I got my girls this spring, and they are not laying yet either. I did put a light in the house this week, and today I got an egg from one of the old girls. Hens naturally slow down as the days get shorter--fool them by adding a light. I use a trouble light, hung up where they can't reach it. If they can reach it, they peck at it, and the bulb burns out after a couple days, from the jarring, I guess. You can put it on a timer, so they get at least 14 hours of light. I just leave mine on--doesn't seem to bother them.

Karen, I have a Pysanky (sp? --I forgot!) kit and I really, really want to do a good --just ONE good Pysanky egg! I've also done a couple of polymer clay eggs but they leave a lot to be desired, so I'd like to do something more worthy of keeping. I used to decorate a wooden egg each Easter for my sons, using nothing but paint pens. The first one I did was my favorite: green, orange, purple and black. I started a design at the bottom and just winging it, went all the way up. The last one I did that way was green, blue and white in a "faux millefiori", but when I stopped just over halfway and didn't get back to it all year, I abandoned the tradition. :--( I really would like to get back to that. Thanks for the kick in the caboose! :--)

yup... I have always added vinegar to the food coloring water, and for many years I have cleaned the eggs with vinegar on a cotton ball BEFORE boiling. But I've never added vinegar to the boiling water, and I suspect it made the difference. Although I didn't try to dye any that hadn't been boiled w/ vinegar to compare, so maybe they're just good eggs. lol! I'm thinking of an egg salad made w/ green olives on homemade pumpernickel. :O)

In answer to the drugs question, yes. My drug of choice in summer is a really nice inexpensive Torrontes from Argentina, $8.99 in the wine department at the Kroger grocery store. In answer to your paint color question, to give the room a more masculine air, set it apart from the rest of your house (a real psychological advantage for a husband's lair), work with your creamy trim color, make that wonderful poster stand out, and reduce the perception of yellow in your oak furniture (and by the bye, painting the furniture would be a gargantuan effort compared with just repainting the walls), choose a rich golden brown. There's "Richmond Gold" (HC-41) from the BMoore Historical group...or Sherwin Williams "Chamois" (SW6131) or "Bosc Pear" (SW6390). There are a couple of the Affinity colors in the BMoore Aura line, too, but I don't have the chips at hand. (I like those because they actually can cover in one coat.) The sheers would soften it, and the warm colors and white linens and black iron and pottery and basketry of traditional French country design would work with it. The blues in the poster will jump out on that background, which will warm your husband's heart. (My DH says that no American man of any age has anything he first chose for himself, because whatever his first wife didn't take, his second wife pitched out..)