More Awe Moments!

The past few days have been awesome. Last Wednesday our dear friend Jim Keaveny came to see us and he was the very first person to spend the night in my finished writing cabin, even though I still have a few more pictures to hang up.

The good news is Jim loves my small 12'x10' she shed and we had a wonderful time visiting with Jim. And before he and us adios-ed each other the next day I asked Jim to please sign my cabin's door, because I am going to ask everyone who goes inside my cabin to sign the door. Also because, with a ton of friend's signatures on the door—it will help hide the slots and holes in the re-purposed blind's slats.

After Jim left for Terlingua, I called Carol and invited her to come over to see my writing cabin which I still haven't named yet.

Bottom   Line: Carol totally loved the cabin, too! And she could not believe that it was originally a Tuff Shed. And before Carol exited the cabin she autographed my door, too.

Tony and I had a wonderful time at Christina Fredriksen's art exhibition at the Texas Heritage Vineyard, in Fredericksburg. And Stephen K. Morris' music was fabulous and it was perfect for the event.

Tony and I had a lot of fun visiting with Stephen, Hans & Marita, Christina & Zach and Zach's sweet parents. During an intermission I invited our friends to come over on Monday, because I wanted them, especially Christina, to meet our dear artist friend Steve Pietzsch. And before we left the event Christina had already sold several prints, originals and merchandise.

Tony and I worked the mornings and evenings next door, this past weekend and of course, it was fun, too.

Early Monday afternoon Hans & Marita, Christina & Zach and Stephen K. Morris & Eva Robinett came to see us and the minute they walked inside The Cabin—a fun time was had by all.

We ate snacks and visited and because we had 30 minutes to kill, before going to see Steve Pietzsch, I told everyone that I wanted them to see my cabin and that I also wanted them to sign the door. And because my cabin is so small Tony suggested that we go in two groups—Ladies first—Men second.

But before us girls went out to the cabin, Stephen gave Tony and I a copy of his latest CD The Hustler's Fool. "Christina did the beautiful cover artwork for the album," Stephen said. 

"And you're going to love this CD," Hans said. So we thanked Stephen & Eva for the CD and then I asked Stephen and Christina to autograph the CD.

And y'all can check out this fabulous CD on Stephen K. Morris' site.

After I got Stephen and Christina's signatures us women marched out of The Cabin to go see my little cabin. And not to brag they fell in love with it, so we had a hilarious, mini "hen party" out there. And before we vacated the cabin—they all signed the door for me and after the men had checked out the she shed—they autographed the door, too.

And after the unofficial autograph party, we jumped in the vehicles and took off to go visit Steve Pietzsch's awesome paradise. But wait. I left out this important bit of information:

Tony took Henry Standing Bear out of the side yard and put him inside The Cabin!

When we arrived at Steve's beautiful, mountaintop Shangri-La-Loma our friends were immediately blown-away by his beautiful scenic view of the Hill Country and his awesome yard art and his rock walls that he had built. 

And after the "awes" were over Steve gave them a tour of his little piece of heaven and then he invited all of us to come inside his home.

After all of those "awes" inside his cabin had subsided we went down the hallway, so Steve could give us a tour of his art studio. And needless to say there were even more awe moments.  

We had intended to only stay about an hour at Steve's place, but because everyone was having so much fun visiting—we stayed over two hours.

Before it was time for the adios-es, there were handshakes and hugs, business cards exchanged and  then pictures were taken. Here is a picture that Tony took of Steve with Marita, Christina and Hans.

When we left Steve's awesome place, Hans & Marita and Christina & Zach took off for Fredericksburg and Stephen & Eva dropped us off at Big Foot Ranch, before going home to Fredericksburg.

Now remember what I said earlier about Tony putting Henry inside the house? When we walked inside—the place was not a wreck as I had expected. 

In fact, Henry Standing Bear had cleared off the kitchen island and he had cleaned all of the dishes for me—even though they were all on the floor. And I know that Hen would have put the emptied bags of tortilla chips and beer bottles and cans in the trash can—if the lid had had been off of the garbage can.

Last night, before going to bed I checked out Steve Pietzsch's Facebook page, because he told us that he was going to write about our visit. Steve wrote:

"Fun! Beautiful visitors to Shangri-La Loma all the way from Norway! Marita, Christina, and Hans Fredriksen. Christina is a fantastic artist embarking on a future in the arts!

...and the rest of the guests...the Texans...plus Zach (beach fossils tee) also from Norway!...."

I know this has been a long post, but as I finish writing this I do want to share some pictures that I took this morning, of my tiny, cozy writing cabin—that I love so much. And it starts with our thirsty rain gauge.

And that is about it for today, because I plan to spend the rest of my day writing.

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

P.S. I've just decided to name my cabin—THE DOG HOUSE!

Funky!

Today has been great for so many reasons. First off, I am thrilled to say that I am finally winning my personal battle with the allergies/mold or whatever it was that was creating havoc on my sinuses. So I am very thankful that my nose has quit dripping like a faucet, the sneezing has ceased and my bouts with coughing are a thing of the past.

This morning when I first woke up I realized that I could actually breathe through my nose, again, so when I did my habit (Say, "Today is going to be a great day!" Then loudly clapped my hands together and then launched myself out of bed.) I honestly believed that it was going to be a great day. And so did our dogs, because they were so happy to see me back to normal.

Tony and I got to work a few hours next door, at Escondida Resort, this morning and that was a lot of fun, because the staff, who we now consider to be dear friends, were all happy and they seemed glad to see us as much as were glad to see them. And during a brief coffee break, with sweet Sarah, she had me laughing so hard, coffee almost came out of my nose. But I would have been perfectly okay with that, because at least it would have been slow drip coffee.

When Tone and I got back home I decided to make us something different for our lunch. So, I mixed up some artichoke hearts with spinach, added some sour cream and cream cheese, threw in some diced onions and garlic and added a little salt & pepper and Parmesan cheese to the mixture, before I wrapped it up in a pie dough and cooked it for about 20 minutes. Bottom   Line: Tony loved it and so did I.

This afternoon, I went out to my she-shed aka writing cabin/guest hut (I used the word "hut" to describe it, because it is only a 10'X12" Tuff Shed that we put windows in, etc.

Anyway, I spent about an hour out there scrubbing the new floor with a soap and vinegar solution. Because after this Arctic front arrives tomorrow night and it finally blows through, it will be warm enough for me to a apply a thin coat of sealant to protect the wood.

Yes, I know that a while back I told y'all that I would take pictures of the new, re-purposed floor, which can be described as rustic, or better said—funky, but I've decided to wait until I can show you the finished product.

I am already in love with my tiny writing cabin and even though it is smallish, to say the least, it already is filled with such good vibes that I keep wanting to go back out there, because it just makes me feel so good.

And the best part of turning a Tuff Shed into my official writing cabin is yet to come, because I cannot wait to decorate it.

Next week after I'm done with the floor, I am planning to reupholster the big comfy chair and hang up some of my favorite pictures and signs. And since I am going to reupholster the chair I've decided to also sew new curtains, again. Because I want the colors of the curtains and the chair to compliment one of my Pendleton Camp blankets. And I already have the fabrics to do it!

And just thinking about all that I've planned to do with the writing cabin has made me tired, so that is about it for tonight, because I plan to take my laptop, go sit by the cozy wood burning stove, and work on my third novella some more.

Because Henry Standing Bear is already sound asleep in my chair and I can't move him.

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

I Bought A Gun! or Concealed Weapon!

First off, I apologize for not blogging the past ten days, but I do have a good excuse. Tony and I have been spending all of our spare time working, over at our new property and that has been exciting as well as exhausting.

Seriously, we have been working our rear ends off (I wish) over there and every evening when we get back home I've been just too tired. In fact, I haven't done much yoga at all, because of the great workout that I'm getting from painting, sanding, etc.

This past week besides taking care of rescue ranch business and working my you know what off, I helped Tony enter a photography contest. Our good friends Eileen and Lisa found out about this awesome hummingbird contest/fundraiser that is being held, at the Jeff Davis County Library, in Alpine, and they talked Tony into entering it. So, he did. And he sent these two, beautiful photos of his hummingbirds, to Alpine. So please wish him luck.

This one is titled: The Shadow Knows

And this one is titled: Feedin' Time

Now for the gun part of this post. Recently due to an event last week, I decided to buy myself a gun, because I realized that I seriously needed to have one. So I asked myself, "What would Ronnie do?" even though I already knew what the answer was.

Anyway, last Friday morning, before meeting our good friends Kris & Jim for lunch, Tony and I went to Kerrville and I bought myself a gun. And I quickly realized that Tony was much more thrilled about me buying it than I was. 

I'm glad that I went ahead and bought this gun, that actually comes with a "life-time" warranty, which is great if you are a young person, but I am old and rapidly approaching 66 years, in October. So I guess the life-time warranty is nothing for me to go bragging about.

This awesome gun that I now own is almost too heavy for me to lift, so I am not sure just how much it is actually going to help me when and if I ever need to use it. 

After buying my gun and the needed accessories I was pretty excited about it all, but at the same time I was also disappointed, because it and its accessories were not pink. And when I groaned to Tony about it being orange and not a pretty pink—he just laughed at me, all of the way over to the Acapulco restaurant.

Tony and I arrived first, at the restaurant and before we went inside, to eat lunch with our good friends, we hid my (ugly) orange, concealed weapon, underneath a blanket, in JJ's backseat.  

As soon as Kris & The Mineral Man sat down, at our table, I blurted out, "I just bought a gun!" Kris & Jim politely smiled at me and nodded their heads and then I caught them turning their heads and raising their eyebrows, as they glanced over at Tony to get his reaction. Then Tony and I burst out laughing. "Y'all, I bought a nail gun just like Ronnie uses and it comes with a life-time warranty and...."

"Last Thursday Ronnie drove down here, from Dripping Springs and he spent the day helping us firm-up the wooden floor, in the living room and the kitchen. And he brought along his nail gun, palm-nailer and compressor and other equipment and it was amazing just how fast we got things done. It was so much easier than us having to drive screws one screw at a time...."  

Then I pulled my iPhone out of my purse and showed them these pictures of the floor, before Aaron and Tony had removed it all, before Ronnie came down, on Thursday, to help us firm-up the floor, because in the near future it will be able to handle our super-heavy, wood-burning stove that weighs well over 300 pounds and the heavy kitchen drainboards and counters that I am in the process of building, with Tony's help.

"And while Tony and Aaron were busy helping Ronnie put down a new floor, our two Tuff Sheds arrived!" I said, before I stopped talking long enough, so we could give our waitress our orders. And just so you'll know—Tony and I did not order the exact same thing like we usually do, because it is sadly M.I.R. time, again. And it officially started on August 13th.

Then I showed Kris & Jim a picture of Tony's and my new look-alike Man Cave and She Shed. "We've already bought the paint and we're going to stain them with latex cedar stain, this weekend. And...." 

Tony and I have now put two coats of cedar stain, on our His & Her sheds and they look beautiful, even though we have not yet painted the trim. So, among us working on these on-going projects I hope that you will continue to cut me some slack for not blogging regularly.

And before I finish writing this today, I want to let you know that, tomorrow morning, Ronnie is coming, back down, to help us finish putting the new sub-floor down before, during and after the eclipse. So it will be another busy for day us, but this time it will go twice as fast, because Tony will be using my nail gun, while I am carefully using my palm-nailer to nail in the joist hangers. 

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