Miles Of Chocolate!

This morning after the thunderstorm, Tony ate his oatmeal and I drank my breakfast smoothie then he went outside to help Ben with the daily chores while I took care of some ranch paperwork and then returned several phone calls. Then I took a break sort of.

Yesterday when Ben was over here, he gave us two more giant bricks of Miles of Chocolate to enjoy! So this morning for 'my break' I decided to cut the delicious chocolate bricks up and vacuum seal them into smaller servings for us and it took me less that thirty minutes to do! Then I decided to walk the walk with Leslie Sansone even though my back was still aching, because I have a lot of miles to catch up on.

After I unwrapped the packaging on the new replacement DVD I shoved it into the DVD player and started walking with Leslie and her crew, in hopes that the walking would help my back feel better. I took it real easy and didn't push myself and I ended up walking eight miles and my back felt much better when I was done.

Late this afternoon Ben, Will and Sam came over to see if Tony wanted to go fishing with them down on the creek. After Tony told them that he would love to I said, "Can I go, too?" The men laughed and teased Tony about him having to be the one to babysit me on their fishing expedition, then we left the trailer and went down to the barn to get the fishing equipment.

While Tony handed out his rods and reels for the guys to use, I looked around for my lavender colored rod and pink reel. As Tone told them about which plastic worms worked best I found my rod and reel. "Tony, will you fix mine up?" They laughed and teased T. and me as he put a big hook and a pretty hot pink plastic worm on it. "Y'all, in this fishing tournament we..."

"It's now turned into a fishing tournament?" Ben teased.

"Yes! It will be fun, Ben! First fish, Second fish, Third fish, Biggest fish and Smallest fish," I said as Ben got into his truck and Sam and Will jumped into the back of it. Tony and I followed them in Kermit to the fishing hole then the tournament began.

At first we all fished pretty close together talking and laughing, then the guys got serious and took off to find a better place to fish or because I was talking too much. Here is a picture that I took of Ben, Tony and Sam fishing off of the dam while Will went further down the creek and I stayed in my same place.

In less than two minutes Tone caught the First Fish and then the Second fish which of course he threw back into the water as soon as I took this picture!

Then we jumped into the vehicles and drove further down the creek and within five minutes I caught the third fish! "OMG!" I half-hollered with excitement. "I've got a big one! Help me! It's gigantic! Tony! Help me!"Tony was pretty faraway and I think he pretended not to hear me so Will came running to my rescue. "Be careful, Will! It's really big!" Will threw his rod and reel down on the ground and then he grabbed my line and reached out to pull the fighing fish out of the water. "Hurry, Will! I think my rod is fixin' to break!"

Seconds later, Will had unhooked my giant fish and he was holding it in his hands, so I dropped my rod and reel and quickly took this picture of it before Will put it back into the water. As we watched it swim away I asked Will what kind of fish it was. "A Bass, Nance," Will said as he picked up his rod and reel. 

"I bet it weighed over five pounds! I bet I win the Biggest fish!" I said as Will shook his head no.

"Sorry, Nance. It might have weighed a pound." Will said with a laugh as he walked off further down the creek beyond Tony so he wouldn't have to rescue me again.

As I continued to side-cast all alone by myself near the bridge and continuously caught nothing, Ben hollered from faraway, "I got one!" So I quickly reeled in my pink worm, leaned my pretty rod and reel against a tree and took off to take a picture of Ben's prize catch before he released it back into the creek. Ben had caught a pretty big Perch which might put him in first place for the Smallest Big Fish award.

 Fifteen minutes later we decided the fish weren't biting that great around there anymore, so we went back over by the dam where we had started the fishing tournament. Will and Sam walked across the dam and started fishing from the dock, while Tony went off to fish below the dam. Ben and I decided to put our fishing gear up and we sat on some big rocks underneath some tall shaded Oak trees and we visited back and forth with Will and Sam across the creek. To say the least, there was a lot of laughing and teasing going on back and forth across that creek. And I was having a blast.

"I got one!" Will hollered as Sam, Ben and I excitedly watched him wrestling at the dock with his big catch of the day! Here is a picture of Will and the Biggest Fish before he released it back into the creek.

Ten minutes later just as all of us were fixing to quit fishing Sam hollered from the dam, "Hey y'all, I've got one!" We all watched as Sam worked to reel it in his big fish which ended up breaking the tip off of Tony's rod. This is a picture that I took of Sam's fish before he returned it back to the creek.

"Tony, I am really sorry for breaking off the tip of your rod," Sam said. "I feel really bad about it, man."

"Don't worry about it, Sam. It's no big deal, really. That rod was my great grandfathers handed down to my grandfather, handed down to my Dad and then to me. I was going to give it to my nephew in a couple of years. Seriously, don't worry about it, Sam," I said jokingly and everyone burst out laughing and then they took turns teasing Sam about it. When the fishing tournament officially ended Kermit took Tone and me back home and the guys went back to the Lodge.

This afternoon has been so much fun for me. I really enjoyed taking the afternoon off. I've needed some time off and to laugh out loud and I want to thank the men for filling that prescription for me. Thank you, Tony, Ben, Will and Sam. I love y'all so much. 

P.S. The mystery of who sent that delicious 'Yahoo Cake' from Sherman, Texas, to us has finally been solved! Even though the Texas-shaped cake has already been entirely and happily devoured, Tony told me this morning that Nancy and David Lemon had sent it to us! And Nancy told Tone on Facebook that she personally removed all of the fat and calories from it. Thank you, Nancy and David! We loved eating it and I am so glad that it was y'all and fat-free. I knew it was from y'all. Nancy and David Lemon Rock! And so do Nicki and Tom!

Y'all have a great evening!

Tony Rocks!

This morning, after George and his camera crew came out to scout around Echo Hill Ranch, for an upcoming photo shoot, for the book jacket, of Kinky's newest book—'Kinky Friedman's Celebrity Pet Files.' Tony and I began packing for Carol's and our Tuesday—Wednesday Vacation! Talk about excited—we started really getting excited after Buttermilk, Tony and I went to Kerrville to pick up our Rent-a-SUV! The minute that I saw it, I immediately named it Silver!

After signing a few forms, I gave them my credit card, and Silver was now ours for three days and totally free—I love credit cards! After handing over Silver's reins (keys) to Tony, T. and I played Paper or Scissors, out in the parking lot, to see who would get to take Silver back to our rescue ranch! Tone won. He was a rock and I was scissors. I guess you could say—Tony Rocks!

When we arrived back at the ranch, T. was all excited! "Nance! Silver has Sirius radio with Alpine speakers! And, I loved the way that he handled on the road!" Tony and I then started packing! First, the ice chest, and then we went down to the barn, so Tony could grab some of his many fishing rods, tackle, etc. "Tony, do you know where my pink fishing rod is?" I asked. "I'll fish, if you will bait my hook, and release my fish for me?
Okay?"

Tony laughed, "Nance, it is over there in that bucket, by the chop saw. I don't know why you can't bait your own hooks and release the fish? A lot of women bait and release their own fish. I know Carol does."

The thought of actually baiting something live to a fish hook, and removing a hook from some poor unlucky fish's mouth—made me sick and gave me goose bumps. "Never mind, Tony—I won't fish," I sulked, hoping that Tony would catch my bait—and he did! Thank goodness!

"Nancy, I'll bait your hook and release whatever you catch," Tone promised. I was so happy! "Nance, you're not planning on doing a lot of fishing down there—are you?"

"Oh no Tony, I'm not," I said. "I just want to do one cast—and get a picture of me holding the rod and reel, that's all, so I can blog about fishing with you, Rick, Leisa, Pete and Kelly, and John. You know that I hate fishing. I'm planning on doing some serious writing on the porch, while y'all fish." Tony then perked up for some reason.

Y'all would absolutely laugh your heads off, if you saw how much stuff that Tony and I are taking for our overnight excursion! We're talkin' two, big overstuffed duffel bags filled with clothes, three cameras, my laptop, our portable Bose, our four iPods, five rods and reels, my three mile walking DVD, a big ice chest filled with water, spirits and some Miles of Chocolate, cheese and crackers, Tony's Garmin GPS, cowboy boots and Crocs! And yes, I will be wearing my pink Justin Gypsy ropers! I sure hope that Carol isn't bringing a lot, because we might sink the boat, before we get to that island with the lighthouse!

Y'all have a great evening—I still have a lot more packing to do! Hi-O Silver!

To Bait or Not to Bait!

At 8:00 this morning, I received an e-mail from Fay telling me that today is Dwight Yoakam’s Birthday and Prince, that giant dog that she adopted from us, still stinks to high heaven—thanks to his close encounters of the skunk kind! I want to wish Dwight a Happy Birthday! And, if any of y’all know of a cure for skunk smell—please let me know so I can pass it on to Fay.

This morning at 9:30, when John arrived at the rescue ranch, I was outside waiting for him. As soon as he parked the van, it was time for ‘Operation Cookie Dough’ to commence! I walked up to the van and said, “Morning, John, can you believe what a beautiful morning it is? Oh, Carol baked these cookies for you and asked me to give them to you. She said that she thinks of you, and the rest of us as family—she is so nice.” Then I handed him the cookies.

“Why, thanks Nancy,” John said. “I love her cookies!”

(I thought to myself—Bribe Number 2. just accepted—thank you Carol!)

Then I said to John, “I love her cookies, too. Carol gave me some for my birthday and I’ll have to agree with you—they are the best cookies made in Texas. And, that’s saying a lot! I’m going to ask her for the recipe.”

“Hey, when are you and Tony going down to Port Aransas to fish and visit Rick, Pete and Kelly? I thought y’all were going to do that soon?”

(This is when I put into motion, Bribe Number 3. ‘To Bait or Not to Bait!’)

“We are and we want you to go with us! It will really be fun, too! What do you say?”

“Well, I guess I could go,” John said. “I know it would be fun, too. I’ll go if you will let me take off of work.”

“Not a problem!” I said. “Come on inside the trailer and let me show you where my brother Ron and his wife, Nita, and my sister Cindy and her husband Ray—went fishing. They said they had a blast at this place, and they caught their limit on Red Fish, too!”

I booted up my Apple G4 laptop, on the kitchen table, and typed in the web site and showed John—the picture of Ron, Nita, and their dog, Gus with Cindy and Ray taken with the fish that they had caught! By the look on John’s face—I could tell that he was hooked! I loved it!

Of all of the bribes accomplished, so far— I’d say Bribe Number 3. was Reel easy!

As soon as John had left the trailer, I quickly put calls into Pete Hartje and Kelly Broomfield, and Rick Reichenbach, and Ben Welch to set the reels in motion. Pete and Kelly said yes, Rick said yes, and Ben said maybe—he would have to check his schedule and get back to me.