Crazy…Fast and Furious…Unpredictable Life Filled With Many Blessings!

08 Dec 2011 4 Comments

by Hot Rod Cowgirl in Heritage, Juniper T Ranch, Lifestyles, Photography, Ranch Life Tags: , , , ,

Crazy…fast and furious…unpredictable life filled with many great blessings…I often experience a mix…and even though it is fast and furious I find myself grabbing on to the important seconds that tick by….filing them away in my heart and trying to see every little detail of God’s world that we live in.

Prince was my first horse and best friend. Prince carried me for several years all over out here where I still live…a heartful of memories in a young cowgirls life.

I grew up behind my Dad’s back…where Dad went on a horse I went too…that was life to me…being on the back of a good horse…riding behind my Dad…and I miss his back.

Cows and horses or horses and cows…how I grew up and what I saw daily, normal everyday cattle ranch life…my history filled with many memories.

I am sure you all have those early life memories of daily life with your parents and where you lived…how you lived and what your life was about…moments that will live on forever and yet often, only live on in your memories.

My life was growing up here…on the Juniper T Ranch…various family and friends were around during early summer when we moved the cattle up to the mountain ground and again during the fall gathering. Three of my Aunt’s are in this picture…and this is where my Mom cooked for 20-30 men every day on a wood cook stove in this log cabin…no water except hauling it by bucket…that was life back in the late 60’s for this redneck girl.

  With this post I am writing about life chapters…old times and new times…old memoreis and new memories.

A glimpse of the special moments.

Experiences of a lifetime…Hobby and I playing with a cow.

She was just learning to hook on here.

And then she got it!

I loved the feeling of a horse under me moving and dancing with a cow…nothing quite like it! Hobby I miss you girl…miss you lots.

From work to play on a simple warm trail riding kind of day. Sitting on top of the Blue Mountains…the best place to be on a horse around here in the summertime!

Life with many adventures and well-worn chapters in the book of simple times.

Chapters of buying a new horse and bringing her home…our time getting to know each other….Melody you are the song in my heart:)

Turning golden worn pages to another chapter of life…grandkids and fun times with friends at the beach.

Moments with our sons…ocean views…happy times…family memories.

Special birthday times with our youngest son who is a “Moose”…Hot Rod Cowgirl is 5’9″….youngest son is a “Giant” at 6’5″.

Snap shots of a funny moment of “Jagged and Wild Bill”…silly, crazy times!

Of course “Smart Alec Times”..I think Hot Rod Cowgirl is picking on Wild Bill:)

Birthdays and grandkids  helping me celebrate…two granddaughters…lots of resemblance in our eyes and mouth…you can see that we are family:) Ok guys you can close your mouth…Wild Bill…Natalie…Becca…ok I know the cake is looking yummy and all but come on for the picture…close your mouth like me and smile big:) Oh Becca…where oh where are you??? Come back to reality girl.

An ordinary life filled with times such as this with family…love…happiness…that incredible moment when time stands still and you know….this is beautiful life.

Life takes you to places you have been before and places you have never been before.

Like “The Portland Roadster Show” in 2006 when we took three customer vehicles and won three Best Of Class!

And snow storms that drift and give you great photo ops!

Christmas is coming sooner than we expect…and before we know it…less than three weeks!

Just ask Ms. Minnie Mouse:) She likes sleeping under the tree when we put it up…now on to decorating it.

Christmas with Grandkids:) on our antique red sofa…long story for another post….the sofa is 1940’s vintage red leather  and I love it!

Good Night where ever you are…it is super cold here tonight…snuggle down with your loved ones and remember to look for those special memories and moments in your life…may you be blessed by the season at hand.

Late Fall Is Rolling Into November In Juniper Canyon

02 Nov 2011 Leave a comment

by Hot Rod Cowgirl in Heritage, Photography, Ranch Life Tags:

Late fall is rolling quickly into November in Juniper Canyon and while the weather is still pleasant, Wild Bill and I decided to go for a drive yesterday on the ranch so we  took Leap-N-Leana our Jeep out for spin. Our skies and views here are amazing as you can see in every direction. Of course I had my camera in hand with my photographers eye looking for the perfect shot.

He really does not like me taking his pictures…I had to sneak a bit to capture this one through the wheat grass in the CRP.

This is what it looks like where we live…a lot of country and a lot of no where.

Can you see the very small trees off to the left in the picture…our house is below the trees. When I was little my Dad planted the trees on top of the hill behind our house.

This is a zoom in photo so you can see the trees…those are windmills in the distance…not stick art.

And here we have a Tucker in the bush…not a Bev Doolittle…instead a MJ Toolittleholton…she is reddish like the wheat grass so she can hide.

I love this picture with the contrast of the blue and rusty golden color.

Liked this one too with the interesting weeds…they look like a rusty flower bud.

Of course our gang came along with us for a fun family outing!

Looking the other direction…in the distance you can see the foothills of the Blue Mountains…which is about 20 miles from here.

Light is beginning to change and soon the sun will set.

Peek A Boo Blue Mountains…through various weeds and CRP.

This is what our Chamber Of Commerce sells…Eastern Oregon Sunsets.

One of our very serious guard dogs…I thought he looked good with the contrast of color.

Here you see the incredible solitude of the land…living here forever has given me the appreciation of the true beauty of the life that is all around me. The ever changing views of landscape as the weather changes with the clouds moving in and out of the sun…the quality of daily life out here where you still know your neighbors and they know you…we have a great neighborhood watch…it is still small town America where we live…where life still makes sense…and the times when it doesn’t…you have the support of community and family.

I love this time of evening with the magical light and colors which is perfect for photography. Ok I am grabbing my camera again…hang on the world is turning orange with color.

Turning from soft light to dark light.

There she goes softly slipping from view.

Beautiful sight on a beautiful night.

Incredibly lovely…we are blessed to see this and be part of it. The mountain that you see is Mt. Hood…which is 250 miles from where we live…skies here are usually always this clear so that you can see long range.

Sometimes there are no words…and my hubby would agree…he loves those times:)

As the sun went down the sky behind us turned golden…outlined with the windmill stick art over the hill from us.

One last shot…see the three jet trails….kind of a cool shot with the light and colors. Happy November and enjoy the night!

“You’re Still The One That Makes Me Laugh…Happy Anniversary Baby!

18 Oct 2011 3 Comments

by Hot Rod Cowgirl in Heritage, Ranch History Tags: ,

You’re still the one that makes me laugh…still the one that’s my better half…we’re still having fun and you’re still the one!. Last weekend we were able to get away to celebrate our wedding anniversary.

The day we were married on October 15, 1976…we were so in love.

And we are still are today….35 years and counting:)

Remember that song “Still The One” by Orleans? Yep…that’s us! Sing along with me if you have the song or can find the tune.

“We’ve been together since way back when….but I want you to know that after all these years you’re still the one I want to whisperin my ear…”

“You’re still the one I want to talk to in bed….still the one who turns my head…we’re still having fun, and you’re still the one!”

“You’re still the one…that makes me laugh….still the one…that’s my better half…we’re still having fun, and you’re still the one…”

“That makes me strong…still the one I want to take along…we’re still having fun and you’re still the one.”

“Changing, our love is going gold…even though we grow old, it grows new…”

“You’re still the one…that I love to touch…still the one…and I can’t get enough…we’re still having fun, and you’re still the one!”

“You’re still the one…who can scratch my itch…still the one…

And I wouldn’t switch…we’re still having fun and you’re still the one!”

“You’re still the one that makes me shout…still the one that I dream about.”

“We’re still having fun, and you’re still the one…”

“You’re still the one, yeah still the one!”

“We’re still having fun, and you’re still the one!”

‘You’re still the one…”

“I love ya Wild Bill.”

Check out http://www.holtonsecretlab.com

Our new web site is up and going! I have another blog about our business Holton Secret Lab.

Gentle Days Filled With Golden Beauty

28 Sep 2011 Leave a comment

by Hot Rod Cowgirl in Clouds, Heritage, Horses, Photography, Ranch Life Tags: ,

Gentle days…filled with the golden beauty of Fall have arrived quietly and softly…light and vivid colors. Summer came and went quickly this year…a late hot summer almost fooled us into thinking summer was young yet…that time would prevail and stall the summer we had all waited for.

My parents chose to marry September 23, 1939…when the colors of fall were warm, vibrant and full of rich reds, golds, maroons, yellows and rust…they were in love and so alive with life. They honeymooned in Banff, Alberta staying on Lake Louise…visiting Jasper National Park and the surrounding area…can you imagine driving from here on gravel roads to Banff…seeing 1939 America and Canada…how different it all looked before tourism took over. Mom always said it was stunning…”The Rockies were stunning as was our drive up and back.”

Mom and Dad at the University Of Oregon Spring of 1939…they made a perfect couple! I think of them often and I celebrate the life they have given me with a humble heart filled with thankfulness. They taught me life lessons that I now apply and rely on in my own life…God Bless you Mom and Dad…WB and I love you both:)

Each night and day out here in Juniper Canyon I do not take for granted…even though I have lived here forever…the pictures I see and the life I experience…the memoreis…I want to bring to you as I know that I am blessed with how I live and what I have lived…and you will be also.

Tucker says well now be careful up on that table…”Don’t worry Tuck I am being ever careful gf..and I love you too.” I got Tucker after loosing my Blue Heeler “Maggie May” the summer of 2004. I was lost without Maggie…she went everywhere with us…traveled with us when we went camping and on road trips to see friends in Montana or Wyoming…everywhere we went she went with us.

We had located two Australian Shepherd rescue dogs that needed a good home, Tucker was one of them and a year old when we brought her home in October 2004. Interestingly enough see that red blotch on her side…Maggie had the same reddish blotch on the same side….even the same shape….and see how her right ear stands up and the left ear doesn’t quite make it…Maggie had the very same ears…in some ways I do think that Maggie May told God that I needed Tucker as she would heal my heart and remind me of Maggie as I do believe there is a large part of Maggie in Tucker. Truly funny how things work out for us in this big world that often is not that big at times.

Looking across the road last night you can see that our neighbor has started preparing the ground for his 2012 crop…all of us out here in the heartland are hoping for a good rain to water the ground for the fall seed…rain is good and if we get it seeded right it is perfect!

Our son and his family came out this last weekend for a family B-Q…Jigs is his Blue Heeler on the back of the four wheeler…and Jigs goes everywhere with him. Our ranch raised son is tall…6’5″…yep kind of a big cowboy kid of ours…he is the youngest…and we are rather proud of him…my down home ranch cooking was good judging by his size…meat and potatoes…with more meat and potatoes

“Hang on Jiggers…Cow dog rough and tough style!”

Constantly changing light and colors…keeps me busy shooting pictures every day and night.

“Wild Bill is thinking…oh heaven help me…when he does this…this happens.”

“Hello…Hot Rodder! ” This is Wild Bill’s touch!

And then he does this…”Jagged…with nitrous…WHAT…between the seats…NO WAY Wild Bill! Uh-uh…nope…where is that handle you promised to build me…you know the OSH…known as the Oh Sh*t Handle around here for me whenever I ride down the road with him!

Can you say “Zoom Zoom…Go Fast.”

Grandsons Cody and Robby…I love seeing their red and blond heads…”Wild Grandpa Bill” is training the next generation…hang on it will be a ride for sure with these two!

“Grandpa has them hooked already”….look at the seriousness here…I better put on my seat belt.

Magic time…Magic Skies.

Okay now for a few pictures of horse stuff…of course.

My tack room full of training snaffles and short shanked bits…I believe in preserving a horses mouth…no pulling or yanking or ruining mouths.

I am lucky to have a safe round corral with nice sand behind the barn…I will have to write a post on this round corral as my hubby built it for me with “Cowboy Son Curt”…I thought it would be rather easy to build…no it was  NOT…it took “Cowboy Blood, Sweat and Tears!” It works perfectly and I appreciate it a lot!

“Cowboy Son Curt” on Hobby with Buck following on a summer night in the arena.

Half of my hay is in the barn…yee-haw!

Fanny Annie says “Yeah…Hay Hay Hay Haw.”

A perfect fall day fading into a peaceful night in Juniper Canyon.

Another view of my bits…with just a tweak of color. I am learning about all the fun things you can do with photoshop…and my iMac.

Wherever you are….enjoy the gift of fall…life like the seasons is ever changing…each day in your life there are miracles around you in the people you love and the animals you adore…when the sun comes up….look at the beauty around you, breathe deep and feel the heartbeat of life with your heart…let the gentle days of  fall filled with gentle beauty find you.

Till next time….I will post the last Pendleton Round Up post for the year soon.

The Pendleton Round Up Starts Today…Let ‘Er Buck!

14 Sep 2011 30 Comments

by Hot Rod Cowgirl in Heritage, Horses, Photography Tags: ,

The Pendleton Round Up starts today…Let ‘Er Buck! Round Up Fever is in the air…it is rodeo time…come on get your boots and hats on! The rodeo begins today at 1:15…running every day through Saturday the 17th.

In the late summer of 1910, a group of area ranchers and farmers gathered in Pendleton to celebrate the end of harvest. This was the beginning of the World Famous Pendleton Round-Up. Last year we celebrated a 100 years of  Round Up and today the 101st Pendleton Round-Up is gearing up for another year of the cowboy. Hang on to your hats…be prepared to see incredible cowboy and cowgirl events…life in the real west…the excitement…the heritage…the history…the tradition…a rodeo like no other…welcome to Pendleton…Let ‘er Buck!

I grew up with the Round Up as my Dad was very involved his entire life with the rodeo. He was the Grand Marshal for the Westward Ho parade in 1986…on my mare Shez Alotta Leo….”Lottie.”

I love Round Up for the heritage and the history…part of that history is your life as it involves your family. The worst part of the rodeo is the traffic as Pendleton is a small town of 15,000 population all year long except for the week of Round Up…it then swells to over 50,000 population…so if you are in a hurry to reach the other side of town…forget it.

This is my cowgirl outfit…if you go to Pendleton this week my trailer is not that long compared to some of the trailers you will see….horsetrailers so dang long you wonder if the end of the trailer is in CA. There are huge trailers and semi trucks all over town as well as cool pick ups and motorhomes and campers and cars and people…did I say people…Round Up for locals like me is like Portland coming to visit us for a week…sort of fun but by the last day we are ready to go back to a sleepy cow town…quiet…boring…the Pendleton we know.

I love looking at all the horses and trailers that do come to the Round Up….you see some amazing horses that the cowboys own and compete on. Our trailer is a four-horse trailer with living quarters and tack room…I will show you in another blog….did you note the bug shield with ghost flames….and the inserts on the pick up have flames too.

Lets head back in history a bit to the 1963-1964 Pendleton Round Up

The Round Up President and his family on the cattle ranch…and me in my dorky glasses…and short hair…with horses Snip and Gypsy.

My Dad moving cows on the summer ranch on Bucky with his dog Blue.

And in the Round Up arena on Gypsy the week before Round Up.

Ok now let’s go back in history to the 1940’s for some rodeo trivia.

While Dad was involved in the Round Up and Happy Canyon he also was involved out here in the 1940’s with a rodeo right here….yeah…where we live now…it was called the Juniper Joust. I blogged about this before on our Holton Secret Lab Blog…sorry to bore those of you who saw it a few months ago but…I need to mention this on this post.

This picture was taken right across from my house…when they had the rodeo they fed the spectators and contestants with a bq beef that was cooked in the ground for several hours over night…Mom made up gallons of potato salad…I am sure that Jean also made up gallons of macaroni salad too.

I need to do a reunion of the Juniper Joust…seriously I do…if you are reading this and had family involved or were involved with this let me know. I will update this on a different blog…rodeo has been a big part of my life and heritage.

Dad and Jingle….1940’s roping here in the arena across the road. The Juniper Joust eventually became the Mustangers.

Dad roped all over the NW…he was one of the founding members for the AQHA for this area of Eastern Oregon and Washington.

Me doing my thing on Red at the Mustangers….pole bending race.

Running the barrel race too!

Back to The World Famous Pendleton Round Up

The beginning of each day of the rodeo…riders come into the arena presenting the flags.

Racing around the track.

Finally entering the middle of the arena as the national anthem is sung.

Then the Round Up Court comes out….first the Princesses jump the fence and do the run in across the arena.

Another Princess makes her entry jumping the fence.

Then the Queen follows her court jumping the fence!

Another shot of the Queen racing around the track waving to the crowd as she goes by them.

The President of the Round Up follows chasing the five gals around the track and out the gate.

I love seeing the run in each day at exactly 1:15 for the kick off of the rodeo. It is thrilling to watch!

The grand stands are full with a cowboy-cowgirl crowd ready to see some rodeo.

Pendleton is ready to boogie!

And this lights your fire…the United States of America flyover at the beginning of the rodeo on Saturday.

Round Up is blessed each year to have the fly over…it brings tears to my eyes and makes me proud of who I am here…and of the heritage of where I live…and my personal family history. There are many of us who grew up here…left to go to college and experience life away from here…only to come back home following in our families footsteps…we are the lucky ones. Many left and can not come home again or come back…so if you are reading this and you live here….grew up here…and your life is here now…you are blessed.

Slack started Monday at the rodeo grounds with steer roping and barrel racing.

Look at her go….she is turning and burning!

Slack continued Tuesday with steer wrestling.

And calf roping for the 2011 Round Up.

This picture was taken last year at the rodeo for one of the Indian Relay races.

The winners making their victory lap!

Tough Enough To Wear Pink Day is Thursday of Round Up….the cowboys and the crowd all wear pink shirts that day to honor breast cancer survivors and raise money for TETWP.

Wild Bill and I with our pink shirts on and the pink beads that are given away on Tough Enough Day.

Another picture of my Dad on my mare Lottie in 1986. Dad was inducted into the Round Up Hall Of Fame in 1990….his plaque names him as “The Cowboy President”….the cowboys who came to compete liked him as Dad was able to make changes that helped them out as well as talk to them as a cowboy himself.

Wild Bill when he used to help with the Round Up’s Oxen…this picture was taken during the Westward Ho Parade…he also helped take a team of oxen through Happy Canyon each night…Happy Canyon is a night pageant that runs nightly during the rodeo week.

That’s me riding my mare Lottie escorting one of the wagons through the Westward Ho Parade. This parade is awesome to see as there are no motor vehicles….just people, horses and livestock.

So now on to how I get ready for Round Up each year…hmmm.

Ok this is a hair clip my hubby gave me…I tried to take a picture of it in the mirror…not sure if you can see the bucking horse on my hair clip…but it is there.

These are my shoes…pretty much boots and outside shoes here…cowgirl stuff as in daily grind…for Round Up I will shine up my Boulet boots in the back corner.

These are my favorite ones to dress up in…Old Gringo…love these boots!

Look how awesome they are….it is like wearing a work of art!

Uh….hmm…these are Wild Bills shoes…ok…where did you put your boots WB….come on…no I mean your Justins…ok fine your lace ups….no what about your Buckaroo boots…come on…give it a cowboy try…please:)

Wild Bill looks good with his cowboy stuff on… he is my cowboy hubby.

I had to shop a bit before the crowds devoured everything! Skyhawk Rugs are my pick….I have had them now for many years and they last….great pile…and amazing durability…and I am PICKY.

Minnie was named one of their best models this year…her stripes blend and match their Navaho Cross rug…my very cool girl…you are beautiful…”Diva Minnie”.

And I had to go to HAMLEY’S Western Store! Where you find incredible jewlery….incredible clothes.

Wild Bill gave me this for Christmas…it matches my hair clip…I love the Pendleton bucking horse on them.

I am ready to head to the rodeo!

As Kiah is trying to say….Let ‘Er Buck!!!

Seasons A Changing In Juniper Canyon As Summer Slowly Slips Into Fall

04 Sep 2011 2 Comments

by Hot Rod Cowgirl in Clouds, Harvest, Heritage, Holton Secret Lab, Juniper T Ranch, Photography, Ranch Life Tags: , , ,

Seasons a changing in Juniper Canyon as summer slowly slips into fall…where did summer go? Fall is whispering to us softly now as summer is slowly fading to a quieter time in Juniper Canyon…the business of harvest and life blends late August into September…school is back in session once again and Round Up is in the air as we begin to get ready for the annual rodeo…evenings have a chill now so we slip our jackets on to sit on the patio to grasp the last light of summer.

Time has sped forward and taken us from bright summer days and warm nights to my favorite colors of the earth…the colors of autumn…burnt rusty oranges, reds that are deep in color with a warm glow and yellows that are golden in the golden light…God’s incredible glory in the landscape…and yet as I try to hang on to summer I can feel the breath of fall, softly on my cheeks and I know that summer is tucked away until next year.

Harvest was late but it was a record harvest…the fields have turned from golden-yellow stalks with full heads to stubble that has turned into a deep golden auburn color…harvest is behind us now but we will always remember the harvest of 2011.

Before long the farmers will be seeding next years crops…as soon as we get some rain. Usually during Round Up week we get rain…and this country girl loves it as it smells heavenly on the parched dry earth.

Trucks have stopped rolling by our house and our days and nights are slowly returning to our usual quiet.

We get so little traffic out here that we can tell without looking whose pick up it is by the sound of the exhaust…we country people have big ears for listening!

Lazy dog days of summer are coming to an end…they love us sitting out in the summer months on the patio with them…throwing a frisbee for them to chase…or getting a good bone to chew on…which they are doing in this photo.

I feel a bit of melancholy when harvest is over as the land is dry and bare…sort of feels like the morning after Christmas…one minute you are celebrating in the moment…running from store to store to find gifts…cooking special family recipes and continuing on the traditions that were handed down to you…lots of parties and visits from family and friends…yet the morning after Christmas comes and you feel the let down…harvest can be like that as all through the crop year you have your eye on the crop looking forward to harvest.

From the beauty of the green fields in the spring after winter to the first of June.

When you begin to smell the wheat as the stalks are drying out and the head is filling with grain as it slowly turns from green to a golden yellow…you wait and watch and worry and wonder when you can get going with harvest…anticipation runs high as the farmers ready their equipment.

Finally it is a go and you as a family pull together and get the job done…long days…short nights but you are all in this together…in my family we had uncles and cousins doing the harvest together…for me it was great as I was an only child and I got to come down from the cattle ranch when I was old enough to drive wheat truck to be part of our family harvest…fun times and memories that I still hold close in my heart.

Finally the last day of harvest comes…and boom it is over…now we worry and wait for the rain to come so that next years crop can be seeded…and the cycle goes on. You can see our home down there in the picture…see the straight stretch of road…WB does burn outs there…he pretends he is on Pinks All Out!

With fall now upon us…soon winter will be too. I am already getting Christmas catalogs…I am not ready for snow or cold temps! One morning this last week I had the heat on for a few minutes to take the chill off the house!

Time seems to be going faster…the months blend together and the seasons rush by…I can not believe that 2011 is almost over…I miss the days of old when time was country slow.

Life seemed to stand still during the years of growing up on the ranch for me…summer lasted a long long time then.

Heading home for the summer to the Juniper T ranch…it was our home in the Blue Mountains…lots of green grass, cooler temps and fresh water.

Time was one lonnnggg day at a time…it was horses and cows…life was fine in my world. Oh sure in the evenings I would be bored sometimes, I would eat dinner and then go out and either hunt for rocks in the creek or fish in the creek or ride my horse bareback up the meadow…I would come back at dusk…my folks would be getting ready for bed…if I caught any fish I would clean them…with Mom’s help…by then Dad had “Ira Blue” on the AM radio and the talk show would be fading in and out…simple times…good times…time to go to bed…turn out the lanterns…poof the lantern said when I turned it off.

This was the bunk house for the cowboys…the front half was Mom’s kitchen…no power…wood cook stove…no running water…yes it was work…but that was what we all knew…it was life to the rancher and his wife…Mom was a cowboy’s wife…and the cowboy’s kid had to bucket the water for her so she could heat it on the wood stove to wash the dishes…it was simple yet peaceful…it was good… I miss it…I miss the beauty of life then….the simple of life then…the good of life then.

I grew up this way and could easily go back to it….Mom was a city girl…her Dad started one of the first Ford Garages in the Northwest…but before that he worked for Pete French on his vast ranch…I have Grandpa’s wool gloves and pipe…he went on to become a state rep for Oregon when Mom was growing up. She told me that when she married my Dad in 1939 she did not know how to boil a pot of water let alone cook…she learned though and was known for her cooking in later years on the ranch.

Mom loved my Dad and she was with him on all his adventures…their marriage was old-fashioned as it was forever…thick and thin…they taught me a lot about marriage and relationship.

We have an old-fashioned marriage too…thick and thin…no matter what…I am with “Wild Bill”  forever and he is with me…I am very blessed…and I love his adventures as they become our adventures.

Such as Photo Shoots with Holton Secret Lab and

Pendleton Woolen Mills…a wonderful rainy and cold June day on location.

Ok “Wild Bill”..where are we going now?

The show must go on no matter the rain and cold.

This is my hubby…the man I fell in love with…the guy…my WB…and I love him and his tenacity.

Here we go…Pendleton Woolen Mills 100th Anniversary Year Catalog Shoot…and they are using our cars!

I wonder what they are saying? Probably something like man is it flipping cold…yeah this is a total crappy day for a photo shoot…I like your cars WB…yeah thanks…how much are you gonna pay us?

The catalog shoot is over and we can finally dry off!

We are  loading up and headed home.

Ahhhhh…we are home….the sun is shining…warmth at last.

Our adventures will continue with this blog…we have Wyoming yet…in this photo the Wyoming wind was blowing so I was hanging onto my t-shirt…next to this monster machine…out in the high desert close to the Oregon Trail crossing.

This was my daily view…the Wind Rivers…and cows…LOVED IT…it was hard to move back to Oregon…the mountains we have here are mole hills compared to my view in Wyoming.

Green River Lake and Square Top Mountain…this is where the Green River begins…I rode above Square Top mountain many times on Pinon Ridge gathering our cows above 10,000 elevation behind Yellowstone…

Wyoming was HUGE country…the first time I rode up Pinion Ridge and looked back it took my breath away…you felt very small as the country was so vast…I grew up in the Blue Mountains but the Rockies were different…I can’t explain it…Wyoming was an ah-ha moment when you just shut your mouth and took it all in…it was a force to be reckoned with…I miss it and part of my heart is still there.

The rest of my heart is here….my home with Wild Bill…and we have beautiful skies and landscapes too.

Seasons a changing here in Juniper Canyon….

Seasons are a changing…constant color and light. Stay tuned….more on the Juniper T and more on HSL…lots of life to share with you…bookmark us and check back several times a week….

Hello World…MJ Here!

04 Aug 2011 2 Comments

by Hot Rod Cowgirl in Cattle Ranch, Heritage, Horses, Hot Rods, Juniper T Ranch, Ranch History, Ranch Life Tags: , , , ,

Hello world…MJ here…my name is MJ for the most part….although my husband calls me Lucy and my actual name is Marcy….I live where my Norwegian Grandfather homesteaded back in the late 1890’s. The house we live in today was built by my Grandpa Gunder in 1920 for his mother, my Great Grandmother Anne-Marie , my Dad remembered hauling lumber for the house with his Dad when he was 10 years old by horse and wagon from the small town of Helix 8 miles from the house.

Of course Minnie thinks it is her house…and it is….the floors are old and original…pretty huh? We exposed them in 2006, the entire main floor was this beautiful red fir tongue and groove. It is funny that when my Mom moved into the house with Dad in 1939 she spent her time here making the old house modern…I grew up here and did not know that the floors were wood and beautiful…thank goodness Mom had them so well covered to protect them!

Because of the old red fir floors…when we remodeled the kitchen…we had a local cabinet-maker come give us a bid. The first thing he noticed was the old red fir floors…he said “Would you be interested in antique wood red fir cabinets for your kitchen? He told me he bid on a stack of old red fir wood about 30 years ago and it has just sat in his studio….I said YES YES YES…that will restore the kitchen to the original cupboards! I have refinished the pass through cabinet to the original dining room and also have refinished the bar in the middle of my kitchen…it used to be by the sink as I remember my Mom and I rolling cookie dough on the wood bread board that is still intact. That is the bar you see by Minnie!

Isn’t the kitchen incredible…it turned out beautiful! My neighbor painted and fired all my tile for the back splash. I had purchased the tile behind the range several years ago.

Juniper T Ranch Brand

I lost my Dad in 1997 and my Mom in 1998…they were married almost 60 years… they had me late in life…..it was very hard loosing them as I am an only child. I miss them everyday.

Bill and I looked at moving our shop to Portland or Seattle or Bend or Boise or Spokane or Bozeman or Billings but we finally saw that this is where we are to live….most Americans do not have the family history or heritage anymore due to the world we live in and that we have the heritage here and family is huge…so we decided in spite of great odds we would stay right here and market our shop as “The Secret Lab”. Notice that I am making a joke…we were being interviewed for TV.

I do all the marketing and ads for us as well as run our office and I am the Quick Book expert and do all our financial bookkeeping etc. I knew if we got out and showed who we are…that Wild BIll who is an artist and a one of a kind professional car restoration builder that the business would work here….and it has.

We still do get the deer in the headlight look when potential customers at shows ask us where we are located….as the marketing person I have had to fight that misconception about us….that yes we are located in an isolated area that means you will have to drive a few miles to get here BUT Holton Secret Lab is worth it as we are a destination that you want to reach….that is if you want quality and perfection with attention to detail….your call…just do it…you know you want it right? We are worth it…you will not be disappointed!!! We are a one stop shop as we do it all right here in our state of art 8000′ shop with three full-time employees.

I am a cowgirl by heart and spirit. My Dad ran over 800 head of Black Angus cows…each year at the end of school my parents and I moved to the Blue Mountains to take care of the cows for the summer…I was my dad’s right hand man so to speak…he had me riding a horse before I was 2 years old.

To this day I am still riding my horses…running cows and riding hard was my life before I meant and married Wild Bill…and some of his early life was that way too…he buckarooed out in the Owyhee Desert on several large ranches….his Dad had a body shop in Vale and Bill learned how to paint cars by the time he was 16…he worked on  old cars back in the 60’s and 70’s so he knows exactly how to restore them.

This blog will be more about my life as a cowgirl and as a hot rodders wild and crazy wife too…..I hope you will enjoy the memories and way of life I grew up in….I hope you will also enjoy my blogs about Holton Secret Lab too….we have fun out here in Juniper Canyon…so come on in and sit a spell! Welcome to our home and our life!

My parents and I…and our horses up at the cattle ranch in the mountains on Beaver Creek.

Wild Bill and I at the Wyoming Cattleman’s Ball In Pinedale, Wyoming

Riding With Friends Is The Best Medicine For The Soul…Thank You Lana!

Summer Nights Feels So Good…Love You Melody!

Cowboy Son with Hobby and Bo

Cowboy Son Rubbing On Buck…3 Years Old

Cowboy Son On Buck’s Back For The First Time!

Buck is coming to live with us in a month or so…we are very excited to have him come home…and our Cowboy Son will always know where he is at and can come ride anytime…Yep!

So Hey Ya All…Hang On Tight…We Will Travel to Wyoming and To Post Oregon…and To Beaver Creek And To The White House…And To Juniper T Ranch!

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