Moldes de Papel! or Husky!

Yesterday and today have been great. Yesterday morning, at 8:30, our good friend Aaron came out with his chainsaw and he was ready to get started cutting up the downed cedar tree, in Miranda's pen.
And while Aaron's chainsaw buzzed, Tony did the morning chores outside.

It took Aaron several hours of hard work, sometimes in the rain, to get the tree out of the dog pen. While he was buzzing away and cutting up the dead tree, he had a fire blazing nearby, outside of the pen, burning up the pieces he had cut.

Aaron left around 3:30, after he had replaced and repaired part of the damaged fence and stacked wood. It was about 4:30 when I went outside to take these pictures of the repaired fencing, etc.

Now I want to thank everyone who has been giving me suggestions and leaving comments, on my Blog, about Little Debbie's Alien-attracting-helmet. But I think that I have solved the problem, but I won't know until I spray paint the tiny paper baking cups—Moldes de paper. The good thing is I now have backup, if these don't work.

I bought a package of these 100 count/1.25 in diameter, at the big H-E-B, in Kerrville, today.

When we got back home I used about ten, stacked cups, to make her Alien-helmet prototype and it only took me a few minutes to punch heart-shaped holes and tie on the pink ribbons. Even though I still need to spray paint it silver, I asked Tony to help me put it on Little Debbie's head, so I could see how it would fit on her tiny head. I took this picture, before we outfitted Little Debbie, to show how it compares to my human-sized, Alien-attracting-helmet.

Fortunately, Little Debbie's Alien-attracting helmet fit her and I think she likes it too, because she didn't want Tony to remove it from her head. 

Today while we were in Kerrville we also went to the Home Depot store, so I could buy some hand tools, because I am getting ready to turn my pink, writing cabin, into a tiny house project. I love my little 12' X 24' cabin, but I want to turn it into a more cozier place for me to do my writing. 

I plan to install, with Aaron's, Chet's and Tony's help, a wood-burning stove, remove the electricity and make it totally off-grid by using solar panels and a generator. I also plan to put in a small kitchenette. And I've already purchased a generator, that should arrive in a few days and I have just about made up my mind on which wood burning stove I want to buy.

Anyway, today I purchased a 200 piece Husky tool set. It was on sale, with a huge savings and it also came with a locking, steel tool box. Tony loves it, but now I am not so sure that I love it, because when I tried to pick the thing up—I couldn't. Omg, it must weigh over 50 pounds. And Tony keeps teasing me about being "such a weakling." So, I plan to paint all of my tools pink, so he won't want to use them.

When I told him that I was going to buy some pink fingernail polish and paint the tools pink, he quit laughing. "Since it is so heavy," I stated. "I'll just remove the three trays and carry them, one at a time, outside. Problem solved." 

Tony started chuckling, and said, "You can't, Nance. Because the drawers don't pull all of the way out. See." Then he pulled the three trays out as far as they would go. "Don't worry, I will carry it anywhere for you. I was just messing with you...."

Y'all have a great evening! And keep on laughing!

As Luck Would Have It! or Another Surprise!

Last night, around 5:00, Tony and I went over, to the Lodge, to visit with our dear friend Maribeth. Kinky is out of town and he had asked Maribeth to babysit The Friedmans for him.

We stayed about an hour over there and we had a really fun visit with her. Maribeth was one of the first friends that I met when I moved to Utopia over twenty years ago. So, as you can imagine, we had lots of catching up to do.


After we adios-ed Maribeth, we took off and little did we know that we had a very big, not so good, surprise waiting for us, at the rescue ranch.

In the hour that we had been away from the rescue ranch, a gigantic, dead cedar tree, inside Miranda's pen, had uprooted and fallen down. And it was resting on the fence that it had nearly crushed. I blurted out, "Oh my goodness!" And sorry, I can't tell you what Tony said.

Then trying to find something nice to say, after what he had said, I said, "This is a blessing in disguise. If Kay and Richard had not come out yesterday to pick up Miranda Lambert, she could have been badly hurt. But fortunately, as luck would have it, she was gone. How lucky is that?" And as we drove past the downed, drowned tree, I said, "Tomorrow morning I am going to come out here and take a picture of that poor, dead tree."

And this morning, before we went over to visit Maribeth again, I took these pictures.

When we took off for the Lodge, we had another surprise awaiting us. We discovered that we had flooded sometime during the night and had been land-locked, but fortunately the water was receding rapidly, so we were able to cross the bridge safely. 

So today has been great after all. Early this afternoon, after I cooked lunch and we ate, Tony called our friend Aaron to ask him if he could come out tomorrow to help him cut up and remove the fallen tree and repair the fence. And Aaron said, "Yes." And that's about it for today.

P.S. I am still searching for a tiny, aluminum tin for Little Debbie to wear. So wish me luck!

Y'all have a great evening! 

Miranda Lambert Was Here! or Screen Writers Meeting! or Please Help Little Debbie!

Thanksgiving Day was wonderful, even though the weather was taking turns drizzling or raining. Tony and I got up real early, so we could start cooking the mixed vegetables and get things ready to prepare our rescued dogs their annual (People food) Thanksgiving dinner.

We put 3 large, 80 oz. sacks, of frozen mixed vegetable, that filled up 2 large, aluminum, baking pans. Then we put them inside the oven.

Then we drank some Donut Shop Coffee. While Tony showered Hazel and I sucked up all of the recently shed dog hair. Then it was my turn to take a shower.

Around 8:00, our good friend Aaron showed up, to help us prepare our dog's delicious turkey dinner. And because of the wet weather, we guessed that our friends might not show up, so around 8:30, the three of us started pouring all of the stuffing, garlic, cheese, eggs, cooked vegetables and ground turkey, into three, five gallon buckets, while the hot dinner rolls browned, inside the oven. Here is just some of the food that went into the buckets.

To our surprise, at 9:30, as earlier planned, our dear friends: Ellen, Kay and her husband Richard, arrived. And by 9:40, we went outside to serve our dogs their home/trailer-cooked Thanksgiving feast.

While Aaron and Tony fed our delicious, warmed dinner to our dogs, Ellen, Kay, Richard and I handed out hot dinner rolls and dog treats. Even though I couldn't take any pictures outside of our dogs enjoying their meal, because it was either drizzling or raining I can tell you that they loved it and they ate all of their vegetables and they licked their bowls clean!

After our friends left, to go home, I cleaned up our kitchen and then I started cooking our Thanksgiving dinner. 

Around 11:45, Aaron, Tony and I sat down, at the kitchen table and ate Karen & Terry's delicious Honey Baked, spiral cut ham, mashed potatoes, green beans and cranberry sauce. I intentionally didn't serve dinner rolls or pies for dessert this year, because they are way too fattening and we didn't need to eat anymore extra calories. So, we had a great Thanksgiving Day and I hope that y'all did too.

This morning, it was still drizzling or raining outside, when Kay & Richard came out to pick up Miranda Lambert. They are planning to adopt her, in early December, but because of their tight schedules, they wanted to take her home and try her out, with their sweet Wolf Hound, until next Wednesday, when they will return her for only a few days. So needless to say, "Miranda Lambert was here."

Around 11:00, Tony and I jumped into Trigger and took off for Kerrville, because I had an important "screen writers lunch meeting" to attend with Lisa and Eileen, at the El Sol de Mexico Restaurant.

When we arrived at El Sol de Mexico, our favorite Mexican food restaurant, Eileen and Lisa were already sitting at a table for four. And before we could join them, Beto, our favorite waiter greeted us and then he took off to get us some iced teas.

As soon as we sat down with our dear friends, Eileen, Lisa and I immediately started discussing the Longmire video that we are going to make with our friends and volunteers, in hopes that the entire Longmire cast and crew will invite us to be, on location with them, when filming an episode of their upcoming Season 5. 

We came up with a funny plot and the great news is Little Debbie, our new ranch mascot, is going to star in it, too!

I can't divulge the actors or the plot, because of secrecy, but I can tell you that Little Debbie will be wearing an Alien-helmet. In case you have not read my two Cowgirl Sisterhood fictional, cliffhanger novellas, Lynda makes Carol and me Alien-helmets to wear, that she guarantees will help us attract Aliens.

In my fiction novellas, Lynda makes these shiny Alien-helmets for friends. Basically, they are aluminum, pot-pie pans, with two holes punched into them, so she can tie pretty ribbons to it, so we can tie them upside down, on our heads. They look like these and please note that mine has the pretty pink ribbons and the other one is for our guests to use.

Anyway, for Little Debbie to be in our funny, Longmire spoof, that hopefully will go viral and hopefully get all of us invited to be on the Longmire set during filming, Little Debbie has to be wearing an Alien-helmet, like mine, that is the size for a Chihuahua to wear.

So I am asking all of y'all to please help me find Little Debbie a tiny, aluminum, pot pie tin, that I can punch holes in and tie pink ribbons on. I plan to Google it tonight, but any help in locating one would be greatly appreciated, because time is of the essence. Please help Little Debbie. And that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

Rum!

Today has been great. Late this afternoon Kinky called me to invite me to go on a hike with him and The Friedmans.

When I arrived at Kinky's Lodge he asked me to come into his office, because he and wanted me to listen to the new song that he and our good friend, Sean Rima, have written.

I sat down next to his desk. Then I listened to Kinky play his beautiful, Guild guitar and sing the beautiful song and it blew me away and I told him so. So, he sang it again for me to my delight.

I would tell you more about Sean's and Kinky's co-written song, but right now it is a secret and not for me tell.

Kinky, The Friedmans and I went on another thirty-minute hike and it was a lot of fun. During our hike we went into the woods and then followed a difficult path, with sliding rocks, back to The Lodge. And all I can say is that I am glad that I didn't stumble and fall.

After our fun hike, we went inside the Lodge and continued to visit for awhile.

I just got back home and am fixin' to start cleaning The Cabin, because tomorrow morning our friends/volunteers are coming out early to help us cook our dog's their annual (People's) Thanksgiving dinner. And I don't want our trailer to look like we live here, so I have a lot of tidying up to do before morning.

I am already charging my camera, so I can take a lot of pictures tomorrow and I will post them tomorrow night, if I am not too tired.

Tony, Roy, Belle, Beau, Little Debbie, Big (Al)ice and I want to wish all of y'all the best Thanksgiving Day ever!

P.S. I told my sister all about my egg nog fiasco and she laughed, and then she told me that Mom & Dad used rum in theirs.

Y'all have a great evening!

YUK!

Today has been great. This afternoon Tony and I went to Kerrville. Our first stop was at Randy's & Lisa's Save Inn restaurant. Tony and I ordered the same thing, too. We had The Daily Special, which was totally delicious. It included a trip to the soup & salad bar, roast beef, mashed potatoes and okra and iced tea.

Then we drove across Sidney Baker Street, to go to the Home Depot, because I wanted to look at their gas-powered generators.

Then we went to the liquor store, that is about five doors down from Tractor Supply, so I could buy a small bottle of bourbon to add to the egg nog. Not sure what to buy, I ended up purchasing a bottle of JIM BEAM, Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, because it was on sale.

Our last stop was at the big H-E-B. While Tony was outside filling up Trigger, I was inside speed-shopping. And on my way out of the grocery store, June and I spotted each other. She was pulling a grocery cart out. We waved to each other and then she half-hollered, "Tony's parked over there! Happy Thanksgiving!"

"Thanks! Have a happy Thanksgiving, too!" I hollered back.

When we got back home, Tony helped me put up the groceries. Then I decided to make an egg nog for myself. I added about a half a jigger of bourbon, to my favorite coffee mug and then I filled it with egg nog and a sprinkle of nutmeg.

After I stirred it, I took a big sip of it, with Tony watching me. "Yuk!" I said.

Tony started laughing, and asked, "What?"

"Omg, this tastes horrible! It tastes fine, just like it's suppose to taste, but it's been so long since I drank bourbon or had an egg nog. I can't believe I actually used to like this stuff." Tony continued to laugh. "Here Tony, you try it."

"No thanks. I'm not an egg nog man, even with bourbon. You drink it."

"I can't," I said, as I poured my nostalgic, holiday drink down the drain and rinsed out my mug. "I guess we can give Kinky the bottle of bourbon."

"No save it," Tony said. "You can use it when you make Peach Whiskey Chicken...."

Y'all have a great evening!

Busted! or A Star Is Born!

Today has been really great. This morning I was sitting around, in my sweatshirt and sweatpants drinking coffee with Tony when our dogs started barking outside and inside. So Tony went outside to see what was going on.

A few minutes later, Tony walked back inside The Cabin, and said, "Gerry's here!" Then Gerry walked inside our trailer, too.

After howdies and hugs and giving our dear friend some delicious Donut Shop coffee, I confessed, "Gerry, you'll have to forgive me, because I totally forgot about you coming out this morning and us making a holiday video for our rescue ranch. I remember setting the date and I even have it written on my calendar. This is what happens when you get my age."

That made Gerry laugh. "You're busted," Gerry joked and then he and Tony teased me about me being forgetful.

Our dear friend, Gerry Olert, is the very best videographer, editor and producer, in Texas and we've been best friends since 2005 and he is the only videographer that our rescue ranch uses.

We had a fun visit until we ran out of coffee. Then Tony and Gerry went outside, so Tony could finish doing the morning chores and Gerry could get his cameras, etc. while I quickly took a shower and dressed, in my uniform: navy turtleneck, 501 Levis, navy, zipped-up hoodie sweatshirt, pink Justin Gypsy boots and my white, Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch cap.

When Gerry was ready to shoot me, outside, for the holiday video, I asked him if it would be okay if I held Little Debbie, because Little Debbie is already well known and this would make her even more famous. Gerry had no problem with her being the star, in the video. And Little Debbie couldn't wait.

So fifteen minutes later, Little Debbie and I stood back, in front of the fence, Gerry took aim, adjusted the sound quality and then he shot us. I did all of the talking and Little Debbie didn't. And when Gerry had finished shooting/filming us, I thanked him and then I joked, Thanks to you a star is born! Little Debbie is fixin' to become even more well known than she already is. In fact, right now I'm appointing her our official Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch mascot."

Before we left to go eat lunch together, at the Medina Apple Store, I started to write Gerry Olert a check for making us a holiday video, but he told me not to, "This one is on me. Seriously, no charge..."

So, on behalf of Kinky, Tony, our rescued dogs and me I want to thank our dear friend, Gerry Olert, for being one of the first to help make our rescue ranch's 2015 holiday season great. "We love you, Gerry!" 

And that's about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

Queen Anne!

Today has been great. Late this morning, Tony and I went to Kerrville to buy dog food and for me to pick up a few groceries.

While we were at the big H-E-B, Tony was over on the dog food isle, filling up a grocery cart and I was a few isles down, putting a gallon of 2% milk, into my grocery cart, I saw a woman putting a couple of egg nog cartons into her shopping basket and it brought back fond memories. The last time I drank egg nog, was in 1989, at my parents home, in Fort Worth and it was on Christmas Eve.

Mom and Dad never drank hard liquor, except on Christmas Eves. Every year, the day before Christmas Eve, Dad would go to the liquor store and purchase a medium sized bottle of bourbon, a few cartons of ready-made egg nog and a couple of boxes of Queen Anne Cordial Cherries, in dark chocolate.

None of my family was all that wild about those chocolate covered cherries, but we would always eat them, because it was my father's most favorite Christmas treat.

Feeling nostalgic about those wonderful Christmas' I spent with my family, I put a quart of egg nog, into my cart and then I back tracked a few isles and found the Queen Anne Cordial Cherries display and put a box of them into my grocery cart, too. Then I continued shopping.

Fifteen minutes later, I met Tony at the truck and he loaded up our groceries. As we were driving through the parking lot I told Tony that I needed to go to the liquor store. After he gave me one of those looks, I said, "I bought some egg nog and I need to buy a bottle of bourbon, because...."

When we arrived at the liquor store, it didn't look open to us, so I jumped out of Trigger and went up to the door, because I couldn't read the store's hours. Then I went back to the truck and climbed back inside. "It's not open on Sundays," I stated. "I thought liquor stores were open at noon, on Sundays"

So, Tony backed out of the parking space and drove us home, with the radio turned off, because I did not want to listen to anymore depressing world news.

When we got back home, Tony helped me put up our groceries and then we went outside to do some mowing, because the sun was shining brightly and the temperature outside was perfect, because I was wearing a hoodie sweatshirt and he was wearing a light-weight jacket.

We ended up using the riding lawn mowers, and we mowed down the grass and weeds, in Baxter & Honey's pen and Dr. John's pen. And they look so beautiful. So, mission accomplished.

I have just finished eating two Queen Anne Cherry Cordials and to my amazement they were very tasty and they immediately brought back those fond memories, that I cherish. I've already put "Buy Bourbon," on the top of my shopping list, so the next time that we go to Kerrville I can buy some. And that is about it for tonight. Long live the Queen (Anne Cherry Cordials)!

Y'all have a great evening!

Truck Trouble!

Yesterday, after I wrote and posted on my blog, Tony and I went outside to put the blue tarps up, on the Egg Palace, because a cold front was due to arrive late Friday night. And while we were out there working a UPS truck arrived to our surprise.

The friendly driver had a gift to deliver to us sent from our friends, Karen and Terry C. It was a Honey Baked Ham for our Thanksgiving dinner! And to say the least, we were thrilled to get it, because for the past several years, these super nice people have sent us these delicious hams. "Thank you Karen and Terry for making another one of our Thanksgiving dinners great. We wish you a happy Thanksgiving. And please come visit us when you can."

After we had finished working, on the Egg Palace, I went over to Kinky's, because he had called me, while we were outside to invite me to come over and go on another hike with him and The Friedmans.

Yesterday, when I wrote that there hadn't been a lot to write about for the past few days, the only thing that I forgot to mention was that Kinky and I have been going, almost every day, on late afternoon hikes, with his four precious dogs aka The Friedmans.

When we finished our long hike around the ranch, Kinky invited me to come inside for a visit. After we had discussed his new idea for the title of his latest book, he told me another funny Willie Nelson quote. Then we matched wits trying to remember the names and dog breeds of U.S. Presidents. Then said, "Nance, I'm hungry. I don't feel like cooking and I don't want to drive to town."

"Let's go up to Koyote," I suggested. "Tonight's their all you can eat catfish buffet." And seconds later, I was on Kinky's phone calling Tony to see if he wanted to go eat catfish with us.

Twelve minutes later, we drove up and parked Trigger right next to Mr. Green Jeans, Kinky's green Chevy pickup. Then Kinky walked up and greeted us.

During our fun, delicious meal, we waved to Sarah, who was working behind the counter. "Happy Birthday, Sarah!" The three of us said. Then our good friend, Sarah, came over to our table to greet us, thank us for her birthday card and visit with us. And she brought with her three, big slices of her chocolate birthday cake to enjoy.

After we finished eating, sweet Sarah asked if Tony would please take a few pictures of her and Kinky and then get her husband to take a few pictures of her posing with Kinky, Tony and me. "It will cost you $10.00 a picture," Tony joked, as he focused her camera on them. Here are a couple of pictures that Sarah posted, on her FaceBook page:

Following the fun photo-shoot, Sarah asked Kinky if he minded her posting his picture with her, on her FaceBook page. "Do it!" Kinky said. Then Sarah asked me how Little Debbie was doing? I told her that she was fine and then Kinky started laughing, and said, "I don't believe this! Everywhere I go somebody is always asking me about how Little Debbie is doing."

"That's because Little Debbie is famous, Kinky!" Sarah said. "She's even got her own blog and I...."

And a few minutes later, we adios-ed Sarah. And as we went out the door, Irene, another one of our favorite employees there, half-hollered, "Y'all have a great night!"

"Good night, Irene," I half-hollered back to her.

Then Kinky chuckled, and joked, "Nance, that would be a great title for a Country song." Seconds later, we adios-ed each other and climbed into the trucks. Tony and I took off first.

When Tony and I were walking up to The Cabin, I heard the phone ring, then I heard Kinky's voice, "Tony, Nancy. Nancy, Tony. Pick up the phone! Nancy, Tony. Call me!" As soon as I picked up the phone, I heard click.

I immediately checked the Caller I.D. to discover that Kinky had called us from his cell phone. So, I immediately punched in his phone number, thinking that he must of had truck trouble and needed our help. But once again, I was wrong.

"Nance, do you know where @#$ Wallace Creek Road is? There's a woman, on Wallace Creek Road, who stopped me. She is lost and she can't find the address where she is supposed to meet up with her boyfriend...." Kinky adios-ed us after he had talked to me and then Tony, about the address, because we weren't any help at all, because we know our neighbors, but not their addresses. Bottom line: Her boyfriend found her and she was pretty mad.

As I finish writing this tonight, I plan to write for a few more hours and then I'll decide which television show to watch. And because, there isn't much to choose from, I've narrowed it down to:
Turkey Fried Easy or Best Christmas Lights Ever. But since sweet Karen and Terry have sent us another delicious Honey Baked Ham, I am going to watch Best Christmas Lights Ever.

Y'all have a great evening!

Rock Steady! or Double Whammy! or Drive Carefully!

This past week has been pretty uneventful, so I didn't really have much to write about, but today has been great.

This morning our dear friends/volunteers came out to walk our dogs and our dogs totally loved it. Kay, our newest friend/volunteer came out too, because she and I had planned, earlier this week, for her to get to know Miranda better, because she was interested in possibly adopting her.

Miranda Lambert is our beautiful, sweet, 2 1/2 year old Great Pyrenees mix. Miranda is an awesome dog. When our dear friend Fay, up in Toronto, adopted Miranda's brother, Blake Shelton, last year from us, Miranda's behavior began changing and she started becoming more and more shy with strangers and would bark at them.

Miranda had never been like that when she was with her brother, so we figured that Blake had been her rock steady. She would always follow his lead. If he was friendly, she was friendly. If he barked, she would back him up, etc.

Anyway, after Blake moved up to Canada and became known as Ranger, Miranda decided to pick out Tony, Jim M., a few others and me to  be her rock steady, because she trusted all of us.

When Kay arrived, she and I immediately went to Miranda's pen, so I could put a leash on Miranda so we could take her for a long walk, down to the creek. When I went into her pen, Miranda was all happy to see me and she easily let me leash her up, but she was acting a little unsure of Kay, who was outside of the pen watching all of this.

Within less than two minutes, I handed Miranda's leash over to Kay and we continued walking and talking. Miranda still seemed a little uneasy about Kay, so when we arrived down at the creek I suggested that Kay and I sit down on a giant rock together and let Miranda get used to her.

A couple of minutes later, Miranda let Kay start petting her. Kay and I petted Miranda for several minutes and talked to her and then I stood up and told Kay that I was going to go sit on a rock about twenty feet away from them, so Miranda wouldn't lean on me for support.

And it worked! In less than a minute Miranda totally relaxed with Kay and she started enjoying Kay's attention and affection. After about twenty minutes, Kay stood up and walked Miranda to the creek and Miranda went in as far as the leash would allow. Her wet tail was wagging non-stop the entire time and it was obvious to both of us that Miranda now liked and trusted Kay, too. They were buddies. Bottom line: Kay is very excited about adopting sweet Miranda, in the very near future. So please keep your fingers crossed for Miranda.

Lunch with our friends/volunteers was a blast. We ate at the Medina Highpoint's Koyote Grill and believe it or not—Tony and I didn't order the exact same thing.

While we were eating lunch, June asked #$#@^*, "How was your doctor's appointment this morning?"

#$#@^* started laughing and so did I, because #$#@^* had told me about her doctor's appointment while we were standing in line, waiting to give Kelly our orders. Every time that #$#@^* started to tell June, she and I would burst out laughing. So finally, #$#@^* says, "Nancy, you tell June."

"Okay. #$#@^* had made a list of things to ask her doctor after he examined her hips (In the past two years #$#@^* had both of her hips replaced.).

Then #$#@^* interrupted me. "Okay, I can tell it. After his examination I asked him to please check behind my scar, because there seemed to be some kind of swelling back there. I joked to him that it might be a fat pone." Then #$#@^* and I both started laughing, again.

"Please stop laughing and tell us," June begged.

"Okay," #$#@^* said. "He said, "Yes, it is a fat pone." Jim, Tony and June joined #$#@^* and me in laughter. "Wait there's more to tell," #$#@^* said. "I asked him to please check my other hip and it was a fat pone, too! But he said that it was much smaller!"

"A double whammy!" I interjected. June liked my comment and she nearly fell out of her chair, because she was laughing so hard. "Or you could call them bumpers for your hips," I teased. "With a bumper sticker, across her behind that reads, "Caution Wide Load..."

After we had all calmed down and quit teasing #$#@^*, Suzanne confessed about recently getting a warning ticket for speeding and then we started talking about who likes to drive fast and who likes to drive slow. And it was by a unanimous vote that Lisa, hands down, wins the award for driving way too fast, with Ellen, June and me tying for being the slowest drivers. And that's about it for today. Drive carefully.

Y'all have a great evening!

Thank You, East Kerr 4-H Club! Y'all Rule!

The last few days have been great and so much fun. Friday, with the exception of two, all of our wonderful friends/volunteers showed up to walk our dogs for us.

Kris & Jim brought along, Kate, their beautiful daughter, who was down here visiting them, from Portland. And Kay, our newest friend/volunteer came out, too.

While our dogs were being walked Kris & Jim and Kate came up, to The Cabin, so we could meet her and visit. Roy, Belle, Little Debbie and Big Al(ice) were delighted to see them, too. Our dogs acted goofy for a few minutes and then they settled down. And while we had a fun visit Kris and Kate took turns holding Little Debbie and Big Al(ice).

When the dog-walking was done outside, all of us went up to the Koyote Grill to eat lunch together. Normally, Tony and I are the last to leave the rescue ranch, but because it was Kay's first time to come out, she followed us up to the Medina Highpoint Resort.

As always, Tony and I had a blast eating lunch with our dear friends and there was tons of laughter, to say the least. When Eileen retold her hilarious, story about going kayaking, with June, Ellen and Nyta  and accidentally snagging a fish, on her life jacket and thinking it was a snake attached to her life vest—everyone had to quit eating, because we were all laughing so hard. And I'm pretty sure that's when my back started aching.

This time Tony and I didn't order the exact same food. He ordered a hamburger, with no onions and fries and I ordered their Special, which was cheesy-potato soup and a BBQ slider and it only cost $5.00. Omg, the soup was absolutely delicious. I have never had cheesy-potato soup before, so I vowed to find a recipe for it, on the Internet and make it as soon as possible.

Before Tony and I adios-ed all of our good friends, Jim & Kris invited Tony and me to join them and Kate for a Saturday lunch, at the Thai O'Cha.

Saturday morning, while Tony was outside working I called Kris & Jim to ask them if it would be okay to invite Kinky to join us. Their response was a unanimous, "Yes. By all means! Invite him."

After we adios-ed each other, I called Kinky. "...By the way, Tony and I are going to eat lunch with Jim & Kris and Kate, at our favorite Thai restaurant. We would love for you to join us."

"It sounds good, but Nance I just woke up. Let's discuss it in a little while. Mr. P. stop it. Leave Sophie alone...." Right after we had adios-ed each other, our phone rang—it was Kinky. "Nance, my new coffee-maker, that I just purchased, two months ago, isn't working. I desperately need some coffee, now."

"I'll make you a cup and bring it right over," I said. "Wait, I can lend you my inexpensive, wannabe Keurig coffee machine, that I take with me on trips. I'll be over there in just a few minutes." Then I called Kris & Jim back. "Kinky thinks he wants to do lunch with us, but he is not sure, yet, because I just woke him up and right now I've got to take Kinky some coffee, because his new coffee maker is broken. I'll call you as soon as I know."

I made Kinky some Kona coffee and then I put it into a plastic container, so it wouldn't spill. Then I found my imitation Keurig, that was in the Mother Ship. Then I took off for the Lodge.

Let's just say that Kinky was more than thrilled to see me. He met me outside and took the hot coffee, in the container. While I was showing him how to use my little, traveling coffee-maker, he started teasing me about me going into my teaching mode. "Seriously Nance, I think I can figure it out...."

A few minutes later, before I left, I asked him he was going to eat lunch with us. "Nance, I think so, but I am so exhausted from being, on the road and having to go to all of these receptions. I mean the receptions were nice and fun, but I am sort of peopled-out..."

When I came back home, I immediately called Kris & Jim. "....Kinky is still not sure if he is going to eat lunch with us, but he told me that 1:30, would be the best time for him. He started joking with me about being tired of going to all of these receptions...."

After I adios-ed Kris, I went to my computer. And a few minutes later, I had made a sign, to tease Kink, if he showed up for lunch. These are the three words I put on my homemade sign that I was going to place on our table: 

Kinky Friedman

Reception

Tony and I arrived at the Thai O'cha, at 1:29 and we saw Buddy, Kris' truck and Mr. Green Jeans, Kinky's truck parked in the parking lot. "Dang it, now I can't surprise Kinky," I said, before entering our favorite Thai restaurant.

Right after howdies, we sat down, at the table. I sat next to Kinky and while he was telling our friends a funny story, I pulled the sign, out of my sack to show to everyone. Kinky immediately started laughing and so did everyone else.

Our lunch was totally delicious and as always, we were the loudest table, because Kinky kept us laughing, with jokes and hilarious tales from his recent tour. We spent over an hour and a half with our friends. When Jim asked Kinky to pose with Kate, for a picture, I grabbed my iPhone and snapped these pictures, too.

And you can see the Kinky Friedman Reception sign that I placed behind him.

When we laughed about the sign, Kinky grabbed it and posed, again.

Today has been great, even though it has been drizzling most of the day. This morning I found a cheesy-potato soup recipe and I made it for lunch. But, it was pretty bland taking, so I started adding all kinds of leftovers and it turned out great. Tony loved it and he ate two servings of it. "Nance, that is the best soup that you've ever made! You need to share your recipe. What's in it?"

"I started out with potatoes, celery, onion, garlic, organic chicken broth, bacon, milk, three kinds of cheese, pepper and salt. Then I added our leftover Cajun beans & rice, a jalapeño sausage, spinach and some pico de gallo. And the secret ingredient is cinnamon, because I was talking on the phone to Rick and when I thought I was adding pepper, I picked up the cinnamon instead...."

Tony laughed, and then said,"You need to call it Cousin Nancy's Kitchen Sink Soup."

It is now 4:30. Tony is still outside with Karon and the kids, walking our dogs for us. And Kinky has just called me, "Nance, are you still threatening to bring over your soup that Tony says is the best soup that you've ever made?"

So, I just put some of my delicious, leftover Kitchen Sink soup, in the same plastic container that I used to take Kinky some coffee yesterday morning.

I just got back from taking the soup over to Kinky's, He told me that he wasn't hungry right then, but he would heat it up later and give it a try. When he asked me what was in it, I named off all of the ingredients, but I intentionally left out that  cinnamon was the secret ingredient. Then he asked me to go on a short hike with him and The Friedmans, but I told him that I couldn't, because I was wearing my pink Crocs. Anyway, I hope he likes my soup as much as Tony does.

And lastly, I want to thank the great, East Kerr 4-H Club, our favorite 4-H Club, for the totally awesome dog house that they built for our dogs. It is green, huge and it has a shingled roof. For the past three weeks, Gayla and I have been trying to coordinate a Saturday that would work out for us and the club to come out to deliver their incredibly great dog house, but things kept coming up for each or us or the weather wasn't cooperating.

Anyway, Gayla & Scott, delivered it to us, Saturday morning. Scott and Tony unloaded the giant dog house, by Baxter and Honey's pen and this week, with some help, it will go into Honey's and Baxter's pen, so they can enjoy it. 

I wanted to take a picture of it, but they unloaded the front of the dog house facing the fence, so I am going to have to wait, until it is moved into the pen, so I can take a good picture of it. "We love the East Kerr 4-H Club and we thank them! The East Kerr 4-H Club Rules!"

Y'all have a great evening!

We're Celebrating!

Today has been more than great! I got my Wicked Good Slippers and I absolutely love them. And a few hours ago Tony and I have received some of the best news we could have gotten. So we're celebrating tonight! Life Is Good!!!!

Y'all have a great evening!

Dorothy Had Her! or Sole Mates!

Today has been great and so was yesterday. I spent several hours yesterday, push mowing, the dog pens. The grass and weeds weren't that tall, but it wore me out anyway and that's why I didn't post anything on my blog last night. Besides that, mowing down grass and weeds just isn't all that interesting. If you know what I mean?

This morning, when Tony went outside to do his everyday chores, I went outside with him. But not to help him feed the dogs and clean their pens. I went outside so I could push the mower around more dog pens.

Today, I ended up mowing down the weeds and grass in eleven more dog pens and I actually enjoyed it. Because whenever I get depressed or am worried about some things—I get physical or I decorate. And the bottom line is—I feel great and the dog pens look beautiful. So, I guess that you could say, "Mission Accomplished!"

This afternoon to reward myself for all of my physical labor, I went Online and I made a very special purchase.

For several months, I have been trying to find a decent pair of leather soled shoes, on the Internet, so I could do more Earthing. Yes, I know that some people and my friends often say, "That I'm out there," but that doesn't bother me at all, because I know that I'm out there and I've always been. And I like that myself.

Anyway, this afternoon I finally found the perfect shoes, with leather soles. I found them on the L.L. Bean web site. And instead of calling them shoes—they call them Wicked Good Slippers! And these super-slippers had a promo-code with 10% off.

The Wicked Good Slippers cost $79.00, but after applying their 10% promo code discount they only cost me about $71.00 with free shipping and I would receive them within seven days! So, when I was anxiously making my Online purchase a window popped up that informed me that I could have my magic slippers by Friday, for only $15.00. So, I figured that since I was getting them already with 10% off, I would spring for the Friday delivery. So if you are out there or into Earthing like I am, you can click here to check out my Wicked Good Slippers.

Early this evening Sandy & Jon called me. After we had talked about a few things I told them about how excited I was about buying my new Earthing shoes/slippers. After we had chuckled about it, Jon remarked, "It's sort of like Dorothy had her ruby shoes and now you've got your Earthing shoes...."

At 7:00, I'm going to watch Easy Rider, on the Sundance Channel, with Little Debbie and Big Al(ice). And that's about it for tonight.

P.S. Last night Rick had open-heart surgery. They replaced the heart valve and Rick told us that the doctors were pleased with the surgery and his recovery. So thank all of y'all for your prayers for Rick.

Y'all have a great evening!

Pooh And The Brown Piglet! or How Maribeth Survived!

Today has been great. This morning, Tony and I returned the rental car and then we went and ate breakfast at Randy's & Lisa's Save Inn Restaurant. And yes, once again, we ordered the exact same thing: Sinker Omelet, hash browns and whole wheat toast and coffee.

Tonight I have two things that I want to tell you about and I am saving the deal about Maribeth to keep y'all in suspense. So here goes.

My dear friend Cindy Pickard, who I've known for nearly thirty years, the woman who lives in Northern Mexico, that Chet and I went to see, in late June, has just started blogging about her life. In her first post on, Pooh and the Brown Piglet, Cindy introduces herself. She wrote about her earlier life, growing up and having to deal with death, grief and loss, at an early age and how she has survived.

And by the time you finish reading about Cindy's incredible life journey, after her youth, you are totally hooked and can't wait to read more about her and her award winning documentaries and her (She's Pooh) and Jody's (He's the Brown Piglet) life together. Because they are successively living off the grid, with their two hybrid Wolves, a milk cow, two horses, birds and a phantom cat, that neither Chet or I saw when we were out there.  

Cindy is an incredibly interesting woman with a lot of insight and humor. In fact I am still laughing about her hilarious story about her renting a Big Foot costume and having to haul it into Canada, for a documentary that she was working on.

Cindy is an extremely talented writer and you will find that her beautiful photographs are more than awesome, so I hope that you'll take the time to check out Pooh and the Brown Piglet.

Now I must tell you about how Maribeth survived baby-sitting for us. I didn't find out about Maribeth's "near death experience" until we got back, Saturday afternoon.

If you read last night's post, I wrote about me fixin' healthy smoothies for Maribeth, Chet, Tony and me, before the three of us took off for Fort Worth. The more than healthy smoothie ingredients were:
strawberries, blueberries, a banana, peaches, almond milk, organic cacao chocolate powder, organic sun-dried goji berries, chia seeds, cinnamon and fresh kale, from our organic keyhole garden.

Late Saturday afternoon, I called Maribeth to thank her for baby-sitting the rescue ranch for us and her response was, "Nancy, what in the heck did you put in that smoothie you made for us? Because after y'all left, I had an really bad allergic reaction. Ten minutes after y'all left the rescue ranch, my eyes swelled up and I could barely see...."

I told Maribeth all of the ingredients that I had put into the smoothie and she said, "It had to be those dang goji berries! I ended up having to drive to Bandera to get some over the counter medicine...."

After I apologized to her for nearly poisoning her, we had a really good laugh about it.

Y'all have a great evening!

Our Road Trip!

Our Fort Worth NASCAR trip was a lot of fun. Thursday morning after I did the Harley Show and his Tony and I started the last of our packing for our adventure up to the Texas Motor Speedway.

We had our dear friend Maribeth baby sit our rescue ranch for us. When she arrived, and a few minutes later Chet arrived, Tony had just finished doing his morning chores outside. So, I suggested making healthy fruit smoothies for all of us, so it would hold us until lunch time. But that didn't happen.

After we had parked Trigger, behind Wolfmueller's Books, we took off in the rented, black, Nissan Altima, to go meet Kris & Jim, in the Y.O. parking lot. When we pulled up, as Jim & Kris were getting out of Buddy, Kris' Toyota truck, Tony and Chet told me that they were starving. So when Tony lowered the window, to greet our friends, Tony said, "Chet and I are starving." After Kris & Jim and I had quit laughing, we took off to go eat breakfast, at Randy's & Lisa's Save Inn Restaurant. And it was delicious and Tony and I ordered the exact same thing—Sinker Omelet, whole wheat toast and hash browns.

Forty-five minutes later, after eating a delicious breakfast, we took off, following Kris & Jim to Ft. Worth, Azle to be exact by Lake Worth.

Our trip was fun, because we were back and forth on our phones with Kris & Jim. But, it seemed like every county that we entered had some kind of weather warning, such as flooding, flash flooding or tornado alerts.

When we arrived at the La Quinta Inn, in Lake Worth, we went to our rooms to unpack. Our room was 309, Chet's was 307 and Jim & Kris' was 302. Then Tony & I did the dumbest thing, which didn't seem to surprise our friends.

A few minutes later we had to go downstairs, to meet everyone for Happy Hour. And when we got on the elevator I pushed the 1st floor button and stood back. When we arrived on the 1st floor, Tony and I took off in the wrong direction and we could not find the lobby. So we went back to the elevator to see if we had gotten off on the wrong floor, but we hadn't.

So, Tony pushed the 3rd floor button. When the elevator door opened Kris & Jim were standing there. So I immediately confessed that we could not find the lobby, which made them chuckle. Then we got back on the elevator and went back down to the 1st floor with "our troops." "Nancy," Kris said. "The lobby is this way. Y'all went the wrong direction..." And while we were having fun visiting with our friends, we found out that a tornado had just touched down, in Fort Worth and it was starting to rain outside. Needless to say, I was a little more than nervous.

After a fun happy hour, we went back up to our rooms to get ready, to go over to Adina & Butch's house, to eat a delicious BBQ dinner. It was fun and the food was delicious.

When we got back to the La Quinta Inns & Suites, the cold front had blown in and it was raining, thundering and lightning outside—once again, not my kind of weather. Then Kris & Jim invited us to come down to their suite for a drink and that was a lot of fun, because we laughed and joked about things we had done when we were young.

Then when Kris & Jim highly suggested that we stay over another night and go to the Friday night truck races, at the Texas Motor Speedway, with them Chet, Tony and I took a vote. Then I told everyone that I was going downstairs to get us rooms, for Friday night. "Y'all, if I am not back, in ten minutes, send out a search party, because I will probably get lost trying to find the lobby." Then I adios-ed everyone and a few minutes later returned safely to room 302.

A little while later, we returned to our rooms. I opened our curtains and there was a distant lightning storm, lighting up the entire sky, so I grabbed my iPhone, Tony grabbed his camera and then we started trying to take pictures—in hopes of capturing the lightning. Here's the best one that I took of the lightning, over downtown Ft. Worth, which was miles away from us.

Friday morning, we met for breakfast downstairs and Tony and I were very impressed with La Quinta's Continental Breakfast, which included a cool, waffle making machine, yogurt, juices, eggs, sausage, toast, biscuits and gravy, cereal, fruit, coffee, tea, etc. When I told our friends about how impressed I was, I immediately started laughing, and said, "But then again, Tony and I don't really have anything to compare it to, because the last time that we stayed at a motel or hotel, was March 10, 1999, the day that we got married...."

We decided to spend the morning and early afternoon, at La Quinta, because Adina was at home anxiously waiting for their Friday mail to arrive, because she was waiting to receive our NASCAR ticket packets and the check, for our rescue ranch, to arrive.

Around 1:00, we called Adina to tell her that we were going to go eat lunch somewhere and she suggested that we go eat, at Ginger Brown's Restaurant. "It's close to La Quinta and it is down home cooking. The food is absolutely delicious..." 

And we were glad that we took Adina's advice. It was the coolest restaurant, with the best of vibes. The walls were lined with hundreds of assorted cookie jars, pictures and paintings. The waitresses were all upbeat and laughing and everyone in the place was happy. And all of the booths had those  small, table jukeboxes, like they use to have in the 60's and 70's. Here are a couple of pictures that I took with my phone.

The food was totally delicious! Before we were served our meals, the waitress brought us some fresh, homemade, hot-out-of-the-oven biscuits to munch on and they were the best biscuits we've ever eaten. 

Of course, Tony and I ordered the exact same thing: chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes and green beans. Kris ordered "Something Effe Mae Threw Together" and Chet ordered five vegetables. Unfortunately, I can't remember what Jim ordered, but I remember him telling us it was the best he had ever eaten. If you click here you can check out Ginger Brown's Restaurant and see what Tony and I ate, because it is at the top of the page.

While we were eating lunch Adina called me. She was disappointed and apologized, because their mail had come, but not the tickets and our check. I told her not to worry about it, because things like that do happen, especially when it comes to the mail. "I am going to go ahead and buy y'all some tickets for tonight's truck race and as soon as I print them out I will come over to the restaurant and give them to y'all. And ten minutes later, Adina arrived with tickets in hand.

The truck races were great and Chet, Tony and I were so grateful that Jim had brought along earplugs for us to use. Good grief, I could not believe how loud the trucks were when they flew past us, on the track below. And here is a photo that Jim took of Kris, Tony and me during the truck race.

We got back home yesterday afternoon, around 2:00 and we were tired, but we were so glad to be back home and with our dogs. Roy, Belle, Beau, Alice and Little Debbie were more than happy to see us and Chet's dog Willy howled and howled, with delight when he saw Chet.

Today, I caught up with rescue ranch business and then I spent a few hours outside, working on my RV, the Mother Ship and I am thrilled with the results. 

Our dear friend Rick is having heart surgery tomorrow. The doctors are going to replace one of his heart valves, so please include him in your prayers. And that's about it for tonight.

P.S. I forgot to tell you about what happened to Maribeth while we were gone. I will write about it tomorrow.

Y'all have a great evening!

We've Gone To Fort Worth!

We've gone to Fort Worth and we will be back Saturday afternoon!

He's Alive!

Today has been okay. Early this morning we talked to Rick and he didn't sound too good, which is normal when you are in ICU and having to take morphine, for pain. He told us that he has bacteria attached to his aorta and his doctors are hoping that antibiotics will take care of it or otherwise they will have to operate on his heart to remove the bacterial deposit.

After we talked I was pretty depressed and worried, so I called a good friend of mine, in hopes they could cheer me up, but that didn't happen, because when I called she/he they told me they couldn't talk, because a massive man-hunt was in progress for a missing man, that has seizures that needs to take his meds every eight hours. My friend told me that helicopters were tree-top flying, all around, in search of the man, who had gone missing since yesterday morning.

We tried to talk a few more times, but my friend had to keep adios-ing me, because search and rescue teams were needing to talk to he/she, etc. "There are tons of rescue people out here searching, from neighboring towns and some of them are even on horseback...."

The last time I tried talking to my dear friend, low flying copters started circling he/she's home, so once again we had to adios each other, because we could not hear each other over the loud helicopter noise.

This afternoon, I was still somewhat depressed about Rick, when we went to Kerrville to rent a car. We had to rent a car, because Thursday morning Chet, Tony and I are driving up to Fort Worth, to meet up with Kris & Jim, to attend a NASCAR race and to receive a check that will benefit our rescue ranch.

After we rented the car, we swung by the Post Office Sub-Station, so I could mail some letters and then we drove around the corner and stopped at one of our favorite stores that always has the best of vibes—Wild Birds Unlimited.

Kevin, the friendly owner, Tricia, the walking encyclopedia on horticulture and Marguerite, the sweet woman who keeps adopting dogs from us, greeted us when we walked into the super cool store. After howdies were exchanged Marguerite caught us up with Scout's latest adventure—she got spayed, then she got an infection and she is now on antibiotics until tomorrow.

When it was time to purchase Tony's (Wild Birds Unlimited's) superior birdseed, I was standing near the counter when I noticed the most beautiful, pair of does and fawns resting, behind the counter. "Oh my goodness," I said. I love those! Are they for sale?" Kevin, Tricia and Marguerite started chuckling.

"Sort of," Kevin said. "My wife Linda bought these for holiday decorations, for the store and..." Then Tricia and Marguerite started teasing him about selling them without Linda knowing about it. And a few minutes later, Tony and I adios-ed them. Tony was carrying his big sack of birdseed and I was carrying my new, beautiful doe and fawn.

When we got back home, I tried taking a couple of videos of Little Debbie's first encounter with the doe and fawn, with the toy Chihuahua walking around barking and Roy, Belle, Beau and Alice's first reaction to them, but unfortunately, the videos weren't anything to write home about. Anyway, here are pictures of my beautiful doe and fawn and Little Debbie and Big Al(ice) posing under the bench.

Early this evening, I called Rick. "Hi Nancy. I'm alive!" Rick joked, when he answered the phone. He sounded much better than earlier and he seemed to be in much better spirits, thank goodness. He told me that he is not in as much pain and he will know more tomorrow. So, we will call Rick back, in the morning.

Right after Rick and I adios-ed each other, my dear friend called me back with the latest man-hunt, rescue news and afterwards we had a big laugh about it. "Nancy, the all day, man-hunt is finally over. He's alive. And it was totally bizarre, too!"

"This afternoon I was on my way to the store to buy some beer and I saw our UPS driver, who always drives like a race car driver, stop abruptly, on the side of the road. Then a man climbed into the delivery truck and it took off, again. I thought it was really weird, because our UPS man never stops for anything. Anyway, the man he picked up was the missing person. So all is finally back to normal. Peaceful and quiet."

After we had quit laughing about it being a UPS man being the one to rescue the missing person, I said, "I love UPS. They always pick-up and deliver the goods on time." And that's about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

Please Say A Little Prayer!

Last night, we found out that our dear friend, Rick Reichenbach, the former "Friendly Lighthouse Keeper," in Port A, had a major heart attack.

We spoke to him briefly last night, because they had just moved him from ICU and putting him in a room.

Earlier this morning, we called Rick, but we only got his machine.

A few minutes ago, his friend Tracy called us. She told us that Rick has just been put back in ICU, because he is having difficulty breathing. And that is all we know so far.

I want to ask all of y'all to please say a little prayer, right now, for Rick's recovery, because we love him. I will keep y'all posted as soon as we know more about Rick's condition. Thank y'all so much.

Photo taken of Rick, inside The Cabin, 2013