Back in the groove

Wilson is settling in nicely, and, day by day, we are becoming familiar with his personality. 

It is fair to say that he is a good boy, but can be a little possessive and temperamental. His temper usually manifests as the occasional growl or barking, but these are becoming fewer as time passes.  He is wary of TP, and it is possible that this is because he originally lived in a home with a young man with anger issues.

However, the relationship with TP is improving slowly, and each visit will, hopefully, reduce Wilson's anxiety.

We also have Wilson booked in for castration in a couple of weeks, which should help with curbing his  hormonal behaviour.

Now, the reason I started with a summary of Wilson's progress was because today I unboxed the clippers as I planned to trim the fur on his face. This is another of those canine care activities that could go horribly wrong! 30% has been brushing him regularly and he seems to be quite happy with grooming, but, as they say, "the proof of the pudding is in the eating".

I put a #10 blade in the clippers and sat Wilson down. I have to say that he was an absolute angel to clip, and didn't even wriggle as I ran the blades over the sensitive end of his nose and over his eyes. 

That is another significant milestone passed in his integration in to our little pack.*

Phil the postie turned up shortly before lunch and carefully handed over a small package marked Live Animals in Transit. He is familiar with the honey bee requeening process, as he has delivered a few in previous years, and is interested in how the hives are doing.

I carefully opened the package and checked that the queen was alright. She is not particularly large, and I can only hope that her size will increase as she settles in to the hive and starts to lay.** I placed a drop of water on the queen cage*** and put it in a cool dark place until I was ready to introduce her to her new home.

The introduction took place in the early afternoon, and all I can do now is wait a week and hope that the requeening is successful.

The rest of the afternoon was spent thinning my carrots. I really must remember to dilute the seed more when I next sow a crop, as I pulled hundreds of mini carrots from the raised bed to make space for my crop.

So, here ends Wednesday's Journal entry. I'm definitely back home and back in the groove.

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* Mind you, I haven't clipped his feet yet!

** The massive assumption here is that the colony accepts her, rather than deciding that she is an intruder, and killing her!

*** I had no idea how long she had been in transit, so wanted to ensure that she, and her attendant workers, were hydrated.