2008 IS GOING TO BE A BUSY YEAR!

BOOKS, BOOKS and more  BOOKS

• Finally after talking about it for ten years, we're committed to getting our book assembled, written and ready to publish!  LAUGHING WITH YOUR MOUTH FULL  will be a cookbook/memoir with tons of photos, sketches and stories about the amazing people we've met (many of whom Mike has painted) and the wonderful communities we've had the privilege to live in over the last 30 years.  Right now we have over a hundred recipes and we're still collecting so the final number will be closer to a hundred and fifty.  Keep checking our blog for updates on the release date.  And if you have a favorite recipe you'd like us to look at, send it on, and we'll be sure to give you credit in the book!
• We're working on three children's books - two primary and one intermediate.  

THE NOSTALGIC HISTORIC DOWNTOWN SERIES

• Last November, Mike painted "Christmas on Main," a nostalgic rendition of Old Towne Bastrop.  We donated the painting and a few prints to the Festival of Trees benefit auction supporting the local Crisis Center.  Always the history buff, he ended up doing two more of the downtown area, one of which will be a 2008 Christmas card.  Mike enjoyed doing the paintings so much, we decided to launch a series featuring some of the wonderful small communities we've discovered.  We will donate the painting to a local charity in each town and sell prints of the painting on our website.   The next town slated for this series is Ritzville, Washington, a progressive little town with great bones!  We'll be traveling to Ritzville for their Historic celebration over the Memorial Day Weekend where the painting or paintings will be exhibited.  We've got our eye on a couple of other Texas towns too - Brenham and of course, the oldest town in Texas, Nacogdoches!   

COWBOY CARTOONISTS INTERNATIONAL

• The CCI Annual show at Cowboy Christmas in Las Vegas was a blast as usual.  Susan January and Pat Phillips, from Leanin' Tree,  made sure we all ate well and even ran the cash register for a couple of days.  Mike Rhoda presented an excellent workshop for CCI members and the three of them hosted a rodeo party where we all got to pick on fellow member and newlywed, CrAsh Cooper.  It's always nice to go to a show, make a little money, see lots of old friends and gain about 5 extra pounds . . . just before Christmas!  We're already planning for next year!

THE Y-ME RANCH COMPANY STORE GETS A MAKEOVER AND A NEW NAME

• COW CREEK MERC is open and we're gearing up to add all your favorite gift items!  It will be a one-stop shop for western and down home humor.  We'll carry all sorts of humorous products by many of the CCI artists as well as a wide range of others who specialize in down home, western and rural humor.  The Y-ME Ranch Hand products will still be carried in the store in their own department.  We'll have cartoon books, cookbooks, mugs, magnets, posters, wearable art, figurines and a anything else we can find to tickle your fancy.  

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