Larry Craigie's son gets married

Proud parents Larry and Dana Craigie at their son's wedding this past April.

Hummingbird Feeders and Bees

How To Keep Bees Away From Hummingbird Feeders—Tips From Duncraft

Each spring when hummingbird feeders go up, Duncraft begins to get calls from customers asking how to keep bees away from the sweet nectar. If bees or wasps are a problem, Duncraft offers these tips:

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Aspects HummZinger Ultra

Thank you for these tips, I'm definitely going to try them!...Allison, comment on Duncraft's Wild Bird Blog

Concord, NH (PRWEB) May 15, 2012

Each spring when hummingbird feeders go up, Duncraft begins to get calls from customers asking how to keep bees away from the sweet nectar. If bees or wasps are a problem, Duncraft offers these tips:
Use a hummingbird feeder with bee guards or bee guard tips so the bees can’t get into the nectar.
Try feeders that have no yellow in them. The color yellow could be attractive to bees. Duncraft has a huge selection of hummingbird feeders, many that do not have any yellow color on them.
If the “bees” are actually yellow jackets, a kind of wasp, you may be able to reduce the population with yellow jacket traps.
Move your hummingbird feeder to a very shady location. Bees prefer to eat in sunny areas. Distract bees with a saucer of nectar where the feeder used to be.
Make the nectar less sweet. Try 5 parts of water to 1 part sugar instead of the usual 4 parts water to one part sugar.
Spraying a very light coating of cooking oil on the feeder may stop bees from landing on it. But use caution not to overdo it. Oil on hummingbird feathers can be harmful to them.
A very small amount of petroleum jelly on the feeder flowers might also help stop bees from landing. Be sure to wipe off the excess so hummingbirds don’t get it on their feathers.
After hanging with fresh nectar, be sure to clean off sugary drips or spills on the outside of the feeder so bees won’t be attracted to the sugary scent.
Never use insect-killing chemicals around hummingbird feeders! It’s bad for the hummingbirds and may also kill beneficial honey bees!
Founded in 1952 and located in Concord, New Hampshire, Duncraft’s objective is to bring the joy of backyard birding to wild bird lovers all across the country. Mike Dunn, owner and CEO is constantly inventing and searching for innovative ideas in bird feeding—giving bird lovers years of bird feeding enjoyment, success and satisfaction.
Duncraft
102 Fisherville Road
Concord, NH 03303
603-224-0200

Joyce Powell Donohoe

Hello~ Happy Mothers Day!

As you all know this past week I went on a pilgrimage to Lourdes, France with the Order of Malta .My good friends Mary Pat Northrup (she would be called a Dame of Malta)and Ted Northrup( he would be called "V' on his name tag, which of course both of us being protestant thought he was the "fifth" come to find out he was a "Volunteer!!!!"),and ......my husband Peter better know there as my companion. All were by my side thru out the entire week.

I don't even know where to begin to tell you of this amazing journey !!!!

Right from the beginning at the airport and sitting 3 rows in front of me on the plane was His Eminence Donald "Cardinal" Wuerl.......Archbishop of Washington.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What a GREAT start!!!!

While waiting to board the plane for France the Malta's had totally organized us into color groups, (The Northrups and ours was purple......, how did they know that was Mary Pat and my favorite color!!!)The Malta's moved Approx. 300 people around the entire week(and that is only the east coast USA, another whole plane from the western US and another set of approx 300 to organize!!!)......We received a list of where we were going , times where we were eating and who were my "pushers" and "pullers".....while I rode around like a Queen in a rickshaw!!!!!! The best was... we get to the hotel and Peter see's 2 of the priests belly up to the bar and order 2 large beers.....well.........Peter was now very blessed, he is a very happy companion!!!!!!!

I'll just mention a few of the highlights........we did go to mass everyday sometimes twice, every one was beautiful, between the homily's and the choir, the organization of the priests giving communion...the basilica's were all different!! Since there were over 20,000 people, Malta's from every country they divided the basilica's up nightly, since we could not all fit in one building.The opening Mass was in the Rosary Basilica.......the stained glass windows were all the mysteries just beautiful.....I loved the homily he started out with "OMG" .....got my attention!!! My friend Kathy Hixon had made me a beaded bracelet that was a Rosary and she gave me a booklet on how to pray,perfect for me!!!! Outside the Cardinal was "hanging around" so Ted and MaryPat in her sweet way, got our pictures taken with him!!!!

The next morning bright and early it was our day to go to the baths.........You enter a room with 8 other ladies...( I of course got yelled at because I was talking and we were suppose to be praying!!!) they cover you with a sheet so no one can see you and they disrobe you.....then go thru the curtains where they wrap a cold sheet around you, say a prayer and down into the coldest water I have ever been in!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The ladies lower you in as you gasp because the water is so......cold......you are up and out in no time, you are barely wet they have no towels and they dress you right away....YOUR DRY!!!!!!!! AMAZING!!! So....of course Peter was hopping it would cure his arthritis in his knees and if he dunked his head maybe he would get more hair.....It would be just like him, to happen that he gets the miracle.....Then 3/4 of the men of the world would be coming to Lourdes!!!!!

That evening is a beautiful candlelight procession and Mass in the square outside the Basilica......thousands of people, and those Malta's have us so organized, time, ,place to meet how to proceed in the procession..........in all the Basilica's the sick in the rickshaws are parked in the front rows,and you turn around and see all the Malta's in there uniforms is breathtakingly beautiful!!! They come up and check on you thru out the service and bring you cups of Lourdes water to drink, they are truly amazing!!

The best was when you come out the Cardinal is right there to bless you PERSONALLY!!!!! I have pictures I will have to send in another email, a friend is coming to show me how to set it up........I tried but somehow could not get them into the email......

One day we climbed this Mt ....all the way up were these beautiful carvings for the "stations of the cross" ,Walking with me was Dr Patrick Walsh, he discovered the test for Prostate cancer!!!

Sunday we went to an underground Basilica (Saint Pius X) it looked like the SU Dome!!!! It seats 20,000 people!!! I found out later it was on TV.....wish I had known to tell all of you!!! The homily was in every language and so was the choir singing!!! AND you should have seen the priest give communion to all those people!!!!

I think my most moving time of all was going to the Grotto where Mary appeared to Bernadette in February 1858. To think of all the people in the world who have come here, as I have, to express their faith and pray... to drink the healing waters,giving them HOPE for a Miracle.The hardest for me was to see all the sick children.

Everyday at 5 you could hear in the square, beautiful voices singing, they sounded like angels.....we later found out it was the Nuns in the convent and we could go to Vespa every day at 5........so of course we want to do everything!!! So....up the hill we went to pray and hear the Nuns sing ,in the back the nuns made cookies and chocolate to buy...Y U M M M M Y Y Y Y!!! Another god's blessing for Peter!!!!!!!

Mary Pat and Ted had heard if you bring the Nuns eggs they will say a prayer for you......so........off we went looking for a grocery store bought the eggs and were in search of those Nuns to say a prayer for each of us. We found them after walking all over town.....we slept well that night!!!!!

Peter and I prayed and lit candles for our friends and family and prayed for world peace.And thanked Mother Mary for all our blessings.

Peter and I have made wonderful new friends.

We learned to pray as Mary had taught Bernadette to pray. This was one of the most spiritually enriching and emotionally uplifting experiences for both Peter and I

We are grateful to Mary Pat and Ted Northrup for inviting me to go on this pilgrimage and Honored to have been in company with the kindest, giving and unselfish people, The Order of Malta's.

God Bless,

Love, Joyce

Mark Hooper's mother died May 1st

Kathryn "Nicki" Zedick Hooper - 05-01-2012
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Kathryn "Nicki" Zedick Hooper, 91, of Beaufort, died peacefully in her home on Tuesday, May 1, 2012. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 11:00 a.m. Friday, May 4, 2012, at St. Egbert Catholic Church with the pastor, the Rev. Douglas Smiley, presiding. Nicki was born in Monticello, Indiana, on September 15, 1920. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry from Eastern Michigan University in 1942. In 1944, she married Irving Hooper and for many years they lived in Syracuse, New York, before they moved to Beaufort in 1978. Nicki was always active in her local communities. She was a volunteer with the League of Women Voters, Onondaga County Jail Ministry, Carteret County Democratic Women, Carteret General Arts for the Hospital, St. Egbert Women's Guild, and the Beaufort Historical Society Thrift Shop. Her watercolors of local nature scenes show her love for the North Carolina coastal area. She is survived by Irving, her loving husband of 68 years; her children, Tony Hooper and his wife, Norah, of Fredericksburg, Virginia, Mark Hooper and his wife, Penny, of Smyrna, Ann Hooper Hudson and her husband, Jim, of Grapevine, Texas. Nicki and Irv have six grandchildren, Matthew Hooper and his wife, Cynthia, Jonathan Hooper and his wife, Erika, Catalina Markham and her husband, Kristian, Joseph Hooper and his wife, Rachel, Royal Hooper, Hillary Hudson and five great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her brother, Tony Zedick and sister, Mary Zedick. The family will receive friends at the funeral home Thursday, May 3, from 5:00 until 7:00 p.m. In lieu of flowers, Nicki requested that donations be made to Habitat for Humanity, P. O. Box 789, Newport, NC 28570; Medical Mission Sisters, 8400 Pine Road, Philadelphia, PA 19111; or Carteret County Crossroads, P. O. Box 155, Beaufort, NC 28516.