Tuesday, November 11, 2014

The Egg Man Cometh

by Pa Rock
Chicken Rancher

Rosie and I are visiting Little Olive and her parents at their home in Roeland Park, Kansas.  We had a nice drive up across Missouri and into Kansas.  She slept on my lap most of the trip, and occasionally would wake up and watch the world rush past the car window.

About the only unexpected sight along the way was what appeared to be a very short caravan of gypsy wagons - three very colorful homemade wagons, each being pulled by a team of big horses.   They were making their way along Highway 60 near Mansfield, Missouri.  Normally there are a couple of places where we encounter Amish families traveling along the side of the highway in their horse-drawn buckboards, but not today.  (The Amish are way smarter than me and were undoubtedly home by the fire on this very chilly day.  They are also way more talented and industrious than me, so they might have been out quilting, making homemade noodles, or raising a barn!)

I stopped at the Osceola Cheese Store near Osceola, Missouri.  It was my first visit to the place that has long piqued my interest.  In addition to a wide variety of cheeses, many other locally produced items lined the shelves.  I bought some Amish apple butter and a "Christmas Jam" for Tim and Erin.

I also carted along some farm-fresh eggs for family and friends in the Kansas City area - including a few double-yolkers that I thought the kids might enjoy seeing - and eating.  I am down to only twelve hens and am collecting around six eggs a day - so it takes a while to gather enough for a big outing like this.  (I think a couple of the girls may be hiding to lay their eggs.  That has happened before, and I eventually find a surprise stash.)  The coop is completely secure now, so next year I will add a few more birds and maybe put up a roadside egg stand!

It's trying awfully hard to be winter today!

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