Under a Blue Moon

We are in full-on egg production mode here.  We have at least two layers at this point.  They lay different shaped eggs.  One makes rounder eggs than the other. 

On Sunday when we got home from the wedding festivities we had a grand total of eight eggs for the week.  So I made an omelet.

I admit to being a bit weirded out by eating the first egg.  I don't know why.  I guess I like my food to come packaged in styrofoam even though I talk a good game about eating locally and organic. 

But I took out all the eggs and started cracking them in a bowl.  First observation – the shells of freshly picked from the coop eggs are thicker and harder than store-bought eggs.  At one point I just handed one to Rick and told him there was something wrong with it. 

But they were all fine.  Looked like normal eggs when they were cracked open. 

I figured simple was the way to go.  So I just made an omelet with a bit of cheddar cheese and some herbs.  And you know what?  It tasted like……eggs!  Nothing weird.  Nothing super amazing (but I've been buying Eggland's Best eggs for a couple of years now and they taste way better than normal store bought eggs). 

I went out this afternoon and there were two eggs in the nesting boxes.  At least they have gotten the hang of that.  Prior to that they were just laying them willy nilly all over the run.  Mostly in the most inaccessible corner under the coop.

So – I'm thinking a souffle next.  Or maybe egg custard. 

 

On Saturday a group of us went to my very favorite antique store/nursery – Wisteria in Soquel, CA.  I love wandering through the garden and the buildings, gathering inspiration for my own home.

Actually I would just like to move in but I don't think they will let me. 

That rabbit had the goofiest expresssion on his face. 

We ran into a couple of potheads. 

I think I gather most of my inspiration from the gardens.  I love the wandering gravel paths and little alcoves where you can rest on a bench and just enjoy the garden.

The place has kind of a New Orleans vibe to me.  Or what I envision New Orleans to look like.  The French doors and all the iron work.  The lush gardens. 

I have this fantasy that if I ever come into some extra money I will immediately replace all the sliding glass doors in my house with French doors. 

The propery is interesting.  There is the main house plus a collection of outer buildings.  I wonder what they were used for.  They don't appear to be another entire house – more like two buildings configured into an L-shape that are joined by an enclosed porch.  There is this lovely little garden room in the junction of the two buildings. 

I always want to know the history behind old houses and properties.  Who lived here, what did they do.  I believe the property used to be part of a farm but I can't find much information on it.

At any rate it's fun just to wander and imagine what it used to be like.

 

Introducing Mr. & Mrs. Kerr. 

The bride was barefoot and the groom wore converse.

We had a most fabuous weekend.  The weather, always a bit unpredictable on the Monterey Bay, could not have been better.  Sunny, a little breezy, not too hot.  A beautiful bride and a beaming groom. 

I think I have laughed more this weekend than I have in the past six months.  It was so much fun to have this beautiful event and then hang out with my entire huge family for the entire weekend.  

The two highlights of the wedding, for me anyway, were Lizz and Joe's first dance.  The song was That's Beautiful To Me by Jaron and The Long Road To Love.  Joe sang along to Lizz. 

And when Maddi went to give her speech as the maid of honor she got so overcome that she had to whisper it to Lizz.

Just a magical day. 

Today's weather was a perfect harbinger of Fall.  Cool, breezy, a bit overcast.  It was absolutely lovely. 

I was at the grocery store and the girl checking me out was was just doing her thing and I'm daydreaming about something and she suddenly stops what she is doing and looks at me and says "Isn't today's weather just gorgeous?" 

I had to agree. 

I'm not quite ready for the bright oranges, reds and browns of Fall just yet, but I thought these rosy pinks and golds were just right. 

Although – I may have bought a teeny, tiny pumpkin because who can resist when they show up at the market?

It's almost time for an apple butter run.  Anyone want to come with me?

 
 

The office manager hard at work.

Rick and I are both fortunate to work from companies that let us work from home.  I've been doing this for about 10 or 11 years now and Rick just recently started.  I've commandeered the dining room as my office/studio/pigpen and Rick likes to work at the table in the kitchen.

Belle is just thrilled with this new development.  Except she wants to sit on Rick's lap the entire time he is working.  He indulges her for a few minutes then nudges her off and she goes over to her chair in the corner where she can keep an eye on the goings on.

She doesn't care much for getting her picture taken though.  She's the black blur at the bottom of the picture (and that pile of papers?  You can be sure there is a pile like that just out of view in almost all the shots I take.  The household staff wandered off and we haven't seen them in ages).