Monday, March 05, 2012

Farm Fresh

Last evening I was pleased when a dear friend called to say she was in town and could she drop by. Naturally I was happy to welcome her. Rachel and her husband live on a wonderful small farm in Champoeg, Oregon (pronounced "shampoo-y") 32 miles south of here.
We always enjoy visiting the farm, called Wolf Meeting Farm. (historical fact: The settlers met on May 2, 1843 to form the first provisional government. The meetings were called first to address the problem with the wolves in the area, but went on to draw up documents of government.) Those meetings were held where their farm is today.
Typical Oregon rainy day
After the rain
Then the beautiful sunset















Rachel and my daughter, Polly feeding one of the young goats
The farm has so many places and animals to explore. There are fruit trees, grape vines, flowers and animals. There is always something new to discover.



Which came first?
Which brings me to the subject of this post. Eggs! Rachel has been saving all the PeeWee tiny eggs for the past several weeks. I love to paint eggs for Easter. I've been doing that for the past 40 years. I have dozens and dozens that I have saved and hundreds that I've given away over the years. If you are interested in some more of the collections, you can see them here on this page.



These are the dear little eggs she brought me last night.




















Here you can see the size in relationship to regular size eggs. They are really quite small.






This french egg holder sits on my counter from Christmas to Easter. After emptying the shells I place them here to dry, ready to paint.









Here is a little german kit I bought in Switzerland one time while visiting my daughter who was living there at the time. The process is quite simple and very effective.












and a close-up of the pump, with its protector, and the drill.











To use this to remove the contents of the shell I drill a tiny hole in the top or bottom of the egg shell.
Next the pump nozzle is inserted deep into the egg and I pump air in to force the white and yolk out.

(I am showing the picture on the box, because I'm lacking a third hand to hold my camera, the egg, and my pump all at the same time!)

Some times accidents do happen. A soft shell, or too much pressure, can break the shell.
But in the end, I get to enjoy the results of all the work. I have a good breakfast and lots of nice shells to paint. I've been enjoying quiche, custard, and scrambled eggs, and plan on lots more during the days leading up to Easter. BTW do you know how to avoid watery eggs? Never use milk. Always use a little water instead, when stirring up the raw eggs. Lovely.

Joining Mosiac Monday Little Red House

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Hello my first visit from Mary's. A lovely post for today. We lived on a farm when our six kiddos were growing up. You are very ambitious to continue the egg painting. That is a collection to be passed on for sure. Blessings to you and yours.
QMM

Sarah said...

Oh, just look at that gorgeous sunset! Great photo!
And look at all those beautiful eggs waiting for your creative hand to transform them into a piece of art. I hope you'll post your latest creations. You know the ones you sent to me are my pride and joy. They are on their own little egg stands in my Irish pine glass front cupboard sitting there among the Quimper. So special!
Hope you see some sunshine. I could send you some~ Sarah

Pondside said...

It's rainy here too - and a little snowy just to keep things interesting.
You'll be all set for Easter, with all those sweet little eggs.

Priscilla said...

It was pretty interesting here today, altho bi-polar to say the least. This morning it hailed sideways, then this afternoon there was bright sunshine, and now they are predicting snow.

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