzzle board, years ago, but now I have no idea where it is.

LUCY BURDETTE: I’m not a jigsaw puzzle person either, but our daughter is--and she was desperately searching for one online. And we were desperate to contribute to her mental health, as she works in the ER and has two toddlers at home. Luckily our Madison CT bookstore, RJ Julia, has some beautiful puzzles to order. They are now happily working on Cinques Terres, and shhhhh, don’t tell, I just sent them New York Times Square this week.

I love the idea of Rhys churning butter:)

DEBS: Lucy, I looked at the puzzles at RJ Julia. I was SO tempted by the one with the Japanese maples. But it's 1000 pieces and looks so hard. Assuming it is even still available.

I'm thinking that as a group we are either not very spatial or not very patient! But I do want to see Rhys churning butter!

READERS, how about you? Who likes puzzles? Who was lucky enough to get one? Or even two....