Red-Medicine!

Yesterday afternoon I worked tirelessly on my quilt and then I went over to Carol's ranch for a fun visit. We talked about last weeks fun trip to Terlingua and how much fun we had out there. While we were talking about music and some of our favorite musicians such as: Willie Nelson, Neil Young, David Crosby, the Knotting Hillbillies, Gary P. Nunn, Chet O'Keefe, Jim Keaveny and Jimmy LaFave , etc. I asked Carol if she had heard the sad news about Jimmy LaFave's battle with cancer. "Yes," Carol replied. "I heard about it a few days ago and I was going to tell you about it if you hadn't already heard. I love Jimmy LaFave and his music."

"The other day my friend, Cindy, told me about it and she sent me the Austin Chronicle's article interview with Jimmy talking about his cancer and a link to a YouTube video of a Jimmy LaFave performing, on April 21st, at Threadgill's, in Austin. Where at the end of his song, Jimmy talks to the audience about his long battle with cancer. It was very emotional and it made me tear up. His music is so great and can you imagine how many hearts, all around this world, that his music has touched?...."

Before Carol and I adios-ed each other we started talking about how much we have enjoyed reading Marie Bostwick's Texas novels, so that gave me the opportunity to brag to her about the quilt that I am making.

Which ended up being a being a huge mistake for me, because I should've known better to have bragged without knocking-on-wood afterwards. Anyway when I got back home I spent about two more hours working on my quilt. And after I had ironed it—it didn't look right, because a lot of the seams were not lining up. So I sadly folded it up and put it back inside "my pink, quilt bag."

Then I poured myself a glass of my fine, red-boxed-wine with added water and four ice cubes and then I went, into Outer Space, with our dogs, to think about my crummy-looking wanna-be quilt. And by the time I finished drinking my red-medicine I was no longer sad, because I had decided that I would use my unevenly, pieced-together, stupid-looking quilt to make throw pillow covers. Sort of like when life gives you lemons—make lemonade.

So friends beware, because for Christmas you just might be getting an original Cousin Nancy Quilted Throw Pillow. Of course, except for Carol, because I'm giving her a small, hair-piece bun to wear on the top of her head—hand-made by me, from our dog's hair. But first, I will need to get a spinning wheel and learn how to spin dog hair into thread. So wish me luck there, even though Christmas is only eight months away.

Today has been great. This afternoon Tony and I went to Kerrville to get groceries, at the big H-E-B and after our expensive, boring shopping spree, we decided to eat lunch, at Hippie Chicks Bakery & Bistro. And as you can guess—we ordered the exact same thing—Meatball Subs and iced tea. But Tony did have a side order of sweet potato fries while I ate their delicious coleslaw.

Before leaving this super, cool place we decided to split a dessert and eat it on our way home. So we chose one of their delicious-looking, fresh, out-of-the-oven Brownies. And while Sarita was wrapping up our Brownie-to-go, I visited with her sweet mom, Karly Ann. And she told me a great big secret about a certain kind of specialty sandwich that they will be offering soon, that sadly I cannot divulge what kind it is, until a week after this Friday, when it will first be appearing on their daily menu.

Anyway, I told Karly Ann that I wanted to blog about their upcoming secret sandwich, tonight and she suggested that we follow them on their Facebook page Hippie Chicks Bakery & Bistro, because they will be announcing when this awesome, secret sandwich will be added to their menu.

And that is about it for tonight, because I need to go vacuum up some more dog hair and wash it and dry it, so I can add it to my growing pile of cleaned-dog-hair, for Carol's upcoming Christmas present.

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

P.S. This morning I called Kinky to let him know that our great Canadian friends, Fay & Ian, plus their daughter and her boyfriend will be at his show tonight, in Buffalo, New York. And he was thrilled that they will be there. And late this afternoon, when I told Carol about Fay & Ian going to Kinky's show tonight, in Buffalo, I said, "I bet Ian will be wearing his cowboy hat."

And Carol said, "I bet he will, too. Because when he wear his cowboy hat he looks just like an authentic cowboy, from Texas."

A Meet and Greet! or Taking Care of Business!

Yesterday afternoon, Tony and I went to, Kerrville, because I needed to go to Office Max. But more importantly we were meeting our dear friend Ellen and her good friend Maury, so Maury could meet sweet Cindy, in the Office Max parking lot, while I was taking care of business, in Office Max.

All of this came about last Friday when we were eating a delicious lunch with our good friends/dog-walking volunteers, at Hippie Chicks Bakery & Bistro.

Near the end of our lunch Sara told us that she was in love with Cindy's little sister Misty and that she wanted to adopt her, but she didn't want to leave Cindy behind to be all alone. Then I saw Ellen prick her ears and say that her friend, Maury, was thinking about adopting Cindy. So we got to talking about getting those two, precious, six-year-old sisters adopted.

Saturday, Ellen called and left me a message, "Nancy, I wanted to let you know that Maury is thinking seriously about adopting Cindy and...."

Sunday afternoon I called Ellen about possibly baby-sitting our rescue ranch, in the near future, so Tony and I could take two days off, to go out, to Terlingua, for a mini-vacation with friends. After Ellen told us that she could baby-sit for us she asked me to please call Maury that afternoon, because she was really interested in Miss Cindy. "Ellen, I would be glad to call Maury later today, after we get back from Kerrville. I have to get some papers scanned. It's 2:45 right now and we're leaving in about fifteen minutes. It takes an hour of drive time and getting my documents scanned should only take no more than ten minutes to scan, so I should be able to call her around 4:00. How does that sound?"

"Sounds good to me," Ellen said. "But wait a second. Since y'all are coming to Kerrville what do you think about bringing Cindy along with you. I could pick up Maury and we could meet y'all, at Office Max, so Maury can meet Cindy. It would only be a meet and greet today. What do you think about that?"

At approximately 3:30, as Tony looked for a place to park Buttermilk we saw Ellen and Maury, standing by Ellen's car ~~ waving their hands at us. So we ~~ed back as Tony parked real close to them. Then Ellen introduced us to Maury and then we asked Ellen to help Tony put Cindy's halter on her, while I took off for Office Max.

And the few minutes that it took for me to get all of my scanning done—Maury and Cindy had become best friends. So while we were visiting, in the shade, with Maury and talking about what a great dog Cindy was to our surprise, Maury asked us, "Could I take Cindy home with me for a few days to get to know her?" I looked at Ellen and she shot us a wink.

As soon as Tony and I got back home minus one, small, adorable dog, we told Chet, who was catching up on watching episodes of Season 5 of Longmire, "We think Cindy has been adopted! The nice woman is giving her a try, but we're pretty sure she'll keep her...." 

Then I picked up the phone and punched in Sara's phone number, but got her machine, so I left her a brief message about Cindy getting adopted and asked her to please call me about possibly meeting us, in Medina, to pick up Misty. And five minutes later—when Longmire was having a big fist fight with Henry Standing Bear, inside the Red Pony, the phone rang—it was Sara.

Forty-minutes later, in the Old Timer's parking lot, Chet, Tony, Misty and I were sitting inside Buttermilk, talking about Longmire, when Sara arrived with her sweet sister Kay. And please make note that Misty didn't join in on our Longmire conversation.

Today has been great. Chet ate breakfast with us and then he packed and took off, because he was anxious to get back home, in Terlingua.

This afternoon we had to go back to Kerrville, to get Henry's ears flushed out, at Hoegemeyer Animal Clinic, while Tony and I went, to Pets Plus Supply, to buy Big Al(ice) a ThunderShirt, because last night Big Al was very frightened by the thunderstorms. 

Unfortunately, the store was out of pink, but I am sure Big Al won't mind what color it is if it can help keep her anxiety level down.

When we went to pick up Henry Standing Bear we told Susan and Kathy about Big Al's anxiety attack last night and us buying a ThunderShirt for her. Then Tony asked them if Dr. Janssen had a pill we could give her during thunderstorms. So when we left the clinic with Henry today, I carried a small bottle of tiny, quartered-pills to also help Big Al(ice) in her time of need. And that is about it for tonight.

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

I Am So Glad!

Today has been great just like yesterday was. Early this afternoon Tony and I went to Kerrville to eat lunch with our good friends.

Last month the six of us had decided to eat, at Hippie Chicks Bakery & Bistro, because we had heard rave reviews about their delicious food, so we decided that we wanted to give it a try and find out for ourselves. And I am so glad that we did.

When Tony and I arrived, at this super cool bakery and bistro with really great vibes, our friends Les & Denise were already there and they were visiting with their good friend, Lorraine LeMon, so they immediately introduced us to Lorraine. And I am so glad they did.

Lorraine had already eaten and she was on her way out when we met her, so we only got to visit with her for just a few minutes. I was immediately impressed with Lorraine LeMon and I knew that I wanted to get to know her better, because she is such a great woman doing great work with her Art2Heart organization—"Using arts to reach the hearts..." And before we adios-ed Lorraine I asked her to please give me a business card. And she handed these two cards to me.

After Lorraine had left the building and before Kris & Jim had arrived, Les handed me a copy of his Hill Country CHARM magazine, with it already opened up to the page with the story about Lorraine LeMon and her great work that she is doing.

While I was finishing reading this very interesting article about Lorraine LeMon, Kris & The Mineral Man arrived. And after handshakes and hugs we went up to the counter to place our orders.

Tony and I ordered the exact same thing, of course—Italian Meatball Subs and iced tea and I am so glad, because they were totally delicious. But when it came down to our dessert choices Tony chose their Apple Turnover and I chose their Chocolate Mousse with Strawberries and so did Kris & Jim and Denise. We had outnumbered him four to one.

And to say the least—we loved their delicious, award-winning Chocolate Mousse and Tony thought their Apple Turnover was so tasty he was actually tempted to order another one. And I am so glad that he didn't, because he and I are doing our Semi-Diet plan that we came up with a while back. 

Our Semi-Diet plan is very simple to follow. Our motto is: out of site—out of mind, but if we see it—we get to eat it. And yes, I know that it is a weird diet that we came up with, but for us it works most of the time. And that's why we named it the Semi-Diet.

Anyway, before I finish writing this tonight I want to get the word out and spread the good news about how great Hippie Chicks Bakery & Bistro is. I highly recommend that y'all give it a try and eat there, because I promise that you'll love it, too. 

In fact, before we adios-ed our friends and left this super-cool eating establishment, this afternoon, we decided that next month we will eat there again. And I am so glad.

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