Praying For Rain!

The last couple of days have been great. Aaron came out, on Friday, to help us build another level "slab" for our second water tank for it to sit on.

Yesterday morning, as you can see in the above picture, Aaron and Andy came over and helped us connect our gutter system to the first tank. And to say the least we are more than excited about collecting rain water and that is why we are now praying for rain.

Saturday afternoon, Tony and I had a fun surprise or better said—twin surprises. Yes, our dear friends/twins Jean and Joan came out for a fun short visit and to see our ranch and they were bearing gifts for both of us.

They brought Tony a six-pack of Stone IPA beer, except we noticed that it was missing one beer and we were not about to say anything about it.  Then Jean or Joan says, (Remember they are identical twins and that is why I can't remember who said what.) "We bought six, but Jon drank one of them." And we all had a good laugh about that.

Then Jean tells me, "I made this for you, Nancy." Then Jean hands me this pretty sack and inside it was this beautiful, pink, crocheted shawl with a ribbon tied around it. And yes, my jaw dropped and I was speechless, because I loved it so much and I thought it was so sweet of Jean to have spent her time crocheting me this lovely shawl.

When I finally recovered and got my voice back, I thanked Jean for her beautiful gift and then I pointed to the wall where "our" framed, pretty, pink potholder takes up space. And both she and Joan laughed. And that made Tony and me start laughing, because their laughter is exactly the same.

The only bad thing about Jean and Joan's visit was they did not stay long enough. After we had given "The Girls" a grand tour of The Cabin and Big Foot Ranch they bid us farewell. And after they left I came inside, The Cabin and laid out the shawl, on the breakfast island and then I took this picture of Jean's pretty, one-of-a-kind, pink shawl. Which I cannot wait to wear.

Today has been great and it has been a pretty, quite day. So late this afternoon, while I was cooking a soup/stew, in my Instant Pot, Tony and I went outside and spread some more pea-gravel on our circular driveway.

Sadly, even though that gigantic pile of pea gravel is slowly disappearing—I'm nervous that it may take us a few months to completely use up all of our pea gravel.

Now before I finish writing this for tonight, I want you to know that my soup/stew recipe turned out to be absolutely healthy as well as delicious. And it only took me 45 minutes to pressure cook the whole thing. Which included dried pinto beans, zucchinis, carrots, onion, bell peppers, corn and tomatoes and a slew of spices. 

In fact, Tone loved it so much he took a second helping, before I froze the rest. And I am doing great on Weight Watchers and my soup/stew used up only a tiny amount of my daily points.

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

A Ton!

Before I tell you about how great today was I want you to see the beautiful wedding cake that sweet Nita made for her daughter's wedding. When Cindy and I first saw Nita's wedding cake we were not surprised that Nita had made it for Katelyn, because Nita is a gourmet cook and the best baker, in the whole Texas Hill Country. And needless to say, Katelyn's & Clay's wedding cake was the most delicious cake that I have ever eaten and this weekend I plan to beg Nita for her recipe.

Yesterday, we did our once-a-month lunch club with our dear friends. During our fun lunch, at Bella Sera, I told Denise that she looked great and asked her if she had lost some weight. Denise got all excited and told us that three days ago, she had joined Weight Watchers and that she had already lost two pounds.

Anyway, Denise was so excited about doing Weight Watchers—I came home and signed up too. Because this past year I have put on some pounds and I want to get rid of them, because I am sick and tired of my Levis being so tight. 

So last night after joining Weight Watchers I spent over an hour checking out their plans, menus, recipes and the over 200 free foods that you don't even have to count in your daily total. And then I got real excited when I discovered that Weight Watchers actually have delicious-looking recipes for my Instant Pot! 

So this morning was my first day to start doing Weight Watchers and for breakfast Tony and I ate muffins, topped with avocado and fried eggs and it was totally delicious. 

Weight Watchers use a point system and because you can eat all of the eggs that you want to without counting them, I had a half muffin, covered with a 1/4 slice of avocado and one egg. Compared to Tony's muffin, 3 eggs and the rest of the avocado.

Then after I cleaned up our kitchen, I spent 44 minutes, walking 4 fast miles, with Leslie Sansone and I plan to start doing that 5-6 times a week—starting today. And tonight as I am writing this I am drinking a glass of wine to celebrate, because today I still had 10 points left over.

This afternoon Tony and I decided to go buy some pea gravel, so we could start building the "slab," a flat place needed for our cistern, to sit on. Tony was a little hesitant about hauling the pea gravel, in the truck, but I persuaded him to do it anyway. So off we went.

Forty-minutes and fourteen and a half dollars later, Roy, our 2012 Dodge Ram, was slowly taking us back to the ranch and carrying 1 1/2 tons of pea gravel, in the back end. And I took these pictures of the pea gravel and the 12'x12' form that we are using to hold all of this pea gravel for the water tank.

Okay. Not to complain, but to complain—Tony and I shoveled 1 1/2 tons of pea gravel and then using wheelbarrows we hauled it to the "slab"and then unloaded it and raked it around. 

It took us over an hour to accomplish this task and tonight both of our backs and arms are paying for it. And the bad news is tomorrow we still have to go buy another ton, of this the pea gravel and do it all over again, before we can finish leveling the "slab."

When we were done Tony was growling a little bit, so trying to think up something positive to say, I said, "Hey, it's exercise and we both need it. And I bet that we burned up a ton of calories, too." But sadly my words went into one of his ears and out the other.

Late this afternoon my 6-string guitar/banjo arrived and I am totally thrilled with it. Here's the big box that it was shipped in.

And here is my pretty, inexpensive banjo, after I had tuned it and played it for a while. And just before Carol called me, I told Tone, "This thing is really heavy. It must weigh a ton." And that made him laugh.

So tonight as I finish writing this my jeans actually feel not as tight on me as they were this morning, so I am hoping that I might have shed a pound or two today. Even though in reality I know they are just stretched out until I wash them again,

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