And My Jaw Dropped Again!

Katelyn's & Clay's wedding was so great and so was my super-fun adventure up to Dripping Springs, Austin and Buda.

Saturday, I safely arrived at Ronnie & Nita's Ronderosa Ranch, ten minutes before the crack of noon and no one was home as expected. Earlier in the morning Ronnie had already told me that he and Nita were going over to the Ruby Ranch, in Buda, so they could help get things ready for Katelyn's & Clay's wedding and they were going in their RV.

Their two dogs, Brick & Maggie, played a game with me. They would act tough and bark at me and then they would stop and let me pet them, over the fence, and then they would start barking at me when Cindy arrived, at the famous Ronderosa Ranch.

Cindy came there to pick me up and take me to her lovely home, in South Austin, so we could eat lunch, at her home and visit and catch up with each others news and then get ready for the wedding.
And that was so much fun for me.

Cindy and I arrived, at Ruby Ranch, fifteen minutes before the wedding. She was dressed up real nice and I looked okay. I wore my only "dress-up" green blouse, new Levis, pink boots and cowboy hat. And I topped off my look—wearing one of my pink bandanas tied around my neck, to help hide my turkey neck.

Fortunately for me, the wedding was casual and most of the friends and family that attended wore Wranglers or Levis, cowboy boots and cowboy hats too, so I didn't feel like I stuck out, in the crowd, even though I was the only woman there wearing a cowboy hat.

After the beautiful bride and handsome groom said their vows and kissed Clay danced with his bride and when Ronnie danced with Katelyn, Cindy and I teared up and so did just about everyone there. It was all so beautiful.

During the reception, before we sat down and ate a delicious BBQ dinner, I got to visit with old friends and while I was drinking a beer I had this fun conversation with Joel, a fabulous friend and an extremely talented musician. He plays, guitar, mandolin and banjo, too.

Joel and I talked about our good friend Chet O'Keefe, Terlingua, Northern New Mexico, our mandolins, our guitars and about Neil Young playing a 6-string guitar/banjo, etc. And because a few days earlier I had also talked to Brook about 6-string guitar/banjos, at Wolfmueller's Books, I thought it was definitely a sign. So, before I adios-ed Joel and went to go eat a delicious BBQ dinner, at Cindy's big family table, I vowed to him that I was going to buy myself a 6-string guitar/banjo. And I  meant it, too.

To sum it all up, I had a wonderful time, at the wedding and getting to visit with friends and family. And in case you are asking, "Where was Tony?" He, at the last minute, decided not to go to the wedding, because of our dogs being left alone for too long. And everyone, at the wedding, was sick that he didn't get to come to the wedding.

Sunday afternoon on my way back to our Big Foot Ranch, Tony called me with some exciting news, when I was only about five minutes away from arriving, in Kerrville. "Nance, Steve Pietzsch and Andy are over here and they are putting our rain gutters up for us....Would you please stop, at Home Depot, to buy a few extra seamers, glue and....so they can finish the job, because they are almost finished and they need those parts?"

Of course my jaw dropped when Tony told me this wonderful news about our good friends installing the rain gutters for us, for free, because both Tony and I were more than nervous about us attempting to do it ourselves. And I am still in shock that these two men came over and did this hair-raising job for us.

Anyway, when I arrived at our new ranch, Andy was standing high up, on a ladder, Steve was holding up a gutter's end, so Andy could properly attach it to our roof and Tony was busy running around fetching parts and tools that they needed. And my jaw dropped again.

A few hours later, after their hard labor our beautiful, rain gutters were installed on the roof, so we celebrated by drinking a round of beers and toasting our dear friends and thanking them for volunteering to do this—just to help us out. And I do know that neither Tony or I will ever be able to thank them enough for doing this act of kindness. "Thank you so much Andy and Steve. We love y'all so much!"

This morning when I was on the phone talking to Ronnie about Heartland, the number one favorite, eleven-years-running series, in Canada, on Netflix and about how much we loved that show.

Then Ronnie laughed and then changed the subject. He told me that he and Nita were having a ranch party, this coming Saturday, to celebrate Katelyn's birthday. "You and Tony have got to come to this. It is going to be a pot-luck with about 40 people there. And all of our friends are bringing their instruments too, so we're going to be playing a lot of music...."

So after Ronnie and I adios-ed each other I did what I had to do. I immediately went Online, to Amazon and bought a beautiful, inexpensive, 6-string guitar/banjo and it should be arriving tomorrow!

I cannot wait for it to get here, because I have a lot of practicing to do on it, before we go to the fun, ranch birthday party. And that is about it for tonight, except I do want to thank sweet Carol, for letting us come over to her ranch, this evening, to wash and dry two loads of our dirty clothes.

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

Red-Medicine!

Yesterday afternoon I worked tirelessly on my quilt and then I went over to Carol's ranch for a fun visit. We talked about last weeks fun trip to Terlingua and how much fun we had out there. While we were talking about music and some of our favorite musicians such as: Willie Nelson, Neil Young, David Crosby, the Knotting Hillbillies, Gary P. Nunn, Chet O'Keefe, Jim Keaveny and Jimmy LaFave , etc. I asked Carol if she had heard the sad news about Jimmy LaFave's battle with cancer. "Yes," Carol replied. "I heard about it a few days ago and I was going to tell you about it if you hadn't already heard. I love Jimmy LaFave and his music."

"The other day my friend, Cindy, told me about it and she sent me the Austin Chronicle's article interview with Jimmy talking about his cancer and a link to a YouTube video of a Jimmy LaFave performing, on April 21st, at Threadgill's, in Austin. Where at the end of his song, Jimmy talks to the audience about his long battle with cancer. It was very emotional and it made me tear up. His music is so great and can you imagine how many hearts, all around this world, that his music has touched?...."

Before Carol and I adios-ed each other we started talking about how much we have enjoyed reading Marie Bostwick's Texas novels, so that gave me the opportunity to brag to her about the quilt that I am making.

Which ended up being a being a huge mistake for me, because I should've known better to have bragged without knocking-on-wood afterwards. Anyway when I got back home I spent about two more hours working on my quilt. And after I had ironed it—it didn't look right, because a lot of the seams were not lining up. So I sadly folded it up and put it back inside "my pink, quilt bag."

Then I poured myself a glass of my fine, red-boxed-wine with added water and four ice cubes and then I went, into Outer Space, with our dogs, to think about my crummy-looking wanna-be quilt. And by the time I finished drinking my red-medicine I was no longer sad, because I had decided that I would use my unevenly, pieced-together, stupid-looking quilt to make throw pillow covers. Sort of like when life gives you lemons—make lemonade.

So friends beware, because for Christmas you just might be getting an original Cousin Nancy Quilted Throw Pillow. Of course, except for Carol, because I'm giving her a small, hair-piece bun to wear on the top of her head—hand-made by me, from our dog's hair. But first, I will need to get a spinning wheel and learn how to spin dog hair into thread. So wish me luck there, even though Christmas is only eight months away.

Today has been great. This afternoon Tony and I went to Kerrville to get groceries, at the big H-E-B and after our expensive, boring shopping spree, we decided to eat lunch, at Hippie Chicks Bakery & Bistro. And as you can guess—we ordered the exact same thing—Meatball Subs and iced tea. But Tony did have a side order of sweet potato fries while I ate their delicious coleslaw.

Before leaving this super, cool place we decided to split a dessert and eat it on our way home. So we chose one of their delicious-looking, fresh, out-of-the-oven Brownies. And while Sarita was wrapping up our Brownie-to-go, I visited with her sweet mom, Karly Ann. And she told me a great big secret about a certain kind of specialty sandwich that they will be offering soon, that sadly I cannot divulge what kind it is, until a week after this Friday, when it will first be appearing on their daily menu.

Anyway, I told Karly Ann that I wanted to blog about their upcoming secret sandwich, tonight and she suggested that we follow them on their Facebook page Hippie Chicks Bakery & Bistro, because they will be announcing when this awesome, secret sandwich will be added to their menu.

And that is about it for tonight, because I need to go vacuum up some more dog hair and wash it and dry it, so I can add it to my growing pile of cleaned-dog-hair, for Carol's upcoming Christmas present.

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

P.S. This morning I called Kinky to let him know that our great Canadian friends, Fay & Ian, plus their daughter and her boyfriend will be at his show tonight, in Buffalo, New York. And he was thrilled that they will be there. And late this afternoon, when I told Carol about Fay & Ian going to Kinky's show tonight, in Buffalo, I said, "I bet Ian will be wearing his cowboy hat."

And Carol said, "I bet he will, too. Because when he wear his cowboy hat he looks just like an authentic cowboy, from Texas."

It's A Small World!

We had so much fun in Terlingua, but our fun actually started when our good friends, Carol & Bill met us for lunch, at The Smokin' Cuban food truck, in Alpine. Before we took off and sort of caravanned to the Terlingua Ranch Lodge, where Tony and I were staying.

Omg! The Cuban food was absolutely delicious and we ate our lunch, sitting under a shaded patio. And this is a picture I took of the top of Carol's head while we ate our lunch. And not to start any rumors, please note that Carol does not have a little, round bun, on the top of her head or a big bump—it's the woman's hair, who was standing behind her. But it does look cute, so I'm now thinking that I might surprise Carol and buy her a little hair-piece-bun to wear on the top of her head for Christmas.

When we arrived at the Lodge, after Tony & I checked-in, we gave Carol & Bill a quick tour of the Lodge, which included the beautiful swimming pool, the corral & barn, the Bad Rabbit Cafe and our cozy #54 Cabin.

Because the four of us were a little road weary and ready to rest, we then took off to go show them our property, but that didn't actually happen, because I got us lost and couldn't find our land. 

So finally at one point, on this pretty dusty road surrounded by rocks and cactus and then more rocks and cactus, I asked Tony to please stop, so we could tell Bill & Carol to turn around and just go ahead and go on to the Terlingua Ghost Town, where they were staying, at Lorri & Jess' super cool, off-grid vacation home. (Please note that Jess & Lorri live in Bandera, which is only 22 miles from here.)

After I had confessed to them that I had gotten us lost and that I didn't know where we were or where our land was—like Tony, they had the exact same reaction. Sort of like "So what's new? We know that you always get lost. We're not surprised at all and it is no big deal."

So after we had quit laughing about me getting us lost-in-space—they took off for Lorri & Jess' place, in the Terlingua Ghost town. And we went back to our cute cabin and relaxed for a little bit, before Chet O'Keefe met us for a delicious dinner, at the Bad Rabbit. And before I poured myself a delicious, plastic cup of my favorite Chillable Red box wine, with some added ice cubes, here's a picture that I took from inside our cabin, of the remaining sunset.

Early Tuesday morning, Chet met us for a delicious breakfast, at the Bad Rabbit and Tony and I ate too much, because "We're on vacation!" And that is why I didn't eat much today.

After breakfast we went to talk to Chet's friend Ron, who sells these cute, cabin shells. And while we were visiting with him, a friendly man walks up to us, and says, "Hi Tony," and then Tony recognized him and they shook hands and started talking. Come to find out, Tony's friend, Steve, who also lives, in Medina, drinks coffee with Tony, at the Old Timer and he also owns property out there, too. So while they were visiting I'm thinking to myself, "It's a small world. We should have all carpooled."

A little while later, we adios-ed Ron and then Chet carefully explained to us how to find our land without getting lost, as I wrote it down and Tony drove us to our property.

We only spent about an hour there, but we found the perfect location for our off the grid, cabin-to-be and here is a picture that Tony took of "my favorite mountain" in our 360 degree beautiful view. It will be the mountain that looking out our front porch will face as we cozy up to our wood-burning stove.

After we left our property, we went to see Ronda, our friend and nearby neighbor out there, because she had invited us to come over to check out her newest Airbnb additions for her Tin Valley Retro Rentals, which is already famous and has a TripAdvisor rating of 5-stars. 

We had a blast visiting with Ronda and she gave us a grand tour of her vintage, RV rentals. She has tee pees camp grounds, adorable RV's and now she's added a "land yacht" and a awesome outdoor shower. And to say the least, we were totally impressed with all of it, especially her "Willie" vintage, refurbished Greyhound bus that is just like Willie's old touring bus. That she had an artist friend come over and spray-paint Willie's face, on the side of it. And when she told us that it only took the artist fifteen minutes to do it—our jaws dropped. Here are just a few pictures that Tony took at her place.

Later in the day, after I took a short nap, at the cabin, I finally got a signal and I text Carol to let her know that all of us would be at "the front porch" in the ghost town around 4:30, so we could all meet up. 

Chet, Tony and I arrived there first and we got to visit with our friends Jeff Haislip and Marc Utter, who were already sitting, on the porch, visiting and playing music. And a few minutes later, Carol & Bill and Lorri & Jess arrived, so we all hung out for a little while, on that famous porch, that is in front of the general store and the famous Starlight Theatre.

Then we went to Jess & Lorri's incredibly beautiful, off-grid home. We sat around and visited for about an hour and then we jumped into the trucks and drove to the La Kiva bar and grill, where Jess & Lorri treated us to a round of drinks. And while we sat around a picnic table outside on the porch, we hardly ever quit laughing, because we shared some hilarious stories about our pasts and younger days. And Lorri's, Jess' and Carol's stories were absolutely the best. 

Wednesday morning, we had planned to leave around 7:00 and Carol & Bill had planned on leaving a little later. Well, Tony's and my earlier plans changed, because we decided to stay a little bit longer, so we could eat breakfast with Chet, at the Bad Rabbit Cafe.

Anyway, when we packed and then took off, we had no idea if we were ahead of or behind Carol & Bill, because there were no cells. But we found out about an hour later, when we pulled into the Valero, in Alpine, to fill up on gas, because Carol's SUV was the only other car parked, at the pumps. And when we saw each other we burst out laughing, because there was no way that we could have timed it any better.

Ater a fun, but brief visit with our friends, they adios-ed us and took off first, because we needed to pay for our gas. Then the race was on as to who would get back home first. We doubted it would be us, because we had to make a stop, at Hoegemeyer Animal Clinic, to pick up Lori Darlin' and Henry Standing Bear, before coming home. 

To Be Continued...

Will Carol & Bill be the winners of our race to get home first or will it be us? Find out tomorrow night. (Sorry, Mari!)