Not Cereal!

Yesterday was an unexpected blast. I slept in Sunday morning and got up around 8:00. Tony had already fed our dogs their homemade breakfast, so our dogs were already outside, leaving calling cards and watering the weeds for us.

But before I go any further, I want to explain about "our dogs homemade breakfast." Since early August, I decided to quit feeding our dogs—name-brand, manufactured dog food. So after spending several hours researching (Googling) high quality dog foods, it dawned on me that I could, and would love to, cook healthy meals for our dogs instead of feeding them bags of dog food that are full of fillers, etc.

The good news is it is not anymore expensive than buying name brand dog food, our dogs love it and I know exactly what they are being fed.

So every evening, while sipping my one glass of Franzia Chillable Red Wine, I precook breakfast for our dogs and I really enjoy doing it.

And thank goodness I have my faithful Instant Pot, because every evening I use it to cook 3 cups of long grain brown rice, in just a matter of minutes. And while the rice is being pressured cooked, I drink a few more sips of delicious, cheap, boxed wine, while listening to some of my favorite music.

After the rice is cooked, and my wine is doing its thing, our dogs become my personal audience, with their eyes glued on me as I add either raw meat or chicken or fish or scrambled eggs or diced up hot dogs with some raw, home grown, organic spinach leaves. Then they really start drooling as I dump in a can of Veg-All, Parmesan cheese, that comes in the green jar, and I top it off with Tony Chachere's Original Creole Seasoning. So now you know and I hope that you will try doing this.

Now back to my story. As I was sipping my coffee, Tony comes into the big room and says, "I've got great news. Jim Keaveny and Rachel are coming to see us today. They just got back to Austin yesterday, from Jim's Netherlands tour and they will be here later this afternoon...."

Tony and I were thrilled about Jim & Rachel coming to see us and spending the night with us, before they headed back home, to Terlingua.

Around noon, Tony and I took off for Kerrville to run a few errands. He dropped me off at the Country Clean laundry, so I could wash and dry a load of dirty clothes, while he went to Walmart to get a slow-leaking tire fixed.

We normally only use Wagoner's Tires, on Sidney Baker, to buy tires or to fix a tire leak, but because it is family owned. And because we love the family, because they are good people and because years ago, on November 12, 2013, they adopted sweet Bee Spears from us.

But because it was Sunday our only option was Walmart. Here is the link to my April 5, 2015 post, about Bee Spears' fabulous adoption. And here is a picture of this magnificent dog that once lived, at our Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch. And lastly, here is the link my blog post on the day Bee Spears came to the rescue ranch.

Rachel & Jim arrived around 5:00, and we enjoyed a happy hour with them, while I cooked up our dog's breakfast. We talked about Jim's tour and how much fun they had, we caught up with each other's news and we did a lot of laughing, too. They also told us about them getting a Vita-Mix machine and loving it as much as we love Jaws (our Vita-Mix machine). So we started trading smoothie and soup recipes, etc.

Then Jim excused himself and he went out to his truck and came back inside with presents that he & Rachel had bought for us and Kinky. And he was wearing these beautiful, hand-carved, wooden shoes (clogs) that he had bought while touring, in Holland.

After admiring Jim's awesome, wooden shoes, he & Rachel gave us this cute pair of miniature clogs, made in Holland.

And before I put them on the window sill, I put them on Little Debbie's front paws and she loved them even though they were a size or two too big for her dainty feet.

Then there was more. Jim got out his pocket knife and cut open a bag of tulip bulbs, from Holland and he gave us four (pink, yellow, blue and red) bulbs and one yellow bulb for us to give to Kinky.

Because Jim & Rachel were tired last night and dealing with jet-lag, we didn't stay up late like we usually do when they visit. And I had a hard time falling to sleep, because I kept laughing about the fun time that we had had earlier.

This morning, I got up at 8:00 and Rachel & Jim were already up, drinking coffee and packing up their things. When I was making a cup of coffee for myself, I noticed two bowls of delicious cereal, sitting on the counter top, so I said, "Your cereal looks delicious. What's in it?"

They started laughing with Tony, and Tone said, "Nance, it's our dog's breakfast—not cereal. I haven't fed the dogs, yet." And that made me laugh, too.

Around 9:00 this morning, we sadly adios-ed our dear friends and bid them a safe trip back home. And that is about it for today, because I plan to spend the rest of my day writing up a storm, until it starts thundering, because I will have to unplug everything.

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

Again!

Today has been great. Early this afternoon Tony and I started transforming his room (formerly the back porch) into a faux-looking log cabin room, like the rest of our cabin.

And we would have finished his room today, but we ran out of wood, at the exact same time that Kinky called me. We had a fun conversation and after we adios-ed each other I decided to check my e-mail.

Liz sent me an hilarious note about her running down to their gate, several times today, to check to see if I had left my red crock pot there and I am still laughing about that. Liz also told me that Jim does not want mine or anyone else's crock pot, because the secret to their long, happy marriage is: Jim only cooks outside with fire and Liz only cooks inside using all of her gadgets. And that kind of logic makes a whole lot of sense to me.

After reading Liz's funny note I clicked on Drew's latest e-mail and he sent me this picture, that Ellie took of him and his super-cool dog, Harry, actually hiking the Appalachian Trail today. And I must admit that I am kind of jealous, because hiking the famous Appalachian Trail is one of the things for me to do on my bucket list.

A little while later, while Hazel was helping me suck up hair and dust Ronnie called and left me a message, on Carlton, "Hi Nance. Just wanted to let you know that I am getting ready to cook some ribs, in my Instant Pot. Call me."

So I called Ronnie back and teased him. "....I just wanted to let you know that I am cooking another roast, in my Instant Pot..." And we had a good laugh about it.

And before I finish writing this tonight I want y'all to know that our new, motion-activated, solar-powered, solar light "As Seen on TV" works like a charm and we absolutely love it. Even though Little Debbie pooped on our front porch, again.

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

Crock Pots!

Today has been great. It has been rainy, so I spent most of my day putting more of our stuff up and the results are huge. Seriously, with the exception of "our tool area," still in the corner of the big room, the kitchen and the rest of the big room look great.

I moved some of my musical instruments around, reorganized the kitchen shelves, unpacked six boxes that included items such as clothing, kitchen gadgets, framed pictures, etc.

Speaking of clothing, today I found my "I Hiked The Entire (width of the) Appalachian Trail" t-shirt that our good, dear friends, Drew and Ellie, bought for me, as a joke when he and Ellie were actually hiking the Appalachian Trail. (That was a few years ago and I did blog about it.)

Anyway, Drew is such a fun loving character and we totally love him for it. Years ago, precisely on January 29, 2015, the day that I blogged Packin' It— he is the man who loaned me his backpack and walking stick, so I could pose like I was hilking the Appalachian Trail. And here are a few pictures to remind you.

P.S. I used Photoshop to put the sign on the tree.

I had so much fun joking about me hiking the Appalachian Trail I ended up making a trail sign and I hung it up on the wall, above our kitchen table. I love that sign. So when we started moving over here it was one of the first things that I hung up on the wall, in the big room. 

And the second thing that I hung up on the wall, next to it, was my prized, pretty, pink potholder, in a shadowbox that our good friend, Jean, helped me finish making, because I was too stupid to figure out how to tie up the ends of the potholder. And here is a reminder of those two precious items.

So me hiking the Appalachian Trail has become a long-running joke with us and all of our friends. In fact, a few months ago, Carol, gave me a hiking sign, as a house-warming gift for our new cabin and we hung her hiking sign, on our front porch.

Okay, I am betting that right about now you're probably asking yourself, "Why is she telling me all of this old news about the Appalachian Trail?" And I don't blame you for asking. Because I think it is really weird that today I find Drew's Appalachian Trail T-shirt that I absolutely love and Drew who corresponds with me regularly about every 6 months or so, sent me this hilarious e-mail just a few hours after I had hung up my T-shirt, in the closet. Drew wrote:

"....Well we are back on the Appalachian Trail. Going to spend the summer here. We are sitting at a brewery with a bunch of hikers. I am about to make a public announcement and explain they are walking on sacred ground retracing the steps of the famous hiker, Cousin Nancy (Parker-Simons)...."

After I read Drew's laugh out loud e-mail and I had settled down a little bit I read my dear friend Liz's e-mail. Her subject line was: 4 New Instant Pot Recipes From Mark Bittman. 

In her fun to read note Liz told me that she has enjoyed reading my blog about our move and the Instant Pot. She mentioned that she was old school, because she had just gotten a red crock pot that she told Jim was his Valentine gift to her. And that instantly made a light bulb go off in my head.

Since Tony and I only give each other Valentine's Day cards I am going to tell him that I am going to give him my old, used, red crock pot as my belated Valentine's gift to him, since for Valentine's Day he gave me the Instant Pot!

Anyway, I checked out the epicurious link that Liz sent to me and the four Instant Pot recipes blew me away and I cannot wait to try them. Of course, now I am feeling guilty about me getting an Instant Pot and sweet Liz being thrilled about getting a red crock pot. 

So I've decided that if Tony doesn't want my red crock pot belated Valentine gift I will sneak over to their ranch and leave my old, crock pot, at their gate. Then Liz will have two crock pots instead of just one and she'll not be jealous of me and my Instant Pot! That is unless Jim finds it first and claims it as his crock pot. 

And I've already decided if Jim claims my/Tony's crock pot as his I will sneak back over to their beautiful ranch and leave my bread machine, next to the gate with an anonymous card that will simply say, For LIZ!

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!

The One To Clean It Up!

Today has been great and I slept in, because I had no agenda planned for today. Until Tony took off to go take some pictures later this afternoon.

But let me back up first. Late this morning Tony told me that he was craving Jim's (The Mineral Man's)Pressure Cooker Senate Navy Bean Soup and it was weird because I was too.

Anyway, I suggested that he learn how to make them with my help using Jim's (I mean my) delicious recipe. And he was all for it, because he was anxious to try out our new Instant Pot. So we went for it.

As I read Tony the ingredients and the amounts he measured them carefully and added them to the pressure cooker's pot. And I was pretty impressed with his expertise, but not the mess that he was creating, on the counter top, because I knew that I would be the one to clean it up. Which I actually don't mind doing, because I enjoy washing dishes, etc.

Forty-five minutes later, Tony served us up some delicious Cousin Nancy's Senate Navy Bean Soup for us. And yes, he ate two bowls of it and I cleaned up the kitchen.

Around 1:30, Tony bid me farewell, because he was going to go take some pictures of some ducks and after he left it only took me about fifteen minutes to decide to build a bookcase for our small bathroom, because we both have way too much stuff and nowhere to put it, since we down-sized from having 2 1/2 bathrooms with a walk-in shower to one bathroom with one shower for both of us to share. And I took these pictures to show you how I did it, before Tone returned home with beautiful duck pictures.

This is the empty spot I chose to put the bathroom bookcase. Between the toilet and hot water tank.

I took a few measurements and then I went outside, on our front porch and used the chop saw to cut the number of boards I needed. Then I started building the bookcase, on the kitchen island.

Then I started screwing in the shelves. And, to make sure the shelves would be level and not going to come out slanting—I used various can sizes or two rolls of toilet paper stacker or sometimes 2 cans stacked on top of each other, etc. And please notice our La Crosse Atomic Clock, hanging on the front wall.

Even though the bookcase was longer than the island it was not a problem.

When I finished it I put it in the bathroom and used 2 L brackets to secure it to the back wall, so it would not fall down, in the middle of the night and trip me during the wee hours of the morning.

Then I started organizing our stuff on it. I got four shelves for my stuff and I gave Tone one shelf to cram all of his stuff into.

Then about this time Tony returned back home with duck photos and when he saw what I had accomplished he helped me finish making the cabinet doors and helping me hang them, even though he had only one shelf for his personal use.

Tony and I love our new storage bookcase and are thrilled that we have more space to put our things, in our bathroom.

As I finish writing this tonight I want to share The Mineral Man's delicious, Pressure Cooker Senate Bean Soup. Which I hope you will decide to call Cousin Nancy's Pressure Cooker Senate Bean Soup or Tony's Perfect Pressure Cooker Senate Bean Soup.

And that's about it for tonight.

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