Name that Chicken!

Casper's look a like

I remember my mother and I stopping every Sunday to feed apples and carrots to a horse that lived on a farm just down the road from our house. My mother absolutely adored this beast! For a 6 year old, this horse seemed massive and very intimidating; all white, with one blue eye that was almost clear and one brown eye.  I was terrified to go near her at first and I think she knew it. She huffed and stomped her hooves when we came by. My mom explained to me that the horse could smell the fear I had inside me and when I was not afraid any longer, that the horse would most likely approach me gently to take the apple right out of my hand. She suggested we come up with the name for this horse, so she chose "Casper". (Even though she probably had a very nice name, her owner wasn't ever around when we walked by to ask what it was). I was Wendy, and this was Casper, my scary ghost-horse-friend. The weeks went on and after some time, Casper started coming to meet us at the fence before we even got close. She'd stand there and wait patiently, either for her treats or the company, I am sure a little of both. I finally got up the courage to put my hand up to her face and offer her a carrot… Then I saw the horse teeth! I screeched, dropped the carrot and she just huffed, no stomping of the hooves —I imagine her saying "Come on kid, we've come so far!" My mom chuckled, picked up the carrot and gently raised her hand to pat Casper's nose and offer the treat. Casper happily took the food without incident.
The next week, my brother Thomas came with us for our walk. He is 13 years older than me and loves having a kid sister. He took me up on his shoulders and we were on our way. As we approached Casper, I realized I was almost as tall as her being up on his shoulders. Tom asked if I was scared and wanted to get down. I proudly said "Nope"! There she was, this large, white, beautiful and not scary at all ghost-horse-friend. I noticed she had the most beautiful and longest eyelashes I had ever seen. Immediately, staring straight at her, I was calm as could be. My brother handed me an apple to feed her and I put it right to her mouth without hesitation. She carefully took it with with her giant teeth, pulled back and dropped it inside the fence. From there, she picked it up and chomped it down. My mother and brother were so proud of me, and I was too. Casper taught me that once I gave her a name, I had an immediate connection to her that grew over time.  

The lesson Casper taught me has stuck with me over the years. Although I feel it doesn't always have to be the typical, one word boring name. I feel that giving your pets fun names, gives them their own personality. I had cats growing up and remember all their names. Emily, Sam and Mittens when I lived at home. Then I flew the coop and found Sylvester, a very handsome tuxedo cat who hunted mice like a lion hunts zebra. Leo-nardio DeCatrio came next, a prissy, well groomed, fussy little orange tabby. Sylvester was attacked by something in our woods and sadly passed. During that time, we got a bullmastiff and named him Murphy-Doodle. 2 Years later I found a kitty that looked just like Sylvester! I took him home and named him Jackson Wobbleknockers. Next up, Andrew Fluffypants, a lionhead bunny that suffers from male pattern baldness. Why do I name my pets such silly/fun/outlandish names? I am in the creative field, things just fly out of my head, land where they land, and that's perfectly OK. At least my children have sound names. Robbie (after his father) and Owen (O-Wen) part of my name. 

Jackson, Leo, Murphy, Andrew and ??? Glenn D. Henn? No, its Sherry's chicken, Mary Poppins. We got along like *this*!

This little love almost came home with me from a chicken class, he was an orphan!
He's so fluffy!

Needless to say, I love animals like my mother had, and take very good care of my fluffy ones. What would make sense to get next, seeing that I work at www.EggCartons.com? Chickens, yes, chickens. Everyone I have spoken to that has these little cluckers says they wouldn't change a thing! There are so many benefits to having and keeping chickens. At this point, I need to do some fixing up to my own home before I can add anymore animals/pets to my own personal Wild Kingdom. I will be doing heavy preparations for when my chickens hatch out of their little shells in the incubator, (Which is 10% OFF until April 30th, 2012, use code MARCHIX) here in the office, and can't wait to meet those babies! I take of my animals as if I would my own children, and plan on loving my chickens just as much! Part of my preparation is coming up with some very creative, random celebrity chicken names. Here are some my friend and a freelance illustrator for eggcartons.com Sara Sullivan have come up with. Please feel to share your ideas/names or let us know which is your favorite of our list! 

Enjoy! ツ
Hen-dy Thibodeau, Creative Department

Lettuce Grow... with Goose Cartons?

Lettuce Grow


The end of the dreadful, long, cold New England winter is nearby—my favorite time of the year besides a hot summer night. It's completely acceptable to start thinking about planting seeds for your summer crops. The stores have started putting their winter gear away and whipping out the big guns, SEEDS. One of my favorite things to do is get dirty in the garden. Digging up soil, laying in my seedlings on a warm day with my little boys giggling in the background is just heavenly.

  

FHPBL-6G only $19.95 for a pack of 25. 

I took the boys on our seeding adventure last night. We decided we wanted to try cherry tomatoes, regular tomatoes, lettuce, peas, beans, and eggplant. Last year our tomato plants we started from seeds grew taller than my 5'1 tall self. I dumped my coffee grounds in everyday with the tomatoes, they seemed to soak up the acid and produced a sweet/tangy taste. We also planted broccoli, squash, and beans, which did great too considering we have sandy soil here.  We started our seeds last year in paper cartons… which can get messy. This year, I have been exposed to an array of so many egg cartons working at EggCartons.com, I decided the goose egg cartons are clear (great for plants to be in the sun and keeping them warm) and large enough to let the seedlings grow a little more before planting them in the ground.



Started out by purchasing our egg cartons. We went with FHPBL-6G only $19.95 for a pack of 25. You can use them over and over again, it's a really a great buy. They are clear and actually very pretty. You can also write on the top which seeds you are planting with a dry erase marker and then wipe it off when you take them out… Or stick your own label on one! We planted our lettuce seeds first, they are a more hardy plant and can be planted in the ground before summer really arrives. We have never done lettuce before, so we'll see what happens.

Lettuce Seeds, available at any garden store.

We placed our soil inside each cup filled almost to the top. Then watered the cups and placed our lettuce seeds 1/2" down. Clicked the carton shut and placed them in the window to get some sun… (When it finally decides to peek out of the sky!) In 7-10 days hopefully we will see our seedlings blossom. They will then continue in the carton until they are too large, about 6-8 weeks. If the ground is not frozen we will then transplant them in the earth. Otherwise, they will move to a larger pot until the time is right. 


Enjoy your seedlings with Goose Egg Cartons!


—Wendy T., Creative Dept.

Happiness!