Sharon Grannis

A Little Chestnut Mare

A Little Chestnut Mare
I truly believe that a spirit of horse connects to the soul of a woman. You can feel it run through your veins like the warmth of the sun on your skin on a cold day. These connections don’t happen often, and when they do it is special.
She rode into the arena so confident her four white socks low in the front and higher in the back, head lowered and ears listening to her rider.
The arena was busy 20 horsemen breaking 40 new colts and she carrying a cowboy to assist in all matters crazy. Her face with a large white blaze and above her left eye a perfect circle cut out showing her chestnut color, and there on her right hip the number 54! Oh could she be for sale? This was a 5 day event for unbroken colts that receive the benefit of world class trainers who take them from the ranch herd they run in to under saddle ,cow exposed and the last day off to auction to the public for sale. Why did she have a number? Page 21 Lot #54 Sweet Dualin Jewels, 7 year old mare, she is for sale!
Okay, so she caught my eye out of the 50 plus horses in the arena. Really, 4 horses at home 248 miles away, no horse trailer this can’t be happening. Okay just one peak at her at that stalls, I just know she will be “marey” and yucky, right? Nope there she was quite, sweet and just so perfect! It seems she was a high school student’s horse and qualified in the high school and state finals cutting events. Trail perfect and cow broke…. Oh my! Yup I was smitten and coming back to the auction.
No rest all night, how high will I go, how many will be bidding on her… she would just be perfect with Hank. Liza from our town was there, she offered to trailer her home, it was all so perfect. I know this is going to happen!
Time is nearing and I am getting sick to my stomach, the parking lot is full, I lose my bidding card, the seats are filling, conversations around us are about the “aged” horses for sale today, I am getting a headache. She is number 5 in the lineup, up first is Lot 51a 12 year old red dun gelding , oh please all of you here want him, please be here for him not Jewel! The biding starts 1,000, 1,500 oh good, nobody is spending money today…. I have a chance 2,500, 4,000, 5,500, 7,200, What? It stops 13,500. Ouch this is not good. Next up 48, he sells at 3,500…okay this is better. Two more about the same okay this is good. In she comes, a cowboy brings her in she is showing off, working a calf pure confidence , bidding starts, 10,000 no cards, 5,000 no cards, 1,500 cards up, quickly 2,500, 3,500, 4,500..5,000 is my limit, stop.. Stop… 6,000, 6,500, 7,000, 8,000……….8,500. Sold!
To the rancher in the front row with the white cowboy hat, take care of my Jewel.

Posted By Sharon Grannis on October 12, 2013 |Filed Under: Happy Tales and Trails •

Horse Photo

This is a photo I took of a Draft horse looking rather lonely at a winery we visited. What do you think is appropriate for his beautiful face? This was my attempt.

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Posted By Sharon Grannis on September 8, 2013 |Filed Under: Horsing Around •

Gracie’s Pouting Brother

Pouting in Bed
Today marks opening day for Dove Season in our County. Cooled, an avid hunter rises early to hunt these innocent birds of peace.
Chase, his trusty bird dog is left at home as opening day isn’t safe for him.
He has no idea this is in his best interest, only that Dad is off with shotgun in hand and he is stuck at home with Gracie and Mom…

Not quite Dove Hunting
But a visit with Love Dove Grandma makes his day a bit better.
Isn’t the love of a dog the best? I know my puppies make my life better and that of my family.

Posted By Sharon Grannis on September 1, 2013 |Filed Under: Uncategorized •

WHAT Wineries in AZ?

So who knew, between the cactus, sand and ever scorching sun…. grapes.

Cornville, just a bit west of the middle of AZ is this small town without any corn that we could locate, but a valley of artisan water that has just the right climate for growing grapes.

The heat was on, the monsoons threatening and I went wine tasting. What else do you do in 100 plus heat?

Along a beautiful road, down a valley with lush plant life, smack dab in the middle of the desert lies this completely inviting winery, Javelina Leap.

The tasting room inviting with a western flair. Annie our pourer was very informed about the wine and valley in which they are located and so willing to share with us why this valley is great for growing grapes.

Cynthia and Rod Snapp are the owners and winemakers, this is a self portraiture of Cynthia which is located in the Arizona room behind the bar. The wine is a work of love and can be tasted in the wine.

This is a great winery with wonderful reds, the Syrah and Merlot my favorites, and the Zin rolling in right behind.

The grounds are beautiful, the pourers informed and welcoming, the wine wonderful. I enjoyed my visit, cant wait to go back as I sit here tonight enjoying my Syrah while recalling my visit. You can find them at http://www.javelinaleapwinery.com/

Posted By Sharon Grannis on July 8, 2013 |Filed Under: Featured, Wine Talk •

Goats, who knew?

On our adventure to locate bears, we drove to Fossil Creek which was closed due to the extreme fire hazards in AZ.

On our adventure to locate bears, we drove to Fossil Creek which was closed due to the extreme fire hazards in AZ. But when one trail closes another opens… and look at the incredible find along our trail! A creamery that was in full milking when we arrived.

This is Hope or maybe it is Faith, oh I forget but I am sure she will forgive me. These goats get milked twice daily and there are 41 of them!

So it seems that the “girls” know that in the bowls are the best food on the ranch!

They run from their housing area to the milk stands and jump right up to enjoy the yummy treats!

The Fossil Creek Creamery is also home to many Llamas who fleece is used for creating many things.

The Fossil Creek Creamery is also home to many Llamas in which the fleece is used for creating many things.

So inside the pretty glass doors, is a bounty of goodness. Taste testing in encouraged! I tasted it all, Chevre, the soft goat cheese, Havarti the hard cheese that I was only familiar with until my visit, and the most yummy fudge made from goats milk! They have several varieties of Chevre and I selected the 3 that I knew would pair well with my favorite wines, Strawberry Jalapeno, Shiraz Berry and Lavender Pepper. There was no way that I was leaving without the Peanut Butter Chocolate fudge, so creamy and fresh! We bought 2 bars of soap, that smell of fields of lavender.

So inside the pretty glass doors, is a bounty of goodness. Taste testing is encouraged! I tasted it all, Chevre, the soft goat cheese, Havarti the hard cheese that I was only familiar with until my visit, and the most yummy fudge made from goats milk! They have several varieties of Chevre and I selected the 3 that I knew would pair well with my favorite wines, Strawberry Jalapeno, Shiraz Berry and Lavender Pepper. There was no way that I was leaving without the Peanut Butter Chocolate fudge, so creamy and fresh! We bought 2 bars of soap, that smell of fields of lavender.

If you find yourself in Strawberry Az stop in and spend sometime with John, Joyce and the 41 girls. If you cant make the trip you can find them at www.ranchatfossilcreek.com

Posted By Sharon Grannis on July 6, 2013 |Filed Under: Featured, Wine Talk •

Payson AZ

We have arrived in Payson, although at a 5,000 foot elevation it is warm here

We have arrived in Payson, although at a 5,000 foot elevation it is warm here.. in the 90’s, which for the Sunshine State is cool for this time of year. Many of the people in town seem to be from Tucson and Phoenix. We stop at this coffee house DMI Coffee, and quickly order our favorite iced coffee drink Mocha Peanut Butter. When we travel we find off beat coffee houses and compare Mocha Peanut Butter iced coffees, this one is good, but still not beating the Rhino’s Coffee house’s.

So sitting down to drink my MPB, I read this article, really bears in the desert. I cant imagine bears here, where to they hide in the cactus? The terrain here is scrub oak and cactus, sometimes mixed in you will find a cottonwood tree. I am going bear seeking tonight, wearing my snake boots.

So true to form, I just know that every room in the city cant be booked, right? So last room at of course the last choice hotel… oh well, who wants to spend time in the hotel anyway.. not me. I have bears to find.

Posted By Sharon Grannis on July 4, 2013 |Filed Under: Featured, Happy Tales and Trails •

Pow Wow

Yesterday a good friend invited us to visit him at the Pow Wow in Temecula.

Yesterday a good friend invited us to visit him at the Pow Wow in Temecula. The beauty of the Native American culture was breath taking. From the very young to the wise and aged the dancers in full gala preformed.

Young and Wise danced.

This was the most incredible headdress. The cat was so angry, his ears at attack mode, his nose wrinkled in aggression, mouth open, teeth showing and eyes focused on his prey. While the face of the Native American is painted with Bear Track which depending on his tribe can mean many things and conveys a message of leadership and authority. Makes sense as to why he has on this headdress of the angry cat. At any rate they both are just incredible.

I hope you can see the intricate bead work on this headdress. Although the women’s headdresses are not as loud and bold as the men, more than likely as ,we as a gender are not either, they are so beautiful. Created with thought and patience, just like us!

Look at this shot… sun setting in the 108 temp sky, the men are awaiting to be called to dance, I am sweating with a bunch of strangers wishing they would all just disappear so I could take my pictures without them standing in front of me like I don’t have a camera shoved in my face.

Okay, so this little guy Xavier, stole my heart. Just look at his precious face! Mac, our friend, calls him X, I call him adorable. He was preforming in the dance and gave us our very own private preview

The next few photos are X’s performance for us.

Well you get the jest of it, he is adorable and is learning the ways of his ancestors, X we wish great things for you and thank you for the dance.

The children dance last and again the crowds are circling in and I am just able to snap this for you to see before they block my view for ever.
There is such pride and history within the Native American culture and this 4th of July I will be in thanks for them sharing this culture with me and the thousands who attended.

Posted By Sharon Grannis on July 1, 2013 |Filed Under: Featured, Happy Tales and Trails •

Super Moon at Leonees Cellars

Last night we, sister Lauren and I, enjoyed a wonderful evening at Leoness Cellars great food, wine and the incredible moon over the vineyard.

Last night we enjoyed a wonderful evening at Leoness Cellars great food, wine and the incredible moon over the vineyard.

This restaurant is on the patio of the vineyard, great food and incredible views.

My attempt to photograph the night moon over the vineyard. I promise to get better at this.

Light by man and light from above…

Posted By Sharon Grannis on June 24, 2013 |Filed Under: Featured, Wine Talk •

What kind of Grandma are you?

So yesterday I read on Facebook this darling quote that goes something like this:

“When I was little my Grandmother told me pennies on the ground are Angel’s tossing them down to say hello”, and then a bunch of other sweet stuff. On my drive into work, where I have my time for thoughts, I thought what a sweet Grandma to think of such a thing. I don’t recall my Grandma having such sweet statements, I need to work on thoughts like that.
When I mentioned it to my husband his comment was, “if you started to talk like that the kids would freak out, your more like a Ninja Grandma”

I wonder what he meant by that?

Posted By Sharon Grannis on June 19, 2013 |Filed Under: Featured, Happy Tales and Trails •

Cougar Wine Blending Event

Cougar Winery held its blending event last night and Val, Cooled and I attended.

Cougar wine blending event

We all come in, sit at the table full of glasses, bottles of wine, crayons, paper, beakers and this? I know I am in trouble, four bottles of wine, glasses empty and then science project? Right, drunk girls who didn’t do well at science sober.. we wont win the event for sure. We ended up using this paper for passing notes to each other.

We picked Julian to blend our choices of wines, she is a lover of red wines and sounded like she knew what she was talking about. Val and I took notes and drank the mixtures while Cooled drank water and spied on the competition.

These ladies came all the way from Illinois and have been friends for 40 years. A true testament to the power of female friendship. We raise a glass to you.

Val and I continue our “taste testing” pretending to know what we are doing and saying things like, ” a bit buttery, I taste pepper, dry, has a bite” and so on. I start playing with Tim Title my mascot from work.

Wine is blended, we pick our favorite, we are now well on our way of being intoxicated, and we are asked to create a label for our wine! Now we know what the paper and crayons are for! Really! This should have been before wine.. as you can see for yourself. Cooled tells me ” isn’t funny how adults draw just like children” I am thinking drunk adults are just like children..
So here is our bottle’s label, its a Cougar, not a rabbit and yes it really was the best we could do. No we didn’t win best bottle.

Now we have to pitch our wine to the competition. Lets sacrifice the pretty one, young, adorable great hair, grand idea. She does a great job, talking about our blend, which is called “Love @ First Bite” due to the bite at the beginning. Thanks Julian, great job!

Competition is stiff and they are working the crowd.

Table 8, our girls from Illinois, have created a wine that speaks about their friendship and call it The 3 Amigos, a blend of 3. She does a great job and the story of the ladies is making us all so happy.

Wine is left on the table and as my mom always raised me to waste not want not, I continued my “tasting” and personal blending. Tim sort of got ignored.

Winning bottle for design, I think, as I have a photo of them holding this up.

So as quick as it began it ends, I cant recall who won the blending, but I am sure it was a worthy candidate. I leave a bit more educated about blending but still not sure about that wheel thing. Next time I will surely attack my night a bit different.
1. Draw the label before wine.
2. Taste and pour out remainder in glass.
3. Eat prior to event.
4. Taste and pour out remainder in the glass.

Posted By Sharon Grannis on June 9, 2013 |Filed Under: Featured, Wine Talk •