GREAT!!!

Today, shall be a great day!  I get to be the Watch D.O.G. S. dad today.  I also shall be doing my normal volunteering in the morning and afternoon.  On top of that, I get to volunteer at the school's book fair.  Should be a busy day.  Tanya won't be getting home until late because she has to bring the robot for the FIRST robotics competition to Seattle.

We got 5 eggs yesterday.  Lily grabs her basket every day and goes out to get them.  Its a huge celebration when she comes back in with 5 eggs.  The problem is:  We have 3 dozen eggs in the fridge now.

Lastly, and, I think, most importantly:  I HAVE A FOLLOWER!!!

And lastly...again...Yesterday, Lily said:  "Mommy told me that when you went to war, you got something in your brain.  That is why you yell at me sometimes."  All I can say is:  Ouch!  Anyhow, its not going to stop the great day today sooooo....  TTFN!!!!
 

Today, we only had 2 eggs.  Yesterday, we had 4.  I delivered the last of the girl scout cookies today.  Finally done now.  And, we have a few boxes left over...WOOT!!!

I need to soak the new plants we got tomorrow and then plant them.  Its a few different raspberry plants.  Some golden ones and some red too.  I can't wait for a couple years to pass so we are getting berries every year... I also need to finish the willow tree.  Its been windy and rainy so Josh and I haven;t been willing to take the rest of it out...  Hopefully, we can get it out of here this week and we can reclaim our back yard...

Steady Layers

Yesterday, we had 5 eggs.  Today, we also had 5 eggs.  We are getting 3 in the back crate and 2 in the front crate.  Kiwi has started laying in the front crate now.

I have put a piece of plywood over the back crate to give my ladies some more protection against the rain.   Now, they will only get rained on while they are moving to the crate. 

We haven't received any more visits from the ostrich lately.  I think it was just a bad day for one of them followed by a worse day trying to pass that huge thing.

In other news:  I filled out 4 brackets for March Madness.  Of the 4, three of them are now crap.  In the 4th one, I didn't pick any of the 15-2 upsets, but neither did anyone else.  So, it is fairly decent still.  Of the 10 million that are filled out on ESPN, it is in the top 200k....So, I am kinda proud of that.  Of course, that is the bracket that is picked all the favored teams in..so its not like I really picked anything.

Word for the day on Saturday:  PINCH!!!
And the word on the bad on Sunday:  Planting (As in:  Chris is planting raspberry plants in the rain and snow!)

TTFN

Pictures

This is the super sized egg we got from one our ladies.  Stress caused her to go a day without laying one.  When we cooked it, it had 2 yolks in it.  I am wondering if the egg would be even bigger if she went 2 days without laying.  And would it have 3 yolks?  

In other news...We got 4 eggs today.  I think that the new area they are laying in needs to be better protected.  Kiwi, out Americauna, laid her green egg next to the house today.  She has usually been laying them out behind the shed.  So, if it ever stops raining, I'll have to put a board over it. 

Ostrich eggs

     Today, I went out and looked in the back laying box and saw Kiwi, out Americauna, in there paying (I would presume)  About an hour later I went and looked and she was still in there.  However, she had been joined by Frodo, our huge Silkie.  I'm not sure how they both fit in there, but they did.  One facing each way.  A few hours later, I went and checked on the eggs and there were 3 in there.  (There were 2 in the front laying bow) 

      The thing about these 3 eggs is:  One of them was bigger than the other 2 combined.  And it wasn't because the other 2 were small.  They were normal egg sized like you would get in a carton of large AA eggs at the store.  The other one was jsut that big...Like...HUGE!!!  I will get a picture of it and post it tomorrow.  So, not really sure what would cause that...unless it was because whoever dropped that egg didn't lay yesterday.  So, its like a double-sized egg.  After I get a picture of it, I am going to cook it.  Because I really want to see if there are 2 yolks in it. 

     Thats it for tonight...even though its actually tomorrow already.  1:109 in the morning.  Too late to keep typing.  Nighty night, all.

Sad day.

Today was a sad chicken day.  Ginger, the only remaining original chicken we had was killed last night.  I forgot to lock them up in their house and something went in and attacked.  There were feathers in the hen house, and in a few other places throughout the yard.  I found her carcass in the compost pile.  I think the others had been pecking at her before I found it.

As a result of the scare the others got, we only had 2 eggs.  The others spent much of the day under the blackberries hiding.  Except when I fed them, of course.

Eggs, eggs, and more eggs

     Yesterday, I found 3 eggs total.  This was making me think that I still needed to find where the others were laying.  However, today, I found one under the back window (where we have been getting them) and later in the day, I found FIVE!!!! in the new area.  That means all the eggs are accounted for.  
     I put 2 milk crates out on Sunday where I found the new little stash.  Today, all 5 of the eggs were in the more protected of the 2 milk crates.  Before the crates, they were laying them in a little area that was protected by a board leaning against the shed.  I removed the eggs and the board.
     So, now we are in the eggs and Lily is ready to start selling them. 

Finally!!!

After a few days off, I am back:

Today, I decided to take out some black berry plants.  They have taken over a corner of the yard that 2 years ago had been cleaned out.  Now, there are plants that are thicker than one inch.  So, I got the thick gloves, the cutters, and the chain saw.  I had taken out an area of about4-5 square meters and what did I see?  EGGS!!!!    Finally, I have found where the others have been laying their eggs.  There must have been at least 50 of them.  (I plan on counting them as I break off the tops to use the shells for seed starts.) 

Now, our friends and family will really love us!!  We will start delivering eggs to them.  Having 6 chickens, i am guessing that we will be getting about 10-12 eggs every other day.  I am certain my cholesterol will not be able to hadnle that.  So, Lily will be selling any surplus and family will get some too.  I am SO happy to finally have found them.  Now, if someone wants to earn a few dozen eggs, I have some black berry plants that need to be taken out...Any takers?  Please?