Oh Cedar!

Friday, Saturday and today have been great, if you don't count that Kinky, Tony and I have cedar fever. The good news is I am getting on the well side and Tony and Kinky are just starting to kick the cedar fever, too.

Friday was a busy day for us. In the morning our great friends/volunteers came out and we celebrated Eileen's birthday, at Koyote Grill. It was a lot of fun and Eileen's birthday cards were hilarious. Lisa made her signature rum birthday cake and everyone said it was more than delicious. I didn't get to eat any of it, because I was on my second day of juice fasting, that I was doing with my dear friend Mari. But, I did take a slice home with me and put it in the freezer, so I could eat it today. It is defrosting now and when I finish writing this I plan to share it with Tony.

When Tony and I got back home some good friends came out to visit us and in between Tony's and my coughing and sneezing it was a lot of fun. While they were still here Kinky called to tell me that his good friend Bill Christman had arrived. Bill is a very famous St. Louis sign maker, artist, author, sculptor and he owns Joe's Cafe Gallery, in the historic district of St. Louis. Anyway, Kinky told me that Bill wanted to meet us and get a tour of the rescue ranch, so I took off in Kermit to go meet Bill and bring him over here.

Bill and I instantly hit it off. We liked the same kind of music, he plays guitar, etc. so I ended up giving Bill the grand tour of the rescue ranch even though I coughed, sneezed and blew my nose for the whole two hours that he was here. If you want to check out my newest friend Bill Christman here are some links:

 http://www.yelp.com/biz/christman-studio-and-sculpture-park-saint-louis

http://www.joescafegallery.com/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoZvkgxij2I

Saturday was great, too. Our good friend Dennis Lanning and his motorcycle friend, David, came out to visit us after spending the early afternoon celebrating Bandera's Mardi Gras. We had a wonderful time with them, even though they had to suffer through Tony's, Kinky's and my cedar fever bouts of coughing, sneezing and blowing our noses. Tony took these pictures of Dennis and me posing by his new BMW motorcycle and one with David, me and Dennis.

Like I said earlier, today has been great, too. To celebrate completing my three day juice fast with Mari, Tony and I ate brunch at Randy's & Lisa's Save Inn Restaurant. I ordered their Sinker Omelet that comes with hash browns and toast and Tony had their grilled hamburger steak with cauliflower and mashed potatoes. Tony cleaned his plate and I only ate half of the delicious omelet, because I was already full and even though it was tempting, I did not eat the toast or hash browns. 

After lunch we ran a few errands. We went to Tractor Supply and the little H-E-B. Then we came back home and did a little mowing. Tony warmed me about making the cedar fever worse by mowing before we started mowing the grass down and I wished I had listened to him, because now I can't quit coughing or sneezing. And I was sick when Carol called me, later this afternoon, to invite us over for a happy hour with her and Bill, because I had to decline her invitation, because of the cedar fever. 

I plan to watch the Grammy's tonight and that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

Forrest Gump!

Today has been great, even though I have cedar fever really bad. This morning at 7:45, I called into The REV and  did The Harley Show with our good friend Harley Belew. We first talked about us both having cedar fever and then I told him that Forrest Gump was Harley's Pet Of The Week.

Week Gump, I mean Forrest Gump is one super great dog! He is great with other dogs, he is not a digger, climber and he isn't hyper. Gump is approximately 2 years old and everyone at the rescue ranch has fallen in love him. We believe that this special dog is a Beagle/Heeler mix and that is why he is so smart. And on top of that he is house broken, too! So if you are looking for one the coolest dogs in Texas, come on out and adopt this fabulous canine. We promise that he will steal your heart and keep a smile on your face.

Today, as earlier planned, my dear friend Mari and I are doing a three day juice fast together. I am especially excited about doing it now, because of my severe cedar fever, because I know that the powerful nutritious juices will help my immune system fight it.  

After doing Harley's radio show this morning I made my first juice to kick off our juice fast. Here is a list of the ingredients I used for my morning delicious juice: Chia seeds, almonds & pumpkin seed mix, power greens, cucumber, beet, carrot, celery, apple, pear and mixed frozen fruit (peaches, strawberries, cantaloupe, pineapple and grapes). It was totally delicious and I drank two full glasses of it.

When Tony came home, I made him the exact same juice. Then we went outside to feed the dogs and clean their pens. And the only dog that we did not feed was sweet Katee Sackhoff.

Around 11:00, as also planned—Janette arrived with her little, cute, 14 year old dog named Amber. Janette was hoping to adopt Katee Sackhoff from us, but she had to make sure that Amber would get along with Katee and that Katee would not be too rough with Amber, because Amber has back issues. 

So, Tony put a leash on Katee for me and then Janette and I took off walking Amber and Ms. Sackhoff down to the creek. The dogs got along great together and thirty minutes later, Janettte adopted Katee! So, everyone please keep your fingers crossed for Katee that she doesn't play too rough with Amber and that her adoption sticks. 

After we adopted Katee, we came back inside The Cabin. My eyes and my nose were watering and I was coughing so hard that it hurt. So around 12:30, Tony and I took off for Kerrville, so I could buy some over the counter nasal spray, etc. at Walgreens, go by Next Generation Produce to drink more healthy juice. 

After I purchased a 4 pack of Kleenex, Flonase, Burt's Bees Honey Menthol & Eucalyptus Oil throat drops and NyQuil we went to The Next Generation Produce. And on our way over there I used the Flonase Allergy Relief nasal spray, because I could not quit coughing and sneezing.

By the time we arrived at my favorite juice place I looked like I had been crying and it was pretty funny, because the super sweet, nice owner must have noticed and he was even nicer to me than he always is. And while he was making our juices I tried to explain to him, in between fits of sneezing and coughing, "I'm fine, I've just got cedar fever."

Tony ordered their Sunshine juice and I ordered the Pear Bear juice and they were absolutely delicious and before we left Next Generation Produce I asked the friendly folks to please make me a Dragon's Blood juice to take home.

A little while ago, after Chet O'Keefe had come over and we had a fun visit with him, I drank my juice dinner and yes, their Dragon's Blood was totally delicious and exactly what I needed. And that is about it for tonight, except I want you to know that when I make Dragon's Blood juice, at home, I call it The Pink Dragon.

Y'all have a great evening!

An Early Valentine!

Today has been great, except I have cedar fever pretty bad. My cedar allergy started on Sunday and since then I've been coughing, sneezing, etc. So, tonight's post is going to be much quicker to read, because I am going to leave out a lot.

First off, Sunday night I finished reading Nancy J. Bailey's incredibly great book The North Side Of Down: A True Story About Two Sisters. I highly recommend it, because it is full of emotion, humor and insight.

This morning before I went outside to help Tony with our morning chores my good friend Ryan Hatch called me. Ryan is Donna Hatch's sweet husband and who I play guitars with. Anyway, Ryan called me because he was trying to help a dog that seriously needed rescuing. Twenty minutes later after making a few phone calls the Bottom Line—we rescued this adorable, sweet female dog with Ryan's help, because he volunteered to pick her up and transport her to Hoegemeyer Animal Clinic for us. 

This afternoon Tony and I went to Kerrville to run several errands before meeting Kinky, Big G and Max for lunch. Our first stop was at Wild Birds Unlimited, because they are having a huge seed sale and Tony wanted to save us money by buying a whole lot of seed. 

After we had a fun visit with Kevin Pillows, the humorous store owner and with our dear sweet friend Marguerite we took off around the corner to the Post Office Substation, because I needed to mail Nancy Bailey a few of my books along with her book so she could sign her book for me.

I love to go to this Post Office substation. The people behind the counter are always friendly, courteous and ready to help and there usually isn't a long waiting line. In other words—it is a happy place and I like that.

Our lunch with Kinky and friends was a lot of fun. Big G was hilarious and he kept us laughing out loud. He also teased me about my cedar fever induced deeper voice. "Tony," Big G said, "This morning, on the radio show, Nancy cracked me up when On-Air she told me that she had cedar fever and that you preferred her deeper voice than her real voice. I mean I couldn't quit laughing...."

Before I finish writing this, the nice woman that I spoke to this morning, Donna and Ryan's friend, that rescued the starved, female dog, that we rescued today, sent me a photo she took this morning of the sweet dog that she was kepping inside a horse stall. I didn't get to look at the photo until this evening, when I finally had time to check my e-mail. Oh my goodness, she is a doll! I have just named her Valentine, because she is too cute and I know that she will steal someone's heart—hopefully before Valentine's Day.

As soon as we get to pick up this precious, little Valentine, after she has been spayed, given shots, etc. and we bring her back to the rescue ranch Tony and I will take better pictures of her to post. And that is about it for tonight, because I need to go fetch another box of Kleenex.

Y'all have a great evening!

Super Day!

Today has been a super day. This morning, as soon as we finished doing our morning chores outside, Little Debbie, Tony and I took off for Kerrville.

Our first stop was at Hoegemeyer Animal Clinic, to drop off Little Debbie, so Dr. Rydberg could remove Little Debbie's stitches and cone, while we ate delicious Sinker Omelets, at Randy's & Lisa's Save Inn Restaurant.

While we were at the clinic, Kathy and Robin told us about them trying to find a super home for one of their clients dog, who no longer could care for her, because of illness. "Her name is Annie," Kathy told us. "She is about eleven or twelve years old. She's a Chi-Weenie. Everyone at the clinic loves this little old dog, but none of us can take her, because she must be in a single dog home, because she is very protective, like Chihuahuas can be and she will not tolerate other pets."

"I wish we could take her in to live with us," I said, "but Little Debbie and Alice run things and I know it wouldn't work out."

"I know. That's the same problem that all of us have, too," Kathy said. "All of us have several dogs and cats. Don't worry, I know we will get her into a safe home."

"We're fixin' to go eat breakfast at The Save Inn and Tony and I will discuss it," I said. "If nothing else, when we get back here I can at least take a picture of Annie and blog about her tonight, needing a great home. We'll see y'all in about 45 minutes." Then we took off for our favorite place to eat breakfast, in Kerrville.

Every table was taken at Randy & Lisa's popular restaurant, so Tone and I went up to the counter to say hello to our friend Lisa, who was ringing up sales, etc. Three minutes later, before we went to our table, Lisa had told me that she wanted to create a donation jar for our rescue ranch, to put on the counter, to help us. And as Tony and I were thanking her for wanting to do this for us, I handed her three of our business cards. "Great, this is all I need," Lisa said. "Enjoy your meal."

Tony and I both ordered their Sinker Omelet which comes with toast and hash browns, because it is our favorite breakfast and it was more than delicious, as always. 

After eating way too much and paying our check we went back down the street to Hoegemeyer Animal Clinic. 

Kathy and Robin greeted us when we walked into the lobby. "Little Debbie is ready to go!" Kathy said. "And her eye really looks great."

"That's great, but before we get her can I go take a picture of Annie?"

"Let's go!" Then we followed Kathy to the kennel. "Here she is!" I looked at sweet Annie and then I looked at Little Debbie, who was in the kennel right next to Annie's. When our cone

As Little Debbie frantically tried to get her door to open, so she could get to us, Kathy removed Annie from her kennel, so I could take a picture of her. This is the best one I got of Annie and just so you'll know this sweetheart also stole our hearts. So if you think that you might want to adopt Annie please call Hoegemeyer Animal Clinic.

As I finish writing, I just took a break so I could watch the Super Bowl Halftime performance and it was totally awesome even though I didn't know who the performers were, because of my old age. And it's been a super day even though it is F.M.T. (Full Moon Time) and Mercury is retrograde until February 11th. And that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening! 

Bare Bread!

Today has been great. This morning our dear friends Kris & Jim "The Mineral Man" came out to walk dogs for us before going with us up to Koyote Grill, to eat lunch with Eileen and Lisa.

When Kris got back from taking Hank for a fun walk down to the creek, Tony and I visited with her and Jim. They complimented me on my good-looking hiking boots and then we laughed and made jokes about my blog's hiking adventures. Then Tony told them that he had ordered a couple of those inexpensive, super light-weight Opinel pocketknives, that Jim had told him about getting for him and Kris. Then Tony teased me. "Nancy, isn't good with sharp knives, so I'm not giving her one..."

During our super fun lunch we started talking about the Super Bowl game. I told them that I wasn't really interested in this years Super Bowl, because the Cowboys weren't playing in it. Then Eileen said, "I don't even know who the teams are. When is it?"

After all of us said in unison, "This Sunday." Then us girls agreed about watching Super Bowl mainly to watch the great commercials and halftime performance. Then I confessed that I was going to record the Super Bowl game while watching the movie Dean Spanley, that Mari had recommended I watch.

"Y'all," I said. "The other day I was watching Mr. Food and he made this Super Bowl Sunday dip that sounded so tasty, Tony and I drove to Kerrville so I could buy the ingredients and then make it when we got back home. And I did and it was so delicious. It was easy to make, too. The ingredients for it are corn beef, sour cream, cream cheese, sauerkraut, Swiss cheese, onion, ketchup and mustard. You chop up the onion and corn beef then mix all of the ingredients together and then you bake it."

Before cooking it

When it came out of the oven

"It sounds like a Reuben Dip to me," Lisa said.

"Yes, that's what he called it. And Kris, we bought some of that H-E-B crustless whole wheat Bare Bread, that has no preservatives, flavors or artificial colors in it, that you had told us about and we made sandwiches. And they were delicious. I love that bread, too. There was so much of the dip leftover I froze most of it...."

And that is it about it for tonight. If you want to check out Mr. Food's Baked Reuben Dip recipe click here. You can watch him make it, too.

Y'all have a great evening!

Packin' It!

Today has been great. It has been a quiet day. A week ago today Little Debbie had her eye surgery and she is doing great. In fact, she took her last meds this evening.

Earlier this evening I received another funny comment on my blog and it was from Nancy J. Bailey, the fabulous author of The North Side Of Down: A True Story Of Two Sisters. And like the other comments it made me laugh out loud. So, since there isn't much to write about tonight I'm posting these comments in case you haven't read them. Then I will write another short version of my day.

 ‪Mari of the NoMads‬ said...

Nancy, my feet are blistering from walking the Appalachian Trail vicariously with you and your sister! (You can tell which version I have to believe, right?)

Obviously I didn't buy the $$$ hiking boots. :(

How much further are 'we' going to walk? My 'dogs' are 'barking'!

 ‪cousin nancy said...

LOL, Mari! Not to worry. Before we started hiking I had secretly arranged for your sweet husband David to fly his helicopter in and pick us up, on top of the mountain, first thing in the morning. So hang in there. Your "dogs" will be fine, because they are Heelers.

And don't forget that next Saturday we will most likely be hiking the PCT (Pacific Coast Trail)!

P.S. Buy stock in M&M's!

******

 ‪Eileen‬ said...

Wow, Nancy, we actually stopped at the only place on the Appalachian Trail that has a dog pen on it! I can tell by my fat cheeks that the pic was taken when I had my mouth full of M&Ms!

 ‪
cousin nancy said...

So you're the one who ate all of our M&M's!

******

 ‪Nancy Bailey said...

I'm jealous. *I* want to walk the Appalachian Trail. *I* want new hiking boots. *I* want a mouthful of M&Ms. *I* want to astonish all the other hikers by being the oldest person out there. .............Okay. Maybe not the last part.

 ‪cousin nancy said...

Hi Nancy! I am still laughing about you being jealous. I love your book so much and I am jealous of your fabulous writing skills, so I guess that makes us even? 
Until my new green, long sleeve Appalachian Trail Hiker t-shirt gets delivered to me! Keep writing and laughing.



P.S. My new Appalachian Trail Hiker t-shirt should arrive by next week and I can't wait! Then I guess you'll be "green" with envy...

******

Today has been great even though my back is aching. Early this afternoon Mari and David picked me up, in one of their helicopters and flew me back to the Appalachian Trail, so I could climb another mountain, but this time wearing my new "45lbs." backpack. In other words, "I was packin' it."

It took me less than an hour to climb up to the summit and then walk back down and I am so glad that I took my hiking stick with me, that Tony custom made for me, because it kept me from slipping, sliding and falling down. 

Before my good friends flew me back home to Tony tonight they had taken these two pictures of me taking off on the famous trail and when I had returned. 

And to say the least—its been a long day. And that is about it for tonight, because I am fixin' to lean back and rest my back on Mari's pretty, pink, sheepskin, that she gave to me several years ago and read more of Nancy's great book.

Y'all have a great evening!

Versions! or Happy Trails!

Today has been great. But tonight, to change things around, I am going to give you two versions of my day and then let you pick which one that you want to believe.

Version I

Today has been great, but nothing exciting really happened, so there is not much to tell. And because it is already past 7:00 and I want to continue reading The North Side Of Down: A True Story Of Two Sisters by Nancy J. Bailey, my blogging time has literally run out on me. And my excuse for running out of time is because I've been over at the Lodge, for the past two hours having a fun visit with Linda. 

Y'all have a great evening!

Version II

Today has been great, but this is going to be a short post, because I am exhausted from hiking the Appalachian Trail all day and my sister Cindy and me still have to build a campfire, so we can cook something for dinner. 

This morning started out great, because Cindy and I went to a national park store to buy us some trail mix, before we took off hiking. And low and behold we ran into Pam, Ellen and June's sweet cousin! And I probably would have walked right past Pam, coming out of the ladies restroom, if she hadn't been wearing one of our Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch caps, because I don't have good facial recognition.

We had a fun, but short visit with Pam, because she was anxious to get back on the trail, because she was meeting Ed, her son and she didn't want to wait another thirty minutes, so Cindy and I could go powder our noses too.

Forty minutes later, when Cindy and I finally had quit powdering, we left the store with four giant sacks of M&M's instead of trail mix. We figured that if we got lost along the way we could retrace our path using the M& M's as pretty markers. 

About twenty feet from the trail, we saw this big crowd of young people standing around, talking to Kris and taking pictures of her, because they were inspired that an old woman like her was actually going to hike the famous trail! I was so shocked to see Kris. I couldn't believe that we'd just run into Pam, at the store and now Kris. "It's a small world, Nance," Cindy dryly replied.

When Kris saw us she waved at me and hollered, "If you can believe this, Cousin Nancy, over there, the short one, is the same age as me and her sister is even older!" The young hikers gasped and then turned around and stared at Cindy and me. Then they came rushing over and asked us to autograph their fancy backpacks. We agreed to do it and then I joked, "But mine will cost you $5.00 and Cindy's is free." 

After Cindy had signed her name to eleven backpacks and I had not signed one—we took off hiking on the famous Appalachian Trail.

After hiking for about forty-five minutes, my sister and I decided to take a short break, as soon as we reached the peak of the first of many mountains to come. And you're really not going to believe this, but we ran into Kris and Eileen! Yes, Eileen was there, too and she was wearing sunglasses so no one would recognize her, because she knows famous authors like Nancy J. Bailey! And after howdies and hugs we posed and Cindy took this picture of us. Then Cindy and I marched on....

And that's about it for tonight. "Cindy! We're out of M&M's!"

Happy Trails to y'all and have a great evening!