*road trip coming up with bee stings in tow

I am likely to be told that I am spoiling the men folk of my household once you all read this, but, well it is just the way we do it around here. I cook the majority of the meals for the household and when I am planning to be gone for a weeks time I like to prepare meals, treats, etc for my menfolk that are left behind.  On a day like today when I have a million things I need to get done, my kitchen ends up looking like this...

I am a VERY messy cook.  But when I am done.. I clean it all up...

I start out tomorrow to drive over to Georgia for weeks stay. The trip itself is really long over due and truth be told, we should all be going, but with the farm it really isn't possible at this time. I had another trip planned in my mind for some time now that would take place in the month of August, but the opening for that trip closed so I am taking the time to go visit family, so it all worked out.

As I said before when I take a trip that will be 6 or so days long I like to do things to make my dear husbands' life comfy and easy while I am gone. I make sure we are stocked up in the pantry area, clothes are done, house is cleaned all the way around and food is cooked to carry him over half way through my trip. With that having been said today I made a ton of egg rolls, a large shepherds pie, spaghetti sauce and an apple pie.

I had a list as long as your arm with things I needed to complete before I start out tomorrow. I did it! I am thrilled, the list is complete! I will open up a suit case and toss some things in tomorrow morning before I head out for the long drive.  One of the things we needed to get done before I left town was the extracting of honey from one of our hives.  Just this week, for my dear husband's birthday (my birthday, and Christmas for both of us), my dear mil and fil sent us a  Maxant Honey Extractor.  It arrived yesterday, we opened it and admired it. We all walked past it throughout the day and occasionally stopping to give it a whirl.  Today we decided to use it for real.  We harvest 5 frames from one of our hives today. I would have gotten all ten frames but the bees were all home, as it was overcast - not a great day to be working a hive. Plus on top of that I had to break off some (a lot) of honey comb they had built in a very awkward place in the hive. Needless to say, the were under impressed with me and my presence.   I some how managed to get stung 4 times while being fully suited. I was stung on my arm, my leg, the back of my neck (it hurts) and on my chin. I now look like Jabba the Hut. My chin just goes and goes down to the middle of my neck. It is just lovely.  I am hopeful that the swelling will be gone by the time I hit the road tomorrow. We ended up with 11 sweet pounds of amber colored honey!   I suppose the stings was worth the 11 pounds of honey.  

*chickens gone wild

I have found that to me, chickens are like potato chips. I LOVE potato chips. I LOVE our chickens.  And you CAN'T just have one! I seek out more egg customers before I have the chickens to fill the orders just so I can get more - makes sense right? I mean if there is a demand, there must be a supply.

We started out a year or more ago with 10 chicks that we purchased from a local farm supply store in the area. At that time we only had three different breeds, all good layers.  Since then we have increased to 10 to 15 different breeds and a total of 35 chickens. AND.. I am frequently thinking about more. I have a sickness and I only feel better when I add to our flock. HA HA.

On a serious note, we sold 14 dozen eggs a few weeks ago, some for consumption some fertilized for hatching.  We vaccinated our chickens this past week for "chicken pox" (better known as Avian Pox), and while there is no withholding time, it does cause their production to slow down a bit for a few weeks.  We sell 8 dozen a week to regular customers for consumption and have a steady customer who desires to by as many dozen as possible every few weeks or so for hatching baby chicks.  Speaking of baby chicks, one of our Australorpes has gone broody and has 13 eggs she is setting on now. OH! I just realized, that means I WILL have MORE chickens!  Some will stay and replace some of our girls that are no laying for one reason or another, some will likely be roosters (therefore.. meat birds) and some will be sold as young chicks to someone who needs them.

 Isn't this crazy. Absurd. Especially since Eric made sure that there were ample nesting boxes for the number of chickens we have.  Yep, it is true, they have their favorite box to lay in and they will pick at each other until someone wins.  I have also seen two head strong chicks stay in the nest together and lay their eggs on top of the other one if necessary. There were four chickens in this basket, but when I got back with the camera one had already thrown in the towel.

 On the far right end you see one of the largest eggs collected on that day, it was produced by an "easter egger" and beside that one is a regular sized egg, a large one mind you.  You will also notice what looks like a little marble, that is our Silkie's first egg. Isn't it the cutest thing ever? It was about the size of a quarter, perhaps a bit smaller.

 Down to two now, two Light Brahma's duke it out for the box. This went on for about an hour, yes.. I didn't have anything better to do than watch my chicken's fight over a nesting box.

 Say goodbye to Husan. Husan lost all of his manners once we added other chickens to "his" barnyard. The introduction of a few new roosters sent him over the edge. He flogged my mother as you might remember and he also began to show aggression to almost everyone who entered the yard.  If you look closely you can see his LONG bone spurs off of his legs, it had just gotten too dangerous to keep him around. Our neighbor has a friend who now had added Husan to their place. I am sure that he is glad he avoided the iron pipe (the instrument for breaking their necks here at Erilyn) at least for now he is safe. I hope he gets his manners back in order for his sake.