Be Adorned
Many years ago I was given this one piece of advice that has carried me for years. Very simply, “it’s all in the accessories”. Think about it, it will change your life. It’s Monday morning and you’ve got a meeting, so you pull the black jeans, your boots and a long sleeved grey tee with a v-neck out of the closet. It all looks painfully like what you wore last Monday to the same meeting, except for the tee, last week it was light blue with rounded scoop neck. Thankfully you’re not quite done. Start with a belt, the one with the rhinestone and red coral inlay and the pounded pewter buckle. For earrings you’ll wear the antique silver with red coral beading and for a necklace you’ll do the heavy silver chain with dangling baubles and red coral pieces. Grab your suede fringed jacket and you’re good to go, anywhere. When you meet your husband and his new client for dinner tonight, you’ll switch your boots for heels, the jacket for your boiled wool blazer and your necklace for the red and silver silk scarf that wraps around twice and still has room for a knot. The jeans are great, the tee is one of your favorites, but it’s all the other stuff, the bling, the pizzazz that really gets it done, and brilliantly you have enough of that to wear something different everyday for months.
Pine Country Pizzazz
It’s time the make getting dressed in the morning one of the best parts of your day. The moment has come when throwing your closet doors open should be done with anticipation, with a pounding heart, knowing that what you wear today will make everything go a bit smoother and you will walk into each demanding situation with that, “I know I look good” edge. Pine Country Feed has filled its more than inviting upstairs with clothes that will make you not “that woman who always looks nice”, but rather “that woman who looks so fabulous in everything she wears”. Get your cowgirl style on with boots and belts, skirts and shirts, jackets, vests, and of course that staple of every real wardrobe – jeans, from Cowgirl Tuff, Ranch Royalty, and Tasha Polizzi. Long on style and blessed with creative genius, the Pine Country closet is brimming with just what you need to go from “getting through it”, to totally owning the day!
Progress?
Stagecoach in Boulder parade (Photo credit: Jerry W. Lewis)
What were we thinking when we went from the Stage Coach as a main means of mass transportation to the “bigger than the state of Delaware” bus. Buses have gotten so big they have to put an accordion fold in the middle of some of them just to be able to get around a corner. Their size alone seems to give them a sense of entitlement, like ownership of the road, both their lane and yours, comes from the fact that they could run you into a ditch without even feeling it and the amount of fuel they use is heart breaking. In the era of the Stage Coach, the passenger traveled with three, at the most four other people, and most of them wore hats, so you didn’t have their dandruff falling on your shoulder if they dozed off on the trip, and a lot of them were carrying guns, so the fear of hijacking was pretty much alleviated. An occasional hold up, wheel break, or washed out bridge was inevitable, but it just made the trip fodder for the next letter home. The cost of fuel was minimal, water and feed, and during your trip you usually got to stop for a cup of coffee at a ramshackle but cozy place where they were glad to see you and happy to do what they could to make the rest of your journey a pleasant one. If you didn’t mind having your bones rattled and being covered with dust, the Stage Coach was a very civilized way of getting from here to there – not fast, but fuel efficient and these days that is the name of the game.
Organic Chicken Feed
Ranch Way Organic Feed
- Poultry and his nutrition (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
has come to Pine Country. Pine Country Feed is proud to announce that we have become a Ranch Way Feed dealer which means we are carrying the Ranch Way Organic Chicken Feed. The Ranch Way feeds are certified to be grown without chemicals or pesticides, on land that has been organic for at least three years. The end result is a product that will give you healthier chickens, unfettered by harmful substances that are not only harmful to the chickens but to the people who eat their eggs. Organic Chicken Feed, means healthier chickens, means better, healthier eggs, and it all starts for you at Pine Country Feed. What kind of feed are your chickens eating? It makes a huge difference. What do you want to know about feeding your chickens? We’re all ears.
Miracle Drug
There are certain things in life you just have to know to be a true success. Cornbread should always be baked in a cast iron skillet, people who don’t like dogs probably don’t like you either, and there is no day that can’t be improved by chocolate. Be it gourmet, or the last grab when you’re about to check out at the Wal-Mart, that touch of wonderful will turn a questionable three into a ten within two bites. There is a lot to be said for the taste and texture, the aroma is a highlight, but the real draw is the extravagance of eating pure luxury while you’re on your way home from work, or waiting for a movie to start, or before you do the dishes. It is a relatively inexpensive way to say to the world, and even more to yourself, “I am choosing to do something that just makes me happy, and I may decide to do it again tomorrow”. It might have almonds, or toffee, or caramel, but the chocolate is the thing that puts it above the level of snack, way beyond the concept of treat, and takes it all the way to a spiritual experience. Our advice is simple. Whatever your station in life, choose to do the right thing, and make it a chocolate kind of day.
Cowboy Culture
So you’re wondering why in a world where speed and riches are everything I would choose to be a cowboy. Why would I choose to work until I’m blistered and bruised and covered with dirt, and what is it about me that makes me think it’s okay to wear jeans for my work clothes and jeans for my church clothes and jeans when I take my best girl to dinner. You wanna know why a guy like me, with a Masters Degree in Business, would spend long nights in the barn during calving season, and longer days in the winter getting hay to the herd on the upper forty, and why I would rather shake hands with a man whose palms are worn by the reins of a horse than one who has a cell phone attached to his ear. You can’t figure what makes someone like me tear up when I see a soldier salute the flag and why I think of a summer afternoon on the porch as paradise, why I wouldn’t think of leaving the house without my hat. The answer is a simple one, but it’s the only explanation I can think of. Truth is … I was born this way.
March Winds
Driving around town today was an effort in “staying between the lines” due the ridiculously high winds, which I have decided I don’t like. I know that it blows the smog out, but if you think about it, that must mean it is blowing someone else’s smog in, and frankly, clean air or not, the wind is annoying. As I drove I passed a man walking up the road, which had a measurable incline, and when I say walking I mean he was “ralking” because I believe his intention was to run, but the wind and the incline were holding him in place. He had his head down and his hand grasping the top of his head in order to keep his hat on and I couldn’t tell for sure, but I think his eyes were closed. At the time he was running by a little group of shops in town, one where coffee is served to sensible people on a windy day and I found myself wondering why he didn’t stop his pretend run and step in for a bit of refreshment. He could get a ride to his car, because we do that sort of thing around here, and drive over to the rec center where he could engage in a productive run on the windless track. It reminded me of the way we conduct our lives at times. We start out to do a thing and when halfway through we discover that the method we have chosen is impractical, way more work than we expected and as a result becoming intensely stressful, but because it was what we started out to do we feel we must finish it or admit failure. Let us remember that failure is not seeing a mistake and correcting it, failure is seeing a mistake and stubbornly making it worse. The lesson here – come in out of the wind and drink your coffee.
Kick it Up
How about taking some of that Wild West ingenuity and spicing up the office – the place where the same work gets done every day and the brain begins to atrophy. We are told that the office requires professionalism and it does, but professional does not need to be synonymous with a “gee, I hope the parole board grants me an early release”. There is no place where the manifestation of your personality is more important than in your office, because remember, you weren’t hired to fill a chair, or because you were exactly like the person they just got rid of. They saw a spark in you, and you need to fan that ember into a nice warm fire that tells the people you work with that things are going to happen when you’re in the room, so they just better get ready. Hang cowboy hats on the coat rack, and wear one from time to time, put a painting of a horse in a full out run on the wall opposite your desk. It will remind you that there is life out there waiting for you. Hang spurs on the doorknob and throw an Indian blanket over the leather side chair. If someone questions whether or not you are behaving in a professional manner, explain that you absolutely are – a professional cowgirl.
Pajama Excursion
Let’s face it, shopping is a demanding proposition. It can be a feet throbbing, purse gaining poundage with every step, music blaring overhead making your head throb, standing in line, where in the world is a bathroom experience. Shopping at Pine Country Feed is actually none of those things, but truth be told, a nice glass of wine, your toes bare and propped up on the ottoman, not a line in sight can sound pretty good, and soon it will be yours. Shopping at Pine Country Feed will be an armchair adventure, laptop in place, browsing at your leisure. The On-Line version of your favorite place to shop for all of your “have to have” accessories, jeans, boots, jackets, hats, blouses and the most remarkable, can’t be found elsewhere home goods on the planet, is coming to a living room, or a king sized bed with tons of pillows to cradle your head, near you. The only thing better than a peaceful afternoon at Pine Country Feed, is a midnight splurge at Pine Country Feed On-line. Fire up the laptop. We’ll keep you posted.
Top of the Churn
Someone very wise once said that the surest way to succeed was to watch where the crowd is going and go the other way. We all sing the praises of being who we are, regardless of what anybody thinks, but to watch the herd marching in one direction and deliberately turn 180 degrees in the other is a risk that many of us are unwilling to take. Needing to “fit in” is an innate characteristic of the average human, and that is really the point. If average is what we want, we probably already have it. It is the person who wants to go beyond average, above common, around predictable who will boldly, even audaciously sidestep the long walk to the mediocre norm and dare to approach the plane of possibility, the realm of “what if”. Pine Country Feed believes in the human spirit that makes heroes of everyday souls and brilliance of day to day life. We salute rare genius, applaud extravagant dreaming, and tip our hats to the cream that rises to the top.
For Everything
If you are looking for a way to reach a peaceful place in your day, you need look no further than your dust cloth and bookshelves, your cluttered countertop and your hurricane stricken desk. There is true serenity in order, in clean lines and clutter stored away, and it is worth the investment of your time and energy today to have what you will need tomorrow. Stacks of papers are equal to anxiety, like trying to watch a movie through a rainstorm. A certain amount of lived in ambiance is welcoming, even cozy, but shoes that can’t find their way to a closet and phone books that need to be stashed on a pantry shelf are space taking annoyances. You’d be shocked to know what a simple straightening of your silverware drawer will do for your sense of calm. Dusted books that have been edited down to only the best loved volumes, interspersed with prized trinkets and small framed family photos are as soothing as a hot bath. So roll up your sleeves and take one of these rainy afternoons to put your surroundings in order, and just watch – your mind will follow.
Spice Up the Ranch
When you’re having guests into your home for dinner, your primary goal should be to make them feel at home, which means making them feel they are guests in a place where they are totally comfortable. Your table setting can do a lot to tell your guests that you are excited they are there, that you went to extra trouble, but that they are there to sit back and relax – no stuffiness allowed. A “western” table setting can be anything from fun to formal, and hopefully a little bit of both. Top a regular white dinner plate with a smaller plate of blue spatter wear, which you can get at Pine Country Feed, then pull a bandana through a napkin ring, also at Pine Country Feed, and set it atop the two. At the top right corner of the setting place a goblet for wine or water, and get something with a little kick in it, like Pine Country Feed’s ranch stem wear. You can cover your table with a red and white checked linens, or if you want to dress it up a bit place two leather runners, from Pine Country Feed, crosswise letting them serve at placemats. Set the center of your table with flowers in a galvanized tin bucket, blinged out with rhinestones that you can find (say it with me) at Pine Country Feed. There is a trend here. If you haven’t been in, it’s time to shop at Pine Country Feed, where we help you bring the ranch home!
How Broken the Road
“Every long lost dream led me to where you are –
Others who broke my heart, they were like Northern Stars …”
Rascal Flats captures the truth in their song, “Bless the Broken Road”, defining what so often leads us down the path our life is meant to travel. The hurdles that seem to rise up out of nowhere, some of them seemingly beyond our ability to overcome, are not without benefit, if we can only look past the hurdle and on to the finish line we hope to cross. The detours we take in life due to circumstances we think of as “bad” may be the only thing able to get us headed in the right direction, and away from an impending disaster. Like the man who misses the bus and arrives late to work, to find that there has been a break in at work that would have put him soundly in harm’s way, there is reward in looking beyond the difficult circumstance to the gift waiting on the other side.
“God blessed the broken road … that led me straight to you.”
Cowboy Strong
What is it about us that makes us love a cowboy? Maybe it’s because we think the truth is important, and pretention a waste of energy. There is something right about the man who gets up in the morning knowing that his day will be full and his exhaustion at the end of it complete, that the people he cares about are counting on him to work the land and move the cattle despite the elements. We like that he doesn’t try to impress us with his money or his education, because our opinion doesn’t really matter to him. His goal is to look himself in the mirror every evening and know that he left everything he had on the range, and tomorrow he will get up and do it again, because it is just what he does. Not to impress anyone, but because he wants to do it. He cares about the land and the livestock and treating both of them with respect. And when the sky grows dark and the ranch rests quietly he’ll sleep in his bed, knowing he did it right for another day, and every callous was worth it.
Common Ground
From the very beginning it was you and her, no cell phones or staff meetings. You and the one who understood that your soul was a priceless thing that deserved a moment of rest, a bit of understanding and a good amount of listening. When all the others didn’t get it, walked away, shook their heads the two of you stood by, undaunted, knowing that your answers would not be found on the bottom line, or even in the policy report but on the solitary journey, through the field, over the ridge to your point of perspective, where reality waits. The place you go together to remember what actually matters, and why you bother with all of this in the first place. She always knows right where to go, exactly what you need to find that place inside that assures you that you know what you’re doing, that you knew all along. She takes you to the place where you can believe again.
Wear It
When you’d rather ride a horse than get a massage, when you think of the smell of hay as fragrant, when you can look at an old barn and feel like you’re home, you know you’ve got that cowgirl thing going on, and it’s a powerful thing. Being a cowgirl means you wear jeans because it doesn’t occur to you to wear anything else, and they better be comfortable and fit exactly right, and you wouldn’t think of wearing them without your boots that form to your foot like a glove. They’re as good for strolling the boardwalk as they are for climbing the ladder to the loft. You don’t wear a belt to keep your pants on, you wear it to get the look you want; it’s as important as your earrings and your hat, which by the way has to sit on your head just right to keep the sun off, the hair in place and heads turning. The jacket you wear is denim and made just right with a little bling and a lot of style. It’s a cowgirl thing. So next time you’re out and about, stop in at Pine Country Feed. You’re a cowgirl and we’ve got your stuff.
Dads We Love
Sometimes, just being able to listen makes you the hero.
Rodeo Ready
Time to get your style on for the Evergreen Rodeo – the weekend when we’re all cowboys and cowgirls, and the more put together the better. You may want to start with a belt, something studded with silver or blinged with rhinestones, which of course will have a greater impact when accompanied by the right pair of Cowgirl Tuff jeans, and you may as well top it off with one of the designer shirts that Pine Country Feed is famous for. Did we mention that Pine Country Feed is the Cowgirl Capital of the world, because they really get that being comfortable and looking your best should go hand in hand, the perfect pairing of relaxed living and eye catching flair? The Board Walk is waiting for your sassy approach, so pull it all together with the perfect hat, wide brimmed, leather banded, feathered set off with a pounded silver emblem, Pine Country has it all. That’s why you and PC are meant for each other. All you with just the right amount of wild, the best of the west!
Do You Have the Time
“The only reason for time is so that everything doesn’t happen at once.” Albert Einstein
Seedling
“The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit.” Nelson Henderson
Statement
If you’re one of those people who base your sense of well being on your accessory meter, and if you’re not, you might consider it, then Pine Country Feed needs to become a regular stop for you. The belts, boots, hats, rings, bracelets, pendants, watches, handbags, and scarves will carry you to nirvana and back again. Nothing says “put together” like the right shoes and handbag, and if you can top it off with a sassy necklace you might find yourself in a whole new stratosphere. What is more compelling than a woman who knows she has assembled the ideal combination of body décor for the day. There is a confidence that comes from pulling your wallet out of a bag that has silver inlaid rivets speckled amongst red leather tooling and a swath of fringe. You can be ordinary, or you can be the one to watch, and it all centers around the right jewelry, the scarf that brings out the blue in your eyes, the boots that look like you bought them from a cobbler who had weathered hands and a sun induced squint. Every time you leave your house you are making a statement, so speak up. You are a force with which to be reckoned and it’s time people knew it.
Earth Maven
Do something today to celebrate the fresh new world just outside your window. Dig something into the dirt besides the heel of your boot and start a revolution of color and expansive thinking. Invest yourself in the sheer frivolity of flowers. Nothing for eating, no profit involved, doesn’t count as self improvement, just roots plunked into the soil and splashes of bright, cultivated joy coming out on top. Put in your favorites without a lot of thinking, and absolutely no diagrams, then add some water, and direct a bit of sun 
their way and wink at their soft brilliant faces whenever you pass by and see what happens. The miracle of seeds in the ground being coaxed to their beautiful splendor can do more to lift your spirits than any number of books about “being your best you”, and the fabulous part is that they aren’t really good for anything but enjoyment. Simple beauty and the wonder of floral extravagance – a garden of delights.
Roll Up Your Sleeves
“Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle.” Abraham Lincoln
Welcome Home
Walk down the street and have the bank president come running out to tell you hello. Bring home an Aspen tree from the nursery and have two neighbors and the guy at the stop light tell you the best way to plant it. Take your dog along when you cash a check at the drive up at the bank, and find a milk bone in the money tube when it comes back. When you stop into your favorite coffee shop find the barista standing behind the counter with your favorite drink freshly made and waiting for you. It’s called living in the mountains, where we do business with our friends and our neighbors become family, and if the snow on your drive is over a foot high you’ll have a line of people waiting to help you dig out. We might need our coats and boots in May, but we may be out in shirtsleeves in mid-December, because once in a while we have those “just like spring” days just before Christmas. We love living here, and we love the other people who love living here, because people who make their lives in the mountains have found a place they call home and it’s a home we are all privileged to share.
