Next Easter

     Next Easter I'm letting the Ladies do the work.

     I can't wait to check the nesting boxes every afternoon to see what the hens have been up to.  There are definite cycles with the eggs, for example, it will be obvious that one of the hens is laying ridged or misshapen eggs for a number of months but it's constantly changing and every so often there is a unique work of art included in the clutch.  My hens tend to all lay their eggs in one nest even though there are 3 nesting boxes so it's difficult to know which hen laid which egg, but not impossible.  It requires lots of patience, constant vigilance, and a little luck to be there the minute a hen hops off the nest after laying an egg.  

     I used to save eggs in the beginning, blowing them out with a nifty little German device I ordered from a pysanky supply company in New York.  I almost filled a large Mexican agua fresca jar (I freakin' LOVE those jars!) with cool looking blown eggs from my hens but, just like the jar of polished fossilized bone from Venice Beach, I felt that 1/2 to 2/3 full was enough.  On to the next thing!