My daughter bought me the cutest ‘egg apron‘ for Mother’s Day and I’d like to pontificate about it. The first and most important element of this apron was that my daughter bought it to show support of my hobby/interests. She is the best gift-giver in the family; observant of others, willing to spend much more than a typical 14-year-old would want to part with, she doesn’t project her taste on others and she really spends a lot of time thinking through gifts. I love that she got me the apron…it fits right into the way I idealize how things will be.

It’s a cute and sweet idea. It’s not easy finding a gift for a homesteader or hobby farmer. Our interests are hard to understand and our teenagers can be embarrassed by anything mom does. She not only showed me support but she idealized how things would go just like I do!
However, wearing the apron out to the coop would violate the whole issue of keeping the chicken stuff separate from the living area and kitchen. The other problem with trying to use the apron the way it’s portrayed is the logistics of my suburban home. We will only keep the chickens here in the winter, but look at what I have to do all winter to get to them.



Each afternoon I climb over this retaining wall, stand on the arm of this chair and then walk down this sloping lawn to the coop. I’m 90% recovered from my broken leg, but this still makes me nervous.
This winter when there is snow and ice I will go down through the basement, but that has it’s own logistical issues. The first time using the egg apron I forgot what I was doing and tried to come back over that wall with 4 eggs. I caught myself at the last moment and only ended up with one crack in an egg. I also have forgotten while in the kitchen and leaned against the front of the sink, no cracks that time.

Is it a terrible idea? No, it serves a big role when the eggs get dirty either because one hen lays her egg on the ground or because it’s rained and the hens jump into the nesting box with muddy feet. I don’t want my husband or boys seeing the eggs like that because they would probably refuse to eat all eggs. Forever. So, when I come in from the coop I change my shoes in the garage and go into the laundry room to wash my hands. While I’m doing that I put the egg basket under the spout and let them get wet while I put on my egg apron.

Now I can wash off all the offensive mud or other ‘chicken gifts’ and slip each into a pocket to dry while I do the next. When I’ve got all the eggs in their little pockets I saunter into the kitchen and start putting them into a carton. I try to make sure my daughter sees me…she enjoys encouragement as much as I do.
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