Hive 49 arrived in my garden three weeks ago and was placed on the stump facing the sun. Last weekend Bryn and Art were here for a check-up and reported that the queen hasn’t been laying and they will replace her with another. So the short answer to the question above is: NOT MUCH! Not much is happening with hive 49….yet.

Not much has been happening with me for most of this week, as I have been recovering in bed after surgery, binge-watching Downton Abbey and following computer click-bait (“SINGLE MOM IS MAKING DOCTORS ANGRY WITH HER ANTI-AGING FORMULA” and “YOU WON’T BELIEVE WHAT HAPPENED TO THIS WOMAN AFTER SHE STOPPED EATING BANANAS” etc.). As a refreshing change, yesterday I was finally able to shuffle outside and harvest kale for a side and arugula for a salad. My key insight this week is that despite what some people told me (“You’ll be up and back to work by Wednesday! Thursday at the latest”) a laparoscopic cholecystectomy can knock you right down and I will be out of circulation for at least another week.

I made another trip outside just now to pick kale and spinach for dinner and noticed that the honeysuckle and viburnum bushes near the hive were buzzing….good sign. This year has turned out to be the best year ever for the Lady Slipper. These were planted and carefully nurtured by my late father-in-law, and they have managed to persist despite us. He would be so happy. On that note, I am feeling woozy and going back to bed.