I'm Going To Commit Myself!

The last few days have been great, especially Saturday, when Tony and I went to Steve Pietzsch's artist reception, at the Kerr Arts & Cultural Center. Oh my goodness, we arrived about ten minutes early before the reception began, so we could visit with Steve for a few minutes and within twenty minutes or less, the place was packed with all kinds of people admiring our dear friend's awesome art.

While we were nibbling on some delicious, healthy appetizers and visiting with several of our friends, I overheard a nice woman, tell another volunteer that works at the center, "I think this is one of the biggest crowds that we've ever had here."

And it was true, because it was basically standing room only and I think a lot of it had to do with our good friend Donna Gable Hatch's fabulous article that she wrote, to help get the word out about Steve's awesome surreal art exhibition and reception, in Saturday's Kerrville Daily Times Weekend Edition.

So, if you didn't make it to Steve's artist reception, on Saturday, you can still go see Steve's fabulous art exhibit, because it will be on display until September 20th.

Yesterday evening, early this morning and today, I have spent several long hours painting the inside of The Mother Ship. And I plan to go back out there, in just a few minutes, to do some more painting.

I've almost used up a gallon of paint and I've only gotten half of it painted so far, because I am having to put second coats on everything. Tomorrow I plan on buying another gallon of paint and I am going to commit myself to at least two hours of painting each day, in hopes of having all of the painting done within the week. And that's about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

I'm Unplugged!

Today has been great. For the past two hours it has been thundering all around us, but no rain yet. I'm unplugged and tomorrow I will write more about Steve's awesome artist reception.

Steve Pietzsch's Hill Country Surrealism Artist Reception—Tomorrow 1:00 to 3:00 At Kerr Arts & Cultural Center!

Today has been great, but I still have not worked out everything on my computer. This morning when our great friends/volunteers came out to walk our dogs, I was talking to Kris & Jim about my computer woes, when Kris volunteered Jim to help me while she walked dogs for us.

Jim was a big help to me, but I still have some issues to still fix one way or the other. And the good thing is at least all of it is fixable in time.

For several months Tony and I have known about our good friend, Steve Pietzsch's, upcoming "Hill Country Surrealism" art exhibition, at the Kerr Arts and Cultural Center, in Kerrville. We've told all of our friends and volunteers about us going to his artist reception, tomorrow afternoon, from 1:00-3:00 and all of them are going to be there, too and I hope that y'all will come to it too.

Today when we got our paper, this brief article was in today's Kerrville Daily Times about Steve's artist reception tomorrow afternoon and it also mentions that in tomorrow's newspaper we can learn more about the exhibition, which he titled "Hill Country Surrealism." And we can't wait until tomorrow to read more about Steve and his awesome art. Here's the newspaper clipping from today's Kerrville Daily Times.

Please note: That you can read more about Steve and see more of his beautiful art, on his website: Steve Pietzsch.

And speaking of art, I say that tongue-in-cheek, because last week I took out my paint and brushes, etc. to paint rocks, because my dear friend, who shall remain nameless, had sent me an interesting e-mail about a fun project to do with kids that don't have a green thumb. 

The article showed awesome pictures about how to paint rocks to look like cactus, that you arrange in a flower pot that you never have to water, because they are just painted rocks. So a week ago today, I spent three days having fun, painting rocks, toothpicks, etc. and I also had to make a few trips to the craft store for more supplies. And to say the least, "Every time that Tony would walk, into the kitchen while I was working on my project—he would laugh at what he saw me doing, and say something like, "Are those supposed to be cactus?" 

And I would laugh, too and answer, "Kind of. They're Outer Space cactus!" And here are a few step-by-step pictures on how I did my project.

After showing Tony my finished project with an Alien standing by the Appalachian Trail sign I decided that my project was not quite finished. So I did a couple of quick cut and pastes, using Adobe Photoshop to finish it. And I have titled my artwork The World According To Little Debbie. And I hope that you like it or it at least makes you laugh out loud and you call me crazy. 

I hope we get to see you tomorrow afternoon, at Steve's artist reception, because everyone who is anyone will be there meeting Steve and admiring his incredibly great art. And that's about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

My Computer Is Temporarily Down!

Today has been great. I am having some computer issues and my computer is temporarily down. I have already spent several hours, with techs trying to remedy the problem and I am still working on it. So hopefully I should be back in the saddle by morning and then I will answer all of my e-mail and write about what's been going on.

Y'all have a great evening!

Woofing Camp! or Close Encounters!

The last few days have been great. They were busy days for me and I was just too tired to blog, but I do want to give you an update on Aggie, etc.

Yesterday afternoon around 1:45, I grabbed Aggie's shot records, my camera and a letter that I needed to mail, then Tony and I adios-ed our family dogs and went outside to go get Aggie.

When Trigger pulled up to her pen Aggie was excited and wagging her tail, because she knew that something was up.

As planned I leashed up Bella, her sweet neighbor and then I took her to the back of her pen, so Tony could leash up Aggie and get her out of the pens, without Bella trying to kiss them.

When Tony went inside Aggie's pen she ran up to him and immediately sat down. It was obvious to us that she could not wait for him to put a leash on her, because the last time we did that she had enjoyed eating Jimmy Dean Sausage, Egg and Cheese biscuits.

After Tony got Aggie out of her and Bella's pens she could not wait to get into Trigger's backseat. It was amazing to us how smoothly it went.

Miss Aggie rode beautifully in the backseat and when we got to Medina, we stopped, at The Old Timer, so I could go inside and buy and micro-wave her four, delicious Jimmy Dean Sausage, Egg and Cheese biscuits.

And this time I was totally prepared to use the black micro-wave oven and not make a total fool out of myself, like I had last Thursday. But I ended up needing help again, because they had replaced the black micro-wave oven with a white one.

I was able to get the door open, but since life is not always fair when it comes to micro-wave ovens, I had to ask the nice, friendly cashier to please come over and help me cook Aggie's good behavior rewards, as Sam, my sweet brother-in-law, watched from the picnic table, chuckling at my ignorance.

When I finally got back inside Trigger, Tony immediately gave Aggie a biscuit and then we took off, to go meet Sharon Griswold, by the camel, at Camp Verde.

We were early when we arrived, so we took Aggie out of the truck, so Tony could feed Aggie another biscuit for being so good.

A few minutes later, Sharon Griswold, a fabulous dog trainer, who owns Woofing Camp, arrived.

After hugs, we gave Sharon Aggie's two, still warm biscuits and then we introduced her to Aggie. Aggie liked her instantly and because she was not acting nervous Sharon fed her a biscuit. Then we went around to the back of her van, so she could open the hatch. And to our surprise Aggie jumped inside it before we could even ask her to load up.

As Aggie calmly sat down, inside her van, Sharon and I stood there talking, for about thirty minutes, about Aggie's issues and how Sharon was going to work with her.

When all was said and done, Sharon closed the hatch and Aggie seemed totally fine about it and then we adios-ed each other and drove off in different directions.

We've got our fingers crossed that Sharon can work her magic on Aggie, so this sweet three-year-old dog will be much more adoptable and I hope that y'all will cross your fingers for Aggie, too. 

This afternoon we had a really great surprise. Our good friend Aaron came out to possibly adopt a dog from us. "If y'all don't mind, I would like to go walk around the pens, by myself, to see which dog grabs me and  tells me that he wants to be my dog." We told him to take a hike.

Fifteen minutes later, Aaron told us that he wanted to adopt Tom Landry! And to say the least, "Tony and I were more than thrilled about his choice, because Tom is one great dog and he has been with us a long time." 

After Aaron signed Landry's adoption papers, he and Tony put Tom's dog tags on a new collar and then leashed him up. Here is a cute picture I took of Tom and Aaron celebrating. And the other one is of Aaron moving things around, in his vehicle, so Landry could ride up in the front seat with him, before he and Landry took off to go swimming.

Before Aaron and his new best friend took off, Aaron told us that Landry will be his constant companion and go everywhere with him. "Everyday Landry will go to work with me, to the park and swimming. And he will sleep with me, too." Which was great news even though Tony and I already knew this, because we know how much Aaron loves his dogs.

Before I finish writing this I want to show you an awesome picture that Tony took a few days ago, in The Okay Corral and I think it should be titled Close Encounters. And that's about it for tonight. 

Y'all have a great evening!

Just Push The Button!

Today has been great. This morning I got a phone call from the nice couple that adopted Judy Collins, yesterday. Yes, Judy Collins was the mystery adoption dog that I wrote about last night. Here's a picture of her when we rescued her.

The husband told me that they are in love with Judy and that she is getting along great with their older dogs and cats. He told me that she was fitting in beautifully. And last night she slept on their bed with them and the rest of their furry family. So needless to say, "Their news made my day great." Here is the picture I took yesterday, with Judy and her new, super loving family.

This morning we had an appointment to take Aggie to Dr. Lindstrom's, Bandera County Veterinary Clinic in Medina, because she needed to get her shots. Aggie is a sweet dog, but sometimes she has some fear-biting issues, because we believe that the woman who threw her over our fence, never socialized her or had anything to do with her.

Anyway, when it was time for us to take Aggie in for her shots, Tony had already put a large crate for her, in the backseat of Trigger. "Tony, Aggie is probably going to be nervous from the get-go. She rides great in cars and we don't need the crate, because it will just make her more nervous." So Tony reluctantly removed the crate.

When it was time to load Aggie into the truck, she amazed Tony, because she immediately jumped into the backseat and sat down. Then we took off for Medina.

On our way there, I suggested to Tony that he drop me off at The Old Timer, so I could buy Aggie two Jimmy Dean micro-wave egg, cheese and sausage biscuits, to give to her, as a reward, after she gets her shots. So, Tony dropped me off at The Old Timer and went on down the road to the vet clinic.

When I went into the famous store, I greeted, Melinda, the cashier and then I told her that I needed to buy two Jimmy Dean micro-wave egg, cheese and sausage biscuits, to give to our dog Aggie, after she sees the vet. The friendly woman smiled and then she told me where to go find them.

She gave great directions to the back of the store and a minute later, I was back, at the counter, asking her where their micro-wave oven was. And once again she gave me great directions to the front corner of the store.

Then I made a complete fool out of myself, because I haven't owned or operated a micro-wave oven in over ten years, since I discovered that they can be harmful to our health for many reasons. And if my memory serves me correctly, I think we gave our last micro-wave oven to either Ben or to Kinky.

As the nice cashier is checking out a customer, I tried to open the micro-wave oven's door, but I could not get the door to open. "I'm sorry," I said. "Can you tell me how to open the door?" Then I laughed and quickly explained to her and the man that I am old and it's been years since I've used a micro-wave oven.

"Just push the button, at the bottom, on the right side. It's hard to see, because the panel is black." So I pushed the button and the door immediately swung open. Then I start looking for the micro-wave instructions, on the frozen Jimmy Dean micro-wave egg, cheese and sausage biscuits packages. "I'd just micro-wave them for about a minute," Melinda suggested.

One minute later, I paid for Aggie's breakfast treats and then Melinda put them inside a plastic bag for me to carry, because they were still very hot. "By the time you walk down to Lindstrom's clinic they should be cooled off enough for your dog to eat."

As I was walking down the street, nearing the hardware store, a truck slowed down behind me and I heard a man ask, "Can I give you a ride, young lady? Are you lost?" Then I heard him laughing.

It sort of startled me, because it has been a very long time since I have hitchhiked. I cautiously looked over and it was our good friend Charlie teasing me. "Hi Charlie! Thanks for the offer, but I'm not hitchhiking today. I'm just going to the vet clinic..."

As soon as Dr. Lindstrom had given Aggie her shots Tony started to take her outside. "Tony here are Aggie's treats for you to give her for being such a good girl," I said. Then I joked, "And please don't eat them. They're for Aggie."

After I paid Aggie's vet bill, I went outside and climbed inside Trigger. "Nance, I've already given Aggie one of the biscuits and she loved it and she even licked the melted cheese off of my fingers. I think we should give her the last one, right after we put her back inside her pen, as another reward for being a good girl." And that's exactly what we did, too. And that's about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater!

Today has been great. This morning, as already planned, this super nice couple came out to check out our dogs, because they were hoping to adopt one. They fell in love with the first one we showed them, so we took this mystery dog for a fun walk down to the creek.

When we returned the wife told her husband that she wanted to adopt this dog and he totally agreed with her. So we had a great adoption this morning, but until we make sure that her adoption sticks I am not going to tell her name or show her adoption picture. So please keep your fingers crossed for her.

This afternoon my dear friend Mari sent me an interesting e-mail about her making pumpkin muffins, that were totally delicious. In her note she wrote that it was an incredibly easy recipe to make, because it only has two ingredients: Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe Classic Yellow Cake mix and a 15 oz. can of Libby's 100% Pure Pumpkin. And all you have to do is mix these two ingredients together, pour batter into a muffin pan and Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.

Mari also told me that her sweet husband, David, put honey on his muffin and he thought it was absolutely delicious and a friend told her that she might want to add cinnamon and serve it with whipping cream.

So this afternoon when Tony and I went to Medina, so I could buy some more paint for my RV, at the Medina Ace Hardware store, we made a quick stop, at The Old Timer, so I could purchase the ingredients needed for Mari's Pumpkin Muffins recipe.

When we got back home I immediately made Mari's Pumpkin Muffins, but I added two tablespoons of cinnamon, as Mari's friend had suggested. And they were totally delicious even before I added the Reddi-Wip, (that's how it is spelled on the can.) that I had also purchased, at The Old Timer. And because Tony is not a Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater, he chose not to eat one of Cousin Nancy's Perfect Pumpkin Muffins and that's okay with me, because I love my new recipe. (Sorry, Mari. It's my recipe now and I bet that you already knew that I would steal it from you.)

And that's about it for tonight, because I am fixin' to watch three uninterrupted hours of NASA's Unexplained Files, that I recorded two days ago and this morning.

Y'all have a great evening! And try my newest, stolen recipe!

She Got Lucky!

Today has been great, but it wasn't so great earlier this morning. When Tony and I finished doing our outdoor morning chores we returned to The Cabin and Carlton was flashing, on the breakfast bar. "You have one new message," he said.

The message depressed me, because a nice, but sad-sounding man had called. Bottom line, he and his wife had adopted a sweet Lab mix from us two years ago. They loved this female dog very much, but hard times had hit them. They were desperately trying to figure out what to do next and they were frantic about where to move. And at the end of his message when he asked me to please call him back, because they could no longer keep this great dog, because they needed our help or advice—is what got me depressed.

I remembered the dog that they were talking about, so I went on my computer and pulled up a couple of pictures of her. One was an adorable puppy picture and the other was when they adopted her. Then I went and looked up her records to refresh my memory.

When she was a pup she had been adopted and then returned to us, weeks later, because she loved chicken and she had murdered their egg-laying chickens. Then four months later, she got lucky and this nice couple, who now have fallen on hard times, adopted her.

When I told Tony about this dog coming back to us, he was sick about it too. Then I showed him her beautiful pictures and told him her history, because he needed to refresh his brain, too.

I waited about an hour to return this man's call, because I was sad that she was being returned, but I was glad that they were kind enough to return her to us.

When I called the couple, the man answered the phone. I told him that I was so sorry about them having fallen on hard times and then I thanked them for returning her to us. And that I completely understood their situation and wished them the best of luck. There was the sound of silence.

"Nancy, thank you so much for calling us back and wanting to help, because we love this dog so much. She is such a fine dog. My wife just called me, from work and she just told me that if we have to live under a bridge—we're keeping this dog, because she is family! Both of us are so happy about deciding to keep her, because we love her so much. And we know that things will eventually work out for us some how."

 "I am so happy that y'all are going to keep her and I am sure that things will get better for y'all sooner than later. You and your wife take care and please know that y'all have just made my day great."

"Thank you so much for calling us back. Have a wonderful day..."

And that's about it for tonight, because I am fixin' to go outside and start painting, the inside of The Mother Ship.

Y'all have a great evening!

They Look Good!

Today has been great and so were Friday and Saturday. Friday afternoon after eating a delicious lunch, at Thai Ocha, with our good friends/volunteers, we went to Hastings, because I was on a personal mission, because over the past several months I've had at least five different friends ask me if I had seen the movie Matrix and then tell me that I must watch this movie. Then I discovered that it was not available for streaming on Netflix or Amazon Prime Video.

So when we went to Hastings I asked the first employee I saw if they had the Matrix. And five minutes later, we had purchased a used, rental copy of the Matrix and it only cost me $3.99. To say the least, I was thrilled about getting it so cheap.

When we got back home, after putting up the groceries, I sat down and watched the Matrix, with Little Debbie sleeping on my lap. I liked the movie, but it was a little too violent for me, because I don't like watching violence.

After watching the movie I called all of my friends that had highly recommended that I watch this movie, as soon as possible, to let them know that I had actually purchased the Matrix and had just watched it. Then I bragged about it only costing me $3.99.

Then later on that evening, at 7:05 to be exact, I decided to surf the television channels and I about fell out of my chair when I saw a channel airing the Matrix and it was only five minutes into the movie. So, I walked down the hallway to Tony's office, and said, "Guess what? The Matrix just started and it is on Channel *&#." Then we both started laughing about me buying it. "Can you believe that?"

This afternoon after we grocery shopped, at the big H-E-B, we went to Gibson's so I could purchase a tortilla press, because since Saturday I have been determined to learn how to make homemade flour tortillas, because we had eaten some delicious fresh, homemade flour tortillas, at the new BBQ place, Williams Creek Trading Company, which is in the Old Timer's parking lot. And this is what I bought.

When we got back home I started mixing the flour with the ingredients to make tortillas and that's when Tony suggested that I stop and Google a YouTube video on how to use a tortilla press. I thought he was kidding me, but he wasn't. "Tony, it looks pretty simple to use. I just raise the top, put a ball of dough, in the middle and then press down." 

"Oh, I see. I hadn't checked it out." Then he wished me good luck with my flour tortilla project and then he grabbed his camera and went outside to greet Karon and the sweet kids that had come over to walk our dogs for us.

I carefully followed all of the directions on how to make flour tortillas and I am proud to announce that my first batch of homemade, flour tortillas were absolutely delicious! I loved them and so did our dogs. And please note that I am also a pro when it comes to using a non-electric, high-tech tortilla press. In fact, I am thinking about making a YouTube video on how to use one of them.

A few hours later, after Karon and the sweet kids had left, Tony came back inside The Cabin. When he asked me how my tortillas had turned out. I pulled out some warmed tortillas, in the oven. "You tell me," I said.

As he buttered a couple, he said, "They look good." Then he took a bite. "Nance, these are delicious! I can't believe that you made them..." And I can't believe that he said that. And that's about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

The Box! or Take My Advice!

Today has been great. This morning we got up real early, so we could drink coffee with Chet, before he and Willie took off for Terlingua.

After we adios-ed Chet and Willie I caught up on some paperwork and then I went outside and helped Tony with the morning chores.

This afternoon Tony and I met The Mineral Man, minus his Kris, at Cracker Barrel, for a fun and delicious lunch. While we were visiting with Jim I started telling him about my woodworking box, with inlaid precious stones, project. "Nancy, last Sunday, I watched Texas Country Reporter, too. And I saw that part about that man making those beautiful boxes."

"Cool. After we eat lunch today, we're going over to the craft store, so I can buy some more glue, glitter, cheap beads, colorful cut glass etc. for the box," I said. "I have this old turquoise necklace that broke, years ago and when we get home today, I plan to wrap up the turquoise stones, inside a kitchen towel and hammer them into little, tiny pieces, to use for the inlay." Jim sort of winced at me.

"Nancy, you can take my advice or leave it. But if I were you, before you go destroying your real turquoise beads, I think I'd do a test run using some of those inexpensive beads...."

And I am so glad that I took Jim's advice, because early this evening, in the kitchen, I created my own nightmare. Thank goodness I decided to use cheap, turquoise glitter, to fill in the grooves, instead of bits and pieces of my turquoise necklace, because when I started to sand off the surface, using my Dremel, to make it all real smooth, before applying a clear, glossy coat of MinWax, this is what I got instead. And none of the inlaid glitter glitters!

Talk about one fine mess. It is horrible and now I have to re-stain the box top. Tony and I are still laughing about it, because he told me that I definitely need to do a lot more research and practice on the box for hours. And the worse part is—our kitchen area and our dog's shiny coats are all sparkling with turquoise glitter, that I either accidentally spilled or tried to sand away.

So the moral of my box fiasco story is: "All that glitters is not gold or turquoise." And that's about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

Pretty Proud!

Today has been great and it was pretty uneventful, so I am going to tell you about yesterday, which was a great day, too.

Yesterday, while Tony and I were eating a delicious lunch, at Billie Gene's, I told Tony that I wanted to buy one of those little Hibachis, so I could grill, on our front porch, instead of cooking on our big grills, in my pink cabin's front yard. Tony was not enthusiastic about it.

So after lunch we ran several errands. Our first stop was at the Post Office substation. Then I went to the craft store, in the same parking lot, to buy a small box, super glue and an inexpensive, battery powered engraver, because Sunday morning I had watch an interesting story about a man making beautiful boxes, with inlaid precious stones, on the Texas Country Reporter.

After I had made my newest hobby purchase we went to one of our favorite stores, in Kerrville and it was also in the same parking lot. When we walked inside Wild Birds Unlimited, Marguerite and Trish greeted us. While Tony shopped around and checked out their superior birdseed, I had a fun time visiting with Marguerite and Trish. 

We talked about Marguerite's and our dogs. She bragged about Scout, Odie and Mini and I bragged about Little Debbie, Alice, Roy, Belle and Beau. Then I told Marguerite that I wanted to buy a small Hibachi and that we were fixin' to go to Gibson's to see if they had one. 

After Tony bought his big bag of birdseed our next stop was at Gibson's. And guess what I bought!

Then we went to the big H-E-B and then we came home.

Then I spent about an hour doing paperwork, returning phone calls and e-mails and then I assembled my Hibachi, on the drainboard, all by myself. And I was pretty proud.

After Tony removed it from The Cabin, I began working on my newest project. First, I stained the small box and sat it outside, on the front porch rail, to dry.

About forty minutes later I inserted two AA batteries, inside the mini-engraver and then I started practicing engraving on the stained, practice box. It took me about thirty minutes to accomplish this little bit, because the small engraver was easy to use, but it was not as powerful as my Dremel is, which I temporarily couldn't find. Anyway, as soon as I locate my Dremel, I can work much faster.

This afternoon we cooked on my Hibachi for the very first time! Right off the bat—Tony appointed himself to be the official fireman aka cook, which was totally fine with me, because I don't mess with fire if at all possible and I also needed to get things ready for our lunch.

Chet, Tony and I ate a delicious lunch. We had loaded baked potatoes which I only make us twice a year, because of so many calories. Homemade pinto beans, avocados and bacon-wrapped, ground sirloin steaks, better known as the Poor Man's Filet Mignon. And to say the least, they cleaned their plates and I only ate half of my steak and loaded baked potato, because it was way too much food.

After lunch Tony kindly removed our Hibachi, with its super hot coals and he put it outside our front yard, so our dogs wouldn't be tempted to check it out.

I plan the rest of my evening writing. And that's about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

Happy Birthday June! Keep On Rocking!

Happy Birthday Chet O'Keefe! Long May You Run!

We Did It Longmire Style! or 749!

Today has been so much fun. Earlier this week, Eileen and Lisa started planning a Longmire themed birthday party celebration for Tony, Chet and June, because Tony's birthday was yesterday. Chet's is tomorrow and June's is on Monday.

All of us were excited about it being a Longmire themed party, because we all love Longmire and we can't wait to watch the first episode of Season 4, that will air September 10th, on Netflix.

Sweet Eileen and Lisa left the rescue ranch a little before all of us did, so they could go up to the Medina Highpoint Resort's Koyote Grill, to put the cake and arrange the cards out, on the table and to get everything else ready for the Longmire-style "Tres Amigos' Birthday party."

And they did a great job, too. We loved the Red Pony Bar & Grill bumper sticker that they put on the Old-Timer Crossing sign, the plastic handcuffs, Craig Johnson's Longmire books, a bottle of Henry's (Lou Diamond Phillips' character) favorite drink: Blanton's Single Barrel Bourbon, which Lisa had earlier emptied out, at home and filled with iced tea, so as not to break the law. And just to make things clear, when I say, "emptied out" I don't mean that Lisa drank it—she stored it. And fingers crossed, I hope it's for a future Longmire Texas Hill Country Posse party.

And on the delicious birthday cake, Lisa had the bakery write:

     June - Eastport or Bust!

     Tony - Longmire Season 4 or Bust.

     Chet - Terlingua or bust!

After we ate lunch, Chet lit the plastic, closed up flower pod's candle and we were amazed at what we saw. The plastic leaves slowly began to open up. Then it slowly began to spin around in circles, while it played music, even though it's music wasn't near as good as Chet's. And it had every one's eyes watching it.

While we were eating the delicious cake that Lisa provided we passed around the hilarious birthday cards and then I suggested that we all tell how old we were, so we could see how many years we were together. "I've got a calculator!" Ellen said. "Let's do it!" So we took turns announcing our age, as Ellen typed in our numbers. "Okay y'all. I've got it. The total years is 749." And all of us started laughing.

When we were finished eating the Tres Amigos' birthday cake we all went outside and asked sweet Kelly, one of our favorite people, at Koyote, to please shoot us. Which she gladly did. This is us posing for our first official Longmire Texas Hill Country Posse. 

Bottom row from left to right: June, Kris, Lisa, Jim & Tony

Top row from left to right: Chet, me, Ellen, Eileen Chris, Suzanne & Sue

And that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TONY! I LOVE YOU!

Cake To Bake! or Just Bake It!

Today has been great. This afternoon we met our dear friends Kris & Jim and Denise & Les for a delicious lunch, at Classic Burgers. And of course we had a blast catching up with our friends.

During our fun lunch, Kris, Denise and I started talking about recipes, recipe books, etc. and Denise started telling us about a cool cake recipe that she was pretty sure that she discovered, in Parade magazine.

When she started telling us about this simple to make, white polka-dots on the inside the cake, delicious-sounding cake, to bake for the 4th of July, I told her that I could not wait to try it, because tomorrow is Tony's birthday and we had already planned to go by the little H-E-B, following our lunch. So I announced, "I'm going to make it today, as soon as we get back home. And I kept my word.

To make this cake all you need is a box of red velvet cake mix and glazed, sour creme donut holes.

I started making the cake as soon as we got back home. I was talking to a friend, on Speakerphone, while I mixing up the cake batter and somehow the receiver accidentally fell into the soap suds, in the kitchen sink. And we were immediately disconnected.

I know that you're supposed to put cell phones into a bag of rice, when it gets wet, but I didn't have any rice, so I immediately removed the battery pack and then I took the the water-logged AT&T receiver outside, in hopes that the temperature outside would dry it out. 

When I put it on the front porch rail, the screen was all fogged up. Thirty minutes later, when I went back outside to check on the receiver, the screen was only half foggy. And that gave me hope that the receiver might not of had an accidental drowning and be pronounced dead.

Then I came back inside to finish making the cake. Denise told us that you pour 1/2 of the cake batter, in a pan, then you add as many donut holes, as the cake pan will hold. Then you pour the remaining batter over the donut holes to cover the holes and then you bake it.

Forty five minutes later the cake was baked and ready to come out of the oven to cool. So after I removed the cake, from the oven, I went back outside to check on the receiver and all of the fog was gone from the screen. So my hopes grew.

Thirty minutes later, Chet showed up, so we invited him to eat some "5th of August" cake, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, with us and that is when I forgot to take a picture of the cake. 

Anyway, we all agreed that the cake was totally delicious and each slice showed the polka-dots (Cut in half donut holes.) And it was really cool.

A few minutes ago, I went outside to grab the receiver, because I figured that it had baked long enough. It would either work or we could bury it.

I plugged in the battery pack and closed the back panel and then I took a deep breath and pressed the on button. And it worked! The screen was totally clear and so was the dial tone! I was thrilled, so I went back into Tony's office and handed him the receiver. "Please press the on button," I said. And Tony was shocked that it was working. 

So my advice to y'all, if you don't have rice—just bake it, in the sun, for a few hours. And that is about it for tonight, because I need to go make a phone call. (And please note the phone receiver is not dirty, because I washed it in the kitchen sink earlier—those are just glares off the window.)

Y'all have a great evening!

Much More Charming!

Today has been great. This morning a nice man and his wife wanted to know if they could come out and look at our dogs, because they were interested in adopting an older dog, because they have two elderly dogs and one of them is blind and deaf. And you can guess what my answer was.

They arrived around 11:30. I knew I liked them, the instant that we greeted and welcomed this super nice, friendly couple, to our rescue ranch.

We visited outside for a few minutes. They told us that they were wanting to adopt a medium-sized, female dog and if they adopted one of our dogs, she would have a 1/2 acre fenced in yard to play in, that she would be a house dog and sleep with them, on their bed, as long as she would get along with their small dogs and grandchildren. Then we took off to give them a tour of our rescue ranch.

We started on Ben Stiller's & La Toya's side of the ranch and when they met beautiful Lois Lane they fell in love with her, but they still wanted to check out the rest of our dogs, before making any decisions.

While we walked around the rescue ranch, they told me that they don't have a problem with Pit Bulls, and the man said, "We love Pit Bulls. They are such great dogs. It's people that make them bad." And Tony and I totally agreed with them.

When we were winding up the tour, the last dog that we introduced them to was sweet Ginger. As  they petted Ginger, I jokingly whispered, loud enough for them to hear, "Turn on your charm, Ginger. This could be it." Ginger totally understood my words, because she immediately became much more charming if that is at all possible, as Tony and I continued to brag about her being such a fine dog.

A few minutes later, the husband asked his wife, "Which one do you want to adopt?"

She was still petting beautiful Ginger and she turned around, and said, "This one. I think we should adopt Ginger. She is...." Then I jumped into Kermit and said, "I'll go do the paperwork and be right back."

Then her husband remarked, "I need to go up there to get our car and drive it up here to Ginger's pen." So I invited him to hop inside Kermit and go with me. He jumped in.

After I had finished doing Ginger's adoption papers, I walked outside and our dear friend Jim, "The Mineral Man" was walking up our steps. We had talked earlier about him coming over, around noonish, to drop off a Nascar book for me to read and a couple of jars of his delicious, homemade, canned, pickled peppers for Tony. "Hi Jim!"

"Hi Nancy."

"Jim, Ginger has just been adopted. Why don't come with me, so you can go meet this really nice couple. I really like them and...."

After we had introduced everybody the woman filled out Ginger's adoption papers.

It was so hilarious when they opened their driver's side door, because Ginger jumped inside so fast, it was like a flash. Seriously, if you had blinked you would have missed her leaping into their car and immediately sitting down, on the passenger's front seat. "Looks like Ginger can't wait to get out of here, too." Then Jim, Tony and I started laughing, as we waved goodbye to one very lucky Boxer.

So y'all please keep y'all's fingers crossed that sweet Ginger's adoption sticks and that she will get along with their other two, much older, small dogs. 

5:00 Update:

The sweet woman that adopted Ginger today just called me and she sounded very sad, "Nancy, I'm so sorry, but Ginger is not working out. She seems like she wants to kill our little, old dogs and we're scared that she will. We are exhausted from it all and are going to have to return her. But maybe another one of your dogs will work out...." 

I am sick that Ginger's adoption didn't stick, but that is the way it goes sometimes. Sometimes it just wasn't meant to be and Tony and I fully understand that and we appreciate this nice couple giving Ginger a chance.

5:45 Update: Ginger is now back at our rescue ranch. And like I just told her outside, "Don't worry. It just wasn't meant to be and that happens sometimes. Your perfect fit is probably just around the corner, so hang in there." And she seemed to understand.

Y'all have a great evening!

They Were Smiling At Us!

Today has been great, but all I have done is paperwork. So I guess that you could say it was a boring, tedious day.

Yesterday morning when I went outside to help Tony with the morning chores, I went into Mandy's and Bandy's pen and no one came running to greet me, like our other dogs do. Mandy and Bandy are brother and sister and they are over 14 years old, so I really didn't expect them to come running. But usually they do walk over to see me, but they didn't yesterday.

Bandy was sleeping next to the side of their dog house and Mandy was inside sleeping. I called to Bandy as I filled his food dish and he looked up, but didn't get up. So, I went to the dog house and knocked the doorway, gently with my boot, but Mandy did not respond.

I knocked on the front door two more times, but I got no response from her. I bent down to pet her and she didn't respond to that either.

Tony was near the barn, so I asked him to please come check on Mandy, because over the past year both of those dogs have really slowed down and become more frail. Seconds later, Tony told me that she had passed away.

Of course I teared up. Then Tony told me that he was going to go up to The Cabin to call his brother Sam, to ask him if he could over to help him bury sweet Mandy, because his back was out.

When Tony took off, in Kermit, I said a few words to Mandy and then to Bandy. Then I left their pen to go feed Rocky & Rockette, who were anxiously waiting to be fed. And most of the day I was pretty down about her passing, because she was a super dog.

In her younger days, she and Bandy would jump out of their pen and sneak down to the creek and go swimming and then they would come back and jump back into their pens. We caught them doing that several times over the years and it would make us laugh.

In fact, one summer day, many years ago, Tony and I were, in Trigger, going over to visit Kinky. When out of nowhere Tony slams on the brakes, because those two had run up to greet us and they were soaking wet and as far as I am concerned, they were smiling at us and wagging their tails, which everyone knows means they were laughing.

Here's to good times Mandy. You were loved by many. Rest In Peace girlfriend.

Photo of Mandy taken in 2013

In the early evening, Chet came over to visit with us and his kind words and awesome mandolin playing shooed my blues away, thank goodness, because I can't stand being down. 

Anyway, after Chet left I decided to work on my third novella, instead of blogging, because I am very near to finishing it. I wrote and wrote until 1:00 AM and then I made myself stop and go to bed. And that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!