Silas!

Thursday and today have been great, but they have flown by like a whirlwind. Tony and I worked yesterday morning and it was a lot of fun working with Rob, in the kitchen.

Oh my gosh, Rob can cook anything and I stay in constant awe of his kitchen/culinary skills and the guests that stay at the beautiful Escondido Resort love his delicious meals so much that they are always begging him for his mouth-watering recipes. And unbeknownst to Rob, I am secretly hoping to steal some of his recipes even though he tells me the ingredients.

But my problem is when Rob gives me the ingredients he uses they seem to always go in one ear and out the other, before I can go home and write them down. And I blame this on being sixty-seven-years old instead of just being stupid. But who knows?

All I know is that the guests staying at Escondido are always taking pictures of his beautiful appetizers and entrees, before they clean their plates. In fact, when we are serving the guests Rob's to-die-for breakfasts and dinners—because of the camera flashes the dining room lights up and reminds me of being at a rock concert.

Yesterday after we got to work next door Tony and I came home, but we didn't stay long, because we were meeting Mari and Si, at the Louise Hays Park, at 1:30, so I could feed the ducks and geese. And we could go for a fun walk.

Mari normally brings Tex along when we go on our  talkative-walks, but this time she was bringing Si, her rescued Redbone Coonhound, to get him ready for an upcoming dog walk-a-thon.

Now don't tell Roy Rogers or Henry Standing Bear or Little Debbie or Big Al(ice) or Beau Bridges, but I instantly fell in love with Silas aka Si.

Si was so cool, because he was so well-behaved and he loved meeting all of the kids and other dogs in the park. Si is huge, too. In fact, he is as big as Henry or he might be even bigger. Bottom  Line: I am now a big fan of Redbone Coonhounds.

After our enjoyable stroll and before we adios-ed Mari and Si, Mari gave us a sack of her freshly baked raspberry shortbread cookies and they are absolutely delicious.

Last night Tony and I got to work with Rob  again, in the kitchen and yes, it was fun as it always is. But when we came back home we were tired and went to bed early. And I am proud to say that yesterday I did so much walking at work and at the park I set a new personal steps record!

This morning Tony and I got to work with Rob again, in the kitchen. And of course we enjoyed it and the guests would not quit raving about how delicious Rob's breakfast was. And once again, Rob gave me the ingredients and they went in one ear and out the other.

Early this afternoon Tony and I went to the big H-E-B, in Kerrville, to stock up on some groceries and then we came home.  While I was cooking us lunch—Tony was chopping firewood outside and after we ate we both took naps. And when I woke up I was hugging Henry and we were sleeping like spoons and Little Debbie and Big Al(ice) were snuggling next to my knees. 

And that is about it for tonight, because I am going to write for a few hours before going to bed. And I am planning on spending all day tomorrow writing, because I am so close to finishing my third novella.

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

An Empty Glass! or Purple Mountain!

Today has been great. This morning after cooking Tony and I breakfast I took a shower and while I was washing my hair I decided that I would take a day off from writing.

I decided to paint. Not paint a wall or something like that, but paint a picture for the possible cover of my upcoming third novella. Then I rounded up my art supplies and set up "shop" on the kitchen island.

With Henry Standing Bear, Little Debbie and Big Al(ice) intensely watching me, I then started playing some of my favorite music, in hopes to be inspired, because a desert scene mainly consists of: cactus, sandy dirt, rock mountains, etc.

When Gary Stewart, one of my all-time, favorite singer/songwriter/musicians started singing one of his Classic hits An Empty Glass, I love that song, so I started trying to dance the two-step with Henry, while also holding Little Debbie, in my arms, while Big Al(ice) jumped up on the couch to watch us. And needless to say, "Henry needs some serious dance lessons."

Anyway, An Empty Glass was the perfect song to inspire my desert painting. And I just might use this painting for my upcoming, third novella The Cowgirl Sisterhood: Ghost Riders In the Sand. But please know that, I do have a few more ideas for the book cover that I want to try painting. So nothing is set in stone, so to speak. Here's my "Purple Mountain" that I painted earlier today.

If I choose to use this painting I plan to put the title up near the top, above the moon. And if you noticed the turquoise rocks, there is a reason for them being there, but I can't tell you why, because you will have to read the book.

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

Henry Standing Bear!

Today has been great and I want to wish everyone a Happy Mother's Day.

This morning Tony went outside to work on his keyhole gardens, so knowing that I need to get more exercise, I went outside and pushed the lawn mower around for about an hour. Then I came inside and I was soaking wet, because of the humidity and heat.

After cooling off and drinking a ton of water, I cooked us lunch— spinach frittatas with mushrooms, onion and garlic. And not to brag, but to brag—it was totally delicious and very healthy for us.

Late this afternoon, I decided to make myself finish sewing the pillow covers and all three of them turned out nice.

After I added the pillows to the growing pillow collection, in the Airstream's bedroom, I came back to The Cabin, and happily put away my sewing machine, fabrics and sewing stuff, because—I've lost that sewing feeling. And it's gone, gone, gone. Whoaaaa. Ohooo..Oh."

Since my post last night was sooooooo—long, tonight's is going to be a short post. So I am almost finished writing it.

But before I go out, on the porch, to enjoy a Happy Hour with Tony, I must show you what Henry Standing Bear did today and I promise that I did not coax him to do this. And I do know why he did this. 

Sweet Henry and the rest of our dogs were inside this afternoon and it was getting hot inside, because we still do not have The Cabin, set up with window air conditioners. So to put it bluntly, none of us were thrilled when the inside temperature got up to 89 degrees.

Anyway, because it was so hot inside and outside, Tony and I had the ceiling fans going and we turned on our floor fans, too and then we positioned them throughout The Cabin, to help move the hot air out of the house. Or at least create a breeze.

Long story short—I caught Henry Standing Bear, standing on top of my carved, wooden bear ottoman, to catch the breeze and cool himself, from the floor fan  that was parked near our opened front door. And this is just one more reason why Henry is so cool.

And that is about it for tonight, because I am fixin' to run over to Carol's ranch.

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

We Are Family!

The last few days and today have been so much fun. And if I wrote about it all in detail—I would definitely have carpal syndrome by the time I finished writing it and most likely your eyes would hurt.

So tonight, as I am starting to write this I am tapping my feet to the beat and dancing in my chair, as I'm listening to Sister Sledge sing one of their greatest songs We Are Family. And you can click here to hear it and watch it on Youtube.

Tony, Kinky, Dylan and I really enjoyed Jim Keaveny's visit, before he headed back to Terlingua. But Henry Standing Bear loved his visit more than all of us put together. Seriously, he would not leave Jim alone. It was like Jim had mesmerized him.

And you can check out our musician/singer/songwriter friend at: Jim Keaveny.com or his Facebook page.

While Jim was staying with us he gave us a private concert of all of the new songs that he has written and every song was awesome. "So thank you, Jim! We love your music!"

While Jim was here, I decided to try a new recipe that I had found, in the Kerrville Daily Times, called BBQ Chicken Cornbread Bake and it was absolutely delicious and very easy to make. And here's the recipe in case you want to try cooking Cousin Nancy's BBQ Chicken Cornbread Bake Recipe.

This recipe was so delicious, that we had to put Henry Standing Bear outside while we ate, because he would not quit trying to make Jim pet him. And after dinner all of us sat down and watched the hilarious movie Paul. And Jim laughed as much as we did while watching it. And please note that the language is for adults only.

I tried to check my e-mail regularly while Jim visited us and my dear friend Mari sent me the cutest picture of a VW dresser which I totally love. 

And my friends Phil and Virginia, in New Mexico mailed me this funny cartoon along with their Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch donation. "Thank y'all!" 

This afternoon I was on the phone talking to our dear friend Sue and during our hilarious conversation she told me that I had to get this super cool Star Guide App for my iPad. She told me that is the best out their for stargazing. 

Sue raved about how much she loves this 5 star rated App. She told me that it will give you alerts when the Space Station is passing over you, it has a ton of information including an infra-red option that you can switch on to see the stars and constellations better and during the day you can point it to the sky and it will tell you what stars are there even though we can't see them.

So after our fun conversation I immediately went to Apple's App Store and bought the $2.99 Star Guide App, because when it gets dark outside tonight, Tony and I are going outside and try it out. And that's about it for tonight, except I want you to see this cute picture I took of Henry and Little Debbie cuddling together with Big Al(ice), Belle and Roy sleeping, in front of the chair.

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

Back To The Future!

Today has been great even though I overslept this morning, because I had stayed up late watching the movies, Back To The Future and Back To The Future II. And Little Debbie, Big Al(ice) and Henry stayed up with me and watched them too.

This afternoon, for our lunch,, I cooked another new recipe, Fried Cabbage With Bacon, Onions and Garlic and it was delicious and it was very easy to make. I served it with some Italian meatballs covered in tomato sauce.

While I was cooking our lunch, our dogs started barking outside, which usually means that someone is driving in, so Tony, who was starving, told me to keep on cooking and that he would go outside to see who was here.

About 45 minutes later, Tony walked back inside The Cabin, and said, "We've got another great adoption and you are not going to believe who it is!"

When he told me who it was I was more than thrilled about it, because I love this wonderful dog so much. Then I turned off the oven, that was keeping our lunch warmed and then I quickly did the paperwork for Springsteen's adoption, while Tony told me about the family that wanted to adopt Springsteen.

A few minutes later, I grabbed my camera, Springsteen's adoption papers and then Tony and I hopped, into Kermit, and took off for Springsteen's pen. 

Like Tony had done earlier, I instantly liked Mimi and her family the moment that I saw them and that made me even more excited about Springsteen's fabulous adoption. 

After we had a fun visit with Mimi and we had told them what a super, great dog Springsteen was, Mimi filled out Springsteen's adoption papers, while Tony and I leashed up this very sweet, handsome dog. And before they loaded up Springsteen, into the backseat, I took this picture of Springsteen with his new fabulous family.

So like us, please keep your fingers crossed that Springsteen's adoption sticks and that he will get along with their other dog and cats, because this special dog deserves the very best.

After we had adios-ed these great people and hugged Springsteen, they drove away and we drove away, in the opposite direction, so we could eat our lunch. And that's about it for today, because our four-legged family is fixin' to go watch Back To The Future III with me.

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