Podcast Episode: 26: Make Me Laugh Time!

In this 7 minute podcast please click here on The Cousin Nancy Show to listen or click on the side bar 👉.

This past Tuesday, Tony and I met up with our dear friends, Liz & Jim Cravotta, so we could do lunch together and catch up with each others news. And to say the least, “As always, Tony and I had a total blast seeing them.”

It was decided that we would meet Jim & Liz, at the East End Market, in Kerrville, which is Tony’s and my favorite vintage, antique store.

And just so you will know the East End Market was voted Best Antique Shop in ’22 and ’23 by the Kerrville Daily Times People’s Choice Awards. And in my opinion-you just can’t do any better than that.

We were meeting our super-talented, artist friends, at the East End Market, because Jim & Liz have two vendor spaces there and they had wanted to stop by there first, so they could add several new items to their constantly changing, unique collection of rare, vintage, one of a kind finds.

Tony and I were about ten minutes early when we arrived at the super-cool East End Market, so Tony and I greeted the friendly manager and then we went back to Liz & Jim’s area to look around. And Tony and I immediately fell in love with several of their latest finds.

Tony loved their antique, vintage Wagner Cast Iron muffin pan, that was made before the Griswold Cast Iron Company bought out Wagner’s.

I fell in love with their antique coffee grinder that still grinds if you crank it, their rare Erector Set and the super-cool plate engraved with all of the 12 astrological signs.

But what really grabbed my attention was this rare paperback book Pleasure Man written by Mae West and it was signed by her, too! 

When our friends arrived Tony and I were still looking around at all of their really cool stuff, when I told them I could not believe that they had a signed Mae West book for sale. And Jim said, “Do you know that most people now days don’t even know who Mae West was? Can you believe that?” 

And all that I could say was, “No, I can’t believe that. I guess we’re showing our age.”

After all was said and done there, the four of us drove down Water Street to eat lunch, at El Sol de Mexico, one of the finest Mexican food restaurants, in Kerr County.

When we walked inside the packed establishment, our friend Beto, their friendliest waiter, greeted us. And because almost all of the tables were already taken inside, we decided it would be fun to eat our lunch, out on their patio, because it was another one of those beautiful, sun-shiny days, in Kerrville, Texas.

Needless to say, our food was absolutely delicious and our conversations flowed with laughter. In fact, I laughed so much that my back literally began to ache. 

And to quote Albert Einstein, “Time flies when you’re having fun,” well I was having so much fun I didn’t realize that we had been out on that patio for over two hours.

Now before I try to make y’all laugh at least once, I want you to know that you can find out more about this famous couple if you listen to my Episode 14 podcast, “The Cravotta’s Close Encounters of the Famous Kind!” And I will promise you that it will be a super fun, hour long, conversation filled with interesting topics and non-stop laughter. 

Okay now it is Make Me Laugh Time, so here we go:

Number 1: If you ever get an e-mail about ham, pork, salt or preservatives—don’t open it, because it’s SPAM.

Number 2: This morning I woke up and I decided to make sure that Tony woke up with a big smile on his face. So now I can’t have Sharpies in the house anymore.

Now I am going to try to sing Number 3 for you: Like a good neighbor—stay over there.

Number 4: Well, I finally did it. I broke down and bought myself a new pair of pink cowboy boots with memory foam insoles. So now I won’t be forgetting why I walked into the kitchen, the other room, etc.

Number 5: We’ll be friends until we are old and senile. Then we will be new friends.

And Lastly, Number 6: I don’t know how people get eaten by sharks—I mean how do you not hear the music?

I want to remind everyone about my upcoming podcast that I will be doing with Tony’s and my dear friends, Eileen and her sister Dean with a live audience, in the Last Resort Studio, on February 11th. It had been originally scheduled for the 9th, but we bumped it up to the 11th, so I can make sure our house is clean and it doesn’t look like we live there. 

Anyway it is going to be so much fun that I am sure that your back will ache from laughing too much! So you might want to go ahead and buy some BioFreeze patches, just in case your back does go out.

And this just in: I have been invited to speak at the Faith & Freedom Club, with my friend Bob Bolin, Monday, February 12th. There will be a reception held from 3:00 to 4:00, at the Medina Community Library. And then from 4:00 to 5:30 Bob and I will take turns at the podium sharing our personal stories about cancer. And then I get to give a short Medina, Texas history lesson. 

And that is about it for this podcast. I did transcribe this one, too. So if you would rather read it than have to listen to me please go to: cousinnancy.com and click on the link to my Cousin Nancy blog. And to further entice you—my blog will have a few pictures, too!

I am dedicating this podcast to our dear friend Dave Crowe. He passed away a few weeks ago. Dave was a good man with many talents. Our good friend Gerry Olert and I did a really fun podcast with Dave, in 2022. And if you would like to listen to it please click on Episode: 22: “Full of Gas! or One Amazing Man!”—Rest In Peace, Dave. You were loved and you will be missed.

Lastly, I do want to thank all of y’all for listening to my podcast and I do hope that I did make you laugh at least once. And if I did make you laugh then I have done my job. But if you didn’t laugh—who cares! 

Y’all take care and keep on laughing. And please always remember my favorite quote that I came up with all by myself: Life is short and so am I. I love y’all!

I Love MEIN LEBEN, Too! or A Standing Ovation!

Today has been great and it started early this morning when I received this sweet note from our dear friend Gaby. Gaby lives in Germany and Tony and I love her and her lovely daughter Xenia.

Anyway, Gaby's e-mail made me smile and laugh out loud when I read her kind note, because like me she also loved reading my newest, most favorite book It's A Long Story: My Life written by Willie Nelson and David Ritz. Gaby wrote:

"Dear Nancy , 

How much I love reading your blog, I needn't tell you- you know already. 

The other day I had to chuckle, you wrote about reading the great book 

from Willie Nelson. Well - I just finished reading mine about 2 weeks ago. 

It's a really great, interesting book. I loved it.

For a short second I thought about sending it to you, when finished. Thinking you might love it to , but then right away I realised, this is NOT going to work - the book I have is in German......" 

   

I've spent most of my morning tying up some loose ends, because last night I made a To Do (Must Do) list of things I've been putting off, because I've been too tired or working, etc. And I am proud to announce that I am finally caught up with everything for now and it feels good.

Early this afternoon Tony and I went to Kerrville, so we could wash a load of laundry. And when we got back home I dried them on my newly improved, metal-wire, solar-dryer, that Tony recently made for me.

I don't know why I love hanging out clothes to dry and washing dishes so much. Maybe it is because it relaxes me. Or maybe because, I don't like to see dirty dishes in the sink and I love the way line-dried clothes smell and feel.

I have an update on the legs-mannequin, that we dropped off, at Wolfmueller's Books last week, so Liz & Jim could pick it up there. Actually, I should say the legs-mannequin that Tony dropped off, at Sandy & Jon's famous bookstore. Because I just went along for the ride so I could take pictures of Tony lugging it around, and so I could also have a fun visit with Jon & Sandy.

This afternoon, when I checked my e-mail, sweet Liz had sent me a note telling me that she agreed with me about last night's post and that she thinks those two, little Cracker Barrel maple syrup bottles, that I had slipped into the Levi's' front pockets are cute, too. 

In fact, a few minutes later Liz sent me another note:

"Apparently you are not the only one to stash a few of these bottles in your purse."

And Liz also included a Pinterest link  to Cracker Barrel bottles to show me just how popular these cute, little bottles are with crafters. So I guess I am not crazy after all, but then again—maybe Liz and I are both crazy.  : )

Then I looked at her picture of Jim posing with the "traveling legs "mannequin and I burst out laughing. And when I showed it to Tony he thought it was hilarious, too. 

So here's the famous Jim Cravotta holding the tiny bottles while he's getting a standing ovation, at Wolfmueller's Books. And I am sure the customers there thought it was hilarious, too.

Well that is about it for tonight, but before I finish writing this, I do want to thank Gaby for thinking of sending me her Willie book. "We love you Gaby and Xenia! And of course, we all LOVE Willie Nelson! And the next time that you come over, from Germany, for a visit—we'll make sure to take y'all to the East End Market—Booth #42, so you can meet Liz & Jim!"

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

Miniskirts! or 501 Levi's!

Today has been great and a lot of fun. This morning our dear friend Gerry Olert, came to visit us.

Gerry Olert, from San Antonio, is the famous videographer who did all of awesome rescue ranch videos for us, but when I think of Gerry the first thing that always comes to mind is how much fun I had working with Gerry when he edited the Longmire-Texas Style video-spoof starring Little Debbie. Laugh out loud, I had written, starred in and produced this video—just to help make Little Debbie more famous.

Of course the making of Longmire—Texas Style would not have been so much fun without all of the help from our dear friends/dog-walking volunteers, Chet O'Keefe and Jim & Liz Cravotta. Below is one of my favorite pictures that Tony took of Gerry (far left) posing with the entire cast, at Big Jim's & Lady Liz's Grey Goose Saloon, on April 2, 2016, after the wrap party.

And this is one of my other favorite pictures that Tony took that day, of Liz & Jim, Little Debbie and me during the wrap party. And I still cannot believe that it has been almost three years ago, when we made the video.

Anyway, this morning during our fun visit with Gerry he was telling us that his & Karen's sweet, old (18+ years) cat had passed away since he had last visited us. Then he told us that he and Karen recently went to a rescue shelter and adopted the coolest kitten that already knows how to fetch and retrieve a ball. Then he pulled out his iPhone and showed us adorable pictures of Luna, the kitten that has stolen their hearts. Here is one of his beautiful pictures of Luna cat-napping on Gerry's lap.

Early this afternoon, Gerry treated us to a fun lunch, at the Cracker Barrel, in Kerrville. It is funny, but Tony and I did not order the same thing as usual, but Gerry and I did. He and I ordered a breakfast that came with a side of two pancakes, that also came with these small bottles of maple syrup. One for each of us.

I don't know why, but I fell in love with these cute, little glass bottles of syrup and I told Tony and Gerry that I loved these bottles. So when the sweet waitress returned to check on us, Gerry asked her to bring us two more bottles of maple syrup.

As we finished eating our meal, Tony and Gerry encouraged me take the four, empty, little bottles home since I loved them so much. And after we had quit laughing about it, I said, "I can't. It might be illegal and I don't want to be in prison, because of maple syrup...." 

Bottom   Line: I finally asked the friendly waitress to bring me a doggie bag. (So, I could sneak the empty bottles out of the restaurant.) While we waited for the doggie bag Gerry and Tony teased me about going to prison, etc. and I was getting more nervous about taking the emptied bottles.

So, when we decided to leave Gerry and Tony took off first and as I was walking past the table, next to our table, this friendly-looking, old man wearing a Vietnam Veteran cap, probably about my age, had this long white beard that looked like he was a member of ZZ-Top~~waved for me to stop. So I did, and he looked up and said, "If the Feds were in here they would arrest you—"

Omg, I thought "I'm busted!" And I thought that I was going to faint, but I didn't, because Tony was gone and wouldn't be able to catch me from falling. Then this friendly man smiled, and said, "For laughing too much." Then he and I started laughing.

As soon as all of us were outside and I felt safe, I told Gerry and Tony about the man stopping me and telling me that I should be arrested and they burst out laughing. Then Gerry joked, "We left you behind, because we didn't want to be accessories to the crime."

And after we had quit laughing, I said, "At first what he said to me really did scare me. And I was immediately thinking, they are going to call the police and tell them, "We've got a sticky situation over here. This old woman..." 

After our fun lunch, Gerry followed us over to the East End Market, because he wanted to see Jim & Liz's fabulous booth (#42). And as the three of us were walking into this super-cool store—Jim Cravotta came walking out and after howdies, handshakes and hugs, Jim said, "Liz is inside and I'll be right back. I''ve got to get a wrench. Go say howdy to Liz." So we did. And then we had a great time visiting with Liz & Jim and checking out all of their fabulous stuff they have for sale.

Here are just a few pictures that I took of their treasures and antiques that I wanted to buy.

This is a working spinning wheel that I wanted, but because Mama (my perfect Great Pyrenees) is dead I passed, because Henry's, Roy's, Beau's, Little Debbie's and Big Al(ice)'s hair is too short. 

This is a Mary Quant romper, in beautiful condition, that Liz bought and wore—back in the 60's. For those younger than me who may not know who Mary Quant was, here is a link to Mary Quant to find out more about her. (Taken from Wikipedia: "The miniskirt, described as one of the defining fashions of the 1960s,^[19] is one of the garments most widely associated with Quant. While she is often cited as the inventor of the style...")

Unfortunately, I never owned an original Mary Quant miniskirt or romper, but back then I wore miniskirts all of the time. In fact, I even got sent home from high school one day, because the Principal told me that my miniskirt was too short. And before Mom came to pick me up, I tried to explain to him, "It's not too short. I'm short. It's just an illusion..." But neither him or mom bought it, so I had to go home and change miniskirts, before returning to my French class that I was flunking, because of my Texas accent.

And here is an assorted collection of 1920 magazines that totally fascinated me.

Before adios-ing Liz & Jim, I told them that I was going to donate my mannequin legs, for Jim's project. "I want you to have it, but I want you to know that Tony and I put a pair of my 501 Levi's on it, so it will be dressed. But we never could put a pair of my old, pink, Justin Gypsy cowgirl boots on it. And before we left our friends we decided that Tony and I would meet Liz & Jim, at Wolfmueller's Books, to give them the mannequin legs. And Jim joked, "That's the perfect drop-off place. And I'm sure that Sandy & Jon will love that!" And we were still laughing when we walked out of the store and adios-ed Gerry.

Before coming home, we swung by So Fast Printing, my favorite and Kerrville's favorite print shop, so I could pick up a few pictures, that I had e-mailed to Rose and had asked her to print for me on card stock. Because I am planning on framing and hanging them in my writing cabin. Then we came home. Here are the four pictures that I plan to frame and hang tonight.

Then I took this picture of the doggie bag and the four empty bottles. Then I put them into the sink to soak, so I can hopefully remove the labels. And now I am wondering why I even took those stupid, tiny bottles, because I am not even sure what I will use them for.

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

Feel Good!

Today has been great and so much fun, because we met our dear friends for our Once-A-Month-Lunch Club, at Monroe's East End Grill. They are a fairly new restaurant establishment and because we've heard so much great stuff about them and their food, from Sandy Wolfmueller (Wolfmueller's Books) and other friends we decided to see for ourselves. And I am so glad that we did.

Right off of the bat, before we even parked I loved their color scheme, because it reminded me so much of our beautiful Big Foot Ranch colors, that orbs are always seem to be drawn to. Like the two orbs below, outside of my writing cabin.

Anyway, Monroe's East End Grill's parking lot was packed with vehicles and after we parked, happy people were everywhere and lots of laughter was coming from inside this awesome restaurant and outside of their pretty patio, where the six of us chose to eat our lunch.

Seriously, I cannot say enough good things about this wonderful restaurant. I would definitely give it a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating or ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐, because the food was so delicious, the vibes were over the top, which is why everyone eating there was so happy. In fact, I loved this place so much I suggested to our Once-A-Month-Lunch Club that we meet here for lunch next month too, before I ate my tasty Brownie dessert.

Knowing that I needed to walk-off my delicious dessert, after lunch we walked behind the building and went next door to 1700 Water Street, the new home of the already famous East End Market.

The East End Market is this awesome multi-vendor vintage market showcasing all things unique, old and uncommon and it's owner/manager is the super-friendly Kate Howard-Marlow. 

The men followed Kris, Denise and me into the East End Market and when us girls walked inside our jaws dropped, because there was so much to see and to look at, and believe it or not the vibes were as good as Monroe's. 

I was instantly mesmerized by all of the cool stuff on display, as we took our time strolling around and checking out the store. And even though I didn't see any orbs floating around I was sure that they were amongst us, because they were probably just hiding.

While we had fun shopping around Denise tried on several different, beautiful ladies hats. Kris fell in love with Liz & Jim Cravotta's spaces and as she admired Liz's beautiful/whimsical for all occasion cards, I fell in love with just about everything else inside—especially that old saddle and the large painting of a Texas Longhorn. 

I suggest that everyone come check out the East End Market before or after eating lunch or breakfast or dinner at Monroe's East End Grill next door, which is located on Kerrville's east end of town, across from the River Trail Cottages.

And speaking of River Trail Cottages, (Newest Hotel Alternative) after a fun visit with the sweet, friendly owner, Kate Howard-Marlow, we adios-ed her and then we took our lives in our own hands and illegally jay-walked across the street to check out the inviting River Trail Cottages. And oh my goodness it is now most definitely the coolest place to stay in Kerrville and the vibes there were just as great as Monroe's East End Grill's and the East End Market's.

River Trail Cottages have 22 adorable, cozy cottages available for rent and an event center on-property perfect for family reunions, meetings and any social gatherings. The property also has lovely riverside pavilions, several fire pits, grills, picnic areas and more. And I had the hardest time leaving this enchanted wonderland, because of the beauty and peace that surrounded me. And just like the other two fine, east end establishments I must admit that I didn't see any orbs there, but I am positive they are around. 

Bottom   Line:  All three of these fabulous East-End places are such feel good places that I could have hung out there all day. I even daydreamed that I could lived there with everything (food, clothes, cottages, Guadalupe River, etc.) I need all within walking distance from one another. And I certainly would have stayed there much longer if Tony hadn't reminded me that we needed to get back home to check on our dogs. 

And before I finish writing this post tonight I want y'all to know that my loaf of zucchini bread turned out perfect and we loved it so much—Tony and I both ate two slices of it. Here are before and after pictures of my mouth-watering zucchini bread.

And last night after stuffing ourselves with this delicious bread, I sat down in my chair, with Big Al(ice) snuggling beside me and Little Debbie sleeping on my lap and I started reading this fabulous book that sweet Eileen gave to me for Christmas. Christmas at Grey Sage by Texas Hill Country author Phyllis Clark Nichols.

And reading Phyllis' book is so great that I could not put it down or better said, "I didn't go to bed until after midnight." And tonight I plan to spend my evening reading Christmas at Grey Sage until I finish reading it. Even though I don't want it to end, because I love this fabulous book.

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