Monday, June 26, 2017

Bike Stealing! or Crime Doesn't Pay!

First off, I apologize for taking so long to post something on my blog, but we've been having fun and  just been too busy with friends. So now I will try to settle down some, so I can tell you about it and I am going to have to put it in "Reader's Digest" form to help make this a post instead of becoming a book.

The last few days have been great. Last Wednesday our good friends Jim & Liz brought their good friend Robert out, so he and T-Bone, his precious, old Black Lab, could meet Lori Darlin'.

Weeks before Liz had contacted me to tell me that their good friends Robert and his lovely wife had been over to their home and when they had met their Gus, Lori's twin brother, they instantly fell in love with him. And when Liz & Jim told them that we still had his sister, Lori Darlin' they were very interested. Bottom Line    Lori Darlin' got adopted and she now has a great, good-natured, running-buddy and a beautiful, landscaped, cascading waterfall, swimming pool, to swim in with Robert & his wife!


And here's Robert with Lori Darlin' before he took her to her new fantastic, forever home, in Kerrville. And as you can see she is more than a little bit excited to get out of here.


Thursday was one of the best days that Tony and I've had, in over 22 years, but that incredible, life changing story will have to wait just a little bit longer, before I share it with you. But I would like to say, "We love June and Ellen and we cannot thank them enough!"  

Friday afternoon, after we ate and had a delicious lunch with our volunteers, at the Medina Highpoint Resort, I spent my time cleaning up The Cabin. So that when Chet O'Keefe & Liz arrive, late Saturday morning, it would look like we don't live here. And believe it or not—it actually worked, but only for a couple of hours.

As soon as Liz & Chet and Willie arrived here we talked non-stop about our latest news and Tony and I instantly fell in love with Liz.

Around 3:00 while Chet & Liz were over visiting Kinky, we took a short nap, before getting cleaned up, so we would be ready to go up to, the Medina Highpoint Resort, to eat pizza with our friends and to listen to Chet play his fabulous music, under the Texas stars.

Our great friends: Bethany, Steve Pietzsch, Andy, Phil Houseal, Kris, Carol, Stephen K. Morris, Fourth Coates, Kinky, Floyd and several other friends joined us for a great evening of fun, delicious pizza and Chet's incredibly great music. Here are just a couple of the pictures that Tony and our friends took of Chet playing some of his incredibly great music.





Later in the evening, Chet's dog Willie did the funniest thing. While Chet was singing one of his songs, Willie got up and walked over to a tip jar, on the left side of the stage, and he put his nose inside the jar, like he was counting the money and then he, walked off the stage and that made all of laugh. Followed by Chet making a hilarious comment, after finishing his song, about him training his dog to do that and knowing how he would spend that money. But sadly, no one had taken a video of it.

But a little while later when Willie was sitting, back on the stage, with Chet, Willie got up and walked over to the other tip jar, on the right side of the stage and fortunately Tony captured these two pictures of him doing it, but this time Willie did not put his nose inside the jar.



And our good friend Steve took this great, short, fun video of Chet playing his guitar and Steve sent it to me after he got back home later that night. "Thank you, Steve!"

Sunday we were all tired and it was a nice day of rest for all of us and we just hung out, at The Cabin. And around noon today we sadly had to adios-ed our dear friends Liz & Chet and Willie. 

And that is about it for today except I want to share this one minute,  hilarious YouTube video that Jim "The Mineral Man" sent to me. I believe it is titled Bike Stealing101 and this morning Chet & Liz and Tony and I watched it and then we kept on rematching it several times, because it is so funny.

It is about these three young men, who take a bicycle apart in 3 pieces. Then they taped the the 3 pieces back together and then leaned it up against a tree. To see if someone would come along and try to steal it. Anyway, it is by far one of the funniest videos that I've seen and it proves without a doubt that crime doesn't pay. "Thank you for sending this Bike Stealing101 to me, Jim! You should have seen all of us laughing out loud." But I am blaming you for my back aching. 

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

Saturday, June 24, 2017

6:00 Update: Kinky Is Coming To See Chet O'Keefe Too @ The Medina Highpoint Resort!

Tonight's The Night!

Chet O'Keeefe & Liz are here! They arrived around 2:00 this afternoon and we've had a total blast catching up with them. And in case you may have forgotten—tonight's the night that Chet will be playing his awesome music, at the Medina Highpoint Resort, in Medina.

And tonight's the night that the Medina Highpoint Resort will be hosting their weekly "All You Can Eat Pizza."

I am fixin' to take a short nap with our dogs, so I can rest and get recharged, because tonight is going to be a total blast. See y'all there!

Sunday, June 18, 2017

All Excited Again! or Texas Stars!

Yesterday was a great day, even though sweet Wilma was returned to us, because the couple that had adopted her, almost four years ago, bought a house and are moving where they can't have dogs. Wilma is approximately six-years-old, house broken, great with other dogs and great with children. And seems happy to be back at the rescue ranch.

Tony put Wilma, in the big ally that separates Blue's and Gretchen Wilson's pens, to see which one will get to have her as a fun roommate. And so far it is a toss-up, because she is already become best friends with both of her neighbors.



Wilma is a really super, great dog, so if any of y'all know of someone who might be interested in adopting her, please ask them to give me a call at (830)589-7544.

I have some great, exciting news to finally tell y'all. Our dear friend aka the mystery musician who will be performing next Saturday night the 24th, at the Medina Highpoint Resort, is the one and only Chet O'Keefe! And it is amazing how it all came about. 

Over a week ago, Chet had contacted Tony, on Facebook, telling him that he and his friend, Liz, might be coming to visit us this weekend. We got all excited about it until last Thursday night when Chet called me to tell me that something had come up and they had to cancel.

Then he and I had a long, fun visit and caught up with each others news. But before Chet and I adios-ed each other, he asked me if it would be alright if they came to visit us next weekend. And of course I said, "Yes!" Then Tony and I got all excited again.

So now fast forward to this past Friday afternoon, at the Medina Highpoint Resort, when we ate a delicious lunch with our good friend Jim M. 

Right after I had placed Tony's and my identical order, Craig, their great, friendly General Manager, at the Medina Highpoint Resort, walked up to greet me and in no-time-flat I was talking to him about Chet coming to visit us and what a fabulous, talented singer/songwriter/musician he is and before I knew it—Craig had asked me to please get a hold of Chet to see he wanted to play, Saturday the 24th, at their weekly All-You-Can-Eat Pizza Night.

And after I told Tony about Craig wanting to book Chet to play there, Tony and I got all excited, again.

So as soon as we got back to the rescue ranch I sent Chet an e-mail and then I called him, but got his machine. As y'all already know, I have no trouble talking to people and I also have no trouble talking to a machine. So I left Chet an earful telling him (his machine) all about what had just happened earlier, at the Koyote Grill. And I talked so much Chet's machine hung up on me. Which I am also used to.

Friday evening Chet called me back when he finally got cell service, in Terlingua, because he knows me well enough to know that I'd be calling him back again with another one of my long-winded, one-sided conversations with his answering machine. Which I've gotten to know well. And, that is why I could not reveal Chet's name, Friday night, because Craig and I wanted to make sure that Chet would be available to play.

So now that it is set in stone that Chet O'Keefe will be playing, Saturday the 24th, at the Medina Highpoint Resort, I'm hoping that all of y'all can come out to eat their all-you-can-eat, tasty pizzas, out on their beautiful, huge patio, that has a gorgeous, scenic view of the Texas Hill Country, while you sit back and enjoy listening to some of the best music that you've ever heard, under the Texas stars.

As you can tell I am all excited again about Chet performing next weekend and I'll keep y'all posted as the date nears.

And before I finish writing this I do want you to know that Friday night I stayed up until 2:00, in the morning, binge-watching Netflix's Season 3 of The Ranch. I totally loved Season 3 as much as I did watching Season 1 and Season 2. It is as great as the last two Seasons combined and it is just as funny too. But when one of my all-time-favorite actors suddenly appeared in it—my jaw dropped to the floor and I sat up straight, in my chair, because I could not believe my eyes. It was a total surprise and came out of nowhere.

But on second thought, now that I think about it. My jaw may have hit the floor that night, because my jaw was sore from all of my one-sided conversations with Chet O'Keefe's answering machine. 

Y'all have a great evening and keep on laughing.

P.S. Here are just a few other links to check out Chet O'Keefe and his music: 

Longmire—Texas Style video spoof

Ode to Cousin Nancy—Chet wrote this song for me and first performed it at our house concert for him on ranch.

The Apple Store in Medina—Chet plays his "Chet Pak" and entertains our volunteers.

Chet opened for our rescue ranch benefit, at the Cailloux Theater, in Kerrville

Friday, June 16, 2017

Saturday the 24th! or Mystery Musician! or The Carol Project!

The last few days have been great and with the help of our friend Aaron we did a whole lot of mowing and weed-eating. And now our rescue ranch looks like a beautiful, manicured dog-friendly park.

Today has been even greater, because Jim M., our great friend/dog-walking volunteer, came out and walked our dogs for us. Many of the others were no-shows, because of vacations, obligations, etc.

Anyway, after Jim walked our dogs we went to eat lunch, at the Medina Highpoint Resort's Koyote Grill. Besides our food being delicious and Tony and I ordering the exact same thing: Grilled Chicken Salad we had a really fun time.

And to top all of that off and "not to let the cat out of the bag" so to speak—I have some fabulous, exciting news, about a certain musician friend of ours who, Craig, the awesome General Manager, at the Medina Highpoint Resort, has booked to play on Saturday, June 24th, for their weekly, Saturday —All You Can Eat Pizza Night!

But the sad news is I can't announce who it is yet, until it is officially written down in stone or nailed down. And as soon as it is confirmed you'll be the first to know who this mystery musician is. So please go ahead and circle the date Saturday, the 24th, on your calendars.

After Tony and I adios-ed Jim, we left the Medina Highpoint Resort and we (I) talked non-stop about how excited I was that our friend would be playing the Saturday night gig up there. And before we came back home we made a quick pit stop to grab our mail.

But Tony didn't have much to grab, from the mailbox, this time, because there was just one letter and it was let's say "puffy." "What in the world is this?" Tony asked, as he handed the puffy letter to me.

I looked at who had sent it and I burst out laughing and couldn't stop laughing, because my good friend, Mari, had sent it to me. "What's so funny?" Tony asked. But I was speechless, because I could not quit laughing.

So the first thing that I did when we got back, to The Cabin, was to take a picture of Mari's puffy, "The Carol Project" letter with her special handling instructions, written near the bottom of the envelope.


Then I opened up Mari's puffy letter, even though I already knew what I would find inside and I took this picture of more of Mari's dog hair, for me to use for Carol's Christmas Top Bun, that I am making for her.


And when Tony saw the contents of Mari's "Hair Package" he finally started laughing, too. 

And that is about it for today. Because I need to take care of a little more rescue ranch business and then wash Mari's dog hair and dry it, in the salad spinner, before I start binge-watching the 3rd Season of The Ranch, on Netflix.

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

Monday, June 12, 2017

Mustang Willie!

Oh my goodness! Yesterday was great and today has been too. But before I start telling you how great everything is I have something to tell you about my Little Debbie.

As you may already know Little Debbie is a sweet, one-eyed precious, little Chihuahua that we rescued along with five other adorable Chihuahuas, almost three years ago. And Big Al(ice) was one of those lucky, five, other Chi's that we found fabulous homes for.

Anyway, since Little Debbie joined our family she has been nothing but great and she stole our hearts the minute that we saw her. Little Debbie has become a famous movie star ever since last year, when she starred in our hilarious Longmire—Texas Style video spoof.

Little Debbie is highly intelligent and house-broken even though she hardly ever sets foot outside. So when I say she is house-broken—I actually mean Little Debbie uses the potty-pads, inside The Cabin.  And not to brag—she'll only potties, on a pad, to help make cleaning up easier for us. Which I think is quite thoughtful of her.

Now to get to the point of all of this about Little Debbie, yesterday morning, we discovered that she is so smart and such a fine actress that she almost faked us out. Tony and I were, in the kitchen, getting ready to give our dogs treats and when Little Debbie walked into the kitchen she was limping and holding her paw up like it was hurt. "Omg, Tony! Look at Little Debbie. She's hurt!"

Tony picked up Little Debbie to look at her leg and to see if she had cut her paw or leg and she seemed to enjoy all of the attention she was getting from us and our dogs. "I can't find a thing wrong with her," he said, as he put her back down on the floor. Then Little Debbie raced out of the kitchen using all four of her legs like nothing was wrong.

So, he called her and she came limping back, into the kitchen again, but she was limping and holding up her other paw. Like this:


After running out of the kitchen again, she came running back, but this time she was holding up her other paw and giving us "the sad eye" look and wanting us to pick her up and that's when we realized she had been faking us out. Bottom Line    Little Debbie has a new acting skill and she is really good at it.

Yesterday afternoon Carol, Tony and I went to the Western Edge Cellars, in Fredericksburg and we had an absolute blast. When we arrived a few minutes after Stephen K. Morris' live, one hour broadcast show Spotlight, had already started, on the new, solar radio station TABC (Texas Americana Blues Cajun Music) And he was introducing his guests singers/songwriters/musicians—Lynette and Lefty. 

Stephen waved at us, from the stage, as we sat down at a table, near the front of the stage. Then this friendly, sweet waitress walked up to our table to take our order and then she disappeared and then quickly reappeared to serve us our drinks.

When Lynette and Lefty started singing their first song all three of our jaws, dropped all of the way down to the floor, because their music was so unique, refreshing or better said, "Totally fantastic!"

Everyone in the crowd applauded loudly, hooted and whistled after they finished their first song and the good vibes were uphill all the way till they finished their first set. Their music was amazing and Stephen and their interactions with the crowd kept everyone laughing. 

During their first break, Stephen and Lynette and Lefty came up to our table and Stephen introduced them to us and we introduced them to Carol. Then we started having a fun visit with them and that's when we found out that Lynette and Lefty had two, rescued Chihuahuas that they travel with. And I got to meet them, but I can only remember Gilbert's name. 

Before the second set, Stephen's better half, Eva Robinett, arrived and she joined us at our table, while Tony and I were finishing eating two delicious bowls of pinto beans with rice, sausage and melted cheese. And to top all of that off—the waitress came by our table and she gave all of us some really nice Pedernales Brewing Company beer glasses, because this popular brewing company is one of the sponsors for Stephen's Sunday afternoon Spotlight series. 

So to put our fun adventure, to Fred-Town, in a nutshell "We are now huge fans of Western Edge Cellars, Lynette and Lefty, Pedernales Brewing Company and Stephen K. Morris' Spotlight series and here are just a few pictures that we took. 




Their newest CD—Meant To Be





Today has been great, too. This afternoon, Dylan, the nicest young man came out for his appointment to meet Willie Nelson, because he was seriously thinking about adopting him. And it only took Dylan about ten minutes to make up his mind that he wanted to adopt Willie.

While I was filling out Willie's adoption form, Tony and I visited with Dylan, inside The Cabin, because it was starting to get hot outside. And the more we visited with him the more Dylan impressed us and he reminded us so much of dear friend Ben. In fact, Dylan is a cook and he loves cooking. So Dylan and I spent several minutes having fun talking about how we both enjoy cooking and our love for dogs. 

When we went outside to put a collar on Willie, Tony had found a nice dog collar and attached Willie's dog tags to it, while I was inside Willie's pen telling him about how happy we were for him finally getting adopting. And something must have clicked inside Willie's head, because he looked at me like he understood me and then he jumped up, on the top of his dog house.


And here's a picture I took of Willie and Dylan, just before Willie got in the passenger front seat and took off in Dylan's fancy Mustang.



Late this afternoon Tony went to pick up our mail and when he came back, he said, "You've got to read this. It is a letter from a woman named Julie Smith, in Australia. So, I read the letter and chuckled when Julie wrote she that she bought one of our Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch T-shirts, at a 2nd hand market, when she was visiting Phnom Penh, Cambodia. With a photo of her wearing "my very favorite shirt—I've had it for years and I wear it most weekends and all through summer camping...." So I would like to say "Howdy" to Julie and thank her for sending us this letter along with a picture of her wearing it—with a small kangaroo close by.



And that's about it for now, except I forgot to tell you that Dylan's girlfriend loves Blue Heelers and that she might want to adopt Blue! And I got this invitation in the mail today.


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

Sunday, June 11, 2017

Time Will Tell!

Yesterday was so great, because Tony and I were doing so well dieting. But early in the evening, when we went over to Carol's ranch for a fun visit with her & Bill, out of the deck, we totally blew our diet when we got back home. Because Carol had given us two slices of her freshly, baked, secret, chocolate sheet cake to take home with us.

Even though Tony had no idea that he was dieting with me and it was our very first day of officially going on a diet together he and I immediately consumed Carol's mouth-watering cake as soon as we got back home.

And it was well worth it, with no regrets, because it was the best tasting chocolate cake that we have ever eaten. And here's a picture of our two slices of Carol's cake, before we enjoyed devouring them. And please note that I did eat the smaller slice, because that means that I did a much better job dieting than Tony.


Later on in the evening I decided not to beat myself up and feel guilty about blowing our diet on the very first day. And I also decided to relax and read more of Mike Blakely's fabulous, can't-put-it -down, novel Short Grass Song. The 1994, first edition book, that Mike had inscribed and given to his dear friend Tim, because Tim had given Mike the "shirt off his back," when Mike had needed it most. 

Anyway, before I sat down and started to read I stopped and took this cute picture of Henry, sitting on top of our cedar, coffee table, that Tony had made for me over twenty-one years ago. Along with Henry's sidekick, Lori Darlin,' standing in my chair, while sweet Belle watched the ending of a Hallmark romance movie, while resting on my hand-painted rug.


And after I had forcibly removed Lori Darlin,' from my chair, I took this close-up of stubborn, Henry Standing Bear, refusing to get off of the coffee table.


Today has been great. Tony and I started our first day of dieting, again. And so far we're sticking to it. But I am already starting to have my doubts about if we will be successful dieting today, because in just a couple of hours, we're picking up Carol so she can ride with us to the Western Edge Cellars, in Fredville, for Stephen K. Morris' weekly, Sunday, 4:00 - 7:00 music show that he will be hosting. So I guess time will tell. If I decide to tell. : )

Anyway, it is now 1:45, in the afternoon and as I finish writing this post I want you to know that I am taking Mike Blakey's fabulous book Short Grass Song with me today, just in case he shows up, at the Western Edge Cellars. 

Because if Mike Blakely does show up I am planning to ask him to please scratch out Tim's name and replace it with Tony's and my names, but to please leave the rest of what he wrote to his dear friend Tim, because Tony and I want to give Mike one of our size large or extra large, Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch T-shirts to wear for luck. 

And then that will make his/Tim/our book even more valuable when we find out who this Tim is and somehow get to give it back to him. We're talking' priceless.

Y'all have a great Sunday and keep on laughing! 

Saturday, June 10, 2017

In Dreams I Go Back Home!

The past few days have been great. On last Tuesday's blog post I wrote that the sweet waitress, at the Thai O'Cha Restaurant made Tony and me look fat so I didn't post a picture. Well, sweet Eva has sent me a picture of Stephen K. Morris and Eva Robinett posing with us and Tony and I still looked fat, so I cropped it and this is what I got.


And the good news today is Tony and I are going to do the Atkins Diet for a few weeks or until we lose our muffin tops. But please don't tell Tony about dieting, because he doesn't know that we are dieting it.

Last night Tony and I met our dear friend Carol, at the Medina Highpoint Resort, for their Friday Nights delicious Catfish buffet. And also because Hogan & Moss, who we love their music, were doing a concert, out on their huge patio.

The buffet was delicious as it always it and omg, Hogan & Moss put on an incredibly great show and had the big crowd begging for more. In fact, we never stopped tapping our toes to their beautiful music, which is good because I'm sure our toe tapping helped Tony and me burn off a few extra calories.

This morning, I wasted about thirty-minutes of my time Googling on approximately how many calories are burned toe-tapping non-stop. And I found nothing, so if y'all know or can find out please let me know ASAP, because tomorrow afternoon between 4:00 - 7:00 Carol, Tony and I will be toe-tapping, again, at the Western Edge Cellars, in Fredericksburg. Because Stephen will be hosting another one of his awesome Outsider Insider Singer/Songwriter shows. And I want to invite all of y'all to join us there for a super-fun time.

Back to last night, at the Medina Highpoint Resort. During Hogan & Moss' 1st break, Bethany a dear, old friend of ours walked up to our table to say hi to us. And even though we haven't seen Bethany in several years and because we are such good friends our conversation picked up like we had just seen her yesterday.

Carol, Tony and I had a blast visiting with Bethany and we talked and laughed non-stop until Hogan & Moss took the stage again, to sing another great set for the crowd.

Later on, when it was time for all of us to go home, before it got dark on us, we got to have a fun, friendly visit with Maria Moss & Jon Hogan. And it was a lot of fun, because we quickly found out that they are real good friends with many of our great musician friends—such as: Chet O'Keefe, Jim Keaveny, Stephen K. Morris, etc.

And before we all adios-ed each other, Jon & Maria gave Tony and me two copies of In Dreams I Go Back Home, which is their latest, fabulous CD. And they asked us to please give one copy to Kinky, because they especially wanted Kinky to listen to Can't Always Cry, the 2nd cut on the CD. Because this beautiful, unfinished song had been written by the late Blaze Foley and after Blaze's untimely death his daughter had asked Jon to please put music to it for Blaze. 



And that is about it for tonight, because Tony and I are fixin' to go over to visit with Carol & Bill.

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

Tuesday, June 6, 2017

Mike Blakely! or A Friend Named Tim!

Yesterday we had so much fun, because Tony and I met our good friends Eva Robinett & Stephen K. Morris for lunch, at the Thai O'Cha Restaurant. We have been good friends with them for many, many years and it had been a while since we last saw them. In fact, we last saw them, at The Auslander, but the last time we got to visit with them was when Hans & Marita were visiting, from Norway. And they also have property, in Terlingua, but they live in Fredericksburg, so we decided that Kerrville would be a good halfway point for us to meet. Unless we all wanted to drive out to Terlingua and meet for lunch at the Bad Rabbit Cafe.

Anyway we had so much catching up to do with them while we ate our delicious lunch. They all ordered the famous #4 that Tony and always get, but this time I just ordered their Soup & Salad Bar buffet, because my 501 Levis were about to burst at the seams.

During lunch they told us that Stephen is still hosting his awesome "Outsider Songwriter Spotlight" series every Sunday from 4 -7, but he is now hosting his show, at the Western Edge Cellars, at 228 Main Street, in Fredtown. And he is noe taping the live music events and it now airs on the new, solar radio station TABC (Texas American Blues Cajun music). So Tony and I are definitely planning to go see Stephen's show this coming Sunday. And of course y'all are invited, too.

Also while we were catching up we started talking about great movies (PAUL to be exact) and books. I told them about that great book that I recently loved reading A Man Named Ove and then they told us about their dear friend Mike Blakely.

"We love Mike," Stephen said, as Eva nodded her head in agreement. "He's written 18 award-winning novels and he's up there with Larry McMurtry, James Michener and Marilyn Durham. Y'all would love reading his books."

"Mike is also is a very talented singer and songwriter!" Eva stated. "He's got 11 or 12 CDs out there and his songs have been recorded by Alan Jackson, Gary P. Nunn, Red Steagall, Johnny Bush and....."

"We'll definitely check him out," I said. "I'm sure Sandy & Jon have his books."

After our great lunch and fun visit with our friends we were about to leave when Stephen suggested that we go to Wolfmueller's Books. "We'll follow y'all."

When we got outside, Stephen & Eva pulled their cell phones out and told us that they had asked one of the restaurants great waitresses to come outside and take a picture of the four of us. And about that time she walked outside wearing a pretty, big smile on her face. "Hi, I'm Nancy," I said, as I pulled my cell phone out of my purse.

"Hi. I'm Tory."

"Tory, I want a picture too, if you don't mind," I said. "But please shoot from the waist up and don't make me look fat." Tory laughed, while I handed her my phone.

"Okay, smile," Tory directed. Then she took a couple of pictures on my cell phone and then she took pictures of us using Stephen's & Eva's cell phones. Here is Tory's picture.


And here is Tory's picture of us posing—not really, because she made me look fat and it wasn't her fault.

We had a fun time at Wolfmueller's Books. Jon & Sandy helped Stephen find A Man Named Ove and he bought it. Then Sandy took us over to the bookcase where Mike Blakely's novels were and they had a lot of his books and I didn't know which one to buy. "I'm reading that one right now," Eva said as she pointed at it."It is so good!"

So I took Eva's recommendation and picked Mike Blakely's book Shortgrass Song. And as we were walking up to the checkout counter I opened Mike's book, and said, "Omg, it's a first edition and it is signed! How cool is that?!" Then I thumbed a few pages to find his autograph and chuckled, because Mike had inscribed it to a friend named Tim. 

"What?" Sandy asked.

"He signed it to a friend named Tim. Occasionally, I will go on Amazon and buy a few copies of my used/signed book, by UT Press The Road to Utopia: How Kinky, Tony & I Saved More Animals Than Noah and give them away, because they are a lot cheaper for me to buy than new ones. And I always find it funny when I recognize a friend's name that I gave a book to. 

"Let me see," Stephen said. "I want to take a picture of it and send it to Mike. I bet he'll get a kick out of it." So I stood back so Stephen could take a picture. And when we got back home I took off my too-tight Levis and replaced them with black sweat pants and then I took this picture of  Mike Blakely's book and then I took a picture of what Mike had written to his friend Tim.



And before I finish writing this post I want to wish our dear friend, sweet Eva Robinett a very Happy Birthday today! And that is about it for tonight, because I am fixin' to start reading Shortgrass Song by Mike Blakely.

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

Sunday, June 4, 2017

Cruella de Vil!

This week has been a slow week for me. I have enjoyed not having to do a whole lot of ranch work, because I welcomed the peace and quiet. And it gave me time to stop and smell the four-o'clocks, so to speak, even though I couldn't couldn't detect any kind of fragrance from them, when I took this picture of them, near our front yard's gate.


 Anyway, I spent most of my spare time this past week doing some fun things that I enjoy doing. Like writing, reading, napping, watching movies, playing my guitar and banjo, taking a few pictures, experimenting with some new recipes, etc.

First off last Tuesday, we went over to Carol's ranch to visit with her & Bill and before we left Carol gave us a baggie full of her delicious, fresh, baked homemade oatmeal cookies.

So a few days later, while I was grocery shopping, at the big H-E-B in Kerrville, I also purchased the ingredients needed to make some oatmeal cookies, from a recipe that I had found, on the Internet. And this recipe had a 5-Star rating.

So, later on that evening I made a big batch of oatmeal cookies and I was real proud of myself for doing it until Tony and I took our first bites. Omg! We immediately gave my oatmeal cookies a big thumbs-down. Because they didn't taste anything close to Carol's tasty, secret homemade cookies. And to top it off— they were as hard as rocks and pretty ugly, too. And that is why I don't have a picture of my awful, nasty-tasting, oatmeal cookies to show you, because it would make me depressed all over again. So please use your imagination, because I don't want to even think about it.

A few days ago, I decided to take an afternoon nap, because the night before I didn't get all of my beauty-sleep in, because of the stormy weather. Bottom line:   I stayed up most of that night with Big Al(ice), because even though I had earlier given her a prescription "doggie-down" and put on her "thunder jacket to wear and played loud music for her to listen to—she was still out-of-sorts.

So that nap that I was going to take the following day never actaully happened, because when I went to the bedroom to take my nap our bed was already occupied. And Henry Standing Bear, Belle Starr, Little Debbie and Big Al(ice) refused to budge an inch. So I took this picture of them and then went into the kitchen to try to make this new, healthy, gluten-free, bread recipe using these ingredients: dry active yeast water, salt, pumpkin seeds, maple syrup and oat flour.


And to our surprise, because I am so horrible about making a decent loaf of bread—it was absolutely delicious. So I took these pictures to document it.




And to celebrate that I had actually baked a delicious loaf of bread I sat down and watched this hilarious, newly released movie, School For Scoundrels, on Amazon Prime, starring Billy Bob Thornton, Ben Stiller with many other famous actors—while our dog's slept, on our bed.

Yesterday I got a hilarious email from our good friend Liz. She and her sweet husband are the nice couple who, last year, let us film our Longmire—Texas Style! video, at their famous Grey Goose Saloon, an authentic 1880's Western bar. This is what Liz wrote:

....Another thing that I have been thinking about is your black dog-hair bun on your white hair. I know it is not Dalmation hair, but it sort of seems a little Cruella de Vil...."  

And to end tonight's post on a good note, here are a few pictures that I took of Henry on the front porch and him and Lori Darlin' at the front gate.




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