 It is that time of year again - time to de-bud the vineyard. We have prepared for planting and planted 5 new acres but now it is time to take care of the older vines. You might wonder what de-budding means - and, I can't wait to show and tell you! The trunk of the vines should ...  Having a large family and farm animals makes for educational opportunities almost daily. This week, however, our attempts to maintain a G-rated barnyard have been almost futile! We have had not one but two family milk cows in heat. That's right - both Buttercup and Emme came into heat. We had thought that Buttercup was ...  Today on Family Fridays I have a couple of highlights to share. The week started with decanting the Aglianico and Montepulciano wines we have settling in our shed- 90 gallons of each - that is a lot of wine! Don't worry mom, we will not drink all of it - we give a lot of away ...  We have a new dog. Not just any dog - we have a new great Pyrenees. As I have shared before, we have a big coyote population here in west Texas. Not only are they a threat to our cows and chickens, but we have lost a dog and a cat to them. The day after our beloved ...  It has been quite awhile since I gave you an update on the coyotes which have claimed the lives of a beloved dog, cat and numerous chickens. In "Coyote Update", I relayed the story of our 19 year old son's shooting a coyote who was circling our chicken pen in broad daylight. This happened the ...  Sunday is the day for our cows to calve! If you remember, Buttercup had LBC on Sunday while we were at church. Yesterday, after returning home from church, Emme, who was due last week, was standing and acting differently. Normally, if she even thinks we are going to give her a treat, she comes bounding like a ...  I have returned from nearly 3 weeks away, visiting my mother and sister in Macon, Georgia. It was a wonderful visit but there is no place like home! I returned to a new face around here - Sprinkles. Sprinkles is a shih-poo, half shih tzu and half poodle. She is very cuddly, adorable in fact. She rarely ... Yesterday, (Thur 6-7-12) started off very exciting! It all started about 7:30am. Now I must confess that if I am not milking, I sleep until I must get up - not because I am lazy but we have been working until dusk, eating dinner about 8pm, getting to bed around 11p - 12mn ..... many excuses! ...  I have not been very prolific in my writing this week but our week got off to a difficult start. In fact, Monday about 9:00am, I thought, "I can not believe this!" Bob, our wonderful, obsessed with "fetch", corgi was gone! Bob who stays right with us in the vineyard - except if it is hot and ...  You know the saying, "a watched pot never boils"? Well, a watched cow never calves - until she is ready that is! We have been watching Buttercup very closely for the past 3 days because she was showing signs of being close to calving. We were preparing for church on Sunday and just glanced in the pasture, saw ... |
     
 
God has amazingly blessed me, Dina-Marie, with a wonderful husband and 10 beautiful children. Moving from our "secure" life in Alabama to the "exciting" life of starting a vineyard in west Texas has definitely been challenging. Besides frugality, farm life and simple living, I have learned the importance of diet, quality of food and traditional cooking. Through the GAPS diet, I am successfully reversing my rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis and food allergies. I hope to encourage you to make the most of where you are and what you have as I share my life with you. 
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