They Stink! They Stunk!

Today has  been great. This morning before Brandon and Tony went outside to do the daily chores, I asked Tony to please go outside to cut me some of his beautiful wildflowers, because the lavender flowers, in the pretty pink vase had given up and had wilted.

A few minutes later he came back inside The Cabin and handed me a fresh-cut bouquet and I was thrilled. As I filled the vase with fresh water he said, "Be sure to put a baby aspirin in the water. It will help them last longer." Even though I have never heard of this I dropped a pink aspirin into the vase and then I added a small amount of sugar, because I've heard that sugar helps them last longer, too. Then I took this picture.

Thirty minutes later, while I walked four miles with Leslie Sansone, I had the beans, that Kris & Jim gave to me and the Jiffy Corn Muffins warming in the oven, so Brandon, Tony and me could eat them for lunch.

Right after I finished walking, my friend Kim called me about helping her find homes for her neighbor's six, eight-weeks-old yellow Labrador pups. I told her I would see what I could do.

During our delicious lunch, I told Tony and Brandon about the puppies that needed a home. "I want one," Brandon said. "And my mom, in Alabama, might want one, too." Then he and I talked about how cute all puppies are and how destructive Lab puppies can be, until they mature around two years of age. When I asked Brandon if he wanted a male or female pup, he said, "I want a male and I am going to name him R. J."

"R.J.?" I asked.

"Roy, Jr.," Brandon explained. "You've got Roy Rogers and I want mine to be exactly like Roy." He was so excited about getting a pup, I decided not to tell him that in real life, Roy Rogers, Jr. was nicknamed Dusty. Then I picked up the phone and punched in Kim's phone number.

"Kim, we can take two. One female and one male," I said and she was delighted and told me that she will deliver the pups to us on Saturday.

After lunch Tony and I jumped inside Trigger and took off, to go run errands, in Kerrville. Our first stop was at H-E-B, on Main Street. While we were filling our shopping cart with groceries, I decided to buy a blue vase just like the pink one I had purchased last week and the November issue of Texas Monthly, because I love that magazine.

Then we went to Home Depot and our last stop was at Hoegemeyer Animal Clinic, because we wanted to check on Dale Evans and to meet Christopher Columbus, the little, stray dog that a man had called me about finding, who was going to drop him off at the clinic for us.

After we saw a much healthier Dale Evans, I asked Susan if we could meet Chris and she said, "Me, too. The man never dropped him off."

"That is great news, because the nice man had told me that he has been without a dog for over six years, because when his old dog died, it broke his heart and he vowed to never get another dog.  He also told me that if he kept the little dog one more day, he just might have to keep it, because it was stealing his heart."

On our drive back home, I thumbed through the Texas Monthly magazine and I was nicely surprised when I turned to page 284, to discover that they had included the beautiful, one page Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch advertisement, that they had designed for us several years ago. So, I want to thank the great folks at Texas Monthly, once again, for helping us get the word out.

When we got home Tony and I put up the groceries. Then I grabbed the scissors and went outside to cut some pretty, yellow flowers, so I could put them in my new blue vase. When I returned to The Cabin, I filled the new vase with water, dropped in a baby aspirin and added a little sugar. Then I put the flowers into the vase and put it on the table, next to my banjo. Then I took this picture of it.

When Tony came into big room I said, "Tony, look at my new vase with the yellow flowers that I just cut. Tony looked and then he chuckled. "What's so funny?"

"Those flowers stink. They are called Cowpen Daises. Go smell them." I went over and smelled the pretty flowers and sure enough, I did not like what I smelled—they stunk.

It has been a few hours since I first put the stinking cowpen daisies into the blue vase and after much thought, I've decided to go ahead and keep them, until they wilt, because they do look pretty and they just can't help how they smell. 

Early this evening, my dear friend Carol called me as soon as she got off of work and she was all excited. She is officially retired, but last week she decided to interview for a job at Pedernales Cellars, in Stonewall, because she has always thought it would be fun to work at a vineyard. 

Today was Carol's first day working, at Pedernales Cellars and when she called me, the first thing that she said to me was, "Nancy, I love working with the people at Pedernales Cellars. They are so nice and I love my new job. And I have something really big to tell you!"

"What? Is it good news?"

"It's great news and you're not going to believe this."

"Tell me."

"Today while I was working, my boss came out of the office and she asked me, "Do you know Walter and Cheryl?" I told her "Yes, I do. They are new friends of mine and they are two of the nicest people on the planet." Then I asked her, "Why?"

"Nancy she told me that Walter had just called her and he told her about me being a dear friend of theirs and because of me, they have signed up and joined our wine club."

"Carol, that is way too cool. I love Cheryl and Walter and their sweet gesture does not surprise me, because they are great people."

"I know. Me too. When my boss told me that, I said, "Oh my goodness. They are so sweet to do that for me. Last Sunday, when I last saw them, I told them about starting my new job here and about how excited I was to work for y'all." "Nancy, instead of buying bottles, Cheryl and Walter purchased cases of wine to be delivered to them! Can you believe that?"

"Yes, I can. I am so happy for you."I said. "Can I blog about this?"

"Yes, please do, because I love Pedernales Cellars and Cheryl and Walter. Nancy, I need to get Cheryl and Walter's phone number and address, so I can call them and personally thank them for joining our Pedernales Wine Club today, on my first day of work. I know that they are going to love the wine, too, because it is made with 100% Texas grapes and their wines have won all kinds of major awards in California and Texas..."

Carol and I talked for a few more minutes, before she told me that the sun was shining directly into her eyes and that she needed to get off of the phone. I am so happy for Carol that she loves her new job and I need to end this, so I can e-mail her Cheryl and Walter's address. And that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!