Just Another Day in Paradise, Day 2

By the time we dug up the shut-off valve and a stretch of water line on each side, it was well into the afternoon. Thankfully, our favorite local "big box" home improvement center, Lowe's, is open on Sunday. We drove into the neighboring town (our little town only has an Ace Hardware and they are closed on Sunday) to get the parts we needed. By the time we got back, we were losing daylight. My wife got down into the hole, cut out the failed valve and installed the new one while I and our children started the nightly chores of feeding and watering the livestock, putting up the chickens and then going on the daily "Easter Egg Hunt".

During the day, we let our chickens range freely. They wander all over the place, hunting insects and other things they like to eat. When the urge comes to lay an egg, they lay it wherever they are at the time. It is up to us to find the eggs. Hence, the "daily Easter Egg hunt." At the end of the week, the eggs we did not use, we take to the farmer's market and sell. Yesterday, in eggs alone, we pulled in $25. Not much, I know, but the chickens supply us with farm-fresh eggs to eat and bring in enough money to pay all of their own expenses and leave some left over for us.