Donna "The Drummer" Schloss!

This morning instead of walking I decided to work on my editing since I have completed walking the 140 miles required for this month. After lunch I looked at the kitchen clock on the wall and started getting nervous about my drum class at three o'clock, so I decided to go online and practice my drumming, but unfortunately, that didn't happen because our internet service was down, which immediately brought me down, because I figured that it was a sign and it was not a good sign.

After I got cleaned up and dressed I was starting to stress out more about the drum class, so  I took a baby Aspirin to calm my heart. At two-fifteen Tony and I left the rescue ranch and headed to Kerrville in Trigger.

"I talked to Kinky this morning and told him about my drum class today and he thought it was pretty cool that I was taking it. I told him that if he ever needs a drummer to just call me and I will be there and he said that he would.  Tony, I hope you brought your cell phone with you because if that class is filled with a bunch of little twelve year old boys and they make fun of me, I am going to call you to come pick me up. " I said.

"I've got my cell phone, Nance. Quit worrying about that stuff. I know that you will have fun..."

When we arrived at the Auld Center we were five minutes early so we went inside the building to find where my classroom was. When we heard "Boom! Boom!" we knew where the drum class was going to take place. Then our friend Donna Schloss walked inside and tapped me on the shoulder! "Donna, I am so glad that you are taking this course with me. I hope that we are not the only two adults in this class. I told Tony that..."

Then a pleasant woman walked up to the three of us and put her index finger to her mouth and asked us if we would please close the door to the drum class because she was trying to teach a hypnosis class next door. After she walked away I said, "I bet her first words to her class will be: You cannot hear the sounds of drums..."

When the three of us walked inside the classroom my jaw dropped to the floor because there were two older women and two men about our age and there were no kids—this was going to be fun! Donna and I went to the front row and sat down at the table so we could hear the instructor, Matt Gillis, a nice, friendly young man—probably in his early thirties. Then I had the biggest surprise of all. I looked back to check out the gray-hairs and Tone was sitting at a table in the back and he was going to take the course too! I could not believe it—he hates loud drumming! When he saw me he shot me a wink.

When I pulled out my sparkly pink, feathered drumsticks and lavender-colored drum pad out of my bag Donna admired them and told me that she thought that they were pretty while trying not to laugh. "I decorated my sticks and drum pad for the class because I am going to blog about this tonight," I announced to the curious people in the classroom staring at my sticks. Then class began without us saying the Pledge of Allegiance.

After two hours of rump-a-pump-pums fun, Matt had each one of us come to the front of the class and sit down at his drum set and he tested us. The first two older women were okay, but they need to keep their day jobs and forget about ever having groupies and the bald man sitting behind us was pretty good and he seemed to be a good sport. Then it was Donna's turn. I crossed my fingers for her but didn't need to afterall.

OMG! Donna drummed like a professional drummer—and she didn't miss a beat! I was so proud of her and I told her so when she set down next to me. "You're a born natural!" Matt said to her. "You were great!" Then it was my turn.

My heart was pounding faster than Tarzan pounded his chest for Jane in the movies as I sat down on the stool and then I guess the adrenaline kicked in, because I banged away on those drums like nobody's business—never missing a beat too! I hammered the top hat, the snare and the bass drum with my beautiful drumsticks as the pink feathers flew in all directions! I was so proud of myself and could not believe what I had done!

After the instructor complimented me I went back to my table and sat down and listened to Donna's complimentary remarks. She is so sweet. "Thank you, Donna "The Drummer" Schloss, but you were better and you know it. I guess I can now scratch this off of my bucket list. I love drumming!"

After the class Donna took this picture of me sitting behind the drums and that is Matt, the instructor, in the back ground. Please note that I am wearing Karen Cares beautiful necklace that she made for me for luck.

"Nance, you were really good on those drums! I couldn't believe it! I am so proud of you. You blew me away!" Tony said as he drove us home. Then he critiqued my drumming all of the way home with suggestions on what I needed to do to improve my skills.

P.S. Tony did not take the drum test because he skipped out of the class before it was his turn to be tested.

Y'all have a great evening!

Poof!

My good friend Rick, the friendly lighthouse keeper, sent me this funny story and I want to share it with y'all"

Rick wrote:
"Just watched the video—
A friend went to this music festival and bought this monster tent that sprang to life with just a shake and a toss. He takes it out of the box and throws the box in the campfire—says "Stand back and watch this." He tosses this bundle in the air and poof down comes a three-room tent. Hmmmmmm campfire and box with directions—bad move. Three days later after the festival and it's time to go home. Well here's ol' Barry with a large crowd gathering and this thing is whipping his "you know what!" There were times the dang thing would seem to spring to life and swallow him. This went on for about an hour or so and finally he picked the dang thing up, walked to the riverbank and gave 'er a toss. Watched it float slowly down the Brazos. He claimed you had to be a ninja to get it back in the box.
Rick"

This is the e-mail that I shot back to him:
Hi, Rick! That is hilarious and I cannot wait to show your note to Tony! Seriously, we had to watch the video three times! When you and Leisa come up here we will open it up in our kitchen again and have a  break-down contest. We can use my stopwatch to time us and the winner will be the one with the fastest time.

Tony's In The DOGHOUSE!

Today has been really weird to say the least. My morning started out great. I walked six miles and had all of my chores done by ten o'clock. Then things went south real fast, when a dear friend called me with some very upsetting news. To cheer myself up I went outside to thank and to visit with our incredibly, great, dedicated-dog-walking volunteers: June, Ellen, Eileen, Jim, Lisa and Matt because they always cheer me up and get me to laughing.

When I caught up with Team JEE (June, Ellen and Eileen) I teased Eileen about Ellen, June and me playing a joke on her last week on my blog and she laughed and thought it was funny. Then I asked her if she was going to take the Beginners Drum course with me this Sunday afternoon with Donna "The Drummer" Schloss and she shook her head no, and then she showed me why. She held up her swollen wrist that she got last week in her Beginners Motorcycle course—when she fell over three times with the motorcycle.

After having a good time outside visiting with everyone I came back inside and turned on my music to help keep me in good spirits and since Tony was gone I cranked it up pretty loud. (This morning at 9:30 Tony finally took a day off, and went to Bass Pro in San Antonio to shop with his brother Sam.) Then there was knock on the door—it was Team L&M (Lisa and Matt) and I invited them inside for a fun visit.

After they left to go do some of Tony's chores Kinky called—he was back at the ranch and he wanted me to come over for a visit. After catching up with each others news I returned to the rescue ranch because Paul was due to arrive any minute with some more free dog food.

Paul arrived about ten minutes after I got back to the rescue ranch. Lisa and Matt helped us unload the taped up bags of free food from Paul's truck and then they went back to work as Paul and I visited out by the barn.

After Paul and Team L&M (Which also includes Meghan when she can make it.) left the rescue ranch I locked our gate and then went inside the trailer to return a few phone calls.

At three o'clock Tony walked inside the trailer wearing a great big smile on his face. "Did you get it?" I asked.

Tony shook his head yes, and then he told me all about his new portable ground blind made by DOGHOUSE that he is going to use for his picture-taking of the wildlife on the ranch. "It is really neat! It only weighs fourteen pounds, has room inside for two chairs so you can go with me and take pictures, a cool LED light that hangs from the ceilng, four windows and three portholes and..."

"I want to see it. Why don't you bring it inside and set it up in the kitchen?" I asked. Two minutes later I took these pictures of Tony's toy-tent-turned-photo-booth. The first picture is Thunder standing by the box and the other two show how compact it is:

When Tony pulled it out of the bag he said, "All you have to do is shake it and it springs into a tent. Stand back." Then he shook it and scared the dogs and me when it suddenly took shape and filled up the kitchen space and that is when I grabbed my camera and shot this video of the photo-booth.

After I turned off the camera Tony read the instructions on how to collapse it and get it back into its carrying case but it wasn't as easy as it looked. After we spent over fifteen minutes wrestling with the contraption I went online and we watched a video on how to collapse it. We had to watch the video three times before Tony and I had it packed into its zippered bag.

Y'all have a great evening!

Do Over!

Yesterday I spent most of my day editing my book. I had completely finished it by eight o'clock last night. After backing up my book to a CD I watched a few shows on TV and then I went to bed early. Even though I was mentally exhausted I had a hard time falling to sleep because I was so excited about finally completing the editing process.

After doing the Harley Show I made breakfast and that's when I decided to not walk today because I have already walked 128 miles this month and I only have to walk twelve more miles to reach the 140 miles required for this month.

At ten o'clock I sat down at my laptop and decided to do a fast Microsoft Word spelling and grammar check on my book to see if it could find anymore corrections I needed to make. I'm glad that I did even though it made me sick.

I do not know what I did wrong, but for some reason after I clicked in the Preferences Spelling and Grammar box and asked it to edit, it either removed all of my previous editing or I did something wrong because all of my editing work is gone! I grabbed my backup disks to use but all of them were the same without my edits up to at least page sixty-seven where I stopped re-editing this evening. It doesn't make any sense to me.

I am hoping to find that all of yesterdays edits stuck because yesterday I made corrections on the last eighty-seven pages and I have my fingers crossed. I know that Mercury is not in retrograde right now, but I am wondering if we are near or under a full moon.

I am glad that I got at least sixty-seven pages done today and I am hoping to finish the rest of my book edits tomorrow if I can. Actually, I am glad that I checked this out this morning because I would have unknowingly turned in a book without all of the edits. I guess it is a blessing in disguise.

This afternoon Lisa, Matt and Meghan came out to the rescue ranch to walk our dogs and they brought two new volunteers with them! Tired of re-correcting the pages in my book I took a much needed break and went outside to thank and visit with them and I am glad that I did because they had me laughing from the get-go and I really needed something to laugh about. Thank y'all!

Kinky is returning to the ranch tomorrow afternoon and I am looking forward to seeing him. This evening he told me  that the Dallas Morning News article came out today and he said it was great and he has a copy to give to me tomorrow and I can't wait to read it. It is now a little past eight o'clock and I am going to bed because I am going to have a very busy day tomorrow. Please keep your fingers crossed for me that I didn't loose yesterdays edits.

Y'all have a great evening!

Happy Birthday David Villanueva!

Sorry, Not Tonight! I'm Practicing On My Drumming & Then Watching Stomp!

Cut A Buff!

This morning at ten o'clock, after putting Lisa and Matt in charge of the rescue ranch, Tony and I took off in Buttermilk and headed for the San Antonio International Airport so we could pick up our dear friend Carol. I know that going to the airport in a big city is no big deal for most people but for me it is because the traffic in San Antone scares me because I am not used to it.

So by the time Tony and I pulled into Medina, just nine and a half miles away from the ranch, I started getting nervous thinking about the congested high-speed freeways with people texting while weaving in and out of traffic, but I kept my mouth shut and didn't say anything about it to Tone.

By the time we reached Bandera and were slowly moving through the town my mind started racing with thoughts of being on the nightly news tonight with a newscaster saying, "This morning a cute dressed-alike, elderly couple from Medina was on their way to the airport when..."

"Nance, are you okay?" Tony asked as he turned onto Highway 16 headed for Pipe Creek.

"Tone, the speed limit is thirty-five not forty. I'm okay just feeling a little nervous," I said as T. slowed Buttermilk down to a fast trot. After we passed the Dairy Queen I took Garmina, our GPS out of the glove box and turned it on and punched in San Antonio International Airport. Then Garmina said, "Go thirty miles and take a left on 1604."

"Nance, please don't worry. I promise I will drive safely and we've got Garmina to help us find the airport this time." As the signal light above us changed from yellow to red Buttermilk cantered through Pipe Creek.

"T. please slow down. We left an hour early so we wouldn't be in a hurry. Garmina says that our arrival time is eleven thirty-five and Carol's plane is scheduled to land at twelve forty.

By the time we reached Helotes the traffic had gotten a lot more heavier. While we were stopped at a signal light I saw a woman talking on her cell phone in the car beside me. Then Garmina says, "In three miles take a left onto 1604." After she said that I pulled my aspirin bottle out of my purse and chewed and swallowed a little pink pill so I wouldn't have a heart attack.

The rest of the way to the airport was hectic to say the least. Garmina was talking so much I couldn't get a word in edgewise.

When we finally arrived at the airport at eleven thirty-six I turned Garmina off and put her back into the glovebox because she was wrong about our arrival time by one minute. And that's when Tone and I turned into a low-budget Texas version of Jed Clampett and Granny. T. played Buddy Ebsen's part and I played Irene Ryan's character. And we were at the airport to fetch Elly May (Carol) and take her home.

The first stupid thing that we did was missing the turn off where we were supposed to go park—three times. We had to circle around the airport three times before we finally figured out which ramp we were supposed to take to park Buttermilk.

After Tone parked Buttermilk and turned off the ignition we tried to laugh but couldn't. After two minutes of sitting in the cold-dark covered short-term parking lot we decided to get out and go inside the terminal so we could find where Southwest Airlines was. And that was the second stupid thing we did because we got lost.

When we finally found Southwest Airlines ticket counter we didn't know if that was where we should meet  Elly May or should we go downstairs and meet her by the baggage claim area. "Elly May said that she would meet us outside because she didn't have any baggage to collect, Jed. I think you should stay upstairs at the Southwest ticket counter and I will stay down here by the baggage claim. What do you think?"

"I need to go to the bathroom, Granny. I wonder where it is." Then a goofy middle-aged man in a suit walks past us holding up a piece of typing paper with a big yellow triangle on it—to warn everyone that we were under a level three attack alert. That's good news to know since I was under a level three anxiety-attack alert.

After he passed by us I whispered, "That guy needs to take an entry level course at Walmart's Greeter School and learn how to smile. I wonder what his salary is?" As we searched for the bathrooms armed guards were walking around and basically putting off more bad vibes. Then we found the restrooms! And that is when I made my third stupid mistake.

After T. went into the restroom to rest I walked down the hallway and saw a sign with a symbol of a woman wearing a dress holding hands with a really short person who was also holding the hand of a man symbol. I've never seen a sign like that so I opened the door and went inside and locked the door.

As I rested on the one commode in the big room I realized the private restroom was meant for a family to use. Then I got paranoid about the possibility of being arrested for resting in the wrong restroom so I got out of there really fast right after the automatic toilet had finished flushing!

When I met up with T. who looked a little flushed, we decided to go back outside to sit on a bench because the terminal was filled with a lot of terminally creepy, unfriendly people. "Tone, I think I should go upstairs and wait for Elly May and you should go inside and wait for Elly May..."

"Nance, no. We are not going to do that because you will get lost and I don't want my name announced on the intercom telling me to go to the lost and found. No, that's a really bad idea."

"We've got our cell phones." Tony started laughing and then I started laughing. Then we went over to the airport information booth and a pleasant woman told us where to go.

Five minutes later as we were standing by the entrance that all flight passengers have to go through after getting off of a plane. Then Tone's cell phone rang—it was Elly May! Two minutes later we were hugging Elly May and then we laughed all of the way back to Buttermilk as we talked about our trip to the airport and how much fun she had had in Arizona with James and their horses, Maya and Chance.

Carol is so sweet. Knowing how scared I am of driving in San Antonio traffic she kept me laughing as she guided Tony out of Alamoville. By the time we reached Helotes to eat lunch I was relaxed and stress-free.

Our lunch was so much fun and filled with laughter and our meals weren't bad either. And Carol paid for our lunch. Thank you, Carol!

Carol and I talked nonstop on the way home and Tony teased us about it. She told us about her fun trip and I cannot wait to watch the videos that James took of her and Maya learning how to "cut a buff" out of a herd of buffalo.

Tonight's blog is fast turning into a book so I am going to cut it short. Carol, today I had so much fun with you it was worth going to the airport. And thank you for lunch. And a big thank you goes out to Lisa and Matt who came back after lunch and baby-sat the rescue ranch for us. I love y'all!

Y'all have a great evening!

Squirt's The Fastest Dog In Port Aransas!

It's Saturday evening and I am watching "The Queen" on TV starring Helen Mirren. I watched that movie last year and found the Queen of England to be someone that I never want to meet or know because I don't like snooty people. And that is why I am writing this short blog.

Late this afternoon Tony and I went to Walmart in Kerrville to get a few supplies. Before getting out of Buttermilk we made a bet if we would see someone we knew. T. said we wouldn't and I said we would.
After closing my door, I laughed out loud because Laura, Mary Jo's daughter was two cars down loading up her groceries. "Hi Laura...! After visiting with her for a couple of minutes I bragged about winning the bet with Tone as we walked towards the store.

Twenty minutes later we were in the process of being checked out by a very friendly, cute and courteous young man when the Queen of Walmart arrived two carts behind us and we didn't even know it until our last item which was a box of my Franzia Chillable Red wine wouldn't scan.

The friendly upbeat checker tried scanning my fine boxed wine on all sides but nothing worked. Then he looked at the bottom of the wine box and said, "They sealed the bottom of the box wrong and the scanning numbers are hidden. I'm sorry. Do you know how much it is?" We shook our heads no so the sweet kid called for assistance on isle ten.

Seconds later a nice woman came to our check out counter and then she took off to get another box of fine wine so it could be scanned. While she was gone wine box hunting, the Queen of Walmart reared her ugly brunette head. In a very loud voice she said, "What in the world is going on here? Would someone please explain to me why I am standing in this line and nothing is happening! Is there some kind of a problem?" The cashier blushed and so did I. I felt embarrassed for the kid.

"Yes, there is a problem," I said in a soft calm voice even though I was mad about her being so rude. "My expensive fine wine box won't scan and we are waiting for a woman to return with a scannable box of wine." Then I did something that I never do, because I hate it when snooty people roll their eyes and shake their heads in disgust. After rolling my eyes and shaking my head I shot her a look, and then I apologized to the couple next in line. They smiled and told me it was no big deal. Then we watched the snobbish woman yank her cart out of the line and take off in a huff.

A minute later the woman showed up with a scannable box of wine and I wrote a check for our groceries. On our way out of the store we saw the Queen impatiently waiting in line behind three carts and we laughed. On our way to Buttermilk T. mocked her and we laughed. "Tone, I wish I had told her that  there wasn't any problem at all and that we had just decided to take a five minute break here..."

The moral of this story is to just be nice, and to always remember that anyone who shops at Wally World is not qualified to ever act like a rich snob who thinks that they are more important than anyone else.

When T. and I got home we had two messages on our answering machine. One was from our friend Rick, the friendly lighthouse keeper, and Ruth Buzzi! Ruthie had a question and Rick wanted to let us know that Squirt, Leisa's little dog that she rescued from their pound, had won the wiener dog race in Port Aransas! Rick was so excited! "Squirt's the fastest dog in Port Aransas!" Rick said sounding like a proud father bragging about his child! Congratulations Squirt!

Y'all have a great evening!

The Hog Whisperer!

Last night Tony and I couldn't quit laughing as we watched the hilarious movie "Four Christmases!" I was totally surprised that Robert Duvall, Sissy Spacek, Jon Voight, Tim McGraw and Dwight Yoakam were in the movie and they were great. I highly recommend this movie to anyone who loves to laugh out loud.

This morning I decided not to walk the walk because my joints were a little sore. After breakfast Ben surprised us when he came over to drink some coffee with us before going outside to work with Tony. Then we had another nice surprise when Matt and Meghan came inside the trailer and drank some coffee with us, too. In no time flat the five of us were laughing and teasing each other. It would have been perfect if Lisa had been there but she was feeling a little bit under the weather.

Around ten-thirty I put on my new red hoodie sweatshirt and went outside to the pig pen to talk to Tony, Ben and Matt. They were building a portable pig chute because this afternoon Dr. Leifeste was coming out to trim our pigs feet. As I walked up Ben said, "I like your red hoodie, Nance. It's just like the one that Tony is wearing. When did you and Tony decide to start dressing alike?" We all laughed.

"Last week," I joked. "We want to be one of those cute couples that always dress alike, but today we are not totally dressed alike because I'm wearing my pink Justin Gypsies boots and..." The dogs started barking and we looked to see who was driving in.

"It's a red truck," Matt said. When Will pulled up he got out of his pickup to help the guys build the chute. As the five of us visited our dogs cranked up again so we looked to see who was driving in. "It's a red truck," Matt said, again.

"It's Paul," Tone said. "He is delivering some free dog food for our dogs. Let's go help him unload the truck." When Paul parked his red Tacoma at the feed barn we were there to greet him and to thank him for delivering the free food. Then we started unloading the dog food.

At first we pulled the heavy taped-up bags out of the bed of the truck and carried them inside to stack but there was too much coming-and-going traffic so Will jumped up on the truck bed and began slinging sacks to Ben who slung them to Matt and Tony. I wanted to keep helping, so I pulled a heavy sack out of the bed and then tried slinging it to Ben but my sack didn't go very far and Ben had to jump forward to catch it before it hit the ground. So I quit, because their unloading system was working efficiently without my "help."

After Paul left, the guys went back to working on the chute, so I went to thank and visit with our super volunteers: June and Ellen, while Jim was walking our dogs two at a time. After greetings I asked them if Eileen was out walking our dogs too and they shook their heads no. "You're kidding me? I can't believe this! What was her excuse this time for not coming out?" I wasn't really mad at Eileen—just deeply disappointed in her.

"She told us," June said, "that she is volunteering for some charity to help..."

"Yeah, right!" I said. "Blah, blah, blah. I bet she is out driving around Kerrville in that fancy smancy sportscar of hers and laying rubber at every signal light!" Then June, Ellen and I burst out laughing because Eileen we have just played a joke on you!

Yes! We got you, Eileen! June, Ellen and I decided to play a joke on you since we know that you read my blog! We spent ten minutes this morning thinking up what I should write tonight. We love you and that make believe conversation that I had with June and Ellen above never happened. Ellen and June actually put me up to it and I couldn't resist doing it. In fact, I am sitting here laughing about it right now as I type this.

At one-thirty Dr. Leifeste arrived and Ben, Will, T. and I went into the pig pen with him to help set things up. Ten minutes later Dr. Leifeste was trimming Little Ricky's feet as Ben helped hold him down in the squeeze-chute while Tony, Will and I tried to herd Babe, our gigantic white pig, into the chute. It took us over five minutes to finally get him to go into the chute.

Then Matt and Lisa arrived thank goodness! Matt had told us this morning before leaving that he would come back out to the rescue ranch at one-forty-five to help the guys with the pigs. When Lisa stopped her car Matt jumped out and ran to the pig pen. When Tony told him that we needed to round up the pigs Matt went to work and he was fantastic!

When Little Ricky was released from the squeeze-chute, Matt single-handedly herded and pushed Babe into the squeeze-chute which was not an easy task because Babe weighs over three hundred pounds and he did not want to get his nails done!

When Babe's unwanted manicure started Matt miraculously herded LaVerne and Shirley into the chute and we were amazed at Matt's herding skills. "Matt you are amazing with our pigs! You're officially our new "Hog Whisperer!" Everyone laughed including Matt then he went to roundup Arnold as Lisa and I watched by the fence.

"Are you feeling better, Lisa?" I asked. "Yes, I am feeling a little bit better. I have a sinus infection. That's all."

By three o'clock the pigs were happily sleeping in their barn with the chickens sitting on top of them. The guys were happy to be done with their work and I was happy because everyone was happy. It has been a fun day for me.

Thank you, Dr. Leifeste, Ben, Matt, Will, Tony, Meghan, Lisa, Ellen, June and Jim! And thank you Eileen for being a good sport! I love y'all!

Y'all have a great evening!

Happy Birthday Sandy Wolfmueller!

This morning I got up early and did The Harley Show. And as usual Harley had me laughing within thirty seconds. His Pet of the Week was Hank Hill and I told the story of his rescue. Even though I tried to do a shorter Reader's Digest version of it I ended up doing a lot more talking than usual.

During breakfast Tony told me that he was worried my plants outside might have died because of the temperatures dropping below freezing last night. I got depressed with his news because the weatherman had said it was not going to freeze until Tuesday. I got over my plant disaster pretty quickly when I realized that we would just go to The Plant Haus and buy some new ones. I'm going to wait until the middle of April before going to Karen's store to buy new plants.

This morning after walking eight more miles Jon Wolfmueller called to tell me that my books had come in. So this afternoon Tony and I went to Kerrville to pick up my books because I wanted to send signed copies to David Woo, the professional photographer at the Dallas Morning News and to Gina, Minda and Craig at Republic Harley Davidson in Stafford, Texas.

When we walked into Wolfmueller's Books Sandy, Kathleen, Laura and Jon were laughing as they stood near the front counter. Then I heard Kathleen say, "Happy Birthday, Sandy." I was embarrassed that I had forgotten Sandy's birthday so I faked it and pretended that I knew about it.

"Happy Birthday, Sandy! We came to wish you a happy birthday and to pick up my books." I think Sandy fell for it but I am not totally sure. After a short visit Sandy and Kathleen left the store and we visited with Jon and Laura.

Somewhere in our conversation Jon invited me behind the counter to show me the dates and where Kinky was going to be performing this upcoming week. Then he went online to CNN to show me about the plane crash in Austin that we had not heard about. Then Sandy and Kathleen reappeared in the bookstore.

I am not sure who started it but we started telling funny stories about our mothers-in-law. Then it turned into a contest of who could tell the funniest stories. Within two minutes my back started aching because I was laughing so hard. Fortunately the stories stopped when some customers walked into the store and that is when T. and I left their bookstore.

While Tony filled up Buttermilk at the H.E.B. gas pumps, I filled up a grocery cart inside the store. When I was half done filling my basket-on-wheels or about thirty-two dollars worth, I had a head-on collision with David Farrar, our good friend at the Trails End Guest House because he intentionally rammed his cart into mine. When I realized it was David I started laughing as all of these rubber-neckers stared at us in disbelief. Then Desiree walked up and the three of us caught up with each other's news.

When I walked up to Buttermilk Tony got out of the car and started loading our groceries. "What took you so long, Nance. I've been sitting out here for twenty-five minutes." By the time our groceries were loaded I was done telling T. about my fun visit with Desiree and David. Then we went to the Post Office and came home.

I am fixin' to watch the funny movie "Four Christmases" starring Vince Vaugh and Reese Witherspoon but before I do I want to sing Happy Birthday to Sandy Wolfmueller. Happy Birthday to You. Happy Birthday to You. Happy Birthday Dear Sandy. Happy Birthday to YOU! And many more!

P.S. Get well, Lisa. We miss you!

Y'all have a great evening!

B.Y.O.B.!

This morning after walking eight miles I got a phone call that made my day. Michael, the nice man who came out and adopted Bonnie Raitt last week called to tell me that he is madly in love with Bonnie! And he thinks that she is the sweetest, smartest and the cutest little dog that he has ever had and they are now the best of buddies! As soon as I hung up the phone I went outside and told Tony the good news. I wanted to tell Lisa, Matt and Meghan too, but they were out walking our dogs.

After an early lunch Tone and I decided to go to Kerrville so we could swing by Wolfmueller's Books so I could purchase a copy of my book for David Woo, the outstanding photographer for the Dallas Morning News, cast our votes early in the Primary, and to buy some dog food at Walmart and that's when things got interesting.

On our drive in we passed a church that had a big sign that read: "Happy Hour Every Wednesday Night!" and it made me laugh out loud. "What's so funny, Nance?" T. asked.

"That church sign we just passed that said "Happy Hour Every Wednesday Night!" I said. "I'm surprised  that it didn't say it was B.Y.O.B.—Bring Your Own Bible." Then I asked Tony for a couple of sticks of Juicy Fruit chewing gum. After he gave them to me I said, "Tone, did you know that it is an old wives tale about swallowing gum. I saw a show on TV and they said swallowing chewing gum does not hurt you and it digests just like any other food." Then I swallowed my gum and asked him for another stick of gum.

I wish that you could have seen the look on T.'s face when he realized that I had just swallowed my gum. "I can't believe that you just swallowed that gum! Nancy, that is horrible. You should never swallow gum and don't blog about it..." Then he reluctantly gave me one more stick of his Juicy Fruit gum and I smacked away.

When we arrived at Wolfmueller's Books I intentionally swallowed the stick of gum in front of Tony before getting out of Buttermilk and he gave me a disgusting look before we walked inside the bookstore. After we were greeted by Sandy I told her about Tone's and my little disagreement over swallowing gum and she backed me up! "I swallow gum sometimes but not all of the time. It is no big deal."

When the customer that Jon was helping at the counter left the store I asked him if he ever swallowed gum and he backed T. up. "No. Never." Tony was so happy to hear Jon's words I thought that he was going to go behind the counter and give Jon a big bear hug.

Before leaving their fabulous bookstore we told them that we were fixin' to go vote over at the Court House. They told us that that was not the place this year to vote early. When we arrived at the center for the performing arts we realized that Sandy and Jon were mistaken about it being the place to vote at because there were no voting signs welcoming us and the parking lot was totally empty. So we went over to the Court House to see if we could cast our votes there.

When we walked inside the side door we quickly found out from a custodian that the Wolfmuellers were right about not getting to vote at the Court House, so we gave up on our quest to vote early today and we drove over to Walmart to buy some dog food. Then we came home.

Y'all have a great evening!

He Is A Real Sweetheart!

Today has been a quiet day. I spent most of it doing paperwork. I want to thank Lisa, Matt and Meghan for coming out to help Tony and for walking our dogs. Please note that I did walk eight miles and I am planning on walking eight more miles tomorrow.

If any of y'all know of someone who would like to adopt a very friendly male Nubian goat please call me. We are trying to help a man and his wife find a safe home for their goat because hard times have fallen on the couple because the wife was in a serious car wreck last year.

Because of the seriousness of her injuries they have lost their home and must find a home for their lovable pet goat. The man told me that their two-hundred-fifty pound goat loves to play with dogs, horses and kids and he is a real sweetheart.

I would love to personally adopt their goat because I love goats. Tomorrow I plan to start working on Tony to let me adopt it and put it in our side yard by Tone's soon to be organic garden. Of course I know that I would have to rescue or buy another goat so he would have a friend to play with but that is no big deal so please wish me luck.

I just had a thought. I wonder if David and Desiree at the Trail's End Guest House would want to adopt him? They are our friends who adopted David Beckham, our wild hog. Hmmmm. Like I said it is just a thought.

Y'all have a great evening! I'm going to watch Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I've had the best Valentine's Day! This morning Tony didn't go to Medina like he usually does because he had a surprise for me. When I woke up and came into the kitchen he handed me a Valentine's card  and then he hugged me and gave me a kiss. "Happy Valentine's Day, Nance. I have already fed our dogs and Lucky, and the dogs outside. I want you to get dressed so I can take you out to breakfast at the Save Inn."

When we arrived at Randy and Lisa's Save Inn Restaurant their parking lot was nearly filled up with cars and pickups. When we walked inside we sat down at the table that we always sit at and our sweet waitress immediately served me iced tea and coffee for T. then from memory she asked me if I wanted their Sinker Omelet and then she asked Tone if he wanted two eggs sunny-side up with one pancake and bacon. We nodded our heads and she took off for the kitchen.

Our breakfast was delicious. As we were about to leave I spotted Lisa and Randy eating at a nearby table so went over to their table and had a short visit with them.

When we got back to the rescue ranch Kinky called. He told me that last night he had met a group of ten very nice women along with their ten daughters at the Cowboy Steak House and they were coming out to take a tour of the rescue ranch this morning and he was anxious for them to meet Tone and me.

Well, Kinky lied to me. Only three women showed up with their three sweet daughters and they told us that the others wanted to come out but they needed to get back to Houston. Then Kinky arrived and we gave them a tour while Tony finished cleaning the dog pens. We had a nice visit with them as we introduced our dogs to them.

After the tour we went over to the Lodge so they could see the Lodge and get to take pictures with him. Tony was the appointed photographer and he shot them three times. As they drove away Kinky, T. and I agreed that they were very nice people. Then Tony and I returned to the rescue ranch.

This afternoon after lunch Tony went outside to take nature pictures while I worked on my book. It's been a great day except for one thing—I didn't walk with Leslie so tomorrow I plan to walk eight miles.

Y'all have a great evening

Happy Birthday Carol Vail!

I want to wish our dear friend Carol Vail a Happy Birthday and a Happy Valentine's Day with James! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday dear Carol! Happy Birthday to you! And many more...

Tony and I love you and we hope that it is your best birthday and Valentine's Day ever! Hugs to you and James and please give Maya and Chance a treat from us! See y'all soon!

P.S. Kinky sends you his best!

The Hummster!

Today has been fairly quiet. This morning after I walked six miles I gave a nice couple from Austin a tour of the rescue ranch. After lunch our volunteers Timmy and Chrissy came out to walk our dogs. Other than that not much else happened until Kinky called me late this afternoon.

"Nance, what are you and Tone doing?" Kinky asked. When I told him nothing he invited us to come over to shoot a few games of pool with him since he is leaving tomorrow and will be gone for ten days.

Ten minutes later Tony and I were in his kitchen visiting with him. "Kinky, let's start the pool tournament. Do you want to play a game of pool with me first?" I asked. "The winner can then play Tony for the championship." Kinky smiled, looked at T. and then said yes.

I was the first to sink a ball. Then the Hummingbird Man ran the table. Near the end of the fast game I had two balls left on the table and the Hummster had none left but the eight ball. The Hummingbird Man -1 and Cousin Nancy - 0.

The next game was a lot more exciting and interesting. The Medina Bulldog ran the table first—sinking half of his balls, then the Hummingbird Man ran the table and sank half of his striped colored balls. Near the end of the game it was one to one. Then the Hummingbird Man made an incredible shot and then he sunk the eight ball. The Hummingbird Man -1 and  The Medina Bulldog -0.

Kinky loved that he had won of course and he teased us about having to wait ten days until he returned to try to win back the championship.

Y'all have a great evening!

A New Pink Baby Blanket!

This morning I went outside when Lisa, Meghan, Melody and Don arrived at the rescue ranch to help Tony and to walk our dogs. When I caught up with them Lisa introduced me to a new volunteer, her friend Bowen. After handshakes and hugs I had a fun but short visit with all of them. We are so lucky to have the best volunteers in Texas.

When I came inside to walk the walk I realized that I didn't have the time to do it because Michael, the nice man that had called me yesterday about possibly adopting one of our Chihuahuas, was due to be out here in fifteen minutes so I went ahead and filled out Bonnie's adoption papers in hopes that Michael wanted to adopt her. Then I returned a few phone calls.

Five minutes later as I was hanging up the phone T. walked inside the trailer. "Nance, I hope that you have Bonnie Raitt's papers ready because Michael wants to adopt her! He is a really nice man and Bonnie fell in love with him the minute she met him." Then Tony went to the door and invited Michael inside the trailer to fill out Bonnie's adoption papers.

While he filled out the forms we talked about Bonnie. Michael told me that he really liked her and thought she was really cute. She will be a house dog and will get to go everywhere that Michael goes and he promised to spoil her rotten!

After Michael signed on the dotted line we went outside to get Bonnie. "Darn it!" Michael said as we were walking down the steps. "I meant to bring a blanket for her but I forgot to bring one. I always kept one in my truck for my last dog so it would always be warm." Tony looked at me and smiled as he climbed into Kermit and then he asked Michael to follow him in his pickup. I told Tone that I wanted to walk down to the pen so he took off in Kermit. He stopped briefly at the barn to grab a new pink baby blanket for Bonnie, that our friend Jim Callahan had recently donated to us, and then T. took off for Bonnie's pen.

When we reached the pen Bonnie was bouncing up and down with excitement because she knew it was her day to be adopted. After Tony handed the pretty baby blanket to Michael he went into the pen and picked up Bonnie. When he handed her over to Michael she was so excited all she could do was squirm in Michael's arms and give him kisses. "I think Bonnie can't wait to get out of here," I joked. Here is a picture of Bonnie when we arrived at her pen and the other picture is of Bonnie thanking Michael for giving her a fantastic forever home.

After Michael and Bonnie drove away I returned to the trailer and called Kinky to tell him about Bonnie's super adoption. "...Kinky, we've adopted out three dogs in five days! Jill, Sheryl Crow and now Bonnie!..." Kinky was thrilled to say the least.

Since I didn't get to walk today I guess that I will do a couple of eight mile walks to make up for it. I am watching the 2010 Olympics and Canada really ROCKS! And, I just went online and bought the new version of "We Are The World" for Haiti.

Y'all have a great evening!

The Harleys And The Hog!

Today has been a great day even though it has been a long one. At seven-forty-five this morning I was live on the air talking to Harley Belew about our dogs. Harley's Pet of the Week was Bonnie Raitt, and I told him all about her and her mother, Sheryl Crow our two little Chihuahuas. And as always Harley had me laughing from the get go.

After I did The Harley Show a man called me about the Chihuahuas and wanted to know more about them. Before I had finished telling him all about the girls he told me that he was going to come out tomorrow morning and was probably going to adopt one of them. His good news set the mood for my day.

 Late last night Kinky returned to the ranch after being on the road for several days. Around eleven o'clock this morning he called me right after I had walked my six miles to invite me to come over and drink a cup of coffee with him so we could catch up with each other's news. I told him that I would love to come over, but I could only stay for ten or fifteen minutes because I had to get back to the trailer so I could cook lunch for Tone and me. "Tony!" I half-hollered down the hallway. "I'm going over to the Lodge and will be back in about fifteen minutes." Little did I know that I had just lied to Kinky and T.

As I sipped my coffee at the kitchen table Kinky told me that some people would be arriving shortly for a camera shoot for a magazine cover about Harley Davidson motorcycles. Then he told me this afternoon David Woo was coming out to take pictures of him and our rescue ranch for The Dallas Morning News, while he was being interviewed by Jessica Meyers, a staff writer for the newspaper and Jason was going to be driving her down to the ranch. Then Kinky dropped the bomb on me and told me that he wanted her to interview me, too.

As you know I dislike being interviewed because I always wind up sounding like a complete idiot so I pointed that out to Kinky but he ignored me and told me not to worry about it. "That's easier said than done," I said. "Thanks a lot." Then the camera crew arrived and we left the Lodge to go greet them down by the dining hall where the camera shoot was going to take place.

After introductions and handshakes the friendly crew began setting up for the camera shoot inside the dining hall while we visited with the crew. Here are a couple of pictures I took of Kinky sitting on one of their beautiful Harleys and the second picture is of Kinky visiting with Jim and Bubba. (Bubba is the tall one.)

After the crew was done shooting Kinky we all went up to the Lodge for coffee and a visit. We had a really fun visit with everyone. They were all so nice. Before leaving Craig Slovak, the General Manager for Republic Harley Davidson down in Stafford, Texas told us that he loves dogs and he wants to do a Harley ride for our rescue ranch to raise money for us in April! Kinky and I were thrilled. And, talk about a small world—Jim is friends with Rick Reichenbach, our dear friend down in Port Aransas. (Rick, he told me to tell you hello. He is the man who rebuilt the wooden water barrels.)

When they left to go pack up their camera equipment David Woo arrived. David is an outstanding photographer from Dallas who shot Kinky with one of our pigs years ago, for his and Richard Pruitt's star-studded coffee table book Top Dogs And Their Pets. Check out his awesome picture of Kinky that is in this beautiful book. I love it! I just wish that I could remember the pig's name.

Before David, Kinky and I headed over to the rescue ranch David asked Kinky to sign a few of his poster sized pictures of Kinky with our pig and then he gave me a poster and a couple for us to auction off to raise money for our rescue ranch! David told me that the posters should be sold for a minimum of $250.00 each. So if any of y'all want to buy an autographed copy please give me a call.

While Kinky signed the posters David and I laughed about the day that he came out to photograph Kinky. It was a hotter than hot day and our pigs did not want their pictures taken with Kinky no matter how hard he tried to entice them to pose with him. Finally, when Tone went and got some corn and scattered it for the hogs to eat, David was able to capture the perfect pig pose with Kinky. I can't wait to get Kinky to sign my poster and get it framed! Thank you, David.

After the poster signing party we went over to the rescue ranch so David could start shooting Kinky. David shot him in Outer Space, our screened-in porch, and inside the trailer before Jessica and Jason arrived. 

Since it was raining hard outside Jessica interviewed Kinky in "the big room" inside the trailer as David snapped away on his camera while Jason, Tony and I watched and listened. During a break I showed Jason, David and Jessica the beautiful cedar bed that Tony made for us when we got married and they thought it was awesome of course. In fact, David went and got his camera and started taking pictures of our bedroom! "Y'all," I proudly bragged, "our bed and bedroom has been on the cover of the Chicago Tribune years ago. Our dear friend Bill Hageman who writes the papers most popular column for them took the pictures and..." After the bedroom tour we went outside to show David and Jessica our dogs. Here are a couple of pictures that Tony took of us outside. From left to right: David, me, Jessica and Kinky. (And just so you will know, the reason that I look fat is because I am wearing a down vest inside my jacket.)

This is a picture of Kinky talking to Jason and David.

When I introduced them to Hank and told them his incredible rescue story they went inside the pen to pet him and Nellybelle. When they came out of the pen they were covered in mud. Fortunately, they all laughed about it and it didn't seem to bother them.

Before leaving the rescue ranch Jessica interviewed me, and then I told her about my book that I wrote for the University of Texas Press in '06 and then Jason told her that his dog, Echo's (formerly Sponge Bob) story that he adopted from us years ago, was in my book. 

After they left the rescue ranch I checked my answering machine messages thank goodness. A woman named Donna had called and she had heard me on The Harley Show this morning and was interested in adopting one of our Chihuahuas, so I called her back immediately. Then I went back over to the Lodge to visit with Jessica, Jason and Kinky.

At five-thirty I returned to the rescue ranch and cooked dinner for Tony and me since we had missed lunch.

Tonight at seven-thirty Sheryl Crow was adopted in the dark. Yes, she has found her forever home and we have our fingers crossed that her adoption will stick. Here is a picture of Donna's daughter with her new forever friend.

I also have my fingers crossed that Bonnie Raitt will find her forever home tomorrow morning. It's late and I need to go to bed. Good night.

P.S. I want to thank Lisa, Matt, Meghan and Don for coming out this morning and helping Tony with his chores and walking our dogs. We love y'all!

Y'all have a great evening!

The Bucket List Contest!

Today has been quiet and I want to thank Lisa and Matt for coming out to help Tony with his chores and walking our dogs. I walked six miles even though I really didn't really want to because I was tired, but I am glad that I did.

I spent this morning on the phone and my ear was aching after I finished up with all of my phone calls. As you already know I can't stand talking on the phone because I am hard of hearing and I have a hard time hearing what the people are "whispering" to me.

Later in the morning after I had taken care of all of my business I went online to enter the Texas Monthly Cover Contest for their "Bucket List" issue for April. After I had entered my first picture I half-hollered down the hallway for Tone to join me because his nature pictures are so awesome. In no time flat we were in the "big room" uploading and writing captions for our pictures. I hope that one of us wins!

I'm fixin' to watch the movie "Angels and Demons" with Tone starring Tom Hanks and I hope that it doesn't depress me. Here are a couple of the Texas Monthly uploads that I made today.

Y'all have a great evening!

This is a picture that I took on our trip to Port Aransas back in October. I titled it "Relax Often."

This one is of  Mama who we rescued eight years ago, who lives with us. Tone took this picture of her resting on our front porch. The caption that I used for it was "I Will Only Adopt A Dog From A Shelter.

This is a picture I took of my sister Cindy and her husband, Ray, sitting on the dock at the island that came with a lighthouse and our good friends Rick and Leisa. I titled it "Must Visit the Coast More Often."

And this one I took of Kinky visiting and feeding Little Jewford. I titled it "Always Give A Handout When You Can."

Ka-Ching! Ka-Ching!

Today has been great! This morning Lisa, Meghan and Don came out to help Tony with his chores and to walk our dogs while I walked six more miles and then cleaned up the trailer. Around one o'clock we had some visitors come out for a tour of the ranch and I enjoyed meeting Katrina and her father, Ed. They are good people.

After they left the rescue ranch Tony and I ate lunch and then we went to Kerrville because we had to go to Walmart for some supplies. On our way home I called Carol & James to see if we could come by for a short visit, which of course turned out to be a long visit because we were having so much fun with them.

The four of us talked non-stop about cameras, photography, computers, the rescue ranch, their super horses, James' Sharper Image weather station that has a remote Caller ID and eBay. Turns out I learned a whole lot about eBay from James & Carol and I can't wait to start selling my stuff on eBay. It sounds like fun and it could be possibly prosperous!

After James told us about his cool weather station, I told Tone that I wanted one for Valentines then we gathered around James computer and watched a few videos of Carol training her horse, Maya, in the corral.

Carol and Maya are an amazing team to watch and James remarks that he made while he was video tapping them from his saddle were so sweet and hilarious! He'd say things like, "Carol is so beautiful. I am so lucky. I love... Dang-it Drifter stop it! Scoot over, boy!" Then the camera would drop down for a second on Drifter's neck and mane and then come back up to Carol and Maya working together in the corral. They were magic together! And I'm talking about Carol and Maya, and Carol and James.

When we left, Tony couldn't wait to get home so he could go online to buy a Sharper Image weather station like James has, for my Valentines present, and I couldn't wait to get home so I could start gathering things to sell on eBay.

I started with our closet first. And I now have a pile half as tall as me blocking our bathroom entrance.  When Tone saw my pile-of-possible-money he said, "Nance, can I move your pile? I need to get in there to brush my teeth."

Now that pile of "priceless" Cousin Nancy things is stacked up right behind me in the kitchen, as I sit at the kitchen table typing this. I just turned around to look at it, and I just hollered to Tone in the bedroom, "Good night, T.!  I've just named this mound-of-money in the kitchen, "Cousin Nancy's First Pyramid of Pennies." Tony said nothing and he just turned out the bedroom light.

I think that I am going to go to bed now, but instead of counting sheep tonight like I usually do, I am going to count all of the possible things that I can sell on eBay so I can print more books. Ka-ching! Ka-ching!

Y'all have a great evening!

Pen #59!

To Be Continued...
After Teresa told me about Stubbs serious life and death situation, she put Jack and me on a conference call with her and we discussed what needed to be done. After we made a plan we ended our conversation and then I began one with Tony and Ben and told them about Stubbs. They were all for saving Stubbs! Then Ben suggested that I call Alison Furst first. She is our good friend in Austin...


Before calling Alison about possibly transporting Stubbs for us I called the place where Stubbs was on death row. It took me three minutes to finally get to talk to a human in charge. I told the person who I was and that our rescue ranch had taken several dogs from them years ago to help them out, and that we would be glad to take Stubbs. I figured that it would be a piece of cake to rescue Stubbs, but I was wrong. 


The person put me on hold for less than a minute and then told me that we could not have Stubbs because we were in their "inactive" file and that we would have to get another rescue group to pull him for us. To say the least that was not what I had expected to hear. I thought that they would have been thrilled about us rescuing Stubbs.


I spent Friday night on the phone talking back and forth to Alison, and three other people who wanted to help us rescue Stubbs. After my last phone call at 9:15 I went to bed feeling exhausted, frustrated and worried about Stubbs safety and I guess that explains why I only got about four hours of sleep.


Saturday morning I called Alison. Alison told me that she would be at the place holding Stubbs when it opened its doors so she could try to talk them into letting us rescue him. Then Alison told me that she had also talked to another animal rescue group that she volunteers for and they had told her that they were willing to pull Stubbs for us if we needed their help! I was thrilled.


After talking to several other people that Jack and Alison had recruited to help us, Alison called me right before noon to tell me that the people at the compound would not let her take Stubbs for us, and then they told her that the organization that she volunteers for, would not be allowed to pull Stubbs for us either. Alison was upset and so was I. 


Twenty minutes later after making six or seven phone calls a woman called me from another rescue group and said that her organization would be glad to pull Stubbs for us and that she would call them now. Ten minutes later after many more phone calls, Alison called me from Stubb's location because she didn't know what to do so I thanked her for trying to help Stubbs and told her to go on home. 


As soon as I hung up the phone I called the woman back who had told me that she would make the call and tell them to release Stubbs to Alison. After the woman told me that she had made the phone call, I told her that Alison had just left the place without Stubbs, the woman was shocked because the place had told her that they would give Stubbs to Alison immediately, but they never said a thing to Alison as she sat in their lobby. After I thanked the nice woman for trying to help us out I hung up the phone and then I took a baby aspirin for my heart.


I called the facility that was holding Stubbs hostage and got a new person. In the softest and nicest voice I asked the person if there was any update on Stubbs or releasing him to us. I am sure the young person had an audience when he/she coldly told me that our rescue ranch could not have Stubbs because he had just been rescued by another rescue group. "It is an ideal situation for Stubbs..." I could tell the person was enjoying their "power trip" when telling me this but I could not believe the attitude or what I was hearing. Before hanging up the phone this person suggested that I fill out their application so that we would be "qualified" to pull a dog from them in the future, while I'm thinking to myself—"How about y'all filling out an application for us to see if we ever want to work with y'all again!" (I had other thoughts going through my head about these people but they are unsuitable for this blog.)


After making four or five more phone calls thanking everyone for trying to help us rescue Stubbs, I cried. I did not understand why these creepy people holding Stubbs had made things so difficult for a dog on death row that had been scheduled to be euthanized that day. Where the heck was their logic coming from?


Later that day I got a phone call from a friend trying to help Stubbs, too. Our friend confirmed that Stubbs had been rescued by this certain rescue organization. And then twenty-five minutes later the same friend called me back to tell me that things had changed. I was told that the organization that was going to take Stubbs had backed out because they had been under the impression that they would be paid $750.00 for taking him. What? You've got to be kidding me!


I could not believe that they were going to take Stubbs because they thought that they would make $750.00! Stubbs' rescue had become the strangest and the most absurd rescue that I have ever been involved in. Then my friend told me that a man named Danny had come into the "shelter" and he wanted to adopt Stubbs, and would come back to pick Stubbs up on Sunday. After I hung up the phone I said several prayers for Stubbs because he needed all of the prayers that he could get.


Later that evening I reluctantly phoned Teresa to tell her about todays weird events. Needless to say she was flabbergasted, disgusted and in disbelief. After she and I vented our anger and disgusts about the "keepers" of Stubbs, Teresa thanked me for everything that I had done and apologized to me for wasting and spending so many hours of my time trying to help save a sweet young Pit Bull who was alone and scared in pen #59. 


Sunday afternoon a man called me to confirm that Stubbs had definitely been adopted to a nice man named Danny. That phone call made my day because I completely trust this person. I regret not getting to personally meet Stubbs or getting to rescue him, but I rest assured that he is finally in good hands and that is what I call "an ideal situation." There is a whole lot more to this stupid and ridicules rescue story but it tires me to even think about it. I am just glad that it has a happy ending.


This evening a little after five o'clock Jill got adopted! A nice woman from Bandera came out and adopted her for her elderly mother who had seen Jill's picture in the Bandera County Courier as our Pet of the Week! Good luck, Jill and thank you Judith Pannebaker at the Courier for helping our rescue ranch find Jill her forever home. Tonight we're keeping our fingers crossed for Jill and hope that she fits right in with her new family.

Y'all have a great evening!

I Hope The Saints Win!

Tony and I are watching Super Bowl tonight and I hope that the Saints win! The Cowboys are my favorite team and New Orleans is second. I promise to post a blog tomorrow night.

More On James Nash!

This is a very interesting article about our friend James Nash and I think that you would enjoy reading it. On July 2, 2001, Paul Craig wrote this article about our good friend James Nash for The Union Democrat in Sonora, California:

"Waking up with a smile on your face every day because you know you are going to be spending that day doing just what you want.

Some might call this the American dream. James Nash would call it his life as a retiree.

Nash, 49, retired seven months ago from the Texas Department of Transportation. He then took a job working for Alpha and Omega mounted patrol in Dallas. Nash decided that the Texas summers were just too hot and humid to be patrolling asphalt parking lots. He decided to do something different with his retirement time.

That something different led Nash to Twain Harte for this weekend's trail trials, sponsored by the Twain Harte Horsemen.

What Nash did was sell his house and two of his horses, pack everything he owns into a trailer, attach it all to his 2000 Ford, one-ton, diesel truck, bring along his remaining two horses—appropriately named Drifter and Chance—and stop where ever the horse activities were.

He has made his way through cities and competitions in Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and now California. He had excellent things to say about all the cities and he's been through but Tuolumne County has really made an impression on him.

"This is the hot spot for horse activities," he said, standing near his latest campsite, behind the Twain Harte Horsemen clubhouse. "Y'all do everything we do in Texas, only you do it more."

Beyond the horse activities, however, Nash has been taken by the friendliness of everyone he has come across. Everyone, he said has had a get-up-and-go attitude with him. If there is something he hasn't seen or done, there always seems to be someone around to take him.

"The people you meet are just wonderful," he said. "The more I stay, the more I don't want to go home."

In fact, Nash is thinking about not returning to Dallas at all and taking up residence in the  Tuolumne County area.

Nash is a divorcee with two daughters who are in college in Texas. He has had e-mail contact with youngest daughter Sherri, 20, who is vacationing in Venezuela. He said that she loves the idea of her dad moving to California and can't wait to visit when she comes back.

Oldest daughter Brandi, 21, on the other hand, he coyly said, has fallen in love with someone in Texas and doesn't care.

The Internet has proven to be a valuable resource for Nash on his journeys and not just for keeping in touch with his family. The Web usually provides him with details about the next horse activity to travel to. He found out about the trail trials in Twain Harte through an Internet search he had made a few weeks ago. He plans out his stops event to event by making a trip to the library in whatever town he finds himself in and using the Internet.

"I find something I want to do and then just go to that area," he said.

Of all the different kinds of events he has taken part in, trail trials have become Nash's favorite, even though he took part in his first one only two weeks ago. He might find similar events in Texas, he said, but all the obstacles—like a pool of water—would have been made by hand. In Twain Harte, however, he and his four-legged teammate went across real, flowing bodies of water.

"This is out in the woods," he said. "This is just so cool."

The trail trials involve riding through a preset trail, either for pure enjoyment or for judged competition. The competition involves judges rating each horse and rider for how successfully they maneuver through or around trail obstacles, like a log in a stream, for example.

"I'm more here to have fun," he said. "Fun is the key."

Nash is equally thrilled with the natural environment in Twain Harte, like the deer that came near him as he read his morning paper. That, he said, just isn't going to happen in Texas.

While he has loved his time outdoors, he still has most comforts of home inside his trailer. That includes a queen size bed and a shower with enough hot water for quite a few showers per stop. He jokingly admitted, though, while running his hand over the top of his bald head, that he really doesn't need all that much water.

Also in his trailer is a television with a VCR and satellite dish. The satellite dish lets him catch all of the Western Channel he wants. "I do actually watch the western channel after riding horses all day," he added with a grin.

While he may be a cowboy at heart and has been around horses since his youth, his modesty prevents him from talking himself up about all the events he travels to.

"I'm a novice," he said. "I'm not a celebrity, I'm just a retired old man."

Indeed, he's a retired old man—at 49—who smiles a lot and seems to enjoy each day more than the last."

Happy Birthday James Nash!

Today is James birthday and we want to wish Carol's new pard a Happy Birthday! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday dear James. Happy Birthday to You! Tony and I hope that we can hook up with you and Carol to celebrate the best birthday that you have ever had because Carol is now in your life!

This is a great picture of our new friend James with his horse, Chance, that Tony took when I went horseback riding with them.

And The Thunder Rolls!

Tonight's blog is going to be short because I am worn out. This morning at ten o'clock Tony and I went to the Apple Store in San Antonio for our 11:15 appointments to get our computers tweaked. I love Apple's stores because everyone there is helpful, happy and always smiling.

Tone and I arrived at the store two minutes before our assigned appointments and two hours later we left the La Cantera Apple Store wearing big smiles on our faces—we were satisfied customers but hungry so we went to a Mexican food place for a late lunch. The food was okay but not good enough to recommend so I will leave it at that.

Our drive home seemed to take a lot longer than usual because Tone developed a gas problem halfway home and by the time we made it to Bandera we agreed to just leave the windows rolled down for the last twenty-two miles.

When we got back to the rescue ranch at three-thirty, Ben was at the barn so we stopped and visited with him for twenty minutes, then we decided to go up to the trailer to continue our visit after T. and him unloaded some donated dog food.

When I came inside the trailer Carlton was flashing! I had three new phone calls so I got a glass of water and pushed the play button. The first call was from a friend. The second call was from a woman robot at Tracfone trying to talk me into buying more minutes but I ignored her message because I hate talking on the phone. The last message I listened to was urgent and about a young, sweet Pit Bull named Stubbs, who was scheduled for euthanasia tomorrow in Austin. I immediately picked up the phone and punched in Teresa's phone number and got her on the second ring.

Teresa is a long distance friend of ours who has greatly helped our rescue ranch over the years and she lives in Los Angeles and she and her friend Jack, a renowned Pit Bull rescuer, needed our help to try and save Stubbs life before tomorrow.

After Teresa told me about Stubbs serious life and death situation, she put Jack and me on a conference call with her and we discussed what needed to be done. After we made a plan we ended our conversation and then I began one with Tony and Ben and told them about Stubbs. They were all for saving Stubbs! Then Ben suggested that I call Alison Furst first. She is our good friend in Austin...

To Be Continued...(Sorry, Mari. It has been a very long day for me and I am pooped and now it is my turn to be the gaseous one. I'm embarrased about it and Tony thinks it is funny. He just called me "thunder britches" and told me to quit blaming it on Thunder.)

Y'all have a great evening!

Who Is Kathy? Rump-A-Pump-Pum!

Today has been fun and a little exciting. This morning at seven-forty-five when I called in to do "The Harley Show" Harley had me laughing from the get-go! After we talked about Marlin, Harley's Pet of the Week, we talked about my upcoming book and then he teased me about my blog. "Cousin Nancy, the other day I went over to Wolfmueller's Books to visit with Sandy and Jon. Sandy told me that she is scared to talk to you because you blog about everything they say." Then Harley started laughing and so did I.

"That's not totally true, Harley. If I blogged about everything that we talked about in Wolfmueller's my blog would be a heck of a lot more interesting..." Ten minutes after the show Tony came home and we drank our healthy breakfast smoothies.

When the kitchen was cleaned up I walked another eight miles then I checked my e-mail. After deleting four or five spams I clicked on Mari's note and she made me laugh out loud because last week I had sent her an e-mail asking her if she and the NoMads were going to take the drum class with me and my friends and this was her short, but sweet response: 

"You keep bringing up that drum class, and I keep ignoring that. All the NoMads responded with “A DRUM class????” when polled. We decided to side with Tony. I’ll do the class vicariously thru your blog when I’m not too tired from walking 8 miles with Leslie daily via your blog. Mari"

When I told Tony about Mari and the Nomads siding with him he laughed then he went outside to work. While Tony and our great volunteers: Lisa, Matt, Meghan and Don helped Tony with his chores outside I answered the rest of my e-mails and then I returned several phone calls. 

Around eleven o'clock Tone and Ben came inside to drink some coffee with me and that's when it got a little exciting. First off Tony asked me for the Apple Store's phone number then he left the room and went back into his office. A couple of minutes later he returned to the big room. "I've got an appointment at the Apple Store at eleven o'clock tomorrow morning." Then he asked Ben if he would mind running the rescue ranch tomorrow morning while we were gone to San Antonio. Ben told him that he had no problem with it but I did.

"Tone, did you make an appointment for me, too?" I asked. T. shook his head no and told me that he had forgotten to. Ben and Tony laughed as I phoned the Apple Store and made an appointment for my computer. Then the phone rang and I let Carlton take the call because we were still laughing about it.

"Hello Cousin Nancy. This is Kathy. I just checked on your drum class and it has been cancelled because not enough people have signed up for it. I called a few music stores and found out that you can take private drum lessons at these two places..."

"Who is Kathy?" Ben asked as he examined my lavender drum pad and pink drumsticks while trying not to laugh.

"I have no idea!" I said with an upside down smile on my face. "This is terrible news. I can't believe that my drum class has been cancelled." Then I found my Club Ed class catalog and asked Ben to give me their telephone number so I could make sure the drum class was cancelled.

"830- 896-2..." Ben said, as I punched in the numbers. The phone rang and rang but no one answered it I thought that it was odd so I hung up. 

"There was no answer," I said, and then Ben started laughing and told me that he had made up the phone number. While he and T. chuckled I found the phone number and punched it in and then hung up the phone. "I got their fax machine." While I looked for the business number Ben and Tony teased me some more. When I finally found the correct phone number and punched it in a nice woman answered the phone and asked me how she could help me. "This is Cousin Nancy. A woman just called me and told me that y'all have cancelled the drum course for beginners because not enough people have signed up for the class. I have three friends who have already signed up and they are going to take the class with me. Lisa, Sara and Donna "The Drummer" Schloss, and I just found out this morning that Mari and the NoMads aren't taking the class because they are siding with Tony. Has it really been cancelled?"

"I don't think so but let me check." A few seconds later the nice woman said, "No the drum class has not been cancelled. Only you and Donna "The Drummer" Schloss have signed up for the class so far. That's too bad about Mari and the NoMads not taking the class. Who is Tony and who told you it had been cancelled?"

"Tony is my husband and a woman named Kathy told me about the cancellation, and I have no idea who she is..." While I told the woman about Kathy's phone call Tony and Ben were laughing out loud and I am sure that the woman could hear them in the background. After I thanked the woman for her help I said good-bye to her then I called Hoegemeyer's Animal Clinic because I needed to let them know that a man was coming by the clinic to possibly adopt Sheryl Crow and Bonnie Raitt.

"Hoegemeyer's Animal Clinic. Can I help you?" I was surprised to hear a man's voice because I am so used to talking to Susan, Stacie or Kathy.

"Craig, is that you?" I asked. "This is Cousin Nancy." Dr. Craig Janssen started laughing and he asked me how I was doing. 

After I told him about the possible adoptions and how I was doing Craig said, "Cousin Nancy, this is weird but the other day I was in a store and a friend came up to me and she told me that she had heard about me playing a joke on you and ramming your grocery cart at H.E.B. and several other people have come into the clinic and also told me about it. How did they know about it?" I started laughing.

"Craig, you're famous. I wrote about it in my blog and..." Craig and I had a good laugh about it and then we said our good-byes to each other. Then Kinky called me.

Y'all have a great evening!