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!

Half A Man! or Four Food Trucks!

Last Saturday Tony and I and our dear friends, June and Ellen had a garage sale, at June's house, from 8:00 - 2:00. It was a lot of fun spending most of the day with these two sisters, and our good friends: Kevin, Curtis, Susan and Baxter.

Tone and I got there a little after 7:30 and while Tony was helping me unpack our stuff/junk and set it up on one of the folding tables that June provided, I spotted something that Ellen had for sale and I knew that I just had to have it. So before our garage sale even started I was already $20.00 in the red, but I didn't care, because I was so happy about my purchase.

Tony thought I was crazy when I told him what I had bought and Ellen was laughing when she took this picture of me removing my precious purchase from the garage sale items.

Yes, that is me carefully removing my new/used half-male mannequin, wearing patriotic underwear and wearing a pair of Kevin's (borrowed) dark, brown shoes, in hopes of boosting sales. And before Tony left, to come back to the rescue ranch to do his morning chores, he asked me what I was going to do with my half-man. So I told him, "I am going to dress him in my jeans and put a pair of my old, pink boots on him and turn him into a lamp!" Tony didn't laugh, but everyone else did.

Around 11:00, our garage sale customers had dwindled, so Ellen and June thought it would be a good idea to do something fun to boost our sales, while we waited for another shopping frenzy. And before you knew it or before Tony returned—we had my half a man-mannequin laying on a trundle bed, hidden under a quilt with his feet hanging out, at the end. And we put a pair of men and women shoes, on the rug, next to the bed. And June topped it off with a baseball cap and she put their lamp and fringed lampshade, beside the bed. And we loved it and we laughed ourselves silly.

When the next shopping spree finally happened, the customers were staring at our restful display and they were laughing, whispering to each other, etc. about it and before long the bed and the mattress sold!

When our multi-friends garage sale ended, Tony helped me load up our stuff/junk that hadn't sold and I ended up making a grand total of $14.00, after buying a lot of their stuff. 

Then after counting my profit Tony happily loaded up his new/used (Ellen's) Nada Chair, (June's) Cabella's outdoor recliner, a really cool, gas camp stove, a set of blue and white, Pottery Barn curtains. And lastly Tone carried my half  a man mannequin and tossed him, into JJ Cale's backseat. Then we adios-ed everyone and came home.

As soon as we got back home Tony carried my half a man mannequin, into The Cabin, and I went into our bedroom to grab an old pair of my Levis and an even older pair of my dusty, Justin Gypsy pink boots. 

Then the phone rang and the father of one of the great girls, a member in the East Kerr 4-H Club, called and asked if he could drive out and adopt Walter from us, because his sweet daughter and him had fallen in love with him, last Saturday. Of course, my answer was "Yes!" 

Thirty minutes later, Walter was officially adopted and he took off, in a big fancy pickup, to go to his new home, in Kerrville. (So please keep your fingers crossed that Walter will mind his manners and his adoption sticks.)

After we adios-ed Walter and the nice man it was dress-rehearsal time and here are a few pictures that I took of Tony trying to help me put my jeans on him and then trying to shove my boots on his gigantic feet.

And the whole time that we were trying to turn my man-mannequin into a cowgirl, Tony kept saying, "Don't you dare take my picture or tell anyone that I was involved with this...." Of course I promised him, but as you can see—I was lying, again.

We had a real problem trying to get my pink boots on him and while we were doing that our phone rang again and it was our good friend Hope calling. She and her boyfriend were running around the Texas Hill Country and she wanted to know if she and Jae could come by for a visit. ..."Great!" Hope said. "We should be there in about forty-minutes. I can't wait for Jae to meet y'all!"

Knowing that time was of the essence, so to speak, I asked Tony to please slit my boots with his knife, in hopes we could put his/her pink boots on. He did that, but we still had no luck, because his feet were just way too big to fit into my pretty, pink boots. So we temporarily gave up.

"Tony, if you'll put my man-mannequin in JJ, I'll take off and go straighten up The Cabin. Then you can bring them over and...."

As soon as I got to our property, I unlocked The Cabin door, opened the windows and then I pulled him, out of the backseat and clumsily carried him, inside The Cabin and I leaned him up, by the front door. Then I quickly put away all of our tools and the scaffolding, into the bedroom and then I swept the sawdust-covered floors.

Ten minutes later, I grabbed my camera and took these pictures of our cleaned-up, soon-to-be cabin, before Tony, Hope and Jae arrived.

Twenty minutes later Tony, Hope & Jae arrived, but I'll have to write about their fun visit tomorrow night, because I am fixin' to go sew another set of curtains, for the window, in the big room, that looks out, at the red barn.

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

To Be Continued....(Sorry, Mari)

Justin Gypsy!

Today has been great. This morning after we did our morning chores outside we got cleaned up and went to Kerrville to run three errands.

Our first stop was at H-E-B, on Main, to pick up a few groceries and fill up Buttermilk. Our next stop was at Hoegemeyer Animal Clinic to buy Advantix II for our rescued dogs, because the fleas and ticks are back. Our next stop was just down the road.

We went to Billy's Western Wear, so I could pick up my new pair of pink, Justin Gypsy cowgirl boots, that I had ordered last Thursday.

When we got back home we unpacked our groceries and then we went outside to put the Advantix II on our dogs. Right after we had started, our good friend Karon came out and she offered to help us by opening up the packages for us and giving us the right doses. "Be careful Karon, I have cut my finger twice opening up the protective foil covers," I said. 

Then to make our task go faster, Tony and I took off and he put the topical oil on dogs in one pen, while I was in another pen applying the flea and tick killer to dogs in another pen. When I went to do Rocky I accidentally let him get out of his pen after I had put the Advantix II on him.

It was a short rodeo thank goodness, thanks to Tony's and Karon's help. Within two minutes Tony had leashed Rocky and had him back in his pen. And thirty minutes later, we were done and Karon had cut her finger too I love Advantix II, because it is the best for killing fleas and ticks. Now, I cannot wait for it to kick in and start killing the fleas and ticks.

I am flxin' to do some more writing on my second novella, so that is about it for tonight.

P.S. Happy Birthday, Katelyn! I am fixin' to call you.

Y'all have a great evening!

We Had A Blast With Karin & Carol!

Today has been really fun. At 9:00 this morning Karin arrived on schedule to help us with our morning chores and then it started raining lightly, so we put on raincoats and then we jumped into Kermit and went to the pump house, so Tony could feed the deer and the pigs.

Then we took off to go feed the deer, wild turkeys and Wilbur, the wild hog, outside the rescue ranch near our white board fence and on T.'s cue he and Karin poured out their buckets of feed, as we made a wide circle up by the trees and the deer came running to eat, but Wilbur was a no-show, which always worries me, because I fear that someone might have shot him.

When Karin and I started cleaning the pens, the rubber boots that we had loaned her to wear started hurting her ankles, so we drove up to the trailer, so she could wear her shoes and that is when I took this picture of her ready to go back to work.

But, before going back to scooping poop, we drove outside the ranch, to see if Wilbur had shown up for his morning feeding and we were thrilled to see him eating with the white-tailed deer. So, I took this picture of him and his deer friends. Then we went back to work.

When we finished our chores we came to the trailer to put on clean clothes, because Tone and I were treating Karin to lunch at the famous, O.S.T restaurant, in Bandera, the Cowboy Capitol of the World. When Karin came out of our bedroom she was dressed up like a real Texas cowgirl and we loved seeing her pants nicely tucked inside her new Justin Gypsy cowboy boots. Then we grabbed our cameras and took off in Trigger.

As usual, the O.S.T. (Old Spanish Trail) was packed with locals and tourists and we were so lucky to have gotten the last unoccupied table in their famous John Wayne room. After I had sat down on the long bench, I thought Karin, who was standing behind me grabbed my shoulders, but I was wrong, because it was our dear friend Maribeth Couch, from Utopia, so we had a fun, but short visit with her, because our friendly waitress showed up to take our drink order and to give us menus. 

After we had told Karin that the the O.S.T. was famous for their delicious Chicken Fried Steaks and a must-do in Bandera—the three of us ordered it. As Karin, who is camera shy, tried to eat her giant chicken fried steak, Tony shot her and then when we finished eating our lunch he shot her again, standing next to her cowboy hero—a life-sized John Wayne cardboard cut-out.

Then we went to several shops for her to buy postcards and a few gifts. 

On our way back to the ranch, we decided to stop at the famous Old Timer, in Medina, so she could see where T. sits every morning, when he drinks coffee with his many friends. I took this picture of Karin and him sitting at the table, where he always sits and drinks his coffee.

Between Medina and our rescue ranch Karin thought it would be funny to do a funny photo-shoot of her sitting in a chair with her boots propped up on a table with Mama by her side and a rifle in her lap, like they did in the old western movies, so when we got home we accommodated her wishes and it was hilarious.

After Tony had made sure and showed us that his shotgun had no bullets in it, because we are uncomfortable around guns, we went into Outer Space with Mama, so Tony could shoot Karin and Mama with his camera. Our dear German friend had wanted to look like a mean, tough, rugged cowgirl in her photo shoot, but that never happened, because we were all laughing so much. 

After T. had shot Karin and my beautiful dog with his camera he took this picture of us showing off our Justin Gypsy boots. 

Then  I challenged Karin to a Rope-Off. "Karin, roping looks real easy to do, but it is not. I'm not very good at it, but Tony can rope anything that he wants. He is so good at it." Then I took off to get  my ropes, which took me awhile to find, because I had misplaced them.

Before our official "Germany vs. Texas Rope-Off" Tony went inside the trailer, so he could call Carol, to invite her to come over. When he came back outside he told us, "Carol is coming over after she finishes baking her last bath of cookies." Then Karin and I picked up our ropes and we went to where my roping post is—next to my Space Ship, which is still under construction. 

After T. had shown Karin how to hold the rope correctly and throw it—the fun contest began. As she and I took turns throwing our ropes, in hopes that we would win the "first to rope the post three times" there was non-stop laughter, because Karin was as bad as me and it took us forever to rope the post. Tony took these pictures of Karin's roping skills and her joy of finally roping the post.

I ended up winning the 3-2 roping contest, right before Carol drove up in her to-die-for Ford F-250 pickup, that I drool over every time that I see it and then we went back into Outer Space and our fun visit began. 

We laughed a lot about our thick Texas accents and not being able to properly pronounce Karin and Jurgen's names correctly or Karin's maiden name and a few other German words that she had used, as we munched on Carol's delicious, homemade oatmeal-raisin cookies, that she had brought over to us.

Around 5:30, after a great time in Outer Space, Carol went home to her ranch and we went over to Echo Hill's barn to feed Shalom and the three donkeys, Roy, Gabby and Little Jewford and when we got back home we made tomorrow's plans with Karin and then we adios-ed each other. And that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening and please keep praying for us to get some rain, because it is working, because last night we got 1.5 inches of rain! Come on RAIN!

In The Spirit!

Reader Beware! This is a long one, but I promise to write a short one tomorrow night, because I am going to another Drumming Circle at The Yoga Space tomorrow afternoon and I also have to start writing my second column for Texas Animal Imprints magazine!

Today has been one fun and exciting day. The Boy Scouts of America, Pack #135 came out and we rescued Zeus!

This morning I got up real early and did my morning chores, so I could walk another twelve miles, but my body said, "No. It ain't happening. Not today." So, instead of walking, I did some paperwork before going outside to meet nine of the coolest Boy Scouts in Texas. When they arrived I first introduced myself to their smiling faces and then I asked each Boy Scout to tell me their names.

After I met Josh, George, Kameron, Ben, Darren, Ian, William, Garyn and Kash (And their names are not misspelled.) I gave them a tour of our rescue ranch and our dogs enjoyed meeting the cute kids as much as the scouts did. We ended the tour at the pigpen and the boys could not wait to go inside and pet our precious pigs, so we went inside. It was a lot of fun watching some of the boys pet a pig for their very first time.

When the pig petting was done we took our dogs for a long walk to Wallace Creek and everyone seemed to enjoy it as much as I did. Before the Boy Scouts loaded up in the vehicles, to go home I said, "I want to thank all of y'all for coming out today to walk our dogs. And, I want you to know that you did a great job and we would love for you to come back. We thank you and our dogs thank you. Troop 135 Rocks!"

Around two-thirty Tony took off for Medina to buy some feed and while he was gone, the dogs started barking outside to let me know that Zeus was here! So, I went outside and waved at the fancy, black SUV, and then I took off to go meet Zeus, who had arrived on time as planned!

When I reached the vehicle I looked inside and melted the second I looked into Zeus's beautiful eyes. Then a nice, teary-eyed, older woman got out of her car to talk to me before leaving Zeus, a very sweet, nine-year-old Pit Bull, in our care.

Zeus looked pretty stressed-out inside the car as the woman gave me Zeus' medical papers, his bed and blanket and some dog food. Then I jumped into Kermit and they followed me in her car, down to the large puppy pen next to Ruth Buzzi and Chuck Norris. "Until Tony gets back from town we need to put Zeus in here." I explained. "We want Zeus to be pen mates with Lois Lane, down there in the big pen by our trailer, but first Tony and I have to take them on a long walk to make sure they like each other."

After the woman said goodbye to Zeus, she thanked me and then promised me that she was going to try really hard to find him a home, because he was such a great dog. "Please call me first, if anyone wants to adopt him, because I will see if we can take him back. As soon as my friend gets back to the U.S. I think that she might adopt Zeus, because he has stayed with her a few times and she loves him. He is a great dog."

As she drove away, I watched Zeus' heartbreak as he stared quizically after her car—it broke my heart, too and made me tear up. "Don't worry old boy," I said, as he stared down the road, towards the ranch's gate entrance. "Everything is going to be okay. I promise you that and Zeus..." As I walked back to the trailer I wondered if Zeus had heard or understood anything that I had said to him.

When T. got back home we went to see Zeus. Of couse, Zeus looked sad, but he wagged his tail at us, like he was glad to see us. Tony then went inside the puppy pen and talked to this handsome, magnificent homeless dog as he petted him and again, I teared up.

When we left Zeus, we decided that it was best for Zeus to stay in the puppy pen until tomorrow, so we could take him and Super Man's girlfriend for a longer walk and also because we would have all day tomorrow to be outside to watch them interact together to make sure they were meant to be best friends.

A little before dark, I went outside and Kermit took me down to Zeus' pen. "Hey, buddy. I brought you a special treat, since you missed out on our Thanksgiving dinner for the dogs. Do you like turkey, Zeus?" Zeus said, nothing, but I could tell by how fast his tail was wagging that he loved white turkey meat, so I opened up a baggie full of white meat and then began feeding him some of Tony's and my leftover turkey. Needless to say—Zeus gobbled it all up and that made me feel a lot better.

This evening Tony and I went into Outer Space for Happy Hour and we had a blast, because of our custom made, talking Christmas tree with the flashing lights! Which leads me to ask this question: Guess who has the coolest Christmas Tree in the Universe? And the answer is: We do! And yes, I am bragging—thanks to our great friends Cheryl and Walt!

Yesterday, just as T. and I were fixin' to go to Medina and Kerrville to run errands, we had a surprise visit from Cheryl and Walt. After howdy's and hugs they told us that they had some Christmas gifts for us and then Walt opened their car's rear hatch and pulled out something big, that was covered up by a black plastic bag—"We hope that you like it," Cheryl said. "Walt and I made you a custom Christmas tree for Outer Space!" Then Walt quickly removed the plastic cover and Tone's and my jaw dropped at what we saw. I was speechless for a few seconds, for one of the very first times in over fifty-nine years.

"OMG!" were my first words. "It is absolutely beautiful! I love it. Y'all made this for us?"

"Yes, because we love y'all," Cheryl said, as she pulled out a gigantic gift bag. "And this is for y'all, too. It is not much—just a few more presents and the tree ornament boxes that we bought from a Hallmark store. We hope you like it."

For the second time, within a minute, I was speechless again, because I was thinking, "Not much? That pretty, gigantic gift sack is so full—T. and I could take it to the mountains and live in it."

 After Tony took the "Coolest Christmas Tree In The Galaxy" into Outer Space, we had a short, but fun visit with Walt and Cheryl. Unfortunately, because time was of the essence, I apologized to them for us having to take off and then I thanked them for the gift filled sack and told them that we would open up their presents when we got back home.

Right before they left I noticed Cheryl's pretty boots that she was wearing. "Cheryl, I love your boots. Are those Justin Gypsy boots?"

"Yes, I love them!" Cheryl said, as she lifted up her jeans to show me the blue tops. "They are the most comfortable boots that I have ever worn and I got them because of you and your pink boots." The four of us started laughing.

"They are so beautiful. I love the color!" I said. "Tone, I want a pair just like these for Christmas. Okay?" Walt looked over at T. and they started laughing and then Cheryl and I burst out laughing. Before Cheryl climbed into their car to leave, I said, "Cheryl, thank you and Walt so much. I want you to know that y'all have just made my day and put me in the spirit of Christmas. After goodbyes and hugs they drove away and so did we.

After running several errands in Medina and then in Kerrville, we went to H-E-B for gas and groceries. Tony let me out at the front door, so he could go fill up Buttermilk. As I started to enter the grocery store with my empty shopping cart I was startled when a grocery cart suddenly, but softly cut me off and when I looked up I saw it was our good friend Steve from Bandera. "I'm sorry, Cousin Nancy. When I saw you, I just had to do it." Steve said, and then we started laughing and caught up with each others news. Within the next fifteen minutes, I ran into our good friend and neighbor, Don Dickerson and we had a nice visit, and then minutes later I ran into our friend Cindy Flores and I had short, but fun visit with her.

As I was cruising down isle nine I heard a friendly voice say, "Hey, Cousin Nancy!" It was D&D aka David and Desiree Farrar, our good friends that adopted our wild soccer playing wild hog—David Beckham and who own and operate Kerrville's popular B&B cabins—The Trails End Guest House!

I love Desiree and David, so I quickly pulled my cart over to the side and parked it next to their shopping cart and we started visiting. Within seconds the three of us were laughing so loudly, people began staring at us, as we caught up with each others latest news. At one point during our more than fun conversation, David gave me his latest Beckham update. He told me a heartwarming story about the adorable, little, orange and black colored, wild hog that we rescued years ago—who now weighs over seven-hundred pounds. The story nearly made me tear up and I am going to ask David to write down the story, so I can share it with y'all.

Before goodbyes and hugs David told me about his upcoming hands-on cooking classes to be held on the last three Saturdays in January. I was so excited to hear about it, I pulled out my checkbook and immediately signed up right then and there, because this guy can sure cook. "I know that Tony is going to be upset with me for taking off and being gone on three Saturdays in a row, when we have our Open House at the rescue ranch, but I know that he will be glad that I did, because he'll eat it up. I can't wait!"

After we left H-E-B, we went to Hoegemeyers to pick up P&P (Pilgrim and Pumpkin) and as we were leaving the clinic—Peggy, the other half of P&P walked into the clinic wearing a big smile on her face. After hugs and a short visit she told us that she was there to pick up Smelly Cat and we started laughing. "We sure enjoyed y'all's visit the other day and please tell Patty that we already miss her and we can't wait for her to move here," I said, before we walked out of the clinic with two happy spayed and neutered dogs in our crate.

When we got home I checked my e-mail and smiled and then I laughed out loud when I read Ellen Jackson's sweet, but funny note. I love her sense of humor.

"Hey, Nancy and Tony,
The Kerrville crew wants to underwrite Christmas dinner for all the little pen pals at the rescue ranch. We don't want Canada to get ahead of us. We would like to come help serve, too.
Ellen, June and Eileen"

I love Ellen, June and Eileen and I think that it is so awesome for them to offer to help us out again. I seriously don't know what our rescue ranch would do without these three dedicated women. I wrote Ellen back and told her how much we would love for them to underwrite our dog's Christmas dinner and help us serve the dogs on Christmas day and how much fun it will be having them here with us on Christmas day and that it would make our Christmas. Thus begins "The Texas vs. Canada Friendly-Food-Fight!" And the cool part is everybody wins! I love it. Thank y'all so much!


After I got off of the computer Tony and I opened our many presents from Cheryl and Walt and we were thrilled with their thoughtful gifts. Besides getting their beautifully, custom decorated Christmas tree they gave us a halogen colored wheel light projector for our tree, some pretty holiday dish towels, a gorgous chili wreath, a big box of gourmet, holiday doggie treats, boxes of healthy Celestial teas, pinion pine incense, which is my favorite incense, along with the empty Hallmark ornament boxes to store the ornaments in.

The ornaments that adorn our tree are so precious and perfect for Outer Space. The ones that they picked out for our tree are Hallmark's "Marvin the Martian," Buzz, "Light Year," "Starship Christmas," "E.T. the Extra Terrestial," "Robot Parade," "Magic," "Delta Flyer" and "The Jetsons!" Thank you, Cheryl and Walt! We love them and y'all, and I can't wait to show our spaced-out-tree to Kinky!

Early this evening I took this picture of their gifts by the beautiful Christmas tree.

When it got nearly dark outside I took this picture of our lovely Christmas tree with it's talking and flashing lights Christmas ornaments, before we came inside from Happy Hour. Isn't it out of this world! 

P.S. I forgot to tell you that Cheryl and Walt loved my new teeth and so did Desiree and David! And it made me smile.

Y'all have a great evening!