Another Dose Of Cuteness

I managed to take close up pictures of a few more chicks. The first one is my Rhode Island Red, and I call her "Little Red" as of now. She is the most curious one, of them all. Little Red loves to peck at my wrist, because she must think my veins are worms, or something like that. She will also willingly hop into my hand. The second picture, is one of two, of my Amerecaunas. She is also a little love fluff. The third picture, is one of two of my Black Astrolops; out of all the chicks, those two do not like to be picked up. But I do it anyway...because they have to get used to me handling them. The chicks are already developing their colors, and pattern on their wing feathers. Really cool how fast this is all happening. They are just like babies...eat, poop, sleep and...well, play...and growing like weeds! 

Eh..Whatcha Gotcha There...A 3 Yarder?

Who writes about a dumpster? Easy. I do. We just had our new 3 yard dumpster delivered yesterday! The excitement level is pretty high, as you can imagine. I canceled our long time marriage with Waste Management, and found a new relationship with Norton Environmental. Way better...on so many levels. I even chatted it up with Vince, our new trash guy. He was the one that sold me on the idea of switching companies; and he will be the one that takes our trash away, every other week. How have we managed to wait this long without a dumpster?! We have acres, not a house in a neighborhood...so this makes all the sense in the world. Also...some of you all ready know...we got rid of our massive junk pile that was behind our sheds, which is one, a storage shed, and the second, our chicken coop. You can't even imagine how disgusting it was for that poor man (we hired a guy to remove the junk), that hauled it all away. He earned his money BIG time on our junk pile. Gross and gross. So with that gone, our dumpster will prevent any more pile up of any junk, trash...whatever! I am in love with our new dumpster. It sits there so nicely.

Fuzz Fluff Chirp Cute!

Oh my goodness, was this a lot of fun! I had the best experience picking out my chicks at Olsen's Grain, in Flagstaff. I was so thrilled I had Adi along with me...she helped out with everything. Samantha was so happy to see all of the different varieties they had. So I ended up buying eight. Yes. If I lose any, I want to still have at least six. So here is hoping they all survive! Here are what I picked out... 2 Amerecaunas; 2 Black Astrolops; 1 Silver Laced Wynadotte; 1 Polish Bantam (the one with the funny hair-do); 1 White Leghorn; and 1 Rhode Island Red. They are all egg layers, but the man that was working there said the Rhode Island Red; Amerecaunas, and the Black Astrolop are the "excellent" egg layers. I can't wait to see them develop their feathers, and colors! They already have personalities, and I can only imagine they will continue to "blossom!"

Chicken Coop

Okay, today was a productive one. I finally made up my mind, on where to place my ladies. With the help of Jeff's input, I decided to use our storage shed (filled with so much crap imaginable), and make that into our new chicken coop. It is perfect, with the fact that there are already shelves (for the nesting boxes); it is sealed up, with no way in (sorry coyotes); and solid for the protection from weather. Also, I can easily plug in the heat lamps that are necessary for the chicks; and for winter months to keep the ladies warm and happy. It took me many hours to clear out all the boxes, and tools, and old crap that was left here from the previous owners. I placed all of the stuff into Jeff's old workshop. It is full! That is now our new storage shed, and the old storage shed will house the chickens. I have plans for this coop. I will be painting it (red of course, with cream trim). I will be purchasing the items to make it a perfect roosting area for the ladies. I have a list...oh boy. But when all is said and done, this will be ideal. I am really loving the idea of raising my own chickens. Jeff and I figured we should actually buy six chicks, instead of four, because they can die pretty easily in the beginning. I hope they all survive. Looks like this will be the week to buy our baby chicks. Yes. That's right. They aren't on sale for too much longer, so now is the time to buy! My friend Adi and I will actually be doing that together, and she will help me get what I need for my chicks; since she already owns like 15 chickens, and a rooster! Oh yeah, and she has a pig, a duck, two cats, three dogs, two birds and a partridge in a pear tree. Adi is also going to buy a few more chicks (to add to her collection), and a turkey. Go figure? A turkey that she wants to raise and eat it for Thanksgiving.

chick chick chick...peep. chick chick chick...

Nana and Pappy came up for a visit on Thursday. It was super nice getting to see them. Of course Cracker Barrel was in order, always a good lunch. I took a picture of my new Cracker Barrel mug...I HAD TO HAVE IT. I bought one for my friend Adi as well (the same one). I took Nana and Papa to our new favorite store, CAL-RANCH. Jeff and I LOVE this store. We go there on a weekly basis. Pappy absolutely enjoyed the store (I knew he would), and he got to pick out a couple of shirts. It made me happy bonding with him, browsing the store. I have a lot of common interests with him and Nana, so it was a great day. Looking forward to our next visit. On another note...I plan on getting chicks either this Spring or next Spring...so I have chickens on my mind. Not a lot of chickens, more like four, and no rooster. I just want the ladies, so they can give us fresh eggs! I have been researching all about chickens for a few weeks now, on the pros and cons; and I am not turned away at all with the upkeep and chicken poo. Hey...that's what animals do. Eat, poop, sleep and entertain us. I am really into chickens, because they will give us...eggs, fresh eggs. Eggs for baking, and eggs for breakfast or breakfast-dinner, hard boiled eggs, etc. :o) I shall keep the updates going, on whether I buy the chicks this Spring, as in a couple of weeks, or next Spring. It is pretty exciting!






 

24 INCHES

We have had the craziest winter storm; and the first day of Spring is tomorrow. Lets see...it is currently still snowing, on this Monday morning. Adding up to 24 inches. Schools have called a snow day. We are still expecting a few more inches today. Enough already. I know, I know. YES this IS GOOD for our everything up here; but we have a lot of this snow! One of our ALIVE trees snapped yesterday, and came crashing down. It was loud! Jeff and Kent were out in the little cabin, and Jeff said it sounded like two gun shots, before the tree came crashing down. He then decided it was time to get back into to the house, since we now have trees falling down; due to the weight of all this snow! Actually...these trees have seen this amount and more a couple of winters ago; but the difference is, we had received all that rain before it switched over to snow...so the rain froze on the branches, and then the snow came. Equals...really weighted down trees! I keep looking out at all of them. The branches are all very low. It can stop snowing now. It has also been below freezing for well over 24 hours. It is just plain cold out there! So the first two pictures show the tree that snapped. It is hard to see close up, because I took it from the deck. Whoa. Now the power just went out. How long I wonder...for how long...It's a good thing the computer has a battery...oh wait...it's back on ;o)

15 INCHES.

We had THE storm during the night! It started off as rain and sleet, with tons of wind, and as you can see...SNOW, and lots of it! How about 15 inches so far (more expected later). Jeff and I were bothered in the night, because around 2:45 am, we lost power for about an hour. It was super quiet and blacker than black; and since I sleep with a white noise machine..I was alert the moment our power went out! Fortunately it came back on, but if it hadn't, no worries. One word...generator. In the night Jeff and I stepped out on our back deck to listen to our waterfall (once the power came back on). With the snow making it so still and quiet in the night, it was neat hearing the waterfall; when everybody was in their slumbers; we were outside taking in a peaceful moment. The pond held up well. It is just now icing over a bit, but nothing to crazy. Looking outside reminds me of how our winters are supposed to be. This late snow fall will most definitely help out our forests, lakes, dams, and keep our fire danger away. It should also make our Spring GREEN. So hello snow. Hello.

A Little Clip.

Today...before it got all stormy; Jeff steamed up his engine. We got to experience train rides right next to our pond. It was super cool. Talk about adding that extra awesomeness for the ride on our property! I apologize for my finger getting in the view. I should of known better, but alas, I couldn't see the screen while I was filming! Usually I am much more professional with this stuff! Such is life. Enjoy!

No Kidding. Pond filled.

It took five trips with our water truck to fill up our pond. 5000 gallons of water. All day yesterday we were filling it, and after Jeff and I had our dinner out, we came back home so Jeff could go get more water, in the night. He didn't finish filling our pond until after 10 pm last night! Today, while I was gone to go pick up the kids from my parents, Jeff worked on the beautification process of the pond. He trimmed the excess black liner, and added pine needles, rocks, tree bark, and sticks around the edges, to make it look like a more natural mountain pond. I was amazed when I got home! Jeff did so much to it, as you can see! Now what we still have to do, when the weather warms up more consistently; is to order our koi fish, and get pond plants, and shrubs. But that can't happen until May for the plants, maybe April for the fish. That will really complete everything! Oh yeah, and I am on a mission to find the right type of benches, for us to sit on and enjoy. I think I found a winner, just need to order it. The pictures show the process of filling up the pond, and then how it all looks after. We even have a working waterfall, and it sounds awesome! I could hear it up by the house. The waterfall pump is pumping 4000 gallons of water per hour. In one of the pictures, you can see the "pool" top of the water fall, before it cascades to the pond.

On my side of the day, I got to visit with my parents and Joshua for a few hours. We had lunch, and enjoyed each others company. I hadn't seen Joshua since the summer, so that was nice to see his face again. The visit was super short, because they all had to get back to Cali, but at least I got to see them for a bit. The kids had a blast, of course with their Grandparents and Uncle Joshua. Kent got a haircut from a barber, and Samantha and Kent both received new shoes and socks! Those are oh so necessary. So a very accomplished weekend!

Now, Let's Talk Pond Talk.

Yesterday was a good day for us to lay out the pond liner. Jeff had the day off, and it was sunny. So this thing is huge, heavy and huge. The distributor made the liner longer than our measurements so we can trim around the edges, once the water is in the pond, and it settles, and forms to shape. You can see that Jeff was in the process of pulling out the bumps, and trying to make it as straight as possible. He later (which I did not take a picture of), placed rocks, for decoration throughout the pond liner. Today...we plan on filling it up a bit with water, and see how it all goes. I will be taking more pictures today of the process. Us Stafford's mean business, when we want something done! The kids are visiting Grandma and Papa Wenzel, down at the Chino house this weekend, so this is a nice little break for Jeff and I this weekend, plus, it's for our anniversary time as well. Which brings me to our amazing romantic dinner last night. Oh it was SO good! We went to one of our favorite restaurants, in Jerome, at the Jerome Grand Hotel, at The Asylum. I had my lobster tail, and Jeff had his bacon wrapped filet mignon; and YES I also had dessert...vanilla bean creme brulee. Oh my heavens that was insanely delicious. Get it..."insane"ly at The Asylum? Ahahahah. Wonderful!

Happy 9th Anniversary!

Today, 9 years ago, Jeff and I became husband and wife. Our good LORD continues to bless us everyday in our marriage. It is God that centers us and makes our marriage work. Jeff, you are, without a doubt the most Amazing husband and you are so very important to me and our children. I thank you for all that you do for us. Your sacrifices and hard works do not go unnoticed. Happy Anniversary my Law-Dog! I love you!

Blades Spinning. Air Pumping. What A Sight. ;o)

How many pictures can one take of a windmill? Who knows, but I wanted to capture different views of it, and you can see the location of exactly where the windmill sits on our property. The winds are starting to blow, and the blades are moving and making cool sounds. I felt the bottom of the air hose, and air is in fact being pumped through it! What a stunning sight.