Monday, October 31, 2011

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!

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