What do all these have in common?  Not much, except for the pup and pain bit.  Let’s just say Molly Marshmallow and I have had a few altercations in the past few days.  We are trying to teach her not to jump up on us and bite our heels as we walk and it has been a very slow process.  Add to that that Molly simply loves to dash at the fence where the chickens are encaged and we are ripe for some excitement.  Add to that that she slipped right by me when I opened the gate to where the chickens were  and began chasing the chickens and all heck broke loose.  I’m just saying.  David was splitting wood up in the front yard and he said I yelled so loudly he thought I was right next to him!   I mean the neighbors a quarter of a mile down the road probably heard me.  Molly was dashing from chicken to chicken and she got either Penninah or Jemima down.  I could just see chicken feathers, chicken heads and blood everywhere and that’s when I went into action.  I happened to have a plastic bucket in my hand I was using to carry water to the chickens and I winged it at Molly with all my might.  It knocked her for a loop and she went behind the compost pile to hide and that’s where David found us.  Me holding Molly at bay and as I looked back, I saw the chickens nonchalantly sauntering into their other pen.  I ran and shut the gate and that’s when Molly ran out.  That’s also when I realize I had hurt myself somehow.  I had pulled muscles in my right leg I didn’t know I had.  I suddenly could barely walk or stand on my leg.   I don’t remember falling ,stumbling or otherwise during the excitement, but I did something.  David had to help me into the house.  I was just getting over a pinched nerve I had at the back of my knee since Thanksgiving and now I am crippled again.  The thing is, it feels better to walk than to sit down or lay down so maybe that is good.  I will have to keep active.

Anyway, Molly seems to be a little more subdued these last couple of days.  She actually sat beside me and allowed me to love on her and pet her all over without trying to bite.  She really is a sweet dog and doesn’t mean any harm, but she needs to learn that her teeth are not for biting or eating chickens.   And the chickens?  Those dorks don’t have a care in the world and have forgotten all about it.   Me, however.  Pain city.  This too shall pass.

” I didn’t mean to hurt you, Mom.”

Look at that sweet puppy.   Wouldn’t hurt a flea.   Ahem.   All the dogs have learned to sit and wait for their dinner.  No, they are not looking at David with adulation.  They are looking at their food dishes and wishing he would hurry up and put them down.  See how big Molly is getting?   She is the one in the middle.  I can hardly tell her from Belle from the back anymore.

The hens have been laying a little lazily lately.  Alliteration.  But, still, we have plenty of eggs. I made egg salad the other day.  I don’t know why, but I use to think making egg salad would be hard.  Here’s how easy it is.

First I boiled the eggs.  Boiling eggs is easy.  Let them come to a boil and then let them sit in the hot water for about twenty minutes or so.  If you ever boil eggs and the yolks are green, it’s because you have boiled them too long.  Put the eggs in cold water and peel them.  Fresh eggs do not peel easily.  If you want pretty deviled eggs, use older eggs.  My eggs are always fresh. Since it didn’t matter how pretty the eggs were in this dish, I didn’t mind that they looked this way.

..

I take a potato masher and begin mashing.

Until the eggs are mashed finely.   I add salt and pepper.  Not much.

Then mix in mayonnaise(I use Miracle Whip).  Stir thoroughly.  I don’t like a lot of mayo in my egg salad.  I want to taste the eggs.  There’s a fine line between too dry egg salad and too wet egg salad, but that is up to you and what you like.

And there you have egg salad.  It doesn’t last very long around here and I can go out and get fresh eggs any time and make it any time I want to.  That’s the blessing of having your own chickens.  I always tell people if you have chickens, you will never starve because you will always have eggs and if you raise chicks, you will always have chickens.  I fixed chicken and noodles yesterday from chickens I did not know personally.  My chooks will die of old age.(Or murder from a pup.)

Seed catalogs are coming in almost daily now.  I’m pretty sure what I am going to plant this year.  Pumpkins, tomatoes and flowers.   I really don’t feel like having a big vegetable garden this year.

I get a lot of my seeds from Wildflower Farm.  It’s based in Texas and sells seed by the pound.  A pound of zinnia seeds goes a long way.  I had zinnias planted everywhere last Summer.  I also had lots of sunflowers which the goldfinches loved.  I will probably plant some of those again.

I have been working on a new quilt top.  I love the pattern in this one.  I need to make forty-two squares.  Here are just a few of them I have already made.

I call it Garden Quilt.  This will do until I can plant my real garden this Spring.  Bye.