You Are There!

Things are great here—knock-on-wood. Yesterday afternoon Tony and I went to Kerrville to run several errands.

Our first stop was at Wolfmueller's Books, so we could visit with Sandy & Jon and so I could pick up the awesome book Songs Of The Cowboys by Austin E. & Alta S. Fife, that sweet Mary Sanders, in Georgia, sent to me via Wolfmueller's Books.

"Mary I love this book! It was so nice of you to think of me and to send me this great book. And it was perfect timing for this book, because the last few nights I've been binge-watching the fabulous, PBS Ken Burns series Country Music. So, thank you very much!"

As you already know Tony and I have been working a lot next door and in my spare time I've spent my time decorating my writing cabin and I am having so much fun doing it.

It is nearing completion and I have my fingers crossed that I will be done with it by the end of this week, so I can show y'all pictures of it. And I can start using it to finish writing my third novella.

This afternoon Tony and I are going back to Kerrville, so I can pick up a few signs that I've had TNJ Engraving make for my cabin.

A few of the metal signs are some of my favorite photos to hang up in the writing cabin. And one small sign that they've made for me is white with black, block lettering that says:

No Matter Where You Are

You Are There!

I love this quote, because it always makes me laugh and I hope that it made you chuckle too.

Before I finish writing this post this morning, I want to let you know that I've finally picked out what I plan to wear to Christina Fredriksen's Habitat Art Exhibition & Live Music event at the  Texas Heritage Vineyard.

And I hope that Tony and I will see y'all there, because it will be so much fun. I am not sure if I am going to wear a cap or not, because lately I've stopped wearing caps. But I might wear my favorite cowboy hat. So that decision is still up in the air, so to speak. Anyway, I do hope you come to it. 

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

Peech Fuzz!

Yesterday was great or at least most of it was. Monday mid-morning, Tony and I took off for the Home Depot, in Kerrville, to buy some more 1"4"s Imported From Sweden and a few more cans of Rust-oleum's Black Gloss spray paint.

When we got back home Tony and I stained the boards outside and then Tone went to watch the high school baseball game, in Medina. So I cranked up my Bose and went outside to try to finish spray-painting our gate entrance's side fencing—glossy black. And while I was using up one can after another, three to be exact, our dear friend Steve Pietzsch, the incredibly famous, talented artist, pulled into our driveway to say howdy.

Tony and I love Steve aka Peech so much, for so many different reasons. First being he is a super nice man, a great friend, fun to hang out with and for him finding this fabulous, rare picture of Texas Ranger Big Foot Wallace. That he personally framed and gave to Tony, because he knew that Tony is related to this famous Texas Ranger.

Anyway, while Steve and I were visiting, I kept spray-painting the fence and when Steve told me something funny, I stopped spraying the paint and started laughing. And while I was laughing at what he had said I wiped my face with the back of my hand, trying to get a few stray, gray hairs out of my face.

And when I did that Peech frowned and made a face, like ooh, while shaking his head sideways. Then he remarked, "You shouldn't do that while you're painting..." I laughed and blew it off and went back to spray painting.

Steve stayed for about twenty more minutes, because he and I got to talking about the benefits of harvesting rainwater, because that is what he has done, at his home. And before we adios-ed each other Steve had convinced me that we should definitely consider harvesting rainwater.

I used up two more cans of black gloss spray-paint when I finally quit and came inside and I would have done more painting, but I had run out of paint, again.

It was nearly 6:00, so I decided to drink one of Tony's cheap beers and when I passed by a mirror I was shocked and nearly fainted at what I saw. "Omg!" I said to Roy, Belle, Beau, Henry, Little Debbie and Big Al(ice) and they just stared at me. Then Belle looked at me, again and she barked at me, because she saw my black mustache that was made up of about twenty, scattered, tiny, short, facial hairs.

"It's me, Belle," I said, as I skipped off, to the bathroom, grabbed a wet washcloth and began scrubbing my upper lip trying to remove the black glossy hairs. Seriously, I was mortified and embarrassed that Steve had seen me like this. And it must have happened when I had tried to brush away my strands if hair and wiped my face with wet paint. And that's why Steve made that face and suggested for me not to do that again.

Okay, in self-defense I admit that I have a part-time mustache that I pluck away at daily and so do most women my age. And also the late, great Nora Ephron even wrote about hers, in the book The Most of Nora Ephron. The chapter on Maintenance and I even blogged about it, on October 30, 2016 and I titled that blog For The Ladies Only!

Tony got back home around 6:30. Medina lost and I had lost my black, shiny mustache ("peech" fuzz), thank goodness. So I didn't say a word about our losses.

Today has been great. This afternoon, while it was still drizzling, we went back, to Home Depot, to buy more cans of black spray paint and gutters and all of the necessary materials needed for us to start harvesting rainwater.

Before we came back home, we stopped by TNJ Engraving to pick up our ranch signs. You see I had two made, because one will go on our fence and the other one we are not sure yet where we want to hang it. Anyway, these people are the very best at what they do and I would highly recommend them to any friend or stranger, because they are so good. And to say the least about our ranch sign—we love it! And I mean we absolutely LOVE it.

Right after we got back home I fixed us lunch and then Tony and I went outside to hang up our ranch sign, on the fence. And when I say "we" hung it up—Tony did all of the work, but I stood back and helped direct him where to hang it. So ladies and gentleman here is our sign with the name of our ranch on it!

The name of our ranch took me a long time to finally decide on what it should be and Tony is happy with it too, because he is so proud of his famous relative, Big Foot Wallace, and of course, as you must know by now—I am totally into Big Foot/Yetis, aliens, etc. So it is perfect for us. Thank you, TNJ Engraving!

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

Today Tomorrow!

The past few days have been great and they have flown by so fast—I can't believe that it is already Wednesday. Here his what we've been up to, at the rescue ranch.

Late last Friday afternoon, Tony and I ran several errands and our last stop was, at Home Depot, so we could purchase a Club Cadet Walk Behind Trimmer that my brother Ron had told us about, when we had visited with him, in Dripping Springs.

Ronnie had bragged and told us about how much he loves this trimmer, because it can easily get in and out of small, cramped in spaces, rolls over rocks and stumps easily while whacking down the tall grass and weeds around it—unlike our push-mowers that seem to last only about a year for us. Because, we go through many mower blades several times during the mowing season, because I am accidentally hitting hidden rocks and stumps, etc. when I push mow the grass in our dog pens.

After we purchased this "miracle machine" we went straight home so we could "test drive" it. Omg, after I "trimmed down the thick, tall grass and weeds, in our front and backyards, easily, in record time, without my back aching—it was Tony's turn and he could not wait to try it.

Bottom Line    We love this Cub Cadet Walk Behind Trimmer and it is the best piece of lawn equipment, on the rescue ranch. We joyfully spent Saturday and Sunday outside, taking turns "plowing" down the weeds, thistle and grass, in every dog pen while no longer caring if we hit rocks, roots, stumps, fencing, etc.

And we did all of this in record time too, because it is much smaller and lighter than our push-mowers and it has a 22" cutting range. And we know that it will pay for itself, in less than a month, because we usually have to hire someone to come help us with all of the mowing and weed-eating.

Anyway, we are very thrilled to have this new piece of lawn equipment, because what used to take us at least 30 minutes to push mow a dog pen—now takes only about 10 minutes or less!

Monday morning our good friend Rick came to visit us and we had a lot of fun with him, even though he adios-ed us Tuesday morning, because he had a long list of things to do, before his return to Nicaragua.

I spent yesterday morning and the early part of the afternoon doing rescue ranch paperwork and then later in the day, we went to Kerrville to run a few errands, before going to TNJ Engraving Company, on Water Street, to have those friendly people put on our new rescue ranch signs, on Trigger's and Buttermilk's front doors, because our old rescue ranch signs, which they had put on our vehicles, in 2010, were finally starting to crack from age and the elements.

TNJ Engraving Company has always been one of our favorite businesses, in Kerrville, because they are great people and they do such great work. We've used them since 2010 to make all kinds of ranch signs for our rescue ranch and funny, personal signs too, like "Tony's No Whiner Diner" for his outdoor chuck wagon kitchen.

And while we were waiting, in their lobby, for Patrick and Garrett to remove our old signs and replace them with our new rescue ranch signs, we visited with their friendly staff. And while we were in their lobby, we looked around and noticed that several businesses that we love also use them, too. Like Hoegemeyer Animal Clinic and Herring Printing just to name a few.

Well today has been great. While I was taking care of some rescue ranch paperwork, a nice man  called and he left a message for me and it went something like this. "Hello Nancy. This is Mike. I need to talk to you about a couple of sweet, small, 6 year-old female, litter mates that need rescuing. They are spayed and are house broken as sweet as they can be. My neighbor's wife recently passed away. My friend is having to move soon and I am trying to help him find homes for his precious, little dogs. Nancy, please call me as soon as possible, so we can discuss this...."

This afternoon I called Mike back. "Hello Mike. This is Nancy, at the rescue ranch."

"Hi Nancy," he said. "Thank you for calling me back."

"Mike, do I know you?" I asked, because I was curious.

Mike chuckled, and said, "Not really, but I sort of feel like I know you, because I hear you on Harley's show...." Before Mike and I had adios-ed each other I had told him that we could help and would take in his neighbor's small dogs and Mike told me that he would e-mail me pictures of them. And he did just that. This is Cindy and she only weighs about 12 - 14 pounds.

This is Cindy's sweet, little sister, Misty and she only weighs about 6 pounds. So if you can, please help us spread the news about these two, sweet, adorable, little girls needing loving homes, to all of your friends. And if they are interested please ask them to call me for more information. 

I have a little more news to tell you, but I am running out of time, so I will write more about today tomorrow.

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

Here's Your Sign!

Today has been great. This afternoon, after we ate lunch, we went to TNJ Engraving, in Kerrville, across the street from J. C. Penney, to pick up two signs. I love doing business with TNJ Engraving, because they are so nice, they always do a fabulous job, they have great prices and their turn around is extremely fast.

For example, this morning after we did our morning chores outside, I sat down at my computer and designed two signs. One sign was for a new pen sponsorship, made earlier this week, by our friend Vern and the other sign was for Tony's chuck box outdoor kitchen, that he knew nothing about. When I was done, I e-mailed the artwork to TNJ Engraving, then I called them to place my order and I was happily shocked when Garrett told me, "We'll have them ready for you and you can pick them up, in about an hour." And they did!

When we arrived at TNJ Engraving to pick up the signs, they were on the counter and I loved what I saw, but Tony was delighted and surprised at what he saw. "Here's your sign, Tony," I said, as I handed it to him, "it needed a name, so I named it, "Tony's No Whiner Diner." Then I paid for the signs and thanked them and then we took off for Wolfmueller's Books, so we could show Sandy & Jon his new sign for his chuck box. And, to say the least, "They loved it and it made them laugh," which was exactly the reaction that I was hoping for.

When we got home we first hung Vern's sign on the dog pen that Hank Williams, Sr. and Jackie Kennedy Onassis share. Hank, Sr. is the yellow Lab in front and that's Jackie O. leaning on him.

Then Tony went and got a ladder, from the barn and then he carried it down to The Okay Corral and hung up his sign and he loves it even more than I do.

Before I finish writing this, I want you to know that Dusty Pendleton called us last night with a Emmylou update, telling us that she and their other dog instantly fell in love with each other and that Emmylou could care less about their older cat and that Martha and Dusty are in love with Emmylou Harris and they are thrilled with their new forever dog.

Also, tonight we have three dear friends, in three different hospitals, in three different cities, so I want to do a shout out to them, "We love you, John, Billy and Steve—GET WELL SOON!"

Y'all have a great evening!