WAIT! First, I have to show you something exciting. Look!
I was mowing this weekend and I found that beautiful speckled egg. Isn’t it pretty? It’s pictured next to a broken robin’s egg I found while walking a few weeks ago and a my thimble that I placed there for scale. The speckled egg is completely in tact and was just sitting at the base of a big tree. I almost ran over it. I looked up in the tree and couldn’t see any nests up there. What do you think it is? Any egg experts out there? We’re thinking maybe it’s a duck egg. No clues as to what it was doing out in the open, completely exposed though. Anyway, sorry — I thought you’d like to see my egg. ;-)
Ok, for the drawing. Do you remember the prize?
I asked The Random ManoftheHouse Generator (yes, I know the words in that phrase are out of order, but they’re random) to pick a number between 1 and 372 (subtracting for duplicate comments — Thank You for all your wonderful comments!) Drumroll please…..
Oh. That’s not a drumroll. It’s the marbles rolling around in TheManoftheHouse’s head. He was still able to come up with a number though.
203!
Is that you? Run over to the comments and count. I’ll wait.
…
Just kidding. I did the counting for you. (Before I found out if I copied the comments into MS Word, it would number them for me. Duh.) It’s Marine_Bio No Blog who said
Love the keep calm motto. Thanks for the great giveaway. Comment by Marine_bio — May 28, 2009.
Now, I’ve been thinking about this whole giveaway thing and it seems that in big giveaways like this one, there should be some sort of way to give a loyalty prize. You know, a prize to someone who comments regularly. So, I decided to look at the last three posts (not counting the actual giveaway post) and if you commented on more than one of those three posts, then I threw your name in for another drawing (the prize will be a posie pie pincushion with some matching fat eigths from these fabrics and the cupcake pendant). I cut and pasted all of those comments into a word document and then deleted anyone who only commented once. Does that make sense? That left 64 comments provided by Jewels (no blog quilty peep), Judy, Elaine, Junie Moon, Dottycookie, Kristy, Tattingchic, Lucy, Kim, Annalea, Susan, Jackie, Brigette, Shawn, Penny, Jean, Gina, Cathy, Cassie, Karen, Jodi, Di, Carol, Periwinkle, MichelleB, Isabelle, Teresa, and Stacy. What a fantastic line-up of loyal commenters, huh?
So, I had The Random ManoftheHouse Generator roll his marbles to choose a number between 1 and 64. He chose #38 which happened to be
Oh my..that’s a lot of wheelbarrels of mulch you have to move. Oh my aching back! Comment by Teresa — May 24, 2009
Congratulations Marine_bio and Teresa! Send me your addresses and I’ll send you your prizes.
Whew! Now I’m off to bed! I wish I could send all of you — especially you loyal readers and commenters — a prize. Thanks for all your great support!
XOXO,
Anna
Even though I didn’t win I’m still very lucky to know you and share a special friend together. Thank you again for my special little friend and congrats to the two winners! I’m no egg expert although I could have made a really accurate guess on the blue robins egg. LOL!
Wow – that egg looks like marble. It’s beautiful, but I don’t have a clue what kind it is.
Congratulations to the two winners. Lucky them! I hope they enjoy their prizes – that pincushion is a real treat ?
hey, were you gettin’ ready for our mowing competition? LOL. What a wondeful find, what kind of egg is it, do you know? Btw…congrats on winning jodi’s quilt! LUCKY! Take care!!!
I like your loyalty drawing!
What an interseting egg. I hope someone tells you what it is. Is it heavy? Are you expecting a little beak to break out of it someday soon??
well aren’t you wonderful.
that egg is not a duck egg, just fyi. i’m googling and trying to find out. i got worried it was a red tailed hawk, but their speckled eggs look different, thank goodness!!!
congratulations to the winners, even though they weren’t me and cupcakes aren’t as important to them as they are to me.
but i’m not bitter.
i swear.
What a lot of comments! And what beautiful eggs! I love that shade of blue!
What a very interesting egg…can’t wait to hear what it is. Congrats to the winners!
Huge congratulations to the winners – love your idea of a loyalty prize too! But sorry, I don’t know what your egg is – but it’s lovely none the less!
Lucy x
Congrats to the winners!! What an awesome idea to do a loyalty prize. My mom just gave me a few of her thimbles that she collects. One in fact is my grandmothers.
That’s a big egg, it looks like a little stone to me. I’ve never seen an egg like that, kinda big hummmmm …. hope someone figures it out.
I was thinking the egg looks like marble too – no idea what it is tho , sorry. Congrats to the lucky winners too
lisa x
WooHooooooo…thank you! I am so excited to be receiving a prize from you as I have always enjoyed reading your blog and now will have something I can see and touch that reminds me of the friendship I have found here on your blog. I will send you my address in an email. Thank you again for your generosity and for this wonderful surprise!
Love the eggs! Could it possibly be a reptile??? Wow, congrats to the winner and I have to say that even though I didn’t win, I am amongst a wonderful group of people who are loyal followers. Who wouldn’t want to be? Your blog is fantastic!
Aren’t you the least bit scared of what is inside the egg? LOL I would have said you need to blow it out to keep it, but, ummm, maybe it’s too developed for that?
(Gross, gross, I know, but you can’t stop a biologist and her brain you know.)
Sarah, who is sorry to have missed out on the giveaway fun!
Congratulations to the two winners! I really dig that speckled egg! Good find!
Congrats to all the winners!
You might try candleing the egg. If anything was growing inside you could catch a glimpse of it.
Interesting eggs, some birds like ducks have their nests on the ground. Its likely some critter robbed it from the nest and left it. The wind and rain here have been hard on the nests and young birds. I found four babies on the lawn after a hard rain. I love gathering robin eggs and put them in the nests I find.
Congrats to the 2 winners! Your egg is kinda cool. I am no egg expert. I have no idea what kind of egg that is.
Hello Anna, I don´t know if I understood your new system. But if I got ir right, you gave another giveaway. Yes?
However, that is very generous of you and I congratulate he lucky winners.
Enjoy your day
Janine
Wow, that is quite an egg. Thanks for the opportunity to be in the second drawing, that was sweet. Congrats to the winners!
PS. Your writing is so funny!
I’m fascinated by the egg adventures you’re enjoying. If there’s no nest, it could be a creature that lays eggs on the ground. I hope you find out what exactly it is as I’m ever so curious now.
And congratulations to all your lucky winners, but especially congratulations to you for having such wonderful commenters–to me, that’s a treasure all its own.
Oh Anna! I think I might know what kind of egg it is, only because we have a nest of 3 similar eggs in our landscaping!!! Do a Wikipedia search for Killdeer eggs and see if you think it matches. It says they are twice the size of a robin’s egg but yours looks a tad bigger. Check it out….do I win a prize if I’m right???? ;-) Our nest is right out in the open in rocks. The momma bird throws a tantrum each time I go out there to do my gardening. I can’t wait to see the little chickies once they hatch. BTW — congrats to the winners! xoxox Junie
That IS a beautiful egg! And the little robin’s egg is so sweet. All I find in my yard are piles of poo… Congratulations to the lucky winners! I’m so jealous. x
Definitely not a reptile according to my resident snake expert! Do you have trolls or hobbits in your garden? Maybe they misplaced a baby!
What lovely eggs, who would have believed the robin’s egg was so small.
Hope all is well for you!
Cherri
Do squirrels lay eggs? LOL! Magpies lay eggs about that color, but I think that big egg would’ve put some poor little Magpie in a serious state of “OUCH”.
So sad I wasn’t the winner of either drawing. Mr. Cupcakes was hoping for a little get together with his friends from his previous neighborhood. Just kidding. Congrats to the lucky winners.
Happy Day,
Cassie
Love the eggs photo. I wonder who lost thier egg??? Maybe it was a little dinosaur??? That’s what we are studying at school at the moment.
Well that just figures, a day Late and a dollar short. Story of my life. You had me excited for second, I was on my way to your house LOL. Congrats to the winners. I think the egg is from Rustic Hutch and you just posted it to throw us off. TeeHee
You are a great gift giver…I know it makes you feel almost as good as the people who win the gifts (cuz’ I’m lucky enough to have a few of your gifts).
Have a great week and try to get some “rest” in there somewhere – you’ve been a busy lady.
Always, Robin
Seeing that egg really took me back to my childhood. Our garden was always full of birds nests and fallen eggs and my mum was always trying to rescue abandoned chicks … what a beautiful egg you found – no idea what it is though!
Congrats to the lucky winners
Kimx
Good for the winners! i don’t think that is a duck egg. We had ducks and their eggs are bigger than chicken eggs and not blue. I say bird of some sort.
Teresa:
This is what I found out from one of the Biologist here at the University. I don’t know where you are located, but he is basing this on South Carolina. Give me your location and I will have him confirm whether this is true for your area of the world too.
“From the coloration and the relative size of the egg I think it’s a red-shouldered hawk egg but I am not absolutely positive. The color’s about right for it and either that or a red-tailed hawk are about the only birds that would have an egg in that color realm that size around here.”
Congrats ladies, what a cool egg. I have no idea what it is but it is cool. Clarice
be still my heart.
when did you change your banner to a magnolia cupcake????
:swoons
well doggone it! two chances and I still didn’t win! congrats to the winners anyway!
So did you find out what kind of egg it is?
Congrats to the winners.
Love the salt shaker!
The Robin’s egg is gorgeous. What a wonderful find.
I’m still drooling over your beautiful garden photos-lol.
I love how you photograph your thimbles! Just lovely in all situations! The egg is wonderful too!
Very pretty eggs! Congrats to the very lucky winners.