Monday Stuff On the Way to Other Stuff: The Chicken Report

     It's been a nice break, but now that the new year is well begun, I've got work to do. The Brick finished putting the schrunk (a very large German armoire) in the basement, and three bookcases are up, and holding bins. Time to put away the boxes of fat quarters we've gradually been accumulating, along with the pieces of lace, buttons and other flotsam and jetsam. Quilters love stuff -- and Brickworks is no exception. (Note: we've had some trouble recently with someone trying to hijack the Brickworks website. Although they haven't succeeded, it has made Google label it as an "attack" site. Our Intel guys are on the prowl; if you get this "attack" message, be patient. It should be fixed shortly. Monday morning update: I just looked -- it's still there. Intel guy tells me the problem is fixed, and fresh security 'patches' put on. But it takes Google a while to remove the warning message.)

The Chicken Report:  Our nine black Australorps are the apples of our eye. They're fat, sassy, and their black, iridescent feathers just gleam in the winter sunlight. They've found the house flower bed, which faces south with a brick wall at the back, and enjoy hanging out there, basking in the sun.
     I ran the numbers while updating calendars, and here's what I found:
*We got the chicks May 4.
*First egg was laid Oct. 19 -- but only one egg daily for the first few weeks.
*Five or more eggs didn't start appearing daily until Thanksgiving. 
     Since then, the chickens lay between 7-9 eggs daily, with only a few exceptions. (And those were connected to blizzards, or the Brick working inside the coop.)

How many eggs did we get in 2012? Eighteen dozen...with one egg left over!
    Not bad, considering that it is winter. At $3 a dozen, that's $54 the chickens have contributed to their cost. (Their feed is running between $12-15 monthly, but there's also the expense of the coops, lights, waterers and such.) And we've had our fill of fresh, free-range eggs.
    Not bad at all. 

Now on to the rest of life, via the Internet:

 Enjoy year-end predictions?  Financial Samurai was right on the money for 2012, nearly every time. From Obama being reelected to the unemployment rate (he said under 8%), he was very accurate. Can he do it again? Stay tuned.

Weird things confiscated by TSA in 2012. Including a... rocket launcher?!?

Five studies that weren't as 'scientific' as they claimed. Moral of the story: make sure you actually did the work at the hospitals you claimed. Or those are real peer reviews...not names with e-mail addresses leading directly to you. (How stupid do these scientists think the world is? Wait...don't answer that.) 

Helpful goal-tracking forms for your new year, thanks to Crazy Aunt Purl. I love this knitter's blog; maybe it's her, maybe it's her cats. She hasn't been posting a lot lately, but seems to be committed to doing more.

A slideshow of brilliant criminal masterminds...including a guy who masqueraded as a huge piece of camouflage (and got caught when the police dog nipped a 'patch of grass'), a man who tried to go down the chimney during a burglary, and got stuck, plus my favorite, the genius who videotaped his own confession on a stolen camcorder "cause the cops won't figure it out." Uh-huh. 

Water dowsing...another post from yours truly at Penny Thots.

A scorned lover sells her boyfriend's secret fishing spots...for big bucks. Be careful who you treat badly!

A really useful cubby organizer, from Chalkboard Blue. Step by step instructions on this link.

 Don't miss out on the Holiday Goodies' soup series -- the latest was Vichyssoise, as of today (Monday), but Chicken Noodle has made an appearance, and others are coming. After that, we'll do muffins, dumplings and other earthy delights. Yum.

And a sad one -- the heir to a $300 million estate is found. His body was under a Union Pacific overpass in Wyoming.   Dead of hypothermia. He'd been homeless for years.

Goes to show you that what counts is not always money. Have a good week.