Hot Rod Cowgirl’s Fete A La Holiday

17 Jan 2012 2 Comments

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

Hot Rod Cowgirl’s fete a la holiday…in regards to yesterday…what is a holiday?

Hmmmmm…living in the country as a ranch wife or farm wife and eventually a hot rodders wife still living on the ranch/farm…

Means your life is pretty much committed fulltime to either the cattle and horses or taking care of the land or building and driving hot rods…oh what is a girl to do?

Growing up on both a large cattle ranch and wheat ranch meant I got to ride horses and take care of cows…and take care of the land.

Then I married “Wild Bill”…the crazy hot rod person:)

Follow me back in time before “Wild Bill” to the cows and horses. In the summers my parents and I moved to the mountains with 800 plus Black Angus cows…my relatives stayed here and took care of the land while my parents and I took care of the cows. Everyday we were either checking cows or moving cows to different pastures etc. and if that was not the case then we would be doctoring a sick cow or putting out salt blocks or fixing fence or building fence or looking for the leppy calf’s mama…or taking care of the horses and so on. As Fall made it appearance we began to gather cows…this took several weeks…once they were gathered…then my Dad began a 100 mile cattle drive to the low lands for the herd to winter on.

Through the winter months it was calving time and feeding time. I remember we would get done feeding the cows about noon…then we loaded trucks up again for the next day getting done in time to make one last check on first calf hefers…if we saw one that looked imminent it was either moved to the barn area or we would watch her through the night. In Spring we vaccinated and had a huge several day branding at the lower ranch…and June 1 we moved back to the mountains to repeat the summer pattern.

I know the rest of the world celebrates with several holidays a year but around here and to this country cowgirl most holidays are just another day…Thanksgiving and Christmas we take the day off but if we have cows or horses then we still have to feed them and take care of them .

Holidays?

Holidays were either working or moving cattle or cutting wheat after we were married and moved to the ranch.

Or doing Hot Rod Car Shows on Labor Day Weekends.

Or harvesting on July 4th…

And we usually do not want to see any fireworks!

Smile…smile….smile:)

Tack room wall of bridles and bits.

And working decor…yee-haw:)

Tonight as I close this sort of educating work verses holiday on a ranch post…we are under a severe winter storm watch…winds have been blowing all day…gusting to 45 mph…we are to be inundated with snow the next 48 hours…and it is snowing hard right now…we need moisture…but could we hold off on the freezing cold stuff as tonight I am dang cold.

Sleep well and I am wishing you a warm and gentle night:)

Snow Update In Juniper Canyon

16 Jan 2012 Leave a comment

by Hot Rod Cowgirl in Photography, Storms, Weather, Winter Tags: , , ,

Snow update in Juniper Canyon. Here we go…the clouds were serious with the “Impossible Snow Mission.”

Yep…the snow has landed here in Juniper Canyon finally this 2012 winter.

One last shot…it is still coming down…snow from heaven…tonight we are under a Winter Storm watch for the next several days…I will keep you posted.

May you be blessed by God tonight…snuggle up and sleep well.

Sunday’s Fabulous Snow Follies

15 Jan 2012 Leave a comment

by Hot Rod Cowgirl in Clouds, Lifestyles, Photography, Storms, Weather, Winter Tags: , , , ,

Sunday’s fabulous snow follies did not show up as predicted…snow?  What snow?  Winter storm warnings….where?

This is what we woke up to…hmmm…Sunday sunshine and clear blue skies!

Tucker is sunning herself…she likes keeping her tan spots nice and tan year round:) She is quite a Diva around here too…she is Queen Meanie at times…the Boss…don’t cross her.

Ah-ha! The cast of characters are slowly beginning to mix things up a bit for a change around Juniper Canyon.

Clouds began to roll in on a mission impossible. The snow assignment had been accepted as their mission and it was going to go down.

Slowly the clouds snuffed the light of the sun out…it was time for the sun to take a nice winter nap.

And then…the onimous “Big Guy” showed up above…of course I was out with my camera clicking happily away with the ever changing shapes and rather threatening eerie light…perfect for photography.

 “Little Buck” here comes the snow instead of here comes the sun.” If you look close you can see his rear end across the road. He is a Buckskin and blends in with our scenery.

Melody is still truly wondering what Patio Horse is up too…why does he keep hanging around anyway?

And Kiah agrees…and wonders why am I shooting pictures in the cold…cuz I am obsessed Kiah and you are cute…kind of scary cute but cute.

Until next time…have a great Sunday night.

A Stunning…Splendiferous And Sparkling Saturday

14 Jan 2012 Leave a comment

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

A stunning…splendiferous  and sparkling  Saturday has arrived in Juniper Canyon!

Today we woke to a lovely temperature of 12 degrees at 6:30 this morning…with brilliant sunshiny sunshine along with funky shadows and my teeth chattering. If you look hard in this picture you can see two pairs of glowing eyes…that is the “Hey you…we want our hay hay hay breakfast!”

I can hear them snickering with the nickering, I think they figured if they could make their eyes glow it would scare me into feeding them early! But instead I dove back under the covers hiding….geez!

Brilliant idea guys but very twilight zoneish….I can hear it now…Rod Serling saying:

“Today was a spendiferous Saturday on the ranch for Hot Rod Cowgirl…until she woke to feed her horses…and then she realized she was no longer in this reality and no longer on the ranch but instead in the reality of planet Ding Dong and and and……whew!

Min-Min was not thrilled with being up early…she is still annoyed that I left yesterday to run errands in town…she runs the house you know and she is the queen:) She does not like it one bit when I leave to go anywhere….so today she is simmering with a bit of cattitude!

I was dressed with make up on and hair fixed before 7:00 this morning….things are getting even more bizarre and silly crazy!

Fortunately for Wild Bill I had my coffee…with sugar free vanilla and a lots of java caffeine:) I can not imagine not having coffee! My Grandmother and Mom used to give me the small creamer bottle that restaurants used to give filled with half cream and half coffee when I was a little girl…so we love coffee here…it is a Norwegian thing too.

They say we are to get snow this weekend and the incredible blue crisp sky late this afternoon is evidence of the weather changing as the jet stream is lowering bringing in arctic brrrrrrr cold air from Canada.

Oh ok the beautiful wall bronze cut out is really not me! Here you go, this is me today and I was ready to get going bright and early which is super silly as usually I am still in my sweats…my silly sweats…on most silly Saturdays.

And as the light is changing it is getting colder…clouds are rolling in…winter is in the air today for sure.

So I think I snuggle up with

 Ms. Minnie Mouse and Wild Bill.

Pour myself another cup of java…keep my camera handy and enjoy the splendiferous day.

Hoping to have some snow to photograph for you tomorrow…have a great weekend where ever you are!

Simple Times In A Simple Country Girl’s Life

10 Jan 2012 12 Comments

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

Simple times in a simple country girls life in Juniper Canyon can be interesting…always changing…certainly not boring. What is it like where you live? If you were to ask me what is it like here, this is what I would say…

Amazing views because you can see forever…ever changing incredible light for picture taking nuts like me…you never know what living scene of daily life you will see or experience.

Most mornings you wake to a beautiful sunrise…filled with a revered quiet…stillness that fills you with a sense of God and peace for the new day.

Equally beautiful sunsets kiss your face each night and never fail to put on a chromatic color scheme of pure country beauty.

Solitude…looking into forever…not seeing another person…just you and the stillness of the land.

I know that horses will be in heaven because God made them and He loves to ride them…I feel like I am already  in heaven when I ride Melody…she makes my heart rest and my spirit go ahhhhhhh.

A warm winter’s night that feels like spring…it was incredible to look up and see two jets overhead in the golden evening twilight.

One of our resident hawks taking off to hunt for dinner. I then convinced Wild Bill to hike up on the hill as I was hoping for some moon shots.

Even after living here forever I never get tired of the views and knowing that the ground I walk on has been in my family for over 100 years…that speaks deep to your soul. I thank God for our home and this land everyday.

Here is a bit of history…the old clubhouse that we made for our kids and eventually became our grandkids. It has been everything from a rocket ship to a fort to a tank to a spaceship. In real life though it was an original tractor cab way back in the early 40’s. It kept the weather out and some of the dust…if only it could talk the stories it would tell.

And then…the moon peeked out from over the hill….perfectly blessed:)

Wild Bill agrees the hike was worth it!

Country beauty…country blessings.

Always interesting and intriguing.

As we headed for home we passed the stand of old trees that my Dad planted way back when. The weather and harsh winds take a toll on them but they have an enduring beauty of their own.

Hey Little Buck Buck…he is enjoying his evening hay dinner.

One last Juniper moon shot.

I hope you have enjoyed a small…very small part of our simple life here. May you be blessed where ever you are.

Where Oh Where Is Ms. Madame Cold Winter?

07 Jan 2012 2 Comments

by Hot Rod Cowgirl in Family, Ranch Life, Storms, Weather, Winter Tags: , , ,

Where oh where is Ms. Madame Cold Winter? I want the winters that I remember in my heart and soul.

Winters of being snowed in out here…incredible times of sledding down hills…crazy snowmobiling times of taking off from the back door…off we go over them thar hills all eight miles to Helix and back…by the time we got home we had at least 35 miles on our machines:) Yee-Haw cowgirl style:)

I want this kind of winter…snowed in…not going anywhere kind of snow!

Ask Miss Hobby Horse…she knows about snowy Juniper white stuff.

Tuck Tuck remembers the white stuff too…it was up to her belly.

Our 100 year old farm house remembers the snow and cold winters…it can tell you lots of history and stories of past winters.

Miss Melody was laying on top of the third rail of the log fence as we had so much snow a few years ago.

“Hello Ms. Madame Cold Winter Snow Person.” “We need snow…rain and moisture…not to be greedy but we also need some cold temps to kill the bugs and all of the things that hurt our wheat…please gf:)”

And Ms. Razzy says yeah…winter…snow…what is it…I am only two?

We need snowed in type of snow and cold…drifts and lots of white stuff…where oh where are you Ms. Madame Cold Winter?

It should be like this…when we bought our first Chevrolet Blazer the first 1500 miles were solid snow floor out here.

“Ms. Madame Cold Winter Snow Person…please come see us again…you are always welcome…we have lots of hot chocolate and blankets…flashlights too:) Love you girl and want you back:)”

“Happy Birthday Mom…My Mother My Friend.”

“We miss you much!”

Hot Rods and Secret Labs

06 Jan 2012 Leave a comment

by Hot Rod Cowgirl in Holton Secret Lab, Hot Rods, Photography Tags: , , , , ,

Hot Rods and Secret Labs….what does that sound like but Holton Secret Lab!

“Should you accept this mission?”

I decided last weekend that no matter that it is cold out, it was time for another HSL photo shoot to let you know what we are working on…we have many various projects going currently.

By the way…all you car people out there…you can click on all these pictures and they will blow up and fill your screen…makes them look very nice!

I love the shot of the “53 F-100″…it sits right and looks bad to the bone…it is parked in front of  “The Secret Lab.”

Currently we have been working on two F-100 Ford pick ups.

We call this “56 F-100 The “Chrome One”…the paint and all the chrome make it shine beyond belief!  It is like a mirror…and shines like a wild thing…it is going to be a show stopper this year.

It  has a big heartbeat…yah-yah! Can we all say…incredible…awesome and fast!

When you see this F-100 in person…it is jaw dropping and ver cool.

Can you say “Zoom Zoom?” This belongs to a “68 Cougar” that we have built a new suspension for among other details….if this car pulls up next to you at a stop light…forget it…it will blow your doors off!

The ever changing scenery in the lab…I never know what I will see on the rotisserie…here we have a “54 Willy’s” cab on one end and a “35 Dodge” cab on the other end…getting ready for priming.

We spend hours customizing each customer job to their specifications…from a louvered firewall…

To a custom dash and interior as most customers would like to have more gauges and air conditioning installed as well as satellite radio etc.

Another custom touch…a back light on a “35 Dodge Belt Line.”

It takes many shop hours…labor along with talent to create and fabricate hot rods into outrageous and outstanding rides.

This “48 Ford Coupe” is in process right now…it is getting a new heart and suspension.

This is a “46 Ford Tudor ” that we built and if you look close at the two vehicles you can see that we customized this Ford a lot.

Here is my “36 Ford Pick Up Cab” sitting on top of the paint booth…”Hey…wait a minute Wild Bill…I want my pick up finished!”  I used to own a 35 Ford Pick Up that got sold…arggghhhh!

On any given day this is what I see…

Cool stuff…nice stuff…custom delight stuff and yee-haw…oops…sorry…the cowgirl got the best of me:)

 Cragers…wow…unfortunately you do not see them as much now…when I met Wild Bill they were the only wheel to have…I loved them then and I love ’em now!

And Bella Bel-Air!

And this very cool F-100!

This was just a very brief look at “Holton Secret Lab” as there is much more to showcase.

“Hang on and check back with us”.

“We deliver the unexpected.”

“Burn ‘Em and Enjoy The Ride or The Drive!”

Until next time…”Your mission is complete.”

This brief will self destruct in 5 minutes…over and out!

http://www.holtonsecretlab.com

Starting 2012 Off With A Bang!

05 Jan 2012 Leave a comment

by Hot Rod Cowgirl in Clouds, Ranch Life, Weather, Winter Tags: , , ,

We started 2012 off with a bang with some target practice behind our barn. I would love to have an indoor target practice range as New Years day was a bit cold with a brisk breeze fluttering about.

Beginning with the cast of characters….hmmm…what one shall I shoot with first? The last month we have had several country crimes close to where we live due to drugs and various robberies. We have had a neighborhood watch out in our small canyon now for six years…believe me when you drive around out here to look at the country we see you and we write your license number down…then we send it to the County Sheriff and he checks you out. In this day and age, drugs and crime have become a common thing for all of us no matter where we live.

I aim to be a good shot…while I feel very good about being able to shoot good I also feel sad that I have to even worry.

Wild Bill is an excellent shooter…scary good.

This is serious stuff….grrrrrr…I shoot my gun in order to protect myself or Wild Bill and unfortunately  I will do it if I have to. Yes we have several alarm systems out here…we have various ways of knowing everything we need to know. Life has changed country folks in the last ten years with the growing drug crimes and addictions. With our actively involved neighborhood watch program; we all keep watch for each other with the sheriff’s help.

Okay moving on to other ranch happenings…Tucker was being optimistic by practicing her sunshine girl pose…wishing and hoping for that sun to come out soon…today would be nice!

One of our barn Lions made a rare appearance for me to catch a good photo.

Actually they both came out to see us….are they not cool? They are huge too!

“For I am ‘King of the Jungle’,
I am a mighty lion.
I am the one who rules the roost,
so don’t even bother trying.”

A winter view looking down the canyon…

“I prefer winter and fall, when you feel the bone structure of the landscape – the loneliness of it, the dead feeling of winter. Something waits beneath it, the whole story doesn’t show.”

Winter skies above…

“All through the long winter, I dream of my garden. On the first day of spring, I dig my fingers deep into the soft earth. I can feel its energy, and my spirits soar.”

Ho Ho Ho Merry After Christmas And Happy New Years!

31 Dec 2011 Leave a comment

by Hot Rod Cowgirl in Holton Secret Lab, Lifestyles, Ranch Life, Weather Tags: ,

Ho Ho Ho Merry after Christmas hello and as we approach 2012 we wish you the best of the New Year! ! I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas time with your families.

Our Christmas was blessed with family, friends and lots of good food. No we do not have this much snow…actually we have none…this picture was taken in 2009 in front of “The Lab.”

Christmas morning broke, gifting us with a beautiful Juniper Canyon dawn which was glorious.

I love the early morning mist in this picture just as dawn broke…you can see the soft swirls of it. You can see two of our horses too…Annie is standing up and waiting on breakfast while Melody is laying flat on her side taking a nap….she likes to stretch out for her naps…she trusts me enough that I can walk up to her to scratch her while she is down…she is so sweet.

Santa Claws brought “Minnie Mouse” a new play house…it even matches her fur:)

I wonder what Santa brought Wild Bill? It looks like something for his horse Buck…ok smile WB.

Looks like Buck got a new bit…Wild Bill is modeling it…hmmmm…I wonder if I can put this to good use?

A-ha…Minnie got a little catnip…yee haw…we try to do it right down here on the farm!

Merry Christmas Yippee Ki Yay Kiah…we love you lots and lots:) Did you like your new chew toys and bones? Ah it looks like you enjoyed the black bird…

Minnie Mouse had a good Christmas…she loved her new house and her cat nip too…ahhhhh life is good:)

Wild Bill welcome to the technology of a Mac…you will love it. As you see…he is enjoying it and playing with  it:) We both have the iPhone 4S with the Siri feature which is awesome!!! Both our laptops have a similar feature.

Speaking of  Macs…as I said they are cool!

These are farm country Macs…hay swathers that we are painting for one of the local farmers here. They are parked at my back door…Hot Rod Cowgirl is not figurative.

I am real…a bit hot rod…a bit horse gal…a bit farm girl….thats me:)

Right Melody?

My hubby bought me this awesome ring from ZPT Silver…notice the bucking horse? That is the Pendleton Round Up logo and I love it!

Hot Rod Cowgirl’s garage…”Jagged and Sadie Sue Suburban”…we name our vehicles around here.

Note my cool bug shield painted by my hubby with his signature flames…and “Jagged” looking mean and nasty…waiting for good weather again.

This cowgirl thing goes way back to when my Dad stuck me on a horse before I could walk…this is me at a horse show way back in the mid 1980’s…it was extremely hot that day and I was riding one of our ranch bred horses Sally…it was her first horse show and we did fine except when we rode by some little kids who dropped their full plastic cup of ice water…poor Sally jumped but we managed to maintain and finish our class in western pleasure:) I was so proud of her as she had lived forever way out in the country so this show was a big eye-opening experience for her. Personally I like riding  my horses out and working cows or gathering cows…but in the 80’s I thought ok what is this horse show thing…had to find out…and it was ok but not my thing. Note…look at the hat …notice the feather and the high crown? Styles have changed…thank goodness!

Hot Rod Cowgirl and Wild Bill along with Holton Secret Lab wishes you a Happy New Year! Stay tuned….I did a photo shoot today and will upload some new pictures on my next post.

Just As We Were Hurrying To Get All The Last Minute Christmas Shopping Done….

19 Dec 2011 1 Comment

by Hot Rod Cowgirl in Lifestyles, Ranch Life, Weather Tags: , ,

Just as we are hurrying to get all the last-minute Christmas shopping done…holiday meals planned…and last minute details finished…we noticed a few days ago that there was an unusual amount of water on top of the road in front of our house. “Wild Bill” went out to look closer and found that we had a water leak under the paved county road.

After getting the necessary permits “Wild Bill” began the labor intensive job of tearing up the asphalt to get to the water pipe.

Not a fun job and rather over whelming to start this project now with freezing temps…but we needed water and we had to stop the leak.

“Yikes”….

This was rather serious folks…

As in trenches and “detours”…our poor dogs trying to do their job…barked and growled at every car that drove off the pavement to go through the detour…try to sleep at night…and no you do not.

Ask “Miss Melody”…she did not get any sleep either with the barking dog issue and “Patio Horse” was still staring at her too”.

And there is one of the culprits…and she is such a good girl..we love our Kiah…good good girl she is:)

Yes “Kiah my Kiah…you are a good girl!”

“Ok guys…what do you think?”

Since we fixed the leak of a 50-year-old pipe under the road it only made sense to fix the pipe all the way to the well…about 200’…to replace all the old pipe with new pipe….so Wild Bill dug and dug.  Dasher is the dog you see with Wild Bill…Dasher was born this time of year…perfect name huh?

The road is almost back to normal…the trench is filled with gravel…three days later all is well once again in “Juniper Canyon” and we have water in the house at last!

“Uh Dad….what do you think?” My two men…brings back memories of “Wild Bill” with my Dad.

Today we decorated our tree and got back to Christmas:)

And “Minnie Mouse said all is good:)”

This is country living folks…we is country folks…and we live it:)

Previous Older Entries Next Newer Entries