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Get bees... it'll be easy... it'll be cheap... The real costs...

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Get bees... ... you can capture a swarm, but that needs drawn comb... so unless you already have bees... no. Today's cost? $225.00 - 300.00 for a NUC of bees. Basically a starter colony. 5 frames, drawn and filled with resources or brood. (I paid 175.00 back in 2020. I got a NUC bursting with bees. In fact, this new-beekeeper didn't know better and they swarmed within a month, even though they were in a bigger box and had plenty of room. If they want to swarm... they swarm.) The good part? If you establish a bee yard, that in itself is a swarm lure... I have captured many swarms in the trees just south of my bee yard...  You have a 10 frame deep box to house them in... great. But they will need 2-3x that before the end of summer. So, that is 20 more waxed frames, and 2 more (deep or medium or shallow) boxes (how ever you wish to extract honey from)... ~$100.00 for the boxes, 2.00 per frame. Approximately 240.00.  Sugar to feed a new colony. You have to feed them so they will d...
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Catching up... again

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Many things have happened since 2023.  My mom is doing fine, everyday she is just so happy to be here. The landscape seems to be a real source of beauty and joy to her. From exclaiming during car rides ('wheeeee") to telling me how many shades of green sees in all the trees... oh, and she loves telling people that she can see Arkansas from her house! LOL! But she misses my dad tremendously. Caring for an 88 YO who is basically healthy, but has given up is trying to say the least.  We constructed a new observatory building, bought and assembled the dome for the building. Unfortunately, along with the problems the build brought due to Bryan's diagnosis in 2022, the Shutter lift system just doesn't work. We have tried and tried to work with the system that came with the dome, but it is shit. I will blog on that more in depth. And of course, I have bees. Lots and lots of bees. It is within this world, where I HAVE to be calm, I HAVE to move slowly that I get solace. And ha...
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Another Estate Seller, another scammer.

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  Putting this photo here, because its pretty and for attention. Yes, I took this photo for a neighbor's cattle business. Back in 2012, a bit after my mother in law passed away, we had an estate sale to help us with the collected things from her life. Its was hard, and we were scammed. I am not speaking out of turn, the Texas Attorney General's office became involved, due to my blogging about it. That person not only scammed us but many, many others. She did time in prison.  Flash forward to 2023. My mom couldn't stay by herself anymore. We had space for her, but not ALL her stuff. I asked the real estate agent if she had a referral for an estate seller. Especially working so far out of San Antonio, it was gonna be tough. She had a referral for us, a nice couple from San Antonio. We met them in the house after we moved all the things mom wanted to keep and they seemed nice. They were excited and between projects and could fit us in right away.  I got mom moved (which is a...
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Location: 24376 State Hwy V, Myrtle, MO 65778, USA
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Catching up...

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  I've been away along time. A LONG TIME. The last post i created was in 2012. By then, this blog had taken us through my time at USAA, my departure through there, the start of my commercial photography business SnowPro Photography. I was too busy to post after that.  Flash forward to 2020. 8 years, whew. Where has time gone? Let's see. In a nutshell and in order: my daughter married, my mother-in-law moved in with B and I, my daughter divorced. B & I went to Italy on a Rick Steve's tour, my father became ill with the first of his long battle with cancer, I closed my business to help take care of him. B and I bought property out of state, moved, saw & photographed the 2017 eclipse in Tennessee.    We bought an RV, moved out of Texas & built a house on said property. I went back to Texas in 2020 and in 2021 for months at a time to help with my dad's care through his battle with the big C.   I keep bees now, and B built his observatory that he has alwa...
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How much is the doggy in the window?

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I am a professional. I work at what I do and try to maintain a level of professionalism and approach each project with a strong work ethic and an intense desire to exceed expectations. A few days ago, I was given a referral that a smaller group of professionals needed some new headshots (to be made during their weekly meeting) so they could have some marketing materials printed up. A simple enough request. On the surface. Let's dive deeper, shall we? What you get: my time to take your portraits. set up of portable studio. my equipment to take your portraits. my expertise and talent. planning time. retouching time. file archival. copyright transfer so you can legally use the image I create. And all the overhead, insurance costs and other "overhead" costs that are written into the price. So, when I say that my "one off" portrait creation fee is 125.00 per person, I mean that for one portrait I create, I give you at least 4 hours of my time, ...
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OPINION!!! 8 red Flags... bells clanging: Buyer beware...

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If you don't know me, ask anyone. I am as honest as the day is long. My honesty is something that has actually hurt my career: I was not "correct" enough to "gain favor." I call 'em as I see 'em. So, this is the story of my family's experience with a local company and my opinion of their customer service. This has been a tough year for my husband and I. We had been taking care of his mother for about 18 months when she passed away. My mother in law and I have had an always touchy relationship and she had a really hard life. We were happy and blessed to have been able to take care of her when she needed it. She never wanted to "sell or rent" her house after she moved in with us. So, there it sat, empty. She paid the higher insurance rates, and we moved the majority of her things here to my home.  After she passed away, we knew that we needed to liquidate the majority of her belongings. My husband did not have the appetite to go through h...
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Something to think about.

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Today's shoot: Charlie Gonzalez. Charlie Gonzalez event, SnowPro Photography I am a straight shooter. You know what I mean, when I say it. There is no pretense. I share my opinions when asked: religion, politics, social issues (or lack thereof). During my main work, I have had the opportunity to meet and "work with" many politicians. Too many to mention. Today, I had an opportunity to photograph Congressman Charlie Gonzalez, District 20. Texas Democrat. He isn't running for re-election (sorry to say). His statements were refreshing and honest. No "line" delivered. I have a few observations: 1. The majority of politicians I have photographed lean to the conservative side. 2. The majority of these politicians do not smile except during the hand shaking, greetings and posings. 3. The majority of these politicians are not genuine in their smiles. The politicians who smiled and who were genuine were mostly "progressive" - liberals. By...
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