Egg zactly!

I know this is supposed to be about furniture, but there's other stuff that goes on here, like collecting eggs and related activities.  The furniture is still being built, the "hall tree" just about ready for the photographer.
             To the average person, eggs are just a small part of their life, a grab off the grocery shelf and a few minutes tossing them into a cake recipe or into a frying pan.  Not so for me............keeping chickens is a full time job.   Once per day usually in the late afternoon or evening I go collect the eggs and feed the hens,  every day, 7 days a week, that is if I want them to keep laying which is the whole idea.   A couple of times per year the coop gets cleaned out fencing gets repaired etc.
             I originally got into laying hens to create farm income  so I can maintain farm status saving us about $1500 in property taxes.   Really I get a lot more out of those hens than just the farm status.  I have an "egg run" on Wednesday's  which gets me out to town  delivering eggs.  Everyone enjoys good fresh farm eggs and they're easy to sell,  all my regular customers are always happy to see me.  We chat for a minute and it's on to the next drop.  It's a fun way to get a little social interaction.
              I remember my Uncle in Holland, the one with the corner store saying that when they had to quit home delivery service he cried.  He had worked in the store right from when he was young.  One of the tasks that he did was going out to the farms and picking up eggs.  They were repacked and sold in the store,  he had a huge wicker basket fastened to the front of his bicycle that he used to transport everything from eggs to ....well, I've had a ride in it!   Gerrit loved going to the farms and delivering groceries and picking up eggs or whatever was needed.   It was his connection to his community, yes people came to the store for their supplies as well, but he loved going out to the farms, chatting with the farmers and hearing how things were and what was happening.
             I don't exactly have a corner store, but I have a little bit of the same  routine, feeding the sheep in the morning and evening, collecting eggs, washing and packing them and then delivering them once per week.  I feel I'm doing my bit to add to local food production.   I dream of growing more food and marketing it, but so far it's just been a dream.  One doesn't do these kind of things to make money, yes the chickens make a profit but not an income.   I think we all like some routine in life and keeping  100 laying hens is one of my routines..............I just hope no one ever overhears me chatting with them while I'm collecting the eggs.
              The birds are so friendly and eager.  As soon as they see you they come flocking to the fence hoping you're bringing a bucket of scraps. Sometimes I let them run loose in the garden and the yard and they follow me around not wanting to miss anything.  I remember one spring I was trying to level some manure piles in the garden prior to rototilling.   Where ever I moved a bit of manure or dirt, bugs and worms would be exposed and the hens were right there not wanting to miss a single worm.  Eventually I had to lock them up because I couldn't move with the tractor for fear of squishing a few.     Cleaning out their coop is another time when they're right under foot, not wanting to miss anything remotely edible.
                   You probably think...........what's the big deal just some chickens.  I guess you have to have kept some to appreciate them.   There are problems though......like when an eagle or an owl decides to come and eat your hens one at a time.  I hardly dare say the word "raccoon" here as I haven't had any trouble from them for a couple of years.  One winter I lost 35 birds to raccoons.   One good thing is I've managed to stop the ravens from stealing eggs.   I built a little wooden tunnel about 3 feet long leading into the chicken coop which the ravens haven't learned to negotiate.  Nothing more frustrating than watching ravens flying out of the hen house carrying an egg in their beak.
              So my routine in the morning is first get the eggs soaking and have a cup off coffee with Brenda while checking the state of the world......(emails, facebook, flicker, etc) .   Then wash and scrub the eggs, have breakfast and get on with the day life on the "farm"