Waiting On Dinner

04 Apr 2014 26 Comments

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

Waiting on dinner…staring intently…a few impatient paws in the snow.

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Melody is like a clock, when its time for food, its time for food…she nickers for us to get our rears in gear!

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Yummy nummy for my tummy…munch munch munching…mmmmm…”Mommm, my hair is a mess so don’t take my picture now!!!”

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I met these guys at the Round Up…they were curious about what I was up to?

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They were doing some serious munching on their lunching:)

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Sharing a fun picture of my Leo mare Lottie with her new filly, Lilly who was only a few days old…Lottie was a special one…I keep looking for another Leo bred horse like her but Leo is not common anymore. I had to watch Lottie as she was an easy keeper and could gain weight by just looking at grass or hay.

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Little Toot was waiting on din-din too…I still have the cookie jar  that you see on the counter, its white with colored cookies on it…I also have the old cupboard painted green as it was the original cupboard when the house was built. I stripped the paint off down to the original wood and it came out beautiful! And I still have my red hair with no gray at all in it…yee-ha:)

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What About Bob?…and why is he in this post? He goes where he wants, he does what he wants and he does not care about you! I tried one time to shoo him away from my two horses who were in the corral next to the barn as they were worrying and wondering what he was…he just looked at me not budging an inch, instead he pawed the ground while making grouchy grumpy bull sounds…fences could not keep him in…he always got out and went visiting the neighbors cattle…great!

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This was across from our house in the mid 1940’s…the pit you see to the right of the picture was where they slow roasted b-q beef all night to feed everyone…they always had a great turn out.

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A picture of history, the way life used to be when we had time to make a connection with others face to face instead of fabricating life on social media sites.

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My Dad and one of his close friends came up with the idea of having a local country rodeo…they called it the Juniper Joust.

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Wishing you all a happy….fun….and relaxing weekend! HRCG and Minnie are over and out for now! And where did Bob go?

Age Is An Issue Of Mind Over Matter…

01 Apr 2014 36 Comments

by Hot Rod Cowgirl in Age, Gratitude, Hot Rod Cowgirl, Photography Tags: , , , , , , ,

Age is an issue of mind over matter…if you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter!

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Age does not blow me away too much…even so I have begun a new decade of my life on planet earth.

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I was 59 years of age last year in this photo.

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And this year I turned 60…WHAT? Oh come on…no way I am still in my early 40’s!

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While age has never bothered me…this particular year has me facing the fact that time is passing by…even though I still feel young, time is of the essence.

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Each decade of my life has been an adventure of learning significant life lessons…and lessons are one of the very best parts of life…we can glean the wisdom and grow in a positive way or not grow… I choose grow!


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Turning 60 has given me a clear view of life…which has helped me let go of old hopes and dreams, as I realize that they will never come true.  Instead of grief, I have found a great peace and freedom as I let them go. I’m making good changes in my life while getting rid of old baggage and old things I do not need anymore…it has set me free emotionally and mentally while increasing my energy in a positive way.

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My new decade is one of reinventing myself, while learning new things, as I explore life in an open and creative way.

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WB and I are writing a new chapter together, while embarking on new adventures a head!

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Being older gives you the ability to not sweat the small stuff…Life Is Good!

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 Older Gals and Older Guys Rule!

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Now let me see, I forgot where I put my horse:)

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Have A Wonderful Week!

Word Of God Speak

30 Mar 2014 7 Comments

by Hot Rod Cowgirl in Clouds, God, Gratitude, Hot Rod Cowgirl, Photography Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Word Of God Speak” By Mercy Me

(If you have this song, be sure to play it with the photos)

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I’m finding myself at a loss for words
And the funny thing is it’s okay
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The last thing I need is to be heard
But to hear what You would say
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Word of God speak
Would You pour down like rain
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Washing my eyes to see
Your majesty
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To be still and know
That You’re in this place
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Please let me stay and rest
In Your holiness
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Word of God speak
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I’m finding myself in the midst of You
Beyond the music, beyond the noise
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All that I need is to be with You
And in the quiet hear Your voice
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Word of God speak
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Would You pour down like rain
Washing my eyes to see
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Your majesty
To be still and know
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That You’re in this place
Please let me stay and rest
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In Your holiness
Word of God speak
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I’m finding myself at a loss for words
And the funny thing is it’s okay
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I hope you have enjoyed this post…I was capturing new photos today and listening to music…and Word Of God Speak by Mercy Me began playing…whoa…I love their music and this particular song has played in my life often…and the music fit the photos of where I live:)
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May you have a peaceful and restful Sunday evening and a Stellar new week a head:)

Spring Has Sprung!

21 Mar 2014 8 Comments

by Hot Rod Cowgirl in Hot Rod Cowgirl, Landscapes, Photography, Weather Tags: , , , , , ,

Spring has sprung once again in Juniper Canyon!

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The many views of the landscape and also the skies above are reflected in my camera…

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Mid February views…

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Different clouds and skies as the weather is beginning to change.

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March 2nd views…Surprise Surprise Surprise!!!

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A few days later…

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We had perfect light with incredible…

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Magical March Clouds!

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Golden hour has returned…I am on it every night…I look out my kitchen window as I am cooking dinner and whoa…here we go as I grab my camera running out the door…God caught my eye with His incredible colors and the light of His world outside! Hey WB keep an eye on dinner…I will be back soon:)

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Enchanted heavenly times in God’s world are year round…breathtaking views if you look for them:)

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What strikes me is that I have lived here forever and yet each magic hour gives me a new image of wow proportions!

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I have never grown tired of the scenery here as it forever changes…and I love it!

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This is home where I want to be…baby you and me…this is home.

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Wishing you a peaceful night and a great weekend…look for those incredible magical shots:) HRCG is over and out…the ahhhh weekend is here…Yea-Haw!!!

Camera Times With HRCG!

14 Mar 2014 37 Comments

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

Camera times with  HRCG can be both a bit country girl crazy, rather adventurous and never a dull moment fun!

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I looked out my window on a winter’s day to see incredible light and the sky a blaze in varied colors…I grabbed my camera and out the door I went.

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 Capturing the sky colors with the surreal light above…with a happy smile of delight on my face.

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As I caught the reflection from above in the puddle at my feet:)

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Rainbow colors pursued me above…click click click…the light and the colors were etherial as they pulled me into a photo shoot…

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Ending with one more of life’s beautiful reflections…in a mud puddle no doubt at my feet:) There is a lesson in that!

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And here we go..hang on!

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A beauty in a field of dreams…

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Doing what I know…

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Cowboy son Curt knows too…he’s talking to Annie!

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As we learn to communicate with our horses, we can join them in the dance of respect and grace.

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Horses have two basic forms of communication–vocal and body language. The more sophisticated of the two by far is body language. With a mere look, a flick of the ears, or a turn of the head, horses can communicate to each other and to us, if we learn to understand their body language.

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Annie began to trust her human…she took the first step of the dance. Annie looks at Curt with trust…she submits as she now knows he will not hurt her or harm her…he is now her leader:)

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Did I say hang on…I’m shifting gears through the corner and getting it on!

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Wild weather and clouds are a daily occurrence here anymore…kind of weird but kinda cool for my camera!

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A beautiful field of yellow Canola! When you use Canola Oil next time…think of the close up and personal shot you saw of Canola growing.

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Minnie!

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Ellie!

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A sort of annoyed Minnie:)

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Cone Doggie and not too happy! I don’t blame her..my poor Ellie! She was spayed on Wednesday and she has to wear this cone thing to protect her incision from her licking it to death…and she is not happy!

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Lola:) My Lola!

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Have A Happy Happy Happening Wild Weekend! HRCG Over And Out For Now…But Never For Long:)

Life Decades…Life Dreams…Life Goes On.

06 Mar 2014 59 Comments

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

Life decades…life dreams…life…life goes on.

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I suppose wisdom is good with age…I like the wisdom but not thrilled about the age.

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I miss the old days of life…sitting a saddle everyday on a horse, looking and gathering cattle…doing what I know, that is as natural as breathing to me.

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Feeling mother nature on my face as she bathes me with her skies, and the beauty all around me…full of God’s glory.

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And the smell of a horse under you…together we are a team…hearts are joined.

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A quick summer shower that was enough to cool you off and the warmth of the sun above on my face…

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And the cattle…mooing…snapping brush and twigs as they try to out maneuver you…softly mooing for their babies as the dogs nip a few heels…the herd bellows a bit while moving out with you and your horse.

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I miss cowgirling… I miss the long days in the saddle and the short nights before you got up and did it all over again.

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I miss the mountain smells of pines, different grasses that drifts in the breeze…the smell of horses and cows…the sound of the creek gurgling on a hot afternoon…and the smell of mud as mountain mud is different…I loved the mountains…I loved the smells and the sounds of living on a cattle ranch.

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I loved the isolation…the hard work we did together…the incredible scenery…and cowboying with my hubby…we were hauling water to cows on a warm summer night in this photo.

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Never a dull moment as each day brought new adventures…

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You never knew from day-to-day what you would see and experience!

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At day’s end, once you tucked yourself into bed snug as a bug, drifting off to sleep,

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Snapshots of life would roam through your head as you dreamed of tomorrow’s life on a cattle ranch.

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Wishing You A Fun Funny Friday Full Of Fantastically Fabulous Follies!

Hot Rods Of This And That On HRCG!

28 Feb 2014 25 Comments

by Hot Rod Cowgirl in Holton Secret Lab, Hot Rod Cowgirl, Photography, Portland Roadster Show, Wild Bill Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Hot Rods of this and that on HRCG is another segment of photos taken the last few years and it may explain the Hot Rod Cowgirl name of my blog.

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If you are a serious car guy you will love this post…you can double-click on my photos and they will enlarge:)

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In this post I want to share some of the restored vehicles that my hubby has created for our customers.

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I hope you enjoy seeing a few of these incredible restorations, custom builds and amazing rides.

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Hang on and here we go…Zoom Zoom!

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We attend many car shows during the year to display our workmanship and to showcase the vehicles. This is our display at the Portland Roadster Show…we often showcase some of the recent customer vehicles to show the quality of the restorations we do…and people love to walk through our 30′ car trailer as we have photos displayed inside of various cars we have restored and built. We run videos of the vehicles through out the restoration…some restorations have 1000 hours in them from start to finish.

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Portland was the beginning of many large car shows to follow…

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As well as summer shows that are held in smaller towns with a sense of community and country fun…often the shows attract well over 350 cars with the show held in the downtown area which is nice, we women can shop!

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The photo above is one of my favorites. It was taken at the Portland Roadster Show the year we took 10 of our customer vehicles that WB restored…every car you see was restored and rebuilt to perfection. We brought home 12 trophies that year!

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The first year we attended the Portland Roadster Show, we took three of our restorations to display etc. I had been diagnosed with bc a few weeks before the show…WB said no we can not go…I told WB nope we are going to the show! This is the part of the business that is my part, I had approached the Roadster Show about coming…and it was an honor to be chosen to display our work and we were going!

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Only the vehicles which show complete perfection are selected to attend…so in a way you have already won to a degree if you are chosen to display your cars. We had six customer restorations displayed at the 2010 Roadster Show…we won six classes and brought home six trophies!

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 WB is giving me “The Look” as  he does not like me taking pictures of him….ha! The cars right behind him were our display that first year…1931 Blue Ford Tudor…1948 Red Chev. Pick Up…1946 Ford Tudor with the flames. Guess what? All three vehicles won Best Of Class in their respective classes and that is out of 550 cars, it was the 50th Portland Roadster Show! We were so pumped!!!

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I love this 1946 Ford Tudor, it’s a go fast and has all the comforts of today’s car, plus WB’s flames…and Wild Bill is famous for his signature flames!

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 Mr. Blue has won six times at the Roadster Show with us over the years…this 1931 Ford Tudor is incredibly cool!

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Another one of my favorites and I would LOVE to drive it:)

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TV interview day in the Secret Lab with Wild Bill! I love this…my entire married life to WB I have waited for this to happen! I love seeing WB get credit for the work he has done over many years….and I love seeing him talk…hee-hee…he is not a talker and was a nervous wreck!

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My hubby is MacGyver to the car world as he has the vision to see a rusted pile of junk restored into a regal vehicle.

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The first night of set up at a smaller show of 200 cars….we took the Ford Tudor to display and also some of our flame plates. Wild Bill does a lot of flame plates for the customers in their choice of colors so they can see the color and decide if it is the right one for their car.

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I am planning to do a post on one vehicle with before photos and during photos…

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This GTO had major rust and the quarter panels had to be changed as well as the floor of the entire vehicle.

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And after photos so you can see the process…as it is amazing!

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Hang on as we are going to switch gears grabbing more horsepower!

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Whew this tire cleaning is hard work and I need a break…

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Ahhhh…just what I needed:)

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Have a great weekend! HRCG over and out for now…but never for long!

Misty Memories Of Mom

25 Feb 2014 24 Comments

by Hot Rod Cowgirl in Hot Rod Cowgirl, Lifestyles, My Mom, Photography Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Misty memories of my Mom came to me this late afternoon.

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I had been in the office all day and as I walked into the kitchen, the view outside my window was full of magic time and late afternoon fog drifting, eddying around the sagebrush across the road towards the creek…and it hit me…all of a sudden I was a young girl getting home from school on the school bus…climbing down the stairs of the bus, I turned and said “Have a good evening Red”…yes my bus driver had red hair and he was called Red by all the locals.

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As I looked towards the house, I could see a golden glow of warmth emanating from within. I knew Mom was cooking something special for dinner and she probably had something good for an after school treat!

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Mom loved to cook and always had snacks, and good stuff…I hurried up the steps as Mom opened the front door saying “Oh Honey, let me help you with that school bag”…she often had a dress on with her apron and a welcoming hug and smile.

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I could smell something sweet and divine…homemade chocolate cake for dinner desert and warm chocolate chip cookies for my snack…all made with Mom’s love:)  She usually had our beef in the oven…my favorite was her roast beef with potatoes, gravy and fruit salad! Mom was a loving wife and always a very classy lady. This photo was taken in town at my Grandma’s house on Easter…we had to do photo ops and I wanted to go hunt Easter eggs with my cousins by the dang dozen! I was being a stinker too…and I remember a swift swat on the patoot!

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Mom’s life was Dad and me…along with a few cattle dogs, lots of cows and several horses…she taught me so much about marriage by example and living life in a small community. In this photo we had been busy with the photographer all day taking photos of us as my Dad was President of the Pendleton Round Up…he was very deserving and truly the “Cowboy’s President” and we were excited for him and his recognition…but we were all tired!

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Once I had explained all the details of my day at school including the bus trip home, I settled in front of the TV and ate my cookies while watching Flicka or Fury or Sky King…now it is my camera that settles me…I love grabbing shots to share:)

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And all was well in a simple country girl’s life growing up:)

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Have a Wonderfully Wild Weird Wednesday! HRCG Over And Out But…I’m On A Roll With My Camera…I Might Catch Ya! Click Click Click!

Photos Of This And That On HRCG!

23 Feb 2014 16 Comments

by Hot Rod Cowgirl in Hot Rod Cowgirl, Lifestyles, Photography, Wild Bill Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Photos of this and that on HRCG is me sorting through over 3000 photos.

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Minnie Mouse telling me….”Ahhhh Mom, don’t worry I am with you…I will be your nurse and your heart…I will make you smile as you recover from BC.” And she did:)

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Remember you can click on all my pictures and they will enlarge:)

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Annie’s time…hooking on with son Curt!

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Pat and Jack…

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Dasher and Kiah!

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My sweet Melody:)

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Solitude…

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Incredibly quiet and beautiful!

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Wishing you a fun-filled week wherever you may be!

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Stay tuned as I did not make a dent in the 3000 photos:)

The Sounds Of Country Silence

20 Feb 2014 29 Comments

by Hot Rod Cowgirl in Hot Rod Cowgirl, Photography, Wild Bill, Writing Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The sounds of country silence are…profoundly silent…incredibly quiet…and filled with a very still solitude.

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Living in country silence is my daily world. Sometimes it is more than hard to take as I love being around people while going, doing, and seeing life but my life has always been country quiet.

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Silence so still that some nights you can hear a train 10 miles away…silence so still you can hear your neighbor’s telephone ring on a summer night and they live a mile away over a hill!

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You learn to value the tick-tock of the clock for company and if you listen closer you can hear the hands move a bit with each tick…and if Minnie is close to me and she always is, I can hear her snore ever so softly or her stretching from her nap making a squeaky sound…I often listen to the refrigerator running and the ice maker filling…I recognize my neighbors pick ups as they drive by and always know the cattle trucks hauling cattle out of Juniper to the mountains…I know who it is before I see them.

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These are only a few of the sounds of my days…the old house creaking last night and today in the windstorm…the owls at night…hawks overhead…coyotes howling…the sounds and presence of our outside dogs…and the same with Ellie who is my inside dog…the sounds of nothing…the sounds of silence…the sounds of my life.

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My day begins with Minnie Mouse waking me with her wake up call “Yeowly Meow and Good Morning:)” Then WB gets up, I try to snuggle back down but one of the dogs outside barks and I wonder if it is a neighbor? I can hear the horses and the sound of their hooves running back and forth, waiting for their breakfast and I’m up.

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Making my way to the kitchen, I can smell the coffee brewing…WB is already out the door headed to feed horses and check water…then off to the shop…now it’s me and Minnie and Ellie. I get out my cup while looking out the same kitchen window I have looked out of forever, as I listen to the morning sounds…the tick-tock of the wall clock, the howling winds outside and the coffee pot hissing a bit.

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Today the wind is blowing out of a different direction as it howls and moans against the house, giving me different house creaks and groans to listen to. I love the sound of rain on the roof which is soothing to my soul…when it rains at night, it lulls me to sleep with rain drops falling ever so softly on our lives here, bathing the house and watering the crops, it’s always a beautiful sound to my ears.

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Some days I talk to myself just to hear a voice…and I write, talking the words on to a sheet of paper or to my blog which helps me feel connected to the world.

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It is the quiet life I know and love…and I will never take for granted. I know how blessed I am to experience life as I know it!

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The song, Sounds Of Silence by Simon and Garfunkel, was going through my head as I was writing….go to iTunes if you don’t have it as it was a great song.

“Hello darkness my old friend…I’ve come to talk with you again,

Because a vision softly creeping…Left its seeds while I was sleeping,

And the vision that was planted in my brain,

Still remains…Within the sound of silence.”

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Wishing you a Fabulous Fantastic Fun Friday and a wonderful weekend wherever you may be!  Spring is coming…my camera is ready and waiting to go:) HRCG over and out for now but not for long!

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