Raptors, Blue Max & Miles of Chocolate!

Today has been great. Tony and I have been really busy this week and I apologize for not blogging as much. Before I tell you about today I want to put in a plug for some of our dear friends.

Our good friends, Linda & Kevin Pillow, the super nice owners of Wild Birds Unlimited, in Kerrville, where our dear friend Marguerite also works, is doing the coolest thing this Saturday and Tony is going to try to go to it, while I keep our rescue ranch open to visitors and possible adopters.

I copied this from their website: "Last Chance Forever Will Be Joining us in Celebrating our 10th Anniversary on Saturday 10/11 2014 from 11 am until 2 pm. Please stop by and spend some time with these beautiful creatures. We never know who LCF will bring us!" This is the handout they gave to us the other day.

 Our dear friend Chet O'Keefe, who has been out here for a few days helping us, is leaving tomorrow morning, to play a gig at the the Blue Max, in Midland, Texas, tomorrow night and we wish that we could be there!

A while back, Chet became a member of Bridget London's "Last Honky Tonk Music Series" that is so cool. It sustains the artists, sustains the venues and sustains the community. And that is how Chet got this gig, in Midland. I hope that all of my friends and followers of my blog, in the Permian Basin area will go see Chet tomorrow night, because y'all will definitely love his music. And don't forget to tell Chet that Tony and I say, "Howdy!"

Miles of Chocolate, voted the Best Chocolate in Austin, for 5 years, can now be purchased at our dear friend Debbie's famous Old Timer, in Medina! So now if Central Market and Whole Foods, etc. are just too far away to drive, you can go to the Old Timer to get your chocolate fix for the day. 

This past Tuesday, a very nice man called me to ask for help. He told me that he has been fighting cancer for quite a long time and that he had just finished his last radiation treatment. He told me that because he has been in so ill and in so much pain, his doctors put him on some heavy pain killers, that he unfortunately got addicted to. "Those pills caused me great depression and nearly killed me. All I did was cry all of the time, so I got professional help. I am fixing to go into rehab, for at least a month to cure me of this horrible addiction....My problem is that I have four dogs. Two loving, older Labrador Retrievers that I must keep and last year I rescued these two little dogs, two separate times, running down the highway. I need to find a safe place for the two little dogs that I rescued, so I can go into rehab. They are very sweet, loving little dogs..."

His sad story broke my heart and I told him that I needed to talk to Tony about it and would call him back within the hour. Well, I talked to Tony about it and we both agreed that we needed to help this man's situation. When I called the man back to tell him that we could take his two little dogs and would find great homes for them and to please drop them off at Hoegemeyer Animal Clinic for us, he would not quit thanking me. Then I went over to the Lodge and told Kinky about this man and his two little dogs. To say the least, "Kinky was glad that we were going to help him with his two small dogs."

Wednesday evening, I went over to Kinky's for a visit and after our fun visit, on his front porch, with The Friedmans, we decided to go on a hike with his four spoiled dogs. During our hike Kinky told me that he had been at Hoegemeyers, picking up Sophie and Mr. P. after being groomed, when the man came in to drop off the two small dogs. "Nance, he only dropped off one precious little dog, that you are going to fall in love with. I guarantee you. It is the cutest little thing."

"He only dropped off one?" I asked.

"Yes, he told Susan and me that his neighbor had offered to give his little, female Pug mix a forever home..."

This afternoon, after Chet, Tony and I ate lunch together, Tone and I took off for Kerrville, to go pick up the man's dog, Mindy, that has now been rescued twice. 

Oh my goodness! Mindy stole our hearts immediately and she sat in my lap and kissed me on the face, all of the way back to the rescue ranch. When we arrived at the ranch, Tony put Mindy in the alley between Buddy's and Mandy's & Bandy's, because we were hoping that she and Buddy would meet, between the fence and become fast friends, so she and Buddy could be roommates. 

Mindy is about one to two-years-old and one of the sweetest dogs and here's a picture of her, in the alley.

Forty five minutes later, when Karon and the girls came over to walk our dogs for us, we asked them to please walk Mindy and Buddy together, in hopes that the dogs wanted to be pen mates. Here's a picture that I took of Buddy and Mindy down by the creek, before the girls put the new best friends back into Buddy's pen. And that's about it for tonight—Life Is Good.

Y'all have a great evening!

Mari, Eileen, George Carlin, Judith, Ben, Carol, Dennis & Boomer!

Today has been great. Early this morning, after making me a delicious cup of Green Mountain's Donut Shop Coffee, I sat down, at the kitchen table and checked my e-mail. After I had gone down the line and deleted several e-mails, trying to sell me stuff that I don't want or need, I opened my dear friend, Mari's note to read and it instantly made my day great. And it was early!

The reason that Mari's note to me made me so happy was because she wanted me to please let her adopt Daisy, the young, yellow Lab, that we rescued yesterday! In her note. Mari told me why it was so important for her to adopt Daisy from us and it put a giant grin on my face, but that is confidential. Anyway, Mari is coming out Monday to adopt this adorable, lucky pup.

When Tony came home, after drinking coffee with his friends, at the Old Timer, he read Mari's note to me and like me—it put a smile on his face and made his day, too. Then he told me, "Karon told me that she is pretty sure that her friends want to adopt Daisy's brother, Roscoe..." So, we are keeping our fingers crossed that he gets adopted, too.

A little later, in the morning, our good friends/ great volunteers came out to walk our dogs and to finally, get to give Eileen a surprise birthday party. For the past three weeks everyone has been talking behind Eileen's back, about having to cancel and reschedule her surprise birthday party, due to weather, etc. And today, thanks to Suzanne, who supplied Eileen's birthday cake—we surprised Eileen and celebrated her birthday, at the Medina Highpoint Resort.

After the dogs had been walked and everyone was ready to go eat lunch, at the Medina Highpoint Resort, Suzanne whispered to me, "Nancy, stall Eileen for a few minutes, so we can get things set up, before she arrives. Then Suzanne took off in her Ford Mustang convertible.

"Eileen, wait a second, I want to introduce you to Daisy and Rosco...," I said, as the volunteers started their engines. Then I said, "Oh, Eileen, I want you to see the article about George Carlin, in this week's Bandera County Courier. Our friend, Judith Pannebaker wrote it and it is about you and June taking George to the DockDog Expo, at the San Antone Rodeo, last Thursday." Then I handed her the newspaper, so she could take the time to read the great article. (Click here, to read the great article.)

After Eileen had read and told me that she loved Judith's article about George, she adios-ed me and took off for the Medina Highpoint Resort. Then Tony and I called in our lunch order and took off, in Buttermilk, to eat lunch and celebrate Eileen's birthday.

Eileen's surprise birthday party had already started when we arrived and walked inside with me carrying Eileen's gift (a bottle of Cowgirl Sisterhood Wine.) and Tony carrying a gigantic brick of Ben's Miles of Chocolate, that he had given to us last Sunday. We first wished Eileen a Happy Birthday and then I went to our table and announced, "Y'all, Ben was here on Sunday and he gave us two bricks of Miles of Chocolate. And Tony and I want to share it with y'all. I brought foil and we will divide it up after lunch." Then I took these pictures of Eileen's delicious birthday cake and some of Tony's and my favorite people—the volunteers.

During the party, Eileen opened up her gifts and hilarious birthday cards and she passed them around the table for all of us to read and laugh. When Eileen got to Suzanne's gifts, her jaw dropped, when she saw the beautiful bracelet and framed picture. Then her jaw, dropped down a little further, when she saw the cookbook, because she is an Elvis fan big time, like Kris and Suzanne are.

And, to say the least, "Eileen's surprise Birthday party was a total blast. So now, after surprising Eileen, I can officially say, Happy Birthday Eileen! Because I had wanted her to think that we had all forgotten about it."

This evening, as soon as Carol got off work, she called me from the parking lot, "Nancy, today I met someone you know!"

"Who?"

"His name is Dennis."

"Dennis Lanning," I said. "Tony and I love Dennis. Ten years ago, we met him when he came out and adopted our dog, Boomer.  Boomer was a great dog and he went everywhere with Dennis. In fact, Boomer wrote a Kindle book MUTTweiler: An Autodogography by Boomer about his adventures with Dennis. And, the rescue ranch, Tony and I are in it, too. I've blogged about it in the past. It's a great book to read and a lot of fun."

"I know," Carol said. "When Dennis asked me where I was from and I told him Medina. Then he says I adopted a dog in Medina. And, that is how it all got started. Dennis is such a nice man and he really loves y'all. You and Tony know some of the coolest people on the planet. And I am not kidding you, when I tell you this, he and his friends were the most fun group of wine tasters today. They were so much fun and..." And that is about it for tonight, except I want to say, "Hi Dennis! Please come see us sooner than later and bring your friends,too. We'll get Carol over here, too!"

Y'all have a great evening!

Another Seven Miles of Chocolate!

Today has been great. This morning after Tony and I did our chores outside, I called our dear friend, Ben Welch, to invite him and Will to come over for another fun visit, before they returned to Austin. "That sounds great, Nancy," Ben said. "I was planning to come over anyway, because I also have another brick of Miles of Chocolate to give to you and Tony, in case y'all want to give some to the volunteers..."

Around noon, as I was just starting to cook lunch, Ben walked inside the trailer, carrying another big brick of Miles of Chocolate. "Thank you, Ben," I said, as he put it into the freezer. Then I told him about me craving a milkshake yesterday and then using a piece of Miles of Chocolate, strawberries, milk and vanilla ice cream to make two delicious milkshakes and he laughed.

"Nancy, I've been telling you and Tony about using Miles of Chocolate milkshakes with fruit for years."

"I guess I forgot. Anyway, we loved it."

"Next time try using bananas instead of strawberries," Ben suggested. "Y'all will love it too." Then the three of us had a fun visit inside The Cabin.

Before Ben left to go back over to Kinky's, Tony and I took him to see Tony's beautiful garden and he was very impressed with it. So, before he drove away, we gave Ben some of Tony's ripe tomatoes and yellow squash.

Late this afternoon, Tony and I fixed Miles of Chocolate with strawberries, milk and ice cream milkshakes for Brandon, Karen, Sophia and Haley, to try, after they had painted two doghouses for us.
And they thought they were absolutely delicious too.

So now, before I go cut up another seven Miles of Chocolate and vacuum seal them, I am thinking about having a Friday Social for our friends/volunteers, in The Okay Corral, when they come out to walk our dogs on Friday. Because they are always craving Miles of Chocolate. I know when we serve them the delicious Miles of Chocolate with banana and or strawberry milkshakes, we will then surprise them and give them each a mile of chocolate to take back home with them.

I took this picture of a brick of Miles of Chocolate, so you can see how big a small brick actually is. And that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

The Oregoneers! or Seven Miles Of Chocolate!

Yesterday and today have been great. Yesterday morning our super friends/volunteers came out to walk our dogs for us. Our dear friends Kris & Jim Bobbitt brought Kris' sister Karen and her husband Mitch, who were visiting them from Oregon, because Tony and I could not wait to meet them.

Like Tony and me, our great volunteer friends instantly liked Karen and Mitch and the dogs that Karen and Mitch walked loved taking walks with the Oregoneers.

After all of the dogs had been walked and had enjoyed a swim, we jumped in our cars and trucks and took off for Koyote Ranch's Koyote Grill to eat lunch.

When we arrived at Koyote Grill, Carol had just arrived, because she wanted to visit with the friends/volunteers and to also meet Karen and Mitch.

Our table of ten was filled with non-stop laughter and hilarious tales and Karen, who has read my first novella was thrilled to meet Carol, the better half of our Cowgirl Sisterhood. "Carol's not really a retired astronaut," I joked to Karen. Then Carol and Kris and I had a good laugh amongst ourselves discussing my second novella, because Kris had just edited my second novella for me, that I let Carol read in advance. To say the least, "I had a blast at lunch and I love these volunteers who I count as dear friends."

After lunch Tony and I went to the big H-E-B, in Kerrville, to buy more groceries, because our dear friends Ben Welch and Will Wallace were coming to visit Kinky and us for the weekend.

When we got back home I pulled out a present that I had secretly bought for Tony, at H-E-B. "Thanks, Nance, but what is it?" Tony asked, after I gave it to him.

"It's an onion grill brush. Jim told me that he bought one to clean his grill. And he loves his and I bought you a big sweet yellow onion, too..."

Last night Will, Ben and Carol came over for a happy hour and it was a lot of fun.

Early this evening, after taking a thirty minute nap with Roy and Mama, I woke up wanting a milkshake and by the time I made it into the kitchen I had decided to make a milkshake for Tony and me using Vanilla ice cream, strawberries, milk and a chunk of Miles of Chocolate, because Ben had brought Tony and me a brick of his and Miles famous Miles of Chocolate. 

After adding the four ingredients into Jaws, I took this picture before blending it.

Then Tony poured our milkshakes. The Miles of Chocolate brick is right behind the shakes.

Our milkshakes were the best milkshakes that we have ever had. In other words, "Absolutely delicious!  After we finished drinking our tasty shakes, I decided to cut up the Miles of Chocolate brick and freeze individual packages, so we could eat or drink just a little at a time. I took this pictures of the first vacuum sealed Miles of Chocolate.

And in no time flat, I had seven Miles of Chocolate vacuum sealed packages to put into our freezer!

Then I sat down and wrote this. And that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

A Bed Of Chocolate!

Yesterday was a great day, because late in the day, we went to Kinky's Man In Black Tequila bottle signing party at Spec's, in Kerrville and we had a blast. The gigantic liquor store was packed with all kinds of people, standing in line to get Kinky to sign their bottles of Man In Black tequila, along with a few guitars and one ukelele.

Before they sold out of Kinky's tequila, Tony and I took a lot of pictures of Kinky's and our friends. I love this black and white picture that Tony took of Kinky's tequila business partner Brian Kanof.

Dylan Ferrero and Little Jewford

Gerry Olert, Little Jewford and Kink

Jay Pennington, Big G and yours truly

Jay Pennington with Little Jewford

Max Swafford with L.J.

My favorite videographer, Gerry Olert and guess who?

Today has been good, but it is fixing to be great, because our dear friends Leisa and Rick, "The Friendly Lighthouse Keeper" from Port A, will be arriving here, around 7:30 and we can't wait to see them.

Earlier today, after I did some paperwork, I cleaned our trailer, vacuumed the walls and ceiling on the front porch and Outer Space and then Tony and I went out to my writing cabin to get it ready for our friends. 

While we were making up their bed I started laughing, "Tony, instead of putting a little piece of chocolate on their pillowcases, like they do at fancy hotels, we should get Ben's three, giant bricks of Miles of Chocolate out of the freezer and put them in the middle of the bed." Tony chuckled about it. "Rick would get a kick out of seeing a bed of chocolate—his bed of chocolate, and he would feel good about you paying off the kayak."

So, in about thirty minutes, we are going to go outside to put the three, frozen bricks of Miles of Chocolate on Leisa and Rick's bedspread—then T. will officially be the new owner of his kayak as soon as Rick sees it. And that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

Leader Of The Pack!

Today has been great. This afternoon we met our friends Denise & Les and Debbie & Craig, at Billy Gene's restaurant, for lunch and Tony and I had a blast, because all of them have a great sense of humor and they made us laugh a lot.

The topics of our conversation ranged from wardrobe mistakes, trail riding on gaseous horses, tricked-out car conversions made on an old Cadillac and VWs, Miles of Chocolate, vacuuming up Lady Bugs and relocating them outside of the house, H-E-B's "That Green Sauce," wild feral hogs, Miles of Chocolate, cows, bulls and kayaking, etc., but the most interesting subject was about this new Lobo Beer, brewed at the Pedernales Brewing Company, in Fredericksburg, Texas, that Debbie and Craig are involved in.

"You've got to make a beer float using the Lobo Negro and vanilla ice cream!" Denise said. "It is so delicious and to me it tastes like coffee."

"I think it tastes more like chocolate," Debbie chimed in, "and The Cowboy Steak House is serving the beer and the floats." And by the time everyone had convinced us to try it, as soon as possible, lunch was over and we were standing outside next to Les & Denise's car, with the back hatch up, accepting two complimentary six-packs of Lobo Beer and Lobo Negro Beer.

After all of us had hugged and adios-ed Debbie & Craig and they had taken off to go vote early, they told us that they wanted to adopt our Cosmo Topper, because he had truly stolen Denise's heart, last Saturday when they were out here! "For the past two nights I haven't been able to sleep, because I can't quit thinking about him," Denise said. So, then we made plans for them to come out around 3:30 today, so we could run a few errands, like stopping by H-E-B to pick up some of Blue Bell's Homemade Vanilla ice cream, before returning to the ranch.

When Les & Denise arrived at the rescue ranch, we quickly hugged each other and then we drove down to Cosmo's and Lulu's pen, because Denise couldn't wait to see her precious Cosmo Topper. And when we arrived at his and Lulu's pen, Cosmo lit up like a Christmas tree the second he saw it was Denise. "I think he already knows what's going on," I said, as Mr. Topper happily ran to the fence trying to get to Denise. And here is a picture I took of Cosmo with his new fantastic, forever family that he is so lucky to have.

After thanking them for adopting Cosmo from us, we hugged and adios-ed each other and then they drove away with one extremely happy dog. Then Kermit took us up to The Cabin, so we could make the Lobo Negro float using Blue Bell's Homemade Vanilla ice cream. 

Since it was a little too early for happy hour we decided to just split one Lobo Negro beer for our floats. And guess what? It was delicious and we couldn't believe it. 

Lobo Beer is new to the market, but you can buy it at The Main Liquor stores, in Kerrville and at The Grape Juice on Water Street and the Cowboy Steak House. And get this—the motto for the Lobo Beer is, "Leader of the Pack!" And they certainly got that right.

Y'all have a great evening!

Let's Make A Deal! or That Green Sauce!

Today has been great, but first I must tell you about last night when Rick called me at 8:01.

Ever since Fourth, Tony and I got back from our Port Aransas trip there has been a running joke going on between Rick and me about what the fair price Tony should pay him for the big, blue kayak, that months ago had drifted up to the shore, of the privately owned island—that nobody ever claimed, even though Rick ran ads in the newspapers and tried to track down the owners.

Tone and I have spent our spare time this past week surfing on the Internet, checking out prices of new and used "Whitewater: The Ride" kayaks and we didn't know what to offer Rick for the blue vessel, because the prices ranged anywhere from $1,000.00 to $100.00 we were confused.

T. and I already knew that it was seaworthy, that it could withstand the force of high winds, created from Fourth's fast driving and that it needed a few replacement straps, etc.—but we didn't know how old it was. So, Rick and I have been back and fourth on the phones trying to get the other to name a price.

Last night when Rick called he said, "Cousin Nancy, I've figured it out. Let's make a deal!"

"Okay. I'm ready."

"Tony can have the kayak for three bricks of Miles of Chocolate and $13.26! What do you think?" I was shocked by his incredibly low price.

"It sounds like a great deal, but are you sure, Rick?" I asked. "We can certainly do that, but why a check for $13.26?" Rick started laughing.

"That's what the ads cost me..."

After I had told Rick about buying him a Snark, all instrument turner and that it had just been delivered to me earlier in the day, we adios-ed each other and disconnected. Then I half-hollered, down the hallway, "Tony, you're not going to believe what Rick wants for the kayak!..." Needless to say, "T. was grinning ear-to-ear with the good news about his kayak." Thank you, Rick!

This morning when Tony and I went outside to do our morning chores, I could not wait to see how Chad and Jeremy and Guinevere were doing and I am proud to announce that they all seemed happy and doing fine.

Early this afternoon, our good friends Denise and Les, from Kerrville, came out to see us and they brought along their good friends, Debbie and Craig, who are the nice people that had originally rescued Chad & Jeremy and as soon as we met them we knew we liked them, because like Les and Denise, and us—they are also big time animal lovers.

After howdies, hugs and handshakes we gave them a tour, which was filled with laughter, so they could meet all of our dogs and then visit with Chad & Jeremy. We started the tour in the Okay Corral, then we went inside my pretty, pink writing cabin and they loved what they saw.

When we got to talking about our chickens and their delicious, colorful eggs, we went into the pigpen, so they could meet The Golden Girls and see The Egg Palace, because Debbie and Craig were interested in how we had built ours, because they were thinking of getting some chickens.

By the time we walked out of the pigpen Debbie was excited, because they had decided they were  definitely going to buy some chickens, after meeting The Golden Girls, as soon as Craig builds their chicken coop.

After the tour, we came up to The Cabin to show them our home improvements inside and then we went out into Outer Space and had a fun visit and trust me—it was filled with a lot of laughter.

A little after 2:00, after we had given each couple three fresh farm eggs, to take home with them, they told us about H-E-B's delicious green sauce called, That Green Sauce and how delicious it was on eggs and had suggested we buy some, we all hugged each other and then we adios-ed each other and then our great, four friends drove away, to go eat lunch, in Medina.

An hour later, while I was doing some paperwork, Tony invited me to go to Medina, to check out the town's annual Medina Garage Sale, "This morning there were four kayaks for sale and they were really cheap." So, I grabbed my purse and we jumped into Trigger and took off for Medina, because I want a kayak.

When we pulled up to the place where T. had seen the kayaks for sale—there was only one left and it was a pretty turquoise color, so we went to check it out. After Gilbert introduced himself to us and had told us that he too was good friends with our good friends, Carol and Calvin, at Cal-Bob's Smoke Shack on Hwy. 16, close to I-10, I was hoping that Gilbert would sell me the kayak for three bricks of Miles of Chocolate and $13.26 too, but he didn't, but his price was pretty close to it, so I wrote him a check for it and then we loaded my kayak into the back of Trigger, tied it down, and came home with another kayak, which made our dogs bark when they saw it sticking out of the back of the Trigger.

Even though it is not near as big or as fancy as Tony's cheaper kayak, I am thrilled to have it and tomorrow afternoon, T. is going to help me get into it and then launch me on my first maiden voyage, so please wish me luck and say a prayer that I won't turn it over or sink to the bottom and have to bail out.

Early this evening when Kinky called me, from the road, to tell me that he will be back at the ranch around 8:00 tonight, he laughed when I told him about me buying a kayak today, because we have a private joke between us about kayaks. And that's about it for tonight. Ship Ahoy!

Y'all have a great evening!

Super Full Moon!

Today has been great and a lot of fun for me, because before Tony, Ben and I went out to do our morning chores—Ben and I had a fantastic jam session, inside The Cabin! "Ben, you have really gotten good on your mandolin!" I declared, as we picked and played Keb' 'Mo's song, Life Is Beautiful."

While Ben and me played our music (Our versions of some Willie Nelson, Zak Brown, Gary Stewart, Tom Waits, Neil Young, Eagles, Alabama, Kinky, Mickey Gilley, Taj Mahal, Merle Haggard and Bruce Springsteen songs—Tony was outside, in The Egg Palace, gathering The Golden Girls' pretty, colorful eggs.

Late this afternoon, Ben helped Tony load up his-soon-to-be used kayak that he is going to buy from Rick, The Friendly Lighthouse Keeper and then the three of us went down to the creek, so Tony could try it out, so I shot them.

When T. finally came back to the shore he said, "Wow! I want to buy this from Rick..." Then Ben jumped on the kayak and took off paddling, so he could check it out for Tony.

Early this evening, after Ben had left to go back home to Austin with his dogs, Tony and I went outside and put The Golden Girls back inside The Egg Palace and then I came back inside to return a few phone calls, while Tone stayed outside to water our garden and flowers, in the Okay Corral and when he came back inside The Cabin he was grinning-ear-to-ear, "Look, Nance. Our first four peppers..." So I shot them on our kitchen table, before putting them into the refrigerator.

And that is about it for tonight, because we are fixin' to go outside, so T. can shoot the "Super Full Moon."

Y'all have a great evening!

It Was A Sign! or What-"A"-Vacation!

Our fun trip, with Fourth driving us down to Port Aransas, to see Leisa and Rick and spend the night on the privately owned island was more than great—it was a total blast.

We left Medina around 7:00, in Fourth's gigantic truck and it was so high up, off of the ground, I had to use his handy step stool just to climb up into the backseat, which Tony thought was pretty funny and so did I.

We made our first pit stop in Devine to eat breakfast at Big A's Tacos and my Huevos Rancheros were delicious or better yet, "They were devine."

On our way to Pleasanton we told Fourth about this really cool sign there that reads: Peace Love & Oil, which all of us thought was funny and extremely clever, because it has recently become an oil boom town, so when we saw the sign, Fourth pulled off of the highway, so he and Tony could shoot it—with their cameras.

I think it was in Sinton, while we were at stopped at a red light, Tony and Fourth pulled out their cameras and shot a crane erecting a giant, new What-A-Burger sign, which I instantly interpreted it to be a sign, but I didn't know why, yet.

When we arrived in Port Aransas we decided to first eat lunch at the new What-A-Burger, before we called Rick to please come and pick us up, to take us out to the beautiful island and while we waited on Rick and Leisa, I phoned this para sailing place, that Rick had recommended to me, so I could go para sailing and remove it from my bucket list.

When we arrived at the island I helped the men unload our gear and then I put on this stupid-looking old-ladies' bathing suit and the next thing you know I was up in the air—screaming and flying around like the Pelicans, which Rick has affectionately nicknamed—"The Port A Coast Guard." Tony took these pictures of me, high as a kite and a squadron of Port A's finest flying in formation.

While I was up there flying around, while saying big-time prayers about not crashing when I landed, scaring away the tourists, in my ugly bathing suit and getting a birds eye view of everything, Fourth was on the top of the lighthouse getting a birds eye view, too, so Tony shot him too, so Fourth could prove to his friends that he had done it and could remove it from his bucket list.

And I love this picture of Fourth, because it makes me laugh, because Tony caught him off guard as he was climbing to his feet and he looks like he is doing some kind of fancy Karate maneuver.

When the people brought me back to the island I was so proud of myself for para sailing and so were our friends and after I had put on some more decent clothes—the party began, because we were on "island time."

While we visited with Rick and the guys took hundreds of pictures, Leisa cooked us up a delicious dinner. Then we sat on Rick's porch telling hilarious tales and laughing.

Early this morning, while we sat out on Rick's porch drinking coffee, Tony took this awesome sunrise picture and I love it. Then we ate breakfast, hung around for a little while digging up some sand and picking up seashells and then Rick took us back to Port Aransas, with a kayak aboard the boat, so Tony could take it home to try it out to see if he wanted to buy it from Rick.

Here is a great picture that T. took of Fourth, standing outside his truck, as the ferry took us to the mainland.

On our way back home, we stopped at the What-A-Burger, in Pleasanton for lunch and we got to laughing and joking about how our fun Port A trip had gotten a food theme—all with A's in it. Port A, Big A's Tacos, two What-A-Burger meals, so I said, "The title of my blog tonight is going to be, "What-"A"-Vacation!" And we laughed about it all of the way home and that is what the sign was for.

I'm fixin' to go to bed now and that is about it for tonight, but I must confess that everything I've written tonight is true, except for me going para sailing—"You've got to be kidding! I'd never do that, especially in a bathing suit! Thank you, Ben, Rick & Leisa and Fourth for our wonderful 33 hour vacation."

Y'all have a great evening!

Breakfast At The Cabin! or Squirt Wins Again!

Today has been a lot of fun. This morning Will and Ben came over with some of Will's groceries, so Will could fix all of us his favorite breakfast.

As we sipped our coffees, Will went to work preparing our meal and at one point Ben went to the sink to help him crack up the eggs. And when their backs were facing me I joked, "Do y'all always dress alike?" Then I snapped this picture of them wearing Miles of Chocolate sweatshirts, like the ones Ben gave to Tony and me, when he gave Will's his.

After they shot back some funny remarks, which I am not going to repeat, Will showed me how to cook his breakfast. "I toast the English muffins first, then I add cheese to the bottom muffin, then I add scrambled eggs and then I top it off with thinly sliced ham, cooked in butter. It's so easy."

There was complete silence as we ate Will's delicious breakfast, but after I had cleaned my plate I said, "We've got to go to town to get groceries today and I am going to buy all of your ingredients and make this for us in the morning. This was absolutely delicious! Why don't y'all join us for breakfast tomorrow morning?"

"Thanks, Nance," Ben said, "but I can't, because I'm going back to Austin later this afternoon."

"What time do you want me over here?" Will asked.

After I had cleaned up the kitchen all of us went outside to do the chores and it was a lot of fun, because we all took turns teasing each other about this or that.

This afternoon we went to Kerrville to buy groceries and then we came home, so I could cook lunch for us and that is about it for today, because tonight I am watching the Academy Awards.

P.S. Early this evening, my dear friend Rick, "The Friendly Lighthouse Keeper" in Port Aransas called me with some exciting news. "Hi, Nancy! Check your e-mail. Squirt (Leisa's cute little dog) just won the race for the third year in a row! I just sent you a press release about it..."

News Release from Rick----------------

In spite of recent hip surgery, Squirt ( racing under the psudonym of "The mighty A** Squirt") took all honors at the Port Aransas Weenie dog and small dog races for the third year in a row.

After a handy win in the small dog races TMAS boldly challenged the winner of the weenie dog races for a winner takes all match. Tension was high and much was made of the possibility of the weenie resorting to underhanded and unsportsmanlike conduct. 

The first race was disqualified as a result of TMAS being attacked and run off the track by said weenie.

Second race was close and TMAS managed to cross the finish line in spite of the aforementioned weenie biting TMAS on his mighty a**. The crowd generally agreed that when running a dog race the dog getting bit on the a** is most likely ahead of the dog doing the biting."

This is a picture of Leisa and Squirt, taken last year, after Squirt won the small dog races.

Y'all have a great evening! Squirt Rules!

An Early Christmas!

Today has been great. This morning at 7:45 I called Harley to do his popular radio show and it was a lot of fun. Harley's Pet of the Week was Little Sister, the adorable little Chihuahua four-month-old pup that we have since renamed Peggy, because she is the size of my pretty, pink Princess Phone, that Eileen gave to me a few weeks ago.

This morning when Ben walked inside The Cabin, his jaw dropped when he saw the wood on the walls of our old trailer. "Wow, this looks beautiful..." After he had admired our pretty Swedish pine walls he complimented us on our woodworking skills, then he started unpacking several bricks of  Miles of Chocolate and three homemade pies that he had baked for us, "Merry Christmas, y'all."

"Thank you, so much Ben," Tony and I replied. "We love the pies you make and of course your and Miles chocolate," Tony said."How much do we owe you for Sandy and Jon's brick of Miles of Chocolate?" I asked.

Ben shook his head sideways. "Nothing. Don't worry about it." Then we had a brief argument or what Libras like to call "discussion" about wanting to pay Ben for the brick of chocolate for the Wolfmuellers. Within two minutes we were all laughing and that's when we gave Ben our Christmas present to him—iTunes cards to buy more music.

Before the men went outside to do the chores I told Ben all about discovering Daddy Jim's Quality Meats, from Sandy and Jon and that we were grilling their rib eyes and that I was cooking the Reata Restaurant's famous Jalapeno Soup and then I warned him about me possibly needing him to help me with the soup. Then they went outside to work and I started gathering the ingredients for the soup recipe.

Then I did some paperwork for about an hour. When they walked inside the trailer I had already started preparing the fairly simple soup recipe and I'm proud to say that I only needed Ben to help me with the Cilantro.

While the soup simmered on the stove top, Tony went outside and started up our grill that we haven't used for at least six of seven months or longer and that's why I don't blame him for what happened ten minutes later.

Six minutes after T. had put our rib eyes on the grill to cook, we were inside catching up with each others news, with too much laughter involved, when Tony suddenly runs outside to the front porch. "What's that about?" I asked. "He isn't supposed to turn them for two more minutes." Ben started to laugh.

"The steaks are on fire," Ben casually says. "He's taking them off of the grill right now. I bet he forgot to turn the flame down." Then he and I go outside to check on the flaming-fire-damaged-steaks.

"The steaks are ready to eat," Tony says. "They're cooked on both sides, but this one is a little burnt, but not bad. I guess that I forgot to turn down the heat when I lit the grill." Then Ben and I teased T. about us not wanting to eat the burnt one, etc. and Tone was a good sport about it all, because he ate most of his blackened steak, while Ben and I washed down our crispy, crunchy steaks with our delicious Jalapeno soup. And, by the time we had finished our laughter-filled lunch, we had all agreed that Daddy Jim's rib eyes were juicy and delicious—even if they were burnt. So, T. and I decided, right then and there, that we will now only buy our meat from Daddy Jim's Quality Meats.

This afternoon, the three of us went to Kerrville to run several errands. First, we went to the Post Office and then we stopped by Wolfmueller's Books, so T. could buy me an expensive book, The Tao Of Willie:A Guide to the Happiness in Your Heart, by Willie Nelson with Turk Pipkin, for my Christmas present, which Carol had turned me on to, which I love and spoke to my heart and the front jacket cover was signed by Willie and Turk signed the inside of the book!

When the three of us walked inside Wolfmueller's Books, Sandy and Jon greeted us from behind the counter. "Merry Christmas!" Tony said, as he handed the Miles of Chocolate brick to Jon.

"Y'all, Ben wouldn't let us pay for it, again," I said. "So, Merry Christmas from Ben, Tony and me." After they thanked us for the delicious chocolate, Jon excused himself, so he could go put it in their refrigerator and after we had a short, but fun visit with them, we headed to Herring Printing, the best printing shop in Kerrville.

When we walked inside Herring Printing, Joe Herring, our good friend who is an extremely talented and fabulous writer, columnist and published author, greeted us and we had a fun visit with him as he helped Tony and Ben load up Buttermilk. Then we headed back to the rescue ranch.

On our way back home, I called Carol to ask if we could swing by her ranch, so Ben could see her beautiful home and check out her kitchen, because I am thinking about doing a cheaper remodel version of her kitchen and she said, "Yes! I'm heading back to the ranch right now and I am at Upper Turtle Creek getting to get on 16."

"We're about five miles ahead of you," I told Carol. "We will wait at your gate. See you in a minute. Bye." A few minutes later we arrived at Carol's ranch and a few minutes later she showed up and we drove up to her house.

Even though we couldn't stay long to visit, we still had fun and when Ben saw Carol's beautiful kitchen, he said, "Do it, Nancy. You should definitely try to make y'all's trailer look like this."

Around 4:30, I went over to Kinky's Lodge, to get him to sign a David Woo, limited edition print, that Alfredo had bought on e-Bay, to help out our rescue ranch. It is the beautiful black and white picture of Kinky with Arnold, one of our beautiful pigs, that David Woo photographed for David's book about famous Texans and their pets. After Kinky signed it to Alfredo, in his office, he and I had a wonderful visit and caught up with each other's news. Here are a couple of pictures I took of Kinky signing the print to Alfredo, which I will FedEx tomorrow. "Thank you, Alfredo!"

Y'all have a great evening and thank you for praying for us to get some rain! Tomorrow, Ben is grilling for us.