Saturday, June 30, 2012

I'm On Fire!

Today has been great, even though our dogs and me overslept this morning. We didn't wake up until 7:30, but by the time Tony had returned home, from the Old Timer, I had already cooked up a big stack of delicious Aretha Frankensteins' Insanely Great Pancakes for him, Ben and me, to eat for breakfast. And needless to say, "Ben is now hooked on Aretha's pancakes too," which is sort of sad, because this morning, I used up the rest of Aretha Frankensteins pancake mix, that Eileen gave to us.

This afternoon I fixed sandwiches for Tony, Ben and me and after we ate lunch Ben and I decided to jam, because Ben had learned how to play and sing, Bruce Springsteen's great song, I'm On Fire. And within a couple of minutes, after Ben had told me what the chord progression was for the song, we put a bluegrass spin on it, which made Tony come out of his office and say, "Y'all sounded fantastic together! I want to hear that again..."

So, Ben played his mandolin and sang the song again for Tone, as I finger picked my guitar as fast as I could and not to brag, we really did sound pretty good. After we had performed Springsteen's song for Tony, he went back into his office aka man cave and that's when Ben I decided to have some fun and turn some old Motown songs into bluegrass songs and we had a lot of fun jamming together, until my fingers were killing me and I had to put my guitar up, for the day.

Early this evening we unplugged everything inside the trailer, because we actually had a few serious thunderstorms, thank goodness. Because we were unplugged, Ben, T. and me and all of our dogs went into Outer Space for a really fun visit. While we laughed and teased each other a lightning bolt suddenly hit really close, so I bolted and ran inside The Cabin, because it had scared me and when I finally came back outside to rejoin them, they teased me relentlessly for being so scared of lightning.

After re-telling them the true story about my mother being hit by an eighteen-wheeler, in downtown Fort Worth, when she was real young and having to have a metal plate put into her head and missing school for a year, with her identical twin, who didn't have a metal plate in her head, which no longer made them identical and the surgeons warning my grandparents, "that my mom was a walking lightning rod and to be careful during electrical storms" and then my mother putting the fear of lightning into my brother Ronnie, sister Cindy and me at an early, impressionable age—they roared so loud with laughter, that we could not hear the thunder going on around us.

When the thunderstorms had ended, we checked our rain gauge and we were delighted to find that we had received over a half inch of much needed rain. Then Ben grabbed his mandolin and adios-ed us, so he could get back to Austin. And that is about it for today, because it just thundered outside and we need to unplug, again.

Y'all have a great evening!

Friday, June 29, 2012

I Hope Your Knees Are Okay!

Today has been a lot of fun. Early this morning Ben came out to help Tony, for a few days, so my morning started out with a lot of laughing, because Ben kept telling us funny jokes.

Around 9:30, our super great dog-walking volunteers/friends; Jim and Eileen showed up, just a few minutes apart and I want to thank both of them, because Jim walked 17 dogs and Eileen walked 16 dogs and our dogs loved it.

When the dog walking was over, I had a fun time visiting with Eileen and Jim, as they rested in the shade and drank water, as we watched Tony and Ben preparing the ramps to load up Kermit, on a borrowed trailer, because Kermit was fixin' to go to Kerrville to get fixed.

When the ramps were set and ready for Kermit, Eileen, Tony, Jim and I slowly pushed Kermit up the steep ramps, as Ben stood in front of the trailer, using a come-along with a heavy chain attached to Kermit's front bumper, hand-cranked to help pull Kermit onto the trailer.

While Tony and Ben tied Kermit to the trailer, Jim adios-ed us and then he drove away. Then Eileen and Ben got to telling hilarious jokes and I was laughing so hard my back began to ache, even though I didn't understand one of Ben's jokes, that he and Eileen had to explain to me, before Tony, Ben, Buttermilk and Kermit took off for Kerrville. "Tony, I think I am going to go to the pound to rescue a dog, while y'all are gone," I said. "Y'all drive careful."

A few minutes later, after Eileen and I had adios-ed each other, I grabbed my purse, then jumped into Trigger to go to the pound, in Kerrville. When I arrived at the pound, I called Ben. "Ben, I'm in Kerrville, at the pound. Where are y'all?"

"We just dropped off Kermit."

"Do y'all want to meet me for lunch somewhere?"

"Sure," Ben answered. "Tony, the big baby, says he's starving."

"Okay, give me fifteen minutes and I'll meet y'all at..." After quickly looking at the dogs, at the pound, I told the staff that I would come back, after lunch, with Tony and Ben, so they could help me pick out a dog.

Then when I tried to back Trigger out of their parking lot, I couldn't do it, because we were wedged tightly between two cars. So, when I saw a man, that works at the pound walk by, I jumped out of Trigger and asked him if he could please back Trigger out for me, because I have never been good at backing up. He smiled and gladly jumped into Trigger, instantly banging his knees on the steering wheel, because my seat was as close as it could be to the brake. "The first knob, near the front, on the side there, will move the seat backwards for you," I said, trying to be helpful.

After he had moved the seat, as far back as it would go, from the steering wheel, he backed Trigger out for me. "Thank you, so much," I said, as I climbed back into Trigger and moved the seat as close as it could be to the steering wheel.

When I arrived at the restaurant, Tony and Ben were already there, sitting at a table, waiting on me. "Did you get lost?" Tony teased. "We've been waiting for over twenty-five minutes and we were about ready to send out a rescue team to find you." Ben started laughing.

"I'm sorry, I'm late. I had to get one of the men employees to back Trigger out of the parking lot for me and when he did, he banged his knees on the steering wheel, because my seat was too close to the steering wheel." Which made them burst out laughing. Then Ben made a hilarious wisecrack, which I can't repeat, about me being so short.

After a fun lunch with the guys, we jumped into Trigger and went to the pound to get a dog and while we were in the lobby, as I was signing off on the paperwork for Hank, a beautiful, happy, young yellow Lab, the nice man who had backed Trigger out for me earlier, walked inside. "Tony, Ben, that's the nice man who helped me with Trigger. Thank you, so much for backing Trigger out for me," I said. "I hope your knees are okay?" Then Tony, Ben and the man looked at each other, smiled and started chuckling.

When it was time for us to go, Hank and I climbed into the backseat, so Tony and Ben would have enough leg room and a few minutes later, when we arrived at Hoegemeyer Animal Clinic, to drop off Hank, to get him his shots and neutered etc., my face was soaking wet from Hank's constant licking.

When the three of us left the clinic, Underdog sat happily beside me, in the backseat, until we arrived at the restaurant, to let Ben out, so he could drive Buttermilk, with an empty trailer attached, back to the ranch. And I am happy to say that Underdog slept between Tone and me all of the way home. And that's about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

Thursday, June 28, 2012

Wild Zinnias!

Last night I ended up watching, When Harry Met Sally, and I loved it, even though I watch that movie at least once a year, because it is so cute and it makes me laugh a lot.

Today has been good. This morning, while Tony did the chores outside, I decided to stay inside, so I could deep clean The Cabin.

Around 10:00, our dogs started barking inside, so I went outside to see what was going on and when I saw a big, fancy pickup pull up to the Okay Corral, followed by Tony, I left our yard to go greet the visitors. "Nance, Joe and Cecil have just started a rescue ranch," Tony said. "They wanted to come out to see how we did it and do it."

After Joe and Cecil introduced me to Carol, a sweet, young woman, who wants to be a vet and helps them with their dogs, I gave them a tour of our rescue ranch, while Tony went back to doing his chores.

Even though I liked Joe, Cecil and Carol and I had really enjoyed visiting with them, I didn't invite them to come inside The Cabin, like I would normally do, because Hazel, my lavender vacuum cleaner, was standing upright, in the middle of the big room and some of our furniture was out of place, because I had moved it, so I could deep clean. But fortunately it didn't matter after all, because they couldn't stay, because they needed to get back to their shelter, located near Temple.

Tonight, before I started to write this, I checked to see if any new comments were made on last night's post, because earlier today my dear friend Fay had made a funny comment about when her girls were young and she giving them pomegranates to eat in the bathtub, so they wouldn't get stained.

When I checked my comment box I found that my good friend Mari, of The NoMads, had made this funny comment too:

"Those wildflowers look just like zinnias...Methinks some 'tame' seeds snuck into the wildflower package..."

Because I immediately burst out laughing when I read her comment I answered her back with this:

"Hi Mari! Thanks for making us laugh. I just told Tony, "Maybe they are wild Zinnias!""

Then I grabbed my camera and took this picture of my wild flowers, that Tony had handpicked for me, earlier this morning.


And that's about it for tonight, because I'm fixin' to go watch Dallas, that I recorded last night, while I was watching, When Harry Met Sally.

Y'all have a great evening!

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Picture Perfect Pomegranate!

This afternoon Tony and I went to Kerrville to run a few errands, but the main reason that I had wanted to go to Kerrville was to buy some pomegranate juice at H-E-B. The reason that I wanted to buy the pomegranate juice was because Sandy and Jon called me last night, to tell me that they had added a teaspoon of it to the water and sugar mixture that they put in their Hummingbird feeders and they hung it up beside another Hummingbird feeder, which only had the clear water and sugar mixture, to find out which feeder the Hummers preferred.

When their scientific experiment, "Do Hummingbirds prefer clear or colored water?," had ended they called me with their test results, "Nancy, the Hummers definitely prefer colored water to just plain clear water! We used 100% pomegranate juice and we only added a teaspoon to the sugar-water mixture and our Hummers only wanted to drink from that feeder. The next time that y'all come to town, you need to buy only 100% pomegranate juice and we promise that you'll attract more Hummers," they told me on their speakerphone.

After running our errands, our next to the last stop was at H-E-B to buy gas for Buttermilk and pomegranate juice for our Hummingbirds. While T. was outside, at the pumps, filling up Buttermilk, I went to the fruit and vegetable section, where the refrigerated juices are kept and I found several varieties of small bottled Pom Pomegranate juices, but they were out of the just plain 100% Pomegranate Juice and I was really disappointed.

Then I looked below the shelf with the small bottles on it and found several large bottles of Pom 100% Pomegranate juice and to say the least, "I was absolutely thrilled until I discovered how expensive it was. Knowing that Tone was outside waiting on me, I decided to go ahead and buy it anyway.

Our last stop was at Wolfmueller's Books, so we could tell Sandy and Jon that we had bought some pomegranate juice, but when we entered their popular bookstore it was full of Kerrverts and tourists buying their books, so we sat down at a table and waited for a chance to tell them.

During a momentary lull, they came over to greet us. "We just bought some Pom 100% pomegranate juice, at H-E-B, and it was expensive. They were out of the smaller bottles, so I bought a large bottle of it and it cost over $10.00."

"You should have bought a smaller bottle of it on the juice isle that isn't refrigerated. It's much cheaper," Sandy said.

"What kind did you buy?" I asked.

Sandy got up, grabbed her iPhone and said, "Here, let me show it to you," then she showed me a picture of their pomegranate juice bottle, which made me burst out laughing.

"Sandy, I can't believe that you took this picture of your pomegranate juice?" I teased. Jon, Sandy and Tony started laughing. "I mean it is a picture perfect pomegranate juice bottle and you centered it nicely, but do you honestly take pictures of all of your groceries? I'm sorry, Sandy, but I've got to blog about this, because there hasn't been much going on for me to blog about lately. And when I get home, I am going to take a picture of our Pom 100% Pomegranate Juice bottle and then e-mail it to you."( And that's exactly what I did when we got home.)


While we were still laughing, some nice people walked into the bookstore and the woman says to Sandy, "Hi, I am Gianna from the University of Texas Press and this is Chris. We drove down from Austin to check out your famous bookstore."

"Well, you've come at the perfect time, because one of your authors, Nancy Parker-Simons is here with her husband Tony. I'm Sandy and this is my husband Jon..." And the rest is history and it was fun.

Here are a few pictures that I took this evening of our beautiful wildflowers, that Tony planted a while back for me, because my favorite flowers are wildflowers.



Tonight, because of the sad passing of Nora Ephron, a woman whom I greatly admired, I plan to watch either When Harry Met Sally or Sleepless In Seattle or You've Got Mail or Julie & Julia, because they are my most favorite movies.

Y'all have a great evening!

Monday, June 25, 2012

Thirty Hours!

Today has been a nice, quiet day. This morning I helped Tony with the morning chores outside and it was harder than usual, because Kermit is temporarily dead, because of a dead battery. While Tony was in town this morning he purchased a replacement battery for Kermit this morning, but the new battery cannot be used yet, because the directions on the battery said that after adding the acid, that came with the battery, it cannot be used, for thirty hours after adding the acid, so we were on foot, the whole time this morning.

The only good thing to come out of all of this "thirty hours waiting period" is we walked around outside for nearly two hours and we got our exercise in, for the day. Even though we have never had to add acid, that comes attached to the battery, or have had to wait thirty hours before usage, I have a whole new appreciation for Kermit.

This afternoon, while cooking up another Cousin Nancy Freata, using olive oil, to saute diced onions, minced garlic, mushrooms, spinach, zucchini, sliced tomatoes and red bellpepper—Kinky called me from the road, so I put him on speakerphone, so I could continue cooking our lunch.

"Hey, Nance! How are you doing?"

"Hi, Kinky! I'm fine. Where are you?"

"I'm on my way to Rochester," Kinky said, sounding upbeat."

"How's your Bi-Polar Tour going?"

"It's been really great. Every gig has been sold out and I've met some really nice people along the way," he said, as I began cracking five of our Golden Girls' eggs into a bowl.

"How's Tony doing?"

"He's fine. In fact, we're all doing fine," I said, as I dumped a handful of crushed Fritos into the bowl of eggs and began mixing them together. "Not much has been going on these past few days, so I have been getting a lot of writing done on my mystery novel."

"How's Toto doing?"Kinky asked, as I poured the egg mixture into the hotter-than-hot skillet.

"He's really been slowing down lately. He has his good days and he his bad days and it seems that all he wants to do is sleep," I said, as I added small cubes of Muenster cheese into the hot skillet, filled with the sauteed vegetables and egg mixture and began to stir.

"I'll be back at the ranch, on the morning of July 2nd, Nance," Kinky said, as I sprinkled some crushed red pepper and Parmesan cheese into the skillet and then stirred some more.

"That's great, Kinky," We've missed you and I can't wait to see you," I said, as I slowly stirred everything around, in the skillet, for one last time, because the eggs had already set.

"I've missed, y'all too," he said, as I removed the hot, heavy, red enameled, cast iron skillet, from the stove top. "Keep up the good work that y'all are doing, Nance and please tell Tony that I send him my best."

"Will do, Kink. Have fun. Bye," I said.

"Bye, Nance. Take care."

"Tony!" I half-hollered, so he could hear me in his office. "Lunch is ready!" Then I turned off the phone and we enjoyed eating another delicious Cousin Nancy Freata (Frittata). And that is about it for today.

Y'all have a great evening!

Sunday, June 24, 2012

Yeah!

Today, nothing much has happened out here worth writing about, except that I have spent the majority of my day writing my mystery novel and not to brag, "It's looking good and Carol is in it!" Yeah!

Saturday, June 23, 2012

Happy 39 Years Wedding Anniversary To Sandy & Jon!

The other day, while I was visiting with my dear friends Sandy and Jon Wolfmueller, of Wolfmueller's Book, the greatest rare book store in Texas and found out that today is their 39th wedding anniversary I could not resist posting this, because I adore those two.

Happy 39th Wedding Anniversary to Y'all. Happy 39th Wedding Anniversary to Y'all. Happy 39th Wedding Anniversary to Sandy & Jon. Happy 39th Anniversary to Y'all. And many more...

We truly love y'all!

Friday, June 22, 2012

Day Tripper!

Today has been really great. This morning The Greatest Volunteers In Texas: June, Ellen, Jim and Lisa came out to walk our dogs down to Wallace Creek, so they could go for a swim and we loved it, but not as much as our dogs did.

On one trip down to the creek, I joined Lisa and Lois Lane, one of Lisa's favorite dogs and it made me so happy to watch Lois Lane enjoying herself in the cool creek water and swimming around like a fish in water. When we walked farther down the shore, to meet up with Ellen & Miss Daisy and June & Gonzo, I got goose bumps watching the dogs enjoying their swims, in the deep, clear water. And I couldn't quit thinking how lucky and grateful we are to have found these super people, who come out every Friday morning, so they can make our dogs so happy. Seriously, we are so blessed.

When the dog walking and swimming ended we went up to Koyote, for a really fun lunch with them. We laughed non-stop as June told us about the finger-pointing-shootout she witnessed, in the lobby, of an upscale nursing home in Kerrville. "This really old man, sitting in a wheelchair hollered across the room, "Hey, Al!" and then Al, who was standing close to me ducked, swung around real fast and then they drew their finger-pointing, pretend pistols and began started shooting at each other. I thought I was in a crossfire at the O.K. corral..."

Then Ellen tells us this hilarious story about the Kerrville police showing up at her place last week, two times on the same day—thanks to a concerned elderly woman friend, who had called them, because she could not reach Ellen, because Ellen was out of town. Ellen said, "When I got home and found out that she had sent the police out to check on me I held my temper and called her to ask her to never do that again. We have a great police force and they do a great job protecting us, she tells me, "Well, I just knew that you were dead, laying in a puddle of blood, because that cable tv repairman, that you had over there, had hit you over the head..."

As I was nearly finished eating my delicious vegetarian quesadilla, we started talking and laughing about the odd ways that different cultures, around the world, deal with death and bury their loved ones and Lisa's was the funniest and the best and the weirdest, but I think it is best not to discuss it here, because the only mummy I'm fond of is King Tut.

After our fun lunch with The Greatest Volunteers In Texas, Tony and I came back home to check on our dogs, before going to Kerrville to run seven errands. While our dogs were outside taking care of business, I made up a list and put the seven errands in the order that we should do them:

1. Post Office—to mail package
2. Salvation Army—drop off our clutter
3.Wolfmueller Books—to visit with Sandy and Jon
Then the Three "H's"
     Home Depot—buy a new air conditioning window unit for my writing cabin
     Hoegemeyer Animal Clinic—to pick up 13 boxes of Advantix II for our dogs and our rescued dogs
     H-E-B—Gas & Groceries

Fortunately, for the very first time, nothing weird happened to me at that Post Office. The person that Tony gave our clutter to, at the Salvation Army, was very helpful and he thanked us for rescuing animals.

When we arrived at Sandy and Jon's popular rare and used bookstore—it was crowded and they were either busy ringing up their cash register or finding books for people, so we had a short, but super fun visit with them.

During a momentary lull, at Wolfmueller's Books, Sandy printed something out and then handed it to me, for us to read. Then she left us to go help a customer locate a book. While she and Jon were gone for a couple of minutes, T. and I read this great article, written by Gerald E. McLeod, for today's issue in the Day Trips section of The Austin Chronicle, about their famous bookstore and we loved it. When they returned we talked about the great article that Gerald E. McLeod and then we told them about Gerald E. McLeod coming out and then writing a great story about our rescue ranch, several years ago. "He is so nice and I love The Austin Chronicle," I said.  It's my favorite Austin paper."Before leaving their famous used and rare bookstore they gave us some clippings, from their Wandering Jew plants, for Tony to plant when we got back home.

The remaining Three "H's" errands were uneventful and that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Underdogs Update!

I have some good news. This morning, my Roy Rogers was completely back to normal and he seems to be totally fine and you cannot image how happy that has made me. And the other good news is early this afternoon, a veterinarian, from the Hoegemeyer Animal Clinic, called to tell me that Underdog's surgery went well and that Underdog was recovering and doing fine and that we can probably pick him up tomorrow, which totally made our day for us.

Tonight I am on a roll with writing my book, so that is about it for tonight, because I need to keep on writing.

Y'all have a great evening!

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Underdogs!

Today has not been so great. This morning, after a late start, Tony went outside to do the morning chores, because I needed to stay inside to take care of some paperwork, return a few phone calls, check my e-mail, etc. and to keep an eye on Roy Rogers, because he was acting strange.

Roy was acting a little confused, not as happy as he normally is and he had a hard time jumping up on our bed, which he has never had trouble doing before.

As I was about to send out an e-mail, Tony came inside The Cabin, "Nance, call Hoegemeyers and tell them that we have an emergency and we are on our way. Underdog's eye has popped out." As soon as I called Susan to tell her about our little rescued Shih Tzu's eye, we took off for Kerrville.

After an emergency examination by the vet, Susan came out of the examination room and told us that they were going to have to remove Underdog's eye, which really depressed me, because neither Tony or I have any clue as to how or why it happened.

About halfway home, Tony says, "Roy ate all of his food this morning, but he doesn't seem to be feeling so hot. I hope that he hasn't had a stroke or something."

"You noticed it too?" I said, feeling a lump settle in my throat, as I told him about Roy acting under the weather with me too, this morning. "He's got to get better, Tony, because I love that dog so much..."

When we got back to the ranch, I decided to help Tony do the chores outside, because it was really starting to get hot outside and I was sure that the dogs were probably wondering why Tony hadn't fed them yet and why I hadn't cleaned their pens. So, I apologized to each and everyone of them for our tardiness, but they didn't seem to really care, because they were all too busy eating.

Late this afternoon, we went to Medina, so I could get some stuff mailed out and when we returned to the ranch, Roy was standing out on the porch, happily wagging his gigantic tail and barking at us—like he has always done in the past and he was also acting more perky, so I am now keeping my fingers crossed for him and me too, because Roy has truly stolen my heart.

Y'all have a great evening!

Sunday, June 17, 2012

Just Ain't Worth Eating!

This morning I cooked Aretha Frankensteins Insanely Great Pancakes for breakfast and we about fell out of our chairs, because they are absolutely the best pancakes that we have ever eaten and I am not kidding!

I followed the easy directions carefully. I used one egg, from The Golden Girls, buttermilk, canola oil with the correct amount of Aretha's mix and then I decided to add some chopped pecans, because we love pecan pancakes. When I took this picture, I realized that I had used low fat buttermilk, but I don't think it mattered, because like Eileen had promised me—"The pancakes were to die for!"


While I cooked up our pancakes I took this picture of one pancake cooking in the skillet and I could just shoot myself for forgetting to take another picture of the fully cooked pancakes, because we had eaten them all up before I thought about taking a picture of a cooked one.


While Tony and I ate our delicious breakfast, in between bites, we vowed that we would only eat Aretha Frankensteins pancakes and no other, for the rest of our lives, because any other pancake just ain't worth eating. 

I hope that all of y'all will order a box of Aretha Frakensteins Insanely Great Pancake Mix, because it will change your thinking about pancakes forever and don't forget to use only real maple syrup, instead of the fake chemical stuff, found on the grocery shelves. And that is about it for today.

Y'all have a great evening!

Saturday, June 16, 2012

Aretha Frankensteins Insanely Great Pancake Mix—Rocks!

Thursday, Friday and today have been great. First off, I want to say that Wednesday night, Tony and I watched Dallas and we loved it—in fact, we are totally hooked on the show and we plan to watch it every Wednesday night.

Thursday morning, Ben came out to work and like always we had a lot of fun visiting with him, when he wasn't working outside.

Friday morning, when I went outside to greet and to thank our super volunteers/friends: Jim, Eileen and Lisa, for coming out to walk our dogs for us, Ellen was sitting, in front of the barn, at her grooming table giving Underdog a much needed haircut—that he did not seem to want.

When I got to the barn Eileen, Ellen and I started chatting, as Underdog's hair either fell on the table or was swept away by the wind. "Nancy, I have something to give to you," Eileen said, as she walked over to get something out of her car. When she returned with a box, she said, "This is the best pancake mix in the world and you and Tony are going to love the pancakes, but it says that you must use real eggs, canola oil and buttermilk. Then she handed me the interesting-looking box.

"Aretha Frankensteins Insanely Great Pancake Mix?" I said, reading the front of the box. "I've never heard of this. Aretha Frankensteins famous scratch pancakes. I love their packaging. It makes me smile just looking at it."

"The pancakes are to die for, Nancy," Eileen swore. When I looked at the back of the box I started laughing as I read some of the cute testimonials endorsing the pancakes:

"...so good it really should go by a different term, perhaps Powdered Awesome or Box of Magnificence..." —J. Scott Wilson, Food Editor

"Aretha's pancakes are Abbey Road era Beatles, the rest are Ringo solo stuff!"  —Jeff Styles, WGOW Talk Radio icon

"Aretha Frankensteins, that place rocks!" —Rachel Ray, Television Food Goddess

"I can't wait to make these pancakes," I said, "but first I've got to get some canola oil and buttermilk. Thank you so much for this."

Then Tony walked up and he started teasing Eileen about, "Being this close to being put back on probation," so I jokingly said, "Eileen, you will never be put on probation, by Tony again. In fact Tone, I might just put you on probation for giving Eileen a hard time. Look at this cute box of pancake mix that Eileen got for us, it's made in Chattanooga, Tennessee, called,"Aretha Frankensteins Insanely Great Pancake Mix."


Late in the afternoon, Ben, Tony and I went out to the barn, because Ben had bought some stuff, in Austin, so he could repair the small hole in my kayak and while he mixed up the mixture, in one of his  plastic Hat Creek Saloon cups, that he had cut the top off, we got to laughing about the ridiculously, hard to follow directions. "Why can't they just say, "mix one part to one part?" I asked.

When Ben started using his homemade wire whisk, that he had just made, using some old baling wire, to apply the clear goop, we really started laughing, as we watched the fiberglass mixture slowly fall through the hole, to remain in the inside of my kayak forever. As Ben kept applying more of the goop to try to fill the small hole, I joked, "Ben, you should start a kayak repair business," as the goop continued to slowly flow into my kayak. "If this doesn't start to set up soon, my kayak is going to weigh a ton and it will only go around in circles. I think we should go to my Plan B, which is to cut up a plastic milk carton and tape it down using my pink duct tape. I bet it would work."

After they had quit laughing at me, Ben placed a tiny piece of Bounty paper towel over the hole and jokes, "This should fix it from leaking inside."

"They say Bounty is the best, "I quipped, trying to sound enthusiastic, as I tried to remember where I had put my pretty, pink duct tape. Twenty minutes later, thanks to Ben and Bounty—the goop finally started setting up and had quit draining into my kayak—thank goodness.


"It says to give it a few days to completely set up before using it," I said, as we stared at the odd-looking, almost clear patch of fiberglass, that to me, looked sort of like a raw egg-gone-bad.

Today has been nice and quiet and that is why I am posting this so early in the day, because I am fixin' to go take a nap with Mama and Roy.

P.S. We're having pancakes for breakfast tomorrow and we can't wait! Thank you, Eileen!

Y'all have a great evening!

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Dallas!

Today has been really great, because it has been sort of a quiet day for me, so after I had returned a few phone calls, etc. this morning, I have spent most of my day and early evening decluttering some more cabinets and closets and I am beyond thrilled with the results.

Tonight I plan to watch the premier showing of Dallas, on TV and I cannot wait to watch it, because I was hooked on watching the original Dallas series, so many years ago. I loved the J.R., Sue Ellen and Bobby characters, so that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!


Monday, June 11, 2012

Fourth!

Today has been great, because I more or less took the morning off, to stop, shoot and smell the beautiful wildflowers that Tony planted for me, a while back. Here are a couple of my shots.



Because I was feeling a little guilty about not helping T. with the morning chores, I treated him to lunch, in Kerrville, before we ran a few errands.

After lunch, while I was standing in line at the Post Office I heard a man half-holler, "Hey, there's Reverend Cousin Nancy!" So, I turned around and saw this tall, dressed up cowboy, about twenty feet away, walking towards me and then I realized it was our dear friend Fourth—then I immediately started blushing, because everyone in the Post Office, including the postal people, were staring at me and smiling and most likely wondering, "Who the heck is Reverend Cousin Nancy?"

After Fourth and I had hugged each other, we visited for a couple of minutes. When Fourth and I adios-ed each other and he had walked away to go retrieve his mail, there was a gentle tap on my right shoulder, so I turned around to see who it was. "I'm sorry to bother you, Reverend Cousin Nancy? When I overheard your friend call you reverend and since I'm new in town," a shy, young woman, probably in her early thirties, says to me, "anyway, since you are a reverend, I was wondering if you could help me out and recommend a good summer vacation Bible school for my children to attend."

(I couldn't help but chuckle and think to myself, "Why me, Lord? It seems that every time that I come into this particular post office something weird always happens to me." Then if He would have answered me back, He would have probably said, "It's Fourth's fault.")

"Yes, I just became a reverend, but I can't really help you out, because I only marry and bury people." As I walked away to go up to the counter to mail my package—she looked more than confused and Tony and I laughed about it all of the way home.

This afternoon Carol called me and she was laughing when she jokingly said, "I read your blog about Tony saying your Freata was so much better than my Frittata, so please tell Mr. T. that the next time y'all come over here to eat, tell him I said—BYOL, bring your own lunch kit, if he wants anything to eat over here." And that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

Sunday, June 10, 2012

Dirt Blizzard!

Even though I got stuck behind a slow moving car yesterday and was running late to meet up with Sandy, because I never ever pass cars, I loved Mark Klym's Texas Parks and Wildlife presentation on Texas Hummingbirds, which was held at one of Tony's and my favorite stores, in Kerrville—Wild Birds Unlimited!

Mark is a co-author of the popular book, Hummingbirds of Texas and he is a true authority on Texas Hummingbirds, so I learned a lot of things that I didn't know before about Hummers.


After Mark's interesting, one hour presentation ended, Sandy and I went shopping inside the store and we also did a little visiting with my sweet neighbor, Sally, from Medina, the store's friendly owners Linda and Kevin Pillow and Marguerite, who works for them. Marguerite is the super, sweet woman that adopted Enzo #2 from us.

I purchased Mark's book and had Mark sign it to Tony, then I started shopping and found the cutest Fruit & Nut Seed Cylinder, with seed and a really cool, solar water wiggler for our bird bath and when I got home and showed them to T. he was thrilled.

After he had assembled the solar water wiggler, which was so easy that even I could have done it, we went outside to hang up the fruit and nut seed cylinder, try out our new, sun powered water wiggler and take some pictures of the birds, in the Okay Corral. Here's the cylinder hanging high up in the tree.


The awesome, solar water wiggler at work!

When we returned to The Cabin, I took this picture of this adorable Barn Swallow,
 perching and pondering something, on my pink pig hanger, on the front porch.


Today has been great. This morning while Tony did our morning chores outside by himself, I got on our riding lawn mower and cut the grass and weeds for over two hours. When we came back inside The Cabin we were hot, tired and thirsty. "Nance, you should see yourself. You're clothes are covered in dirt."

"I know, Tony. Dust and dirt were flying the whole time," I said, as I removed my bi-focals, so I could clean them off, so I could see once again. "Tony, at times it was like I was mowing in a blinding-dirt-blizzard out there, but it was hot, instead of cold and dirt instead of snow. Some times the dirt was so thick in the air, I couldn't see two feet in front of me."

"I know. Whenever I looked up at the sky, it looked smokey and if I hadn't heard the mower running, I would of thought there was a fire. You need to go put on a clean shirt." 

Not to brag, I made the most delicious lunch for us today, after I had put on a clean shirt. A couple of weeks ago, Carol had taught me how to make frittatas, because she had cooked us some for dinner and we loved them, even though I had a hard time pronouncing frittata, which she and T. relentlessly teased me about, because I was pronouncing it like reata, with an "f" in front—freata.

Anyway, for "Cousin Nancy's Freata Recipe," I used olive oil to saute: yellow squash, zucchini, onion, garlic, mushrooms, pico de gallo, corn, Muenster cheese, Tillamook sharp cheddar cheese and then I seasoned it with taco seasoning and a handful of crushed-up Fritos, before adding the egg mixture. 

Tony loved it so much, he ate a second serving of it. And please don't tell Carol, but Tony told me, "This is so much better than Carol's "fri-tah-tahs." And he was right.

Because of too much sun and that dang dirt blizzard, that I created early this morning, we spent the rest of the day resting. And that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

Saturday, June 9, 2012

Wild Birds!

Yesterday was great, because Jim and his sweet granddaughter, Amanda and two of the Fab 4 volunteers; Eileen and Lisa, came out to walk our dogs for us.

Around 11:30, while I was visiting with Eileen, Lisa went to Eileen's car to get something out of it, but she couldn't, "Eileen, your Avalanche is locked."

"No, it isn't," Eileen said, as she and I started walking over to her vehicle. "Try the driver's side," Eileen suggested.

"It's locked too." Lisa replied. "I think you had better call On Star." Then Eileen tried to open the front door to make sure it was locked.

"I can't," Eileen said. "My cell phone, purse and keys are locked inside it." So I suggested we go up to the trailer, aka The Cabin, to use our phone.

When Eileen called On Star and had told them she needed their assistance to unlock her car and had given them all of her secret information, we went outside, with phone in Eileen's hand, to wait for further instructions. When the On Star representative told Eileen to make sure that no one was touching her vehicle, I jumped into Kermit and drove down to her car, to make sure no one was touching it, while the satellite searched for her Pathfinder.

Fifteen minutes later, after four unsuccessful attempts made by On Star to unlock the car, they told Eileen they would immediately send out roadside assistance to unlock it, but they wanted Eileen to remain on the phone. "Call Wayne," Lisa suggested.

"I can't because they want me to stay on the line and we can't use your cell phone, because there is no cell service out here."

"You can use our fax line to call Wayne," I said. So, we came back inside The Cabin, so Eileen could call Wayne and twenty seconds later the problem was solved, when Wayne told her that he would meet us at Koyote Ranch for lunch and give her his key.

Before we took off for Koyote, I wrote down Callie's phone number, because my niece and her boyfriend Forrest, were driving down from Austin, to visit us.

Our lunch with Jim, Amanda, Lisa, Wayne and Eileen was a lot of fun and halfway through it, I excused myself from the table, so I could go outside to call Callie to ask them to meet us at Koyote, instead of the ranch.

After lunch, around 1:00 when we were fixin' to come back go back to the ranch, I told Tony, Eileen and Lisa to go on without me, so I could stay at Koyote, to meet Callie and Forrest and let them bring me back to the ranch, so we adios-ed each other and then they took off in Buttermilk.

Ten minutes later, I called Callie and found out that they were running behind schedule and that her GPS said they were thirty minutes away from Koyote, so I called the ranch because I was going to ask T. to come back and pick me up, but I didn't get T.—I got Carlton, our answering machine.

Feeling uncomfortable, because I was standing outside in the parking lot, with a lot of friendly bikers showing up, I walked down the driveway to Highway 16 to call Tony again and again, in hopes that he would walk inside The Cabin and hear me leaving him a message on Carlton, but that didn't happen.

Around 1:30 my cell phone rang, "Nance, I just walked inside and got your messages. Do you want me to come and get you?"

"I don't know. Callie and Forrest should be here in about ten minutes."

"I am going to come get you, okay?"

"Okay. If Callie and Forrest get here first, we will stay here until you get here. Bye." Two minutes later, Callie and her boyfriend pulled up in her pickup and we visited until Trigger and Tony arrived and then Callie and Forrest followed us back to the ranch for a really fun visit.

Even though it is only 8:43, in the morning, I already know that today is going to be great, because later this afternoon my good friend Sandy Wolfmueller and I are going to Wild Birds Unlimited  presentation on how to attract more Hummingbirds. And that is about it for this morning, because I need to go outside to do my morning chores.

Y'all have a great day!

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Weave A Good Tale!

Today has been great and it all started early this morning, with this beautiful flower bouquet, that Tony had handpicked from our flowerbed, and gave to me, after he had returned from the Old Timer, in Medina. I especially love the Blue Plumbago.


This morning before Tony went outside to do the chores, he helped me declutter the cabinet, below the kitchen sink and we threw out a lot of old, unused stuff. And because it looked so organized and uncluttered, I ended up decluttering all four of our kitchen drawers, while T. was outside working.

Around noon, my dear friend, Spike Gillespie, came over to eat lunch with us and she brought us a fresh fruit salad that was so delicious, I ate more of it than my shrimp spaghetti.

Lunch with Spike was so much fun, because it was filled with laughter. After lunch we talked non-stop about her marrying people, which she has been doing for over five years and the good news is—she is has offered to train me for free and I can't wait to get started.

Late this afternoon, after Tone took off for Medina to buy us some vanilla ice cream, I started decluttering my more than cluttered office, but I didn't get far into it, because when I saw the Cricket Loom and the box it came in, I decided to sell it on eBay, instead of storing it and probably never using it again, because it had cost me over $140.00. So, when T. walked inside The Cabin with the ice cream, I was busy, putting it up for auction, on eBay. 


To help make the loom sell better, I grabbed my camera and took a picture of my pitiful-looking, thirteen-inch-long muffler, that I had given up on, because I had quickly discovered that I am definitely not a weaver and I also learned that T. doesn't do mufflers, no matter how ugly or long they are. 

When T. saw me take the picture of his unfinished, muffled up, mini-muffler, he started laughing and said, "You're going to put a picture of that up on eBay? I thought you wanted the loom to sell." Then I started laughing with him, because he was right, as we closely examined it for my multiple weaving errors. So needless to say, "I did not upload this picture of Tony's miniature muffler, on eBay, because I am smart enough to know, that I can weave a good tale, from time to time, but never a muffler." And that is about it for tonight.


Y'all have a great evening!

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Sorry, Not Tonight!

Sorry, not tonight, because Venus is transit, but it has been a really great day.

Y'all have a great evening!

Monday, June 4, 2012

To Marry Or Bury!

Today has been great. This morning while I was outside helping Tony with the morning chores, I started thinking about what I would wear, if I marry or bury someone and then I started really worrying about it, because I don't want to wear a old ladies dress, because I don't like wearing dresses, etc. and besides that I would look more frumpier than I am.

So, when my poop scooping was done and the dog pens were clean I came inside, got on my lap top and went to Amazon and typed in "clergy robes," because I had already decided that I would just wear my regular clothes and cover them up with a robe.

Omg! When I started looking at them and scrolling down the pages I didn't know if I should laugh or scream. Some of the robes were Halloween costumes and they were really cheap. Some of the robes were really scary-looking and they reminded me of the grim reaper, which I guess I could wear at funerals to make people laugh instead of crying, or to weddings that everyone knew were obviously doomed from the get-go.

My two favorite robes were the "Padre Traveling Priest Robe"which was under $24.99 and I could wear my cowboy hat with it and the "Super Deluxe Monk Robe" was pretty cool too and it came with a hood, so I could cover up my long, white, thinning hair, but it was a lot more expensive, but after thinking about it for a while, I decided not to buy either. Then I went to check my e-mail.

Our dear friend and super talented videographer, Gerry Olert, from San Antone, had sent me a great video to watch, that he made of Kinky's performance at the Kerrville Folk Festival and Kinky's Man In Black Tequila, bottle signing party at Spec's, in Kerrville and it was absolutely fabulous, of course. So, please check it out.

Early this evening, Tony and I went over to the Lodge to visit with Kinky and his sister Marcie, because Kink is leaving for the San Antone airport, in the wee small hours of the morning, to begin his East Coast, "Bi-Polar Tour."

While the four of us sat out on his porch, watching his faithful flock of thirsty Hummingbirds quickly draining his feeders, I told them about looking at priest robes today and me not wanting to wear frumpy-looking clothes. "I think you should wear a cape, Nance," Kinky said, which made all of us start laughing.

"Yeah right, Kink," I shot back. "Or better yet, I could just wear assorted colored bath towels, attached to my shoulders, using wooden clothespins, like Ronnie and I did when we were kids, pretending to be Super Man, as we jumped off of the roof, in hopes of landing, on the hedges..." And that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Slowly Sinking!

Today has been great. My day was made great, late this afternoon, at the big H-E-B store, in Kerrville. While  I was in the dog isle buying dog food for our fur family and Tony was outside filling up Trigger, so we could make it back home, a sweet woman said, "Hi, Cousin Nancy!"

I smiled and recognized her friendly face, but my memory would not help me remember her name. "Harley," she said, trying to help me out, since my mind had gone totally blank. "I'm Bernie and we adopted Harley from you and I've been wanting to call you for days, to talk to you about him." My heart started slowing sinking, next to the canned dog food shelves.

"Oh yes, Bernie, now I remember you and that sweet son of yours?"

"Alex. Anyway, I wanted you to know that Harley is the greatest dog that we have ever had and that he is the best thing that has ever happened to Alex. Harley is his best friend and constant companion and Harley loves to play with Alex and his friends." I began to feeling goose bumps running up and down my arms, because of her good news.

"Oh, Bernie, you have literally just made my day great and I can't thank you enough! We loved Harley and we knew that he was one very fine dog, even though he was with us for a mighty long time." Then I started to tear up a little, so I wiped my eyes dry. "We cannot thank you and Alex enough for adopting one of our old timers and giving him a wonderful, loving home." Then I had to push my cart up a few feet, so this man could get to the canned dog food. "His was a great adoption, because we especially love it when one of the old timers finally finds their forever home. I am so glad that we ran into each other, in the dog isle of all places and I cannot wait to tell Tony and Kinky this great news about Harley....Bernie, please give Harley a big hug from Tony and me and please tell him that we love him and that we are so happy for him."

"I certainly will, Nancy..." After we adios-ed each other, I hurried through the grocery store and filled up my shopping cart.

While T. was putting our groceries inside Trigger, I told him all about meeting Bernie, in the dog isle and her great Harley update. And to say the least, "It made Tony's day great, too."


Y'all have a great evening!

Saturday, June 2, 2012

My First Funeral! or Ashes To Ashes!

This morning I took this picture of some wildflowers that Tony had picked for me yesterday. Aren't they beautiful!


Today has been great. This morning Jon Wolfmueller called and he left an hilarious message for me, on Carlton, "Hello, Nancy. I'm glad that you got your marrying kit yesterday and that you are now an official preacher. I don't want to sign up for a wedding, but I do want you to do my funeral. I want to be the first, so put me down."

When I returned Jon's call I joked, "Jon, I would love to do your funeral and I will be glad to put you down in the ground, but don't die, just so I can make some extra spending money." Jon started laughing.

"How much is it?" Then we both started laughing.

"Jon, I have no idea. I guess I'll have three rates. The cheapest rate will be for friends and family. Then the middle rate will be for nice people, musicians, artists, authors and animal lovers. And the highest rate will be for arrogant people. What do you think?"

"Sounds good to me."

"You'll definitely get the Friends & Family rate and don't worry about the cost, because I will just send my bill to Sandy after we put you down..."

Today, in between visitors showing up for tours, I finally finished feng shui-ing Tony's and my bedroom closet and it feels great knowing that all of the de-cluttering has been done there. Then I did some much needed de-cluttering in the big room.

I removed old magazines, a few objects that had been gifts to me, but the most important thing that I removed was our beloved Thunder's urn, sitting on the top of our entertainment center, because every time that I looked at it—it made me miss her.

So, without telling T., I slipped outside with her urn, said a silent prayer to her and then I scattered her ashes in our front yard, then inside The Okay Corral and lastly around Yoda's and Lucky's grave, because they had all been best friends.

Late this afternoon, T. and I went outside to replace the old, solar battery inside The Eternal Squirrel, that rests on top of Yoda's grave and after Tony had replaced the battery and set the Eternal Squirrel back in place, he began to dust off the top of the little solar panel and I quietly gasped, because it wasn't dust that he was removing from the top of the solar panel and the top of the grave—it was Thunder's ashes instead.

I decided it just wasn't the right time or the place to tell Tone about me earlier scattering her ashes right there, so I said, "Hey, let's go water the garden and the flowers." And seconds later we were inside The Okay Corral, happily watering away.

I am really glad that I did remove Thunder's urn, from The Cabin and did scatter her ashes outside, because I am no longer saddened whenever I look towards the entertainment center. And trust me, I will tell T. about doing it, if and when he ever notices that her urn is missing. Ashes to ashes...

Y'all have a great evening!

Friday, June 1, 2012

My Special Package!

Today has been a blast. This morning the Fab 4; June, Ellen, Eileen and Lisa came out to walk our dogs early, before we had a really fun picnic with them and Carol, to celebrate Ellen's belated birthday. And the Fab 4 brought all of the delicious food too, so the only thing for Tony to cook was the steaks!

When T. started up the grill and The Girls began to gather, in the Okay Corral, I had to remain inside The Cabin, because I was expecting a very important phone call, from our friendly Postal Carrier, so I could drive down to meet him at our post office box, out on Highway 16, so I could sign for it.

After waiting for the phone to ring for some time, I decided to go outside and take the phone with me, so I could visit with our dear friends. When they saw me carrying the phone, I explained to them about having to meet Kent, at the mailboxes, so I could sign for my special package.

When I told them about me signing up online, to be a minister, last Wednesday and waiting to receive my deluxe minister kit, Ellen told me that she had also signed up a while back and that she was a minister too and that she was going to marry her niece, some time in August. So, all of us spent a lot of time talking and making jokes about Reverend Ellen's and Reverend Nancy's new part-time careers, as T. cooked the steaks.

"Y'all the steaks are ready," Tony finally declared. "Come and get it." After we had come and got it, we enjoyed a delicious meal of Kal-Bob's Cook Shack cole slaw and potato salad, homemade pork & beans and rib-eyes. Then for dessert we ate Lisa's delicious homemade, chocolate birthday cake. And right after that the phone rang—it was Kent, so I adios-ed everyone and then jumped into Trigger and took off to go meet Kent at the mailboxes.

Kent is one of the best postal carriers in Texas. Seriously, he is always friendly, helpful and is very conscientious about his job. "Nancy, I am so sorry for being late..."

"Kent, stop apologizing. Thank you, so much for calling me about my package and taking the time to meet me, so I didn't have to drive to Medina to pick it up..."

When I returned to Ellen's birthday party, everyone started teasing me and bowing their heads at me, which I thought was pretty funny. "Here's my deluxe minister starter kit," I said, holding up the package. "Tony, could you open this for me?"

All eyes were on Tony, as he carefully opened up the package, using his sharp pocket knife. "Omg!" I said, as I pulled out the contents. "Look at all of this!" As we checked out my started kit, admiring the two bumper stickers, my snap-on clergy badge, Minister parking permit, Press Pass, Ministerial Consulate parking permit, my Guide to Divinity handbook, my Credentials of Ministry to certify me, the Wedding Officiant, Certificate of Marriage, Certificate of Commitment, Affirmation of Love, House of Blessing, Certificate of Baptism certificates, all with gold seals and the beautiful red writing pen—Ellen said, sounding sort of sad like, "I just bought their Basic package and I didn't get all of this cool stuff. I wish I had spent the extra ten dollars to have gotten all of this."


After everyone had quit laughing and teasing Ellen, she asked me to wear my clergy tag, so after I had attached it to my collar—she shot me—with her camera. Then we started joking around with what names we should call our ministries and we all burst out laughing when one of them, who I think was Eileen, suggested that mine be called the, "What Would Ronnie Do?" ministry.

And that is about it for tonight, except I really do hope that you will call me and let me do your weddings, etc., because I am serious about it and I know that I would enjoy it.

Y'all have a great evening!