Carol Sort Of Freaked Me Out!

Today is my 60th Halloween and it has been a total blast and the best Halloween that I've ever had and I want to wish everyone a Happy Halloween!

Early this morning, while I was waiting for Tony to get home from drinking coffee at the Old Timer I checked my e-mail and the note that I got from my dear friend Rick, "The Friendly Lighthouse Keeper" made me smile and laugh out loud.

When T. walked inside the trailer while I was laughing at Rick's e-mail, I told him, "I just got an e-mail from Rick. He wrote to tell me that last night, at the Back Porch, the one where Kelly works at, they had a doggie costume contest and Pete & Kelly's dog Fiona won first place. Leisa's dog Squirt won second place and Kelly's and Pete's dog Smilin' Jack won 3rd place! Isn't that great! I wish we could have been there to see that..." After T. had agreed with me—we ate breakfast.

Right after we got to doing our chores and I had only cleaned four pens, the dogs started barking, because we had an unexpected four-legged visitor—Bentley, "The Friendly Deer From Next Door." While Tone was on the phone calling our great neighbors to tell them that Bentley was here, I slowly walked Bentley out of the rescue ranch, so our dogs would settle down.

When Kermit and Tony arrived outside of the rescue ranch we took these pictures of this dear, friendly deer.

We played with Bentley until Sherry arrived to take him back home and then we went back to work.

This afternoon before we picked Queen Latifa up from Hoegemeyer Animal Clinic, after they had spayed her and given her her 1st heart worm treatment, we decided to eat lunch at Cal-Bob's Smoke Shack, Kerrville's new BBQ cafe, which has the best BBQ in Kerrville and the whole Texas Hill Country.

When we walked inside the good vibes shack, Carol and her husband Calvin Abercrombie, the friendly owners, greeted us, "Hi, Nancy and Tony!..." We had a great time eating our delicious lunch there, because Carol and Calvin treated us like family and kept us and everyone in there place laughing and I hope that everyone gives them a try—because Cal-Bob's Smoke Shack has the best BBQ that we have ever eaten.

After we had picked up Queen Latifa to take her home, I fell in love with her on the way home, because she is so sweet and reminded me of our dear old Thunder. (And yes, I am thinking about her adopting her if she gets along well with our furry family.)

Around 3:45 the phone rang and it was our dear friend Carol, so I picked up the phone. "Hi, Carol!" And then Carol sort of freaked me out, in a nice way, when she invited me to come over, ride Dude and go horseback riding with her. "Yes! I want to go riding with you, but this is so weird. This morning while I was taking a bath this thought suddenly popped into my head and as you know how I always pay attention to signs." Carol chuckled.

"Yes, I know, Nancy. What was it?"

"Well, I was sitting there in the water, thinking about what the jacket cover should look like for my next book, when suddenly I see this picture of me all dressed up in cowgirl clothes, sitting on Dude and waving, like the picture I used of me sitting on the pony, for my second book, but it is now fifty years later and I am old. I have been thinking about it all day and was going to call you to ask if you would let me do a photo shoot of me sitting on Dude and getting Tony to shoot me..."

Thirty minutes later, I climbed into Dude's beautiful saddle, with the help of a stool, because I am so short and then Carol climbed into Maya's saddle and after we had officially self-proclaimed us, "The Cowgirl Sisterhood" she and I took off riding, while Tony followed us on foot and shot us. 

As we rode around Carol's beautiful ranch I was literally in heaven riding Dude, her beautiful, prize winning, cutting Quarter Horse. After we had rode around for a while we stopped, so I could try to pose like my childhood picture on the jacket of my second book, for Tony. "Now Tone," I said, "try not to make me look fat." And T. chuckled.

"Nance, I've got a great Canon camera, but it can't do that. And you're not fat, Babe." I started laughing.

"Well, do what you can do and maybe I can some how Photoshop it out later on and..." When the hilarious photo shoot was over I thanked Tony and then we, "The Cowgirl Sisterhood" rode off to go mess around with the cows and that was a lot of fun, too.

After we had put up the horses I jokingly, in my most serious tone said, "Carol, I love Dude. Can I have him?" And we burst out laughing and then we went up to Carol's ranch house and set on her deck for a fun happy hour, toasting our Cowgirl Sisterhood and then sipping a glass of her new, favorite bottled wine—Cowgirl Sisterhood. 

When it was time to come home, I thanked Carol for a super, great time and then came home. Here are a few pictures that Tony took of us today. I hope that you like them, but please note that I've not Photoshopped them yet.

Before I go to bed tonight, I want to congratulate Fiona, Squirt and Smilin' Jack, that Kelly and Pete adopted from us a few years ago, for winning the best doggie costume contest at the Back Porch, in Port Aransas. I want to thank Carol and Calvin at Cal-Bob's Smoke Shack for a deliciously, fun lunch and even though I know my dear friend in our exclusive two members only, Cowgirl Sisterhood, that Carol will never give me Dude, I do want to thank her for being my great friend and cow-gal-pal for letting a short, old, semi-fat, wannabe cowgirl have the time of her life today. 

Y'all have a great evening and please keep praying that we get some more rain!

Another Good Sign!

Today has been a great day, even though it sort of turned out to be a little spooky. 

This afternoon Tony and I met my dear friend Carla, who lives in Rocksprings, who've I know for over thirty years, and her dear friends Cary and Dan for lunch, in Kerrville and Tony and I had a blast with them and because of that, my back is a little sore tonight, because I was either eating or laughing or doing both. 

After a delicious meal, they followed Trigger and us back to the rescue ranch, because Dan wanted to see if we had a dog that he wanted to adopt, to live with him on his ranch. 

Before we showed Dan, Carla and Cary our dogs we invited them inside the trailer to show it off and then we went into Outer Space for a really fun visit, which of course, was filled with more non-stop laughter. 

Then we went into my Space Ship and then into my beautiful, pink writing cabin and they loved them both. Then we showed them only half of our dogs, because Dan ended up finding the dog that he wanted to share his life with and Tony and I were so thrilled, because it was our sweet Maggie, Dr. John's roommate, who has been with us for over three years. "Dan, this is a great adoption, because we love getting our old timers homes, because they have been here too long and deserve a great home and..." I said, wearing a big smile on my face, as Dan signed off on Maggie's adoption papers. Then I went to the trailer to call Kinky with the good news.

"Nance, that is great news about Maggie. Why don't y'all come over to the Lodge, because I would love to meet your friends and thank Dan?"

When we arrived at the Lodge, Kinky was in the kitchen feeding Sophie and Winston some treats and after howdies and handshakes we gathered in the big room and had a fun visit with Kinky. Then we went outside and I took this group picture of Dan, Cary, Carla and Kinky.

When we got back to the rescue ranch we visited a little longer and when it was time for them to leave we drove down to Maggie's and Dr. John's pen, so we could load up Maggie. After I had taken three quick photos of him and Maggie, Tony and Dan loaded Maggie into her crate to take her to her new home and then we all hugged each other and then they drove away with precious cargo.

This evening, when I down loaded the pictures I was shocked to see the pink and green orbs behind Dan and Maggie. When I showed the pretty orbs to Tony he said, "That was caused by the sun."

But I argued with him. "Tony, it was nearly 4:45 and the sun was not behind me. It was on the other side, getting close to setting and the orbs moved..." Anyway, I think the green and pink orbs were a good sign for a good adoption and I hope that I'm right. You decide.

Y'all have a great evening and please keep praying that we get some more rain and thank you Dan, for treating us to a fun lunch and for adopting our Maggie!

Goober Is Great!

Today has been a great day. After we had done our morning chores outside, my dear friend, Carla called me from Rocksprings to make sure Tony and I could meet her and her good friend Dan for lunch tomorrow, because after lunch they are going to follow us out here, so Dan can meet our dogs, because he is thinking about adopting a dog, but not sure.

After confirming our lunch date with Carla, we had a fun visit and then adios-ed each other. Then I got busy reupholstering the last two chairs and an ottoman in the "Pink Room" in the cabin. One hour into my beautify-my- cabin project, Tony walked inside the trailer to tell me that Peanut had just been adopted, so I dropped what I was sewing and filled out Peanut's adoption papers and then I went outside to meet the nice couple that was fixin' to adopt our cute, little Peanut.

When the nice woman finished filling out Peanut's adoption form I told her, as she happily held one happier Peanut in her arms, "Please feel free to change Peanut's name, because when we rescue our dogs we usually have no clue as to what their name was before and I promise you that he will easily adapt to a new name."

"We are going to change his name to Goober, because our son got bitten when he was young by a dog named Peanut."

"Goober is great!" I said, as Peanut stood on their truck's tailgate, wanting to get out of here as fast as he could, so he could go to his new forever home on a nearby ranch. After we thanked them for adopting Peanut and had shook hands with them, they climbed into their giant pickup with Peanut happily back in her arms. As they started to drive away, I half-hollered, "Goodbye, Goober!"

Before returning to my project, I called Kinky to tell him the great news about Peanut getting adopted and he was thrilled with the good news. Then Kinky thrilled me with some more good news. "Nance, please let everyone know that the tickets are selling fast, for the upcoming B.J. Thomas Bonefit and in the next few days we are going to offer an early "Meet and Greet," before the concert starts, to meet B.J. Thomas and Ruth Buzzi and me and you and Tony, if y'all can make it. The price of the "Meet and Greet with show ticket is going to be $100.00 and Sean told me that they are in the process of getting the meet and greet announcement up with all of the information."

"Kinky, that is fantastic news! That is so nice of Ruthie to come to our Bonefit to help us raise money. I can't wait to see her and Kent..."

I finally finished my project late this afternoon and here are a few pictures that I took of my newly reupholstered chairs and the ottoman, against the wall with all of the stuff piled onto it, not the dark blue one, which I plan to paint dark pink. I am so happy with the way the chair cushions turned out, too. Tomorrow, I plan to make and hang new curtains with my left over fabric and then, after I dust the cabin it will— "Pop!"

Y'all have a great evening and please keep praying that we get some more rain!

The He Did It Miracle!

Today has been great. This morning while Tony and I were outside doing our chores our great volunteer Jim showed up to walk our dogs and five minutes later three of the Fab 4 volunteers (June couldn't make it.) showed up to walk our dogs, too.

As soon as I was done picking up poop, I walked with Lisa, Eileen and Ellen and their three happy dogs and I had a wonderful, fun visit with them. On our way back to the rescue ranch, we had to stop, because Moe Bandy had jumped out of his pen and was running around the rescue ranch and we didn't want him messing with the dogs they were walking.

When the dogs had quit barking, Jim, who was walking Annie Oakley hollered to us to let us know that he had caught Moe Bandy had put him in Annie's pen and it was now safe to return the dogs to the rescue ranch. By the time we entered the ranch, Tony came riding up in Kermit to fetch Moe Bandy, so he could drive him back to his pen to be with his roommate Mandy.

Before I went to go do some much needed paperwork, the Fab 3 invited Tony and me to join them for lunch at Koyote, after they had walked a few more dogs. "That sounds great, but before we leave I want to show y'all my writing cabin. I reupholstered the couch and Tony put up new blinds and it looks really good..."

After the girls had admired my little cabin and told us how much they loved the newly painted barns by Ben and Aaron, Tony and I jumped into Trigger and they jumped into Lisa's SUV and followed us up to Koyote. On our way to Koyote's Tony told me about, what I am now calling, "The He Did It Miracle."

"Nance, while you were inside doing paperwork, Jim went into Mr. Rogers and Miss Dee's pen, leashed them up without Mr. Rogers biting him and then Jim took them for their very first walk together."

"OMG! Jim got Mr. Rogers to finally trust him and go on a walk with Miss Dee! Tony, this is the greatest news I've had since, Lucy & Ashley Judd got adopted and Blackie & Alfie got adopted and Laz found their forever homes. I love it and Kinky is going to love it too, because he loves Mr. Rogers..."

When we arrived at Koyote, June greeted us and my first words to her were, "Jim took Mr. Rogers on his first walk with Miss Dee this morning!" Then the Fab 4 and us talked about how thrilled we were for Mr. Rogers and what patience and good work Jim had done with him. "Now, because of Jim, Mr. Rogers is more adoptable, but we still have to adopt them out together, because they love each other so much," I said, and after they all agreed with me, we went inside to eat. Here is a picture that Roger and Mary Peach took of Miss Dee and Mr. Rogers, before they brought them to us.

Tony and I were the first to place our order with the new, friendly employee and after I had written her a check, she asked the manager to come help her, because she was having trouble ringing up our order and when it was all said and done and pretty funny, the manager told me that they had accidentally overcharged us and she handed me back my check and asked me if would be okay, to void my check and rewrite another one and I was fine with it, but when I started to write another check, Lisa put her hand on my arm and said, "No, don't do it. I'm buying lunch for everyone today."

Lunch with the Fab 4 was as fun as it could be and I never quit laughing and by the time it was time for us to leave, my back was starting to ache a little, which is always a sign for having too much fun.

As soon as Tony had parked Trigger, I ran into the trailer and called Kinky on his cell phone. "Hi, Nance. What's going on?"

"Kinky, he did it!"

"What? Who did what?" Kinky said, before he started laughing. After I had told him about "The He Did It Miracle," Kinky was speechless for a couple of seconds and then he said, "Nance, this is the greatest news and I am so happy for Mr. Rogers. Please thank Jim for curing Mr. Roger's fear of leashes for me. Mr. Rogers is one super dog and this is what we are all about. In fact, the next time Jim comes out, I want to personally thank him for his fine work with Mr. Rogers and please bring June, Ellen, Eileen and Lisa too, so I can thank them for all they have done for our dogs..." After I promised him that I would—we adios-ed each other.

Y'all have a great evening and please keep praying that we get some more rain!

A Real Pot Of Coffee! or Navajo Sand! or Cal-Bob's Smoke Shack!

I have been having a blast these past few days and that is why I haven't had a chance to blog, so now I am going to play a little catch up and tell y'all about the fun I have had, since Rick, "The Friendly Lighthouse Keeper" arrived Monday evening.

Tuesday morning, after Rick and Tony had returned from drinking coffee with the old timers, I cooked them some scrambled eggs and they split and ate the one rib eye, that Mama hadn't had time to consume and they thanked me and told me over and over again how tasty their breakfast was and then the three of us went outside and jumped into Kermit, to do the morning chores.

As we rode from one spot to another, around the ranch, to feed the many deer and wild turkeys, Rick and I decided to make a contest out of cleaning up the dog poop and when it was over and all said and done—it was a tie, because both of our buckets weighed the same.

Around 11:00, while Rick was out riding his Triumph all around the Hill Country, Tony and I went to the Home Depot in Kerrville to buy paint, so when Ben and Aaron came out, on Wednesday and Thursday, they could paint our five red barns, because they really looked drab and needed painting badly. And in less than five minutes I had picked the color for our barns and forty-five minutes later we were back at the ranch waiting for Rick to arrive.

We spent Tuesday evening playing music all night, in the big room and it was so much fun and we sounded pretty good, too. Rick and T. took turns playing my mandolin, while I finger-picked songs on my guitar.

Wednesday morning Rick overslept, so Tony went to the Old Timer by himself. Around 8:00, after I had showered, washed and dried our laundry, Rick knocked on the front door, just as I was making a fresh pot of coffee, " Good morning, Rick. Come on in! We'll have some hot coffee to drink in just five minutes or less." I unknowingly lied.

Two minutes after Rick had sat down on a stool at the breakfast bar, I turned around and was surprised to see the coffee ready so soon. After I had poured Rick a cup, I poured myself some coffee and added some Half 'n Half and one ice cube, as I always do, because I don't like it so hot.

When Rick and I toasted each other with our mugs and then took a sip—it was ice cold. "Nancy, did you do something wrong?" Rick teased.

"No, Rick. I poured the water where I am supposed to and if I had poured it over the coffee grounds—we'd have coffee grounds in our coffee. I guess it's time to buy another Mr. Coffee. What should I do?"

"Pour it into a pan and heat it up," Rick suggested, so I did.

Five minutes later, when I poured Rick a cup of hot coffee I laughed and said, "I guess that you could say, "That this is a real pot of coffee."

While the Friendly Lighthouse Keeper and I sipped our coffees and visited, I unplugged Mr. Coffee and was about to put him into the trash can and Rick says, "What are you doing?"

"I'm throwing him away, because he is broken." After Rick had persuaded me not to dump Mr. Coffee so fast and to give him another chance, Tony walked inside the trailer.

After Ben, Aaron, Rick, Tony and I had fed and cleaned all of the dog pens, Aaron and Ben worked on our paint sprayer. "What color are we going to paint the barns?" Ben asked. 

"Navajo Sand," I replied, and Ben started laughing.

"Nav...a...jo Sannnnd," he mockingly teased. "We're painting this here thang Nav...a...jo Sannnnd. I love the way you drag out a word." After we had all quit laughing, I asked him how he pronounces it. "Navajo Sand," Ben quickly quipped. "Not Nav...a...jo Sannnnd."

When Ben and Aaron had nearly finished painting the barn closest to the trailer, Rick, Tony and me jumped into Buttermilk and took off for Kerrville to get some more paint supplies and to eat lunch at Cal-Bob's Smoke Shack, the new, only 100-day-old, best BBQ place in Kerrville, about one mile from I-10. 

As soon as we had sat down at the last table available in the friendly good-vibes, Cal-Bob's Smoke Shack, Carol, Calvin Abercrombie's sweet wife, greeted us and asked us what we wanted to drink. Seconds later, friendly Carol served us our iced teas. "I remember you. You're Cousin Nancy," she said, "the birthday girl," and after a fun visit with her, she took our order.

Ten minutes later, at our table, there was the sound of silence, as we happily ate our delicious lunch. "I love this place," Rick said, as we nodded our heads agreeing with him. "This is the best BBQ that I've eaten in years! I'm going to tell everyone in Port Aransas about this place..."

After a fun visit with Calvin, the best BBQ cook in Texas, we grabbed Aaron's and Ben's takeout lunch boxes and then we headed to Home Depot and then we came home to feed the hungry "Navajo Sand painters." Which they raved about how delicious Cal-Bob's Smoke Shack BBQ was, as I repeated myself several times, telling everyone how I much I loved the newly painted barns.

Second verse same as the first, Rick, Tony and I spent last night pickin' and grinnin' and we sounded even better than the night before.

This morning before the sun came up, Tony woke me up at 6:00, so I could do Harley's, the next Kerr County Commissioner's radio show at 7:45 and then Rick followed him, on his Triumph, to the Old Timer to drink a hot cup of coffee, before heading back to the privately owned island, where he lives with a lighthouse.

I spent most of my day sitting behind this computer, taking care of some paperwork and that is about it for tonight. Before I start watching some Frazier reruns that I recorded earlier, I hope that everyone in the Texas Hill Country and visitors will go eat at Cal-Bob's Smoke Shack, Randy & Lisa's Save Inn restaurant and the Water Street Cafe, because these are my three favorite places to eat in the Texas Hill Country.

Y'all have a great evening and please keep praying that we get some more rain!

Short Post Tonight—Rick's Here!

Today has been great, but because it is late, tonight's post is going to be really short, because our dear friend Rick, the "Friendly Lighthouse Keeper" is here! This morning our good friend Kim Williamson came out to shoot us, but she ended up only shooting Kinky, for a PSA about our exciting, upcoming B.J. Thomas Bonefit, to air on Fox's local channels.

Kinky first started out holding Winston Churchill in his arms as he plugged our upcoming benefit (bonefit) and then when our good friend Big G showed up, because Winston was barking at his big hat that he was wearing, Kim shot Kinky holding Sophie and she literally stole the show.

After Kink had plugged the final "An Evening With B. J. Thomas" bonefit, we had a fun time visiting with each other, as Kim packed up her camera gear. After Kim had adios-ed us, Big G, one of Kerrville's most popular radio DJ's, followed Tone and me over to the rescue ranch, so we could visit.

During our super fun visit with Big G, I played Jim Keaveny's CD, "Music Man" for him and he loved his music as much as we do and he told us that he was going to contact Keaveny, so he could interview him on his show and start playing his fabulous music—which of course, made me smile, because I love Jim Keaveny's music so much and want the whole world to know about this fantastic, talented musician.

During our super fun visit with Big G, in Outer Space, I also played him one of my new, favorite bluegrass songs by Steve Martin on his Rare Bird Alert CD—King Tut and Big G loved it and it made him smile, like it does us, so he told us that he was going to start playing it on his morning show!

This evening, after Tony had hung up my new "faux 2" white, wooden blinds" eight times, in my pretty, pink writing cabin—Rick pleasantly surprised us and showed up on his cool Triumph motorcycle!

After happy hour, before we went outside to show Rick my newly decorated cabin, I pulled two frozen steaks out of the freezer and said, "Tomorrow morning, after y'all get back from the Old Timer, I'm fixing y'all these two steaks with eggs." Which ended up being a total lie, because when we returned to the trailer—Mama had already eaten one of them—which made us all laugh. And that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening and please keep praying that we get some more rain!

Happy Birthday Dwight Yoakam!

We love Dwight Yoakam and we want to wish him a happy 55th birthday! Happy Birthday to You. Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday Dear Dwight. Happy Birthday to you! And many more.

B. J. Thomas Bonefit, November 26th!

Today has been a good one. For lunch I tried making my first paninis, that Carol had told me how to make and they were so delicious, I called Kinky, after we had eaten to ask him if he would like to try one of my turkey Panini with Monterrey Jack cheese with jalapenos and a sliced tomato.

Fifteen minutes later, as Kinky munched away on my panini, he suggested that I should really do a cookbook, because I always get so excited about trying new recipes and then telling everyone about the ingredients and how to make it.

When my panini had disappeared we started talking about our exciting upcoming B.J. Thomas bonefit, because tomorrow morning Kim and Bryant Williams are coming out to shoot us and our dogs for a thirty-second commercial about our B.J. Thomas fundraiser, to run on local  FOX stations. Then he went back to his office and came back into the kitchen, so he could practice the "script," so I could time him to make sure that he read it under thirty seconds.

After several readings, Kinky complained about the type being so small. "Kinky, I can blow it up real big, so you can read it, if you want me to."

Twenty minutes later I happily returned to the Lodge, with three pages of the enlarged script, taped onto a big foam board. "Thanks, Nance. This will work..." Before going back home, after telling Kinky that I was fixin' to go reupholster the couch inside my cabin, Kinky told me that his friend Captain Frank was coming out late this afternoon, because his friend wanted to talk to us about some ideas he had for helping our rescue ranch.

"That sounds great," I said. "Oh, I almost forgot. We have rescued a two-year-old, female black Lab, that our friends Robert and Tracy rescued in their neighborhood, the nice couple from Kerrville, that adopted Betty Boop from us over a year ago, and they are bringing her out later today and..."

Before Tony helped me bring the cushions into our trailer I took this picture of the old couch cushions.

One hour later or the time it took to have completed three seat cushions, there was a knock on our door, so I dropped what I was doing and opened the door to a friendly man. "Hi, are you Captain Frank?" Robert started laughing, because I didn't recognize him, because I am as blind as a bat.

The minute that we met Missy, the temporary name that they had given to her, who reminded me so much of our dear old Thunder, we had a fun visit with them, as we watched Emmylou Harris happily playing with her new roommate. While the two dogs romped around the front yard of my pretty, pink cabin, Tracy showed us pictures of Betty Boop, while they told us hilarious stories about her.

After Tracy and Robert left, we left and went back inside the trailer, so Tony could watch the Cowboys game and I could finish the cushions and ten minutes later, Kinky came over with Captain Frank and Melissa, so we could visit, which turned out to be fun and very interesting.

When the Cowboys had officially won the game, I was done with the cushions! So, Tony helped me carry them back into the cabin, so I could take a picture of my finished project. And yes, it is another one of my creations, "It's  A Nancy," because the stripes don't line up, but I don't care because I am sixty-years-old.

After I took this picture, T. and I jumped into Trigger and took off to feed Shalom and the donkeys and that is about it for tonight.

Tomorrow after Kim and Bryant shoot all of us, we are taking "Missy" to Hoegemeyers' to get her shots, because she has already been spayed and vetted.

Y'all have a great evening and please keep praying that we get some more rain!

I Kneaded A Break!

Yesterday evening, Carol came over with a birthday present for me and to see my pink writing cabin and I loved her present and she loved my newly painted pink cabin.

After she had admired my cabin we came inside the trailer to open up the cute bottle of wine that she had given to me, COWGIRL SISTERHOOD: Oh My Darlin'—Sweet Red, Red Wine.

As we sipped the delicious wine, we laughed as we read it's cute label on the back of the bottle and then Carol, Tony and I talked about how much fun we had had with Karin and then she and I traded some new George Foreman grill recipes and then we caught up with each other's latest news. And a little before dark-thirty, Carol adios-ed us, because she needed to get home to feed her horses and T. and I were sad to see her go, because we were having so much fun with her.

Today has been great, because this morning after we did our chores outside, while Tony was in Medina photographing the Medina High School Homecoming Parade, I decided that I kneaded to take a break, so I grabbed my new, favorite recipe book that Sandy and Jon had given to me for my 60th birthday, A Cowboy in the Kitchen: Recipes from Reata and Texas West of the Pecos, by Grady Spears and Robb Walsh and decided to try to make Buttermilk Biscuits, on page 97.

To set the mood, I put on Jim Keaveny's fabulous music, which I discovered when we were out in Terlingua with Sandy and Jon and then I grabbed all of the needed ingredients and then I followed the recipe directions carefully.

While I was cutting out the soon-to-be biscuits and placing them on the baking sheet, the phone rang and it was Kinky. After we had talked about the exciting, upcoming B. J Thomas Bonefit on November 26th, I told him about attempting to make homemade buttermilk biscuits and he says, "Sounds good. Can I have some?"

"Sure Kink, after I get my biscuits in the oven." Which made him laugh. "I'll be over there around noon with them..." And I didn't lie.

After Kinky had poured some honey on one of my fresh, hot-out-of-the-oven buttermilk biscuits and took a bite he basically said, "Nance, these are really great..." Which thrilled me, because that is exactly what Tony said, but he used the word really.

Late this afternoon, after our Open House or at 3:00, Trigger took us to Kerrville to run a few errands; get Tony's ears lowered, buy a picture frame for my Holstee Manifesto poster that arrived yesterday, to buy fabric for me to reupholster my couch in my writing cabin and to buy some groceries then we came home. And that is about it for today. 

Y'all have a great evening and please keep praying for us to get some more rain!

Ann And Barry and Their Good Friend Bob!

The reason that I didn't blog last night was because I spent the evening cooking some new recipes. First, I cooked the Cream of Jalapeno Soup recipe from the cookbook, A Cowboy In The Kitchen: Recipes from Reata and Texas West of the Pecos by Grady Spears and Robb Walsh, that Sandy & Jon had given to me for my 60th birthday, because when we were in Alpine, Texas, heading back home from our fun trip in Big Bend, we stopped and ate lunch at the famous Reata restaurant and we ate their popular Cream of Jalapeno Soup, which was as delicious as the one I had cooked last night.

After T. had drained his soup bowl dry and had told me that my/their soup was delicious, I cheerfully cleaned up our dinner dishes and then, because I knew that our friends were coming out today and bringing their friend with them, I decided to make our super volunteer's secret banana bread recipe, so I pre-heated the oven and then closely followed her directions. And, one and a half hours later—we're talkin' two loaves of Lisa's Secret Banana Bread recipe and Tone loved it!

Today has turned out to be another great day. This morning Tony woke me up real early, so I could wake up, drink some coffee and then be ready to do the five to ten minutes Utopia segment on the Harley Show at 7:45.

As always I had a fun time talking on-air with my dear friend Harley, the next Kerr County Commissioner in Kerrville—fingers crossed. We laughed about this and that and then we talked about whom his Pet Of The Week was. "Harley, your Pet Of The Week is Peanut. He's one of the cutest, smartest and playful little dogs we've got our here, right now. We rescued him from the Kerr pound and he is precious. He has black eyes, a black nose and is absolutely adorable, Harley..."

After Harley and I had adios-ed each other, I cooked breakfast for Tony and he showed up just in time to eat his hot meal. Then he went outside alone to do our morning chores, because I had ten million phone calls, e-mails and paperwork to take care of, before cleaning the trailer, because Kinky's and our good friends Ann and Barry and their good friend Bob, who they wanted us to meet, were coming out to see us late this afternoon.

By 11:30, I had taken care of one million "things-to-do" on my list, so I took a break and cooked us one of Mari's, Sandy & Jon's, Tone's and my favorite meals, the "Blue Norther Winner" from the Easy Soup Recipes cookbook and it was delicious! 

After I had cleaned up the kitchen, I dragged Hazel out of the closet and while I cleaned dog-nosed-smudged windows, she busily vacuumed up some lost black, white and brown dog hair and the dirt on our wooden floors. Then she went back into the closet, where she remains.

Around 3:30 today, Kinky and Ann drove up in Kinky's truck Mr. Green Jeans, followed by her husband Barry and their friend Bob. After introductions, howdies and hugs, Kinky and Ann telling me, "I like your pink cabin," we invited everyone to come up to the trailer for some coffee and Lisa's Secret Banana Bread and everyone loved the banana bread! (Thank you, for giving me your recipe, Lisa! They actually think that I am a good cook! Ha!)

Kinky's, Tony's and my visit with Ann, Barry and Bob was a total blast, filled with non-stop laughter and after Kinky had to leave to get back over to the Lodge, we went into Outer Space and continued the fun visit, but it didn't last long enough in my opinion, because when it was time for them to leave, neither T. or I wanted them to leave, because we were enjoying their company so much.

And, that is about it for tonight, but I want everyone to know that our good friend Karin Pohlmann, visiting us from Germany, has arrived safely back home and I want to thank our great volunteer Ellen Jackson for driving her to the San Antonio Airport, because Karin was so scared of the crazy traffic there. Thank you, Ellen—we know that you are an angel, but trust me, your secret is safe with us.

Y'all have a great evening and please keep praying for us to get some more rain!

I Love Being 60!

Today has been a great day. It has been day two for me being 60 years old and if today is an indicator of what's in store for me in the future—I love being 60!

When my dear friend Karin came out this morning we went over to the Lodge to drink some of Kinky's delicious coffee and to visit with him and we had a blast over there. During our fun time I started telling him the story about two Sundays ago when we took Karin to eat her first chicken fried steak, in the John Wayne room, at the O.S.T. in Bandera. "Kink, after we ate lunch, on our way back to Trigger, Tony whispers to me, "Can you smell that bad odor inside Trigger, because he is really stinking?"

And then Kinky interrupted me and jokingly says, "Okay, so Karin s*#@ in the truck." And Karin and I burst out laughing and her face turned ten shades of red. Then Kinky started laughing.

"No, Kinky. I did not s*#@ inside Trigger," Karin says, in broken English, because she was laughing in between each word that she spoke.

"Tony was certain that the foul odor was from a dead mouse that had died in the fan housing," I said. "Well, later that evening Tony comes inside the trailer and warns me not to jump into Trigger, because he knew it would make me sick and then he calls Aaron and asks him to please come out and remove the dead mouse. Well, Aaron drives out here at 7:00, works on the engine to get to the fan deal and they discover that there was no dead mouse and the bad aroma was some rotting steaks that we had bought several days earlier, that had slid under the driver's seat!" Which made Kinky burst out laughing.

After we had talked about books and Karin's fun adventures in Texas, I said, trying to sound serious, "Kinky, there is only one bad thing about Karin's visit—I don't talk like I used to. She speaks good English, but because she only understands us when we talk real slow—I'm now talking real slow, in three or four word sentences and using my arms to act out what I am saying." Then Karin and Kinky started laughing with me. "Seriously,...I...now...talk...like...this and I can't help it!"

"Karin went to see the Alamo all by herself and she got a $100.00 parking ticket, because she accidentally and illegally parked at a college campus to catch a bus to downtown San Antone."

Kinky started laughing. "Don't pay it Karin," Kinky said, before laughing again. "Tell them to come to Germany to get you."

"I told Karin not to pay it too and to keep it as a souvenir, even though she will never be able to take classes there..." After our fun visit with Kinky ended, Buttermilk took us back over to the rescue ranch. Then Karin treated T. and me to a delicious lunch at the Apple Cider Store, in Medina.

When we arrived back at the rescue ranch, Aaron was already here, finishing up my painting project, Tony's birthday present to me, because he had asked Aaron to come out and help me paint the high parts and the trim of my writing cabin, because I am short and as of yesterday—now a 60 year old woman.

Around 3:00, as Aaron finished painting my beloved cabin, Karin told us that she needed to leave and get back to Kerrville to pack, because today was her last day to see us, before leaving for Germany, early tomorrow morning and it made me tear up, because Tone and I have fallen in love with this brave lady (Born again, Texas Cowgirl) and we have truly enjoyed her visit here.

After she had thanked us for showing her our Texas, we thanked Karin for coming to Texas, and after hugging each other—I teared up again for a few seconds, because I knew that I was going to really miss my new German friend. As Karin waved goodbye to us and slowly drove away, I half-hollered, "Hagen Das, Karin!" Because she told me the other day, after she had read my blog, that Hagen Das was not a German word and it is now our little, private joke between us.

One hour later, after Aaron had finished painting my cabin and we had put my outdoor decorations back up on the exterior walls, I took a picture of it and then T. took a picture of me standing in front of my once dull, barn-red colored—now pink cabin!

And tonight, when my brother Ronnie called me I told him, "Ronnie, when Tony asked me what I wanted for my birthday the other day, I told him, that I wanted to go to Home Depot, so he could buy me buckets of paint and brushes and rollers, because I wanted to paint my cabin pink, because I am now 60 years old and I can do whatever I want to do and I don't have to ever explain to anybody why I do the things the way I do to make me happy, because I am old and going to spend the rest of my life having fun and laughing as much as I can." Ronnie agreed with me and then we laughed about us getting old and not believing it.

Before winding this post up tonight, I want to thank Cathie B. and Bob S., from Denton, Texas, for their thoughtful "Turning 60—Care Package" gifts, which I absolutely love—especially the pink journal, pink crystal candle-holder, the battery-operated fake tea candles, so I don't burn my trailer down by accident and the cute pink cowboy boot, "Does a Bear—Sit in the Woods?" refrigerator magnet note pad, the hilarious pocket note pad "I'm Afraid My Train Of Thought Has Left The Station" and the "Tickled Pink" greeting card to wish me a happy birthday! "Please come see us sooner than later and please tell Donna that we miss her, too!"

Y'all have a great evening and please keep praying for us to get some more rain! I love being 60—thanks to all of y'all and thanks to Tony for my beautifully painted, pink writing cabin!

Best Birthday Ever—Thanks To All Of Y'all!

First off, I've had the best birthday ever—thanks to all of y'all and I want to thank you so much for all of the many phone calls, e-mails and best wishes comments y'all made on my Facebook page and I want to thank my dear friends, Karin, Lisa, June, Don, Baxter, Jon & Sandy, Eileen for coming to Cal Bobs Smoke Shack, at noon today, to help me celebrate my 60th birthday and a very special thank you to Ellen for treating Tony and me to our delicious lunch today with all of them and a super fun birthday party! Thank y'all!

Now I must play "catch-up"and tell about Saturday's fun and exciting day.

Saturday morning our dear friend and talented professional videographer and film maker, Gerry Olert, came out to see Tony and me, because he wanted to give us DVD's of the two videos, that he did for Alan Warren's Sports show, the one's with Lisa and Eileen in it—that Tony, Kinky and I love.

Before our fun visit started inside the trailer, Gerry gave Tony a cap and then he gave me two, cute pink caps to wear, which we love and Tony won't take off of his head. Thank you, Gerry!

While we drank coffee and had a fun visit with him, Jim Keaveny's music was playing in the background and Gerry like me—instantly fell in love with Keaveny's awesome music. After we talked about Keaveny's music style we talked about the two, exciting upcoming Bonefits at The Springs in Salado.

An Evening With B. J. Thomas on Saturday, November 26th and on Saturday, December 17th the Bonefit starring Rodney Crowell, Billy Joe Shaver and Kinky, which he will be at filming parts of, so he can make another great video for our rescue ranch to help promote us. Thank you, Alan Warren and Gerry—we love y'all!

After I had poured us another cup of coffee, I complained and then laughed about fixin' to turn 60 years old, but still feeling like I was 18 years old and he agreed with me, even though he is only 48 years old. When Gerry told me that he was hoping to win the Texas Lottery I said, "Life is so funny, Gerry, because I plan to win the lottery, too, so please, age before beauty—let me win it first. With my luck, I will actually win it and then immediately drop dead from a heart attack and Tony will probably marry some pretty young woman."

"No, I won't Nance," Tony said, followed by a chuckle. "I'll buy a new truck and bass boat and play the field, because it is much cheaper!" Which caused Gerry and me to burst out laughing at his remark. After too much laughing and fun with Gerry Olert—we sadly adios-ed our good friend, because we were having so much fun with him, but knowing that we would be seeing him soon at the Rodney Crowell, Billy Joe Shaver and Kinky Bonefit on December 17th, at The Springs.

Around 4:00, Karin arrived at the rescue ranch, so she could go on her horseback riding date with Carol, over at Carol's beautiful ranch, so we dressed up in our cowgirl clothes and then jumped into Trigger and took off for Carol's ranch.

Fifteen minutes later, after Karin gave Carol a cute cowboy t-shirt to wear, as her thank you gift to her, Karin put her pretty, Justin Gypsy Boot into the stirrup and climbed up on Dude, like she had been riding for years and it was awesome to watch her ride, like a skilled Texas cowgirl, all over Carol's ranch with Carol riding Maya. Here are three pictures that I took of their fun ride.

When the horses had tired from being ridden, because of the hot weather, we went up to the deck and drank beers to celebrate our fun time and then we all told Karin that she was a great rider, which made her blush. 

When our bottles were emptied, and after a Colic scare with Dude was happily resolved, Karin took off for Kerrville and on our way back home I said, "Carol is so sweet for letting Karin ride Dude today. She has just made Karin's trip the greatest thing that she has done in Texas and we can't thank Carol enough and... " And that is about it for tonight.

I want to thank everyone for making my 60th Birthday today, the best birthday that I have ever had. I love y'all and will never forget today. And like Rick, The Friendly Lighthouse Keeper, told me early this morning, "I hope you have another one!" And I do! Thanks to y'all!

Y'all have a great evening and please keep praying that we get some rain.

Long In The Teeth! or Karin's & My Roundup!

Today has been fun, but because I will be turning sixty-years-old at midnight, I am feeling a little bit tired, which is normal, I guess for the elderly, but actually I am tired tonight, because of Tony's early birthday presents that he gave to me today—which I had asked him for, because I have wanted them for a very long time. Now, if I don't fall to sleep, from being outside late this afternoon, in the heat, for over three hours, using my birthday presents, I want to write about the last two days.

Last Friday morning Karin came out early and so did our fabulous volunteers, Jim, Lisa, Eileen, June and Ellen. After introducing Karin to everyone, Tony and I went back to doing our chores as they walked our dogs.

After they had walked our dogs, the volunteers took turns riding with Tone, in Kermit, so he could show them a midden, while we visited in Outer Space. As always, it was a fun visit, because these women are some of the funniest women I've ever known.

In between our laughter and good times, Lisa gave me her secret Banana Bread recipe, which I happily swore to her to never give out her recipe to anyone, but little does Lisa know that I have officially stolen it and am now calling it "Cousin Nancy's Best Banana Bread" recipe. And Lisa can't sue me, because her name is never mentioned in my mouth-watering recipe. Sorry Lisa. You're young and you will learn about me in time.  : )

While Ellen and Lisa were gone with Tony, sweet Ellen asked me if she could treat me to lunch, with Karin and the Fab 4 joining us, tomorrow, for my birthday and of course, I said, "Yes! That sounds like a lot of fun..."

When it was time for "The Girls" to go, they invited us to join them for lunch in Kerrville, but we couldn't, because we had a tight schedule, because of a pig named Shirley. "We've only got enough time to go to Papa Don's Pizza & Wings, in Medina, to eat a delicious pizza, because Dr. Lindstrom is coming out at 2:00 to remove a fatty-tumor from Shirley and then go float Shalom's teeth, because she is long in the teeth and having trouble eating and...." I said.

At 1:30, Aaron arrived to help Tony help Dr. James and fifteen minutes later James arrived. Because I don't "do blood" I stayed inside the trailer and did paperwork, while Karin stood back and watched Shirley's operation.

While Dr. Lindstrom sewed up Shirley, I went outside to visit with Karin. "Nance, can you go round up Shalom for us and put her inside the corral to save us some time?" Tony asked, as he filled a feed bucket with some horse feed.

"Sure! Karin come and go with me. It will be fun," I said, as Karin jumped into Kermit's passenger seat.
Fifteen minutes later we returned to the rescue ranch. "We've got them in the corral!" I declared, proudly, as Dr. James was finishing packing up his medical stuff. Then Karin and I took off for the corral, because Tony and Aaron were climbing into his truck.

When we arrived the donkeys and Shalom were outside of the corral eating grass nearby. "What the hay!" I cursed, trying to figure out how they had gotten out. "Dang-it!" Were the words I sort of said, "That other gate over there is opened," as the men drove up and looked surprised.

Five minutes later, thanks to T., Shalom was penned up and they went to work on her teeth, as Karin and I stood nearby, visiting with the sweet donkeys.

Twenty minutes later, after thanking and paying Dr. Lindstrom and Aaron, Tony drove Karin's car for her and I followed them in Trigger to go to Carol's, so we could caravan to Center Point, because she needed to pick up some hay for her horses and since Toucan Jim's was nearby, we went there to drink a beer and to show Karin the Hill Country's version of "Margaritaville" in Texas and we had a great time. Then we adios-ed each other and went different directions, so we could all get home safely before dark-thirty.

It is now 9:40, my bedtime, so that is about it for tonight. Sorry, Mari and good night, y'all.

Y'all have a great evening and please keep praying that we get some more rain!

To Be Continued....

Howdy! From A Real Texas Cowgirl—From Germany!

The last two days with Karin, Carol and Gerry have been so much fun and ended up being pretty exciting this evening, but unfortunately, tonight I have run out of time to tell it all, but I promise to tell it all—tomorrow—with a video, too. Here are a few pictures that I took today and Tony took of Karin's latest "Texas Cowgirl, from Germany" adventures.

Y'all have a great evening and please keep praying that we get some more rain! Yee Haw!

Street of the Seven Angels! or Vote For Honest Harley! or Down By The River!

Today has been great, but somewhat crazy and I am blaming it all on F.M.T. (Full Moon Time). Early this afternoon Tony and I took off for Kerrville, so we could go by Wolfmueller's Book just to say," Hi" to Sandy and Jon, eat lunch somewhere, go to H-E-B, so we could replace the two rotting steaks that Tony had accidentally left under the driver's seat inside Trigger and lastly, to pick up Ginger Rogers at Hoegemeyer Animal Clinic and take her home and we ended up having a few nice surprises along the way.

When we walked inside Sandy and Jon's bookstore we greeted each other and then Sandy holds up a pretty book and says, "Nancy, have you got a copy of your uncle's book, Street of the Seven Angels?"

"No, but I do now, because I'm buying this book right now. How much is it?" As I was writing a check to pay for the book, Sandy and Jon told me that there has been a lot of news, in the last few days, about my famous uncle, John Howard Griffin, my mother's brother, because his book, Black Like Me, is celebrating it's 50 year anniversary when it was first published, back when I was only 10 years old, living in Fort Worth, 2 years before my 6th grade Russian teacher tried to convince me that Communism was good and so was caviar.

After we had talked some about Uncle Howard, Sandy and Jon told us some great news, "Harley has decided to run for Precinct Commissioner of Kerrville and y'all need to sign his petition, because he needs to collect 90 signatures. Isn't that great! We're helping him collect the signatures at our store."

While Tone and I signed our names to Harley's petition, we decided to save some time and go eat a healthy, delicious lunch at the Water Street Cafe, even though my good friend Mari and I had made earlier plans to eat there today or tomorrow with Karin, but because of some last minute rescheduling on my end—I had to cancel our lunch date. "Hey!" I said. "Why don't y'all or one of you take turns and join us for lunch?"

"I just got back from seeing Kevin. We'll try to," Sandy said. Then we adios-ed them and walked down the sidewalk to Kevin's popular restaurant on Water Street.

"Hi, Cousin Nancy and Tony!" Kevin greeted, as we walked in. "How have y'all been doing?..." While I ate my favorite combo, "Black Bean Soup and Chef Salad" and Tony happily munched away on his roast beef sandwich, Jon walked inside and sat down with us and then Kevin walked over to our table, so we could talk about how excited we all were that our dear friend Harley Belew had decided to run for Precinct Commissioner. When we told Kevin that Jon and Sandy and us had already signed his petition at Wolfmueller's Books, he told us that he and his sweet wife would go down to their bookstore and sign Harley's petition too. Then came surprise number two.

While I was paying for our lunch, I told Kevin about Ginger Rogers, the cute little Chihuahua that we rescued yesterday from Garnet and Jan, that we were fixin' to pick up, after grabbing some steaks at H-E-B and his eyes lit up and then he told his pretty wife about us rescuing Ginger Rogers and her eyes lit up, too. "We've been wanting to get our daughter a small dog and we might want to adopt Ginger or at least give her a try..." Five minutes later, after telling them all we knew about Ginger Rogers we promised to come back and let them meet Ginger, before they closed for the day.

Well, we kept our promise to them and tonight Kevin and Julie are giving Miss R. a chance to possibly become their daughter's dog and we hope that it works out, but if it doesn't for one reason or another, I told Kevin and Julie, "It's either meant to be or not meant to be and if its not don't worry, because I know that we can find her a great home, because little dogs always get adopted fast..."

Early this evening I thumbed through Street of the Seven Angels and smiled, when I read that my uncle only wrote when he was listening to classical music and that he was also a marvelous, humorist essayist, because even though I realize that I am not in the same league as my Uncle Howard, I too, am an essayist and I too, only write while listening to my music and in hopes that it makes you laugh often.

So, that is about it for tonight, because I plan to start reading my uncle's book, that was never published during his life time, until Bob Bonazzi, of Wings Press, in San Antonio, who later married uncle Howard's wife and lived next door to my parents in Fort Worth. Thank you, Bob. I sure miss all of them.

P.S. This morning I did my Utopia segment on The Harley Show and Emmylou Harris was his Pet of the Week and Karin has just called me from the H-E-B store in Kerrville, where she is buying some beer.

Karin told me that she had a wonderful time in San Antonio today! She got to see the real Alamo, take a buggy ride pulled by a horse, ride in a barge down the famous, beautiful River Walk and she drank one beer at a famous saloon there. The only thing bad that happened to her was she got a parking ticket at the U.T.S.A. campus, but she sounded happy and told me that she was so glad to be back in Kerrville and she is coming out here tomorrow morning to walk our dogs with our fabulous volunteers! I am so inspired by her braveness to go into San Antone and just sorry that she got a parking fine, but I can't wait for her to meet our volunteers, because they are going to love her and she is going to love them. 

Y'all have a great evening and please keep praying for us to get some more rain!

Remember The Alamo!

Today has been a great day. This morning Karin came out just as we finished our morning chores, so we all came up to the trailer to drink some coffee. While we were drinking our coffees, the nice woman who wanted to give Gus, the yellow Lab that we rescued from the Kerr pound last week, a trial adoption, called to tell us that Gus was a perfect dog and that she and her husband wanted to adopt him officially!

Around 11:00, Tony and Karin jumped inside Trigger and took off for a sightseeing tour to Utopia, so I could stay home to take care of some much needed paperwork, etc. And they returned just five minutes after I had gotten all of my work caught up, which was perfect timing.

Thirty minutes later, around 1:30, our good friends Jan and Garnet, from Utopia, showed up with the little, adorable, female Chihuahua that Sandy and Garnet had rescued and had Jan foster. During our fun visit in Outer Space, I found out that I had missed Garnet's birthday on Octorber 7th, so right now I want to officially wish, my good friend and fellow Libra a shout out, "Happy Belated Birthday, Garnet!"

When Garnet showed us the beautiful birthday card that Sandy had made for her I said, "Tony, I want you to make me a birthday card like Sandy did..." Fingers crossed, I hope that he makes me one, too.

After a fun visit with our friends, we adios-ed each other, then Karin, took off for Kerrville and five minutes later, Tony, Ginger Rogers (That's what Tony named the cute Chihuahua) and I took off for Kerrville too, so we could drop Ginger off at Hoegemeyer's and then take Karin to a surprise "Pre-Alamo" late lunch, because tomorrow she's brave enough to drive in that crazy traffic, all by herself, to see the Alamo, in San Antone.

When we walked inside the Mamacita's Mexican food restaurant, Karin gasped, when she saw Mamacita's gigantic version of the Alamo, so we decided to sit at a table, very close to the Alamo look-a-like.

As we ate our tasty dunch (dinner / lunch) Tony, Karin and me laughed a whole lot, as she and I whispered back and forth, trying to teach each other American and German cuss words, because she could pronounce our cuss words easily, but I couldn't even get close to pronouncing even one of them right. And, that is about it for tonight, because I have to go to bed early so I can get up early to do The Harley Show at 7:45 with Harley.

Y'all have a great evening and please keep praying that we get some more rain and Remember the Alamo!

From Air Gun To Nancy!

Today has been great. This morning after Tony and I did our morning chores, we cleaned up, because we were picking Karin, up at the motel where she is staying, so we could take her to eat her first real Mexican food and as we were fixin' to leave the trailer—the phone rang, so without thinking I answered the phone. "Rescue Ranch."

"Hi, Nancy. This is Garnett (our good friend from Utopia). I really need your help."

"Sure, Garnett. What's up?" Then she told me about her and her husband Sandy rescuing a cute, little, four-to-five-year-old female Chihuahua that was housebroken and they had put up Lost & Found posters all over Utopia, but no one had claimed her and they could not keep her, because they already have four dogs. And to make a long story short—I told her that we could take the Chihuahua, because today, after we had lunch with Karin, we were going to Hoegemeyer Animal Clinic to pick up Emmylou Harris and Peanut, that we rescued from the Kerr pound last week. "She will be a great companion for Peanut, because he is a real small dog, too." After my friend told me that she would bring the dog to us on Wednesday, I adios-ed Garnett and then T. and I jumped into Buttermilk and took off for our lunch date with Karin, in Kerrville.

When Karin opened her door to us she was all dressed up, like a Texas cowgirl and proudly wearing her Justin Gypsy cowboy boots, but they were covered up by her jeans this time. As Tone drove us to the Mexican eatery down the street, we laughed about Karin buying some Jameson last night at the liquor store, next to Hastings and drinking it from the "Kinky For Gov" souvenir glass, that we had given to her the other day. "So, after spending time with Tony and me—we've  driven you to drinking!" I teased.

After Karin had quit laughing she seriously said, "No. I only drank little tiny bit of it—very small amount." But, we kept teasing her anyway.

Our Mexican meal was as delicious, as it was fun with Karin. As we ate our Shrimp Cocktail appetizers we laughed about yesterday and all of the fun we had had and then I told her that Tony had discovered the reason why Trigger had stunk to high-heaven yesterday—caused by a poor, dead mouse that had wiggled its way into the fan system and then she told me that the same thing had happened to Jurgen and her too, in Germany. "Noncy, (the way it sounds when she pronounces my name) it is sad. Yes, but very bad odor." Then we started laughing, as the friendly waitress served us our hot plates, loaded with steaming hot Mexican food.

Because Karin had ordered the same thing that I did, we tried in vain to eat our chicken, beef and cheese enchiladas, taco, refried beans and rice, because it was just too much food and too much laughter, so I asked for two take-home containers, because we had more left on our plates than we had eaten and then because we were talking so much, we forgot to take them with us when we left.

Before taking Karin straight back to her motel we stopped by Hoegemeyer's to pick up Peanut and Emmylou Harris and to also let Karin see the famous veterinary clinic and meet the friendly staff.

Susan and Kathy and the staff and the people in the lobby gave Karin a big Texas welcome—which made her smile and blush at the same time.

Before leaving the motel, Karin used my laptop computer to send Jurgen an e-mail and to read what I had posted last night on my blog and it made her laugh. Then she told us that her adventure today was  to go to Luchenback, Texas, less than one hour away, because she loves Waylon Jennings and his song. After hugs we adios-ed each other and Buttermilk took us home.

When we got home I checked Carlton's messages and then I checked my e-mail and burst out laughing, because Jurgen had sent me this note that was titled in the subject area: From: Air Gun To Nancy.

Jurgen wrote:

"Hi Nancy,

I just red your blog and I was laughing, too. Wish I could be with you. Great pics!  I'm very glad to see Karin so happy.  And she is a good rain-maker, isn't she? She even doesn't need to dance, she just has to get out of her car...  So I was laughing out loudly again when I saw her in the outfit we call 'Ostfriesen Nerz' - ask her what this is, it's as difficult to explain for her as to pronounce for you ... I'm kidding, too.

Did't Karin faint when she met Kinky? In her mail to me she pretended to have kept cool - but I doubt...

And I have got a new nick! I would suggest to call me George because Jürgen is an alteration of Georg = George, but my new nick is absolutely o.k.!

So spend some other happy days together, the day after tomorrow I shall go again in the Internet caf'e, read your blog and write to you and to Car Inn !

Remember me to Tony!

Love   Air Gun"

After Tony read Jurgen's sweet and funny e-mail he said, "I like these Germans."

"Me, too. Even though I can't speak German."

This afternoon at 3:58 Roseanna, at Hoegemeryer's, left this message on Carlton, "Nancy and Tony, we just wanted to let you know that Tiger Lily (The ten-year-old cat that we rescued, several weeks ago, from our friend, who could no longer keep her.) has just been adopted to a great home and..." To say the least, we were thrilled for Tiger Lily and then I called our friend to tell her the good news about her cat finding a forever home and she was more than thrilled with the great news. "Thank you, Hoegemeyer Animal Clinic for helping us help find a home for another great cat!"

Early this evening I went outside to take pictures of Peanut and Emmylou Harris, they are both about one-year-old, sweeter than sweet can be and hoping that you or one of your friends might come out to adopt them. Girls first.

Around 7:00 this evening, Aaron came out to remove the dead mouse from Trigger's fan compartment—but there was no deceased mouse to be found—it was two, big, expensive, rotting steaks, found under the driver's seat—that we had bought five days ago, that Tony had overlooked when he carried in our groceries.

And that is about it for this evening. I plan to answer George's (Jurgen) note and then get some work done on the 2011 rescue ranch newsletter. Tomorrow morning I am calling Karin, so we can make plans for the day.

Y'all have a great evening and please keep praying that we get some more rain! Lastly, I want to do a shout-out to all of Karin's friends and family, in Germany, that are now reading my blog just to keep up with Karin and her Texas adventures. "We Love Karin, the "Great Roping German" and now a Proud Part-Time Texas Cowgirl! But, I want to ask y'all just one question—Do All of Y'all Germans Talk Like Her? Please make a comment and let me know and I Want to Thank Y'all For Reading My Blog! Hagen Das!" Even though I have no idea what that means—its a favorite ice cream over here and the only German words that I know.