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As was recently pointed out to me that i left you alone -since my last post- to wonder in silence, what had become of my 44 little lives.  Well, here are 30 of them. Here is what i call "chicken carpet."  It's naptime, and they're all huddled up together in a tight mass.  They look like a great big chicken fuzz rug....that wiggles a little. We sold them today.  And i'm afraid i was not finished enjoying them yet.  So i'm having a little bit of a downer.  I'm disappointed that i don't have any reason to keep the incubator plugged in right now, and that there's no reason to get up early to turn eggs, and that there's nothing new to see  --- or cheeps to be heard in the living room... And i'm disappointed about the 14 that didn't make it - and equally eager to start again and do better next time. On Saturday, after i wash out the incubator liner, i plan to choose 24 eggs, this time, and start again.  If i don't have enough suit...

Earlier this evening, we both heard a noise.  Both of us looked up and looked around.  James said, "did you hear a MOUSE?" I hadn't thought of a mouse.  I thought that it was our youngest chicken outside, Little Guy, who still cheeps like a little one. Then it dawned on me. Maybe i should look in the incubator. Sure enough! Our first hatch is a little male black sexlink, and the end of day 19. I know he looks like he's dead right there.  But he's not.  He's just a newborn/newhatch, and he's still working to get out of that dadburned shell.   I keep going over to the 'bator and cheering him on.  When i do, he perks up and peeps a whole bunch and works some more to get out of his egg.  It's great. Oh, that inspired me to look around a bit, and i have about ten more eggs pipped.  I may not sleep for a couple days.

I feel nervous.  Today is day 17 of my first incubator incubation.   Each of these 17 days, i have faithfully turned each egg several times per day.  I have candled my eggs on days 10, 14, and 17.  I have drawn on my eggs, made notes on my eggs about my eggs.  I have fussed with the temperature and humidity but not stressed out too much about my eggs.  Every day for 17 days.  I actually schedule my sleep around these eggs. Tomorrow is day 18.   Lock down. On day eighteen, i will carefully position all my eggs for hatching, i will add water to raise the humidity, and i will put the lid on my incubator.  And then i won't open it for possibly five days .  I won't get to touch them or turn them or write on them because they will be busy.  Forty-four little lives inside those eggs will be busily trying to get out. I really hope they all do it fast so i can hold them. See, because even if ten of them are hatched, i have to leave them...

I don't have to rant on this blog about the state of our country, and i'm not going to. I will say this.  I know that the solution is not in political campaigns.  Political campaigns, without God, will fail to bring new hope (the real kind of hope) to our nation. Today, i read something from our old pal, Glenn Beck. He has asked his viewers/listeners/fans to make a 40 days/40nights covenant to do a short list of items.  The first item on the list is prayer and reconciliation with God.  Please read this link.  It's not very long.  And add to your prayers, Glenn Beck.  Thousands of people are listening to him.  Let his words be from God. Glenn Beck's Pledge I can't not support a public figure who is asking the nation to pray.

I don't know if you're aware of this, but my blog silence sometimes indicates deep cogitations .  Well, sometimes, or about half the time, or at other times, maybe more like most of the time it does.  In any case, it recently does. Are you lost?  I'm just saying that my recent blog silence is to be attributed to recent cogitations.  That's my vocabulary word for today. Cogitations about what? I'm going to tell you. I think i go through stages.  Well, of course i do.  Everyone does.  The stages i'm talking about are in reference to this farming business dealio.  We'll expand and add and hatch things, and let things be born, and then get rabbits, and then......everything just has to hold still for a while to let us get a handle on things.  And then, after a while, things will be pretty much handled, the kitchen will get clean, the chicken coop will be pleasant (as chicken coops go), and then suddenly, we'll just really need to make some add...

Caution:  deep thoughts ahead. I think it was on Friday. Yes, it was. It was Friday. My incubating eggs had reached the ten day mark in their incubation, and i wanted to candle* the eggs.  ( *Candling is a means of viewing the inside of the egg, from the outside of the egg, by use of a focused bright light.  This method allows the "candler" to make judgments as to the development of the fetus inside the egg. )  But i kept putting it off because even though candling is a lot of fun, i had other things around the house i needed to do. And then it hit me. I was having work/fun confusion. I've never had work/fun confusion.  Ever. What's work/fun confusion? Let me see if i can explain. You know how your brain knows when the thing you're doing is something for fun or for work?  Like if there's a sink full of dirty dishes - or poopy nasty rabbit cages to clean - and you choose to watch a sappy movie and eat popcorn instead of doing dishes or cle...

A long time ago, a hen named Kuku, hatched out two beautiful little chicks. There was Edgar.  Edgar had a hard time getting out of the shell and i helped him out.  They tell you not to do this sort of thing, but it seemed the only option at the time.  Edgar did very well after a little bit of assistance.  At the time, we thought Edgar was a little lady, and we named him Lily.  When we figured out that he was not a Lily, we transferred his name to his female hatchmate. This is the true Lily.  She is a female black sexlink, the only one i've had to live to maturity. Edgar and Lily were the only chicks hatched to Kuku, and they stuck together like glue from day one. They have come to be SO close and SO independent that i have a very hard time taking pictures of them.  Most of the time, when i try, i just get someone's tush. Then, a few days ago, when i opened up the coop in the morning, Edgar was sitting in the floor of the coop, and didn't look...

This is Jan and Eva (a.k.a. Viking Granny a.k.a. Joy!) times 4.  They are the contributors of tonights recipe.  That's Jan, the brains of the operation, on the right.  Eva, the photographer and multi-send emailer, on the left. And this is Jan's Lazy Man Flan.  Let's get started. You're going to need a cup of sugar, a teaspoon of salt, 6 large eggs, a can of evaporated milk, a can of sweetened condensed milk, some whole milk, and vanilla, preferrably Mexican vanilla.  Oh yeah.  If you have cinnamon sticks, awesome!  If you just have ground cinnamon, that's o.k. too. Directions: Pour one cup of white sugar into pan and heat slowly over medium heat, like so.   (Commentary from Beth:  If you have never done this, as i had not before today, you should.  It's grand fun.  I had no idea you could melt sugar like that.  Also, and this is more important, be careful.  It burns easily.) When the sugar is melted (but not burne...