I Can't Help Being A Little Worried

It's Thursday afternoon and the eggs are due to hatch on Tuesday, in about five days. I can't help but be a little worried that this will work. My little banty hen went broody about one day before I bought the supposedly fertilized eggs off of e-bay and since I got them in the mail I tucked them underneath her and kept a close eye on her.

In her defense she has been staying in the box most of the day, just coming out every so often to dust herself and eat and drink. The other hens usually take advantage of that time to sit in her nest box and lay their eggs, even though there is another nest box they could be using. Except for the brown hen. She has been loafing for several weeks now. The two white leghorns have been pretty regular. Every afternoon I carefully lift the banty up and pull out the one or two white eggs. When she does leave the box I keep an eagle eye on her to make sure she returns to setting within a decent amount of time (from what I've read it usually should be within thirty minutes).

I started with eight eggs and just a few days ago all of a sudden I noticed there were only five dark brown eggs in the nest box. I don't have a clue as to what happened to the other eggs. I can only guess that maybe with the other hens getting in and out of the box they may have broken the eggs and then eaten them. I've moved the nest box to the floor of the house so in case when they hatch they won't fall off the shelf and die.

If just one of these eggs hatches it will be a $50 chicken!In other news I made a couple of hypertufa bowls and started mosaicing the inside of the first one. Unfortunately I ran out of the little flat glass marbles that I was using. When I started I really thought I had more than enough.

Today I went to two Michael's stores, a Tuesday Morning, Target, Petsmart (fish dept.), Walmart, and even a Hallmark store trying to find the same colors. I couldn't find the same mixture (it's a very pale blue and green mixture) but I did find a green that is the same. I found a blue but it turned out to be a hair darker than what I had. I can't even find these colors on-line and I can't help being a little worried that I've screwed up and I'll have to somehow start over.

As you can see I still have a fair bit to do. I'm going all the way to the rim. Now what!?!
I also can't help being a little worried about my moringa seeds. I got a packet of ten seeds and planted five of them in peat pots. I've kept them moist and nothing's been happening. I took three of the peat pots and planted them in a potting mixture and they aren't doing anything either. So far the only thing growing there is a mimosa that somehow must have blown in. About a week ago I took the remaining five moringa seeds and followed directions on a website that recommended soaking for 24 hours then placing the soaked seeds in a plastic bag. The bag is then put in a dark drawer and they are supposed to start sprouting in three to fourteen days. It's been about 7 days now and so far I haven't seen any sprouting.

Another seed I bought recently was from a plant called the "shoo fly" plant. As the name implies they are supposed to help get rid of flies. The tiny seeds I planted in the little peat pots about a week ago still show no signs of sprouting. I can't help being a little worried that they won't. I'm not sure what's going on but even though I increased my order over last year the fly predators I've been getting every month don't seem to be working.

At least my tomatoes are going crazy.