A Dream Come True!

Today has been one super great day for me, even though I spent over four hours this morning doing non-stop computer work.

Around 1:30 this afternoon—Carol called. "Hi, Carol. I can't believe you just called, because I was just thinking about you." Carol started laughing.

"I just gave Pistol and Maya a bath, before the paparazzi shows up to shoot us riding my horses. Can you and Tony come over around 3:30?"

"Omg, we would love to, Carol. I was hoping that you would call, because I spent so many hours this morning behind the computer—I thought my eyes were fixin' to fall out..."

It was nearly 4:00, when I climbed into Pistol's saddle, for the very first time and Carol mounted Maya. Then our Cowgirl Sisterhood fun began.

As we rode Carol's super cutting horses around her ranch, Tony stood back and shot us and at one point during our fun ride I said, "Carol, I love Pistol so much. He is a fabulous horse and being your first Texas friend to ride him is an honor and a dream come true..."

After a wonderful afternoon of riding Carol's horses we went out to her deck for happy hour and all I need to say is, "We had a blast!"

Y'all have a great evening!

Soup & Salad!

Yesterday, Tony and I worked outside almost all day. While Tony and Aaron did a lot of cement work, I used our weed-eater to knock down a lot of thistle. Even though I wanted to spend yesterday writing on my book, the work we accomplished outside was worth it.

Today, after doing our chores outside, we made a quick trip to Kerrville to get groceries (for homemade soups and salads) and office supplies.

Because my mind is racing ahead of my book and I must catch up, I plan to spend this evening and hopefully tomorrow afternoon out in my writing cabin—knocking out many pages. So, I told T. that we are eating soups and salads this week so I can get some writing done. Wish me luck!

Y'all have a great evening!

P.S. Tonight I received this from my dear friend Mari. I hope someone can help get Ryan back home.

MISSING!    
 "Ryan", spayed female pit bull mix, current on vaccinations, has been missing since Monday night, January 23rd.  Last seen about 12 miles S of Kerrville  on Hwy 16/Medina Hwy.  Please call if you have seen her or have any information.  Phone # (281) 748-4536.

Reata!

Today has been very busy, but still great. This afternoon we rescued a dog from Sherri, a fellow rescuer, from Bryan, Texas.

Even though it took Sherri and her friend four hours to get Chloe to us, when we met Chloe, a beautiful, sweet, 3-4 month old Catahoula possible Pit mix—she melted our hearts immediately when she kissed Tony on his cheek. "Sherri, this is one perfect pup," I said, as Chloe licked my hand. "She has great manners and you can tell that she is a very smart dog. This dog is highly adoptable."

"I know. Thank y'all so much for taking her in," Sherri said. "I have fallen in love with her, but we have so many rescued dogs we just couldn't keep her..."

After we had played with Chloe in the Okay Corral we took her down to Lulu's pen, so she could meet her new roommate and those two hit it off immediately. Even though Lulu is a senior citizen she recognized that Chloe was a pup and she was great with her, while Chloe played gently with her new best friend.

Early this evening Tony and I went outside to check on Chloe and Lulu to make sure they were still girlfriends. When we drove up they were curled up and sleeping side by side in the warm sunlight. As we petted Chloe I said, "Tony, I like the name Chloe, but I am changing her name to Reata." T. liked her new name.

If anyone knows a super person who deserves a super dog—please tell them about Reata. We already have Jim and his wife in Austin interested and if that doesn't work I plan to call Fay, up in Canada to see if her friend is still looking for a great dog. She just needs basic training like sit, stay and come, because she is calm, friendly and happy to be alive.

Y'all have a great evening.

Olive Oil!

Yesterday was a really great day. Before doing our chores I went over to the Lodge to visit with Kinky and we had a fun visit. We talked about his exciting, upcoming Southern Discomfort tour and The Friedmans.

After Tony and I had done our chores we went to Kerrville to run a few errands. While we were at Home Depot, buying a Pelonis convection oil filled radiator heater for my writing cabin, that Sandy and Jon Wolfmueller had highly recommended that we get, we ran into our super volunteer Jim and his wife Diane and then in the paint department, then we ran into our dear friend Les and we had a nice visit with him, while my quart of red paint was being mixed.

Our last stop was at Herring Printing to pick up some printing. When we walked into Kerrville's favorite printing shop we were greeted by the friendly employees and then our friend Joe Herring saw us and he came up to the counter to greet us and we had a fun visit with him before heading home.

As soon as we got back home I punched Carlton's button to listen to any new incoming calls. "Hi, Tony and Nancy. This is Kat. My son Bryan has been wanting to adopt a dog and today is his only day off. Could we come out to look at your dogs? Call me."

Forty minutes later, Kat, Dave, Bryan and Molie, the dog that Kat had adopted from us over eight years ago, arrived. After howdies and handshakes we took off to go show them our dogs and before we had finished showing Bryan all of our super dogs—he fell in love with Walter Cronkite. So, we walked Walter down to The Okay Corral, where Molie was waiting, so we could see how they would got along. After a quick "sniff-a-thon" the two dogs were in love with each other, which thrilled all of us. Here is a picture of Molie in Tone's lap and Bryan with his new best friend.

Today has been a great day. This morning when I got up at 6:00, Tony tells me that we had run out of propane during the night and that was why The Cabin was so cold. After I had put on a couple of layers of clothes I suggested that T. bring the new little heater into the house, to see if it could help warm us up. And I am glad that he did, because in no time flat—The Cabin was warm and cozy, thanks to Olive Oil.

Before Tony returned home from the Old Timer, I called Wolfmueller Books. "Morning, Jon. I just wanted to let you know that we bought one of those oil filled radiator heaters at Home Depot and we love it. During the night we ran out of propane and early this morning we plugged her in and she really helped warm up our trailer...Tell Sandy I named her Olive Oil. Bye." 

Around 9:30, when we had just started our morning chores Jim, Roy & Della and Ellen, our super volunteers came out to walk our dogs and our dogs were more than thrilled about it. 

When I was almost done cleaning the pens our dear friend Maribeth, from Utopia, arrived, because I had called her yesterday morning to invite her to come over and spend the day with us, because Tone and I had been missing her.

After the pens were cleaned, Jim came up to tell me that his sister-in-law Ruth had come out with him, because she wanted me to autograph my first book that I wrote. "She bought it at Wolfmuellers and cannot wait to get you to sign it.

So, on my way up to The Cabin, I stopped at Jim's truck, next to the barn and greeted Ruth and then I invited her to join me and Maribeth for a visit and a cup of tea in The Cabin.

The minute I introduced Maribeth to Ruth our fun hen party started and it was filled with hilarious confessions and some funny true-life stories, as Belle slept in her chair and Roy snoozed below her on his quilt.

Later this afternoon, Maribeth, Tony and I met Ellen for a late lunch in Kerrville and it was a lot of fun. Before heading home we swung by Home Depot, so I could pick up another one of those heaters like Olive Oil and then Buttermilk took us back to the ranch.

Around 4:00, as we were outside saying goodbye to Maribeth—the propane man arrived in his gigantic truck, to fill us up, which filled me with relief, knowing that we would have central heat tonight and not have to use the twins—Olive and Safflower Oil. 

Once again, I want to wish my dear friend 'Erb Cares a happy birthday and I hope that it has been the best ever for him and that is about it for today.

Y'all have a great evening!

Happy Birthday 'Erb Cares!

Today is one of my favorite people's birthday. I've known 'Erb Cares and his sweet wife Karen for many years and the only problem that I have with them is—we don't get to see them as often as we would like to.

Because 'Erb has kept me laughing with his hilarious e-mais ever since I met him, I want to sing him the Happy Birthday Song, so here goes.

"Happy Birthday to You. Happy Birthday to You. Happy Birthday Dear 'Erb. Happy Birthday to You. And Many More..."

"Erb, Tony and I hope that you have the best Birthday Day ever and we wish that we could be there with Karen and you to celebrate it. We love you and Karen. Kinky sends you his best. Happy Birthday! And please come see us sooner than later.

Happy Birthday Ben Welch!

Today is Ben Welch's Birthday and Tony and I want to be some of the first people to wish him the happiest birthday day ever.

We have known Ben for nearly a decade and Kinky, Tony and I consider him to be family. Over the many years laughter has played a major part of our friendship with Ben, even though during difficult or sad times we have often leaned on each other for support and advice. And that is why we love Ben so much.

Ben, it has been an honor to know you and count you as a true friend, so therefore we wish to sing you the Birthday Song, even though I have not taken my singing lessons with Carol yet.

"Happy Birthday to You. Happy Birthday to You. Happy Birthday Dear Ben. Happy Birthday to YOU! And many more...."

Pistol Packin' Mama!

Today Mama and I have been feeling much better. It's a good thing that I wrote early yesterday, because last night we had STORMS. It started raining heavy around eight-thirty last night, so I unplugged everything that needed to be protected, then I went to bed and it seems that every time that I was falling into a deep sleep the sky would light up followed by a big bang, causing Mama to jump off of the bed— barking loudly. So, this morning when I got up—I was pretty tired, because I never slept for more than 45 minutes at a time.

Early this afternoon, before Trigger took us to Kerrville, we stopped by to welcome Carol back home, because for the past two weeks she has been out in Arizona practicing her "cutting" on Pistol, her new cutting horse.

After howdies and hugs Carol took us up to the barn to meet Pistol. "He is a wonderful horse and Maya is in love with him already..." And when I laid my eyes on Pistol for the first time—I was in love too. As we petted Pistol and Maya, Carol told us, "When I called Lorri and Jeff to tell them about getting Pistol, Jeff tells Lorri to tell me that, "I am a Pistol packing mama." And I am..." Then we talked about the cool pictures that Lorri and Jeff had sent to me.

This afternoon before heading back to the ranch we stopped at Wild Birds Unlimited for two reasons; to see our friend Marguerite, who adopted Enzo 2 from us and to pick up some specialty Woodpecker bird seed that Jon and Sandy had raved so much about last week and had told us to get, as soon as possible.

We had a fun time catching up with Marguerite and hearing about Enzo's hilarious, latest escapades and Tony was beside himself inside the cool store, because he wanted to buy one of everything that he saw. "Tone, when we win the lottery, I want this wind chime for over $200.00 and you can buy everthing else," I teased.

On our way home Tony stopped at the last Mini-Mart on 16, before leaving Kerrville—to buy a lottery ticket for us. Wish us luck.

Y'all have a great evening! And don't forget that tomorrow is Ben Welch's birthday!