8-11-26: A Sure Sign You're Old!

Howdy folks! I’ve titled today’s short-Short joke, on YouTube, A Sure Sign You're Old and I hope that it will make you either laugh. And if it did make you laugh—please click on the Like button.

A Sure Sign You're Old

5-30-26: Walk—Don't Run!

Howdy folks! I’ve titled today’s short-Short, on YouTube, Walk—Don't Run! and I do hope that it will make you laugh or at least chuckle and if it did make you laugh—please click on the Like button and leave a comment, so I will know if I am on the right track.

And I want to thank you in advance for watching today's short joke and I do hope that you have a great Saturday and will keep on laughing! 

Walk—Don't Run!

Wild Squirrels Unlimited! or Tony—The Squirrel Whisperer!

This has just happened. A few minutes ago Tony and I looked outside our window and saw that a cute, little squirrel had figured out a way to get inside our caged, bird feeder, so Tony and I went outside so I could film the trapped, small squirrel as Tony released him—and the rest is history. Enjoy!

Y'all take care and keep on laughing!

 

Chad & Jeremy!

Today has been great. This morning, while I was over at the Lodge talking to Kinky about his and Billy Bob Thornton's upcoming book tour, Aaron and Tony did the morning chores.

When I returned to the rescue ranch, we decided to burn some more brush, in our horse corral, for a few hours, since we have gotten so much rain this past week and we almost have it all done. Then I came inside and cooked lunch for the three of us.

Around 2:00, Tony and Aaron took off in Trigger to go pick up Guinevere and Chad & Jeremy at Hoegemeyer Animal Clinic, so I went outside and burned a little more brush, to help me pass the time, because I could not wait to meet Chad & Jeremy and see Guinevere.

A little over an hour later I heard Trigger cross over the cattle guard, so I jumped into Kermit, so I could do a meet and greet with Chad & Jeremy. Here's Jeremy Clyde getting out of his crate with Guinevere watching.

After Aaron had put Jeremy in his new pen, next to Gonzo and Daisy's, Tony unloaded Chad Stuart and I about fainted when I saw him, because he looked so much like Kinky's Mr. Magoo, when Gooie was a young dog, who sadly passed away on December 7, 2009. And Tony thinks he looks like Gooie too. Here's Mr. Magoo's look-a-like—Chad.

These are awesome dogs. They are about one-year-old and weigh about forty pounds each or eighty pounds together. They are smart, friendly, not hyper, fun to play with and are highly adoptable. Here's one more picture of Jeremy, who I think is part Boston Terrier.

When we returned sweet Guinevere to her and Underdog's pen they were so glad to see each other and they started playing immediately and totally forgot about us being there.

I'm fixin' to call Kinky to tell him about Mr. Magoo's look-a-like and then I plan to do some writing tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

Hen Party! or Brownie Bribery!

Today has been great. This morning Eileen, one of our super Fab 4 volunteers, came out this morning and the first thing that she did was try to bribe Tony to keep her off of probation, with a 3/4 full pan of her delicious brownies and it is a good thing that she did.

After T. accepted her bribe the three of us went down to the pigpen to show Eileen the Egg Palace and its new occupants—The Golden Girls. After we had introduced her to Dorothy, Rose, Sophia and Blanche Tone bragged, "We got one green egg yesterday and three eggs this morning!"

"I want a chickens and a chicken house just like this one," Eileen stated. "I mean Egg Palace. This is so cool..."

"Then you should throw a Hen Party! Pick a morning or afternoon and invite the volunteers, Aaron and us to come over and we could build you one in a just a few hours!" I said. "They aren't hard to build and Aaron, Tony and I have learned from the mistakes that we made, so yours will be much faster and easier to build..."

"We've got all of the tools that you will need, too." Tony added. "And if we don't—Aaron will." And in less than two minutes, after T. and I had finally quit talking her into it—Eileen was all excited about throwing a Hen Party and collecting her own eggs. 


Then Eileen and I talked about taking Ben Stiller and LaToya Jackson on a walk, so they could meet each other and possibly become roommates, if they got along with each other and that's when her bribe came in handy, because she accidentally let Ben escape from his pen and it took all three of us to catch him and put a leash on him.

Before Eileen, Ben and I started to walk down to get LaToya, Tony teased Eileen, "That's grounds for probation Eileen." We started laughing, even though Ben didn't find it funny.

So, in Eileen's defense I said, "No, Tone. Her brownie bribery, that you accepted, counts as a pre-payment, so she's off the hook."

"Thanks Nancy. She's right, Tony!" Eileen teased back. And then we took off to get LaToya.

During my fun walk with Eileen and "the two, new best friends" Eileen tried to talk me into going to a Crosby, Stills & Nash concert with her and her sister Dean, in August, at The Majestic Theater in San Antone and she almost had me talked into it, because I love them—especially Neil Young.

After we had put LaToya and Ben into Ben's big dog pen, we took Betty Rubble and George Clooney, who was adopted last Saturday and is getting picked up tomorrow to go to his new home. And the dogs  enjoyed it as much as we did.

Later in the day, after eating a fun lunch at the Koyote Ranch Grill, with Eileen begging me to go with them to the concert, we came back home and that's when I almost made an expensive mistake, because I had decided to go online to buy a ticket to the Crosby, Stills & Nash concert.

Not knowing where they would be seated and knowing that I would be sitting alone, I decided to splurge on myself and buy a pricier ticket for a good seat, so I could be closer to the stage to see my hero—Neil Young.

After I had filled out the billing information I was shocked at what the total price had jumped up to, because of the added on handling fees, shipping, insurance, etc., so I hesitated for a minute to think about it before clicking the "Buy Ticket" button—thank goodness.

As I thought about buying the ridiculously high $199.00 ticket price I glanced up at the top of the screen and read the words: "Crosby, Stills & Nash Concert." And that is when I realized that Neil Young's name was missing, so I clicked the "Cancel" button immediately.

Don't get me wrong. I really love Crosby, Stills & Nash's music, but I love Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's music so much more, so I have no regrets about not spending that much money and not going to the C,S&N concert, which I'm sure will be sold out and totally awesome. And I am really relieved that I don't have to go into that big city, because as you well know—I don't do big cites. And that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

Tortilla Flour!

Today has been a great day. Right before I fixed lunch for Tony, Aaron and me—we put away our tools, because we had finally finished building the new hen house. I love The Egg Palace and am so happy about it finally being ready to receive egg laying chickens. And, as soon as we get our chickens I will take a picture of it to show to y'all.

This afternoon while we were running errands, in Kerrville, we stopped by Wolfmueller's Books to visit with Sandy and Jon for a minute, and to also pick up a special book, that Sandy had just found and bought for me, the day before Levon Helm had died. The title of the book is, The Levon Helm Midnight Ramble, and it is filled with fabulous photographs taken by Paul Laraia and the foreword is by Levon Helm.

After paying them for the book and having a really fun visit with our dear friends we adios-ed them and went to H-E-B to buy our regular groceries and a special sack of Hill Country Tortilla Flour, that Elizabeth, a friend of mine had recommended to me, because she makes the best flour tortillas—in Texas.

On our way home I began reading The Levon Helm Midnight Ramble by Paul Laraia and I could not put it down long enough to backseat drive and by the time we had arrived home, I was over half-way through the book. "Omg, Tony. I love this book and you are going to love reading this book too. There are pictures of famous musician playing there, on every page with a comment they made. Like Steve Earle, Billy Bob Thornton, Phoebe Snow, Pinetop Perkins, Dr. John, Bruce Hornsby, Chris Robinson of The Black Crowes, Larry Campbell, John Sebastian, Sam Bush, Garth Hudson, Delbert McClinton, Alison Krauss, Robert Plant, John Hiatt, Sheryl Crow, Elvis Costello, Emmylou Harris, Rickie Lee Jones, etc. and it's totally amazing! And you are going to love the picture of Levon's dog—Muddy."

After we had put up our groceries I picked up the book and started reading it again and soon found that there are two pages of pictures of Kinky, Little Jewford and Washington Ratso performing at the Midnight Ramble and that Kinky wrote the blurb for the back jacket, so I called Kinky to ask him if I could come over to the Lodge.

Three minutes later, after telling Kinky about the fabulous Levon Helm book, I showed him the blurb that he had written on the back jacket, "There hasn't been this much musical talent on the same stage since Hank Williams opened for Mozart." And then I showed him the pictures of him, Little Jewford and Washington Ratso performing at the Midnight Ramble.

Then we thumbed through this awesome book. "I'll loan to you if you want to read it," I offered.

"Yes, I definitely want to read this book when I return to the ranch. I need an early wake up call in the morning, so I won't be late leaving in the morning..." Then we put the book down and went on a fun hike with The Friedmans and then I came back home.

When I finish writing this, I plan to open up my new sack of "miracle-tasting-tortilla" flour that I only have to add water to, which is sitting on the drainboard, and try to make up a batch of delicious homemade tortillas for breakfast tacos, in the morning, so please wish me luck tonight in the kitchen.

Y'all have a great evening!

The One Night Sand Saga! or Send Sand!

Tony and I had a super fun, "One Night Sand," on the private island in Port Aransas, with our dear friends Sandy & Jon Wolfmueller and Rick & Leisa. And not to brag—our laughter-filled, mini-adventure lasted for a full twenty-two hours and a couple of minutes, which explains why I missed our dogs so much.

Monday evening, Ben arrived at the ranch, so he could baby-sit our dogs and the rescue ranch for us and we had a fun visit with him, in The Okay Corral, before we had to adios him, so we could pack our bags and then go to bed early. 

Tuesday morning, Sandy & Jon picked us up, bright and early, at 6:45, which was before sunrise out here and our four-hour trip was a blast, because Tony rode shotgun, in the passenger front seat, while in the backseat Sandy relaxed and tried to keep me from worrying about how fast we were traveling and it worked, even though we got lost once, for a few miles.

When we arrived safely in Port A., around 11:00, we decided to stretch-our-legs and eat lunch at Fin's restaurant first, before calling Rick to come pick us up at the marina.

One hour later, after eating a delicious lunch—our fun party officially began on the privately owned island where Rick, "The Friendly Lighthouse Keeper" lives.

While we sat on the porch, of the Main House, relaxing and watching the ships coming and going, the beautiful dolphins playing in their wake, we took turns telling hilarious stories and because I was laughing so much—my back began to ache a little, but I didn't care, because it was well worth it—we were having FUN—until a few minutes later, when a couple of brightly, orange-colored helicopters and a matching orange-colored boat started doing fly-bys and boating-bys near the beautiful island! "What in the heck are they doing?" I jokingly asked Rick, before starting to laugh. "I feel like I am starring in a Mash rerun." Everyone started laughing, as we watched one of the choppers hovering above the boat.

"Oh, that's just the Coast Guard, Nance," Rick replied. "Every Tuesday afternoon they come out here and do their practice maneuvers. It's really no big deal. They'll go away soon enough..." And sure enough a few minutes later, just as Rick had predicted—they went away. Here is a picture that Tone took of them.

That evening, Leisa cooked us a delicious, fresh Flounder dinner and I know that I ate more than I should have, but I didn't really care, because I was on island time and I was having the best-of-times with some of our best friends—and to me— that is what life should be all about. 

Around 10:00, before we all said good night to each other before going to bed, because we are old and can't party like we used to, I promised Sandy that I would get up early to catch the sunrise with her and Jon and that I would also climb up to the top of the lighthouse with them and I am proud to say that I kept both of my promises to them.

The climb up the steep, narrow, winding stairs to reach the top of the lighthouse was more than exciting for me, because I had been a little nervous about doing it, but I am so glad that I made myself do it, because we could see for miles and miles.

Watching the sunrise slowly, above the ocean was one of the prettiest sunrises that I have ever witnessed. Here are two great photos that T. took of Sandy & Jon standing outside, on the lighthouse deck, with me standing inside, because I was too scared to come outside with them and here is a picture of that spectacular sunrise that I shall never ever forget.

Then we ate a delicious breakfast at Rick's house, on the island and then we jumped into the Boston Whaler, with all of our luggage, so Rick could take us back to Port Aransas, so we could go drink some coffee with our dear friend John Kemmerly, before we headed back to The Hill Country. I love this picture, that Tony took, of Leisa's adorable dog, Squirt—jumping up on Rick's motorcycle seat.

I am so glad that we got to see John! Catching up with his latest news, while drinking coffee, at the coolest Internet cafe, in Port A. was so much fun, because we love John and it has been way too long, since the four-of-us last saw our dear friend, who was once a former employee of both Wolfmueller's Books and our rescue ranch.

When we arrived safely, back home, we gave Sandy & Jon a brick of Miles of Chocolate, that Ben had brought down for them and after hugs they adios-ed Ben, Tony and me and then they took off to go home, in Kerrville.

After hugging and kissing all of our sweeter-than-sweet dogs, that were even more happier than me to be back home with them I made Ben, Tony and me some coffee.

While we drank coffee and visited with Ben I started scrubbing on my soon-to-be-pretty sea shells, that Tony and I had picked up on the island's beach. As I was telling Ben all about our super-fun vacation and thanking him for baby-sitting for us, I accidentally re-injured my cut index finger using the scrubber, because I can no longer multi-task anymore and I should have known better. 

As I laughed about not being able to talk and work at the same time, I tried to bandage up my finger, without the use of a real Band Aid and that's when Ben made a suggestion, "Nance, you should have brought back some island sand, too, so you could fill it first into the jar then fill with the shells—to remind you of y'all's fun trip to Port Aransas."

"Oh, my gosh, I should have. That's a great idea, Ben. I'll call them tomorrow and ask them to "Send Sand." And that's about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

Three-Ringed Circus!

Today has been one fun and exciting day for us, because everything seemed to happen around the same time—1:00.

First off, we knew in advance that Sherry and Katie were bringing Beau Bridges, the 2 1/2 month old Blue Heeler, that they had rescued near College Station, to us so we could adopt him out and that Tucker, the brother of Joe King Carrasco and also a good friend of Rick, the famous Friendly Lighthouse Keeper, would also be arriving around 12:45, with his friends, to visit with Kinky and us, but what we didn't know was—who was going to get here first.

When our dogs outside started barking Tony and I went outside to go greet Sherry and Katie or Tucker and his friends, but instead we greeted Berni, a very nice, friendly woman and her ten-year-old son, Alex.

After howdies and handshakes Berni told us that they had come out, from Kerrville, to look at our dogs, because she wanted Alex to have a dog that he could play Frisbee with, etc., so we took them on a tour to meet all of our dogs and while we were walking around, I told Berni about Beau Bridges coming in, any minute, but she wasn't sure they were ready to deal with a puppy.

When they met Harley, he turned on his charm with them and was close to stealing their hearts, which thrilled us, when Sherry, Katie and Beau Bridges pulled up, so Tone went to greet the friendly, dog rescuers and Beau.

While T. visited with the women and Beau Bridges, in their car, Alex and Berni talked to me about Harley, when Tucker and his friends arrived, so it was sort of like a fun, three-ringed circus going on out here. And within twenty minutes, Bernie and Alex had adopted Harley, Tony had adopted Beau Bridges-Simons and I was over at the Lodge with Kinky, visiting with Tucker and his nice friends and Kinky was delighted about Harley getting adopted and Tony adopting B.B.-S. Here's a picture of Harley, fixin' to go home with his new family.

Around 3:00, after eating a late lunch, which wasn't very tasty, because I didn't have all of the ingredients needed for the recipe, I sat in Outer Space playing my guitar, while Tony and our fur-family played with one super smart puppy, in our front yard. And here are a few pictures that I took of our new family member, after my fingers were killing me from pickin' and grinnin' too much.

And that is about it for tonight, because I am going to go play with Beau Bridges until his sharp puppy teeth are killing my fingers.

Y'all have a great evening!

The Adventures Of Joan & Kent! or Here's It!

Today has been quiet, but let me tell you about what happened yesterday, after I did the Harley Show, which was a lot of fun.

When Tony and I had finished doing our morning chores outside I decided to walk back to The Cabin, instead of hitching a ride with T. on Kermit and I am glad that I did, because I found a large turtle trying to get inside Rufus' and Roxanne's pen, near the barn and those two dogs were pretty upset about it.

So, when Tony and Kermit approached I waved them down to stop, so Tone could help me rescue the uninvited stranger and return him back to the creek. "Get back, Nance. That thing can bite your finger off." Then Tony put his leather gloves back on and carefully picked up the turtle and put him or her into a big bucket.

As Kermit took us down to the creek Tony told me, "Around here, we call them Alligator Turtles, because of their long spiked tails..." Before the turtle found its way into the creek I snapped these pictures of Snappy.

After that, while I was fixing lunch for us, Tony went to get our mail and when he came home I had two nice surprises in store for me. The first was Maya's registration papers, from the American Quarter Horse Association, with me listed as her new, proud owner, which I plan to frame, sometime this weekend and hang on a wall in the big room.

My second surprise was a beautiful card sent to us from our dear friends, Joan & Kent.

And when I opened up the card to read it, a small sticker fell to the floor, which I didn't notice and while I read about Joan's & Kent's latest hiking adventure—Tony started laughing as he stared at their sticker they had sent and I started laughing when I read: "Kent and I have just returned from the mountains of North Carolina, where we hiked into the mountains. (Not naked though!) I found this sticker in a hiking shop and could not resist sending it to you....Love, Joan The Naked Hiker."

Then Tony showed me the hilarious sticker, because it has been a private joke between us, (And the rest of the world, who read my blog.) because since she told us about being from African and once hiking, for days in the nude—I've teased her about it. 

Then I put the sticker on our fridge, right below the, "What Would Ronnie Do?" magnet and it makes me laugh every time that I open the refrigerator door. 

Yesterday, after lunch Tony and I went to Kerrville to run a couple of errands. Our first stop was at The Salvation Army, so I could drop off some clothes and other stuff, then we went inside the store to look around and I am so glad that I did, because I found a real bargain and bought It immediately before anyone else could snatch It up.

It was standing next to some matching furniture and the price tags on the other pieces started at $250.00 a piece and up, but It's sale tag price was only $49.00 for some reason and I wasn't about to question It.

The reason I am calling it It, is because I'm not sure if it is an old dining room buffet or what, but it really doesn't matter to me, because It is now in our bedroom, being used to store our jeans and socks. Here's It standing between the stool and our closet door! And that's about It for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

The Scales!

Yesterday was a quiet day around here, so when Tony took off to Medina, around 5:30, to take some pictures, I decided to get online and surf around and when I found this really cool guitar lessons site, I decided to check it out, in hopes that I could learn to play my guitar better.

Two hours later, after practicing the C and G scales on my guitar, I got offline and did some pickin' and grinnin' until my fingers were killing me or 8:00, because I wanted to watch the highly acclaimed PBS documentary, The Titanic With Len Goodman and I am glad that I did, because it was a real eye-opener for me on that historic, tragic event, 100 years ago. And, I am glad that I recorded it, because I can't wait for Tony to watch it with me.

Today has been a good day. This morning while Tone did the morning chores outside, I stayed inside with Hazel and we cleaned up The Cabin. When The Cabin finally looked like T. & I didn't live here, I took a break and went over to the Lodge to visit and to drink some coffee with Kinky.

During our fun visit, on his front porch, Kinky asked me if I wanted a cookbook, that he had written a blurb for, on the back jacket cover, that he had just received from his friend and of course, my answer was, "Yes, I do. You know I love cookbooks and..." When I came home, I gave the cookbook to T. because it was mainly about outdoor cooking.

Late this afternoon we met Kinky and our friend, the popular morning radio host, Big G, at Buzzie's BBQ, in Kerrville, for lunch, even though we had already eaten lunch at home we had a blast visiting with them and Buzzie.

Then we went to Wolfmueller's Books to talk to Sandy and Jon, for a few minutes, about our upcoming fun trip. Then we adios-ed them and went to Home Depot to buy some lumber, because in the next few days, weather permitting, we are going to build a small chicken coop, so we can have chickens again and start eating healthier, free rage eggs.

Tonight I am fixin' to go out to the Okay Corral to play the scales, over and over again on my guitar, until I can either play them by heart or my fingers are killing me, which ever comes first. And that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

Hair Removal!

Today has been fun. This afternoon we took off, for Kerrville, to meet Kinky for lunch and to run a few errands.

When we arrived at his friend's restaurant the parking lot was completely empty, so we drove up to the door and the sign on the door read, "Closed On Monday," so I grabbed my cell phone, out of my purse and punched in Kinky's cell phone number. "Hi, Kink. We're here and the restaurant is closed on Mondays, so where do you want to eat now?"

After telling me where he wanted to eat, we adios-ed each other and as I was putting my cell phone back into my purse a good-looking, young man, probably in his early thirties, pulled into the vacant parking lot, to my side of Buttermilk and then he waved at us to lower my window.

Since he was wearing a big grin on his face I lowered my window and smiled at him. "Are you Cousin Nancy?" he asked. Tony started chuckling.

"Yes, I am," I answered, as I began to blush. Then he chuckled and pointed his finger at me.

"I knew it was you!" The happy man said. "When I saw the rescue ranch sign on your Expedition, I just had to follow y'all, so I could put a face to your voice. I hear you all of the time on Harley's show." And that made me chuckle.

"I love Harley and I am glad that you listen to his morning show."

"Harley's great. Well, I am sorry for wasting your time, but I just had to meet you."

"Don't apologize. You just made my day and I thank you." Then we adios-ed each other and took off in different directions and T. teased me all of the way to the restaurant.

Kinky pulled into the #2, his second choice restaurant, right behind us, so after greeting each other we started walking toward the door, but we didn't make it inside, because a smiling man hollered out, "Hey, Kinky!" So, we made a detour over to the man and his friend.

While shaking hands with each other, the friendly man introduced himself and his friend to us and then Kinky introduced Tone and me to them. "Kinky, I am Molly Ivins brother and..." Then we had a fun conversation with the men, in the crowded parking lot.

And Molly's brother and friend laughed a lot, after Kink and I told them the funny story about a woman asking me to sign her "A Night With Bob Wills" program, at the Cailloux Theatre, during an intermission, and after I had signed my name she sincerely said to me, as she walked away, "I love you, Molly Ivins. Thank you so much."

After an enjoyable lunch with Kinky we went our separate ways to run our errands. And when we returned home Tony was thrilled, because his "Shed Pal," an incredible cordless pet grooming vac, that he had ordered for our dogs online, had arrived.

Tony tried it out on our dogs while Kinky, The Friedmans and I went on a fun hike and when I came back home I used it on Belle and Roy, again and they loved it as much as I did. So yes, I am endorsing the Shed Pal, that costs under $20.00, because I also used it on our (Roy's, Belle's and Abbie's) chair cushions and it was a fast and easy hair removal device. And that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

Purple Windmill!

Today has been great. This morning before Tony and I did our chores outside, we invited Kinky to come over to see our newly improved Okay Corral and he seemed to be very impressed with what we've done to it. "Kinky, can you believe that over ten years ago—this was the Friedman dump?" Kinky chuckled.

"What y'all have done to improve this piece of the property is amazing to me. The entire rescue ranch looks beautiful and it is a very special place. I like what y'all have done to the Okay Corral too..." As he sat on top of the picnic table, I pointed out our freshly painted purple windmill and then I bragged about our new flowerbeds, the solar lighting, etc., but what Kinky seemed to like the most was the purple windmill.

Late this afternoon Tony and I went to Kerrville to run several errands. Our last stop was at Wolfmueller Books to visit with Sandy and Jon and to talk about our next upcoming trip, that we are taking with them, which by-the-way is a secret for right now. 

As Jon looked at a hand held map and Sandy looked at a map on her iPad we discussed which route to take, what time we we're leaving, etc. and there was plenty of laughter through out our fun conversation. Twenty minutes later, when my back began to ache and we had a plan—we adios-ed our dear friends and came back home. And that is about it for tonight.

P.S. After we told them about the Sparrow Hawk scaring me and flying away with a sad, little Sparrow, he looked up the hawk, in a bird book and it was definitely a Cooper's Hawk. "It says here," Jon said. "Known for ambushing small birds at bird feeders and small mammals... "

Y'all have a great evening!

The Aren't People! or Life Is Beautiful!

Today has been a great day. This morning after Tony and I did our outside chores, we discovered that my faithful sidekick and companion, Roy Rogers, was in the dog house sort of, because he had wanted to come inside The Cabin, while we were working, so he single-pawedly tore up the new screen on our front porch window.

After I gently scolded one of my dearest friends, for tearing up the window screen that we had just replaced, last month, I leaned over and hugged and kissed my ninety-three pound, sad-eyed looking dog. Then I laughed and said, "It's okay, Roy. Don't worry about it. We're just not meant to have nice things. Some people are and some people aren't and we are—The Aren't People..."

Then I came inside The Cabin, grabbed my camera and took this beautiful picture of Roy-Boy looking a little guilty, through his newly torn up screened window, that he alone had done, because I could not be mad about something as unimportant as a ripped-up window screen, because it can be so easily repaired.

After I shot Roy, with my camera, Tony and I went outside to do some more beautification work in The Okay Corral. While he patiently planted dozens of my beautiful flowers in the wood-lined flowerbed, I spray painted the bottom part of our big windmill—purple. Then T. painted the top part for me, because I'm too short and the windmill, right next to my writing cabin, looks absolutely beautiful! Thank you, Tone!

While T. dug six deep holes to plant our new blooming Blue Plumbago plants, which are so beautiful and also my favorite blue plant—I stole rocks from our old fire pit, that we are going to redo using much larger rocks and I made a rocked-lined flowerbed, along the fence, in front of our beautiful, newly painted purple windmill.

Two hours later, we called it a day for The Okay Corral and then we sat down in the metal, lawn chair rockers to rest and to admire the beauty of our work today and five minutes hadn't passed, before I had the living daylights scared out of me. "OMG! Tony!" I screeched like an owl, as we watched this giant bird, just a few feet away from us, by his bird feeders, dive down and grab an innocent, sweet, little Sparrow eating seeds off of the ground and then it flew off with it! "Did you just see that Vulture do that?"

"That wasn't a Vulture, Nance. They have a name, which I think starts with a "P", but around here we just call them Sparrow Hawks..." Even though Tone explained it to me—I was sick about the poor Sparrow's fate—it never knew what hit him/her.

Before I end this beautifully written post tonight I must apologize to you, for purposefully over using the word "beautiful" so often, because while I wrote this evening—I've been listening nonstop to my new favorite Keb 'Mo song, Life Is Beautiful, because it is one beautiful/happy/upbeat song, that I am totally in love with, which earlier this evening I finally learned how to play all of the way through and can now pick on my guitar—that Ronnie made for me.

Y'all have a great evening, because life is beautiful and torn window screens don't matter at all.

In Hot Water! or Buddy Holly Was Here!

Today has been a great day, but I am a little tired tonight, because my day ended at 7:00 tonight.

This morning I had Tony wake me up real early, so I could drink some coffee and wake up before doing my Utopia segment, about our rescue ranch, on Big G's popular, morning radio show.

As I poured my first cup of coffee, Tone walked into the big room and declared, "We have no hot water."

"Do we need to replace the hot water heater?" T. started chuckling.

"Nance, they're called water heaters—not hot water heaters. And yes, we need to get a new one this morning after we do The Breakfast Club with your friends. I'm going to call Aaron right now, to see if he can come out later this afternoon to help me install the new one. " Then he called Aaron at 6:35 and then Tony adios-ed me and took off for the Old Timer with Trigger.

After I did a fun Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch segment with Big G., I called Kinky to make sure he was up, because he was going to our Breakfast Club, in Kerrville, too. He answered on the first ring, "Thanks for calling, Nance. I'm up..." Then I heated up some water on the stovetop and took a sponge bath, because we had no hot water.

Breakfast with our friends Beth and her father was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed it and when it ended we went to the Post Office, so I could mail out a package, before we went to Home Depot.

"Welcome to Home Depot," a friendly woman said to us. "Can I help you find something?"

"Yes. We need a new hot water heater," I said. She smiled and Tony winked at me and then he started laughing.

"She's from Ft. Worth and they call them hot water heaters up there," he explained to the helpful Hill Country woman, as we followed her back to the hot water heater section. We ended up buying a 40 gallon electric one, then we came home and did our chores outside, even though we were running thirty minutes late doing them.

When we were done working outside, Tony took off in Trigger to go make a bank deposit for me, in Bandera, while I returned several phone calls before Hazel and I quickly cleaned up the trailer, because we were scheduled to do a camera shoot at 2:30, with our new friends from the Cailloux Foundation, because they had recently awarded us with a substantial grant.

The camera shoot was a lot of fun. We did it outside of the rescue ranch, next to our sign, on the white boarded fence and my Roy Rogers was in it too! Mark, Betty, Kinky and I smiled and laughed as Chris, from the foundation and Tony shot us, because we kept trying to get Roy to pose and look at their cameras as we held their check. Here is one of Tony's pictures.

When Tony jumped into Kermit with Roy sitting beside him, so he could return Roy back to our front yard, Betty, Chris, Mark and I strolled back to the The Cabin and that's when I found out that Chris played guitar and that he was the actor who portrayed Buddy Holly, in the local production of “Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story,” at The Point, in Hunt and at the Cailloux Theatre, in Kerrville, which has been rocking the Texas Hill Country ever since, that everyone has been raving about, and he is in The New Buddy Holly Band, while Betty walked behind us so she could stop and pet and visit with all of our dogs along the way.

So, I invited them to come inside The Cabin, so I could show Chris my guitar, that I am so proud of, that Ronnie custom made for me. And little did I know, that Chris would actually pick up my guitar and do some Buddy Holly for us. It was fabulous and he was so good I got goose bumps. Here's a picture of Chris Huber that I took, right before he gave me those goose bumps. It was like Buddy Holly was here, in our big room.

Early this evening Aaron came out to rescue us and by 7:00 we were in hot water, once again. Thank you so much, Aaron. And that is about it for tonight and by the way—Chris loved playing my guitar and he could not believe that Ronnie made it for me. Talk about making my day!

Y'all have a great evening!

The Price Tags!

Today has been great. After we ate lunch we jumped into Buttermilk to run several errands, in Kerrville. Our first stop was to go see Sandy and Jon, at their bookstore, because they had a book to give to me, that Karin and Air Gun, our dear German friends, wanted me to have.

During our fun visit with the Wolfmuellers, they gave me Karin and Air Gun's book, Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls and they told me that it was a beautiful book and that I would enjoy reading it. And I can't wait to read it. Thank you, Karin and Air Gun! Y'all are too sweet!

When I showed Jon and Sandy my poster that I had made of Maya, that Carol painted—they loved it and they told me that they thought Carol was a very talented artist, which of course she is. Then Joe Herring, Jr., our mutual friend, author and the owner of Herring Printing, Kerrville's favorite print shop, walked into the bookstore and greeted us and then things got real interesting, because Sandy had found an old (1915) book, in the bookstore's basement that she wanted Joe to see.

The small, rare book was titled My Automobile and it was a detailed diary, with small black & white pictures documenting each trip that this woman, from Kerrville, had taken in her car. There were great pictures of her and her friends and her car and it was fascinating to look at and some of her captions were hilarious: "This trip was rotten," because her gas tank got clogged up and "Here we are at Camp Laugh A Lot." 

While Joe and Sandy read us some funny, bits and pieces from the woman's automobile diary, I took off to find the book Home; Photographs of Kerrville that Joe had written about Kerrville, from the turn of the last century forward, because I wanted to buy a copy for Tony and me to have and to also get Joe to sign it, because it is a beautiful book, filled with over 200 historic photographs of Kerrville and Kerr County, Texas. And I cannot wait to read it too, because I love reading local history!

Our next stop was at Billy's Western Wear store, so Tony could pick up the cowboy boots that he had ordered. And after he had tried them on to make sure they were a perfect fit I suggested, "Why don't you wear them out of the store, so you can start breaking them in..." And he did.

When we arrived at Hoegemeyer Animal Clinic to pick up some medicine for one of our dogs, T. took off to go visit with Dr. Craig Janssen, while I stayed in the lobby and had a hilarious conversation with his sweet wife, Kathy. 

A few minutes later, when Tone returned to the lobby I said, "Goodbye to Kathy," and started to walk out the door, but Tony sat down on their bench, so I turned around to see why and I started laughing, because he had his Wranglers pulled up high, above his new boots and was cutting off the price tags, using his knife. "We stole them," I joked to Kathy, before walking out the door.

Our next stop was at the craft store, so I could purchase a picture frame for my poster of Maya and our last stop was at H-E-B to get groceries and then we came home.

After we had put up all of our groceries Tony helped me frame the poster and hang it on the wall, in the big room and I am thrilled about it, because it such a beautiful picture of Carol's painting and it will make me smile every time that I look at it.

And that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

Two Pieces Of Popcorn!

Today has been a great day and so was yesterday. Yesterday, after lunch, I went outside to the corral and helped Aaron and Tony remove brush from it and burn it and I am proud to say that I only tripped and fell once.

Around 6:30 last night, right before I was fixin' to sit down and write about my day, we had one fast moving thunderstorm sweep through, with popcorn sized hail, so we had to unplug everything, including our computers.

One hour later, after we had plugged everything back into their wall sockets, I started to write a short blog, but I only had two sentences typed when all hail broke loose and that monster thunderstorm came with more lightning and hail about the size of two pieces of popcorn. So I gave up and went to bed early, only to discover this morning, that we got a little over four inches (four pieces of popcorn lined up side-by-side) of much needed rain.

This morning, after doing some more paperwork, I went over to the Lodge for a fun visit with Kinky and then I came home and made lunch for Tony, Aaron and me. Then we went out to the soon-to-be real horse corral, near the entrance gate and removed more brush and burned it, so as you can guess—I'm pretty tired and my back hates me, again.

Early this evening, Kinky, The Friedmans and I went on a short hike and I really enjoyed it, because I wasn't dragging a giant, dead limb to put into the fire pit. And that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

Beyond Awesome!

Today has been great and Tony, Aaron and I accomplished much today outside and my body is paying for it now.

This morning after Tony and I did our morning chores outside, Aaron arrived to help us clean up and burn old brush, in our old horse corral, up near the front entrance gate. And it was really hard work stacking up cut wood, that Aaron cut with his chainsaw, then dragging large branches and picking up smaller branches from the ground, to the two fire pits so they could be burned.

With the exception of taking a thirty-minute lunch break, we burned and hauled brush for eight hours and my arms, legs and back are killing me, which means that I am somewhat out of shape. But it has been well worth it today, because we have nearly cleaned up half of the huge corral, for Maya and it is starting to look like a beautifully manicured park! And the bottom line is—Maya is going to love it and I got a great workout today.

Tonight, even though Tony and I smell of cedar, which I don't think is a bad thing, because I love the smell of cedar—we plan to do it again tomorrow—if I can get out of bed in the morning.

But the really great news for today is my poster, of the picture that I took of Maya grazing, that Carol painted years ago, arrived and it is absolutely awesome! In fact, it is beyond awesome and I can't wait to get it framed, so I can proudly hang it in our big room and smile every time that I see it.

And that is about it for tonight. I hope that everyone has had a great St. Patrick's Day and that I can get out of bed in the morning! Wish me luck.

Y'all have a great evening!

Fort Winston!

Today has been a lot of fun, as was yesterday when I made a fool out of myself, in front of Ben and Tony.

Yesterday morning, before Kinky took off for a few days, Tony and I went over to the Lodge to talk with Kinky, Ben and Brian Molnar, who btw: is playing SXSW at Opa's tonight, in Austin.

After a lengthy, but an hilarious discussion about the mini-backyard that we were going to build for Kinky, because of Winston Churchill, "The Roving Beagle," Ben jumped into his truck and Tone and I climbed into Trigger and headed back over to the rescue ranch, so they could do the outside morning chores, while I went to Medina to buy cement for "Fort Winston."

Before we went over to the Lodge for them to erect Fort Winston, I asked Ben to please mix up some cement and pour it in front of our front yard gate entrance, where I always trip and where the gate hangs going into The Okay Corral, because I am always having to ask people to, "Please watch your step."

After Ben had added some water to the cement, inside the wheel barrel, he told us that he needed a hoe to use to mix up the cement, but T. told him he didn't know where it was, which seemed to frustrate Ben a little, because that meant he had to use a shovel, which doesn't work as well.

When Ben shoveled and tried to mix up the cement, I felt sorry for him having to use a shovel and that is when I innocently asked, because I am not a "Garden Person," because of snakes, dirt, stickers, scorpions and ants, etc., "What does a hoe look like?" T. and Ben looked at each other and burst out laughing and I am not going to tell you what they said to me, even though it was pretty funny.

Once we had quit laughing about my dumb question, Ben and Tony described what the garden tool looked like, so I went to Tone's garden, determined to find Ben a hoe to help him out.

And with my luck, since I am a Libra and a Rabbit (The luckiest) on the Chinese calendar—I found Ben a hoe, laying next to some recently dead Thistle that I had killed last week. And to say the least, "Ben was thrilled about me finding him a hoe so quick."

And the reason that I am telling you the story about yesterday's "Hoe Incident," in the first place, is because Tony, Ben and Will demanded that I blog about it, to prove once again, that I am not the sharpest tool in the tool shed, which I have always known. Hoe! Hoe! Hoe!  : )

This morning our great volunteers: June, Eileen and Jim came out to walk our dogs for us and we cannot thank them enough for making our dogs so happy today and for all that they do for our super dogs well being. And before they left to go eat lunch, I grabbed Eileen and whisked her away, in Kermit, so I could show off Maya to her, because Eileen is a genuine horse woman aka cowgirl, like Carol is, and Eileen thought Maya was absolutely beautiful, too, which made my day today. "Thank you, Eileen!"

Later today, it was non-stop laughter and teasing, over at the Lodge, as I watched and tried to help (gopher) Ben doing most of the work on the fence, with Will and Tony assisting him, to finish the Fort Winston mini-backyard, for Kink and I must say, "It looks absolutely beautiful and I totally love it and so will The Friedmans. And I'm sure when Kinky gets back to the ranch he will be very pleased with it, too."

Before Ben left today to go back home to Austin, he came over for a fun visit and to see the clean-up work that Tony and I have done to my old saddle.

"It's looking good, Nance..."

P.S. Great news! I actually woke up at 7:15 this morning!

Y'all have a great evening!

Ziggy!

Today has been great even though I over slept until 8:00 Sunday and Monday morning. Yesterday was great too, because Ziggy, our beautiful Blue Heeler, got adopted to a great home, yesterday morning, while we were outside doing our chores.

The reason why I didn't write last night was because I went over to visit with Kinky, around 6:00 in the evening and because of the long hike we took with The Friedmans, I didn't get back home until after 8:00 and then I was too tired to write, but not tired enough to fall to sleep when I was supposed to.

This morning Tony gave me an early wake up call as I had requested at 6:00, 6:30 and then at 6:45 and because I have not yet adjusted to Daylight Saving Time—I climbed out of bed feeling exhausted. The reason I had asked for an early wake up call was so I could do Big G's "Utopia Segment" on his popular radio show and Sparky was his Pet Of The Week and I had fun doing the show.

When T. returned home from drinking coffee with his buddies, in Medina, he ate breakfast and I drank one of my super smoothies. Then we went outside and did our morning chores.

For lunch, I fixed a roast, mashed potatoes, okra mixed with corn, bell pepper and red pepper and Tony loved it so much, I took a plate of it over to the Lodge for Kinky and he and The Friedmans loved it too.
Then I came home and took a short, sleepless nap with Roy Rogers, Mama and Toto.

Around 2:00, T. and me went outside and installed ten solar lights in the Okay Corral. Then I mowed it, while Tony removed sticks and rocks, for me, from the newly created corral.

Up until 7:00 this evening I have been outside killing Thistle, while visiting with our super rescued dogs and I really enjoyed it. And now I plan to relax, go into Outer Space, drink a couple of glasses of my fine boxed wine and play my guitar.

Before writing this tonight, I checked my e-mail and my dear friends Karin & Air Gun Pohlman's, over in Germany, note made my day. Thank you, Karin and Air Gun! This is what they wrote:

"Dear Nancy, your mail made my day! Today I received the beautiful Weimaraner postcard with your kind words to us. The "What Would Ronnie Do?" magnet and also Sophie´s and your business card, which are now decorating our fridge and will make us smile every time we open it. It´s often....Especially Sophie´s card is very funny! Love, Karin and AirGun"
And that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

Jimmie Dunn Done It Again!

Yesterday after I had posted on my blog things got a little interesting. As I was cleaning up the kitchen Tony walks up to me and says, "Happy Anniversary, Nance! We did it again." Then he hugged me and we started laughing, because for two years-in-a-row we have forgotten our wedding anniversary. "I'm sorry I forgot."

"Me, too and I'm blaming it on Mercury fixin' to come in retrograde on Monday and for being sixty-years-old. At least you finally remembered it."

"No, I didn't," Tony confessed. "I was just on Facebook and Jimmie Dunn just wished us a happy anniversary."

"Thank goodness for our dear friends, Jimmie and his sweet wife Nelda, for reminding us for the past two years about our wedding anniversary or we would have completely forgotten about them. Please thank Jimmie and Nelda for me, for helping us remember our anniversary. I wonder why we always seem to forget our wedding anniversary?" And that's when T. started laughing and went back to his office.

One hour later, after playing a few games of Scrabble on my laptop, I got up to stretch my legs and that is when I noticed Roy sleeping soundly in my chair, which Belle had claimed as hers, once she learned how to jump up on things, after six months of her helping me lift her up on things.

Anyway, Roy Rogers looked so content sleeping in his chair, that he stole away from Belle, a few weeks ago, I grabbed my camera and shot him twice.

When Roy went back to sleeping, I ran around The Cabin resetting all of our clocks and by the time it was dark outside all of our clocks were ready for the 2:00 AM time change, even though I knew I wasn't. 

After I had put our dogs outside, to take care of business, I started watching another hilarious Frazier rerun and halfway through it, I paused it, so I could let our dogs come back inside. As I held the door wide open for Abbie, Mama, Belle, Roy and Toto to come back inside The Cabin—a Bat flew inside, which of course caused me to immediately scream, "Tony! A Bat just flew inside here. I bet it has rabies..."

When T. saw the Bat flying around the big room he turned off the ceiling fan, as the dogs and I watched the frightened Bat circling above us. After a couple of minutes the Bat finally settled on the wall, right next to one of my straw cowboy hats, above the bench. "Tony, please don't hurt it."

"I won't." Then Tone grabbed a red dish towel and slowly approached it.

"Be careful," I warned, as he gently reached up with the dish towel and covered the little, black Bat and then carry it outside to set it free. 

Seconds later, when T. came back inside The Cabin he told me, "The Bat is fine. He flew away into the darkness." Then we tried to figure out why it had flown inside The Cabin, with all of our lights on. And we still haven't figured it out, yet.

Today has been a great day, even though I over slept, big time this morning, thanks to the time change. After doing our morning outside chores, I went to check on Maya and her new found friends and they are doing great together and that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!