Leather Gloves! or Farside! or Old Sunspot AR2665!

Yesterday was great. Around 10:00, Tony came into The Cabin, and said, "Nance, there are some people outside. They are real nice and Dan told me that before he and Jessie, go over to see Kinky, he really wants to meet you first."

"Okay."

"I think he's a musician. He's from Buffalo, New York. And he acts like he knows you and he loves our rescue ranch. I just finished giving them a tour."

"What's his name, again?"

"Dan Gailey." Hmm. His name did not ring a bell with me, but that was not unusual, because we do meet a lot of people. Anyway, I went outside to greet Dan and his friend Jessie, from Austin, who had volunteered for a friend to drive Dan, down to the ranch, so he could hook-up with Kinky and sit-in on the recordings.

I instantly liked Dan and Jessie, so we got to visiting. We talked about our mutual love for dogs and animals, how he knows Kinky and music, etc. And by the time we were done talking we learned that he is one of the co-producers on Kinky's upcoming, new CD, that he and Brian Molnar and several musicians are currently recording, over at the Annex.

After our fun visit with them, he and Jessie followed me and JJ, over to the Lodge, because they didn't know how to get over there. And a few minutes later, after Tony had finished doing his morning chores outside, Kermit brought him over to the Lodge. Bottom   Line: We had a lot of fun visiting with Kinky and everyone else that is involved with making this CD.

Late yesterday afternoon, I baked Kinky and his guests another one of my (Carol's) delicious, mouth-watering Chocolate Sheet Cakes and let's just say that Kinky was more than thrilled to receive it.

After I adios-ed everyone JJ (Cale) and I took off to go over to the property, where Tony was already working. Because I wanted to do some more painting on the boards, for our future kitchen counter top, that we are in the process of building. And the good news is—I didn't get one splinter. But the bad news is—those two, painful splinters are still wedged underneath my fingernail.

This is a what I accomplished yesterday, while wearing my new, pair of protective leather gloves, before we quit and came back home.

And yes, I have not begun to distress it like I was planning to, using the picture below, as my guide, because I am actually loving how it already looks. So we shall see. And if you're a betting person I suggest you bet on the boards above for being our counter top.

Today has been great. After I took care of some rescue ranch business this morning and after Tony had done his morning chores outside, we went, back over to the property, to do some more work.

Then we went to the Home Depot to buy a few more supplies. Then we went basically across the street and ate a delicious lunch at Randy's & Lisa's Save Inn Restaurant. And once again, we ordered the exact same thing—Sinker Omelets and iced teas and I highly recommend that you order it the next time you go to the Save Inn Restaurant.

After lunch we went, to Wolfmueller's Books, to visit with Sandy & Jon for a few minutes and to also pick up a couple of Mike Blakely's paperbacks: Comanche Dawn and Vendetta Gold that Sandy had found and was holding for us.

On our way back home Tony told me that he really wanted to read Comanche Dawn first, which was fine with me, because I've just started reading Marie Bostwick's great book Ties That Bind, Bostwick's fifth awesome book of her Cobbled Court Quilts novels. Seriously, Marie Bostwick has now become my favorite author and I highly recommend you read her novels, because you'll get hooked on her books, too. And that's a promise.

Before I finish writing this post I have one more thing I want you to know. This morning our good friend, Jim aka The Mineral Man sent me this informative Space Weather News link for July 23, 2017 and after reading their Space forecast it got me somewhat worried.

I was worrying, because it is also close to being M.I.R (Mercury In Retrograde) Time, again. Which officially begins on August 13th - September 5th. Anyway, I wanted to let you know about all of this, so you'll be prepared and understand why weird things might start going haywire with your travel plans, computer and other devices, etc.

Space Weather News for July 23, 2017 http://spaceweather.com https://www.facebook.com/spaceweatherdotcom MASSIVE EXPLOSION ON THE FARSIDE OF THE SUN: On July 23rd, NASA and European spacecraft observed a massive explosion on the far side of the sun. A spectacular CME tore through the sun's atmosphere and it now appears to be en route to Mars. Earth will not feel the effects of the blast because of its location on the opposite side of the sun. However, the source of the eruption, old sunspot AR2665, will turn back toward our planet in early August, possibly bringing a new round of geomagnetic storms and auroras. Read all about it on today's edition of Spaceweather.com.

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

Time Will Tell!

Yesterday was so great, because Tony and I were doing so well dieting. But early in the evening, when we went over to Carol's ranch for a fun visit with her & Bill, out of the deck, we totally blew our diet when we got back home. Because Carol had given us two slices of her freshly, baked, secret, chocolate sheet cake to take home with us.

Even though Tony had no idea that he was dieting with me and it was our very first day of officially going on a diet together he and I immediately consumed Carol's mouth-watering cake as soon as we got back home.

And it was well worth it, with no regrets, because it was the best tasting chocolate cake that we have ever eaten. And here's a picture of our two slices of Carol's cake, before we enjoyed devouring them. And please note that I did eat the smaller slice, because that means that I did a much better job dieting than Tony.

Later on in the evening I decided not to beat myself up and feel guilty about blowing our diet on the very first day. And I also decided to relax and read more of Mike Blakely's fabulous, can't-put-it -down, novel Short Grass Song. The 1994, first edition book, that Mike had inscribed and given to his dear friend Tim, because Tim had given Mike the "shirt off his back," when Mike had needed it most. 

Anyway, before I sat down and started to read I stopped and took this cute picture of Henry, sitting on top of our cedar, coffee table, that Tony had made for me over twenty-one years ago. Along with Henry's sidekick, Lori Darlin,' standing in my chair, while sweet Belle watched the ending of a Hallmark romance movie, while resting on my hand-painted rug.

And after I had forcibly removed Lori Darlin,' from my chair, I took this close-up of stubborn, Henry Standing Bear, refusing to get off of the coffee table.

Today has been great. Tony and I started our first day of dieting, again. And so far we're sticking to it. But I am already starting to have my doubts about if we will be successful dieting today, because in just a couple of hours, we're picking up Carol so she can ride with us to the Western Edge Cellars, in Fredville, for Stephen K. Morris' weekly, Sunday, 4:00 - 7:00 music show that he will be hosting. So I guess time will tell. If I decide to tell. : )

Anyway, it is now 1:45, in the afternoon and as I finish writing this post I want you to know that I am taking Mike Blakey's fabulous book Short Grass Song with me today, just in case he shows up, at the Western Edge Cellars. 

Because if Mike Blakely does show up I am planning to ask him to please scratch out Tim's name and replace it with Tony's and my names, but to please leave the rest of what he wrote to his dear friend Tim, because Tony and I want to give Mike one of our size large or extra large, Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch T-shirts to wear for luck. 

And then that will make his/Tim/our book even more valuable when we find out who this Tim is and somehow get to give it back to him. We're talking' priceless.

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

Mike Blakely! or A Friend Named Tim!

Yesterday we had so much fun, because Tony and I met our good friends Eva Robinett & Stephen K. Morris for lunch, at the Thai O'Cha Restaurant. We have been good friends with them for many, many years and it had been a while since we last saw them. In fact, we last saw them, at The Auslander, but the last time we got to visit with them was when Hans & Marita were visiting, from Norway. And they also have property, in Terlingua, but they live in Fredericksburg, so we decided that Kerrville would be a good halfway point for us to meet. Unless we all wanted to drive out to Terlingua and meet for lunch at the Bad Rabbit Cafe.

Anyway we had so much catching up to do with them while we ate our delicious lunch. They all ordered the famous #4 that Tony and always get, but this time I just ordered their Soup & Salad Bar buffet, because my 501 Levis were about to burst at the seams.

During lunch they told us that Stephen is still hosting his awesome "Outsider Songwriter Spotlight" series every Sunday from 4 -7, but he is now hosting his show, at the Western Edge Cellars, at 228 Main Street, in Fredtown. And he is noe taping the live music events and it now airs on the new, solar radio station TABC (Texas American Blues Cajun music). So Tony and I are definitely planning to go see Stephen's show this coming Sunday. And of course y'all are invited, too.

Also while we were catching up we started talking about great movies (PAUL to be exact) and books. I told them about that great book that I recently loved reading A Man Named Ove and then they told us about their dear friend Mike Blakely.

"We love Mike," Stephen said, as Eva nodded her head in agreement. "He's written 18 award-winning novels and he's up there with Larry McMurtry, James Michener and Marilyn Durham. Y'all would love reading his books."

"Mike is also is a very talented singer and songwriter!" Eva stated. "He's got 11 or 12 CDs out there and his songs have been recorded by Alan Jackson, Gary P. Nunn, Red Steagall, Johnny Bush and....."

"We'll definitely check him out," I said. "I'm sure Sandy & Jon have his books."

After our great lunch and fun visit with our friends we were about to leave when Stephen suggested that we go to Wolfmueller's Books. "We'll follow y'all."

When we got outside, Stephen & Eva pulled their cell phones out and told us that they had asked one of the restaurants great waitresses to come outside and take a picture of the four of us. And about that time she walked outside wearing a pretty, big smile on her face. "Hi, I'm Nancy," I said, as I pulled my cell phone out of my purse.

"Hi. I'm Tory."

"Tory, I want a picture too, if you don't mind," I said. "But please shoot from the waist up and don't make me look fat." Tory laughed, while I handed her my phone.

"Okay, smile," Tory directed. Then she took a couple of pictures on my cell phone and then she took pictures of us using Stephen's & Eva's cell phones. Here is Tory's picture.

And here is Tory's picture of us posing—not really, because she made me look fat and it wasn't her fault.

We had a fun time at Wolfmueller's Books. Jon & Sandy helped Stephen find A Man Named Ove and he bought it. Then Sandy took us over to the bookcase where Mike Blakely's novels were and they had a lot of his books and I didn't know which one to buy. "I'm reading that one right now," Eva said as she pointed at it."It is so good!"

So I took Eva's recommendation and picked Mike Blakely's book Shortgrass Song. And as we were walking up to the checkout counter I opened Mike's book, and said, "Omg, it's a first edition and it is signed! How cool is that?!" Then I thumbed a few pages to find his autograph and chuckled, because Mike had inscribed it to a friend named Tim. 

"What?" Sandy asked.

"He signed it to a friend named Tim. Occasionally, I will go on Amazon and buy a few copies of my used/signed book, by UT Press The Road to Utopia: How Kinky, Tony & I Saved More Animals Than Noah and give them away, because they are a lot cheaper for me to buy than new ones. And I always find it funny when I recognize a friend's name that I gave a book to. 

"Let me see," Stephen said. "I want to take a picture of it and send it to Mike. I bet he'll get a kick out of it." So I stood back so Stephen could take a picture. And when we got back home I took off my too-tight Levis and replaced them with black sweat pants and then I took this picture of  Mike Blakely's book and then I took a picture of what Mike had written to his friend Tim.

And before I finish writing this post I want to wish our dear friend, sweet Eva Robinett a very Happy Birthday today! And that is about it for tonight, because I am fixin' to start reading Shortgrass Song by Mike Blakely.

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