Sept. 12th

We had an overnight guest of the canine kind the other day.  CeCe’s mommy (a new neighbor and resident of our little house) had to be away from home so we volunteered to keep her for a day and night.  The B’games have lots of aminals, but we’ve never had a dog so this was a new experience for us.  Actually we’re not sure if CeCe qualifies as a dog.  She’s a caramel-colored fluffy-puff of fur no bigger than Buster!  I always thought poodles were temperamental but this little girl acted like the queen of the castle.  After she got used to her new surroundings we introduced her to our crew.  She met a variety of creatures during her short stay with us. First she met some nice humans.

Miss Tama

Miss Terri

Then she began to meet the critters.

Miss Terri's dog Bruiser

Then a bunny…

Buster is confused.

Weirdest looking rabbit I've ever seen.

Then she met some kitties…

Rowdy is NOT amused. (see the puffy tail)

And then CeCe met the girls.

I can lay eggs, can you?

Chase me, I dare you!

Herding chickens. They were not cooperating.

Kitties and doggies and chickens OH MY!

Four species of feet! (nice gams Tama)

Later that evening I was worried that she might start missing her mama, Miss Barbara, but she just pushed Missy off her spot on the couch and watched TV with Jim.  We enjoyed her short visit and I think she had a nice time too!

I'm coming back here soon!

Disclaimer:  Although a sporting event does appear on our TV screen in this photo, I can assure you Jim was not watching football. He was just channel surfing between programs on the cooking channel, Lifetime and Oprah.  It’s OK, he doesn’t read the chickendiary so he won’t know I divulged his feminine side.  Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Egg count: Rosie- Four perfect eggs in four days, Violet- Bupkis, Daisy-Zilch

Sept. 11th

“The Second Egg” sounds fancier in French.  Guess who produced it?  Rosie of course.  Here’s the lowdown.  Jim and I were doing manual labor in the yard when Rosie Girl started hollering again.  Soon she emerged from the coop looking proud and smug.  Jim peeked in and pulled out another small blue/green egg.  I knew that my good friends Mike & Susan had their granddaughters for the day so I called and let them know that there might be a little surprise in the nest for the girls to “find”.  Mike (Big Daddy) brought them down but didn’t tell them what the surprise was.  Layla has been here many times (Riley only once so far)  so she was telling Riley the names of the girls and all the particulars of chicken ranching.

Rosie is the funny looking one. She has a beard but she IS a girl.

I told them that we might have an egg but I wasn’t sure and I asked them to check for me.  I directed them to the empty nest first and acted disappointed. 

Then I said there might be one in the other nest so they checked it, and Voila! (I’m all about speaking Francais today) they found an egg.  The both acted like they just discovered uranium and Layla was actually trembling as she held the little treasure. 

I told them that their Nana would cook it for them but Layla said she wanted to keep it til the chicken came out.  I assured her there was no chicken in there because Rosie wasn’t married.  I put the egg in a safe place, and then the ladies wanted to hold some chickens.  Jim and I grabbed two victims and Rosie & Daisy enjoyed some little girl love for a few minutes. 

As they left my house with their prize, Layla looked at Mike and said with breathless wonder, “This is the best surprise EVER Big Daddy!”  The egg is still in the custody of Miss Layla and may never be eaten, but will always be remembered.  Not a bad fate for the La deuxième des oeufs, huh?  Oh yes, and as I am finishing this entry, Miss Rosie just went three for three.  🙂

Sept. 10th

Jim figured this is how much Rosie’s egg cost after the coop expenses, Daisy’s vet bill, organic mail-ordered chicken feed, and truckloads of scratch and grapes.  Well, it was worth it!  I had three small bites and Jim had two. I cooked it in some butter, sea salt and fresh ground pepper and served it over easy.  We had some champagne with our little morsel and Jim made me turn the label around so you can’t see how cheap it is. 

The shell was incredibly hard.  I had to whack it three times on the granite countertop to crack it.  The yolk was very orange and it stood up high in the center of the egg.

Jim added the parsley. He's such a girl!

I promise not to take pictures of every egg we get and describe them in agonizing detail, but please indulge me for a while until the novelty wears off.  These things are like little miracles to me at the moment.  I probably will gush over Daisy and Violet’s first eggs as well and then maybe I’ll calm down a bit.  Let’s hope.

We saved the little shell of our historic first egg and put it on the kitchen windowsill where Mr. Owl guards it with his life. 

I'm glad I didn't lay that thing!

I have plans for the shell but for now I am keeping them secret.  I was going to say that I really should get a life, but then I decided that this one is just fine. 🙂

Sept. 9th

And the winner is…(drum roll please)…ROSIE!!!!!!!

Yay me!

This morning I heard a lot of noise coming from the coop.  I mean a LOT of noise.  I have a neighbor who is not crazy about my chickens and I was hoping he had his stereo on pretty loud.  I read in the chicken books that they usually make noise when they lay eggs but they REALLY cackle when they first start laying.  I’d get loud too if I had an oblong item exiting a very sensitive area of my bod!  Anyway, the noise died down and I reluctantly left the house to go to an appointment.  Before I left, I peeked in a nest box and my little Rosie was sitting quietly in her carefully made pile of straw.  She was very calm and she let me pet her without showing any stress.  I had a feeling that when I got home I would have a surprise in the box and sure enough; there was a tiny, light blue egg waiting for me. 

The books say that some of the first eggs will be malformed and even broken because the shells aren’t hard enough.  This little egg was perfect.  I weighed it (1.25 oz.), wiped it clean with a moist paper towel and placed it in the fridge.  Jim and I will have a little taste of Rosie’s wares tonight with a not-too-expensive bottle of champagne.  I’m just gonna cook it over easy in some fancy butter with a bit of fresh ground pepper and sea salt.  I’ll let you know how my .625 ounces taste. 🙂

Lynnessa was the first to guess Rosie would lay egg numero uno!  She isn’t a local girl but I will see her at my 30th high school class reunion next month so I will be bringing her 1/2 dozen.  My excellent friend and chicken wrangler, Tama will receive the FIRST 1/2 dozen after Jim and I have accumulated enough for a few breakfasts.  My Aunt Carol (definitely not local) will get a little happy chicken related surprise in her mailbox, and what the heck, Renee, I’m bringing you some too when I come home for the reunion.  All four of you fabulous women recognized greatness in my least publicised chicken.  What excellent insight you have into chicken potential. As for you other egg prognosticators, well done.  You couldn’t have chosen two better runner ups (or is it runners up?).  Let’s hope your  candidates step up to the plate (nest) and fill out my colorful Easter basket.

Well done my strange little bird!  You have brought me much happiness and excitement today!  My little chick is all grown up.

Thank you Rosie.

You're Welcome!

Sept. 8th

I peeked in the preferred nest box to find not one BUT TWO chicken butt indentions, side by side in the pine straw.  I ran inside for the camera but when I came back out, Rosie was rearranging the nest to her specifications. 

Will this woman give me no peace!

It seemed like she wanted more straw to make the nest deeper, so I gave her a handful and she got to work on interior design. 

Now this I can work with!

I shut the door to give her privacy and she continued her important work.  The other nest box isn’t interesting to Rosie or the other “mystery chicken”.  The straw is untouched and there is nothing in the box to indicate a bird has been there.  (OK, there’s some chicken poop.) 

There is a nip in the air and the expectancy of a new season around the corner.  Chickens prefer this kind of weather to the sweltering heat and humidity we’ve had this summer in Central Alabama.  I’ll keep a vigilant watch over the egg-tivity and keep you posted!

OK, as soon as I saved this draft I went back into the yard to check on Rosie and she’s now in the OTHER nest box getting it ready for the big event.  I guess the girl wants options.  I gave her some more straw and she fixed her little bed and sat down.  I’m going to try to leave her alone so she can concentrate but IT’S SO HARD!!! 

I swear, if you don't shut that door.......

I haven’t been this excited since I heard MAD MEN is coming back for four more seasons!

Sept. 7th

Someone, (I won’t say who),

It ain't us.

is spending a lot of time upstairs in the coop.  And SOMEONE is wiggling her chicken butt around in the pine straw to make a comfy place to put my breakfast!

This looks "Rosie-shaped"

Stay tuned to this station for updates on this important event in chicken history! 

A couple of days ago, Hurricane Lee brushed by our little neighborhood causing some excitement in my back yard.  I got some good pictures of chickens braving the blustery weather.

Just call me Marilyn!

Do you feel a draft?

Egg-Watcher One signing off.

To perch on my porch.

And to stand on my steps.

This guy came all the way from Mexico!

And to model on my mantle.

And to cap off my coop.

You're so VANE!

And to sit on my shutter. This little bird supervises all the chickendiaries from her perch just above my computer.  My chicken wrangler Tama gave her to me back in the spring.  She makes me smile.

I see a typo.

There is a fine line between tasteful and tacky, and Jim says I crossed that line long ago; then doubled back and crossed it again.  I say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and I think my chicken decor is cute.  What does he know anyway?  He’s just a guy!  Meanwhile EGGWATCH 2011 continues at the B’game farm.  Rosie is in the lead with three votes!

What are you staring at? Haven't you ever seen a bearded lady?

Daisy and Violet are tied for second with two votes each.  Get your vote in before E-Day and be eligible to win fabulous cash and prizes!  Buster said he’d like an appearance in the chickendiary today, so here is a photo of him enjoying a book on his parent’s bed this morning. 

He was less enamored with the magazine selection.  Apparently he is not a fan of Mr. McConaughey.

This tastes smug and overrated.

Sept. 2nd

I’m all about the great literary allusions twisted to fit my chickendiary.  What an educated person I would be had I actually read any of them?  Tomorrow the girls will be 20 weeks old and this marks the beginning of their egg-laying days.  Of course, I’ll be in my nightie at 5:30 tomorrow peeking in the nest boxes for my breakfast, but it may actually be a while longer before I see any omelette fixins.  At the suggestion of my Aunt Carol, I propose a contest for the winner guessing the first layer.  If you live locally, your prize will be the first half-dozen eggs (after we have a dozen in the fridge).  If you live too far for delivery, then you’ll receive a mention in the chickendiary and…I’ll think of something. 🙂

Violet recently strolled in the house to watch the news with Jim and she inquired about his beverage.

No Violet, WHITE wine goes with chicken.

Dang! I just wanted a sip.

The girl will never quit trying.

If you do want to vote on the Premier egg laying queen, please post your choice on the COMMENTS section at the end of this post.  Good luck!