our homestead: easter miracle

Alright, so it's the day before Easter, but I am already in the Easter Spirit. I like Easter because it always seems like a kick-off for spring, allowing us to leave the cold of Winter behind. Now I can wear my sandals in the rain and feel less weird! Anyway, I had a little "Easter miracle" today. A few days ago I noticed that one of my Moscovy hens had been sitting in one of the nest boxes in the coop. I checked under her bumsy and didn't find any eggs, but I had a good feeling she was about to start laying. This morning when I went to let my flock out, I checked again, and sure enough! My very first duck egg was waiting for me. It's been a very sunny, warm and beautiful day out today, so I've been working in my garden most of the day. A couple hours after I'd collected the first egg, I thought I'd peek in the nest box again and to my surprise...another duck egg! Two eggs in one day! The day before Easter! I love it!

My Easter Miracle: my first two duck eggs

This leaves me wondering how many eggs my girls will start producing. I read that Moscovy ducks are supposed to lay 50 to 125 eggs a year. My husband and I want to raise our own Muscovy ducklings this year, so I might have to start getting myself learned up' on Muscovy brooding methods.

Fragrant hyacith flowers by my front door

It's been so lovely today that I took a break from yardwork to spend some time on my front porch. There's a whole hyacith patch right by my porch, with each gentle breeze comes a waft of angelic perfume. Mmm, so pleasant. I brought my cat, Spyder Munggins out with me. He has been basking in the sunshine and romping around the garden. He loves to smell flowers, I kid you not. One of these days I'm going to plant him his own kitty garden, full of catgrass and catnip and fragrant flowers.

Geting a good sunny stretch in...

...before exploring the garden, looking for flowers to smell.

I've also been working on some Easter Bunny presents for my nephews and nieces. I'm in charge of the egg hunt tomorrow and to add a special twist to the hunt, I'm going to have the chitlins also look for the Easter Bunny's nest. Inside his nest will be all these sweet little presents, one for each child.

I tried to wrap each present as "naturally" as I could by using old scraps of fabric, moss, twigs, dried flowers and feathers. Afterall, I don't think the Easter Bunny has scotch tape. I heard we're supposed to have sunny weather again tomorrow. Happy Easter and Springtime everyone!