Layer's Club Update etc....

Too many nice photos to simply chat about chickens.

Probably a Welsummer egg due to the speckles.

But yes, the hens are LAYING like there's no tomorrow! Five of the eight, we think, are acting as if winter doesn't matter, youth has no bearing, and who cares if the solstice is right around the corner! That's what those chickens would be saying, if they could do more than cluck, cluck, cluck.

The other Welsummer egg, freshly washed, why it appears so dark. Am I really one of those chicken owners who feel it necessary to display various eggs? I guess so....

I have a lot of pictures to share, of eggs, and the beach, and coasters completed. None of the hens, lol, maybe in the next entry. We're heading into the homestretch of Advent, Christmas preparation, Hanukkah. Heading into what I hope is a quiet time, a time of reflection, thankfulness, peace. A time where I want to embrace my faith in Christ Jesus, revel in grace, eat some eggs. Eggs.... Oh my goodness, how did the Barnevelders get so prolific? Truly they are acting like they're months older than they are, that it's not December but May, that we're the ones with the problem, because this is what chickens do.

Chickens lay EGGS!

I have a post in mind about that subject, because I do look at my chickens differently now that they are egg producers. Seeing them in the nesting boxes, they look so vulnerable, not like the squawky gals who strut around the run as if they have lived there for decades. But I don't want to get ahead of myself, so how 'bout those Magic Number mug rugs?

 

I'm pretty happy with them, with the Speckled border, with saving the hedgehog's Santa hat! Because at times life's joys are minuscule, like a speckle on one of Camilla's eggs, LOL. We're grateful Welsummers and Barnevelders' eggs look differently, the only way we know which hens are laying. Well, a couple of hens have small combs, so most likely they're not laying (yet).

Saved Santa hat shot, lol!

That's not some kind of judgy statement, just a truth about chickens. And over the last five and three-quarters months, I've learned a LOT about chickens. Like how not to suppose they won't lay in winter because WHAM, suddenly they're laying all over the place!

Second coaster; it lives on the coffee table where I sit and sew. Maybe if I'm feeling inspired, and ready to try again, I'll make a few more of these this weekend.

Well, on the shelf and in nesting boxes. I need to get a photo of a hen on the shelf. Which has nothing to do with elves on shelves, let me just say.

 

Anyway.... So the beach. We went to the beach after lunch yesterday. It was a little breezy, but not overtly cold. Loud, as high tide had been recent, but not ear-splitting. And I wore earplugs, only because our vehicle is loud. We walked along the sand, talking about not turning our backs to the ocean, and how other than a few surfers, we were alone on the shore. We admired the waves, then wandered back to our car, heading home. We checked for eggs, I talked to my daughters; the youngest had planned to come for the weekend with her family, but her husband is sick, so we'll see them either next weekend or in January, all depending on the weather, which is slated to be quite wet through the end of the year. In chatting with my eldest, I was treated to some wonderful recitations of A. A. Milne poetry from my youngest granddaughter. She just turned eight, where has the time gone?

One day I'll think that in regard to the hens; if we're lucky some of them might still be around in eight years. Will they lay eggs then, probably not. That youngest granddaughter will be sixteen, DUDE! Will she still be enjoying A. A. Milne's writing? I hope so.

A nice pictorial way to end the post; I love the beach. I'm grateful to live near the Pacific. I'm thankful for many things, as 2025 begins to come to a close.... (More about that soon!)

In the meantime, Christmas is less than a week away. How many eggs will the hens lay today? Will I read aloud any chapters from my fictional WIP? And will I fashion a border around the layer cake quilt, the squares of which are now all sewn together? One photo I can't share, lol, but soon. Or one of these days, whichever comes first.