Autumn Colors And Light On A Captivating Night!

07 Nov 2012 26 Comments

by Hot Rod Cowgirl in Clouds, Hot Rod Cowgirl, Photography, Sunset Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

A few nights ago, the magic hour of color and light paid me a surprise visit.

Golden light and magical beauty in the skies above…the first evening in several weeks that we had actual clouds.

Clouds add interest and amazing detail…soft enchanting light and colors that deepen with views that you usually do not see.

I did not have time to put on my mucky yucky chore shoes…when the light is right, you hurry quickly as the light changes so fast and you do not want to miss out on one second of the golden hour.

I grabbed the closest shoes I could grab next to my camera…my Danskos…my one pair of nice black town shoes…and off I went carefully as the shoes have a slight boot heel and I am known to be a total klutz!

Fanny Annie was shocked that I did not have my boots on!

As I climbed through the fence and headed up the muddy hill behind the house wearing my nice Danskos…

I wondered if this means that I am truly becoming a real photographer?

I was caught off guard as the day had been sunny without clouds…I greedily took shot after glorious shot:)

Amazing views full of various hues and ever changing light with the clouds above.

I have missed the dramatic ways you can capture and photograph the landscape…for about a month we have had nothing but bright sunshine without clouds and a blue sky faded out to a blahsay color.

My Sony a77 Camera, shoots 12 frames per second. It is fast with no lag time, which I love! One of these days I will be up here filming WB going through the gears of his current Hot Rod! I am always thinking drama and creatively…I can see him coming through fog or smoke…going through the gears…not sure if I can pull that off but it would be a fun day of great shots and videos! Also, notice you can see my arena and round corral…maybe we could get some cows to work too:)

Hey WB, I’m up here…in the mucky mud with my Danskos on…I think I am obsessed with my camera and photography.

Artistic shadows on the landscape bring depth and intense colors that knock my socks off! I find that my eye constantly scans my horizon looking for something creative and unusual to capture.

I have lived on the land forever in isolated areas…

And I never grow tired of scenes like this…

Or of my horses…I love Annie’s cute ears outlined in black…she took a mud bath, see the dried mud on her neck:)

Skies of gold filled with beauty that we will miss if we are watching TV or on the computer…I love the colors of gold and blues in this shot.

God’s creative, ever changing scenery…beautiful!

Never boring at all!

A fun reflection in the puddle in front of the house.

A gift to capture the reflection of the clouds, the colors and the light in it.

This one is my favorite with the log fence and the almost surreal colors that give a muddy ranch puddle an unusual perspective of beauty!

Sometimes it is hard to find the words to describe what you see…incredible and beautiful:)

No matter where you live you will find beauty all around you in different ways. I have been in huge cities before and seen incredible beauty that I never see here…and I love the desert…most think it is just a flat boring place…uh-no.

 “Seriously Mom, I can not believe you wore your Danskos in the mud and went up on the hill to take pictures…geez!”

“Well, I know Annie…and you rolled in the mud right after I had brushed you so pretty and nice:)” “And I love you Annie Fanny…you are so sweet and cute:)”

Annie Fanny and HRCG are wishing you a wonderful peaceful evening and a great week!

Minnie Mouse Won “The Shine On Award”….Meowsie Woo Hoo Award!!!

26 Sep 2012 51 Comments

by Hot Rod Cowgirl in Award, Hot Rod Cowgirl, Minnie, Minnie Mouse, Photography Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Minnie was nominated for The Shine On Award by her buddy dog, Frankie at  http://emjayandthem.com/2012/07/01/shine-on/

Minnie’s Mom, who is HRCG, is buddies with Frankie’s Mom, MJ:)

Minnie is meowsie honored and humbled to receive this award….and she just grabbed my laptop and took off…Minnie what the heck are you doing?

Oh ok I think Minnie wants to be in control of the keyboard…oh heaven help us…I did not know she could type???

Hey she may be working with me in the office tomorrow…Min Min…I love my girl and you rock on girl:)

She loves attacking her red mouse…Minnie loves red…it makes her go into her tigress mode!

Minnie loves her Navajo blanket…she likes to roll up in it and hide or she hides her toys and attacks the lumps:)

This is the Minnie exercise known as the “scratch my kitty back on my Navajo” meow yeah this feels good!

Be sure to head over to check out MJ’s blog…she is a great writer and she asks questions that you think on.  http://emjayandthem.com/

 Frankies a cuty patooty too…

Thank you MJ and Frankie  for passing the Shine On Award on to meowie me Minnie….Mes truly appreciates it:)

These are the rules for receiving this award:

1.)  Thank the person who nominated you and link back to them in your post.

2.)  Share 7 things about yourself.

3.)  Nominate 10 or so bloggers you admire.

4.)  Contact your chosen bloggers to let them know.

5. Answer some questions too:)

Seven Things About Me:

1.) My Mommy feeds me treats everyday and I feel very special…she tries different ones too:)

2: I loves belly rubs by my Mommy year round:)

3: I feel very loved when my Mommy prays over me and she does all the time:)

4. I work on keeping my stripes straight each day along with various dots and white areas as I am a very fastidious kitty:)

5.) I love love love my Mommy and Dad…they are the very best ever:)

6.) I love my toys…and sleep! Love love love it when Mom has a blanket on her lap for me to snuggle up on:) I do not like it when she wears shorts…her skin does not snuggle very well!

7. And I do not hunt mice…ewwwww….ick!

Hummmph…I need a cat nap…get that dang camera out of my face!

Here are my nominations:

1. My gf Sundae who is beautiful with all her colors and her beautiful heart:)  http://thesedaysofmine.com/category/family/sundae/page/2/

2. And then there is my amazingly hunky handsome friend Sam…what a cute guy he is  and fun! http://onespoiledcat.wordpress.com/

3. Zoey the cool cat is really cool too….check them out:)http://russelrayphotos2.com/

4. A very fun and hip kit cat blog… http://catfromhell.wordpress.com/

5. Love this blog and you will too:)   http://isobelandcat.wordpress.com/

6.  A fun kitty cat blog as she has lots of kitty cats to love and blog about:)  http://sunni-survivinglife.blogspot.com/

7.  A blog that has something for everyone:) http://catnipoflife.wordpress.com/

8. Minnie loves Slash…thinks he is quite the cool rebel kitty:) http://catpurrology.com/

9. And she loves Tux as he reminds her of her sister Satchmo who was a total tuxedo kitty… http://sophisticatedkat.wordpress.com/

10. Speaking of Satchmo…Minnie likes hearing about the adventures of this Sach…with all those pretty stripes like Minnie’s… http://satchmothecat.wordpress.com/

11. We love reading about Texas and Milou…Minnie and her Mom thinks they are truly beautiful with beautiful kitty hearts:) http://texascatny.wordpress.com/

12. Minnie and I both love reading about beautiful Savannah…she has such a sweet heart and has been through a lot. http://savannahspawtracks.com/

13. Minnie loves the three Moggies! http://mythreemoggies.wordpress.com/

14. Both Minnie and her Mom love this site as Kitty Blogger has a great sense of humor and she makes us laugh:) http://kittybloger.wordpress.com/

15. Tigger is cute and fun….we loves reading his blog of wisdom and Zoe is very pretty too:) http://tiggersteachings.wordpress.com/

Questions To Answer:

What is my favorite color?

Well…tan, black, white, carmel, gray…you know…my beautiful coat of many colors! And red!

What is my favorite Non-Alcoholic drink?

Nice cold fresh country water…love it when Mom fills up my bowl with it:)

What is my favorite animal?

Well…cats of course…hello!

Do I prefer Facebook or Twitter?

I love my face and my Mom and Dad’s face:) And a twit is annoying!

What is my favorite number?

I like 7 but I also like being 18 this year too:)

What is my favorite flower?

Is catnip a flower?

What is my passion? 

Keeping tabs on Mom and always being with her no matter what…I love my Mommy!

Thank you so much for nominating me Frankie and MJ:)  You are awesome…go see them at http://emjayandthem.com/

 “My Name Is Minnie Mouse…I Am The Queenie Of The House…I’m The Cat Who Knows Where It’s At.”  Mom has a complete song about me:) She loves me lots and I could be a model too:)

Congratulations And God Bless You!  All God’s Animals And People Shine!

Minnie and her Mommy, HRCG,  Hope You Have A Meowsilly Terrifically Tigerifically Thursday:)

Scenes Of The 2012 Pendleton Round Up From Hot Rod Cowgirl!

21 Sep 2012 49 Comments

by Hot Rod Cowgirl in Heritage, Hot Rod Cowgirl, Photography, The Pendleton Round Up Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

As I write this post, The 2012 Pendleton Round Up Is Officially Over Until Next September 2013. Pendleton, Cheyenne And Calgary Are Known As The Big Three Rodeos Among The Cowboys Who Favor Them…Some Cowboys Say That Pendleton Is Like Coming Home. Pendleton Has 102 Years Of Rodeo History, Heritage And Community Support. Hundreds Of Local Volunteers That Follow In The Footsteps Of Their Families Before Them…As Each Year They Put On One Outstanding Rodeo!

Come See For Yourself And Experience The Magic Of Pendleton…Seeing First Hand Why This Rodeo Is Filled With American Cowboy Heritage, Heart And Soul.

Did I Mention I Have A New Camera From Wild Bill For My Birthday? He Blessed Me With The Sony a77 And I Love It:)

My Cowboy Buddy…He Loves Horses And Cows And Someday He Will Have His Own Ranch…It Will Be Top Notch:)

Are You Guys Ready To Rock And Roll With The 102 Year Old Beat Of Pendleton?

Here Comes The Flag Bearers! God Bless America…God Bless The Cowgirls, The Cowboys And Their Horses!

One Of Our Four Beautiful Round Up Princesses…She Made The Run In Across The Arena…Jumping The Fence…Calmly Smiling And Waving To The Crowd…This Is A True Round Up Princess!

The Flag Bearers Are Awesome…I Love Seeing Our Flag Waving…On The Back Of A Horse…Perfecto!

Beautiful Princess Cowgirls And Beautiful Horses!

 Queen Alex Of The 2012 Pendleton Round Up…Making A Perfect Jump!

Here Comes The President Of The 102nd Pendleton Round Up!

Its Official The 2012 Round Up Has Begun!

History Is Being Made And Recorded In The Books! Look At Them Go!

Beautiful Teepees Filled With Native American Heritage…Hallmarks Of The Round Up!

The North Grandstand Is Ready To Boogie With What ONLY Pendleton Can Deliver!

Hang On Tight…Pendleton Gets It On With Action!

Cowboy Ponies Resting…Waiting For Their Events.

Contestants In The Warm Up Area…Giving Support With The “You Can Do It Attitude”…Which Is What We Do As We Honor” The Code Of The West.” If You Grew Up With It And Lived It…You Know What I Am Talking About.

 The Sports Medicine Van Stands By…As Well As Top Notch Equine and Animal Vets…They Are Ready To Help Any Injured Contestant, Volunteer Or Injured Horse Or Animal…Dr. Corey Has Been My Vet For 32 Years With My Horses…He Is Outstanding In His Field!

Bucking Horses Hanging Out Behind The Scenes…These Horses Are Loved And Well Taken Care Of…They Have Great Value And Are Raised By Their Owners To Buck And Perform.

Pendleton Has It All! And Bill Dawson Is Incredible With Repairing The Historic Wagons And Getting Them Ready For The Parades And Arena Presentations.

Horses Stand By Patiently…Taking A Rest In The Shade.

What I Love About The Round Up Is That I Get To See My Favorite People…And This Couple Is On The Top Ten Of My List:)

Hey Cowboy Dog…He Actually Told Me He Travels To Lots Of Rodeos And Loves It…But Pendelton Is His Favorite:)

Horses Discussing Their Owners And Their Ding Dong Events…LOL…And Waiting For Their Time To Shine!

Outside The West End Of The Round Up Stadium…You Find Another Part Of The Rodeo Back Here Behind The Scenes.

You See Cowboys Swinging Their Ropes…Loosening Up…Trying To Relax…And Cowgirls Relaxing Their Horses By Giving Them A Job To Do…With All The Commotion It Helps Both You And Your Horse To Have a Focus.

My Favorite Picture This Year Is This One:) I Like The Sepia Color And The Horses Seem To Be In Sync…I Love The Build Of “A True Classic Quarter Horse”…Put Together Rock Solid…I Love Muscled Quarter Horse Butts!

The Same Picture With Colors Is Ok Too:)

Pendleton Is Like No Other Wild West Rodeo…Full Of History…Full Of Tradition…Full Of Memories And Old Friends:)

Forever Families Who Have Lived Their Lives Here Settling The Land…Raising Their Families…Building Their Future With Hopes And Dreams…It Was Through The Story Of Their Lives…That The Pendleton Round Up Story Was Born 102 Years Ago.

And Is Still Going Strong Today…Filled With Historical Heritage And The True Western Spirit.

Happy Birthday Dad! He Was Born September 17, 1914…Four Years After The Round Up Began…He Grew Up In It And Played A Huge Roll In It…I Am Proud Of My Dad Forever And Always! He Taught Me Everything I Know About Horses And Cows!

One Of These Years WB And I Are Going To Play Tourist…Go To All The Parades, Dinners, Breakfasts, Main Street And Do The Entire Week Of Rodeo and Happy Canyon:) We Have Always Been In It Or Involved And Have Not Seen What The Tourist Sees…So Yee-Haw!

Minnie Cow-Kitty  Says Meow-Yahmoo! Isn’t She Cute…I Love Her Green Eyes, Her Markings and Her Long Whiskers!

Let ‘Er Buck!

This Was My Morning Sun Today…My Prayers Go Out To All Who Are In The Middle Of Fighting For Your Homes And Your Lands…Your Animals And Lives. I Pray That God Will Send Heaven’s Rain And Blessing You With His Glory…Putting Out ALL The Fires In The Western United States! God Bless You All!

Sky Paintings…Created By God…Captured By Hot Rod Cowgirl

12 Aug 2012 46 Comments

by Hot Rod Cowgirl in Clouds, Hot Rod Cowgirl, Photography, Sunrise, Sunset Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

A few nights ago I had the chance to capture one of God’s incredible sunsets that we are blessed with out here in Juniper Canyon.

Sky Painting By God

We have a very artistic and creative God full of beauty and grace, as He paints the sky with…

Hot Rod Cowgirl

 Ever changing colors of golden orange, rusty reds, majestic purples, shades of blue  and glimmering gold.

And with a stroke of His hand…

He creates a burnished beauty in the luminous evening sky above.

And in the blink of an eye He changes it with magical colors of pinks and blues adding ethereal light.

Enchanted inspiration stirs my creative spirit…

As I stand in awe on a warm summer night.

Beauty that can only come from “Heaven” above:)

As the sky was on fire…

Ever Changing…

Moments of wonder and divine creativity….times in our lives when we can’t help but stop and take notice of the beauty around us that God has masterfully brushed into our lives. Watching a gorgeous sunset with magical light and color that fills your soul with wonder…as we create our own moments to remember.

I love summer evenings, when the first stars come out, the warm glow of sunset still stains the rim of the canyon, while yet coloring the western sky.

The moon was visible for this shot, a pale white globe, while the sun slowly sets on another incredible summer night in Juniper Canyon.

Sunset

If you look around you…you will see the creative gifts of God…the artistic beauty of His love for us is everywhere:)

Happy Sunday!

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?

Weekend Warriors!

02 May 2012 20 Comments

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

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…

24 Apr 2012 26 Comments

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

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!

Crazy Wild West Weather Captures Hot Rod Cowgirl’s Eye!

07 Apr 2012 19 Comments

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

April blew in with fury and might arriving in Juniper Canyon with wild whacky weather…take a look:)

We woke to snow on two mornings…yikes and what???

I know I complained back in December for Ms. Madame Cold Winter to come visit us but…it is time sweetheart, for you to go away as Spectacular Suzi Spring is waiting patiently to do her thing. However, you keep rearing your cold winter head and it is a nasty head cold you are dealing with…ok here is my box of kleenex…you need NyQuil and rest Ms. Madame! Seriously GF it is time to let it go and hibernate for a few months and get rested up again for next winter! I will be asking once again for snow on Christmas Day…and no I will not forget you!

Sammy Sunshine heard me and answered my plea…he came out to warm the earth enough to melt the snow:)

While heating up the floor for Minnie who was into the groove of her super sunny sun bath:)

Yet each day the seasons have continued to fight back and forth for either winter or spring…thankfully with the skies putting on a show for camera nuts like me.

Brisk rain drops falling on my window instead of my head:)…making for a cool view. Real horsepower with a hood scoop and real horse power in my view! Am I in heaven?

Gentle drops of rain wash the grime and dirt of winter off the land that is filled with the beauty of new life with the buds of April.

Clouds that threaten with ominous darkness one minute…

And turn into perfect blue skies with circles of blue and white sky the next!

Melody has her ears up…hmmm…something is going on as I can never get her ears up when I take a picture!

Now I see why her ears are perked up…here we go again with astonishing weather and cloud formations.

Wild weather was all around us the first week of April 2012! Yee-Haw!

UH-OH…Hey Toto…can you hear me?

Grab my hand…’er paw and

 “Hang on tight…here we go again!”

“Happy Glorious Easter!”

“Celebrate His Life”

“For He Has Risen!”

“Wild Bill…HR Cowgirl…Minnie…And All Our Horses and Doggies…Barn Cats…And HSL…Wish You All A Happy Easter Sunday!”

“Hello Kansas…Are you Missing Some Clouds?”

28 Mar 2012 22 Comments

by Hot Rod Cowgirl in Animals, Clouds, Landscapes, Photography Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Hello Kansas…Oklahoma…how about Nebraska…we are having the most incredible bizarre weather we have ever had here…a bit crazy…a bit wild…wild west weather…ride ’em cowboy!!!

Good Morning…Juniper Canyon!

Today does not look like the spring weather we usually have…at all?

Melody just had a brief morning shower…and she is not that impressed either.

At 9:00 this morning it became 9:00 at night…

Hey Toto…looking for the yellow brick road?

Hang on…me too:)

Last week we had winter…today we had

Whacky Weird Wednesday Weather…

Incredible photography moments…I was amazed as all of a sudden I was seeing images I only saw on the Weather Channel…here!?!?!

Wild weather gives views that make you stop and look with awe…taking your breath away…

Landing you in the middle of the Wizard Of Oz..2012 style.

With Fanny Annie…and of course Hot Rod Cowgirl…and

Toto…we are still here…smile:)

We can relax as God has the night shift…we can all sleep tight, as we drift off humming the “Yellow Brick Road…We’re off to see the Wizard!”

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!

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