You only eat store eggs? Huh????

Interestingly enough there are people who will not eat the eggs I produce at home. For various reasons.

Some have the perception that store bought eggs are cleaner and have tighter quality controls. I've even had someone say they just couldn't eat brown eggs....they grossed them out.

Others are really bothered by the fact that I have roosters and well, the eggs may be fertilized and have little well you know rooster stuff in them.

Occasionally there will be a tiny blood spot in an egg, and I don't have those special lights that illuminate them so any "blooded" egg can be removed for the selectively squeamish among us.

According to my "Storeys" chicken raisin' book, this blood spot is only a tiny blood something another that gets enclosed occasionally during the chicken's internal shell making process. Anyway, the same people chow down on red meat that is full of blood...why does a little spot in a egg that doesn't even show once cooked make a difference. I'm sorry, I think people are weird!

I carefully looked and found the best and the worst chicken egg production facility videos I could find. The first tries to be as fair as possible while still casting it's philosophy in a more favorable light. The second, well, its not for the squeamish. I do recommend that you look at both.

Then look at the pictures of my chickens free ranging with their rooster keeping an eye out for predators. There's also a picture of them in their night time coop.

The fact that production farm chickens are kept 6 or so to a battery cage and are never allowed to be a chicken in the sense that God created them is enough for me to decide to keep them myself. It hurts me to see anything kept in squalid conditions. I hate to see a dog chained. I hate to see a horse kept in a stall day in and day out.......It really does break my heart. I wouldn't want to live like that.

It's also a proven fact that chickens that are allowed to free range and eat grass, bugs, and seeds produce nutritionally superior eggs....and ask those that do love to get eggs from me....mine taste better too. The yolks are bright orangy yellow and the egg texture is superior.

I have no problem with eating eggs and meat. I do have a problem with people who do so, but don't want to see how it's done.

It Always Looks Bad In July....

...but look a little closer. After a three week road trip my heart was missing my garden and my head was filled with what I was going to do when I got home.

Calls home were filled with bad news...Mom-In-Law,"Oh, your garden looks terrible....I had Victor cut back all the vines around the edges and it looks a little better....but nooothing and I mean nuhhh-thing is producing....you are going to be so disappointed......blah, blah...the buuuugs are sucking everything dry and the buuhhgs...blah, blah, etc..." Me, "Well, we're having fun."

When I did see the garden, I was wondering if I accidentally planted Kudzu instead of Asian Long beans, and the weeds had grown as aggressively as every. Upon closer inspection I did learn that it was indeed long beans not it's Asian cousin. They have taken over it's corner of the garden and really isn't producing anything. I'll give it a little more time....but the melons!

Melons love heat. All of the melons are doing great. There are a few eggplants developing, and the peppers are producing like crazy. I have bells, pimentos, and chilies. Some pumkin vines are growing nicely and should produce pumpkins in time for fall.

Here is Tera holding a huge banana melon she grew.

Moon and stars watermelon.
If you look a little closer among the weeds you'll discover...another banana melon that's just about ready.
Satska's sweet melon.

Oriental Silver Line....

Here is what the inside of the banana melon looked like. I think we picked it a little early. All the flesh that was orange was sweet....In the back ground you can see a few figs that were left.

So I cut the orange part off and gave the rest to the chickens.

Very cool and very yum ....just like that.

Looooooooooooong Road Trip!

Sewing Room....um...Closet

Byron has transformed the little former "nursery" closet into my very own "Sewing/Craft Room". This amazing tiny space now organizes all my sewing, craft, garden, and hobby stuff. My Mother-In-Law always said I could fit New Orleans in Westwego! Really, it's amazing how much "junk" can be organized to fit in a small space with a little thought....and de-cluttering! The chair came from a salvage store that re-sells old hotel furniture. They have some really great stuff. I bought three very sturdy cafe chairs for $25.00 a piece. This is one of them.
Now I have a place to display all the vintage notions I have been collecting. The buttons and yellow yarn are from my Grandmother Tera's sewing box, the binding is from a bag of bias tape given to me by a friend, and the rest my daughter Seleste brought home from Grandma Rivero's house.

The boxes organize odds and ends, magazine holders organize: magazines, instruction manuals, and patterns. All of my reference books sit right at hand now.

My first repair was soon brought to me. I should have this Barbie skirt sewn up in no time Talia. That's a pic of Byron when we first were married playing his trumpet. By the way he's in California right now playing. Knock 'em out Baby.

There's plenty of handles and nooks for tucking all the cute things my girls make me. Including this bead bauble Talia made.

Baskets on shelves hold my yarn and fabric. Um, yes, I need to put the outlet covers on. Just noticed in this pic....and Byron needs to put the floor molding on.

A few titles...and I like 'em all...especially the SKIRTS! book. I've made several great skirts without a pattern since buying this book.

Seleste painted this awesome lacy owl.

The other side.

Now, excuse me....I'm going to make some knit skirts for my little girls for vacation!