Cloverleaf Farm

Archive for December, 2008

Of all the dogs we have, Sir Robin (Robin for short) seems to have more of an issue with the cats than any other dog. He is almsot 14, and has never had to share his space until we adopted the other 3 dogs. I think he is still waiting for them to leave. He and Kodie (age 11) have become good buddies, while Chakra (age 7) has a bit too much energy for him. He does tolerate him well. He likes Effie (age 7), but she has no room in her life for him.
Yesterday while sitting on the couch, we noticed Puca in the downstairs hallway. This was quite rare for him as he hardly ever ventures past the stair case. Robin saw him, and immediately started the “stare down”. Puca just watched him carefully. Robin crept closer and closer until he couldn’t take it anymore, and actually charged. After much hissing, spitting, and clawing, Puca ran back up the stairs and assumably under the bed. Robin just walked away with a smug look on his face,?as if he was still the king of the castle.

Christmas is much like every other day.?We still have to get up, feed and water all the animals and then we get to go on with opening gifts. Being that the kids are all older, Christmas is a much quieter day than at homes with small children. I do remember those days very well. I myself like the quiet Christmas.
After the gifts were opened I had my son try on his vest I made him. Would you believe I put the buttons on the wrong side? I couldn’t believe it.
We then ate a wonderful lunch. Everything we served, we had grown right here on the farm. It was such a delight.
Then, as is the usual ritual, we all took a nap. Even the dogs were tired out from all the festivities. You see, they too get a gift bag to open. One biscuit is placed in side the bag, and they have to open it and take it out. What a sight to see.
Christmas at Cloverleaf Farm….was wonderful.

Never looking a gift horse in the mouth, we happily received a Thanksgiving, Christmas, Birthday, Anniversary, etc. gift. And?? a great gift at that. A compact tractor with snow blower, mowing deck and roto-tiller (plus a few other odds and ends). Of course waiting for the first substantial snow fall to try it out was similar to waiting to open Christmas presents. Receiving 18 inches of the stuff wasn’t exactly what we had in mind of course, but it did give us the opportunity to learn that it does indeed work. Now we just need to add some weight to the back to stop getting stuck while backing up hills.

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I have worked hard on our Victorian Christmas outfits.??From my bonnet to the bustle, everything (including the bloomers) was truly authentic late Victorian (1880′s). His outfit was made from Simplicity pattern (#2895). The only thing I didn’t have the time to make was the frock coat. I will make that for his birthday in January.
Tonight was??the FEL (Friends of the Effingham Library) and Trustees Christmas party, and we got to debut the outfits. Everyone loved them. They all thought we looked as if we should be out caroling the neighbors. The party was fun, the food was great and we a good time with our friends.