Easter eggs at Hammer Inn
It’s Easter at Hammer Inn and, if you follow us on Facebook or Instagram, you’ll know that there’s been quite a bit of egg activity around here lately. Appropriate, huh?!
First, we had you guessing who these two eggs had been laid by…
Two Eagle Owl eggs on a falconry glove
Good job, Ailsa! (Our Eagle Owl)
The answer was Ailsa, our beautiful Eagle owl. They’re not fertilised but she was very proud of them
And then, just in time for Easter 2020, came this exciting news…
We had two beautiful duck eggs laid by our recently purchased Cherry Valley Whites, Willow and Maude. For a while there we were worried that they may have actually been William and Morris, but - just in time for Easter - we had proof they are, in fact, Willow and Maude. The weird thing is that the ducks are currently laying the eggs in their pond, which is also where they seem to prefer to spend their nights, so we may need to improve their bedding box!
Easter tradition
Here at Hammer Inn, it seems Easter is just a great time for laying first eggs, because we had similar egg-laying excitement this time three years ago, when we had our first eggs from the new set of hens. The hens’ names were Nancy, Joan and Ada (left to right in the image below) and Nancy used to lay huge double-yolkers, as you can see in the image with the daffodils!
If you’re at all curious about how eggs are made, you’ll want to read our article on 10 Things you didn’t know about Eggs. It’s a fascinating process!
Eggs traditions of Easter
There are plenty of egg-traditions associated with Easter: decorated eggs, chocolate eggs, rolling eggs, and - my personal favourite - an easter egg hunt. Which of these are part of your family’s Easter celebrations, if you celebrate it?
Eggs are, perhaps, the ultimate symbol of new life and they are also said to represent the tomb of Jesus before he rose from the dead, so I can kind of get all that. But bunnies? What have they got to do with Easter? The origins of the Easter bunny are obscure, but their symbolism may just reflect the time of year that Easter is celebrated along with the rebirth story that is at the heart of the religious observance. After all, rabbits are prolific producers of baby bunnies in Spring!
Even more obscurely, for me, jellybeans are strongly associated with Easter in the USA:
“According to the National Confectioners Association, over 16 billion jelly beans are made in the U.S. each year for Easter, enough to fill a giant egg measuring 89 feet high and 60 feet wide.”
(Sourced from History.com, listed below.)
Okayyyy… It’s the shape, apparently. Jellybeans are almost egg shaped?
Hmmm. Either way, they’re a big seller for a holiday that is second only to Halloween for sales of confectionery. And eggs are by far the biggest selling symbol of Easter, whether they are plastic and painted, chocolate and filled, or real and decorated. These stunning eggs (below) are handmade by a very talented friend, each one unique.
Easter at Hammer Inn
Normally, I like to decorate for Easter as we look forward to welcoming home whichever of the boys can make it back. But this is not a normal Easter. Coronavirus measures mean we’re just two and one of those two has little to no interest in Easter decorations ;-) So, I went with a smaller space - just a windowsill - and decorated with nature to lift our spirits and bring spring indoors.
Although it’s an Easter of travel restrictions and family separations, we wish you all a very happy Easter from Hammer Inn, wherever you may be, whomever you are with and however you celebrate (or don’t). Here’s a wee treat to end on a cheery note: a clip of ducklings from the Royal Highland Show.
Happy Easter, folks!
Please post your questions or comments about this post below - I’m always happy to hear from you.