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!

The Best Is Yet To Come!

Yesterday afternoon, Ringo was adopted to a great home! Talk about making my day great! He had been adopted out in October, but unfortunately was returned to us, because he enjoyed visiting neighbors more than he liked sitting in the backyard. Ringo was so excited about getting adopted, that he forgot to kiss us good bye. As soon as his adoption papers were signed, he jumped into the couples Suburban to begin his new life on a ranch!

I have been hearing from several, well informed friends, that 2008 is supposed to be one great year for all of us! And,I have been paying close attention, and am really starting to believe these predictions!

On New Year’s Eve day, Kinky’s car was in the shop, and he had asked me if I could please drive him to Kerrville, so he could take care of some business—so I did.

When I drove over to the Lodge, Kinky was ready to go to Kerrville. When he jumped into the passenger side of the pickkup—I could tell that he was not a happy camper. The reason for this temporary mood swing, was because I had the bench seat pulled up as close to the dashboard as it could get—because I am tall challenged, and my feet can’t reach the pedals.

We took off on the caliche road, and we had just crossed over the Echo Hill cattle guard, when Kinky says to me, “Nance, would you like for me to drive us to town?”

Not wanting to cramp his style, I said, “Sure Kink, if you’ll promise to drive under the speed limit. Your driving sorta scares me.” I then stopped the truck in the middle of the dirt road, and we jumped out of the cab to switch sides. It reminded me of the many times as a teenager, when me and my friends would pull up to a four-way stop sign, and then jump out of the car, and switch sides! Why I thought that was fun is beyond me.

Anyway, after we had changed seats in the pickup, Kinky scooted the truck seat as far back as it would go, and then we buckled up, and took off for Kerrville, again. “Kinky the truck’s name is Trigger.”

“Okay, Nance,” Kinky said, as he cranked down the window on his side. “Trigger.”

About halfway there, I opened up my purse and pulled out my trusty, 80 gig, iPod. I plugged it in, and turned up the volume. The Kingston Trio were singing, ‘Hang Down Your Head, Tom Dooley.’ I could barely hear it because of the wind noise, coming from Kinky’s side, so I cranked it up some more. Then Phoebe Snow began singing, ‘Poetry Man.’ “ I just love that song,” I said. “This is perfect music for a New Year’s Eve.”

Kinky puffed away on his cigar. He didn’t hear me because of the wind, and he was driving six miles over the speed limit.

“The speed limit is fifty-five miles, Kinky,” I said loudly, as the iPod played, ‘They say don’t go, to Wolverton...’

Kinky slowed down. “Wolverton Mountain’ is a great song.”

By the time we had reached Wolfmuellers, we had listened to Carlos Santana, the Rolling Stones, Buffalo Springfield, Sting, Air Supply, and the Beatles. We had a fun visit with Sandy and Jon, and then we went our separate ways. Kinky walked over to the bank and I drove over to HEB to buy some groceries. The parking lot was so full, I gave up trying to find a place to park, so I went back to Wolfmuellers. Kinky showed up a few minutes later. We invited them to go to lunch with us, but they were so busy selling books—they declined the invite.

Kinky wanted to go to that orange restaurant for mexican food, but I refused. I reminded him that it was my turn to pick, so he and I drove over to The Save Inn Restaurant. The parking lot was full, as it always is. Kinky found a space and parked Trigger, after he had bumped into a cement barrier, that neither one of us had seen. The only damage done to Trigger, was he broke off one side of the license plate, which is now dangling from one screw.

Kinky ordered their delicious grilled hamburger steak, and I ordered chicken fried steak, one of my favorites. Our meals were delicious, but because my chicken fried steak was so huge—Kinky took half, and finished it off for me. When we walked out of The Save Inn Restaurant, Kinky told me that he really liked the place and would definitely be coming back for more.

On our way back to ranch, on top of the pass, I said, “Kinky, I am thinking that I am going to try to start writing for some newspapers, and magazines to bring in more income for Tony and me. I’m tired of being poor. And, did you know this is supposed to be a great year for you and me? I saw Cindy at Albertsons, the other day, and she told me that. And I think she’s right.”

We chatted the rest of the way home, and he offered me some very helpful tips, to help me get some writing gigs.

Two days later, Kinky called to ask me to come over to the Lodge for an early morning meeting. Over some Kona coffee, Kinky suggested that he and I partner up, to write a book together! Wow! Talk about some great news, and what a way to start out the New Year!

The following morning, Kinky called to ask me to come over to the Lodge for an early morning meeting, again. After that meeting was over—Kinky and I are now going to co-write two books, and we also decided to self-publish, and the name of our publishing company is, ‘South Flat Press!’

So now, I am on cloud nine, my dreams of writing with Kinky are coming true! I love it!

This morning Kinky called me from Austin, to tell me about last Friday, Saturday and Sunday’s bonefits, that he and his friends Steven Fromholz and Little Jewford, did to raise money for the rescue ranch. His news was great! They had done much better than they had expected!

He also told me that Burl Taylor, his friend, and one great auctioneer, from Denton, had played a huge part in raising the money for us! “Nance, Burl has nine dogs, and he told me that he wants to help us, because Oliver, his old blind dog told him to. He’s like us!”

“Please thank Burl Taylor for me,” I said.

Kinky laughed. “Nance, you are getting hard of hearing. His name isn’t Burl Taylor. His name is Carl—C, A, R, L—Carl Naylor—not Taylor—N, A, Y, L, O, R—Naylor—Carl Naylor!”

We both laughed. “Okay, please thank Carl Naylor for me.”

“Carl is going to do the rest of the bonefits with us this month!” Kinky stated. “I can’t wait for you to meet him.”

“Well, John, Tony and me, and hopefully Carol, are planning to go to the bonefit at Casbeers Friday.”

“That would be great if y’all could come. I should be back at the ranch in a few hours. Give the Friedmans my love.”

“I will. Bye.”

And, that is why I believe the predictions!

Well, John just took off with Lana and Snowflake, to get them spayed and given all shots and Tony and I are fixin’ to head to Kerrville for supplies.

Here is the Bonefit information for the next three:

Friday, January 11th....Casbeers in San Antonio...starts at 8:30 pm

Saturday, January 12th...McGonigel’s Mucky Duck in Houston...starts at 7:00 pm

Sunday, January 13th...The Bugle Boy in La Grange...starts at 4:00 pm