[Hunt for a Red October] Up on the Farm

Every week, a man drives into the city from a small farm out in the mountains to deliver boxes of free-range eggs. Every week, we take our little cardboard boxes and gratefully unload the variety of speckled brown or white, faintest watery blue, or cream colored eggs, and feast on their freshness. Today we were able to take a trip out to this mountain farm to get a glimpse of how these lovely chickens live and where our eggs are coming from. 

First, a hike up steep trails and a footbridge wet with the morning rain, to the small brick homes that house the hens.

They literally are free to roam on the mountainside, with little huts scattered here and there where they go to lay their bounty.

And then, the hunt for eggs.

Then we came back to the house of the couple who runs the farm, where they graciously made us tea, let our children run all over their small home, and prepared a charcoal grill for us to cook our lunch.

The leftover casings of chestnuts... 

A little dancing ensued...

And then back home again.

It was a perfect way to spend a fall morning, after a night of heavy thunder and rains. 

The air was fresh and cool and the mountain crags and valleys were like a drink of water to these city soaked eyes. 

You can view the entire set of photos over on flickr, though I know I nearly posted them all here:)

And it almost seemed ridiculous that the theme for this weeks' The View From Here is {nesting}. So I can't help but interpret that in a chicken coop sort of way... 

If you want to share photos of how you are nesting this fall, or just view some creative ideas from others, visit and/or share over at The View From Here.