End note

Well, I said there would likely be an end note. In this case - better late than never! So, Kitty Boo Boo is turning out to be rather a spectacular cat. She loves to sleep on my daughters bed (see photo) and is happy playing and relaxing outside. She spends all night quietly indoors in her own bedroom (our closet - sleeping on my pair of winter boots) And never uses a litter tray! She prefers to wait until morning and go out quietly then. So much like a dog!

Happy to report that the dogs have accepted her as one of the family, except if they spy her outside, and then they believe its a fair chase, but she of course has the kitty sense to climb up high away from them.

Whilst all the moving drama was still ongoing, and we were still to-ing and fro-ing from our rental property, a neighbor stopped me one day, asking if I realized we had a swarm of bees on a shrub in the front of the house. 

Er, no, I hadn't.

He informed me that if they were still there the next day, they would likely stay, and I would need to get them dealt with. He recommended the exterminator. I thought this was odd, as bees are rather special and surely there aren't really enough of them? I didn't want to be single handedly responsible for contributing to another 3000 odd deaths. It was a large swarm! Being as crazy busy as I was at the time, I left the matter for the day, and went off to the new house.

That night, when I returned, I hoped they may have left, but no, they were clearly settling in for the night, snuggling closely to one another in perfect formation.

I went on the internet, and with a few pertinent keyword searches and a couple of calls, and, I might add, the wonders of Craigslist, I found myself on a call with someone called 'The Bee Whisperer'. With my descriptions, he decided it was indeed a large swarm, and informed me he would arrive an hour later to collect them, as night time was a good time as they are cold and quiet. OK then!

I was wondering quiet how one collects a swarm of bees, but my question was answered an hour later as I watched the young man vacuum them up into a five gallon water bottle, with a piece of foam at the bottom for them to bounce off of. Fascinating!

What will you do with them? I asked, curious and hopeful.
"I will turn them into little honey slaves," He said. Of course. Hopefully that is something they will enjoy.

I did try to take a picture of said swarm, but it was with my iphone and I wasn't prepared to get any closer, so you may just see the brownish area in the center of the bush picture?

Finally, I picture of the new trailer in situ - or some of it anyway. And that's my daughter outside the front door.