A Close Call Todayl!

 Today I had a close call, in the electrical department, at the Kerrville Home Depot! But thank goodness Tony rescued me from Frank, who was about to give me a scare. 

Y'all take care and keep on laughing!

Plumbing Problems!

Today has been great. This morning I painted the picnic table that Rick and Tony built for me yesterday. And this is a picture of it before I painted it blue, because Tony asked me to paint blue.

I totally love my new, custom, Made In Texas, hanging "plumbing parts" lamp, that Rick, Tony and I built. 

You see, last week I bought this cute, battery operated, made in China lamp for under $20.00. But after we hung it up I was a little disappointed with it, because the light bulb was yellow instead of white and it was not a very bright light at all. And even though it looked like it was made with metal parts it was made of plastic. 

Yesterday, after telling Rick that I wasn't real pleased with my Made In China hanging lamp, because it was all plastic, I had another one of my light bulb moments,

So the three of us, hopped in Roy and went to the Home Depot, so the men could help me make a look-a-like lamp.

Well, it took the three of us and a friendly, helpful Home Depot employee and about thirty-minutes, for us to find all of the parts we needed to construct our Made In Texas metal lamp. And here is a picture of all of the plumbing parts it took for us to put this thing together. And please note that we have the lamp already partially assembled and that it is Rick's hand resting on the kitchen island, while we were debating over plumbing problems.

It should have been easy for us to make this lamp, but the three of us all had our own ideas on how to put this thing together. And we probably wasted about thirty minutes debating on what went where and why it should go there.

Near the end of our "You Light Up My Life" project we had a few wiring problems, so Tony volunteered to go to the Medina Ace Hardware, so he could buy a new wall plug. And after he got back to Big Foot Ranch—he and Rick finished connecting the cord to the wall plug and then they hung it up for me. So now it is a perfect reading lamp.

I know you can't see the lamp very well from the picture above, but here are two close ups of it. 

Now our one-of-a-kind Made In Texas lamp, matches the fixture, in our kitchen, because it also came out of our trailer, when we moved over here. And we would not have used it if I had not been lucky enough to find it, packed away, inside one of our moving boxes, still stored in the barn.

I was so thrilled about having found this light fixture with it's lamp shade, but Tony and Rick were not as thrilled about it as I was, because they had one heck of a time disassembling it and trying to remove the bolted-on shade— and then having to take the time to rethread our custom made lamp, one more time. But as far as I'm concerned it was well worth it, even though Tony and Rick may disagree with me.

Anyway that is about it for today, but I want to show you how our painted blue picnic table turned out. I love it, but not as much as I love our new lamp.

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

What Would Rick Do"

The last few days have been a little bit hectic. You know the old saying, "When it rains it pours" well let's just say it's been pouring here.

We had some major problems with the Airstream's plumbing/electricity and now that has been fixed, or better said—we put a band-aid on it—it is usable. Which is good, because late this afternoon our dear friend, Rick, the former "Friendly Lighthouse Keeper," in Port Aransas, is coming to see us and that is where he will be camping out.

Other than that we are still working on getting our water supply up and running. Our rain harvesting system is ready to go and all that we need now is rain to fill up our 4,000 gallon water tanks.

We've also been working on our shallow well, that went dry last week, for a few hours. So last Friday we purchased another 2,500 gallon water tank, from Home Depot, and it got delivered Saturday afternoon and hopefully, in the near very future, we will get that plumbed, so it can help out our well from going dry again.

This past Thursday while Tony was, at the Willow City Loop, taking beautiful photos of the beautiful Blue Bonnets with his sweet sister Annie and Sam's sweet wife, Stacie, I went to the Office Max, in Kerrville and purchased turbotax software, so I could figure out how to do our taxes, because our dear friend/CPA that has been doing our taxes, for over 30 years, has recently retired.

Anyway, I was going to work on our taxes this past weekend, but one thing after another kept popping up after another. And it was exhausting.

So this morning the first thing I did, after drinking two cups of coffee, I did our taxes and the good news about that is I loved working with the easy to use turbotax software and I got our taxes done for 2017, except now I am waiting for them to send me the filled out tax forms, so we can sign them and get them mailed.

As Tony and I are waiting for Rick to arrive, I am getting a little bit nervous, because we only have one tub left of that super-delicious Mexican Hot Chocolate ice cream.

Yesterday afternoon I removed the tub, from the Airstream and put it inside our freezer, so Rick wouldn't find it and decide to eat it all up, because I know how much he loves ice cream.

But my problem now is "What Would Rick Do?" when I open our freezer door and he sees the Mexican Hot Chocolate ice cream and this is driving me crazy.

It is embarrassing for me to have to admit that I don't want to share our last tub of limited edition, ice cream with Rick, but sadly it is true. So a few minutes ago, I pulled the priceless tub out of our freezer and slipped it inside a plastic bag to disguise it.

But now my problem is "What Would Rick Do?" when he sees a Home Depot plastic bag, in our freezer. Knowing Rick, I am sure that when he spots it he will ask, "Why is there a Home Depot bag, in your freezer?..."

So, just a few minutes ago, I removed the ice cream tub, again and I took this picture of it.

Then I took it out of the plastic Home Depot sack and I threw the plastic bag away.

So now with little time left, before Rick arrives, I am going to try to hide the ice cream tub once again, but this time I am going to hide it, behind several frozen vegetables bags. So please wish me luck that Rick never finds it while he visits us.

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

An Eyesore!

Today has been great. This morning I slept in and I enjoyed it. But not as much as I enjoyed adding a spoonful of that delicious, Mexican Hot Chocolate ice cream, to my cup of coffee.

Late this morning Tony and I took off for Kerrville for three reasons. Reason #1 to buy lumber, stain and three drawer handles.

Reason #2 to buy vegetables, at The Plant Haus, so Tony could plant the veggies, in his many key hole gardens.

Reason #3 to go to the big H-E-B, on Main Street, so I could stock up on some more Mexican Hot Chocolate ice cream and get a bag of dog food.

After accomplishing all of this we came back home and unloaded the lumber, the plants and the groceries. Then I took this picture of the five, neatly stacked, quarts of Mexican Hot Chocolate ice cream, before we took them out to the Airstream. 

Late this afternoon after taking a short sleepless nap with our dogs I was ready to tackle my newest project—"Getting Rid Of The Ugly Tool Area In The Big Room And Decorating That Area." 

As you can see from the above photo our "tool area" is an eyesore to say the least, but I must admit that the tool area has come in handy, the last few months, when we are needing to use our tools to get a job done. And it has served its purpose, but now it must go, because I am tired of looking at it.

So after we ate a bowl of delicious ice cream Tony and I "set up shop" on the front porch and we began cutting boards into 60" and 75" lengths, because of what I have designed and planned to replace the "tool area" with. And here is a sneak preview of my partially finished project that I am hoping to finish tomorrow. 

So please wish me luck, because from the looks of the picture below, it now looks worse than it did before we started. Except of course, for Little Debbie, standing in front of the chair, near the bottom of the picture.

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

As Seen On TV! or Paint It Black!

Today has been great, but before I write another word I need to clear up something. In case you were wondering about me wanting to give sweet Liz my bread machine if her husband, Jim, decides to claim my red crock pot as his. Sadly, the reason that I'm not doing it is not out of kindness as it should be. I'm doing it for my mental health, because there is absolutely no space available, in the kitchen and I have no where else to put the dang thing. And with all of that said I've just had another light bulb go off in my head. (Don't worry. This happens to me all of the time.)

Anyway, giving away my bread machine could be the start of something really big, because we simply have too much stuff, since we are downsizing.

Heck, I could anonymously give away all kinds of stuff that we don't have room for by secretly leaving them, at friends gates or near their front doors. It would be helpful to me and also a lot of fun. So starting tomorrow morning I will add a new pile to my list of what to do with all of our stuff.

Up until now I've had only three piles when sorting and putting away our stuff.
     1. Keepers
     2. Goes To Good Will
     3. Trash it
And now I can add:
     4. Secret Give Aways To Friends

Late this morning Tony and I went to Kerrville. Our first stop was at the Post Office drive-thru, so I could mail out a few things. Our second stop was at Walmart, so we could buy Tony some new underwear and a dozen white, wire coat hangers for me. Our third stop was at the big H-E-B, so we could buy some more pork ribs to cook in my Instant Pot. (Remember, I told Tone that it was his Valentines gift to me?) And our last stop was at Home Depot so we could buy some more imported Swedish Pine, so we could stain it today and put it up, on his walls tomorrow, so it will look like a log cabin room, too.

That was all that we had planned to buy, at the Home Depot, until I saw this amazing rack, near the lumber section, in the front isle. And when I read the words "As Seen On TV" and saw that it was a Motion-Activated Solar Power LED Light, for only $12 bucks and some change—I just had to buy it. So Little Debbie will hopefully start pooping,  outside, in the front yard, instead of on our front porch or on the potty-pads we have strategically placed in The Cabin.

When we got back home, the first thing we did was unload the twenty 1"x4"s "Imported from Sweden." Seriously, I can't believe that they are from Sweden, because they are the cheapest white pine boards that you can buy at Home Depot.

After we unloaded them we stained them and our fingers too. And after we had stained them we gathered up several more Swedish 1"x4"s of different sizes and we stained them too. Just in case we run out of boards tomorrow when we do Tony's room.

Then while Tony took a brief break, I took a picture of my "As Seen On TV" Quick & Easy Outdoor Light package and then I went outside and screwed it into our front yard's gate post.

Then because the sun had finally come out from hiding, late this afternoon, Tony and I spent the next thirty minutes spray painting our front fence black to match our black gate. We used up four cans of black spray paint and now, the next time we go, to Kerrville, we must go back, to Home Depot, to buy some more spray paint so we can complete this "Paint It Black" fencing project.

And I guess that is about it for tonight, because I can't wait until it gets dark outside to see if Little Debbie will go outside and poop, in the yard, because of our newly installed, action-motivated solar light—"As Seen On TV."

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

Bulls-Eye! or I Decided To Retire!

Today has been great and tonight's post will be a fairly fast read, because I can't wait to get back to reading Marie Bostwick's awesome book Second Sister.

Early this afternoon for lunch Tony and I ate (Instant Pot) leftovers—delicious roast beef, carrots and potatoes. Then he and I took off for Kerrville to run two errands.

Our first errand was, at Home Depot, to pick up a few cans of black spray paint, so tomorrow I can finish spray painting our gate and the fencing right next to it. And we purchased another bird feeder and a couple of big wire baskets for me to use, in the kitchen, under the counter top, to store more stuff.

Our second errand was to buy a few groceries, at the big H-E-B, on Main Street. But our primary reason for going to H-E-B today was to buy some pork ribs and the other two ingredients needed to make my Cousin Nancy's (Ronnie's) famous "Fall Off The Bone Pork Ribs" recipe, in our incredibly great Instant Pot pressure cooker.

Then we came back home as fast as we could, so I could make my new pork ribs recipe, that only takes 15 minutes to cook, in the Instant Pot and just five more minutes, in the broiler, to glaze the BBQ sauce.

Omg, it was fun and so fast and easy to cook these delicious pork ribs and Tony loved them so much he ate a few too many. But before he went wild devouring these mouth-watering, fall off the bone, pork ribs I took a picture of them, in front of the half-full bottle of Bulls-Eye BBQ sauce that Ronnie had highly recommended that I use.

After I finished eating these ribs and had just started to clean up the kitchen our dogs, outside, started barking—the FedEx Ground truck was parked at our gate.

Fortunately, Tony was outside hanging up his new bird feeder, so he met the friendly driver, at the gate and then Tony came inside to give me my package. "Omg," I said. "I can't believe my boots are already here. I ordered them yesterday afternoon, from Justin Boots, in Fort Worth." Tony smiled and then he went, back outside, to gather some more wood for our wood-burning stove.

As y'all well know I love my Justin Gypsy Cowboy Boots and I've been wearing them for over 10 years, because they are so comfortable and pink. 

Anyway, yesterday I decided to retire my old pair of pink boots and buy some new ones, because I've literally worn them out. Because I've been wearing this pair everyday for the past year and a half. And to prove it here is a picture of my old pink boots I've been wearing compared to my new pair of pink Justin Gypsy boots that I just pulled out of the box.

And that is about it for tonight, because I still need to exercise and walk four, fast miles with Leslie Sansone, in the privacy of The Cabin. And come to think about it I think I'll wear my new boots, so I break them in.

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

I Bought A Gun! or Concealed Weapon!

First off, I apologize for not blogging the past ten days, but I do have a good excuse. Tony and I have been spending all of our spare time working, over at our new property and that has been exciting as well as exhausting.

Seriously, we have been working our rear ends off (I wish) over there and every evening when we get back home I've been just too tired. In fact, I haven't done much yoga at all, because of the great workout that I'm getting from painting, sanding, etc.

This past week besides taking care of rescue ranch business and working my you know what off, I helped Tony enter a photography contest. Our good friends Eileen and Lisa found out about this awesome hummingbird contest/fundraiser that is being held, at the Jeff Davis County Library, in Alpine, and they talked Tony into entering it. So, he did. And he sent these two, beautiful photos of his hummingbirds, to Alpine. So please wish him luck.

This one is titled: The Shadow Knows

And this one is titled: Feedin' Time

Now for the gun part of this post. Recently due to an event last week, I decided to buy myself a gun, because I realized that I seriously needed to have one. So I asked myself, "What would Ronnie do?" even though I already knew what the answer was.

Anyway, last Friday morning, before meeting our good friends Kris & Jim for lunch, Tony and I went to Kerrville and I bought myself a gun. And I quickly realized that Tony was much more thrilled about me buying it than I was. 

I'm glad that I went ahead and bought this gun, that actually comes with a "life-time" warranty, which is great if you are a young person, but I am old and rapidly approaching 66 years, in October. So I guess the life-time warranty is nothing for me to go bragging about.

This awesome gun that I now own is almost too heavy for me to lift, so I am not sure just how much it is actually going to help me when and if I ever need to use it. 

After buying my gun and the needed accessories I was pretty excited about it all, but at the same time I was also disappointed, because it and its accessories were not pink. And when I groaned to Tony about it being orange and not a pretty pink—he just laughed at me, all of the way over to the Acapulco restaurant.

Tony and I arrived first, at the restaurant and before we went inside, to eat lunch with our good friends, we hid my (ugly) orange, concealed weapon, underneath a blanket, in JJ's backseat.  

As soon as Kris & The Mineral Man sat down, at our table, I blurted out, "I just bought a gun!" Kris & Jim politely smiled at me and nodded their heads and then I caught them turning their heads and raising their eyebrows, as they glanced over at Tony to get his reaction. Then Tony and I burst out laughing. "Y'all, I bought a nail gun just like Ronnie uses and it comes with a life-time warranty and...."

"Last Thursday Ronnie drove down here, from Dripping Springs and he spent the day helping us firm-up the wooden floor, in the living room and the kitchen. And he brought along his nail gun, palm-nailer and compressor and other equipment and it was amazing just how fast we got things done. It was so much easier than us having to drive screws one screw at a time...."  

Then I pulled my iPhone out of my purse and showed them these pictures of the floor, before Aaron and Tony had removed it all, before Ronnie came down, on Thursday, to help us firm-up the floor, because in the near future it will be able to handle our super-heavy, wood-burning stove that weighs well over 300 pounds and the heavy kitchen drainboards and counters that I am in the process of building, with Tony's help.

"And while Tony and Aaron were busy helping Ronnie put down a new floor, our two Tuff Sheds arrived!" I said, before I stopped talking long enough, so we could give our waitress our orders. And just so you'll know—Tony and I did not order the exact same thing like we usually do, because it is sadly M.I.R. time, again. And it officially started on August 13th.

Then I showed Kris & Jim a picture of Tony's and my new look-alike Man Cave and She Shed. "We've already bought the paint and we're going to stain them with latex cedar stain, this weekend. And...." 

Tony and I have now put two coats of cedar stain, on our His & Her sheds and they look beautiful, even though we have not yet painted the trim. So, among us working on these on-going projects I hope that you will continue to cut me some slack for not blogging regularly.

And before I finish writing this today, I want to let you know that, tomorrow morning, Ronnie is coming, back down, to help us finish putting the new sub-floor down before, during and after the eclipse. So it will be another busy for day us, but this time it will go twice as fast, because Tony will be using my nail gun, while I am carefully using my palm-nailer to nail in the joist hangers. 

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

Olive Oil!

Yesterday was a really great day. Before doing our chores I went over to the Lodge to visit with Kinky and we had a fun visit. We talked about his exciting, upcoming Southern Discomfort tour and The Friedmans.

After Tony and I had done our chores we went to Kerrville to run a few errands. While we were at Home Depot, buying a Pelonis convection oil filled radiator heater for my writing cabin, that Sandy and Jon Wolfmueller had highly recommended that we get, we ran into our super volunteer Jim and his wife Diane and then in the paint department, then we ran into our dear friend Les and we had a nice visit with him, while my quart of red paint was being mixed.

Our last stop was at Herring Printing to pick up some printing. When we walked into Kerrville's favorite printing shop we were greeted by the friendly employees and then our friend Joe Herring saw us and he came up to the counter to greet us and we had a fun visit with him before heading home.

As soon as we got back home I punched Carlton's button to listen to any new incoming calls. "Hi, Tony and Nancy. This is Kat. My son Bryan has been wanting to adopt a dog and today is his only day off. Could we come out to look at your dogs? Call me."

Forty minutes later, Kat, Dave, Bryan and Molie, the dog that Kat had adopted from us over eight years ago, arrived. After howdies and handshakes we took off to go show them our dogs and before we had finished showing Bryan all of our super dogs—he fell in love with Walter Cronkite. So, we walked Walter down to The Okay Corral, where Molie was waiting, so we could see how they would got along. After a quick "sniff-a-thon" the two dogs were in love with each other, which thrilled all of us. Here is a picture of Molie in Tone's lap and Bryan with his new best friend.

Today has been a great day. This morning when I got up at 6:00, Tony tells me that we had run out of propane during the night and that was why The Cabin was so cold. After I had put on a couple of layers of clothes I suggested that T. bring the new little heater into the house, to see if it could help warm us up. And I am glad that he did, because in no time flat—The Cabin was warm and cozy, thanks to Olive Oil.

Before Tony returned home from the Old Timer, I called Wolfmueller Books. "Morning, Jon. I just wanted to let you know that we bought one of those oil filled radiator heaters at Home Depot and we love it. During the night we ran out of propane and early this morning we plugged her in and she really helped warm up our trailer...Tell Sandy I named her Olive Oil. Bye." 

Around 9:30, when we had just started our morning chores Jim, Roy & Della and Ellen, our super volunteers came out to walk our dogs and our dogs were more than thrilled about it. 

When I was almost done cleaning the pens our dear friend Maribeth, from Utopia, arrived, because I had called her yesterday morning to invite her to come over and spend the day with us, because Tone and I had been missing her.

After the pens were cleaned, Jim came up to tell me that his sister-in-law Ruth had come out with him, because she wanted me to autograph my first book that I wrote. "She bought it at Wolfmuellers and cannot wait to get you to sign it.

So, on my way up to The Cabin, I stopped at Jim's truck, next to the barn and greeted Ruth and then I invited her to join me and Maribeth for a visit and a cup of tea in The Cabin.

The minute I introduced Maribeth to Ruth our fun hen party started and it was filled with hilarious confessions and some funny true-life stories, as Belle slept in her chair and Roy snoozed below her on his quilt.

Later this afternoon, Maribeth, Tony and I met Ellen for a late lunch in Kerrville and it was a lot of fun. Before heading home we swung by Home Depot, so I could pick up another one of those heaters like Olive Oil and then Buttermilk took us back to the ranch.

Around 4:00, as we were outside saying goodbye to Maribeth—the propane man arrived in his gigantic truck, to fill us up, which filled me with relief, knowing that we would have central heat tonight and not have to use the twins—Olive and Safflower Oil. 

Once again, I want to wish my dear friend 'Erb Cares a happy birthday and I hope that it has been the best ever for him and that is about it for today.

Y'all have a great evening!

Hide All Of The Food!

Today has been a great day and the weather could not have been better for us to be outside working on Tony's long awaited chuck wagon box, that Ben and Aaron helped him design and build. But first let me backup. I want to finally showoff our finished kitchen remodel, complete with three new light fixtures—that maxed out the rest of the available credit on my Home Depot credit card. And please note that the two large boxed-in wooden drawers sitting on top of the refrigerator were built by Aaron and me, which hide all of the food (Crackers, chips, tall oatmeal box, etc.) that we used to stack up on top of the fridge.

Moving forward, today Aaron, Tony and I painted Tony's new chuck box, that will store all of his Dutch ovens and cooking utensils, etc. in and the problematic picnic table which now, thanks to Ronnie, has a pink racing stripe painted down the middle of the table, to tie it in with The Bunkhouse, my pretty, pink writing cabin and here are some pictures of our latest efforts in making the Okay Corral—more than an okay place be.

This week after Home Depot receives another one of my monthly payments, we plan to cover the top of the chuck box table with stainless steel or some other kind of metal covering and then we are going to buy some Mason jars to store flour, sugar, coffee, etc. in and then we are going to dig some holes (washer pits), so we can start pitching Washers with our friends—while Tone enjoys cooking for us. 

And even though our Okay Corral project is not nearly finished yet, it's okay, because we're having so much fun outside creating it, we are looking forward to the day when we will be outside sitting around a real wood burning fire, inside the rock fire ring, (When the Burn Ban is lifted.) having fun with our friends.

Y'all have a great evening and please keep praying that we get some more rain, so our drought will end sooner than later!

A Melt Down!

Today has been fun. This morning when T. and I stepped out on the front porch to go do our morning chores I spotted a giant wild hog, near our pump house, where Tony feeds the deer every morning before we go to work. So I grabbed my camera and shot him.

This afternoon after lunch Tony and I took off for Kerrville to go see Sandy and Jon to talk about our upcoming road trip, stop by Home Depot to get some lumber to build a storage box for the hallway and to grab some groceries at H-E-B. and we had a couple of surprises.

When we went into Wolfmueller's Books Mary Jo greeted us, from behind the counter, and then told us that Sandy and Jon were gone for the day, so we wished her a nice day and then adios-ed her. On our way back to Trigger, because I was disappointed that we didn't get to see Jon and Sandy I wanted some comfort food, so I told Tone that I wanted a chocolate malt and that I wanted to treat him to a milkshake so we took off for an undisclosed location and that was a big mistake.

When we went inside the empty-filled establishment we were greeted by a friendly woman, at least five years older than me and then I ordered the chocolate malt and T. ordered a strawberry milkshake and then we sat down at a table and waited and waited and waited as we watched the woman trying to make our order seem difficult.

After fifteen minutes had passed I got the giggles watching Tony watch her finally working on his strawberry shake, while he softly grumbled things like, "We are never coming back here again. I can't believe this..." 

Five minutes later the pleasant woman served us our cold beverages with these giant, long straws that were twice as long and round as a regular straw. After she had left our table and gone back into the kitchen, I burst out laughing about having to rest my malt down on my thigh just to drink my small malt, because of the length of the Texas-sized straw. Seriously, it was probably eighteen inches long.

After Tony had sucked and sucked on his super, long straw, to no avail, he said, "This thing is so thick it won't even come up the @#^* straw, Nance." And when he started stirring the thick strawberry ice cream, in hopes that it would melt soon, so he could finally drink it—I burst out laughing and couldn't quit, because my chocolate malt was all melted and had turned into cold chocolate milk.

Twenty minutes later after T.'s milkshake had a melt down—he sucked it up and then we went to Home Depot and H-E-B and then came home.

Late this afternoon I went outside and unloaded the twenty 1"X 4"s from Trigger and carried them up to the front porch, so I could chop them for the storage box that we needed to build to finish our "Tony's Photography Hallway" project.

After I had measured and chopped all of the boards to their proper length, I carried them inside the trailer and half-hollered down the hallway, "Tony! The boards all chopped and I am ready for you to screw them for me." 

In less than thirty minutes we had us a wooden box with a lid that lifted! Here is a picture of T. getting ready to put the hinges on it.

And here is a picture of Tony's Photography Hallway project completed. 

Yall have a great evening and please keep praying for rain for us!

P.S. Mari and Susie, I loved y'all's comments on last night's post. Thanks for making me smile and laugh.

The Fab 4!

Today has been great because our "Fab 4" volunteers," Lisa, Eileen, June and her sister Ellen came out this morning, while I was outside cleaning the dog pens. I love the Fab 4 because they are so upbeat and they always have me laughing the minute we get to visiting and today was no different.

While I was visiting with Eileen, as Lisa and June walked our dogs and Ellen groomed on them, she gave me a fire warning brochure, from a wild fire conference that she had attended, about wild fires and how to prepare for them in advance, because we are in such an extreme drought out here and I learned so much that I didn't know.

When Ellen joined us she told me about a dog brush that June had purchased on sale at Kerrville's Pet Supplies Plus store and recommended that we get one. Then I went on a walk with Lisa and Eileen and Maggie and La Toya and it was fun, because Maggie and La Toya went into the water and "got their feet wet" for the very first time, and they seemed to love it.

Before the Fab 4 left to go eat lunch in Medina, before heading back home to Kerr Town I had a great visit with them in Outer Space and it was filled with non-stop laughter. So I want to say, "Thank Y'all For Coming Out!"

After I fed Tony lunch, because he was once again starving, we took off in Trigger—headed for Kerrville, so we could hopefully purchase one of those "super combs" on sale at Pets Supplies Plus and then to Home Depot to buy fire extinguishers, and lastly, to mail off some letters.

Well, we got lucky, probably because we were no longer in F.M.T. (Full Moon Time). We bought the last "super comb" on sale at Pet Supplies Plus and we also bought the last five fire extinguishers on sale at Home Depot, that Eileen had recommended to me.

On our way home I talked non-stop to T., my captive, not by choice, audience, about how lucky we were to have gotten the last comb on sale and the discounted, five fire extinguishers. "I think we should put one inside the trailer, two in the barn, one in Buttermilk, Trigger and Kermit," I suggested, and I was thrilled that Tone thought it was a good idea, too. Then the rest of the way home, I read the fire extinguisher's manual, out loud to Tony, so we would know how to use them in case of a fire emergency.

And that is about it for today.

Y'all have a great evening and please pray for rain for us!

I'm Not Going Anywhere Tomorrow!

Today has been good, but quiet, which is good, because I am now totally caught up with my paperwork, but this evening it got weird fast.

This morning, while Tony was in Medina drinking coffee with his friends—I was over at the Lodge drinking coffee with Kinky, one of my best friends. As The Friedmans (Brownie, Chumley & Sophie) took turns letting me pet them, Kinky I discussed the weather and the drought that we are now in. Then we talked about our books and future books. When Kinky started talking politics—I purposefully changed the subject to a lighter subject. "Have you ever seen the movie, "Trains, Planes & Automobiles" starring John Candy and Steve Martin? I love them and I literally cried when I found out that John Candy had died."

"I knew John Candy," Kinky said, as I choked on my coffee from his remark. "I liked John, but I never saw that movie..."

"I love that movie so much! It is one of my favorite movies of all times. I'll loan it to you. You've got to watch it, maybe when Marcie is here..." Before leaving the Lodge, Kinky accepted my invitation to eat breakfast with us. Then I came home.

While I was in the midst of cooking breakfast—T. returned from Medina. Fifteen minutes later, we were over at the Lodge eating eggs, bacon and biscuits with Kinky and the men cleaned their plates, which made my day!

This afternoon Buttermilk took us to Kerrville, so I could mail out another ton of letters and for us to go to Home Depot to buy some boards, because I'm fixin' to build another bookcase tomorrow, for my over- crowed office.

This evening when I went to check my e-mail I became a little bit alarmed when I saw the headline on Yahoo about two major celestial events happening back to back tonight and tomorrow, so I clicked the button Who Knew? to learn more about the full moon eclipse tonight and the moon being a coppery red color, instead of black & white, and tomorrow being the Winter Equinox and it being the shortest day and longest night of the year and the beginning of Winter.

After watching the short, but informative video, I read about tonight's meteor shower, so I started worrying about planetary things. When T. came into the kitchen I said, "Tone, you're not going to believe this. I think the sky is falling—sort of, because right now we are under the influence of a Full Moon, Mercury is in retrograde and tonight we are having a full, 72 minute and 22 seconds, eclipse of the moon that is going to be a reddish color, along with a meteor shower and tomorrow is Winter Solstice!" Tony started laughing, as he filled his drinking glass with cold water from the water cooler. "Tonight and tomorrow are going to be really weird. I promise you and..." After T. took a sip of cold Ozarka water, he hugged me, while he shook with laughter.

"Don't worry about it, Nance. Everything is going to be okay. I promise."

"Well, I am worried," I said, as he casually strolled down the hallway to his office. "I'm not going anywhere tomorrow!" I half-hollered, so he would hear me—and I'm not.

P.S. Our great volunteers, Ellen just sent this to Eileen and she just sent it to me. It is short and the cutest, goat video titled, A Giggle With The Goats—Jingle Bells Holiday Performance! I promise it will make you laugh. I love goats!

Y'all have a great evening! (If you can.)

Well, I Lied, Again!

I have a lot to blog about! I was too tired yesterday to write and here's why! Yesterday morning—I walked eight miles with Leslie Sansone, again! Then I called Kinky and wished him a Happy Mother's Day. He was on the road, just outside of Kerrville, on his way back to the ranch. He told me that he had much to tell me, and we agreed to talk later at the ranch.

After getting cleaned up, Trigger took Tony and me to Kerrville, so I could purchase a few more of those great towels, go to lunch and then get some more groceries at H.E.B. We first went to Penney's, and bought the towels! Then we went to China Town, right next to the mall. Our meals were great, and my fortune cookie was even greater! It basically said that I was fixin' to get really lucky! Yeah! I can't wait! Unfortunately, Tony wasn't real happy with his fortune cookie, because it told him that he needed to be cautious around food.

Before going to H.E.B.—we went to Home Depot, because during our Chinese Mother's Day lunch, I had decided that I wanted to build a cabinet, after we got back to the ranch—for Outer Space! After purchasing the boards and some hinges, we took off for our friendly neighborhood grocery store.

On our way, we decided that Tony would drop me off at the front door, then go get gas, while I speed shopped inside. Before getting out of Trigger—we turned on our cell phones, so I could find him in the parking lot. I grabbed a cart and entered the store—heading to the dog food isle. I loaded up the case of canned dog food, and then took off! I was nearly to the milk section, when I hear a man laughing, I looked up and it was our dear friend, Les Ferguson, who we always seem to run into, when we are shopping at H.E.B.! I started laughing with him! "I can't believe it, Les!" I said. "We meet again!" Les shook his head and kept on laughing! "I am going to blog about this tonight!" I lied to him, but not intentionally.

While checking out, I called Tony and got directions to where they were parked. Ten feet away from Trigger, I hear, "Hello, Cousin Nancy!" It was Richard and his wife, Jane, who are our friends and neighbors—who live fifteen miles away! We started talking, and then Tony climbed out of Trig and joined our conversation. We mainly talked about birds, bird feeders, and the high cost of thistle and the varmits that it attracts. "Then we started getting all of these squirrels, and then wheat and corn start growing in our front yard!" I stated. "We have two pole systems—if you want them?" They declined.

When we got home, after putting up the groceries, Tony rounded up the chop saw, drill and an extension cord, and then unloaded the lumber for me! I was ready to build my cabinet! I had all kinds of problems with it, and bless T., he helped me undo my mess, several times! Kinky called me about five o'clock wanting me to come over to the Lodge. "I can't right now, because I am trying to build a cabinet," I said. "I should be finished in about an hour, and then I will come over to see you." Well, I lied, again, for the second time yesterday, but not intentionally.

"Kinky," I said. "This is Nancy. I'm sorry for not getting over there, we finally just finished the cabinet and I am fixin' to go to bed. I'll come over tomorrow morning and drink some coffee with you, and you can tell me all of your good news." And, that wasn't a lie!

Here is a picture of the boards, that finally turned into this, just a little before eight o'clock last night! Thank you, Tony—I love you!


Tony and I have to take off for Kerrville now, because we are meeting Kinky for lunch at Luby's! Sorry, Mari!
To Be Continued...

And Baby Makes Three!

Talk about bad timing, it actually started on Sunday. Sundays are Tony's and my official day off, and usually we go to Kerrville to get groceries at H.E.B. and run a few errands. After Tony and I had run a couple of errands, we went to H.E.B. to buy some much needed groceries, but it was closed, so we returned to the rescue ranch.

Yesterday, after walking five miles, catching up on some paperwork, and returning several phone calls, Tony and I took off for Kerrville, again. We took Trigger, because Buttermilk was low on gas.

I needed to get some new guitar strings, so we took Baby, my guitar, so we could drop it off, at the Melody Corner store, so Stan could restring it for me, while we ran some errands. When Tony put Baby in the back of Trigger—his shoulder went out and he was hurting. Before arriving in Kerrville—we had made us a plan.

First, we would stop by Wolfmueller's Books, to see Jon and Sandy, and for me to purchase a copy of my book, so I could give it to Freda, at La Four's restaurant. I had promised to bring her a book, but I seemed to always forget. When we arrived at Wolfmueller's, Tony painfully took Baby from the back of the truck, and locked her inside Trigger.

Jon was in his office, having a conversation with a man, so we just waved to him—he was busy. Then we go and get a copy of my book off of the shelf, and go to the checkout counter to pay for it. Mary Jo was there and she greeted us. "Where's Sandy?" I asked.

"She's gone, but she will be back in a little while." We were disappointed. After paying for my book, I opened it up, and inscribed it to Freda. Then we left. And, Tony once again, put Baby in the back of the truck, then we headed to 'Stan the Man's' music store. When we arrived—the sign on the door said, 'Sorry, We're Closed.' I was disappointed, but Tony wasn't. I think he was glad that he didn't have to get Baby out of the back.

We were hungry, so we headed to La Four's Seafood Restaurant, I was excited about finally giving Freda my book! When we arrived at La Four's—it was closed, too! Tony and I were definitely on a roll, and we were not smiling! "Tony, there's another music store on Water Street. Let's go there!"

When we pulled up and parked at 'Bandera Strings,' Tony grabbed Baby and we went inside the store. "Do y'all carry guitar strings?" I asked.

"No. We just repair guitars. Sorry" A pleasant woman said. As we walked back to Trigger, I could tell that Tony was starting to get really agitated with Baby, and he groaned when he lifted her up and returned her to her resting place.

Trying to smooth things over, I suggested we eat at The Save Inn. Tony liked my idea, until he had to lock her inside Trigger, again! As always, our lunch was delicious, and the friendly waitress seemed to cheer Tony up some—thank goodness!

As we walked back to Trigger, I said, "Tony let's go to Home Depot. I want to build a coffee table like Carol's. It's just two blocks down."

When we parked, Tony said a few cuss words, as he shoved Baby back into the cab! After locking the doors, we went inside Home Depot. Twenty minutes later, we walked out of the store with fifty dollars of lumber. "Tony, let me load the truck, I know your shoulder is killing you." Tony helped me load the truck, and grumbled something, when he returned Baby back to her place. Then Trigger took us to H.E.B.

After Tony threw Baby into the cab, we went inside to shop. Twenty minutes later, we were back in the parking lot, loading the back with groceries. "Cheer up, T.," I said. "You only have to move Baby two more times!" My words fell on deaf ears. Tony was starting to hate Baby!

When we arrived at the rescue ranch, Tony carried Baby inside, as I carried a bag of groceries. After the groceries were put up—we unloaded the sticks of lumber, and then set up shop on the front porch! Tony's shoulder was really hurting him, so I only asked him to help me nail the base boards together—then he went inside and I went to work! Two hours into my outdoor project—Kinky called! He wanted to come over and have a picnic with Toto and our gang, and he wanted to see my coffee table project!

Kinky was impressed with my building skills, even though I was actually building a big box—to put our feet on. After the picnic, Kink hung around for a little while, as we discussed his plans to plant bamboo.

At seven-fifteen, I had finished my coffee table! Unfortunately, it doesn't look like Carol's at all, but I love it! In fact, I am proud of it! Here are a few pictures! Y'all have a great Tuesday!

P.S. Later today, we're taking Baby back to Kerrville to get new strings!

I Just Found Out That I Am Rich!

Today was a great day! Linda T. arrived at ten thirty and she and Aaron walked over a ton of our dogs! Our dogs loved it, as did Tone and I! Thank you Linda T.! My day was pretty quiet today, and after we closed the rescue ranch at three o'clock—Buttermilk took Tony and me to Kerrville.

We went to Home Depot first, to buy screen, so we can re-screen Outer Space, after we finish painting the west side of our porch. Y'all, getting old is so much fun—not!

When we arrived at the Kerrville Home Depot—we realized that we had forgotten to bring our blue sky used paint bucket, so we could match up the paint! If you are over fifty years old, you will understand our predictament, and if you are fortunate enough to be younger—trust me—the forgetfulness kicks in as soon as you turn fifty years—and all you can do is laugh about it or cry! It's like suddenly becoming legally stoned on pot—it suddenly makes you really stupid! Personally, I don't like pot or feeling stupid, but there isn't a whole lot that I can do about it, but just laugh about getting old, and blowing it off!

Tony and I went into Home Depot and filled our cart with four rolls of screen, then we went to the paint department, hoping that we would remember the color that we had picked out. Sadly, that didn't happen—we couldn't remember—Laugh Out Loud! So now, we've got to go back to Home Depot, with out empty bucket, to match the color.

Before we checked out at Home Depot, I bought some more flowers, because I am putting in a flower and herb, rock garden—in front of the Space Ship!

When we left Home Depot, we went grocery shopping over at H.E.B., and then Buttermilk safely returned us to the rescue ranch.

After fixin' dinner for T. and cleaning up the kitchen, I went outside and planted my new flower- friends! Then I came back inside and read this quote in a magazine, "There are two ways to be rich: make money or desire less!" I laughed out loud—I loved it! And yes—I desire less, in case that you are wondering.

Y'all have a great evening! Here are a couple of pictures of my future rock, flower, herb garden! I can't wait for Kinky to see it! I'm thinking about putting an Eternal Squirrel in it, too!

The Guns of Nozzlerone!

Yesterday, as I was leaving the rescue ranch, I noticed an older compact car, parked by the feed barn, and someone was talking to John, so I drove up to see who it was. It turned out being our good friend and volunteer, Carol V.!

“Hi Carol,” I said. “Did you get a new-old car?”

“Yes,” Carol answered. “I love it! It’s a 1992 Toyota Corolla and it gets thirty miles to the gallon! And, I decided to take your Feng Shui advice, about bonding with it, so I named it Ruby—Ruby Red. We’re buds!”

“I’m jealous,” John said. “Carol got a great deal on it, too.”

“I’m jealous, too,” I said. “Congratulations, Carol. I like what you named her. It’s good.”

“Guess where I’m going on vacation?” Carol said, wearing a grin.

“Kerrville?” I said. “Fredericksburg?”

“Costa Rica!” Carol said. “My friend, Lori and I are going in a few weeks—to hike, scuba, etc.! I’ve never been there.”

“Where in Costa Rica?” I asked, even though, I knew very little about that country.

Carol laughed. “I don’t know,” She said. “I really don’t know the name of the place, but I do know the city has a smoking volcano, and our hotel is real close to it, and we will have a great view of it—and it’s really, really cheap.” She and I both started laughing.

“I’m sure it is. I’ll bet the rooms have lava lamps, too.” I said. “Shoot, they ought to pay you to stay in a room with a view—of a smoking volcano?” I started laughing, again. “Carol, you’re brave. I wouldn’t be able to sleep a wink, in a room near an active smoldering volcano—heck, I’m even scared to go out and take a nap in Outer Space.”

“I’ll send you an e-mail of the place,” Carol said. “You will love it.”

“Great,” I said. “I’m sure that y’all will have a blast—literally! Be sure to bring me back a lava lamp.” Carol laughed and then she took off laughing, as she went to go walk some dogs.

This morning, when I was fixing to go to Kerrville with Maribeth, Tony asked me to please go by Home Depot, to pick up a replacement nozzle, for his Troybilt pressure washer. I told him that I would be glad to do it for him. Boy, was I ever wrong about that.

When I was ready to take off for Kerrville, Tony walked me to Buttermilk, opened the door for me to get inside, and then he handed me the broken old nozzle, so I could take it inside the store, to make sure that I matched it up—and looking at it—made me sick. “Tony,” I said. “I can’t walk into Home Depot with this thing!”

“Why?”

“It looks like a gun! And, it says right here on the nozzle, ‘Warning! Never point this at anyone!”

“Nance,” Tony said. “It doesn’t have a trigger—it broke off. And, it means never point it—when it is shooting water out of it. I need to replace it. Please go to Home Depot. We need it, so we can pressure wash the dog houses, before Daniel paints them. Please?”

“Okay, I’ll do it, but I am not real happy about doing this,” I said. “And Tony, if I get arrested—we’re talking divorce and you had better bail me out of jail—fast. I’ve never been in jail.” As I drove away, I watched in Buttermilk’s rearview mirror—Tony, Daniel and Aaron laughing.

When I arrived at the Lodge to pick up Maribeth, she was standing at the gate and was ready to go, but she made the mistake of asking me what was wrong. So, on the entire twenty two mile trip—I whined about not wanting to go to Home Depot or jail.

When we arrived at Home Depot I opened the back door and carefully picked up the weapon. “Maribeth,” I said. “I can’t walk into Home Depot with this—it looks like a gun.”

“Put it inside your canvas grocery bag,” Maribeth suggested.

“I can’t—I could get charged for carrying a concealed weapon—and hiding it in my HEB grocery bag. I really don’t want to do this.”

“Come on Nancy,” Maribeth ordered. “Nothing’s going to happen.”

I decided to carry it by its nozzle, so no one would think I was going to fire it. As we walked towards the entrance, I noticed several people watching us. “Maribeth, walk close to me,” I said. “So, people won’t think that two overweight, white haired, senior citizen women, would go into Home Depot carrying a gun.”

“Do you want a basket?” Maribeth asked. “I’m getting one.”

“Yes, please,” I said. Maribeth shoved a basket towards me. “I can lay it right here in the basket. I’m going straight to the first employee that I see and ask them to please help me find the replacement part. Wish me luck.”

When the second set of sliding doors opened for me to enter the store, I walked in pushing the basket, and nothing happened! No sirens, no cops—absolutely nothing! But when a senior citizen, male, employee approached me—I froze in my steps, as Maribeth pushed her cart past me and smiling from ear to ear.

“Welcome to Home Depot. Can I help you find something?”

“Yes,” I gasped, nervously. “My husband asked me to bring in this broken, triggerless Troybilt nozzle, so I could get a replacement for it. I didn’t want to do it. Honest.”

The gentleman smiled, raised his eyebrows and then looked down into my basket and said, “Follow me, please.”

I followed him, as Maribeth rolled past me, again—wearing a grin.

“We don’t carry Troybilt,” He said, as he reached down and picked up the black nozzle from inside my basket. “This is a different brand, but I am sure that it will work. See? They are the same size with the same fittings.” He then handed me the new water gun— with a trigger. “Just as a reminder, Ma’am—don’t ever point this thing at a person.”

“I won’t. I promise.” Then I immediately went to the checkout counter, and got out of there as fast as I could. I was so relieved! While waiting outside the store, for Maribeth, I phoned Tony, but got the answering machine instead. “Tony, it’s Nancy. I went to Home Depot and I’m in jail. Not really, I have your new water pistol. You’re off the hook. Love you, Nancy.”

P.S. Kinky just called from Port Aransas and he is looking forward to tonight's show!