The Missing Dozen

Yesterday, All Bright Sanitation (828.894.5009) came to swap out the big yellow construction dumpsters. Despite the treacherous nature of giant machines lifting and pushing a 22-foot-long steel container filled with a ton of debris, 12 delicate eggs were found unscathed in a small nest beneath the dumpster. A little backstory: Checkers, the only hen of our three hatchlings from last July, seems to be following in the footsteps of Gloria, our Araucana "Houdini". Checkers has been consistently jumping the 4-foot-tall chicken wire fencing of the new chicken run. We found it futile to put her back in, so we let her explore the new grounds on her own despite the dangers of being a lone wandering hen. Since she is the youngest Araucana, we can distinguish her eggs because they are smaller than normal and blue-green. We found one of her eggs near the edge of the forementioned dumpster a while back, but didn't realize she had continued to lay them further under, where we couldn't see them. This morning, Checkers let herself out, as usual, and was wandering around the exact spot where the dumpster (and her dozen eggs) were located just 24 hours earlier. Poor girl didn't know what to do so she ended up just laying today's egg in the grass. While the eggs may still be good, they may have been damaged due to recent freezing temperatures so we're giving them to the dogs---not our customers. :-)

It's Time to Take Out the Garbage

Living in suburbia, weekly trash pickup is a part of life. Your refuse goes from the table to the kitchen or bathroom waste receptacle. Then it gets transferred to a larger container in your garage or just outside. Then it's dragged or rolled to the curb once a week either the night before or, somewhat more grumpily, the morning of city trash pickup. Well-paid guys in coveralls drive a noisy truck down the street, empty your trash can into the vehicle with careless abandon, and your unwanted by-products are never heard from again. While you might think I'm about to lecture you about the three Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle), this is actually a post about trash disposal in the country. As city folk know, trash service is usually bundled with your water or utility bill. Of course, when your water comes from a well, you don't have a water bill so residential pickup service is $16.50/month (billed quarterly). The good news is that there doesn't appear to be any additional cost to come all the way down our 1200-foot driveway for "curbside" pickup. More good news, recycling is also available. The only caveat is that recyclables need to be placed in clear plastic or blue bags to distinguish them from non-recyclables. These services, incidentally, are provided by All Bright Sanitation---the same company that is providing our gigantic dumpsters during construction.