Okay, Now I'm Done!

Today has been great thank goodness, because the last three months were totally exhausting for both Tony and me. But the best news is that we survived the move and the shutting down of our beloved rescue ranch, with the awesome help of our good friends, at Austin Pets Alive.

In fact, we were so busy packing, moving, etc., during this time, that I finally found the time, two days ago, to remember to please ask Pat Symchych (our fabulous webmaster) to please post this farewell message on our utopiarescue.com site, before we officially take the site down next month.

Anyway, the past 90 days have been such a whirlwind for me there is simply too much for me to tell or explain. So, I am going to leave it like that and just look forward to what's ahead for Tony, Roy, Belle, Beau, Henry, Big Al(ice), Little Debbie and me. End of subject. So from here on out it's onward through the fog for me.

But wait! Omg, I forgot to say a big thank you to all of our dear friends that helped us, in one way or the other, during this transition period. I cannot express how much I appreciate those who either allowed me to vent my frustrations or literally cry on their shoulders, those who physically helped us move everything and for all of those who kept us in their prayers. Okay, now I am done. (I hope.)

This past Monday afternoon Tony and I had to go, to Kerrville, to buy groceries, at the big H-E-B.  On our way there Tony told me that he wanted to treat me to lunch, because I had finally quit whining, about this or that, that we still needed to do. And as soon as I said, "Okay," we both said, "Let's call Kris & Jim and invite them to eat lunch with us."

We had a really fun lunch with our dear friends, at the Cracker Barrel and believe it or not Tony and I did not order the exact same thing. Which I thought was pretty amazing.

Anyway, during our fun get-together, The Mineral Man and I started talking about easy ways to cook food without using our electric stove, because we still have not put the 220 in, so I can start using it, again. And FYI: My electric stove right now is still, over in Carol's barn, where she kindly is letting us store a lot of our stuff that we had to put somewhere.

When I complained to our friends about us being "stoveless" Jim's eyes lit up, and he said, "Nancy, get an Instant Pot! It does everything a stove does and more....In fact, H-E-B has them on sale right now for only $79.00....I am going to buy one myself....You can make pressure cooker Senate Bean Soup with it using navy beans."

Well, I must have had an odd look, on my face, because I've never heard of Senate Bean Soup, and that's why Kris added, "Oh, it is so delicious! It is my favorite soup that Jim makes."

"It's so easy," Jim chimed in, as we were leaving the Cracker Barrel. "I'll e-mail you the recipe when we get back home. You only need water, navy beans, butter, garlic, parsley, onion, salt & pepper and smoked ham hocks." And as we were exiting the dining area guess who walked in as we were leaving? Yes, it was Kinky, Max and Dylan, but they didn't see us, because they were talking to each other.

"Hi Kinky," I said, and it sort of startled him. Then he laughed and greeted us. So we had a fun, but short visit with him.

So after lunch, Tony and I adios-ed our dear friends and then we went to H-E-B to buy groceries. And the last thing that I put into our shopping cart, before checking out, was an Instant Pot. And to say the least, it was very exciting for me, because now I can cook, again. Instead of having to micro-wave junk food for us to eat.

Today, I made Jim's delicious recipe that he shared with me and I must admit that Cousin Nancy's Senate Bean Soup recipe was easy to make and it is absolutely delicious. And Tony loved it so much he actually ate seconds. Here is a picture of it, but you can't see the navy beans, because like a submarine they sort of sunk, to the bottom of the bowl.

Now before I go, I know that I told y'all that I would tell you the name of our new ranch, but I guess you could say that I lied, because yesterday I designed our ranch logo and took it to Tito, at TNJ Engraving, so they can make a gate sign for us. So sadly, y'all must wait for a couple of more days before we pick up our sign and I can reveal it. And that's about it for tonight.

P.S. Happy Valentines Day!

P.S.S. It feels so good to be blogging again!

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

Eternal Squirrel!

Late this afternoon I took a break from moving more of our stuff over to our new place and I started working on the bedroom, because it was driving me crazy. It has been filled with boxes, garbage sacks full of our stuff, etc. and the bedroom looked like a total mess with only a small path leading to the bed and the bathroom.

Anyway, it is much more livable now, thanks to Tony, for helping me hang up some pictures and move things around and put things where they might permanently belong. But that will all be decided after we get everything, out on the front porch, unpacked and moved inside The Cabin.

I am thrilled with the results so far, because I know that I won't wake up, in the middle of the night and trip or fall or stump my toe, trying to find my way to our bathroom.

Here is a little peak at what we got accomplished today, in the bedroom. And please know there is still much to do like move and unpack the crate, in the chair, beside the bookcase and move the other chair out of the room, that my beloved, boxed, solar Eternal Squirrel is sitting on before we move it outside.

So please cut me some slack on how it looks right now, because I am hoping, that by the end of this week, we will have everything put in its place (where we can find it) and it will start to feel like home.

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

    

Today!

Today has been a good day. And tomorrow looks promising.

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

Flower Power!

Late this afternoon, after a hard day of moving to our new ranch the phone rang—it was Carol. "Hi Nancy! Can I come over and see you? I just...." And of course my answer was "Yes, please do."

Five minutes later, after Tony and I quickly tried to hide a ton of boxes and garbage bags packed with our stuff, in the kitchen and big room—my dear friend Carol arrived.

So I went outside to greet her, while Tony hid a few more boxes and bags, in the bedroom.

When Carol climbed out of her white truck she was smiling and carrying this beautiful vase full of beautiful flowers. And she told me that she bought them for me, because she thought they would lift my spirits. And she was right about that—I absolutely love them.

In fact, late tonight (11:49PM to be exact) before it becomes early tomorrow morning and I go to bed, I was admiring my bouquet of pretty flowers while downing a dose of ZzzQuil. And that's when I decided to take a picture of the flowers, so you could see just how lovely these flowers are. And that is about it for tonight, because it is 11:54. And please note that I cropped out the boxes and garbage bags.

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

I've Named Our Ranch And It Is Perfect For Us! Find Out On The 14th!

We're Alive And Well! or I'll Return To Blogging On Valentine's Day!

Hi Y'all. Tony and I have been and still are in the process of moving to our new place. To say the least—"We're exhausted, but things are almost done. At last."

Anyway, once we finish moving and get settled in I do plan to start blogging regularly again. And by the looks of things I will be ready to start blogging on Valentine's Day and I am so looking forward to it.

I have some great moving stories, small car (truck) catastrophes, Little Debbie aka Escape Artist, etc. to tell and by then, I hopefully will be laughing once again and be able to turn my stories into something to laugh about. And that's about it for now, because I plan to relax by drinking a couple of glasses of my fine boxed wine and watch a movie, read a little and then go to bed.

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

Happy New Year! or Hairballs! or Trail of the Zeros! or Lacey!

Last year, 2017, was one of the very worse and one of the very best years for us and it was also exhausting and exhilarating. So not to go negative, on the very first day of this new year and on my first post, for 2018, I am not going to complain about the worse part of 2017, because thankfully it is all behind us now. And besides Tony and I have so much more to be thankful for.

I know that it has been over two weeks since I last wrote something for my blog, which is now a new record for me for going so long without blogging, and I still have the same old excuse I've used ever since June 22nd, the day when Tony and I were blessed and we became proud property owners with a very bright future to look forward to in our upcoming retirement.

So now I am going to highlight a few events, from the past two weeks, so I can start this new year on a positive note. But before I write another word there is one very sad, depressing thing that I must tell you. And my sad heartbreaking news is—Henry Standing Bear ate Carol's Top Bun.

Yes, I know you must be shocked to hear this tragic news, but not as shocked as I was when I caught Henry, ten days ago, heaving and trying to throw it up, over and over again, on the bathroom's tile floor.

Seriously, there was all of this different colored, wet, dog hair, with little chunks of green grass in it, scattered around in neat, little piles. And Henry had strands of dog hair stuck, in between his teeth, which made me start to gag when I saw it.

At first I was shocked as you can well imagine. Then I was sick to my stomach as I tried to clean up the multi-colored, multi-breed, clumps of hairballs that took me several times to flush it away.

Then I got mad and I was madder than a wet hen at Henry. Because so many of my dear friends, as far away as Canada (Fay), had collected and sent me their precious dog hair and I'd spent more than eight months washing it, then drying it in the salad spinner, then spinning it to weave together this cute, little bun, in time for me to give to Carol for her Christmas present. The Bottom   Line: I called Carol up and suggested that we not exchange presents this year and she was totally fine with it. And Henry only tossed up his cookies one more time for me to clean up and he eventually got rid of all of the hair that was wedged between his teeth.

Several days before Christmas I received, in the mail, the nicest gift from my friend Mary Sanders. She is and has been a loyal reader of my blog (when I do blog) for many years. Anyway, she sent us these pretty, crocheted cloths for me to use as potholders or dish rags as a housewarming gift and she also sent me a rare 1954, first edition of Roy Rogers: on the Trail of the Zeros. And I want to thank her for the thoughtful gifts.

About ten days ago, after we had worked most of the day, over at the property, I announced to Tony that I thought it would be fun for me to spend the night at our new place. "...Tony, Henry can spend the night with me, too. It will be fun..." 

Tony wasn't so sure about it and he suggested that I spend the night over there when the weather was better, because it was cold and drizzling outside and we don't have a phone installed yet. But I didn't listen to him even though later on I wished I had.

Anyway, before dark-thirty, Tony followed Henry and me, over to the property and he started a fire for me, in the wood burning stove, before adios-ing us.

At first Henry seemed to be a little confused to be over there and he was uncertain why Tony had left us there alone. So after sniffing around the cabin and checking out the commode Henry wanted to go outside to check some more things out. So I let him out the front door, because we had just fenced it in and I knew he would be safe from the nearby traffic. And I took these pictures of Henry's first time to be over at the property.

Within five minutes Henry was at the window staring back at me, because he was ready to come back inside for our slumber party—that never happened.

The Cabin was nearly as cold as the outside, so as we waited for the stove to warm up The Cabin, Henry and I decided to watch a movie—Pure Country.

As The Cabin began to warm up inside, Henry and I then decided to watch the movie City Slickers. When we finished watching that fun movie, neither one of us was tired, so we watched The Cowboy Way and then we watched Chef.

By then it was way past midnight, so I put another log on the fire, so to speak. Then I suggested to Henry that we go to bed. And Hen was all for it until he realized and then I realized that the single twin bed was way too small for us to sleep together. So after about twenty minutes of Henry jumping up and down/back and forth, on the twin beds, I gave up and suggested that we get up and watch another movie.

But Henry was tired and he looked confused as to why we were staying, over at The Cabin, instead of sleeping together over at the trailer. And I felt like he thought that he was being punished for something, so I calmly explained to him, "Hen, you are not being punished for eating Carol's Top Bun. I just thought it would be fun for us to spend the night together over here...."

With that said, Henry and I stayed up and watched the hilarious movie Starsky & Hutch. And halfway through that movie Henry tried several times to get up in my chair and sit on my lap, which was not fun for either of us.

So when we started watching the movie P.S. I Love You, I grabbed some blankets, out of the bedroom and Henry and I tried to snuggle together on the couch, but like the twin beds—there was not enough room for the both of us.

Bottom   Line: Henry and I stayed up all night and we came back home as soon as the sun rose. And the first thing I told Tony was, "I've got to redecorate the entire bedroom and get rid of the twin beds, because Henry and I couldn't even fit on one of them. I love the way the bedroom looks, but we need to put our queen-sized bed in there so I can sleep and also take naps with our dogs...." So here is one last look at the bedroom before The Queen arrives.

Yesterday, New Year's Eve, was a great day, because Wilma Flintstone was adopted to the nicest couple. Saturday afternoon Steve & Carolyn took Wilma home for a "slumber party" and yesterday morning Steve called me to tell me that they officially wanted to adopt her and to say the least Tony and I are more than thrilled for Wilma. And here is a picture that Carolyn sent to me of Wilma enjoying the good life. And her new name is Lacey.

Y'all have a great New Year and keep on laughing!