From The Freaky Files: Matryoshka (Russian Nesting Doll) Eggs?

I’d definitely classify this as a once-in-a-lifetime event!

I had never even heard of it!

Keeping chickens for our own farm fresh eggs is wonderful. We love how rich and fresh the eggs are, and knowing where they have been and what they have been eating.

I am also amused by the variety we get. When my son comes in with that day’s eggs, he will usually put any unique eggs in the door of the fridge, apart from the others, because he knows I love seeing them before they are cracked open and eaten. Sometimes they are abnormally small or large (see below), flat on one side, lopsided, or what-have-you.

Here are two silly eggs, one very, very small and the other very, very large!

A few months ago, I noticed we were getting low on eggs in the house, so I sent my egg boy up to the barn for more. Then I noticed one rather large, blue, Auracana egg in the door and decided I’d be happy with just one, mixed with some bacon and onion, fried rather than boiled, as I had originally planned.

He and I had a discussion as to whether or not it would be a double-yolker or not, and if I should eat one or two.

I got my onion and bacon all friend up then, in suspense about whether or not there would indeed be two yolks, he and I watched closely as I cracked it into the pan…

I began to express my surprise and disappointment at the fact that only one fairly normal yolk poured out.

Then…

KERPLOP!

Out came yet another egg, in a shell and all, from within that one!!!

For realzies.

We sat there, stunned, trying to make sense of what we had just seen.

Then I just started laughing, incredulous!

Of course, I called my 86 year old Grandma right away and

even she had never heard of it!

I take pictures of oddity eggs and flat out pretty eggs all of the time. I have quite a catalog of them within my photo files. But, since I have so many, I had refrained from taking one of this before I cracked it open. I was sure sorry about that afterwards!

I took a picture of the little one inside the larger shell for comparison.

Here is the larger one pieced back together.

I regret to say that we put off opening the little one,

and either it started out empty,

or whatever may have been in it dried up.

Because it was empty.

I looked it up online and could only find a few other cases of this. It is called “Ovum in Ovu”. Since it is so rare, no one is quite sure how or why it happens, but there is speculation about it and at least one scientist seems to be pretty sure why.

You can read about Ovum In Ovu and watch a video at this link, Big Egg,

and see other instances of it at the links below.

Odd Eggs (scroll down to see egg within an egg)

Astounding Discovery in Sri Lanka

Or just search “egg within an egg” and you can view what is out there.

Pretty cool and freaky huh? I consider myself privileged and blessed to experience something so rare!

... I keep thinking I should buy a lottery ticket, LOL!

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Whimsy On Wednesday: Bathtub

So, on my Design-A-Weekend, I got a great deal on this fab new couch!!! How’s THIS for whimsy??!!

Now THAT is some “upcycling”!

By Ruffhouseart

Just kiddin -- it’s for sale on Etsy. It’s not at my house.

But isn’t it fantastical?

It looks like they even painted the cut edge yellow and quilted the fabric on the pad. And what perfect fabric they used! I think it would make a cute garden bench.

It’s a wee bit too spendy for me, and in the wet weather my area is known for, water would pool up in there until I really would be taking a bath of sorts. But next time I find an old tub for a good price, I’m going to get my blow torch handy and whip one up.

Ya, I’d definitely say this is whimsical. I sure got a giggle out of it:)

Have a great day!

Whimsy On Wednesday: Hidden Treasure

"A bird's not defined by being grounded but by his ability to fly. Remember this, humans are not defined by their limitations, but by the intentions I have for them; not by what they seem to be, but by everything it means to be created in my image." ~W. Young

The whimsy I have had on my mind the last couple of days is the little piece of “dog”wood above. My grandpa found it once, long ago. I think it was in his kindling pile. He polished it, gave it a coat of veneer and put a little hook in it so he could hang it on their wall.

Since he passed, I have had it on my wall. It is funny how something so simple and sort of silly can make me think of deeper things.





I love it when people see things with rose colored glasses. Glass half full types, who have a tendency to look on the bright side. People who see the best in others, and the sweetness in life. Bright eyed optimists who see hidden treasure.
My grandpa did that, even with everyday things like the piece of “dog”wood. My grandma is that way, especially about people. 

I think God is that way too, when He thinks about us.

I am reminded of the quote above (below the picture) which I once read in a book I tried more than four times to finish but never did. It reminds me that it is okay to be on the path I am walking right now -- the beaten zigzag of learning and making mistakes and not being who I was created to be on a given day.
Because walking this path, as confused as I sometimes find myself, and how, so many times, I am just bumbling through like a bull in a china closet, it is all part of becoming ‘enlightened’ to who I truly am, causing me to grow into who I was created to be. And, more importantly, to really know Who God is and what He planned for me to do here (Ephesians 1:17-18).
I am still learning. And that’s okay. God sees me as that girl. Already, today.



I hope that, today, you can find something sweet and unexpected, some whimsy in an everyday thing, reminding you that you are a work in progress...

And you are beautiful.

Oh and look, by way of a foggy follow-up, here’s another reminder… I’d love it if you gave this song a listen while you look at the pictures below. Beautiful, sung acapella by Rescue. Fog keeps us from seeing what is underneath. But it still looks really beautiful.

This fog dissipated in a matter of a few minutes, while I got my coffee.

And I could again see the fertile valley below.

Date Night at the Forest Edge

We got to go to the annual Street of Dreams this year as guests of Elite Development NW

They won pretty much every award for Forest Edge, the home they built, including awards for their careful attention to the environment.

One of the builders is a dear friend of ours and she (yep, I said SHE) and her business partner (also a she) build really gorgeous homes. Now, who can anticipate what the woman of the house will enjoy using better than other ladies of the house(s)? Like these, for example…

Secret spice storage behind the leg in front of the super duper gorgeous, ohhhh the beauty, Wolf stove.

That little tiny button to the left of the auxiliary sink is for the garbage disposal.

Touches of glass and crystal in vignettes throughout the house add a clean, smooth texture and a touch of elegance

Just be careful not to place them where the sun can hit them!

There are layered looks worked into the construction of the home that add alot of interest.

One of my favorite features of the house is how they reclaimed and repurposed the wood from trees they had to remove, using them throughout the house.

Reclaimed wood shelves in one of the pantries came from the land that had to be cleared

This countertop, in a mini kitchen outside of the media room, was also crafted of reclaimed wood from the property.

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The Media Room is equipped with a 3D capable HDTV and is altitude controlled, as is the Master Sleeping Area, so if an athlete is in training, their body can get used to whatever altitude their event will be held in. I thought that was fascinating!

Parts of the Master Suite were also reclaimed and repurposed as closet space. I found it interesting to hear that they custom stained the wood in each room according to how the light hit it.

I would totally take a soak in that tub!

But, if I had the choice, I’d probably head for the pool.

In foreground is (unlit) tabletop fireplace. At the end, through the doors, is the workout facility.

There was lots of classic whimsy for inspiration. Did I just coin a new style term?

And you know whimsy is my favorite…

And, talk about whimsy!!!

This bookcase is a secret door and opens up into a huge unfinished space above the garage

A copy of The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe was a fun touch too!

I love this rain chain, used instead of a plain old gutter for a downspout.

Beautiful job Jamie and Natalie! And thank you so much for the personal tour –

not to mention the free date night!

When I tour magnificent homes and admire the design and decor, I love to glean inspiration for inexpensive ways I can mirror the same look to create a warm and inviting home for my family. I hope this gave you some inspiration to brighten up a little corner of your home this Labor Day weekend!

Thursday Bunny Trails

One of my friends was over this week and we got to chatting. We jumped around from one subject to the next, often before we actually finished a conversation. It would dawn on us that there was something yet unfinished and laugh, “Oh, yeah, back to that…”.

I love bunny trails, because it helps us women girls talk about alot of different subjects all in one coffee (or tea) chat. Today is going to be kind of like that over here at But I Had A Tiara.

So, find your current favorite blend and pour yourself a cup. Let’s take some bunny trails.

Might I recommend….

One of my boys started working for Starbucks a couple of months ago. Each week he gets a free pound of coffee, or another item of his choice. A couple weeks ago he brought home this rich and delicious blend.

I saw this Preservation Party post at Sweet Preservation.

I think I am going to do it. A younger friend asked me recently about canning and I think this would be a fun way to get a few of the younger girls from church together for a little canning lesson. At the same time, it will help us take advantage of these delicious berries Oregon is so good at turning out. And I’m always up for a partay.

Might have to be next year, but I’m going to see what I can do.

I found my new date book thanks to my friend Rachel at Once Upon A Farm. I love how she has been able to use the same style each year, in different fun colors. They look so sweet on the shelf all together, and what a tidy way to keep your past memories. I was glad to find that the layout is the one that I have always found works best for me. I really love that it was under ten bucks. There were only three left to choose from. I was hoping for orange, but I got a lime green one with faux alligator skin.What do you use?

I watched a sweet movie while I was writing, as I often do, in the background, as I type (do you ever fully watch a movie?), called Apartment For Peggy. It’s about a young wife who is really doing alot to stretch their dollar while her husband goes to college to get his degree in teaching. One of the ways she does that is she fixes up the attic of an old professor as their home and, along the way, she helps the professor and his outlook on life. I like this movie alot.

The young, expectant father asks his wife if she took her folic acid pills. I had no idea they knew about that back in 1948!

Sometimes one of the many blogs I read will tackle a tough and sometimes awkward or uncomfortable subject. This week, one of the blogs I have recently started reading did just that when she wrote Part One of “When You’ve Been Hurt By The Church”. I hear of this quite frequently, and it happened to our family as well, so I appreciated the fact that she was at a place and time when she could write about it. I am looking forward to her next installment.

I have fallen in love with old tea towels, especially those generously made with almost an entire flour sack. In fact, I love old embroidered linens. I have found a few sweeties lately. Last week I even found 6 tea towels, I don’t think they had ever even been used, with our last initial monogrammed on them – for $2.00 each! That’s cheaper than buying them new and now they will actually be used.

Here are a couple of my favorites:

This reminds me of when I was a little girl and I’d pretend the dishes were characters in a play.

WHO-ooo-ooo is going to do the dishes?

I love unearthing old treasures and letting them be used again.

The rest of this week, in addition to daily chores, I’d like to:

~ Sort through and launder outgrown kid’s clothes to get them ready for the kid’s sale.

~ Try to get some canning done

~ Get ready to go camping

~ Finish ordering odds and ends for school, and finish getting our first week’s lessons planned

~ Get the old table out, now that the Sneaky Mama Hen’s eggs have hatched and she is out of the way for me to get it from it’s dusty storage place without hurting her nest, and get it painted for the school room

~ Finish protecting the wood on the old adirondack chairs

How’s that for bunny trails? There’s always lots to talk about!

Have a great day!