Dueling Banjos At Last!

Today has been really great. For the past week, since a week ago Tuesday, Brandon and I have been tracking his banjo that Tony and I bought for his graduation present. This morning when  I tracked his banjo it said that it was out for delivery by the end of the day. Even though Brandon and I knew that it was supposed to be delivered today we've been counting the days and the hours.

"Brandon, UPS always gets here between 3:30 to 3:45 and I will call you the minute that it is delivered," I told him yesterday when he came out to work for us. Starting around 3:00 today I started doing some paperwork to help pass the time until its arrival.

At 3:57 Brandon called me to ask if it had arrived. "Not yet, Brandon, but it should be here soon. They must have a lot to deliver today. In fact, one time my package was delivered after 5:30. Don't worry."

Around 5:00 I went outside to find Tony to ask him if he would mind picking Brandon up, so he could be here when it arrived. When Tony and Brandon got here fifteen minutes later, Tony said, "The UPS truck is across the street right now and should be here in just a few minutes." Then we came inside The Cabin to wait.

At 5:36, while Brandon was playing my banjo, the dogs outside started barking. "It's here!" Brandon said, excitedly. Then he and Tony went outside to get his banjo. When he came back inside carrying the box that it was shipped in, I grabbed my camera and took this picture of him when he opened up the cardboard box.

As Brandon removed the protective plastic from his banjo he told us that he loved his banjo and that he was naming his Fat Fingers. As soon as he had tuned it I gave him a Sharpie, because he wanted to write his name, Fat Fingers and date it on the back of his banjo, like I had done with mine. Then we started pickin' and grinnin'.

When Tony came back into big room I was playing Dale, my banjo and Brandon was playing Fat Fingers and we sounded pretty good thanks to Brandon's awesome musical talent. I quit pickin' and handed my banjo to Tony and said, "Come on and play with us." Then I grabbed my guitar. After Brandon and I had shown him the G, C and D chords the three of us started playing songs that only use those three chords, so Tony could play with us. Within just a few minutes Tony was easily moving from one chord to another and believe it or not—the two banjos and guitar sounded great together. 

When Tony's fingers started killing him we stopped playing, because we also needed to take Brandon back home. And the best news is, Tony told us, "I love playing the banjo. Maybe I will buy one for myself."

"You don't have to do that, Tony," I happily said. "You can play mine anytime, because I can only play one instrument at a time..." 

Y'all have a great evening!

Pickin' On Dale!

Today has been great, because early this evening Brandon came over to check out Dale, my new banjo and he instantly fell in love with Dale, too. He and I sat in the big room, with Tony and our dogs as our audience. I played my guitar with Brandon pickin' on Dale and we played one song after another and we had so much fun. And Tony told us that we really sounded good, too. (Thanks to Brandon's music talent.)

Brandon and I jammed for three hours, before Tony had to take Brandon home. As he was walking out the front door he told me, "I hope that someday I can meet Ronnie and we can have a jam session with him."

"I can make that happen after you graduate in June," I said. "I can't wait for you to meet my brother and for him to meet you, too."

"I love Dale and I can't wait for my banjo to get here. I think I am going to name mine Blue or Haggard. Thank y'all so much for getting me a banjo..." And that is about it for tonight, because my fingers are killing me.

Y'all have a great evening!

I Love Dale!

Today has been really great, because my banjo was delivered and ten minutes after I got it, I was on the phone talking to Ronnie about it, when UPS showed up with my banjo strap and Banjo For Dummies book.

I love my banjo so much! It arrived around 2:30 and after talking to Ronnie on the phone and then tuning it, I have not been able to put it down. I am thrilled with its fabulous sound and I can't believe that it was so easy to learn how to play it.

A few minutes ago, while I was writing this, our dear friend Charlie Cooper (He and his wife Ellen are characters in my novella.) came inside The Cabin with Tony, so he could check out Dale, which is what I named my new banjo. "Charlie you are going to love this instrument and the chords are so easy."

Then I went into our bedroom and grabbed Dale, where she was resting while I wrote this.

When I returned to the kitchen I handed Dale to Charlie and he studied the chords for a couple of minutes in my new, Banjo For Dummies book. Then Charlie started pickin' on Dale. So, I grabbed my guitar out of its case and he and I started pickin' and grinnin' for several minutes. "I need to get me one of these things," Charlie said. "It's a great instrument and fun to play."

After I told Charlie about Ronnie checking it out and then buying their banjo kit and then me buying one already assembled, he said, "I'm definitely going to check this out. By the way, in case y'all want to know, my birthday is coming up real soon and I love this banjo..."

Here's a link if you want to check out my banjo. And that is about it for tonight, because I am going to go pick on Dale some more. 

Y'all have a great evening!

Can You Hear Me Now?!

Today has been great. This afternoon we met our good friends Kris & Jim, "The Mineral Man" for lunch at both of ours favorite Mexican food restaurant, El Sol de Mexico. The food was delicious as always and our fun conversation never stopped flowing and it was full of laughter.

After a super fun lunch with our friends, Tony and I went to Home Depot to get some ranch supplies and a few more Perennial plants. Then we went down the street to Hoegemeyer Animal Clinic to pick up Holly, a dog that we rescued a few days ago.

Her name is Holly. She is a sweet, one and a half year old Pit Bull, that a man in Kerrville found, standing in the middle of a country road between here and Wimberley, Texas. He figured that she had been dumped, because she was starved down. When his wife opened up the door of their car, Holly jumped inside and laid down on his wife's lap and put her head in the man's lap and slept all of the way back home.

When I spoke to the man about Holly he told me that she was a great dog and he could not bare to take her to the Pound, because she was a great dog and good with other dogs. When I told the man that we could take Holly, I decided to change her name to Bunny, since we rescued her the day after Easter.

When we met Holly, I decided to keep her name Holly, because it seemed to fit her. When we took her outside she immediately jumped into Buttermilk's back seat and sat down. She's great in cars and when we got home I snapped this quick picture of Holly, so y'all could be the first to meet her. Tomorrow when I have the time, I will definitely take a better picture of her.

When we returned to The Cabin, Carlton was flashing on the breakfast bar. When I pushed his button he said, "You have three new messages." The first message was from my sweet brother Ronnie. "Nance, pick up the phone!..." The second message was from Ronnie, too. "Nance, I bought the coolest banjo. Listen." Then he put the speakerphone on and said, "Can you hear me now?" Then he started playing his new banjo and he and it sounded fantastic—it blew me out of my saddle. The third  message was from my brother, too. "Nance, call me. I cannot wait to tell you about my new banjo. I love it!..."

I immediately picked up the phone and punched in my brother's phone number, because I've been wanting to buy a banjo. "Nance, I love this banjo so much and it's made in the USA. It's not as loud as most banjos and it's meant for pickin' and grinnin' around a campfire and they are not expensive. They only cost $149.00!..." After Ronnie had spent five minutes telling me all about it, he put me on speakerphone and played one of his songs that he has written and by the time he had finished pickin' and singin,' I could not wait to get off of the phone, so I could buy one, too. 

Before we adios-ed each other Ronnie told me to Google Backyard Music Banjo, in New Haven, Connecticut and that's exactly what I did when we got off of the phone. Two minutes later, I purchased one just like his and I can't wait until it arrives. 

Then I went outside to kill some more Thistle that keeps trying to live here. An hour and a half later, after killing all of the Thistle on the east side of our dog pens I returned to The Cabin. Carlton was flashing again, "You have two new messages." And both of them were from Ronnie, too. 

When I called him back he told me that there were some really cool YouTube videos to watch about people playing our basic 5 string Fireside Banjos. This one is less than thirty seconds and it is my favorite one. Hopefully, my banjo will arrive by Tuesday. And that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!