Please, Why Not, How Come, It's Not Fair.....

What's wrong with me.  Haven't I learned anything these past twenty five years.  I should be absolutely brilliant at begging and pleading.  I could be the CEO of all begdom.  After all, I've had years of experience listening to my kids beg and plead for one thing or another.  The tool shed is out friends.   Sadly, the tool shed will not become my sweet little hen house.

"Come on" I was told. " Where would we put the lawn fertilizer, beach chairs, umbrellas and flower pots"?  Oh,  I know where to put them alright.  Believe me when I tell you I know exactly where they could go, but because I like to keep things civilized and polite I will keep that location to myself. 

So I will proceed to plan two .  A lovely little coop I fell in love with on this wonderful blog The Bok Flock.  The coop is really quite charming and size wise just perfect for my small yard.  Until the time that I have my own charming little coop complete with hens,  I will continue to  purchase my eggs from local backyard chicken keepers.

Egg-ceptional Cookbook...

 I remember the very first dozen of farm fresh eggs I received.  My sister Ann had just made the big move from Massachusetts to New Hampshire. Her new neighbors at that time were lucky enough to be raising chickens. Because they were exceptionally  friendly and welcoming the new neighbors gifted her with many of their hen's fresh eggs.  Being the kind and generous sister that Ann always is, on her next trip down from New Hampshire  a dozen of her neighbor's farm fresh eggs came along with her.  I thought I had died and gone to heaven
 

 
Their unique individual sizes and shapes as well as their distinct shades of brown and blue drew me in like a moth to a flame.  They were in a word gorgeous.  I immediately had to cook one up.  Could there some how be butter in these farm eggs?  How could they possibly have gotten butter inside an egg?  I had never had an egg that tasted anything like this.

So begins my love affair with farm eggs.  My hen love affair came much later when I heard the author of this wonderful book The Farmstead Egg Cookbook  by Terry Golson speak.  One Sunday afternoon late last winter I went to a lecture on chicken keeping.  Terry Golson was one of the scheduled guest speakers.  The enthusiastic way she spoke about her hens and the pleasure she received from chicken keeping spread quickly to me. I was beginning to feel this strange need to read as much as I could about chickens.  Could  all this chicken keeping talk be contagious?

I bought her thoughtfully written cookbook that day and read it from cover to cover in one evening.  Not only are there many delicious recipes with gorgeous pictures, but it's also peppered with stunning photos of  her hens. ( The hen above is from the Topsfield Fair this past fall.) Terry also has a web site called chicken keeping. It was here on her web site that my obsession began in earnest. Go here  to learn more about Terry Golson. If you are at all interested in keeping chickens Terry's web site is a must.  Even if chicken keeping is not on your radar at the moment, her web cam for the hens and goats is loads of fun.

WANTED.....A FEW GOOD HENS

Tell me what you think friends.  Wouldn't our old tool shed make an adorable chicken coop? (Please say yes.) There would be a fresh coating of new yellow paint for the faded siding.  The weathered white trim would welcome some new paint too and the  geraniums that would be planted lovingly in the window boxes would be the reddest of reds.  There would be an old worn rusty hook hung by the door with a wire basket on it for gathering the fresh layed eggs. Maybe there would even be a small sign on the door that would read HAPPY HENS LIVE HERE.

Time would be passed sitting on this old tractor seat that is buried  up on the hill. Time spent sitting and guarding my hens while they scratch and peck for worms and bugs in the backyard. They would have pretty names like Violet, Clara and Dora. I would affectionately call them my girls.  They would be well cared for, protected and loved.  They would be my happy hens.

My girls would lay the  freshest and best eggs on the street.  Shhhh, (we won't mention that they would be the only girls on the street.)  My girl's eggs would be free. Given only to people who value and appreciate there worth. I would know the feeling of satisfaction from a job well done and a dream fulfilled. Hmm, sounds like my dream has found some roots.  


"There are some people who live in a dream world, and there are some who face reality, and then there are those who turn one into the other."
         Douglas H. Everett