An Egg a Day

This is our cute little egg shelf we got in Scotland! Like tomatoes, eggs taste better at room-temperature. Once refrigerated though, they lose that ability to stay fresh.

The thrill of finding a perfectly-shaped brown egg in the nest each morning has not yet lost it's luster. So far, we've been finding at least one, and sometimes two, eggs / day, which means that at least two of the birds are laying.

Last week, we had a Compound Feast of home-grown Juevos Rancheros. Delicious!

Little Lyla looks a little unsure about her egg-meal, but we're pretty sure she loved it. I mean, fresh eggs fried in butter - what's not to like?!

Surprise!

Okay, I've been a little absent on the Compound Blog because for a while there our chickens were just pecking, eating and you know.

But last weekend, Ted and Katy finally got around to building their nest boxes (little cozy cubbies to induce laying) and on Thursday, there was a beautiful little egg sitting in the upper box! It was perfect and completely unbelievable, except I saw it (and ate it) myself!

Here's how it went down: on Thursday morning, we awoke to a chicken-cooing fest happening outside our window. Ted went to see about the fuss, but nothing was happening. Frieda was chillin in the bottom nest and Sensei and Ruthie were sharing the top.

Later in the day, the girls were making a new and different sound. It was like, "Buck, buck, buck, buck-gaaa!" And, here is what we found when we went to check on them this time:

Neither the photo nor the egg have been touched to add sensation to the experience.

In London: Inspired by Bill Cunningham

This post has absolutely nothing to do with the Compound except three of us spent 10 days in the UK and our chickens survived our absence perfectly fine.  Special thanks to Liza, Alyce and Betsy for giving the girls special treats!

While walking the streets of London, I remembered by Bill Cunningham's Sunday vlog in the NYTimes and decided to try my hand at fashion-reporting.  I must admit, snapping photos of unsuspecting persons is much harder than it seems!  Anyway, here is my expose:

Spring had sprung and Memorial Day was just around the corner during the last weekend in May, but Londoners were already decked out, from head to toe, in the color white.  And many, including men and street performers, went so far as to don tight white tights.

Before arriving in London, a very fashionable Scottish woman told me (disparngly) that Londoners adopt "the fashion of the week", even if the newest trend looks terrible on them or clashes with their personal style.  I certainly found this to be true with the white tights.  

Fat and thin, young and old - everyone embraced opaque white leggings.  It was incredible - 5 out of 10 people wore white tights and none of them had VPL (visible pantie lines). Sadly, I didn't get a shot of the more ridiculous white-tight-wearers, but you can use your imagination.

White was hot for other parts of the body as well.  Pretty much everyone had white shoes, white purses, white polka-dots - you name it - it showed up in white.

White was so prevalent than some people had pushed the fad into the neon realm.  Neon pink, yellow, green and blue were often worn to offset the articles of white.  Check out these two white and neon twins:

To be honest, I had no idea London was so mind-blowingly fantastic.  Art, theatre, food, shopping - all seemed so far ahead of what you see here in the Bay.  I can hardly wait for my next trip!

Chasing Chickens

There aren't too many things funnier than watching grown people chase squawking chickens around the yard (I'll try to get it on video next time for proof).  Khiari, trying to scoop them up with his red wheelbarrow, is pretty hilarious too.  

We've been letting our hens run free around the Compound, but they're not really into it.  They'd much prefer to peck around in their coop.  I'm starting to think the whole "free range" thing is a bit overblown.

Last Push on the Hen House

Last weekend, we brought out the big guns to finish off the coop, finally!

As always, the adorable Lyla was there to do her part.

Cousin Tony came back from Portland just in time to help us power through.  And, the lovely Bethany brought all the workers Bake Sale Betty Fried Chicken Sandwiches!

Finally, here's one very proud Chicken Farmer!

The Leaning Tower of Potato

This year, our fantastic gardening friends, Ellis and Ben, introduced us to the Potato Tower (see below).  Instead of uprooting your entire garden looking for potatoes you planted months ago, the Potato Tower allows you to simply unhook the wire mesh frame and watch your potatoes tumble out in front of you (at least that's what we're hoping!)

To make your own Potato Tower, plant bits of sprouted taters in layers about a foot a part near the edges of the frame.  In a few weeks, we expect to see lots of leaves bursting out the sides.  I wonder what my grandpa, the farmer, would say about this technique...?

Our Vanna, Dressed as a Duck

Dressed in her Easter finest, the adorable Lyla peaks out of the egg window she will one day open to collect breakfast.  The poor chickens though, are STILL out in the garage cause we didn't quite finish the outdoor space or racoon-proof the skylights.

Here my handsome hubby is hard at work.