The End!

Today has been great or at least if I keep saying that over and over again—it will be great. Actually today has been fine and the reason that it wasn't a great day is because I need sunshine and because I've almost totally forgotten what the sun looks like, because we've had too many cold, gray days. And this is all of the complaining I am going to do for now, because I always have so much to be grateful for.

Omg, last night I stayed up late with Roy Rogers, Beau Bridges, Henry Standing Bear, Little Debbie, Big Al(ice) and we watched Wonder, this incredibly great movie starring Julia Roberts, Owen Wilson and Jacob Tremblay.

Julia Roberts and Owen Wilson have always been some of my favorite actors and after watching this beautiful movie I am now adding Jacob Tremblay to that list, because this movie Wonder was so good that it touched my heart and I've thought about it several times today.

Anyway, I highly recommend watching this feel good movie and I am thinking about watching it again this evening. So if you are interested in watching this inspiring movie please click here to view the official movie trailer for Wonder.

Early this afternoon, after hibernating inside The Cabin for too many cold, gray days outside, Tony and I went to Kerrville to wash and dry our clothes, etc. Which means while doing the laundry we would get groceries at the big H-E-B and then go to Louise Hays Park, so I could feed the ducks, geese, King Tut and Tut-Two (Tut-Two-Common) and do some walking while Tony took some more awesome pictures.

And we had a big surprise waiting for us when we arrived at the park this afternoon, because when we went to feed all of my feathered friends. This is what we saw swimming to the shore.

I was shocked to see the six darling goslings with their proud mother Tut-Two, because I thought Tut-Two was a male. So before I even started to throw out some corn I renamed Tut-Two—Queen Tut. And here are a few of Tony's pictures of these six little cuties.

Here they are learning to dance the Tut-Strut with their mama.

And I've already named this handsome little fella, Ryan Gosling, because he is so good-looking.

And I call this one of King Tut-The End Is Near 

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

Two-Tut-Common! or Up Against The Wall!

Today has been great. Late this morning Tony and I went to Kerrville to run a few errands. Our first stop was at that great laundromat, Country Clean Laundromat, on Water Street.

While our clothes, etc. were swishing around in two Speed Queen tubs, we went to the big H-E-B on Main Street to get some groceries.

When our clothes, etc. were twirling around in one big dryer, we took off for Louise Hays Park and to our surprise, because it was trying to drizzle, a lot of people were there walking dogs, skating, bicycling, etc. But no one was feeding the lovely ducks, beautiful geese and King Tut and Tut-Two.

FYI: Since my last Duck Report I've renamed Tut-Two to Two-Tut-Common, because it makes me laugh and that is the way it sounds, with my Texas accent, when I pronounce the Egyptian King's name.

Anyway, as soon as we got there I race-walked to the ducks usual hangout and I am positive they recognized me—because they all came swimming and waddling as fast as they could towards me.

And because I am a little tired tonight from walking so much today I am going to show you some of my favorite pictures that Tony took today at the park. And I am going to put captions with each picture. So here we go!

MY FAIR-WEATHERED FRIENDS

HEY! WHO INVITED YOU

I'M NEW HERE. SO HOW DOES THIS WORK?

STUPID MALLARD

DID YOU CALL ME STUPID?

YES I DID! AND CAN YOU DO THIS?

UP AGAINST THE WALL

The reason I titled the photo above Up Against The Wall is because it looks like this duck is standing next to a wall. But it isn't. Actually, because there was some scattered bird poop on the sidewalk, I cropped it out and got this.

Well, not to brag (But to brag.) I had a wonderful time at the park and I walked to the Lemos Street Bridge and back, before Tony and left to go pick up our laundry.

As I mentioned earlier in the post about me being tired from walking today it is because I set a new record for myself. I walked in the park and then later this afternoon while carrying weights I did laps around the kitchen and big room while listening to my music. And needless to say our dogs thought I was a little loopy as I race-walked around them for nearly forty-minutes. And here is the proof! (And my dogs are killing me.)

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

Rude!

Today has been great, even though it was gray and almost cold outside. But I am not complaining, because my heart goes out to the people living/surviving with the record breaking cold temperatures, up the north and on the east coast.

This afternoon Tony and I went to Kerrville to wash and dry a load of clothes, while we grabbed groceries at the big H-E-B and went down to the park, so I could walk and also feed the ducks and the geese.

On our way to the park, I made a friendly bet (no money involved) with Tony that King Tut would be there and he bet against me. And I won the bet twice and now I regret not betting him a dollar, because I would have won two dollars.

When we arrived at Louise Hays Park, it was lightly drizzling and there were only a few people, out with their dogs, enjoying this beautiful park.

Right after we climbed out of Trigger and walked near the river—King Tut greeted us or better said, noticed us. And he was all alone, so I tossed him some corn and declared my victory.

Tony was sick that he had forgotten to bring his camera along, so he could document this event for me, but he took it in good stride, as he and I strolled to a nearby bench, so I could feed my flock and gaggle.

The flock of ducks were near the opposite bank when I walked up to the river's edge and shook my bag of corn, and said, "Come and get it!" And they did nothing until they watched me fling some corn up into the air. Then they came paddling and quacking toward my direction or where the corn was.

A few seconds later I was surrounded by the happy ducks and geese and King Tut, all begging for me to toss them some more corn, as they took turns trying to discourage King Tut from participating in their late lunch. "Tony, how did King Tut get here so fast? Did he fly?"

Tony, who was sitting on the bench shrugged his shoulders. Then I looked back towards the Sydney Baker Street Bridge and saw King Tut swimming alone and he looked sad and lonely. "Omg, there are two of them," I said. And Tony shook his head up and down in acknowledgement.

As the six ducks and two pretty geese pecked nervously at my boots to get my attention, I noticed that King Tut #2 was now standing about ten feet away from me, because the flock and gaggle had been so rude to him they had made him feel unwelcome.

Well, that did not sit well with me or with Tony. So I took a handful of corn and threw it as far as I could in the opposite direction of King Tut #2 and the ducks and geese race-waddled away. Then I tossed a bigger handful of corn towards the #2 Egyptian king. And Tut-Two was so thrilled that he had all of this corn to himself to eat—it truly warmed my heart. Then I adios-ed Tony and Tut-Two and took off walking towards the Lemos Street Bridge.

When I returned back to where Tony and Tut-Two were hanging out, my feathered, not so nice friends were down by the bridge and when they saw me they started quacking and came waddling as fast as their webbed feet could move.

So I quickly tossed Tut-Two another handful of corn and before the other ducks and geese arrived, at my boots, for their second feeding—I kept shaking the bag of corn and made them wait for Tut-Two to finish eating his last kernel of corn, before tossing more corn down, around my boots.

And before Tony and I left the park, to go pick up our laundry, I emptied the rest of my sack of corn, near the bridge, so the original King Tut could eat in peace and quiet.

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

King Tut! or 3:59—69.6—1:30—WED—51.4!

Last night, I watched a few episodes of Rake, on Netflix then I went to bed early.

This morning before looking in the mirror I did my habit—"Today is going to be great!" Then I loudly clapped my hands together and then our dogs jumped off the bed and began barking, before I could even jump off of the bed.

Then while my coffee was brewing, I went into the bathroom to see if I had gotten any much-needed beauty sleep. And let's just say that I was disappointed.

So tonight I plan to stay up late and binge-watch Rake, because mirrors don't lie and I'm living proof that getting beauty sleep only counts when you're under the age of thirty years.

As I was sipping my coffee I was pondering—Ah, to be thirty again—no thank you—been there done that and somehow I survived. And thank goodness there was no social media back then, because, I for one did some pretty dumb stuff. And I say thank goodness for being in my late sixties, because all of the dumb stuff that I did back then—I no longer can remember and there is no proof of it floating around on the Internet.

Anyway, today has been great as I had predicted it would be, first thing this morning. Seriously, I highly recommend doing this habit—because it really works.

For the most part of today I kept thinking about that Egyptian Goose and I don't know why. And after I had told Tony, a few times, about that goose keep popping into my head, I decided to name that Egyptian Goose—King Tut, because it only has two syllables instead of three and it also makes me smile.

Because when I think of King Tut I instantly think of Steve Martin's hilarious, hit song—not the mummy who died at the ripe old age of nineteen.

Late this afternoon at 3:59, the temperature outside was steadily dropping and it was already down to 51.4 degrees outside and 69.6 degrees inside The Cabin. So I took this picture of our Atomic Clock, full of important information, with Henry Standing Bear posing for me, on top of his window seat.

Then I ventured outside and helped Tony bring in some more firewood for the night, before it got any colder outside. And after that I cleaned the ashes out of the wood burning stove and then I started a cozy fire, before The Cabin's indoor temperature dropped below 69.6 degrees. Then I stood back and took this picture.

And as I finish writing this post tonight, I am hoping that Mari and I will get to go walking in the park tomorrow afternoon, so she & Tex or she & Si can meet King Tut, too.

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

P.S. After posting this picture last night of "the wagon train" following me I've titled it The Cagoose—Bringing Up The Rear!

P.S.S. Mari just sent me this hilarious "Snow Day" cancellation video and I loved it and I am still laughing! Snow Day 

King Tut!

Today has been a nice day. This morning I walked six miles with Sansone, then I finished making the calendar for Rick, after he called me back and told me when Leisa's birthday is. "Leisa's birthday is eight twenty-eight..."

"August twenty-eighth," I said. "Thank you for getting me the infor..."

"No Nancy," Rick said. "I said, May twenty-eight!" Then he started laughing. "You really are getting hard of hearing! I'm telling Tony!" I started laughing with Rick.

"I know. I thought it was weird that you used the word eight, instead of saying August..."

After lunch, I did some paperwork and then I decided to walk two more miles - making my grand total today eight miles. When I finished the two miles, I decided to keep on walking until I got tired. When I finished her four mile walk, for the second time today, I was tired. Today I have walked over ten miles and my 'dogs' are killin' me, so I think that I am going to buy some new walking shoes—New Balance of course, because my initial N is embroidered on them.

This morning when I checked the new comments made about Thunder's almost demise, my good friend Herb, who as you know I pronounce as 'Erb made me laugh out loud and I want to share it with y'all if you haven't already read it:

 'Erb said...

Cousin Nancy---

Along with all the other terrifying hazards (snakes, stickers, floods)remind me next time we visit not to take a little snooze. I don't want to wake up with the undertaker putting an embalming needle in my carotid artery.

---'Erb

January 3, 2010 10:24 AM

 cousin nancy said...

Hi "Erb! Thank you for making me laugh out loud! Don't worry we don't have any needles, I just use my Egyptian cotton towels that I bought from J. C. Penneys! I wonder if they used Egyptian towels on King Tut when they mumified him?

January 3, 2010 11:42 AM

 Y'all have a great evening!

Well, Excuse Me!

This morning, I woke up at 5:30. After feeding the dogs and the cat, I decided that I would bake ‘Cousin Nancy’s Miracle Bread’—a recipe that I stole from an old friend of mine, that I have since tweaked and re-tweaked, over the many years, since the recipe robbery.

Tony named it ‘Cousin Nancy’s Miracle Bread,’ because it is the only bread, that I have ever made—that hasn’t wound up being used as a doorstop or an anchor! My Miracle Bread actually tastes great and is very healthy. It is almost completely organic. I use organic: raisins, honey, oats, flax seeds, ground whole wheat flour, cinnamon, yeast, pecans, butter, sea salt and water.

After loading all of the secret ingredients into my bread machine, I plugged it into the wall, and it went to work. Before checking my e-mail, I turned on my Bose iPod deck, put it on shuffle, and then cranked it up. As the Buffalo Springfield began singing, ‘For What It’s Worth,’ I poured a cup of Paul Newman’s Organic Coffee into my new mug, which I love. Now, I was ready to sit down at my laptop to check my mail.

As they harmoniously sang, ‘Something’s happening here,’ the bread machine churned and chugged—in perfect rhythm. It was exactly what I needed, and it kneaded. My first e made me smile. It was from my good friend Carol V., the dog walker, who volunteers out here and who has been in Outer Space with Tony and me. Carol wrote:

‘I bought some Miles of Chocolate in Denver, Colorado yesterday. Ben is a nationwide company! And, I love his chocolate! I hope all is well at home. It's mid 70's here in the day and 50's at night. Perfect! I'm ready to come home though. I miss my doggies and your doggies too!’

Since it was already 84 degrees in Outer Space, I wrote her back a note, recommending that she stay up there, and that I would be glad to bring her dogs up there. I am still waiting to hear from her—I’m packed!

My next note was from one of my favorite authors, N. M. Kelby. It made me smile, too. She wrote:

‘We've been having thousands of visitors to my site, so I linked to you w/ a blog. If you have a jpeg business card for the ranch, I can put that on my "information page" under "cool stuff".

Here's the blog link:

http://web.mac.com/nmkelby/www.nmkelby.com/Blog/Entries/2008/6/15_Cousin_Nancy.html

Hope all is well!

xo
n’

Wow, now I know what it is like to be blogged about! I checked out her blog immediately, and it too made me smile, as I listened to Phoebe Snow singing, ‘Poetry Man.’ I wrote Nicole a short note, thanking her for her sweet blog, along with our logo attachment, and I also told her—how much I had enjoyed reading, ‘Murder at The Bad Girls Bar & Grill.’

My third e was from another author friend of mine—Cindy Lou Ruffino. And, it too, made me smile. Cindy Lou wrote:

Nancy,
WOOO WHOOO!
I feel like I'm on a magic carpet ride. ‘Out of the Texas Mist’ is available on-line at Barnes and Noble, Amazon.com and at my publishers website http://publishamerica.com! When I came in from work today I had an e-mail that read your press releases have been sent to your media contacts. I was floored. I have been waiting to see my first book in print for quite awhile. I am amazed at how great it feels to have one of your dreams come true. The press release follows this little short note.

‘I want to thank you for your encouragement and friendship and thank you for helping me get the word out. I'll have to decorate a cake for you at work and bring it by on one of my days off. Would that be white, marble or chocolate? Butter-cream or non dairy whipped? lol

Who could believe that a scary dream that had me gasping for air and holding onto the headboard could end up as a mystery novel and be published. I remember waking from that dream my heart pounding in my chest gasping for air and saying "What in the heck was that?"

I remember sitting at work at the little tables by the deli and writing on my breaks and before work. I remember people asking me what I was doing and shyly saying writing a murder mystery. I remember having to hide it because of some of my co-workers sneaking my little purple notebook and reading as I wrote. The funny part was trying to explain who Kinky was and why I was dreaming about him to the younger girls I worked with—then getting teased about it. Now when everyone ask me when is your book coming out, I can say just go on line and order it. Okay here are the particulars:
Out of the Texas Mist
by Cindy Lou Ruffino
ISBN 1-60563-916-8

PublishAmerica Presents Out of the Texas Mist by Cindy Lou Ruffino

Frederick, MD June 16, 2008 -- PublishAmerica is proud to present Out of the Texas Mist by Cindy Lou Ruffino of Granite Shoals, Texas.

“After waking up in a strange vehicle, Cindy realizes that she is in danger. Using her head, she escapes then runs for her life through the dark woods. Waking the next morning in a mist-covered field, she ends up on the doorstep of a familiar-looking man with no idea who she is or where she is at.

With the help of this nice cowboy she finds out who she is, then finds out that she landed at the doorstep of her favorite author, Kinky Friedman. Together they try to find her kidnapper to clear her name once her cell phone is found in the hand of a badly mutilated woman. Once they discover the mutilated woman is just one of several, they begin to discover body after body as they get closer to finding the killer.

Cindy Lou Ruffino grew up in Houston, Texas. ‘Out of the Texas Mist,’ which started from a dream, was written on a spiral notebook before work and during breaks at her neighborhood Kroger, where she worked in the deli. Cindy lives with her Boston Terrier in the Texas Hill Country.”

Thanks so much for everything. Love ya, Cindy Lou’

As Willie Nelson sang, ‘Far Away Places,’ I wrote Cindy Lou a note from Outer Space, telling her how happy I was for her, and that I could not wait to read her book.

At 7:45 this morning—while Steve Martin was singing, ‘King Tut,’ two exciting things happened at the exact same time! Right when the bread machine buzzer announced that my miracle loaf was ready—Tony walked inside the trailer, wearing a big smile on his face, and carrying, in his hand, three Heirloom-Organic Serrano Peppers—which he had grown! Our first peppers!

While Steve sang, ‘He ate a crocodile. He gave his life—for tourism. Tut—Tut. Tut—Tut. Golden idle. Tut—Tut. Tut—Tut. Tut—Tut. He’s an Egyptian...’ I grabbed my camera! I quickly dumped out my miracle bread onto the cutting board and then placed Tony’s three peppers beside it. Snap!


‘King Tut. He could have won a Grammy. King Tut. Buried in his jammies...’


The phone rang. It was Kinky! And, we had a short conversation. As Stephen Stills began singing, ‘You Can’t Catch Me,’ the phone rang, again. It was Woody! He was calling to tell me that he and Rose would be coming out tomorrow for a visit, and he asked me to please tell Tony, “To start practicing, because ‘California Dreamin’’ was fixin’ to come out, and show him how real pool is played!’

Tony laughed when I gave him Woody’s message and he just shook his head. We can’t wait to meet Rose, and catch up with Woody, tomorrow! The Medina Bulldog Rules—at least for now!