birthday week, day six, random things

Posted by marne on April 7, 2009 in cook, farm | 20 comments

My final birthday giveaway plan has worked out, so you'll have to read all the way to the end to find out what it is! I'll draw the first three birthday week winners tomorrow night, and then the last three on Friday, so you'll have a little time to enter this one (as well as the last two). That way I can try and get everything shipped on Saturday.

Saturday mornings are all about breakfast around here. I love my yogurt and fruit breakfasts during the week, but Saturday is for something hot and hearty. I was feeling a little adventurous this past weekend and decided to try a little scrambled goose egg. I should have included a fork or something for reference, but that is one big yolk.

While beating it, it seemed heavier somehow and creamier, it's hard to describe, but it was quite good. I had it on top of my favorite potato hash (of which I make many variations-this one had lots of onion and some leftover pot roast). It was delicious, but that was a lot of egg.

A little story about something I learned this weekend:

The worst part about having chickens is cleaning out the chicken coop. Once I start raking all the shavings and poop up it gets quite dusty in there and I have to take frequent breaks to get some fresh air. It's not stinky, just dusty. I recently had the brilliant idea to get a dust mask to make the whole task easier and probably much healthier. I tend to do these dirty chores first thing Saturday morning before showering or anything, which is logical, right? But I also went out there with my dust mask just after finishing breakfast, but before brushing my teeth. And here is what I learned: do not ever wear a dust mask when you have nasty onion and cheese breath. Boy was that stinky. Now you know.

Lest you think I'm a complete idiot with poor hygiene habits I noticed today while at the bank that I have a real talent for pulling up nice and close to the drive up ATM. I laugh at the people who pull up and then have to open their door to do their banking (only in the most affectionate way, not mean-spirited). I love discovering hidden talents.

Have you seen the cover of Better Homes & Gardens April issue? It not a magazine that I usually buy, but I was completely charmed by this image:

So I've blatantly copied them and made my own version (it was pretty darn easy, so don't be too impressed. I also may have gone a little overboard with the little chick and the mushroom):

The pale pink violas are in a goose egg, and I used the ceramic egg carton my friend gave me for Christmas.

And now for the final birthday week giveaway! I wanted to find some more moss to share, but it's been dry lately, and while on my Sunday afternoon walk I only found little dried up bits of moss. The good news is that the dogs were very well behaved and didn't knock me over this time.

I wasn't about to give up, however, so I went to a favorite nursery on my lunch hour, and found a couple fun little mossy plants. The tag says one is baby tears, so maybe it will grow taller, but for now it's quite compact and flat, and the other is a creeping thyme, which I think is pretty hardy, so I hope it can take the high humidity of a terrarium. So I put together a little terrarium kit. You'll have to provide your own jar, but I'll send everything else! I think it will be so fun. There will even be three little mushrooms, because you know how I feel about mushroom-less terrariums.

Let's talk about breakfast for this giveaway. What's your favorite weekend breakfast? Do you cook? Or go out? We used to live in Mission Beach and The Mission was my absolute favorite breakfast spot. I loved the zen breakfast or the roast beef hash. I don't usually care for really sweet breakfasts, but their french toast-made from thick slices of cinnamon bread-was also always tempting.

I love violas, in large part because that was my grandma's name.