Spooky And Stupendously Spectacular!!!

Wild Bill and I decided last Saturday that we need to get more of our outside projects done…I would mow yards and deal with weeds etc. while he uses the trencher to dig a trench for the new pipe for the new well…as you can see in the picture below it is quite a process.

We have 2000′ feet of new pipe to install for the house, shop, barn, irrigation etc…it is a huge job with trenching, running the backhoe as needed, and laying the new pipe and fittings etc.!

As I was finishing up the mowing I looked up on top of the hill behind our house and saw these ominous black clouds drifting in overhead.

There was no doubt that a storm was imminent…I got WB’s attention and pointed towards them…then I ran into the house to grab my camera!

Why is it that when I see clouds like this that I think of ET or Jabba The Hut???

I couldn’t seem to fit the incredible clouds into my lens…the cloud cover was massive and I knew I had a short window of time to capture the magnitude of the storm…I needed to get as far back as I could!

Finally I ran hard down into the pasture across the road and I captured this photo…you can see how the clouds were transforming the blue sky into night…at 2:00 in the afternoon!

Ok Toto this is not looking good…HRCG get your buns back to the house!

The storm slowed to a stand still overhead…something was going to happen as I could feel the temps dropping from warm to cold…which was an odd feeling.

I ran back to the front porch…whew…pant-pant…whew. Running is not my thing…walking fast is good or riding a horse!

I could feel a brisk breeze on my face as the air got colder and the dark clouds began to turn white.

And then the heavens opened and all hail broke loose!

Thankfully the hail began to turn to rain within a few minutes…heavy rain where you could almost not see through it like a fog…we actually got 1/4″ in 10 minutes!

By late afternoon we were back to life is good in Juniper Canyon…blue skies with the sun shining and birds singing…I could not help but break out into song:)

The hills are alive,
With the sound of music
With songs they have sung
For a thousand years

As the day slowly ended, God blessed us with one of His beautiful sunsets…I never grow tired of seeing all the incredible colors of nature and the world God created all around us:)

Buck says the day ended well:)

Minnie says…hmmmm…ok well kiss my stripes…why…no reason…remember I am the “Cat” and my goal is to keep you guessing:) I know Minnie Mouse and I loves you lots!

With that said…follow your heart…take along your forever friends and family…they will keep an eye out for you as they travel along with you…they are your heart and a blessing from God to your life:)

Wishing you a Sunny and Shinny Day:) Happy Monday wherever you are!

Happy Father’s Day Dad!

I am a bit late with posting this but seems life right now is a bit fast and crazier than I want…today is a very special day of honoring our Dad’s.

This is my Dad…he was an amazing man…he lived with a left stiff leg from a football injury during his senior year in high school. Yet not once did he ever complain or make excuses for his life. Instead he fought to live a normal life and he did. I saw it and was witness to it…Dad was the real deal when it came to being a cowboy and a great Dad!

Dad with his horse Jingle across the road from the house in the 1940’s.

Dad roping in the 1950’s…

Dad in the 1970’s running one of the biggest cattle ranches in the state of Oregon. One of the very last cattle ranches in the state to drive their cattle down from the mountains in the late fall to the winter pasture. It was a 90 mile cattle drive with 800 head of mamma cows.

Newspaper Article On The Juniper T

Yearly Fall Cattle Drive

Cows headed home…we drove the cattle every fall for almost 30 years and by the time we did it the last year…it was a piece of cake. They knew where they were going…home.

Dad looking weary on the drive about half way through. This is my Dad…his horse Bucky…his dog Blue. He was pretty much John Wayne to me and Mom and kinda scary to Wild Bill:)

Oh come on WB Dad does not look scary here!!!

 “WB are you gonna marry my daughter?”

“Yes sir….I am!”

“She is our little girl…and our only child…so I am watching you!”

“Don’t worry Dad…I am good with WB.”

I have so many good memories of growing up riding with Dad and working cows…but some of the best ones are when Dad took me fishing or when he taught me how to drive a four speed Scout up in the mountains…he was the solid comfort in Mom’s and my life…and he always kept a going.

Dad, you gave me the gift of life and horses:)

Happy Father’s Day…I learned everything I could from you about life and living and I miss you and Mom so very much.

I thank God for giving me a cowboy Dad like you!

Hotrod Cowgirl headed on down the road with horse power and horsepower:) Over and out…see ya on down the dusty trail!

Whoa…Slow Down…Summer Times A Flying!

I know I know I need to do a post about life here instead of awards….I am sorry to be so dang slow!!!

We have been busy busy with the house remodeling job and doing all the various summer chores….

Wild Bill was taking a picture of me mowing the yard…a country yard is sort of dirty work…out here we do not have manicured yards as we have various visitors such as gophers or critters that dig holes and then when you are innocently mowing the yard you accidentally hit a dirt mound and poof:)

It seems the days fly by and here it is almost half way through June!!!

Yikes I want summer to slow down and stay for as long as possible with warm sunny days:)

With this post I would like to show you how the old house has changed over the years. This is a picture of my parents right before they got married in 1939…when they returned from their honeymoon, Grandpa moved them into the house here in Juniper Canyon…where we still live today.

The house has changed the last 100 years, but it started out like this in 1920…with a full basement and the upstairs. It was a typical white clapboard farm house…built really good as it is very solid. When they poured the concrete for the basement they poured it deep…and the wood they used for the structure was solid good stuff as Grandpa spared no expense as he wanted the best for his Mother. This picture would have been in the 1950’s…about 35 years after the house was built. I think that is my Dad on the tractor on the left, he is moving dirt in prepping the site for the concrete patio…and I think that is one of my uncles off to the right.

Fast forward to 2007…the patio runs the whole side of the house wrapping around to the front porch. The yellow siding was added to the house by my parents in the 1970’s…the windows were changed out in the 1950’s the first time and eventually replaced with storm windows. In 1980 we moved into the house as  Mom was tired of the stairs…she wanted a one level newer house. I was delighted as I loved growing up in the house…it was home to me. Over the years Wild Bill and I have done various remodels and upkeep to the house.

This year it was time for some major upkeep remodeling with a new roof, new siding, a floor upstairs and revamping our master bedroom and re-doing the concrete patio…along with a new well and all new water pipe to the house etc. This was about a month ago…we have the new roof on and the old siding off.

We added blow in insulation to the outside walls and roof…and then they wrapped the house with insulation…so we have double insulation now and I can tell the difference already!

We chose a Hardie Plank Red Cedar siding as it matches our log fence and also the cedar bat and board shop. I love how it came out!!!  The garage doors need to be painted yet…and we still have to re-do the patio.

Oh my the patio…I roller skated on this patio…had lots of birthdays on it…swam in my swimming pools over the years on it and have loved it…still do today as we live out there during the summer. Our contractor feels they have to tear out the concrete on the side of the house and re-pour it….it has aged a lot the last ten years and it is time to address that too. Ok Minnie…you and me need to head to the high country as this will be very noisy!

Ms. Melody is not impressed either…she is down at the barn…good water and nice stall but….she wants her old stall back right outside my window at the house…when we drilled for water it was in her old stall so I had no choice but to move her to the barn for a while….its ok Mel…we love you lots and we are setting up new stalls for you, Buck and Annie close to the house:)

Me and Mel when she was three a few years ago…first night she spent here after I brought her home. She is a very social horse:)

I will update photos over the next few days to show you what we have done inside the house too:) This is the new floor upstairs…it is Acacia Wood and I love it!

And Ms. Minnie Mouse says “Remodeling stinks…why Mom does this I do not know…of course I am the cat…and I know where it is at…my name is Minnie Mouse and I am the Queenie of the House…Humph!”

We have had several beautiful sunsets….with intense and incredible colors!

Lots of weird but beautiful clouds…

Funky ones of every kind:)

And then there was this big boy…it seemed like it was sitting on us…it was just beginning to rain a bit when I got this picture.

But then it did this and the day ended beautifully once again here in Juniper Canyon…ahhhh.

Minnie had a good day too as she had a nice sun bath before it rained…whew:)

Have a good night wherever you are:) Minnie says “Bye for now:)”

Incredible Storms Rolling Over Juniper Canyon

Our weather the last year has been odd for this neck of the woods….but perfect for me to capture images to share with you all:)

It all began like this….dark couds overhead with threatening skies…I knew it was camera time.

Within minutes the first rainbow appeared…as the sun was dipping lower and lower so the incredible colors are natural.

Looking back towards the barn….beautiful skies!

We had several short cloud bursts of rain….

Incredible…God’s colors…in person they are intense and beautiful and awesome!

Another rainbow…and this time it was reaching over the entire ranch….we have land on each side of the road and this blessing rainbow was reaching from side to side of our land…wow!

And Mr. Buck was on the move…he was feeling good and stretching his muscle!

And a classic Quarter Horse stop…Buck is right on…head down…butt tucked under and haunches set…slide a bit and stop…love Quater Horse butts:)

“Did yah see that Mom?”

Ok this is the third set of rainbows…totally weird…I do not ever remember seeing so many in one storm here.

Neither does Buck….

Another incredible sunset in Juniper…

Melody and Annie were right with Bucky…weird weather makes them feel frisky…they love to play and run and buck too!

A beautiful end to an unusual storm for us…I know many of you have scary storms…so far ours have been unusual and great photo ops for me…by the way I shot over 350 pictures in a few hours with this storm and it was hard to pick the ones I did for the blog:)

Buck says whew that was fun! Now I need sleep…it is the time to say God Night:)

With that said…have a great night!

Magical Country Nights With My Car Guy

As spring slowly slides into Juniper Canyon, the evening light has become softer with golden highlights…perfect light to capture pictures of the various customer vehicles we have built. This “1951 Chevrolet Pick Up” came to us from Calgary, Alberta and it was time for pictures as the owner was on the road headed to our shop to take his truck home, as the job was complete:)

The late day light makes the colors pop…which I love!

The chrome grill and rounded nose of this vintage truck rock with artistic design!

This is one very classy Chevrolet, completely restored to stock. The owner bought this truck at the Barrett Jackson Car Auction in Scottsdale, AZ. and once he got it home decided that it needed some TLC. He did some searching and  found “Holton Secret Lab”…that is our business here…he loved that we were the “Secret Lab”.

We restored a “1948 Chevrolet Pick Up” a few years ago and took it to the Portland Roadster Show several times winning Best of Class. Both pick ups are almost the same color etc. and they are both restored to stock. You can take a look at the “1948” on our website under portfolio and also awards on http://www.holtonsecretlab.com. It is on the second page of the Portfolio.

I do love taking pictures of the work my hubby does as when the vehicle is finished it is amazing as I know how it looked when it came into the shop. WB has incredible vision and can see through the rust and nasty looking vehicles that our customers often bring to us to make them new again. Kind of like me with salvaging some of the antique furniture we have…when I begin to restore an ugly piece of old dilapidated furniture I can see the end result even if no one else can:) WB puts his whole heart into the customers dream vehicle…doing what he said he would do…and he does it with perfection:)

Very cool shot…check out the headlights…and all the amazing chrome:)

When I first married WB I had allot to learn with Hot Rods and Customs. Thankfully on my own accord in High School I fell in love with the love of automobiles and cool cars….of course my parents did not allow me to have anything cool…geesh. I wanted a “1966 “396” Chevelle” for my car on my 16th birthday…I heavily hinted this to Mom and Dad as their very good friend owned a Chevy garage and on his used car lot he had this exact car…a dark black cherry color with black interior…I even test drove it…hoping beyond hope…instead they bought me a three speed on the column “1966 Dodge Coronet” or I could drive my Dad’s Chevy Pick Up or his Chevrolet Blazer…which was pretty cool in “1968-1969” as they were unique.

Simple times…simpler days…no iPod or iPhone or high-tech stuff installed on this dash…just get in and enjoy the drive:)

I love that the wood is oak with chrome strips…what a flash!

Ahhh…the good ol’ days!

Had to throw this in so you would not get too bored with car stuff…this was last night between storms…we now seem to get mid-west weather…wild clouds and wild weather…hoping we do not get tornadoes next or something crazy…weird clouds and storms are enough…perfect for a country cowgirl camera addict:)

Ok time to put her away…

Hmmmm? I wonder what he is seeing or thinking?

My car guy…love you WB:)

After 35 years you still make my heart pitter patter:)

It’s Fabulous Fantastic Freaky Friday!!! I am wishing you an incredible day filled with lots of good belly laughs with plenty of sunny sunshine!!! No matter where you are…there is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow if you look for it! It may not be actual money that you find but something very special and meaningful:)

Look deep into my eyes…the force is with you…Happy Freaky Friday!!!!!!

Sunsets…Horses…Moon Rising…Spring Evenings

Spring evenings are magical here as the earth begins to turn green everywhere and sunset time brings soft light and incredible skies.

I never grow tired of looking at this view…

The CRP is getting greener and is full of life.

Hey Mr. Buck Buck…love his Buckskin color…and he is such a good boy!

The sun is beginning to slowly slide behind the canyon hill….

While I fill water troughs and check horses…

My Sweet Melody…such a pretty girl:)

Heaven above is painting the sky colors and hues that we can not make ourselves…as it is God’s way of blessing us with His nightly creation…

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!

And as the sun-kissed the earth one more time with golden colors…I was blessed with this view out the window…the incredible moon sitting on top of the hill.

What we call a “Harvest Moon” as typically we often have beautiful moons like this during the heat of harvest and summer…

And lift off…the end to a perfect spring day in Juniper Canyon….

Wishing you all a blessed Sunday…and a great start to a new week on Monday!

I will be updating some new pictures of the house remodel as it is beginning to change quite a bit!

It’s Tawanda Day! Tawannnnda!!!!!!

Do you remember the movie “Fried Green Tomatoes”? I loved that movie…and Tawanda! So every once in a while it is Tawanda Day here…why…because it represents a sense of freedom and complete silliness!!! Which I personally need and love…we all do. In our busy crazy lives, wherever we live, we need to remind ourselves to take time out of each day and dance…laugh…let your hair down…be you…and just do it:) Tawaaannnnndaaaa!!! Yee-Haw!!!

We had rain this morning…with this amazing ground rainbow….I have never seen a ground rainbow…it was quite curious to me.

At noon we had a small break and now the clouds are definitely building…looking a bit ominous too.

 A FEW THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE ACROSS THE FOOTHILLS OF THE BLUE MOUNTAINS. SOME OF THE STRONGER STORMS WILL

PRODUCE WIND GUSTS TO 50 MPH…HAIL…AND HEAVY RAIN.

Well that does not sound fun!

I need to go check on my girls…Melody and Annie…they have been at the real barn since we began moving their portable stalls across the road…I miss seeing them out my window…the barn actually is very nice with quality stalls etc. for them but they miss me too…that is why we bought the portable stalls so they could be closer to the house.

So because it is a Tawanda Day…I had Wild Bill take me for a drive last evening to grab some shots of our landscape…I wanted to shoot the Canola now while it is yet blooming as in a few days it will drop the blooms…right now it is a vibrant yellow…this is for you:)

I loved taking these shots…could not stop as it was beautiful with the colors, the clouds, the light…it was magic time!

This is above our house…yes we can see into forever here…we live in a beautiful pristine land…most of the families that live here are like us…our ancestors came to America over 100 years ago to settle the land…to farm and begin a new life to pass on to their families and they did. Now we are the caretakers of the land and we all seek to do it right.

The view behind me….

And to my right…back towards the Blue Mountains…the carpet of green is this years wheat crop growing.

Incredible huh…golden clouds above a golden-yellow field of Canola.

This particular field has lots of memories for me…it is up the road from our house and joins our land…my cousins farm it. I ride my horses on it when there is stubble or no crop for the year…I love it as it has lots of hills and draws to explore. When I drove wheat truck in it…well it was never boring…very steep hills and draws to climb with one long 45 degree hill that lifts the back wheels on a self leveling hillside combine off the ground!

One year when Wild Bill was driving combine, I rode with him for a day sitting on a bean bag pillow on the floor, my back was against the glass and my view was either looking at WB or looking at the back wheels of the combine. As we came down the steep hill, I saw the back wheels lift off the ground…the only thing that kept us from rolling was the header! Of course my cousins and WB thought it was so dang funny as I was pretty wide eyed…no make that hysterical…oh wow what a ride…yeah!

Back to the Canola…this is how your Canola Oil becomes oil…next time when you look at your oil…think of this incredible yellow field…the seeds are there in the head of the flower. After the blooms fall off, the stem dries out, then the farmer pushes it over and harvests the seeds.

And this is what makes “Hot Rod Cowgirl” get excited with her camera!

The ever changing light, the colors, the landscape…beautiful and incredible:)

Country clouds and….

Wide open spaces…perfecto!!!!

Annnd…HRCG is on the move!!!!

Have a great weekend!!!! Taawwwaannndaaa!!!

Weekend Warriors!

A few weekends ago we began to move the portable horse stalls we set up here at the house to the new set up across the road from the house…last weekend we decided to move the hay/feed room.

With running a small business during the week and currently remodeling the exterior part of the house etc…often our weekends are when we do ranch chores.

In the spring especially, the ranch requires lots of TLC…we spray weeds and burn weeds…clean up around the buildings and along the roads…drag pastures as well as drag the gravel driveways around the ranch complex…fix fences, gates and sprinklers if needed…clean the barn, saddles and corrals…work up the dirt in the arena into nice soft un-clumpy dirt…lots of this and that type things.

There are not enough hours in a day for either Wild Bill or me from about February until maybe December and then we have the holiday rush!

“Wait…Hey Mr. Sun…you can’t leave me now…come back I need more daylight please!!!”

We began the process of dismantling stuff and I had gone to the house to grab some water for us to drink and my camera…I glanced out my kitchen window as I walked by and I saw this! We had moved the two stalls by taking them apart the weekend before…and Wild Bill…now you can see why he is known as “Wild Bill”…decided there were too many screws in the hay/feed room to take it apart sooooo…he was Wild Billing it!

“Uh honey, we are blocking off the road and it looks like you are beginning to slide down the embankment…which means you are likely going to roll the tractor and the feed room is chained to it so it will follow you!!! What are you #### doing!!!”

Yikes the tractor is sliding…ok I can’t watch this…no I have to watch this…”WB…there has to be a way to do this different #### !!!”

“Wild Bill get off the tractor!” The gravel and ground is sliding terribly!

Somehow WB, “Wild Billed it”…saving himself, the tractor and the feed room! Maybe it was me falling to the pavement kicking…screaming with a few swear words and praying hard!

Ta-da! Almost to the right spot! Aussie dog Dasher is supervising!

And then WB tries one more time to tip it over! I think he likes to give me a heart attack or something just to see if I am watching!

The new stalls are across the road from where they were before…this was a distraction picture as I was trying to not look at WB and the feed room that was trying to tip over!

Buck is munching away on the nice green pasture grass…soon the big irrigation guns will be watering the pastures again with having the new well:) “Psssst Buck…look at WB…the feed room is tipping!”

“Uh you mean the hay room…the feed room with the treats in it?” Buck was worried too!!! He loves that room!

Well we got it all moved without tipping something over and without yelling too much…just a few rather loud cuss words:) The feed room looks good…next we will re-assemble the stalls with a pen in front for a run and dry lot. I think they will like it better…more to do and not as boring.

Yes….we had more rain on Monday. Sunday had been beautiful…today it is semi cloudy and cold. I want warm days with sunny sunshine:) If you look close you can see the field down the road with the yellow hue to it. That is Canola…when you use Canola Oil this is how the farmers grow the seeds. I will get a better picture of it this week to show you.

Have a peaceful evening and a great week!!!

Moody Spring Clouds On A Taupe Tuesday…

Good Taupe Tuesday Evening to you!

The last month we have been remodeling and updating various things on the house, the shop and around the ranch.

All of a sudden the roof was 22 years old and not so great…the heat pump is the same age and needs a bit of help…the siding on the house needs to be changed out and while we do that we plan to insulate the walls and the roof to help out with the electric bill to be energy-efficient. The patio concrete has died and we are trying to figure out if we re-do the concrete or do some kind of natural stone look…decisions decisions and decisions.

Whatever I choose will be a last forever decision…so I better be absolutely sure:)

We did something that has never been done here before…not ever. Do you want to guess what it is?

We dug a well for our water…at 200′ deep we found good water at almost 300 gallons a minute….wow!

My hubby took the pictures saying “Honey this is our trip to Hawaii so I wanted to get pictures.” “What…wait minute…does that mean we are not going?”

My ancestors dug a 25′ well by hand a hundred years ago and lined it with bricks. I grew up on it and our kids were raised on it as it was the well we had. It is across the road from the house in a well house…when you shine a flashlight on it, you can see the water and the bricks. The water pressure we have now is about 25 gallons a minute…my showers have always been a trickle so it will be nice to have better pressure and water!

We will use the old well to water the pastures for the horses. The new well is next to the house, so we are moving the horse stalls across the road from the house where I can still keep an eye on them:)

Minnie says “What are you looking at?” “This house remodeling is very disruptive for napping!”

This evening we are to have thunderstorms…I have my camera ready to go if we get any interesting weather. Last night we had one of the most intense lightning storms I have seen here. Reminded me of the Wyoming storms we used to get when we lived there. The storm lasted for well over an hour…heavy winds and heavy rain came with it…along with rotating thunderstorms!

It is almost time for me to figure out dinner so I will head for the kitchen. Have a safe night tonight wherever you are!

Hot Rod Cowgirl’s Horse Power and Horsepower!

Often I am asked, how did I come up with the name Hot Rod Cowgirl? Am I really a cowgirl? What does Hot Rod mean in your name? How can you be both a Cowgirl and Hot Rod Girl?

 The pictures will help to explain the how and the why:)

Horsepower and horse power represent my life. I love my horses and I love horsepower! This shot is perfect…I can see both at once in my view:)

I grew up like this…horses and cows…on a large cattle and wheat ranch…in the middle of nowhere!

Horses have been a large part of my life and my heart…from the time I was 2 years old:)

scan0013

Then I met WB…and my heart became his…this country cowgirl turned into his Hot Rod Cowgirl!

Horsepower…My Classic Hot Rod!

Horse Power…My Classy AQHA “Fanny Annie!”

 “Hot Rod Cowgirl.”

Happy Horses…Happy Heart!

 Cadillac Truck…Cowgirl Style!

Hot Rods…Horsepower!

Hot Rod Cowgirl, Hobby Horse And Dog Maggie May.

 Original Cowgirl Cadillac…Miles Of Memories.

Go Fast GTO Horsepower!

Hot Rod Cowgirl Cutting Loose With Horse Power!

Hot Rod Cowgirl’s Cadillac 4-Horse Hauler Deluxe!

Cowgirl’s Hot Rod Husband…

And Her Cowboy Husband…He Has A Dual Look For Me!

Hot Rod…

Cowgirl:)

I hope that helps to explain it…we live on the ranch and operate our successful hot rod business here…we live the western life  with our horses, Aussie dogs and…Hot Rods!

Hot Rod Cowgirl Is Headed Down The Trail…Ta-Tah For Now!

Previous Older Entries Next Newer Entries