Thursday, May 31, 2012

Happy Birthday Fay MacLachlan!

Today is our dear Canadian friend, Fay MacLachlan's birthday and because T. and I love her, we want to be amongst the first to wish her the best birthday she has ever had. So here goes!

Happy Birthday to You. Happy Birthday to You. Happy Birthday Dear Fay. Happy Birthday to You! And many more.

"Tony and I wish you the best always and we send you our love. Happy Birthday!"


Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Queen For A Day! or Wedding Bells!

Since Sunday evening, when Leisa and Rick arrived out here, with Leisa's cute little dog Squirt—it has been a lot of fun.

On Monday, Memorial Day morning, after Tony and Rick had done the outside chores, our dear friend Fourth came out to visit and drink some coffee with us in Outer Space and we had a blast. Then we spent the rest of day just hanging out.

On Tuesday, Primary Day, after Leisa took off for San Antone to go visit her family, Rick, Tony and I went to Kerrville to run some errands. Our first stop was at the Biker Church, on Highway 16, so T. and I could vote. Then we on into Kerrville, because Rick wanted to treat us to lunch, at The Hat, before running a few errands.

Our next stop was at Wolfmueller's Books, so we could visit with Sandy & Jon and needless to say, "we did a whole lot of laughing there." Then we went to Home Depot to buy some wildbird supplies. Then after filling up Buttermilk at the H-E-B we came home, so we could all take a nap from our busy day, but that didn't happen, because Kinky had called—wanting to know if he could bring his friends over, so they could meet us and see the rescue ranch.

Kink's friends were so nice and we spent a lot of time visiting with them outside, talking about our love for chickens, dogs, wildflowers, pigs and music. And when I found out that one of them could sing and play the ukelele, I invited everyone to come inside The Cabin for a jam session.

While we had a fun time playing some music with Kinky, Mama and Roy Rogers actually stole the show, because everyone had fallen in love with our two giant, sweet dogs, so as we picked and grinned Kinky's friends were constantly kissing and petting Mama and Roy.

When Leisa arrived back from San Antone, around 6:45, she walked inside The Cabin and instantly sat down on the bench, so she could enjoy the rest of the music, that only lasted for about twenty more minutes, because Kinky & Friends had to leave, so they could go eat dinner in Kerrville.

Around 9:00 last night, after we had gone down memory lane, talking and laughing about those old black & white television shows, I remembered "Queen For A Day," that Rick, Tony & me had watched as kids, so Tony found a full 30 minute clip of it on YouTube, so Leisa could watch it, because she hadn't been born yet.

Talk about hilarious! We laughed non-stop as the women contestants took turns trying to outdo each other's down- and-out pitiful stories, so they could win and be Queen For A Day and win a new washing machine. We laughed at their stories, their hairstyles, their outfits they were wearing and the hilarious old commercials that were so funny they caused my back to go out. But I didn't complain about my back, because I had so much fun watching that old TV show.

Early this morning, while the guys were at the Old Timer drinking coffee, Leisa and I were talking and laughing and drinking coffee in our kitchen, as I started cooking breakfast, so when our men returned home from Medina, it would be ready for us to eat.

After breakfast, while Rick and T. did the morning chores outside, Leisa began packing up their things, so they could get an early start, back to Port Aransas, so I did some paperwork and returned a few phone calls. Then we had two nice surprise visits.

Unbeknownst to me, Cole, a friend of ours son, had come out to do 8 hours of community service for us, because it was a requirement for one of his college courses, so Tone put him to work doing some mowing and then Tony came up the trailer to tell me about Cole coming out and then he said, "Cole is a fine musician and I've asked him to come up to the trailer in about thirty-minutes, so you, Rick and Leisa can hear him play."

Twenty minutes later, Tony's and my dogs started barking outside, so I went out to the front porch to see what was going on and standing by the front gate stood Tony with Spike Gillespie, my dear friend and fellow author. "Spike! Omg, I can't believe it is you! Come on inside so we can visit."

After introducing Leisa and Rick to Spike we all got to visiting, trading some funny stories and ten minutes later, Cole walked inside The Cabin, so he could play a few songs for us, that he had written, so T. handed him my guitar and then Cole's fabulous mini-concert began.

Cole had a beautiful voice and he had all of us mesmerized as we listened to his lyrics and his awesome guitar playing. After Cole had performed three of his songs for us and we had thanked him for playing for us he went back outside to do some more yard work.

Five minutes later, Leisa & Rick adios-ed us and then they took off for Port Aransas. Then Spike and I were like two old friends, who could not wait to catch up with each others latest news. We talked about her book writing seminars that she is putting on, in Austin, her son, our travels etc. and Rebound, the adorable Boston Terrier that she adopted from us many years ago, after going through her divorce.

But when she told me about becoming a minister, that can legally marry people and then about all of the people that she has married—I was all ears. "Nancy, it is really fun to marry people and I think that you should do it too, to make a little extra money..."

So, after Spike had left I went online to check it out and guess what? I am now a certified minister and I can legally marry people too and it only cost me a little bit of money and only took about ten minutes of my time!

So, this afternoon when I went over to visit with Kinky, I told him about me becoming a certified minister, that can perform legal marriages and he thought it was pretty cool too. And that is about it for tonight, because our dear friend Carol is coming over for happy hour.

Y'all have a great evening!

Monday, May 28, 2012

Happy Birthday Leisa Lea!

Even though Leisa is here, at the rescue ranch, I want to be one of the first to wish our dear friend the happiest birthday ever. I know I could go outside right now and wake her up, which would probably scare her to death, so I think it is best for Tony and me just to sing her the happy birthday song, from inside our trailer.

Happy Birthday to You. Happy Birthday to You. Happy Birthday Dear Leisa. Happy Birthday to You. And many more! I'm not making you a birthday cake today—I'm making you a peach, birthday cobbler. We love you, Leisa!

Sunday, May 27, 2012

A Bed Of Chocolate!

Yesterday was a great day, because late in the day, we went to Kinky's Man In Black Tequila bottle signing party at Spec's, in Kerrville and we had a blast. The gigantic liquor store was packed with all kinds of people, standing in line to get Kinky to sign their bottles of Man In Black tequila, along with a few guitars and one ukelele.

Before they sold out of Kinky's tequila, Tony and I took a lot of pictures of Kinky's and our friends. I love this black and white picture that Tony took of Kinky's tequila business partner Brian Kanof.


Dylan Ferrero and Little Jewford


Gerry Olert, Little Jewford and Kink

Jay Pennington, Big G and yours truly

Jay Pennington with Little Jewford

Max Swafford with L.J.


My favorite videographer, Gerry Olert and guess who?

Today has been good, but it is fixing to be great, because our dear friends Leisa and Rick, "The Friendly Lighthouse Keeper" from Port A, will be arriving here, around 7:30 and we can't wait to see them.

Earlier today, after I did some paperwork, I cleaned our trailer, vacuumed the walls and ceiling on the front porch and Outer Space and then Tony and I went out to my writing cabin to get it ready for our friends. 

While we were making up their bed I started laughing, "Tony, instead of putting a little piece of chocolate on their pillowcases, like they do at fancy hotels, we should get Ben's three, giant bricks of Miles of Chocolate out of the freezer and put them in the middle of the bed." Tony chuckled about it. "Rick would get a kick out of seeing a bed of chocolate—his bed of chocolate, and he would feel good about you paying off the kayak."

So, in about thirty minutes, we are going to go outside to put the three, frozen bricks of Miles of Chocolate on Leisa and Rick's bedspread—then T. will officially be the new owner of his kayak as soon as Rick sees it. And that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

Friday, May 25, 2012

Fish Tacos!

Today has been a great day. Ben came over early this morning to drink coffee and to eat breakfast with us, before he and Tony went outside to do the morning chores.

Our fabulous volunteers, June and Jim and Ruth, Jim's visiting sister-in-law, came out this morning to walk our dogs for us and we loved it, but our dogs loved it even more.

During a break, after Ruth had walked Guinevere and Underdog she told me that she was a big Kinky fan, so I picked up the phone and called Kink. "Kinky, can I bring Ruth over to meet you? She's..."

Five minutes later, I was introducing Ruth to Kinky, out by the front gate and then we went into the Lodge for a short, but fun visit with him and The Friedmans and Ben's two dogs Valerie and Penny. And before we left the Lodge, I shot Kinky and Ruth, so she could show the picture to her friends and family.


As Kermit took us safely back to the rescue ranch I could tell that Ruth was on Cloud Nine, because she had gotten to meet Kinky, tour the Lodge, meet The Friedmans and Ben's dogs, "The Girls From Austin," sit in a rocker, on his front porch and visit with him, as we watched his Hummingbirds feed from his many feeders. "He is such a nice man! I can't believe I got to meet him and..." She said, as we arrived back at the rescue ranch.

Early this afternoon, Ben and I had a lot of fun making lunch for the three of us. While Tony was back in his office, listening to his country music, we turned on my iPod and cranked up the volume and we started singing Sweet Emotion with Aerosmith.

A minute later, when Tone walked into the big room, he laughed and started teasing us about liking Aerosmith's music, because he only likes country music, so Ben and I quit cooking, for a minute and we started cutting-up (dancing) around the living room, like Ellen DeGeneres does on the beginning of her television show and Tony thought it was pretty hilarious, with our exaggerated dance moves, because I can't dance like the kids do nowadays. 

When that great song had ended and Alison Krauss began singing, we quit dancing and finished frying up our planko-breaded shrimp, for our fish tacos. Our late lunch was totally delicious. Ben ate three fish tacos, Tony ate two, overly- stuffed with shrimp, tacos and I ate just one fish taco and we still had plenty of shrimp left over, for T.'s and my lunch tomorrow. 

At 3:00, two nice women came out to possibly adopt a dog from us and they really liked Guinevere, the sweet Corgi/Sheltie mix, so please keep your finger's crossed for her, that she gets adopted tomorrow.


Around 6:00 this evening, we had more good news, because Rick and Leisa called, from Port A, to tell us that they would be coming to see us Sunday evening, instead of Monday and we can't wait to see them. And that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Through or Threw!

Today has been a really great day. This morning Miranda Lambert was Harley's Pet Of The Week on his popular, morning radio show. "Harley, Miranda is a lovely Border Collie. She's well trained, not hyper and she is really smart and she is a senior citizen, probably about ten-years-old. A friend of ours rescued her in a neighborhood about two weeks ago..." After a fun time talking to Harley, I went outside to clean the dog pens.


While I was outside cleaning the dog pens, Carlton took two very important phone calls and it made me smile when I listened to the two urgent messages, left by a mom and then by her daughter. Their messages were basically the same—Miranda Lambert was their dog! So I picked up the phone and called the mom first, to reassure her that Miranda was doing great, that we would not adopt their dog out and that they could come out and pick her up after the daughter got off from work today.

Apparently, their friends had listened to Harley and me talking about Miranda, so they called the mom and the daughter to tell them about our Miranda, so the mom and the daughter went online to see if it was their dog, because their dog had gotten out of their yard, two weeks ago, during the stormy weather.

After we ate lunch today, even though it was pretty hot, Ben went outside to do some more mowing, so Tone and I went outside to put Advantix II on all of the dogs and ten minutes later, while T. was putting the Advantix II on Martha Stewart—I made a terribly big mistake trying to use Tony's box cutter knife to open up the sealed packages.

Because I have never used a box cutter knife in my life, I didn't know how sharp they were, so when I pressed down hard to open up the package, the knife cut through the side of my right index finger, through the package and then cut through the vinyl of Kermit's newly reupholstered bench seat and it happened so fast, I didn't even know that my finger was cut and gushing blood.

"Oh no!" I said to Tony. "Tony, I just cut the seat with your knife. I didn't know it was that sharp and when I pressed down, like I do with my dull knives, it went right through the package and made a gash in the seat."

"Great," Tony answered, sounding a little bit sarcastic. Then we exchanged a few words about me cutting the seat accidentally and that kind of hurt my feelings. Then when I looked down and saw my bloodstained hand I got even with him.

I held up my finger and said, "Well, I hope that you are happy now, because I also nearly cut off my finger with your stupid knife." When T. saw my finger and all of the blood, he ran out of the pen and apologized to me, as he examined my finger. And then he apologized to me again, "Please don't ever pick up or use this kind of knife again, Nance. I should have warned you about it..." Then we hugged each other and then we finished putting the Advantix II on the rest of our dogs.

When we were done we went to the barn and laughed about my cutting-edge-accident with Ben for a few minutes and then I jumped into Kermit and came up to The Cabin, so I could clean my wounded finger and put a Band-Aid on it. Then I drove back up to the barn, with my scissors and a roll of Duct tape, so I could put a patch over the two inch gash that I'd made in Kermit's seat cover.


A few minutes later, around 4:00, the dogs started barking to let us know that the daughter had arrived, to pick up Miranda, so I grabbed my camera and Miranda's adoption form and then Tony and I jumped into Kermit to go meet her.

After we had met Lauren and her friend, they followed us to Lulu's and Miranda's pen and while T. tried to put a leash on one very excited, happy dog, Lauren told me that Miranda's real name was Maddie and that Maddie wasn't ten-years-old—she was actually twelve-years-old. Before they left to take Maddie back home, they thanked us over and over again for rescuing Maddie and then I took this picture of their happy, family reunion.


When I told Kinky all about Miranda/Maddie's story, he was delighted with my good news and he was glad that our Miranda had been reunited with her loving family—all thanks to my dear friend, Harley Belew and those friends of theirs, that listened to him on his popular, morning radio show this morning.

And that is about it for tonight, except for one more thing. This afternoon when I checked my blog and reread what I had written last night, I found a huge spelling error. Because I was so tired, and also because my spelling has literally gone to pot, in the past few years and it just isn't what it used to be, I used the word "through" when I should have used the word "threw" and I am sure that many of you caught my mistake, too and probably thought to yourself, "OMG! And she's stupid, too!" Anyway, I hope that it made you laugh. And please note that it has been corrected.

Y'all had a great evening!

P.S. I purposefully used the word "had" instead of "have" above—in hopes to make you laugh, once again, because laughing is so good for your health.

Happy Birthday Ellen Jackson!

Since I unfortunately missed Ellen Jackson's 70th surprise birthday party last night, that her sweet sister June threw for her, along with the rest of the Fab 4, Lisa and Eileen, I want to hopefully be the first to wish her the greatest birthday ever and so does Tony, so here we go.

"Happy Birthday to You. Happy Birthday to You. Happy Birthday Dear Ellen. Happy Birthday to You. And many more!"

Ellen, Tony and I absolutely adore you and because you never stop amazing me with all that you do, you are one of my heroes and a true inspiration to me. And besides that—you're way to cool! Have a great birthday and Ben and us will see you on Friday, to celebrate your birthday some more. We love you!

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Going All In!

Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch Press Release: Our friend Bobby Hedderman loves animals and he wants to help our rescue ranch and we thank him and wish him luck!

MEDINA, TX – After a 45-year hiatus, singer-songwriter Bobby Hedderman has written and recorded a song benefitting the Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch. “Going All In” is available to download for free with the option to donate.
Bobby will give 25% of donations from “Going All In” to our dogs and cats. The remainder will fund his “buy-in” to the 2012 World Series of Poker, where he will donate an additional 25% of his winnings. This could potentially be over $1 million to help care for thousands of needy animals. 
Founded in 1998 by Kinky Friedman, Nancy Parker-Simons, and Tony Simons, the Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch has saved over 2,000 pets. Donations from “Going All In” will help buy everything from food bowls and leashes to responding to an emergency rescue. 
Bobby’s song can be downloaded on his new website BobbyHedderman.com

Happy Birthday Karen Cares!

Today is our dear friend, Karen Cares birthday! And Tony and I want to wish her the best birthday ever.

Happy Birthday to You. Happy Birthday to You. Happy Birthday dear Karen. Happy Birthday to You. And Many More...

Karen, I hope that you and 'Erb have a fun time celebrating today and we wish that we could be there to celebrate with you. Have a great Birthday!

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

A De-Clutter State Of Mind!

Today has been great and I finally feel that I'm back in the saddle, again. Early this morning I did Big G's radio show and Miranda Lambert, the sweet 10 years old, Border Collie, was his Pet Of The Week.


After lunch today, we hopped in Trigger and took off for Kerrville to run a few errands and our first stop was at Wolfmueller's Books, so we could say hi to Sandy and Jon and to give them some books we'd read, because I am in "A De-Clutter State of Mind."

Actually, I am into this de-cluttering thing right now, because I want to do a little redecorating inside The Cabin, which in reality is our beloved, 30 year-old Fleetwood trailer. It all started when I bought this Premier Issue of the magazine, "Romantic Prairie Style," which I think is a pretty cool magazine, because it is filled with lots of beautiful pictures, along with some great decorating advice. So, that is why I feng-shui-ed my books today and gave them to Jon and Sandy, in case they might want any of them to sell.

As soon as I get all of my de-cluttering done, which I'm sure will probably take me quite a while, I plan to first make a lamp for the big room, out of this old, rusty milk can, out on our front porch, that I bought years ago, at a garage sale, in Medina.


I already know that it needs plenty of sanding before I paint it, but I am not sure what color, if any, I am going to use. It is going to be a fun project for me and I know that when I am finally done with it—I'll be bragging all about how I did it all by myself, including the wiring, as I give Kinky, Carol and Ben and the rest of my great friends, including some strangers, "Now, the light's on— and now the light's off," live demonstrations of my light show.

Before I go tonight, to begin de-cluttering my office, I want to show y'all a great picture that Tony took this past weekend, of Ronnie & Nita's dog, Gus, flying through the air, before he landed in the water, to retrieve a stick for them.

Y'all have a great evening!

Monday, May 21, 2012

A Total Blast!

My fun weekend with Ronnie & Nita and Cindy & Ray was a total blast, but today has not been good, because of some serious plumbing problems that started around 5:30 tonight.

Tonight I was planning on writing about my family's fun visit this weekend, the kayaking, the jam sessions, etc., but the time has gotten away from me now. So, hopefully tomorrow will be a much better day for me and I will have the time to do what I love, which is writing.

Y'all have a great evening!

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Remember!

Today has been great. This afternoon, after we ate Tuna fish sandwiches for lunch, we took off for Kerrville to run a few errands.

Our first stop was at Wolfmueller's Books, so we could give Sandy and Jon a little gift that I had especially made for them, a few days ago.

It really wasn't much of a present though, because all I did was use an old, empty salsa jar, spray painted the lid and then added some sand and seashells, that Tony and I had collected off of the Port Aransas privately owned island, where Rick is, "The Friendly Lighthouse Keeper."

Then I wrapped a pink ribbon around the neck of the jar, added Rick's business card, with Leisa's name handwritten on it, Jon & Sandy's business card, Tony's business card and my business card, as a keepsake for them, so they could remember our super fun trip down there.


When we walked inside their bookstore, Sandy and Jon greeted us and then they pretended to be real excited with my goofy-gift for them. After they had admired my latest craft project, they invited us to sit down, at the table with them, for a visit.

As we sat there laughing about each other's latest news I noticed that the jar filled with sand and basically broken seashells was fogging up inside, so I laughed, unscrewed the lid and said, "I guess the sand is still wet. Y'all might want to keep the lid off for a while. I've kept the sand in a Baggie all this time and I didn't know how to dry it up. I thought about using a hair dryer..."

After an hilarious, fun time with Sandy and Jon, we adios-ed them and then we went to Hoegemeyer Animal Clinic, to pick up Miranda Lambert, to take her back to the rescue ranch. And talk about one great Border Collie, Miranda rode beautifully, sitting on the back seat, instead of inside a crate. She is about ten-years-old and she is really smart.

When we got back to the ranch we took Miranda to meet Lulu, because Lulu is going to be roommates with her and fortunately, they liked each other, so we took Miranda into the pen, so they could have a sniff-a-thon.

As they sniffed and sniffed, we tried to take a good picture of Miranda, but she was so busy checking out her new digs—it took us nearly an hour before Tone finally got a good picture of her.


Tomorrow is going to be a busy day for me, but it will also be super fun, because my brother Ronnie and my sister Cindy and their spouses are coming down to visit us, for the entire weekend! So, I might not be blogging a lot, because I will be enjoying their company, playing music with them and going kayaking with them and I can't wait to see them.

Who knows? Maybe I will collect some small river rocks and sand, from the river, while they're not looking and then make them "Remember" presents too. I already have an old mayonnaise jar and a Mt. Olive pickle jar that I could use, but now that I think about it—forget using the sand—because I don't want them to have to keep the painted lids off of them, like Sandy and Jon are doing right now.

Y'all have a great evening and weekend!

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

All Good News!

Today has been another great day. Tony, Aaron and I spent most of the day outside, mowing and weed eating, so I am a little pooped tonight. But the great news for today is Les called and he left a message on Carlton, to update us on how Cosmo Topper was working out and it was all good news.

Their beloved old dog, Angus, a cancer survivor, really likes Cosmo and he loves to play with him and the cats like him so much, they chase Cosmo all around the house!

Earlier this evening Tone and I went into The Okay Corral to just sit and enjoy the great outdoors and while we talked, literally, about the birds and the bees, that our flowers and birdseed are bringing in, I decided to take a few pictures of Tony's green tomatoes, our beautiful flowerbed and wildflowers that T. planted and some peppers that he had picked for us to eat tomorrow. And that is about it for tonight.







Y'all have a great evening!

Monday, May 14, 2012

Leader Of The Pack!

Today has been great. This afternoon we met our friends Denise & Les and Debbie & Craig, at Billy Gene's restaurant, for lunch and Tony and I had a blast, because all of them have a great sense of humor and they made us laugh a lot.

The topics of our conversation ranged from wardrobe mistakes, trail riding on gaseous horses, tricked-out car conversions made on an old Cadillac and VWs, Miles of Chocolate, vacuuming up Lady Bugs and relocating them outside of the house, H-E-B's "That Green Sauce," wild feral hogs, Miles of Chocolate, cows, bulls and kayaking, etc., but the most interesting subject was about this new Lobo Beer, brewed at the Pedernales Brewing Company, in Fredericksburg, Texas, that Debbie and Craig are involved in.

"You've got to make a beer float using the Lobo Negro and vanilla ice cream!" Denise said. "It is so delicious and to me it tastes like coffee."

"I think it tastes more like chocolate," Debbie chimed in, "and The Cowboy Steak House is serving the beer and the floats." And by the time everyone had convinced us to try it, as soon as possible, lunch was over and we were standing outside next to Les & Denise's car, with the back hatch up, accepting two complimentary six-packs of Lobo Beer and Lobo Negro Beer.

After all of us had hugged and adios-ed Debbie & Craig and they had taken off to go vote early, they told us that they wanted to adopt our Cosmo Topper, because he had truly stolen Denise's heart, last Saturday when they were out here! "For the past two nights I haven't been able to sleep, because I can't quit thinking about him," Denise said. So, then we made plans for them to come out around 3:30 today, so we could run a few errands, like stopping by H-E-B to pick up some of Blue Bell's Homemade Vanilla ice cream, before returning to the ranch.

When Les & Denise arrived at the rescue ranch, we quickly hugged each other and then we drove down to Cosmo's and Lulu's pen, because Denise couldn't wait to see her precious Cosmo Topper. And when we arrived at his and Lulu's pen, Cosmo lit up like a Christmas tree the second he saw it was Denise. "I think he already knows what's going on," I said, as Mr. Topper happily ran to the fence trying to get to Denise. And here is a picture I took of Cosmo with his new fantastic, forever family that he is so lucky to have.


After thanking them for adopting Cosmo from us, we hugged and adios-ed each other and then they drove away with one extremely happy dog. Then Kermit took us up to The Cabin, so we could make the Lobo Negro float using Blue Bell's Homemade Vanilla ice cream. 



Since it was a little too early for happy hour we decided to just split one Lobo Negro beer for our floats. And guess what? It was delicious and we couldn't believe it. 

Lobo Beer is new to the market, but you can buy it at The Main Liquor stores, in Kerrville and at The Grape Juice on Water Street and the Cowboy Steak House. And get this—the motto for the Lobo Beer is, "Leader of the Pack!" And they certainly got that right.

Y'all have a great evening!

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Spirit 3.3!

Today has been fantastic. After lunch we went to Kerrville to stock up on some groceries at H-E-B and among the groceries, we bought a jar of H-E-B's "That Green Sauce" that Denise, Debbie, Les and Craig had highly recommended we try.

When we got home, after we had put up our groceries, we opened the "That Green Sauce" jar to taste it and it was absolutely delicious, so we plan to use it on our eggs, in tacos and fajitas etc. If you want to try some, you can find it on the sauce isle, next to the BBQ sauces. But please note that the warning label on the jar warns, "Can Be Addictive."


After I had returned a couple of necessary phone calls, Tony and I drove down to the barn to load up my new, used Spirit 3.3 kayak, so I could take it down to the creek for my first maiden voyage, which I was a little bit nervous about. 


"Now, Tony. I am really going to need your help getting on and off this kayak," I said, as he carried my kayak down to the water. "I hope I don't sink..." And with Tony helping me keep my balance I got on my kayak, without falling or getting wet. Then he handed the paddle to me and launched (shoved) me offshore and that's when I instantly fell in love with kayaking.


After I had paddled upstream and downstream several times I returned to the shore, and as Tone helped me get off of the kayak, I invited him to try mine out, so he jumped on it, without needing me to help him and then he took off downstream and paddled around for awhile. 


When he returned to shore, he told me that he really liked my Dimensions Spirit 3.3 a lot, but he still liked his more.

When we returned to The Cabin I called Kinky, "Kink, I want you to know that I just went kayaking, down at the swimming hole and I love kayaking and I didn't get wet, drown or fall!" My news made him chuckle. Then we talked about him leaving tomorrow for New York City, for the book tour. And that is about it for today.

Y'all have a great evening!

Saturday, May 12, 2012

Let's Make A Deal! or That Green Sauce!

Today has been great, but first I must tell you about last night when Rick called me at 8:01.

Ever since Fourth, Tony and I got back from our Port Aransas trip there has been a running joke going on between Rick and me about what the fair price Tony should pay him for the big, blue kayak, that months ago had drifted up to the shore, of the privately owned island—that nobody ever claimed, even though Rick ran ads in the newspapers and tried to track down the owners.

Tone and I have spent our spare time this past week surfing on the Internet, checking out prices of new and used "Whitewater: The Ride" kayaks and we didn't know what to offer Rick for the blue vessel, because the prices ranged anywhere from $1,000.00 to $100.00 we were confused.

T. and I already knew that it was seaworthy, that it could withstand the force of high winds, created from Fourth's fast driving and that it needed a few replacement straps, etc.—but we didn't know how old it was. So, Rick and I have been back and fourth on the phones trying to get the other to name a price.

Last night when Rick called he said, "Cousin Nancy, I've figured it out. Let's make a deal!"

"Okay. I'm ready."

"Tony can have the kayak for three bricks of Miles of Chocolate and $13.26! What do you think?" I was shocked by his incredibly low price.

"It sounds like a great deal, but are you sure, Rick?" I asked. "We can certainly do that, but why a check for $13.26?" Rick started laughing.

"That's what the ads cost me..."

After I had told Rick about buying him a Snark, all instrument turner and that it had just been delivered to me earlier in the day, we adios-ed each other and disconnected. Then I half-hollered, down the hallway, "Tony, you're not going to believe what Rick wants for the kayak!..." Needless to say, "T. was grinning ear-to-ear with the good news about his kayak." Thank you, Rick!

This morning when Tony and I went outside to do our morning chores, I could not wait to see how Chad and Jeremy and Guinevere were doing and I am proud to announce that they all seemed happy and doing fine.

Early this afternoon, our good friends Denise and Les, from Kerrville, came out to see us and they brought along their good friends, Debbie and Craig, who are the nice people that had originally rescued Chad & Jeremy and as soon as we met them we knew we liked them, because like Les and Denise, and us—they are also big time animal lovers.

After howdies, hugs and handshakes we gave them a tour, which was filled with laughter, so they could meet all of our dogs and then visit with Chad & Jeremy. We started the tour in the Okay Corral, then we went inside my pretty, pink writing cabin and they loved what they saw.

When we got to talking about our chickens and their delicious, colorful eggs, we went into the pigpen, so they could meet The Golden Girls and see The Egg Palace, because Debbie and Craig were interested in how we had built ours, because they were thinking of getting some chickens.

By the time we walked out of the pigpen Debbie was excited, because they had decided they were  definitely going to buy some chickens, after meeting The Golden Girls, as soon as Craig builds their chicken coop.

After the tour, we came up to The Cabin to show them our home improvements inside and then we went out into Outer Space and had a fun visit and trust me—it was filled with a lot of laughter.

A little after 2:00, after we had given each couple three fresh farm eggs, to take home with them, they told us about H-E-B's delicious green sauce called, That Green Sauce and how delicious it was on eggs and had suggested we buy some, we all hugged each other and then we adios-ed each other and then our great, four friends drove away, to go eat lunch, in Medina.

An hour later, while I was doing some paperwork, Tony invited me to go to Medina, to check out the town's annual Medina Garage Sale, "This morning there were four kayaks for sale and they were really cheap." So, I grabbed my purse and we jumped into Trigger and took off for Medina, because I want a kayak.

When we pulled up to the place where T. had seen the kayaks for sale—there was only one left and it was a pretty turquoise color, so we went to check it out. After Gilbert introduced himself to us and had told us that he too was good friends with our good friends, Carol and Calvin, at Cal-Bob's Smoke Shack on Hwy. 16, close to I-10, I was hoping that Gilbert would sell me the kayak for three bricks of Miles of Chocolate and $13.26 too, but he didn't, but his price was pretty close to it, so I wrote him a check for it and then we loaded my kayak into the back of Trigger, tied it down, and came home with another kayak, which made our dogs bark when they saw it sticking out of the back of the Trigger.


Even though it is not near as big or as fancy as Tony's cheaper kayak, I am thrilled to have it and tomorrow afternoon, T. is going to help me get into it and then launch me on my first maiden voyage, so please wish me luck and say a prayer that I won't turn it over or sink to the bottom and have to bail out.

Early this evening when Kinky called me, from the road, to tell me that he will be back at the ranch around 8:00 tonight, he laughed when I told him about me buying a kayak today, because we have a private joke between us about kayaks. And that's about it for tonight. Ship Ahoy!

Y'all have a great evening!

Friday, May 11, 2012

Chad & Jeremy!

Today has been great. This morning, while I was over at the Lodge talking to Kinky about his and Billy Bob Thornton's upcoming book tour, Aaron and Tony did the morning chores.

When I returned to the rescue ranch, we decided to burn some more brush, in our horse corral, for a few hours, since we have gotten so much rain this past week and we almost have it all done. Then I came inside and cooked lunch for the three of us.

Around 2:00, Tony and Aaron took off in Trigger to go pick up Guinevere and Chad & Jeremy at Hoegemeyer Animal Clinic, so I went outside and burned a little more brush, to help me pass the time, because I could not wait to meet Chad & Jeremy and see Guinevere.

A little over an hour later I heard Trigger cross over the cattle guard, so I jumped into Kermit, so I could do a meet and greet with Chad & Jeremy. Here's Jeremy Clyde getting out of his crate with Guinevere watching.


After Aaron had put Jeremy in his new pen, next to Gonzo and Daisy's, Tony unloaded Chad Stuart and I about fainted when I saw him, because he looked so much like Kinky's Mr. Magoo, when Gooie was a young dog, who sadly passed away on December 7, 2009. And Tony thinks he looks like Gooie too. Here's Mr. Magoo's look-a-like—Chad.


These are awesome dogs. They are about one-year-old and weigh about forty pounds each or eighty pounds together. They are smart, friendly, not hyper, fun to play with and are highly adoptable. Here's one more picture of Jeremy, who I think is part Boston Terrier.


When we returned sweet Guinevere to her and Underdog's pen they were so glad to see each other and they started playing immediately and totally forgot about us being there.

I'm fixin' to call Kinky to tell him about Mr. Magoo's look-a-like and then I plan to do some writing tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

Thursday, May 10, 2012

A Cave Full Of Ghosts!


Today has been great. Right now it is raining hard outside and since last Saturday night, we've now gotten over four and a half inches of precious rain! I am writing this early this evening, because of tonight's predicted heavy thunderstorms, in the Texas Hill Country. "Come on RAIN!"

This morning, while Tony was outside doing our chores, all by himself, because he didn't want me to get myself all wet, from the heavy down pour, I decided to take a bubble bath, to help soothe my aching joints, because yesterday Tony and I did a lot of mowing.

While I was soaking and relaxing in my beautiful plastic garden tub, which now has to be at least thirty-years old or half of my age, I was thinking about how lucky and grateful I was to have so many wonderful friends, my job that I love doing, for Tony and our fabulous fur-family, and all of the other great things in my life—a gigantic, black spider suddenly jumped from a flower pot onto the tub faucet, so I screamed, "Tony!"

The dogs came running into the bathroom, but Tone didn't, because he was still outside, getting soaking wet, because he was doing our chores.

As I quickly pulled the drain plug in the tub and jumped out to put on my bi-focals so I could get a better look at him/her, I was praying that this scary-looking creature, who was probably on the verge of committing spider suicide—wouldn't off himself in my presence, because I was standing naked—drying myself off, with all of our dogs curiously watching me.

While I quickly dressed into my clothes my eyes never strayed from spider man/woman.

Once I was dressed I decided to remain in the bathroom, in hopes that I could show it to T. So, to help pass the time away, I talked to spider man/woman and begged the confused spider "not-to-do-it."

A few minutes later, I heard the front door open and close, because it needs for me to put some more WD-40 on it, to oil its squeaking hinges. "Tony! There's a spider in here!" I half-hollered.
Then I heard Tony walking, not rushing, to come check out our intruder. "It's just a water spider. They're harmless," Tony said. "It's won't hurt you."

Before I finish writing this, I have some exciting news to tell about me getting to read an advanced copy of Billy Bob Thornton's & Kinky's soon to be released book, The Billy Bob Tapes: A Cave Full of Ghosts, with the introduction by Angelina Jolie!

It is a must read and I loved reading it. "It is a narrative based on late-night conversations with Kinky Friedman and other friends who gathered 'round to hear Billy mine a cave of ghosts."


P.S. We're now up to five and a half inches of rain!

 Y'all have a great evening!

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Miranda Lambert!

Today has been great and it hasn't quit raining since it started around 8:00 last night. So far we have received two inches of rain, making it a grand total of three and a half inches since Saturday night.

Late this afternoon I talked to Susan, at Hoegemeyer Animal Clinic, to tell her that we had another stray dog coming in, that a nice woman had rescued, "She told me that the frightened, female dog was trying to cross the street on Sidney Baker St., in front of the Taco Casa," I said. "And we're naming this dog Miranda Lambert, because we really like her music."

"That works for me. I like Miranda Lambert too," Susan said. "Guinevere and Chad & Jeremy had their surgeries today and they are all doing fine, so they can go home tomorrow."

"Great."

"Nancy, Guinevere is absolutely precious and Chad & Jeremy are hound mixes and they are exceptionally fine dogs too. Y'all are going to love them."

"Great. We'll pick them up tomorrow, because we can't wait to meet Chad & Jeremy and Miranda. It's amazing that since Sunday we have rescued four stray dogs, but we have only gotten to meet one of them..."

And that's about it for tonight, which is a good thing, because the sky outside is starting to rumble again, so I need to go unplug everything again, but I am not complaining about doing it, because I love the rain.

Y'all have a great evening!

Monday, May 7, 2012

Yesterday's Gone!

Today has been great, even though Cosmo Topper was returned to us, because of some of his interior decorating (destroying), but he is fine and happy to be back home with Lulu.

We also rescued two male dogs today and we have yet to meet them, because these nice people who rescued them in their neighborhood, dropped them off at Hoegemeyer Animal Clinic, for us. So to help keep our records straight with the clinic I pre-named them, Chad and Jeremy, because I love Chad Stuart's and Jeremy Clyde's '60's hit songs: "A Summer Song" and "Yesterday's Gone."

When I told the friendly receptionist, at Hoegemeyer, "The new dogs coming in have names. One is Chad Stuart and the other dog's name is Jeremy Clyde..." Because she was so young and had never heard of them, she giggled about their names, so I suggested that she go to iTunes to listen to their music. And she said that she would.

Early this evening I went over to the Lodge to visit with Kinky and to take The Friedmans on a hike, which turned into two hikes, because we had to go back to the Lodge, to get some apples, to feed to Maya, Shalom, Roy & Gabby and Little Jewford.

We are fixin' to have some big time thunder storms tonight, so that's about it for tonight, because I have to go unplug everything.

Y'all have a great evening!

Sunday, May 6, 2012

Up The Creek Without A Paddle! or Guinevere!

Today has been great. This afternoon we went to the Walmart, in Kerrville, to buy Tony a new kayaking paddle, because the one he has is duct taped together, because it is broken, but that didn't happen at Walmart or even at Gibsons, because they were both out of paddles, which really disappointed Tone, because he is so excited about his new sport.

So, on our way to H-E-B to get some groceries I tried to cheer Tony up and joked, "Well, it looks like you are up the creek without a paddle, Tony." And that made him laugh a little.

After we had bought our groceries and were heading back home, I called my friend Kim, in Utopia, so she could start heading our way, with her precious cargo—Guinevere.

A few weeks back, Kim had rescued a beautiful, little Corgi, off of the side of the road and because she had found no one to adopt her, I had told her that we could take her, because in general, little dogs seem to fly out of here much faster than the bigger dogs do.

We're guessing that Guinevere is approximately 1-2 years old and Kim told us that she is great with: small children, other dogs, cats, she is housebroken, not hyper and is sweet as she can be. And when we met Guinevere she truly stole our hearts and Kinky's. Here's Guinevere!



Tomorrow we plan to take Guinevere to Hoegemeyer Animal Clinic to get her spayed and her shots and if any of y'all know of some one who might be interested in adopting this beautiful dog, please ask them to call us.

Y'all have a great evening!

Saturday, May 5, 2012

Super Full Moon!

Today has been great and a lot of fun for me, because before Tony, Ben and I went out to do our morning chores—Ben and I had a fantastic jam session, inside The Cabin! "Ben, you have really gotten good on your mandolin!" I declared, as we picked and played Keb' 'Mo's song, Life Is Beautiful."

While Ben and me played our music (Our versions of some Willie Nelson, Zak Brown, Gary Stewart, Tom Waits, Neil Young, Eagles, Alabama, Kinky, Mickey Gilley, Taj Mahal, Merle Haggard and Bruce Springsteen songs—Tony was outside, in The Egg Palace, gathering The Golden Girls' pretty, colorful eggs.

Late this afternoon, Ben helped Tony load up his-soon-to-be used kayak that he is going to buy from Rick, The Friendly Lighthouse Keeper and then the three of us went down to the creek, so Tony could try it out, so I shot them.




When T. finally came back to the shore he said, "Wow! I want to buy this from Rick..." Then Ben jumped on the kayak and took off paddling, so he could check it out for Tony.


Early this evening, after Ben had left to go back home to Austin with his dogs, Tony and I went outside and put The Golden Girls back inside The Egg Palace and then I came back inside to return a few phone calls, while Tone stayed outside to water our garden and flowers, in the Okay Corral and when he came back inside The Cabin he was grinning-ear-to-ear, "Look, Nance. Our first four peppers..." So I shot them on our kitchen table, before putting them into the refrigerator.


And that is about it for tonight, because we are fixin' to go outside, so T. can shoot the "Super Full Moon."

Y'all have a great evening!

Friday, May 4, 2012

It Was A Sign! or What-"A"-Vacation!

Our fun trip, with Fourth driving us down to Port Aransas, to see Leisa and Rick and spend the night on the privately owned island was more than great—it was a total blast.

We left Medina around 7:00, in Fourth's gigantic truck and it was so high up, off of the ground, I had to use his handy step stool just to climb up into the backseat, which Tony thought was pretty funny and so did I.

We made our first pit stop in Devine to eat breakfast at Big A's Tacos and my Huevos Rancheros were delicious or better yet, "They were devine."


On our way to Pleasanton we told Fourth about this really cool sign there that reads: Peace Love & Oil, which all of us thought was funny and extremely clever, because it has recently become an oil boom town, so when we saw the sign, Fourth pulled off of the highway, so he and Tony could shoot it—with their cameras.


I think it was in Sinton, while we were at stopped at a red light, Tony and Fourth pulled out their cameras and shot a crane erecting a giant, new What-A-Burger sign, which I instantly interpreted it to be a sign, but I didn't know why, yet.


When we arrived in Port Aransas we decided to first eat lunch at the new What-A-Burger, before we called Rick to please come and pick us up, to take us out to the beautiful island and while we waited on Rick and Leisa, I phoned this para sailing place, that Rick had recommended to me, so I could go para sailing and remove it from my bucket list.

When we arrived at the island I helped the men unload our gear and then I put on this stupid-looking old-ladies' bathing suit and the next thing you know I was up in the air—screaming and flying around like the Pelicans, which Rick has affectionately nicknamed—"The Port A Coast Guard." Tony took these pictures of me, high as a kite and a squadron of Port A's finest flying in formation.



While I was up there flying around, while saying big-time prayers about not crashing when I landed, scaring away the tourists, in my ugly bathing suit and getting a birds eye view of everything, Fourth was on the top of the lighthouse getting a birds eye view, too, so Tony shot him too, so Fourth could prove to his friends that he had done it and could remove it from his bucket list.


And I love this picture of Fourth, because it makes me laugh, because Tony caught him off guard as he was climbing to his feet and he looks like he is doing some kind of fancy Karate maneuver.


When the people brought me back to the island I was so proud of myself for para sailing and so were our friends and after I had put on some more decent clothes—the party began, because we were on "island time."

While we visited with Rick and the guys took hundreds of pictures, Leisa cooked us up a delicious dinner. Then we sat on Rick's porch telling hilarious tales and laughing.

Early this morning, while we sat out on Rick's porch drinking coffee, Tony took this awesome sunrise picture and I love it. Then we ate breakfast, hung around for a little while digging up some sand and picking up seashells and then Rick took us back to Port Aransas, with a kayak aboard the boat, so Tony could take it home to try it out to see if he wanted to buy it from Rick.



Here is a great picture that T. took of Fourth, standing outside his truck, as the ferry took us to the mainland.


On our way back home, we stopped at the What-A-Burger, in Pleasanton for lunch and we got to laughing and joking about how our fun Port A trip had gotten a food theme—all with A's in it. Port A, Big A's Tacos, two What-A-Burger meals, so I said, "The title of my blog tonight is going to be, "What-"A"-Vacation!" And we laughed about it all of the way home and that is what the sign was for.


I'm fixin' to go to bed now and that is about it for tonight, but I must confess that everything I've written tonight is true, except for me going para sailing—"You've got to be kidding! I'd never do that, especially in a bathing suit! Thank you, Ben, Rick & Leisa and Fourth for our wonderful 33 hour vacation."

Y'all have a great evening!