expect success

Guess what's on my mind today? A clutch of eggs that my broody hen is setting upon.

I've been wanting to have the experience of hatching my own eggs - naturally - for quite some time now. That means, no brooder. No incubator. Simply...

HEN + ROOSTER = FERTILE EGGS

I really must admit that I don't know much about the whole process, and may have disrupted the normal cycle by plucking out the eggs prematurely. Because before I picked up "Living with Chickens" from the library, I figured if the hen allowed the eggs to get cool, they were no longer good. Wrong! For the last few days I've allowed the eggs to sit in the box as she came and went. Since I have buyers for those delicious eggs, it was hard to leave them alone, knowing they could go bad and I wouldn't have chicks. Now that I read it's normal for them to cool during the laying phase, I know the eggs may still be good enough to hatch out little ones later this month.

{notice the single egg outside the warmth of her body? when we collect eggs from the other hens we place them next to one of the hens and she will instinctively and carefully tuck it under her with her beak.}

So why did I title this blog post "expect success" when it sounds like I'm planning to fail? Because now that I know a little more about the process, I'm jumping two feet into this venture expecting to see little fuzzy yellow chicks peck their way into this world in approximately 21 days.

Can you imagine the what an experience this will be for the kids... and me?! I'm giddy with anticipation. Like a midwife awaiting the birth of her patient, I'll be attending to my not just one, but two broody Buff Orpingtons as they become first time mothers. It's hard to believe I fought my husband about moving out into the country 7 years ago!

I wouldn't change this for anything.

Expecting success also played into my weight loss this week. After a wonderful week of reaching a weight loss milestone of 25# gone, I followed it up with another 1.2# loss this week. This week, I'm aiming to exercise {formally or informally} every day this week. Yesterday I did my treadmill-pilates routine. Today, the kids and I parked at a nearby park and walked to the library instead of driving there. A little brisk, but so fun to spend that quality time with them and get the exercise.

Other Hilfarm updates:

-We are wrapping up the rest of the woodwork for the upstairs remodel. We should be able to get the bathroom functioning soon and the carpet ordered.

-My garden will get an overhaul this summer with the removal of the rocky, weedy soil and the addition of good rich garden topsoil. We'll also be adding a fence around the perimeter of the garden that will include a shabby chic gate! I can't wait! We also added a new gate to the pasture area and found the perfect home for the sign my Dad made us when we moved here. Looks great!


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-The kiddos are on spring break this week and we are loving the extra time together. We made a plan of walking the entire Wiouwash Trail this summer - one segment at a time! We headed out to do one segment this past Monday and saw a beautiful creek, learned about naturally occuring clay and broke out the bikes for the first trail ride of the season!