Whoa!!!! Where ya been girl, we missed you. I was thinking of your beautiful eggs the other day. You sound healthy, happy and fulfilled. Perfect!!!! We all are hitting the ground running this coming spring. Make that right now. Preparation is a must. I've got 5 Marradunas in the 'bator as we speak. Four have hatched and one pipping. Three more to go and three Lemon Cuckoo Orpingtons. still to go. I'm getting 40 ISA Brown pullets next month and going to rev up the egg business. And I've got my fancy White Plymouth Rocks that I'm going to be breeding. Bob Blosl and the XW Poultry will be mixed together to be spectacular.I'm back! Kinda, haha! It's been so long since I've logged on, but it's been a busy five months.
I've hatched quite a few chicks and have sold about ten hens and four roosters. I even decided to buy some new hens. I'm getting blue eggs now!
We placed an order from Ideal Poultry this weekend and my twenty ducklings shipped out today. I can't wait to have a bunch of babies following me around, haha! Unfortunately, I now have an egg eater in my coop. I've separated her and figured out that this is more than a one-time thing. In order to quell this, I'm going to have to put in roll-away nest floors. Other than that, though, things seem to be going really well! I finally got rid of my pesky guineas and I sold three ducks. It's enabled me to feed the rest of my birds more and they seem to be showing their appreciation by leaving me more eggs!
I'm still doing freelance graphic design and I'm working on a couple other art-pieces to sell throughout the year. I want to make some fancy Easter eggs in designer colors. My sister still works at Lowe's and I'm relying on her experience to find out what colors are popular this year. I've also learned how to crochet, so I've been making loads of scarves, toys, and I'm currently working on some crocheted slippers that I can wear around the house. Lots of baby blankets and Christmas presents were handmade this year.
Mom and I have been hitting up any and all estate sales in the area and have even made a few contacts. We've bought many items and I'm still working on them. Everything is a learning experience, really, because I've never worked on furniture before. We even made a day trip to Gonzales, TX where we visited a place they call the Emporium. That place was filled to the brim with cool junk to dig through. If you've watched American Pickers, it's like that except getting them to lower their prices is like pulling teeth. It's just a couple of old Texan men running this big shop and if you can manage to find something they think looks like trash, they'll sell it cheap. However, it there is something they think has value, they won't sell cheap.
I did manage to get them to lower the price of a couple things by doing the hesitation technique. Mom will be adamant that she wants something (because she's no good at hiding her excitement about the things she finds) and I'll say I'm not sure if it's a good idea because "it's too rusty" or "how the heck are we going to fix it" and we got a $40 discount. I'm getting better at bargaining, haha!
So how is everything going? I'm so behind that it's embarrassing, haha!
I haven't been painting many eggs lately, but I took the time to dye a couple goose eggs I ordered (blown out for me). There were a gorgeous emerald/turquoise color that I then painted swirls over. They were last-minute Christmas gifts that I put together for my favorite hometown shopkeeper and my cousin. I also painted this lovely white might and baked it for my sister's friend. It was a favor that was repaid at Christmas when Olivia gave me a gorgeous (and ridiculously expensive) pair of Dr. Marten boots. These people, I swear, they treat me too well.
