COWGIRL PONY EXPRESS!!!

If you were one of the lucky ones to win a COWGIRL magazine, she is heading your way via THE COWGIRL PONY EXPRESS!!!
Your Desert Rose!

OREO"S!

Who doesn't love OREO's??? And of course the next question is...how do you eat them?Do you eat the cookie whole...savoring every bite??? Or do you carefully separate the outer chocolate cookies to lick the luscious rich icing center with your tongue??? Then you need to eat the outer cookie shells which are never as good without the frosting.
How do you think this little cowpoke is gonna eat his OREO"S???
Yup...he's a frosting only kind of guy!!!
Your Desert Rose!

There's A New Cowbaby in Town!!!

Yup...Baby Mason is here with us for a week while his Mom, Dad, and sisters are skiing in Aspen! I flew to Denver Saturday to pick him up...and fly back to Denver with him this Friday to deliver him to his family! Unfortunately...I have the "CRUD" and have been sick now for a week!!! Feeling better today though...hope the baby doesn't get it!!!

Your Desert Rose!

She's Here!

She's here...She arrived in a box with 15 of her friends!!! I will send her on her way to you very soon...however I am missing addresses on the following Cowgirls!

1.Jocelyn

2.Wilson C

3.Cousin Baby Doll ( Where to send now)

4.Gracie's Mom ( I would send it to your mom...but you may never get it back)

5.Heart of a Cowgirl

6.Blackfeather Farm

7. Regina Zdravich

I have the other 9 address....thanks to those who sent them to me!

Look for her in your mailbox soon!!!

Your Desert Rose!

Baby Doll's Birthday Ride!

The Bossman and I had a plan...well sort of had a plan. He was not sure if he was going to have to work or not so there was plan A...the ride I would take Baby Doll on by myself...hoping he could join us for a birthday drink back at my tack room and there was plan B...the ride we would take with Baby Doll if he could go with us! The only trick to making this plan work was...he would not know until the day before if he was working or not!
Now for the last couple of weeks Baby Doll had been asking me all sorts of question about her BD ride, where were we going, who was she riding, how long of ride was it going to be, all these questions to try and find out our plan. She even confessed to me that she had been sneaking around other blogs and facebook trying to find any info on her BD ride that she could. However she was not able to find out ANYTHING! Then in desperation...she started suggesting which trail we should ride... and indicated she wanted to ride Little Lady!!!

Finally Baby Doll arrived to the desert and we talked about her "outfit" for the ride because the Bossman would need to know how to dress "her" horse for the ride. She settled on my turquoise Pendleton blanket and I told her I would let the Bossman know her choice!

Only...I forgot to let him know! So when I arrived at the stables the morning of the ride...Little Lady was there waiting for me!She always nickers and talk to me when I arrive and it is soooo cute! However...I immediately noticed a faux pas in her outfit!!! Horseshit...she was wearing the wrong color pad! I scolded her (gently) for not making it clear to the Bossman when he was dressing her... what color Pendleton blanket she was suppose to wear. You see... when I don't tell the Bossman ahead of time which color blanket I want...he just takes the one on top! I used the turquoise last time I rode so it was on top! There was no way I was gonna ask him to change the blankets...even for Baby Doll!

So I go to the tack room and then see Slick standing there waiting to and see that he is wearing the black Pendleton blanket...which I thought was very handsome on him and very cute ...because I figured the Bossman was going have us all in matching Pendleton blankets today and figured he must have put the coral or beige Pendleton blanket on Baby Dolls horse which was going to be a rental horse, probably Banjo or one of the other horses he knew Baby Doll has ridden before.Now the last time I rode with the Bossman I got into trouble for not letting him know I was there...he was back at his tack room ( yes...they hide him in the back) and I was at my tack room which is up front for everyone to see and I had lost me cell phone and could not call him! Now that I have my new phone I called to say...I'm here!

I causally mention the "blanket issue" sorta like a joke... and the Bossman defends himself as I knew he would... by saying...well didn't you look at the saddle??? And I said...noooooooo, I was too concerned about the blanket! He said well go look...I do and see this!

Little Lady is wearing...BABY DOLL'S SADDLE!!! ( He MUST like her better!) I figure this means that I am going to have to ride one of the stable horses and it must be a ringer if he was not going to put Baby Doll on it and give her MY HORSE instead! With hidden (hee hee) annoyance in my voice I say...well who am I riding??? Again he says well look at the saddles! Now I am starting to realize that there is only one horse left at the tie rails and I turn and look at the handsome Slick! Now how in the world did I miss seeing MY saddle on Slick??? The stirip fringe alone should have jumped out at me like a RATTLE SNAKE! I could not believe the Bossman was LETTING me ride the famous Slick!!! You see...Slick has a "thing" for me and has been know to try and get some before play going with me by biting me on the calf...you know just a little "let's make lovebite".

I will tell you later who the Bossman will be riding because now it is time for our famous ritual...Mimosa's!!!Just before mount up we had our picture taken together!

Now...I am going leave the rest of this story up to Baby Doll...it is after all her birthday ride and she does have rare footage of the Desert Rose that you won't ever see on this blog...but never say never! All except some photo's of me and Slick...who knows when I will get to ride him again...and he is a FABULOUS ride...thanks Bossman for sharing Slick with me!

A new view for me!

The Bossman is riding his a 3 year old baby of a clients!

Baby Doll at her Birthday Lunch!But where were the horses???

Why at the tie rails behind the restaurant...don't all restaurant's have tie rails??? Well they should!!!

After lunch we loaded up into the trailer that the BIGFOOT had drooped off for us and headed back to the stables...but Baby Doll wanted to ride some more. So we decided to give her another ride of her life!!!

Ya...Baby Doll gets to go down this trail! It is known to be...the steepest (scary), drop off cliffs (scary), narrow switchbacks (scary) oneway (scary) most avoided trail in our canyon! Oh by the way...did I mention that it is SCARY!!! Yes... this is what you get when you tell the Bossman and the Desert Rose the ride was too short! Here are pictures of Baby Doll coming down the trail...by the way, I forgot to tell her this trails HISTORY!

Baby Doll's face...when I tell her the trails history almost at the bottom of it!
At the end of the day...is this one HAPPY BIRTHDAY COWGIRL!!!

I am very proud to bestow this award to my Baby Doll for always following the Desert Rose... even when she would rather not!!!
Here's to you Baby Doll...for following me down the "Scary Shannon Trail"!Hay Baby Doll...you can have the cowboy...BUT THE HORSE IS MINE!!!

Don't we still hang horse thieves????

Your Desert Rose!

Everyone's a Winner!

It is time to announce the winner of the drawing for the issues of "Cowgirl" Magazine! I really got a hoot out of some of your responses as to why it was that you wanted a copy! It was, after all a drawing but I was ever so surprised to see how far some cowgirls would go to get the cowgirl hat tipped in their favor.

There were a few who tried to play the "family" card...others tried to woo the hat by speaking of bubbles, bubbly and even a hint of a trip to bed with them! Then there was the woe is me...I never get something this wonderful to read...we only have popular mechanics in our area!

There were 16 of you requesting to have their names to be put into my cowgirl hat for the drawing to win the 2nd issue of "Cowgirl"! I was so nervous to put your names in the hat...that I was NOT able to do so! Instead...I decided that all 16 of you will get a copy of Cowgirl! It took a small amount of wrangling...but thanks to Callan at Cowgirl...you all will now get a copy!!! Callan was able to rope 16 copies for me and as soon as I get them....you will!

I do have to say that MamaH has hers already....see this happy face, you too will soon have a happy face! All you have to do is email me your address...and it will be yours!

Your Desert Rose!

Baby Doll Rides Again!

My Baby Doll is coming to the desert to celebrate her birthday with the Bossman and Desert Rose! We certainly have a great ride planned for her...she tried to hint at what kind of ride...which trail she wanted to ride...but all that went through one ear and out the other! She can not ride one of the same old boring trails she has ridden before...no this special occasion most certainly calls for a new adventure for Baby Doll...don't you think???

Which one of us...the Bossman or the Desert Rose do you think Baby Doll has missed the most???

Your Desrt Rose!

The Grand Rose Rides Again!

The Grand Rose is 16 now and quite a busy girl. She is an actor and just recently was cast in our NW Children's theater group in the play Pinocchio. Because of her acting she is always in rehearsals and not able to come to the desert very often. However this year during her Christmas break she was able to come down and visit us for 5 days. We had 2 great rides...the last being the "Once in a Blue Moon" ride...however our 1st ride was full of excitement too!

It started out as one of our typical rides in the canyon. The day was beautiful but a bit on the cool side do we wore flannel shirts...and of course decided to dress alike!

You can't really tell from this picture...but even Jesse and Little Lady dressed to match. Lady is wearing a turquoise Pendlton saddle blanket that matches Jesse's! We even had to wear vests that day! The canyon was very busy and what should have been an hour and 1/2 ride took us 2 1/2 hours because of all the hikers! Jesse has always loved to stop and say hello to all the hikers and now Lady does too! One day this last Nov a hiker gave Lady an apple on the trail and she has NEVER forgotten it! She actually will try and get into their pockets and see what they might have in there. Heaven help them if they have any food on them because Lady will be all over them!

Now...you ask me...who took the picture of the 2 of you??? Well...they did!You see...there was a "forced labor" work crew in the canyon that day! These guys were doing a great job of cleaning up all the downed palm tree fromm's and debris that naturally falls onto the trails. They were soooooooooo excited to see Jesse and Little Lady, the all had their picture taken with one of them. One or another was always hugging or kissing the horses, well the brave ones. The more shy ones just dared to pet them.These guys really were the nicest...always smiling, joking. I am sure getting out for the day into the beautiful canyon was reason enough for that. As we left them I thanked them for the great job they were doing and told them that I hoped I would not see them there next year! They all got a kick out of that and some said they would be sure not to be back next year!

I do have to post these classic Jesse and Grand Rose photos!

Your Desert Rose!

There's a New Cowgirl in Town!

She has ridden into my town and would be more than happy to ride into your town!
She rides with her hat a blow'en in the wind beneath her favorite well worn hat! She has ridden through snow... And over mounatins! She's not afraid to get dusty... and she cleans up real purdy! She has the taste for the finer things in her cowgirl life... and she could be yours!

I know you will appreciate caressing her silky pages, hearing her stories and learning from her wisdom. She will entice you to live in her world of adventure and you will wait for her return to you eagerly on her next journey. This 2nd issue will be gifted to 3 cowgirls who say why they should be the lucky one to find her in their mailbox! Just comment on this post by Feb 28th! Drawing of course will be from my cowgirl hat!!!

If by chance you are not one lucky cowgirl...you can get your own by going to...

http://www.cowgirlmagazine.com/

I have never written to a magazine before but when I finished my first issue I sent an email of thanks to the editor. You can read it here! Your Desert Rose!

She's a Union Horse!

At my desert stables they have 80 head of horses on the rental string. Each one has his/her distinct personality and the wranglers have to know each and everyone of them. They have a saying there whenever a horse does something to stop working...they say "she a union horse" meaning that they belong to the "working horse union" that provides them with similar ...shall we say "entitlements" that any workers union would. When "Sally" felt she was over due for her 15 minute break...she did what she always does... she lays down on the job!When her 15 minute break is over...the guys have to encourage her to get back up on the job. This time it took 2 of them a few minutes, then she reluctantly agreed to get back on the line! Here's Spanky looking proud of the work he did just getting Sally up. She's sure got those cowboys trained!!!

Your Desert Rose!

First Baby Dolls!

Do you remember your 1st Baby Doll? The first one that I remember was one of those hard plastic ones...I am sure it was a Christmas present from our parents or grandparents because my sisters got one each too. Because I was ( and still am) 3 years younger than them, they were both very quick to name their new Baby Dolls something that was very cool...like Suzy or Debbie and little me could not think of a name for my new special Baby. I must have been quite distraught and because "I" was the Baby of the family our Papa took me in his arms and tried to comfort me. He asked me what was the matter and I told him. He then said in that special way Grandpa's talk..."Well why don't you name her after me???" Of course that made no sense to me and I said I can't name my Baby Papa"! And my Papa said..." My name is Oren, how about if you call her Orena???" So...my poor Baby Doll lived with the name of Orena all of her time with me. She suffered bad hair cuts...finger nail polish and bites on her cheek, all from me!

Here are some real Baby's with their 1st Baby Doll that Zsa Zsa and Papa gave them for Christmas this year!

The Rosette was not sure what it was ...but liked her anyway! ( 8 months...Rosebud is holding her.)

Miss Rosa Jewel...the big one year old knew right away that this was her new Baby! And even knew to burp her!!!

Do you remember your 1st Baby Doll...and it's name???

Your Desert Rose!

Lucky Zsa Zsa!

What a lucky Zsa Zsa... to get to ride with some blossoms from her Rosegarden! Toby is in the saddle with me on Little Lady! The Bossman's grandson Tristan is on the matching Slick PONY! This was just this week!

Then at Christmas time The Rosabella is with me on Jesse and The Rose Kid is on Gray Boy who the Bossman is poning!

Both trails rides were about an hour long and they all did just great! This was the 1st time I have had a child with me on the trail on Little Lady and...other than a couple of almost "little" naughty time moments...she did great!

Your Desert Rose!