Winters Lock…Writers Block…Winter Mocks…Writers Rock!

I am late posting my post, which was written Thursday, the 21st, in middle of the night…well actually early early morning:)

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Winter winds are ripping…blowing up the canyon with a 15 degree windchill…ugh!

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I worry about loosing power…I can NOT believe it is so cold tonight on the second night or morning of spring! Our house sleeps snuggled down in the wild west winter storm, except for me and why I am up in the middle of the dang night? Lately I have had a case of writers block, so I am doing a writing exercise right now, except I should be doing it with pen and three blank pages of paper…but my feet are cold and I am snuggled down under a pile of plush, cuddly warm quilts and it is cold and the paper I need is in another room…sometime today I am going to put pen to paper and finger to pen…hopefully with my brain fully engaged in fancy creative thoughts to write words of wonder!

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I read tonight that we begin to lose our ability to write and create our written communication at school age…I agree. We are born to write and we are born with very active imaginations, however,  life crowds in with perfection…then judgement…and no, you must stick to the point…you are wandering all over the subject…no no no, your punctuation is terrible and quite embarrassing…pretty soon we lose our style…our flair…our ability to create interesting stories full of life and possibilities. Our ability to believe in the IMPOSSIBLE is nowhere to be found!

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 Well to that I say, “Why not…THE IMPOSSIBLE IS POSSIBLE…believe it and it will happen…visualize it and dream it…live it and breathe it in and out…yes it is possible to have all that we hope for! Never ever give up your imaginations and your ideas…when it comes to writing, no idea is stupid…and every thought of make believe is believable in our writing…it’s like playing dress up when we dressed in Mommy’s dresses and make up to pretend we were a glamorous movie star…or we played make believe as The Lone Ranger…Hi-Ho Silver and Flicka!”

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Ooops, I was drifting off the subject of Mr. Winter! Hey, Mr. Winter Winds…go back to the North Pole please…Antarctica…yep…sorry but somehow you have a bit of forgetfulness…I know we all do anymore as the course of the seasons whiz by us so fast, who can keep up but…seriously though…it is Lady Spring’s turn to play…you had your chance Mr. Big Chill and instead of doing your winter thing like you could have, you missed the boat…and I know you are stuck in the ice of regret but lets not use excuses about ourselves…if you are stuck Mr. Winter then, what can you do about it…what? No, it’s your problem and issue to solve…I am busy planning Ms. Spring’s Season so go away.

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How am I doing? “Who me?”

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“No, ding dong…Mom is talking about her…oh what I have to put up with since I am the cat who knows where it is at…plus Mom woke me up too!”

Mr. Winter Winds, between your winter winds howling with Winters Block? I have the solution for you…grab an icicle and three sheets of ice and begin to write…now go get busy so we can break this Winters Writers Block and have a Block Party! We can have Jack Frost come over to slide some music around so we can slip, slide and boogie down…with Margaritas on ice…I mean rocks…ah, no blocks…or how about a Mojito anyone? You are so icy anyway….

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Ok, back to my writing exercise…what else do I hear…the wind…my email blurping…”Calling HRCG this is Ms. Spring…I want to introduce myself but Mr. Winter has his icy rear end in my way…I am trying my hardest to shatter and break up his fun so that we can welcome you and all your readers to a nice block party.”

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Cool idea to end Winter’s Follies for this year:) HRCG over and out…headed to the Block Party…see ya there!

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As a footnote…”Mr. Winter” has settled back down some…we still have the heat on but the icy grip of winter has now melted and we have green hope showing in the fields and life!

Seasons Of Weather On The Land And Spring Fun!

Seasons of weather on the land and the hints of spring fun are coming! I love this time of year, as over the years of living my life on the land, I have gained the understanding of faith, hard work and the importance of being a good steward of the land.

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I notice the seasons more vividly as you depend on them for the health of the land and often you are outside in the elements of weather everyday. Maybe it’s driving to your job 30 miles away in town or maybe you are blessed instead to be out on top of the hills gathering cattle…or farming round and round on a tractor.

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Being in the middle of nature’s elements, you feel the weather on your face with each passing storm, while watching the seasons slowly change.

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From long winter days cloaked in gray fog as you wait and hope for a good wheat crop, growing under the obscure ashen gloom that covers the land from your sight.

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Finally the first breath of spring air comes, blowing off winter’s gray coat, revealing your hard work…your faith has been rewarded, with a beautiful green wheat crop underneath…

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The miracle of life, with that one tiny seed of grain the farmer plants in faith, months before…has grown into a harvest bushel full of wheat.

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Which also means with the changing seasons I will be doing the part that makes me Hot Rod

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Cowgirl…and yes I love the cool cars my hubby WB builds:)

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But, I will always be a cowgirl through and through that loves my horses and the life of a cowgirl…I do admit it is fun to drive the ba-bump-a-boom sounding cars WB builds, with the deep throaty sound of horsepower and a healthy cam:)

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Seasons are a changing…March can be crazy and wild!

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Minnie will be putting away her “Cat Operas” for the year as she will instead be watching out the windows and smelling smells through the screens of spring and then summer…already we have the nightly serenade sounds of crickets in the creek close to the house and lots of robins, doves, quail and various colored birds are flying about to her enjoyment:)

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Hang on…as soon…

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Faster than a speeding bullet…

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Blasting off like a rocket! No silly…not the jet above…

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“Its Lola!” She’s out of winter hibernation and on the road again:):):)

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Lola’s my speeding bullet…”Lola’s my baby:)”

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“Classic…Fast…Built From Days Of Old…” When they still knew how to build real cars…out of steel and real leather interiors and actual horsepower:)

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Beautiful skies above and our little red car below…

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Lola! La La La Lola…Love you Lola!

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Springs a coming….sooooon:)

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Hang on here we go!

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As reported from “The Life Of Hot Rod Cowgirl living in the Wild West!!!”

“Blog Of The Year 2012″ Award Times Six!

“Blog Of The Year 2012″ Award Times Six Stars! What a wonderful award gift to be given:) I am very late in posting the news of this award as I received the award between my hubby’s two surgeries with December 26th being the second surgery and then we lost our beloved dog Kiah…who we miss very much.

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I was both the head nurse and doctor at times…when you live 60 miles from the hospital and the Dr., you learn to do both…my friends laugh at our “Hallway Closet” as it is the equivalent of “Rite Aid,”with all kinds of tape, gauze, antibiotic creams, itch creams, bug sprays, thermometers and band-aids. Between taking care of WB and making sure he did exactly as he was instructed to do and did not sneak out of the house to go to the shop, life has been busy…thankfully his doctor gave him the heads up to venture out a few weeks ago, but the first few months I had to watch him like a hawk!!!  I run the office so I am forever busy keeping up with both the ranch books and our custom car business, and I can’t believe how fast the months go!

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We hired three new employees to add to our team, one great apprentice and two gifted, talented and experienced technicians that know how to do the job right. Luckily our winter weather has not been terrible this year so with the help of our new apprentice, I took care of the horses, making sure their water, which is heated during the winter months, was working and heating right. I felt like I was the lady of many hats, as I wore many different hats from Head Nurse to the Mrs. Grrrrr Boss to the Cowgirl Queen of All…hee-haw!

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And then I had the nicest surprise in receiving the nomination for the “Blog Of The Year 2012″ Award with the first of six stars from fellow blogger Candy at http://findingorderincorpusa.wordpress.com/ I was both humbled and in a state of shock in a very happy way:)

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 Thank you Candy for thinking of me:) Be sure to check out Candy’s blog as I promise you will enjoy it! She has a blog full of positive encouragement, which helps as we go through some of those truly yucky-blah days of our lives…and she also shares lots of wisdom to apply to our lives too. Here is the link to Candy’s blog and also the link that has all the rules for this award  http://findingorderincorpusa.wordpress.com/2012/12/09/blog-of-the-year-2012-award/

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And then I received my second star and another nomination for the “Blog Of The Year 2012″ Award from my friend Marilyn at http://teepee12.com/

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I was now laying on the ground, having fainted with delight, while my horse Melody was staring at me with her big beautiful eyes wondering if I was ok…you can see she is worried, she is the sweetest horse I have ever had. “Ahhh Mel, I love you lots, but I’m ok:)” I was smiling and glowing with excitement as I felt so very honored to receive this award by both these admirable friends and fellow bloggers…go check out Marilyn’s blog at  http://teepee12.com/2013/02/24/daily-prompt-the-glacier-quarter-2011/

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Because it was the holidays and the season was full of holly jolly joy joy! My laptop was singing away with sonar ba-blurps, as my notifications sound like a submarine when they come in…so I checked to see who was ba-blurping me and it was Marilyn at http://teepee12.com/2012/12/15/blog-of-the-year-2012/ she had awarded me with my third star, to add to my nomination for the “Blog Of The Year 2012″ Award!!! If you have not gotten over to Marilyn’s blog by now…get going! She has a worthy blog called “Serendipity” that is filled with words written by Marilyn, who is a gifted writer.

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The picture above is Annie, she is so pretty…and the photo below with the white stuff hanging off the garden stake with the horse on top next to the fake flowers is called “Hoar Frost.” It builds and grows each day until it hangs off of railings, power lines and etc. When we have long periods of freezing temperatures with freezing fog, a heavy hoar frost will grow on everything. Often we lose power as the power lines sag with the weight of the heavy frost eventually breaking the lines, leaving us without power for several hours or days. When you have livestock, they need water to survive. Horses can colic, which means they get a tummy ache and they lay down and roll on the ground trying to get rid of the pain, and often twist their gut. In severe cases they can die or will need surgery…the colic is caused by eating dry feed without water for their gut. so when you lose power and are without water for your livestock, you haul it or bucket it from another water source.

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With Christmas upon us and snow forecast with freezing fog delight, my kitty Minnie was doing her computer time a few days later and said,

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“Meowzers Mom…I just heard your laptop make that funny email noise again…I peeked and now you have four stars, as Marilyn gave me, (Minnie), a star for Christmas cuz I’m the cat who knows where it’s at! Meowohooey! Thank you Ms. Marilyn:)”

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I did a fancy cowgirl two-step with a yee-haw and

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Minnie looked at me and left in a hurry….she was worried it somehow could involve me picking her up for a kitty hug and holding her close to my heart for a kitty dance. She does not like to be held off the ground at all…and since I am 5’9″ tall, I’m a skyscraper in her eyes!

The Rules For This Award Are Simple And Easy:

1. Select the blog(s) you think deserve the ‘Blog of the Year 2012’ Award.

2. Write a blog post and name/tell us about the blog(s) you have chosen – there’s no minimum or maximum number of blogs required – and ‘present’ them with their award.

3. Please include a link back to this page  ‘Blog of the Year 2012’ Award and include these ‘rules’ in your post (please don’t alter the rules or the badges!).

4. Let the blog(s) you have chosen know that you have given them this award and share the ‘rules’ with them.

5. You can now also join The Facebook group – click ‘like’ on this page ‘Blog of the Year 2012’ Award Facebook Group and then you can share your blog with an even wider audience.

6. As a winner of the award – please add a link back to the blog that presented you with the award – and then proudly display the award on your blog and sidebar … and start collecting the six stars.

And Wowee-Wowzers!!!

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And I just got my fifth star!!!

The best part of receiving this special award was being nominated by my peers for the equivalent of the Oscar Award with the “Blog Of The Year 2012″ Award. It feels very good to have recognition from your friends that are on this artistic journey with you. When I began this blog I had no idea that it would feed my heart and soul the way it does. I have always always always loved to write…and photography has been a passion that I knew was there in my heart but in raising our kids, money was tight and buying fancy cameras was not in my budget…basketball shoes alone cost as much as a college education. I did write and I have journal upon journals of my life over the years, filled with emotions, memories and daily life.

And then only a day before Christmas I found I had received my sixth star from Marilyn as she too wanted to pass on the holly jolly joy and share her stars with me for the “Blog Of The Year 2012″Award! Thank you Marilyn and Big Hugs:)

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Thank you Candy at http://findingorderincorpusa.wordpress.com/ for the first nomination for this awesome award and thank you Marilyn at  http://teepee12.com/  for blessing me with this awesome award with several nominations…neither of you had any way of knowing that, on the days you blessed me with another star to this award, it was a day that I had a fire of life dilemma to put out here…so each of your stars gave me hope and a big smile! Thank you both for being my friends and fellow writers on this journey of words and of life:)

Drum roll please for my nominations…I would like to nominate all of the bloggers and writers I know…I enjoy every blog on Word Press:) It is not easy to choose only a few blogs as I have many that I believe are worthy and that is all of them!

1.http://euzicasa.wordpress.com/ George has an outstanding blog that I love to read as I often learn new things about many different areas of life, music, various animal species, historical world events and then today I heard two songs that I had not heard since way back when and they brought back great memories:)

2.  http://thesedaysofmine.com/ I love Dianna’s blog…she has a beautiful kitty angel named Sundae-Girl who also writes occasionally…she is one of my kitty angel Minnie’s best friends! Dianna shares her sunrise and sunset photos with the ocean behind them and the water right out in front of her home…and also her daily life with her family and her historic roots that run deep in Virginia.

3.  http://rumpydog.com/ Be sure to go meet Rumpy dog as his blog is awesome! He keeps us filled in with animal news and all things animal…different new animal friends and also animal health facts as well as animal fun stuff. Rumpy is very cool…how many dogs do you know that have their own blog? Go see Rump’s blog and enjoy:)

4. http://savannahspawtracks.com/  I love Savannah’s blog..she is a very cool kitty angel, she is always up to something fun and she takes good photos. She calls her blog “Autobiography Of A Shelter Cat”…she is very beautiful, as she is a Russian Blue kitty angel with a great personality to match her beauty and lots of white detail like Minnie has on her toes and under her chin:)  Her Mom and Dad are awesome for adopting her and they loves her lots! Minnie loves her too:)

5.  http://catfromhell.wordpress.com/  Minnie and I both love reading about Nellie’s adventures…she is 14 years old and is also a rescue kitty. I think her Mom and Dad are awesome for adopting Nellie and making her part of their home. Nellie writes great daily blog entries that keep us hooked, reading about her explorations and life full of fun with other kitty angels and she loves Rumpy too:) She is a very cool kitty as she paints some beautiful paintings of her friends and she is part of the FBI too….so go say Hi!

6.  http://triciabookerphotography.com/2013/02/21/beautiful/  “Capturing images, words and horses.” I saw the previous sentence by her name and I was hooked:) I truly enjoy Tricia’s blog and her amazingly beautiful photography of horses, various animals, flowers and life through her lens:) She is an amazing photographer…go see as she has incredible images to see and enjoy:)

7. http://tau0.wordpress.com/  I love this site as the amazing scenery in Mike’s photography speaks directly to my “wild at heart spirit!” Both my hubby and I share the wild at heart…I love the sheer beauty of isolated, jaw dropping beautiful places that you can not see unless you are willing to get off the beaten path and seek them out. Mike captures amazing views and waits for the perfect light and his timing is magical:)

8. http://russelrayphotos2.com/  Russel has been a photographer for many years and shoots beautiful shots of San Diego life and history…and incredible shots of scenery and flowers, butterflies and life etc. but my very favorites is “Zoey, the Cool Cat!” He is a character and great at posing for Russel’s camera.

9.  http://marcellarousseau.wordpress.com/ Marcy has a great blog that educates you on healthy eating and living. She is awesome as she seeks to help others to lose weight and get in shape…I know I need more of every fact she teaches and shares so I check her out often to see what is good for me and what I need to get rid of:) And we both share the same name of Marcy:)

10. http://godguidesme.com/ Vivian has a wonderful blog and I so enjoy the pictures she takes of the Nevada Desert…I love the peace and solitude of the desert and have found that the desert has a way of drawing you into its magical light, colors and silence…there is something incredibly beautiful and spiritual about the desert and Nevada has LOTS of mountains too so don’t let the desert fool you. Vivian’s blog is full of inspiration and incredible scenery.

11.  http://emjayandthem.com/   MJ’s blog is awesome as she makes you think deep and I love to think deep! She shares about her life growing up and also her life today…the lessons she has learned and the ones she is yet working on…her writing style hooks you into her words as you can identify with what she is writing about…she is a great writer and also takes great photos. She is an incredible lady to know and I always enjoy her comments when she visits me:) Go check MJ out…kind of funny but I am also called MJ…so from one MJ to another MJ go enjoy another MJ’s blog:)

12.  http://pacificnorthwesttravelerdotcom.wordpress.com/ I so enjoy Bob’s blog as I live about 200 miles from him and many of the various photos he shoots I am aware of or I have been there. Today’s lesson he is giving is on how to frame one of your photos in Photoshop…and I plan to give it a try too:) He shoots incredible scenery shots and then also goes to the Portland Zoo and takes some amazing shots of the various animals there….as well as “Jack” the kitty cat!

13.  http://onespoiledcat.wordpress.com/  This is Pam (Mommy) and Sam’s (Sammy) blog on Sammy’s fun antics and Pam’s wonderful words, she has a wonderful writing ability, she has published a few books and also short stories and she also is an artist as she paints. I always enjoy seeing what Pam is up to and Minnie has a kitty girl crush on Sammy…and I love to see what Sammy is up to as he has gone undercover before as a secret agent and he has taken care of business:) He is one cool dude!

14.   http://catnipoflife.wordpress.com/    I truly enjoy Sharla’s blog, her writing style, the memories she shares, the books she has published, and I love the name of the blog Catnip Of Life…yeah, that is perfect and Minnie agrees:) Sharla gives you deep things to ponder and think deep on which I love as it keeps me thinking all day when I am out and about doing ranch stuff:) I love her poetry too, her positive comments and her laughs as I love to laugh:)

15. http://patinaandcompany.wordpress.com/  Awesome blog! I will be reading each article on gardening, flowers and landscaping that Patina & Co. has posted. I am subscribed to Leslie’s blog, she lives North of Toronto, yesterday she posted pictures of the snow around her home and yard…I will not complain anymore about our weather!!! Go check out this blog as she also has interior decor ideas and ideas for the exterior of your home.

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Marilyn, thank you again for nominating me for this awesome award, Marilyn writes and takes us into whatever it is that she is describing…and that is what I strive to become, as a writer…I hope to write and pull the reader into my story so that they can actually hear, feel and taste or smell what I am describing…and I hope to do the same with my photographs:) Marilyn, I am working on “Tagged”…I wanted to get this award out as it is so special to receive. If you have not been to Marilyn’s blog yet, go to: http://teepee12.com/2013/02/24/daily-prompt-the-glacier-quarter-2011/

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Thank you Candy for nominating me for this honorable award and for blessing me with the first star:) Candy has a fun blog as well as a web site for her professional organizer business…and she can be hired to come into your home or office to organize it so that you can do your work or job with everything in its place instead of a mess. I am pretty organized most of the time but right now with taxes and going through all the office stuff I need you Candy!  On her blog, Candy has fun stuff, encouraging slogans and positive remarks for us to keep on a keeping on:) So be sure to check out her blog at http://findingorderincorpusa.wordpress.com/2013/02/21/blog-chill-day-8-2/  and also her business web site at http://www.orderyoursteps.net/

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Minnie and I have learned so much from all the many bloggers we have met in the last almost two years. The best part has been getting to know you…and to view your artistic abilities from photography to writing words that tell the stories of your life or of the lives you write about. The creative spirit is amazing and ever changing, growing and developing…I love the burning fire of artistic abilities that are God given, that burn deep in my heart. It is always there…sometimes it just smolders and other times it fires up into a roaring campfire…I love it:)

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These roses are for each one of you:) I am going to keep on writing words upon words and shooting a zillion photo images to share with you:) How about you? Have a “Super Sweet Sunday!”

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What Gives Writers And Artists Their Fire?

What gives writers and artists their fire? I take it for granted that we all think about words and photos the way I do but we don’t. I have known all of my life, that God blessed me with the desire and passion to become a writer of words and life. I am drawn to writing words that create visual pictures…words that become alive and draw you into the story or maybe the memories of your life. Writing is my heart, as the words explain the me that I am and the whys of my life…words of feelings…words of emotions…words of heritage and memories…and the words of a country cowgirl…words upon words upon words. Writers write to share what they feel and see in the moments of tender memories filled with times of faith…times of hope…times of life. I think they are born with a desire to tell the story as the seed has been planted in their hearts to write the words.

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Writers are different as we see and feel the actual word…we see emotions and feel life differently. Quietly our soul takes in all the words we hear and the pictures of life we see…the writer in us takes both the seeing and feeling emotions, weaving them into a story to share. Our words are poured out onto the golden pages of a book full of stories and memories, both real and fiction. If we are really good we can make you guess what is real and what is fiction. I think my writing and the ability to feel the words and to see the story in a quick snapshot blink of life is partly because I grew up by myself, with just my parents and our ranching life in the mountains and here at home.

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I never knew any different way of living, I thought everyone moved to the mountains to summer on a cattle ranch…now that I know differently, I feel very blessed that I had the opportunity. I carry the memories of almost 40 years, working first with my parents on the ranch and then with Wild Bill. My world has been full of horses, cows, kitty cats and dogs, and various critters…the sky and clouds…the elements of weather…hard days and good days…life was all of that and in my mind it was a novel of golden days…the days of my life. The one soap opera I watched for a couple of years, was of all things called “Days Of Our Lives”…go figure, I was doing what I knew as I actually do see the days of my life.

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I began to shoot pictures of my life and the life moments around me during the last two years…I bought a quality camera and once it was in my hands I hung on to it and slept with it if I had to! It was the missing piece to my life of words…it was the part that fit with the creative visions and the words I had inside my head and in my heart. If done correctly, one picture can tell the story from beginning to end…one photo can do that if you are good and that is what I strive for. I want to be that good with my camera…so I take 1000′s of photos every week…keeping some and trashing the others…I love learning:) When I read the story and saw the photos of Vivian Maier a few years ago, I was in awe and in photography heaven…she was incredible and had such an eye for the right moment and the perfect timing to capture the life of her subjects and the life of America. I would love to see her work in person! Here is the link to the web site of her images…enjoy.  http://www.vivianmaier.com/  She was truly a very gifted artist of life.

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It is the same with words…you have to write and I write a zillion words each week both on paper and in my head in order to develop what is already there inside me, writing your thoughts and words, keeps you fresh and wide awake! I write stories and heart filled memories of life, mine and also of other lives that I have seen and been part of. It is crazy how I can feel another persons heart and their thoughts…their emotions and feel what they are not saying as easily as what they are saying. No it is not some woo woo thing or a new age technique. I am blessed that God made me with the passion and ability to write, feeling the words of the story I see in a blink second of another persons life or the scenes of life that travel through my world. I love it and will never grow tired of words and images.

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Switching gears, I want to thank you for wondering where I have been and if all is well. I am here and we are doing fine. I hope to post my first of many award nominations that I have been given to share soon:) Somehow my “life went into hyper-warp speed and lately I have felt like I am Lieutenant Uhura on the U.S.S. Enterprise on Captain Kirk’s bridge traveling at warp speed to do battle with the Klingons in some new galaxy!” I think I need to write more and get outside with my camera…my imagination is getting a bit weird! No I’m not a Trekkie but I did like Star Trek in the 60′s.

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As I sign off for now I will leave you with a couple of verses from “Alabama” with their song called “I’m In A Hurry,” as it fits:)

“I’m in a hurry to get things done…Oh, I rush and rush until life’s no fun…All I really got to do is live and die…But I’m in a hurry and don’t know why”
“Don’t know why I have to drive so fast…My car has nothing to prove…It’s not new, but it’ll do 0 to 60 in 5.2″
“I’m in a hurry to get things done…Oh, I rush and rush until life’s no fun…All I really got to do is live and die…But I’m in a hurry and don’t know why”

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Right Tucker? “Rrrruff-righto Mom.”

I wish you the best of days or nights where ever you may be. “May God Bless You With A Totally Terrific Thursday or Fantastic Funny Friday!”

Blessings That Fill Your Heart With Gratitude

Blessings that fill your heart with gratitude are little miracles in themselves, bringing sunlight and glory to our days here on earth.

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Sometimes you have to look around to see the blessings in your life and other times they can be right in front of you!

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I thank God daily for my life as I watch the sunrise on a brand new day, full of God’s plans for my day and His breath of love on each one of us, for we are all His kids:)

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And at the end of each day I am always blessed with each beautiful sunset, filled with God’s golden glory…with a renewed hope for tomorrow.

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Growing up Mom had a newspaper clipping on our refrigerator for many years held by a magnet. The clipping stood on the truth of its words.

“Oh Lord, You have given me so much,

Give me one more thing, a grateful heart.”

Gratitude…remembering the incredible things we have been given. I still have the clipping in my bible…and had it on my refrigerator for several years until we bought a stainless steel refrigerator…then my magnet would not work, so it is tucked away in a safe place.

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I am thankful and more than grateful for the many blessings in my life. When things get bumpy on the road of my life, I try to focus on the good and positive blessings that God has given to me…so I often make a gratitude list to add to as life is ever changing…below is my current gratitude list…if I were to write them all…I would have a book to share with you:)

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1. I am thankful that I have the freedom to worship God.

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After traveling to the Middle East in the mid-90′s, I experienced many different ways of life and many diverse cultures. I loved seeing where Jesus walked..it was profoundly holy and spiritual to walk in His footsteps. I loved the Old City and seeing the diversity of people. Israel was beautiful to see…I was blessed to have had three weeks to travel, as there were so many historical sites to visit and experience. However, when my plane touched down at JFK, I made a beeline to a Burger King for an all American hamburger with the works! The next morning was surreal to wake up here in Juniper Canyon…the farmers were in full swing of wheat harvest. I remember thanking God that He decided I was to live here in America, it was so peaceful and quiet. We do not know how blessed we are to live in the USA!

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Jordan was ancient in the scenery and beautiful. I loved seeing the desert and Petra was my favorite.

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 Petra was incredible in how they carved it and designed it…it was one of those places that all you can do is take pictures and stand in awe. I also enjoyed having dinner with the Bedouins one evening in their tents. Kind and wonderful people to meet. Everyone I met on the tour was very nice. We began our tour in Damascus, Syria and I loved seeing Palmyra too….we did a day trip into Turkey and then on to Jordan and finally Israel…loved the Sea of Galilee, so peaceful and yes you do float on the Dead Sea and Masada was incredible too. I did ride a camel which was both fun and funny:)

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2. Thank you God for my hubby Wild Bill…my soul mate and my forever. We actually do fit together like a jigsaw puzzle made by God. He is the most thankful part of my life on earth and the best part is that we will be with each other forever into eternity and beyond:)

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3. I am grateful everyday that I am alive and living with good health! Having gone through a serious diagnosis puts a new spin on your life and you truly do see life in a different way….with a thankful heart:)

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4. I am grateful for my parents….who loved me and kept me forever. I know I will see them again. Both WB and I were lucky that we lived next door to them for 20 years, as we were able to help them and do things for them before they became ill….and when they did become ill, we were there 24/7  for them. We were able to support them, finding things to laugh about, long talks into the night, helping them through medical tests and the pain, taking them places and helping them maintain their dignity. I loved my Mom and Dad more than I can say.

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5. I know I am one of the most blessed women to live with always owning a horse….growing up on a large cattle ranch helped…so did having a Dad who was as horse crazy as I was! We always had horses….and we still do. I love the smell of horses, the sound of horses and the relationship one can have with horses and everything about them…they represent a part of life that is my history and heritage. God loves horses too!

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6. Minnie Mouse our kitty girl…almost 18 years old and so much a part of my heart and my life….our life. She has been with through losing three of our parents, cancer and various tough times, and she always gave us her love and lots of funny antics to make us laugh…she has been with us longer than any of our kids and she loves us…we love her and she is our kitty angel:) Blessed by God:)

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7. Living in the very house that I grew up in with my Mom and Dad….that my Grandpa who I never got to meet, built for his mother, my great-grandmother who I never got to meet.

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Living here in a 100 year old family house though, I feel that I do know them and carry the same beliefs and family heritage they passed on to us. A house full of memories, honor and gratitude.

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8. I am grateful that I have always lived in the country, away from the hustle and bustle. I love the quiet and peaceful life of country living here, but I miss the solitude that I grew up in when we summered at the mountain cattle ranch without telephones, electricity, water and no TV let alone radio signal. It was pure bliss to live in such a beautiful place in the Blue Mountains, riding my horse everyday moving cattle or checking cows with my Dad. Life was simpler and the world was different then. I am grateful for all the memories I have of that period in my life growing up.

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9. I am more than blessed to own my “Little Red Car”…WB surprised me as he said “For my redhead and my love, this is your car”. And we do belong to the “Little Red Car Club”.

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10. And for my forever friends…and sisters that are family to me…always there and forever with you:)

Mostly what I want to give to you is this…

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Sometimes when we look out the window of life…we see life that is gray and stormy. It can be depressing, discouraging and tough to see the storms of life we are facing…that is when we plug into our gratitude list, that is filled with determined faith, full of both small and large blessings and the tough times we survived before…as we can’t give up or in, we gotta keep on a going.

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And as we “stand strong on our faith and hope”, life will get better again. The good in life, continues to battle it out, with the evil during our lives…as life will never be perfect until we get to heaven.

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And God has already won for us! No matter how dark it can look in our lives, never ever give up:)

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Wild Bill and I are celebrating the day we met 37 years ago on Valentines Day…February 14, 1976! The picture above was taken two years ago when WB and I were interviewed here in our shop Holton Secret Lab on TV. Notice who is cracking a joke at the end…I am sure we were all nervous and making a funny joke was all I could think of doing…I love to laugh:)

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Happy Valentines Day! My hubby surprised me with the beautiful red roses this morning:)  I wish you all a very special day or night where ever you are!

As a footnote: I am working on the many awards I have been given the last few months. I am terribly slow this time and I hope that all the award givers will not give up on me:) I so appreciate you thinking of me and this blog. Wild Bill had a second surgery December 26th on his shoulder that has taken a longer recovery…he is getting better and still has to take things slow for a few more weeks but he is doing well…he began PT this week:) That is part of the reason for being slow to post new awards and blog the last few months…but I am here and working on getting those awards passed on soon:) Hugs and Blessings:)

Ranch Lessons 102…Mud…Cows…Pooey!

Ranch Lessons 102…”Muddy Muck & Yuck” is now in session:) Today for fun I am sharing a secret cattle ranch factoid called when “The Ground Quivers With Mud & Cow-A-Pooey…Watch Your Step!”

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 Having grown up on a large cattle ranch, I learned early on about cow’s pooping in all the mud puddles creating…”Cow-A-Pooey Muddy Muck”. I have accidentally stepped into the quagmire of “Cow-A-Pooey” before and the sludge would literally suck my boot off my foot! I would hop on my other foot that was still in my other boot, trying not to fall down, as I grabbed hold of my yucky boot…which had sank deeper into the boggy mire of muddy poop and give it a hard yank…while trying to not put my foot with only the sock on, into the mud for balance but…as you can imagine, that was just about impossible!

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This muddy mix is with horse poop, so even though it is still not fun to walk into, it is different as it has a horse poop smell and since it has something to do with a horse, it’s not so bad:)

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Right Annie? Cow manure mixed into mud is worse! It never fails the night before, after you have gathered up your herd, you get an inch of rain in the corrals where you plan to work the cattle…at least it settles the dust, but now you get to deal with slippery, muddy cow pooey/sludge, as they have pooped all day and night

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I have heard them “snicker-snort-moo-snort snicker” as we walk by…they smirk with gurgles and rather interesting noises to let you know that they have more to conjure up…and I promise, you will slip and slide or get your boot stuck into their mixture of “Cow-A-Pooey Muddy Muck.” It is at that moment, the “cowgirl life” loses a bit of the glamour and glory, when you have to work the cows and the gates on foot instead of horseback in the mud…in the sludge and in the poop!

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Both WB and I remember working gates in muddy puddles, when the cow ran by you at warp speed giving you the gift of “Cow-A-Pooey Splatter Shower”, covering you from top to bottom!!! You learned early on to keep your mouth shut as they ran by! I liked having my hat on, hair tucked into it, wildrag covering my mouth and nose if needed, with my sunglasses on even if it was cloudy! Ahhh the good old days:)

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Looking out one of the barn doors down on the arena presently…hey WB, look at how nice my round corral stays with the sand, compared to the arena where the water stands on top of the dirt and takes forever to drain off…hint-hint, more sand…more sand:)

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Barn Lion Jack, did not like my camera flash…he looks kind of grumpy huh?

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Brother Pat is not quite as grumpy and he was sort of interested in the camera…but just a little bit.

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Back to “Muck Pooey”…this particular mud is clay dirt with older cow poop and fresher horse poop mixed into it and it is slowly draining the standing water into the ground. Note: It is always good to tuck your jeans into your boots…preferably higher top boots with galoshes over your boots.

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Nummie nummie munch munch…I love the sound of horses eating their hay:) Annie is so patient with my camera…she lets me take pictures anytime.

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And back to that round corral with the sand…a beautiful design in the sand in an interesting odd way. My round corral always makes me think of the song called “Barn Cat” by Mary Ann Kennedy. It is great, in fact all of her songs are great…Barn Cat was on her first album called “The Trail Less Traveled.”

“Barn Cat” by Mary Ann Kennedy

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I’m a barn cat, not an alley cat or a house cat, I don’t sit on laps

I got a real job…I catch mice…It’s a tough life…I’m a barn cat

Meow, this is my territory…Bow wows…look out…I got sharp claws

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And a king size bed made out of straw…I’m so glad I’m a barn cat

I got a feed room, and a tack room…And 4 stalls…I stalk em all

Don’t need a litter box, I got a round pen…60 foot of sand…I’m a barn cat!

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Meow, this is my territory…Bow wows…look out…I got sharp claws

And a king size bed made out of straw…I’m so glad I’m a barn cat!

Be sure to check out Mary Ann Kennedy as I love her music:)

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Tucker waiting patiently for me…thinking something like this “Mom, can we go yet…all this talk about muddy poopy corrals makes me very glad that we do not have a zillion cows anymore…I would not like getting all my fur muddy and stinking like a cow patty either….ewwwww!” I love how her colors blend in with the rocks…didn’t have it planned but Tuck is very photogenic with her color and sweet eyes.

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Okay Tucker let’s get out of this “not so bad mud” and head for the house…we’ll go see what Minnie Mouse is up to.

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Ms. Minnie says “Meowsy Hi All!” She looks pretty with her markings as they blend into the Navajo rug in this image. She loves her Navajos and prefers sleeping on wool blankets…she has sensitive fur and the wool must have an interesting tactile feel to it that she likes.

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She told me that the “Barn Cat” song is fine but she would like to have a song called “House Cat”, as she prefers her house and is a very lady like kitty angel:)

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And this concludes Ranch Lessons 102…”Cow-A-Pooey Muddy Muck” from the Juniper T, for now…wishing you a super-duper weekend where ever you may be! HRCG and crew over and out:)

Surviving Storms Of Winter As Life Flows On.

Life flows on like a river, as winter takes hold of our lives in Juniper Canyon.

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Surviving the storms of winter can be tough if you are caught without warning…

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Life can change in the blink of an eye.

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And yet if we persevere with hope…our faith is strengthened in a deeper, stronger way.

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2012 ended with the physical pain of WB’s surgery and the emotional pain of loosing Kiah. Dealing with pain itself can be a life storm…a war that you fight for healing and the return to your normal life.

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Loosing our animal family members is equally hard, as truly our animals are part of us, part of our hearts and part of our humanity. I grab hold of my camera every second I can to capture the ever changing life around me…now if I can find the words to express my heart.

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I do know that we live life everyday, never knowing what each new day will bring…having “faith” to believe that no matter what it brings we will survive.

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God never planned for us to have a perfect life as He wants us to depend on Him.

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Each day the road is before us as we keep our focus and walk on. Life is full of adventure…hard times…exciting times…sad times…learning times, but mostly good times.

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Where ever you are I hope that tomorrow or today or tonight is blessed with perseverance that develops your hope which will deepen your faith…no matter your circumstances.

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