CLOUD*WOOD RANCH - BELLS, TEXAS (updated June, 2005)
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HI! Here we are about 45 miles N of Dallas, TX. The ranch is 102 acres and we raise beef cattle although we only have 27 cow-calf pairs right now. Woody took a course on how to tell if a cow is preganant or not. He said it was a very "deep" subject.
Claudee, our 28 yr old daughter and her 3 yr old are now living with us in the guest house. She has passed the first year of the two-yr RN course at Grayson Comm. College and expects to graduate in 2006. The critters we have to tend are now reduced to the ones that don't require daily care. We have a lama (more about him later) a 25 head herd of registered polled Hereford cattle and a million fish.
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Here's Woody beside his "hole to China" that is 35 feet deep! He cleaned out and deepened a pond we had out back. Our house is on top of the hill above on the left side of foto. The pond is full now as we had all that rain. We'll go to Lake Texoma (up on the Red River - as in "From This Valley They Say You Are Going") and get some really big (50-60 lb)stripers and catfish with which to stock it.
This is Apuri-Mac the lama, Claudee and I. He is 9 yrs old and we "rescued" him from a carousel where he was giving rides to kids for photo ops...
He eats out of your hand and I spin his fleece. The yarn is exquisite as it feels like water or silk in your hand. He is also "agriculturally correct" as he is an official "coyote guard" lama and will protect the baby calves from coyotes. Horses, however, are not agriculturally correct and cannot be taken off your taxes - they are considered pets... "Charky" is an Inca Indian word in the Quechua language meaning "dried meat" from which we get "jerky". So I guess we COULD eat him, but he's really cute... Apuri-Mac means the start of the Amazon River, the highest mountain in the Andes, and the head God in the Inca religion. He comes to "here lama, lama, lama".
Then there is good news and the bad news. The good news is that when they did my hysterectomy they got all the cancer. The bad news is that I will need a liver transplant in about 18 months. If you want to help, please run a blood drive in my name. I get points for pints given that count towards being higher up on the donor list.
The actual blood stays in the community in which it was donated. When they ask to whom you would like it "Credited" you may say: "To Claudia Darnell at the TEXOMA Regional Blood Center in Sherman, TX"
The next question that usually arises is "How many points do you need?" The answer, is of course, about one more than the other person with whom I'll be competing for the available liver at the end of the line. :)
To meet Woody's brother Mike, go here Michael Darnell 's Home Page.
To see our grandson McKenzie's page, go here McKenzie Freeman's Personal Page.
To see how we think, go here Non-Linearity of Thought.
To get homework help, go here BJ Pinchbeck's Homework Helper.
To get music go here Don Carroll's Midi Riff Bulge Page
Our snail mail address is
W.C. & Claudia Darnell
159 Speedway Rd.
Bells, TX 75414-2390 (903) 892-6108
email cndarnell@aol.com
Hope you've enjoyed our tour
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