The Fast Lane

I like to blog on Sunday afternoons when I have time to reflect about the event of my past week but I missed it last Sunday because I was in the fast lane and missed that exit.
As I write I really should be making nectarine jam, emptying the dishwasher, cleaning the bathroom, exercising, finishing thank you notes or getting a jump on my day. Rather, it feels good to sit and pound on the keyboard about something personal taking a break from real estate and events and commitments I have taken on. I have enjoyed blogging and plan on saving the blog on an annual basis as a sort of journal.
Chuck and I took the opportunity on Labor Day to labor some on Coop DeVille and the roof is almost finished. We haven't had a free hour since then to put on the rest of the shingles. The roof looks great, the trim is painted and I'm ordering the paint for the rest of the Coop probably today so I can get it painted then we can install the chicken wire roof on the run in a more permanent way. Chuck also made a door to cover the hole the ladies use to enter the run. He plans on making it work automatically. (Yes, we know it's fancy and the girls don't need it, but we are having fun with it. Plus it give us something to do when we don't have anything else to do {sarcasm})
Speaking of our big fat hens, we had our first 5 egg day yesterday! And to top it off, I beleive it was Whiney Wynadotte that laid a double yolker! This will be our third double yolker, they are always fun to get. I'm thinking one of the BIG Brahamas laid her first egg when I found a different egg outside in the run yesterday. I've been reading about Brahamas and I didn't realize that they get so big, I have two 9 pound chickens! The don't get up on any perches and I think it's because they are too big for the size of their wings. I put a cinder block in front of the lower perch to see if they will use it to help them get into the nesting boxes. We may have to put another nesting box on the floor so they can lay their eggs there.
John, my chicken buddy, and I have been reading a lot about our new hobby and found a graph that tells about the breeds and their eggs. I found out that the Brahamas and Wynadottes are average, medium egg layers. John and I are into the egg production big time as we want to sell eggs to pay for our feed. I have 7 hens because I gave 2 to my friend Ellen who lost all but one of hers;and here I am looking at those 9 pound Brahamas thinking I made a mistake in choosing that breed. I am actually thinking of naming them noodle and soup and next year when they begin molting help them to fill the measure of their creation.
After that I will have 5 hens in a coop that holds 10 so I will bring in some new ladies. The will all be heavy layers; I'll get Brown Leghorns, Black Australorps & a Golden Sex Link. They will give some serious eggs to the layers I already have. Enough about the girls; yesterday my friend Michelle told me I talked about my girls like they are grand children. It appears I've pulled a Patricia in turning my pets into family with the exception that the girls will never step inside my house.
Chuck and I do have more things going on besides our chickens, we've been busy with our real estate investing and loving every minute of it. Chuck of course can't put the time into it that I do because of his work schedule but we are working on that. He was asked by the Boise Highlanders to try out for their band and he's pretty excited about that. The director of the Highlanders told him he would have to give up something to be a Higlander as it takes such a time commitment. He's looking at setting aside his woodworking and projects like that so he can pipe in a skirt; then there is always the job that gets in the way. I believe he has set a goal of being ready in January, though I think he is ready now. I would love for him to do it now so he could play in January at Robbie Burns Night.
I'm missing my children and grand children and looking forward to the holidays when we'll see hopefully all of them, not at the same time I suspect. Ben & Shaunie are going to Idaho Falls for Thanksgiving as they only have three days off school and it just doesn't make sense to spend all their holiday driving. Dan & Elke haven't made plans yet and I'm assuming Nate & Michelle will come her for dinner as they were with the Nippers last Turkey Day. We'll all be discussing it as the days to the holiday get closer.
Our mild summer is on it's way out and I'm praying for a late freeze this fall. I still have a ton of green tomatoes and have only had two pickings. We got our first tomato towards the end of August this year, weird goings on on the farm. My purple grapes aren't even turning but the white ones are doing well and I was thinking I wasn't going to have any grape juice until Patricia told me her neighbor has tons of grapes he can't do anything with. I haven't put up any salsa, peaches, pears, or anything this year. This has been a weird crop year and I've been way busy! I do plan on taking a morning at the cannery to do applesauce, we have a pig in the freezer and you've got to have applesauce in the pantry to go with him.
The sunrise is about to happen, the girls are bocking loudly in their run and I need to get on with my day.