New Eggs

We are now up to four laying hens in our coop.  Trudy, the White Leghorn, has been laying white eggs since late September.  Shortly after she started laying, our first Easter Egger started laying light brown/pinkinsh color eggs.  This past Sunday we came home from church to find our first ever green egg!  We are pretty sure it came from Zoey, because she has been showing some of the same signs as the other two layers (bright red comb, talking & squatting a lot, etc.).  Just yesterday we found a fourth color egg in the coop; this one laying on the ground.  We are not sure who layed it, but are considering that it might be from Dixie, our Barred Rock chick.  It was a light, creamy beige color.  Here is a photo of the green egg next to Fluffy's latest treasure.  I think it is the biggest egg I have ever seen!

Crochet Critters

Here's a quick post for you crafters out there.  Last week at Michaels I found this cute little leaflet book from Vanna White's yarn line called "Vanna's Choice".  It has the patterns to make ten different crochet animals.  So far, I have made a hippo, an elephant and a monkey.  The hippo is my favorite.  Which is yours?

Our First EGG!

So, I haven't posted in a while and while I've been "away" from my blog, we have been blessed with about a dozen little treasures from The Chick Inn!  Our first little egg came on September 22nd.  It was from our White Leghorn girl, Trudy.  Trudy is from our second batch of babies and was just barely four months old when she gave us her first egg.  Since then, she has laid about one egg every other day.  White Leghorms produce the most popular eggs in America.  They are pure white and are what you would normally buy at the grocery store.  They will give almost one egg every day, which is why they are so popular with commercial egg producers.

Here is Trudy's egg (on the left) next to a store bought, grade A large egg (on the right):

Not bad for a first egg!

The one difference I just can't get over is the color of the yolk!  The other day I made pumpkin bread and needed four eggs.  I had three from our coop and one store bought egg.  I have a habit of cracking my eggs into a clean bowl before adding them to a recipe just in case there are any blood spots or - gasp! - developing chicks inside.  (It's just a precautionary thing I do.)  When I saw all four eggs in a cereal bowl I just couldn't believe the difference in the light yellow yolk of the store bought egg and the almost orange looking yolk from our homegrown eggs!  I wish I had sanpped a photo of the four eggs...I will the next time I make something that requires more than one egg.

Here is a photo of the inside of our first egg:

And here it is scrambled.  We split it into seven bites.  :0)

Cream Puffs

Okay, so it's been a couple of months since I last posted.  For those of you who randomly check my blog for updates, I do apologize.  It's been a busy end-of-summer around here and I will fill you in on all the details over the next couple of weeks. 

First, I wanted to share a recipe with you for cream puffs.  We had a church potluck dinner last Sunday and someone brought homemade cream puffs.  Did you hear me?  HOMEMADE cream puffs!  I got to thinking - especially since my husband LOVES cream puffs - that I wanted to learn how to make them.  Well, I got to searching this morning and found a recipe at Allrecipes.com.  (You can find it here.)  I was very pleased with the first batch and will make more.  They are so good!  And, when you mix the pudding you use heavy cream & milk, rather than just milk, and let me tell ya...that is the way to make pudding!  :0)  YUM!

The Shabby Chic Cottage Style Kitchen is finished!

Well, it has been a work in progress for a few weeks now, but I am happy to announce that the kitchen is finally painted and put back together.  I still have a few finishing touches to make, but for now I am loving my new, hot pink kitchen paint.  All of the colors in the kitchen and dining room are from Martha Stewart's new line of paint at The Home Depot.  I went with a super-light pink on the top of the dining room walls, and a mossy green on the bottom.  The hot pink in the kitchen really helps those other colors pop!  Feel free to leave a comment and let me know what you think!

Hold the pot...

After many interruptions in my life (some good, some not so good *sigh*), I was finally able to set aside a bit of time to sew.  My fabric finally came in at JoAnn's last week so I've been working on my roman shades, but the other day was able to make a couple of pot holders.  It was great to complete a project in an afternoon, as the roman shades are quite labor intensive.  :0)

I used the same two fabrics that are in my window valance.  (The shades are made from the white & green swirly fabric.)  I appliqued a heart - cut with my Cricut - on each front.  There are two layers of terry cloth inside so they're flexible, yet quite heat resistant.  They were fun to make - so much so that I am thinking they might make nice Christmas gifts!  If you'd like directions on how to make your own, please email me or post a comment.  Have a great day!   

Make Your Own Laundry Detergent - Be Green & Save Some Green!

Yep!  Off the deep end I go...again!  :0)  This time, I am turning my attention to making my home more green - both with using homemade, green products AND saving some green, as in CASH!  Today I made my own glass cleaner, as well as a batch of homemade laundry detergent.

For the glass cleaner, I simply mixed equal parts of water and white vinegar and some freshly squeezed lemon juice.  I swirled it all together in a spray bottle and viola!  It works great.  I think the stuff you get at the store - the blue juice - has alcohol and/or ammonia in it, so it dries much quicker.  I noticed as I was washing my windows that I didn't need as much spray as I normally use of the blue stuff.

For the laundry detergent, I found a recipe online that uses Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda ($2.79, Harris Teeter), Fels-Naptha soap ($1.29, also at Harris Teeter), and Borax ($2.97, Wal-Mart).  There are lots of online recipes, but here is the one I used:

1 cup grated soap, such as Fels-Naptha
1/2 cup Arm & Hammer Washing Soda
1/2 cup 20 Mule Team Borax


Grate the soap and then mix in a pan with 3 pints of water over medium heat, until it all dissolves, roughly 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in the washing soda and Borax. Mix until everything thickens, another 3 minutes or so, then remove from heat. Put 1 quart of hot water in a 2 gallon bucket, then add the soap mixture you just made. Mix well.


Now fill the bucket with the mixture with cold water. Stir until well blended. It will thicken and separate as it cools. Stir or shake well before using. Use 1/2 cup for each load, or more for very dirty items.

An average gallon of laundry detergent is around $5.00. This recipe is environmentally friendly, and costs about 25 cents per gallon (1/20th the cost!), so you save the green in two ways!