Tony woke me up this morning. "Nance, it's five-thirty. You need to get up." Before I could climb out of bed, our dogs pounced on me, using me as a human diving board—before leaping off of the bed to go outside!
"Ouch! Thank you, Tony. Ouch! I'm awake, now. Ouch! Dog-gone it!"
By seven o'clock, we were on our way to Kerrville with our precious cargo—Ellen Degeneres, to do the Harley Show! As soon as Buttermilk crossed over the cattle guard—Ellen became unhappy, and she started howling, actually it was more like high pitched screaming! Yikes! Tone and I figured by the time we reached Highway 16, she would quiet down—we were wrong. She yelled at us the entire trip, as we tried to listen to Harley on the radio.
As soon as we got out of the car with Ellen, at the Rose 99.9 radio station—she turned into a different puppy! Her tail was wagging wildly and she could not quit kissing us, and she was quiet! She was happy, Tone was happier, and I was the happiest girl in the whole U.S.A.! I'm serious.
Doing Harley's Show was a lot of fun this morning, and Ellen did great! She was calm and relaxed in the studio, as we talked about her, and she even showered Harley with wet kisses, near the end of the show! I was so proud of her!
When our rescue ranch segment was over, Tony, with Ellen sleeping peacefully in his arms, and I descended the stairs to the parking lot to load up. As soon as Buttermilk pulled out onto the Junction Highway—Ellen became a basket case, again—yelling her lungs out! I thought to myself—Ellen has turned into Hell-en!
She screamed the entire three-point-two miles to Hoegemeyers, where we dropped her off to chill out, so we could go eat breakfast at Randy and Lisa's Save Inn restaurant. Of course, the restaurant was packed, but Tony and I were lucky to find us a table! Then the weirdest thing happened!
In less than two minutes, after their friendly waitress had taken our order—Ben walks into the restaurant! We knew Ben was coming to the rescue ranch today to work, but we weren't expecting to see him at the restaurant—it was a happy surprise for us! "I heard y'all on the radio, tell Harley that y'all were coming here. When I saw Buttermilk parked outside, I decided to join you two for breakfast." T. and I were delighted, and so was our waitress!
When the sweet waitress handed Ben a menu, she asked, "Is he your son?" Tony and Ben burst out laughing, and I nearly choked to death on my ice tea!
"No. Ben is our good friend," Tony replied, as I waited for someone to come do the Heimlich manuever on me! Unfortunately, no one came—it was a no-show, but fortunately I survived another one of my—"Well, Nance almost wasn't with us anymore today" incidents, an expression my incredibly sweet, loving parents used to say often, when I was growing up. I must admit my 'almost dead' incidents do seem to occur quite frequently—just ask Kinky, Ben or Tone.
Our party-of-three breakfast was delicious and a blast! T. and Ben teased me about getting all choked up over nothing, and we did a lot of laughing, as we caught up with each other's latest news. I found out, during our meal, that Miles of Chocolate has now been voted 'Best Chocolate' by the Austin Chronicle—for two years in a row! Congrats Miles and Ben! Austin knows chocolate!
As Tony paid our bill, I didn't want our breakfast fun to end, because I was already dreading the twenty-two mile trek, back to the rescue ranch with Hell-en!
As Buttermilk took us home, Hell-en serenaded us non-stop, for thirty-two minutes, with gut-wrenching, soul piercing sounds, that I hope I never hear again in this lifetime! If I do, it will be another one of those "Well, Nance almost wasn't with us anymore today" incidents!
Y'all have a great evening!
Thursday, July 9, 2009
It Was A No Show!
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Laugh Out Loud!
My vacation is temporarily on time-out! Today after walking six fast miles—I went to work. I returned eleven phone calls, twenty-seven e-mails, then Tony helped me take pictures of three of our adorable puppies. Since then, I have done paperwork all day long. I still need to take eight more pictures of our newly rescued dogs, and will take more pictures tomorrow to post.
This morning, during breakfast, Tony and I decided to go to Kerrville, tomorrow morning, to do the Harley Show live. We are going to take Ellen Degeneres with us, in hopes that she might get adopted! If she doesn't, Jan and Todd, two of our great volunteers, are going to take her, Bandit and Oprah to Pet Supplies Plus, on Saturday between 10 -2, to try to find them forever homes for us! We love you Jan and Todd! Here is a picture of Tony playing with the puppies, followed by Ellen Degeneres, Oprah, and Bandit!
Tomorrow, after doing Harley's show, we plan to drop Ellen off at Hoegemeyers, so we can go eat breakfast at Randy and Lisa's Save Inn restaurant—we love their 'Sinker Omelet!' Then we will pick Ellen up, and get back to the rescue ranch.
Kinky called me this afternoon. He is doing fine, and nearly ready to self-publish his book, "Heroes of a Texas Childhood!" I am still jealous that my book is not as far along as his, but someday soon mine will be. Laugh out loud—I need a vacation!
Y'all have a great evening!
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Texas Sized!
This morning I walked six fast miles! I then returned some phone calls and e-mails. It was now finally—My Time! I had just begun working on my book, when the phone rang—it was Kinky. "Nance, I just found a German paperback version of 'Meanwhile Back At The Ranch,' and you have got to come over and see it! Our names are all over it and it is pretty funny."
Twenty minutes later, I was over at the Lodge. After unloading some more of Tony's organic—tomatoes, onions, jalapenos, and zucchinis onto Kinky's kitchen table, I thumbed through the German paperback, finding Tony's and my name—here and there. I love that book—it is one of my favorite Kinky books. Kinky dedicated that book to Tony and me, and when I saw the dedication written in German, it made me grin! Here is a picture of the German Paperbook and the English version.
After looking at the book, Kinky and I went outside. He wanted to show me the bloom on his Texas Five Star Hibiscus, that our friends Rick R. and Leisa, from Port A., had given to him last year. It was beautiful and Texas sized, to say the least!
Kinky and I visited while he filled his hummingbird feeders. Before leaving the Lodge, Kinky invited Tone and me to join him for lunch—with Dylan, at Luby's. I accepted the invite, because I knew it would be fun to see Dylan, and also because we needed to run some errands in Kerrville.
At one o'clock sharp, the four of us entered Luby's cafeteria. Our lunch was so much fun! Dylan told us some very interesting stories, while Kinky kept interjecting some really funny remarks. I was the last to finish my lunch, because they had me laughing so hard.
After our Luby's lunch, Tone and I went to Wolfmueller's Books. We wanted to hear all about their Fourth of July pignic at the Trails End Guest House. Sandy and Jon told us that they had a blast! They said the food was delicious, of course, and Beckham is now living the life of Riley over there—and he is putting on the pounds! That news made my day!
Our visit with Sandy and Jon was fun, and I hated for it to end, but we needed to get over to Copies Plus, to get some printing done. When we walked inside Copies Plus, Trisha greeted us with a smile! Tony and I just love her. We had a fun visit with her, while she ran off two hundred copies of a brochure for us.
Tony and I are fixin' to watch Michael's memorial service that I taped earlier today. Y'all have a great evening!
Monday, July 6, 2009
My Time!
Yesterday, I walked eight fast miles. This morning, I walked only six fast miles. I spent my morning doing some paperwork and returning several phone calls—then it was officially 'My Time!'
Last week, I told Kinky, after telling him that I was jealous of him for nearly having his book ready for self-publishing, and I wasn't even close to that point, "Next week, I've decided to shut down the rescue ranch for a week, so Tony and I can take a break, and I can get some work done on my book." Kinky was fine with my 'Declaration of Vacation,' and he seemed sorta happy about making me jealous, too. I was fine with that.
I know that we can't totally shut the rescue ranch down for a week, that would be impossible to do, but we can be closed to the public and visitors for seven days. And, of course our volunteers are welcome to come out and walk our dogs and we will be open on Saturday.
'My Time' started around ten o'clock this morning! I spent two hours on my book, and accomplished a lot! For lunch, I tried a new Hot & Sour soup recipe and it was delicious—Tone loved it! While I was cleaning up the kitchen, Tony told me that we needed to go to Kerrville to get dog food, because we were now totally out of it. Time Out for My Time.
Buttermilk, T. and I left the rescue ranch ten minutes later—headed for Kerrville. Once again, we passed that restaurant with the funny sign messages, and we laughed out loud as we read their latest one!
1969
KEG!
2009
EKG!
Kinky called me around four-thirty. He invited me over to the Lodge for a visit. We sat outside by the Friedman Family Bone Orchard, and we talked about missing Perky, and what a wonderful little dog that she had been. "I guess now, it is the Four Friedman Bachelors," I said, trying to stay happy.
"My Three Sons!" Kinky quickly quipped. We both laughed.
Y'all have a great evening!
Sunday, July 5, 2009
We Love You, Perky Friedman!
Today has been a very sad day for everyone at the ranch. This evening at approximately 7:14, Miss Perky passed away, at Hoegemeyer's Animal Clinic, with Kinky and me by her side. No one knew her exact age, but it is believed that she was nineteen or twenty years old.
Kinky and Tony, along with the help of some caring friends, buried her this evening, next to Fly Friedman's grave. You were a great little dog, Perky, and loved by many. We will always love you, Perko!
