God Bless Ruth Buzzi!

Kinky Friedman, Tony and I loved Ruth Buzzi so much and when Tony and I heard the sad news about Ruthie's passing our hearts were broken once again this year, because we lost Kinky back in June, and now we've lost Ruthie. 

Tony and I are so blessed that Ruthie was our dear friend and that we got to spend so much time enjoying her and her husband Kent Perkins many visits at the rescue ranch and Big Foot ranch . And I will never forget the hilarious time that Ruthie taught me how to make her famous, Italian beignets, inside our trailer and I can't believe that was over 20 years ago.

While Kinky, Tony and Kent sat outside, in Outer Space (aka our screened-in-porch), talking about ranch life, etc., Ruthie and I were inside cooking up her delicious beignets. Or should I say trying to cook up her "secret beignet recipe," because we were laughing so much. And please note that my kitchen counters and stove were all covered in powdered sugar and flour and so were we! And it still makes me laugh just thinking about it and the big mess that we made.

In fact, we were cutting-up with each other and laughing so much, the men actually came inside our trailer just to see what was so funny. (And to also refill their coffee cups and to eat all of the beignets that we had just cooked.)

Anyway, the bottom line is that We Loved Ruthie so much. And Tony and I will always treasure all of those precious, good times and the fond memories that we spent with sweet Ruthie and Kent. 

And not to brag, but to really brag big time—I am so honored to say that Ruth Buzzi once chased and hit me with her purse, onstage at one of our Bonefits. And I am so proud to be an exclusive member of the "Ruth Buzzi Hit Me With Her Purse" club, which includes famous members such as Elton John and Muhammad Ali— just to name a few.

Here are just a few of my favorite pictures of Ruthie that I want to share with you:

Kent & Ruthie and Little Debbie at Big Foot Ranch

Ruthie, Kent and Tony listening to Chet O'Keefe playing guitar, in our trailer, at the rescue ranch. Just before I grabbed my keyboard to let Kent play along with Chet.

                                           Best friends: Ruthie and Little Debbie

                                   Ruthie signing the door inside my writing cabin!

                                                        Ruthie and me in Kerrville, Texas

This is my favorite of all. Ruthie signed and sent us this picture of the famous character Gladys Ormphby that she played on Laugh In!

On the evening of November 20th, 2014 Tony took this short video of Kinky and me, standing outsidehis lodge, for an upcoming Tribute to Ruth Buzzi event, in Dallas. It is one of my favorite videos because Kinky, Tony and I loved Ruth Buzzi so much. Rest In Peace Ruthie. You were the BEST!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsLuePP-ulw/

It's The Little Things!

The last few days have been great. Except for this morning, nothing big actually happened, but it's the little things that have made me so happy.

I know that I may seem weird about always getting excited when little things happen to me, but I can't help it, because it's hereditary. And I am so glad that I have that little quirk, because I like staying on the sunny side of life.

Anyway, this past week four little things kept me smiling. The first thing that totally made my day was receiving my official Texas license plates, for Roy, the used 2012 GMC Sierra, pickup that I purchased a few days before Tony and I went, out to Terlingua, with Carol & Bill.

You may ask how could license plates make me so happy, so I'll tell y'all. Tuesday, Tony brought in our mail and he handed me the plates, wrapped, in brown paper. "Oh I'm glad they finally came," I said. "I hope they will mean something special to me." Then I unwrapped the plates and nearly half-hollered with excitement, "Omg! Look, Tony! This is way too cool!"

Tony looked at them and then he shrugged his shoulders, because he didn't get it. "What's so great about the letters JJC...?"

"It's a sign— JJ Cale! He's dead, but he is one of my most favorite musicians of all times." Tony laughed, but he still seemed to be unimpressed. "He wrote some of the most famous, Rock 'N Roll songs like: Call Me The Breeze, Goin' Down, Crazy Mama, After Midnight and...." And after I took this picture of Roy's new, super-cool plates, I started playing the YouTube video of JJ Cale playing Cocaine and I cranked up the volume and Tony went outside to put on Roy's license plates for me, before I could tell him that JJ Cale often played with Eric Clapton, Mark Knopfler, Leon Russell and was Elton John's hero.

Wednesday afternoon another great little thing came, in the mail, for me. It was the Drop Spindle that my dear friend, Fay, had purchased for me, to help me spin our dog's hair for Carol's small dog-hair bun. That I'm planning to give her for Christmas. And I absolutely love the drop spindle. In fact, I've already spun about a one foot-long strand of dog-hair. "Thank you, Fay. You made that day great for me."

Thursday afternoon more great little things arrived, in the mail. Well, they are not exactly little things, because the three canvas prints are 16" x 20." I actually received seven canvas prints in all, but they are duplicates of Tony's beautiful picture of "Shalom and Little Jewford" down, by the creek and "The Waiting Game" and "Knock Knock" that are three of our most popular photos and paintings that we've sold.

And if you're considering getting a canvas print I highly recommend using Easy Canvas Prints, because they are the very best at what they do. They are friendly, professional people and fast.

And now the very best, little thing that has made both Tony and my week so great is sweet, little Red Foxx was adopted this morning, at 8:00!

He's that cute, little guy that was adopted from us over four-years ago, but was sadly returned to us, in March, after the woman's husband died. The volunteers and us were so sad that Red had come back to us, but of course, we totally understood the circumstances. 

Then one week later, Rachel, the sweet granddaughter of this couple, found out that Red was here so she called me and asked if she could please adopt Red Foxx, because she and her husband loved Red Foxx so much and that she had promised her grandfather that they would take care of little Red. And before we adios-ed each other that day, I had promised Rachel that we would hold Red Foxx until they could come and get him. And that day was today.

Earlier this week, Tony and I took Mr. Foxx, to Hoegemeyer Animal Clinic, to get the rest of his shots and a health certificate, so he could fly with them, to their home, in Van Nuys, California.

And as I finish typing this post, I am smiling big-time, because right now it is12:17 and Red Foxx is flying the friendly skies, with Rachel & Kenny, to his new forever home, in sunny California. And he didn't have to fly in the cargo section of the plane! 

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