Late this morning, Maribeth and I went to Kerrville to run errands. We stopped first at Wolfmuellers Books to say hi to Sandy and Jon. As always, they had us laughing our heads off within two minutes of our visit!
“The other day, I saw Tony Parker, the famous Spur’s basketball player, at the Apple Store at La Canterra,” Sandy said. “I wanted to ask him for an autograph, but couldn’t because I’m sure everywhere he goes—people bug him for autographs.”
“That is so cool!” I said. “Did y’all know that when people do stories or documentaries on our rescue ranch, they often don’t do a fact check, and end up assuming that Tony’s last name is Parker, because a lot of people still think I use Parker as my last name.”
“Trust me,” Maribeth teased. “You’re no Eva Longoria.”
We all broke up laughing. “And, Maribeth—you’re no Eva Longoria, too,” I jokingly quipped back, because like me, Maribeth looks like a round pillar, too.
Before leaving Wolfmuellers, Sandy was sitting behind her desk, at her computer, staring at a single piece of paper. “Jon,” Sandy said. “Where is the rest of my calendar? Why do I just have the one page of January and not the rest of the calendar? I need the rest of the calendar. Please!”
We all looked over, as Sandy held up the month of January. “He wants you to live in the moment,” I said.
“Yeah, that’s right,” Jon said. “I’ll give you February’s page tomorrow! I want you to start living day by day, and not to worry about the future.”
As Maribeth and I were walking out of their store, “Jon,” Sandy said. “I want all of the pages of my calendar! Now! I need them!”
Maribeth and I were laughing, as Jon said, “I’ll give you February’s page first thing tomorrow morning. Bye y’all.”
Maribeth and I ran the other errands and then we headed back to the rescue ranch. Along the way, fire trucks raced past us! So, I turned on the radio. “There is an out of control fire at Upper Turtle Creek,” Harley reported, on The Rose 104.9. “The Kerrville, Ingram, Hunt, Bandera, Upper Turtle Creek, Fredericksburg, and Harper Fire Departments and Volunteer Fire Departments are at the scene and fighting the raging fire!”
The further we were from Kerrville, smoke filled the sky with ugly colors of orange, black and an ugly shade of pink. And, we could even smell the smoke! When we arrived at the rescue ranch there were several cars and trucks parked, and we saw John in the pens with the dogs! And, then when we pulled up to the trailer—two Kerr County Animal Control trucks were parked in front of the trailer—with lights flashing!
Tony was standing on the porch talking to two Animal Control Officers! “What in the world is going on?” I said, to Maribeth. We got out of Buttermilk and met the two officers at our gate.
“Okay, Tony,” one of the nice Animal Control Officers said. “Don’t hesitate to call us, if you need us to help you evacuate.” I then introduced myself to them, shook hands—and then they left the ranch.
“Tony, what in the world is going on?” I asked.
“Nance,” Tony said. “I’ve been trying to reach you! Thirty minutes ago, the sky filled with smoke and it looked like there was a fire fixin’ to come over the mountain!” He pointed north. I didn’t know what to do! So, I called Kerr County Animal Control!”
“Why is John still here?” I asked.
“I called Wolfmuelllers, and asked Jon to please go to John’s apartment and ask him to get out here fast! Nance, it looked like we needed to evacuate immediately. The wind has been gusting to over 35 miles per hour. And, Harley just called me, to tell me that the fire was just a few ranches away and we might need to be thinking about evacuating our dogs! I’m so glad that you’re back.”
We all came inside the trailer, while John was outside quickly putting dog collars on all of our dogs and attaching the correct number of leashes to every gates—so we could get the dogs out fast! “Ellen is here and she has just called Charlie to get over to help us. What should we do?”
I thought about it for several minutes and then pulled the trigger—evacutate now! “Tone, please call Janie, at the Kerr County Animal Control and tell them we need to evacuate. While Tony placed the call, I looked up our volunteer phone numbers. As soon as Tony was off the phone, I called our friends, Lance and Stassa and asked them to get out here as fast as they could. Then Jon Wolfmueller showed up. “What can I do to help?” Jon asked.
All of us went outside. John had finished putting dog collars on all of our dogs,with leashes attached to every gate! While Ellen, Jon and Maribeth worked furiously getting our dog crates ready!
We started on the west side of the rescue ranch—crating our dogs one by one, and then loading the crates inside our truck and van! Charlie and his son, Travis, arrived and we filled their giant red pickup truck with more dogs. Then Lance and Curtis arrived to help us fill our van with as many dogs as it could hold. And, just as our caravan was about to leave for a safe haven at Tony's father's house, in Medina—Janie, and the great people at the Kerr County Animal Control arrived!
To be continued tomorrow—I'm exhausted.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
V.I.P. Tours!
This afternoon, Carl Naylor, our great friend and supporter of the rescue ranch, came out to visit us, and he brought a ton of dog treats for our dogs to enjoy! Carl drank some coffee with us inside the Nellybelle and we had ourselves one great visit! Then Tony and I gave Carl, the world’s greatest auctioneer, our ‘V.I. P. Tour’ of our rescue ranch, which included my writing cabin!
As we were leaving the cabin—Kinky showed up with two very special passengers—Steven Fromholz and his lovely sister, Angie! After a lot of hugging and handshaking, we gave them a V.I.P. Tour, too!
Steven and Angie fell in love with all of our dogs, and so did Carl. Carl wanted to adopt everyone of our dogs, but couldn’t because of a promise he had made earlier, to his beautiful wife, Debbie, because they already have nine dogs and cats! Needless to say—we understood Debbie’s logic and we didn’t let Kinky pressure Carl into adopting a dog.
After tour number two was completed, Kinky invited all of us to come over to the Lodge—and so we did. We had a fun visit there, too. If Carl wasn’t making us laugh—Steven was—or Kinky was! I didn’t have a chance to be funny, because I was laughing so much!
Steven and Angie had to leave first, because their drive back home was over a five hour drive. Carl stayed a little bit longer, and then he left so he could keep an appointment with one of his clients.
Our visitors today were a lot of fun and sadly, the only thing wrong—was that Carl’s wife, Debbie was unable to come, but Carl has promised to bring her back on the next visit and we can’t wait! Today has been a great day!
Coming Soon!
Thanks to our great friends, Herb and Karen Cares, we’re fixin’ to have one of the finest dog agility courses in Texas! And, we are so excited about it—we’re howling with delight! This afternoon, the delivery truck, from Kerrville, arrived to deliver the materials needed to fence in our mutt’s soon to be agility course! Full speed ahead!
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Herb and Karen Care(s)!
A while back, I blogged about this year going to be a great year for everyone, and I have more good news to prove it!
Our great friends, Herb and Karen Cares flew down from Boston for a vacation and to give us a visit. Well, yesterday they arrived at the rescue ranch around 2:30 for a visit—and we had fun!
First off, before Karen and Herb had come inside our trailer, Karen surprised me with an incredibly beautiful necklace—that she custom made for me, and I love it! After a brief visit here, we went over to see Kinky at the Lodge.
When we went inside the Lodge, Herb was carrying a large suitcase with him. Once inside, Herb sat the suitcase down and opened it. First, Herb handed Kinky a wooden box of cigars, I mean chewgars—for the Friedmans to enjoy! Kinky quickly unwrapped the chewgars and handed them out to his dogs. The Friedmans loved their presents, and spent several hours chewing on them. And, they looked like they had cigars in their mouths.
Herb presented Kinky with a Jewish Swiss Army pocket knife—engraved with the Star of David. Then Herb says, “And, this is for the rescue ranch from Karen and me."
When I took the check, I nearly fainted because of the huge amount! And, before I could recover from their most generous donation—Herb hands me a box of chewgars for our dogs!
After Kinky had given them a tour of the Lodge, we settled in the living room as Tony and Kinky played a few games of pool. After the Hummingbird Man had tied with the Medina Bulldog, we decided to go for a walk around the ranch.
Along the way, I told Karen that we were wanting to build an agility course for our dogs, and then it hit me! “Karen, Herb? How about us using your donation to build an agility course for our dogs?”
They loved the idea, and so did Kinky and Tony! I was on cloud nine!
Around 5:00, Kinky told us that he was starving and wanted us to go to dinner earlier than planned at The Cowboy Steak House, so we all agreed to meet at 6:00. Then we hurried home, Karen and Herb hurried back to the Inn of the Hills, and Kinky took off for Kerrville, so he could get some groceries before our dinner.
At 5:45, Tony and I swung by John’s apartment and picked him up and then we raced (35 mph) through Kerrville, so as not to be late! When we arrived, Herb and Karen were waiting for us at the table, and then Kinky showed up six minutes later.
Our meal was delicious and the conversation was even better! Once the last dinner plate was removed from the table—we surprised Herb! “Happy Birthday to You. Happy Birthday to You. Happy Birthday dear Herb...” We all sang, as a dessert with a lighted candle was placed in front of Herb. I am pretty sure that he was surprised, even though his actual birthday had been the day before.
After the birthday celebration, we took pictures and then went outside and took more pictures. We have invited them back for a longer visit and we can’t wait!
This morning, Kinky, Tony, John and I all agreed that we had really enjoyed their visit, and as of two o’clock today—the fence builders came out to begin building fence for our “Herb and Karen Cares’ Play Pen!”
P.S. Nomads, we have put y’all on standby, because we are going to need your help to show us how to set up our super agility course—and to train us!
P.S.S. Thank you Cowboy Steak House for a great meal and surprising ‘Erb!’
Our great friends, Herb and Karen Cares flew down from Boston for a vacation and to give us a visit. Well, yesterday they arrived at the rescue ranch around 2:30 for a visit—and we had fun!
First off, before Karen and Herb had come inside our trailer, Karen surprised me with an incredibly beautiful necklace—that she custom made for me, and I love it! After a brief visit here, we went over to see Kinky at the Lodge.
When we went inside the Lodge, Herb was carrying a large suitcase with him. Once inside, Herb sat the suitcase down and opened it. First, Herb handed Kinky a wooden box of cigars, I mean chewgars—for the Friedmans to enjoy! Kinky quickly unwrapped the chewgars and handed them out to his dogs. The Friedmans loved their presents, and spent several hours chewing on them. And, they looked like they had cigars in their mouths.
Herb presented Kinky with a Jewish Swiss Army pocket knife—engraved with the Star of David. Then Herb says, “And, this is for the rescue ranch from Karen and me."
When I took the check, I nearly fainted because of the huge amount! And, before I could recover from their most generous donation—Herb hands me a box of chewgars for our dogs!
After Kinky had given them a tour of the Lodge, we settled in the living room as Tony and Kinky played a few games of pool. After the Hummingbird Man had tied with the Medina Bulldog, we decided to go for a walk around the ranch.
Along the way, I told Karen that we were wanting to build an agility course for our dogs, and then it hit me! “Karen, Herb? How about us using your donation to build an agility course for our dogs?”
They loved the idea, and so did Kinky and Tony! I was on cloud nine!
Around 5:00, Kinky told us that he was starving and wanted us to go to dinner earlier than planned at The Cowboy Steak House, so we all agreed to meet at 6:00. Then we hurried home, Karen and Herb hurried back to the Inn of the Hills, and Kinky took off for Kerrville, so he could get some groceries before our dinner.
At 5:45, Tony and I swung by John’s apartment and picked him up and then we raced (35 mph) through Kerrville, so as not to be late! When we arrived, Herb and Karen were waiting for us at the table, and then Kinky showed up six minutes later.
Our meal was delicious and the conversation was even better! Once the last dinner plate was removed from the table—we surprised Herb! “Happy Birthday to You. Happy Birthday to You. Happy Birthday dear Herb...” We all sang, as a dessert with a lighted candle was placed in front of Herb. I am pretty sure that he was surprised, even though his actual birthday had been the day before.
After the birthday celebration, we took pictures and then went outside and took more pictures. We have invited them back for a longer visit and we can’t wait!
This morning, Kinky, Tony, John and I all agreed that we had really enjoyed their visit, and as of two o’clock today—the fence builders came out to begin building fence for our “Herb and Karen Cares’ Play Pen!”
P.S. Nomads, we have put y’all on standby, because we are going to need your help to show us how to set up our super agility course—and to train us!
P.S.S. Thank you Cowboy Steak House for a great meal and surprising ‘Erb!’
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Friday, January 25, 2008
Drs. Doolittle!
This morning, Ben showed up early at the trailer, to drink some coffee with us, and visit. Thirty minutes later, when John arrived—he came to the trailer, too. We all said our howdys to each other, and then I asked John if he was interested in a cup of coffee.
“No thanks, Nancy,” John said. “But thank you for the offer. I’m afraid that I am suffering from a hangover.” And, then he laughed, and we joined him in laughter.
“Did you drink a little too much at the bar last night?” Ben teased.
“Well, yeah. I did—sorta,” John said, smiling. “But it wasn’t my fault. And, I didn’t get drunk.”
“At Mulligan’s?” I asked.
“No,” John answered. “Jon and Sandy came over to my apartment last night, and they wanted me to go with them over to Center Point—for dinner and a few beers. And, I really had a good time with them.”
“So, it’s Jon’s and Sandy’s fault,” I declared. “Do you need some aspirin? We’ve got some.”
“No thank you, Nance,” John said. “This bar, that Sandy and Jon took me to had these gigantic turtles that must’ve weighed over a hundred pounds. It was a really cool place. We need to all go there sometime.”
“Were the turtles walking around in pairs?” I asked.
“No. Why?”
“Seeing double,” I teased. “Just checking.”
Tony then got up from the chair at the kitchen table, went to the refrigerator, and opened the door. “John, we’ve got some kind of magic health juice, that was sent anonymously to us, the other day, and I’ll bet that it will help you feel better fast. Here. Take some. You can be our guinea pig.”
Tony carefully handed John our small bottle of—’cures everything,’ along with a spoon. John squinted to read the directions, and then he unscrewed the cap, poured himself a heaping tablespoon of the miracle concoction—and then he swallowed it down—fast!
Tony stayed for ten more minutes, just to make sure that John was okay from drinking the stuff, and then he left us three inside the trailer—to go to Medina, so he could get some hay for the dog’s dog houses. And then— I had a light bulb moment!
I went to my ‘pantry’ and returned with my little black medicinal case—containing pharmaceutical quality— essential oils! I then unzipped the case, and told John all about my oils, and how potent they were. “John,” I said. “My, ‘Feng Shui for Dummies’ book say that this brand of essential oils, is the number one recommended brand to use. And, there’s another book, I’ve got...”
“Yes,” Ben quipped. “It’s true, John. In fact, I read about this company producing the highest quality of essential oils in the world! They’re great!”
“I took out one of my bottles, unscrewed the cap, “John, take this. It’s Frankincense, and it will cure everything. It’s real expensive, too. Just put a drop or two on your temples.”
John, dotted his temples with the Frankincense. Then Ben picked up a bottle, unscrewed the cap and handed it to John. “Put a drop of this under your nose and inhale it. This will fix you up, I promise. John put the bottle to his nose, inhaled, and then placed a drop of oil under his nose.
“What oil is that?” I asked.
“Peppermint,” Ben replied. “It’s good for everything that ails you. I use it all of the time.”
“I can’t stand that Peppermint oil,” I said. “John, one day I put a drop of that Peppermint oil in my shopvac, and after I had finished vacuuming the trailer—I was buzzin’ like a beehive! I don’t know if I overdosed on the stuff or what, but you couldn’t pay me to use it.”
“Oh great!” John said. “I just inhaled it, and put it under my nose! Are y’all trying to kill me?”
We all laughed, and then I pulled out another bottle, unscrewed the cap. “This is called ‘Thieves’ guaranteed to restore your body. Take a drop and put it under your tongue.”
“No. I don’t think so, but thank you,” John said. “Y’all are crazy! I’m going outside to work, before I overdose on one of y’all’s ‘proven’ home remedies.” And, then he zipped up his thermal coveralls and left the trailer, with Ben following right behind him.
As soon as they left the trailer, I turned on my iPod, cranked the volume up on my Bose iDock, and heard Arlo Guthrie singing, ‘I Don’t Want A Pickle.’
“No thanks, Nancy,” John said. “But thank you for the offer. I’m afraid that I am suffering from a hangover.” And, then he laughed, and we joined him in laughter.
“Did you drink a little too much at the bar last night?” Ben teased.
“Well, yeah. I did—sorta,” John said, smiling. “But it wasn’t my fault. And, I didn’t get drunk.”
“At Mulligan’s?” I asked.
“No,” John answered. “Jon and Sandy came over to my apartment last night, and they wanted me to go with them over to Center Point—for dinner and a few beers. And, I really had a good time with them.”
“So, it’s Jon’s and Sandy’s fault,” I declared. “Do you need some aspirin? We’ve got some.”
“No thank you, Nance,” John said. “This bar, that Sandy and Jon took me to had these gigantic turtles that must’ve weighed over a hundred pounds. It was a really cool place. We need to all go there sometime.”
“Were the turtles walking around in pairs?” I asked.
“No. Why?”
“Seeing double,” I teased. “Just checking.”
Tony then got up from the chair at the kitchen table, went to the refrigerator, and opened the door. “John, we’ve got some kind of magic health juice, that was sent anonymously to us, the other day, and I’ll bet that it will help you feel better fast. Here. Take some. You can be our guinea pig.”
Tony carefully handed John our small bottle of—’cures everything,’ along with a spoon. John squinted to read the directions, and then he unscrewed the cap, poured himself a heaping tablespoon of the miracle concoction—and then he swallowed it down—fast!
Tony stayed for ten more minutes, just to make sure that John was okay from drinking the stuff, and then he left us three inside the trailer—to go to Medina, so he could get some hay for the dog’s dog houses. And then— I had a light bulb moment!
I went to my ‘pantry’ and returned with my little black medicinal case—containing pharmaceutical quality— essential oils! I then unzipped the case, and told John all about my oils, and how potent they were. “John,” I said. “My, ‘Feng Shui for Dummies’ book say that this brand of essential oils, is the number one recommended brand to use. And, there’s another book, I’ve got...”
“Yes,” Ben quipped. “It’s true, John. In fact, I read about this company producing the highest quality of essential oils in the world! They’re great!”
“I took out one of my bottles, unscrewed the cap, “John, take this. It’s Frankincense, and it will cure everything. It’s real expensive, too. Just put a drop or two on your temples.”
John, dotted his temples with the Frankincense. Then Ben picked up a bottle, unscrewed the cap and handed it to John. “Put a drop of this under your nose and inhale it. This will fix you up, I promise. John put the bottle to his nose, inhaled, and then placed a drop of oil under his nose.
“What oil is that?” I asked.
“Peppermint,” Ben replied. “It’s good for everything that ails you. I use it all of the time.”
“I can’t stand that Peppermint oil,” I said. “John, one day I put a drop of that Peppermint oil in my shopvac, and after I had finished vacuuming the trailer—I was buzzin’ like a beehive! I don’t know if I overdosed on the stuff or what, but you couldn’t pay me to use it.”
“Oh great!” John said. “I just inhaled it, and put it under my nose! Are y’all trying to kill me?”
We all laughed, and then I pulled out another bottle, unscrewed the cap. “This is called ‘Thieves’ guaranteed to restore your body. Take a drop and put it under your tongue.”
“No. I don’t think so, but thank you,” John said. “Y’all are crazy! I’m going outside to work, before I overdose on one of y’all’s ‘proven’ home remedies.” And, then he zipped up his thermal coveralls and left the trailer, with Ben following right behind him.
As soon as they left the trailer, I turned on my iPod, cranked the volume up on my Bose iDock, and heard Arlo Guthrie singing, ‘I Don’t Want A Pickle.’
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Shakespeare In Love!
This morning, John rescued Cupcake, a large, sweet dog from the Kerrville pound, and then he went back to the pound after he got off work to rescue Copper, which he took to Hoegemeyers Clinic for shots and to have her leg checked out to see if it was broken, because we were told from the workers at the pound—they thought Copper had been run over, and the owners, rather than taking her to a veterinarian—took her to the pound, and asked the workers to please euthanize their dog as soon as possible! Hmmmm...
Around 10:30 this morning, Kinky called me, and invited me over for some coffee—that was a joke. When I went over to the Lodge, Kinky’s old coffee maker was gurgling, burping and spewing out nothing for over thirty minutes. Since there was no coffee to drink—I opted for water.
We had a great visit. We discussed his big win in Vegas, some rescue ranch business, our books that we are writing, and what to do about lunch. Before returning to the rescue ranch, we had decided to meet at La Fours at 1:00 for lunch. (Please note: La Fours is a blue colored restaurant, and they serve great seafood.)
In Kerrville, when Tony and I had passed the orange restaurant, I phoned Kinky, “Kinky, are you there yet?” I asked.
“No, I’m at Wolfmuellers, visiting with Sandy and Jon,” Kinky replied. “Are y’all there?”
“No, we are at the light at the bridge.”
“Okay, I’m leaving now. See you in a minute.”
Kinky beat us to the blue restaurant, because we got stuck in traffic, due to a car accident, but we were only a few minutes late.
We all ordered their ‘Half Platter,’ which was delicious, and thank goodness we didn’t order full platters, because we could have never eaten that much food at one sitting.
Following lunch, we went our separate ways, Kinky went home—and we went to Wal*Mart. After turning on our cell phones, Tony and I went our separate ways in the store to shop.
I found a coffee, cappuccino, expresso machine like Tony’s and mine and put it in my basket for Kinky, and then I went to the boat section and put four life jackets, an oar, dock lines, boat bumpers, shaker flashlight, and an emergency airhorn for Tony’s boat—into my cart! I figured I’d give them to Tony on February 14th, but he caught up with me at the checkout counter, and was delighted when he saw his Valentine presents!
And, then it was Tony’s turn to get caught with his Valentine present for me. The only thing he had in his cart was a beautiful lavender and pink colored—Shakespeare rod and reel! “Happy Valentine’s Day, Nance,” Tony laughed. “I hope you like it, because I’ve been getting all kinds of weird looks from guys.”
I loved my pink and lavender rod and reel, and told Tony that I did. After checking out, we drove home. As soon as Tony had unloaded our Valentine presents, I went over to Kinky’s to give him his fancy, new coffee machine.
Kinky was delighted with his present, and as I unpacked his new coffee machine, he said, “What should I do with this old thing?” He asked, holding his dead, non-producing coffee maker, in his arms. “Feng Shui it?”
“Yes,” I said, as I plugged in his new three-way machine. “Throw it out—it’s useless, and put your expresso machine that you don’t know how to use, under the cabinet. This deal here, has just saved you a lot of counter top space and it does it all.”
Kinky immediately, carried his old wannabe coffee maker outside, and disposed of it. Then I walked him through the coffee making procedure. Voila! We were drinking delicious kona coffee within a minute! Then Kinky challenged me to a game of pool, and the Hummingbird Man won. It wasn’t even close.
As I was leaving the Lodge, to go home, Kinky came out the door and said, “Nance, tomorrow, will you please show me how to make expresso and cappuccino?”
“I can’t. I haven’t figured out how to do that part,” I answered. “It’s too complicated for me—but Ben will be here tomorrow, and he and Tony can show us both how to do it.”
Around 10:30 this morning, Kinky called me, and invited me over for some coffee—that was a joke. When I went over to the Lodge, Kinky’s old coffee maker was gurgling, burping and spewing out nothing for over thirty minutes. Since there was no coffee to drink—I opted for water.
We had a great visit. We discussed his big win in Vegas, some rescue ranch business, our books that we are writing, and what to do about lunch. Before returning to the rescue ranch, we had decided to meet at La Fours at 1:00 for lunch. (Please note: La Fours is a blue colored restaurant, and they serve great seafood.)
In Kerrville, when Tony and I had passed the orange restaurant, I phoned Kinky, “Kinky, are you there yet?” I asked.
“No, I’m at Wolfmuellers, visiting with Sandy and Jon,” Kinky replied. “Are y’all there?”
“No, we are at the light at the bridge.”
“Okay, I’m leaving now. See you in a minute.”
Kinky beat us to the blue restaurant, because we got stuck in traffic, due to a car accident, but we were only a few minutes late.
We all ordered their ‘Half Platter,’ which was delicious, and thank goodness we didn’t order full platters, because we could have never eaten that much food at one sitting.
Following lunch, we went our separate ways, Kinky went home—and we went to Wal*Mart. After turning on our cell phones, Tony and I went our separate ways in the store to shop.
I found a coffee, cappuccino, expresso machine like Tony’s and mine and put it in my basket for Kinky, and then I went to the boat section and put four life jackets, an oar, dock lines, boat bumpers, shaker flashlight, and an emergency airhorn for Tony’s boat—into my cart! I figured I’d give them to Tony on February 14th, but he caught up with me at the checkout counter, and was delighted when he saw his Valentine presents!
And, then it was Tony’s turn to get caught with his Valentine present for me. The only thing he had in his cart was a beautiful lavender and pink colored—Shakespeare rod and reel! “Happy Valentine’s Day, Nance,” Tony laughed. “I hope you like it, because I’ve been getting all kinds of weird looks from guys.”
I loved my pink and lavender rod and reel, and told Tony that I did. After checking out, we drove home. As soon as Tony had unloaded our Valentine presents, I went over to Kinky’s to give him his fancy, new coffee machine.
Kinky was delighted with his present, and as I unpacked his new coffee machine, he said, “What should I do with this old thing?” He asked, holding his dead, non-producing coffee maker, in his arms. “Feng Shui it?”
“Yes,” I said, as I plugged in his new three-way machine. “Throw it out—it’s useless, and put your expresso machine that you don’t know how to use, under the cabinet. This deal here, has just saved you a lot of counter top space and it does it all.”
Kinky immediately, carried his old wannabe coffee maker outside, and disposed of it. Then I walked him through the coffee making procedure. Voila! We were drinking delicious kona coffee within a minute! Then Kinky challenged me to a game of pool, and the Hummingbird Man won. It wasn’t even close.
As I was leaving the Lodge, to go home, Kinky came out the door and said, “Nance, tomorrow, will you please show me how to make expresso and cappuccino?”
“I can’t. I haven’t figured out how to do that part,” I answered. “It’s too complicated for me—but Ben will be here tomorrow, and he and Tony can show us both how to do it.”
Monday, January 21, 2008
Kinky Video Clip!
My friend, Sean, just sent me this video clip on Kinky, taken at Poor David's Pub in Dallas. I thought it was pretty good. Check it out at: http://current.com/items/88809890_kinky_on_two_party_politics
And, this just in—Kinky has just won a really big jackpot in Vegas! What stays in Vegas—just made it to Medina!
And, this just in—Kinky has just won a really big jackpot in Vegas! What stays in Vegas—just made it to Medina!
Ron and Nita's Ranch Party!
Saturday, January 19th, Tony and I took another vacation, and this one lasted 17 hours!
Saturday morning at 7:47, my brother, Ron called to tell me that he was having another party, that night in Dripping Springs, and he wanted to invite Tony and I to come to it.
I really wanted to go. So after I hung up the phone—I called Maribeth, to ask if she would consider baby-sitting our ranch and spend the night over here. She said yes!
At three o’clock, we had the car packed, Maribeth arrived—and we took off for our trip to Ronnie’s! The drive up there was uneventful—thank goodness.
When we arrived at Ron and Nita’s ranch, my sister, Cindy and her husband, Ray were already there, and we got to have a great visit before all of their friends and musicians arrived! It was a packed house, and it was so good to see everyone and catch up!
The last to arrive for Ron and Nita’s party, were Jerry and Kathy, and they had also brought along a surprise with them—Smokin’ Dave and his family!
Tony and I were so glad to see our old friend, Smokin’ Dave, because we hadn’t seen him, in over a year and a half—since he had come out to the rescue ranch, to visit and to show us, and to taste his latest Smokin’ Dave’s products—smoked jalapenos and smoked garlic! And, they are to die for! I use his smoked jalapenos and smoked garlic just about everyday—when I cook. Anyway, we had a great visit with Dave before the music started, because he plays a mean washtub bass—better than anyone that I have ever heard!
The night was filled with some of the greatest music, and it went on until the wee hours of the morning! Tony went to bed early (10:30) because it was past his bedtime, and I checked out around midnight-thirty—and the band continued to play on. I fell asleep, listening to Burl singing—’Midnight at the Oasis’ accompanied on guitar by Willis, Ronnie, and Tom, with Jerry on the fiddle, Joe on the mandolin, and Ray on the dulcimer, and Dave on the washtub bass! It had been another great Ron and Nita party!
Sunday morning at 6:00, Tony and I packed the car, in the dark, and drove home. Of course, we made it back safely, or I wouldn’t be writing this now. All was fine when we arrived home, and when we unpacked the car, we found a case each of Smokin’ Dave’s jalapenos and garlic! I guess, that he had snuck out, and loaded up our car—while we weren’t looking. And, I just want to say thank you, Smokin’ Dave—they won’t last long around here!
P.S. I wish everyone could have gone to Ron and Nita’s ranch party, but you weren’t invited, but I hope that my friends and fellow, blog readers are as lucky as me—to have such great family and friends. I am truly blessed. And, if you haven’t met Smokin’ Dave, or tried his fantastic products—check them out at: www.firenspice.com! If you try them, I guarantee that you’ll love them!
Saturday morning at 7:47, my brother, Ron called to tell me that he was having another party, that night in Dripping Springs, and he wanted to invite Tony and I to come to it.
I really wanted to go. So after I hung up the phone—I called Maribeth, to ask if she would consider baby-sitting our ranch and spend the night over here. She said yes!
At three o’clock, we had the car packed, Maribeth arrived—and we took off for our trip to Ronnie’s! The drive up there was uneventful—thank goodness.
When we arrived at Ron and Nita’s ranch, my sister, Cindy and her husband, Ray were already there, and we got to have a great visit before all of their friends and musicians arrived! It was a packed house, and it was so good to see everyone and catch up!
The last to arrive for Ron and Nita’s party, were Jerry and Kathy, and they had also brought along a surprise with them—Smokin’ Dave and his family!
Tony and I were so glad to see our old friend, Smokin’ Dave, because we hadn’t seen him, in over a year and a half—since he had come out to the rescue ranch, to visit and to show us, and to taste his latest Smokin’ Dave’s products—smoked jalapenos and smoked garlic! And, they are to die for! I use his smoked jalapenos and smoked garlic just about everyday—when I cook. Anyway, we had a great visit with Dave before the music started, because he plays a mean washtub bass—better than anyone that I have ever heard!
The night was filled with some of the greatest music, and it went on until the wee hours of the morning! Tony went to bed early (10:30) because it was past his bedtime, and I checked out around midnight-thirty—and the band continued to play on. I fell asleep, listening to Burl singing—’Midnight at the Oasis’ accompanied on guitar by Willis, Ronnie, and Tom, with Jerry on the fiddle, Joe on the mandolin, and Ray on the dulcimer, and Dave on the washtub bass! It had been another great Ron and Nita party!
Sunday morning at 6:00, Tony and I packed the car, in the dark, and drove home. Of course, we made it back safely, or I wouldn’t be writing this now. All was fine when we arrived home, and when we unpacked the car, we found a case each of Smokin’ Dave’s jalapenos and garlic! I guess, that he had snuck out, and loaded up our car—while we weren’t looking. And, I just want to say thank you, Smokin’ Dave—they won’t last long around here!
P.S. I wish everyone could have gone to Ron and Nita’s ranch party, but you weren’t invited, but I hope that my friends and fellow, blog readers are as lucky as me—to have such great family and friends. I am truly blessed. And, if you haven’t met Smokin’ Dave, or tried his fantastic products—check them out at: www.firenspice.com! If you try them, I guarantee that you’ll love them!
Friday, January 18, 2008
Happy Birthday to Catherine the Great!
I just found out that Catherine, of Catherine and David Berry—had her 48th Birthday—last Sunday, the 13th! Catherine maybe forty-eight now, but she looks like she's 38! I've got to find out what her secret is, because I'm 56, and when I tell people it's the new 66— they believe me! Help!
What's Wrong With This Picture?
The first thing that I did this morning, was to officially give my Perfect Pillow to Karma. After last night’s ordeal, I am now sleepless in Medina, can barely turn my head sideways, and as far as I can tell—still have no memory improvement. Karma’s PP is now on the floor, in the living room—with her sleeping on top of it—as I type this.
I’m fine about giving Karma my Perfect Pillow, because I do need to sleep occasionally, and last night when we went to bed, Tony threatened to start sleeping in his Lazy-Boy recliner, because he’s scared of the Perfect Pillow. So now, Karma is one happy mutt, Tony is safe from the possible Kryptonite hazards, and I will finally get to sleep tonight. It has turned out to be perfect.
Around 9:30 this morning, Ben and John showed up at the trailer, to drink some coffee with Tony and me, before going to work outside. Somehow our past conversations have always turned into a lot of laughter—and this morning was no exception.
After sharing some hilarious Las Vegas stories with each other, the conversation turned to fishing. Tony told us that he wanted to play a joke on our good friends, Catherine and David Berry, of Happy Dogs Adoptions, at Buchanan Dam. (They are the great people who help us adopt out our dogs!)
A few weeks before Christmas, Tony decided that he wanted to get a fishing boat, so he started looking for used boats on the internet. Well, a couple of days later, Catherine had driven down to see us, and during her visit, I asked her what she considered to be the best kind of bass boat for Tony to buy, since she and her husband—own Anchors Away, the best boat repair business in the area!
Catherine told me that they had a used boat—that Tony could have, if he would pay for the parts, and it was a used Skeeter! I couldn’t believe it! So, after Catherine left to go home, I surprised Tony with the great news! Talk about excited! I don’t think that I have ever seen Tony that happy—until this morning, of course, when I removed the Perfect Pillow from our bed!
So, a few days later, Catherine and David e-mailed me three pictures of the boat, and Tony was even more excited about getting it. In fact, he printed out the pictures, and showed them to everyone that he knew or didn’t know!
Since then, David has been working on it, in his off hours, rewiring, replacing old parts, etc., so Tony will have a great running boat. And, Tony cannot wait!
So this morning, Tony thought it would be fun to tease Catherine and David, and have John take a picture of him standing next to his tackle box, with his rod & reel in one arm, and Bosco in his other arm—and to e-mail it to David and Catherine. And, John came up with the title for the picture—“What’s Wrong With This Picture?”
So, Tony went back to his office, and quickly returned with a rod and reel, and his newly purchased giant tackle box, and John shot Tony and Bosco—in my kitchen!
After the photo shoot, the camera crew, and cast went outside to feed the dogs, and to clean their pens, and left me to write this fishing story.
P.S. Catherine and David, thank y’all so much for helping us find great homes for our dogs! We love y’all!
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Super Pillow!
Yesterday, Tony and I went to the biggest discount store in Kerrville, to pick up a few supplies. We took our cell phones with us, so we could shop separately, but still be able to find each other. We do this everytime that we go there.
While Tony was over in the sports section, checking out flashlights, I wandered over to the nearby bedding and linens department—to discover the Perfect Pillow—by accident!
The PP was enclosed in a fancy red and black box, sitting up on top of a shelf, which literally caught my eye, but fortunately, because I was wearing my wire rim glasses—there was no harm done to my poor vision.
Feeling that this must be a sign, I stopped, picked up the fallen PP from the floor, and began to read the literature on the box, about this special pillow. The makers of the PP claimed that this PP was made of some kind of space age, Kryptonite memory foam! The more I read—the more I was sold on buying this priceless pillow—for only $18.00!
I was so thrilled about buying my PP, I phoned Tony to tell him about my find! There was poor reception inside the store, but I was able to find out that he was over in Electronics, so I hung up on him, put my precious PP in the cart, and then racewalked over to Electronics to find him.
After telling Tony all about my incredible pillow—he was happy for me, but he didn’t want one because he didn’t trust the Kryptonite.
When we came home, I quickly freed the PP from its box, and took it straight to the bed, and tested it! “Oh my gosh, Tony!” I hollered from the bedroom. “This pillow is fantastic! You’ve got to come try it!”
Tony came into the bedroom, and tested it. “The instructions say,” I said. “Warning: this pillow can never be washed or put out in direct sunlight or exposed to heat...”
Tony jumped off the bed immediately! “What?”
“I can wash its pillow cover, but not the pillow itself.”
Last night, when we went to bed, I found Karma, my not-so-little, rescued wannabe Boston Terrier, curled up—sleeping on top of my PP! Not wanting to wake her, I was only able to use a corner of the PP—but it felt good on my cheek.
During the night, I kept waking up, because Karma kept kicking me in the face—trying to make me get off of my PP—so I did, because she can be a real you-know-what.
This morning, when I woke up at 6:00, Karma was peaceably, sleeping soundly on my PP, and I had a stiff neck, felt sleep deprived— and disappointed in no memory improvement.
Karma loves my PP so much, that she wouldn’t get off of it, until after I had done the ‘Harley Show’ at 7:45! She has spent most of the day on top of my PP, and has only left it, to go outside to take care of business.
I’m dreading going to bed, later tonight. I love my PP. Karma loves my PP, and Tony seems scared of it! Oh well, nothing’s perfect.
While Tony was over in the sports section, checking out flashlights, I wandered over to the nearby bedding and linens department—to discover the Perfect Pillow—by accident!
The PP was enclosed in a fancy red and black box, sitting up on top of a shelf, which literally caught my eye, but fortunately, because I was wearing my wire rim glasses—there was no harm done to my poor vision.
Feeling that this must be a sign, I stopped, picked up the fallen PP from the floor, and began to read the literature on the box, about this special pillow. The makers of the PP claimed that this PP was made of some kind of space age, Kryptonite memory foam! The more I read—the more I was sold on buying this priceless pillow—for only $18.00!
I was so thrilled about buying my PP, I phoned Tony to tell him about my find! There was poor reception inside the store, but I was able to find out that he was over in Electronics, so I hung up on him, put my precious PP in the cart, and then racewalked over to Electronics to find him.
After telling Tony all about my incredible pillow—he was happy for me, but he didn’t want one because he didn’t trust the Kryptonite.
When we came home, I quickly freed the PP from its box, and took it straight to the bed, and tested it! “Oh my gosh, Tony!” I hollered from the bedroom. “This pillow is fantastic! You’ve got to come try it!”
Tony came into the bedroom, and tested it. “The instructions say,” I said. “Warning: this pillow can never be washed or put out in direct sunlight or exposed to heat...”
Tony jumped off the bed immediately! “What?”
“I can wash its pillow cover, but not the pillow itself.”
Last night, when we went to bed, I found Karma, my not-so-little, rescued wannabe Boston Terrier, curled up—sleeping on top of my PP! Not wanting to wake her, I was only able to use a corner of the PP—but it felt good on my cheek.
During the night, I kept waking up, because Karma kept kicking me in the face—trying to make me get off of my PP—so I did, because she can be a real you-know-what.
This morning, when I woke up at 6:00, Karma was peaceably, sleeping soundly on my PP, and I had a stiff neck, felt sleep deprived— and disappointed in no memory improvement.
Karma loves my PP so much, that she wouldn’t get off of it, until after I had done the ‘Harley Show’ at 7:45! She has spent most of the day on top of my PP, and has only left it, to go outside to take care of business.
I’m dreading going to bed, later tonight. I love my PP. Karma loves my PP, and Tony seems scared of it! Oh well, nothing’s perfect.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Today is Martha Stewart Day!
This afternoon around 1:20, a woman called the rescue ranch wanting to know if we still had Martha Stewart! Tony told her that we still had the cute little Beagle, and she told him that she was on her way out to meet Martha, and to possibly adopt her!
The woman arrived at the rescue ranch—thirty minutes later. As we walked down to Martha’s and Dobie Gillis’ pen, she told us that she had recently had to put Nigel, her fifteen year old Beagle down, and she was now ready to adopt another one.
When we arrived at Martha’s pen, we went inside, so Ann could meet Martha. Within a minute—they had fallen in love with each other! After the adoption forms were filled out, Tony attached our ranch tag and rabies tag to Martha’s new dog collar, and then put it on her. As soon as the leash was attached—Martha happily jumped into the backseat of Ann’s car!
As the two drove away, Tony said, “There goes one very happy Beagle.”
“Tony, don’t you mean,” I said. “There goes two very happy ladies.”
P.S. Today, I received a book Mari sent to me, ‘Dump him, Marry the Dog!’ and I love it! And, I also loved the horse book that she sent, too! Nomads come see us!
Thank You Casbeers! We Love You!
Kinky, Steve Fromholz and Little Jewford put on a great show, and then they took a break! Then our friend, Carl Naylor, took to the stage, and he put on a fun, and often hilarious auction, with the help of Barbara and Carol! And, thanks to them—they raised a lot of money for the rescue ranch!
Following the auction, the three ‘Muttsketeers’ came back on stage to polish off the night! And, they were fabulous! If Jewford wasn’t making us laugh out loud, then Kinky was—or Steven was! I hated for the show to come to an end, but thank goodness it did, because I would still be there.
Carol, John, Tony and I visited with the three ‘Muttsketeers’ including A.J. and Ben for a little while after the show, and then we said our good byes to everyone, and left Casbeers.
As soon as I was outside, I realized that it was much colder, because a norther had blown in. With Tony as pilot, and me as his co-pilot, and our two, first class passengers, Carol and John, we quickly boarded Buttermilk, buckled up and headed for home sweet trailer.
Before getting on to I-10, I announced that the outside temperature was at fifty degrees and had dropped five degrees since leaving Casbeers. I knew this, because Buttermilk has an outside thermometer. So we started watching the degrees drop outside, and started placing bets on what the temperature would be by the time we reached Boerne. No one won that bet, because it had jumped up to fifty-six degrees.
When we reached Kerrville, the gauge was fluctuating between forty-seven, and forty-five degrees. John, then bet that the outside temperature would be forty-four by the time we reached his apartment. He lost that bet, because it was forty-three.
After safely depositing John at his place, Carol, Tony and I started placing bets on what the temperature would be at her ranch, and what the temperature would be when we got home. Carol had guessed forty-one for her place, and thirty-nine degrees for the rescue ranch. Well, she won the first part of the bet on her place, but when we arrived at the trailer—Carol’s prediction was way off!
When Tony and I pulled up to our trailer, Buttermilk’s gauge showed thirty-six degrees outside, and to confirm her accuracy, I checked the front porch thermometer before going inside. It was thirty-six degrees!
I must admit, that was one fun vacation for Tony and me! And, I just want to say thank you, again to Casbeers, their waitresses, Barbara and Steve, Steven Fromholz, Little Jewford, Kinky, Ben and A.J., and Carl Naylor for making Casbeers one of the best Bonefits ever!
Following the auction, the three ‘Muttsketeers’ came back on stage to polish off the night! And, they were fabulous! If Jewford wasn’t making us laugh out loud, then Kinky was—or Steven was! I hated for the show to come to an end, but thank goodness it did, because I would still be there.
Carol, John, Tony and I visited with the three ‘Muttsketeers’ including A.J. and Ben for a little while after the show, and then we said our good byes to everyone, and left Casbeers.
As soon as I was outside, I realized that it was much colder, because a norther had blown in. With Tony as pilot, and me as his co-pilot, and our two, first class passengers, Carol and John, we quickly boarded Buttermilk, buckled up and headed for home sweet trailer.
Before getting on to I-10, I announced that the outside temperature was at fifty degrees and had dropped five degrees since leaving Casbeers. I knew this, because Buttermilk has an outside thermometer. So we started watching the degrees drop outside, and started placing bets on what the temperature would be by the time we reached Boerne. No one won that bet, because it had jumped up to fifty-six degrees.
When we reached Kerrville, the gauge was fluctuating between forty-seven, and forty-five degrees. John, then bet that the outside temperature would be forty-four by the time we reached his apartment. He lost that bet, because it was forty-three.
After safely depositing John at his place, Carol, Tony and I started placing bets on what the temperature would be at her ranch, and what the temperature would be when we got home. Carol had guessed forty-one for her place, and thirty-nine degrees for the rescue ranch. Well, she won the first part of the bet on her place, but when we arrived at the trailer—Carol’s prediction was way off!
When Tony and I pulled up to our trailer, Buttermilk’s gauge showed thirty-six degrees outside, and to confirm her accuracy, I checked the front porch thermometer before going inside. It was thirty-six degrees!
I must admit, that was one fun vacation for Tony and me! And, I just want to say thank you, again to Casbeers, their waitresses, Barbara and Steve, Steven Fromholz, Little Jewford, Kinky, Ben and A.J., and Carl Naylor for making Casbeers one of the best Bonefits ever!
Monday, January 14, 2008
Casbeers Rocks!
Last Friday afternoon, after adopting out Snowflake to a lovely woman named Marilyn, from Blanco, Tony and I returned to the trailer, so I could do The Chris Duel Show at 4:19!
At 4:11, Michael called to tell me that Chris was at this time, interviewing Kinky, and that he was going to put me on hold, and then in a few minutes, Chris would put me on the air with him and Kinky, to talk about the evening’s Bonefit at Casbeers, in San Antonio. I quickly downed a glass of water and waited. Then Chris put me on the air with Kinky. I loved it!
The three of us took turns talking about the event, and there was a lot of laughter! After a few minutes, Kinky told us good bye—and it was now just Chris and me. I love talking to him because he has a great sense of humor, and knows how to put you at ease. We talked for a few more minutes, and then he plugged our rescue ranch, Kinky, my book, our web site, and lastly my blog!
After the show, Tony told me that he thought the interview went real well, even though, he said I sounded like Gabby Hayes on helium, again. Because, Chris Duel had told me that the Casbeers Bonefit was sold out, I suggested to Tony that we might ought to leave thirty minutes earlier than we had planned with Carol and John. He agreed.
So, while Tony phoned Carol to ask if it would be okay to pick her up at 6:00 instead of 6:30—I was on my laptop writing a dear John letter—to let him know that we would be picking him up thirty minutes earlier, instead of 7:00—now 6:30.
With the plans now changed, Tony and I quickly cleaned up, and dressed for the event. After a couple of minutes of lying to each other about the other looking good, we bid farewell to our dogs and cat. Before leaving the trailer, we grabbed the camera and the map to Casbeers!
We arrived ten minutes early at Carol’s gate, but luckily, she was parked by it, and ready to go! When Carol, all dressed up, got into the backseat of the Explorer, Tony and I both told her that she looked great—which wasn’t a lie. “Thanks,” Carol said.
The three of us laughed, and talked about everything under the sun, as we drove the twenty-one miles to John’s apartment. When we pulled up in the driveway, forty minutes early—Tony honked Buttermilk’s horn, and we waited, and waited and waited. Then Tony honked again, and this time John ran out on the balcony—with a towel wrapped around his waist, but wearing a smile! “He must have not gotten my e-mail,” I commented. And, then we burst out laughing.
A few minutes passed, and then John appeared on the balcony—dressed! When he climbed into the Explorer, Tony said, “You clean up nice, John. I guess you didn’t get Nancy’s e-mail about leaving earlier?”
“Thanks,” John said. “And, no I didn’t get an e-mail.”
Tony backed out of the driveway, put Buttermilk into drive—and then we galloped off for Casbeers! I was fine, until we got onto I-10, because it was already dark outside, and the traffic was heavy! As Buttermilk raced to keep up with the flow of traffic, I tried to appear calm, and not backseat drive from the front seat. By the time I get to Phoenix, I mean Boerne—I was gripping the armrest, and saying little prayers—inside my head, for Buttermilk to get us there safely. I wish I wasn’t scared of city traffic, but I am. But, thanks to John and Carol’s funny tales—they kept me laughing all of the way!
Outside of Boerne, Tony asked John if he would drive us into San Antonio, because of the much heavier traffic and the blinding headlights. John agreed to do it, so Tony took the next exit. It was a rest area for weary drivers! I couldn’t believe our luck! I was weary!
After that fire drill, John navigated us safely to Casbeers, even though his and my maps disagreed with each other’s directions—so I put mine away in my purse.
I knew it was going to be a great night, when John found the only parking place on the block —right in front of Casbeers! It was an omen. When we walked inside the packed club, I told the man taking tickets, that we were on the guest list. “I know, Cousin Nancy,” he said, “I’m Steve, Barbara’s husband. Welcome to Casbeers!”
We shook hands, and then a tall, beautiful blonde, walked up to take us to our table. “Cousin Nancy, I’m Barbara. Welcome to Casbeers,” she said, as she gave me a hug! I then introduced everyone to Barbara and Steve, and then we followed her to a table reserved for us—front row center—four feet from the stage! We had the best table in the club, and everyone was staring at us!
After we had ordered some drinks and super nachos, Chris Duel came over to our table to greet us! After introductions and shaking hands, we visited with Chris for a few minutes, and then he left to go join his beautiful wife, at the table behind us. Then Kinky and Jewford came over to visit with us, and then Carl Naylor—the great auctioneer! When they left—our food and drinks arrived.
Five minutes before show time, Carl Naylor came back to our table, to ask Carol if she would mind helping him with the auction. He told her that he needed her to help spot for him, and that he would also be kidding around with her. Carol, blushed, but agreed to his request, even though, she is somewhat on the shy side—when it comes to crowds. Yeah, Carol—she was going to face one of her fears! Then after Carl left our table—the lights inside the club dimmed.
The stage lit up! “Ladies and Gentlemen, my name is Chris Duel, and I want to start the show by asking Cousin Nancy, her husband, Tony Simons, Carol Vail and John Kemmerly to please stand up.”
The four of us stood up, and waved to the friendly crowd.
“Folks, Cousin Nancy and Tony, co-founded the Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch with Kinky, and they run the rescue ranch! Carol is their incredibly dedicated volunteer—who walks all of their dogs, and John is, as Cousin Nancy says—the best thing to ever happen to the rescue ranch, and to their dogs! Please give these fine folks a hand!”
The applause was deafening, and then we quickly sat down in our chairs. “Ladies and Gentleman, give it up for Steven Fromholz, Kinky Friedman and Little Jewford!” The crowd went wild as the three walked out onto the stage! It gave me goosebumps.
To be continued...
At 4:11, Michael called to tell me that Chris was at this time, interviewing Kinky, and that he was going to put me on hold, and then in a few minutes, Chris would put me on the air with him and Kinky, to talk about the evening’s Bonefit at Casbeers, in San Antonio. I quickly downed a glass of water and waited. Then Chris put me on the air with Kinky. I loved it!
The three of us took turns talking about the event, and there was a lot of laughter! After a few minutes, Kinky told us good bye—and it was now just Chris and me. I love talking to him because he has a great sense of humor, and knows how to put you at ease. We talked for a few more minutes, and then he plugged our rescue ranch, Kinky, my book, our web site, and lastly my blog!
After the show, Tony told me that he thought the interview went real well, even though, he said I sounded like Gabby Hayes on helium, again. Because, Chris Duel had told me that the Casbeers Bonefit was sold out, I suggested to Tony that we might ought to leave thirty minutes earlier than we had planned with Carol and John. He agreed.
So, while Tony phoned Carol to ask if it would be okay to pick her up at 6:00 instead of 6:30—I was on my laptop writing a dear John letter—to let him know that we would be picking him up thirty minutes earlier, instead of 7:00—now 6:30.
With the plans now changed, Tony and I quickly cleaned up, and dressed for the event. After a couple of minutes of lying to each other about the other looking good, we bid farewell to our dogs and cat. Before leaving the trailer, we grabbed the camera and the map to Casbeers!
We arrived ten minutes early at Carol’s gate, but luckily, she was parked by it, and ready to go! When Carol, all dressed up, got into the backseat of the Explorer, Tony and I both told her that she looked great—which wasn’t a lie. “Thanks,” Carol said.
The three of us laughed, and talked about everything under the sun, as we drove the twenty-one miles to John’s apartment. When we pulled up in the driveway, forty minutes early—Tony honked Buttermilk’s horn, and we waited, and waited and waited. Then Tony honked again, and this time John ran out on the balcony—with a towel wrapped around his waist, but wearing a smile! “He must have not gotten my e-mail,” I commented. And, then we burst out laughing.
A few minutes passed, and then John appeared on the balcony—dressed! When he climbed into the Explorer, Tony said, “You clean up nice, John. I guess you didn’t get Nancy’s e-mail about leaving earlier?”
“Thanks,” John said. “And, no I didn’t get an e-mail.”
Tony backed out of the driveway, put Buttermilk into drive—and then we galloped off for Casbeers! I was fine, until we got onto I-10, because it was already dark outside, and the traffic was heavy! As Buttermilk raced to keep up with the flow of traffic, I tried to appear calm, and not backseat drive from the front seat. By the time I get to Phoenix, I mean Boerne—I was gripping the armrest, and saying little prayers—inside my head, for Buttermilk to get us there safely. I wish I wasn’t scared of city traffic, but I am. But, thanks to John and Carol’s funny tales—they kept me laughing all of the way!
Outside of Boerne, Tony asked John if he would drive us into San Antonio, because of the much heavier traffic and the blinding headlights. John agreed to do it, so Tony took the next exit. It was a rest area for weary drivers! I couldn’t believe our luck! I was weary!
After that fire drill, John navigated us safely to Casbeers, even though his and my maps disagreed with each other’s directions—so I put mine away in my purse.
I knew it was going to be a great night, when John found the only parking place on the block —right in front of Casbeers! It was an omen. When we walked inside the packed club, I told the man taking tickets, that we were on the guest list. “I know, Cousin Nancy,” he said, “I’m Steve, Barbara’s husband. Welcome to Casbeers!”
We shook hands, and then a tall, beautiful blonde, walked up to take us to our table. “Cousin Nancy, I’m Barbara. Welcome to Casbeers,” she said, as she gave me a hug! I then introduced everyone to Barbara and Steve, and then we followed her to a table reserved for us—front row center—four feet from the stage! We had the best table in the club, and everyone was staring at us!
After we had ordered some drinks and super nachos, Chris Duel came over to our table to greet us! After introductions and shaking hands, we visited with Chris for a few minutes, and then he left to go join his beautiful wife, at the table behind us. Then Kinky and Jewford came over to visit with us, and then Carl Naylor—the great auctioneer! When they left—our food and drinks arrived.
Five minutes before show time, Carl Naylor came back to our table, to ask Carol if she would mind helping him with the auction. He told her that he needed her to help spot for him, and that he would also be kidding around with her. Carol, blushed, but agreed to his request, even though, she is somewhat on the shy side—when it comes to crowds. Yeah, Carol—she was going to face one of her fears! Then after Carl left our table—the lights inside the club dimmed.
The stage lit up! “Ladies and Gentlemen, my name is Chris Duel, and I want to start the show by asking Cousin Nancy, her husband, Tony Simons, Carol Vail and John Kemmerly to please stand up.”
The four of us stood up, and waved to the friendly crowd.
“Folks, Cousin Nancy and Tony, co-founded the Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch with Kinky, and they run the rescue ranch! Carol is their incredibly dedicated volunteer—who walks all of their dogs, and John is, as Cousin Nancy says—the best thing to ever happen to the rescue ranch, and to their dogs! Please give these fine folks a hand!”
The applause was deafening, and then we quickly sat down in our chairs. “Ladies and Gentleman, give it up for Steven Fromholz, Kinky Friedman and Little Jewford!” The crowd went wild as the three walked out onto the stage! It gave me goosebumps.
To be continued...
Saturday, January 12, 2008
What A Night! Tony, Carol, John & I Had A Blast!
Casbeers is the coolest place in San Antonio, Texas—next to the Alamo! The concert was fun and fantastic! And, I will write about our latest 'vacation adventure' to Casbeers—tomorrow afternoon! Thank you, Chris Duel at News-Talk 550 KTSA, owners Barbara and Steve at Casbeers, Carl Naylor, Steve Fromholz, Kinky, Ben Welch, A. J. Agiewich, Little Jewford, the wonderful waitresses at Casbeers, and everyone who came out to show their support for our rescue ranch ! I just love y'all!
P.S. And, special thanks to our two great friends—John Kemmerly, who drove us there safely in Buttermilk, even though I was a frontseat—backseat driver, and to Carol Vail for making us laugh the night away! Are we lucky or what?
P.S.S. When we got home it was 36 degrees, and Marilyn had called and left a message, to tell us that Snowflake was fitting right in with her new home! We have our fingers crossed! Good Night!
P.S. And, special thanks to our two great friends—John Kemmerly, who drove us there safely in Buttermilk, even though I was a frontseat—backseat driver, and to Carol Vail for making us laugh the night away! Are we lucky or what?
P.S.S. When we got home it was 36 degrees, and Marilyn had called and left a message, to tell us that Snowflake was fitting right in with her new home! We have our fingers crossed! Good Night!
Friday, January 11, 2008
News-Talk 550 KTSA! Hello, Chris Duel!
Michael from KTSA, just called and today's interview will be at 4:19! I hope everyone can listen to it, too! At 3:30 today, we will hopefully be adopting out Lana Nelson or her sister, Snowflake. A very nice woman from Blanco is driving out to possibly adopt her. Keep your fingers crossed! And, Tony and I have just confirmed our baby sitters for the rescue ranch tonight—so, we can go with John and Carol to Casbeers to see Kinky, Steven Fromholz, Little Jewford, the greatest auctioneer—Carl Naylor, and at last, get to meet the owners of Casbeers—Barbara and Steve! I know that it is going to be a fun night, too because Ben Welch and his business partner, A.J. Agiewich, are also going to be there—selling merchandise. I will give a full report tomorrow!
p.s. To listen to the show please go to: KTSA.com and please note that Kinky will be following me with an interview, too!
p.s. To listen to the show please go to: KTSA.com and please note that Kinky will be following me with an interview, too!
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Chris Duel Show Friday Afternoon!
Michael from News-Talk 550 KTSA, just called to tell me that they have to cancel today's interview, because of a serious fire in downtown San Antonio! He told me that Chris will interview me and then Kinky—tomorrow afternoon—and I can't wait! I hope y'all can listen to it!
The Chris Duel Show!
Last night, Kinky called and I missed his call. When I called him back, he had forgotten why he had called. Well, I just figured out what Kinky had forgotten to tell me.
Twenty minutes ago, Michael, from San Antonio’s News-Talk 550 KTSA, called to confirm that I would be doing The Chris Duel Show at 4:37 today! I had missed the call, because I was outside with the dogs. When I came inside and checked my messages—there it was! It was 3:22!
I love Chris Duel and doing his show! He has the number one talk show in the San Antonio area, and he has helped our rescue ranch so much—that we will never be able to thank him enough for all that he has done for us.
After hearing Michael’s message, I immediately phoned him to tell him that 4:37 this afternoon would be fine! Then I called Kinky who was on his way to Austin, to tell him that I was doing the Chris Duel Show today!
“I know,” Kinky said. “I’m doing it after you.”
“Kinky, I think that is what you forgot to tell me last night,” I teased.
“Just be yourself, Nance,” Kinky said. “And, don’t forget to tell him about your blog site.”
“I will,” I said. “I love doing his show. He makes it fun.”
“Have fun with it,” Kinky said. “I’ll call you when I reach Austin.”
Twenty minutes ago, Michael, from San Antonio’s News-Talk 550 KTSA, called to confirm that I would be doing The Chris Duel Show at 4:37 today! I had missed the call, because I was outside with the dogs. When I came inside and checked my messages—there it was! It was 3:22!
I love Chris Duel and doing his show! He has the number one talk show in the San Antonio area, and he has helped our rescue ranch so much—that we will never be able to thank him enough for all that he has done for us.
After hearing Michael’s message, I immediately phoned him to tell him that 4:37 this afternoon would be fine! Then I called Kinky who was on his way to Austin, to tell him that I was doing the Chris Duel Show today!
“I know,” Kinky said. “I’m doing it after you.”
“Kinky, I think that is what you forgot to tell me last night,” I teased.
“Just be yourself, Nance,” Kinky said. “And, don’t forget to tell him about your blog site.”
“I will,” I said. “I love doing his show. He makes it fun.”
“Have fun with it,” Kinky said. “I’ll call you when I reach Austin.”
Adopt a Greyhound!
Today I received an urgent phone call from Ray Massey concerning 140 Greyhounds who need homes, since the closing of the Corpus Christi Track! If you can help these dogs or know someone that is wanting one or two of these wonderful dogs, please check out their website:
http://txgap.org/corpus_greyhounds.htm
http://txgap.org/corpus_greyhounds.htm
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
What's Going On?
This morning I woke up at 6:00 to the ‘Sounds of Silence,’ because I forgot to turn off my iPod last night.
After letting my dogs go outside, I phoned Kinky to wake him up. No answer. Fifteen minutes later, I tried reaching out and touching the Kinkster, again. Second verse, same as the first—no answer. So, I fed my dogs, including Lucky, the cat, and then I washed my hair in the sink.
At twenty minutes till seven, I thought, third times the charm, and phoned Kinky—still no answer. Wearing a big tan bath towel on my head, with my long gray hair wrapped up inside it, I called Kinky’s number, again. When his answering machine decided it was time for me to talk, I said, “Kinky, it’s Nancy. Wake up! Mr. Magoo, Chumley, Brownie and Perky—help me wake up Kinky! Start barking!” And, then I hung up the phone.
Knowing that time was of the essence, I pulled my wannabe terry turban off of my head, twisted up my wet hair, tucked it up inside my white cap, and headed out the front door. The sun was fixin’ to come up over the bluff behind us, and when I climbed into Trigger—his windshield was covered in ice! I turned on the defroster and the windshield wipers.
Two minutes later, the ice had melted enough for me to throw Trigger into reverse. I flipped on the high beam headlights and took off for the Lodge! When I arrived at Kinky’s, no lights were on inside so I jumped out of Trigger and went to the door. I opened the door, went inside and said, “Kinky, it’s Nancy! You need to get up! You’ve got less than twenty minutes before you have to call Bob!”
The bedroom light came on. “Nance, I’m up. Do you want some coffee?”
“No,” I half hollered. “I need to get back over to the rescue ranch. Randy Travis is out!”
“Thanks for waking me up,” Kinky said, sounding half asleep. “I’ll call you when the show is over.”
I left Kinky’s. When I got to the rescue ranch, Randy was running from pen to pen teasing the dogs, but when he saw me—he headed for his pen, so I could let him back inside it. He greeted me when I climbed out of the truck and anxiously ran back inside his pen after I had opened the gate. The dogs outside, immediately quieted down and I went back to the trailer.
I listened to Bob Cole’s show with Kinky and it went really well, and as soon as it was over—Kinky called me. “Nance, do you want to come over and drink some coffee?”
I went back over to the Lodge and we drank coffee and discussed business for about an hour and then I came home and fixed breakfast for Tony and me.
Around 11:30, Tony came inside the trailer and said, “Nance, Carol, and John are here and they want to talk to you. Where are you?”
“I’m back here in the office,” I said. “I’ll be right there.” I shut down the computer, and left my little office, and headed down the hallway, for what I like to call, ‘the big room.’ John was sitting on a stool at the breakfast bar, Carol was sitting in a chair at my cluttered kitchen table, and Tony was pouring himself some coffee. “Morning y’all. Do you want some coffee?”
“No, thank you,” they said, in two part harmony.
So, as Marvin Gaye would say, I said, “What’s going on?”
“Well,” John said, wearing a smile, as he handed me some paperwork. “I want to tell you about this morning. First, I went to Hoegemeyers to pick up Lana and Snowflake.”
“I hope they didn’t get carsick, John,” I said. "I didn’t get your e-mail until 9:30 this morning, so I wasn’t able to call Hoegemeyers to ask them not to feed the girls.”
“Lana did, about halfway here, and then Snowflake started freaking out. I had to pull off of the road, clean up the vomit and then try to settle Snowflake down. After I arrived here, when I started to put Snowflake back in her pen with Maggie—they were growling at each other like they didn’t know each other and I had to break them up before they got into a fight. So, I put her in the alley over there by Honey and Baxter. Then when I went to put Lana back in with Jedi, her mom—they nearly got into it! So, I stayed inside their pen until I felt things were calm.”
“Good grief,” I said. “That’s too weird.”
“I know,” Carol said.
“I’m not finished,” John said. “Then when I went to feed Toby and Baby, that concrete strip under the gate, had been dug up, and when I started to go inside, I stumbled, but didn’t fall! I can’t figure out why all of this happened.”
“John, I think it’s your fault. Maybe we need to smudge you,” I said.
“What?” John asked. “What do you mean smudge me?”
I started laughing. “I’m teasing,” I said, as Tony, Carol and John laughed. “Smudging is a deal the Native Americans do—to get rid of bad vibes, etc. They usually use sweet grass or sage. I’m thinking that maybe Lana and Snowflake had upset you on the drive here, and the dogs picked up on it. And, that’s why they were acting so weird.”
Then I told Carol and John about the time when Kinky went missing in Cabo San Lucas, back on December 17, 1998, and I was freaked out, and the rescued dogs outside started fighting with each other and acting strange, until I had called Copper Love and told her about Kinky missing and the police being involved, with search parties, etc. And, when I told her about our dogs suddenly acting so weird, she told me that I had to change my thoughts, because the dogs were picking up on my fears.
I took her advice and tried to make myself happy, but that didn’t work—because I wasn’t happy. But, when I received a call from John McCall, a few hours later, telling me they had found Kinky and he was fine—I was truly happy! And, yes, after that phone conversation, I went outside and all of the dogs were calm and acting normal.
After my long winded story, the four of us made a plan for Friday night at Casbeers, in San Antonio, to see Steven Fromholz, Kinky and Little Jewford!
And, here’s tonight’s report: At approximately 6:45 pm—The Hummingbird Man and the Medina Bulldog tied!
After letting my dogs go outside, I phoned Kinky to wake him up. No answer. Fifteen minutes later, I tried reaching out and touching the Kinkster, again. Second verse, same as the first—no answer. So, I fed my dogs, including Lucky, the cat, and then I washed my hair in the sink.
At twenty minutes till seven, I thought, third times the charm, and phoned Kinky—still no answer. Wearing a big tan bath towel on my head, with my long gray hair wrapped up inside it, I called Kinky’s number, again. When his answering machine decided it was time for me to talk, I said, “Kinky, it’s Nancy. Wake up! Mr. Magoo, Chumley, Brownie and Perky—help me wake up Kinky! Start barking!” And, then I hung up the phone.
Knowing that time was of the essence, I pulled my wannabe terry turban off of my head, twisted up my wet hair, tucked it up inside my white cap, and headed out the front door. The sun was fixin’ to come up over the bluff behind us, and when I climbed into Trigger—his windshield was covered in ice! I turned on the defroster and the windshield wipers.
Two minutes later, the ice had melted enough for me to throw Trigger into reverse. I flipped on the high beam headlights and took off for the Lodge! When I arrived at Kinky’s, no lights were on inside so I jumped out of Trigger and went to the door. I opened the door, went inside and said, “Kinky, it’s Nancy! You need to get up! You’ve got less than twenty minutes before you have to call Bob!”
The bedroom light came on. “Nance, I’m up. Do you want some coffee?”
“No,” I half hollered. “I need to get back over to the rescue ranch. Randy Travis is out!”
“Thanks for waking me up,” Kinky said, sounding half asleep. “I’ll call you when the show is over.”
I left Kinky’s. When I got to the rescue ranch, Randy was running from pen to pen teasing the dogs, but when he saw me—he headed for his pen, so I could let him back inside it. He greeted me when I climbed out of the truck and anxiously ran back inside his pen after I had opened the gate. The dogs outside, immediately quieted down and I went back to the trailer.
I listened to Bob Cole’s show with Kinky and it went really well, and as soon as it was over—Kinky called me. “Nance, do you want to come over and drink some coffee?”
I went back over to the Lodge and we drank coffee and discussed business for about an hour and then I came home and fixed breakfast for Tony and me.
Around 11:30, Tony came inside the trailer and said, “Nance, Carol, and John are here and they want to talk to you. Where are you?”
“I’m back here in the office,” I said. “I’ll be right there.” I shut down the computer, and left my little office, and headed down the hallway, for what I like to call, ‘the big room.’ John was sitting on a stool at the breakfast bar, Carol was sitting in a chair at my cluttered kitchen table, and Tony was pouring himself some coffee. “Morning y’all. Do you want some coffee?”
“No, thank you,” they said, in two part harmony.
So, as Marvin Gaye would say, I said, “What’s going on?”
“Well,” John said, wearing a smile, as he handed me some paperwork. “I want to tell you about this morning. First, I went to Hoegemeyers to pick up Lana and Snowflake.”
“I hope they didn’t get carsick, John,” I said. "I didn’t get your e-mail until 9:30 this morning, so I wasn’t able to call Hoegemeyers to ask them not to feed the girls.”
“Lana did, about halfway here, and then Snowflake started freaking out. I had to pull off of the road, clean up the vomit and then try to settle Snowflake down. After I arrived here, when I started to put Snowflake back in her pen with Maggie—they were growling at each other like they didn’t know each other and I had to break them up before they got into a fight. So, I put her in the alley over there by Honey and Baxter. Then when I went to put Lana back in with Jedi, her mom—they nearly got into it! So, I stayed inside their pen until I felt things were calm.”
“Good grief,” I said. “That’s too weird.”
“I know,” Carol said.
“I’m not finished,” John said. “Then when I went to feed Toby and Baby, that concrete strip under the gate, had been dug up, and when I started to go inside, I stumbled, but didn’t fall! I can’t figure out why all of this happened.”
“John, I think it’s your fault. Maybe we need to smudge you,” I said.
“What?” John asked. “What do you mean smudge me?”
I started laughing. “I’m teasing,” I said, as Tony, Carol and John laughed. “Smudging is a deal the Native Americans do—to get rid of bad vibes, etc. They usually use sweet grass or sage. I’m thinking that maybe Lana and Snowflake had upset you on the drive here, and the dogs picked up on it. And, that’s why they were acting so weird.”
Then I told Carol and John about the time when Kinky went missing in Cabo San Lucas, back on December 17, 1998, and I was freaked out, and the rescued dogs outside started fighting with each other and acting strange, until I had called Copper Love and told her about Kinky missing and the police being involved, with search parties, etc. And, when I told her about our dogs suddenly acting so weird, she told me that I had to change my thoughts, because the dogs were picking up on my fears.
I took her advice and tried to make myself happy, but that didn’t work—because I wasn’t happy. But, when I received a call from John McCall, a few hours later, telling me they had found Kinky and he was fine—I was truly happy! And, yes, after that phone conversation, I went outside and all of the dogs were calm and acting normal.
After my long winded story, the four of us made a plan for Friday night at Casbeers, in San Antonio, to see Steven Fromholz, Kinky and Little Jewford!
And, here’s tonight’s report: At approximately 6:45 pm—The Hummingbird Man and the Medina Bulldog tied!
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Here Kinky On KVET Tomorrow Morning!
Kinky just called me to ask me to give him a wake up call, because he is going to be on the air with our good friend and radio host, Bob Cole, tomorrow morning on KVET 98.1 in Austin. If you go to KVET.com you can listen to Kinky and Bob! Kinky is going to be on the show around 7:10 am. I can't wait!
I Forgot!
This evening, I went over to see Kinky at the Lodge. We had a short business discussion, before The Hummingbird Man challenged me to a game of pool. I racked the balls, The Hummingbird Man broke up the rack of balls—sinking a stripe.
For some reason, I missed the ball I was aiming at, but somehow, I sunk—three solids in a row, even though I wasn’t planning on sinking, the ones that fell into the pockets. The game was pretty interesting with four balls left on the table. I wound up winning the match, because The Hummingbird Man accidentally sunk the eight ball! Cousin Nancy—one!
I challenged The Hummingbird Man to one more game. I was shooting pretty good, until I forgot that I was stripes—in two quick shots, I sank two solids, while The Hummingbird Man watched the news on TV. I thought I was on a roll, until The Hummingbird Man turned around, and said, “Nance, you’re stripes. You sank two of my balls.”
“You’re right, Kink. I forgot.”
Kinky made two more shots—winning the game. We had tied, and I went home.
For some reason, I missed the ball I was aiming at, but somehow, I sunk—three solids in a row, even though I wasn’t planning on sinking, the ones that fell into the pockets. The game was pretty interesting with four balls left on the table. I wound up winning the match, because The Hummingbird Man accidentally sunk the eight ball! Cousin Nancy—one!
I challenged The Hummingbird Man to one more game. I was shooting pretty good, until I forgot that I was stripes—in two quick shots, I sank two solids, while The Hummingbird Man watched the news on TV. I thought I was on a roll, until The Hummingbird Man turned around, and said, “Nance, you’re stripes. You sank two of my balls.”
“You’re right, Kink. I forgot.”
Kinky made two more shots—winning the game. We had tied, and I went home.
Great News! Kinky Just Called!
The San Antonio, Houston and La Grange Bonefits have all sold out for this weekend! And, a second Bonefit has just been added at The Bugle Boy in La Grange starting at 7:30 pm!
Monday, January 7, 2008
The Best Is Yet To Come!
Yesterday afternoon, Ringo was adopted to a great home! Talk about making my day great! He had been adopted out in October, but unfortunately was returned to us, because he enjoyed visiting neighbors more than he liked sitting in the backyard. Ringo was so excited about getting adopted, that he forgot to kiss us good bye. As soon as his adoption papers were signed, he jumped into the couples Suburban to begin his new life on a ranch!
I have been hearing from several, well informed friends, that 2008 is supposed to be one great year for all of us! And,I have been paying close attention, and am really starting to believe these predictions!
On New Year’s Eve day, Kinky’s car was in the shop, and he had asked me if I could please drive him to Kerrville, so he could take care of some business—so I did.
When I drove over to the Lodge, Kinky was ready to go to Kerrville. When he jumped into the passenger side of the pickkup—I could tell that he was not a happy camper. The reason for this temporary mood swing, was because I had the bench seat pulled up as close to the dashboard as it could get—because I am tall challenged, and my feet can’t reach the pedals.
We took off on the caliche road, and we had just crossed over the Echo Hill cattle guard, when Kinky says to me, “Nance, would you like for me to drive us to town?”
Not wanting to cramp his style, I said, “Sure Kink, if you’ll promise to drive under the speed limit. Your driving sorta scares me.” I then stopped the truck in the middle of the dirt road, and we jumped out of the cab to switch sides. It reminded me of the many times as a teenager, when me and my friends would pull up to a four-way stop sign, and then jump out of the car, and switch sides! Why I thought that was fun is beyond me.
Anyway, after we had changed seats in the pickup, Kinky scooted the truck seat as far back as it would go, and then we buckled up, and took off for Kerrville, again. “Kinky the truck’s name is Trigger.”
“Okay, Nance,” Kinky said, as he cranked down the window on his side. “Trigger.”
About halfway there, I opened up my purse and pulled out my trusty, 80 gig, iPod. I plugged it in, and turned up the volume. The Kingston Trio were singing, ‘Hang Down Your Head, Tom Dooley.’ I could barely hear it because of the wind noise, coming from Kinky’s side, so I cranked it up some more. Then Phoebe Snow began singing, ‘Poetry Man.’ “ I just love that song,” I said. “This is perfect music for a New Year’s Eve.”
Kinky puffed away on his cigar. He didn’t hear me because of the wind, and he was driving six miles over the speed limit.
“The speed limit is fifty-five miles, Kinky,” I said loudly, as the iPod played, ‘They say don’t go, to Wolverton...’
Kinky slowed down. “Wolverton Mountain’ is a great song.”
By the time we had reached Wolfmuellers, we had listened to Carlos Santana, the Rolling Stones, Buffalo Springfield, Sting, Air Supply, and the Beatles. We had a fun visit with Sandy and Jon, and then we went our separate ways. Kinky walked over to the bank and I drove over to HEB to buy some groceries. The parking lot was so full, I gave up trying to find a place to park, so I went back to Wolfmuellers. Kinky showed up a few minutes later. We invited them to go to lunch with us, but they were so busy selling books—they declined the invite.
Kinky wanted to go to that orange restaurant for mexican food, but I refused. I reminded him that it was my turn to pick, so he and I drove over to The Save Inn Restaurant. The parking lot was full, as it always is. Kinky found a space and parked Trigger, after he had bumped into a cement barrier, that neither one of us had seen. The only damage done to Trigger, was he broke off one side of the license plate, which is now dangling from one screw.
Kinky ordered their delicious grilled hamburger steak, and I ordered chicken fried steak, one of my favorites. Our meals were delicious, but because my chicken fried steak was so huge—Kinky took half, and finished it off for me. When we walked out of The Save Inn Restaurant, Kinky told me that he really liked the place and would definitely be coming back for more.
On our way back to ranch, on top of the pass, I said, “Kinky, I am thinking that I am going to try to start writing for some newspapers, and magazines to bring in more income for Tony and me. I’m tired of being poor. And, did you know this is supposed to be a great year for you and me? I saw Cindy at Albertsons, the other day, and she told me that. And I think she’s right.”
We chatted the rest of the way home, and he offered me some very helpful tips, to help me get some writing gigs.
Two days later, Kinky called to ask me to come over to the Lodge for an early morning meeting. Over some Kona coffee, Kinky suggested that he and I partner up, to write a book together! Wow! Talk about some great news, and what a way to start out the New Year!
The following morning, Kinky called to ask me to come over to the Lodge for an early morning meeting, again. After that meeting was over—Kinky and I are now going to co-write two books, and we also decided to self-publish, and the name of our publishing company is, ‘South Flat Press!’
So now, I am on cloud nine, my dreams of writing with Kinky are coming true! I love it!
This morning Kinky called me from Austin, to tell me about last Friday, Saturday and Sunday’s bonefits, that he and his friends Steven Fromholz and Little Jewford, did to raise money for the rescue ranch. His news was great! They had done much better than they had expected!
He also told me that Burl Taylor, his friend, and one great auctioneer, from Denton, had played a huge part in raising the money for us! “Nance, Burl has nine dogs, and he told me that he wants to help us, because Oliver, his old blind dog told him to. He’s like us!”
“Please thank Burl Taylor for me,” I said.
Kinky laughed. “Nance, you are getting hard of hearing. His name isn’t Burl Taylor. His name is Carl—C, A, R, L—Carl Naylor—not Taylor—N, A, Y, L, O, R—Naylor—Carl Naylor!”
We both laughed. “Okay, please thank Carl Naylor for me.”
“Carl is going to do the rest of the bonefits with us this month!” Kinky stated. “I can’t wait for you to meet him.”
“Well, John, Tony and me, and hopefully Carol, are planning to go to the bonefit at Casbeers Friday.”
“That would be great if y’all could come. I should be back at the ranch in a few hours. Give the Friedmans my love.”
“I will. Bye.”
And, that is why I believe the predictions!
Well, John just took off with Lana and Snowflake, to get them spayed and given all shots and Tony and I are fixin’ to head to Kerrville for supplies.
Here is the Bonefit information for the next three:
Friday, January 11th....Casbeers in San Antonio...starts at 8:30 pm
Saturday, January 12th...McGonigel’s Mucky Duck in Houston...starts at 7:00 pm
Sunday, January 13th...The Bugle Boy in La Grange...starts at 4:00 pm
I have been hearing from several, well informed friends, that 2008 is supposed to be one great year for all of us! And,I have been paying close attention, and am really starting to believe these predictions!
On New Year’s Eve day, Kinky’s car was in the shop, and he had asked me if I could please drive him to Kerrville, so he could take care of some business—so I did.
When I drove over to the Lodge, Kinky was ready to go to Kerrville. When he jumped into the passenger side of the pickkup—I could tell that he was not a happy camper. The reason for this temporary mood swing, was because I had the bench seat pulled up as close to the dashboard as it could get—because I am tall challenged, and my feet can’t reach the pedals.
We took off on the caliche road, and we had just crossed over the Echo Hill cattle guard, when Kinky says to me, “Nance, would you like for me to drive us to town?”
Not wanting to cramp his style, I said, “Sure Kink, if you’ll promise to drive under the speed limit. Your driving sorta scares me.” I then stopped the truck in the middle of the dirt road, and we jumped out of the cab to switch sides. It reminded me of the many times as a teenager, when me and my friends would pull up to a four-way stop sign, and then jump out of the car, and switch sides! Why I thought that was fun is beyond me.
Anyway, after we had changed seats in the pickup, Kinky scooted the truck seat as far back as it would go, and then we buckled up, and took off for Kerrville, again. “Kinky the truck’s name is Trigger.”
“Okay, Nance,” Kinky said, as he cranked down the window on his side. “Trigger.”
About halfway there, I opened up my purse and pulled out my trusty, 80 gig, iPod. I plugged it in, and turned up the volume. The Kingston Trio were singing, ‘Hang Down Your Head, Tom Dooley.’ I could barely hear it because of the wind noise, coming from Kinky’s side, so I cranked it up some more. Then Phoebe Snow began singing, ‘Poetry Man.’ “ I just love that song,” I said. “This is perfect music for a New Year’s Eve.”
Kinky puffed away on his cigar. He didn’t hear me because of the wind, and he was driving six miles over the speed limit.
“The speed limit is fifty-five miles, Kinky,” I said loudly, as the iPod played, ‘They say don’t go, to Wolverton...’
Kinky slowed down. “Wolverton Mountain’ is a great song.”
By the time we had reached Wolfmuellers, we had listened to Carlos Santana, the Rolling Stones, Buffalo Springfield, Sting, Air Supply, and the Beatles. We had a fun visit with Sandy and Jon, and then we went our separate ways. Kinky walked over to the bank and I drove over to HEB to buy some groceries. The parking lot was so full, I gave up trying to find a place to park, so I went back to Wolfmuellers. Kinky showed up a few minutes later. We invited them to go to lunch with us, but they were so busy selling books—they declined the invite.
Kinky wanted to go to that orange restaurant for mexican food, but I refused. I reminded him that it was my turn to pick, so he and I drove over to The Save Inn Restaurant. The parking lot was full, as it always is. Kinky found a space and parked Trigger, after he had bumped into a cement barrier, that neither one of us had seen. The only damage done to Trigger, was he broke off one side of the license plate, which is now dangling from one screw.
Kinky ordered their delicious grilled hamburger steak, and I ordered chicken fried steak, one of my favorites. Our meals were delicious, but because my chicken fried steak was so huge—Kinky took half, and finished it off for me. When we walked out of The Save Inn Restaurant, Kinky told me that he really liked the place and would definitely be coming back for more.
On our way back to ranch, on top of the pass, I said, “Kinky, I am thinking that I am going to try to start writing for some newspapers, and magazines to bring in more income for Tony and me. I’m tired of being poor. And, did you know this is supposed to be a great year for you and me? I saw Cindy at Albertsons, the other day, and she told me that. And I think she’s right.”
We chatted the rest of the way home, and he offered me some very helpful tips, to help me get some writing gigs.
Two days later, Kinky called to ask me to come over to the Lodge for an early morning meeting. Over some Kona coffee, Kinky suggested that he and I partner up, to write a book together! Wow! Talk about some great news, and what a way to start out the New Year!
The following morning, Kinky called to ask me to come over to the Lodge for an early morning meeting, again. After that meeting was over—Kinky and I are now going to co-write two books, and we also decided to self-publish, and the name of our publishing company is, ‘South Flat Press!’
So now, I am on cloud nine, my dreams of writing with Kinky are coming true! I love it!
This morning Kinky called me from Austin, to tell me about last Friday, Saturday and Sunday’s bonefits, that he and his friends Steven Fromholz and Little Jewford, did to raise money for the rescue ranch. His news was great! They had done much better than they had expected!
He also told me that Burl Taylor, his friend, and one great auctioneer, from Denton, had played a huge part in raising the money for us! “Nance, Burl has nine dogs, and he told me that he wants to help us, because Oliver, his old blind dog told him to. He’s like us!”
“Please thank Burl Taylor for me,” I said.
Kinky laughed. “Nance, you are getting hard of hearing. His name isn’t Burl Taylor. His name is Carl—C, A, R, L—Carl Naylor—not Taylor—N, A, Y, L, O, R—Naylor—Carl Naylor!”
We both laughed. “Okay, please thank Carl Naylor for me.”
“Carl is going to do the rest of the bonefits with us this month!” Kinky stated. “I can’t wait for you to meet him.”
“Well, John, Tony and me, and hopefully Carol, are planning to go to the bonefit at Casbeers Friday.”
“That would be great if y’all could come. I should be back at the ranch in a few hours. Give the Friedmans my love.”
“I will. Bye.”
And, that is why I believe the predictions!
Well, John just took off with Lana and Snowflake, to get them spayed and given all shots and Tony and I are fixin’ to head to Kerrville for supplies.
Here is the Bonefit information for the next three:
Friday, January 11th....Casbeers in San Antonio...starts at 8:30 pm
Saturday, January 12th...McGonigel’s Mucky Duck in Houston...starts at 7:00 pm
Sunday, January 13th...The Bugle Boy in La Grange...starts at 4:00 pm
Sunday, January 6, 2008
While The Hummingbird Man's Away—The Bulldog Will Play!
Saturday was a busy day for us. We had many visitors in the morning—wanting a tour of the rescue ranch. In fact, the last visitors, fell in love with Ringo, and they are coming back to adopt him next week!
Around one o’clock, right on time, our dear friends from Austin, Denise and Mark Stevens arrived with their / our dog—Hank! It was so great to see them!
Hank, aka Hankie, The Hankster was rescued five or six years ago by Kinky. Kinky had just finished doing a radio show at KVET, in Austin, with Sammy Allred and Bob Cole. Upon leaving the radio station, some people were coming in the front door—carrying Hank!
When Kinky saw the little red-headed stranger—his heart melted. He stopped to ask them about their dog, and when he found out that they were from a rescue organization, getting ready to do an interview with Bob and Sammy, and their little dog was up for adoption—Kinky adopted the little dog, right there, inside the lobby of KVET!
As soon as Kinky was inside his car, he called to tell me his exciting news! “Nance, this little dog is adorable, and I am going to keep him! I’ve already named him Hank, Sr., and I can’t wait for you and Tony to meet him! I’ll be back at the ranch, in a couple of hours.”
A few hours later, “Nance, this is Kinky. I am sick. Mr. Magoo hates Hank! He’s jealous of Hank, and keeps growling at him, and I’m afraid for Hank’s safety. Could y’all take Hank?”
We took Hank, and we fell in love with him, but we did have to change his name from Senior to Hank, Jr. because we already had a little black and white dog named Hank, Sr.
Hank was a great little dog, and he fit in well with our other dogs. He was so cute, that I even created, with the help of Adobe Photoshop, a rescue ranch—July 4th card, and mailed it out to all of our supporters—and we got a great response from it! Everyone loved the card and suggested that we ought to consider printing some Hank T-shirts.
A few years later, our good friend, Brian Alstott, came down to visit us, and brought along his friend, Denise Stevens, from Austin, because she loved dogs and also wanted to see the rescue ranch. We had a great visit, and during that time, Denise fell in love with—The Hankster!
Denise kept telling us that she wanted to adopt Hank, and take him home with her. By the end of their visit, I asked Tony to go outside with me for a few minutes before they left. We talked about letting Hank go, and agreed to let Denise adopt Hank, but first we needed to check with Kinky about it. I called Kinky with the details, and later, on that afternoon, November 28, 2003—Hank left the ranch!
Since that time, we have kept in touch with Denise and her husband, Mark. Hank had become the love of their life and they had spoiled him—rotten! And we loved it—especially Kinky!
The next time that Kinky and I ran into Hank was at our book signing, in Austin, at a Barnes & Noble, for Kinky’s book, ‘The Christmas Pig’ and my book, ‘The Road to Utopia: How Kinky, Tony and I Saved More Animals Than Noah.’ That was back in December 2006.
Denise and Mark had showed up at the book signing and surprised us with a Hank visit! Fortunately, the crowd was patient with us, as Kinky and I stopped signing our books, so we could hold and pet our little buddy. That was a great book signing!
And yesterday, when Denise and Mark showed up with Hank—that was a great day! When they arrived, they unleashed Hank, Jr. and with his tail wagging, he ran to me and jumped up into my arms! And, when Hank saw Tony, he jumped out of my arms and ran to Tony’s arms!
After the greetings were done, we came inside the trailer for coffee. Hank obviously remembered our trailer, because he quickly ran around the living room and jumped up on the coffee table that he used to take naps on.
After a short, but fun visit, Tony took Denise, Hank and Mark for a drive on Kermit, while I returned a few phone calls.
After I had reached out and touched a few some ones—I left the trailer to go find Tony and our friends. When I found the party of four, we decided to shoot some pool over at the Lodge! Because of Mr. Magoo’s past history with Hank, Jr., it was decided to take Hank to our trailer, for safety sakes, before playing pool.
At Kinky’s Lodge, Denise and I confessed that we didn’t want to play pool, because of our lack of skill, so The Medina Bulldog challenged Mark! Let the games begin!
While Denise and I visited, and made frequent comments on our men’s pool shots, the guys seemed evenly matched! Mark would win one game, and then The Medina Bulldog would win one, etc.
This went on for six games! The Medina Bulldog—three! And Mark, aka Beano, who I named because of a hilarious story they had told, was three, too! They were tied!
The seventh game, the final match to break the tie—The Medina Bulldog won, but it was close! Tony and Beano shook hands, and agreed to another future match—which next time would include: The Hummingbird Man and Brian Alstott!
When it was time for Denise and Beano to leave, Tony and I hugged them both, but we kissed Hank. We had a great time and are looking forward to the next visit and tournament!
And lastly, I want to thank Brian for introducing us! We miss you, Brian! Get well soon!
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