A bittersweet goodbye to dear Mr. Maude

Saturday we celebrated my father’s birthday with a Cajun fest….we made Shrimp cocktail, Cornbread, Crawfish Étouffée, Potato Salad, and Cajun Corn Maque Choux. Pralines and Pecan Pie for dessert of course. A little fishing in the pond in the afternoon and despite the temperatures in the mid 90’s, fun was had by all. A nice throwback to his days as a boy in Louisiana.

Also thanks to my Dad, we found a great new home for Dear Mr. Maude. My Dad knew someone who lives in town and also raised chickens. One phone call and they were thrilled at the idea of a rooster. It was a sad thought to say goodbye, but knowing he was going to a loving home and not a dinner plate was a real comfort!

Goodbye friend

Had to stop cooking and run outside to take one last picture and say goodbye so no time for a personal shot. Maude being Maude, I was able to catch her without too much trouble, but of course she ran right out of her carrier before the door was shut.

Another round of chase and she was safe and secure. The kids were not upset so that was a good thing. They too were happy she was going to a nice home.

Fresh egg bonus

As a wonderful surprise, Maude’s new owners brought us some eggs from their hens!! It was such a lovely treat. Cannot wait til our girls start laying theirs, hopefully in early fall.

Breakfast treat

Made some fresh eggs this morning for breakfast…the color of the yolk is so golden and the taste puts regular store eggs to shame. I will be a very proud mama when we get our first eggs.

The final four

Our egg supply will be quite brown after all. It seems our other Easter Egger, Soup (aka Souper-Douper) is a cockerel too. No pretty blue or green eggs with all the Easter Eggers being boys. The Australorps and Orpingtons will lay brown eggs. That leaves us with just 4 hens, but still better than none! I think more chicks will have to wait until next Spring, but that’s okay. The girls are such a joy to just watch and now their fancy digs will just have a little more space.