Lazy chicken farmer, June Bloom prep

I know its spring because  things are turning green around me  and  the girls have started laying like crazy.  But those are the only two signs because it. wont.stop.raining.    There! I have stated the obvious.    We had a brief sun break yesterday so I  ran outside to clean the chicken coop.  It is still seeping from the ground up  so  the straw I have been putting in there was pretty soggy.... and smelly.       A real chicken farmer would just go out there and build a new coop and new fence  in the rain.  I'm think maybe I'm the laziest chicken farmer on the planet.     Jimmy says so every time he opens the fridge and sees it stuffed  with cartons of eggs.   Eggs...lots and lots of eggs.  So many eggs that I have been digging for recipes that use as many eggs as possible. So far the  recipe that calls for the  most eggs is  angel food cake.  Twelve eggs per cake.  Now , most people don't bother  with scratch angel food cake because it takes so many eggs and because   the cake itself is so finicky.  But I have enough eggs to make lots of mistakes so I set out to learn.  Four cakes later I finally got it right.   I would probably still be making messes instead of cakes if not for a delightful visit from the parents.  Dad  separated all the eggs  while step mom walked me through the process and pointed out that there is a reason a special pan is needed for AF cakes.  We used a regular cake pan the day they were here and it was a little sunken in the middle and kind of lopsided      but still pretty tasty.   We drizzled it with  last falls failed spiced blackberry jelly  (it never jelled so now its blackberry syrup)      Dad  gave us the best compliment  ever.   As he poured even more blackberry syrup over his cake he grinned  big and said  'so  we are eating two  failures?'       And then he shoveled in a big bite.   All in all it was a satisfying experience and then I procured  the correct pan and the next one was perfect.  But still.... the eggs keep coming so I made cream puffs and deviled eggs and boiled eggs and egg salad .....   now I am trying to master  custard.    I now get why there is a whole section dedicated to egg dishes  in my 100 year old cook books.  Back when most families had a  vegetable garden and a few  chickens in the back yard,  everyone had  eggs,  lots and lots of eggs. Probably not as many as I have right now but still lots and lots of eggs.  I could probably solve  my egg abundance issue if I just put out my  'eggs for sale' sign like I have been planning to do for 3 years.     

And then there is spring cleaning.  Jimmy and I  are preparing for our  annual 'June Bloom"  Its  the time when we get lots of visitors starting to come in from out of town because  no one wants to visit western WA in the  winter.   So, the guest room is first on the list. Its  getting a complete  makeover.  Cleaning, painting  and so forth.  So far I have spent hours and hours cleaning out the closets and going through everything.  When we first moved in I just wanted to get everything  organized and livable.   Things we didn't immediately need went  into  the closets  ...and stayed there for 5 years.   Since I haven't used any of it  or in many cases even seen it in 5 years  I must not really need it.    Its all sorted, reboxed and ready to go to goodwill.     Which means that  prepping for painting is  on this weeks to-do list.    I'm hoping I can even talk Jimmy into putting in a ceiling fan.  But that is an argument for another day ;)