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Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Crack Under Pressure

Have you ever held an egg in one hand and just squeezed?
You know how it doesn't break?
Well this one crackled as soon as I touched it.
It is also a lighter color than any other egg from Kathy and Eleanore.
I went to throw it in the woods, it cracked some more before it left my hand and then, instead of following a nice arch through the sky it just kind of fell.

I'm not real sure what this means.
I'm looking into it.

Friday, June 24, 2011

Zucchini by Candlelight

Amusing myself during a power outage... which by the way, is out again.



It's too bad I can't rotate this now. I'd really like the top left to be the bottom right. Or maybe not.



Which one of these is not like the other?

So. That's my produce.
(and an interesting/decent shot of tea lights if I do say so myself)

Thursday, June 23, 2011

The Coop Remains


Although I had imagined that I could turn this:


into this:
I am happily surprised by the robustness of the shanty. It is standing as strong as it was when I first brought the ladies home, even through this rash of high wind, heavy rain, storms we have been getting.

However, I just happened to come across this beauty.


So, given some time and more motivation than should be necessary, Kathy and Eleanore might see this in their future.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

ConsumptYum

The battery charger for my camera is still packed in the backpack we took to New York City. Otherwise, this sentence would be a nice picture of home grown produce on the kitchen table. Zucchinis and Squash to be exact.

Aaron fixed dinner last night (that is a pretty regular occurence) and decided to throw some zucchini into the mix. At first I doubted the tastiness of the combination, but it turned out great. (We were having carribean jerk marinated chicken and pineapple if you were wondering. )

Friday, June 17, 2011

All of my eggs...

...in one basket.

My memory isn't real clear on this, but I am pretty sure this fine wire basket came with the house. As in, it was left behind. My mom thought it was pretty nice and encouraged me to put it to use. Most of the time I just carry the eggs back to the house in my hands or whatever empty vessel I happen to have with me after dispensing food/water. Sometimes they end up in a pocket.

When my mom was taking care of Kathy and Eleanore she used the pocket method. Since she often walked over with her dog, she needed to be able to hold the leash. Apparently, not every egg made the long voyage unharmed.

This morning, donned in my polka-dot boots, I collected 4 eggs and carried them home in the wire basket for the first time. I don't think it will be the last. It certainly was easier than juggling eggs and a door knob!

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Squarsh

Just felt like throwing an "R" in there.
Oh man! I forgot to get a picture of the foliage on these zucchini and yellow squash.
It is incredible. One leaf could completely shade, say, a rabbit!

Actually, one rabbit tends to flee from the squarsh jungle every time I water it.

 Just a couple more days until Zucchini Bread! Mmmmmmmmmmmmn.

I apologize for the hurried manner of the photographs. I took them this a.m. before work and the battery in my camera was running low. I just felt the blog needed some pictures, it has been a couple days.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

The Economics of Eggs

I just returned from Tractor Supply, where I bought my 3rd bag of layer pellet.

1 - 50 lb bag costs $16.45 after tax, tag and title. (Ok, just tax)
2 - 50 lb bags cost $32.90.

Guess how many eggs were laid with just 100 lbs of feed?
About 330 since the first egg in November.
That is a little over 10¢ an egg.
So for a dozen, $1.20.

For a dozen "cage-free" eggs the price is around $3.00.
And just to let you know, I am never so cruel as to cage my eggs. What?! I suppose you are expected to infer the hens are not kept in cages, but that is not what the name suggests.

Dwight charges $1.50 for a dozen of eggs from his flock.  (He used to charge $2.00.)

I don't charge anything, but I don't turn down baked good barters either.

I have no idea what a dozen large, white, grocery store, house name, eggs cost anymore. They never make it on the grocery list anymore.

Monday, June 13, 2011

Fill-in Farmer

While Aaron, my dad, and myself were on vacation, my mom took care of the mini-farm.

Kathy and Eleanore were very pleased with her attentiveness to their food and water. They told me themselves.

The plants in the yard were also very grateful to her for watering them. You should see the size of the zucchini plants now! The second round of cucumbers are coming in nicely too.

Thanks, Mom!

Charlie dog spent the week with Eric, Olivia, Ally and Myles dog.

Pretty much everything seemed to be in order when we got home.

Sadly, I have not seen my girl Violet. Maybe I really was the only one that loved her...

Checking In

 Last Thursday, Aaron, my dad and myself got in the car before dawn and started driving to CT. This is the house we stayed in while there. Beautiful New England. (Thanks Dan and Marianne!)
 Aaron ran his first 1/2 Iron distance triathlon of the year at Rev3 Quassy. I got to finish with him.

Aaron and I took a train into NYC.

 
On our way back to TN, we stopped in Pottsville, PA to tour America's Oldest Brewery. (My dad smiled as soon as I put the camera down.)
One more stop in Glade Spring, VA to Giardino's. Amazingly, calzones and cannolis were spared by the recent tornadoes.

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

ArithMAYtic

46 eggs for the month of May. 

At first that number doesn't seem quite right. 
Maybe I missed a few tally marks here and there. 
This evening, though - no eggs.
It is HOT...
maybe Kathy and Eleanore just need to get acclimated.
I know I do. 

0 Traumatic events for the month of May.
That is pretty good considering the kind of weather we have been having.
As in: Stormy. Tornadic even!

8+ new visitors to the coop in one day.
City dwellers are particularly interested in how agricultural animals are kept within the city limits.