Farm Fresh Eggs!

One of my plans since going country is to raise my own chickens, or at least have laying hens so I can collect my own eggs. (The actual raising of the chicks will be a project in another year or two.) The advice I keep getting over and over in regard to my countrified adventures is, "Start slow. Don't do too much at once or you'll end up hating it." So my goal this year are to start a small vegetable garden (yet to be started, but we're under frost warning until Mother's Day!) and get chickens.

I admit my enthusiasm for the chickens has waned a little as I've researched types of chicken coops, providing electricity for chicken coops, cleaning chicken coops and keeping chicken coops safe from raccoons, coyotes, hawks and our dog! But yesterday re-inspired me... Our neighbor brought me seven of her little flock's freshly laid eggs.

At first I was captured by the color. They are so pretty! She had come over for an impromptu Easter egg hunt and I actually thought she was bringing dyed eggs for the hunt. I've never seen eggs other than brown and white. But these were pinkish brown with speckles and tan and a beautiful light blue.

BEFORE...

I've also heard how yummy fresh-from-your-own-backyard eggs taste so I was very excited to get up and scramble them this morning, although I felt a little bad about breaking those beautiful shells open. Especially the blue ones. Apparently, I'm egg color prejudiced. This morning I heard Patrick up before me and making himself breakfast. My selfish thoughts were, "Don't eat the fresh eggs!" and "I always appreciate it when he makes us all eggs, but please don't mix the fresh ones with the grocery store ones!" (I wanted a pure taste.) I know, probably not the best thoughts to have at 7:30 in the morning.

He made oatmeal.


The eggs have much thicker shells. And the yolks are a much darker yellow. Thankfully, no baby chicks inside. (I remember, when we were in New Guinea and my mom would get eggs from the nationals in the tribe, occasionally there would be a little chicken fetus forming inside, but my neighbor doesn't have a rooster so not much chance of that!)


The true test... the taste!

AFTER:

Well... the eggs tasted more like... eggs! They tasted like grocery store eggs, just more so, which might make you think they tasted "eggy" and that might not be good, but this is totally in a good way. Maybe less bland? A more dense flavor? I'm not a foodie. There's probably proper terms for what I am trying to describe. They also tasted "buttery" even though I did not use butter. I really, really liked them so again I feel my enthusiasm for researching and purchasing a chicken coop coming back.


The bacon on the other hand... I'm sure it came from some hormone, antibiotic injected hog off an assembly line type slaughter house. But I'm okay with that. I like bacon. But I have no desire to raise a pig!!

We take advantage of warm days here...

We love Colorado. One of the things we love is that even when it is freezing cold in the winter, unless it's snowing, the sun still shines bright! That was until this winter... We have had very little snow, but it's still been cold and it's been cloudy. Not a good combination in my book! So when we woke up to pure blue skies and 60-degree sunshine this morning, it was, "Everybody OUT and STAY out!" Thankfully, we have lots of fun things to do outside in our own backyard.

We are also blessed that Patrick works from home and he had an extra long lunch today. We got to go for our first walk as a family since moving into our new home. How sad it's taken us that long! But again, cold and cloudy....

I feel super blessed. If you know me at all, you know I'm still a little horse crazy. And our neighbors have a pair of super sweet ones that came running when they saw us walking down the road. Sadly, all we had was kisses and lots of affection for them. I plan to give our neighbors a call to see if they'd mind us giving them some treats.

And no sunny day is complete without a picnic on the back porch.

A picnic on the porch Daniel and Caleb promptly moved up into their playhouse.

As I was basking in the sunshine, watching the boys run around, being the wild, crazy boys God created them to be, I remembered a conversation Patrick and I had with a pastor shortly after we moved to Colorado. We were looking to become members of a local church and discussing with him how we could get involved. We were also very concerned that we not miss our "calling" for being in Colorado. He looked at us and said, "How do you know God didn't bring you here just to bless you?"

Today I thought, "Wow, God has so blessed us by bringing us here."

Yes, we are serving God. We continually check our calling and make sure it is in line with His. We are starting to see the reasons God suddenly moved us out to Denver four years ago... and now out to the sticks... but how amazing that He brought us to a place that we would love and our family would thrive.

Truly blessings beyond our imagining....