Kent & Lisa & Lucille & Kinky!

Today has been great. This morning our good friend Kent came over to see us, before getting on the road and heading back home to his sweet wife Ruthie.

When we started to drink a cup of coffee together I told Kent about my new guitar and he asked to see it, because among his many talents—he is also a very talented musician. After Kent had admired my guitar I handed it to him and said, "I'd love for you to play it." Well I was wrong about that, because Tony loved it, too.

Kent strummed it, and said, "Nancy, this is one awesome guitar. I love it." Then he started playing my guitar and singing one great song after another. I took this picture of Kent.

Tony took this picture of Kent

Kent played some famous Simon & Garfunkel, Rolling Stones, John Denver, Bob Dylan, songs, etc., which mesmerized all of us including Little Debbie, who I was cradling in my arms. Tony took this adorable picture of Little Debbie.

After we adios-ed our dear friend Kent, Tony and I jumped into Trigger and took off for the Koyote Grill, at the Medina Highpoint Resort, so we could celebrate Lisa's birthday with her and our great  friends/volunteers.

Lisa's belated birthday party was so much fun and sweet Eileen provided Lisa's beautiful, delicious birthday cake. "Thank you, Eileen!"

During Lisa's super fun birthday celebration we did so much laughing and joking, my back actually began to ache from laughing so hard, but fortunately it is fine now—thank goodness. 

After Lisa's birthday party Tony and I were in the best of moods, but that changed rapidly when we pulled up to the rescue ranch gate, because we saw a happy dog, inside the rescue ranch, come running towards us, as the gate slowly swung open. "*^%#," Tony said, in disgust. "Some #@#@&^% has dumped a dog on us and I bet it was that woman who called you yesterday, that we probably just passed on the bridge, heading for 16...."

It was obvious to us that this sweet, happy, friendly, young female dog had recently had a litter of pups, ran up to Tony wagging her tail rapidly and she let Tone slip a leash around her neck. And she sat, on command when Tony told her to sit. 

Tony ended up temporarily putting her in the alley, between Merlin's and Miranda's pen and then he fed her and filled up a bucket full of water, then we drove up to The Cabin, so we could grab our cameras. Because one of my heroes, B.B. King passed away today, I've named her Lucille, because B.B. always named his black guitars Lucille and we think that Lucy is a Boxer mix. Here are some beautiful pictures of Lucille that Tony took of her.

Because of the weather and it being the weekend, we will take Lucille to Hoegemeyer Animal Clinic, this Monday, so we can get her spayed, shots, etc. And that is about it for tonight, because we are going to go meet Kinky for dinner.

Y'all have a great weekend, including the wonderful person who dumped Lucille, at our rescue ranch.

The Thai O'cha Restaurant!

Today has been great. This afternoon Kinky called me. He called to invite Tony and me to join him and our dear friend Donna Hatch, the fabulous author and editor, at The Kerrville Daily Times, to eat lunch with them, at Thai O'cha restaurant, because they were celebrating the fabulous article, that appeared in today's newspaper, that our friend, Phil Houseal, had written for Donna about Kerrville's favorite Thai restaurant. I immediately said, "Yes. It sounds like a lot of fun and we love that restaurant. And it's perfect, because we have several errands to run..."  Here's a picture that I took of today's Kerrville Daily Times' story.

Oh my goodness, our lunch with Donna and Kinky was so much fun, as always. As we sat and enjoyed eating our delicious, healthy Thai food, we laughed and joked about all kinds of things. Of course, I did so much talking I was the very last one to finish eating the #4, on the menu, that Tony and I had both ordered. He and I do that all of the time, so I guess that makes Tony and me a cute couple. And I love it, because it always drives Kinky crazy, because we do it so often and he thinks it is" totally ridiculous."

During our super fun lunch I told Donna about my newly purchased guitar and I asked her to please tell her sweet husband, Ryan, about it, because he is one of my jamming-buddies. Donna's eyes lit up and then she told me that Ryan had signed up to take the fabulous, 3-days Kerrville Folk Festival's Root's & Blue's workshop, but unfortunately he wasn't going to get to go to it. "Nancy, I've already bought the tickets for it. Would you like to go to the Roots & Blues Guitar Camp? Ryan would love it if you do! And you've got your new guitar to play!"

Before I could even take a breath, I said, "Yes, I would love to..." Then I inhaled and nearly fell out of my chair, because I was so excited about attending this super cool workshop, even though I know that I will probably be the "old woman and worst player" there.

After eating the delicious Thai food, we looked outside and it was raining cats and dogs outside, so Tony says, "We better get back to the ranch now, before the heavy rains start to flood and lock us out." So we canceled our errands and immediately came back home. Here is the complete story that Phil Houseal wrote for Donna for The Kerrville Daily Times and because I had to cut and paste it together, some of it is not layed out exactly like the newspaper's better version, but here it is anyway. 

Exotic flavors

Jai uses only fresh, organic ingredients in her signature pad ginger stir fried dishes at Thai O'cha, 417 Water St., along the Guadalupe River in downtown Kerrville. 

Thai O’cha serves up a slice of paradise

Story and photos by Phil Houseal

Special to The Times

     After considering opening restaurants in several locations, the owners of Thai O'ocha, 417 Water St., decided it would be best to work on running one restaurant well. To the good fortune of local lovers of Thai cuisine, they decided that would be Kerrville.

     “I wanted to concentrate on only one location,” said Opal, the 29-year-old manager of Thai O’cha. “I cannot split my body. I want to make sure the food when it comes out needs to be perfect — everything needs to be perfect. Maybe we will open another in three to five years.”

     “Opal’s” Thai name is Sarin. She explained it is Thai tradition that everyone goes by a nickname. The owner and chef at Thai O’cha is her mother, Sudjai, known as Jai.

     Ju, Jai’s niece, and Song, Ju’s friend, work as servers.

Jai uses only fresh, organic ingredients in her signature pad ginger stir fried dishes at Thai O'cha, 417 Water St., along the Guadalupe River in downtown Kerrville.

     But all that diners really need to know is that Jai worked as a chef for more than 30 years, first at a hotel chain in Thailand and then in Marble Falls, after the family immigrated in 2009. Opal has a degree from Thailand in international studies, and she wants to eventually earn her master’s degree here. She handles most of the translating for her family.

     Thai O’cha features Eastern décor with lotus blossoms, a figure of the Buddha and statues of elephants, a revered animal among the Thai people. Patio seating overlooks the Guadalupe River. Why did Jai decide to open such a restaurant in Kerrville? Simply because there was no Thai cuisine in this Hill Country community, she said.

     “She wanted to present Thai food to this community,” Opal said. “Thai food is healthy, uses lots of herbs, is all organic and uses fresh ingredients.”

     Their signature dish is pad ginger. “Pad” in Thai cooking refers to a range of stir-fried dishes, complemented with any meat or seafood. The foundational ingredients include green onion, yellow onion, carrots, broccoli, Chinese mushroom, celery, and, of course, ginger, thickened with corn starch.

Being in the heart of Texas requires the staff to make some accommodations to ingredients, but they insist on using fresh, organic vegetables.
     There are other differences they have discovered are expected when cooking Thai food for American appetites.

     “We use authentic Thai recipes, but sometimes we cannot find the same ingredients, so we try to adapt American ingredients,” Opal said. They look to use gluten-free sauces, and make the portions larger.

     While the stir-fried dishes remain most popular, their menu includes more exotic fare such as roast duck, spicy curries, papaya salad, tofu steak, and sticky rice.
     They have also had to adapt to the American need for speed. Jai prepares each entrée separately as it is ordered. The vegetables are seared quickly in a gas-fired commercial wok, cooked within a few minutes. They have learned to prepare in advance double the amount of ingredients they think they will need, so they are able to turn out the orders very quickly.

     Another adaptation is teaching Texan servers the ways of Thailand.

     “Now they know Thai food, and they love Thai food,” Opal said with a laugh. “They had never had it before. Now they have started eating spicy food.”

     American diners will appreciate that dessert and drinks with a Thai meal are more than an afterthought.

Thai iced tea is a flavorful mix of tea, sweetened condensed milk, and coconut milk that is neither tea nor milk yet more than both.
     Desserts include fresh-made fried banana rolls, black sticky rice rudding and a diner favorite, mango ice cream: Fresh frozen in small batches, it is made of fresh mango, coconut milk, fresh cream and sugar and then served with fresh cubed mango, and topped with a cashew. Decadence never tasted so healthy.

     While Thai O’cha’s reputation continues to grow, Kerrville residents need not fear losing this restaurant, as long as Jai has anything to say about it.

     “I love Kerrville,” she said in quiet, careful English. “It is comfortable, a small town, and the people are nice."

At a glance

What: Thai O’cha

Where: 417 Water St.

Hours: 11 a.m.-3 p.m. and 5-9:30 p.m. seven days a week

Info: 792-2999

When Tony and I got back home I immediately plugged in my computer and went to look up the information about the upcoming Kerrville Folk Festival's 3-Day, Roots & Blues Guitar Camp. I am now even more excited about attending it that I want to thank our dear friends Donna and Ryan for letting me go to it, because they are two of my favorite people on our planet.

Y'all have a great evening!

Guard Sheep!

Today has been great and so were Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Last Thursday evening after I wrote my blog, I watched that award winning documentary Finding Joe and I absolutely loved it. In fact, it sort of changed me.

So I spent all day Friday thinking about its powerful message or I guess I should say, Joe Campbell's powerful message about "Following Your Bliss." So, Friday evening I decided to do something about it.

I got on my laptop and went to eBay and it only took me about one hour to do something really nice for myself. After I had made my purchase, I walked down the hallway and told Tony, "I just bought myself an expensive present and I feel great about it."

Tony smiled and said, "Great. What did you get?"

"A *&$# guitar, because I love those guitars so much and I used to have one. In fact, I've owned four of them in my lifetime. I just got a confirmation from the seller, in Conneticut, and he is going to ship it out tomorrow." Then I went back into the kitchen and called Chet, in Terlingua, to tell him my exciting news. And to say the least he was thrilled for me, but not as thrilled as I was. And before he and I adios-ed each other, he recommended that I get a K&K Pure Mini pickup for it, "Because they are the very best for acoustic guitars."

So, then I went back Online and ordered the K&K Pure Mini pickup with free shipping from California. Then I went back down the hallway, having to step over and around Roy, Belle and Beau, and told Tony, "I just bought a pickup for it and I hope I get everything by Wednesday, because I can't wait..."

"I'm glad that you bought the guitar and the pickup, but I'll bet you that it won't sound any better than the one Ronnie made for you."

"You're probably right about that, but I'm a poser and love this particular guitar.

Then I zig-zagged back around our sleeping friends, in the hallway, so I could call my sweet brother. "Ronnie, I just bought myself a *&$# guitar!" Ronnie was thrilled for me, too. "I just got off of the phone with Chet and when I told him that I was going to buy a pickup for it, he suggested that I buy a K&K Pure Mini pickup, because he told me that they were the best."

"They are, Nance," Ronnie said. "In fact, that's the only pickup that I put on my guitars...."

Sunday, David, the man whom I purchased my *&$# guitar from sent me the tracking number, so I could track my guitar. And when I tracked the USPS number for it, I read that the expected delivery would be Monday. What?

This morning, after breakfast I tracked my guitar again and I read that it was already at the Post Office, in Medina! So, I called Julie, at the Post Office and asked her, "Do I have a package there that I need to sign for?"

"You have two packages. One is gigantic and the other one is small and you don't have to sign for it," Julie said. And two minutes later, Tony was driving me to Medina.

When I went into the Post Office, Julie had me sign for the big package and then she went to fetch it for me. When I saw the incredibly huge package I burst out laughing, because it was literally bigger than I was. "It's a guitar, Julie." And we were both laughing as I tried to carry this humongous box out of the Post Office.

When Tony saw them holding the door for me to exit with the box, he immediately jumped out of Trigger and skipped over to me, so he could carry my guitar and put it into the back seat for me. Then I went back inside the Post Office to get our mail and the small package.

As soon as we got back home, Tony helped me open the giant box, while Little Debbie and Alice stood back and growled at it. The bottom line to my "follow your bliss" story is that I am in love with my *&$# guitar and am so thrilled to have it, even though Ronnie's guitar sounds just as good or better.

After lunch today, we had to go to Kerrville to run several errands. Our last stop was at the Home Depot, so Tony could buy some pretty flowers, to help bring in the butterflies and bees, for his organic garden.

As he was putting the last plastic sack of flowers, inside Trigger, we had a drive by and it was friendly. "Hey, Eva and Stephen! How in the world are y'all doing?" Tony said, as they climbed out of their Subaru and I walked back around the truck to greet them.

After hugs, we got to visiting with them. "This is so weird seeing y'all here," Stephen K. Morris said. "Because when we pulled into the parking lot, I told Eva that I bet that we would run in to y'all here..."

We laughed a lot and talked about how much fun we had had listening to him and Chet jam together, in Outer Space, my new guitar and Eva's photography, etc. Then sweet Eva says, "We had to come to Kerrville today to pick up several big boxes of my photographs that have been on display, at the Grape Juice."

"No seriously, " Stephen said, followed by a laugh, as he opened the hatch back door, to show us several big, boxes full of her beautiful photography. Then Eva and Tony started talking about their love of photography. So Stephen reaches inside one of Eva's boxes and then he hands me this beautiful, awesome, matted photograph of some sheep, titled Guard Sheep. "We want to give this to you. It is one of Eva's signature pictures."

Tony and I were speechless, because we really loved her photograph and we were thrilled to get it. "Thank you so much. I know exactly where we are going to hang it, in the big room...." Then we started talking about my blog, Stephen K. Morris' website, Chet O'Keefe's website and Eva's website: EvaRobinettPhotography.com "Y'all I am going to blog about this tonight," I said, as I was pulling my cell phone out of my purse. "Tony will you please take a picture of Eva and Stephen with me holding her photograph?"

After Tony shot us we visited a little bit longer, in the parking lot and we laughed and joked about Stephen and me both wearing the same outfits: Wrangler work shirts, white Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch caps, jeans and cowboy boots. Then we hugged and adios-ed each other and took off in opposite directions.

When we got back home I checked out Eva's website and I fell in love with all of her photographs, because she is so talented. One of Eva's photographs really caught my eye and made me laugh out loud, because I knew that if Little Debbie were to see it she would get very jealous of the photograph of the adorable, little dog, on top of a fancier dog bed than she has. Here's Little Debbie's doggie bed.

Now Click Here and scroll down to see Eva's precious photograph.

And that's about it for tonight, because I am fixin' to follow my bliss by playing my new guitar.

Y'all have a great evening!

Earth Station!

Today has been great. We spent most of the day outside and we got a lot of mowing and weed-eating done. After we had called it a day, I moved my Earth station, that was in front of Mandy's and Bandy's pen, to the Okay Corral and I love it, because when Tony goes outside to take pictures of birds, at his feeders, in the cabin's front yard, I can go outside with him and get a little earthing done while visiting with Tony.

And that's about it for tonight, because I am fixin' to go outside and put my feet in some sand.

Y'all have a great evening!

A Bloody Mary Morning!

Today has been great. I haven't posted anything for the past few days because we have had house guests since Monday and I've been more than busy trying to take care of my everyday rescue ranch business, while trying unsuccessfully to be a good hostess to our visiting friends.

Yesterday, Tony and I took off for Kerrville, so he and I could meet our dear friends Kris & Jim and Denise & Les for our monthly lunch together. We arrived in Kerrville ahead of schedule, so we decided to go to the Plant Haus, so Tony could buy a few more tomato plants, because every morning I make Tony and I delicious, healthy tomato juice that tastes just like a Bloody Mary.

It takes eight tomatoes just to make two alcohol-free Blood Mary juices and the rest of the ingredients I use to make it are two celery stalks, one squeezed lemon, two red bell peppers, salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce and Tabasco's Chipolte pepper sauce. So that's why Tony was buying us more tomato plants because we like our Bloody Mary mornings. Here's a picture I took of some of the ingredients just before I juiced them this morning.

While Tony was picking out his tomato plants I spotted these candles burning inside the store, so I went over to check them out and to my amazement, I discovered that they were fireless candles that run on 2 D alkaline batteries. And what was so cool about these particular fireless candles is the (plastic) wick is constantly in motion just like a flickering candle. So after we had paid the friendly cashier for our purchases we walked out of The Plant Haus with Tony's tomato plants and my new 3.5"x7" cinnamon scented, fireless wax candle.

We had a great time eating lunch with our friends and while we were finishing eating our desserts, I excused myself from the table and went outside to get my cool candle, so I could show it to them. And like us they were amazed that it was battery powered, because it looked so real. And they all said that they were going to go buy one, too. 

This is a picture of it turned off.

Here is a 28 second video clip that I took of it flickering, while listening to the beginning of Harry Manx's fabulous version of Baby Please Don't Go. So click here to see it flickering to Harry Manx's great song.

As I finish writing this, before I go watch the award winning video, Finding Joe, I want to thank the awesome, ten, super cool teenagers, from the Arms of Hope, at the Medina Children's Home, for coming out today and last Monday, for volunteering to paint our rescue ranch's white, board fence, mowing and weed-eating. "Y'all did a great job and we love you!"

Y'all have a great evening!

Full Flower!

Today has been great. Early this morning our dear friend Chet O'Keefe came over to eat and drink breakfast with us. We drank delicious, healthy smoothies first, made with almond milk, banana, kale, pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, beets, watermelon, cinnamon, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries and oranges.

Then we ate some of The Golden Girls' scrambled eggs with spinach, onion, garlic and cheese, with sides of homemade beans and sauerkraut. Beans and sauerkraut? Yes, we ate them, because to stay healthy you must eat beans and eat something sour everyday. So I guess you could say, "Mission Accomplished."

And after that, believe it or not I made us fresh juice using apples, pears, celery, cucumber, lemon, carrots and watermelon. While we were drinking it and talking about how much fun we had yesterday with our good friend Stephen K. Morris, Tony's sweet sister Annie and Stacie, our sweet sister-in-law arrived to pick up Tony. Because they were going to the famous Willow Loop, just outside of Fredericksburg, so they could photograph the beautiful Texas Bluebonnets and wildflowers and then eat a delicious lunch at Wheelers, in Fredville, on Main Street.

Yesterday was great and productive and it ended up being so much fun that I ran out of time to blog last night. To start with, Brae and Zachary showed up to help us mow and weed eat the fence lines and when they had finished really making a big dent in our tall weed-war, I asked them to please finish painting my writing cabin pink for me and while they were busy doing a great job doing that, is when our dear singer/songwriter musician friend, Stephen K. Morris, arrived with his guitar, so we could introduce him to Chet and they could jam together.

Omg! In Outer Space those two started picking and grinning and taking turns playing their songs and it was magical. In fact, I had goose bumps for the three hours that they played and I think Tony did too, but he just won't admit it. I took this picture of these incredibly talented musicians, during a water break. Stephen is on the left and Chet is the one holding my guitar that he played, because his was over at the Lodge.

Tony and I met Stephen and sweet Eva several years ago, when they came out to see our rescue ranch. And before Tony and I had even finished giving them a tour we had become instant best friends with them. In fact, I blogged about their super fun visit, because we had so much fun with them that day, because they are our kind of people. 

When Brae and Zachary were finished for the day, we invited them to come into Outer Space with us, so they could listen to Chet and Stephen jamming. Let's just say that they were more than blown away with their music like Tone and me. And before Brae and Zachary left to go home I took this picture of these two great, hard workers that helped out Tony and me so much. "Thank you, Brae and Zachary."

It is 2:00, in the afternoon, as I sit at the kitchen table, writing this and Brae and Zachary are once again outside mowing and weed eating the grass and weeds. For the past two hours I have been taking turns listening back and forth to Chet's Cd's Game Bird and Because Of You and Stephen K. Morris' CD Borrowed Times. I am having a blast listening to my friends' fabulous music and I am sure that you know that I have the volume cranked up big time.

If you are interested in knowing more about Chet and Stephen they are both on Facebook and they both have websites and here are the links to them:

http://chetokeefe.com/

http://www.stephenkmorris.com/

It is now nearly 3:00. Twenty minutes ago, Kinky called me to tell me that he is back from Boston and that he had a great time performing there last night with Washington Ratso and that he really enjoyed seeing our friends 'Erb & Karen. I had his mail over here, so I asked Zachary and Brae if they would like to go with me over to the Lodge, in Kermit, to deliver Kinky's mail to him.

We had a fun, but short visit with Kinky, because he was pretty tired, because this morning he had to be at the airport by 4:30 to catch his early flight. 

As I finish writing this, Chet and his dog Willie are somewhere on I-10, on their way to Terlingua, because Chet has several upcoming gigs to play out there this month. Tony and his sister and sister-in-law are on somewhere on Highway 16 and they should be arriving here shortly. Brae and Zachary are finishing up outside, because they have to be somewhere at 4:00. So life is good even though it is F.M.T. (Full Moon Time) once again and this one tonight is called the Full Flower Moon.

Y'all have a great evening!

A Light In The Shadow!

Today has been great. I am sorry for not posting a lot the past few days, but I have been more than busy working on several (some temporarily secret) projects, at the same time, that will be benefiting our rescue ranch, while everyday also trying to mow down the tall grass with Tony. I am not complaining—I am just explaining.

This morning our great friends/dog walking volunteers came out and walked our dogs for us. Then all of us went up to the Medina Highpoint Resort's Koyote Grill to eat lunch together. And as always lunch was delicious and a whole lot of fun.

We got to watch June's cute granddaughter sing, in a school play, on Ellen's iPad. Then June told us an hilarious story about her and her husband's trip to Australia, that involved walking across a pasture filled with cows, calves and kangaroos and then she did an laugh-out-loud reenactment of how her husband had done it.

Then Ellen started telling us hilarious stories about different snakes, she'd met in her lifetime. Two of the funniest were when she found a snake coiled up, in her kitchen drawer, that she finally was able to release outside. And my favorite one was when her uncle or relative was working, in a barn, he found a big long snake mixed in with the hay. So he started wrapping it around his rake, so he could fling it outside. And right when he flung it outside the barn door—his son entered the barn and the middle of the snake's body hit the kid, in the neck and then it started wrapping itself around the poor boy's head. "Fortunately, neither the snake or the boy were harmed," Ellen said. "And to this day that relative still wonders about it really being an accident or not." Suzanne, Eileen, Kris and Jim also had funny stories to tell, but there's not enough time to write about them. Anyway, lunch was a total blast.

My dear friend Cindy Pickard, who has received several awards on her outstanding documentaries, is  working on a fascinating, informative documentary film, in progress, on Prisons: the inmates, their families, the guards and those who teach and bring light to the darkness. It is called A Light In The Shadow and Cindy has let me view some of the interviews, etc. and I absolutely love what I have already seen of it. So I asked Cindy to please let me know if there was anything that I could do to help her with this awesome documentary.

Two days ago, Cindy wrote and told me that she had launched the documentary, A Light In The Shadow, on Kick/Starter. So, I want to invite everyone to please check it out, because you're going to like what you see.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1178181924/the-light-in-the-shadow-a-documentary-film-on-pris/

And please note that Cindy is using some of Chet O'Keefe's fabulous music, in the documentary and that I have just made a pledge to help fund it, too. And I hope that y'all will too after you check it out.

Unfortunately, now I must go back outside and help Tony do some more mowing, etc., so I guess that's  about it for tonight. Hopefully, by tomorrow I will be feeling more rested and will be caught up with the mowing, before F.M.T. (Full Moon Time) on Sunday, May 3rd.

Y'all have a great evening!