Today I was cleaning out a drawer and I found this hilarious card that I had saved that Eileen gave to me many birthdays ago. In fact, I am pretty sure it was for my 69th birthday, which was many, many years ago.
Anyway, when I saw it I laughed out loud all over again. So I hope this Christmas card in June makes you laugh, too.
Earlier today my dear friend Eileen Gotke came out to Big Foot Ranch, to help me interview Nancy J. Bailey for The Cousin Nancy Show. And Eileen did such an awesome job, because of her research. And visiting with Nancy Bailey was so much fun I wished the three of us could have talked and laughed for another hour or two.
Nancy is a Michigan native, wildlife artist and author and she flavors all her work with her signature brand of self-effacing humor. Here's a list of just some of Nancy J. Bailey's books and her many accomplishments. She wrote: Clifford of Drummond Island, Return to Manitou, and Clifford’s Bay, a trilogy featuring true horse stories.
I discovered Nancy about 10 years ago when for my birthday present, Eileen gave me Nancy's book The North Side of Down: A True Story of Two Sisters, co-authored by her sister Amanda Bailey. And the winner of the 2015 Honorary Medallion from the Book Reader's Appreciation Group.
Other books by Nancy include: My Best Cat, a murder mystery, Holding the Ladder, a novel, The Sleeping Lion, a novel, The Cure for Shyness: A Love Story.
Nancy has a heart of gold and she is a big-time animal lover and an avid animal trainer. She has published four instructional books to share her training methods: 25 Ways to Raise a Great Puppy, 15 Rules for Clicker Training Your Horse, 15 Rules for Clicker Training Your Cat and 15 Rules for Clicker Training Your Dog.
Ms. Bailey is a community theatre buff and she has written, directed, produced and acted in several of her own plays, including On Lining Up, a comedy which earned her a CTAM Award.
Not only is Nancy one of Eileen's and my favorite authors—she is also a prolific artist, specializing in paintings of animals. She is winner of the Ex Arte Equinuus Award for Equine Art. She uses watercolor, acrylics, oils, pencil, pen and ink, and enjoys painting on slate, too.
Nancy paints commissioned pet portraits, capturing the spirit of the individual animal in each. Nancy admits that unfortunately, most of her portraits are post-mortem, so she describes herself as, "The Angel of Death." Or as she likes to say, "It's like being a playground bully. When someone starts to cry, I know I've done a good job." And here is the beautiful watercolor that Nancy gave to me over ten years ago. Which now hangs on a wall inside my writing cabin to help inspire me.
I promise that you will love and enjoy listening to this podcast. And to find out more about this amazing, super-talented woman please visit her Facebook page: Cliffy's Mom and you can check out her many books on Amazon. And lastly, please check out Nancy's book The North Side of Down.
And please go to Nancy Bailey's podcast to sign up, so you can listen to Nancy read her entire book The North Side of Down for free! And if it is free then it is for me!!!
To listen to this podcast either click here on The Cousin Nancy Show or the side bar on the left.
Before I finish writing this I would like to leave you with my favorite quote: "Life is short and so am I!" And if we did not make you laugh—who cares!
Y'all take care and keep on laughing!
P.S. As a teaser if you listened to the podcast here is that picture that Nancy drew of her sister having lunch with the cast of the TV show Friends.
Today I was feeling a little depressed and I really wanted to laugh or better said, "I needed to laugh." So I remembered that hilarious video that I watched years ago, of Jay Thomas telling his true, hilarious story about him and the Lone Ranger (Clayton Moore). And I laughed so hard I just want to share it with you.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfpZsue5vas/
Enjoy and keep on laughing!
Kinky Friedman, Tony and I loved Ruth Buzzi so much and when Tony and I heard the sad news about Ruthie's passing our hearts were broken once again this year, because we lost Kinky back in June, and now we've lost Ruthie.
Tony and I are so blessed that Ruthie was our dear friend and that we got to spend so much time enjoying her and her husband Kent Perkins many visits at the rescue ranch and Big Foot ranch . And I will never forget the hilarious time that Ruthie taught me how to make her famous, Italian beignets, inside our trailer and I can't believe that was over 20 years ago.
While Kinky, Tony and Kent sat outside, in Outer Space (aka our screened-in-porch), talking about ranch life, etc., Ruthie and I were inside cooking up her delicious beignets. Or should I say trying to cook up her "secret beignet recipe," because we were laughing so much. And please note that my kitchen counters and stove were all covered in powdered sugar and flour and so were we! And it still makes me laugh just thinking about it and the big mess that we made.
In fact, we were cutting-up with each other and laughing so much, the men actually came inside our trailer just to see what was so funny. (And to also refill their coffee cups and to eat all of the beignets that we had just cooked.)
Anyway, the bottom line is that We Loved Ruthie so much. And Tony and I will always treasure all of those precious, good times and the fond memories that we spent with sweet Ruthie and Kent.
And not to brag, but to really brag big time—I am so honored to say that Ruth Buzzi once chased and hit me with her purse, onstage at one of our Bonefits. And I am so proud to be an exclusive member of the "Ruth Buzzi Hit Me With Her Purse" club, which includes famous members such as Elton John and Muhammad Ali— just to name a few.
Here are just a few of my favorite pictures of Ruthie that I want to share with you:
On the evening of November 20th, 2014 Tony took this short video of Kinky and me, standing outsidehis lodge, for an upcoming Tribute to Ruth Buzzi event, in Dallas. It is one of my favorite videos because Kinky, Tony and I loved Ruth Buzzi so much. Rest In Peace Ruthie. You were the BEST!
This past January, just for fun, I entered a CBS “Say hi CBS” video contest and I made a 7-second video and it was easy and fun to do. And here is the 7-second video that I made which I also posted on my blog on January 10, 2025.
In fact, I actually do understand how to do the moonwalk, but this 73 year-old brain and body don’t seem to be able to pull it off, yet. Even though I have been spending about ten-to-twenty-minutes per day trying to make my body—do the right thing it sadly, so far has not happened.
Anyway, never in my wildest dreams did I ever think CBS would air my video, but guess what they did and I am having so much fun with it.
It all started last Thursday when our dear friends in Port Aransas: Tracy Weatherall & Ronnie Narmour let me know that they had seen my video on CBS. Ronnie is a fabulous writer and he writes Three Chords and the Truth, an awesome, music-column for the weekly Island Moon newspaper . And Tracy's & Ronnie's news threw me into semi-shock to say the least!
A few days later our dear friend, the world famous artist, Steve Pietzsch, told us that he had seen my video, too. He told me he was watching the end of the CBS Saturday Morning show that he had recorded earlier, and at the very end of that show, my short video popped up and he could not believe I was on TV.
Anyway after Steve got over the shock of seeing me on TV telling CBS hi, he used his cell phone to record my video airing on CBS Saturday Morning. And here is Steve’s video.
A few hours later our dear friend Eileen sent me an email to let me know that our mutual friend Suzanne, in San Antone, had just seen me on CBS, too!
And to say the least I was pretty excited about that, too. So, I texted all of our friends and family to let them know my video was airing on CBS. And they too got all excited. So this caused me to go lay down on the bed and take a short-power-nap with Henry Standing Bear, my loyal, lovable, nine-year-old, rescued Great Pyrenees/Lab mix.
This morning while I was in the big room practicing the moonwalk without much success, Tony walks into the kitchen and says, “Nance, you were just on TV! CBS aired your video before The Price Is Right! And I recorded it, too….” So I took this video of me on Tony’s TV. And please note in the bottom, right-hand corner of the video it shows NANCY MEDINA TX.
So now with of this sudden excitement I went back to Youtube again and I spent over thirty minutes trying to do the moon walk with Michael Jackson as he moon walked for the very first time across the stage on the Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever 1983 television special. Click Here to Watch.
As I finish writing this I am determined to learn how to do the moonwalk smoothly (like Michael), because I am not a quitter and because I made it my New Year’s resolution.
And the other reason is, because I have promised to teach the moonwalk to our many friends: Clive, Curtis, Robert, Becky, Ricky, Roxanne, Lyle, Karen, Margie and Kelly across the road, at the Texas Hill Country Resort (formerly the Medina Highpoint Resort).
But before I teach a class I plan to "ask" (actually beg) Perry (Kelly’s super-talented- musician husband) to help me learn how to do the moonwalk better, because he told me that he learned how to moonwalk and break-dance when he was a kid.
And just so y’all will know that I am serious about doing this I have just ordered a big pink potholder mitt (glove) from Amazon, to wear when I am moonwalking around the Texas Hill Country.
Well folks, I do hope that you enjoyed this podcast and I thank y'all for listening. And even though I didn't tell any jokes this time, I hope that it made you laugh at least once, but if not—WHO CARES!
And before I go, please always remember my favorite quote, "Life is short and so am I!
Y’all take care and keep on laughing!
For fun today I just entered a CBS contest! I was watching CBS and they ran a commercial requesting that anyone who wants to shoot a 3-10 second video saying, "Hi CBS...." can submit a video to them and they might air it on CBS, etc.!
So, I went into the bedroom and stood between our closed bathroom door and closet and shot this 7 second video and I hope that y'all like it and it makes you laugh, too! So please wish me luck.
Please Note: If you would rather listen to Cousin Nancy's podcast, please click here or click on The Cousin Nancy Show podcast on the sidebar 👉
Today I did a short podcast about our great Thanksgiving Day dinner and then I finished it off with a few corny jokes about Thanksgiving. And I will try to tell y'all our story and put-it-on-a- bumper sticker for you. So here we go.
Recently our dear friends and neighbors over at the Texas Hill Country Resort, which is now under new ownership and management, had invited us to join them for their 1st Annual Thanksgiving Dinner. So, I decided to bring my Cousin Nancy's Grape Salad that is so delicious and easy to make.
Well, to be honest with y'all, this grape salad recipe was actually Sandy's recipe that I stole from her and made it mine. Anyway, it's no big deal, because I steal all of my friends and family's recipes and they all know it. Anyway, here is this simple mouth-watering recipe that everyone loves.
What’s the best way to fix a broken pumpkin? Use a pumpkin patch.
Why did the cranberry blush? It saw the turkey dressing.
Knock, knock! Who's there? Norma Lee. Norma Lee who? Norma Lee I don't eat this much.
If Pilgrims traveled on the Mayflower, what do college students travel on? Scholar ships.
What’s a pilgrim’s favorite dance? The turkey trot.
What do you call rain on Turkey Day? Fowl weather.
What's something usually insulting, but not on Thanksgiving? A family member giving you the bird.
What do sweet potatoes wear to bed? Yammies.
What do you call a sad cranberry? A blue berry.
What did the turkey say to the computer? Google, google, google!
Wait a second. Tony has just asked me to please stop telling y'all Thanksgiving jokes and he knows that I can’t quit cold turkey!
Well, folks, I hope that everyone enjoyed a Happy Thanksgiving too and I do want to thank everyone at the Texas Hill Country Resort for a wonderful Thanksgiving Day dinner that will never be forgotten.
And I especially want to apologize to those who ate Sandy's Grape Salad Thursday at the dinner, because mine is so much better with marshmallow creme.
Y'all take care and keep on laughing!
