Update for the week - birthdays, corn planting, runaway chicks

The hens have been averaging about 7 eggs per day this week, with some beautiful weather! We did have one day with 9 eggs, which excited me way more than it probably should have. If I only knew who the one slacker was...

Someone's not earning their keep

I saw a post on Facebook this week that said, "spring was beautiful, all four hours of it". It did get very warm, very quick, but I'm not complaining! Not yet anyway. I'm loving having the windows open, seeing a full clothesline flapping in the breeze, and even the dandelions scattered throughout the yard. 

Did you know...European settlers brought dandelions with them to the colonies to use as salad greens? I've never tried them, although I've always heard that you can eat them, as long as they haven't been sprayed with chemicals and other toxic nasties. The leaves make good salad greens, but I don't think you are supposed to eat the stems of the flowers. According to Organic Gardening, dandelions have more beta carotene than carrots. 

We did get about 600 feet of corn planted yesterday, and had a nice rain last night. We never have done much with corn, so I'm excited to see how it goes! 

Our chicks have been giving us a fit. Well, when I say us, I mean me, because I think all I've been doing is chasing chicks this week. We used welded wire fencing instead of chicken wire on our chicken fence, and of course the little Hampshire chicks have escaped every chance they get. 

Here they are taking a walk on the wild side.

Today is our middle daughter's 18th birthday! Up until she was about four years old, she thought her name was Honey. She was the baby for a long time, until Henny Penny came along, so it's been tough realizing she's all grown up and about to graduate high school. She loves Captain America, so when I saw the Captain America flag cake on Instructables, I knew it had to be her birthday cake. Here's what it SHOULD look like:

How cool, right??

Well, here's my version:

 Nailed it!

I can hear you laughing. 

Close one eye and squint real hard with the other one, and it doesn't look THAT bad.

And for a cake like this, not just anything will do to light the candles:

Yes, that is a propane torch. It was all I could find. It got the job done!

All in all, it's been a great week! Looking forward to relaxing tomorrow and enjoying the weekend!! Hope you have a great weekend. Stay sweet and don't put all your eggs in one basket.