~ Retired and Starting My Future In The Foothills ~

[harbisgirl]

We woke up to 7 inches here in Pleasant Valley! We are at 2650 ft elevation. It's our first real snow here at our new house, lots of fun! Here are some pics of our house and yard. Little Maxwell LOVED it, he had so much fun and got the doggie crazies - zooming all over the place. Bogart on the other had, wanted nothing to do with it.

 

[Glasshen]

The pics are beautiful, both sets. The weather is just crazy, it's like you got some of our weather. In Central NY we are likely to have major snow storms and school closings in March. I have skied in early April. But yesterday was 80 degrees. Everyone is running around in shorts and t shirts and smiles. My chickens looked like they were front heavy from grazing and finding bugs and worms!

 

[HighNDryFarm]

We woke up to 7 inches here in Pleasant Valley! We are at 2650 ft elevation. It's our first real snow here at our new house, lots of fun! Here are some pics of our house and yard. Little Maxwell LOVED it, he had so much fun and got the doggie crazies - zooming all over the place. Bogart on the other had, wanted nothing to do with it. 


  
         

Just beautiful! We're at about 1600 ft and we got big beautiful snow flakes from that storm but it didn't stick long. Our town, Paradise (about 2000 ft), got a nice dusting but quickly melted. The perfect way to get snow!

 

[gryeyes]

Just beautiful! We're at about 1600 ft and we got big beautiful snow flakes from that storm but it didn't stick long. Our town, Paradise (about 2000 ft), got a nice dusting but quickly melted. The perfect way to get snow!

Oh, I'm very happy with my one day of snow. Monday evening, I also drove from Placerville (Missouri Flats to Pleasant Valley to .... State Route 16/Mt. Aukum Road to home) through GORGEOUS snow everywhere until I reached about 2300 feet in altitude. Yup, plenty happy with it.

Tuesday, I started to feel like I was catching a cold. It got worse at home last night; that coupled with a mild (HA!) fibro flare-up today was a good enough reason for me to stay home from work. I know I missed a full staff meeting today.... darn.

Backtracking a bit: I have set 46 (shipped) eggs for the Easter Hatch in three incubators. There are 15 Icelandic eggs (waxed one which had a crack in it), a few pure Iowa Blues and some Iowa Blue/EE mix eggs, and quite a mixture of EE-crossed eggs. Eggs from three different sources. Incubators' temps and humidity are nice and stable. I'm trying the "dry incubation" method this time, with humidity at 35% the first 1 - 18 days and 60-70% days 19 to hatch.

It was sunny enough today for me to spend some time on the deck watching the flock, especially the youngest members (from the NYD Hatch) exploring further and further from the coop. I've also started noticing some interesting behavior presented by my "pair" of Toulouse geese: Kate is hanging with the ducks most of the time, while Angus seems to be squiring Nugget, the bantam Cochin rooster. Nugget doesn't seem to mind at all, even though Angus tends to keep any hens away from him with a poke of his bill. I wonder what any of that means.

Queenie continues to peck Morse Code on the side of the house from the deck. I dumped some more crushed oyster shell in its bowl in the yard and she decided to munch on that instead of pale, weathered green paint chips. It's got to be better for her!



I know I had more snow photos to share, but I have to check to make sure I don't duplicate any I've already posted.

As much as I love my twice-daily drive (well, most of it, once I get out of Sacramento), I am becoming aware how it is draining my energy stores. There hasn't been a single day of regret for moving up here now instead of later, but it is making it harder for me to go to work every day. If I was still only 20 minutes away, going to work when I felt "iffy" would be much easier. Plus, I'd get a whole lot more sleep. Which might even take care of some of those "iffy" days. Just keep reminding me that less than 5 and a half months to retirement for better benefits is still a better idea than retiring at the end of next month for minimal benefits. I am trying to balance How I Feel Now with How I Will Feel Then And Forever Afterwards.

Crud. Four mosquito bites. I welt up really badly with 'em. Sneaky flying bastids. Out with the HydroCortisone cream.

Some of my plants from Cottage Gardens have arrived: German Iris, Butterfly Bush, Hardy Hibiscus, Day Lilies, and Asclepias. The latter two are in corm or bare-root divisions. The others are in small pots and VERY healthy youngsters. Oh, and the bare-root climbing rose bush. I have big plans for this weekend.

This coming Monday will be one of my days off and I've got two appointments here, one to have the warranty-replaced front heater glass cover delivered and installed (MUST REMEMBER NOT TO USE THE HEATER SUNDAY NIGHT!!) and one for the gravel delivery for my driveways. The latter is dependent upon good weather, as gravel weighs more when it's wet. The guys don't want me to pay more than I have to for the tonnage. I thought it was nice of them to tell me there can be as much as 10% water weight in gravel after it has rained. Plus, of course, working in the rain wouldn't be very pleasant, even if all they're doing is picking it up, delivering, and dumping it. I'll hire the two next door teenagers to spread it for me. Their parents say the kids can always appreciate some money of their own.

Here's a snow photo I know I haven't shared yet:

 

[harbisgirl]

Hey I know how you feel - I live in Pleasant Valley, about 1/2 mile from Mt.Aukum and Pleasant Valley Road. I work in Rancho Cordova. My hubby works in south Sac. Luckily I can carpool with him but with him driving to S.Sac, the 100 mile round trip every day is painful. Especially with the gas prices lately - ouch! Tough out those 5 months - they'll be over before you know it and you'll be so glad you did. There IS a light at the end of the tunnel. We are SO HAPPY to have moved here and wouldn't give it up for anything, but it sure would be nice not to have the commute. I'm like you - I miss my sleep. Sadly, the salaries in the area are crap so I don't see anything changing anytime too soon.

 

[gryeyes]

I have a goose egg! I have a goose egg!

It was laid in the dog house inside the coop, which I put there just for that reason. The Cayuga ducks started laying in there first. Today when I went out to do the chores, I found this goose egg, my first! (And probably Kate's first, too!)



Earlier today I finally put up an El Cheapo "expandable gate" on the deck as a barrier to chickens. I've got the Cottage Farm live plants set there until I can do the planting this weekend and Queenie had been up there snacking on some of the foliage. I'd like to get them into the ground, at least, before they're eaten. Then 3 tween-aged Buff Orps and a GLW chick were visiting; even with the boxes of opened plants up on the bistro table and chair, the littles were jumping up to see what was in those boxes. I hadda shoo 'em off the deck.

 

[Noncentzter]

Congrats on the latest prize!!

 

[SethsArk]

gryeyes- I dont have much to share, but enjoy reading about your adventures. Thanks! I was a little late checking in this week, so some of this is a little outdated. Isn't the snow fantastic, we dont get it often here, but when we do I feel like I'm driving around with a proud crown of snow on the car - showing off to all the flatlanders (and EDH-ers)!
I loved the "morse code" comment and picture, so creative. Also, I'm not sure it's the drive that wearing you down. You might simply have "short-timer" syndrome. It happens to most of us when we know we're near the end. OH and the time just DRAGS on doesn't it! Once the weather is nicer you'll be so pleased to be outside until late into the evening you wont even notice the time pass. Hang in there!
Congrats on the first goose egg! So cool! We've just started getting eggs from our Black Copper Maran, she really took her time - 10 months! But they are so dark they are almost burgundy. What a treat. Now I just have to figure out the whole candling trick and hatch some of her honeys.
I'm going to head over to Lee's feed today to pick up some chicks. We raised Cornish X last year and hated every minute of it because they are so high maintenance, but I'm going to try to breed some real chicken into them to see if I can get a more sustainable breed. Reinventing the wheel? Perhaps, but it sounded like fun.

Anyway love seeing the pics! Keep em coming!!

 

[gryeyes]

I'm going to head over to Lee's feed today to pick up some chicks. We raised Cornish X last year and hated every minute of it because they are so high maintenance, but I'm going to try to breed some real chicken into them to see if I can get a more sustainable breed. Reinventing the wheel? Perhaps, but it sounded like fun.

Anyway love seeing the pics! Keep em coming!!

I have yet to go to Lee's Feed, because it's past where I stop each day (my commute is up the "back" way on Jackson Hwy/E16). However, have you considered just raising heavier dual-purpose breeds, like Delawares, Jersey Giants or Brahmas? You can harvest the Roos at 18 to 24 weeks, so it takes longer, but much less hassle than Cornish X. Or so I've heard, anyway. I have been crunching retirement numbers this morning, actually. Just got some enlightening information about my previous "plan" which I had thought was pretty darned good. In view of my current health status - how often I miss work each month - it might be best to cut and run at the end of April (20 year anniversary with the Department) instead of "buying back" some years at exorbitant rates and retiring on my 59th birthday at the end of August. Big "Hmmmmm."

 

[N&MSchroeder]

Cut and run if at all possible. Then you could send us daily updates on your house, relationships, and flock!

It's time to sit with the chicks!