Heritage And Home Speaks Softly To My Heart…

01 Aug 2012 20 Comments

by Hot Rod Cowgirl in Harvest, Heritage, Hot Rod Cowgirl, Landscapes, Lifestyles, Photography Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

As I was standing this evening on my front porch…

Looking out at the same view I have looked at all my life…I was filled with a grateful heart that was full of honor for my parents and for my ancestors that came before me. I am so incredibly blessed to live where I grew up…where my family has lived forever, as my Great Grandmother would have stood on the same front porch looking out at the same view…as did my Mom.

 To me that says a lot about living your heritage and breathing it in every day.

I live in my forever home…this is me when I was 3 or 4…it was taken on a snowy Christmas Eve as my folks and I were getting ready to join Grandmother T and all of Dad’s brothers and sisters with their families. I loved the family get togethers…I had lots of cousins my age and it was always fun!

And here is my beautiful Mom…she was such a lady…full of style and grace but mostly lots of love:) She would make homemade cut out cookies every Christmas and would take about 200 of them to the family get together as all us kids loved them! She iced them and decorated them…they were delights! I still have the cut outs…and guess what…she found a cut out of a horse so I could have horse shaped cookies too:)

And this is the front porch today…where I often stand to watch the weather or sit on the porch swing to cool off after a hot day…or watch the horses play in the pasture. It has always been front and center in the life of this house as when you want to see what in the world is going on outside…you go to the front porch. Right now it looks a bit bare as we moved all the furniture off the patio including the porch swing…and my pots of flowers as we are working yet on the patio as it needs some TLC.

Several years ago now I had the opportunity to travel to the Middle East with my sister in law…it was a gift of time for me to see another part of the world.

The above picture is of Jerusalem…we spent almost a week there touring the Old City as well as all the historic sites…it touched my heart and spirit deeply.

This photo was taken at the “Wailing Wall” in the Old City of Jerusalem, I am in the blue skirt and black t-shirt.

We were gone for three weeks and the night my plane touched down in Portland I was thankful to be almost home again…we saw many incredible sites in Israel and Jordan…Syria and Turkey…but the best site that I saw, was in NY at JFK Airport, it was a Burger King!!! Humus, strange meat and weird veggies did not cut it at all…I lost 20 pounds due to not eating unsafe veggies and meat…so an American Hamburger was “Manna” from heaven for this American Cowgirl:)

The first morning I was home I stood on the front porch and thanked God that He chose for me to live right here…where I have lived forever…and not in Syria or Jordan or Turkey or Israel…but here in Juniper Canyon:)

God blessed me with my parents and blessed my parents with me…they had waited a long time for me to finally make an apperence…I was their little cowgirl as I grew up and still a cowgirl today,  we had lots of good times together and good memories…and then God directed my path to meet Wild Bill and we made a family together of our own…God was determined that we would meet…we came close to meeting many times when we were growing up!

What a blessing it has been to live here in the same old house my parents and I lived in with Wild Bill…we have made lots of good memories here…where my family lived before me…leaving me lots of heritage, traditions, hopes and dreams…mostly though they left their love for us.

Often when I stand on the front porch or saddle up my horse to go out riding into the country or be in the kitchen cooking dinner I will smile and laugh as God brings back some good memories of my folks and I when I was growing up…good memories of Wild Bill and my folks…and our family. Living in a forever house does that…it brings back comforting memories, sounds, smells and love.

I look out the same window that my Great Grandmother looked out of and the same view that my Mom looked out at…now it is my view of life today…but for some reason I would rather view life the way it was…being an only child I know that all the heritage and memories will be lost with me, part of my wanting to view both the past and future is to write all the history down.

I can close my eyes and imagine what my Great Grandma saw and felt…I can hear the sounds of horses and mules with the noise of harnesses…men talking about how many acres that can be done today in the heat…or maybe she was baking homemade bread and pies…or Norweigian potato cakes…maybe not simpler times but they did things the old-fashioned way…and created family times…working together on the land…with hearts full of heritage and hard work for the future of their families.

This photograph would have been in the late 1940’s or early 1950’s…pull combines pulled by tractors without cabs or air conditioning…no CB’s or communication…you had to watch the machines in order to tell where a combine was in the field…sometimes the pull combine would be down in a canyon so you could not see it…but if you listen and watch for a puff of smoke from the Caterpillar tractor pulling the machine up a hill, then you knew…truck drivers always sat on top of the hill in the field, trying to figure out where they were needed. Today’s truck drivers have the luxury of radio or cell phones…and they know where they are needed.

In todays techno world…combines are outfitted with a GPS, that can program the machine to drive themselves…and the driver does not have to drive it as the combine is satellite guided. We have come a long ways baby!

Farming has gotten as high-tech as my office is high tech…smart phones…satellites…gps…computers and all the incredible bells and whistles.

Todays equipment does not compare to yesterday’s equipment…today they have 40′ headers that flex in the center, with their own wheels to help drive and turn them.

This is a Gleaner combine with the 40′ header…you can go with a 42′ or a 45′ header as well.

The smaller John Deere combine next to today’s machine is a 1955 model…no cab and a 10′ header compared to the 40′ header…it held 40 bushels of wheat while todays model holds 400 bushels of wheat…when I was driving truck we had one of the JD 55’s and my uncles always used it to open up fields and draws or canyons…I can not imagine the 40′ header today…WOW!

Harvest has changed a lot since my Grandfather homesteaded the land out here…often I wonder what he would say today if he saw the equipment and how much our way of life has changed.

Back when WB and I farmed the land, the machines we had were considered the art of technology…20′ headers and a bulker that held 120 bushels of wheat. Here the combine is leaning as it is using the automatic leveling to unload the wheat into the back of the truck.

The first summer I drove wheat truck, I was 15. Our harvest started June 25th on the winter cattle ranch…if all went well with good weather and no huge equipment breakdowns, we were lucky to be done by my birthday in late August. We had a total of about 5000 acres to cut…we ran four pull combines with tractors and two open cab combines that at the time we called pushers as they were the first of the machines you see today. Harvest took a long time as the machinery moved slower and the headers were small…as were the wheat trucks. My little truck held 2.5 dumps from the combines and I would be off to the elevator to dump it…my truck had a hoist which means I would stay in the cab of the truck and would activate the hoist which would lift my truck bed up into the air at an angle so that the wheat would dump out the back of the truck, falling into the grate on the elevator floor, going into the elevator bin below, where it would be stored until we sold it. Today, the old cab of my truck sits out in one of our fields behind the house…someday I hope that we can restore it…I loved that old truck!

As the world of farming evolves each year with new farming practices, along with equipment that has all the bells and whistles…I am blessed to have the old memories of farming during a different time when life was a bit slower and time seemed to stand still…and with the old stories that were passed on to me about my Grandfather coming to America when he was 13 years old…eventually homesteading 10,000 acres.

My imagination carries me back in time when he was here farming and my Great Grandmother was seeing a whole new world as she stood on the front porch watching her son farm…I am reminded of the past and how hard my ancestors fought for this land, working long hours and days to leave a lasting legacy that today blesses my life.

I was born country right here where I live today…with a 100 years of down home, filled with rural heritage and hard honest work…I was born country and this country is what I love!

Born Country

By Alabama

Clear creeks and cool mountain mornings

Honest work out in the fields

Cornbread in my momma’s kitchen

Daddy saying grace before the meal

Family ties run deep in this land

And I’m never far from what I am

I was born country and that’s what I’ll be

Like the rivers and the woodlands wild and free

I got a hundred years of down home, running through my blood!

I was born country and this country’s what I love

Moonlight and you hear beside me

Cricket’s serenadin’ in the yard

What more could two people ask for

Laying here in love beneath the stars

Now this is where I wanna raise my kids

Just the way my mom and daddy did

I was born country and that’s what I’ll always be

Like the rivers and the woodlands wild and free

I got a hundred years of down home, running through my blood

I was born country and this country’s what I love

I was born country

And I will always be that same country cowgirl, farm girl…this is what it is all about. Traditions, family heritage and the incredible land and soil of the ranch. I thank God for His blessings and His incredible beautiful land and scenery…His animals and His world:) For harvest time and the blessings of those who went before us and those who someday will follow in our footsteps after us.

In remembrance of Donna Goff…she was a great lady and a good friend. 

My New Favorite Day!

17 Jul 2012 23 Comments

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

Good Morning To My New Favorite Day!

Grab your coffee and read on:)

I recently had a chance to meet Shannon Pruitt, of My New Favorite Day…here is a link to her blog http://mynewfavoriteday.com/.

Shannon is an incredible wife, mom, daughter and friend….she brings good into life with a beautiful attitude and she is one awesome lady! She lives in CA. with her husband and their children. Here is Shannon’s introduction of herself from her blog.

“My name is Shannon Pruitt and I am a childhood surviving, divorced, now happily married, IVF success story, working mother of 2 amazing babies who were born 12 weeks premature. While my children are now 2 years old, my son, Q, has thrived while our daughter, E, has had a much more difficult journey.  She is considered special needs with a tentative diagnosis of Cerebral Palsy, and so as she grows, so do we as individuals and as family. How to help her, how to celebrate our differences while allowing ourselves to cope with the challenges that we never knew to expect.  So while much of this blog is based on our experiences (good and not-so-good), it is also based on how we must not let ourselves become victims of our circumstances but rather advocate in our own lives.”

“After being in a bit of a self-imposed emotional isolation for about 18 months, 6 months ago an ordinary moment in our living room became extra-ordinary and I thought perhaps sharing these stories of hope and inspiration can help and motivate others going through similar circumstances.  So that night, with my nerves on fire, I created my first post for ‘mynewfavoriteday,’ and what I found out from so many of you was that these emotions and feelings were not unique to us or our circumstances, but rather permeated all of your personal experiences through your relationships and situations with parents, conception, siblings, IVF, prematurity, parenting, children, special needs, terminal illness, and everyday stress.  It became very clear that we are all united by common emotions of love, fear, hope, faith, sadness, happiness, strength, and joy and most importantly, we are all doing the best we can, how we can.  We all need one another and if we can remember to find the little nuggets of inspiration and motivation we can try to make each day ‘ournewfavoriteday’.”

A very good friend of mine who lives in Central Oregon sent me a link to Shannon’s blog site last winter as she knew Shannon’s best ever friend who lived down the street from her. I clicked on the link and the friendship with Shannon began developing that night. She grew up in Ashland , Oregon and has been to my neck of the woods in Eastern Oregon…and has attended the Pendleton Round Up.

I felt a connection to Shannon immediately as we share a lot in common with life and an artists heart.

So today July 17th Shannon interviewed me on her blog and if you go to her web/blog site you can see the interview:)

http://mynewfavoriteday.com

I am humbled that she wanted to interview me…my life is truly just like yours with both good and bad times…we just keep a going and find something each day to be thankful for and grateful for…then we look for a really good belly laugh to get some of those feel good cells moving:)

And there you have a pearl of wisdom from Hot Rod Cowgirl…and Melody:)

Shannon calls her blog “My New Favorite Day”, as it is her choice each day to find something amazing in her life that day and that one day becomes her new favorite day!

What an awesome way to look at each day as we roll out of bed…no matter if we have something fun to wake to or something hard to wake to, each day “CAN” be our new favorite day if we want it to…

We just have to make that one choice and decision…

At times with serious determination…we can choose to be upset or we can smile even when life seems to hit us hard…there is always a way to find hope…the choice is ours…

To either let it ruin your day or your life or choose instead to carry on and find a way to survive it with grace and a can do attitude with heart.

We can survive the whatever it is with the belief that things will get better and life will go on…and we can survive with strength and joy.

Hot Rod Cowgirl and her dogs choose to find a good belly laugh each day:)

Along with my horses…

And Minnie too:)

And my hubby Wild Bill:)

Be sure to check out My New Favorite Day at http://mynewfavoriteday.com

Ok this 4:00 am stuff is not bad usually but I have been up for 24 hours…I gotta go take a nap…yawn…we have had terrible lightning storms nightly and various other things like wind, hail, more thunder and last night was four hours solid of every kind of lightning there is over the top of our house from 10:00 pm-2:30 am…kind of scary when you think about it.

We have an abundance of dry fuel with dried out cheat grass and mustard…the right combination for a raging fire…and an 80 plus bushel wheat crop waiting to be harvested…which was postponed again due to heavy rain and flooding last night…pins and needles for the farmers around us as well as for us too.

Our small town is under water tonight…this was early yesterday morning…once the water recedes then the clean up of mud begins…it has been a long week here…and harvest is on hold. This is a place where we have a choice of giving into the negative or we can choose to have a brand new day become our favorite day…I am gonna choose a brand new day:) How bout you?

Harvest Traditions and Family Heritage In Juniper Canyon

08 Jul 2012 77 Comments

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

The smell of the wheat is in the air tonight…that smell speaks to my heart and soul:) It is a smell you never forget…much like a cattle truck pulling up to the barn or corrals to load out cattle or deliver cattle…I can hear the trucks as I write…familiar sounds…smells…memories that bring comfort as…

Times past speak softly to me of heritage and family…traditions and hard work.

My heart can hear the sounds of my families history…the sounds of the horses pulling the combine…with the men it took to run it…dry dusty hot days for man and animal alike.

Before the farmer had a truck to haul the wheat into the elevator he had men who would sew the sacks of wheat shut…can you imagine harvesting thousands of acres and having to put the kernels into gunny sacks and then sew them shut…then you loaded your wagon and went to the elevator to unload the sacks of wheat…often driving your team of horses with the wagon several miles to reach the elevator.

My Dad remembered having to take the wagon loaded with sacks of wheat to Vansycle Elevator which is 8 miles away…16 miles round trip…he said it would take the day to take one wagon and the horses or mules would be exhausted when you reached home…all of Grandpa’s horses and mules were very well cared for and loved…they had to do their job but they were cared for. Dad used to come here to the barn (our barn is older than our house) and ride some of the work horses bareback…he spoke often of the various ones he remembered…Grandpa kept around 80 head.

Today we have semi trucks with double trailers hauling wheat out of Juniper Canyon…night and day.

Heading on down the road to the Columbia River…

Where the kernels of Juniper Wheat are loaded onto a barge…and they begin the journey to feed the world:)

Self leveling combines…hillside machines…can you see how the combine is leaning a bit…it is leveling itself.

This photo is better so that you can see how the combine keeps itself level rather than leaning…I heard that most farmers do not buy the combines with the automatic levelers anymore due to the price…

Wild Bill is showing how the leveler works as he is touching the spout. I could not imagine not having the machine level as we have some really steep hillsides!

Here is an older picture of the land when we farmed it…sorry this is a scanned image before digital…the house complex is our home and the green fields are the wheat crop of that year…see the road over in the dirt?

That is WB’s air strip for his plane…looks cool sitting in the wheat…actually it is on the strip.

Tucker is hiding in the grass…she follows me everywhere keeping an eye on me:)

Soon farm families will once again put in long days to bring the wheat crop in…as has been done for over a 150 years.

150 years of country strong…we dig deep when it comes to toughing it out.

And if the going gets tough…the tough get tougher:)

No matter how hard!

Harvest is a time of hard-working families working together for the same reason…the goal to get the crop in…harvest is like gathering cattle with my Dad in the mountains…we shared our work effort together to round-up the cows and that is what makes memories and heritage!

It is the working together and sacrificing…and harvest time is a sacrifice…husbands leave the house before sun up and come home when it is dark…often putting in 18 plus hour days in the heat of harvest.

I grew up driving wheat truck through my high school years with my other cousins…then after WB and I married, my Mom taught me (no this picture is not of Mom and me…more like my Grandma and Great Grandmother) the tradition of cooking a large lunch for our men and the crew. While it was a lot of work to cook a huge meal by 1:00 each day it was my family…I came to enjoy hearing about what had happened in the field and then all the joking and funny times too…I felt very much part of the harvest crew and was always sad when they finished the fields around our ranch moving on to the fields around my Aunt and Uncles homes.

Food was in abundance when the crew came in for their hour lunch break…we had home cooked meals with meat, potatoes, gravy, salad, vegetables and desert…and home made ice tea…no not sun tea or tea made by a tea maker…real deal tea!

Here is the recipe:

Get a small sauce pan and fill with cold water…buy Lipton Black Tea…loose leaves….put 2-3 heaping tablespoons in the pan and boil…then cool it and strain out the leaves…dump the tea water into a gallon jug and fill with ice-cold water and ice and you have real ice tea…all the good caffeine and antioxidents…and so refreshing!

Harvest skies and harvest heritage…have a good night wherever you are! HRC has her eye on the land…will post new pictures as soon as harvest begins….stay tuned…I keep hearing the song Country Strong going through my head…in fact I am going to go listen to it now!

Country Strong

I know you see me, like some wide-eyed dreamer
That just rolled in, off a dusty Midwest bus
Yeah on the outside, Hallowed fragile
But on the inside something you can’t crush

I’m Country Strong, hard to break
Like the ground, I grew upon
You may fool me, and I’ll fall 
But I won’t stay down long 
‘cause I’m Country Strong

I have weathered, colder winters
And longer summers, without a drop of rain 
Push me in a corner and I’ll come out fightin’
I may lose but I’ll always keep my face

‘Cause I’m Country Strong, hard to break
Like the ground, I grew upon,
You may fool me, and I’ll fall 
But I won’t stay down long, 
‘cause I’m Country Strong

America The Beautiful!

03 Jul 2012 25 Comments

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

America The Beautiful

By Hot Rod Cowgirl July 4, 2011
I am re-blogging this post from a year ago off of http://www.holtonsecretlab.com
Happy 4th Of July America!

Sing With Me…America The Beautiful

O Beautiful For Spacious Skies

For Amber Waves Of Grain

For Purple Mountain Majesties

Above The Fruited Plain

America America!

God Shed His Grace On Thee

And Crown Thy Good With Brotherhood

From Sea To Shining Sea

God Bless America

Hot Rod Cowgirl Wishes You A Happy 4th Of July

So Does Annie

And Kiah Too

We Pledge Allegiance To The Flag Of The United States Of America And To The Republic For Which It Stands…One Nation Under God, Indivisible With Liberty And Justice for All.

God Bless America!

Learning My ABC’s With The Awesome Blog Content Award!

03 Apr 2012 20 Comments

by Hot Rod Cowgirl in Award, Hot Rod Cowgirl, Lifestyles, Photography Tags: , , , , ,

 I was blessed last week to receive the ABC (Awesome Blog Content) Award from Diana and Sundae at http://thesedaysofmine.com/

I am honored and humbled Diana that you chose my blog as one of the recipients of this award. Thank you for believing my ramblings are filled with awesome content:)

To accept the ABC Award you are to list 26 things about yourself in alphabetical order….this will be a long one so pull up a chair!

Ok here we go…26 things in alphabetical order:)

I Am:

A: Authentic…Artistic & Creative.

B: Believe Deeply In God & The Faith He Gives Me. I Believe In Family Traditions, Heritage & Honoring Those Who Went Before You.

C: Country Cowgirl…Loved My “64” Corvette Coupe…American Born & American Made!

E: Empathetic & Encouraging…Empowering Others To Believe In Themselves.

F: Faithful Friend

G: Genuine & Grateful Heart

H: Honesty Is My Motto…Happy In Life…Horse Lover:)

I: Interesting & Interested In Others. Intelligent But A Ding-Dong At Times Too:)

J: Jeans…Wranglers 29 x 36 inseam…More Jeans…BKE Jeans…I Live In My Jeans:)

K: Klutzy…Legs Are Long…I Get Tangled Up With Them & I Have Weak Ankles.

L: Loved…Very Much By WB:)

M: Minnie Mouse…My Beautiful Kitty….My Initials Are MJ.

N: Naturally Authentic In Who I Am & My Life.

O: Organized…Optimistic.

P: Passionate About Life….Positive Outlook…Photographer.

Q: Quiet…Intuitive & Steady.

R: Reliable…Real…Red Boots…My Horse’s Name Was Red Too!

S: Sincere…Supportive…Silly As I Love To Laugh:)

T: Trustworthy….Thoughtful….Thankful

U: Understanding

V: Very In Tune With Others…

W: WB…My Soul Mate & The Love Of My Life.

X: Xtra Xtra…HRCG Loves To Write:)

Y: Young At Heart…

Z: Zippy Zoo Our Black Manx Kitten Kalamazoo.

I am to pass this award on to ten bloggers….here we go:)

1: http://throughmylens365.wordpress.com/

2: http://awindowintothewoods.com/

3:http://sillymonkeyphoto.com/

4: http://nickexposed.com/

5: http://lakesidelane.wordpress.com/

6: http://blissfuladventurer.wordpress.com/

6: http://skedazzles.com/

7: http://tbnranch.com/

8: http://taniajessicasmith.wordpress.com/

9: http://phototalkdaily.wordpress.com/

10: http://mynewfavoriteday.com/

Thank you Diana and Sundae…go check out her blog at  http://thesedaysofmine.com/

Round Pen Training…Developing The Foundation Of Trust

02 Apr 2012 25 Comments

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

Today we finally have a bit of a break from the rain and blustery wind…make that a deluge of rain and dreary gray weather…I know I know…blah and blah…grumble and complain.  The rain has kept me indoors the last week cleaning of all silly things, so I took a break one day and sorted through some old pictures on my back up drive…it was fun to look back on lots of good memories…good people…good times and good horses of course:)

March’s last week of blahsay (is that a word?) weather was much like the day in this photo…wet…cold…gray…and dreary. This picture was taken a few years ago in the round corral…Cowboy son had come home to visit for the weekend and while he was here, he wanted to work with Fanny Annie. He was working on desensitization with Annie, which is important as it begins to lay the foundation of trust. She is learning to trust in her human no matter if the plastic sack is scary or not…

This teaches her inner trust in us so that when anything unexpected happens on the trail or anywhere we go when we ride her, she will not freak out being triggered into the fear or flight instinct. As he asks her to move about, he is watching her body language…looking for the try in her to trust him…waiting for her to turn towards him with two eyes…instead of her hindquarters, which is a lack of respect.

He had a ways to go yet with her as she is yet turning away from him. As we waited and watched you could feel the rain coming as the air was heavy with mist and a feeling of ominous blahsay…it has to be a word, as it fits the dreary day!

He continues to move her feet about…it is not mean if it is done right…she is learning that her world is safe with her human leader…just as it would be in the wild with her herd…ultimately she is learning to trust. Horses are born with the biological fear or flight mechanism…it is what kept them alive for centuries. In the wild when a predator approaches, the lead horse in the pack will alert the herd to move out if danger invades their world.

We humans want to ride our horses like no big deal…but unless we first develop trust with them or a very good trainer does it before we purchase the horse…we likely will deal with a spooky jumpy horse and be upset or worse, either the horse gets hurt or we do or we both do. A good foundation is a must when you raise horses and if you purchase one then you need to be sure that the horse has been given a good foundation of trust and consistency. And remember if for some reason you end up with a horse that is not so great…it is not the horses fault…they are doing what their natural instinct says, “fear for your life horse”…and that would be due to lack of foundational training…with daily training and relationship. We would not expect to buy a lion and bring it home for a house kitty…and expect it to be fine to play or cuddle with us…horses are the same way…they are much more vulnerable to pain caused by humans as the human did not know or understand the horse.

All horses want to get along but if they have been abused and if they have not been handled correctly or right…then they are spooky and fighting for their lives…they do not know if we are safe or not until we begin with them from the beginning. By the way I refresh my well-trained older horses in the round corral if needed…often both of us need it:)

Here Cowboy is touching Annie softly on her shoulder area asking her if she will settle in with him but she is still tight and tense…not quite ready to listen…

He continued by moving her off again…in the direction he asks…always when you work your horses, if you ask them to go to the right and they go to the left…you stop them and turn them back to the right…they must go the way you ask…again this is good communication and respect.

Annie is beginning to settle…she is facing him and you can see in her eyes that she is thinking…she wants to hook on to Cowboy…the first step that all is well and  she is safe. “Annie will you hook on to me now and follow me?”

For the sake of your eyes and boredom, unless you have horses, I fast forwarded the process and the pictures a bit 🙂

Ry is in the corral now as he listens how to connect to Annie, as she is looking for that sign of trust that Ry is safe too.

Touching Annie on her forehead is reassuring to her that all is well.

I have found that horses have a bond with children that is hard to explain…they are very soft with kids.

Dropping down to her level…we are showing her we are not over her but we are partners in this relationship and as partners you will be the safe leader…submission and trust are critical in your relationship with your horse.

Still working on trust here but making good progress.

Incredibly beautiful…as this is the moment when trust is being given between horse and human…see how Annie is looking at Cowboy…when your horse gives you their trust it is a sacred relationship.

One of my favorite pictures of Annie and Ry…she is such a sweet girl…and he is becoming such a cowboy too:)

That rainy gray morning…Annie gave her heart with her trust…she relaxed…joined in and  became soft.

The lesson ended with Annie introducing herself to Bo-Bo…he is the best dog…and father to our dog Dasher.

From here on we continued to develop Annie’s trust. The most important part of the relationship with your horse whether young or old is consistency…that is the key to the whole deal of your horses knowing that they are safe in this life with you:)

No more blahsay…hoping for a sunshiny today…is that the right spelling for sunshiny??? It is a word right?

Smile….click!

“Monday Monday, so good to me,
Monday Monday, it was all I hoped it would be”.

A bit of help from the Mama’s and Papa’s.




Genuine Hugs With Inspirational Sunshine…Awards And More!

24 Mar 2012 35 Comments

by Hot Rod Cowgirl in Award, Life, Lifestyles, Photography Tags: , , ,

“Among Life’s Precious Jewels, Genuine And Rare,The One We Call Friendship Has Worth Beyond Compare.” 

I am in blogger shockeroos…humbled and honored to be chosen for several wonderful awards from MJ at http://emjayandthem.com/  How special she is to think of me…you made my week:)

I am wowed over wowzee!  “Minnnie….kitty kitty come see me as we need to do the funky chicken happy dance to celebrate!” Minnie is a good dancer…she boogies down!

Uh oh I think I woke Minnie up from her cat nap…she looks a bit krabby. Ok my “Kitty Angel Girl”…I won’t make you dance this time…you can watch:)

The first award is “The Sunshine Award”. I try to be sunshiny with lots of laughs and smiles:) Mom used to tell me that “When life gives you lemons…you can make lemonade!”

The next award is “The Very Inspiring Blogger Award”…I hope I can inspire others with life…hope…faith and to keep on a going! My Dad used to say “You gotta keep on a going…no matter what…come on now you can do it. Keep on a going girl!”

The next was “The Hug Award”…I love this how they combined “Hope…The World…Hugs.” Think of the difference the world would be if that was how we all live with hope in the world…with hugs of encouragement. Just remember to “Hug”.

And lastly “The Genuine Blogger Award.” Being genuine is the very best gift I can give others of myself…sometimes it is scary to be vulnerable but it is so needed in this world…this life. If we keep it surface without sharing and being real…we will remain alone.

Okey Dokey…now on to the rules of the awards…time to share your heart…your thoughts and life:) Right pretty green eyes kitty…she is so very sweet and pretty…she is “The Queenie of My House…My Minnie Mouse!”

First off thank the person who nominated you for these awards and also put a link in to their blog.

Thank you MJ    http://emjayandthem.com/

The rules of accepting “The Sunshine Award”…are question and answer time…it is genuine time!

 What is your favorite color?

I love all colors but the color red is totally me…I love red to be a deep deep red color. Growing up Mom told me “now no you have red hair so you can not wear red”…hmmm…I love red:)

Favorite Animal?

I love my kitty angel Minnie…and I love my horses Melody, Annie and Buck…all kitty angels and our barn cats Pat and Jack…dogs, all our dogs…cows and calves…well ok I suppose the bulls too but they are so difficult to move and they prefer hiding and holing up in brushy places…dang them…ok where is my dog? Growing up on a cattle ranch these are the animals I loved and love…I love all animals:)

Favorite Number?

I love the number 7:)

Favorite Non-Alcholic Drink?

Diet Coke with fresh lemon and if not that then fresh brewed ice tea the old fashion way on the stove top…dump the grounds into boiling water and boil for 20 minutes…then strain…add ice cold water and drink…oh my:)

Prefer Facebook or Twitter?

Neither…but I love my blog!

My Passion?

My marriage and relationship with Wild Bill… my faith and relationship with God…my horses and Minnie always…my life as a cancer survivor…a positive attitude…life giving thoughts…living and growing old with WB and Minnie and my ponies…always knowing that God is ever present in my life…and…I love love love to write and write and write…and shoot picture after picture…my creative gift is writing and photography along with dance…music…horses…it is all a beat…a connected beat of life…when I ride I listen and count the beats of my horses feet…that is life…if you get quiet you too can hear the beat of life all around you.

I am seriously passionate in this picture as my life is in my hands:) First ride on Catahoola Bugs…it was February and cold..

Prefer Getting Or Giving Gifts?

When I receive a gift I love the thought and the fun of seeing what was chosen for me, by the person who loves me or who cares…and I Love giving gifts…it is fun to be creative in figuring out what this person you care about wants or needs…I enjoy putting my heart into it and making another person know that yes…you are “Loved” and cared for:)

Favorite Pattern?

This is pretty cool to me as far as a pattern goes….wink wink:)

Or how about stripes…I love stripes so very much…stripes is the very best:)

Favorite Day Of The Week?

Saturdays and Sundays…peace and quiet:) Hopefully with WB.

Favorite Flowers?

One of every color as every flower was made by God…and He loves His horses with various colors.

The Genuine Blogger does not have any rules to pass on…it is a “Genuine pass on award.”

As for the Hug (Hope Unites Globally) award, you can read its origins here.

And the only requirement for accepting the HUG award is to pass it on to at least one person.  Ditto for the Very Inspiring Blog Award too.

MJ…thank you for believing that I am a true blue genuine blogger and genuine person…that means a lot to me:)

 I am to nominate and select 10 blogs to pass on the awards to. There are so many blogs and all of them are very good…this is a tough decision.

1: http://megtraveling.com/

2: http://wolke205.wordpress.com/

3: http://campfireshadows.wordpress.com/

4: http://theviewouthere.wordpress.com/

5: http://creativenoshing.wordpress.com/

6: http://googsy.wordpress.com/

7: http://sugardishme.com/

8: http://michaeltuuk.wordpress.com/

9: http://tracielouisephotography.net/

10: http://bentehaarstad.wordpress.com/

Congratulations…OK Guys and Gals…Time To Do The Funky Chicken Happy Dance…I Am With Ya:)

Go check out the blogs above and also MJ’s blog  http://emjayandthem.com/

Hugs HRCG Also Known As MJ Too:)


Looking Out My Kitchen Window Into The Vast Portal Of Time…Chapter Two

10 Mar 2012 8 Comments

by Hot Rod Cowgirl in Family, Heritage, Lifestyles, Photography, Ranch History Tags: , , , , ,

Memories flood back to me as I look out my kitchen window…from a baby on my Mama’s shoulder looking out…to a young wife looking for Wild Bill to come in for dinner…watching the children that we grew together, drive off in the car the first time down the driveway without me…looking next door to see if my parents had a light on in their house…so many memorable views, emotions and heartfelt life has been lived here…looking out my simple window of time.

The quiet peace of solitude that you see in this view is filled with incredible beauty as it is what you know and what you have lived. Sometimes when I ride my horses out in the fields…I can close my eyes and hear the teams of horses farming the land from long ago…or hear the laughter of two brothers riding bareback on their Dad’s work horses. My Dad and his older brother rode all the way down Juniper Canyon, about 15 miles, to the Columbia River to swim, this would have been in the 1920’s…can you imagine?

Before we chose to make this our forever home here…Wild Bill and I pursued our cowboy lifestyle for many years. He grew up on the edge of the Owyhee Desert…which is pretty much Buckaroo Country…Jordan Valley…Big Loop Contest…The Alvord…The Crowley Ranch…Hole In One Ranch.

When we lived outside of Jordan Valley, I rode horseback with a BLM crew a couple times, while WB taught a welding class at the school in Jordan Valley.

We moved several head of cows on the high desert several miles out of Rome, OR. The Steen Mountains had my attention all day long…they were incredible jutting out of the desert floor. I was in awe of the vast cowboy country…but mainly I was in love with WB:)

I grew up on my parent’s isolated cattle ranch in the Blue Mountains…about 100 miles from our home here…the ranch encompassed 50,000 acres with 800 head of Black Angus mother cows. We had one of the last cattle drives in Oregon as we drove our mama cows 100 miles down from the mountains to our winter pasture.

The cattle drive would last about 10 days but when we first began the tradition it took a good two weeks…the cows began to learn the trail and their way in later years.

Because of our history together with owning and running cattle and doing this cowboy life…we were asked to manage and run two cattle operations away from here…we went through some incredible times on both ranches.

We loved living in Wyoming at 7200′ elevation on the Continental Divide…this was my view…we lived in the log house to the left of the picture…my kitchen window looked out at the divide.

We also ran a ranch in Central Oregon on the Crooked River…we lived through a 100 year flash flood on the ranch with God’s grace…however we lost one life in the flood…and one horse.

The life lessons we learned in both places were profound…with both hard times and good times in our lives. When it was time to come home to the Juniper T, we were thankful to come down the long hill, into Juniper Canyon, rounding the corner and seeing “home”…with the big yellow barn and big yellow house.

Moving home from Wyoming in the spring was not easy as I found it hard to leave the incredible never boring Rockies…yet it was time for us to move back.

We had been home about two months, when in the dark before dawn…the phone rang and woke us up…Mom was calling us as my Dad was quite ill…we called 911 and waited for the ambulance to come.

I was scared to death…I felt so very helpless…I did not know how to do this medical thing of life and death with your parents and it was a shock to grasp it.

Dad was like John Wayne to me…rough and tough…full of life with tremendous strength of heart.

Once the ambulance arrived and the paramedics had Dad settled…I stood with Dad at the back door of the ambulance…Dad was on a gurney propped up so he could see me and thankfully the sunrise, which was beautiful…it was truly radiant that dark cold morning…and then Dad asked me…

“So…where and what place are you and Wild Bill going to call home? Where will you put down your roots? Roots and family…a place to call home, is important.”

Then his eyes shifted above my head and he looked up to the hill behind me where he planted the trees when I was little and he said “I hope I see this place again…it means the world to me Marcy…it is home to me.”

Dad thankfully came home but his health began to deteriorate from that time on…I was then thankful that God moved us home from Wyoming so that as an only child I was here and able to take care of both my parents…while it was hard at times, it has been one of the treasured blessings of my life.

That crisp clear morning was a defining moment in my life…I became an adult daughter and I knew in my heart..I was home.
Snapshots of my life…Mom always did the turkey as she told me that it was too hard to do…so I could make the pies and salads…Mom was smart:)  After I lost my Mom, I roasted the impossible turkey and I am sure she gave me her turkey blessing.
“Love you Greggers…always will my “Moose Son.”
“You too Cowboy…”
And until next time…Ride hard…don’t push the cows too hard as you will wear off the fat of our profits…and don’t leave any strays behind!

The Portal Of Time That Takes Me Back To Golden Days Of Old

21 Feb 2012 25 Comments

by Hot Rod Cowgirl in Family, Heritage, Life, Lifestyles, Photography Tags: , , , ,

A Typical Terrific Tuesday on a Fantastic February Day! I am ready for spring to come when everything turns green again and the earth seems to re-birth itself with hope, as new life really does spring forth. The wheat will be growing from the tiny seeds of faith planted by the farmer last fall in the fields that will bring forth another record bounty of grain in July. After the long dark winter comes a life-giving spring as the earth slowly turns from cold and dark to warm and light. I will not let this blah, dreary, lingering winter weather take my joy away! Now where is my camera!

Yesterday morning I woke to a gray overcast day with snow falling and in record time, Monday went from Magnificent Monday to Moody Mundane Monday:( You know the kind of “woe is me and I am pulling the covers back over my head day”…so today no matter if it is gray or not…actually the winds are howling…no make that screaming at times…I made a solid decision…no ho hum moping around!

I began thinking of my Grandparents and treasured memories staring out my portal of time window feeling the golden days of old pulling on my imagination, wondering and thinking what it must have looked like here a hundred years ago…when my Grandpa first came to this area in the 1880’s. What was it like coming to America, traveling so far across oceans and continents? How he never looked back as he knew his future was looking forward towards the opportunity of building a new life and living in a new land.

I love hearing stories of American History and it is even better when it is my family history…so lets step away to a different time and place…just close your eyes and imagine that tonight on a family evening here in my house, my Grandpa is going to tell us about coming to America…being ship wrecked when he was 13 years old in The Azores…alone on his first attempt to come to America…how he somehow made it to Ellis Island a few months later and then worked his way across the United States in the 1880’s. The different things he would have seen and the life he lived…the adventures he lived! And then my Great Grandmother would interrupt and say “Vell now Terje let me tell of my adventure of crossing the Atlantic and coming through Ellis Island in 1920….yah I was 76 years old…that is old to leave everything behind…yah I did not know the language or understand vhat this people vanted from me…and you vere late to meet me…America is such a big country, oh my…it vas such a long trip to make for me but now I am home vith all my family.”

Can you imagine what she felt and saw? Once through customs she would have crossed the United States to her new home here in Juniper…in the middle of no where…she may have called it another name or two…as it would have been different from her home in Norway…but the incredible skies and views in a new place that was filled with her family and life…her children…her grandkids and a future here in America.

When we refinished the old original floors I realized that I walk in my ancestors footsteps not just on the land but also literally in the house. It was really interesting when we pulled up the carpet to see the foot traffic and the worn spots…if you look close you can tell the floor had a stenciled by hand design on it…I do not know what it was called but imagine doing that in 1920 on your knees stenciling about 1600′ of wood floor. If I could have restored the areas where the stencil was worn off I would have as it was unique. I was told that it was a Scandinavian custom…has anyone else heard of it?

Today when I hear a creaky board I think of my family who lived here before me…my Mom walking the floor with me as a baby and Anne Marie walking the floor looking at her new home and new life in America. I love how the old floors came out…so does Minnie:)

Anne Marie would have seen this view often in the summers…looking out my forever window. I would have loved all the horses…my Dad told me that when he was young Grandpa had over a 100 head of horses to farm with…the barn here holds a 100 ton of hay and it was set up to accommodate several horses.

During harvest their were always large meals served to the hungry crews…I am sure that Anne Marie helped cook lots of good food…harvest in the 1920’s lasted for several weeks…imagine the stories you would hear when you gathered around the table? When I drove wheat truck during harvest in high school, as we gathered for our noon meal there was always family talk…both serious and fun…with my uncles there was always lots of jokes and teasing going on:) No matter the difficulties and hardships…coming to America for Annie Marie meant that she would be with her family once again with hopes and dreams of a new life in a new country!

A view of our home in the early 1950’s…the house is in the middle of the trees…the white 100 plus year old barn is at the bottom with the corrals and roping arena. It has changed a bit as now we have a large shop between the house and the barn…and I have a round corral to train my horses in behind the barn.

My house was built before the Great Depression…World Was II…The Korean War…Kennedy’s Assassination…First Man On The Moon…Martin Luther King…Bobby Kennedy…Kent State…Vietnam…The Right To Vote…Abortions…Watergate. Our world has changed significantly the last 100 years!

But we remain the same. We are still about faith and hard work…heritage with honor while living the code that was passed down to us.

We are still of the old country…the old ways of love of family and life well lived.

Living daily in a 100 year old farm house reminds you to keep the old traditions alive.

As I look out my portal of time kitchen window capturing the same views of old…I whisper prayers of gratitude for the family that went before me leaving me with heritage and life…and prayers whispered for today and the future ahead.

 I often think of Neal Diamond’s song “America” when I am thinking of my ancestors…it is such an inspiring song and speaks deeply of the American spirit!

To a new and a shiny place
Make our bed and we’ll say our grace
Freedom’s light burning warm
Freedom’s light burning warm

Everywhere around the world
They’re coming to America
Ev’ry time that flag’s unfurled
They’re coming to America

Got a dream to take them there
They’re coming to America
Got a dream they’ve come to share
They’re coming to America

They’re coming to America
They’re coming to America
They’re coming to America
They’re coming to America
Today, Today,
Today, Today, Today

My country ’tis of thee (today)
Sweet land of liberty (today)
Of thee I sing (today)
Of thee I sing
Today, Today, Today
Today, today, today……

Ding Dong Hot Rod Cowgirl!

18 Feb 2012 6 Comments

by Hot Rod Cowgirl in Family, Life, Lifestyles Tags: , ,

I am a complete ding-dong today! I am sorry to all my subscribers and fellow bloggers…I did not know until this afternoon that last night when I turned off the blog I accidentally hit publish instead of save draft…I was nowhere near finished with the new blog post…at all. I threw some words on the paper and was just playing around with ideas….so please delete the silly mistake blog post that you received early this morning from me, as it was not meant to be posted!

Wild Bill has always said I was a klutz at times and this was one of them:) I either put my foot in my mouth or I trip over my own feet…it can be so annoying!  Here is proof that I have been a ding-dong forever…I was walking across the floor barefooted and somehow rolled my little toe and broke it…they put me on crutches so that it would heal properly. That is my Mom cutting up some meat I think…we are in the old house that we live in now….yes that is my kitchen window that I blog about. Mom remodeled the kitchen and installed a steel GE pink kitchen with brown trim…

When we moved in Wild Bill painted it blue for me as I was tired of the pink…and in 2007 we remodeled the kitchen back to original red fir cabinetry. It was funny as my Mom wanted to make the house look new and we are making the house look old by putting it back in its original condition:)

Minnie knows I can be a klutz too as well as a ding-dong but she loves me anyway:) She is my sweet kitty girl:)

I have learned my lesson to not close down the blog in a hurry when it is late and I am tired…next time I will be sure that I hit the right button. In the mean time I am working on the Versatile Bloggers Award Nomination Post  that I received from  http://creativenoshing.wordpress.com/

Thank you again Creative Noshing for nominating me:) Over and out from Ding Dong HR Cowgirl:)

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