Rural Life Still Suits Me {Random Ramblings)

Even with a portion of the road closed leading to our house, even though FedEx, after 5 attempts, still can't figure out how to get to our house (yeah, it's a real head-scratcher -- our UPS driver figured it out ALL ON HER OWN.... FedEx even has the advantage of our given directions, twice now ... DUH) ... and yes, even though I am still working two jobs..... I STILL LOVE OUR RURAL EXISTENCE!

Obviously though, my two jobs do not suit my blog.  :-\  I can't believe I have not posted during the month of March at all.  Terrible, huh?

So what's new with Oz Girl?  

Well, I did manage to take some well-deserved time off work and go to Ohio to visit family.  Leah is growing by leaps and bounds - her little 9-month old self is sure different from last September when I visited and she was only 3 months old! It was so much fun to spend the time with her, my son and my daughter-in-law.  It would be grand if they would move to Kansas, but I know that will probably never happen.  :-(

I was very fortunate to have great driving weather to and from Ohio... sunny days.  Hallelujah!  The drive back was a bit windy and tossed the car around, but I really cannot complain - at least it wasn't snowing!

The guineas are now up to 2 eggs a day, almost every day.  We still haven't added chickens to the coop, but plan to get some chicks in the coming weeks.  Honestly, with only 2 guinea eggs daily, which are smaller than chicken eggs, I'm having a hard time using them.  

This morning I searched for a good egg souffle recipe.  I ended up adjusting a recipe I found by adding asiago cheese, a bit of cheddar and some canadian bacon.  I was pleasantly surprised when my individual souffles (4) turned out scrumptious.  Perhaps the next time I make them I will take piccies and include my recipe in a blog post.

I guess I'll be searching for more ways to use eggs, aside from just selling them at some point.  I remember seeing an email from Community Chickens several months ago which had an article on how to use up surplus eggs -- I'll have to dig into my email and find that one.

Our garden is doubling in size this year and we will triple it next year.  Hubby has already tilled a new plot in addition to last year's plot - our tax refund money bought us a rototiller this year.  Woohoo!  In our old plot, I planted lettuce and spinach last week - as soon as our cold snap passes (hi's in the 30s today), I'm going to plant a row of green onions.  Today I'm going to start some spearmint seeds on our enclosed back porch. 

I have big plans this year -- lavender plants are already on order and scheduled to arrive end of April.  I'm going to plant more roma tomato plants - those roma tomatoes provided us with some delicious tomato sauce last year.

We're going to start a small orchard by buying two apple trees this year.  Each year we will add approximately two more trees.

I've been reading more about beekeeping - ever since I moved out here in 2008, I've been interested in having our own beehives.  I'm thinking maybe next spring we will start our first hive.

The last few weeks my sleep continues to be interrupted at night - it seems my brain is always thinking up new ideas for our small plot of land here.  I did manage to come up with a new name that I like a lot -- Flyspeck Farm.  So appropriate, given our 27 acres!  I've already bought the domain name and hope to use the new name by next year.  If I ever have the opportunity to start a small CSA (community supported agriculture), this will be the name of our farm.

So much for my random ramblings which I'm sure appear to have no sense of direction.  I just wanted to drop a post here so everyone knows that Oz Girl is still alive and kicking, even if she is tired and harried....  my blog will never go away.  I may be absent much of 2011, but I aim to be back in full force by 2012.  :-)

Let me close with a photo of a storm we had last Thursday night, my first full day back in Kansas upon returning from Ohio.  After 3 years of Kansas skies, I'm amazed when I still see something new above me that I've never witnessed before!  This storm was characterized by bizarre skies, wind, lightning, and hail.  Luckily, no tornado warnings this time.

Straight out of the camera.  No manipulation, I swear!

In All Their Golden Glory

No new eggs in the coop this morn, so I decided to go ahead and make me some scrambled eggs with the two guinea eggs we had already gathered.  Not sure if you can tell in the photo, but the eggs are quite thick-shelled -- I had a hard time getting the crack started.  The yolks are really golden colored.  They scrambled up nice, I added a little cheese, and voila ~ guinea eggs for breakfast.

I did not discern any different taste from a chicken egg.  I also can't say that they had infinitely better taste than store-bought eggs?! (sorry!)  Perhaps I detected a very infinitesimal, slightly more fresh taste?

Maybe if I make them plain next time, no cheese or pepper or salt.

At any rate, I figure they've got to be healthier for me than store-bought eggs, loaded with lots of nutrients!!

2 Guinea Eggs = 1 Chicken Egg

What a surprise!  Hubby found an egg on the floor of the chicken coop on Thursday, right before we had to leave for work.  As y'all might know (or not), we have 5 guineas.  The last thing I expected was to find any eggs from them.  They are not free-ranging (yet) and with the cold temps and the short days, I must say we were both very surprised to find the egg.

We thought it was probably an isolated incident, until today... lo and behold, another egg!!  Now, since 2 guinea eggs equal one regular size chicken egg, I might just fry these beautiful brown eggs up tomorrow morning.  I must say, I'm very curious to see how they taste.

Some of my internet research has revealed that many people prefer the taste of guinea eggs to chicken eggs. One man said that he always took chicken eggs to the farmers market, and then he began adding guinea eggs to his offerings.  No one would buy the guinea eggs, unsure of how they might taste.  One day he sold out of his chicken eggs and only had guinea eggs left, so a few reluctant customers decided to try them.  Now he says he sells out of his guinea eggs before his chicken eggs, as many of his customers prefer the guinea eggs!!

I've also heard/read they are higher in protein than regular ole chicken eggs.

Soooo, I'll let y'all know what I think, once I've tried 'em.  Any of my readers tasted guinea eggs?  Would love to hear your opinion.

P.S. Speaking of chickens, we will be getting our first chickens this spring.  Woohoo!!  On my shopping  list:  buff orpington, australorp, dorking and barren rock breeds.

P.S.S.  I apologize for my bloggy absence.  Two jobs makes it tough for me to have a significant online presence.  And I must admit, I really miss my time here.  Hope everyone is doing well!  I will be back on a more regular basis someday, I promise.  :-)