Fay & Ian Welcome To Texas!

This past week has been great and a whole lot of fun and today our dear friends, Fay & Ian, from Toronto, arrived. But before I go any further I must fill y'all in on this past week.

First off, I've still been cooking us delicious FORKS OVER KNiVES' recipes and here are just a couple of pictures of what we've been eating.

But I must admit that we have been spotted eating, at Billy Gene's and Acapulco restaurants and the Apple Store, in Medina too.

Speaking of the Apple Store, in Medina, a while back when I was waiting to pay their friendly cashier for our delicious lunch I spotted some more beautiful, Looper, pot-holders for sale and they were just like the awesome, pretty, pink pot-holder that Jean and I had made. 

At first I was crushed seeing them for sale, because it proved to me that the Looper pot-holder market has been totally saturated, but then I felt good about Jean and me not investing every last penny that we have into that big-time, money-maker. 

Last week, Tony and I also went to the Wild Birds Unlimited store, because Tony needed to buy more seed and also because we wanted to visit with our good friends: Kevin, Linda, Marguerite, Tricia and Jason, because they always are upbeat and quickly put smiles on our faces. And before we adios-ed these nice folks I bought the cutest, carved bunny, before Tony made me turn around and showed me these adorable, funny dog toys. Which of course I loved and I bought one of each for our dogs. 

Saturday was an incredibly great day, because sweet Gus got adopted to the nicest family. And Gus now happily lives with this wonderful family and their other sweet dog. Here are his adoption pictures that I took, before he went to his new, super-loving home, in the country. 

I spent yesterday cleaning our trailer from top to bottom, because I didn't want our good friends, Fay & Ian, being scared to come inside, The Cabin, to visit with us. 

There I was scrubbing this and that, putting up things and I was nearly finished with all of the cleaning when Hazel died, in my hands. Seriously, one minute she was sucking away, at the tall piles of dirt, hair, cobwebs, etc. and then the next minute she sucked in her last breathe. And to say the least—I was completely devastated, so I let go of her, and half-hollered, "Tony!" To deaf ears, because I had forgotten that Tony had gone off to take some more great pictures, so there I was all alone when she had literally bit-the-dust. 

I know that I was in shock, because I started thinking about her life always sucking and all that she had done for me and what I should write for Hazel's epitaph. And this is all that I could come up with for my beloved, lavender-colored, Dyson Animal vacuum:

Hazel Parker-Simons

2006 - 2017

Ashes to Ashes

Dust to Dust

Rest In Peace

I was so distraught about Hazel's passing I decided to go outside, to the front porch, to get some fresh air, but that didn't work. Because when I went outside I saw that Henry had just finished removing (destroying) another important porch-piece, so he could now easily rest his head, while he and Lori Darlin' enjoyed watching the birds and squirrels flit about.

When I came back inside, The Cabin, I decided to revive Hazel, because there was still too much dust, dirt, hair, etc. on the floor. So I started Googling and thank goodness I did, because I watched an educational YouTube video on how to bring her back to life.

I followed the instructions carefully and before you knew it I had disassembled Hazel. Sort of like an autopsy. She was here, there and everywhere—all over the kitchen. Then I removed her air filter (which the factory highly recommends that you clean at least every 6 months, even though I never have done that, because I never read any maintenance instructions.)

Anyway—it worked after several hours of soaking and cleaning her filthy filter. Hazel came back to life and she sucked just like she used to do—so many years ago. I was so happy about reviving the old girl when Tony came back home, I bragged, "Hazel died. But I brought her back to life! Isn't that great!" Tony smiled and said nothing. Then he showed me some awesome pictures that he had taken.  

Today has been more than great, because Fay & Ian arrived. Tony and I met them for lunch, in Kerrville and this evening, they came back over and we went over to the Lodge and had a fun time with Kinky. And during our visit with Kinky he got out his guitar and in his kitchen he sang us his two latest songs that he has written. And they were incredibly great.

That is about it for tonight, because I don't want this past week to turn into a book. But I do want to tell you that for my Valentine's gift Tony bought me the most beautiful, banjo, from The Melody Corner. And I love playing it so much—I took my first banjo lesson this past Thursday.

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

Burl!

Today has been great. Kinky called me at 9:13, from La Guardia Airport, in New York City. It was so good to hear his voice. He sounded up and excited about returning to the ranch, this evening. After we talked about The Friedmans we adios-ed each other. Then Tony and I went outside to work.

Late this morning, after Tony and I did our morning chores outside, Paul, one of our great volunteers, came out to deliver some free dog food and while we were helping him unload the back of his pickup, two cars drove in, so I went to go greet whoever it was.

After introductions, the three nice married couples told us they had come to Kerrville for a family union. They were very interested in our rescue ranch and they were all big fans of Kinky. I visited with them, by the pigpen, for about twenty minutes. Then I gave them a grand tour of our rescue ranch and I really enjoyed it.

Five minutes after they left to go eat lunch at The Apple Store, in Medina, Tony and I took off for Medina too, so we could run a couple of errands.

Our last stop before coming home was at The Old Timer. When we pulled up, Tony got out of Trigger to go buy some milk. As he passed a man filling up his truck I saw the man say something to Tony and then pointing to our pickup and then Tony went into the store.

I thought the older man seemed friendly as he smiled at me and started walking towards Trigger, so I rolled down the window. I figured he wanted to talk to me about our rescue ranch, but I was wrong. "I knew you were Ronnie's little sister, because y'all look just alike," he said.

"Yes, I am."

"I'm Burl A. and I live in Dripping Springs, too. Been friends with Ronnie for a long time and even jammed with him and his friends. I doubt if you remember, but I called you several months ago about a dog."

"Hi, Burl. Yes, I do remember you. Your friend in California was sick and might not make it and I told you that we could help you with his dog if things turned out badly."

"Well, I just wanted to thank you for being there for my friend and his dog. My friend's operation was a success and he's now healthier than I am..."

After Burl drove away, Tony returned to the truck. "Who was that?" Tony asked.

"Burl."

"When I walked past him he asked me if you were Ronnie's little sister and I told him yes you were. Then he asked me if it would be alright with me if he talked to you. I told him sure." As we drove away I told Tony Burl's story.

As soon as we got back home I called Ronnie and told him the funny story about running into Burl and he thought it was pretty funny, too. And that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!