Bring in the Bees

I have been taking a beekeeping course and have started to get everything together to have a colony this Spring. I wanted to journal my experience with this so created a new blog. But I find having 2 blogs annoying, and as I don't use this one enough, I am just going to bring my bee posts over here.

Some new sidebars will appear with bee info - this is mostly for my own sake so I can find information easily. And the few posts I had started will appear here shortly.

Bring in the Bees!

Fantasy Baseball

Time again for our fantasy baseball league. If you are interested, post in the comments and I'll send you the link.

Wii Rocker

With at least 2 full months of winter ahead, we find ourselves with a lot of Wii time. My son is the number one user. He is especially fond of Lego Star Wars and New Super Mario Bros. The rest of us don't use it that much really. (Although we did spend a lot of last winter completing all the levels on the New Super Mario. It was really fun to do that as a family.) Thoughts of upgrading to xbox or Playstation went unanswered by Santa, so still using the Wii with more new games.

This brings me to my favorite Wii game. Band Hero. I think I must be a closet rocker because I love Band Hero. I love the guitar and I love the drums. A lot of time was spent in 2010 on Band Hero. But, like most games, it ran its course and interest was lost. Until recently. . .

In an effort to get our son interested in music, we have agreed to let him get a real drum set and join his friend in drum lessons. His friend was lucky enough to get a nice full acoustic drum kit from a relative. But when we visited and heard the noise coming from it, instant panic set in. It was LOUD. Really LOUD. It wasn't going to work in our small neighborhood. So, we discussed with friends dad and all agreed that electronic drum kits were the way forward. Set them up, give the boys some headphones, and we're all happy.

Step two. Find a drum set. There are tons of used sets for sale everywhere. A run through ebay shows a lot of choices out there. I started checking them out and setting up ebay searches. The problem is the prices. A lot of over £1000 kits out there and out of our range. The search dragged on. . .

Meanwhile, the drumset from Band Hero was covered up and lost in the corner. The little control knob broke and was loose in the case making it nearly unusable. This along with the guitar which got a remote control unit yanked out of it and made it also unusable.

While Christmas shopping at the Game store, I found some used Wii guitars and immediately grabbed one. Back in business! I ran home and set it up and started enjoying the game again. But son was now getting more interested in the game and pulled out the broken drums and tried to join in. Hmmm. Back to the search.

Here is where the point of this is. . .I had no idea how really cool games like Rock Band and Band Hero really can be in learning music. The new Rock Band 3 supposedly really teaches you the guitar with more detail then ever before. And the drums - well, I found this cool place which repairs those controllers. And even neater, is that you can hook up your real drum kit and override the game one and really play the drums along in the game. I am excited to get my son set up and try this.

Of course, I know I will be giving a go as well! :p

Fantasy Leagues and End of Year

Well, the end of 2010. Can't say it was our best year. Nothing bad happened, but a few goals we had did not get achieved - such as buying a house here in UK. So, we go into 2011 with a new set of goals and full of hope.

Today is the last day to get in on our Dead Pool league. See the previous blog post for details. Nothing ventured, nothing gained!

I tried my first NFL Fantasy League this year. I ended up 4th out of 12 with a 9-3-1 record. Not too bad. I might have to try that again next year. Still going on are the NHL and EPL fantasy leagues. I do these every year so if you want to get in next time, let me know.

The EPL (English Premier League) was the first league we did and it is getting an upgrade this year with the introduction of a trophy. Money was a thought, but a little too difficult with both US and UK friends. In honor of the recent Ashes, we are thinking of getting a trophy called 'The Titchy Urn'. No real ashes inside though.

Letterboxing goal would be to hit 1000 finds this year. Geocaching goal would be to hit 300 finds this year. Maybe I'll get out to the Dartmoor Spring Meet this year. Haven't been for a few years, so time to perhaps give it a go again.

Lots to do today, so better be off. Hope you had a Merry Christmas! Happy New Year to you! Onward 2011!

Dead Pool

I've entered a list on Stiffs.com in The 2011 Lee Atwater Invitational Dead Pool. You pick the celebrities you think are going to die next, and whoever gets the most right wins cash money!

But wait! There's more!

I've also created our own personal Boneyard - an invitation only private group that will allow us to see who amongst us (the cool kids) does the best. All you do is enter the game that is running right now, and then when prompted, enter this code:

ANNG4A

That's it. It doesn't cost extra, and it's just oodles and oodles of fun! Go! Enter! Hurry!

It's at http://stiffs.com/enter

Not sure? Give it a go. And ease your conscience by remembering and saying a little prayer for the dearly departed.

:)

iBand

Forget the music lessons for your kids, just get them an iPad!

Knitting & Crocheting

I am reading a cozy mystery currently that has crocheting as its theme. The storyline seems half decent, but I really know nothing about any of the yarn crafts. Embarrassing actually as my mom is quite good at all of them, even having done her own quilt and afghans. But it never passed on to me. So, I looked up some information (good old Google) and found this - with a video too. Interesting.

I'm starting to think I want to give it a try. But which one. . .?