The Birthday Party That Never Happened! or Calendar Of Events!

Today has been great, even though it has been uneventful, so I am going to tell you the rest of the story that happened yesterday.

Yesterday, after I had finished writing my early post for last night, I went over to Kinky's. "Kinky, I am so excited about these Made In USA dog treats, I brought a few over to test on The Friedmans."

"Great. Let's see if they like them." Then Kinky reached into the Pawtriotics Dog Treats box and gave one to Winston and Sophie, because Chum-Bum was in Kinky's bedroom sleeping. Sophie and Winston ate the dog treats and seemed to like them. Then they went outside to sit on the porch. After a fun visit with Kinky, I came back home.

Later on, at 4:30, Tony and I jumped into Buttermilk and took off for Kerrville, earlier than we had planned, because I saw on my calendar that Sandy's birthday is today. We left thirty minutes early, so we could stop off at the little H-E-B, on 16, to buy Sandy Wolfmueller a birthday card, a cheap cake and a bouquet of pretty, dead flowers.

When we arrived at the grocery store, I said, "Tony, to save time, please go pick out a funny card, while I get a cake made that says, 'Happy Birthday, Sandy' and find some flowers to get her. Then we'll meet up at the 10 Items of Less checkout stand."

While I was waiting for Sandy's cake to be customized I checked out the pretty flowers. All of them were pretty, but more than I cared to pay. Then I spotted some potted, small, red Roses on sale for only $3.99, so I grabbed the the Roses and returned to the cake-lady to pick up the spur-of-the-moment birthday cake.

When I turned around, Tony walked up and said, "I like this card." I read it quickly and liked it too, because it was funny.

"Okay, let's go check out," I said. "It's nearly 5:15 and we need to get to El Sol de Mexico, before they do!"

As I race-walked to the check out stand, Tony half-hollers, "Don't forget your Poligrip." My heart was pounding as I took off to find my denture adhesive. When I found it, an elderly man and his wife, about my age, were standing in front of the Poligrip boxes, so I took a deep breath, while they decided on which overnight denture cleaner was a bargain. As soon as they had moved, I grabbed a box of Poligrip and then skipped to the checkout counter.

When we climbed into Buttermilk, Tony and I quickly signed Sandy's card and then we took off for our favorite restaurant to meet our dear friends.

With El Sol de Mexico in sight, my heart sank, when I recognized Sandy's SUV parked in the parking lot. "Oh my god, they're already here," I said. "Oh well. We tried."

As we entered the patio, with Tony carrying the cake and me carrying the card and the Roses, we saw Sandy and Jon drinking refreshments. "Okay, we're busted," I confessed, followed by a laugh. "Happy Early Birthday, Sandy!"

Sandy turned around to see who I was talking to and then she looked at us, smiled and said, "It's not my birthday."

"I know," I said, as Tony handed Jon the one-layer-cake and I handed the Roses and the card to Sandy. "Tomorrow is, so we wanted to surprise you and be the first to celebrate it with y'all."

"Tomorrow's not my birthday either," Sandy chuckled. "But thank you, for the cake, the pretty Roses and the card. This was so nice of y'all to do this. Why did you think it was my birthday?"

"Because I have it written down on my calendar of events," I said, followed by a laugh. "I guess it is some other Sandy's birthday." Then Tony and I told them about us purposefully leaving early, so we could pick out a cake, a card and Roses and all of us had a good laugh about it, before we entered the restaurant. "You could freeze the cake and pull it out to thaw, in February," I teased, as the friendly waiter seated us.

Needless to say, "We had a super fun time with our friends, at the birthday party that never happened. The Mexican food was delicious as always and our dinner was filled with non-stop laughter. And before I finish writing this, I want to wish Sandy Whoever-You-Are a Happy Birthday today!"

Y'all have a great evening!

Happy Early Birthday, Sandy!

Today has been great and fun. This morning when Tony came home to eat breakfast, Brandon was with him. As I served them breakfast, Brandon showed me the graduation gift that he had received yesterday and he was real proud of it and said, "You're going to love it, Nancy."

I looked at it and thought it was a heavy-duty paper stapler, "That's a great stapler you got, Brandon. I use ours all of the time." Tony and Brandon started laughing.

"Look a little closer," Brandon suggested. So, I did and it still looked like a black stapler to me. "It's a pick maker," Brandon explained. "Now I can make all of my own picks for my guitars and banjo.

"Wow," I said. "That is really cool."

After Tony and Brandon had finished doing the morning chores outside Tony came back inside, to cool off for a few minutes. About ten minutes later, while I was working on the second novella's dedication, Tony came into the kitchen and said, "Look at the picks that I just made using an old credit card."

I looked and then took a pick from him, grabbed Dale by the neck, so I could try it out on my banjo. Needless to say, I loved it.

This afternoon after Brandon, Tony and I ate lunch, I was washing the dishes, while Brandon played Dale. "I like your pick maker," I commented.

After Brandon had finished playing a tune he looked up and said, "I already have a stack of ticks"

"A stack of ticks?" I asked. "What?" Brandon started to chuckle.

"No, Miss Nancy. What I said was I have a stack of picks, that I've already made." Then we both started laughing, because I am hard of hearing and I don't always hear things correctly. It's a big joke between Tony, Kinky, Brandon and myself, because Tony, Kinky and me are all hard of hearing.

When the kitchen was cleaned up I grabbed a box of new "PAWTRIOTIC" Apple Pie Recipe dog treats, Made in the USA, that I purchased from H-E-B and I showed them to Tony and Brandon. "It says they are all natural ingredients made with: Rye Flour, Apple Puree, Pumpkin Puree, Non-GMO, Canola Oil, Whole Eggs, Molasses, Cinnamon and Ginger. And they contain no: Wheat, Corn, Preservatives, Soy, Sugar and Salt. Using Human Grade, American Grown Ingredients. No Chemicals or Animal By-Products."

Like me, they were impressed with the healthy dog treats, so we opened up the box to see if our dogs would like them. After a fun dog treat taste test our dogs were more than impressed with the treats and they begged for more. "No Nancy," Tony said. "That's enough for now. I am trying to get some weight off of our fat dogs."

"Okay," I said. Five minutes later, when Tony went outside to get something, Brandon and I secretly gave our dogs one more treat. Then Brandon started pickin' and grinnin' on Dale, so I took this picture of him. (That's Belle and Roy, on the floor, enjoying Brandon's music.) Then he went back to work outside.

I have scheduled this to post tonight at 6:00, because it is now 2:30. I am going to go take a short nap with our fat dogs. Because tonight we are meeting Sandy & Jon at El Sol de Mexico, in Kerrville, to celebrate Sandy's birthday, which is tomorrow. Then we are swinging by H-E-B before coming home, so I can purchase some Polygrip Denture Adhesive, because I am nearly out.

I am worried about maybe not be able to eat a big meal tonight, because for lunch I made Cousin Nancy's Taco Salad for us and I ate too much of it and so did Tony and Brandon. I hope that I will be hungry enough by 5:30 to eat their #26, because I love that restaurant's Mexican food and good vibes. "Happy Early Birthday, Sandy!"

Y'all have a great evening!

Oops!

Today has been great. This morning when Tony and I went out the front door to go do our daily chores, I said, "Don't forget that we're meeting our friends, at El Sol de Mexico, for lunch at 1:00. I think we should leave no later than 12:30."

When we had finished feeding the dogs and cleaning their pens I said, "Tony, let's leave earlier,  at 11:30, so we can run a couple of errands before we eat lunch with Les & Denise, Deb & Craig and Kris & Jim, The Mineral Man. Because we have to be back here by 3:00, so you can meet John."

We left here at 11:30. Our first stop was at H-E-B to fill up Trigger and that took longer than usual, because the woman in front of us took ten minutes to fill up her gigantic pickup.

Our second stop was at a feed store to buy tick spray and tick dog dip, because we are at war with the ticks. The place we went to was real crowded and when a young woman asked us if she could help us, she sort of went a little overboard, in the help department. And please note that I'm not complaining about anyone taking their job seriously and really wanting to help us.

Every bottle that we looked at for spraying our dog's pens, she would walk off with the bottle and do calculations on the computer to tell us how much we needed to buy to fill our 250 gallon spray tank. It took her about four minutes each time, before she would return with the answer. Anyway, after looking at five different bottles, we had only ten minutes to get to the restaurant.

Because we also needed to stop by the Post Office sub-station, so I could mail a few things we told the young woman that we were running late for a lunch engagement and would come back tomorrow or Saturday. "That sounds good, because when so-in-so gets back from lunch he will know which one for you to use."

Fortunately, the Post Office wasn't packed with customers, so I just walked in and handed the friendly woman my packages and was out of there.

When we arrived at El Sol de Mexico on Water Street we were four minutes late and we recognized our friends cars and truck. When Tony opened the door for me we walked inside and our dear friends and the best waiter in Kerrville, applauded us. "We're glad you made it!"

"I'm sorry that we're late," I said. "We've been running errands for the past hour and sort of got tied up at the feed store."

As soon as we sat down at the table, Beto, the friendly waiter, set down Tony's and my large, iced mugs of tea. "We've already ordered," Jim said. Then Beto walks out of the kitchen and served me the #26, which I always order and Tony's favorite #27. Then he returned to the kitchen to bring out all of our friends plates.

Deb & Craig and Denise & Les had never eater there before and they raved about how delicious their meals were and what a great waiter Beto was. We laughed and joked during our fun lunch and near the end of our meal Denise held up her small glass of tea and asked me, "What are y'all drinking?"

"Tea," I answered, as Beto watched us from the bar. "We get better treatment than y'all, because we eat here so much." Beto started laughing. "In fact, when we ate here for the very first time with our friends Sandy & Jon, we came back four more times that week bringing different friends with us so they could try their delicious Mexican food." Then I held up my heavy mug. "When y'all become regulars here, you'll get the star treatment, too."

"We eat here a lot," The Mineral Man joked and then he looked at Beto for confirmation.

"Yes," Beto agreed, after he had stopped laughing.

"But not as much as we do," I teased. "Soon, y'all will graduate up to frosted mugs like us. Isn't that right, Beto?" He and everyone at our table roared with laughter.

When we got back home, Carlton had a message from Jim. "Where are y'all? Did you get kidnapped?..." He had called at 12:47.

I picked up the phone and called Kris to ask her what time we were supposed to have met them for lunch today. Kris started laughing and said, "Twelve-thirty."

"Oops, I thought we were supposed to meet y'all at 1:00. I forgot that is was 12:30..." And that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

Adios Mercury!

Today has been great. This afternoon we met our friends Kris & The Mineral Man for lunch at all of ours favorite Mexican food restaurant—El Sol de Mexico. We got there first and when we walked inside we saw our good friend, Fourth, sitting at a table with his friend, so we decided to sit at the table right next to them so we could visit.

While we were visiting with Fourth, Kris and Jim walked into the crowded restaurant and I waved at them. When they got to our table I said, "Guess what? Fourth's here, too." Then they said hello to Fourth and sat down.

"We have a gift for you, Nancy," Kris said. The other day, Jim and I were were on the Internet and when we saw this, it had your name written all over it, so we just had to buy it for you. Here." I took the pink box and looked at it and then all of us started laughing. "We also have some ammo for you, too." Then she handed me a sack of ammo and this is what they gave to me!

I loved my pink Marshmallow shooter and could not wait to try it out! "It says for ages 6 years and up," I said, followed by a laugh. "Then it is definitely for me and it shoots mini marshmallows 30 feet. And says do not eat marshmallows after shooting."

As always our lunch, with them, was a lot of fun. When we started talking about the popular TV, hit series, Duck Dynasty, that they and Tony watch, we could not quit laughing when we started trading hilarious stories about squirrels, alligators, etc. Jim's beaver story was so outrageously funny it made my back start to ache, because I was laughing so hard.

When Trigger returned us to the rescue ranch, I read the Marshmallow shooter's directions and then one-by-one I slowly loaded my new Marshmallow shooter with mini marshmallows. Then I returned a few phone calls and checked my e-mail.

When our friends Karon, Dalton, Elle and Natalia showed up, I took my loaded weapon outside, so I could show it off to them and they got a big laugh out of it, too. When I tried to shoot a mini-marshmallow at a nearby tree—nothing happened. So, Dalton reloaded my new shooter for me, while he and the girls ate my white, puffy bullets. Then I had fun shooting the marshmallows.

When I was nearly out of my first round of ammo the little marshmallows started melting, because it was hot outside, so I came inside and soaked my magazine tube in hot water. And I haven't reloaded it, because Tony told me to never leave my gun loaded. Here's a picture I took after cleaning the magazine.

After I had put up my shooter, my dear friend Sandy Wolfmueller called me. "Nancy, when is Mercury in retrograde end?"

"Let me check it out and I will call you right back." After I had checked it out I called Sandy right back. "M.I.R. ended on the 17th, but it will linger out and it will be totally over by the 24th, thank goodness..."

Early this evening, Kinky called me and invited me to come over for a visit, because both of us have been very busy since he returned to the ranch. While I was over there we sat on his front porch and talked about life in general and then we took The Friedmans for a short hike. And that is about it for tonight, because I need to write. But before I go, I must admit that I will sleep much better tonight, because of my Marshmallow shooter. "Thank you, Kris & Jim!"

Y'all have a great evening!

Please Don't Ever Go To France!

Today has been great. This afternoon we met our dear friend Jim, The Mineral Man, for lunch at El Sol de Mexico, our favorite Mexican food restaurant, in Kerrville and Tony and I had a blast. Kris, Jim's sweet wife, couldn't join us, because she was out of town.

During our fun lunch, the three of us talked about photography, my upcoming novella, Nascar racing, last Monday's high winds blowing over El Sol de Mexico's large, heavy cement marquee outside their restaurant, their new dog Charlie, our dogs, etc.

I laughed so much I am paying for it now, because my back is aching and I am sitting on my beautiful, pink sheepskin, that my dear friend Mari gave to me several years ago, for my backaches. But I am not complaining, because we had so much fun at lunch with Jim and also because I love to laugh.

When we got back home I returned a few phone calls and e-mails and did some paperwork. Around 4:00, our friendly UPS driver showed up to deliver a new battery for my recently broken camera, that I love so much. As soon as we had adios-ed the smiling UPS man, I came inside and said a little prayer as I inserted the new battery into my beloved old camera. Then I pushed its on button and it came back to life! To say the least, "I was more than thrilled to have Ol' Snappy back.

Early this evening I went over to the Lodge to visit with Kinky and his friends. When I arrived Kinky and The Friedmans came out to greet me. When Kinky and I walked into the kitchen Ted and Brian were in the kitchen laughing about something.

After howdies and hugs with Ted and Brian, Kinky starts chuckling and says, "Y'all, when Nancy took French, in high school, her French teacher told her, because of Nancy's thick Texas accent, "Please don't ever take French lessons again!" They burst out laughing and so did I.

"Yeah, and she also told me, "I added. "Please don't ever go to France." After we had quit laughing, I continued, "She also told me that she knew that I had studied real hard and that she would pass me, as long as I promised her to never try to speak the French language anywhere, including French restaurants. And I've kept that promise." And that is about it for tonight.

Y'all passez une bonne soirée, which is French for, Y'all have a great evening!

Fourth And Jimmy! or Quatro And Yibaditty!

Today has been a blast. This morning before Tony returned home from drinking coffee with his friends at the Old Timer, in Medina, I decided to call Kinky. When I turned on the phone there was the sound of silence, instead of the dial tone. "Hello?" I said.

"Good morning, Nance," Kinky said. "How are you doing this morning?"

"Oh my goodness, Kinky. I was just fixin' to call you and my phone never rang when I turned it on."
Which made Kinky chuckle.

"That's because you're psychic," he teased. After I had quit laughing he said, "I'm leaving for the airport in a couple of hours. Can you come over for a visit, before I leave?"

A little later after Tony and I ate breakfast I said, "I'm going over to the Lodge to visit with Kinky before he leaves. Will you call Fourth and see if he can meet us for lunch today, Wednesday or Thursday?"

I had a fun visit with Kinky, in his kitchen. We talked about The Friedmans (His adorable three dogs.) needing to go on a diet and Sophie's new weight loss program that starts as soon as he leaves for the airport.

Forty minutes later, when I walked back inside The Cabin, Tony had written me a note and left it on the breakfast bar, because he was already outside feeding the dogs. "Nancy, We're meeting Fourth for lunch at 12:30. Love, Tony." Then I went outside to clean the dog pens, which is my morning chore.

Around 11:00, after doing our morning chores outside, we came inside The Cabin and Tony told me, "When I talked to Fourth, he told me that he was going to invite his friend Jimmy Jordan to join us, because Jimmy wants to meet you."

"Who is Jimmy?"

"Jimmy is the man who went with Fourth and me down to Port Aransas, in the Fall, to see Rick. He is real funny, too. He's great and you'll definitely like him."

When we arrived at El Sol de Mexico, Tony said, "There's Jimmy, sitting in his truck." When Jimmy saw us approaching his pickup, he jumped out and walked right up to me and shook my hand and said, "I'm Jimmy and I am so glad to meet you. I loved reading your novella and I laughed all of the way through it." Then he let go of my hand and said, "Hello, Tony. It's good to see you." Then we went into our favorite Mexican food restaurant.

As we waited on Fourth, who was running about five minutes late, we laughed and talked about, The Cowgirl Sisterhood: The Membership Drive, Part I and Fourth and Lynda's funny characters that I had invented for them. And by the time Fourth arrived, four minutes later, Jimmy and I were good friends.

While we ate our delicious lunch it was basically non-stop laughter, because our friends have the greatest sense of humor. Halfway through our meal, when I told them about Kinky suggesting that I kill-off one of the characters in Part II, Jimmy tells me that he wants to be in my Part II novella and that I can kill him off if I want to or turn him into any character that I want to, since none of the characters, my friends, want "to be killed-off."

So, after he told me this and I had agreed to add him as another zany character, we laughed and joked about who he should be. "Do you have a nickname, Jimmy?" I asked. He and Fourth started laughing.

"He has two!" Fourth said, as Jimmy turned red in the face. "Pistelero and Yibaditty."

"Yibaditty?" I asked. Then they told me that one time when they were cutting up, Jimmy had told Fourth that he would have been a great auctioneer, so Fourth asked him to prove it. Then my new friend Jimmy starts laughing and says, "We've got a hundred over here. Yibaditty, yibaditty, yibaditty. One hundred and twenty five. Yibaditty, yibaditty, yibaditty, one fifty, Yibaditty, yibaditty, yibaditty etc."

After all of us had quit laughing I said, "I am definitely blogging about this tonight and when we get home I am adding you to my novella, because I am at the perfect part to add you."

When our hilarious lunch ended and we had adios-ed each other, Tony and I talked non-stop about how much fun we had had, as Trigger took us home. And here is an excerpt from my Part II, Death In New Mexico novella, that I wrote late this afternoon.

"About thirty minutes later, we arrived at Mari & David's beautiful NoMad Ranch, with our alien-attracting helmets, Carol's fiddle and my guitar. And following close behind us was Fourth and Lynda, with their new neighbor, Jimmy Jordan, riding in the bed of their truck, which I thought was a little bit odd, because their Ford F-150 4X4 is a four-door..."

Earlier this evening, I went out on the front porch and took this picture of another beautiful Medina, Texas sunset. And that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

Broken Rock!

Today has been great, but I have to keep it short, because thunderstorms are coming soon, which means we have to unplug everything. So, I guess we will be spending the evening playing music, with Tony playing Nellybelle, our new uke and me accompanying him on Trigger, the guitar that Ronnie made for me.

Early this afternoon Kinky called and suggested that we go to town to eat lunch, at El Sol de Mexico, because he was anxious to try it. To say the least, "Our lunch was delicious and fun and Kinky really liked the restaurant.

Late this afternoon our dear friend Charlie called me to ask if he could come over, because he wanted to discuss my novella, The Cowgirl Sisterhood: The Membership Drive, Part I, because he had just finished reading it. (Charlie and his wife Ellen are characters in Chapter II.)

Twenty minutes later Charlie showed up and when he walked inside The Cabin he handed me a large split rock that he had found on their other ranch, in Sanderson, Texas. "This is for you, Nancy, because I know that you are a rockhound, too. I picked it up, because I thought it might look like one of those medicinal Brownies, in your novella. Here's a picture of my new, broken rock that Charlie gave to me. I put a fork next to it, so you can see how big it is.

After we had stopped laughing, I made us some delicious Donut Shop coffee. Then he asked me if he could look at our Keurig single cup coffee maker. When I was finished telling him all about it and how much we loved it, we talked about his favorite parts of my novella. "Ellen and I loved reading it and I want to buy five more copies to give to our friends."

While I signed copies to his and Ellen's friends and family we laughed and talked about rocks, rain, motorcycles, Johnny Manziel, A&M and the Crimson Tide beating Notre Dame last night. And that is about it for tonight, because it just thundered outside.

Y'all have a great evening!

El Sol de Mexico!

Today has been great for so many reasons. Around noon, Tony, my super hero dog, Roy Rogers and I climbed into Buttermilk, our Expedition, to go to Kerrville.

Our first stop was at the Post Office so I could mail out some more of my books that had been ordered. Then we went to Hoegemeyer Animal Clinic to drop off Roy for an hour or so, because he needed to get all of his yearly shots while we met our friends/volunteers for lunch, at all of ours favorite Mexican food restaurant, El Sol de Mexico.

When Tony handed off Roy's leash to Kathy and we started to leave the clinic, Roy started barking and pulling on his leash towards us, because he didn't want us to leave him.

Tony and I were the first to arrive at El Sol de Mexico and when we walked inside Beto, the friendliest waiter came to greet us, "There's going to be seven of us," I told him, then we sat down on the bench to wait for our friends and to let Beto and the owner set up a larger table for us.

When our table was ready, Tony and I went to our table and minutes later Eileen and Lisa showed up, then Kris and then June and Ellen. We talked about Fruitful's adorable Chihuahua pups that Ellen rescued from the pound when they were only two days old. Ellen and June have found super forever homes for the mama and her pups and their are only three pups that need homes. Here is a precious picture of the puppies that June took this morning and next are two of the pups still looking for a super home. If anyone wants to adopt a pup, Ellen is asking $25.00 each to cover expenses and a week ago Friday they all received their first puppy shot. Please call me at the rescue ranch if you are interested and I will hook you up with Ellen.

Our lunch was fun and delicious and we were the loudest table in the restaurant, because of all of the teasing and laughter. And unfortunately that is all that I can say, because they made a pact, which I didn't want to, because their is so much to tell. Our pact is: What happens at El Sol de Mexico—Stays at El Sol de Mexico, Nancy. But who knows, I might just put some of their hilarious stories in one of my novellas.  : )

Late this afternoon my new electric ukulele and my Oster bread making machine, arrived and I was more than thrilled about it, because the ukulele that Vern sent to Tony and me, is at Stans's music store getting electrified and Tiny should be ready to be picked up next week. 

I bought the extra uke which I have already named The Nellybelle, because Tony wants to learn how to play one and tonight I taught him three basic chords and here is a picture of him strumming The Nellybelle with Roy snoring and he sounded really good. Please note that it was T. not Roy who sounded really good

Tomorrow after Brandon does his chores outside with Tony we are going to have a jam session with Tone and Brandon on ukuleles and me on guitar and I cannot wait. And that's about it for tonight, because my bread machine's very first loaf of bread, using The Mineral Man's secret whole wheat bread recipe, is almost cooked and ready to eat.

Y'all have a great evening! 

His and Her!

Continued from yesterday...

After we ate breakfast Kinky called me from Portland, Oregon. "Hi, Nance! I'll be back at the ranch late Friday night. I have two questions for you."

"Okay."

"Number one, is your novella about the rescue ranch?"

"No. Well, it is mentioned a couple of times, but it is about Carol and me going out to Northern New Mexico to help Fay solve a mystery. Why?"

"In about ten days I am going to be doing my monthly interview on one of San Antonio's most listened to radio stations and I want to talk about your novella..." His second question was about The Friedmans, asking me to baby sit his dogs when he takes off next week for a few days. And before we adios-ed each other he told me that he can't wait to see my book and he wants me to come over Saturday, so we can talk about it some more.

After Tony and I did our morning chores outside, we came inside and got cleaned up and then we took off for Kerrville, to go meet our friends Kris and Jim for lunch, at El Sol de Mexico.

Having lunch with Kris and "The Mineral Man" was a lot of fun and the food was delicious, as always. Before leaving the restaurant they bought ten more books from me and gave me written instructions on who to sign them to. "You don't have to sign them now, Nancy. We'll pick them up when we come out tomorrow to walk the dogs," Jim said. After we had thanked them for treating us to lunch and a fun time we adios-ed each other and then took off to run a few errands before coming back home.

Today has been great. This morning a few of our super dog-walking volunteers came out even though it was thirty-seven degrees outside when they arrived. Jim and Kris & Jim, like me were amazed that it didn't seem to feel that cold outside, because fortunately, the wind wasn't blowing.

After they had walked most of our dogs down to the creek and back we all decided to go up to Koyote Ranch's Koyote Kafe to eat lunch together and by that time it had warmed up to sixty degrees and the sun was shining brightly. Before leaving, I gave Kris & Jim their ten autographed books and Jim gave us a fresh loaf of bread that he had made earlier this morning and his nine grains bread smelled delicious.

Lunch was a blast and delicious and after we had finished eating, June, another one of our great friends/volunteers, walked inside the cafe, so we asked her to join us. Even though June had placed her order to go, she stayed and ate it at our table, because we were having so much fun.

When Tone and I got home I cut off two slices of Jim's homemade bread and wrapped them in foil. Then I set the oven to two-hundred-twenty-five degrees and warmed it for over forty minutes, because I was doing some paperwork and had forgot about it being in the oven, until I smelled its delicious aroma.

Before I had sliced Jim's beautiful loaf of bread and put it in the oven I took this picture of it.

Tony and I loved eating Jim's delicious bread and after Tony went outside to go check on the dogs I decided to halve it and make his and her loafs, so Tony and I wouldn't fight over who got to eat the last piece.

Then I put the halved loafs of bread into two large Baggies and wrote His  and Her, so not to confuse us.

I'm glad that Kinky will be back at the ranch late tonight and I can not wait to see him tomorrow. I think Jim, "The Mineral Man," Bobbitt should open up a bakery specializing in bread. And that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

The Pendletons!

Today has been great. This morning Jim, June, Ellen and Kris, our friends/volunteers came out and walked our dogs and we loved it and our dogs loved it even more.

While they walked our happy dogs Tony's friends Melanie and Terry, who he had met during his Texas Master Naturalists Hill Country Chapter course, came out to see our rescue ranch and we had a fun time visiting with them. And they especially loved meeting Roy Rogers, my ninety-five pound four-legged soul mate.

After Terry and Melanie left, we went up to Koyote Ranch, to visit with our friends, while they ate lunch. Tony and I didn't eat there, because we were meeting our dear friends Cheryl and Walt for a fun lunch at El Sol de Mexico at 1:30. (Cheryl and Walter are characters in my upcoming novella, The Cowgirl Sisterhood: The Membership Drive Part I.)

When Tony and I walked into our new favorite Mexican food restaurant, for the fourth time this week, Peto, their super waiter, chuckled when he saw us walk in before greeting us. As usual, Tony and I sat at our table, the same table that we have sat at with Sandy and Jon on Monday, Carol on Tuesday, Carol on Thursday and today with Cheryl and Walt.

Our lunch with Walter and Cheryl was so much fun and it was filled with non-stop laughter and interesting stories. As we ate our delicious lunch, our dear friends told us that their Christmas present for us was being delivered to us today by UPS, so we thanked them in advance even though we had no idea what it was, because they wouldn't tell us.

When Tony and I got home Carlton was flashing on the breakfast bar, so I pushed his button and heard Dusty Pendleton, tell us that he and Martha wanted to come out and adopt Jackie Kennedy Onassis, so Tony called them back to let them know that we had the gate opened for them.

Then the dogs outside started barking. "UPS is here," Tony said and then he went outside to meet with the friendly UPS driver.

When he came back inside he was carrying a big, five inch thick box. "I wonder what it is?" I said, as Tony used his box cutter to open up the box. Inside was a beautiful gift wrapped box with a card from Cheryl and Walt. After we read their sweet note to us Tony unwrapped the box and then our jaws dropped to the floor. "Oh my god, it's a Pendleton Journey blanket! Tony, I have wanted to buy a Pendleton blanket for the longest time, but never have because they are so expensive. It's so beautiful and the colors are perfect."

After Tony and I had admired our beautiful gift, I sat down at the computer to send an e-mail to Cheryl and Walt to let them know that their gift had arrived and that we absolutely loved it and while I was typing them a note the dogs started barking outside, again. "The Pendletons are here," Tony said. So, I had to stop in the middle of my note to my friends, to go outside to greet Dusty and Martha and get them to sign off on Jackie-O's adoption papers.

We visited with Martha and Dusty, while she filled out Jackie's adoption papers and then they hopped into their truck and followed us down to Jackie's pen. When Jackie saw it was the Pendletons she knew they had come back to adopt her and talk about one thrilled little dog. While Tony put their new blue collar on Jackie, I said, "We hope Emmylou Harris and her will get along, but remember if it doesn't we'll gladly take her back."

"We're pretty sure they will get along, because Emmylou loves meeting other dogs," Dusty told us. After Tony put Jackie's leash on, she ran out of her pen and could not wait to kiss Martha on the cheek and knew that she could not wait to leave our rescue ranch.

When it was time for them to leave with their precious cargo, Tony and I told them that we had our fingers crossed for Jackie and hoped that she and Emmylou would become fast friends. Then we adios-ed each other and they drove away.

As Kermit took us back to The Cabin I laughed and Tony asked me why. "Because today has been a really great day, because of the Pendletons. And that is about it for tonight. "Thank you, Cheryl, Walt, Martha and Dusty. We love y'all."

Y'all have a great evening!

Carol Loved It, Too!

Today has been great, but I am going to keep this post short, because I want to spend my evening playing my guitar, drinking a couple of glasses of my fine, Franzia Chillable Red boxed wine and then go to bed early.

This afternoon after we had dropped off Molly Brown at Hoegemeyer Animal Clinic we met Carol for lunch at El Sol de Mexico, because we could not wait for her to try their fabulous Mexican food. I ordered their number twenty-six, the same thing that I ate yesterday, Tony ordered the number twenty-seven and Carol ordered number fifteen, grilled shrimp, sauteed mushrooms, onions and peppers, rice and french fries.

When the courteous, friendly waiter served us our lunch, Carol's jaw dropped to the floor when she took her first bite of shrimp, mushrooms, onions, etc. "This is absolutely delicious. The grilled shrimp is perfect, the mushrooms are not over cooked and the onions and peppers are to die for." Then she put a shrimp on my plate and Tony's plate to sample and it was the best grilled shrimp that we have ever eaten, in Kerrville. "I love this place!" Carol said. Then we spent the rest of our lunch talking about their delicious food and El Sol de Mexico becoming our new favorite Mexican food restaurant.

After we had cleaned our plates, Carol and I jokingly argued about who was going to pay the bill and she won out this time. "Thank you, Carol."

Then I ordered a dozen tamales to take home and all I can say is, "The Best Tamales in Kerrville."

Y'all have a great evening!