Saturday, January 30, 2016

Again!

Yesterday and today have been great. Ben Stiller got adopted Friday morning, with almost all of our great friends/volunteers out here. He is now living, in Kerrville, with a super nice man that adores Great Danes. Tom adopted Ben to be his and his older, female Great Dane's constant companion and all of us are thrilled about Ben's fantastic adoption.


Also, while our great friends were out here, I dressed in my "crazy lady" costume, smeared red lipstick on, put Little Debbie's alien-attracting helmet back on her again, so we could shoot the Longmire/crazy lady scene, out on the highway, and Jim did an excellent job playing the part of Longmire.

Friday afternoon after eating a fun lunch with our friends, at the Koyote Grill, we took off for Kerrville to run several errands.

Our first stop was to go by Wolfmueller's Books to visit with Sandy & Jon. When we walked inside their super cool bookstore, Harley, Sandy & Jon greeted us. Then we started catching up with each other's latest news and it was a lot of fun.

After I purchased two Bill Bryson books from Jon, we adios-ed them and then we went next door to Bad Girlz of Texas, so I could shop for some hilarious birthday cards. While we were in this great store, with super great vibes, we visited with Andie, the owner.

And after I had paid her for my cards, we left the building and climbed into Trigger to take off for the big H-E-B, because we needed to buy dog food for our rescued dogs and for our five dogs and Henry, our giant puppy.  

While we were waiting for the light to change to green, I faintly heard Sandy hollering, "Nancy! Nancy!" So, I turned around and lowered the window and waved to Sandy and Andie. "Nancy, Andie has your books that you forgot to take with you!"

"Okay! We'll drive around the block!" I hollered, as Tony made a sharp, right-handed turn onto Main Street.

A minute later, Tony again pulled back into the same parking space, in front of Bad Girlz of Texas. Sandy and Andie were standing there holding my books and they were laughing. "I can't believe I left my books. I feel so stupid. Thank y'all for catching us, because I can't wait to start reading them."

"You also dropped a dollar bill on the floor," Andie teased, as she handed me back my one dollar bill. Then I thanked them and jumped back inside Trigger and we took off again. And Tony teased me about leaving my books, on Andie's counter, in Bad Girlz of Texas, all of the way to the big grocery store.

When we got back home, I checked my e-mail. My dear friend Cindy had sent me a note about her writing and posting a short story she titled"It's Not Important..a very short story" on her blog about me and Jim, my late husband who passed away in 1995. 

So I immediately went to Cindy Pickard's awesome blog: Pooh & The Brown Piglet to read it. And to say the least, I totally loved it. Then I read some of Bryson's book and then once again I re-watched the awesome show, unBranded, that's now trending on Netflix.

Today has been busy. We had several people come out to look at our dogs and keeping my fingers crossed I am pretty sure that Claudia is going to adopt Bonnie Raitt from us, on Tuesday. So please keep your fingers crossed for Bonnie, too.

Early this evening I organized the Longmire—Texas Style videos and then I sent them all to Gerry Olert, so he can start putting our Longmire spoof together. And that's about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

Thursday, January 28, 2016

Without Any Ones!

This morning after I did the Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch segment on Harley's radio show I checked my e-mail. And at 8:09, I received this e-mail from my dear friend Mari. She wrote:

"This is from fellow NoMad Yvonne, who runs the Animal Shelter in Fredericksburg.

MIR has NOT ended – it’s still fading away……..

look what happened to my watch, one of the 1's on the 11 fell off, then the 1 fell off....What does this mean? Very strange."


So I wrote Mari back:

"Good grief Mari! That is hilarious as long as it wasn't an expensive watch. I just want to know where the 1's went. Are they rattling around under the plastic/glass cover? I guess you could say, “That time marches on with or without any ones.”

Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Like A Rock! or Oh Henry!

The last few days have been great. Yesterday afternoon Kinky hitched a ride with us to Kerrville, because Mr. Green Jeans was in the shop. "They told me that they think it's the transmission," Kinky said, as the three of us ate lunch at the Acapulco Restaurant.

After a fun lunch, we dropped Kinky off, in the little H-E-B's parking lot. "Thanks for taking me to Kerrville," Kinky said, as he climbed out of Trigger. "I've got to mail some things and then buy a few groceries, before Dylan comes to pick me up and take me back to the ranch."

Then Tony and I took off for the big H-E-B, so Tony could fill up Trigger while I bought a few groceries. Then we came back home.

This morning our good friends Charlie & Ellen came over to drink coffee with us and to give me a present. "Sorry Tony," Charlie teased. "We didn't get you anything because you don't deserve one." Then Charlie reached into his jacket's pocket and handed me the coolest rock. "We got it from our West Texas ranch and it had Cousin Nancy written all over it. It looks like martians decorated it..." Then he gave me the most beautiful rock.

I love collecting rocks and I thanked them for the unique rock. Now this is where y'all come in to play. Can anyone tell me something about what kind of rock this is, because I don't have a clue. If you do please leave me a comment.





Late this morning Tony and I decided to take Trigger to Balser's Northside Automotive, to get him his state inspection, while we ate lunch, next door, at Acapulco, again. So, Tony called our dear friends Kris & Jim to see if they wanted to meet us for lunch, at 12:30.

After we dropped off Trigger, we walked across the parking lot and spotted our friend's car, already parked in Acapulco's parking lot. So when the friendly waiter asked us how many were in our party, we told him that we were meeting friends. Then we looked up and saw Kris & The Mineral Man waving at us, near the back of the restaurant.

As always, Tony and I had a blast eating lunch with Kris & Jim. In fact, we never stopped talking or laughing throughout our delicious meal. And Tony and I did not order the exact same thing.

An hour and a half later, we adios-ed our friends and walked back over to Balser's to pick up Trigger. And we had a pleasant surprise awaiting us. "Your truck doesn't need to be inspected," the friendly woman explained. "They've passed a new law....You don't need to renew the inspection until August when your license plates are due..."

Before we came back home, we made a quick stop at Wild Birds Unlimited, because Tony needed to buy more birdseed. And before we adios-ed Marguerite and Linda we had a fun visit with them. We mainly talked about birds and laughed about our dogs latest antics. "I think I am going to rename Big Foot aka Big Daddy to Henry," I stated. "After Lou Diamond Phillips' character he plays, in Longmire."

"I love Henry," Marguerite said.

Then Tony said, "No, he's my dog and I like Big Foot."

We chuckled, and then I said, "Oh Henry is a much better name for him than Big Foot and besides that he's our dog, Tony..." Then we left the store with Marguerite and Linda laughing about our "what to name him" discussion.

When we got back home Carlton was flashing, on the breakfast bar. We had four new messages. Sandy left one of the messages, "Nancy, Tony. There's a new show on Netflix called Branded and Jon and I love it and y'all are going to love it, too...."

So that's about it for tonight, because I am fixin' to go sit down and watch Branded, while Henry and the rest of our dogs sleep.

Y'all have a great evening! 

Monday, January 25, 2016

Full Moon & Mercury In Retrograde!

Today has been extremely frustrating. Because of the Full Moon & Mercury in Retrograde working together it appears that my Yahoo e-mail account has been compromised and I am so frustrated trying to fix it.

I was tipped off early this morning when my friend called to tell me that he received an e-mail from my un....ss account and the subject said: from un...ss creative lounge@yahoo.com...okay, that's definitely not me, so I think tomorrow I am going to try to get a new e-mail address using gmail, but that is difficult, because our cell phones don't work out here...anyway, I am more than exhausted trying to fix this.

Bottom Line: If you get an e-mail from un...ss creative lounge DELETE IT, because it ain't from me.

Sunday, January 24, 2016

Longmire-Texas Style!

Even though it is M.I.R. (Mercury in retrograde) time again, with only one more day left, things have been pretty good since last Thursday.

Our friend Mercury, messed with our Longmire Texas-Style filming plans Friday morning, due to miscommunications and cancellations and it was absolutely no ones fault, but Mercury's. But thanks to Lisa's and Eileen's determination to shoot a few scenes, we did a quick rewrite of the script and recruited Chris to play the character Ferg, in the Sheriff's office scene.

Lisa did most of the filming of the scenes that were a laugh a minute, because there was so much spur-of-the-moment ab-libing going on. And I bet that Gerry Olert, our official videographer who we hired to shoot our Longmire Texas-Style spoof, is going to have a hard time editing it, because he will be laughing so much.

Our costumes could not have been better, too. Lisa who plays the character Vic Moretti could of passed as Vic's twin sister, in her custom-made deputy uniform and Eileen, who had purchased a brunette wig to wear, to play Ruby's character, looked like Ruby's twin, too. Tony loaned Chris his jacket and we gave Chris a new Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch cap to wear to play his character Ferg. And here is a picture of part of what Little Debbie and I wore in our scenes.


We still need to shoot several more scenes that will include all of us and Kris & Jim, who play the characters Cady and Longmire, and Chet O'Keefe, who plays Henry. And the cool part is Chet is writing the music and he will be performing it in our video spoof, too. 

We are still working on a date to film the rest of the scenes and hopefully it will be happening sooner than later, because the real Longmire cast and crew will begin taping Longmire: Season 5, beginning in March. And we are hoping that our video will be funny enough to win us an invite to be on location with them, in Northern New Mexico.

And that's about it for now, except I forgot to tell you that Little Debbie had two wardrobe malfunctions. Right before shooting outside began her tiny alien-attracting helmet came apart and thankfully Chet rose to the occasion and quickly fixed it for her. And near the end of shooting, inside the pink, Sheriff's office, her pink dress fell off of her. It was hilarious, because she acted like she didn't care about being partially nude, because she was still wearing her helmet. 

Y'all have a great evening!

Thursday, January 21, 2016

Bad Girlz of Texas!

Today has been great since Chet and Shannon arrived here yesterday. Last night, they entertained us playing and singing their awesome music and they were both so good Tony and I both got goose bumps.

This morning Chet and Shannon ate breakfast with us and it was a fun time filled with lots of laughter, because we took turns telling hilarious, life stories about ourselves.

This afternoon Tony and I took off for Kerrville to run a few errands and to get some groceries. Our first stop was at Wolfmueller's Books, so we could visit with our dear friends Sandy & Jon and I could buy a copy of my first book The Road To Utopia: How Kinky, Tony & I Saved More Animals Than Noah, because I wanted to give a signed copy to Shannon.

When we walked into Wolfmueller's Books Sandy & Jon were standing behind the counter visiting with a nice woman. "Hi Sandy & Jon," I said, not wanting to interrupt their conversation.

"Nancy!" Sandy exclaimed. "This is Cousin Nancy!" Then she came around the counter and said, "You've got to meet Cousin Nancy! Nancy, Andie Morgan has the coolest store next door and it is full of pink. You're going to love her store. It is totally awesome!"

I chuckled because Sandy was so excited, and it had tickled me, then I held out my hand, and said, "Hi. I'm Nancy and this is my husband Tony. It is so nice to meet you, Andie...." After a fun visit with Sandy, Jon and Andie, Andie adios-ed us so she could get back to her store.

After I purchased a copy of my book, Sandy said, "Come on Nancy, you've got to come see Andie's store and everything is priced under $24.00 and almost everything is Made In America. By guys." Then Sandy and I left the building, so the men could gossip and I could shop.

When we walked inside Bad Girlz of Texas, right next door to Wolfmueller's Books, my jaw dropped and then I smiled, and said, "Andie, I love your store."

Then Sandy started giving me a grand tour, saying things like: "Nancy, look at this. Omg, you're going to love these cool magnetic koozie. Her cards for all occasions are the funniest in town. Check out these socks. Oh, you need to get this refrigerator magnet and...."

As Sandy and I raced around the huge store, with me picking up things to buy or to just laugh about, I wondered, for a second, if Sandy was working on commission for Andie. Then we looked at some beautiful sweaters, super cool, flowered print cowgirl hats, license plates, hotel key rings, etc. and Sandy and I could not quit laughing at the hilarious sayings that were either printed, stitched or embossed on the merchandise.

Needing to take a break from my shopping spree with Sandy, I took out my phone and asked Sandy to please take a picture of Andie Morgan, "The Original Bad Girl" and me. So Sandy stood back and happily shot us.


The cute, magnetic koozie, that I eventually purchased, as a future gift for a friend, that I am holding in the picture above doesn't show up enough, so here is picture of this hilarious, magnetic koozie.


A little later, with my hands full of stuff to buy, Andie told me while she was checking me out, that she also has another "funky and eclectic boutique with something for everyone" store, in Canyon, Texas and a pink bus that she drives around and sells stuff at events.

When Sandy and I left with my pretty, pink sack filled with hilarious items that I just had to have, I took out my phone and took a picture of her sidewalk sign and store front window.



Then we went back to the store to show the men what I had purchased and they laughed as hard about the funny sayings, as Sandy and I had and did again. Then we adios-ed our dear friends and continued to run two more errands.

I want to suggest that if you have not visited Bad Girlz of Texas, you must as soon as you can, because I am adding it to my list of favorite stores to visit, in Kerrville. I promise that if you go you will laugh more than once and that you won't leave without purchasing at least two or more items. Seriously, I cannot wait to go back there. And if you want to check our their website: Click Here. Then when you go to Andie's store to check it out, run next door and ask Sandy to please give you the grand tour of Bad Girlz of Texas.



And that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Miss Moneypenny!

Tonight Fay sent me this note and included a picture of Sassy with her new family. Ranger is on the left and Wee Lassie is on the right. And I love what Fay has named her. Fay wrote:

"Ranger and Wee Lassie love Miss Moneypenny and are watching her sleep xx She is the perfect addition to our pack. Hope you like her name, she is already answering to it! Smart pup for sure. Will send videos tomorrow, Ranger is in love!!"



Y'all have a great evening! And good night Miss Moneypenny, you super lucky pup!


It's Official!

This morning, at 10:58, right after I checked my e-mail, Fay called! "Nancy, omg! I love this puppy! She is so awesome and she is so sweet!....We made it through Customs fine, but the agent hassled me a little bit about me not being able to find a dog to adopt in Canada. But, it really wasn't a big deal at all....And she loves the snow!...."

So it's official— Sassy is now a Canadian! Thank you, Fay & Ian for adopting her. And thank you, Julie Griffith, Breeders Select Pet Transport, for safely getting Sassy to Fay! Life is good.

I Answered 18 Right!

While Tony and I are anxiously waiting to hear back from Fay, I thought I would post this fun test to take that our dear friend Jim, The Mineral Man, sent to me, yesterday, for Tony and me to check our retentive powers.

"Better than any memory test.  Check your retentive powers with the questions below.

THE ANSWERS WILL BE ON THE TIP OF YOUR TONGUE, BUT YOU JUST CAN'T QUITE REMEMBER THE CORRECT ANSWER
DON'T LOOK BELOW FOR THE ANSWERS UNTIL YOU HAVE TRIED TO FIGURE IT OUT.
A TEST FOR 'OLDER' KIDS. I was picky who I sent this to. It had to be those who might actually remember. So have some fun my sharp-witted friends. This is a test for us 'older kids'! The answers are printed below, (after the questions) but don't cheat! answer them first.....
*****************
01. After the Lone Ranger saved the day and rode off into the sunset, the grateful citizens would ask, Who was that masked man? Invariably, someone would answer, I don't know, but he left this behind. What did he leave behind?________________.

02. When the Beatles first came to the U.S. In early 1964, we all watched them on The ____ ___________ Show.

03. 'Get your kicks, __ _________ _______.'

04. 'The story you are about to see is true. The names have been changed to _____ _ _____.'

05. 'In the jungle, the mighty jungle, ____ ____ ____ ____.'

06. After the Twist, The Mashed Potato, and the Watusi, we 'danced' under a stick that was lowered as low as we could go in a dance called the '_____.'

07. Nestle's makes the very best.... _________.'

08. Satchmo was America 's 'Ambassador of Goodwill.' Our parents shared this great jazz trumpet player with us. His name was
______ ___________.

09. What takes a licking and keeps on ticking? _______. 
10. Red Skeleton's hobo character was named ______ ___ ________ and Red always ended his television show by saying, 'Good Night, and '________ ________ '

11. Some Americans who protested the Vietnam War did so by burning their ______ _______.

12. The cute little car with the engine in the back and the trunk in the front was called the VW. What other names did it go by? ___ & _______.

13. In 1971, singer Don MacLean sang a song about, 'the day the music died.' This was a tribute to _______ ____________.

14. We can remember the first satellite placed into orbit. The Russians did it. It was called __________.

15. One of the big fads of the late 50's and 60's was a large plastic ring that we twirled around our waist. It was called the ______ _____ .

16. Remember LS/MFT _____ _____/_____ _____ _____?

17. Hey Kids! What time is it? It's _____ ______ _____!

18. Who knows what secrets lie in the hearts of men? Only The _____ Knows!

19. There was a song that came out in the 60's that was "a grave yard smash". It's name was the ______ ______!
20. Alka Seltzer used a "boy with a tablet on his head" as it's Logo/Representative. What was the boy's name? ________

ANSWERS:
01.The Lone Ranger left behind a silver bullet.
02. The Ed Sullivan Show
03. On Route 66
04.To protect the innocent.
05.The Lion Sleeps Tonight
06. The limbo
07. Chocolate
08. Louis Armstrong
09. The Timex watch
10. Freddy, The Freeloader and 'Good Night and God Bless.'
11. Draft cards (Bras were also burned. Not flags, as some have guessed)
12. Beetle or Bug
13. Buddy Holly
14. Sputnik
15. Hoola-hoop
16. Lucky Strike/Means Fine Tobacco
17. Howdy Doody Time
18. Shadow
19.Monster Mash
20. Speedy
Send this to your 'older' friends, (Better known as Seniors.) It will drive them crazy! And keep them busy and let them forget their aches and pains for a few minutes.

Just A Few More Hours!

Just a few more hours to go for Sassy! This morning Fay wrote:

"Good morning! Its 8:45am here in Niagara Falls, NY, made it over the border in 1 minute, there was no other cars going through. Never had that happen before so was awesome! 
I texted Julie and she is on the road from Ohiio, will be here at 11am. Im so excited! Will let you know when we get back safely into Canada. 
I suspect that will take all of 5 minutes after I load Sassy up because the meeting spot is 1/2 block across the US -Canadian  border LOL 
Fay"

Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Sassy's Great Adventure Continues On!

Fay has just sent me an evening update on Sassy's Great Adventure and I want to share it with you. Fay wrote:

"It's 6:00pm where I am, just got a msg from Julie that she's planning on being in Ohio at 11:00pm tonight. She's going to text me then as she will have a really good idea what time she is going to get to Niagara Falls, New York. I suspect I'll be getting up pretty early to meet them tomorrow morning. Will give you an update in the morning. Almost Puppy Time! 
Fay"

And here are a few new pictures that I took later today of Sassy's brother Big Foot.



And that's about it for tonight, because I am going to watch St. Vincent again.

Y'all have a great evening!


Sassy's Great Adventure! or Black Helicopters, Again!

I have been busy this morning, doing paperwork, returning phone calls and e-mails. Fay sent me this note this early this morning about Sassy's Great Adventure. Fay wrote:

"Just wanted to let you both know that Julie has been giving me regular updates from the road. They made it to the Louisiana border last evening and then the next leg she posted was at the Alabama border. She says Sassy is a good little traveller. I guess they had a good night because I got a text early this morning that said "You're going to LOVE this dog!" I feel like Christmas has arrived all over again, I am so excited to get this little girl home safe and sound. She's in good hands tho, so glad Julie is taking care of her on her journey. 


I will get an update on when she should be arriving in Niagara Falls, NY a little later today, so will be able to make a run for the border! 

PS. Really hoping to get some WORLD FAMOUS Buffalo Chicken Wings from the Anchor Bar to bring back to Canada too! They will ask me at the border if I have anything to declare. Could be interesting.... LOL
Take care & I'll give you another update soon!
Fay"

And to say the least, Tony and I are more than thrilled about Sassy's great adventure up to Fay & Ian's home, in Toronto and we can't wait for her to get there, so she can meet Ranger (aka Blake Shelton).

Around 10:05 this morning, the weirdest thing happened again outside. Yesterday afternoon a giant, black helicopter came out of nowhere and it flew so low, over our rescue ranch that it startled us and upset all of the dogs, pigs, my horse Maya, the three donkeys and The Golden Girls. In fact, it happened so quickly, the noisy helicopter disappeared over a ridge before we could get outside and take a picture of it.

When it happened again this morning, Tony was outside, on the porch, taking pictures of Big Foot and this time he was able to get these pictures of it flying low, behind our trailer. 




I cannot stand for these big, black helicopters to fly over us, because it makes our trailer shake and it scares me and it upsets all of the animals. So can anyone please tell me why this is happening two days in a row? Because I am seriously starting to feel a little paranoid about it.

P.S. 11:30: Here's Fay's latest note to me:

"Julie is trying to get ahead of some weather, so, it may be very early tomorrow morning. She's going to give me a heads up on her ETA later today. I'm off work as of 6pm so can go any time! Takes about 3 hours for me to drive from home, go through Customs and get to the meeting place :)
Will let you know how it's going!
Fay xx"

I'll write more later today.

Monday, January 18, 2016

Sassy Has Left The Building!

Today has been great. I got up earlier than usual this morning, because Tony and I needed to be at Hoegemeyer Animal Clinic by 8:30, to get Sassy's final Health Certificate signed, because Julie, the super great woman that is transporting Sassy to Niagra Falls, for Fay and Ian, was going to meet us at the clinic by 9:00.

The three of us took off, in Trigger, at 7:55 and I held Sassy in my arms the entire way. At 8:29, we arrived at Hoegemeyers. And while we waited for Dr. Rydberg to see us, I took these adorable pictures of Miss Sasquatch, in Tony's arms.




When we went to the examining room the first thing they did was weigh her and Sassy, unlike most women, didn't seem to mind us knowing her weight—13.8 pounds! "Good grief," Tony remarked. "She's gained another pound since we were last here."

Sassy passed her health examine with flying colors, even though Julie will be driving her instead of flying her up there.

Julie was running late, so around 9:15, Tony and I took off to go eat breakfast at Randy's & Lisa's Save Inn Restaurant. And yes, the place was packed with happy customers, Tony and I ordered the exact same thing and our Sinker Omelets were delicious.

After breakfast, we stopped back by Hoegemeyers to check on Sassy. "Sassy has left the building! Julie showed up right after y'all left," Susan said. "And we gave Julie Sassy's health certificate and your adoption papers...." After we thanked Susan for handling all of the international paperwork required Tony and I came back home.

All day today Big Foot, Sassy's precious brother, hasn't seemed to miss Sassy being gone at all, probably because he knows that he doesn't have to share any of their toys with her. Right now he is sleeping, inside the puppy pen, which is right next to me, at the kitchen table, as I am typing this. 

Tony and I are still thinking about adopting Big Foot, because he is such a smart, sweet puppy, but if the right person does come along and wants to adopt him, I am pretty sure that we will let him go to a new home.

Kinky just called me and invited me to go on a hike with him and The Friedmans and I told him, "Yes, give me five minutes." So before I go strolling, here is a picture that I took last night, of Sassy and Big Foot sleeping together for the very last time.


Y'all have a great evening!

Wednesday, January 13, 2016

A Pretty Pink Day!

Today has been so much fun. We met Chet for breakfast, at 9:00, at the Bad Rabbit Cafe and our food was delicious.

After we ate and had a fun visit with Betty, the three of us and Willie, Chet's super cool dog, climbed inside Sparky and we took off. We had a fun day and we didn't get back to the Lodge until 4:00.

Here are a few of my favorite, pretty pink pictures and one of Sparky that I took today.







We are leaving dark & early tomorrow morning to head back home. Tony and I have had a blast out here, but we can't wait to get back home, because we are missing our dogs big time. And that is about it from our cozy cabin, at the Terlingua Ranch Lodge.

Y'all have a great evening!

Tuesday, January 12, 2016

#33!

Today has been a blast! Tony and I left early this morning and the only sad thing about it for me was having to adios Roy, Belle, Beau, Little Debbie and Big Al(ice). When I adios-ed Roy, he took it in stride and wagged his tail, which I guess means that he was laughing at me.

Belle, our official four-legged worry-wart, wrinkled her forehead and acted very concerned, but then again she always acts concerned. Beau, Tony's Blue Heeler, basically blew me off and ran outside to chase his squirrel friend.

And Little Debbie and Big Al(ice) were not happy campers about us leaving them behind for a couple of days, so they intentionally used their potty-pads right in front of me, so I had to stop and replace their soiled pee/poop-pads with new ones before heading out the door.

Our trip today was fun, too. Our first pit-stop was at the Pilots Truck Stop, in Junction. We bought two sausage, egg and cheese biscuits and one breakfast taco. Then we took off and ate while Tony drove Sparky down I-10.

Around Ozona, while we were listening to Willie's Roadhouse on Sirius' channel 59, I said, "Tony, don't you just love Sparky!"

"Yeah, it is a great go-cart. When do you want to start driving?"

"Soon," I lied.

About fifteen miles before we got to Ft. Stockton, Sparky told Tony that we were low on fuel and believe it or not, the very next exit sign showed a gas station. So, we took that exit and sure enough, out in the middle of nowhere was a tiny gas station and nothing else.

So when we pulled into this little oasis, in the desert, I told Tony that I would go inside to pay for the gas while he filled up Sparky. "I'm also going to dump out our trash," I said.

When I walked over to the blue, rubbermaid trash can, without a lid, I started to toss out what was left of the breakfast taco and two breakfast biscuits, but before I could dispose of our leftovers seven, beautiful cats, that all looked closely related surrounded me and started meowing at me. "Y'all want some breakfast?" I asked. Their answer was a definite yes, so I carefully unwrapped the taco and biscuits and fed them to the cats. Then I went inside the gas station and paid the woman for our gas and confessed to her that I had just fed the cats.

She smiled and said, "Thanks. I usually feed them in the evening when I close for the night."

When we turned off I-10 to get on Highway 67, Tony once again, asked me when I wanted to take over the driving, and I told him, "When we get to Alpine." And of course that didn't happen, even when we stopped to top-off Sparky, near Sul Ross.

When we turned onto Highway 118, Tony complained about being tired of driving. So, I ignored him and changed the channel to a comedy station, to make him laugh and forget about me driving. Then I sent Chet a text to let him know our approximate arrival time.

Seconds later, my phone rang and it was Chet. "Hi Nancy...."

We checked in, at the Terlingua Lodge, just a little past 3:00 and they gave us a key to our cozy cabin, #33.


After we had unpacked everything, we drove down to the Bad Rabbit Cafe, less than a quarter of a mile away. Christy, their friendly waitress greeted us and then brought us iced tea while we made up our minds what to eat. And believe it or not, we did not order the same thing. Tony ordered a BLT with fries and I ordered a veggie burger without the bun and fries. Then we got to visiting with Christy and John, the cook and it was a lot of fun.

Right after we started eating our delicious lunch/dinner=linner or dunch, Chet walked inside and all of us greeted him. Then the five of us started visiting and hears some good news—John is interested in possibly adopting Big Foot. "John, we are boarding Big Foot and his sister, at Hoegemeyer Animal Clinic, until we get back. And if they haven't already found a fantastic home for him we would love for you to adopt him..."

We stayed at the Bad Rabbit for over two hours having a great time visiting with Chet and our two new friends. And just before it got dark we adios-ed everyone and returned to our cabin. And here is a picture I took from our front porch.


Tomorrow morning we are meeting Chet for breakfast, at the Bad Rabbit. Then we plan to hang out with him and his friends for most of the day. And that's about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening, because we are!

Monday, January 11, 2016

Sparky! or The Road To Terlingua!

Today has been great, because early this morning Tony and I decided to rent a cute, Kia Soul, from Enterprise, in Kerrville, because we are going out to Terlingua for a mini-two-day vacation, tomorrow morning!

I've already named our rented, silver colored, Kia Soul—Sparky and we've already packed our bags and early tomorrow morning, before the sun shows up we are taking the Road to Terlingua. And we can't wait to go out there and see all of our friends including Chet O'Keefe.

We plan to be back sometime Thursday afternoon and I will write more then if I am not too tired. Viva Terlingua!


Sunday, January 10, 2016

Mark Moore

This is dedicated in loving memory of our dear friend Mark E. Moore.

Kinky, Tony and I have been deeply saddened by the news of Mark Moore's passing. We loved Mark and we considered this kind-hearted man as one of our dearest friends. Mark always had one of those contagious smiles whenever we got the chance to see him and he was always upbeat and ready for a good laugh.

Mark was only 62 years old when he passed away and he is going to be missed by us and so many others including several charitable organizations. He was a Board member for the Cailloux Foundation, which over the past several years has helped our rescue ranch keep on doing what we do best—rescuing animals.

Mark and his sweet wife, Karen, loved our rescue ranch as much as we loved them and the two of them donated both their time and money to help out our rescue ranch anyway that they could. And our rescue ranch will always be indebted to them and to the Cailloux Foundation for all that they have done for us.

Last night, when Kinky called to tell me the sad news about Mark's passing my eyes immediately filled with tears and I was caught speechless, because I knew that we had lost one of our dearest friends.

Kinky, Tony and I send Karen and their family all of our love and our deepest sympathies. We loved Mark Moore and we will always miss him, as will so many others. Mark will always live in our hearts. So rest in peace, Mark, because you were one of the great ones.

Kinky, Roy Rogers and I accepting another generous check, from Betty and Mark, representing the Board Members of the Cailloux Foundation.

Saturday, January 9, 2016

Oh Canada!

Tony and I just watched the movie Vacation, starring Ed Helms and we totally enjoyed it and we laughed a lot. Before we go to bed tonight I want to share some more great news with y'all.

Earlier this evening our dear friend Fay and her husband Ian, in Toronto, called me. I had a wonderful visit with Fay and Ian and Ian even sang me some old Scottish songs, that he rewrote and sings to their dogs when they are walking them everyday. (I loved Ian's Scottish accent and he has a beautiful voice.)

Over the past several years they have adopted three of our super dogs from us: Kris Kristofferson, Wee Lassie (Kia) and Ranger (Blake Shelton.)

Even though Kris went to the Rainbow Bridge, several years ago and Wee Lassie is now over ten-years-old and is showing signs of slowing down, they are going to adopt Sasquatch aka Sassy aka Grandma from us, so she can be Ranger's companion and running buddy!

Fay told me that she and Ian cannot wait to adopt our adorable, female Great Pyrenees mix. She also told me that she is already in the process of scheduling Sassy's transport, using Julie Griffith's "Breeders Select Pet Transport," in Center Point. Who is the same super, nice woman they used to safely deliver our Blake Shelton/ Ranger to them.

And to say the least, Tony and I are more than thrilled about them adopting our gigantic puppy. I told Fay, "We rescued Sassy and Big Foot on Thursday, December 17th. The next day we took them to Hoegemeyer Animal Clinic, to get them checked out and wormed. Each of them were healthy and they each weighed 5.5 pounds. And Tony and I are guessing that they now weigh close to twenty pounds. We're talking big puppies and it's not because they are from Texas...."

So this coming Monday, Tony and I will be taking Sassy back to Hoegermeyer Animal Clinic, so we can discuss with Dr. Craig Janssen when she will be ready to permanently move up to Toronto.

Life is good. Good night.

Amazing Grace and Bonnie Raitt!

Today has started out great and I will write more later this evening. This morning when I checked my e-mail, my dear friend Mari sent me this awesome Native American video to enjoy. It is a beautiful video about Cherokees singing Amazing Grace. In fact, I loved it so much I watched it twice. Mari wrote: "Love the drumming – said to mimic the sound of the human heart."  So I want to share this link with all of you: Amazing Grace in Cherokee-Native American.

A little while ago, the two nicest women came out to check out how Bonnie Raitt would get along with their precious four-year-old, rescued Black Lab, Sadie.

Paula's sweet Sadie was a saint, but unfortunately Bonnie wasn't, because she is an alpha dog and wanted to control things. Even though we took them for a long walk down to the creek, Bonnie kept acting aggressive towards sweet Sadie. So, to say the least—Bonnie blew it.

Paula and her nice sister were sick about Bonnie's behavior, but they told us that they would keep in touch with us. So that's about it for now. I will write more later on as the day progresses.

P.S. Last night we watched the movie A Walk In the Woods, starring Robert Redford and Nick Nolte. It was  fun to watch and it was adapted from author Bill Bryson's hilarious book. I am a big fan of Bill Bryson and I read his book several years ago and I totally enjoyed it. So after watching it I once again want to go hike the Appalachian Trail like they attempted to do.

Thursday, January 7, 2016

Walter Cronkite and Big Foot!

The last few days have been great, but I have been so busy I've not had time to write. Yesterday our dear friend Jim aka The Mineral Man sent me a video on how to open a food storage can without the use of a can opener or knife and it was totally amazing.

So tomorrow morning when our great friends/volunteers come out I am going to try to make a video of us trying this survival technique. Anyway, I think everyone should know about this, so I am posting the link to the video, so you too will know how to do this: Here's the link: How to open a food storage can.

Today has been more than great, because we had an fantastic adoption. Last Monday, Di and Jerry called me to make an appointment to come out later that day to check out our dogs, because they were hoping to adopt one of them. And Tony and I feel in love with this really nice, dog-loving couple as we showed them around and introduced them to our rescued dogs.

So, this morning around 11:45, they came out and adopted our super dog Walter Cronkite. A lovable 1.5 year-old Lab mix. And if all goes well he will have a fabulous family and home! So everyone please keep your fingers crossed for Walter. I snapped this picture of Walt with his new family, before they put him in their car and drove away.


This evening after I talk to my good friend Cindy, in Northern New Mexico, I plan to watch a movie and then read awhile before going to bed early. And since that's about it for tonight, I am going to leave you with a few adorable Big Foot pictures that I took last night while he was sleeping. And if you know anyone who might want to adopt this little giant please ask them to call me at the rescue ranch.




Y'all have a great evening!

Sunday, January 3, 2016

Reunited! or Knocking For Angels!

Today has been more than exciting for us at the rescue ranch. In fact, it was almost too much excitement than my old ticker could bear and I had to knock for Angels more than once. I will try to condense what happened, but it will be difficult, because so much has happened.

This morning the nicest woman called me and she left a message, on Carlton, about seeing Miss Dee's picture on utopia rescue.com and instantly falling in love with her and wanting to adopt her. In fact, last night she also left a comment on my last post, which I didn't post, because I wanted to talk to Tony about it, before returning her call this morning.

After Tony did his morning chores outside I talked to him about the nice woman and her family wanting to adopt Miss Dee, while cooking him breakfast—two eggs over-medium and a toasted English muffin.

"Tony, I know that we promised Roger and Mary that we would not adopt them out separately, but this is Miss Dee's chance for a great home and it would make Mr. Rogers more adoptable, too...." He understood my logic, but suggested we ask them about doing a trial separation to see how they reacted, before officially adopting out Miss Dee.

So, after our long discussion, I called Mrs. C. (all names to remain annonymous). I explained the situation and asked if they would consider adopting both of our dogs, but she declined, because they have a sweet, elderly, blind, deaf dog to care for.  And that made perfectly good sense to me, because Mr. Rogers is way too protective of Miss Dee in which case he might wind up hurting their family pet or worse.

We continued to talk some more and she understood the situation and agreed that if either Miss Dee or Mr. Rogers was unhappy about being separated—her family would happily return Miss Dee, so the dogs could be reunited. Then we decided on what time she and her family should come out to meet Miss Dee this afternoon.

Around 12:30, our dear friend, Maribeth, came over to eat lunch with us, because she was over at the Lodge baby-sitting The Friedmans for Kinky. I cooked us meatloaf, spinach, beans with cornbread and it was good enough and all of us did a lot of laughing while catching up on each others news.

Now for the excitement part. It was a little past 1:00 when Mrs. C, Mr. J and their beautiful daughter, arrived. I told Tony and Maribeth that I could handle it and that I would return shortly. But that was a lie.

The minute that I met this fabulous family I was more than impressed with them, because they were so nice, friendly and big time animal lovers and they were both probably in their mid-thirties.

After greetings, I suggested we take Miss Dee for a long walk, so she could get to know this impressive dog-loving family. And to say the least—they couldn't wait to take her walking.

When we reached Mr. Rogers' & Miss Dee's pen, I went inside and leashed up Miss Dee and took her out, even though Mr. Rogers wanted to go, too. I handed the leash to Mrs. C and then all of us took off.

When we walked past the gate entrance, a dog ran past us and then abruptly stopped, turned around and came running towards Miss Dee and tried to bite her. "No Whiskey!" I said. "Get back! Omg, she must have jumped over the fence! I am really sorry about this. I think I had better take the leash and y'all better stay back..."

As this super nice family stood back, Whiskey kept trying to get into it with Miss Dee, but Miss Dee was acting submissive while I demanded that Whiskey back-off.

Whiskey ignored my demands until our three donkeys and my horse Maya appeared—then she took off chasing Roy and Gabby, our two donkeys, while Maya and Little Jewford, our miniature donkey raced off. Roy and Gabby kicked several times at Whiskey and they even charged her, but Whiskey continued to chase them. "Y'all, let's get back inside the rescue ranch and close the gate, so Whiskey can't get back in here and hurt Miss Dee."

Mr. J immediately grabbed the gate and quickly swung it closed and held it tight. Then I climbed between the gate and the post, that had a narrow opening, so I could block Whiskey from getting back inside the rescue ranch. "We need for Tony to get out here," I said. "This is a real rodeo and somebody could get hurt. Then I asked Mrs. C if she would go up to the trailer to get Tone.

A few minutes later, she returned. "Mrs. C why don't you and your daughter and Miss Dee follow me to a dog pen, so all of y'all will be safe from Whiskey." A minute later, the three of them were inside the small, escape proof dog pen we have. As I heard Kermit crank up, I said, "Tony's coming! The lock for this pen is gone, so please keep pressure on the gate, so Whiskey can't open the gate and get to Miss Dee. Don't worry everything is going to be alright."

When Tony and Kermit pulled up, Mr. J swung the gate open for Tony. "You need to catch Whiskey! She tried to attack Miss Dee and now she's chasing the donkeys and they could kill her!" Tony floored Kermit and took off chasing Whiskey, who the donkeys were now chasing. "I hope Whiskey doesn't get hurt...." I said, to Mr. J, as we watched Tony chasing Whiskey who was now chasing the donkeys. "Whiskey came with that name and I hate it," I said. "A horse trainer brought her to us, because the woman thought the horses might kill Whiskey."

Then we saw Kermit and Tony chasing Whiskey back towards the rescue ranch. Mr. J opened the gate, so she would run inside, so we could finally catch her.

Seconds later, Whiskey flew past us, into the rescue ranch with Tony and Kermit hot on her trail. Then Mr. J quickly closed the gate behind us, so Whiskey would not be able to escape. Five minutes later, Whiskey walked up to Mr. J and he held her in place, while Tony slipped a leash around her neck and took her to a nearby pen, before returning back to The Cabin, to visit some more with Maribeth.

"Mr. J, you're a real dog whisperer. Thanks for helping catch her. I'm real sorry about the rodeo that just happened. And I'm so glad that no one got hurt. Now let's go on that walk with Miss Dee."

This great family walked and jogged with Miss Dee for over an hour. She sat down with them and rested and shook hands with them, too. So, I felt absolutely great about them trying Miss Dee out for a few days, to see how Mr. Rogers and Miss Dee handled their separation and if their family dog and her would get along.

Late this afternoon, Mr. J called to tell me some sad, very scary news and his family felt absolutely horrible about it. Miss Dee had been fine, before she slipped out of her leash, bolted out the gate and  ran off. I told him that both of us should call the Pound immediately to alert them and then I suggested that they post pictures all over their neighborhood.

It was two minutes past 5:00, when I called Mrs. C, "Tony and I are fixin' to come to Kerrville to help look for Miss Dee. If she hears our truck she might come running to us..." Then we took off in Trigger.

While Tony drove us, as fast as the law would allow, I was knocking for Angels and saying several silent prayers, in hopes that we might somehow find Miss Dee. We kept our eyes peeled on Highway 16, because Tony was convinced that Miss Dee would try to find her way back to the rescue ranch to be back with Mr. Rogers.

I suggested that we go back to the Methodist Encampment neighborhood, where she had escaped from, but Tony had his own idea—take 16 to Main Street and turn left, heading towards the neighborhood.

As we were driving down Junction Highway, in the right hand lane, past Walmart, then Wendys I saw Miss Dee run past us on the same side of the road. "There's Miss Dee! Tony stop, so I can try to go get her!" Then a black SUV, in front of us pulled off the side of the road, just as Tony pulled off the road with our emergency flasher lights blinking.

I then jumped out of Trigger with a leash and hollered for her, but Miss Dee kept on running like she didn't know me. When Tony saw me following after her, he made a U-turn and headed back towards Walmart. Then this woman, in the black SUV hollered, "Is that your dog!"

I hollered as loud as I could, "Yes, please help us!"

"I'm trying to!" Then she spun off to catch up with Trigger.

While I'm walking as fast as I can, back towards Walmart, I see Miss Dee keep trying to cross the busy highway and then stepping back and taking off again and my heart kept sinking and sinking, because I was scared that we would witness Miss Dee getting hit by a car in the oncoming traffic.

Then I see Tony, park Trigger, in the middle turn lane, with the black SUV right behind him, get out and then run towards Miss Dee, but she ran off, again. Then I watch Tony run back to Trigger and take off again, with the black SUV right behind him.

I felt like crying, because I thought something bad must have just happened, behind the buildings that were blocking my view. Then I see Tony take a left, either into the Walmart entrance or the tire store's parking lot, followed closely by that black SUV.

My heart was racing and breaking at the exact same time when I started crossing the Walmart entrance, when I saw Tony pull Trigger out into the traffic heading slowly towards me to pick me up. And then my heart sank, because Miss Dee was not sitting in the passenger seat.

When Tony pulled off the road, I shot him a sad look, as he lowered the window, "What happened?"

Tony smiled. "She's in the backseat. Get in." And that's when I really began to cry. I turned around and petted Miss Dee on the head, because she looked exhausted. Then I asked Tony how he had caught her, because I had the leash with me. "This super nice woman, in a black SUV helped me. We sort of boxed Miss Dee in with the vehicles and then she started to take off again, but I got down on my knees and half-hollered, "Miss Dee. It's me. Tony. Come here girl." Then she stopped, because she must have recognized me and then she walked right over to me. Then I picked her up in my arms and put her into the backseat. I wish I knew who that nice woman was, in that black SUV, so we could thank her for helping us rescue Miss Dee."

"Me, too." I said. "You nearly scared me to death when I saw you park Trigger, in the turn lane and take off after her and then run back across the highway."

"Yeah, some  jerk, in a big pickup honked at me and shot me the bird as he drove past me...."

We got back home around 6:35. With the high-beams on bright, I watched Tony take Miss Dee back to her pen to be reunited with Mr. Rogers. Both of their tails were wagging so fast when they were reunited, which by the way, will be the very last time that they will have to do that again. Then like always, I started to cry with joy again.

Photo take by Roger and Mary 2009, Miss Dee on the left.

Then Tony put the chickens up and then we returned to The Cabin. Fifteen minutes later, after composing myself, I called the sweet family back to give them the great news. Mrs. C started crying with joy and kept apologizing to me, as I told her about Miss Dee's rescue and before we adios-ed each other, we both agreed that it was best that Miss Dee and Mr. Rogers always stay together. So once again, life is good and thank goodness for Angels.

Y'all have a great evening, because Mr. Rogers and Miss Dee are!

Saturday, January 2, 2016

Steven Rambam!

The New Year is already starting out great. Garnet sent me a note about Bobby & Ginger (The sweet Boxer that he adopted from us the day after Christmas.) She wrote that Bobby loves Ginger as much as she loves him and things are working out great.

Earlier this morning Tony told me that our dear friend Fay, up in Toronto, wants to adopt the female Pyr-mix pup if I am sure about not wanting to adopt Sassy aka Grandma for myself. "Tony, we already have five dogs and seriously, these precious puppies have been wearing both of us out.... So please tell Fay that we would love for her & Ian to adopt Sassy from us."

Then I spoke, on the phone, with two other nice people about two more upcoming possible adoptions. The woman and husband from Bandera are going to come out Monday to possibly adopt Rockette and I might also be driving and delivering one of our older dogs out to Alpine to be fostered! So please keep your fingers crossed about all of these adoptions.

And a few minutes ago, I received this e-mail from our good friend Rambam, with an exciting announcement. So, to help him kick-start and generate a audience, I copied it and am posting it here. Rambam wrote:

"Dear Colleagues:

This coming Wednesday (06 January 2016), 2:00 PM CT, is the launch of "Justice Radio", an exciting new radio show focusing on investigations, security issues, law enforcement, the justice and legal systems, and related issues of all kinds.

I am thrilled to announce that I have been selected as the host of Justice Radio, and will be partnering with Gordon "Big G" Ames of the famous Texas Roadshow.

Justice Radio is a weekly multi-platform broadcast, and will air every Wednesday, 2-3 PM Central Time. It airs in the most prime of prime times: we're sandwiched between Rush Limbaugh and then Herman Cain and Mark Levin.

If you are in Central Texas you can listen on 1230 AM, and on FM, too. (Not certain of the complete broadcast area / channels, but for certain it's available in the entire Hill Country, and in some or all of San Antonio.) Justice Radio will also be live-streamed worldwide on the Internet (www.kerv1230.com) and is available live via all Apple and Android phones. (I've C&P a link to the iOS app, below.) J.R. will also be available as a free podcast on iTunes. Meaning, there is no location, worldwide, where Justice Radio will not be available, both live and podcast. 

Justice Radio is also listener-participation radio; most shows, including the kickoff, will have an active call-in line. (Yes, we welcome your participation, and yes, please feel free to suggest guests.)

It is my hope that I will now be able to do on radio what I have been accomplishing on TV (I hope that you agree): to demonstrate how private investigation is today not just a job, it is a profession, and private investigators are a critical - in fact irreplaceable - part of the justice and legal system. (A note to FOI members: yes, J.R. will help FOI's educational and outreach programs grow!) 

And based on what we're already been able to line up, Justice Radio is going to be one of the most entertaining and informative shows, anywhere. Scheduled this month:


06 January  KICKOFF

13 January "We See Dead People"
(murder for hire, fraudulent deaths and international investigation)
Guests:  Elizabeth Greenwood, author of "Playing Dead"
Richard Marquez, international death claim investigator

20 January "No Ferrari"

Fictional Private Investigators vs. the reality of modern private investigation

Guest: Richard "Kinky" Friedman, author of 20 private detective novels


27 January "Privacy Is Dead, Get Over It"

Privacy, Electronic Surveillance, The Internet of Things and tracking 24-7-265


03 February "International Investigation and Due Diligence"

Guests TBA; co-broadcast from international location


All input will be gratefully accepted,

Steven."

And that's what is going on out here right now.

Y'all have a great day!