Last night was “Going to Town Night.” It is truly an exciting event around here. I had to get some groceries for camping this weekend (oh, yay!) and then my parents were going to watch the kids (oh, yay!) so I could clean that wretched rental (oh, boo!).
We pulled up to the store and Daisy Mae looked me up and down. Then she said with much dismay,
“Um, I can’t believe you went to town looking like that.”
And I looked. I was wearing jeans and a gray, hooded sweatshirt.
Me: So, what?
DM: Um, usually you look a bit nicer when you go to town. I don’t know why you are wearing that.
Me: Do you remember what I am doing tonight?
DM: Cleaning the house?
Me: So, what did you think I should wear?
DM: I don’t know. It just does not look good.
And that’s all I have to say about that.
Well, folks. You have read about my move from the city to the country and how I have learned to homeschool, make jam, make homemade laundry soap, grind up fresh elk meat, can peaches and applesauce, make my own bread, raise rabbits, and, of course, raise chickens.
The most logical next step would be to hatch baby chicks on my kitchen counter, don’t you think?
I truly never intended on being this way. My apologies.
So here is our first contestant, poking his/her way into the world:
The astute reader might notice that one egg has 4/23 written on it. This is how one of my children wrote May 23rd. Because I excel at the homeschool.
Contestant #2 starts to break through.
Don’t worry, Little Chicks! I am sure my responsible, young man will do you no harm during your existence here on this earth.
*ahem*
I’d like to be all inspirational and Mother Nature-ish, but the baby chicks look truly disgusting when they are birthing themselves from the egg.
Gives me the peepee shivers.
But feel free to be inspired and amazed if you’d like.
He/She popped his/her head out!
Success!
Please don’t tell me I am going to have to try and determine the gender of the chickens as well.
I will have none of it!
We named the first chick “Hatch.” Because we are creative, you know?
Soon after, Hatch’s sibling also joined in on the miracle of life.
Here are the two of them watching over their third sibling who is soon to peck his/her way into the world.
The hatching process takes FOR-EV-ER. Seriously. “Hatch” first cracked his shell around 11pm last night and finally made it through around 7 this morning.
You try and keep four kids patient during this blessed event.
Go on. Try.
Fun Fact: We heard the chicks start chirping in the eggs before they started to hatch.
It was ueber creepy. I thought I was losing my marbles.
To add to the excitement, our electricity was shut off for three hours today. I was extremely nervous because that meant the incubator would be without power and I didn’t want to bring Hatch and Company into the world, only to let them freeze to death ten minutes later.
While the power was out (which was apparently a planned outage), some dudes from the electric company came to read our meter and other such nonsense.
So, these two men come down yonder country road and find me outside with four children and a plethora of animals.
Stranger Man: Do you guys raise rabbits?
Me: Yes.
Stranger Man: How many you got?
Oh, dear.
Me: Um, maybe 40?
Never mind the fact that my husband snuck a few more home the other night. 40 sounds a bit more normal than 46.
Stranger Man: FORTY RABBITS? Y’all having rabbit stew for dinner?
Great. I am officially a country freak.
Me: No, no. We don’t eat them.
Stranger Man: You got some chickens there, too, huh?
Me: Yes.
Stranger Man: How many of them do you got?
Well, darn. This is not going to get any better.
Me: Oh, maybe 60?
Stranger Man: SIXTY! Holy Smokes!
And I was just praying that he would not ask me if I was, by any chance, hatching baby animals on my kitchen counter at that very moment, too.
Because then I would have really looked like a weirdo.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a rabbit to stew.
Kidding!
Or am I?
Heeheehee.
Just think. Upon raising a family, your children will be prepared for a veritable plethora of living conditions. And when they talk about THEIR weird lives, you’ll be able to start many sentences with, “Well, back when your father and I were younger…”
Ha! You are hilarious, like usual. But super cool too, even though you embarrass your daughter by going to town dressed totally normal!
Hope you have an egg-cellent day.
That whole conversation with Daisy Mae just makes me smile.
Are you raising rabbits and chicks to make money or are you just in it for fun? Just curious : )
Thankfully I had a son, he could care less what I am wearing, in fact he couldnt have told anyone what I was wearing after spending all day with me if they put a gun to his head.
Seriously, you need to do a post in which you share the vision you had when you married the lumberjack of what your life would be like now. I’m guessing it is wildly different than your life actually turned out. Not that there is anything wrong with your life (although you do have an extraordinary amount of livestock), of course.
At least he didn’t ask if all those kids were yours!
I was waiting for you to say that he wanted to buy some of your rabbits! 🙂
You are an amazing woman. I barely want dead (and packaged) chicken on my counter, much less live hatching ones!
Okay, that’s so exciting! I’m envious – talk about official country bona fides, hatching anything in your kitchen definitely qualifies!
You need a good story to tell those folks that ask about your plethora of livestock.
How about …..once a year you all have a giant family reunion where all your relatives come there pitch tents , butcher chickens and rabbits and cook them over an open spit and have a wonderful week.
Nah, you really don’t need a story like that ……….you have one all your own . 🙂
Greetings!
I’m trying to visit all the participants of the 2012 A to Z Challenge and I have arrived at your lovely blog. Good luck with the rest of the year!
Donna L Martin
http://www.donasdays.blogspot.com
Oh, you are funny. I just love reading about these country adventures. I’m not sure what city your came from, but it certainly seems you are adjusting to country life just fine. With lots of peeps to boot!
Taylor,
You are a miracle worker. We tried THREE TIMES to get hatch some eggs. At first we borrowed an older machine and I think it cooked the little guys. Then we purchased a new egg-warmer-house thing for the last two tries. One chick made it to about 15 days (we candled). The others? Maybe a few days or so. All that turing? All that waiting? We (I) swore we would never do it again. So our chicks came from Murdocks this year. All healthy and hatched and soon to be laying for us again. Now we’re focusing on getting the lamb fat enough to make weight so that my daughter can show him in the 4H sale ring at the county fair. We call him “Lamburger” just to remind ourselves what his purpose is.
Love,
Laura