Clover Country Farms News

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2007-10-16T19:38:00.001-07:00

Busy HOT HOT Day

2007-07-07T18:47:00.000-07:00

Craig is spending the summer w/ his uncle Kevin & working an internship w/ him.
Things have been quiet round here w/o him home.

Well... this week-end he came home to visit.
He and I enclosed my garden shed/ gazebo thing into a secondary Turkey brooder. It was alot of work in this crazy wet heat. But now 97 baby turkeys are very happy with all the room they now have.

Charles & Chris moved and rebuilt the chicken/goat yard so the ground could rest where it has been the past 3 yrs, and grass can re-grow.

Brooke spent the day causing trouble and trying to love the cats to death literally! lol

All in all it was a productive day. HOT but productive.

It rained again, so, of course, no more digging was done on the pond.
Bu with the rain came a beautiful rainbow! I just love them! so I guess its ok lol

Everyone says today 07/07/07 is a lucky day..... so I caved and bought my one lottery ticket for the year. The boys are just 100% sure we are going to win $16,000,000 tonight lol
Its a nice dream..... But thats all.

more tomorrow..... after we win lol

Rain Rain & More Rain!!

2007-07-05T20:53:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the 4th of July.
The boys were all gone to the bay house, so it was just Charles , Brooke & I.
Brooke and I swam in the pool and watched the fireworks the neighbors set off. We ate dinner at The In-Laws.. it was a nice quiet day.

Then... the rain came..... all night it rained... 6" of it overnight!!

The pond that is half-dug now has about 3 feet of water in it.
Just watch... after its done, and we want it to fill up.. we'll have no rain for 5 months! lol

I'm Baaack!!

2007-07-03T18:17:00.000-07:00

Yes, I know......
I havent kept up this blogging thing like I planned.
Things have been busy on the farm,
We are busy woking farmers markets for the season.
The eggs are selling GREAT as are the preserves and of course Amish Peanut Butter.

We are now a Turkey Farm!
We have a bunch of baby turkys growing on our farm getting ready to go t market for the holiday season.

Last week we broke ground on our pond!! I am soo excited, as are the boys we can't wait to get it stocked w/ catfish and start Fishin!!

More soon..... I promise!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!!!

2007-01-01T15:42:00.000-08:00

It has been such a busy time of year, My blogging has been few and far between... I'll try to play a quick game of catch-up for y'all.

November.... Brooke turned 3!!! she is getting soo big!.
I turned 35, whoo hoo! lol
we got our first heifers!! two beautiful girls named Hershey & Paris.
hershey will be our milk cow, she is half Brayford & half Holstein.
Paris is 100% Brayford. they will both produce lots of beef-calves for the freezer. I can't wait!!

The goats (Daisy & Daffodil) are both looking miserably pregnant. Poor things.

We had our 2ns annual New Years Eve "Pig Pickin" it went great!! will have pics up on our web site www.CloverCountryFarms.com soon.

Never a Dull moment...

2006-11-28T09:21:00.000-08:00

Leave it to me to keep things interesting around here.
as if I dont have enough to do, I just signed up for real estate school. :)

we'll see how it goes.

more soon

getting older...

2006-11-08T15:15:00.000-08:00

Bryan turns 11 years old today.
I can't believe he is getting so big already!
He is so smart.. TOO smart!

He is consistently on the honor roll at school.
Yep, he's a little geeky... But that's Bryan. Smart as a whip.
I keep telling Charles that we need to be nice to Bryan.. he will be the one paying for our elder care! lol

Happy Birthday Dear Bryan!

Wife Swap PRESS RELEASE

2006-10-02T18:28:00.000-07:00

The show will air on Oct 16th. on ABC
------------------------------------------------------------------------

SELF PROCLAIMED REDNECK HOUSEWIFE SWAPS WITH A STATUS CONSCIOUS HOUSEWIFE WHO TREATS HER OWN MOTHER LIKE A NANNY AND A MAID, ABCS ON WIFE SWAP

This week in Lovazzano/Clover, a wealthy and pampered housewife living the Hollywood life in California swaps with a down-home, country mom, on Wife Swap, MONDAY, OCTOBER 16 (8:00-9:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network.

Each week from across the country, two families with very different values are chosen to take part in a two-week long challenge. The wives from these two families exchange husbands, children and lives (but not bedrooms) to discover just what its like to live another womans life. Its a mind-blowing experiment that often ends up changing their lives forever.

For Tina Lovazzano (39), her husband, Bruce (43), and their two children, Kaila (14) and Shae (11) of California, keeping up with the Joneses is their main objective. Tina believes that her family must have a ton of money to look right and have a good time. Her biggest worry is deciding which of her two Ferraris to drive on her countless shopping trips, where the sales people all know her name. Tina takes pride in her lavish household and designer backyard, but relies on hired hands and her own mother to tend to it all. Husband Bruce is a successful business owner who prefers to spend time alone watching TV or working out instead of getting to know his daughters better. Tina and Bruce are too busy taking care of their own needs to worry about the actual running of their home, so for that that they rely on Grandma (Tinas mother). Shes up every morning by 6 a.m. to cook, clean, garden and chauffer. As she says, Grandma dont have time for anything! And Kaila and Shae would never think of lifting a finger to help Grandma out. Designer clothes and being popular come first for them, following in their parents footprints.

Tina heads to Texas, where Dana Clover (35) and her husband, Charles (35), turn their noses up at extravagance and embrace old-fashioned country living and values. Dana starts her morning at 4:15 a.m., getting her boys Craig (14), Bryan (10), Benjamin (6) and Christopher (13) off to school before she embarks on her long day of farming chores, keeping house and taking care of two-year old Brooke. She prefers playing in the mud with her pigs to fast city life and fancy things, and does all the cooking from scratch. In keeping with their down-home lifestyle, the family recently killed a pig and cooked it in a smoker that Charles built from an old propane tank. Dana and Charles couldnt care less about impressing people with their appearances. As Charles likes to say, If you dont like the way it looks, then dont look at it. Hes a hands-on dad with a heart of gold, but hes trained the Clover boys that chores come before fun. The boys love living on the farm with their animals, but dont like the responsibilities that come with them. Even though their parents dont like city life, these boys are desperate to look beyond the horizon of their own backyard.

In the first week of the swap, Tina trades in her $500 pumps for a pair of flip flops while she mucks pig stalls and mows the lawn -- all while chasing after the Clover kids. Meanwhile, Dana is disgusted by how extravagant and spoiled the Lovazzano girls are, and is confounded by Grandma, who waits on Dana hand and foot while she lounges by the pool.

In the second week of the swap, Tina declares that the Clover boys need a good dose of luxury and pampering, which drives Charles to the edge. Not only is she undoing all of the values he and Dana have spent years instilling in their kids, she also brings in Danas mom as her hand-maiden so she can take a well-deserved nap. Meanwhile, Dana strips the catered-to Lovazzano girls of their designer jeans and introduces the concept of hard work. Grandma gets the week off, so Bruce is forced to step up to the plate to take care of his home and pay attention to his daughters.

At the end of the swap, when the couples are reunited, will the Lovazzano girls learn the value of a dollar? Will the Clover kids turn in their cool clothes for the old overalls that theyre used to?

Wife Swap is an RDF USA production. It was created by Stephen Lambert and is executive-produced by Wendy Roth and Stephen Lambert of RDF Media (Faking It and Junkyard Wars) and Michael Davies of Embassy Row (Who Wants to be a Millionaire). Cristin Cricco, Stephanie Schwam Adams and Mike Gamson are the co-executive producers.

Wife Swap is broadcast with Spanish subtitles via secondary closed captioning. A TV parental guideline will be assigned closer to airdate

Our show aired on Oct 16th.
here is our family Bio...

Clover Family
In Texas, Dana Clover (35)
and her husband, Charles (35),
turn their noses up at extravagance and embrace old-fashioned country living and values.
Dana starts her morning at 4:15 a.m., getting her boys Craig (14), Bryan (10), Benjamin (6) and Christopher (13) off to school before she embarks on her long day of farming chores, keeping house and taking care of two-year old Brooke.
She prefers playing in the mud with her pigs to fast city life and fancy things, and does all the cooking from scratch.
In keeping with their down-home lifestyle, the family recently killed a pig and cooked it in a smoker that Charles built from an old propane tank.
Dana and Charles couldn't care less about impressing people with their appearances.
As Charles likes to say, "If you don't like the way it looks, then don't look at it." He's a hands-on dad with a heart of gold, but he's trained the Clover boys that chores come before fun.
The boys love living on the farm with their animals, but don't like the responsibilities that come with them.
Even though their parents don't like city life, these boys are desperate to look beyond the horizon of their own backyard.

blah blah blah lol

so much to say

2006-09-29T19:17:00.001-07:00

I know. its been quite a long time since my last post
So much has happened...Our family did do the "Wife Swap" TV show.
its due to air on Oct 16th 2006.

For fear of breaching our contract, I cannot say too much yet.
but I promise I'll fill you in when I can.

But keep your eye out for the 'Clover/Lovazzano" swap on ABC October 16th 2006.

Bad day for the poultry

2006-08-08T06:24:00.000-07:00

Today was a rough day on the farm if you were a bird.
First thing this morning, we went out and found our big Tom Turkey with a broken wing.
It was a compound break, bone sticking out and all. (really gross).
The end of his wing was just dangling there by a thin piece of tissue.

This is where The hard part came in.
I had to cut off the dangling part of his wing!!
NOT a fun job! It took me several min to get up the courage to cut off this birds wing!.

He lost quite a bit of blood, but I sprayed styptic powder on the wound to stop the bleeding, then wound spray, dressed the wound, and bandaged the hurt wing to his body.

If the blood loss/shock doesn't kill him, I think he'll heal up fine and have his flying capabilities gone to boot!

After the Turkey emergency, what does my FAVORITE Americana hen (green egg layer) do?
She decides to go into the Great Dane pen.!

Luckily I was still outside and got to her, but not before she got a huge gaping hole in her chest! Geesh another wound to /clean/dress, and another caged used for a bird hospital.

It was quite a day!

How pretty!

2006-08-04T12:50:00.000-07:00

Look what I caught in my yard today! I just LOVE catching things like this!

Wife Swap?? Oh My!!

2006-07-26T03:23:00.000-07:00

Well folks.... Leave it to me to make sure things never get boring around here.
Today at noon a casting Director, Producer and Camera crew from New York City are going to be in our home!
There was a post on Homesteading Today about the TV show "Wife Swap" looking for homesteaders to participate in their show.
Well, I e-mailed em and told them a little bit about our family. (That was 3 days ago)
Since then, we have been on the phone like mad.
They have done phone interviews w/ everyone in the family.
I filled out a Loong application.
Sent them pics of the farm/house/critters/home.

And they said they are excited and would like us to do the show!!
(Of course we have to pass the major FBI criminal background checks, communicable disease screens, & psychological screenings.)

If all goes well, they would like to film the show the 2nd week of Aug.
That's less than 2 weeks away!!! OMG!

till then, I am cleaning the house like a mad woman....
and trying to figure out how to lose 40lbs in 2 weeks! lol

will keep you posted.....

Grandma always says its impossible to get bored w/ me in her life.... I guess she was right! :)
lol always something going on here.

Whoo Hoo Brooke!!!!!!

2006-07-15T21:46:00.000-07:00

After many MANY moons of trying to get Brooke to understand that it is really ok to go potty in the "Big Girl Potty" She DID it!!!!!!

She was so proud of herself!
Of course we all made total fools out of ourselves, yelling and cheering for the BIG GIRL!

she just swelled with pride!
Lets just keep our fingers crossed that it will "click" now and she'll continue on her way to "BigGirlDom" :) Yeah Brooke!!!

Guineas Made Mamma Proud!

2006-07-15T05:35:00.000-07:00

My Guineas up to this point have been little more than loud ugly chickens.
I got them so they would do their natural job of eating all the bugs, being great guard birds, eating snakes, keeping hawks at bay etc etc etc...
Well.... they are the first to roost in the hen house every night.
They rarely come out of the chicken yard.
NOT doing their jobs!
Well... Bethany and Mom were here lastnight, They were leaving , Mom went to the back door, opened it then quickly shut it again. "Dana! What is in your yard??!!?? Do you hear that??!!?? (she was quite alarmed)
It was the Guineas raising a fuss. No biggie, they often do it for no reason other than the fact that I kicked em out of the hen house for the night.
I walked Mom & BT to their car and saw one of the hens who never makes it into the locked portion of the hen house come out into the dark yard.
I scolded her and told her she had No business out in the dark yard. Well..
There was a Big Ole Possum in the hen house trying to find eggs!!
The Guineas warned us of this danger!! Whoo hoo!! there IS hope yet!!
that's a good thing too! cause I just got 4 new white Guinea babies yesterday *grin*.

Happy Birthday Bethany!!

2006-07-14T20:42:00.000-07:00

Mom & Bethany came over tonight for Bethany's Birthday.
I can't believe she is 25yrs old!
I still cant believe she wears pantyhose! lol
I made Cajun Chicken Lasagna. yummmy! recipe is on my website www.CloverCountryFarms.com (in the recipe box).

We had a nice visit. :)
Happy Birthday Bethany!!!!!!

How Redneck are you??

2006-07-14T20:20:00.000-07:00

I am 50% Redneck

I'm just about as welcome up in town as a hair in a biscuit.
Ain't no hidin' My redneck roots!

How Redneck Are You?

My Marlene is coming HOME!!!!!

2006-07-13T19:13:00.000-07:00

I am soooo excited!!
I just found out that my bestest friend is coming home!!!
She and her hubby have lived in Georgia for the past several years.
She had her kids Mathew & Johnathan there, and now she is moving them Home to Texas!!!!

Watch out!!!!
Dana & Marlene together again!!

2 weeks and counting!!

Oops I did it again.....

2006-07-13T19:08:00.000-07:00

Got another pig today. He is 12 weeks old. a black Hamp. He is ugly lol but very sweet, he was bottle raised, and at the moment he is in the pig pen.. wondering why in the world he is outside w/ the "animals" and not inside . lol Oh my poor thing has a lot to learn. We named him "Ham Hock".

My First Quilt!!!

2006-07-07T19:01:00.000-07:00

I have been wanting to make a quilt for quite some time now.
But, I have never made one before or done much sewing of any kind for that matter.

I wanted to make one out of all the kids old jeans.
I dove in and did it!!

Its VERY Heavy!! lol I'm thinkin I should have started out w/ something a little bit smaller/easier.
its a queen size.
I LOVE it!!!
I need to wash/dry it a few more times to finish the fraying.

Ain't it purdy??
I was so happy to find fabric that looked like red bandanna for the backing... it was more than I wanted to spend.. But exactly what I wanted!

Meet "Fat Back"!

2006-07-07T18:53:00.000-07:00

Meet "Fat Back" he is our new feeder pig (the spotted one).
Aint he cute? Eeyore the pot belly pig likes him too!
I'm not sure what kind he is yet.. I'm asking my pig ppl on HomesteadingToday.com They know everything! :)
I just thought he was too cool lookin!
Charles thiks he is ugly! geesh! poor little Fat Back.

Back to Blogging.

2006-06-27T17:59:00.000-07:00

Summertime is in full swing here on the farm. So we have been quite busy round here, between all the kids being home, birthdays, gardening, babies of all shapes & sizes , cept human ones thank Goodness! lol. I haven't made much puter time.

I have had the most successful tomato crop this year ever!

I have practically lived on BLT sandwiches. mmm mmm mmm
Is there anything better than a BLT made w/ home-grown bacon, & Fresh, sweet, home-grown, juice runnin down your arm, tomatoes?? ... I think not.

I did make one mistake w/ the tomatoes that I will not make again!
I let them get away from me before I caged them. So I ended up w/ more of a tomato jungle than a tomato garden. I can only imagine how many I would have had if I would have done it right! WOW!

Craig turned 14 this month, I cannot believe that I am the mother of a 14 yr old!!! He got the cutest mini lop rabbit for his birthday, he is thrilled. He named him Bob, (Goofy Kid)

I had to take him to the Dr. today (swimmers ear) and he is TALLER than me!!! and I am NOT short!!!! I'm 5'7" OMG!! nuff said, I am feeling too old now! lol

Today is Charles and my 5th anniversary. Wow, time flies when your havin fun. *wink* *wink*
I still find it amazing that I am so in love w/ this man. I never thought I'd ever find true happiness w/ any man. I mean, I never was one to make the wisest choices when it came to men. I guess God decided it was time for me to find true love, and lead me to Charles, despite myself.
Thank You God!!!

Everything else is going pretty good round here.
Rowdy is being such a good horse now, he is the first one to come runnin when I go out to their pasture. He behaves on his lead rope. he still spooks too easily.. we are working on that, I am so glad I didn't give up on this beautiful boy!

Hick is growing into a fine Big Boy goat. I hope that he'll soo figure out what to do and we'll have kids coming from Daisy & daffodil. How much fun will THAT be???
I still am in search of a good Nubian that doesn't cost more than my car. so far no such luck.

Speaking of searching....
We are still having such a hard time finding a milk cow. We had 2 lined up from when Craig ran his auction to sell his stuff on Ebay to buy his mom a cow. (sweet boy) and they BOTH fell through. I guess I can't complain cause they were gonna be free. We have the names all picked out (also won in the auction) Hershey. And $43 from Craig's stuff... but no cow. **sigh** They are just few and far between here in BEEF country, and the ones you can find cost a fortune!!
Oh well.... we will find our Hershey someday.

comic relief

2006-05-31T03:24:00.000-07:00

The kittens are getting bigger and they are SOOO cute!
Well, I got a really nasty sunburn this week-end mowing the lawn, so I took off my bra today, set it on the couch while I ran to get Brooke. This is what I came back to find. **giggle** goofy kitties.

It's Summer!!

2006-05-31T03:15:00.000-07:00

Well, The boys are all home for summer break.....
ALL of them are home! ALL the time!! Oh My! lol

They All passed and are thrilled with it. It was really "iffy" for Craig, but he pulled it out at the very last second.. I'm still not sure how he did it, I can only hope that he learned a lesson this year and decides that next year will be better. He was grounded and in trouble ALL this year because he just wouldn't try.
Keeping fingers crossed for him next year. This year was just miserable for us all. But.. I still ask.. how do you MAKE a kid motivated? We grounded him, took away EVERYTHING (he only had a mattress on the floor & books) sigh...

Busy But Nice Week-End

2006-05-22T03:17:00.000-07:00

It's been a long week-end around here, but we got SO much done!

Finished the fence for the horse pen & pasture.

Hung gates on the new horse pen/pasture.

Put construction marking ribbon/tape all along the entire fence-line. (Paco has never been on a wire fence and some of ours is barbed wire, so I wanted to be sure he could see it see it).

Mowed the front pasture.

Dug holes and cemented My new chickens (will post pics) into the yard. (don't want them to get stolen)

Cleaned out the hen house and trying to break some of these broody hens so I'll get more eggs to sell.

Laundry Laundry Laundry.... as always.

The kids get out of school for summer break on Thursday!! Ugh!

Charles got his first pay check from his new job as pipe superintendent. The problem is.. We are now on bi-weekly pay. EVERY single bill we have came out of this paycheck!! Oh my its gonna be tight till next payday!

Now Today (Monday) I have to get to work on the Inside of the house. fun fun fun

Chickens chickens EVERYWHERE!

2006-05-17T04:48:00.000-07:00

It seems Spring is in FULL Force around here.
so many of my hens have gone broody! I am not getting many eggs because these girls just want to sit and hatch! I have chicks everywhere! lol Oh my!
I lost count at 47 chicks! More hatch every day!
I'm really gonna have to thin my flock or sell a buncha eggs in a few months!

The ponies are doing good, Rowdy still has his moments where he doesn't want to be a good boy and let me get his lead line. But he is a little less stupid than before lol

Eeyore (pot belly pig) has decided that he LOVES the horses, he spends his days figuring out how to get out of his pen and get into the horse pen. lol the horses are not really impressed w/ him.. he wants to rub on them and love them, they would rather he just leave them alone.

the garden is doing great! cept I was a bad tomato mom and didnt get the tomato plants caged in time... now I have a jungle of tomatoes lol but a BUNCH of them... now we wait for them to ripen.
corn is coming up well, melons, squash, beans & cukes growing well too. Looks like the raised beds is the way to go.

More Critters!

2006-05-06T07:21:00.000-07:00

Things are going good w/ the ponies...
They now have names.

Paco - the lead horse/more tame
& Rowdy - he earned his name. he is still stubborn, but doing better.

Yesterday I went to the feed store, which I know is not a good thing! lol
I came home w/ 4 Eastern Wild Turkeys.
& 4 kittens.

I have been wanting some barn cats to help w/ mice etc in the barn, and I wanted to start w/ kittens, so they can get pecked a few times and get a little afraid of the chickens so hopefully they wont go after them later.

These are the first turkeys we have had, so it should be interesting. I was wanting to get a Broad Breasted breed, but this is what they had, and wild turkeys might go broody and raise come babies, we'll see. They are quite dumb lol I had to put a chick in w/ them to show them how/where to eat/drink! geesh!

Stuborn Ponies!

2006-04-27T14:32:00.000-07:00

Here are the two welsh ponies I posted about last week.
They are doing pretty good.
They havent been worked with for quite a long time, so they are skiddish.

When you can get hold of their halter or have them on a lead rope, they are fine... but till ya do.. the chase is on!

My neighbor (the horse lady) told me a good way to tame em down a bit is to ONLY let them eat when they are on a lead rope, tied up and I am messing w/ them (petting, brushing, talking etc...)
Well this is working well w/ one of them.
He is a good boy.. See's me commin w/ the feed bucket. he waits for me to come put on his lead rope, tie him up and let him eat.

Now.. His brother (we call Rowdy) is oh so stubborn!
He will inch his way up to me and eat a little bit out of my hand.. but No Way No How will he let me get ahold of his halter!
I will try to get it and get him to trust me while his brother eats... then after brother is done eating I let him off the lead and leave.
My neighbor says when he's hungry enough he'll let ya put on a lead and he'll eat.

I am kinda worried tho.
He hasn't eaten anything but some grass in the pen etc.. and a few handfuls of food since Saturday morning.
I don't want to starve him... but it seems to be a battle of the wills and

I'm thinkin I BETTER win or I'm in REAL trouble lol

Back to Blogging

2006-04-21T18:13:00.000-07:00

I know, Its been awhile.
Have been down in the dumps.
The puppies all passing away...

We can't get the house now...
We were all set to close and found out that there is a $40,000 judgement on hubby from some things his ex didn't pay or bother to tell him about during the separation before their divorce. I got them to agree to take $15,000 but that's still $15,000 we do not have at the moment. So the house is put off for awhile. *sigh*

Oh well... on to better things.

The garden is doing GREAT!
I have HUGE tomato plants!
Corn is commin up great.
Beans doing well,
as is squash, potatoes and peppers.

We have 15 chicks & 6 guineas in the brooder Spring Has Sprung!!

We got a new billy goat for the girls, he is so cute!
He is all black except for a little white tip on his tail.
The girls are all names after flowers, so I decided the boys will be named after trees.
So.... His name is Hickory, Hick for short.
He's doing great.

Tomorrow we go to pick up 2 welsh ponies.
The boys are sooo excited!
They kinda fell into our laps, a friend of my ex's found out he has to move and he wants another full size horse, so he has to get rid of them.
They are both geldings. 4-5 years old, little paints.

They have been pastured for quite awhile now so they are awful skiddish, it's gonna take some work and patience, but they should turn out to be great little horses. The original owner used to use them for children's parties to pull kids in carts.

We shall see.

Will post pictures tomorrow. Went to see them today... right after a storm.. My oh My are they muddy!

More soon, I promise.

Heartbroken

2006-03-28T05:52:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted in awhile....
I just haven't been up to it.
we have had a very VERY heartbreaking week here on the farm.

Last Saturday the puppies got sick...
I thought it was the worming meds,..
well. by Monday morning we had gone from 11 Happy Healthy Great Dane puppies to 3 barely hangin on very sick puppies.

The vet confirmed our greatest fears on Monday morning...

PARVO

The scary thing is... we don't have a clue where they got it. The vet said it could have been a stray tho walked through the yard, I could have picked it up on my shoes when I went to the store, even a neighbors rainwater can bring it onto our land, or it could have been here before we even moved in.

We have been sooo careful, I don't let any of the neighborhood kids play with the puppies, I haven't let people come see them yet (only pics online), they were due for their 6 week shots This Friday.

We have lost all of the puppies.
This has been a terrible experience.
we are so sad.

I have been getting calls every day from people who want one of our beautiful puppies. I could have sold this litter 5 times over, they were just that good.

There are just no more words.

Had a WONDERFUL dinner!!

2006-03-15T19:09:00.000-08:00

went today and picked up the pork from the butchers....
Oh My !! what a load of meat we got!!!
the hanging weight was 215lbs. so Saucy was about 250lbs.
the butcher even told me that she was "One Good Hog!" whoo hoo! not bad for my first one!!!

I cooked up some pork chops tonight.... they were GREAT!!
they were whiter than store bought...
juicy sweet meat! wonderful!

now I want to get another hog!!! this wont last too long its soooooo good
The smoked sausage and bacon wasn't ready yet...
we get that Sat.
17lbs smoked sausage
9 lbs bacon....
ooooh cant wait!
I already have 25lbs of breakfast sausage! lol yummmmmm!

Beautiful day!

2006-03-14T12:37:00.000-08:00

Today is GOERGOUS outside. Its 75 degrees. The sun is shining birds chirping.... life is good.. But before I break into song... here is catch up for this past week.
The boys were on Spring Break last week so I was a tad busy.
Got the rest of the paperwork turned in for the house.. now its off to underwriting for a yes/no... ooooooh I am a wreck!
I get a truck load of wonderful rich garden soil delivered t to me tomorrow for my new garden beds. Cant wait to go play in the dirt! The two beds I have going now are already full of young healthy tomato plants.

This week-end the boys have a lot of dirt to move! hehehe it'll be good for them.

We sold one puppy this past week-end. they came and picked out their baby and put down a deposit. she just needs a little more age then she can go to her new forever home.

They are growing sooo fast! I am worried about the littlest male tho....
he doesn't seem to be eating enough.. bringing him inside for a bottle feeding in a bit.. we'll see how he does.

puppies are 3 weeks old!!!!!

2006-03-08T13:39:00.000-08:00

my babies are growing soo fast!
lookie!!

Nice day

2006-03-04T18:52:00.000-08:00

Today was beautiful! 76 degrees perfect!
We had alot to do today,
the yard needs cleaning,
the fence needs fixing,
the house is dirty,
laundry is piled up...
so, what did we do?

We Went Fishin!!!

didnt have to go far, we went to the tiny pond next door, and caught a mess of perch. All were small, but we had a blast.

Brooke was not too sure what she was doing...
she was on the shore yelling... C'mere shisheeeees! Now! and she'd stomp her little foot! was very cute.

I'm thinkin she got her patience from her mom.

Then we came home and made shrimp po-boys for dinner.

Now Charles Ben & Chris are playing video games,
Craig & I are watching the chuck-wagon cook-offs on TV its a nice night. :)

Yippee!!!

2006-02-27T19:23:00.000-08:00

Oooh yesterday was wonderful!!!
Charles & Craig built another great big dog pen, for Sara and the puppies.

Then Chris & Charles cleaned out the chicken pen...
And what did we do w/ all the wonderful composted chicken stuff????

FILLED TWO RAISED GARDEN BEDS!!!!
mixed it all up w/ some good peat moss, garden soil, and more composted manure. and Poof!!! I have a GARDEN!!
well, its a start lol

I plan to start a few new raised beds each year.
I planted my tomatoes...
Jalapenos
summer squash..
green beans.

sooo excited!!!!!

The Deed is Done sniff

2006-02-25T14:05:00.001-08:00

Saucy (Sausage) is now at the butchers.

The guys got the small livestock hauler....

Backed it up to the gate....

each got a board...

They looked like they were preparing for battle.

They just knew there would be no way to get her into the hauler without a fight.

I came outside to see how it was going...

STOP! I yelled.

Let me try.

I went inside..

got a few eggs..

walked up to my girl...

gave her an egg (out of my hand)...

and threw the last 2 into the hauler....

She hopped right up into the hauler like she had done it 100's of times before.

I think the guys were a tad disappointed, they wanted to battle lol

I have tried to explain to them time & time again, THEY cause the chasing.

THEY cause the battle...

if they would just be sweet ad calm, the animal most likely will be calm too.

She was shut into the hauler and then gave me this look... (the one in the pic) like.. Hey!...... Whats going on Mom??? What are you doing??

When we took Hot Dog to the butcher it really wasn't too hard. But Saucy was my first pig...

she was my baby... She would eat eggs out of my hands every day...

She would run around like a puppy each time she saw me coming.

This time was not so easy.

But.. Its done.

Yes, I am sad... But. i know she lived a very happy spoiled life.

I know she was treated w/ respect.

I know she felt safe.

And I know she will be put down humanly.

and...

I know that in 2 weeks my freezer will be full of home grown, yummy pork.

I'm not gonna say there wasn't a tear shed....

I'm not gonna say I didn't almost turn the truck around more than once on the way to the butchers....

But I did what I set out to do.

This was the plan from day one.

I did it, even tho everyone said I couldn't ever go thru w/ it.

Now....

I can only hope it will be easier from now on.

Sleep? what Sleep?

2006-02-24T02:43:00.000-08:00

Sara has decided that she wants "help" raising her pups. Well, not so much help as she doesnt like to be alone w/ all these babies.

She MUST come wake me up and get me to come with here every other hour ALL NIGHT LONG.....

She has decided that she can't go potty alone anymore either...
I MUST accompany her to do her business.

""sigh""

I am growing more impatient about the new house... Those who know me are fully aware that my patience is NOT something that I am known for. I am soooooo ready for this house to be here!

Spring, new house, garden, puppies eating "real" food.. the list goes on and on.... Things Dana wants NOW!

Now its winter & I want Spring....

2006-02-20T07:16:00.000-08:00

The weather this year has been so crazy!
One day have to start a fire, the nest tempted to turn on the A/C.
Well, its finally colder outside... and all I want to do is start planting my garden! lol Can I ever be happy w/ the way things are at the moment?? lol I guess not.

The weather man said no sunshine this week, should be fun. **sigh**

I plan to start cleaning out and packing things up today. I am so excited about the new house, I have to do SOMETHING. So I figure it might be a good idea to prepare things a little bit... might help pass the time till the move and actually feel real if there are boxes stacked in the corners lol
But.... first I have to dig and find the corners! Oh my.... this is gonna be a big job.

sleep deprivation,,,,,

2006-02-19T18:35:00.000-08:00

We lost one pup, Best I can tell she smothered while nursing during the night. :( She was the smallest pup, but otherwise very healthy.

Sara seems to be getting a little bit of Mastitis in one tit. But we caught it very early and all seems well.. but.....
You try to make sure 11 hungry pups do not nurse from this tit!! HA! Good luck. And Sara doesn't really enjoy me milking it out every day either. Not to mention the big old band-aids I have on it the rest of the day to keep pups at bay.

All is well and the pups are 1 week old today :)

Excitment building & self control tested...

2006-02-16T16:23:00.000-08:00

The men who are doing the improvements on our land for the new house came today.
They marked for the house, foundation, septic, electric pole etc...

While he was here he said... I could add a 40' x 40' 8 stall barn to your loan for about $1 a day.

Ooooh how I would LOVE to get a barn.
but...
that would add about $70 a month to our note.

**sigh**

PUPPIES!!!

2006-02-15T09:39:00.000-08:00

Saturday 2/11/2006, (the DAY after going to the vets) I decided to run to the store... Not 15 min into my trip, Craig called me on my cell.. "Mom!! Get home now!! PLEASE!!!" "A puppy just fell out of Sara!!!!!" he was freaking out a tad. **giggle**

Of course she would start the one time I leave!! grrr lol

I rushed home, and between 3:20pm Sat and 2:00am Sunday morning, Sara delivered 12 of the most beautiful Black Dane Puppies I have ever seen.

This was her first letter, she did GREAT!! Isn't it just so amazing how they just know what to do?

All the puppies are doing great. No problems at all. and sweet Sara is just an wonderful Mother!! The pups are all well fed, she keeps them very VERY clean, she is sooo very careful not to lay on any. Its just so cool to watch.

Now, I , on the other hand am a nervous wreck lol every squeak, I have to run & make sure all is well. and of course it always is.

I took them all to the vet this morning.. they are perfect! the vet commented several times at what a outstanding litter this is.

We are happy!!!
Very tired, but happy! lol

now.....
what are we gonna do when they get mobile??? Oh Dear!

Busy week.

2006-02-10T18:45:00.000-08:00

It's been a busy week of canning & mailing out lots of Amish Peanut butter.

Went today and registered the truck and Suburban, got new car ins went to the vet, post office bank... etc etc etc. Tomorrow its new tires, oil change, bank, post office and grocery shopping. exciting huh? lol

Sara is getting so close to having her puppies.. its sooo exciting.. we went to the vets this morning to get an x-ray to try to get a puppy count... they couldn't get a good shot.. all we know for sure is there will be no less than 7 lol BIG help.

Oh to have 10 year old troubles....

2006-02-01T05:30:00.000-08:00

Oh to have the troubles of a 10 yr old....
Bryan came to me this morning...
he was obviously very worried about something important.
"Mom" he said....
"I don't wanna grow up."
Why? I asked.
"I don't know what I'm gonna do about kids."
What are you talking about?
"Well... I want to get married..."
"I want my wife to have babies..."
"But I'm not gonna Mate to put them in her!"
"Mating just seems very unusual to me..."
"I have decided I am NOT going to mate."
Don't worry Bryan.... If you don't want to mate, you don't have to.
"Whew!! Will you tell my wife that when I get her?"
Yes Bryan, I'll tell her.
"Good, Can I have some gum?"
LOL

Big Changes comming....

2006-01-29T07:28:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted about it because I wanted to wait until I knew it might happen before everyone knew...
But...
After waiting for sooo long to figure out what to do bout the major house damage we suffered w/ hurricane Rita.
I am Thrilled To announce....
We Are Getting a NEW House!!!!
We are going from 1300 sq feet to 2280 sq ft!! It has a HUGE kitchen!!!
2 living areas! (One formal Living room & a HUGE Activity room)
A small family could move into the master bath. Ant to top it all off....
It comes w/ a built-in Big screen TV and surround sound! (Hubby & the boys LOVE that! lol)
We decided to go with a manufactured Modular home. I was really "iffy" about the thought of it.. But after looking at so many.. and learning about them. They are GREAT!
we are NOT talking about a trailer here.... this is a HOUSE that they basically bring in pieces and assemble them here. The another cool thing?? we'll have it done and ready to move in in about 90 days!!! building from the ground up would take about a year!!!
I'll post lots of pics soon.... I am just sooo excited!

Finally we will have a house where everyone isn't right on top of each other at all times, and a home where it will actually look clean... because there will be room for everything we have!

whoo hooooooooo!

One Proud Mom!

2006-01-22T18:28:00.000-08:00

Craig came to me a few weeks ago,
He asked me if he could sell some things on Ebay. I told him to wright out a well thought out listing and I'd read it and decide. He brought me the most wonderful letter to post.
This is what he wrote...

My name is Craig. I have 3 little brothers and 1 baby sister. The reason I am doing this auction is to try to do something for my mom.

My mom is a great mom. My brothers and me have been pretty bad lately.
My grades were not very good but my other brother Chris had bad grades to! Don’t worry tho we are doing much better with our grades now.
My mom got mad about the grades and we got grounded till they got better.

My mom buys us all the stuff we need. She cooks really good food.
And all my friends think she is really cool because she is really nice and fun.
But she never gets anything. She doesn’t even get anything for herself when she goes to the store unless she really REALLY needs it like sometimes shampoo and stuff.

On her birthday all of us and our dad forgot her birthday was that day. She didn’t even get mad or cry or anything. She just said it was ok and she knows we love her anyways.

At Christmas, she got all of us kids what we wanted but didn’t save any money from my dads paycheck for him to get her anything.
She said it was ok because she has more fun watching everybody else get what they want than she would getting a present for her.
So she didn’t even get anything but drawings and stuff we made at school from us kids for Christmas. She told my dad that she wanted to order a bunch of seed for her garden soon and that would be her present from him.

We live in Texas. My mom wants to make our place into a farm. When she was little that’s all she wanted when she grew up. Was a farm

Mom grows a big garden every year. With lots of tomatos ( I DO NOT LIKE THEM!) and lots of other stuff that she likes to cook and can to keep all year, she makes really good jelly and Amish peanutbutter is the best!

She has chickens and they make really good eggs for us to eat and cook stuff with.

But she really wants to get a cow. She said she really wants to play at making cheese and milk from the cow.
We have a pasture and shelter for it. We have all the food it would need. But cows cost a lot of money to buy! They are expensive! The ones that make good milk are more money than the ones you just use for steak and hamburgers. The cows she found were $1000 wow! That’s a lot! I know my stuff wont sell for that much. But it’s a way to start.

I want to do something really nice for my mom because she does a lot for me and my brothers and sister and dad

I want to sell my ...

I just sat down and cried. What a sweet boy I have!!
we decided that I would let him post it if he typed it to practice for keyboarding class.
You would not believe how many people have gone to his auction!!
its been up for a little over 2 days and we have had over 4000 hits!!
Its just crazy and seems to have taken on a life of its own!
I'll keep tabs on it here.
Its just crazy! But I am so proud of him!
he is growing into quite a fine young man!

Ain't that the way kids are?? Just when you are about to KILL them , they go and do something sweet?? lol

here is a link to Craig's auction......
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5658566556&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMESE%3AIT&rd=1

Farm web site is Online!! whoo hoo!

2006-01-15T05:43:00.000-08:00

haven't posted in over a week! oops!
well, I have have our farm website online!!!
www.CloverCountryFarms.com I have been working on it alot... that's kinda why the blog entries have been so pitifully few & far between.

The 13th it was 20 years since Dan died... I can't believe something that can feel like yesterday happened THAT long ago.
I still often sit and wonder what he would have thought of my life...
he would have been such a wonderful Uncle for the kids...
Oh how I wish he could have met them. And They him...

We are now in search of our first family/farm cow. Right now I'm leaning towards a Dexter..
They have great milk..
They are small..
They are good for beef...
great at calving...
sounds like a great dual-purpose breed for us! we'll see how that goes.

We have been so incredibly poor the past few weeks! I guess between Christmas... The party and several unexpected expenses.. It all caught up with us. ugh.. not fun.

I think today we will work on building the frames for my raised bed gardens,
This year I'm gonna try the lasagna bed gardening. we'll see how that goes.

Happy 2006!!!!!

2006-01-03T08:52:00.000-08:00

Happy New years!!!
I can't believe its 2006 already! Boy did last year go fast or what?? We got alot accomplished last year...
Started to raise Chickens & Goats, raised and ate our first pigs!
God gave us our Wonderful Great Danes!
Had the best Garden yet :) Planted more fruit trees, got seedlings started for sale later this year. And learned sooo much!

We had a Wonderful New Years Eve Party! We had a Pig Pickin!! It was WONDERFUL!! I got our farm web site online... And there is a whole page dedicated to the pig pickin!
---> www.CloverCountryFarms.com . Everyone Loved the Brunswick stew that we served with it. (The recipe will be listed ib the Recipe Box section of the web site!)

Now... there are soo many other things that need to be done this year!

Expand the garden and install raised beds.
Raise some broiler Chickens to fill the freezer.
Buy a calf or two to raise for meat.
Can as much veggies as we can eat.
Enlarge the dog yard & prepare for puppies!!
DE-CLUTTER the house. I really need to work on this one!!
Learn to decipher between the "I Needs" & "I Wants" in life! And teach my children the same.
SAVE $$$$ I really need to get our savings built back up.
And.. the ever popular... LOSE WEIGHT! we'll see how that one goes.

Think thats enough?? I sure hope this year goes slower than the last.. so I can fit it all in!

Today is the day I prove them ALL wrong!!

2005-12-28T06:09:00.000-08:00

I have been caring for, loving, playing w/, feeding, and enjoying My pigs ; Sausage (Saucy), Bacon (killed by dogs grrr), & Hot Dog for many months now...

Yes they smell....
Yes they have terrible table manners,,,
Yes they dont know the meaning of staying inside ANY pen....

I love them...

They get out of the pen... I am the only one who can get them to follow her in a single file line (only because they know I am the lady w/ eggs in her pocket) into the hen house, so we can crate em and get em back into the pig pen and fix the fence yet again...

I got these pigs to fill my freezer and to have a New Years Eve Pig Pickin...

No one thinks I can do it... DH swears they will die of old age first! lol

Well.... Hot Dog and I are going to take a little trip to the butchers today....
He will be the guest of Honor at the pig pickin on Sat. ($30 to have “it” done and get him all ready for the big event)

Now…. I’m not saying its gonna be easy…. But I will get it done!!
No tears…. No changing my mind…
I don’t care how sweet he looks at me while squealing for my eggs that he just KNOWS are in my pocket…
I will be strong….
I WILL be strong…..
I WILL BE STRONG!!!

**sniff**

After Holiday Catch-up

2005-12-27T08:15:00.000-08:00

Christmas was nice. Christmas eve Mom Bethany & Grandma came over. We had a really nice time. I got the boys pictures taken to give as gifts, everybody loved them. They did sooo good for the pictures, I was one proud momma!

The boys LOVED the scavenger hunts I set up for them to find their "big" presents. I have a feeling I have just started a new tradition here :) they each had 20 clues that had them running all over the neighborhood. lol they had a blast.

Then Charles had his fun. I got him another little truck for Christmas. He had to do a hunt as well. But his required him driving around town for his clues. He loves his new "toy".

Good Lookin Kids!

2005-12-23T14:39:00.000-08:00

Wed morning.

2005-12-21T04:26:00.000-08:00

Today we really really need to clean house. I have laundry piling up.. and WAY too much to do before Christmas.

You think posting it here will make it get done?? lol we'll see.

Yesterday had to go buy a new heat lamp for the dogs.. the first one burnt out!! a $10 bulb burnt out in less than a week?? geesh!

Oh.! I called another butcher yesterday to find out how much he would charge me to get Hot Dog ready for the pig pickin... (most of the other butcher shops dont scald/scrape like needed for a roast) well! he said $30. Thats it!!! $30!! the other ones wanted $25 to just kill & clean em!! Whoo Hoo!! I have heard from many ppl that this one is great! so when I drop hot dog off Monday I'll talk to him and see how much he'll charge to send Saucy to freezer camp. Also gonna buy a couple pounds of his breakfast & smoked sausage so we can see if we like it.

Anyhow.... I think we found our butcher!!!

Great Family Heirloom Idea

2005-12-19T11:01:00.000-08:00

One of the incredibly creative and wise women on my HomesteadingToday.com boards posted this idea.. i think its GREAT and plan to start mine this Christmas.!

I'm gonna get a really nice plain white tablecloth. Then at each important family get together, I will have everyone sign and date it. After, I will needle point in different colors over their signature... each year it will fill up more and more and we will end up with a wonderful keep-sake!

How Cool Of an idea is that???

Monday morning catch up

2005-12-19T08:58:00.000-08:00

Went to go see CATS Sat night w/ mom. It was GREAT!! We had dinner at an Outrageously expensive restaurant (located in the Hobby Center) It was nice.. but $65 for a meal?? WOW! I could have fed my crew several times very well for that! But it was really nice. Thank Goodness I have Mom.. or I'd be totally un-cultured lol

As we sat for dinner I asked Mom.. "How many other people here slopped pigs & collected eggs right before coming to the Theatre?" He he I wouldn't have it any other way! The best of both worlds.

The boys went to Barry's this week-end. Last night Bethany picked them up and took them to the zoo where they were having a special Christmas lighting thing.. they had a blast! Then she took them to Craig's fav restaurant in the world.. Spaghetti Warehouse. They came home late.. tired & happy.

Yesterday I got the bright idea to make a cook book. When I got married, I thought that one of the best gifts I could have gotten would be a cookbook from my new mother-in-law filled w/ my hubby's fav meals. Things passed down thru his family and they he grew up with. So, I am starting mine now. I have e-mailed everyone in the family asking for recipes & stories to add. I found a printing house that will print the books, should be nice. But this is taking a lot of time.. Like I have nothing else to do. **geesh**

The boys are all home today... Charles it at work... All is well w/ the world.... so far ;)

Noisy Friday

2005-12-16T10:47:00.000-08:00

The kids are out of school for the Christmas/New Years break... ALL of them are home.....
Lets see, that's 5 noisy kids in the house cause its wet & cold outside.. add to that.. 2 Great Danes in Heat.. And a Male Great Dane who really REALLY wants to be w/ the girls in heat lol Oh my!

I think I'm gonna keep the boys busy for awhile today baking cookies, I have Sable & Sara outside and Arlo inside.

I am excited.. Tomorrow Mom and I are going to The musical CATS in Houston. This was a gift from her. Whoo Hoo! a trip to the big city for some culture. lol

Craig Bryan & Ben go to Barry's for the week-end. Bethany is going to watch Chris , Brooke & the dogs. Charles found out he has to work all week-end :( poor guy is working so hard.

Tis the Season...

2005-12-15T09:54:00.000-08:00

Well.... as I said earlier, I have Sable in the house because she is in heat. Well.. we were waiting for Sara to go into heat so we could breed her w/ a wonderful harlequin Dane. Arlo alerted us about sables impending heat and we took care of it. Well... I went to the store to buy feed this morning came home.. and found Arlo and Sara stuck together. grrrr

Sara gave us NO signs of being in heat. Arlo was paying NO attention to her.. she wasn't giving him a second look. NOTHING! Its ok for her to breed now.. but I really REALLY wanted it to be w/ the harlequin!!

So... at the moment I have a very VERY upset Arlo in the house... pacing.. whining... panting.. poor poor baby.

well now we wait... we just may have some valentines dady puppies.

I tell ya, never dull moment here.

Brilliant Sable

2005-12-15T04:08:00.000-08:00

I must say.... Sable is absolutely Brilliant!
It was time for bed... off we went, she of course stuck to my hip, after all I may try to sneak away for some reason and that would be just terrible! lol
anyway... Charles was already in bed, our room was dark... Sable walked in.. went to the pile of wrapped presents and got hers out! lol I was so impressed I let her have the rawhide bone to chew on all night. Goofy smart dog.
after chewing up the bone.. she quietly made her way to the couch for the rest of the night. sneaky goofy smart dog.

Arlo howled all night (if you can call that sound a howl) Poor Poor Arlo.

The boys get out of school early today for the Christmas break, 2 weeks! oh my Lord give me strength...

No rain expected for today... a day to dry out till Sat and the rain they say will come then.

Wet Wet Wed

2005-12-14T18:56:00.000-08:00

Today it rained.... No, rain really isn't the word for it... it POURED!! no less than 6" in an hour and a half! I actually had to drain the pool because it was over-flowing!

And of course this was the first day I had an appt in town in the past month! lol Brooke and I were on our way home when the worst hit. We made it home and guess who was wading thru the ditch? The pigs! grrrrr

They were very happy to see me though. I ran thru the mud and rain to lift the barb wire fencing to get em back in the yard... Saucy came right thru, Hot-Dog took a little longer.. but that was ok because it gave Saucy time to try to eat my shoe.

Then they were good little piggies and followed me in a single file line into the hen house.... The hens were NOT impressed, but the pigs were contained & dry, and the hens went to the goat side to sulk.

the pigs wanted to play.. so by the time the boys & Charles got home to fix the pen and move the oinkers, they had torn down part of the roost, eaten all of the eggs and turned all the bedding material (that's a good thing lol).

This venture gave us a chance to weigh Saucy, well sort of lol we got her into the crate then put the crate on a scale.. it put her at about 210 lbs. good , if its right.

Yesterday I noticed our male Dane Arlo acting funny w/ Sable... so I was watching them.. sure enough, he stands over her and barks and barks and barks.... she is going into heat. She let him mount her, but didn't allow him to "do the deed" thank God!

She is the one who just had a very hard birth in August! so we do NOT want her to do it again till next year. I couldn't believe she was even going into heat again so soon! So she is in here laying under my desk :) I just LOVE Danes! They are awesome foot warmers!
Not that we need one right now.. its 67 outside right now! Crazy weather!

Arlo is beside himself w/ grief... he wants his woman.. NOW!!! Danes are just the best dogs.. but they are TERRIBLE howlers!! Oh my, he sounds like a wounded moose! lol Charles actually had to park the 4-wheeler on the gate because Arlo was sooo determined to get out and get Sable he would have had it open by morning because the ground is so wet!
poor poor thing.. Geesh men......

Charles is just about as miserable as Arlo.. no.. NOT for the same reason lol. His back is really bothering him. I'm not sure what to do . poor baby. I think I'm gonna make him a round rice bag tomorrow and see if the warmth from it helps.

Tonight, the boys had left over chicken & noodles from lastnight, I made a big ole reuben sandwich and Charles made Hamburger and beans lol wow what a combo!

Everybody is in bed... I'm here typing w/ a mug of hot chocolate, and Sable at my feet.... nice...

Tuesday Morning

2005-12-13T04:43:00.000-08:00

Poor Bryan... went to the dentist yesterday. He had to have a tooth pulled, a new one was growing in underneath it. She wants him to go back Sat, and she may pull the one next to it to make more room. Bryan is NOT impressed! Poor thing. I'm letting him stay home today, he is awful swollen and sore. I told him... this is one of those times that getting great grades pays off!! mom is more lax about letting him stay home from school ;)

Last night I had fun making the clues for the kids to have a scavenger hunt to find their big Christmas presents. I'm gonna have the poor things running all over the neighborhood! lol The way I see it, the kids have such a fun time opening their presents, and this year they are getting less... why not find some way to make it last as long as I can? It should be fun, we'll see.

I have decided to try an new venture here at Clover Country farms. I LOVE to garden, I spend quite a bit of $$ on plants each year... My green house, as ugly as it may be, is working GREAT!! Its just an old swing set frame draped w/ plastic and it has a 100watt light bulb in it for cold nights. The sun keeps it like the tropics in there!

The only problem I have had w/ it is.. not only do the plants love the warm place.. the fire Ants have moved in! grrr those little buggers pack a wallop!

anyway....

I am going to propagate plants to sell. this past year I grew catalpa trees and had good luck selling them. I have had great luck growing tomato plants, herbs, perennials etc... but my fav is trees.

I can root most trees from cuttings from my own yard ( or the yard of nice neighbors ;)) so the only $ I'll be out is the soil & pots. I already have 400 4" pots here, so I'm good for awhile. I figure I can sell most perennials & veggies for $3.95 per 6 pk. and I'll only have about $.80 in em.

And trees, it'll just depend on the tree and the size of it. The trees will have a longer turn-a-round time. but they require so little care and I have an easy time doing them. I have bought young trees for $15 - $35 each, and If I have less than $1 in em... that's a good profit margin!

I figure I'll start by trying it out small scale at the flea market.. that's just $12 for the week-end. and see how it goes.

Alert The MEDIA!!

2005-12-11T18:16:00.000-08:00

Call the papers!!
Alert the Media!!
The Christmas tree is UP!!
Mom gave us her Tree. Its BEAUTIFUL!! But, it touched the roof! lol So there was no room for the angel on top (don't worry, she is still on the tree) Whatcha think of our Neon Clover a-top O' the tree? Pretty Spiffy dont'cha think?

Brooke is NOT impressed w/ the fact that I wont let her touch most things on the tree. Poor Poor Brooke.

Poor Charles is hurting awful badly today, he really over-did it yesterday w/ all the wood.

I got quite a bit done today, I planted two peach trees, got the tree done and more lights up, and ate my first radish out of the winter garden! yumm!

I have got to do something about my hens tho. They are not laying well at all! I have a light in the hen house to make up for lost daylight... I am feeding them like there is no tomorrow.. and I actually had to BUY eggs today!! OMG store-bought eggs! grrr I never realized how bland and washed out they were till I got my girls. Oh well, maybe for Christmas they'll give me a dozen.

Bryan is at Barry's tonight, he has a dentist appt in the morning. Craig worked on fixing up his rabbit hutches today, Ben played at the neighbors, and Chris helped me w/ ant mound finding & killing and the Christmas tree.

The boys are now in bed, Charles and I are sipping Root Beer floats by the tree. lovely evening. :)

Pooped out Sat Night

2005-12-10T19:44:00.000-08:00

We had a looong day.
Made French Toast for breakfast. Then it was off down the road to cut more wood. Charles cut & split almost 2 cords today. Poor baby is already in bed asleep w/ a hurting back. But he sure got a lot done. The boys actually helped a lot to. It was nice to have everyone working side by side.

Barry finally came to take the boys to dinner tonight and drop off the freezer. So it was a Big porterhouse steak for my Lumberjack tonight.

Daffodil got out of the pen today (out the door behind me) and she had fun following Brooke and the boys around for a while.

I made a HUGE batch of Hot Chocolate mix today so the men had lots of hot stuff to drink while they worked.

Vicky and Charlie had their Christmas party tonight, so we have their kids here tonight. pop-Corn & hot Chocolate for the bunch and now they are sprawled out on the living-room floor watching Sponge Bob Square Pants fun fun fun lol

I think I'm gonna play in a No-Hit Backgammon tournie tonight on zone.com. I LOVE the no-hits. Speaking of that, it starts in 4 min! Gotta go......

Friday events

2005-12-09T13:19:00.000-08:00

Brooke & I were gone all day! We got her some great new Pink Fuzzy slippers. Then we went to The airport to check out the freezer and see what else Vicky had to sell.

The freezer is GREAT! and its NOT a 220 like I thought, its a 110. HUGE sub-zero.. its great!!

I also picked up 5 new chairs for the kitchen, 4 bar stools, a HUGE colander ( its so big that I'm not sure it'll fit in my sink!), 2 commercial blenders (5 bucks a piece!), some big ladles, and the MOTHER -OF-ALL_Roasting Pans! its enormous! whoo hoo!, Oh and I got a bread butterer thingie that butters your bread lol that one was for fun. Right now I have the kids trying to guess what it is for lol they will NEVER get it.

I went shopping for dinner tonight but didnt have time to go do our BIG shopping.

Oh I also went and used my $100 gift cert from mom to go buy some new underthings. Pretty ones :).

Chili for dinner tonight.

Friday Mornin

2005-12-09T04:05:00.000-08:00

It's early, it's chilly (28) outside, Got Charles off to work, got the boys off to school, all w/ hot chocolate and hand warmers, got the fire flaming, coffee brewing, baby sleeping, it's nice and quiet round here. what a great morning!

Today is going to be fun & busy. My neighbor is having a "garage" sale at the airport. I am looking to buy a HUGE stainless steel sub-zero freezer, and some new kitchen chairs. I'm sure I'll find lots more to buy... But I shouldn't. we'll see.

I talked to a few hunters I know about them renting out space in the freezer for deer meat or hog meat etc., I'd like to be able to have a few ppl do that to help recoup the money this monster will take to run! They thought it was a great idea. And it will sure help when Saucy goes to freezer camp and will give us yet another reason to buy a couple calves to help fill it up as well.

Today Brooke & I are going to Super-Wal-Mart to do our monthly BIG shopping. That's always fun. Its just great to walk into the pantry/laundry room/mud room and see the shelves packed w/ food.

I'm also gonna buy the boys some new thermoses so they can take hot chocolate w/ em on the bus, and would like to get some plastic for the old windows in this house to help hold in some heat.

The dogs LOVED their heat lamp! they never even came out of their shed to bark! lol I guess they thought it was better to stay warm. lol The goats stayed nice and cozy in the corner full of hay . The tarps we put up around their stall worked just fine. Now if I can just find a way to teach them that the "pretty Blue Tarp" is NOT a good thing to eat! lol The chickens seemed to weather the cold just fine. And Eeyore didn't even bother to come out of his hay burrow to say good morning today lol

I need to go cut more wood today (Whoo Hoo chain saw time!)
.. it's amazing how much I go through on a chilly day.

One more day that I am planning on getting the Christmas tree up. we'll see.

Note to self... Coffee Mate Gingerbread creamer is GREAT! mmmmm

Barry is coming out to take the boys to eat, so it'll be Charles and I (and Brooke of course) for dinner.

Busy Thursday

2005-12-08T13:50:00.000-08:00

went to the feed store got pig feed, goat feed, chicken feed, dog food.. geesh! why do they ALL run out at once?!?!

The butcher told us that saucy should be bigger than she is now.. so we are gonna pour on the feed... lotsa sour corn (yuck!) and all the feed they can choke down.

Bought a heat lamp for the dogs, the thought of the small heater scares me. They could knock it over so easily, I'll just hang this lamp... and get a timer so its just on at night.

wrapped the water spikots (wow that looks spelled wrong!), emptied and rolled up the hoses, gave all the plants a good watering.

bought some antifreeze for the truck & Suburban.

brought in more wood.

made stuffed chicken breasts for dinner.. yummm

2005-12-08T03:55:00.000-08:00

The fire popped and crackled all night. God I love a fire! Woke up this morning to ice on the windshields, frost on the ground.. and a nice warm house. :)

Honey and I found it hard to get out of the bed this morning tho. But we did....

Got him off to work, older boys ready for school. Craig is home "sick" this morning. I'm not sure how "sick" he is, but he's home non-the-less.

Its so funny watching the news... it gets cold out and everybody FREAKS! lol Would love to see some of these ppl in Pa!

Once again... no Christmas tree up. **sigh** today.. Today...
The men from the SBA were here yesterday, They wrote down everything we lost and all damages, I don't know what they'll do, but they wrote it down. Sure would be nice to get the roof & windows fixed for Christmas.

Grrrr, I just had to fly to the end of the road to take Chris to the bus. This is the 3rd time the boys have been running down the long driveway and the darn bus driver flies on by w/o even stopping. I have called each time. I called this time and she waited for me to drop him off. I mean... if she comes earlier than the normal time, I really don't think its asking too much for her to come to a stop! grrr.. OK done venting about our wonderful bus barn for now.

Got me a Gooood man!

2005-12-07T20:24:00.000-08:00

After a long day.. hubby & I were laying in bed .. I was thinking.... a couldn't turn it off kind of thinking....
The dogs.....
its too cold for the dogs....
Yes, they have lots of bedding....
Yes they are in a building....
Yes there are three of them to lay together....
BUT its just too cold for the dogs!

Poor Poor Charles....
God-love-him....
goes out to put up a better door for them....
In the cold..
In the dark...
and then started taring the house apart to find a little heater for them.

Yes, he forgot my birthday... But the other 364 days of the year he shows me how lucky I am to have found him.

2005-12-07T14:53:00.000-08:00

It's gonna be a cold/wet one tonight & tomorrow, so I went down the road and cut some firewood. I had a blast! lol Hubby was at work, so I got to play w/ the big chain saw all by myself :). For some reason he is sure I'll cut off my leg! Not a clue why! hmmm

I got the trailer hooked up to the 4-wheeler, and cut enough for the next few days. Two trips loaded down in all.

Isn't it funny how something so simple th can just make ya feel great?

I look at my porch full of fresh-cut firewood and think..

"I did That!"

"I will keep my family warm!"

"This is Mamas House!!"

"I am Mommy!! Hear Me ROAR!!"

lol

2005-12-07T04:34:00.000-08:00

Another chilly night around our place. :)
Didn't get the Christmas Tree up yesterday, But going to do it today. The kids were upset that we didn't make it to the big Tree lighting in town so I am planning one for us tonight w/ Hot Cocoa and S'mores.

It is supposed to rain and be cold today, so I guess its the perfect time to clean house. hmmm Not my favorite thing to do.
We have a very small house, w/ way too many people in it. I swear that the items that get plopped down on every horizontal surface in my house breeds and multiplies!! I just can't seem to get a handle on the HUGE amount of "clutter" around here. I find I get all motivated, then get everything out, and get overwhelmed and putter out leaving a bigger mess than when I got the bright idea to "Purge & clean".
We plan to build a room in the attic for the boys someday..... that sure would help!
A man from the SBA is coming out today to look at the hurricane damage out here to see if we really need a SBA loan for repairs. well DUH! lol the big blue tarp on our roof should tell him something! lol

Called the butcher today to find out prices for getting the pigs done... These are the first pigs i have ever raised, so I had no idea how much it was.. I think its a pretty good deal.. he said
$25 = kill, skin, cut
.40 = per lb for pork chops, ribs etc meat.
.70 = per lb for pan sausage
$1.59 = per lb for smoked sausage
.99= per lb for smoked hams/bacon

he directed me to another butcher to get Hot Dog ready for a pig roast, as he doesn't scald/scrape, just skins.

Will call him today and see what I'm looking at for that.

2005-12-06T11:44:00.000-08:00

Brrrrr! finally! Its chilly outside!!

It was 83 outside on Saturday, and Monday night it got down to 29! geesh no wonder everyone is sick!
we had a lot to do to get ready for the cold front....
-Put extra hay in the goat house for warmth.
-Extra hay out for Eeyore to burrow into.
-Extra hay for the big pigs
-3 bags of wood shavings in the dog kennel
-Charles cut up a lot of nice wood for the fire.
-Got all the seedlings into the greenhouse. (old swing set covered w/ a tarp and a light)

It was so nice to have the wood stove going all day. so nice and cozy.. i cooked a big ole pot of beans w/ bacon, ham. sausage all day .. mmm mmm mmm the house smelled so good! Brooke & I wore our fuzzy pink slippers, It was great! I have been waiting for soo long for these cooler days.

I really hope we get a few "good" freezes this year, we really need something to get these skeeters & creepy crawlies under control!

Football season is finally over. The boys did great! but BOY will it be nice to not have to run to football practice each night.. or early Sat games each week.

Now Christmas is on its way.. ((shudder))
I'm putting up the tree today.. maybe that along w/ the colder weather will help me feel more in the Christmas spirit.
I have most of My Christmas shopping done, its a good thing too! cause I'm outta $$! lol

The boys have been begging for sloppy Joes.. so I guess that'll be dinner tonight.

2005-11-30T10:57:00.000-08:00

Birthday Month.
Bryan turned 10 on Nov 8th. He is growing into such a little man. So smart, all A's in school.. WAY too smart for his own good! lol

Brooke turned 2 Nov 12th!! I can't believe my "baby" is 2! it seems like yesterday she was a tiny 5lb 5oz smidge.

Above is the cake I made for their party.. not to bad if I do say so myself! :)

I turned 34 on the 30th pretty non-eventful. everybody here forgot! hmmmm

2005-11-06T10:41:00.000-08:00

We lost Angus last month. I knew I wouldn't take it well, but never dreamed the size hole this would leave in my heart.

Arlo, Sable & Sara are doing great. We are waiting for someone to go into heat.. waiting waiting waiting....
We have decided to breed Sara w/ a wonderful Harlequin male, and Sable w/ a HUGE blue Dane.. can't wait!

We made the chicken yard into a much larger Chicken/Goat yard. We even got a car for the goats! lol a nice old Lincoln for them to run & jump on. they love it! do we have spoiled goats or what?? lol
Speaking of the goats.. Daisy and Daffodil are doing great!

The pigs are getting way bigger! we are down to 2 of them. We lost Bacon to some dogs being dogs :(. We plan to have Hot Dog as the guest of honor at our New Years eve Pig Roast. Then shortly there after Saucy will go to freezer camp.

We have a new addition..... His name is Eeyore, He's a Pot Belly Piglet who found his way into out hearts & farm. He fits right in . The kids love to play w/ him and walk him on his leash. He is soo cute. I'll get pics up soon.

2005-08-21T10:50:00.000-07:00

We have had a very exciting week around here.... after much thought Charles and I decided we were going to get a Great Dane for our family/farm. I have had a Great Dane hole in my heart for the past several years.

I called a breeder just outside of Waco who had a few females that were direct imports from Germany. I asked her if she has a litter coming up anytime soon, to my surprise she was in the middle of watching a birth!! I was sooo excited and began to plan my trip to Waco in 2 weeks to pick out my pup.

She called me and told me that there were some problems... The mamma had 18 pups! that was just too many and only 10 survived... first one born Sunday night, last one came Tuesday! wow. She told me that this was this females first littler and she was young and didnt know what to do.. so they were putting the pups on mom to feed and they were doing well.

Thursday evening she called me and told me that she didnt think any of the pups were going to make it. Her mother had a heart attack and she had to leave the pups & Mom to go to the hosp. When she got back (10hrs later) they had not eaten and were cold. she was bottle feeding those who were left (5). Then I got a call from her that night.. she was very upset and said she wanted to make me an offer... he mother had not only had a heart attack, but also a stroke. There was no way she could care for the dog/puppies the way they needed & take on her mother as well. We had talked alot.. she felt that I would take wonderful care of her babies....She offered me Sable (the mamma) and her puppies... and I could see how many I could get to pull thru. She told me that she just couldnt separate her danes. She wanted to know if I would like to have Sable , her sister Sara, and her male Arlo & any of the pups that were still alive. I was shocked! and told her I needed to talk to Charles.

My poor hubby, he was unsure of a dane in the first place (I didnt have Charles when I had my danes) when I told him about the phone call all he said was...... I'm off tomorrow and can build a kennel. I was in shock! God Bless him! I love that man!!!

I called her back and told her.... we have to build a big fence and I wouldnt have the $$ now and if she were willing to let me post-date a few checks I would be out first thing in the morning. She thought about it and decided that what was important was the fact that she knew they would have a great home and stay together and she agreed.

I left @5 Friday morning for the 5 hr drive to Waco.... I had decided that if the dogs were not what I expected, or their papers were not in order or I didnt get a good feeling I was not going to do it.... I had many doubts... "Why was this woman giving me all her Danes??" And how could she do it for so little money?? By the time I got there I just knew it was a scam.... I would get 5 parvo filled pups from bad dogs.... maybe even stollen dogs?? Everything ran thru my mind.When I pulled into the drive I was met by Arlo & Sara. OMG They were the most beautiful Danes I have ever seen!!!! But.. I tried to hide my relief and excitement. The breeder came out in tears. We sat and talked.... things began to make sense.... They ARE wonderful dogs.... This was a very nice woman... Her heart was in the right place... But she didnt know much about Danes. You see, Sable & Sara are only 13months old. Sable bred on her first heat!!! She is wayyyyy to young for this. All of the papers are in order... the girls are multi registered, and Arlo is dual AKC & CKC. (the girls have a bunch from Germany too). It was very obvious that these dogs were very well taken care of and loved very much. I also understood why she was getting rid of them... She had her mother to deal w/ and there was no way for her to care for 3 young danes, puppies & her mother in the way she had been. She was overwhelmed and upset by the puppies deaths. and just wanted someone who knew how to do the right thing. She felt very guilty.Her heart was in the right place...

There were still 2 pups hanging on... I immedeatly stuck em in my cleavage to get em warmer lol we sat on the couch between 2 danes and we talked for a few hours. I was trying to feed the pups.. and got some down em but I gve them a less than 10% chance of making it.

When we left (after standing in the driveway sobbing together) These dogs were wonderful!!! They have such good manners!! They know their commands.. sit stay no etc.... and are BEAUTIFUL!! they did great on the ride home. Bethany was working on the pups while I drove.. still in shock that these are OUR dogs! I have 3 great danes!!! omg! One of the pups died on the way home.... we did all that we could for him. we still had one hanging on. To make a longer story a tad shorter. we lost him 2 days later. He was a fighter, but in the end, just not strong enough, even w/ tube feeding etc...We took Sable and the pup to my vet yesterday morning... We are afraid that she still has one pup inside her.. (that makes 19 pups!!!) so we are getting her contractions going again.Other than alot of birth related trauma and some mastitus she is in great shape. we have her loaded on antibiotics. Everyone else has a clean bill of health.

These dogs are just such a joy. They are sooo well behaved, and have great manners. They listen! they are calm... I am sooo happy to have them in my family!! I'll post more about them soon... and lots of pics.. I think this post is long enough lol

Anyway.. I went from getting a pup in 7 weeks to 3 wonderful Danes NOW! lol

We plan to breed them again but not for well over a year.

2005-08-11T20:24:00.000-07:00

I know, I said that I was going to try to keep this blog updated... and its been too long. But now the boys are back in school!!
ALL the boys are in school!! whoo hoo!

Here goes again.

The pigs are growing well. Hot Dog got his nose ring hung up on the fence and ripped it out tho.. OUCH!! but he's fine now.

The Goats are just wonderful spoiled rotten babies! They just KNOW mommy always has rasins in her pocket at all times. So they just LOVE to see me coming.

The chickens are doing well.. cept now that they are free range.. and the standard hens are getting to laying age.... I dont know how to teach them to lay in the nest boxes!! I have a feeling that I have lots of newly layed eggs under the house!

I let a hen hatch her chicks and raise them in the hen house for the first time..... I usually put them in the brooder until they are big enough to fend for themselves w/ the other birds... But they are doing GREAT! How easy is that?? I dont have to do anything!! whoo hoo!

I am very worried about Angus. He looks terrible... lost lots of weight... I wormed him and the vet says no heart worms... but he is 5 now... old for a bulldog. The vet says its just a matter of time. could be days.. could be months.. no way of knowing. One thing I do know.. is he is spoiled and loved... and I will NOT handle this well!

I have decided that I want to get another Dane when the time comes tho. I won't have another English Bulldog... I love them.. but they are heartbreaking... 4-6 years??? Just not enough time.

More soon.....

2005-07-18T10:23:00.000-07:00

Hi! Welcome to Clover Country! After living in our

(Dream Home in Progress)

for almost 3 years, We finally came up w/ a name for our little

piece of country life!

Clover Country

what's think? I like it!

Now... Is it a Ranch? Or Farm?

I need to figure this out so I can register it w/ the state.

Either way, it's Home, and we love it!

OK.,... Now I need to get some back info on here so I don't forget.

Right now we have...

2005-07-18T09:42:00.000-07:00

Introducing... Our newest girls..

Daffodil (first pic) & Daisy (2nd pic)

They are Beautiful Bottle fed Pygmy goats.

Born April 16th 2005.

They are just such a joy to have around.

They are the cutest things! Follow us around like puppies.!

I love going outside and hearing them "call" to me!.

They love the fact that Mommy always has raisins in her pocket!

2005-07-18T09:37:00.000-07:00

The Pigs

We have 3 feeder pigs.

Sausage "Saucy"

Hot-Dog

& Bacon.

We got Saucy from a breeder in Crosby. She is a gem, very sweet and cute as can be!

Hot-Dog & Bacon came from the Crosby feed Barn. These boys are not as cute. But they r pigs! lol

We are trying not to get too attached to them because come October, they are going in the fridge... Cept for Bacon... he'll be the Guest of honor at our "Pig Pickin" in September.

Yummmm!

2005-07-18T09:31:00.000-07:00

Chickens

We have 45ish chickens... We ordered the Rainbow layer collection from McMurry's hatchery. They were hatched out on Feb 14th 2005.

They are so much fun to watch! So many different kinds and colors.

We also got some banties from a neighbor lady. too cute!

I would rather sit out in my back yard and watch the chickens than watch any show on TV! The highlight of Brooke's day is feeding the chickens.

2005-07-18T09:28:00.000-07:00

Angus the spoiled Rotten English Bulldog

2005-07-18T09:26:00.000-07:00

Right now.....

We have 5 kids...

Craig 13

Chris 12

Bryan 9

Ben 6

& Brooke 20mo.