Friday, February 27, 2015

Lemonade!

We all know that saying, "When life throws you a lemon—make lemonade." Well, because of our crazy weather patterns that we've been having lately, with one or two days being warm to hot and then followed with three or four cold weather (the lemon) days, I've decided to try to make lemonade tonight as I write this post, because I can't wait for Spring to come. So here goes.

Yesterday was great until Rick got here. When our dear friend pulled up in his miniature rental car it was sixty degrees outside and the sun was shining brightly. Life was good for about one hour and a half—then the sky suddenly clouded up, the winds became stronger and the temperature outside dropped eight degrees within five minutes, causing my smile to turn upside down. Not a pretty sight.

As the outside temperature continued to steadily drop outside, Rick, Tony and I had fun, inside The Cabin, catching up with each other's news. While Rick was telling us a funny story about Leisa and him, in Nicaragua, our dogs started barking, because of an incoming FedEx delivery truck. "Are you expecting a delivery?" Tony asked me.

"Yeah, but not until March 2nd," I said. Then Tony went outside to go greet the friendly driver. "Rick, this past Sunday I went on eBay and bought a mini-portable amp similar to one of Chet's many amps. It's a Roland Micro Cube and it is AC/DC and it has two watts of power. Chet's portable Roland AC/DC amp has 5 watts of power. His is much cooler and more expensive than mine. Mine is supposed to be delivered on Monday and I can't wait."

Then Tony came back inside, The Cabin, carrying an overly taped up package. "It's for you, Nancy." I looked at the label and I didn't know what it could be or who it was from. Then I grabbed our kitchen scissors and started trying to open the box and I was having trouble trying to cut through the many layers of tape.

"Hey, Cousin Nancy," Rick said, as he pulled out his pocketknife. "Let me open it up for you. It will take you all day to open it with those dull scissors." I stood back and watched Rick quickly cut through all of the red tape.

When Rick pulled it, out of the box, it was covered with layers and layers of bubble-wrap and it was also overly taped, to secure the protective bubble-wrap. As we laughed and made jokes about whoever had packed and shipped it, Rick cut away at the "stress relieving bubbles" that made popping sounds.

When Rick finally removed the last layer of bubble-wrap, he said, "It's your amp, Nancy! Plug it in and play something for us." And that put a smile back on my face.


As I was plugging in my new/used mini, portable amp, into B.B. King, my telecaster guitar, I said, "Rick, two days ago, while I was listening to Pandora I heard this great, live version of one of my most favorite songs, so I immediately went to iTunes and purchased the song. You'll recognize it immediately and you'll love it, too. I'm going to play it on my sound dock with me playing my guitar, in the background." 

Then I found the song on my iPod and tapped the play button. Then I cranked up the volume on my Roland Micro Cube amp to match the Bose's volume and I started playing, For What It's Worth, on my electric guitar, with the Buffalo Springfield band. 

This jazzed-up version of For What It's Worth was recorded live, at the 1967 Monterrey Pop Festival. And according to Pandora's notes, it was also the very first time that David Crosby sang this famous song, because he had just joined Buffalo Springfield, that very day, after leaving The Byrds, earlier that day, at the music festival. 

Anyway it made Rick's jaw drop when he heard the first few notes and that made me smile even more. "Nancy, you sound fantastic!" Rick said. "I never knew there was a live version of this song. I like the live version better than the...."

Today has been great. Early this morning I cooked breakfast for the three of us, before Tony went outside to do our chores. While Tony was outside working hard, Rick and I drank coffee while we watched The Weather Channel, because Rick was leaving, in an hour, to drive up to Fort Worth. And even though North Texas was being hit hard with ice, snow and twenty degree weather—Rick adios-ed us around 11:00 and took off.

This afternoon we invited Chet O'Keefe and Brian Kanof to eat lunch with us. They arrived around 1:00, ten minutes before lunch was ready to eat. When I showed Chet my new/used Roland amp he thought it was cool, so I asked him to try it out. 

I handed him B.B. Then he slipped my sparkling pink guitar strap over his head and started playing some cool jazz and blues. Omg, Chet sounded so good that he immediately mesmerized Brian, Tony and me. We all quit talking and just listened to Chet make music.

After lunch, Chet picked up B.B. again and this time he sat down, next to Little Debbie, in Roy's chair and once again, he started playing some more great music for us. And it mesmerized Little Debbie, too.



Late this afternoon I walked back into the kitchen and caught Alice and Little Debbie venting, again. So, I grabbed my camera to capture the precious moment.


And this is my version of making lemonade. I hope you liked it and that it made you smile

Y'all have a great evening!

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Digging Up Bones!

Today has been great, because we have had blue skies and much warmer weather. Because the past two days were so dreary and cold so all I did was do paperwork and play my guitar. And that is the reason that I haven't posted anything, because there was basically nothing to write about.

This afternoon Tony and I went to Kerrville. We met our dear friend Jim "The Mineral Man" for lunch and it was so much fun. Unfortunately, his sweet wife Kris was a no-show today, because she is currently out of town, for a few days, digging up bones, etc., at a very famous archeology site, in Southwest Texas.

When we got back home this afternoon Hazel and I deep cleaned our trailer, because our good friend Rick is coming to visit us tomorrow and spend the night. I am so glad that I did it too, because it really looks like we don't live here. But trust me, by Friday, I'll be pulling Hazel back out of the closet, to remove a new layer of dog hair, because our dogs are shedding their coats, even though I keep warning them, "Y'all, winter isn't over yet. Keep your hair to yourselves."

Like Tony, they have selective hearing, too and they have ignored my winter warnings, so when our next cold front comes in tomorrow night they'll wish that they had listened to me and they will be begging me to empty Hazel's canister, full of their hair, so they get it back on them.

Early this evening, after admiring Hazel's and my handy-work, I brought my step stool, into the kitchen. Then I went and found our drill and two long screws. Then I pulled our kitchen table away from the wall and half-hollered, "Tony! I need your help!"

Because Tony sometimes has selective hearing, he could tell that it wasn't another one of my emergencies, so he said, "Okay, I'll be there in just a minute." And five minutes later, he grabbed the drill and screws and attached my new Appalachian Trl. sign to the wall, above our kitchen table and I was thrilled.

I love the way it looks on the wall and I like that the Appalachian Logo is above the curtain that I made, almost twenty years ago, that shows my registered brand, that I embroidered on it. The RT with the circle around it I designed and it stands for Rolling Thunder Ranch, which was the name I gave to my beautiful mini-ranch, in Utopia, Texas. Here are two pictures of the newly improved kitchen wall and that's Roy shedding more of his coat, as he sleeps and dreams about spring weather.



And that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

Saturday, February 21, 2015

Happy Valentine Day!

Today has been great. Tony's horrible cedar fever coughing and congestion has finally gone away, thanks to Carol, for telling us about Mucinex-DM. My back is back the way it is supposed to be—feeling no pain and I no longer have cedar fever. And it has been a beautiful sunshiny day, too. So, life is once again good, at the rescue ranch.

This morning our new neighbor/friend Brad came over to sign adoption papers, because he and April, his sweet wife and sons have fallen head-over-heels in love with The Mystery Dog, that I wrote about, last Wednesday

Before Brad signed the adoption papers we visited with him and The Mystery Dog for awhile. After Brad signed his name and made the adoption official I asked him if I could take a picture of him and Valentine. Yes Valentine, that cute, low-rider version of a dog, was The Mystery Dog. And here is the picture I took to prove it. 



Early this afternoon Kinky called me from Germany and he left us a message on Carlton, because I was outside, in our front yard, mowing down the tall, rescue grass again, while Tony was busy weed-eating Lois Lane's dog pen. I was sick that I didn't get to talk to him, but Kinky sounded great and he said that he is enjoying his fast-paced tour of Germany and having a really good time with the German people and that he will be back at the ranch on March 4th. We have missed Kinky and it was so good to hear his voice and I am so glad that he called.

A few hours later, our dear friend, Rick, called me from Nicaragua, to tell me that he will be seeing us this coming Thursday. We are looking forward to seeing him and have him spend the night with us. Rick told me that Friday morning he wants to help us with our morning chores, before he drives up to Fort Worth. And it was good to hear his voice, too.

Then late this afternoon my sweet sister, Cindy, called me. I always love talking to Cindy, because when we get together all we do is laugh about life, because we both have the same kind of sense of humor. When I told her about my Secret Project that I am working on she burst out laughing which made me laugh so hard I was scared that my back would go out again. And before we changed the subject, Cindy gave me a great idea for my Secret Project, when she said,"Nance, I think you should have Little Debbie wearing pink clothes."

After we quit laughing Cindy told me about joining a cool, senior citizen drumming group and how much fun it was. "Nance, I love it. You know how I've always joked about me not having any musical talent. Well, I've finally found an instrument that I can actually play. I'm a drummer!" 

When Cindy tried describing the kind of drum that she drums on to me I realized that it was the same kind of drum that I had played on, at The Yoga Place, in Kerrville and that was several years ago. "Does it look like the kind of drum that Ricky Ricardo played?"

"Yes!" Cindy said. "Exactly, but I don't wear it and carry it around with me." Then we started laughing again.

"Okay, now you need a nickname," I said. "Instead of being Little Ricky, you can be Little Cindy!"
We must have laughed for over a minute and then I added, "Little Debbie will like it, too...."

With all of the laughing and mowing that I did today it has been a true test for my back and I am thrilled to say that my back is fine. (Knock-on-wood). And that we are so happy that Valentine has found her a fabulous forever home today. And that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

A Mystery! or Here's One Clue!

Today has been great. This morning, the sun was shining brightly and I finally got to go outside and help Tony do our morning chores.  I totally enjoyed getting to visit with our super rescued dogs and they made my spirit soar. Dogs are so awesome.

This afternoon a very nice couple came out to check out our dogs and they ended up taking one of them home to see if she would fit in with their other dogs. I spoke with the wife early this evening and so far she seems to be fitting in as they are falling in love with her! If all continues to go well for the next few days they are planning to adopt her, so until they officially adopt her from us I am going to keep this dog's identity a mystery for you to try to figure out.

Late this afternoon I started working on my secret project, that now involves several of my friends. Hopefully, it will make everyone laugh out loud and that is exactly why I am doing it. I made this large sign for my project today and here's one clue.



And that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Life Is Good!

Today has been great and I am celebrating tonight, because Tony and I are finally doing much better health wise! It was one week ago today, with Mercury in retrograde, when my back went out on me and Tony and I were suffering from severe cases of cedar fever.

We stocked up and went through 8 boxes of Kleenex, cough syrups, heat wraps, etc. and we didn't get any better until yesterday, after we went to Kerrville to buy Tony some maximum strength Mucinex DM, that Carol had highly recommended we get for his horrible chest congestion.


Fortunately, I didn't need to use the over-the-counter Mucinex DM pills, because my cedar fever symptoms had pretty much gone away, early Sunday evening.

Yesterday afternoon, as Tony's constant coughing began to slow down, I rested on our bed, with our dogs and used our heating pad twice, for one hour heat treatments and it did the trick.

When I woke up this morning to do the Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch segment with Big G, on the radio, Tony was no longer coughing and my back hardly ached at all! So the only exciting news I have to tell you is life is good, once again. And I am so thankful to Carol for suggesting Tony use Mucinex DM, because he has only coughed ten times today.

Wait! I have lied. There is a really exciting thing that did happen today. I got a phone message from Janette, the super, sweet woman that adopted Katee Sackhoff from us. She said, "Katee is the sweetest dog and she is working out great with our older dog. We love her...." And hearing the great news about Katee made my day and that is about it for tonight.



Y'all have a great evening!

Saturday, February 14, 2015

Happy Birthdays To Carol and Denise!

Today has been great, even though Tony is still pretty congested and my back is still out, but is not hurting as much.  First off, I want to wish our dear friends Carol and Denise Happy Birthdays. And I also want to wish everyone a happy Valentine's Day! Then I want to thank our dear friend, Gerry Olert, for doing a fabulous job on making our update Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch Winter 2015 video. Please click here to view it.

Yesterday, our dear friend Jim gave me a copy of his newest meat loaf recipe, that both he and Kris were raving about it. They told me that it was totally delicious and was the best meat loaf that they have ever eaten. So today I made it for Tony's and my lunch, along with servings of couscous and spinach.

The meat loaf was totally delicious and easy to make. All you have to do is preheat the oven to 375 degrees, mix all of these ingredients in a bowl and put it into a baking dish. Then you make the topping and completely cover the meat loaf before baking it for 1 hour. And I hope that you make it.

Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef                                                    
1/2 cup of yellow onion                                                                                                  
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper                                
1 egg lightly beaten                                                        
1/2 cup quick cooking oats
1 cup of canned diced tomatoes with juice
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon of black pepper

Topping:
1/2 cup of ketchup
2 tablespoons of light brown sugar
1 tablespoon yellow mustard

This afternoon Little Jewford came over to see us before he does his show tonight, at The Hunt Store. We had so much fun visiting with him, even though every time that that he made us laugh—Tony would cough and my lower back would ache. But it was worth the coughing and pain, because we love L.J. so much.

Tonight, Kinky and Brian Molnar are going to Little Jewford's Valentine's Day show, but unfortunately, because we're temporarily damaged goods—we can't make it, because Little Jewford doesn't need to have us, standing around and coughing non-stop. So, if you haven't already made plans for tonight—go see Little Jewford's Valentine's Day show, in Hunt, because I promise that you'll have a great time and be glad that you went.

Early tomorrow morning, Kinky is leaving the ranch for his tour of shows, in Germany, Switzerland and Austria. And that is about it for today.

Y'all have a Happy Valentine's Day!

Friday, February 13, 2015

Breaking Up Is Hard To Do! or I Need Heat!

Today has been great. This morning our fabulous friends/volunteers came out to walk our dogs. Even though my back was killing me I went outside to visit with them, because I knew that they would cheer me up, because I have been depressed because of my ongoing cedar fever allergy, my back going out on me and Tony's severe chest congestion due to his cedar fever. In other words, "I was sick and tired of us being sick and my back causing Tony to work overtime waiting on me hand and foot, because I cannot bend over, etc. And I am secretly thinking that he is getting tired of doing all of those little things that I do everyday.   : )

This afternoon after enjoying a fun lunch with our great friends/volunteers we returned home. Fifteen minutes later, after talking to Tony about how much worse his chest congestion was getting and him not being able to get rid of it, I made a decision and said, "Tony, we need to go to the little H-E-B now, because I need heat and I want you to talk to the pharmacist about what you need to buy to get rid of your horrible chest congestion."

An hour and a half later, after going to buy our meds, Tony drank a dose of H-E-B's generic brand of Mucinex. Then he helped apply a Salonpas heat patch to my lower back. After the heat was on we both coughed and sneezed some more.


As I finish writing this tonight, I am thrilled that we went to Kerrville this afternoon, because my back is feeling 100 times better than it did earlier this morning and Tony's "Mucinex" expectorant is already breaking up his severe chest congestion. He is already feeling and sounding so much better. And rumor has it, thanks to the heat I'm currently packing, that I am finally going to be able to go outside to help Tony do our morning chores—starting as early as tomorrow. 

Y'all have a great evening!

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Your Valentine!

Today has been almost great, so tonight this is going to be a short post for you to read. This morning after Tony and I did our outside chores I decided to remove some small tree limbs, in B.B. King's pen. Tony drove up on Kermit just as I bent over to pick up the last limb and that's when my back went out on me.

When I tried to straighten up it hurt too much for me to move. Tony immediately jumped out of Kermit and helped me walk out of B.B.'s pen. When I made it over to Kermit, I grabbed both of the hand rails and for a few seconds I thought that I was going to faint.

As soon as we made it inside The Cabin, I took two Aleve tablets. Then we went to Kerrville to pick up Valentine, the Bassett Hound mix. Valentine is one adorable low-rider. She is approximately 2-3 years old and she is as sweet as she can be. She is great riding inside a vehicle and she is not hyper.

Tony and I put Valentine, in the alley, between Springsteen and Gonzo & Daisy, in hopes that she will be Springsteen's Valentine, since his beautiful, roommate, Katee Sackhoff, lucked out and found her forever home. And here are a few pictures I took of her.




So if you are interested in this awesome Bassett Hound mix—come out and make her your Valentine forever. And that is about it for tonight. "Tony! Could you please come in here and help me get the laundry out of the dryer, because I can't bend down and I also need for you to help me get...."

Y'all have a great evening!

Monday, February 9, 2015

The Grass Is Greener On Our Side!

Today has been great. I still have cedar fever and am still coughing and sneezing, but at last I am finally feeling much better. This morning when I went outside with our dogs I was admiring the newly mowed grass, in our front yard. Then I noticed that only our front yard had green grass and everywhere else there was no green grass, except in a few of our dog pens, that we mowed down yesterday.


Then I took this picture of Belle and Beau in our green front yard, to show that it only has green grass and everywhere else is dead grass. Tony and I have never seeded our front yard, so I asked Tony why the grass is greener on our side and he told me that it is called Rescue Grass. Anyway, I think it is pretty cool that our rescue ranch also has rescue grass, but it is still pretty weird.  

This afternoon our dear friend Gerry Olert, our rescue ranch's official video-grapher, came out to visit us and to do a new rescue ranch video update. I decided to wear my Danner hiking boots and my new  green, long-sleeved Appalachian Trail t-shirt for the video. I love the t-shirt even though it magnifies dog hair.


When Gerry was fixin' to put a mic on me, he suggested that I change shirts and instead wear a buttoned shirt, because it is much easier to clip the mic on. After I changed shirts we went outside to shoot this video update that will showcase some of our awesome dogs. 

As always Tony didn't want to be in the video, so he stayed back in the background taking pictures of us. The very first dog that we showcased was Bonnie Raitt, the super sweet 2 year old Lab, in the front yard of my writing cabin. Bonnie flirted with the camera and she did a really great job selling herself.


As Gerry and I headed towards the dogs, Tony, using my camera, took this great picture of Rooster Cogburn and The Golden Girls.


Halfway through the taping Gerry asked me to please stand next to the pink tree that I painted last year, because he wanted it to be in the video.


When we had finished shooting the video showcasing some of our dogs, Gerry and I went over to the Lodge to visit with Kinky. We sat out on his porch and talked about Kinky's upcoming tour, across the pond, and him getting to see our good, German friends, Karin & Juergen (Air-gun) Pohlmann and Gaby W. Then we talked about Joseph Heller's book, The Friedmans, hummingbirds, Willie Nelson, Kink's two cats and Sophie and Mr. P going to the beauty shop sooner than later, etc. So, to say the least, "It was a really great visit." 

Gerry told me that his rescue ranch video will be ready in a few weeks and we are all looking forward to it. And that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

Sunday, February 8, 2015

Oh Cedar!

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

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

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

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

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


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



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

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

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

Y'all have a great evening!

Thursday, February 5, 2015

Forrest Gump!

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



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

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

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



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


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

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


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

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


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

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

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

Y'all have a great evening!

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

An Early Valentine!

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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


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

Y'all have a great evening!

Sunday, February 1, 2015

Super Day!

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

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


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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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


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


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

Y'all have a great evening!