swapping, hatching, and the daffodils look lovely today

on saturday morning i took my little box of swap goodies to the post office to mail to my swap partner. i sent her a jar of body butter, salsa, a bar of lavender soap, a paper star, two beeswax candles, and a jar of peach preserves.  the postman said she would receive the package today. i hope she likes everything!  

in other news, three weeks ago, our extension agency delivered an incubator and a dozen of eggs to hatch. well, last year i tried this project twice with no luck at all. so, this year, i gladly took the project on, but kept my guard up on it actually being a success. i kept the temperature steady by placing large stones in the incubator to help hold the heat at a consistent temperature, and i kept wet sponges and a wet cloth to help hold the humidity around 60%. i turned the eggs three times a day (and did not let little hands do it, unlike last year).  but still, i was skeptical the whole entire time. well, as unattached as i was to the eggs hatching, we woke up this morning to an incubator of cheeping eggs! 

our original plan of taking a field trip to the natural history museum was chucked in favor of inviting our school friends over to watch with awe these little feathered friends peck their way out of their shells. they hung around until lunchtime with no actual witnessing of the hatch.  but soon after everyone went home, our first chick hatched. the others are still working on it. it's so cute. bea has named the first chick julie. julie cheeps loudly when we walk away from the incubator. i think bea and i have imprinted on her! 

and...daffodils are blooming. i have just a few planted around a tree on the corner of our lot. daffodils make me so happy. they last for what seems just a few hours here in texas before they wilt away in the heat. but still, they are just pure gorgeousness in the meantime. 

and that's a wrap for this monday. pretty exciting. between all of this happy stuff, we squeezed in a vet visit for pebbles (altercation with a racoon last week), and dealt with some very strong emotions. 

xo,

nichole

Comments

[Jaime]

Hello!! I received my blog swap package today!! It was so amazing! Thank you so much. I actually used the preserves immediatley, then realized I should probably take a picture first! Ha ha. They just happen to go great with the pork tenderloin I'm making for dinner tonight. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the body butter! All of actually was so sweet and thoughtful. I'm going to blog about it tonight if I can get a minute. Thank you so much for your time and effort...and thoughtfulness. I loved every piece. :) Jaime

[Nichole]

Hi Jaime,

i can't believe how fast you received the box! i'm glad you like everything. this was so much fun!

[Lindsay]

Lovely. All of it.

[a/k/a Nadine]

We got several inches of snow last night, so I'm going to just stare at this daffodil picture for a little while. So bright and cheery.

[Molly]

Nice gifts! And, beautiful pictures--I love daffodils and am looking forward to seeing some here soon!

[Account Deleted]

What a beautiful collection of moments. I'm anxious to keep reading about your chicks. I've raised day olds and let one of my hens raise day olds, but I've not yet incubated any myself.

[amanda]

oh what sweet chicks! we've never hatched our own..... maybe one day.
peach preserves- another thing I've not made. mmmmmmmm mmmmm good. I can think of so many ways to use them, but maybe just a spoon would be the ticket ;)
xo

[Nichole]

Thank you Lindsey!

[Nichole]

You just do that! I'd love to get several inches of snow, or even a good soaking rain. We need the moisture!

[Nichole]

I can't look at a daffodil and not smile.

[Nichole]

Seven chicks hatched! Just this evening we moved them out of the incubator into their first real home. I'm hoping we can get them sexed so that we can keep the girls.

[Nichole]

It's been amazing. Bea watched several of them hatched. Yesterday, Byron came home from work just as one was coming out and she told Byron that he just has to watch because it's the most amazing thing ever. I love homeschooling.... I bet your extension office might have a similar program to ours.

Ah...I did not make the peach preserves. I bought them from the market with the chalkboard. :) They are the cool kids and make their own preserves there. BUT, I did plant a peach tree a few weeks ago, so I'm hoping in a summer or two, we just might have our peaches.

[amanda]

that market! do they everything cool there? man.

[jenny newell]

great swap gift :) it all sounds so wonderful. and your chicks!! that is soooo exciting! we have thought about incubating before... but this post may have convinced me...

[Nichole]

we don't have a farmer's market on the town square which i can't quite wrap my head around, but we do have this amazing market that is just as wonderful as a farmer's market except that it is open daily, all day. everything they sell is local. they carry produce, bulk items, meats, dairy, starter plants, seeds, breads, etc. it's a pretty awesome.

http://www.themonumentmarket.com/

actually, it's on sight of a really great restuarant, Monument Cafe. And there, they have biergarten, with live music on the weekends in the warmer months. In the summer, we have a little saturday night ritual of milkshakes and texas swing music. it's pretty sweet! :)

[Nichole]

Yes! It's worth a try. You might want to check with your extension agency to see if they offer a similar program. Ours loans tons of incubators to school and families each spring. they also provide the fertile eggs. someone once shared with me that the early spring eggs (february and march) have a higher success rate of hatching. i don't know if this is region specific, but seemed to apply to our attempts. when we tried last spring it was definitely at the tail end of the season and we had no success.