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!