Having to buy eggs has served as a harsh reminder of why we got chickens in the first place. And buying pastured eggs from the store just felt wrong. We miss our own flock’s eggs, so it’s time to begin again. Call it v2.0.
Category: Life
Rave: When Companies Make It Right
When we first moved into our house, it had a dated and not very functional faucet fixture on the kitchen sink. I resolved to replace that eyesore ASAP, but didn’t want to spend hundreds of dollars doing so. Ever the bargain hunter, I found this nice-looking, brushed nickel fixture for about $60. It was easy to install and worked like a champ for 2.5 years…then it didn’t.
Rant: Stop The Plastic Madness!
Are you exasperated with the ubiquitousness of plastic, too? We’re inundated by it, and it’s an undeniable environmental problem…and yet, companies continue to needlessly wrap goods in plastic – sometimes multiple layers – until it feels like there’s no escape from excessive plastic use. I’m particularly appalled by a recent order I received from Vitacost, especially in light of what the shipping box said.
Haiku: The Sunflower That Tried
Every year, we find volunteer sunflowers growing somewhere on our property. The cause is easy to identify: the black oil sunflower seeds (BOSS) that we feed to the poultry and waterfowl get scattered around – sometimes even by wild birds – and those plucky seeds germinate. Seemingly in the blink of an eye, a radiant sunflower appears. And what’s cheerier than a sunflower?
When the volunteer grows late in the season, though, its chances for its seeds to reach maturity become slim. One late summer sunflower, with multiple funky little heads, did manage to produce seeds.
A second one that grew just weeks behind the first (above) succumbed to a killing frost. I found it frozen one morning when the temperatures had plunged overnight. I wish that one had made it to the finish line, too…but know it didn’t worry about the future – it just lived and grew, each day.
In Spring, I’ll plant some low-maintenance, smile-inducing sunflowers intentionally…but I bet a few volunteers will still pop up, too!
Good Sweat: Walking When It’s Cold Out
The temperatures have dipped back down into the 20’s and when it’s windy, the wind chill often drops the “feels like” temperature as much as 10 degrees…not to mention that walking uphill and into a headwind makes it that much more challenging! But we’re trying to do something physically challenging, right? And there are bonuses to walking when it’s cold out!
Musings: Thoughts For New Year’s Day
New Year’s Eve 2018 was a wet and blustery one in these parts. I suppose that’s not all bad – for those people who insist on lighting their own celebratory fireworks, the risk of starting a fire was decreased. While I typically spend NYE reviewing the year that’s drawing to end, I decided not to do that this year. Instead of looking back, I’m looking forward.