Little Darlin'!

Today has been great. I've spent most of my day deep cleaning The Cabin, because our air conditioning man is coming out tomorrow or Friday to fix it for us, before the weather turns cold. In fact, I even had Tony replace our two air filters, because they are hairier than all of yesterday's dog hair, that Hazel collected, in her bag-less canister.

FYI: Hazel is the name I've given to my lavender-colored, Dyson "Animal" vacuum cleaner, that I love and appreciate, because if not for Hazel—Tony and I would have been dead long ago, and our probable cause of death would be listed as—Hairballs.

Today's lunch was semi-delicious and uneventful, because I cooked us meatloaf, Brussels Sprouts and spinach. And the only odd thing about this particular meatloaf I made is I had to substitute the tomato sauce and regular spices I use, with a can of Ro-Tel, because I was out of tomato sauce.

And on top of that, no pun intended, all of those small diced up tomato pieces and green chiles were not very photogenic. So when I served Tony his lunch he raised an eyebrow, and asked, "What is it?"

I replied, "It's meatloaf, Tone. Just don't look at it."

"Okay, but you're not going to take a picture of this, are you?"

"No, of course not." And that is why I am leaving it up to your imagination to figure out what it looked like. And I am providing the plate, to help make it easier for you to imagine the meatloaf.

This afternoon, after going on a fun hike with Kinky, I came back home and took a picture of Lori Darlin' right after she woke up and was in the process of climbing off of, Henry Standing Bear, who kindly provided her a soft, warm bed, on top of his back. And Little Debbie, the famous star of our Longmire—Texas Style video, posing without her makeup. 

And now I have just realized after posting these two pictures that Little Debbie and Lori Darlin' both have the same initials! And I can switch them around to: Debbie Darlin' and Little Lori or Little Darlin' or...

In hopes of making you laugh out loud before I end tonight's post, a good friend of mine sent me a note earlier today about seeing this bumper sticker on a truck, in Kerrville. And to be politically correct about the presidential candidate's name, I am letting you choose the name of your choice to fill in the blank. The bumper sticker she saw was:

IF                  WINS THE ELECTION, FLYING MONKEYS WILL COME

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

What Are You Doing?

This morning, Tony and I went to Wolfmueller's Books, so we could meet up with Mari, of the famous NoMads, because she wanted to give me Witch Hazel, her old Dyson 'Animal' vacuum cleaner, that had quit sucking! She knew I loved Hazel, my Dyson 'Animal' vacuum, and she told me I could use hers for parts.

Tone and I arrived at Wolfmueller's a little early, so we visited with Jon and Mary Jo. While Tone was talking to Jon, I went over to their cookbook section and started browsing. When I saw Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, I pulled it off of the shelf! "It's on sale, Nancy," Jon said, as he walked past me. One minute later, I was at the counter, writing a check for it! I was thrilled to get it!

After buying the cookbook, Jon took us to see their new bookcase. It was beautiful! As I admired the antique bookcase, Tony was in the background grumbling about me fixing French food to Jon. "Nance is a great cook, and I wish that she would just stay with her own recipes..." Here's a picture I took of the bookcase and Jon's head. His head is on the top shelf on the left hand side.

"Mari is three minutes late," Jon said. "Why don't you tease her, and tell her that you had to buy this book, because she was late, because you felt bad about hanging around the store!" We all laughed. Then Mari arrived!

After handshakes and hugs, we had a fun visit with her! She is one of the nicest people that you could ever meet, and T. and I just love her. When I showed Mari my new Julia Child cookbook, and told her about how much I loved Julie & Julia, I said, "Mari, why don't you and me take turns cooking her recipes, and do a blog about it?" Tone's smile went south. "You could do it one day, and I could do it the next?"

Mari shook her head, "No, I don't think I want to do that." Tone's upside down smile went north! "That's your necklace, the one that you have been blogging about! It is more beautiful in person. I love it!" Before Mari, Tony and I went outside to adopt Witch Hazel, I told Mary Jo, Jon, Mari and Tony that I was going to definitely try to cook at least one meal from Julia's cookbook, and when I did, I wanted all of them to come out for dinner, to try my French cooking. For some reason they all laughed. Then we went outside. Tony took these pictures of Mari and me with Witch Hazel:

After we left Wolfmuellers, we went and grabbed a bite to eat, and then we went to Walmart. As we were checking out, I noticed the Julie & Julia DVD for sale, at the checkout counter, so I picked one up and added it to our cart! When we got home, I took this picture of my two new Christmas presents, while Tone went outside to get Witch Hazel for me!

When she came inside, I immediately went to work on her. The first filter that I removed, several small rocks fell out onto the floor! Then I removed several other parts to check for clogs. When I was done with all I could do, Tony took over. In less than two minutes, he had her running better than my Hazel! I was thrilled! I am now the proud owner of two Dyson 'Animals! And yes, I am bragging! Thank you, Mari! Before putting the twins in the closet, I decided to do a short video clip, to show Witch Hazel in action! "Tony!" I half-hollered, down the hallway. "I'm going to do a short video, and I need for you to help me!"

"Okay!" Tone said, loudly. "I'm nearly done plowing! I'll be there in just a minute!" Three minutes later, when T. came into the kitchen, he saw me pouring a pile of white flour on the painted rug in our kitchen. "What are you doing?"

"The Flour Test!" I said. "I want you to vacuum up the flour, so everyone can see Witch Hazel in action! When I say action, turn her on and let her go to work. Action!" Witch Hazel's Flour Test! After Witch Hazel passed her test, I put the sisters in the closet so they could visit.

At one-thirty, Lisa and her friends showed up to walk our dogs! It was about forty-seven degrees outside and misting, not my kind of weather, but they didn't seem to mind! Before these great people started walking our dogs, Tony and I thanked them and then I shot them! From left to right are: Kevin, Matt, Lisa, Nicole, Ty and Meghan!

Two hours later, Lisa, Matt and Kevin came inside the trailer, and they were wearing smiles, and soaking wet! "Nicole, Ty and Meghan just left," Lisa said. "I wanted to let you to know that we almost got everyone walked and..."

Tony and I were thrilled for our dogs, to say the least, and we thanked them. I love these people, and am pretty sure that they are angels in disguise! They have to be! We had a fun visit with Lisa Matt and Kevin and mainly talked about our dogs. Before they left to go back to Kerrville, Matt told me that he loves Tom Landry, and he might be able to adopt him soon, if everything works out all right! I'll keep you posted.

Y'all have a great evening!