Thanks!

Today has been full of nice surprises. This morning after I walked eight miles our great volunteers Matt, Meghann, Danika and a friend arrived to help Tony and walk our dogs.

During our visit I asked Matt if his cowboy hat was still working. "Yes, ma'm!" Matt said. "I love my cowboy hat and so do the women. In fact, I've got a girlfriend that I want you to meet. She's really sweet..." After Matt's hat update Meghann told us about her and Lisa's duplex that they have rented and how cool it was. Hearing their good news made me happy for them.

After lunch T. and I took Lucky to Hoegemeyers Animal Clinic because he wasn't feeling good. Lucky is our beloved three-legged cat and he is over fourteen years old. Our ride to Kerrville was not enjoyable because Lucky hates being crated so he screamed and made god awful sounds the entire twenty-two miles.

When we arrived at the clinic they were very busy with clients. After a quick examination by the vet he told us that he wanted to keep Lucky overnight so he could examine him more thoroughly. Our next stop was at the Post Office so I could mail out a copy of Tom D. Wells' book Drop-Ins to my sister Cindy. Then we went to another one of my favorite places in Kerrville—the Wild Birds Unlimited store.

When we got out of Buttermilk to go into the store the first thing I noticed was this beautiful, gigantic wind chime hanging out on the sidewalk. "Tony, I love this wind chime! I wonder how much it is?" Then I looked at the price tag and frowned knowing I couldn't afford it.

"How much is it?" Tone asked.

"Nearly four hundred dollars," I replied. "It is definitely worth that much money, but I ain't paying it. I'll bet you that I can make one like that for a lot less money." Then we walked inside the store and were greeted by the friendly owner. "I love your giant wind chime outside," I said as I walked over to the seed cake treats display. "And I love your store. The vibes in here are fantastic!" I grabbed two packages of Woodpecker Picnic seed cakes that Jon Wolfmueller had highly recommended we use and then we browsed around the store at all of their cool bird products before paying for the seed cakes. Then we headed home.

Before turning off Highway 16 we went to the mailboxes to get our mail and we had a lot of it. As Tony slowly drove the last two and a half miles to the rescue ranch I looked at our mail. Most of it was advertisements asking us to buy things that we didn't need or want. Then I opened up a package from my sister Cindy. She had sent me the cutest card and a mystery book that we had talked about, that she thought I would love to read because it takes place around the Texas Hill Country. The name of the book is Chile Death by Susan Wittig Albert and I can't wait to read it and I plan to start reading it tonight. 

Then I opened up a card sent to me from Will Hoover, my good writer friend who lives in Hawaii. A while back I had sent him a copy of my new book, because he is in one of the stories. The minute I opened up the card I laughed out loud when I saw Hoover's picture. I showed Tony the picture of Will that was taken at the Jimmie Rodgers Museum in Meridian, Mississippi on September 8, 2009 and he laughed, too. Then I read his sweet note out loud.

I spent the rest of the afternoon on the phone and taking care of ranch business. Early this evening I got a call from Dr. Rydberg about Lucky and it was not good news. He told me that we can pick Lucky up tomorrow and bring him home and that we should count every week that he is with us as a blessing. Kinky and Tony were both upset when I told them the news about Lucky.

I am feeling pretty sad about Lucky tonight, but before I end tonight's blog I want to thank my sweet sister Cindy and fellow Libra friend Will Hoover for making me smile and laugh today.

Y'all have a great evening.

A Woodpecker Picnic!

Today has been so much fun—thank goodness, since yesterday was NOT. This morning I got up real early after sleeping like a log and I wasn't depressed at all. After feeding Mama, Abbie, Thunder, Little Girl, Hank, Toto and Lucky the cat I walked ten miles, again! Then Tony came home from the Old Timer and we did breakfast. He ate oatmeal with blueberries and I drank a super healthy smoothie.

After Tone went outside to do his morning chores I went over to the Lodge with my favorite ceramic turtle designed mug for some of Kinky's delicious Kona coffee and a visit. As I left the ranch in Buttermilk I saw T. in a pen feeding Mr. Rogers and Miss Dee and told him I would be back in about fifteen minutes or less. Little did I know I was lying.

When I arrived at the Lodge, Kinky was on the phone talking to his little sister Marcie so I waved and then poured myself some coffee and sat down at the kitchen table. When Kinky was done talking to Marce he handed me the phone and she and I had a fun conversation.

When I was done talking to Marcie I handed the phone back to Kinky and they started talking about seeing Dr. Kervorkian on the Larry King show. When they were done talking Kinky hung up the phone and he and I talked about Kervorkian. "I saw him on the Bill Maher show, Kink and he was great. He is a hero of mine. I don't get it? How come it is considered humane and the right thing to do to put our old, suffering pets to sleep, so they will be out of their misery, but it's not okay to do it for people? It makes no sense to me..."

After we talked about Kervorkian we refilled our mugs with coffee and went outside to visit by the Friedman Family Bone Orchard. After Kinky watered all of his plants he sat down in a chair and I leaned on a post near the Hummingbird feeders and we discussed our dreams that we have had lately with our parents being in them. "Nance, the first thing that Tom said to us in the hospital after he had his heart attack was, "What time is my appointment with Dr. Kervorkian?" And we started laughing uncontrollably as The Friedmans, his dogs Brownie and Chumley stared nervously at us.

When I had finally quit laughing about what his father had said I told Kinky about the pot on the drain board that had mysteriously moved across the kitchen counter yesterday. "I'm sure it was either my parents or that poltergeist that hangs around in our trailer. It was really cool." Kinky smiled and then took a sip of his coffee.

"Oh and get this, Kink!" I continued. "This morning before Tony went outside to do his chores he came into the big room and said, "Nance, thank you so much for fixing my clock."

"What? What clock? I didn't fix any clock. What are you talking about?"

"You didn't fix my clock?" Tony said. "That's really weird, Nance. Three or four days ago the battery went dead on the wall clock in my office. I've been meaning to fix it, but I kept forgetting to. Anyway, this morning while I was doing some farming on my computer I looked up at the clock and it was working and it had the correct time.  I mean it was right on time. You swear you didn't fix it?"

"I swear, Tone," I said. "I'll bet it was our poltergeist or Mom or Dad." Kinky nearly choked on his coffee and he tried not to laugh and then he changed the subject to about us dying and having our ashes scattered over the Friedman Family Bone Orchard.

"I hope that I just have a big heartattack and it's over right then and there," I said. "But with my luck a snake will probably kill me." Kinky burst out laughing!

When he finally quit laughing he stood up from his chair, threw what was left of his cold coffee on a beautiful, large plumeria plant that 'Rick the Friendly Lighthouse Keeper' and Leisa had given to him a few years back and then he says, "That's great, Nance. Your obituary will probably read something like this: "Here lies Cousin Nancy. The only woman in Texas to ever die from a Garter snake bite even though they aren't poisonous." We both started laughing.

Two hours later I was back inside the trailer cooking up some shrimp quesadillas for lunch for Tony, Kinky and me and I am proud to say that they were absolutely delicious—just ask T. or Kinky.

Late this afternoon Buttermilk took us to Kerrville to run two errands. Our first stop was at Wolfmueller's Books so we could visit with Sandy and Jon and so I could buy another copy of Tom D. Wells' fantastic book, Drop-Ins so I could mail it out on Monday to my sister Cindy to read. I really love that book and all of y'all need read it!

After I paid for Tom's book we had a fun visit with Sandy and Jon in their bookstore as several customers took turns buying books. Before we left their famous bookstore they invited us to come over for a visit after we did our grocery shopping at H.E.B.

After speed-shopping at H.E.B. Buttermilk took us over to the Wolfmueller's home and we had a blast to say the least! We sat outside on their beautiful, covered patio which they call "The Twilight Zone" listening to Robert Earl Keen sing followed by Alison Kraus on their Bose iDock.

As we admired their beautiful plants and the pretty Woodpeckers busily eating suet nearby from a tree, they told us about the plants history and the birdseed they use. Then Jon suddenly got up from the table and left us. When he returned he handed Tony a small birdseed package. "This is the best stuff, Tony. We get it from Birds Unlimited. It's called "Woodpecker Picnic." Tony looked at the package of suet.

"Jon, we have plenty of Woodpeckers at the rescue ranch," Tony said. " Nance, let's get some of this Woodpicker food at..." Sandy, Jon and I burst out laughing at his mispronounciation! And we teased T. until his face turned a bright red. Then we came home.

Y'all have a great evening! It's late and I've got to go to bed.