Hot Rod Cowgirl

Today was the first day that I have actually felt the first breath of winter…artic cold wind…and dark clouds.

We were out this afternoon worming our three horses.

It was cold with the wind blowing out of the North…the outside lights were on at 2:45 in the afternoon and it looked like it would either snow or rain any minute.

Melody and Annie were good with the wormer…I am sure it tastes like ick…but once it was down I gave them treats..and lots of rubs and luvs.

Here at our house our horses…dogs….cats…are our kids and we love them 1000%.

Buck was great with his shot and then the wormer too….he is so polite and quiet.

As soon as we were done, I hot footed it back to the house…brrrrr.

It snowed here a year ago on November 21st…so will it this year too?

I wrote this a few weeks ago….was going to shoot more pictures and get it posted…I know if I am going to blog I need to do it once a week at least or more often..then I got busy and did not get this posted.

 I have disappeared the last few weeks from the blog/web world. Where have I been? This was the last picture you saw of me taken in October.

I had surgery in Portland last week at Oregon Health Science University  so I was a bit detained from my computer! I picked up something way too heavy for me to lift and ended up with a hernia.

Some of you know that I am a breast cancer survivor and almost have six years under my belt now…I went through lots of surgery in 2006…20 hours in one week and then another 5 hours four months later. We had been very proactive as I was high risk and when they caught it on the mammogram it was the size of a small orange…the Dr. recommended a mastectomy.

Wild Bill and I had already discussed this as I had 8 biopsies from 2001 through 2004….had one year off and then was diagnosed in January of 2006. It was wide-spread but not yet invasive and caught early so I feel I was lucky. We chose to take both breasts and at the same time do the reconstruction with a double free tram flap as it was the most proactive thing we could do for my survival. The first surgery was 16 hours and then 48 hours later another 4 hours. It was a miracle…no infections and yes the healing time was six months but I came back good as new….I was working out at the local athletic club with a trainer at five months.

This is me today…I look the same…but I have to be careful and not lift over 10 pounds as now I have a mesh screen in my belly as a tram flap is using your own belly tissue and muscle for the blood flow for the new tissue to form new breasts.

 I was afraid I would puncture implants doing ranch chores or riding horses. Out where we live it is a different life…you do what you have to do when you have to do it…if you have never lived in the middle of no where or the country that may not make sense.

As it is, I ended up with a hernia from lifting something when Wild Bill was not around…I know stupid on my part…but seriously I do not think and I forget…this has been a new normal for this country girl.

Here we are coming home from OHSU after the surgery last week….I love the city but I am always thankful when we get on I-84 and we are headed for Eastern Oregon…..home.

Ok well forget November 21st on the snow…this is November 16th…oh what a fun drive we had.

It went from a bit of snow to…

Serious snow…I am not thinking this is looking good…I was not worried about us as we had four-wheel drive and are used to driving in winter conditions etc. but being on the freeway with lots of traffic is not good with icy conditions.

Oh great!!!!!

And then…we finally broke out of it as we hit the edge of Eastern Oregon.

Biggs Junction and Maryhill…they have excellent wines at Maryhill Winery.

And then…God smiled….and brought us home to Juniper Canyon…with peaceful views and the blessing of “home.”

Melody and Annie said hay hay hay! Mom’s home…we missed you…come see us and give us some luvs…rubs and apple asses:)

Minnie missed me too…she and I have spent the last week on the sofa under the quilt recovering. Of course I have my laptop and a new phone to play with…which is fun of course…and lots of well wishes and my hubby who has been awesome to be my nurse and my cook:) I have several weeks yet to go with recovery but we are on the road.

I am thankful to be here and to be healthy…to have life and years yet to live. Please be sure to take care of your health and know that your life is your  life and your health is your health…do all your yearly exams and be aware of your body and of your health. I am living proof of doing that as with the cancer I had you could not feel it…and yet the area was the size of a small orange. Both Wild Bill and I saw it after the biopsy. My Doctor did not want to wait on doing a surgical biopsy as he wanted to get it out…so six days later after the mammogram he did the biopsy in his office where I was fully awake. Seeing the size of the lump, and yet I could not feel it, helped me understand that you may not always be able to feel a lump with breast cancer. Doing your yearly exams and in my case a digital mammogram saved my life.

Moving on to Holton Secret Lab News….as soon as I am feeling a bit better I will be updating the new web site.

The Portland Roadster Show is coming…March 2012. This is a picture of our display at the Roadster Show…10 Customer Cars…12 Awards.

What’s that sound? It’s a V-12 1928 Dodge Coupe…”Jagged!”

Holton Secret Lab…need I say more?  Check out…www.holtonsecretlab.com

Come see what is so dang secret about “The Lab”…You Will Not Be Disappointed!

Happy Thanksgiving 2011…From Hot Rod Cowgirl…Wild Bill and Holton Secret Lab LLC.