Eggs, Heaven and Heirloom Quilts

Remember the two eggs Hubby found the other day in the big hen house? If not click here for the story. Since the chicks are all the same age, logic would say that all the hens will be laying very soon. Do the math... Never mind; I'll do it for you. Fifty new hens plus four older hens equals four and one-half dozen eggs a day! Of course, we'll be eating some of them, but even Hubby and his cholesterol club members can't eat that many!


We plan on donating some to our city's food pantry, and we'll sell the rest. Hubby says that will pay for the cost of having them. Yeah, right. Did I mention our hen house has vinyl flooring? Sure, we bought it from the remnant rack, but it wasn't cheap! We did use recycled wood for most of the house, and the shingles came from everyone's left overs. (The roof is patchwork.) We used free telephone poles for the foundation. The door and windows are all free recycled goods, but the siding is purchased, as well as the floor and roof joists.


On top of the building costs, you'd be surprised how much it cost to feed a bunch of birds! They need laying feed, scratch, grit, special things to put it all in. Don't forget the electricity for the heat lamps while they were young. Oh yeah, the fence... I think you get the point. Already we'd have to sell eggs for the rest of our lives to break even!


Just when you think I've covered the expenses... Now we need something to put all those eggs in. People don'[t want to carry them home in Wal-Mart bags. We only have about two-hundred saved, so last night I went online and researched egg cartons. They hatchery we bought the chicks from sell plain cartons for about 3.3 cents per carton cheaper than the printed ones from another supplier. (Would you believe eggcartons.com?) Hubby liked the printed ones. I don't blame him. They do look nice, don't they?
And for just a few bucks difference, why not. So I clicked on eight-hundred and went to my cart to settle it. At about $186 we could have a good supply of cartons. I enter my shipping information and click. Then comes the total... Add another $75 for shipping! OK, so Hubby's going to have to settle for the plain ones that are only 45 miles away! That is, if we can pick them up...


I knew somewhere there was a window to heaven, but I didn't expect it to be a double-hung. This was our sunset last night. Do you see the center bar of the sash?

I guess God wanted to keep out the flies and humidity.


With all the creative bloggers out there showing off their quilts (OK, just Grandma Nina), I thought I'd show off mine. Wish I could take credit for it. My daughter's grandparents made this. They passed away in the 1980's. I've had this in my cedar chest for awhile because it didn't really match my decor. I pulled it out because who cares! It's a work of art. This is it on my queen-sized bed...
It has a unique pattern. They were very serious quilters; they measured their stitches constantly to make sure they weren't spreading apart or cramming them too close. This is the border. (I know - duh!)
Noticed the stitched design in the white area? How about the heart? Here's a close-up... (You might have to enlarge to see the detail. I forgot to correct the exposure before uploading. Stupid camera!)
Every quilt they made was dated upon completion. This one is older than my daughter.
I am so thankful to have this to remember them by. It was such an important part of their lives. They sat together, side-by-side in front of the quilting rack for weeks upon weeks. When the quilt was finally finished, they would put the rack away for a while. Next thing you knew, it was back!

My 100th Goat, er,.. I mean post!

Actually, this is my 231st post, if you count all 3 blogs... but who's counting?

I've been meaning to post some pics of the goats for a while now. This morning I saw a cute goat photo on another blog, and it prompted me to grab the camera before the rain came. As usual, the goats were not very cooperative for the camera. They are sweet and loving, but they never stand still for photos!

When I uploaded the pics, I noticed this was my 100th post. So I decided to add a couple of extra photos to the post...

Below is an aerial photo of our farm, taken for county records in 2003. I labeled it so you would have a reference now when you read about the front pasture, etc. The property lines are marked in yellow. We own 2 tracts; one mostly open field, the other woods. The small area in the lower right labeled 'leased' is what I call the side pasture. We lease it for $1 a year. It's a little hard to see, but the red 'X' marks where our house now stands. The V drive now circles around, and in the center of it is the round pen. We built the barn first, then the house. We moved in on Hubby's birthday in December of 2003.

This is the way our farm will look some day... The photo was taken last fall. I embellished it just a tad. The pine trees on the right are much smaller and the front garden isn't finished yet. I erased all the parked stuff and greened up the front lawn. I had to finish 'building' the hen house, as Hubby didn't even have it under roof for this pic. Do you like the added touch of the white 'horse' fence? OK, maybe I'm dreaming there. It will probably remain the white electric rope that stands there now.

So there. My 100th post featured the entire farm. I thought that was appropriate. Now on to my intended post.

Introducing my other herd... the goats. Elvis has left the building, but he's now in my pasture. He had that name when we acquired him. He is much older than the others. Notice the nice beard.
Next is our only girl, Nanny. Real goat people think it's a sin to name a girl goat Nanny. Oh well. She's a real sweetie. Funny thing is, she also has a beard! The other two boys are the same age and they don't! Must be the water...
Mr. Universe... We call him Oreo. When he was a baby he had a big 'O' on his belly. Now it's grown into a 'C'. He has curly hair, and in the summer when it gets its reddish tint, he it absolutely gorgeous! He is also the leader of the herd, and the most brave.
Last, but certainly not least, is Derby. I call him my lover boy. He doesn't know when to stop eating, so he's a little chubby. He loves kisses and affection. Definitely my favorite! I named him Derby because of his white markings. When he was a baby, it looked like he was wearing an English saddle. Now that he's full grown, you'll just have to use your imagination.

We had two other goats that passed away last year. Biscuit was the runt of the litter, and silly Willie was the comic. It broke my heart when Willie died. He had the most comical personality. I miss how he made me laugh.

Our goats are Nubians, a large dairy breed. We don't breed Nanny, so we don't have milk. They work on keeping the woods cleared out, and have well earned their keep! They follow us whenever we take walks through the woods, and come running when I call them. They are not the smartest creatures God put on this earth, but they are certainly among the sweetest!