Sparky!

Today has been great. Late this morning the phone rang and I actually took the call, which is weird, because I always let Carlton screen my calls for me. "Rescue Ranch." I said. "This is Nancy."

"Hello, Nancy," a nice sounding man said. "I'm Dallas. A few months ago my wife and I came out there and adopted Sparky from y'all. We wanted to do this during the holidays, but decided to put it off until now." (My heart immediately sank, because I knew that he was going to tell me that Sparky hadn't worked out and they wanted to return her to us. Poor Sparky.)

"Yes, Dallas. I do remember you. Is Sparky okay?" (Then I held my breath.)

"Sparky is doing great!" Dallas said. "She is a fabulous dog and she..." (Then I smiled, let out a sigh of relief and listened.) "The reason that I am calling you is that my wife and I are at Pet Supplies Plus right now and we wanted to know if we could come out and drop off a big box of dog treats for the dogs."

Thirty-two minutes later, I went outside to greet Dallas and his sweet wife. After handshakes, they gave me the gigantic box of dog treats that was too big for me to carry, so they put it on the ground, just as Tony walked up to greet them. "Thanks for the dog treats," Tony said, as he picked up the heavy box and put it in the back of Kermit.

Tony and I spent over twenty minutes outside, talking to Dallas and his wife about Sparky. All they could do was brag about what a fine dog she was. We found out that their veterinarian had insisted that they change the spelling of Sparky's name to Sparkie, because she is girl and it made Tony and I laugh. We also learned that Sparky(ie) is mainly an inside dog and she gets along great with their other dogs and they love her so much they spoil her regularly. To say the least, "We are so happy for Sparky(ie) that she finally found her fabulous, forever home and is living with such nice people.

After we adios-ed Dallas and his wife, Tony took off, in Kermit, to go see Chet about a ladder. Five minutes later, Mama started barking, so I went outside to see who or what she was barking about. "Howdy, Steve!" I half-hollered, as I walked down the porch steps, so I could go greet our dear friend. "Come on up to The Cabin and drink a cup of coffee with me. Tony should be back in just a few minutes..."

As soon as Steve and I started sipping our delicious Donut Shop coffees, Tony walked inside the trailer and said, "Hey, Steve..." Then Tony said, "Nance, did you know that Chet can also play rock 'n roll with the best of them?"

"No, I didn't," I said. "Steve, Chet O'Keefe is a friend of ours that we met through Kinky and he is a great singer/ songwriter, musician and we love his music." Then the phone rang, I looked at the telephone number and picked up the phone, "Hi, Carol! How are you doing?"

"I'm doing great."

"Our artist friend, Steve, is over here right now and you ought to come over, so you can meet him."

"Darn it, I can't, Nancy, because I am leaving Fredericksburg right now and heading home."

"I was just talking to him about you being a very talented oil paint artist and that you were thinking about taking some more painting lessons. When I showed him my poster that I had made, of your painting of Maya, he told me that you don't need any lessons." That made Carol laugh.

"Tell Steve I already like him." Then Carol laughed again. "The reason that I called you was to invite you and Tony and Chet to come over for happy hour. Maybe Steve can come over too?" After I had invited Steve to join us for happy hour and he had agreed to meet us, Carol and I adios-ed each other. Then we adios-ed Steve. Then Tony went back over to Kinky's to invite Chet to join us for happy hour.

Around 3:30, we adopted Phil Robertson, one of Ginger Rogers five, adorable puppies, to Mike and his new bride Ally, a super nice couple, that live and work at the children's home, across the street. They told us that Phil's running buddy is going to be their little Yorkie. And before the newly weds left, they also told us to feel free to come over any time to see Phil.

Early this evening, Chet, Steve Tony and I showed up at Carol's ranch, for a really fun happy hour that was filled with laughter. An hour and a half later, when we got back home, Tony and I spent ten minutes rounding up a chicken that had gotten out of the pig pen. And that is about it for today.

Y'all have a great evening!