Hello my bee loving friends.  2025 was a tough year with the loss of people I knew and loved, so I'm welcoming 2026 with optimism and open arms.  However, knowing, as I watch the world around me, that life has unconscionable hardships for many, I decided to take 20% of my Christmas market earnings to donate to charity:  The Canadian Cancer Society with designations to children's care and research, Change.org, Please Bring Me Home, and GoFundMe.  This is something I will continue at Christmas time.  

 

I don't spend a lot on myself.  I don't buy a lot of clothes.  I don't travel.  I don't get my nails and hair done (I'm happy with my drug store mauve nail polish and my grey coming in...I've 

weathered every stormy strand).  I don't go on art retreats to find myself.  I'm too busy working.  However, the one luxury I revel in is to attend The National Ballet of Canada and sip on a Kir Royale.  I am so grateful that I can have this pleasure once a year, and I enjoy every second in that elegant world for that day.  Real artists.  True talent.  This Christmas, my gift to my cherished sons and my adored daughter-in-laws was to see The Nutcracker.  How glorious to be there with the people I love.  It was an evening of stardust and moonbeams for me.  Very needed.  And of course, we loved "The Bee".  Hannah Galway was spectacular amidst her flowers.  I can only hope my bee babies are as happy in their hives, nestled away in their winter wonderland.

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My dear friend Jon, who lives on the land where I am lucky enough to have my bees, sent a photo of the apiary.  When I saw it, I thought, "All is calm, all is bright."   My wish for you, dear patrons, friends, and my family is that you feel the words of that Christmas song as you celebrate this Christmas season and approach the coming year.  If you can make time during these busy festive days, take five minutes and listen to the video below - "Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence/Ryuichi Sakamoto: Playing the Piano 2022" (December 2022).  It will bring beauty to your heart.  It has inspired me to have my piano tuned! :)  As you listen, leave winter for a moment, enter summer, and think about our little winged friends.  While I love bees, I also love dragonflies and fireflies.  I have seen spectacular swarms of dragonflies at the bee yard looking for food and have had them land on me, curious.  When I think of the firefly, I think of Sakamoto. He passed away shortly after that stunningly sweet, perfect recording.  Fireflies only blink their light signals soon before they die.  They give the world (and each other) one last glimpse of essential beauty and relevance.  Divine science.  I find comfort in Sakamoto's last Christmas present to the world by an artist who was regarded as quiet, curious, contemplative, and humble -  lovely qualities.  A seemingly simple song was left in a world that has sadly become more brazen and distorted.  I love the repetition in that piece of music reminding me that something is still here that is simple and beautiful, leaving me with light.  And bees?  Maybe that's one of the reasons I love them.  There is simplicity in what they do, and yet they too leave our world with something beautiful.  

 

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​So, dear ones, Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year. Thank you for your love, loyalty, and true kindness.  If 2025 brought you hardship and sadness, my heart is with you.  May you find joy, courage, and peace as you go through your days. ​​Wishing you a blessed holiday season. 

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So long 2025.  ​

Welcome 2026...so happy to see you!

 

With love and appreciation, 

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Rebecca ​​

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Cheers!