What did you do in the Apiary today?

[The Poot]

Yes, nothing lasts forever. A day and a half and my parents house is cleared and empty and the history of my youth is gone.

It’s very distressing and a sudden break with the past.
On returning to the South after my Dads funeral (inSuffolk), we found our house broken into and burgled.

Now, the thing I find most poignant is using tools that were my Dads, but I’m so very pleased I have them.

 

[Macbear]

It’s very distressing and a sudden break with the past.
On returning to the South after my Dads funeral (inSuffolk), we found our house broken into and burgled.

Now, the thing I find most poignant is using tools that were my Dads, but I’m so very pleased I have them.

Very sad about the burglary.
It is so good to have tools that carry memories. Today, I was digging using a spade belonging to my late father-in-law. When I paint for my model railway I use my late mother-in-law's palette, and she gave me my carving tools. Many of my woodworking tools were my grandad's. Handling these things stirs reflection that those people took care of the work they did with those tools and believed that "if you look after your tools they will look after you."
Yes, certain aspects of our past are lost. Good ones can be etched into memory. Bad memories are best learned from and then binned to be replaced by new ones.
A brief spell looking at my hives today. Maybe 4 bees per minute going through the entrance isn't much, but they remind me of happy times in the season and offer hope that my colonies will overwinter.

 

[roche]

So many of the tools and books I use were given to me by people whose memory springs to life again whenever I use the tool, or read the book.

 

[drex]

My dad was a moulder, constantly shoveling sand. When he retired he brought his shovel home. It had a mirror finish on it. Now the blade is rusty , to my shame, but I love using it.

 

[Penninetrader]

Memories are in the mind and if you should ever lose that then photographs would be as looking at strangers.
My mother, as keeper of the family photos and those school reports, in her latter years liked to tidy out things no longer needed, those things ended up at the local hospice shop or dumped in the bin. Unfortunately carers usually helped in the disposal and one of those disposals seems to have included all those precious documents she had been sorting through. The "minds eye" recalls some of those photos and their circumstances. In times past photos were few and far between for most folks

 

[Penninetrader]

My dad was a moulder, constantly shoveling sand. When he retired he brought his shovel home. It had a mirror finish on it. Now the blade is rusty , to my shame, but I love using it.

A good polishing up and some beeswax is in order

 

[Penninetrader]

So many of the tools and books I use were given to me by people whose memory springs to life again whenever I use the tool, or read the book.

I have many of those and I feel entirely comfortable when making use of them. My beek pal left me quite a lot of equipment, some unused, aside from his home made random sized frames for which I curse him, whenever I make use of them I always say thank you Trevor.

 

[JamezF]

Memories are in the mind and if you should ever lose that then photographs would be as looking at strangers.
My mother, as keeper of the family photos and those school reports, in her latter years liked to tidy out things no longer needed, those things ended up at the local hospice shop or dumped in the bin. Unfortunately carers usually helped in the disposal and one of those disposals seems to have included all those precious documents she had been sorting through. The "minds eye" recalls some of those photos and their circumstances. In times past photos were few and far between for most folks

I think the only school report I still have says something along the lines of me being able to achieve much more if I could be bothered to put the necessary work in Not quite sure why I still have that one.

Everything else was subject to regular clear-outs thanks to my parents moving house on a fairly regular basis. I think by the time I completely left home at twenty-one we'd lived in six different homes. In one eighteen month period I attended five different schools (and wasn't kicked out of any of them).

James

 

[Penninetrader]

I think the only school report I still have says something along the lines of me being able to achieve much more if I could be bothered to put the necessary work in Not quite sure why I still have that one.

Everything else was subject to regular clear-outs thanks to my parents moving house on a fairly regular basis. I think by the time I completely left home at twenty-one we'd lived in six different homes. In one eighteen month period I attended five different schools (and wasn't kicked out of any of them).

James

You are clearly adaptable, 5 different schools that was a tough one. My reports generally referred to my being a pleasant polite boy and much the same as yourself in that I was more capable than my efforts. I think we learn and place effort into things of our own choosing. Bees are the real challenge, they test our ability to master and understand which keeps myself and I suppose others engaged. I personally love to learn. I want to learn you have sorted that door lock and I am confident you will

 

[JamezF]

I think the only school report I still have says something along the lines of me being able to achieve much more if I could be bothered to put the necessary work in

I just found said report. It contains such gems as:

"I feel he could produce an excellent result if he pushed himself harder rather than merely coasting along"

"He is a clever and interesting boy, sometimes using his ability to cover up for a touch of laziness"

"He is too often inconsistent in his effort to have made any real progress"

The second was from my house master. In retrospect he appears to have been remarkably perceptive

James