Double Header!

Yesterday my star egg layer laid a HUGE EGG! I broke it open today and it is a double-yolker! Look how pretty it is!

Note the eggs in the carton. My star egg layer is young yet, and when they are young, their eggs start out small and get bigger. The ones on the right are the oldest, and progress on to the left, with the double-yolker on the left end. She has laid 15 eggs now and even not counting the double-yolker, they get bigger every day.

This is another example of things you don't see when you buy store-bought eggs...everything is very uniform and delightful surprises like this really don't come along. I made a lovely dish of scrambled eggs with muenster cheese and smoked Polish ham with this egg. ~Yummy~!

Delighting in the Wonder of Imperfection

My chicken Qweety's twin blue eggs got me to thinking. Pretty much anyone who grows things themselves appreciates the imperfections that come with the privilege of growing, I think. My mom taught me that early on, and we would marvel at the quirks that presented themselves, like the carrot I pulled up one day. Or so I THOUGHT it was just one carrot...it turned out to be TWO carrots twisted around themselves in a spiral. I wish I had kept a picture of it!

I have a theory that people who do not grow things (whether it is plants, children, or animals) have not yet discovered the full depth of life's meaning. I think that the serendipity of these events, such as the double egg here, from the Backyardchickens.com forum, lends a deeper understanding to the already intricately complex world God has created. I think this is God's way of reminding us that He is capable of anything, He is in charge, and He loves us and likes to surprise us with these little gifts.

Gifts can come in two, no three, types--practical and beautiful, or both. Take this pretty ear of corn from my garden this year--notice that there are TWO EARS within the same package! How wondrous is that! But what to do with the smaller ear? The sugars haven't fully developed, so it doesn't taste that great. I ended up giving it to the girlz (chickens). They are mini-garbage disposals and will eat just about anything, and give me beautiful compost and pretty eggs in return. Perhaps when my chickens come to the end of their laying days, they will serve another purpose as stew meat. MAYbe. I have fallen in love with my three girlz, but a chicken is still a chicken. And that is the cycle of life.

Talking about eggs, there are all kinds of other ways eggs present themselves.

• Wrinkly Egg--shell is hard, but wrinkled.
• Water Balloon Egg --these are shell-less eggs, with just the inner membrane holding things in. They feel just like water balloons when you pick them up.
• Double-Yolker--two yolks in one egg! The egg is usually easily visibly larger than the others.

I feel sad for people who have not spent time learning how to grow, and thereby learn to be resourceful. I think it is far too easy to get caught up in the uniformity of a non-agrarian or childless life. I have a feeling that that type of life all too easily funnels one into a uniform, pre-fab way of thinking. Like when I go to Costco and see the produce sold in clear plastic compartmentalized clamshells, with the plastic formed perfectly to fit 12 mangoes or 24 apricots. Where do all of the double apricots and oversize mangoes go? I'm hope the grower/packer sends those to some type of food processing venue, and if they don't, shame on them. But if you would just shop at Costco, you would think that all produce is of uniform size, all chicken breasts handily fit into the same size plastic packages, and pineapples are always THAT sweet.

Those of you who grow things as I do, we know better!

Thank you all!

I started this blog to write about things I find interesting, and hoping that others would enjoy reading about these things. I didn't know I'd have five followers though! Maybe that doesn't sound like a lot to you, but I'm new to blogging and it seems like a lot to me!

Thank you all for your interest, and let me know if there's anything about which you want me to write!

A Slice of Wildlife

It has occurred to me that my garden
is probably a haven for not one, but many types of, butterflies. I have planted plants specifically to attract them--the usual monarda, penstemon, trumpet vine (see Yellow Swallowtail to right), butterfly bush (a HUGE hit), and coneflower.

What I didn't know is that they are also attracted to roses, as is this Red Admiral on my Cinco de Mayo rose.

And the white-blooming Late Boneset plant, well, I did not plant that and I know not from where it came, but check out the Skipper visiting it.

All manner of bees and wasps and other little flying stinger-enabled creatures also love Late Boneset.

Right now there is a Black Spicebush Swallowtail taking serious inventory of my purple butterfly bush. Later on, the warmed bricks of my house will serve as resting places for Question Marks. If I am really fortunate, I might see an American Painted Lady or even a Mourning Cloak, but that doesn't happen too often. I have a better chance of seeing a Monarch, Viceroy, or Cabbage Butterfly.

It is a real treat to see such a variety of butterflies in my garden!

Like a Child with her Finger Stuck in the Door!

As some of you know, I have 3 indoor chickens. I got them on March 24, so now they are 20 weeks old. My Australorp is a sleek iridescent black number who is lead bird, as she has the most nerve and curiousity to investigate all new sounds and scenes first. My Buff Orpington (a.k.a. Fluffernutter) is soft, docile, pretty, easygoing, and cuddly. My Easter Egger is, well, let's just say, entertaining. She is not the sharpest tack in the box, but she makes me laugh.

For the last 3 mornings she has been yelling like a child who got her finger stuck in the door. She has been downright OBNOXIOUS! It has seemed that she was so distressed, yet I could not see the reason why she would be screeching with such unrelenting abandon. I started to look on the internet today for clues as to WHY.

All of a sudden things got reeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaallllllllllyyyyyyyyyyyyy quiet. I went over to the coop and here she was, hunkered down in a depression she made in the bedding, under a ladder against one side of the coop. Her eyes looked glazed over, as if she were in a deep trance. I decided that she was concentrating on SOMEthing (I suspected getting an egg out), so I left her alone. I went back in 15 minutes, and she was throwing bedding onto her back. 15 minutes later she got up and LO and BEhold, there were not ONE, but TWO BLUE EGGS! I was elated! OK, still am! I knew she would lay colored eggs, but to get TWO on the first try...well, how rare is that?

In a few minutes, she shook herself off, then hopped over to the forage/spa area and joined the others in some QUIET exploration and digging and had a long luxurious dust bath. She is the star of the day!

I suppose if I were she, I too would be pretty

vocal if I had 2 of these things in me! I wonder if she was scared, or just complaining that she was READY to have these eggs already!

Kind of like a pregnant woman who is overdue.

Well at any rate, my little baby grew up today and became a woman. I'm ever so proud!

How to Walk

In the hustle of a major city, in pouring rain and hefty wind, 6 blocks from the train station to your job which you hope you can keep when you move, God knows when, to be with your soon-to-be-husband! :

• Extra-big-jumbo ziplocs for your computer, your paperwork, your cell phone(s), and any other precious cargo in your bag.



• Umbrella. Don't buy an expensive one: the metal handle will get bent and twisted and make it difficult to put back into that compact little handle. The braces might get bent and/or break, too



• Grip. Your. Umbrella. Tight. Ly. As in, White Knuckle. Winds like that are apt to snatch the umbrella out of your hand before you even feel the wind!



• Umbrella ettiquette: If you are walking and someone comes walking the other way and space is tight, the one with the most testosterone and/OR the bigger umbrella lifts their umbrella up so you don't have to. Yes, there IS courtesy in big cities!



• Raincoat, microfiber, preferably with hood in case you suddenly discover that your broken and sad umbrella is taking a swift trip down the block. Your clothes will thank you.



• Footwear: Athletic sandals that will take a splash in ankle-deep curbside impromptu lakes, OR...some really cute Rain Boots! Here we have Rain Boot Paradise. This was taken at the Farm & Fleet in Appleton, WI. I was in HEAVEN. I LOVE cute rain boots!

What can YOU get for $2?

This entire pile of produce in this picture cost me $2.

Having the chickens, I've been brainstorming about ways to feed them fresh fruits and veggies on the cheap. I know that grocery stores throw out old produce, but I was curious to see what constitutes a "reject". Grocery stores live and die by the quality of their produce and their meat...it will drive a customer to, or away from, a store. So I had a hunch that the produce they threw out wouldn't be that bad.

I called up the produce manager of a local store and told him I was trying to help feed chickens economically, and he agreed to call me when he had a boxful of rejects. This Saturday he gave me a call, and I retrieved a whole banana box of scratch-and-dent produce for the low low price of TWO DOLLARS! Here is what I got:

6 heads of organic broccoli

about 14 apples

1 beautiful pear with one tiny blemish

5 bags of precut stirfry (YUMMY!)

1 bag of celery (for the birds--not a fan of celery!)

I made an amazing stir-fry with those cut veggies--they are wonderful. They had only gone out of code the day before and still looked really good.

OK so I am sharing the birds' food but this produce is in just-about-perfect condition. WHERE was this going to end up? THE GARBAGE. What a shame, but what a good thing that I got it!

Stewardship...fiscal responsbility...conserving resources...food for thought................................