Eggs

I will be the first to admit that I have a bit of an obsession with eggs.  Which is funny, because I really don't like to eat them the way most people like to eat them.  I primarily enjoy them as an ingredient in other foods, such as brownies.

That being said, happy chickens make better tasting eggs, and I like my eggs to come from happy chickens.  This means I try to buy only from chicken owners I know personally. 

 Apparently these are good reasons to buy local eggs, as is wanting to support you local economy.  What is not a good reason, interestingly, is to conserve energy.  I heard this story on Northwest Public Radio a couple weeks ago.  Washington State University researcher Dr. Jude Capper did a calculation and determined that conventionally farmed and trucked eggs are more energy efficient, on a per carton basis.  However, they did not consider two other options available to us here in Moscow...having a colleague bring eggs in from home or being able to buy farm/backyard eggs at the grocery store.  Typically, I buy my eggs from one of two colleagues at work who have chickens.  When I forget, as I did recently, I buy local eggs at the Moscow Food Co-op.

And they are good eggs.  I love the variety in farm eggs.  Different sizes, different colors.  Just like chickens.  And people.

More Snow

It's continued to snow all week.  Never a lot, but enough to make each day fresh.  Driving north this morning, the snow was substantially thinner, and it seems as though the bulk of the snow is to the south.  Since the temperature is supposed to drop, with more snow predicted, I expect we'll get more of these scenes in the coming days.

Moscow Mountain

I think my garden gnomes have seen better days.

This Is Better

We had a pleasant surprise yesterday morning that repeated itself this morning--SNOW!  First good snow since before the holidays.  Snow makes everything better.  It makes the muddiness of a February thaw disappear overnight.  It makes waking up in the middle of the night more bearable.   It makes having a slow start in the morning seem reasonable.  It makes a fire in the fireplace that much more inviting.  It just makes everything better.  I hope it continues to snow into April.  I hope I can great my first bulbs in a backdrop of pure white.  I hope there are more days of the mountains, and more nights of moonlight reflected on snow.

I've said it before:  I'm optimistic about 2011.  I still am.

 

The Palouse

This wasn't the post I was going to write today.  I found these pictures while I was de-cluttering and they fit with my mood.  I don't remember the precise location where  the pictures were taken, but the photo is dated 'summer 2004'.  These pictures are of Moscow Mountain at sunset.  Home.