Rude!

Today has been great, even though it was gray and almost cold outside. But I am not complaining, because my heart goes out to the people living/surviving with the record breaking cold temperatures, up the north and on the east coast.

This afternoon Tony and I went to Kerrville to wash and dry a load of clothes, while we grabbed groceries at the big H-E-B and went down to the park, so I could walk and also feed the ducks and the geese.

On our way to the park, I made a friendly bet (no money involved) with Tony that King Tut would be there and he bet against me. And I won the bet twice and now I regret not betting him a dollar, because I would have won two dollars.

When we arrived at Louise Hays Park, it was lightly drizzling and there were only a few people, out with their dogs, enjoying this beautiful park.

Right after we climbed out of Trigger and walked near the river—King Tut greeted us or better said, noticed us. And he was all alone, so I tossed him some corn and declared my victory.

Tony was sick that he had forgotten to bring his camera along, so he could document this event for me, but he took it in good stride, as he and I strolled to a nearby bench, so I could feed my flock and gaggle.

The flock of ducks were near the opposite bank when I walked up to the river's edge and shook my bag of corn, and said, "Come and get it!" And they did nothing until they watched me fling some corn up into the air. Then they came paddling and quacking toward my direction or where the corn was.

A few seconds later I was surrounded by the happy ducks and geese and King Tut, all begging for me to toss them some more corn, as they took turns trying to discourage King Tut from participating in their late lunch. "Tony, how did King Tut get here so fast? Did he fly?"

Tony, who was sitting on the bench shrugged his shoulders. Then I looked back towards the Sydney Baker Street Bridge and saw King Tut swimming alone and he looked sad and lonely. "Omg, there are two of them," I said. And Tony shook his head up and down in acknowledgement.

As the six ducks and two pretty geese pecked nervously at my boots to get my attention, I noticed that King Tut #2 was now standing about ten feet away from me, because the flock and gaggle had been so rude to him they had made him feel unwelcome.

Well, that did not sit well with me or with Tony. So I took a handful of corn and threw it as far as I could in the opposite direction of King Tut #2 and the ducks and geese race-waddled away. Then I tossed a bigger handful of corn towards the #2 Egyptian king. And Tut-Two was so thrilled that he had all of this corn to himself to eat—it truly warmed my heart. Then I adios-ed Tony and Tut-Two and took off walking towards the Lemos Street Bridge.

When I returned back to where Tony and Tut-Two were hanging out, my feathered, not so nice friends were down by the bridge and when they saw me they started quacking and came waddling as fast as their webbed feet could move.

So I quickly tossed Tut-Two another handful of corn and before the other ducks and geese arrived, at my boots, for their second feeding—I kept shaking the bag of corn and made them wait for Tut-Two to finish eating his last kernel of corn, before tossing more corn down, around my boots.

And before Tony and I left the park, to go pick up our laundry, I emptied the rest of my sack of corn, near the bridge, so the original King Tut could eat in peace and quiet.

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

King Tut! or 3:59—69.6—1:30—WED—51.4!

Last night, I watched a few episodes of Rake, on Netflix then I went to bed early.

This morning before looking in the mirror I did my habit—"Today is going to be great!" Then I loudly clapped my hands together and then our dogs jumped off the bed and began barking, before I could even jump off of the bed.

Then while my coffee was brewing, I went into the bathroom to see if I had gotten any much-needed beauty sleep. And let's just say that I was disappointed.

So tonight I plan to stay up late and binge-watch Rake, because mirrors don't lie and I'm living proof that getting beauty sleep only counts when you're under the age of thirty years.

As I was sipping my coffee I was pondering—Ah, to be thirty again—no thank you—been there done that and somehow I survived. And thank goodness there was no social media back then, because, I for one did some pretty dumb stuff. And I say thank goodness for being in my late sixties, because all of the dumb stuff that I did back then—I no longer can remember and there is no proof of it floating around on the Internet.

Anyway, today has been great as I had predicted it would be, first thing this morning. Seriously, I highly recommend doing this habit—because it really works.

For the most part of today I kept thinking about that Egyptian Goose and I don't know why. And after I had told Tony, a few times, about that goose keep popping into my head, I decided to name that Egyptian Goose—King Tut, because it only has two syllables instead of three and it also makes me smile.

Because when I think of King Tut I instantly think of Steve Martin's hilarious, hit song—not the mummy who died at the ripe old age of nineteen.

Late this afternoon at 3:59, the temperature outside was steadily dropping and it was already down to 51.4 degrees outside and 69.6 degrees inside The Cabin. So I took this picture of our Atomic Clock, full of important information, with Henry Standing Bear posing for me, on top of his window seat.

Then I ventured outside and helped Tony bring in some more firewood for the night, before it got any colder outside. And after that I cleaned the ashes out of the wood burning stove and then I started a cozy fire, before The Cabin's indoor temperature dropped below 69.6 degrees. Then I stood back and took this picture.

And as I finish writing this post tonight, I am hoping that Mari and I will get to go walking in the park tomorrow afternoon, so she & Tex or she & Si can meet King Tut, too.

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

P.S. After posting this picture last night of "the wagon train" following me I've titled it The Cagoose—Bringing Up The Rear!

P.S.S. Mari just sent me this hilarious "Snow Day" cancellation video and I loved it and I am still laughing! Snow Day 

Wagon-Train!

Today has been great, because I went to bed early last night and I slept like a log, but I don't think that I got any beauty sleep. So my plan for tonight is to go to bed even earlier, to see if anything happens. And if I see no visible improvements in my looks in the morning—I plan to stay up late, like I usually do and forget about it. If I can remember to do that.

Late this morning Tony and I went to Kerrville to run a few errands around town. And while our clothes were drying at the laundromat we went back to the park, so I could walk and feed those sweet ducks and Tony could take some more awesome pictures of nature.

As soon as we got to the park, Tony walked with me a ways, so I could go feed the empty-nesters.

And I think these ducks and geese are getting used to me feeding them, because in no time I had them eating out of my hand. Thrilled that they trusted me (they were just hungry actually) to eat out of my hand and let me pet them, I decided to see if I could coax them into following me along the river bank. And they did! It was like a duck/goose wagon-train following me, in search of gold (corn).

I was having a blast playing with my feathered friends when out of nowhere this strange-looking duck/goose/bird from another mother (or Planet) showed up and it wanted to join in the fun. 

I wanted Tony to take a picture of this odd, kind of ugly duckling, but he and his camera were already focused on some other wildlife in the park.

"Tony, look at this weird duck!" I half-hollered. "I've never seen a duck like this." So Tone spun around and snapped this picture. 

"What is it?" I asked, as I stood back, so Tony could photograph it. Tony shrugged his shoulders and kept on taking these pictures.

Later this afternoon, while I was folding and putting away our cleaned clothes Tony came into the bedroom, and said, "Nancy, that wasn't a duck we saw. It's a goose—an Egyptian Goose..." So I Googled Egyptian Goose and this is what I soon discovered—Egyptian Goose.

So the next time I think about getting some beauty sleep, I am going to remember that this goose needs it more than I do. Or at least as much as I do.

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

Beauty Sleep!

Yesterday and today have been great. Sunday afternoon Tony's friend Julie and her husband came out, because Julie who is also a photography buff had some questions about her camera. Long story short—Tony and I enjoyed Julie and Dan's visit.

Tonight I am a little tired and I plan to go to bed much earlier than usual, so I can catch up on my beauty sleep. And if that was really true—At my age I'd have to be sleeping for over a year at least to see any results.

Anyway, late this afternoon Tony and I went to see this beautiful, almost finished cabin, that Julie & Dan have been custom building for a client. And I totally fell in love with it the minute I saw it.

As they gave us a grand tour of the cabin, Tony was busy snapping pictures left and right, so he can share them with his friends on Facebook and I can put some of them on my blog.

Well, I was planning to do that tonight, but since my last sentence, I've been talking on the phone talking to three different dear friends, for the past two hours, and the time has simply flown by. So, I am even more tired than I was when I started writing this.

So, I think the best thing for me to do now is to drink a glass of my Chillable Red boxed wine and then go to bed. Because we all know that I need my beauty sleep.

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

Donald Duck!

Today has been great. Tony and I worked this morning and when we got back home we took off for Kerrville to run a few errands.

Our first stop was at the laundromat to wash two loads of clothes and while the washing machines washed—we went the next block over and picked up some groceries. And I made sure that we bought a bag of  birdseed with corn, so I could feed the ducks.

After we put our laundry into dryers Tony and I went down to the park, so he could take pictures, while I strolled from the Sydney Baker Street Bridge to the Lemos Street Bridge and back. And this time I remembered to take along my little Canon camera and a quart-sized Baggie that we had just filled almost to the top, with the birdseed mixed with corn.

I wasn't even out of sight of Tony when I stopped and took this pictures of the beautiful ducks, swimming around, in the Guadalupe River.

Then I headed down to the river bank, so I could feed the ducks and there was this precious, seven-eight-year-old, little, tubby girl, with her parents, who was running up and down the river bank trying to lure the ducks to come to her and these ducks were completely ignoring her.

So, I reached into my Baggie and flung a handful of duck food, near the water, and that did the trick. All of these rude ducks immediately high-tailed it to the food and they began to eat. 

The little girl screamed with delight, as she hid behind her parent's legs for duck protection. So, I threw the ducks another handful of food and watched the little girl start slowly approaching the ducks with caution. I guess because someone had told her that you can't trust ducks.

So, with her parents standing nearby and watching us, I said to the pleasantly plump child, "Will you please help me feed these ducks?" Her parents smiled and waved to me as their cute daughter came up to me. "Now, reach into the bag and grab a handful of food," I said. "Then toss the ducks some food."

The child reached into the Baggie and flung the duck food and then she screamed with delight, as the ducks race-waddled to get to the food first.

The little girl was so thrilled with the ducks' reaction, she looked over to her parents to see if they were watching and they were smiling and clapping their hands at her brave "Feed The Ducks" performance.

"That was fantastic!" I said. "The ducks love you! So why don't you feed them some more?" And that was the end of me feeding the ducks, because this adorable little girl grabbed my Baggie and fed the rest of the birdseed and corn to the ducks. And here is a picture of the ducks eating. And a picture of my boot and the ducks, to show you just how close these ducks got to us.

After I thanked the little girl for helping me and had waved to her parents, I took off walking again, but I didn't go very far again, because this time I saw a man walking a Great Pyrenees. So, I stopped in my tracks and took this picture.

Then I started race-walking in hopes to catch up with the man and his beautiful dog and I almost got run over by a kid, speeding past me on a skateboard. But it was worth risking my life, because I did catch up to the Pyr and the nice, good-looking, thirty-something man and I had a fun conversation with him about his female Great Pyrenees. And he let me pet her! 

After he and I adios-ed each other, I took off again. And on my way back from the Lemos Street Bridge to the Sydney Baker Street Bridge, I only stopped one more time to take a picture of the Lemos Street Bridge behind me and the Sydney Baker Street Bridge ahead of me, where Tony was waiting for me. 

When I met up with Tony, he asked, "What took you so long? Did you get lost?"

And I just laughed, and said, in my best Donald Duck voice, "No. I just had a great time. Let's get quacking!"

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

Sixteen!

Today has been great, but I really don't have anything exciting to write about. Unless you consider Tony and I cutting up more fire wood.

Tony used the chainsaw, which he has banned me from ever using, which I think is smart and sweet.

Anyway, while Tony happily chained away on his pile of wood I was on the front porch, using the chop-saw to cut too large logs to use in our wood burning stove, into smaller logs. Bottom   Line: We made a lot of noise today.

So even though I think our day was great, but somewhat boring—our four-leggers found our work more than exciting. Because Little Debbie and Big Al(ice) had a blast rolling around in the sawdust and then trying in vain to shake-off their matching sawdust covered sweaters.

Roy Rogers, Beau Bridges and Henry Standing Bear worked hard and they helped us by re-stacking the wood pile over and over again.

Late this afternoon, I called my sweet sister Cindy. And after howdies, Cindy said, "It is so weird that you called, because I just finished reading your blog and was thinking of you...."

During our fun conversation, I was telling Cindy how delicious and how easy it was to make—Darlene's Sopapilla Cheesecake dessert and I suggested that she try it. And after we had quit laughing about me making up the story and telling Mari that is was our family's heirloom, secret dessert recipe, Cindy said, "Well, I guess I will have to now since you and I have been carrying around that secret recipe since we were sixteen...."

And that is about it for tonight, because I have to go put another log on the fire. And then with Hazel's help try to vacuum off all of the sawdust that is stuck on The Girl's pretty, pink-striped, wool sweaters.

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

And The Rest Is History!

Today has been great. Early this afternoon, I decided to try to make dear Darlene's Sopapilla Cheesecake recipe, that she gave to me a few days ago, because our dear friend Mari was coming to see us.

Darlene, among many other awesome talents that she possesses, is one fabulous cook. In fact, in my world I would give Darlene 5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ star reviews for her baking and cooking skills in the kitchen.

Anyway, the other morning Darlene had made this mouth-watering dessert recipe and when she asked Tony and I to please sample it and let her know what we thought of it—we told her that we loved it and that it was incredibly delicious. And we weren't lying—we were drooling.

So, in front of our friends, I begged Darlene to please give me her wonderful, secret recipe and I was totally upfront with her about her knowing that if she gave me her recipe I would steal it and call it mine. "Seriously, I will call your recipe Cousin Nancy's Sopapilla Cheesecake." And that made Darlene laugh. But little did she know I wasn't kidding, because I steal every one's recipes and then call them mine.

Now back to my story. One hour before Mari's planned arrival, I grabbed Darlene's/Cousin Nancy's Sopapilla Cheesecake recipe and made two copies of it, so I could file away my new dessert recipe in my pretty, pink notebook.

Now, you may be asking, "What did I do with the other copy of this family secret recipe?" Well, that's for me to know and for you to find out later.

Then I gathered up most of the ingredients needed for my family's three-generations recipe and took this picture of them. And please note: The butter, honey and cinnamon are missing in this picture.

Then I opened one can of the crescent rolls, greased the baking dish and formed the eight crescent rolls dough into a single layer of solid dough by pinching it together.

The next thing I did was let Little Debbie and Big Al(ice) back inside The Cabin. Then I mixed the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla together or at least I tried to.

Then I let Roy Rogers, Beau Bridges and Henry Standing Bear go outside to do some yard-work. Then I spread this mixture evenly over the wannabe crescent rolls. Then I opened up the other can of crescent rolls and magically turned them into one piece of dough that completely covered up the mixture.

Then I poured melter butter over the top and spread it around and then I topped it off with the sugar and cinnamon mixture. Put it into my counter top convection oven at 350 degree to allow it to bake for an hour or so.

While my dessert baked I quickly helped Tony clean up The Cabin, to make it look like Tony and I don't live here. And that is not an easy task, because all of the dog hair that Hazel (My purple Animal Dyson.) collected got stopped up, because the container was full and needed to be emptied.

Long recipe short—I pulled out my great grandmother's/grandmother's/mother's secret dessert recipe and drizzled honey over the top of it, while Tony went outside to greet Mari. And this is what it looked like when Mari and Tony walked inside The Cabin.

After howdies were exchanged, I lied, "Mari, because you were coming to see us I baked you my family's secret dessert recipe. I only make it for special occasions and it is a real crowd pleaser." 

And as we ate it, on cheap paper plates and using paper towels for napkins, Mari told me how delicious it was and begged me for my recipe. 

So I decided to lie some more, and said, "Only my sweet sister Cindy and I still have this ancient, secret, family recipe and we were sworn to secrecy when it was revealed to us on our 16th birthdays."

Then Tony interrupted me, and said, "But I thought it was Darlene's—"

"Who is Darlene?" I asked, wearing my prized-performance-puzzled-look on my face, while glaring at Tony with my left eye, that Mari could not witness. "I don't know any Darlene's. You must have dreamt this or something."

Then Tony coughed or he pretended to cough and he promptly left the kitchen.

"Mari, because you are such a good friend and I know that I can trust you, I will give you my family's heirloom dessert recipe. But first you must swear to keep it a secret recipe, because if my sweet mother, my grandmother Memaw, and my great grandmother, What's-Her-Name, knew that I was going to reveal their secret recipe to a stranger—I promise you that they would be rolling over in their graves." 

Then wearing a straight face, I tried to act like I was trusting Mari with my life when I handed her the other copy of the recipe. In hopes that she was buying all of my B.S.

Mari took the recipe and quickly scanned it with her eyes, and as she was folding it up, not very neatly I might add, she said, "Thanks. Let's hope I don't lose it somewhere." And the rest is history, so to speak.

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

The Peacock Clock!

Today has been a lot of fun and thanks to our dear friends Sarah and Darlene—I laughed so much my back is aching.

So as I am writing this short note, I am sitting on my beautiful, pink-dyed sheepskin that Mari gave to many, many years ago in hopes that my back will get to feeling better sooner than later.

Ah, speaking of Mari, today she sent me this video titled: The Peacock Clock and it blew me out of my saddle. So I want to share it with you tonight, because it is so incredibly great. The Peacock Clock.

I have spent this evening writing on my third novella and I am in the middle of a scene, so that is about it for tonight. And tomorrow I promise to write more.

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

Sit-In!

Today has been great, but it did not start out that way. When I woke up this morning I was in the middle of doing my habit (Part II: sitting up while loudly clapping my hands together) when Henry, a mere 115 pounds, jumped up on the bed and came crashing down on my pillow that was right next to me, causing me to slide off of the bed and land on the floor in an almost perfect lotus position.

Even though Tony heard the loud thud when my butt hit the wooden floor, he did not come running, because he assumed that I was just doing the last part of my habit (Part III: Jumping up from the bed.) So I just sat there staring up at Henry Standing Bear hoping that he would not jump off of the bed and pounce on top of me.

Since I was already in the best lotus position that I've ever been able to achieve, the shock was beginning to wear off, so I figured that I might as well try to meditate since my legs were already locked—together, so I put my hands together like this 🙏 and whispered, "Namaste."

Well, that was a stupid thing to do, because Henry had never heard me speak this word before, so I guess, because he is language-challenged (I'm trying to be politically correct here.) and because I have a thick Texas accent, Henry must have thought that Namaste meant "Please come sit with me."

So Hen jumped down, from the bed and then he immediately tried to sit down on my lap and numbed legs.

Anyway, as Henry was attempting to do his first sit-in while I was trying to push him off of me, Tony came out of the bathroom, looked down at me, on the floor, and asked, "Is that another new habit?"

"Yes," I calmly replied, a little bit sarcastically. "I call it—Help, I've fallen and I can't get up!..." And a few minutes later with Tony's much needed help—Henry was outside happily watering our flowers and trees for us, while I was inside, sipping my first cup of coffee.

Late this afternoon, I went over to visit Carol and I really enjoyed myself. And as always we talked and laughed non-stop. And that is about it for tonight. Namaste!

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

Henry Standing Bear!

Yesterday and today have been great. Sunday afternoon our dear, sweet friend Ann came to visit us. I've known Ann since I was eight years old. She and my awesome sister Cindy have been best friends since they attended junior high together, in Fort Worth.

Anyway, Ann came to see us and Tony and I had a blast seeing her and catching up with her latest news. Of course the time flew by for me, as we reminisced about the good ole days when we were young, lucky and carefree. And it seemed like we never quit laughing, because my back is still a little sore today. And just so you'll know—In my daily prayers, Ann is in the New Mexico region.

Last night, while I was watching reruns of Jonathan Winters, on the Tonight Show With Johnny Carson, on YouTube, Tony went outside to take pictures of the lunar eclipse. And when he came back inside he was all excited and he showed me some of his awesome shots of the full moon.

A little while later, Tony went back outside to photograph the moon turning red, so I paused the Tonight Show, grabbed my camera and went outside to join him in the fun. And needless to say Tony's pictures turned out incredibly great as usual and my pictures—were lacking in the awesome department.

This morning Tony and I went to Kerrville fairly early, so we could do some laundry, because we wanted to get back home, so we could finish his man-cave do-over.

While our clothes were in the washing machines—we were the next block over getting groceries and gas.

After our clothes began tumbling in the dryers—we drove down to the Louise Hays Park again, because last week we had so much fun there with Mari.

This time we had decided to go there, so I could walk from the Sidney Baker bridge to the Lemos Street bridge and back, while Tony stayed behind and captured more fabulous pictures with his camera. And here are two of the pictures that I took while strolling through the park, which is sad to say are not all that interesting.

My first picture is of a duck resting with a nearby squirrel hiding in the shadow. And the squirrel is directly to the left of the duck, but all you can really see of him is his tail. And I've titled it: Duck—Squirrel Tail! And yes, I know that it is lame, but what can I say, "It's boring?"

Okay, my second picture is much better than the one above and yes, I am totally aware that it wouldn't take much to be better than Duck—Squirrel Tail! And the title to this one is Mystery Squirrel. Or maybe it should be Rocky Standing Squirrel. Like Henry Standing Bear?

Anyway, as far as I am concerned these two, pathetic, park photos, only prove that my camera (I was using my iPhone camera instead of my trusty, little Canon automatic) is the only reason that my photos are not as good as they could have been.

This afternoon Tony and I finished renovating Tony's man-cave and the only thing left for us to do now is for me to do a little more decorating—sew him some manly curtains, etc.

As I finish writing this post tonight, in self-defense of my camera skills, I want to share my awesome, incredibly great photo of last night's red moon. And please note that this time I was using my regular camera. 

And I am sure that you'll agree with me that cameras  do make all of the difference in the world. My red moon is centered, about a quarter away from the top and I did that on purpose for special effects.

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

I Came Close!

Today has been great. Last night I stayed up late watching the hilarious Season 5 of Grace & Frankie, on Netflix. I didn't finish watching all of Season 5, but I came close.

This morning while I was pressure cooking my new delicious beans with zucchini recipe for our lunch, I helped Tony clean-up and rearrange his man-cave. And I didn't finish that either, but I came close enough that we can see the light at the end of the tunnel/cave.

After we ate lunch and I had cleaned up the kitchen, I sat down in my chair, with Little Debbie and Big Al(ice) on my lap and watched this fabulous, highly entertaining documentary—The Bill Murray Stories, on Netflix.

And it was so good and so much fun for me to watch that I am still thinking about this awesome documentary. In fact, I am planning on re-watching it with Tony, after we finish working on his room. Here is a link to watch the trailer for The Bill Murray Stories.

Well, Mari has done it again. Yes, she sent me this hilarious video and I must share it with you. It is on YouTube and I am still laughing about it. It is Tommy Smothers, on the Tonight Show, doing the best-ever imitation of Johnny Carson and it happened in 1991. So if you are needing or wanting to laugh it is a must see. So click here: Tommy Smothers Does Johnny Carson.

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

All Aboard—For Today!

Today has been great, again. But because it is F.M.T. (Full Moon Time), which actually occurs on Sunday—I'm tired and just feel like being lazy and watching TV tonight. And to be more specific—I plan to binge-watch the newly released Grace & Frankie Season 5, on Netflix.

FYI: Early this evening Tony took this gorgeous picture of the almost full moon and I want to share it with you.

Because I am feeling a little bit guilty for not writing much tonight I am going to share two things that Mari sent to me today. "So thank you, Mari! I hope you and The NoMads win the agility trials this weekend!"

The first e-mail that Mari sent to me is a short, lovely video and it touched my heart and I hope that you will enjoy watching it as much as I did. It is titled: The Train of Life.

And to end my post on a lighter note, Mari sent me this hilarious quote and it made me laugh out loud which in turn startled our dogs. So, now my dogs are staring at me like I am some kind of crazy woman. But like I often say, "So what's new?"

And the only thing that I would add to this quote if I had come up with it is "Don't forget to put your dentures in before leaving home."

Unfortunately, I do not know who made the heartwarming Train of Life video or who came up with that funny sign, so I want to apologize for not giving credit where credit is due.

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

Tex! or Kathy! or Quacking!

Today has been great. This morning after doing my habit, that freaked -out our dogs again, taking a shower, etc. Tony and I went next door to work for a few hours. And it was fun as always, because we love each and everyone of Escondida's friendly employees, because everyone is so nice and they all have such positive attitudes.

So when you combine a beautiful resort, similar to a Shangdi-La and then add a fabulous staff, who we now consider to good friends—it's a win, win situation for all.

Early this afternoon, Tony and I went to Kerrville, so I could meet sweet Mari and walk with her, at Louise Hayes Park, at 1:30, while Tony kindly did our laundry, at the Country Clean laundromat, while he took photo opportunities, at the park, in-between the washing and the drying cycles.

Tony and I showed up early and we were the first to arrive at Kerrville's favorite park, so I took this picture of the gorgeous Guadalupe River, before Mari and Tex arrived five minutes later at 1:25. So they were five minutes early.

Tex is Mari's adorable, six-month-old Australian Cattle Dog that she has begun training for future agility trials, that she and the NoMads compete their dogs in. 

Mari brought Tex along, to help socialize him some more, etc. and during our super fun walk-a-thon around this lovely park—I fell totally in love with this awesome pup.

Seriously, Tex is the coolest pup I've ever seen. His manners are impeccable and he was great about ignoring new distractions such as: other dogs, bicyclist racing past us and children laughing, playing and running around us.

Tex was so completely focused on Mari—I admit that I got a little jealous, because the only way for me to get anyone of our sweet, four-leggers to focus on me is when I'm eating popcorn, handing out doggie treats or doing my new morning habit. 

But actually my habit really shouldn't count, because it still freaks them out especially when I loudly clap my hands together and then jump out of bed like I was—shot out of a cannon.

After Mari, Tex and I strolled around the park for about an hour, we went and sat down on a big slab of concrete, so we could visit some more, while waiting for Tony to arrive.

When Mari started telling me this very interesting story that had happened to her last year, I had been all-ears and she had my total attention, until I saw these beautiful ducks down by the river. 

And unlike Tex, who was totally focused on Mari and was patiently sitting by her side—I didn't mean to, but I completely tuned Mari out, because I love ducks so much. And these pretty ducks made me think about Kathy. 

Tony and I loved Kathy. She was the coolest duck that I've ever known. Tony and I rescued her and Harry, in 1996, two years before Kinky, Tony and I decided to start our rescue ranch on my Rolling Thunder Ranch, in Utopia, Texas.  

Anyway, I hate to admit it, but Harry was much smarter than Kathy, his girlfriend duck. But Kathy didn't seem to care, because she spent most of her quacking-hours swimming with our dogs in my big stock tank or else sleeping around with Thunder in broad daylight for the whole world to see. FYI: Thunder was our super sweet Black Lab, that Tony and I also rescued in 1996. And here is an old picture of them sleeping it off, at Rolling Thunder Ranch.

Harry-Kathy-Thunder were a love triangle. And Harry & Kathy's love-hate relationship with Thunder is another long story. So I will write about it someday, but not now, because I need to wrap this post up for tonight.

Long story-short—I loved Kathy so much that after she died an untimely death, (she was impacted) I found this picture that I had taken of her.

And to honor this much loved and feared duck, I turned the above picture of Kathy into the one below, because Harry, all of our dogs and our two cats were all scared to death of her. (Because Kathy was a you-know-what.) And here is that picture of "Kathy— The Toughest Duck In Texas 1996 - 1999" that we've had on our refrigerator door since 1999. 

And please don't ask me, "What Would Buddha Do?" because I don't know.

So, as Mari was finishing up telling me her exciting story, I snapped back to the present and pretended to be really interested in what she was saying, even though I had no clue about what she was talking about or had been talking about. Thanks to Kathy.

So before Tony and I adios-ed our dear friend, Mari and I agreed to meet again next week, at the park. And maybe then she will re-tell me that same story again, because at our age, I'm sure that she and I will have forgotten about it anyway.

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

Gail!

Yesterday when Tony and I went to Kerrville to replace our broken water transfer pump that we use with our water collection system, we ran into our dear friend Tom. (FYI: He and his family are in my daily prayer's Kerr County region.)

Anyway, many years ago Tom was forced to surrender their young, female Dalmatian to us and I renamed her Annie Oakley. So when we were visiting with Tom he mentioned that he had recently talked to Gail, the sweet woman who had ended up adopting Annie from us. But that was all that I could remember.

After our fun visit with Tom, we exchanged the broken pump for a new one, because it was still under its one year warranty—thank goodness. Then we headed back home.

On our way back to Big Foot Ranch, Tony and I talked about Annie Oakley, but we could not remember her getting adopted to Gail. But I did remember that the sweet woman (Gail) who adopted Annie from us, at the very last minute before her departure, she decided to also adopt Annie's sweet roommate—George Clooney. (Over the years we had rescued several George Clooneys, at the rescue ranch, and most of them were Black Labs.) I guess because I love George Clooney and because I love Labs of any color.

And please note that this George Clooney was not our semi-famous water diving George. That Eileen and all of us loved—even though he pulled Suzanne into the creek and got her soaking wet with him.

So when we got back home I decided to search for Annie Oakley's story. First, I checked my photos, but came up empty. I would have searched my rescue ranch records, but they are safely packed away, in a box—probably somewhere in the barn.

Not wanting to give up on Annie's story, I then Googled Annie Oakley/rescue ranch/Cousin Nancy and within a few minutes I found Annie's adoption story written on October 12, 2012 by Judith Pannebaker, for the Bandera County Courier titled How Jed Clamped Became Jethro Tull , and also on my blog, dated September 15, 2012!

On that September 15th Saturday Blog post titled: Jake Spoon! or Have Y'all Died! I had a blast re-reading/reliving it. It was entertaining and pretty funny too, even if I do say so. And I could not believe that much time had passed by so quickly.

After reading Judith's fun article and then my Blog post—I remembered it all like it was yesterday, but you must read my post Jake Spoon! or Have Y'all Died! for all of those details. And I have to admit that re-reading Sandy Wolfmueller's hilarious phone message—made me laugh out loud and just writing about it just made me laugh out loud, again.

Then I found another one of my Blog posts dated September 21st titled Goldie Hawn & Jed Clampett which has pictures of Annie Oakley enjoying her new home with Gail and George. And after reading it and looking at the pictures—it made my heart soar, because Tom told us that both dogs are still loving Gail and their lives.

And that is about it for tonight. Life is good—thank goodness and for people like Gail. (So, I'll add her name in my Kerr County region, too.)

P.S. Today has been great, too.

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

Still Have Cedar Fever and I Will Write More Tomorrow!

Our Future Looks Bright!

Today has sort of been great, because I still have Cedar Fever, but not as bad as it was yesterday. Okay, now I am done complaining.

Anyway, because I've been somewhat under the weather as they say, life as I know it has not been all that exciting around here. Which is good and sad.

It is kind of sad, because the last few days have been so uneventful they have been beyond boring and I've spent most of my time in my pajamas. But on the other hand uneventful can be good too, because  I've spent most of time in my pajamas.

This afternoon my good friend Mari sent me these two e-mails and the first one she sent made me green with envy, because I want this super-cool sidecar. And the only thing that I would change about it is the color.

If it were my sidecar I would paint the VW body maroon and the top white.

The other e-mail Mari sent to me made me laugh out loud. But before you get to see that e-mail, I want to tell you that Tony and I are very lucky people, because we have so many friends. I don't want to sound like I'm bragging, but I am, because it is so true.

Seriously, every night and sometimes during the day I pray. At night when I first go to bed, I usually fall to sleep, before I can finish my nightly prayers.

The reason that I usually fall to sleep before I am able to finish my prayers, is because I ask God to please bless everyone that Tony and I know—including their families. 

I am guessing that Tony and I probably have at least 100 - 200 friends that I try to say prayers for every night and it is not easy, because I am more forgetful nowadays.

But last year I developed a new strategy to make saying my prayers much easier and more efficient. 

Originally, I alphabetized everyone that I said prayers for and their family and if your first name comes before the P's trust me you can bet that you were in my nightly prayers, before I fell asleep with Henry Standing Bear snoring in my face. 

And in the morning long before I started doing my new habit ("Today is going to be a great day!" Clap my hands together loudly and then jump out of bed.) I would feel horrible wondering if I forgot the Q's - Z's.

That bugged me a lot and I felt it was unfair, so I then I tried doing the alphabet backwards, which I am not good at and I soon realized that I was in the Alpha state—snoring, long before I even got to the V's or the U's. So the rest of my friends and family got screwed too, so to speak.

Anyway, since those mind-boggling spelling B nights I started saying my prayers for my friends and family—geographically. And that worked sort of, because I would start with friends in Utopia, Austin, Germany, Medina, Norway, Terlingua, etc.

This was my best method until I decided I needed to alphabetize the locations, so I wouldn't forget anyone. Alpine was first, Austin, Australia, Austria—to (New) Zealand. And that is how I do it every night and I highly recommend this method—especially if you have insomnia.

The reason that I have told you this is because Tony and I have so many friends and most of them are much more intelligent than me on just about any subject, except when it comes to dogs, etc.

So, several weeks ago when we were visiting with our dear friends (Costa Rica) they told me about doing research on electrical and self-driving cars and the oil and gas industry. They told us that within a couple of years or sooner life as we know it will change for the better.

In this fascinating conversation about all of us will soon be driving electrical cars and charging them for free on our little solar pads and the gas and oil industry going down the tubes—they proved it. "The reason Ford, Chevy, etc. are shutting down plants right now and will start producing only one to five gas-fueled cars is because these companies see the future—solar! They are gearing up to produce electrical cars that will be affordable to everyone. This is happening right now, so do not buy any gas-fueled cars, because they are on the way out....It will end all oil and gas wars and it will help heal the Planet in so many ways. So our future looks bright!..."  

Needless to say, they proved their point over and over again, to us. And just a few days ago I was watching the nightly news and listened to this reporter saying the exact same things about electrical and self-driving cars being our new future and I can't wait. 

As I finish writing this post for tonight, I want to share Mari's other e-mail that she sent to me today that made me laugh out loud, even though I am a big Country music fan. (And I regret and apologize that I don't know where this originated from, so I can't give credit to whom it belongs.)

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

Off!

Today has been great. Last night I coughed and sneezed all night and when I finally went to bed after doing some writing I could not go to sleep, because my nose was running like a faucet even though my nose was totally stopped up.

So after about twenty minutes of feeling miserable with Cedar Fever, I got up and found my Flonase nasal spray, in the bathroom medicine cabinet. And two squirts later I went back to bed and I was soon sleeping like a baby. Problem solved.

When I woke up this morning I was still able to breathe through my nose and I was so thrilled to once again be back amongst the living.

Speaking of the living, I have a little story to tell you, but to protect the innocent I'm changing the names and the place where this happened.

Tony and I were drinking coffee and we were visiting with some of our dear friends. When there was a lull in the conversation I decided to tell our friends about last Monday when I was touched by an angel. When that kind, elderly gentleman touched my shoulder, and declared, "This will be your best year ever! I promise you that. It will be your best year ever. So Happy New Year!"

Our friends thought it was a very cool thing that had happened to me.

Then sweet Doris put her coffee cup down on the counter, and said, "I have a story similar to tell like that, but it didn't actually happen to me. It happened to my friend's friend. They had been life long friends."

"Please tell us," Tony said, as he stirred some sugar into his coffee.

"My friend's friend had been fighting cancer for years. She would go into remission and then it would reappear some place else and they would fight it. She would go back into remission and then it would reappear. It was an ongoing nightmare. Poor thing."

"Anyway, this woman was at M.D. Anderson and she was walking down the hallway when this man, a complete stranger to her, walked up to her, and said, 'Pardon me Ma'am. I don't want to bother you. But I must tell you this. It is very important that you know that cancer will not kill you.' "Then the man disappeared never to be seen again."

"And the sad thing about it all, my friend's friend died a few months later—from a Tick bite. Of all things."

As Doris was looking down and sadly shaking her head about this sad woman's plight, there was complete silence in the room. I guess, because no one knew what to say. And that was when I burst out laughing! Startling everyone.

"I'm sorry for laughing" I said. "I know it is not funny. But I can't help it. A Tick killed her! Not Cancer! The man was right!"

Well, everyone then burst out laughing, too. In fact, Doris & Susan were laughing so hard, they doubled-over and clung to the counter for support, as they tried to regain their composure. And the laughter continued for a least another minute.

After that, Doris & Susan took turns declaring they had never laughed that hard before. And Doris admitted, "I never thought of it that way."

Knowing that it was time for Tony and me to adios our friends, I said, "And just think. If that poor woman had just used Off—she could have died in a car accident or hit by a bus. Because her number was definitely up and something has to take us out."

As I finish writing this tonight, I want to close my post on a positive note. So here is one of my favorite pictures that always make me laugh.

I took this picture in my writing cabin, of "Bob" my friendly alien that sweet Kris & The Mineral Man, several years ago bought for me when they were in Roswell, New Mexico. And I've titled it: Rest In Peace!

And these are my final words of wisdom for this post —"Ticks and stones may kill you, but words can never harm you."

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

Cedar Fever!

Last night around 9:00 I started coughing and sneezing and by the time it was time for me to go to bed—my nose was running and my throat was a little sore. But other than that I felt fine.

This morning when I woke up my head was so stopped up I could not breathe through my nose and the good news is my throat was no longer sore. It was obvious to me that I had the symptoms of Cedar Fever. Because I felt fine, other than having watery eyes, runny nose, coughing and sneezing non-stop.

And basically that is how my day started. And it has been like this since I jumped out of bed this morning and scared the dogs off of the bed.

So that is about all that I am going to write tonight, because it is hard for me to type while I'm holding moist tissues in my hand, my nose is running and I'm sneezing and coughing.

I would take a selfie of the condition that I'm in, but everyone who lives or has lived in the beautiful Texas Hill Country knows that Cedar Fever look.

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

Remember! or Remember The Alamo!

Today has been great and so was last night. Yesterday evening right after I posted on my blog, our phone rang. And this is what I heard, before I could answer the phone, "Hello Cousin Nancy! This is Sasquatch. What are Tony and—" It was our dear friend Fourth. And thirty minutes later, Fourth arrived at Big Foot Ranch to spend Happy Hour with us.

Omg, Tony and I had so much fun, sitting around the kitchen island, with Fourth catching up with each others latest news. And after we had caught up with each others news we talked and laughed about everything under the sun, including some of our old favorite movies.

At one point Fourth said, "One of my all time favorite movies is? Dang it. I can't remember the name of the movie. It starred Jeff Goldblum and—"

"The Big Chill!" I said. "It is one of my favorites, too. The music was so awesome and I loved the guy who drove the Porsche and he was a drug dealer, but I can't remember his name." And Fourth also couldn't remember the actor's name. Then we started talking about something else, but now I can't remember that.

Then we decided to move our happy hour outside and sit out on the front porch and I was thrilled, because it would be the first time for us to have company in the evening and show-off our new string of solar lights that constantly changes colors (from red to green to yellow to blue and orange) or soft white.

As I was turning on the lights to show Fourth our new solar lights, I first set it to the soft white glow position, but it was so boring, because there wasn't that many lights on the string, so I then switched it to the changing colors mode and joined them at the table.

As we watched each individual light change a different color from the other lights, we talked about that old movie The Alamo, starring John Wayne and Richard Widmark. We all loved that great movie and Fourth had us laughing about some hilarious, behind the scenes things that happened on and off the set, that he and his family had witnessed when it was filmed in his hometown—Brackettville.

I could tell you some of Fourth's hilarious Alamo stories about John Wayne and the cast, but those are Fourth's great stories, which I hope one day soon he will write about and share for the world to enjoy.

Bottom    Line: We had so much fun spending the evening with Fourth and we were sad when it was time for him to leave. And my back is still aching from laughing so much at his awesome stories.

Now I must admit that earlier this evening, after I put a giant log on the fire, The Cabin was so cozy and warm I almost decided to not write a post for tonight, because I wanted to just sit around and enjoy the comforts of home. Here's a picture of my blazing fire.

But after I saw Henry Standing Bear sleeping and enjoying the comfort of my chair—I decided to go ahead and write in hopes that at some point Henry would wake up and go nap on the bed. But so far that hasn't happened, yet.

But, before I sat down to write this, I grabbed my camera and went outside, to take pictures of our 12 foot long string of solar changing lights, so I could show them to y'all. But the weirdest thing happened.

When I turned them on to change colors they started out all one color and they would all change to the next color almost at the same time instead of out of sync like they did last night. So I went ahead and took these two pictures anyway for you. And please note that the blue lights are my favorite color of all.

And I must laugh about that old saying, "You get what you pay for" because our puny, 12 foot-long, solar light string only has ten bulbs and they really don't put out that much light. 

As I finish writing this tonight, with Henry still sleeping in my chair and snoring loudly—I Googled The Alamo after Fourth went home last night. And I sent him this e-mail:

".... That drug dealer actor, in The Big Chill was William Hurt. He's a Pisces. And Kevin Costner played Alex, the dead guy in the casket. And Costner is a Capricorn..."

Y'all have a great evening and keep on laughing! (And Remember The Alamo!)

Heaven or H-E-Double Hockey Sticks! or Touched By Angels!

Today has been great. Last night I stayed up late until 12:45, so I could finish reading Christmas at Grey Sage and I loved the ending. And before I went to bed I sorted and rinsed one pound of pinto beans and left them to soak overnight.

So this morning I slept in and I was surrounded by all five of our sweet, sleeping dogs when I woke up. It was like heaven for me until I sat up, and said, "Today is going to be a great day!" Loudly clapped my hands together and jumped out of bed. But because I had startled our dogs I think they thought they had died and gone to H-E-Double Hockey Sticks.

After they had quit barking and were trying to remember why they were barking in the first place, they faithfully followed me into the kitchen, so I could make my first cup of coffee.

The Cabin was already all warm and cozy, thanks to Tony, for earlier putting another big log on the fire, so all I had to do after drinking my first sip of coffee was to put our dogs outside, so they could go water the trees, etc.

Once I was fully awake, I remembered that the beans were waiting for me to cook them for our lunch, so while I let my second cup of coffee cool, on the kitchen island, I decided to get creative with this new pot of beans about to be pressured cook in my Instant Pot.

So I peeled and sliced two zucchinis, diced some onion and garlic, added a can of Rotel Tomatoes and added a few spices to the beans, set the time and temperature on the Instant Pot and pushed the start button.

Then I brought the dogs back inside with me and as they slept and snored on the chairs and sofa—I started writing/editing on my third novella which before my eyes is growing itself into a full length book if I am not careful.

Anyway, an hour later, the alarm on the Instant Pot chimed—the beans were done and so was I with my writing.

Well, not to brag (But to brag.) this pot of beans was incredibly delicious and it just might become my new way of cooking beans from here on out.

Tony went absolutely nuts for these beans with the zucchini and he told me that he loved them and that this was the best pot of beans that he had ever eaten and it was because of the zucchini. And I had to agree with him. So to spill the beans, so to speak, here is a picture of them along with my new Cousin Nancy's Beans With Zucchini Soup Recipe:

Soak beans overnight. Drain and Rinse. Mix All Ingredients Together:

1 lb. Pinto Beans

2 Medium sized Zucchini - peeled and chopped

7 Cups of Water

2 Beef Bouillon cubes

1 Can of Rotel Tomatoes & Green Chilies

1 TBS. Garlic - diced

1/4 Cup Onion - diced

1 TBS. Tony Chachere's Original Seasoning

1 tsp. Chicken Fajita Seasoning (Or Salt & Pepper to taste)

Cook in Instant Pot on high setting for 1 hour. 

Stove Top: Cook for 21/2 - 3 Hours

Slow Cooker: 5-6 hours.

Serve over corn bread.

🍲🍲

Last night in my post I can't believe that I forgot to tell y'all that I was literally touched by an angel Monday and it was absolutely amazing and it instantly filled my heart with love and joy. And it was so powerful when it happened to me that it is something that I will never forget, with the exception being last night.

Monday afternoon, in Kerrville at an undisclosed location, I was standing in this line when an handsome, well-dressed, gentleman, who was standing in the line, next to my line, smiled broadly at me and reached out and tapped me on my shoulder, and said, "This will be your best year ever! I promise you that. It will be your best year ever. So Happy New Year!"

The people in both lines turned to watch us and they all started smiling at us. I was sort of in shock, because when this kind man touched my shoulder I felt this intense spark of energy that shot through my entire body. And I've never felt anything like that before. And trust me—I've seen many things.

I looked into his sparkling, clear blue eyes, and said, "Well, thank you. And Happy New Year to you too, Sir. I sure hope it is."

His grin was infectious and I could feel his warmth and his good vibes emanating from his entire body and I'm sure everyone else watching us felt it, too. Then he looked hard into my eyes with his twinkling eyes, and he said, "2019 is going to be the greatest year ever! I've just turned 75 years-old and my favorite number is 7 and my wife's favorite number is 5. I love her so much and we've been married for over 50 years. And every morning the first thing that I always tell her, that I'm embarrassed to say always puts a little tear in her eye that she tries to wipe away without me noticing, is, 'You are the most beautiful woman in the entire world and I'm the luckiest man alive to have your love."

As I and several other people, tried indiscreetly to wipe away small tears forming in our eyes, he touched my should again, and he said, "You are loved and you are so blessed and never forget that!" Then the man behind the counter said, "Next?" And he walked up to the counter to take care of his business. Then the nice woman, behind the counter for my line, said, Next?" And it was now my turn.

After this beautiful, 75 year old man finished his business and had walked away, I said to the man behind the counter and the woman waiting on me, "That man is a angel." And they smiled and agreed with me. And seriously, I truly believe that he was an angel in disguise—bringing joy and love to everyone he touched, because I am living proof of that and his words were exactly what I needed to hear.

As I finish writing this tonight, Tony just came in and got himself another bowl of my delicious bean with zucchini soup, and he said, "Nance, I really do love this soup. Please don't forget how to make it."

"Don't worry, Tone. I wrote down the recipe so I won't forget it." And that is about it for tonight.

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