Duck Eggs With Lovage & Chives

Eggs, farm fresh eggs laid by my poultry. Chickens, ducks, & turkeys I tend. They are fed not only commercial poultry feeds, but fresh greens from our gardens. The large white egg in the lower left of the picture is one of many eggs laid by my flock of ducks.

This is one of my Pekin ducks. Yes, she looks like the duck you see in the insurance commercials . ( I love those commercials )My Pekins are spending most of their time sitting on a clutch of eggs. Since my flock of ducks has been very prolific this spring in their egg laying I take quite a few for our consumption.

I have a herb garden where I cut herbs for home cooking, and when you have an abundance of farm fresh eggs and farm fresh herbs you have the makings of some good eats ! Above you can see the lovage I am growing in my herb garden. Lovage tastes like celery,is very tasty in salads and also...

...with eggs. Here are some of my eggs pictured with herbs from my garden. Lovage ( upper right ), chives, and thymes. ( left )

The duck eggs are the big and bright orange eggs. My ducks free-range which enables them to eat all the grass and greens they desire. The greens are what give eggs their bright orange, almost red-orange color. If your eggs are this richly orange you are eating some good eggs ! I whipped these eggs up with freshly chopped herbs, seasoning salt, and cooked them up for dinner the other night. My husband & I sprinkled grated cheddar cheese over them, served them with buttered toast and YUM !

I am joining the Thursday Farm Acre Blog Hop* today. Please check it out, you will learn so much as you visit the blogs participating in this Thursday event even if you do not have a farm or acreage . I hope your weekend is full of blessings and the enjoyment of this beautiful world God has created for us. "It is I who made the earth, and created man upon it. I stretched out the heavens with My hands , and I ordained all their hosts. " Isaiah 45:12

Alice In Wonderland Teacup ~ Tea-Time Tuesday

 When my husband drew up the plans for our home here on Cedar Pond we knew we wanted most of the windows in our home to look out on Cedar Pond. Now we have a view of this pond through our front room window in all seasons, and we love it. Today the view showed me a stormy day.

 A perfect day to stay inside and sew.

 I am sewing a patchwork quilt of fabric one of my granddaughters chose for her bed. I gave her a 4 X 4 inch cardboard square to trace and cut out squares from fabric she chose  for me to sew her quilt. My granddaughter  traced and cut out hundreds of little squares for her quilt and today was a perfect day to sew  the squares together because there was no other work demanding immediate attention after I fed my animals. I could not garden in the down pouring of rain. I made myself a cup of peppermint tea and drank it from this teacup, a gift from my sister Karen, as I sewed many squares of fabric together to make a patchwork quilt for a granddaughter.

 The teacup is from Disneyland , but I think you could have guessed that as soon as you saw the photo. The quilt is barely begun in this picture. The puzzle for me is how to bring the differing fabric squares together to make an over all pleasing design for my granddaughter. I need some more tea and time to think about this.

 I have many friends & family who love Disneyland and all things Disney. I have never been to Disneyland, but I hear tell they love it and visit it as often as possible. My Alice In Wonderland teacup is from one of my sisters who also loves the magical land and especially sharing it with her granddaughter. I am honored she chose to give me a teacup that is a token of her good times in Disneyland.

Peppermint tea in a sweet teacup on a very stormy day spent sewing a quilt for a beloved granddaughter. A very good day for me.

When I look out my windows and see Cedar Pond I remember the many good times here with family & friends I love. I know I am blessed. Sip a cup of tea in your favorite spot at home and remember you are truly blessed !

 

Tea-Time Tuesday is hosted by these ladies , pop in and spend some time with them !

 ~Rose Chintz Cottage *

~ Martha's Favorites *

~ Artful Affirmations *

~ Bernideen's Tea-Time Blog *

~ A Delightsome Life *

 





 

Farm Junk Planters

 A person can get pretty creative with old farm junk. Old rusty chicken feeders and waterers make interesting and even quirky planters.

 This old rabbit feeder stuffed with pansies and lobelia hangs on my feed room door.

 The sedums and Ajuga come up every year all by themselves. I have only to remember to bring the junk out from behind the chicken pens where I hide it during the winter months. Sometimes I add a little topsoil or compost .

This pile of farm junk sits at the fence line separating our back yard from the woods behind the house  and close to my chicken & sheep pens. Momma hen has been taking her new little chicks for walks around the junk . The hummingbirds are enjoying the blue Ajuga spires. The wild birds perch on the old stuff as if I put it there especially for them.

I have a bit more junk stashed away . My visit to the Country Chicks event in Rochester, WA last week has inspired me to use it all or get rid of it. ( I know which option my husband is hoping for.)

Today I am joining the Thursday Farm Blog Hop * .

Country Chicks Big Event ~ Rochester, WA

 A friend posted an announcement about the Country Chicks * event to be held on a farm in Rochester, WA last week. On the spur of the moment I packed up my sunglasses, sun hat, bottles of water, loaded up our dog Hawk, to discover what all the excitement was about. Rochester is about 45 minutes away from my home. It was a pleasant sunny day and I knew the drive would be scenic. I took my time on this sweet country drive using back roads going past small towns and farms. This is just a sample of the many, (and I do mean MANY ) booths presented by the Country Chicks , offering a variety of vintage and farm junk gone creative for sale. I will leave off commentary for you to peruse some of the pictures. Click to enlarge any pictures you might wish to further scrutinize.

 What did I buy? Well, since I discovered my whole place could qualify as a Country Chick booth, I realized I lacked nothing for pretty much any of the items that caught my fancy. I only bought this bird cage stuffed with bedding plants. Yes, I do have several old bird cages in my feed room, but the price of this bird cage was cheaper than it would cost me to buy all the plants stuffed into it to turn my own cages into centerpieces. Plus, now I have the tangible idea of this planting here for me to remember to plant up my own farm junk!

Some people's idea of junk is another's idea of treasure, and my day with the Country Chicks inspired me immensely. I decided if I cannot use the last of my farm junk by the end of this year by creating and crafting worthy projects I will really sell it or donate it to those desiring it. How about you ? Do you use your seemingly worthless farm & vintage items to create interesting items for your home, garden, or friends?  Do you sell it at bazaars or on-line? Is it fun ?!?

As I told my sister & husband about my day with the Country Chicks I also informed them that if I should drop dead anytime soon, they only needed to add price tags to most everything around the place to cash in on my "estate" ! All in all, the sunny day driving in the country, seeing the local farms, enjoying the fresh air, and strolling through booths that all reminded me of my home, also reminded me life is good, we are blessed, and anyone can take the bad things in life that might be considered trash or tragedy and turn them into treasure. It truly is in the eye of the beholder.

Happy Dog

Our happy dog Hawk just soakin' up the sun on a beautiful spring day. I hope you're enjoying sunshine too !

Laughing Dove Cafe' ~ View from The Porch

 My husband designed and built the grape arbor to the left of the photo. The scroll design reflects the scroll with the dove he crafted for the roof line of my dovecote. These two structures tie in with the kiwi arbor he built which is in front of the dove cote but not shown in this post. This is the view of the arbor and doves from the front porch.

 My husband built this nice big , sturdy table for outdoor gatherings in what we call The Laughing Dove Cafe'. You can see all the way down to Cedar Pond, in the right background of this picture.

 We have a  swing by the pond in front of the fire pit , along with some wood benches. There is a very large bullfrog that sits by the swing and I startle him into leaping into the pond  every time I go down there. You'd think he'd be used to me by now and know I am not going to kiss him to turn him back into the prince I know he must be. I already have my prince!

 Can you see the curved swirls my prince, my bee-keeper , put into this arbor? Can you see the bright yellow goldfinch perched in the grapevines growing around this arbor?

The ducks waddle by the arbor on the way to the pond. Another beautiful day in the Pacific Northwest, enjoying the beauty of spring and the many blessings my husband, my prince, my bee-keeper has given me. Blessings we share together. Thank-you Jim !

Gardening Around The Dovecote

 This flower container is along the picket fence leading to our dovecote. The pansies surprised me by coming up again this year along with the pink phlox behind them. The phlox won't bloom until mid-summer, but they'll be more than 2 feet tall and fill the air with their sweet scent.

 This is the view from the other side of our front porch. The front porch wraps around two sides of our home. The grape arbor has 2 seats under it and provides a very cool shady spot to sit in on hot summer days. At the end of the fence, upper left of the photo, is the dovecote my husband built me.

 I have 2 chickens in the dovecote too. They clean up the dropped seed and keep things interesting.

 I just finished cleaning up the flower beds around the doves. This year I set aside a week on my calendar to catch up on spring cleaning in the garden. The past few years have been hit & miss and our gardens have suffered. My husband has worked so hard to make the flower beds and herb garden for me and I want him to know I do appreciate his hard work. Tending the gardens is the best way to show that.

 I love the way this bird bath seems to emulate the scallops of the Lady's Mantle growing around its base. Lady's Mantle is named after the Virgin Mary. Dew and raindrops in the leaves look like pearls, and on very misty mornings each leaf looks like it has jewels all around it. The drops often reflect eye-piercing rainbow colors when rays of sunshine hit them.

 Hostas & blue Lithodora.

The weather is so beautiful, especially now that it has warmed up. There are new blossoms and baby birds everywhere. Hummingbirds & butterflies too. Spring has finally arrived around here !