H2S

Lessons from high school chemistry class came rushing back to me Saturday evening as we were getting ready for the last night of the county fair - a loud pop was heard in the kitchen. I rushed into the kitchen and discovered little pieces of egg shell strewn about which led my eye to a blackish green pool of fluid on the counter. I didn't fully connect the dots until I got a whiff of a wretched and vile odor that repeatedly triggered my gag reflex and brought back chemistry with Mr. Bowen. I raced to the door for air and leaned over the railing.

Hydrogen sulfide is the chemical compound with the formula H2S. This colorless, toxic and flammable gas is only partially responsible for the foul odor of rotten eggs. I am really not sure what all else is packed under the shell, but it is foul (sic).

I guess I need to back up a bit. Mary wanted to preserve the little eggs pullets were laying so we gathered a bunch of them - too many to bronze so we decided to blow them out and keep the cute little shell.

Problem is we had another batch of petite eggs after the first batch that eventually got mixed in with the blown eggs - that was a couple of months ago that the anaerobic decomposition first started inside these eggs. One exploded and four remained intact. We had to defuse the situation fast so we could get on to the fair; keep other eggs from also bursting; clean up the whole mess, air out the house and keep from hurling inside the house as we clean up the mess.

It was a complicated situation, but Dalton stepped up to the challenge donning his gas mask he was able to clean up the contamination site, remove the unexploded hen bombs and bury them outside.

We were pretty pleased with the final outcome until we saw Duke dug down to get the four remaining eggs and ate them. He was staggering around eating grass as we drove off to the fair.

Duke survived. He greeted us on our way in and when we opened the car door we were greeted with the smell of rotten eggs that Duke had liberated from the grave.

Hunker Down as Ike Approaches

Friday was preparation day- preparation to hunker down. You could tell a big storm was approaching - the breeze and cloud cover increased. We had wind from the north.

I mowed the low areas to lessen possible erosion; we picked up lose items that might become airborne; and nailed the shutters closed to minimize clacking.

We took a break and enjoyed the sunset. Dalton and Britt played Risk - a bored (sic) game. The outdoor cats came inside and hunkered down with us. Cowboy was very relaxed with the hunker down concept. Perhaps we all might be better off turning off the TV and relaxing after making necessary preparations.

The wind howled most of the night. A morning check of the rain gauge revealed about 1.1 inches of rainfall. Total recorded storm precipitation on Lazy Day Farm Saturday afternoon was 2.5 inches.

Mary and Jacob and a couple million others nearer to the coast lost power. We were grateful for being spared the ferocity that some experienced.

Sunset Ike Eve

Ark Friends Visit Lazy Day Farm

We left Houston without much notice. The construction project demands were constant and our whereabouts and doings remained a mystery for many during fall 2006-2007. The chickens consumed more time than anticipated this Spring and Summer in their brooding and coop construction. The fencing and electrical service is not yet complete but the birds are mean as ever and for young birds they are laying well. The henfruit is growing in size and number daily...but I digress.

We were able to get together with friends from the Ark Sunday School Class this past Sunday. It was a good chance to catch up on our extended family: Randy, Linda, Rachel and Luke; Kevin, Tami, Tony and Audrey; Brad, Julie, Erica and Colin.

Julie took a few photos. This one of the old garage was pretty neat. Thanks Julie! Linda shared a recent photo of Rachel and Luke.

The kids enjoyed petting the birds and picking up eggs and Mary prepared 4 delicious quiches for lunch - yummy. We need to do this more often.