My First Wedding!

Today has been great sort of. This morning after we did our morning chores outside, I came inside and started making our lunch. A couple of hours later, we ate lunch. I had made us Cousin Nancy's Tortilla Soup, minus the tortillas, because we didn't have any and Cousin Nancy's Chicken Salad. And Tony loved it and he ate second helpings.

After returning several phone calls and e-mails, I went outside to take some pictures of our dogs, but thanks to M.I.R. (Mercury In Retrograde) my favorite, little camera, that I have had for six years was broken. When I turned it on, the lens would not come out, so I gave up and came back inside to recharge the battery, but hours later, after recharging the battery, it is still broken.

I don't plan to throw it away just yet, because maybe it will work again, after Mercury goes out of retrograde. Fortunately for me, I do have a nice little Canon that I can use, so I am not going to worry about it.

Late this afternoon, I went over to the Lodge to visit with Kinky and to pick up a couple of his typed pages, so I could scan them and then e-mail them to James.

When I came back home I scanned the two pages and then tried to e-mail them, but Yahoo said their was an error and to please try again. Well, I tried and tried again to re-send it, but with no luck. When I called Kink, to tell him about it, he called James and then he called me back with another address to try.
Tried the new address, but still no luck.

And while this was going on, Tony walks into the big room smiling and says, "Looks like you're going to be marrying our friend Cindy, in May. On Facebook, she said, "That it would be so cool, if you married them." Congratulations. She said she will call and talk to you about it."

"Wow, that really is great news about Cindy getting married. It will be my first wedding! I can't wait..."

After we finished talking, I decided to try to try to resend the e-mail and this time it went through. Then I went back over to Kinky's to return the pages. While we were in the kitchen I told Kinky about my delicious, homemade soup and chicken salad and he seemed interested. "I can bring you some over if you want me to." Kinky started chuckling.

"That will make it your third trip over here in less than an hour."

Ten minutes later I was back over at the Lodge delivering him soup and salad in two Baggies." Just put these in your refrigerator until you are ready to eat. Pour the soup into a pan and heat it up....Let me know how you like the soup and salad." Then I came back home and started writing this. And that's about it for tonight, because I want to spend this evening writing.

Y'all have a great evening!

Wild Winds!

Today has been fine, but a little bit noisy out here. Due to the wild winds peeling back four sheets of tin on our front porch roof. Around 1:00, when the winds lifted up and bent back the tin, the sheets have been loudly banging back and forth every time a 30 - 50 mph wind gust blows through.

This afternoon, while I was on the phone talking to a nice woman about possibly adopting one of our Pit Bulls, I had a hard time talking to her, because of the constant loud banging out on the porch. And I must have apologized to her at least three times, because I could barely hear her. The good news is that she and her thirty-year-old son are coming out this Saturday to possibly adopt one of our sweet Pits.

Late this afternoon when Tony went to Medina to mail some letters for me, I went outside to take a picture of the partially peeled back sheets of tin, but I got scared when a gust hit me and pushed me backwards. So, unfortunately I have no pictures to show you.

The wild winds are supposed to drop down to 15 - 20 mph gusts around 7:00 this evening, so I am hoping that it will be much quieter sooner than later. The weatherman has just predicted that it will be real windy tomorrow and on Friday for our area, which this time, I hope he predicted wrong.

Due to our wild winds, that I can't ever remember ever experiencing out here, I guess we should wait until it all blows through, before getting a repairman out here to replace the four sheets of bent tin.

Tony just told me that a friend of ours, living in Utopia, has just posted on her Facebook that Utopia has lost its electric power due to the wild winds. So, I am going to count my blessings tonight and just hope that the electricity stays on. And that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

Happy Birthday, David!

Today is David Villanueva, our dear friend's birthday. And we want to be among the first to wish him the best birthday ever, because he is one great man and one of the characters in my new fiction novella. So, here's to you, David. May it be your best birthday ever with Mari, as Tone and I sing to you:

"Happy Birthday to You. Happy Birthday to You. Happy Birthday Dear David. Happy Birthday to You. And many more. We love you and thanks for being a good sport and allowing me to use your name in my first fiction novella."

I can't wait for the novella Part II to reveal who you really are!

Best Book Signing @ The Best Little Library In Texas!

Today has been fabulous! Early this morning Tone and I went outside to do our chores. Then we came inside so we could get cleaned up for my 10:30 book signing, at the Best Little Library in Texas.

When we arrived at the library, Mary Ellen and the staff had made a beautiful display on my table, had made fresh coffee and sweets for everyone and had the chairs already arranged.

About ten minutes before the book signing I had the nicest surprise when Ann, a dear friend of mine since I was eight-years-old, who actually lives in New Mexico, walked in with her brother and his lovely wife. I just about fainted when I saw her. "Oh my goodness, Ann! I can't believe that you are here." After the howdies and hugs I introduced Ann and her sweet family to the audience and then told them a little background about Ann and me.

The book signing was totally awesome. A lot of people showed up for it. And I had a blast visiting with friends and the audience I actually forgot to do a reading. This is me signing a book for my dear friend and of me enjoying myself as I visited with the audience about my novella, The Cowgirl Sisterhood: The Membership Drive, Part I.

When Charlie Cooper walked in, I announced to the crowd that he and his wife Ellen were characters in my novella and I did the exact same thing when Fourth Coates walked in a little later.

I loved seeing my friends: Andy, Cary, Fourth, Charlie and his adorable father Mr. Cooper, who is ninety-three-years-old, Stacy, Dr. Lindstrom, Mary Ellen, Ann with her family and Steve and meeting the audience. All in all it was a good time and the best book signing @ the Best Little Library in Texas.

I want to thank Mary Ellen and everyone else who was involved in helping make my first book signing such a big success.

After the book signing ended we joined Ann, Lynn and Lola for lunch at the Highway 16 Cafe and Tony and I really enjoyed it. When we had finished our lunch our good friend Ann walked inside the cafe and said, "There you are, Nancy. I'm glad that I found you. I'm sorry that I didn't make your book signing. I was involved with a miniature burro rescue. I want to buy your book."

When Ann and I went outside to get a copy of my novella, we came back inside the cafe, so I could sign it to her. Then I introduced Ann to Ann and her family and asked her to join us. And by the time our fun visit was over, I told the two Anns, "I'm going to put you two Anns in one of my upcoming novellas. Probably in number three. Maybe as the good Ann and the bad Ann." And they laughed.

After we adios-ed everyone we came back home and I was and still am on Cloud Nine about the book signing. When I checked Carlton for any new messages, I had one from Carol, who has been feeling under the weather. "Nancy, I can't wait to hear how it went. I'll call you back, because I cannot wait to hear all about it. Bye." So, I picked up the phone, punched in Carol's number and told her all about it and she was thrilled for me.

And that is about it for today, because I am fixin' to pick and grin with Brandon for a few hours. I can't wait to play some music and to tell Kinky about my great book signing when he returns to the ranch later tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

Now I Am Getting Nervous!

Today has been great. This morning our great friends/volunteers came out to walk our dogs for us and our dogs loved it. Lois Lane, our super sweet Pit Bull went swimming, too. To say the least, "We are so lucky to have the Best Volunteers in Texas!"

After I had told everyone about eating a delicious Surf & Turf, in Kerrville, we decided to go to Kerrville, so Eileen, June and Tony could try it. Jim ate Octopus soup, which he said was delicious, even though Kris and I teased him about it. Kris' Mexican food plate looked delicious, too, but I was talking, of course, when she ordered it, so I don't know what it was. The good news is June, Eileen, Tony and I loved our Surf & Turf lunch. 

Our lunch was a total blast. We laughed and laughed and laughed as everyone traded their funny stories. Eileen's recent trip across the pond with Lisa, June's views on England's food and that is just to mention a few of our topics. 

After we adios-ed everyone we went to Office Max and H-E-B. Then we came home, but before we came home we grabbed our mail on Highway 16. As we headed down our road I was happily surprised when I read the super nice article about my book signing tomorrow morning, by Mikie Baker, in the Bandera County Courier. So I scanned it, so I could post it tonight. But, because of my poor skills in math, after trying many different sizes to make it fit, so it would big enough to read, I gave up and just said, "Just let it bleed over a little." 

As I type this I am getting nervous, because tomorrow is my big day at the "Best Little Library in Texas. Now I am not sure what to wear or what excerpt from the novella I should read, etc. So, please wish me luck, because Kinky once told me, "Authors always wear the worse clothes at their book signings." 

In just a minute, before I start washing and ironing my many possible choices of clothes to wear for the book signing, I want to thank Mary Ellen and everyone at the Medina Community Library, Mikie Baker's super sweet article about it and the Bandera County Courier for covering the story. Like our friends/volunteers, they are the reason why I love the Texas Hill Country so much. And that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

P.S. The rescue ranch will be closed in the morning, because of my book signing, but it will be open to the Public by 1:00.

Surf And Turf!

Today has been great. This morning as soon as I did my chores outside I came back inside to catch up on a little paperwork and return a few phone calls. As soon as I was caught up with my rescue ranch work I started writing again, because I am on a roll with it and am now over halfway there to finishing, The Cowgirl Sisterhood: Part II, A Death In New Mexico.

While I was finishing up the hilarious part about Jimmy Jordan I was laughing and then I screamed, "Tony! Come quick! A giant spider just fell from the ceiling and it landed on a page of my printed novella, that I was editing."

Then I grabbed my camera so I could take a picture of it, as Tony stared at it and began chuckling. "It's not a spider, Nancy. It has wings. Spiders don't have wings."

"Well, whatever it is please take him and introduce him to the great outdoors." After I took this picture Tony used two tablespoons to scoop him/her up, before setting him free on our front porch. And I am not sure if it or I was the most scared.

As I was trying to calm myself, the phone rang—it was Kinky. He wanted to know if we wanted to meet him in Kerrville to eat lunch together.

Around 1:00, we were sitting across a table talking to Kinky and his and our friend Bob about what we were going to order. When Tony, the friendly waiter, walked up to take our orders I said, "I think I'll try this one, but I don't know how to pronounce it.

Tony smiled, Kinky smiled, Bob smiled and Tony smiled at me. Then their Tony told me the Spanish name for it and then he said in English, "It's what you would call the Surf and Turf." Then everyone gave him their order.

The four of us talked about books. Then Bob told us some hilarious stories about his travels to Nicaragua, Cuba, Mexico and Belize. Then lunch was served. Kink's Mexican plate looked tasty, Bob's tortilla soup looked delicious and Tony's Burrito plate looked yummy, too. Then Tony put my Surf & Turf plate down in front of me and the men's eyes got real big. "I wish I had ordered that," they took turns telling me, as I sank my dentures into a delicious shrimp, covered in melted queso and covered with pico de gallo. (Carol, in Spanish, queso means cheese dip. LOL, I got you!)   : )

After a fun lunch we adios-ed each other and went our separate ways. Our way, was to Office Max, so I could pick up some office supplies. Then Tony drove Trigger across the street, so we could go to J. C. Penneys, so I could buy something nice to wear for my first book (novella) signing of, The Cowgirl Sisterhood: The Membership Drive, Part I. Then we came home.

When we walked inside of The Cabin, the phone rang—it was Kinky. He wanted to know if he could come over and have a picnic with Toto, because Toto is so old and his health is rapidly going downhill. 

Five minutes later, Kinky was inside our trailer, hand-feeding Toto small pieces of meat and tossing big pieces of meat into the air for Roy to catch. All-in-all Toto and Roy enjoyed their picnic with Kinky and so did we. And not to brag about my Roy, (Yes, I know I am bragging about my four-legged-soul mate.) he caught every piece of meat in the air. He is such a cool dog.

A few minutes ago, while I was writing this, Jerry of Jerry & Patsy, the nice couple who adopted Jethro Tull from us last Saturday called, so Tony took the call. When Tony said, "Well, thank you so much for calling. Goodbye," I stopped writing and turned around. "Jerry, just told me that they love Jethro and Jethro loves them, especially his new forever home..." Hearing that good news has made my day great.

As I finish writing this, so I can get back to writing my novella, I want to show you the picture that I took last Monday of the Medina Community Library's window display that they put together for my book signing this coming Saturday from 10:30 to noon. I think it is an awesome display and I think that the "Best Little Library In Texas" is even more awesome. I hope many of you can come to it, so you can purchase a book or see what I purchased at JCP today.

Y'all have a great evening!

P.S. My dear friend Mari just sent me this and it is without a doubt the greatest dogs dancing that I have ever seen. Please check it out. It made me tear up. It's titled, Glenn Miller Routine— Hooked On Swing. You'll thank me for posting it when you watch it.

Happy Birthday Sandy!

Tony and I want to be one of the first to wish our dear friend Sandy Wolfmueller the happiest birthday ever!

"Happy Birthday to You. Happy Birthday to You. Happy Birthday Dear Sandy. Happy Birthday to You. And many more."

We love you, Sandy!

Out Door Concert!

This weekend has been a total blast. Yesterday morning, Patsy & Jerry, the nicest couple, that had told me earlier in the week that they wanted to come out on Saturday to possibly adopt one of our dogs, did as they had said.

After showing them all of our dogs and having a nice visit with them, Patsy told us, "We definitely want to adopt Jethro Tull. Earlier in the week when we had looked at your website and I saw Jethro, Jerry printed out an 8x10 of him for me. I knew he was the one the minute that I saw his picture and..."

When Jethro's adoption papers had been signed, in The Okay Corral, Tony and I jumped into Kermit and they followed us in their big, fancy pickup to Jethro Tull's and Tuesday Weld's pen, so Tony could put their collar and leash on him.

After Tony had put Jethro's dog tags on their new dog collar for him, Tony put Jethro in the alley and put on his new collar and leash and Jethro was uncontrollably happy about it, because I know he knew that he had found his forever-loving family. When Tony came out of the alley with Jethro I took this picture of them and then Jethro jumped into the backseat of their four door truck, because he could not wait to go to his new home and never see us again. And it made Brandon laugh.

When I returned to The Cabin the phone rang and it was Kinky. "Nance, I am at the airport. I've decided to come home a day early and I should be back at the ranch late this afternoon." Which thrilled me. Then I thrilled Kink when I told him about Jethro's awesome adoption and how much Tony and I had liked the couple who adopted him.

A couple of hours later, while I was in the kitchen slow-cooking Tony's, Brandon's and my lunch. the coolest people showed up. Jon had called me on Friday about coming out to see the ranch and because time had gotten away from them, they called me back and asked if it would be alright if they would come see us on Saturday instead.

The minute they showed up in their RV with their two adorable Pugs and two beautiful cats, I liked them already. Jon and Karen had driven all of the way from Portland, Oregon with their pets and they were driving all of the way to North Carolina, before turning around and heading back home.

When I invited them to come inside The Cabin they loved it. "Who's the guitar picker?" Jon asked, when he saw my guitar leaning up against the wall. When Karen told me that he was in a band, I told them all about Brandon being an extremely talented musician. Then I invited them to stay and eat lunch with us, so we could get to know them better. Then we went outside to The Okay Corral.

While Tony finished cooking the bacon wrapped bananas and ribs on the grill, Jon and Brandon started pickin' and grinnin'. Oh my goodness, they were fantastic. They played everything from Eric Clapton, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Lynrd Skynrd, The Allman Brothers, The Eagles, Alabama, John Prine, Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, etc. and because they were so talented they had all of us smiling and wanting to hear more.

While we sat around the table eating ribs, roasted brussels sprouts covered with delicious Better Than Good Bacon Jam sauce and partially mashed potatoes we traded funny stories back and forth. While we were eating Karen's mouthwatering, homemade carrot cake for desert, we started talking about odd food combinations. and how much they loved eating Tony's Bacon Wrapped Bananas. "Have you ever eaten a peanut butter burger?" Jon asked. Brandon, Tony and I shook our heads sideways. "I know it doesn't sound like it would taste good, but it is our favorite and..."

After our filled-with-laughter picnic ended, we begged Jon and Brandon to play some more music for us and they were so great. As they mesmerized us with their beautiful music, I told Tony, "This beats any out door concert that I've ever been to. And it's happening in The Okay Corral!" As they performed some of our favorite Kenny Loggins, Willis Alan Ramsey, Beatles songs and played the Blues, I thought to myself, "It just doesn't get any better than this." And I think that everyone else was thinking the exactly the same thing.

A few hours later, after Tony had taken Brandon home, Jon and Karen helped me clean up The Okay Corral and when we were finished, the four of us sat out in The Okay Corral and had another fun visit, until Kinky returned back to the ranch. Then we went over to the Lodge, so they could meet him and have a short visit with him.

They had a great time meeting Kinky and before we left the Lodge, he signed several copies of "Cuddles Epilogue." So, to say the least, "Yesterday was a wonderful day and I am so glad that Jethro got adopted and we can now say that we have four new friends to add to our long list of friends: Jerry & Patsy and Karen & Jon."

Today I made Peanut Butter Burgers and they were absolutely delicious. And when Brandon, A.J. and Karen came over this afternoon I cooked one up for them and to their surprise—they loved it, too.

Y'all have a great evening!

Cosmic Events!

Today has been great even though we had a meteorite hit our planet, another one nearly missing it and Mercury has been in retrograde, since February 8th. This morning our super volunteers/friends: Jim and Kris & Jim, "The Mineral Man," came out and walked our dogs for us. Then we went to Koyote Ranch to eat lunch together and it was a lot of fun as always.

Around 2:00, I jumped into Trigger and took off for Medina, so I could go mail out some more books and when I got back home Tony realized that he had forgotten to pick up something, in Medina, so we grabbed our cameras, jumped into Trigger and went back to Medina for two reasons.

After Tone had rented a tiller to use in his garden, we drove down the street and parked in front of the Medina Community Library aka "The Best Little Library in Texas." Then we grabbed our cameras and went inside our favorite library, so we could take pictures of their display announcing my upcoming book signing on Saturday, February 23rd, from 10:30-12:00.

I was thrilled the second that I spotted it, on the information and checkout counter and I could not help but grin. "Tony, I love what they have done..." Then we stood back and shot the display with our cameras. As we were leaving the library I asked a friendly volunteer, "Please thank Mary Ellen for me and please tell her that I love the display. Here is a picture of it.

And that is about it for tonight, because I need to go write some more.

Y'all have a great evening!

Happy Birthday Carol Vail!

Tony and I want to be one the first people to wish our dear friend Carol Vail the happiest birthday ever! Carol and I are best friends and that is why she is one of the main characters in my new mystery, cliffhanger novella, which knock-on-wood is still selling like hot cakes.

"Happy Birthday to You. Happy Birthday to You. Happy Birthday Dear Carol. Happy Birthday to YOU! And many more." We love you! And Happy Valentine's Day, too!

Fourth And Jimmy! or Quatro And Yibaditty!

Today has been a blast. This morning before Tony returned home from drinking coffee with his friends at the Old Timer, in Medina, I decided to call Kinky. When I turned on the phone there was the sound of silence, instead of the dial tone. "Hello?" I said.

"Good morning, Nance," Kinky said. "How are you doing this morning?"

"Oh my goodness, Kinky. I was just fixin' to call you and my phone never rang when I turned it on."
Which made Kinky chuckle.

"That's because you're psychic," he teased. After I had quit laughing he said, "I'm leaving for the airport in a couple of hours. Can you come over for a visit, before I leave?"

A little later after Tony and I ate breakfast I said, "I'm going over to the Lodge to visit with Kinky before he leaves. Will you call Fourth and see if he can meet us for lunch today, Wednesday or Thursday?"

I had a fun visit with Kinky, in his kitchen. We talked about The Friedmans (His adorable three dogs.) needing to go on a diet and Sophie's new weight loss program that starts as soon as he leaves for the airport.

Forty minutes later, when I walked back inside The Cabin, Tony had written me a note and left it on the breakfast bar, because he was already outside feeding the dogs. "Nancy, We're meeting Fourth for lunch at 12:30. Love, Tony." Then I went outside to clean the dog pens, which is my morning chore.

Around 11:00, after doing our morning chores outside, we came inside The Cabin and Tony told me, "When I talked to Fourth, he told me that he was going to invite his friend Jimmy Jordan to join us, because Jimmy wants to meet you."

"Who is Jimmy?"

"Jimmy is the man who went with Fourth and me down to Port Aransas, in the Fall, to see Rick. He is real funny, too. He's great and you'll definitely like him."

When we arrived at El Sol de Mexico, Tony said, "There's Jimmy, sitting in his truck." When Jimmy saw us approaching his pickup, he jumped out and walked right up to me and shook my hand and said, "I'm Jimmy and I am so glad to meet you. I loved reading your novella and I laughed all of the way through it." Then he let go of my hand and said, "Hello, Tony. It's good to see you." Then we went into our favorite Mexican food restaurant.

As we waited on Fourth, who was running about five minutes late, we laughed and talked about, The Cowgirl Sisterhood: The Membership Drive, Part I and Fourth and Lynda's funny characters that I had invented for them. And by the time Fourth arrived, four minutes later, Jimmy and I were good friends.

While we ate our delicious lunch it was basically non-stop laughter, because our friends have the greatest sense of humor. Halfway through our meal, when I told them about Kinky suggesting that I kill-off one of the characters in Part II, Jimmy tells me that he wants to be in my Part II novella and that I can kill him off if I want to or turn him into any character that I want to, since none of the characters, my friends, want "to be killed-off."

So, after he told me this and I had agreed to add him as another zany character, we laughed and joked about who he should be. "Do you have a nickname, Jimmy?" I asked. He and Fourth started laughing.

"He has two!" Fourth said, as Jimmy turned red in the face. "Pistelero and Yibaditty."

"Yibaditty?" I asked. Then they told me that one time when they were cutting up, Jimmy had told Fourth that he would have been a great auctioneer, so Fourth asked him to prove it. Then my new friend Jimmy starts laughing and says, "We've got a hundred over here. Yibaditty, yibaditty, yibaditty. One hundred and twenty five. Yibaditty, yibaditty, yibaditty, one fifty, Yibaditty, yibaditty, yibaditty etc."

After all of us had quit laughing I said, "I am definitely blogging about this tonight and when we get home I am adding you to my novella, because I am at the perfect part to add you."

When our hilarious lunch ended and we had adios-ed each other, Tony and I talked non-stop about how much fun we had had, as Trigger took us home. And here is an excerpt from my Part II, Death In New Mexico novella, that I wrote late this afternoon.

"About thirty minutes later, we arrived at Mari & David's beautiful NoMad Ranch, with our alien-attracting helmets, Carol's fiddle and my guitar. And following close behind us was Fourth and Lynda, with their new neighbor, Jimmy Jordan, riding in the bed of their truck, which I thought was a little bit odd, because their Ford F-150 4X4 is a four-door..."

Earlier this evening, I went out on the front porch and took this picture of another beautiful Medina, Texas sunset. And that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

Happy Birthday Eileen Gotke!

Today is our good friend, Eileen Gotke's birthday and Tony and I hope it will be her best birthday ever.

"Happy Birthday to You. Happy Birthday to You. Happy Birthday Dear Eileen. Happy Birthday to You. And many more."

LP & MC!

Today has been so great even though I talked to much again, which of course is nothing new. This morning around 11:00, I called Kinky to see if his new friends, from California, that he had met on his West Coast Bi-Polar Tour had arrived, because I could not wait to meet them, so I could thank Laura and her husband Patrick for sponsoring one of our dog pens for $1,000.00.

Kink had told me earlier this morning, that they were great people and they were big time animal lovers—especially dogs. His actual words were, "You're going to love these people. They are definitely our kind of people. And last night when I joined them at the Cowboy Steakhouse for dinner, Cecilie and her husband Mark gave us a $1,000.00 check to sponsor a dog pen for a year, also and they have named the pen, "A Friend In Need" and..."

"That is fantastic news, Kinky! Now what are their names again, so I can remember them?"

"Patrick & Laura and Cecilie & Mark."

"Okay, I got it, Kink," I said. "LP and MC." And that made Kinky chuckle.

"I'm going to drive them over there now and drop them off, so they can meet y'all and see our rescue ranch."

"Okay, bye." Then I quickly wrote down on a piece of paper LP and MC and slipped it into my Levi jeans rear pocket, in case I forgot their names, because at my age I am bad at remembering names, etc.

When they arrived, Kinky introduced me to the super cool couples and then he joked to them about me remembering their names as LP and MC. "Now Nance, when they get bored just send them back over to the Lodge, because we are going to Medina to eat lunch at the Cider Mill."

I looked at my soon to be new friends and joked, "Okay. That should take less than five minutes." Then Kinky adios-ed us, jumped into Mr. Green Jeans, his pickup and drove away with his friend Dylan.

Oh my goodness, I instantly fell in love with LP and MC and I felt like we were family and had been  best friends forever. "We brought you gifts from California," Laura said. Then she handed me a sack with See's Famous Old Time Candies and a can of See's Extra Fancy Mixed Salted Nuts and a Devil Mountain Wholesale Nursery t-shirt, which Laura and Patrick own. "The delicious nuts, chocolates and t-shirt are made in California, USA," Laura told me.

"Thank y'all," I said. "I love anything that is made in the good ole USA!"

Then we came into The Cabin, because I wanted them to meet Toto, Mama, Belle and Roy and to show them our super cool thirty-year-old trailer, that I am so proud of and love. We had a fun visit with them for over an hour and then I gave them our grand tour, which included going into Outer Space, my writing cabin and meeting all of our dogs and telling them their stories.

Thirty minutes later, when they got bored with us they adios-ed us and they went back over to the Lodge to go eat lunch with Kinky, in Medina. But before leaving they told me they would come back over after lunch, so we could hang up Laura's and Patrick sign and they kept their word. Here is a picture Tony took of us after Brandon had hung up their sign with their prayer flag, on Martha Stewart's pen. From left to right is Patrick & Laura, guess who and Mark & Cecilie.

Then we went back to The Cabin and had another fun visit, before they left. Five minutes later I punched in Kink's phone number and told him how much fun I had had with LP & MC.

"I knew you would like them," he said. "Why don't you come over here and visit with them some more?"

"I can't, because Brandon has finished working for us and he and I are fixin' to record some more of his songs. Please tell LP and MC I hope that we get to see them sooner than later..." Then Tony adios-ed Brandon and me, because he needed to go to the Medina Community Library, for his and his friends first photography club meeting.

While Tone was gone, Brandon recorded and re-recorded and then mixed three really great songs that he had written and they were absolutely fabulous. When Tony returned home, Brandon played his three songs for T. and it blew Tone "out of the saddle," so to speak. Then Brandon and I burned his super songs to another one of my pink colored Cd's and we titled that CD, "Brandon! Live From The Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch," because during the recordings you could hear Toto walking on the vinyl floor, Mama barking and Roy snoring in the background. And that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

Mouse Dropping!

Today has been great and it started really early. At 5:39 this morning the phone rang and Tony took the call, because Mama, Roy and I were snoring loudly in the bedroom. He was a milk man delivering milk to a school, in North Texas and O'Henry had wandered up. (We adopted out O'Henry, a handsome German Shorthair on November 8, 2011.)

When gave Tony his Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch tag number to Tony, he called the owners and found out the woman was in the hospital recovering from major surgery. Anyway, long story short and sweet—she's doing fine and O'Henry is back home.

This morning at 7:45, I called Harley Belew, at the radio station, so I could do my weekly Utopia segment on The Harley Show. It was a lot of fun and Betty Rubble was Harley's Pet of the Week.

After having breakfast with Tony, he went outside to do our chores, because I had to go to the Medina Community Library aka "The Best Little Library In Texas," to bring Mary Ellen some props for them to display to help advertise my very first book signing for my new novella, The Cowgirl Sisterhood: The Membership Drive, Part I, scheduled for Saturday morning, February 23rd from 10:30 - 12:00. 

When I got back home Carlton had two messages for me. One from Kinky and the other from our friend Marguerite, who adopted Enzo from us a few years ago. I called Marguerite first. She told me that when she had read my blog about the adorable one-eyed, thirteen-weeks-old, Heeler/Beagle puppy. And that she could not quit thinking about him. She had even dreamed about him and last night when she dreamed about trying to help a little one-eyed boy—she knew she had to adopt our puppy.

"Last night Tony named the precious pup, Clyde. I told him that it was fine, but his official name would be Clyde Kadiddlehopper, which of course dates me back to The Red Skelton Show..." When Marguerite and I adios-ed each other around 12:00, I said, "Tony, we're meeting Marguerite, at Hoegemeyer Animal Clinic, in forty-five minutes, because she wants to adopt Clyde!" And fifteen minutes later we took off in Buttermilk with our/her precious cargo.

When we arrived five minutes late at Hoegemeyer's, Marguerite was inside the lobby visiting with Susan. When Tony handed Clyde to his new best friend, Clyde began wagging his tail wildly, while licking and kissing her face, so I snapped this picture of them, because I don't know who was more happier, Marguerite, Clyde, Susan or us.

After Marguerite had signed off on Clyde's adoption papers and told Susan, "His new name is Odi," we adios-ed Susan and Marguerite and went to eat lunch at our favorite BBQ place, Cal-Bob's Smoke Shack, on the other side of I-10.

When we walked inside Carol and Calvin's popular Smoke Shack, that has been rated in this months Texas Monthly magazine as having the best BBQ in the Hill Country and Read about Cal Bob's Smoke Shack on Trip Advisor

 Trip Advisor rated Cal Bob's-#3 Out Of 18,000 plus Restaurants in Texas it was packed with happy diners and fortunately for us there was one empty table for us to take. When Carol saw us she came running out of the kitchen to greet us with hugs.

As always our lunch was absolutely delicious and fun, because we got to meet their friend Tucker, who  just moved to Kerrville, three months ago, from Alaska and we had a great visit with Carol.

When we got back to the ranch I called Kinky and told him the great news about Clyde aka Odi getting adopted and Kinky was as thrilled as we were about it. When I told him that I was fixin' to head to Medina, to drop off a few more things at the library, he said, "Great. Can you mail a letter for me?"

Ten minutes later when Tony and I went over to the Lodge, I walked inside the kitchen and saw his letter that he wanted me to mail and because I could hear Kinky talking on the phone, in his office, I grabbed the letter and left.

Right after I dropped his letter in the mailbox I thought, "Oh my goodness. I hope that was the letter he wanted to be mailed." Then we went to the library and delivered more props, including an old pair of my pink Justin Gypsy cowgirl boots and one of my roping ropes, for my upcoming book signing and then we had a nice visit with Mary Ellen, the library Director. 

When we got back home I punched in Kink's phone number. "Kinky, I just mailed that letter that was sitting on your kitchen table. I hope it was the letter you wanted me to mail for you?" Kinky chuckled.

"Yes, you mailed the right letter and thank you..." And that is about it for tonight. No wait. I just heard a splash behind me and turned around and saw a small mouse trying not to drown in our dog's big water bowl. "Tony! Help!" I nearly yelled. "Come quick!"

Tony came running down the hall as I told him about the helpless, little mouse that must have fallen off of our breakfast bar into the water bowl. "Why don't you carry the water bowl outside and pour him out?" I suggested. So, Tony picked up the water bowl with the little mouse dog paddling in the water. Then I opened our front door so Tony could go outside to save his or her life.

When Tone came back inside with the emptied water bowl I thanked him and said, "That's the first mouse dropping we've ever had." And now I can truly say, "And that's about it for tonight. I hope."

Y'all have a great evening!

He Liked It! He Really Liked It!

Today has been great. After we did our morning chores outside I came into the house and the phone rang—it was Kinky. After we greeted each other he said in a very serious voice, "I finished reading your novella last night. Can you come over right now, so I can talk to you about it."

"Sure." When I hung up the phone I was a little worried that Kinky didn't like my novella and I wasn't sure that I was ready to hear any criticism from him.

Five minutes later, Kinky and I were sitting in his rocking chairs, on the front porch and he was holding my novella in his left hand and a cigar in his right hand. We watched The Friedmans play for a minute or so and then I took a deep breath and asked him, "Well, did you like it?"

Oh my goodness—he liked it! He really liked it and all of the colorful characters in it, which he also knows and are his friends, too. We sat on his front porch for over an hour and a half talking and laughing about the zany characters and the funny situations that I put them in.

I was literally on Cloud Nine listening to him talk to me about our friends that I put in my novella: Carol, Fay, Vern, Mari & David, Lynda & Fourth, 'Erb & Karen, Monk & Lynn, Cheryl & Walt, Maribeth, Les & Denise, Tony, Ben, Rick & Leisa and Ellen & Charlie. "Nancy, it is well written, an easy fun read and I laughed all of the way through it."

When I started telling him about the plot and what is going to happen to the characters in Part II, he loved it and many times he would laugh out loud. "You're really on to something here about writing funny, fiction, mystery, cliffhanger novellas, Nancy and..."

Before leaving the Lodge he suggested that I "kill off" one of the characters in Part II and then we laughed and joked about who it might be.

When I came back home I was so happy and excited about Kinky loving my novella, I told Tony all about what he had said to me as he drove us to Kerrville, to meet our good friends Kris & Jim, "The Mineral Man," for lunch at our favorite Mexican food restaurant, El Sol De Mexico.

Lunch with our friends was so much fun. As we ate our delicious lunch we laughed and joked and traded hilarious stories. Then we came back home. And that is about it for tonight, because I have got some more writing to do.

Y'all have a great evening!

My Recipe!

Today has been great, but yesterday was even better for several reasons. After Brandon, Rick, Tony and I ate lunch I asked Brandon to take a break, so he and I could mess around with my Garage Band software and record him playing and singing some of the awesome songs that he has written.

In minutes, Brandon was sitting at the kitchen table, adjusting the settings on my Yeti microphone, that I purchased a few years ago, so I could make my second book an audio book. But I ended up scraping that idea, because Ben and Tony kept making me laughing, etc., but mainly because of my thick North Texas accent, which made me sound like a country hick.

After I showed Brandon how to record himself, he filled The Cabin with beautiful music. While he recorded one song after another two very nice women showed up, because they wanted to meet us and see our rescue ranch. Tony and I really liked Patti and Laura and because they had driven all of the way from Killeen, Texas we gave them the grand tour. Then the four of us went into Outer Space and had a really fun visit.

Around 2:30 after they had left, Rick and Tony took off in Trigger to get groceries at the H-E-B on Highway 16, while Brandon continued to record and figured out how to use special sound effects to improve the quality of his recordings.

When Rick and Tony arrived back at the ranch they put up the groceries, because Brandon and I were busy burning his songs to a CD for him. While I was syncing my iPod with Brandon's songs, so we could play them for Karon and Dalton, Tony showed Rick how to make bacon-wrapped bananas, because we had invited Karon and her son Dalton to come over for a visit and appetizers, before taking Brandon back home.

When Rick and Tony went outside to heat up our new Char-Broil Tru-infared grill, Stacie and her eight-year-old son, also named Brandon, arrived to officially adopt Molly Brown. After Stacie filled out The Unsinkable Molly Brown's adoption form Tone and I jumped into Kermit and they followed us in their big truck, down to Molly's and Rocky's pen.

When Molly saw little Brandon jump out of their truck, she knew that she was getting adopted and she could not quit wagging her tail and jumping up and down, which made it difficult for Tony to put a leash on her. When she came out of her pen she pulled Tony to Brandon and began kissing Brandon. I took these two pictures of Brandon with his new best friend, as Karon and Dalton pulled up.

After we had adios-ed Stacie, her sweet, happy little boy and Molly, one super lucky dog, we drove back to The Okay Corral, so Tony could cook the bacon-wrapped bananas, which Rick was already hesitant about tasting. 

While everyone sat around waiting for the delicious treats to finish cooking, I went up to The Cabin, grabbed my iPod and the portable Bose docking system and returned to The Okay Corral, so everyone could listen to Brandon's very first recorded music and they loved it. And Rick loved, "Tony's Bacon-Wrapped Bananas," my recipe that Tone stole from me, that I stole from my girlfriend's father, forty-seven-years ago, when I was in the eighth grade.

As our friends enjoyed eating the appetizers we tried to come up with a perfect name for the adorable little pup, because I decided Babe Ruth wasn't such a good name after all. Rick suggested, Patches. Dalton and Brandon came up with several funny names, but as of today he still hasn't been officially named, because I want his name to be very special, because he is such a special little puppy. 

As I finish typing this, this adorable, little one-eyed Beagle/Heeler pup is sleeping in his crate, about one foot away from me, probably dreaming about the day when we will finally remove his Victorian collar, that he has to wear to protect his healing eyelid. 

If any of y'all know of some super dog-loving friend that might want to adopt him please tell them to call me. He is thirteen-weeks-old, neutered, wormed and has had his1st puppy shots and rabies shot and  he is very smart, because we have already house-trained him. 

Rick left early this morning after he and Tony returned from drinking coffee at The Old Timer, in Medina. Around noon today, my throat started feeling sore and scratchy and now I am coughing regularly, so I guess I caught whatever 3-4 day coughing deal that Tony has just gotten over and what Rick had when he arrived here on Friday. Fortunately, neither one of them never had fever or felt bad, except for a nagging cough. So, at least I know it is not the dreaded flu.

And that is about it for today, except for one more time wishing our dear friend Fourth Coates a happy birthday.

Y'all have a great evening!

Happy Birthday Fourth Coates!

Today is our dear friend, Fourth Coates birthday. Tony and I were invited to his surprise birthday party last night, but unfortunately we didn't get to go, because Tony has been nursing a bad cough for four days and he did not want to go and expose our old friends to it.

Earlier in the week we had picked up Fourth's birthday present and card. Because Fourth had given me a bottle of his favorite wine, Quatro, for my birthday, we decided to give him a bottle of Cowgirl Sisterhood Wine. And we used my last foil pot pie pan and made him a sports model, alien-attracting helmet, because in my fiction novella he and his wife, Lynda, have Alien-fever and they wear them.

This morning as I write this, Rick and Tony are at the Old Timer drinking coffee and hopefully Fourth will show up, so Tony can give Fourth his birthday presents. "Happy Birthday, Fourth! We love you."

Be-He!

Today has been great. This morning our super volunteers/friends: June, Lisa, Jim and Kris & Jim aka "The Mineral Man," came out to walk our dogs for us and our dogs loved it and so did we.

Then all of us went up to Koyote Ranch's Koyote Kafe to eat lunch together and we had a lot of fun as always. When we took turns talking about some of our worse first dates experiences I could not eat, because I was laughing so much.

Around 1:30 our dear friend Rick called to tell me that he was in the Hill Country and to ask if he could camp out in my writing cabin for the night and I told him, "Yes, of course..." Then I grabbed my bread machine out of our bedroom closet and carried it into the kitchen. Then I followed the easy bread recipe directions and then pressed the start button to bake a loaf of bread. Then I pulled a tray of country ribs out of the refrigerator and used Brandon's delicious rib recipe to prepare them and then I shoved the ribs into the oven to bake for a few hours.

At 2:30 our dear friend Ruth and her daughter arrived right on time, with the cute little pup that she had rescued yesterday. He is an adorable 13 weeks old little Beagle/Heeler, which I guess would make him a Be-He.

Yesterday morning Ruth had called me before 8:00 and she told me about this little pup that she had rescued, that had just been attacked by a big dog and the pup was either going to be put down, in two hours, if she could not find someone to take him or he would have eye surgery to remove his eye.

Even though we are still at capacity out here I told Ruth that we could take him. So yesterday morning, instead of him dying, this sweet, vivacious little pup had his eye surgery, was neutered and given his first puppy shots by her veterinarian—at no cost to her or to us.

I have named this little guy, Babe Ruth and he is sleeping soundly, in his crate, that is right next to me, at the kitchen table. Tony and I plan to keep him in The Cabin with us until he he is finished taking all of his pain medicine and Amoxicillin. If any of y'all know someone that might be interested in adopting Babe Ruth from us, please tell them that this adorable, playful, highly intelligent pup is going to turn out to be a super-dog, because of all that he has already been through.

Here are a few pictures that I took of "The Sultan of Swat"with Tony and Rick in the Okay Corral earlier and inside his crate with his purple squeaky toy.

Y'all have a great evening!