A day off from "work"

Since today is Presidents day and the non-profit agency I work for gives us most federal holidays off, I had the pleasure of having a day off from work. Well... at least a day off from the work I get paid for.

I finally got some much needed cleaning done, did some laundry, cleaned the kitchen and started working on a tardis cake for a neighbor boy's 6th birthday who I hear is an avid Dr. Who fan. I must admit I have never seen the show. Coincidentally, while Nick and I had Netflix pulled up on the XBOX the other day, the Kinect must have heard something in our conversation resembling "Dr. Who" and it suddenly started playing. We looked at each other and started laughing. :)

Another thing I did today was collect chicken eggs.

Because of our cool weather and the bloom on the eggs, they can safely be kept unrefrigerated for weeks, and in fact this is how they are kept in many countries around the world. However I don't do this. I collect them every few days, gently set them in a clean sink, carefully wash each egg, and refrigerate. If there is an abundance, I will steam a layer of eggs in my steaming pot. This is the best way I have found to easily hard "boil" fresh eggs and be able to peel them simply and quickly... the shell just about slides right off.

Now that we are having nicer weather, I am getting anxious to start planting a garden. This year I am planting cold weather crops only. No more attempts at tomatoes, corn, or peppers! Since it's not quite time to plant outside, I have planted some herbs indoors. I had planted 5 different pots with seed, but as our dogs have knocked them out of the window sills, I now have 2 remaining... both chives. They have been moved to my kitchen window and are safe and sound from the beasts. :)

Lastly, I really enjoyed my restful yet productive day at home. It was satisfying to be able to get dinner in the crockpot this morning and have a nice chicken stew ready for dinner when Nick gets home. I didn't follow any recipe, but rather put a chicken (homegrown) I have had in the freezer in the crockpot and added some veggies on hand... parsnip, rutabega, carrot, onion, corn, edamame, asparagus and peas. It smells great!