The End Is Near

When I was a little kid (not that long ago) I would get so excited when our family was getting ready to go on a vacation. I would ask my mom, "How much longer?" and she would always put it into a perspective that I could really relate to. She would say that it would only be two more night nights or however many more days it was until we left. So I guess a lot of those long anticipated things in my life have been broken down into how many "night nights" are left until the event arrives. Well, it's only "two more night nights" until the 2008 Club Calf Paradise sale comes to a close. By 6:00 PM on Monday the bidders will all have spoken and made their decisions on what they will have in their show barns for the next show season. In two more "night nights" I won't have to set my alarm to wake me up at dark thirty. In two more "night nights" I will have to start planning for next years sale.

I have such a great time during this sale. Meeting new people is probably the highlight but seeing old friends is wonderful too. I truly enjoy the evenings in the bunkhouse when we fire up the grill and cook a vat of hashed browns smothered in onions, butter and garlic and throw a pile of beef on the grill. Many of the neighbors seem to stop by about that time...must be the good smell! LOL! I always hate when that fun draws to a close.

I just want everyone to know how much we appreciate your support and the fact that you take the time to stop and look at our cattle. We stand behind what we do because we know that you have lots of choices when going out to buy your next project. We just try to go the extra mile. Thank you to all of you for sticking with us.

It's just hard to believe that after five long months of preparing for this sale that we are finally down to just two more "night nights". Have a great year everyone and PLEASE keep in touch!! And remember, if you are driving by stop on in at the bunkhouse. You can probably find Brad and I sitting on the front porch with the dogs and enjoying a cup of java. You are always welcome and Club Calf Paradise.

RAIN

It finally rained again this morning. We were in dire need even though we still have very strong memories about the flooding this spring. We received almost two inches here in Denison and are supposed to get some storms this evening again. After that though we plan on a beautiful weekend!!

Ryan and I rinsed some calves today. I think Ryan shed a tear when he realized that we only had to rinse them one or two more times. LOL!! JUST KIDDING! This last weekend gets me so excited but at the same time I am a little sad that the long months of getting ready for this sale are quickly drawing to a close.

My brother left yesterday to return to Colorado. He was a huge asset and I hope that we can make this an annual occasion. Funny, I guess it rained then too. I think my eyes had a gully washer but I had to act tough and make Ryan think it was just the fly spray making them water.

Well, If you haven't been here yet there is still time to make it. I am very proud of the set of calves that we have grazing in the front pasture. Top to bottom they are sound and good. I think there is something here to work in anyones barn. We hope to see you all.

Make sure that you get your bids in before 6:00 on Monday. Remember, you can follow along on-line after the bid close to see how the calves are doing even if you haven't bid.

Have a safe and wonderful holiday if I don't get a chance to hop on and "blog" again. DON'T FORGET TO WEAR YOUR SEATBELTS...CORRECTLY!!!

NEWS FLASH!!

Steve Homerding called me this morning while Erik, my brother from Colorado...my only brother therefore my favorite, and I were rinsing steers. He told me that the full brother to the black baldie 001 calf that is on our sale just was named the overall Reserve Grand Champion Steer at the Michigan State Fair!!! OMG, that is so incredible!! I think that this steer is getting overlooked here and if I had some cute little grandchild that I would be all over this calf to put in my grandbabies hands. Not only is he dead broke but he is dead sexy and a potential rock star. CONGRATULATIONS STEVE!!!! Hey Steve, do you have any heifer-mates? Have your peeps call my peeps! LOL!

Cattle People

What a day at Club Calf Paradise. The people and families that visit us continue to amaze me. I can't even explain the feeling of gratitude I have for the people who are willing to travel the country to look for that next great calf and the fact that they stop at my farm sometimes overwhelms me. We get every walk of life at Club Calf Paradise and every year just reinforces the fact that this really is Paradise. I just love people - especially people who understand the life lessons to be learned by showing a calf. When I was nine years old I started showing my first 4H project - little did I know that project would lead to a life long ambition and passion. If you think Brad and I do this for the money - you would be dead wrong! Lord knows the money isn't that good - in fact sometimes it's not money at all! It's all about kids, calves and the love of cattle.

Oh...and maybe the love of good food too! Brad has been smoking an entire ribeye loin over applewood today. We are just getting ready to sit down over smoked ribeyes and ...heck...what more do you need?!!! Hope you all get a chance to stop by. You never know what might be cooking!

Family

I am having the time of my life today. My brother came all the way back from Colorado to help me for a week with the sale. Today we spent the morning doing ALL of the mowing! Now that's no small endeavor let me tell you. It's a bit cool and rainy here today so we geared up, donned our geeky mowing hats and mounted up on the Johnnies for a mowing rodeo circus. ZTR vs manual steering. We hammered this place out in less than four hours. I think it could possibly be an Olympic record. We had a blast.

Now he is out weed eating and cutting the water lines. Ooops! His bad. Luckily I have seen that done before and knew how to fix fairly rapidly. I hung some lighting in the north "facility" for ambiance and refilled the lanterns for this evening. We restocked the fridge and have checked the calves for the fourth or fifth time today. All are basking in the cool breeze and having a great day.

I think the best part of this sale is meeting everyone or seeing old friends again but I also enjoy how much my family supports what we do and how much they enjoy getting involved. My brother spent the entire day yesterday helping us wash and clip calves. Now that's a job for somebody that isn't used to it. He was exhausted last night but he was a trooper and dove right in to the job.

I also haven't said enough about Ryan Kunze. He's been working for us for the past month. I would be lost without him and he has been great great help. He is always willing to help me when I am in a pinch and he does great work in a manner to which my cattle have become accustomed. He is easy going and quiet and the calves disposition show that. Hey, if he can put up with me he must be alright! He just fits in here...like part of the family.

Well, if anyone reads this and happens to stop this weekend make sure to tell my brother, Erik, how nice the grass looks! He's in charge of public relations and guest hospitality. Just don't tell him that I was saying anything nice about him or he will get a big head!

My observations about online bidding

Well we finally got the online bidding system up and running. It's taken a while and I am sure there will be a few things to change as we go but so far it's working great and is really exciting. I think this is going to be a great way for people who can't make it to our sale to bid but most of all it will keep people up to date and in touch with what is going on with the bidding.

We are really looking forward to the next two weeks and the bidding with this new system. I think that you will have fun with it too. Everyone can follow along and see what EACH calf is doing. I am sure that everyone has a different bidding game plan. Some will bid right away and keep bidding. Some will wait until that last day or minute and then jump in. Some may even give the proxy bid system a try. If you are not familiar with the proxy bidding system it makes it possible for you to put in the amount that you are willing to spend and let the computer bid for you. It is completely private and nobody but you will know what your proxy bid is...except for your computer I guess! LOL! Anyway, that way you don't have to worry about doing any bidding after you enter a proxy bid. You just have to worry that your proxy bid was not enough to get your favorite calf. Of course you can always change your proxy bid if you desire.

I would like to say that if you are going to bid online and you are not able to make it to see the calves in person that I would encourage you do find somebody that you know and trust to take a look for you. I have great faith in the soundness and future of every one of these calves and that they are everything that is represented in the pictures and video but you really can't entirely judge a calf by a photo. I think there are calves here that are actually way better than their pictures!

So I hope that all of you bovine cyber-geeks will have a good time following this thing along. I know that I am having a blast watching the bids jump. Just don't think for a minute that your favorite calf may not be the crowd favorite because the price isn't changing. There may be ten people out there that want that calf but are not going to jump in immediately. I just think this makes it so much easier for everyone and more fair and understandable. I also hope that if anyone has any questions about any of this that you will feel free to ask questions.

And for you non cyber-geeks...I still have a cell phone and I would love to talk to you to take a phone bid. In the end we will contact all current bidders and let you know when the final bidding will take place on your calf. So enjoy...and GET TO BIDDING!!!

Sunday Morning at CCP

It must only be in the upper 60's this morning. The grass is dripping with dew and the calves look like they are bracing for a blizzard they are so fuzzy this morning. Most of them are laid out flat in the grass chewing their cud after finishing their "breakfast". The dogs are laying on the porch of the bunkhouse, sentinals, watching for any new visitors. The grasshoppers are singing in the background as I sit here at the bunkhouse computer sipping a steamy cup of coffee and contemplating lighting a fire in the fire ring. Now, most people know that I am not much of a church going person, but I have never felt that I needed to go to town to find what I needed or to offer my services in that department. On a morning like this it's easy to understand what this is all about and one can't help but thank something greater than ourselves for the opportunity to be here right now, at this moment, to enjoy this life. I bask in moments like these because they help us make up for the bad times. They give us the strength to stand strong for other people, friends and family that need to draw on our strength when they are having bad times. OK, sorry for the "babbling". What I am just trying to point out is that, no matter where you live or what you do, don't take anything for granted and don't forget to stop and smell the roses...literally! Every morning when you walk out the door don't forget to look around and enjoy the beautiful things that we take for granted every day. Right now I am going to cut some daisies to put in the bunkhouse. My neighbor has TONS of them growing and I always love to "steal" some cuttings for my vases. They just grow like they are wild and they just say "smile" every time I see them.

Take a moment today and make yourself smile...hey, you could stop by Club Calf Paradise. I guarantee a smile!!!

Passion

PASSION: i.e. What it takes to truly be involved in this business. I have to tell you that I have come to fully believe that those people that are successful in life are the ones that are passionate about one thing or another. They live, eat and breath that thing. I have been very "frustrated" (there's that other key word) this year because I see so many kids that are working towards a goal but they have no passion for what they are doing. They have some desire but just no passion. For the past few days I have had the opportunity to work with a young man that has more passion for the cattle showing industry than almost anyone I know. It's been exhilerating watching him work. This boy can work circles around the best. And as far as an understanding of the entire industry he is lightyears ahead of most of us old farts. He can tell you the bloodlines and pedigrees of every one of his cows and almost all of the Lautner bull battery. I think he has every copy of the Show Circuit and N.L.Exhibitor memorized and can tell you on what page every ad is located. What kills me is this kid is only nine years old! Today I looked over and saw him trying to catch a steer in the headgate. He couldn't quite reach the release latch so he climbed up the chute and was hanging like a monkey. He ran 10 calves through this morning, he and his sister, who by the way is "passionate" about cattle too. They did this completely by themselves, nine and fourteen. They wouldn't stop and wanted to do more. Now I am telling you...these kids are what this industry is about. My non-cow friends ask me why I work so hard and do this every year. Well, if you could see these kids it would be a no-brainer. I would go to the wall for kids like this. They make the cattle world go round! They are what help me keep the passion going.

Frustration

Well I've missed a couple of days on the internet Blog line and thought I would maybe make up for it today. My first rambling will be minor...my key word is "frustration". The team worked so hard to get all of the calves presentable over the last few days. It was just a great feeling to finally get the calves sorted into thier pens and ready for display. I can't believe that we are going to have to clip them again! Their hair is growing like crazy...but I guess that's a good thing. This morning when I came down to do AM chores the younger group of steers looked like they had taken a bath in chocolate powder! Oh man was I upset. You have to remember that our front pasture was under about three feet of water a couple of times this summer and when the waters went down it left behind some wonderful silty dusty crud. The calves think it's just great fun to roll around in it. Luckily the Smith kids helped me put down some bedding in the shaded areas so that the calves will hopefully not be such a mess. I guess that day of washing will just be chalked up to fun and practice.

Interesting comments

This afternoon a nice gentleman stopped to look at the calves. He was very nice to talk to and it was a pleasant way to end my day. One thing he said has made me scratch my head several times this evening. He asked about one particular calf and wondered what it would take to get it bought on the sale. In a nutshell, my response was that he needed to have the final bid. I seriously think he was surprised when I explained to him that all of these calves were here to sell. They have a base bid on them and if somebody offers that price and is the only bidder, they will own the calf. It has happened many times in the past. In fact some of those one bid calves have gone on to win some pretty big shows! Now I may be blonde (Yes, it's for real!) but it bothers me that some people might think that we won't let a calf go if it doesn't bring some big price that we think the calf is worth or that we run the bids up via phantom bidders. One year we raised a heifer that I wanted to keep as a replacement breeding piece or donor. I lost the rock/paper/scissors game and we offered her on our sale but we based her at $7500. I was happily depressed when she got her first bid because I knew she was leaving even if that was the only bid. I have no intentions of playing bidding games. Like the old saying goes...everything has its price and that is what it was going to take for her to leave. That is why we have an individual floor on each calf. That's what it will take for it to have a new home. OK, not EVERYTHING has a price. Just try to get me to put a price on my dog...or my husband!!

Wow, New Arrival!!!

Boy did we get an interesting late addition to the sale. Todd Klockgether and his wife brought us a sweet little heifer prospect. She is a Smooth Sailing daughter. I will have more information posted soon. I think that this is going to get very interesting. She's a doll and the best part is she already has a show record!

This IS paradise!

Wow, last night Brad and I sat out on the porch of the bunkhouse and lit up a log fire in the fire ring. We rocked and talked until the wood was just right and then we cooked our supper over the wood and ate on the porch. It just doesn't get any better. There was a cool breeze blowing and practically no humidity.

This morning I rolled out of bed at dawn and started the preparations for moving the calves to the front pasture. There were lots of gates and corral panels to move to the temporary wash area. I also had to get bunks moved and fix the waterers that developed "issues" over the long winter. The electrician was here for a while trying to finish up on the power for the bunkhouse. I filled the holes where they had to splice the wire. By late afternoon I called in the reinforcements as I knew that the actual act of moving the calves was not going to be a job for one. All went well and the calves are now in the front pasture waiting for a trip to the "cow wash" to get them up to speed again.

Now I can sit on the porch in the evening and admire the calves. This truly is paradise!!

Accolades

We were surfing around on the internet last night and came across Jeff's blog on Cattle.com. He posted a thread about our Club Calf Paradise website that was very flattering. Thank you much Jeff! Of course our focus is on working hard and providing a great product but ultimately we do this because we enjoy it and it is a lot of fun. I guess we figure that if we are having fun then everyone involved will have fun too! That's our reward and we hope you enjoy. We love the positive comments and input. Thank you so much.

Another week of beautiful weather is expected for our area. I am serious about my goal of getting the calves down to the front pasture in another week. We have had so many phone calls from folks that want to stop and see the calves. They are looking fabulous. Alan Schuler has stopped to see his calves and I can't wait for him to stop again in a week or two. I think that if I took the tags out of his calves that he wouldn't know which were his! They have changed ten-fold and I am really excited about them. I think you will be too! Hope to see you all.

WOW! What a Day.

Finally the weather is what we here in Crawford County (Club Calf Paradise!) would consider a beautiful day. Low sixties in the morning, low humidity, high in the low eighties. That does not happen very often in August at Club Calf Paradise. We are enjoying it and so are the calves. It is hard to believe, but the calves are growing hair. That tells us that fall is on the way. The calves are popping! Be sure to check out Chuck's 4215 steer - as we get to know these calves, this one is coming to the top. Chuck does it every year. Also the two steers of Justin Strucks - they are really good. We are getting lots of calls on the Gigolo Joe heifer and she seems to know it! She is going to be a fur bearing mammal!! What gorgeous hair. The rest of her is gorgeous, too. It won't be long and we will have all the calves down front in the sale pens. We are looking forward to that day. It's so wonderful to see the pastures still green and lush. For all the devastation this summer from floods and winds I have to say that we should appreciate how beautiful it is right now. Whew, can't wait to get the work done and sit on the bunk house porch and enjoy a great cup of coffee. With this weather I may even light a fire in the fire pit.

Iowa State Fair

Well, one more day and we will be heading for the fair. It's going to be very strange this year. For the first time in at least 15 years we aren't going to be showing any livestock. I am sure that will shock some people but we have been so focused on getting ready for our sale that we just didn't have the time that it takes to get any other cattle ready to show. If the truth be known it's actually our 25th Anniversary this week and we just wanted to have a chance to celebrate "like normal folks" for once. Brad and I are in charge of the Iowa Maine-Anjou promotional booth this year so we will be able to give it a lot more attention. I am actually looking forward to that and having the opportunity to spend more time talking with people. Of course, I WON'T miss the endurance walk to the tie-outs every day. I hope everyone will stop by and see us if you are at the fair. Don't forget that everything has been moved around and we won't be in the same location. We are East of the hog barn now.

As for the calves, they will be in the special care of Ryan K. He doesn't know how much I appreciate having him here. He's a die-hard!

What's cookin!

Well, pretty much everything is cookin' today. The heat index is supposed to be 110 to 115 degrees today. I have ten fans running on the calves...hmmm, that's four calves per fan. I think that I can't make them any more comfortable. Darby and I have been washing out the trailer this morning after I made an old fashioned Iowa breakfast for my Nephew, Quinn, who is leaving today for Sweden. He's in love and going to propose...or something like that. Romance is so cool.

Brad and I are leaving on Wednesday for the State Fair and are leaving the calves in the good hands of Ryan. He has been a great help to us and is a blessing to have here to give me a hand. He does have his limits and has drawn the line at milking Ginger so I am letting her dry up. Sorry, no fresh cream for your coffee during the sale! We are getting things set up in the front pasture and making the last minute touches. I am anxious to get the calves down to the pasture as soon as possible when we return from the fair. I am guessing that I won't even know them by the time we come back as they are changing every day.

I am getting so excited about the sale. I can't wait to see everyone!

Holy Cow! What a week.

It has been absolutely crazy here since last Friday - hence my failure to keep the blog up to date. Last weekend we had Katie Colyer here all weekend doing video of the calves. The videos should be up on the website in the next day or so. Once we got the process figured out, the video thing really went pretty smooth. Katie did a great job and has more patience than anyone around this place! Katie flew in from Idaho last Friday and stayed until Monday and we worked her hard! Of course, she worked us hard, too. I really like the videos and I sure hope all of you like them too. They sure will give you a pretty good idea of how good the calves are. It has been hotter than the hubs of hell here this week so we are just letting the calves relax. They are really exploding and looking good. Take a look at the videos when they go up on the site and give us a call with any questions.