We Got It, Gaby!

Wednesday Evening Update:

Tony and I had a wonderful time eating lunch with Marita & Hans and our laughter was pretty much non-stop for almost two hours. So I am sure Tony and I must have burned-up a ton of calories.

After we adios-ed our dear Norwegian friends, from Bergen, we went to the big H-E-B to pick up some groceries.

When we finally got back home and had put up our healthy-keto friendly groceries, Tony went out to get our mail and our dear friend Gaby, from Germany, sent us the cutest, sweetest card.

In Gaby's kind note to us she told us that she will definitely be visiting Texas, beginning September 8th and we are so looking forward to seeing her and her lovely daughter, Xenia. "So Gaby, when you are reading this please know that we cannot wait to see you and Xenia! And maybe y'all will get to meet Hans & Marita?"

And here is a picture of the front of Gaby's cute card, just so she'll know that we actually did get it.

Second Hand News! or We're Off! or Mug Shots! or Foreign Friends!

Yesterday was so much fun. I actually got up early and I was thrilled about it, because I've been trying to change my body clock, so getting up early will become second nature to me. And it's working like clockwork.

Anyway, after getting up and drinking a delicious cup of coffee, Hazel came out of the closet and she and I got removed all of the dog hair, from the floor, behind things and underneath furniture. Then I walked 4 Fast Miles with Leslie Sansone.

After that I decided to check my e-mail. Mari had sent me some funny notes and Chet O'Keefe had sent me an e-mail that was written in three phases. What I mean he wrote some on Sunday night during a thunderstorm, Monday evening and Tuesday morning.

Sunday's news was about him coming up to visit us on Friday and planning on playing a fun gig with Stephen K. Morris, at the Western Edge Cellars, in Fredericksburg @ 4:00. And we can't wait, because we love Chet and Stephen's awesome music and the Western Edge Cellars is way too cool a place to listen to great music.

On the Monday part of his e-mail, Chet added news about his new, custom-made guitar and the last part of it was exciting, because he was looking forward to staying with us over the weekend and seeing all of our dear friends Stephen K. Morris & Eva Robinett and Hans & Marita, who are here once again, visiting all of us. Marita and Hans are from Norway and they will be staying in Fredericksburg, for the next month.

Tuesday morning the last part of Chet's note was a short note—Chet told me that he had talked to Hans & Marita and he knew that they were coming to see us "today."

As soon as I read that Marita & Hans were coming to see us "today" I asked Tony to please check his messages, to see if they had contacted him.

A minute later, Tony came into the big room, and said, "They sent me a note. They said that they are coming to the Old Timer's Rusty Dawg food truck to eat lunch and get a visit in with us.

I went into a panic mode, and said, "Oh my goodness! We won't be there." Then I clicked the remote to open our gate outside. "Try to send them a note telling them we're off today and to please come to The Cabin instead."

While Tony was writing them a message, I jumped into the shower and took the fastest shower that I've ever taken in my life. And forty minutes later our dear friends, Marita & Hans arrived!

After howdies and hugs outside, we came inside The Cabin and the real fun began. But before we started catching up with each others news they gave Tony and me gifts. "These are our favorite coffee mugs and they are made in Norway and...."

Tony and I loved our new Norwegian-made coffee mugs and I claimed the blue one and he got the white one.

To say the least, since this post is growing by the minute, "We had a wonderful time with Hans & Marita and we hated to see them go back to Fredericksburg. Not because we don't like Fredville, because we were having such a great time with our foreign friends.

This morning while I was cooking us breakfast, Tony was outside taking pictures. When he came back inside The Cabin, he was carrying a gift wrapped package. "I found this by the gate. Fay has sent you something."

Since I was busy cooking I asked Tony to please open it for me.

When I saw the cute box, I said, "Let me open it. Will you stir the eggs for me? They are almost ready." Tony took my spatula and began stirring my scrambled egg concoction (sausage, onion, mushrooms, garlic, eggs, parmesan cheese, heavy whipping cream and power greens) for me.

When I opened the box and saw the hilarious mug's message, I laughed out loud, because those were mostly my thoughts for the most part of August, because of Mercury doing its thing. It could not have been more perfect, because it said it all. Then I read Fay's sweet note. So right here, I want to say, "Thank you, Fay! I LOVE this mug! I Can't Even—"

❤

Then I cut up a ripe avocado and halved it. Then I smashed it, on our awesome restaurant plates, they sweet Liz & Jim gave to me. Then I dumped my scrambled egg concoction, on top of the smushed avocado and we ate another Keto-friendly-low carb breakfast. And in four days, we've been eating delicious salads, burger without buns, etc. And Tony has already lost five unwanted pounds and I can almost button the top button on my 501 Levis!

Here are our mug shots. 

As I finish writing this post this morning, Tony and I are fixin' to take off for Kerrville, because we are meeting Marita & Hans for a super fun lunch, even though neither one of us is hungry. Then we're going back to the big H-E-B, so we can stock up on more Keto-friendly food, because we are loving this amazing, healthy diet. And that is about it for today.

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

More Nuts! or Sea Salt!

Yesterday and today have been great until late this afternoon Tony and I ran out of those delicious sugarless chocolate chip wafers that I made the other day, because these low carb, chocolate treats are so delicious and they melt in your mouth.

Actually they also melt in your hand, once you remove them from the refrigerator. So I am referring to this concoction as a Fast Snack, because if you don't eat a piece of it really fast—they start getting soft and melting so fast that your fingers will be covered in dark, delicious, chocolate goo.

But oh no—I am not complaining about this tasty treat, because they instantly squelch your craving for sugar or sugary snacks and they are low in carbs, as long as you don't pig-out on them, which in our case has been very tempting to say the least.

In fact, this Fast Snack is so tempting that we had to make a fast dash, to the big H-E-B, in Kerrville, so we won't be craving sugar, as in cookies, pies, cakes, ice cream, candy, etc.

Anyway, this recipe has many variations to it that I've found on the Internet, but because I am not good at following recipes, because I always want to put my own spin on it—this is my Cousin Nancy Fast Snack recipe.

This recipe is so quick and simple anyone can make it. My version of it is I've added sliced, blanched almonds, because as we all know we all need more nuts in our lives. I mean a daily serving of nuts.

So here is my recipe, with pictures and I hope that you will try it, even though it can become so addictive that it will make you drive 20 miles, to the grocery store, when you don't want to go anywhere, because you'd rather stay home and take a nap with your dogs.

Ingredients:

1 - 9 oz. bag of Lily's Dark Chocolate Chips

1/2 Tsp. of Adams Vanilla Extract

4 - Tbs. of Coconut Oil

1/4 Cup of Blanched, Sliced Almonds

Directions:

Mix all of the ingredients together and melt the chips, using a double-broiler.

But if you live in Texas right now—just put the pan, out on the sidewalk, for a few minutes, but keep an eye out for fire ants. Or better yet, place the mixing bowl, on top of your truck, make loud noises and wave your arms around to scare the birds away. 

And Please Note: If you choose to do my truck method—you will have burned some extra calories, so then you can eat even more! This is my preferred method.

Pour the mixture into a shallow baking pan and then dust with Sea Salt.

Place the pan in the freezer for about 20-25 minutes. Then remove the pan and using a blunt knife (They are the only kind that Tony will allow me to use.) Break into bite-sized pieces and store them in a safe place inside the refrigerator, so Tony (Your kids, spouse, etc.) will not be able to find them. 

Speaking of finding things or not finding things, in the refrigerator, have any of y'all ever noticed that men, in particular, can look inside a refrigerator for hours, to get you something and they never seem to be able to find it without your help?

Anyway, Tony does this all of the time to me, so I know that my Fast Snacks are safe, until he gives up and finally asks me to get him a fast snack. 

And that is about it for tonight, because I plan to spend the rest of the evening writing on my third novella. Unless, of course, I start craving sugar sooner than later.

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

Hog Dawg! or Ninja Power!

The last few days have been great. A few days ago while shopping at H-E-B, I picked up a magazine, while standing in line to check out.

The magazine is about attaining better health, etc. Anyway as I was thumbing through it I came across an interesting article about blasting away unwanted pounds.

When I noticed Tony unloading the last few items from our grocery cart I put this magazine in the basket, because I wanted to learn more. So on our way back home, I learned more and by the time we got back home I was trying to persuade Tony to do this diet with me. Bottom   Line: He was still on the fence about it.

So yesterday, during a brief lull, at the Old Timer's Rusty Dawg food truck, I handed him the magazine and asked him to read the article. Bottom   Line: Tony was on board to do the diet with me.

So after we got off work, he and I went back to the big H-E-B and I filled up our basket with the food to do this diet. And when we got home—this diet commenced.

I cooked us delicious grass-fed burgers (with no bun) and topped it with sauteed mushrooms and onions, lettuce, tomato, avocado and a slice of Gouda cheese. It was totally delicious and filling.

Today while we were working at the awesome food truck, our good friends Kris & Jim showed up. Kris ordered our mouth-watering Frito-Pie and Jim decided to try the famous Hog Dawg (mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato and bacon bits) which is a very popular dawg.

And while Tony was busy fixing Jim's order and I was busy making Kris' Frito-Pie, Tony said, "Nance, when I got you your water, I made a mistake and got a tea that has sugar in it."

Well that stopped me in my tracks (actually when I was topping the Frito-Pie with cheese), so I said, "Tony you cannot have sugar. So throw it out and go get some water to drink or sugarless tea."

"I can't throw it out and waste it," Tony replied, as he was wrapping up Jim's delicious Hog Dawg. Long story short—I think Tony drank the sugary drink, but I am not positive about it, because we went outside to visit with our dear friends while they ate lunch.

Of course, we had a wonderful time visiting with Kris & Jim and we also did quite a bit of laughing like we usually do when we get together.

Early this evening, I fixed Tony and me a delicious salad for our dinner. I used organic power greens, sauteed some mushrooms and onions, added cheese, boiled eggs, avocado and a few tomato slices. But there was just one problem—we had no salad dressing that did not contain sugar, fructose syrup, etc.

So I decided to whip up some homemade ranch dressing. Normally, I would have used Jaws, my faithful Vita-Mix friend, but instead I decided to use (for the very first time) my Ninja 900 blender, that sweet Carol gave to me a few months ago, because she had two of them.

I filled up the blender cup with the ranch dressing ingredients, tightly screwed the lid back on and then turned it upside down and locked it into the Ninja 900.

Then I could not figure out how to turn the Ninja Power on. I felt all around the edges, etc. and finally gave up, and half-hollered, "Tony!" But Tony did not come running, because I discovered that he was napping.

So, I Googled "How to turn on a Ninja 900" and I watched a short, informative YouTube video where this beautiful, young model explained how to do it. "Just press down on the top of the container and to turn it off just release the pressure...." And to say the least, I did as I was told and it worked perfectly. And this time Tony came running, when I half-hollered, "Tony! Dinner is ready!"

After our delicious dinner, I decided to make this diet's recipe for making "Fat Bombs" using this fair trade, organic, sugarless (they use Stevia), dark chocolate chips, coconut oil and vanilla extract, because these treats are supposed to suppress any desire for sugar. But that's another story for another day.

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

Beat It—Can't Stop!

Today has been great. This morning my dear friend Mari sent me the coolest video of The Bottle Boys playing the Beat It, using glass bottles. The Bottle Boys are totally fantastic and amazing with what they can do with their glass bottle instruments.

I loved it so much I went and got Tony, because I wanted him to watch it, too. Needless to say Tony was flabbergasted and blown away.

When the video ended it immediately went to this man, Luca Stricagnoli, playing Can't Stop on a guitar that has three necks attached. When he started playing our jaws dropped and I nearly fell out of my chair, because Luca's music was so beautiful and watching his performance, while being surrounded by awesome Classic cars was almost too much for me. This video has already had over 12 million views.

So if you want or need to put a smile on your face, please crank the volume up and listen and watch both of these incredibly talented musicians. So please click above or below on these highlighted links, because you're going to LOVE it.

The Bottle Boys Playing Beat It

Luca Stricagnoli Playing Can't Stop

And that is about it for now, because I am going to watch both of these videos again, with the music streaming loudly on my wi-fi speaker.

P.S. I just Googled Luca Stricagnoli and here he is playing With Or Without You

The Package!

Today, believe it or not—has actually been more than great. It has obviously been great, because it is no longer M.I.R. Time. But seriously, Tony and I had so much fun working at the famous, Old Timer's Rusty Dawg food truck today.

We had a ton of hot dog lover enthusiasts show up and I wish that y'all could have been there to watch Tony and I working together like a couple of pros.

While I was taking orders left and right, as fast as I could, Tony was busy filling the orders almost as fast as I could take them. It was so exciting, because when we first started working, at the Rusty Dawg, we were so unsure how to do things, we looked like a bad imitation of the Three Stooges making a mess of things. Or better said, "When Lucy and Ethyl messed up wrapping chocolate candy,  because of that fast moving conveyor belt." Bottom   Line: We've got it! We were fast, efficient and our customers paid us many compliments.

I thought that had made my day, but as usual I was wrong, because when we came home after work there was a package for me that my sweet sister Cindy had sent to me.

After kissing and hugging all six of our dogs and promising them that we were going to be off for the next three days and spend quality time with them, I opened the package. In the package was a book and a very sweet note from my sister.

Cindy's kind note of encouragement, after everything that we've been going through lately, brought tears to my eyes, but the book that she sent to me quickly dried up those tears, because this book RELUCTANT ACTIVIST: The Spiritual Life and Art of John Howard Griffin by Robert Bonazzi, is about my famous uncle! And it was published by TCU Press, in Fort Worth.

Tony and I had to go to Kerrville to run a few errands, so I took this book along with me, so I could check it out and I am already hooked on it. In fact, after I do some writing tonight I plan to sit down and read it until it is time for bed. And because we don't have to go to work tomorrow, I might stay up reading it until the wee hours, because I get to sleep in tomorrow morning.

Tomorrow if I can put this book down, I am planning on working on The Cabin. We are getting out our tools, saws, nail guns, air compressor, etc., so we can finish up a few minor details, inside The Cabin. And that is about it for tonight. Life is good.

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

The Black Hole!

The past two weeks have been troublesome to say the least and I am blaming all of this trouble on M.I.R. (Mercury In Retrograde). It seemed what could go wrong went way wrong. So I am currently in the process of permanently erasing these past two weeks from my mind. And the good news is I think it is finally beginning to work, because my mantra is "Never Feed Negativity."

And I am doing my best to do that, even though Tony now believes I am totally insane, because he has caught me on numerous occasions talking to myself, mumbling things like, "Never Feed Negativity," "Nothing Lasts Forever," "Things Will Get Better Because They Can't Get Any Worse— knock-on-wood," "Mercury In Retrograde Is Not My Friend," etc.

Now back on the positive side of things, many good things did happen during this "Two-Weeks-To Forget" black hole, located somewhere inside my brain. But some of them accidentally have fallen into my newly created black hole, so I will only mention the ones that I can still remember.

But before I do that, here is the best news of all—M.I.R. Time officially ended yesterday, August 18th! Even though it will still linger for about one more week. And my sources have told me or should I say, "Have promised me that September will be a splendid month for everyone!" And if you do not believe me here is a short article from Newsday about Mercury Retrograde.

Because of the black hole, I want to tell you that I remember that Tony had a wonderful birthday, because of our dear friends. The Friday before his birthday Lisa, Eileen, Suzanne, Chris, Kris & Jim showed up at the Old Timer's Rusty Dawg food truck and gave Tone a really fun surprise birthday party and that really made his day and mine, too.

Also, our dear friend Gaby, in Germany, sent Tony the sweetest birthday card from her and her sweet daughter, Xenia, who was over there, from Texas, visiting her. And the card meant the world to Tony, because we love Gaby and Xenia.

Then two days ago our dear friend Liz showed up at the food truck. "I woke up this morning craving hot dogs and I just had to come here to get one of yours. I love this food truck! It is too cool. And I also have a box in my car, with four restaurant dinner plates to give to you, because Jim & I know how much you love restaurant dinnerware, too...."

We had a great time visiting with Liz and catching up on her news. She loved the delicious hot dog that Tony had cooked and we prepared for her. And I am in love with the four, matching dinner plates.

Then Friday late afternoon our good friends Rick & Tracy came to visit us. They came up, from Port Aransas, because Tracy was going to attend her annual, summer-camp reunion weekend with girlfriends, while Rick spent the weekend with us. 

But because it was M.I.R. Time, things didn't go exactly as planned. Here's a short version of the story:

Our friends arrived around 4:00. I had just spent over 40 minutes on the phone, mainly on hold, trying to work out logistics with this shipping company. And after spending all of this time on the phone, the company told me that they "could not" try to deliver one extra day and that my package was being returned to me. And it frustrated me to no end, but I put on an upside down frown, because Tracy & Rick had just arrived.

We had a super fun visit with them and about thirty minutes later, Tracy adios-ed us and took off for the camp's reunion party, near Kerrville.

After Tracy took off, I decided I needed a few groceries, so I adios-ed Tony and Rick, and took off for the big H-E-B, on Main Street.

One hour later, when I got back home—Tracy's car was parked in our driveway. Bottom    Line: Tracy got there only to quickly discover that the reunion is next weekend on the 24th - 26th. Tracy was so disappointed, because she had gotten off work early, etc. so she could attend the reunion.

But the good news is after we had all laughed about it and cheered up Tracy, Tony and I had a blast having them as house guests or better said, "Airstream guests." And because of the mixed up dates, Tracy and I are also blaming all of this on M.I.R.

So (hopefully) life is good (knock-on-wood), because Mercury has left the scene. And that is about it for now.

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

The China Syndrome!

The past several days have felt like being on a roller coaster—with plenty of ups and downs and it being M.I.R. Time (Mercury In Retrograde) again has certainly not helped matters. But since I don't like to complain I've tried really hard to stay, on the sunny side of the street. And to keep the faith.

Also, because one of my most favorite mantras is Never Feed Negativity—I am doing my best not to. So I promise that this will be a positive post.

First off, last Friday afternoon our dear friends (former dog-walking volunteers) came to the Old Timer's Rusty Dawg, to give Tony a surprise birthday party and eat lunch with us. It was a great surprise to both Tony and me and we had a total blast cooking for our friends and celebrating Tony's birthday (on August 6th).

Late Friday afternoon, we brought our sweet Belle home and I am not sure if she or us are the happiest that she is back with our family.

Today has been great. This morning our good friend, Scott Faglie, the owner of FTS Tree Service, came out, with his bucket truck and crew, to remove this threatening Chinaberry tree, that has been rubbing up against our house, near our front door, for at least 6 or 7 months.

We had ignored the China syndrome until last week, when in two consecutive days— two big, very tall, Chinaberry trees simply fell over dead, near The Cabin. So I took it as a sign, and Tony took care of it— he called Scott Faglie (FTS Tree Service) for his help and expertise. 

Scott and his crew did a fabulous job removing the tree and I definitely want to highly recommend FTS Tree Service, because they are the best tree service, in the Texas Hill Country.

Early this afternoon Tony and I went to Kerrville. Our first stop was at Wolfmueller's Books, so we could visit with our dear friends Sandy & Jon, before going across the street, to meet our dear friends for our super fun, once-a-month lunch club.

When we arrived at Wolfmuellers Books, Jon greeted us, from behind the counter and Sandy came out of her office, so she could give us this totally awesome cookbook The Truck Food Cookbook by John T. Edge.

While we had a short, but fun visit with Jon & Sandy, I could not quit looking at the fabulous recipes in this informative and fun to read book. 

And when it was time for us to adios our friends, I told them, "Our lunch club is going to eat, at Little Joe's restaurant." And that was when we found out that Little Joe's restaurant had closed its doors last week. And to say the least, I was saddened to hear the bad news, because Joe and his sweet daughter, Margarita, were such nice, hard-working people and their food was so delicious.

A few minutes later, Tony and I walked out Wolfmueller's Books backdoor and we jaywalked across Main Street, to go meet our friends.

As Tony was telling Kris & Jim the sad news about Little Joe's restaurant not making it, Kris handed me this folded up article, in the San Antonio Express News, for me to read.

When I read the headline it instantly put a smile back, on my face. Then Kris teased me about my Appalachian Trail fake-hikes and it really helped to erase the unfortunate news about Little Joe's restaurant closing.  

When Denise and Les arrived a few minutes later, we all decided to eat, at the Hill Country Cafe, since we were standing, in front of their front door. Our lunch was so much fun. We talked non-stop or were laughing and the food was great, too. 

And while Tony drove Roy and me back home—all I did was read this great cookbook. I still have a lot more reading to do, but the good thing is this cookbook has given me so many new ideas and recipes for the Old Timer's Rusty Dawg. And that is about it for tonight. Life is good.

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