Nancy, a country girl from Ohio, began writing and performing folk music at age fourteen. Wes grew up horseback, cowboying with his father and brothers. His family’s cowboy heritage dates back to the settling of the San Luis Valley in Colorado in the 1680’s. Wes’s poetry and songs reflect his many experiences as a working cowboy including the folks he’s met and the places he has worked. When they came together, it was only natural their music and poetry would speak of our great American Heritage, the settling of the West and Wes’s own cowboy experiences in the modern world.

A Katy Creek Concert is an exciting adventure of life and love, laughter and tears, with a dash of murder, mayhem and mystery you won’t want to miss.

As romance authors, we are inspired by real-life romances and find it fascinating that you and your husband have strengthened your bond through music. In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, can you share some of your romance with us? How did you and your husband Wes meet? 

Nancy:   Wes and I met through a letter writing service called Southwest Mountain and Country Singles. We both discovered the add for the service in Western Horseman magazine. I was a single mother of two teenage daughters and did not enjoy dating at all. I was very happy in my life and looking at a just couple more years of having my children at home then they would be gone!  I really wanted to have a companion I could enjoy; hunt, fish, write, sing, hike and grow old with. My girls would often try to fix me up with their friend’s divorced or widowed dads or someone where they worked but, the times I gave in and said OK all ended with pretty hilarious results. My youngest even tried to fix me up with a man she spotted in the produce section of the grocery, betting me a pound of grapes he was my age, she even had the nerve to asked him!  Anyway, one day I clipped the add then let it lay on my desk for months, with my girls teasing me and pressing me to do it, before I finally signed up.  It was a nice service where the responders answered through the company and not directly to you unless you gave them your information, so it felt very safe. 

          When we started writing to each other I was impressed with the content of his letters and that he took the time to hand write them. He told me about his growing up in Colorado, cowboying with his Dad and brothers and of course why he was using the service instead of the regular dating routine. At the time he was living in Wyoming and would joke that the men still out numbered the women significantly and so options were slim.  We wrote for several months before I gave him my home address and then it was a while longer before I would give him my phone number, mostly because I was really enjoying the letters and I wanted to see if he would persist.  When I did finally give him my number, we spoke nearly every night and he won me over almost right away when he began to recite poetry to me over the phone.  Bear in mind now, cowboy poetry is not often romantic in the hearts and flowers sense of the word, mostly it is about the life and adventures. After a couple of months talking on the phone, he asked if I thought we should meet in person.  Yes, I wanted to meet him ! I felt as if I had known him already and it was as if he had just been gone a long time and needed to come home.

          He told me he and his nephew were planning a pack trip into the Wind River Range late summer and would I like to go along. I blurted out Yes!, then realized I didn’t really know this guy and wondered how I would get out of it.  But, he realized the situation and a couple of conversations later he suggested he should come here to Phoenix before I went off to the wilderness with a man I knew nothing about. 

So of all the times to come to Arizona, he came in June! It was unseasonably cool with even a few little rain showers and he was actually impressed, thinking, “it’s not all that hot “. I kept trying to tell him it was not a normal summer. We rode the steam train to the Grand Canyon, visited old Tucson, hiked in the desert and up around Lake Pleasant were I was looking at some property. He proposed at Old Tucson and I accepted! Then it was in August that we went on the pack trip.  We rode in about 13 miles and spent four days in the Wind Rivers. It was rainy, snowy and cold on the ride in, and my horse slipped on the slick granite and fell, but the rest of the time in the mountains the days were beautiful with green meadows, glaciers, wildflowers and running streams everywhere filled with cut throat we would catch and eat.

         Wes was learning to play the fiddle when we first met and had been writing poetry and reciting for some time already. He recites his own material as well as some of the  classic cowboy poems. He writes about his life growing up farming and ranching with his family as well as western people of the past and present who intrigue him. Many of his poems are humorous. I had begun to play the guitar while pretty young and had been encouraged by a grade school teacher to write poems and to journal. There are stacks of notebooks in my mother’s attic with child hood scratchings and stories.  I grew up with and interest in history and especially the west because my father was so interested it. We often went to museums and historical events depicting the west. When Wes and I met and began to write together it just naturally fell into place with the love of history and his cowboy background.  I think every couple needs a glue to hold together through the tough times that always come. When you take an independent cowboy and a strong willed independent woman and put bring them together, you’re gonna need some glue! God is anchor and the music and writing are the common bond.

We love to hear about a writer’s call to the craft.  Was there a moment when you decided you were going to become a performing artist/musician? 

Nancy:   I dreamed of performing when I was just learning to play the guitar at about age 13 or 14 and did actually start performing while still in High School. I even had two original songs from that period that I performed for many years.  I wanted to be a writer as long as I can remember and was encouraged by a teacher to do so. 

Can you share some of your writing process with us?  Do you and Wes write together?  Do you put music to words or words to music? 

Nancy:   Wes and I have two very different writing styles but we often write together.  He, being a long time poet, has a different take on rhyme and meter than a songwriter. So, if it is a song he wants to write, he will put it to paper as a poem then hand it to me to make into a song. “Cowboy Willie” and “Lawman of the Trail” are examples of that kind of collaboration. 

          But, there are plenty of times we sit down side by side with an idea for a song and write it as a song, completing lyrics and melody in the same sitting.  “They’ve Called Me A Cowboy”, and “The Goodbye Promise” are two examples of songs we wrote in that manner.    “Autumn’s On Its Way”, “White Tanks” are songs I wrote alone.        For me most of the time, the words and feel of a song determine the melody. And music can change the whole flavor of a song. We lately wrote a song and while playing with the melody we ended up changing the whole basis of the story line because we felt the melody required it.

          But I do have melodies in my head that are just waiting for the right verse or story line to come along and occasionally they do come along.

What writers and music artists have inspired you?

Nancy:   As a writer, mostly I am inspired real people, especially women, who share their lives and stories with me.  I have gotten ideas from just being out in the desert, the countryside or wilderness, on foot or horseback and letting the landscape tell its tales. But as far as writers go, I would have say for one, Zane Grey for his deep thought and detailed descriptions of people, places and events.  I also get inspiration from biography material from people of the time like Elizabeth Champie-Cordes who was raised in the area north of Phoenix; the Champie ranch is still up there in that tremendously rough country. Ben Green who wrote “A Thousand Miles of Mustangin” and Dakota Cowboy by Ike Blasingame.  J.P.S. Brown ( The World in Pancho’s Eye)  is also one of my favorites, raised on the border lands of the Sonoran Desert and Mexico he inspires incredible mental pictures.

          As a singer, the delivery of the story in a song is what gets my attention and I always want to get my story across they way I feel it.  Janis Ian does that for me, as well as Rory Block and Emmy Lou Harris.  Jon Messenger’s voice paints pictures around the word he writes and has a quality that makes you listen. Sue Harris is an entertainer pure and simple, be it song, poem or story she can put you right where she wants you to be mentally.

Who have been your greatest influences?

Nancy:   My parents fostered in me a love of this Country and its great History by taking me to places across America to camp, make friends, see history re-enacted and experience first hand what the pioneers might have felt.  When you get to meet, either face to face or through books or storytelling, the people who are the life blood of this nation, it fosters an endearing and enduring connection and gives a stable, grounding and strengthening knowledge of who you are personally that can take you through dark, dismal even unimaginable times.  It would be hard to say one person in particular who influences me, but I would have to say it is the women as a whole. Women are tough, tender, fighters, lovers, romantic realists. Without their innate contradictory contrasts, this country would not exist. Tom Russel said it in “Hallie Lonnigan”, “the secret of your history is in a working woman’s soul”. 

You have mentioned your music and poetry are inspired by figures in the historical west. Who are some of your favorite western characters?

Nancy:   While I love to read about Annie Oakley, Miss Baldwin and the others who rode for the famed 101 Ranch and the wild west and rodeo shows, I have to differ to the ranch women who worked and rode (and still do) beside their husbands or alone. Their stories are often buried in libraries and diaries and kept unintended secret by families.  I find my inspiration in the books like The Wagon Train Diaries,  articles from publications like Range Magazine and from meeting and talking to the women in the ranching and farming community.

Is there a story behind the Katy Creek name?

Nancy:   Katy Creek is a creek (though now dry) running through our property near Table Top National Monument. We were riding one day and discovered a natural depression the cowboys fill with water during round-up. The water is pumped from about 300 ft down into a tank for holding, then it can be turned out into the depression to water cattle. When we asked a local about it, he told us it was at one time a running creek and quite lush but very nearly the only constant water supply in the area. Two local ranchers bickered for years over it and finally one blew it up with dynamite and drove it underground ending the fight.

True? Well, who knows? I have never found out anything one way or the other. There are two long established ranches, one on the South side, one on the West side of Table Top.

         But, as it is well known in cowboy gatherings, one never passes up a good opportunity to embellish the truth ( or otherwise ), so it became the basis for the Legend of Katy Creek and the name of our band.  You can read the Legend of Katy Creek part one on our web site. 

Of all the venues you have played, do you have a favorite?

Nancy:   Oh, my! I cannot think of one in particular as far as one place in time. But I love to play to an audience who is there to receive, who came to be entertained, who is hungry, open and unafraid of adventure and experiencing the gamut of emotions. They are riding right beside you and will whoop, hollar, cry and laugh out loud.  We are especially thrilled when we get to create a new enthusiast, someone who came to the show for the first time and is now hooked for good.

What do you enjoy most about live performances?

Nancy:   A songwriter, as with any writer, bares heart and soul.  You expose your very being to the public.  Of course you want to be accepted by your audience.  So it has to be the realization of the impact our songs and stories have on people. When they come and talk to us after and tell us what they felt during the show, about the memories brought back or “hey that exact same thing happened to me!”  To know that you have touched someone heart and soul, see it in their faces during the show, hear them gasp or laugh or wipe a tear, see them lean forward in their seat; they are in it, living it with you.  You can only know and experience this through live performance.

Are there any new artists you’ve been listening to, who you think other people should check out?

Nancy:   Oh, there are so many good western entertainers worth checking out!  But some of the newer faces on the scene are; Joe Green, a singer songwriter from Texas and what a stooory teller, ( that’s how Joe would say it!) He just takes command of the audience.Mike Moutoux,  New Mexico’s most enchanting cowboy sings originals and standards and can spin a yarn that will have you laughing so hard you’re gasping for air.  Diane Tribbet is a rancher and has been writing and performing a few years. She write moving and passionate poetry and is a must hear. Lauri Wood from Encampment, Wyoming is another up and comer who writes and sings with her young daughter Cora.

Can you tell us more about the “murder and mayhem trilogy” on your CD?

Nancy:   It all got started when we began performing “Step It Out Nancy” written by Robin and Linda Williams. It is about a young girl who is in love with a cowboy but her father wants her to marry the rich cattleman. The cattleman kills her lover and she kills the cattleman. Tremendous story! And it was an instant hit with our audiences!   Marvin O’Dell, a singer- songwriter and DJ for Heartland Public radio, heard us perform it and decided it would pair up nicely with a song he wrote called “I Guess I Better Dig Another Grave “ about a woman who goes a little crazy when she is left alone and her children die and gets pretty creative in killing anyone who ventures onto her place.  The two songs became our most requested.  While we were at a festival in Kansas, The Yampa Valley Boys heard the set and determined we should add Tom Russell’s “Hallie Lonnigan” to the mix.  Without spilling the beans, the girl wins! I had never heard it before, but when we did get a copy, couldn’t resist!

Where will you be performing next?  Do you have a new CD in the works.

Nancy:   Our next major public performance will be at Festival of the West, March 19-22 at West World in Scottsdale, Arizona. We have some smaller shows and local events that may be in your area and you can check our calendar for those.  www.katycreek.com

We have two very exciting things coming up in the near future.

Our next CD, titled Campfire Reflections will release this summer.  It is all original with one co-write by myself and Les Buffham ( he is the author of the song Montana Lullabye you hear play on our home page).  It will have eight songs and four poems,  2 of which I will recite, an new thing for me!  We have added more musicians too!  Jon Messenger is on lead guitar, Alice Pitts, a 19 year old newcomer on fiddle and Maxine Eldridge on double bass.  It is produced and recorded live by Kedron Porter at his Dreams Captured Studio.

Also, the title cut of our current CD, Autumn’s On Its Way, inspired Major Mitchell, a western author to write a full length book based on the song.  I never could have imagined this, and when he contacted me I was floored. He asked me scores of questions to make sure we were on the same page with the song. There are two more songs spinning off of “Autumn’s On Its Way”, one about Abby and one about the Cowboy, so I was thrilled that he had the same ideas.  Major will release the book this spring. We are hoping to be able to have the book available with a disk of the CD included

Have a question for Nancy? She will be visiting with us throughout the day.  One lucky comment poster will win an authographed  Autumn’s On Its Way CD!

To learn more about Nancy and hear samples of her music visit the Katy Creek Website and Amazon.com (click CD cover). You can also listen to a selection of songs on Stacey’s MySpace page.

Valentine Smile 

On Valentine’s Day we think of those
Who make our lives worthwhile,
Those gracious, friendly people who
We think of with a smile. 

I am fortunate to know you,
That’s why I want to say,
To a rare and special person:

Happy Valentine’s Day! 

By Joanna Fuchs

We’ve posed the question, of all the heroes we’ve written, which hero was our most romantic? 

  Charlene:  Okay, well, first off, this is like asking a momma who’s her favorite child, but if I had to pick one hero, it would have to be Sam Beaumont from Bunking Down With The Boss.  Sam’s a wealthy man, but he’s a tortured hero who is running from incredible past hurts and himself. He stumbles upon a job at Caroline’s ranch and pretends to be a down and out drifter. I love the chemistry between Caroline and Sam, two people who are not looking for love again.  Sam’s protective and sexy and so grudgingly sweet with Caroline, you can’t help but fall in love with him.

Cheryl:  The most romantic hero I’ve written would have to be Tye Hatcher in Joe’s Wife. The son of the town prostitute, he grew up with scorn and condemnation. As a boy in school he fell in love with Meg, but years past, and he went to war. He returns to the town that shunned him to prove himself. When Meg Telford, the widow of the most beloved man in the county, asks him to marry her to help her keep her ranch, he agrees, and stoically lives in the shadow of the man she adored. He is frank about his past indiscretions, about his desire for her. Out of loyalty and duty, he defies the town to take in a prostitute’s child as his own. He’s hard-loving and proud , and I don’t see how anyone could resist him.

Elizabeth:  My most romantic hero would be Latigo, in one of my earlier  Harlequin Historicals, Apache Fire.  He’s half Apache and works as an army scout, but has been rejected by the whites because of his Indian blood and by his mother’s people as well.  Rose, my widowed heroine, finds him wounded and nurses him back to health.  He’s called Latigo partly because of the whip he carries and uses, but he can be tender as well.  In one of my favorite scenes, he brushes Rose’s hair.  The best part was having the great John DeSalvo portray him on my cover.

Kate:  “All my heroes are incredibly romantic! Honestly, I can’t choose who’s  best between the men I’ve created! <g> Sometimes the most romantic thing about him is his sense of humor, sometimes it’s the chivalrous way he treats the heroine, other times it’s the way he touches her. I have to mention Quinn Rowlan, the hero from my current novel, Wanted In Alaska. One very romantic thing about Quinn is his ability to quote legal passages from the Constitution. It doesn’t sound romantic, but he’s an outlaw and the heroine doesn’t expect it. He kidnaps her and she doesn’t think much of him, so his intelligence is a real surprise to her–and begins a deep attraction.”

Linda:  Luke McClain in The Cowboy Who Came Calling was probably my most romantic hero. He loved Glory with all his heart and soul and was willing to take her however she was, even when she lost her eyesight. Luke was so tender and sweet and giving of himself. He recognized that Glory needed some space to deal with her disability and come to terms with it, but he always stood in the shadows watching over her, always ready to protect her. He realized that to keep her, he had to let her go, be that a short while or forever and he was willing to wait. That’s not to say that Luke was a softie. He wasn’t by any means. He had a gritty toughness and could be quite fierce when he had to be. I think it was the combination of deep caring and tough steel that made him really sexy. And he had a sense of humor. I like my men to laugh once in a while. 

Mary:  My heroes in the first two books in this series, Clay and Daniel, are clueless about women, and that was really fun to write. One, Clay was a mountain man raised completely away from women. Daniel was the father of five sons. All he knew about women was, his wife had died and left him to raise his boys alone, and scarred with the idea that is was his fault, that he shouldn’t have let her have those babies, even though she wanted them. But Grant, in Gingham Mountain, with his tender heart for children in need, has taken many children into his home including a lot of girls and he’s very comfortable around tears and giggling. He’s a pretty good hand at being a father to girls. But, because he started taking in children at a very young age, it’s kept him too busy to ever think much about marriage. Now he’s found a woman he is very attracted to and he has no idea what to do with this feelings. So, he’s pretty sensitive as heroes go, but still a clod when it comes to romantic love.

Pam:  Oh, this was a toughie.  Perhaps it’s how a hero acts in a certain situation that portrays him as romantic–in a rugged and unconventional way.  Following is a snippet from Kidnapped By The Cowboy when TJ can’t bear to be apart from Callie Mae–and defies detection by climbing through her bedroom window late at night.  And we soon find out just how romantic he gets!

A sound brought her instantly awake.

Callie Mae’s gaze darted toward the open window; a light breeze played with the hems of the curtains.  Moonlight spilled inward, bringing with it . . . silence.

She didn’t move.  Didn’t breathe.  Yet she sensed something wasn’t right.  Something surreal.

Her heart pounded.  Suddenly, behind her, the mattress dipped.  A hand clamped over her mouth.  Locked the scream in her throat.  

“Don’t be afraid, Callie Mae.”

She stilled at the low whisper, gently-spoken.  Husky.

Familiar.

The hand eased off her mouth.  Her head swiveled on the pillow.  A dark, rugged face loomed over her, and her eyes widened in recognition.

“TJ!” she gasped.  

He held a finger to his lips.  “Shh.”

“What are you–?”

“Shh, darlin’.”

She rolled to her back.  “Don’t ‘darlin’’ me,” she hissed, though she took care to make it a quiet hiss.  “What are you doing in here?”

For a moment, his gaze lingered over her face.  The shadows sharpened the angles of his jaw, his chin, making him appear ruthless and dangerous.  

Wildly exciting.

He reached out and tenderly threaded his fingers through her hair.

“I couldn’t stay away,” he said.

The words sounded wrenched from him.  Her heart tilted and swayed.  “You should have.”

“I know.”

She darted a quick look at the closed door. “Woollie will have a fit if he knew–”

“I know that, too.”

“TJ.”  She bit her lip.  The mattress dipped again.  He shifted his position and swung his body around to straddle hers.  She pushed on his hard thighs.  “TJ, you can’t be in here.”

          “No other place I want to be.”  He planted his hands near her shoulders, lowered his head and nuzzled her neck.  “Don’t send me away, Callie.”

Stacey:  Garret Daines has to be my most romantic hero. He tugged at my heartstrings in MUSTANG WILD as a boy trying to protect his older sister. In MAVERICK WILD he’s become a rough-cut cowboy with the heart of a poet and gifts Cora with wild flowers and compliments that make him blush. He suffered a good deal of heartache when Cora chose Chance over him. When we catch up with Garret in Mountain Wild he’s suffered a failed marriage and has sworn off courtship all together. A run-in with cutthroat cattle rustlers in the midst of a blizzard lands him in the healing hands of mountain recluse “Mad Mag”, a woman he calls “Magpie” because of her black hair and the way she flutters just out of reach whenever he moves near. It’s his gentle nature and subtle advances that win her over. Here’s a snippet from Chapter Eight—Maggie finds him in his barn, Garret having been jumped by eight rustlers—he had ‘em whooped, until they got the drop on him by shooting his dog   Even bloody and bruised, he’s a charmer.

She cut away the spiral of rope along his arm. The bone at his shoulder appeared to be poking up beneath his shirt. His arm rolled from the top of the gate as the rope fell away. He grunted as she eased the limp limb against his side.

Using her body to hold him up, she pressed firmly against him as she cut the rope holding his right arm. Garret’s swollen lips pressed against her neck.

“You smell like heaven,” he breathed against her skin.

“You look like hell,” she said, hoping his frisky move meant he wasn’t hurting as badly as he appeared.

His other arm fell forward and his weight knocked her back. She landed on her butt, her arms banded around his chest. It took all her strength to ease him to the side before she fell on top of him. He groaned and hooked his right arm around her, holding her against him.

          “We gotta stop meetin’ like this, Magpie,” he said in a weak voice. “You lookin’ pretty as springtime. Me on death’s door.”

She eased back. Fresh tears hazed her vision at the full sight of him. She’d never seen such a battered face. The bones in his left shoulder pitched up, creating a rise beneath his shirt.

“You are not on death’s door.”

“Am too,” he insisted. “Better strip me nekkid and have your way with me. Do it quick.”

“Garret!”

His swollen lips twitched in what could have been a grin. “Worked last time.” He shifted, attempting to sit up, but only managed a deep moan before settling back on the dirt and straw. “Just lay here with me,” he said in a pant. “I’ll get up in a minute. You sure Boots is all right?”

“Yes. And you shouldn’t try to move. Your shoulder is broke. God only knows what the rest of you looks like.”

“Shhh,” he whispered. “I’m tryin’ to impress my girl.”

He’d suffered far too many blows to the head. “I’m not your girl.”

He peered up at her through the swollen slit of one eye. “You will be.”

Maggie tensed, the confidence behind those three words sending a combination of fear and longing shooting through her.

How about you, who’s the most romantic hero that comes to mind when thinking of your favorite romance novels?

How about those real-life romancers – care to share a special Valentine’s Day moment?

Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day and do the Fillies have a special treat in store for you!

Miz Nancy Ruybal, a Western Americana singer/songwriter and Cowboy Poet, will arrive in Wildflower Junction. She’s gonna talk about how she writes songs and sets them to music. What a pretty voice she has. But Miz Nancy also writes some of the best cowboy poetry you’ve ever heard. She’s a most talented lady or my name’s not Felicia Filly. 

Ah know you won’t want to miss her. Put down your roses and candy and come on over to the Junction. We’ll save you a front row seat.

And while you’re sittin’ here with your feet propped up, you can also find out the most romantic favorite hero each Filly ever wrote. Now there’s a deal and a half!

Saddle up and mosey over. Get a chance to win one of Miz Nancy’s CD’s!

CHARLENE SANDS

Hey, today is Friday the 13th!  But I don’t mind. Friday the 13th has always been lucky for me.  My parents married on Friday the 13th and let’s face it, without them I wouldn’t be here!  My husband and I moved into the house we adore on Friday the 13th, so the date holds good memories.

Tomorrow is the day we celebrate love and romance on Valentine’s Day.  So much has been written about it, poems, and odes and stories and each year we try to show our love and appreciation for our beloved ones with homemade gifts,  gorgeous flowers or fancy dinners.  Perhaps that’s why February has also been deemed, American Heart Month.   There’s one more thing you can do to honor your loved one.  You can learn how to save a life, maybe his/hers, or maybe your own.  And that’s the best gift of all! 

For the past 15 years I’ve been a CPR instructor with the American Heart Association.   Since I teach childbirth and baby care in the community my main focus has always been with infants, but I’ve also taught and recertified nurses, doctors, office employees about being Heart Healthy as well as the mechanics of CPR.   Here are some facts you may not know … and if you do, it’s a good reminder.

·     About 75 percent to 80 percent of all out-of-hospital cardiac arrests happen at home, so being trained to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) can mean the difference between life and death for a loved one.

·     Effective bystander CPR, provided immediately after cardiac arrest, can double a victim’s chance of survival.

·     CPR helps maintain vital blood flow to the heart and brain and increases the amount of time that an electric shock from a defibrillator can be effective.

·     Approximately 95 percent of sudden cardiac arrest victims die before reaching the hospital.

·     Death from sudden cardiac arrest is not inevitable. If more people knew CPR, more lives could be saved.

·     Brain death starts to occur four to six minutes after someone experiences cardiac arrest if no CPR and defibrillation occurs during that time.

·     If bystander CPR is not provided, a sudden cardiac arrest victim’s chances of survival fall 7 percent to 10 percent for every minute of delay until defibrillation. Few attempts at resuscitation are successful if CPR and defibrillation are not provided within minutes of collapse.

·     Coronary heart disease accounts for about 450,000 of the nearly 870,000 adults who die each year as a result of cardiovascular disease.

The very best thing you can do to save someone’s life is to recognize the warning signs.  Denial plays an important role. Heart attack victims, often don’t want to believe they are having a heart attack. They will make excuses – it’s the spaghetti I ate last night or I’m too young to have a heart attack. I know, my uncle died because he refused to acknowledge the signs. He stayed at home with chest pains for 2 hours before his attack which eventually led to his death.  

Here are the signs to look for:

Chest Discomfort – a squeezing pain or fullness, may come and go, or may last several minutes. At times, it’s been described as it feeling like an elephant sitting on the chest.

Discomfort in other parts of the body such as one or both arms, neck, jaw and back.

Shortness of breath with our without chest pain.

Cold sweat or nausea and lightheadedness

Though women do experience chest discomfort too, they may often have shortness of breath, nausea and back and jaw pain.

REMEMBER LADIES – It’s not just a man’s disease. 

So what can you do?   Well for you and your loved ones to stay heart healthy, here’s some things to ALWAYS DO.

Eat Healthy – it’s the old addage but it’s true.  Check food labels.  Make sure you’re limiting fats and high calories from your diet. Eat baked, not fried.  Eat fruits and vegetables fresh if possible, or steamed. 

Exercise – It’s not a 4-letter word!  Make it fun. Take the dog for a walk. Play tennis.  Swim.  Chase your kids or grandkids around the park. Did you know that the AHA recommends 30 minutes of moderate to intense activity a day.  It’s not a lot and you can break it up if you’re not an active person. Do something for 10 or 15 minutes a few times a day.  Make the time. The benefits are invaluable and include, improving your blood cholesterol levels, reducing high blood pressure, manages diabetes, reduces depression and anxiety and acts as a stress-buster. CHOOSE TO MOVE!

Stop Smoking – We all know it’s bad, but the risks of smoking and damage it does to your body are horrific. You are twice as likely to have a heart attack if you smoke.  Women who smoke have a higher risk of coronary heart disease compared to nonsmoking women. Smoking puts added strain on the heart because it causes vessels to clamp down or constrict.  If some of the blood vessels have already been narrowed or damaged by heart disease, smoking makes the problem worse.Smoking also causes temporary changes in your heart; it beats faster, raising your blood pressure and reducing blood flow.  Smoking also increases the level of carbon monoxide in your blood, which robs your heart and other tissues of vital oxygen.

Manage Your Weight – obesity is a major risk factor to heart attack. But if you eat healthy and exercise and lose your excess weight, you will reduce that risk factor and feel better overall. 

Act fast if you suspect someone is having a heart attack. 

CALL 911 or whatever your emergency number is in your area. 

Take a CPR class or renew your skills.  

Visit the AHA website for more info on exercise, staying heart healthy, meal plans, CPR, risk factors, events and classes in your area. 

REMEMBER the heart you save might be your loved one’s or may even be your own!

Happy Valentine’s Day Everyone …Oh and did I mention that reading a romance novel, can also reduce stress, put a smile on your face and help you lose calories, (if you read it while on the threadmill)  Check out my current book guaranteed to make your heart throb, in a good way!  Oh and tomorrow I’m the spotlight author on our dear friend Pam Thibodeaux’s Blog.  Please make 2 stops tomorrow, Petticoats and Pam’s Blog!

How many of you know CPR?  When’s the last time you’ve taken a class?  And do you believe you’re heart healthy? Are you trying to be? 

How many of you had a hope chest when you were growing up?  I had one, and so did most of my girlfriends.  We filled them with embroidered pillowcases, tablecloths and dish towels (I still remember doing one set of 7 with little cross-stitched cats and the days of the week).  My mother and grandmother added wash cloths with crocheted edges, doilies, aprons, and eventually a couple of quilts.  In my early teens, my hope chest was a space in a drawer.  In high school, my parents bought me a beautiful cedar lined chest—a traditional high graduation present for girls in my day. 

The hope chest is traditional in many parts of the world.  It dates back to the middle ages when brides took a dowry with them to their new families.  The dowry could include linens, china, silverware, glassware, kitchen items, even furniture.  As the tradition evolved, mothers taught their daughters how to knit, embroider, sew, and crochet in preparation for marriage. Young women, dreaming of their wedding day, started accumulating a collection of items, including hand-embroidered linens, towels, aprons, quilts, and other handicrafts, and storing them in a chest, which became a symbol of hope for the future. 

Early hope chests were handmade and often lined with cedar. Many fathers built their daughter’s hope chests and decorated them with artwork, carved mottoes, and other decorations.  During World War I, the Lane Company (no relation to me) won a large government contract to build pine ammunition boxes for the military. The plant modernized its assembly processes, and when the war was over, they converted to the production of cedar chests. At the same time, they began an advertising campaign to promote the new Lane Hope Chest.  When I was in high school, every senior girl was presented with a miniature cedar chest.  Mine is long gone but a long-time male friend with the unisex name of Clair still prizes the one they sent him by mistake. 

I still have the hope chest my parents gave me.  I use it as an extra seat here in my office.  It’s covered with a sheepskin rug to hide the top that was ruined when a toddler poured a bottle of perfume on it.  The sides are dinged and scratched from multiple moves but it’s still a treasure.  In addition to my good wool sweaters it holds old photos of my family, little things people have made me, and the letters my father wrote to “Eebee” when he was in the Navy in WWII.  My chest of dreams has become a chest of memories.  Maybe that’s as it should be. 

Did you make hope chest items when you were young?  Do you have a hope chest?  Do your daughters? 

Click on a book to go to Amazon.com.

Hello Darlings,

Valentine weekend is almost here and love is definitely in the air!

In honor of the holiday we’re departing from our normal set-up this Saturday and Sunday. The Fillies are pleased and delighted to have musical guest Nancy Ruybal with us. Woo-Hoo!

Miss Nancy is a Western Americana singer/songwriter and Cowboy Poet. She performs with her better half, Wes, at musical venues along with their Katy Creek Band. They’ve got more talent than you can shake a stick at! Find out what inspires Miss Nancy to write and sing. She’s also going to give away one of her CD’s to one lucky commentor.

We’d love to have you come and help us give Miss Nancy a great big welcome. Listen to her music and visit with the talented lady. Who knows, you might take home her CD. Don’t that beat all? So hitch up your mules, shake out your skirts, and sashay over to the Junction this weekend for a special treat.

And in addition to Miss Nancy Ruybal, the Fillies are going to share with you the hero they think was their most romantic  to write. Ah guarantee you won’t want to miss the fun on Valentine weekend. It only comes around once a year.

Yep, love is in the air! Ah can smell it.

Not MY typos, complain to Chauer.

 Finally Venus got control of her jealousy,

Psyche got over herself

(and put some clothes on, thank the Good Lord)

My gosh it’s just like one of my romance novels…

only with wings instead of a Stetson.

And that is the story of Valentine’s Day,

minus the slow agonizing death and graphic dismemberment

 of some Catholic Priests.

Enjoy your chocolates and hope and pray the roses don’t attract bees.

http://www.maryconnealy.com/

Gingham Mountain

Good Morning!  With the 14th coming up fast on our heels, I thought it might be fun to have a look at Love and Marriage and many of the traditions of the American Indian of the past.

All tribes were different, of course.  From customs to language, not all tribes did the same thing of even thought about things in the same way.  But let’s have a look at a few of these traditions.

Many of the Western Plains tribes allowed for polygomy and the first wife was sometimes referred to as his “sits-beside-him-wife.”  Often the husband married his first wife’s sister so as to make jealousy less.  Sitting Bull had a problem concerning this, by the way, he had married his first wife and then married a younger, beautiful woman and brought her into his home.  His first wife and this new wife could not get along and Sitting Bull found  his life in constant strife.  He ended up sending the second wife back to her parents — there was no stigma attached to this, by the way, for either him or her, just an interesting tidbit on polygomous marriage.

Bear with me — I’m going to try to fill this post with images of handsome, handsome, handsome native men, this being a day so close to Valentine’s Day.  The Lakota had several different ceremonies that I have read about.  One was tying the wrists of the groom and bride together, signfiying that the two people have become as one.  Often, however, the bride and groom simply lived with one another and thereafter they were married.

There is a rumor that Native men “bought” their brides.  Actually this was a misunderstanding perpetuated by traders and others who came into the West who didn’t bother to get their facts right.  A man had to work had to get a woman.  The girl’s father wasn’t going to let his daughter marry someone who was a slacker or lazy man who wouldn’t be able to take care his daughter.  Therefore, it was up to the boy/man to show the father that he was worthy of his daughter’s hand in marriage.  Thus he might present the father gifts to show that he was capable to taking care of the daughter.  Whatever the case, the daughter had the right to say “no.”

Often parents tried to get their daughter to marry some distinguished man in the tribe.  Sometimes she might consent in order to be a good daughter, but often, if she had her eye on some other man, she would refuse.  Sometimes young couples took matters into their own hands and stole away by themselves, coming back to their tribe after several days.  They were then married and each set of parents was expected to welcome them.

The Blackfeet had an interesting custom.  Some parents were afraid of their daughter being stolen — in such cases they might “give” their daughter to an older respected man of the tribe as a “wife.”  She was often very  young (fourteen, fifteen) and he watched over her until the day came when she met and fell in love with some young buck.  It was often so hard for the young men to win the favor of the parents that this was a satisfactory arrangement.  The older gentleman would give the girl to the young man — sometimes, however, the marriages of the older man and younger girl lasted a lifetime.

The Cheyenne had an interesting custom of carrying the bride to the groom on a blanket, thus sealing the marriage.  Also, a bride wasn’t expected to have relations with her new husband right away.  Several days to even a week might pass where the couple got to know each other better, and the groom was expected to “sit it out.”  Amongst the Cheyenne and the Lakota, where village life was often lived close to one another,  a custom developed where the prospective groom placed his robe over the girl so that they could have a few words to each other in private.  Sometimes, when a girl was beautiful and much desired, she might have a waiting line of suitors, and she would receive each beneath his robe.  The rest of the tribe was supposed to ignore them and pretend that they weren’t there, thus giving them the needed privacy that is so essential in a romance.“  On the eastern seaboard, love and marriage was a little different.  Because these tribes were often run by the clan mothers, and women had complete and equal rights with the men, a man usually married only one woman. 

Of course because a man was often gone from home so long on the hunt or at war or on diplomatic missions, he sometimes returned home to find that his wife had married another.  In such a case, he was expected to let the matter go and to seek another wife elsewhere.  And sometimes he found another wife on his many expeditions from home, and might come home, himself, with another wife, and just as he was supposed to let the matter go, his ex-wife was expected to do the same.  However, there were many examples where the man and woman stayed married all their life.

You didn’t think I’d forget this picture, did you?  Now one of the very interesting bits of information I’ve run across concerning love and marriage is amongst some of the southern Eastern Indians, where a woman was sometimes allowed more than one husband.  Imagine…  But this was definitely in the minority here in the Americas. 

Well, I hope you have enjoyed this pictoral tour through Native America and love and marriage.  Tell me, many of us have grandparents from other places and other countries.  What customs do you know of concerning the boy and the girl — or perhaps I should say the man and the woman?   So what do you say?  Let’s share. Come on in.

Hello Darlings,

Have you enjoyed this weekend? It’s been more fun than a bunch of frogs hopping around in a mud puddle. Miss Jeannie Watt knows how to entertain a crowd!

And we have a whole passel of winners!!

Winners of an autographed copy of A Cowboy’s Redemption are….

Vickie Couturier

Martha E

Mary J

And winner of the braided horsehair bracelet —

ABI

Ladies, please contact Miss Jeannie at JeannieWrites@gmail.com and give her your mailing address. She’ll be happy to get the prizes to you. Bet they won’t even have to arrive by Pony Express! Hee-Hee!

Thank you for showing Miss Jeannie our wonderful hospitality. It’s shore been fun. Until next time!

We’re tickled pink that you’re contributing to our first million hits at Wildflower Junction!  So keep yore comments a’coming.

Once we hit the million mark all commentors that day will be entered to win a Book Shower from the Fillies! 

Remember to click on the Icon on the Side Bar to enter our Chance in A Million Hits Contest too.

Two fun ways to win a prize!!