Happier than a Pig in....

...the sun.

(What did you THINK I was going to say???)

This little napping pig is Haiden. You may remember him from my previous post here and here a couple of months ago. We are pig sitting again this weekend while his owners are out of town.This little porker took no time making himself right at home. He found a nice spot in the sun and settled in for an afternoon siesta. I think I may actually see pig drool in this one...I wonder what pig dreams are made of?

Friday Fun - Cowgirl Wisdom

This one just made me laugh... Apparently I know WAY too much about my cowboy! And I can't share or I will get in big trouble..

Green Chile Stew

The weather here in Arizona has gone crazy! The high for yesterday was 50 degrees and this morning when I woke up it was 34. That is very unheard of for October in the desert. As it turned out, yesterday was a perfect day to put on a pot of soup for dinner. I opted for Green Chile Stew. I had just roasted some green chiles the night before, so it was perfect timing.
Paired with homemade tortillas (homemade, just not by me), it was the perfect meal for a cold evening.

Here's the recipe in case this sounds like dinner tonight.

1 lb. pork (cubed)
1 1/2 T. flour
1/2 T. garlic
1 1/4 c. chicken boullion
14/5 oz. can of crushed tomatos (or use fresh)
1 large potatoe (cubed)
1 lb. green chiles (coarsley chopped)
salt to taste
(I also added an additional 2 cups of water for more broth, although the recipe did not call for that)

Brown the pork in 1 T. olive oil. Sprinkle flour over pork and continue browning until just a little pink remains. At this point I transferred the pork to my crock pot (but you could continue to cook it on the stovetop). Add the remaining ingredients and simmer on low for several hours or until the pork and potatoes are tender.

Enjoy!

Historic Empire Ranch

This past Saturday, we spent the day soaking up some history at the Empire Ranch, just 10 miles down the road from our house. Every year in October the Empire Ranch Foundation hosts an Open House at the ranch.

Empire Ranch back in the day...Empire Ranch today:

The original ranch was established in the 1860s with 160 acres. Over the next 20 years, the ranch expanded to include nearly one million acres! That's a big ranch. The property our house is built on was once part of that ranch. We still have some very old fence posts running diagonally across our property and lots of jumbled up barbed wire down in the gulleys.

The Empire Ranch Foundation works to protect, restore and sustain the Empire Ranch historical buildings and landscape as a western heritage and education center. Check out their website for more history and some very cool old pics of life in the 1800s and early 1900s on this cattle ranch.

The weather was perfect on Saturday for strolling around the ranch.

A local miniature horse farm was there with some of their little cuties (the little cutie boy was with us): This one reminded me of my little Piper (who actually isn't so little anymore):This was a great timeline display detailing the history of the ranch. If you click on the pic to enlarge it, you can actually read some of it. I also took this pic because I liked their simple display - wood frame with corrugated metal (always looking for display ideas for my booth!)A great pic of some working cowboys.Don't you just love old weathered barns? If only this one could talk!And look at the cute cowboy I found wandering around... Lee and Matthew at the feed trough. Hay, it's what's for dinner.There were a lot of demonstrations going on. This cowboy was demonstrating rawhide reata making. Wow, a lot of work goes into them. It's quite a skill.The B Troop of the 4th U.S. Cavalry (Memorial) was also there with a display. This is an original McClellan saddle dating back to the 1850s. A sign of progress (?) at the Empire Ranch.I think I'll stick to horses, thanks!

Do check out the Empire Ranch Foundation's website for more great historical information if you get a chance. Happy Trails...

Bunny Sunday

Happiness is...Having a friend to lean on. (Turbo and Bully having a moment together!) Awwwwwww....

Giddy Up Caramel Corn Recipe

I've had quite a few requests for the recipe for the caramel corn Marj and I made for the show last weekend. Here it is, all packaged up:I ended up eating an entire bag by myself throughout the day. Hey, I needed something to keep up my energy!

Here is a link to the Recipe on Marj's blog (from last December). It's fun to make, give as gifts and just to ENJOY!

Art in the Park - Cowgirl Style

The show in Artesia turned out great! The weather was perfect - 70s and sunny. There were right around 100 vendors and tons of people turned out for the event. (Thanks to Laura Garcia for doing such a great job organizing this show.)

If I might say so myself, our booth looked pretty darn good:

It was a nice combination of Marj's aprons and purses and my jewelry. That's Marj in the very middle "workin' the crowd":

A few of Marj's purses and zippered pouches. You can find more of these in her Etsy shop, Cowgirl Goods , in the next few days. Check them out, they are SOOOOO cute!

Several of our Good Hearted Cowgirls embellished aprons sold. They were a big hit. This one that I am modeling here was purchased as a gift for a cowgirl in Manhattan, N.Y. Love it!

We had a really fun day, met lots of very nice people, found new homes for some of our creations and just enjoyed the whole experience. We're already planning where we'll meet up for our next show!

(For more pics, check out Marj's post about our trip at her blog Cowgirl Goods.)

Bunny Sunday - a little late

Whew! Just arrived home from the show in New Mexico. It's quite a drive and we are pretty worn out. I'll post the scoop on the show tomorrow, but for now, I know you're all waiting for some Bunny Sunday!

I'm cheating a little here.... since I'm short on energy and I'm late posting this, check out my bunny slideshow at the very bottom of my blog for all the bunny cuteness you can stand!

Enjoy!

Where has the week gone?

Wow, it has been a busy couple of days since my friend Marj arrived from Maine on Wednesday. We have been non-stop getting ready for Art in the Park tomorrow, but did manage to squeeze in some riding. The weather has been in the mid 80s and nothin' but sun. Here is Marj on Bandit, riding the trail:We're going for a mercantile feel in our booth. We decided to whip up a few batches of Giddyup Caramel Corn to package up and sell. Good "bait" to get those husbands to stop at our booth for something yummy to munch on while the women shop. :)

Marj mixing up the caramel corn before putting it in the oven to bake.

We packaged these up in coffee bags with a cute cowgirl label (which I forgot to get a picture of -- oops!) If anyone is interested in the recipe, just drop me a line. This stuff is deadly!And here are some of the embellished cowgirl aprons we will have in our booth:
Nothing says cowgirl like an apron with a belt and buckle! The show starts at 9am tomorrow and runs all day. If you just "happen" to be in the area (Central Park in Artesia, N.M.) be sure to stop by and say hi!

Cowgirl en Route

My friend Marj, from Maine, will be here today! She is on the plane as I type this. As I mentioned previously, she is my partner in crime in our joint venture "Good Hearted Cowgirls". (I'll be posting some pics of our latest creations that we'll be taking to the show in New Mexico in the next day or so).

The Cowgirl Casita is all ready for her stay:

A little "welcome to Arizona" gift:

Every Maine cowgirl needs a pink cowboy boot to keep their water cold! We have so much planned in a short amount of time. This afternoon, we are taking the horses out for a little ride then heading off to dinner in Tucson for Mexican food. Tomorrow is more riding and then a short day trip to Tombstone and Bisbee. Stay tuned for pics from our adventures!

Bunny Sunday

OK, I admit it. "Sometimes" I dress up my animals for Halloween and other holidays. I know, I can't help it.

Cruising through Goodwill the other day, I saw something on the end of a rack of Halloween costumes that caught my eye. I stopped and thought about it for a minute and quickly snatched it up.

When I arrived home with my purchase, I found I had a slight dilemma.

10 lb. white and gray bunny:

Newborn baby fuzzy pink bunny costume: I tried, I really did. And Patches was a good sport about it. But it was like trying to stuff 10 lbs of potatoes in a 5 lb sack! We laughed so hard that I forgot to get a picture.

So, Patches was out. We moved on to Nutmeg, who is only 5 lbs. A much better fit, although even a little too big for her. (We're still laughing at this point, although managed to snap a few pics).
In case you are wondering, this is NOT the face of a happy bunny...
I think we'll just skip Halloween this year...

TGIF - Cowgirl Wisdom

Love this one! Sometimes, having the life we really want seems like a dream. It might seem unreachable. It usually means stepping out of our comfort zone and taking a chance to get it. The courage part is believing that you deserve it! The rest is easy...

A Sneak Peak

Art in the Park (in Artesia, N.M.) is a little over a week away. I've been madly creating new things for my booth. Here are a few of my new Cowgirl Wristlets (created from recycled cowboy boot tops). I have one that I use for my camera, it's a perfect fit. You can also use them to hold your cell phone or money/car keys when you are just running up to the store... I bet you can think of other uses -- just because they are so cute!

And here are a few new Cowgirl Cuffs created with these very cool anodized aluminum conchos I found in bright colors:

This pink one is one of my favorites:

Fun stuff cowgirls! All of these are currently listed in my Etsy shop, in case you saw something you just can't live without. :)