Not Thrilled At All!

Today has been great. This morning when I did "The Harley Show" Dottie West was the Harley Pet Of The Week and I hope that she gets adopted real soon. After the Utopia segment ended he and I talked off-air and that is when I asked him if he could help me set up my recording equipment properly and he said, "Yes. Sure. I would love to help you with it. How about I come out tomorrow afternoon and take a look at it?" I can't wait to see Harley tomorrow so he can help set up the microphone and give me some much needed "how to record myself" tips.

This morning around nine o'clock, our good friend and neighbor, Sherry, drove over to the Lodge, to rescue three baby, one-week-old bunnies for us, that Kinky had found in his front yard yesterday. When it comes to rescuing wildlife Sherry is the best at nurturing "lost fawns," and all kinds of other wildlife, back to health before she releases them back into the wild.

After Sherry picked up the cute, little bunnies from the small nest and had wrapped them up in a blue bath towel, she told us that she had recently found and rescued Bubba, a baby squirrel, that she was going to put the bunnies with and then she pulled a small crate out of her car's backseat and put the baby bunnies inside it. Then Sherry takes out Bubba, the tiniest and the cutest, little squirrel out of the crate to show him to us. And needless to say, Bubba instantly stole all of our hearts. He was absolutely adorable.

Before Sherry left to take the critters home, so she could bottle feed the bunnies and the squirrel we thanked her for helping us out once again and then I said, "Sherry, please feel free to name the bunnies Kinky, Tony and Nancy."

"How about what Tony named those three puppies—Fred, Wilma and Betty?" Kinky suggested and we all laughed.

I am dedicating tonight's blog to my dear friend 'Erb (Herb) Cares, because he is about as scared of snakes, scorpions and unfriendly spiders that bite you in the night, as I am, because late this afternoon Tone walked inside the trailer and calmly announced, "Nance, I just saw a giant rattler go under the barn next to the trailer. You need to be careful outside now, because the snakes have started~~~ moving early this year. It's one of the biggest ones that I have ever seen. Do you want to go look at it?"

As you can guess, cold chills instantly ran up my spine, because I was not thrilled-at-all to hear Tony's news about the gigantic rattlesnake, now waiting outside, under the barn, to scare me to death, so my response to T. was short and simple, "Nope."

Before I finish writing tonight, I want to thank our great friend Sherry, over at the ranch next door, for helping us out by taking the baby bunnies home with her. You're the best, Sherry!

Y'all have a great evening and watch out for snakes, because they are ~~~~~~~!

No Budget Recording Studio!

Today has been fun, because Ben Welch was here.

This afternoon while I was outside, in my writing cabin or The No Budget Recording Studio, doing sound checks before recording some more of my book, I invited Ben and Tony to come inside and help me. After recording the first story, Tony played it back and we laughed. Then Ben suggested that I add some sound effects like a loud thud noise, when T. dropped the shop vac in my story, Flour Power, so I asked Ben if he would make the loud thud sound for me and he agreed to do it for free, since my No Budget Recording Studio, which Ben and T. came up with the name for—never, ever pays.

Since Ben and Tone were donating their time to my project I gave them titles, "My Sound Engineers," to make them feel better, since they weren't being compensated. Before we started recording Tony took this picture of me and then I took this one of them.

When I started reading, Ben forgot to make the loud noise, so I burst out laughing. Here's a funny, short, one minute video clip, of our first attempt of me recording my book in the No Budget Recording Studio. Since I could not upload the mp3 to YouTube I made a video of my computer playing it back.

Tonight's blog was short because of possible thunderstorms.

Y'all have a great evening!

Sorry, Not Tonight!

This morning when I woke up I was fine until I walked into the kitchen and read the note on the breakfast bar, that Tony had left for me to read. "I'm sorry, Nance, Maude passed away during the night. When I get home I will bury her. I love you, Tony."

Tonight, in honor of Maudie, a very special little old dog, who immediately chose to be Tone's dog when we rescued her this past Fall, along with Buddy, the Nubian goat, I am sad to say that I have no words to express our sadness over the loss of this sweet little black dog—who found us, then stole our hearts and has now broken them.

Rest in peace little one. You were a great dog and we wish that we had known you longer. I promise that you will never be forgotten and I thank you for being a part of our lives. Godspeed.

Imus In The Morning!

Today has been great. Tony woke me up real early this morning, so I would be wide awake, in time to do The Harley Show, at seven forty-five, on The Rose 99.9 FM radio station.

Harley's show was a lot of fun and his Pet Of The Week was Lily, our sweet Catahoula mix and I told him all about her, "Harley, she is sweet and a really smart dog. And she gets along great with other dogs and kids. In other words, she is one great dog..."

After Tony and I ate lunch today, he took our Maudie to Kerrville, to get her checked out at Hoegemeyer Animal Clinic, because she has started having fainting spells. I stayed home, because earlier this week, some people had made an appointment to come out to look at our dogs and possibly adopt one, so their dog would have a companion.

Around one-thirty Mama started barking outside, to let me know we had company, so I went outside to greet the people pulling up, in a Subaru. As soon as I met Bill and Phyllis and their big dog Maggie—I was impressed with them and liked them.

After they told me that they wanted a female dog I gave them a tour and introduced them to all of our females. When they picked the one they liked most, we took the dogs for a walk down to the creek and the dogs got along beautifully!

When we returned to the rescue ranch, Tony was back, but Maude wasn't, because Dr. Janssen wanted to keep her over night, so he could run some tests on her. After I introduced Bill and Phyllis to Tony we took the dogs into my cabin's front yard and unleashed them, to see how they would get along and they got along great. 

Forty minutes later, after they had signed off on the adoption papers, they loaded the dogs into the back of their car and happily drove away and Tony and I were thrilled that another one of our great dogs had found a fantastic forever home. This is who they adopted.

Yes, it was Lily! Harley's Pet Of The Week today! And she is going to live on an island in Canada during the summer months, and do a lot of swimming up there with her new best friend Maggie, and then she'll spend the rest of her time on a lovely ranch, in the beautiful Texas Hill Country! Needless to say, it made our day.

This evening around five-fifteen Ben Stiller was returned to us, because he wasn't working out, but I am fine about it, because the minute that Tony reunited him with his girlfriend Gracie, who also came back to us, two days ago—they put instant smiles on our faces, because they were so happy to be back together, again.

FYI: Kinky is going to be doing Imus In The Morning, at 5:30 Central Time, tomorrow morning. And tomorrow my dear friend Shirley, from Houston, is coming out for a visit, so we can catch up with each others news. And, I know for a fact that Eileen, one of our great dog walking volunteers is also coming out tomorrow, too! So Friday's forecast is looking good for another great day.

Y'all have a great evening!

Dottie West!

Today has been great and we rescued a dog, but before I tell you about it I want to tell you about yesterday's fun visit with Joni Daniel, the publisher of "Texas Animal Imprints," that I write a bi-monthly column for, and her dear friend Tena Rae Helm, who is now our friend, too.

Yesterday, around four-thirty, Tena Rae and Joni arrived with special cargo—Hope, Tena Rae's adorable, brown Cocker Spaniel. After howdies and hugs we went into Outer Space so we could visit, but before we sat down Joni told us that they had brought gifts for us.

First, Joni handed us a stack of Texas Animal Imprints: March/April 2011 issue with Tena Rae and her healing horse, Katy K., so we could share them with our friends and volunteers. Then from out of nowhere Joni hands us a bottle of Italian, organic Pinot Grigio and then Tena Rae gives us copies of her of her documentary, "Tena Rae Helm: Katy K" and her latest CD, "Tena Rae Helm: Embracing Every Moment" and T. and I were beside ourselves and all we could say was, "Thank y'all so much!"

After a very fun visit in Outer Space, filled with laughter, we went over to the Lodge to visit with Kinky and it was fun, too. Before the girls left to go home I took this a picture of them posing with Kinky. L-R Tena Rae, Kinky and Joni.

Much of today was spent sitting behind my laptop computer, in the kitchen, doing paperwork, as I listened to Tena Rae's beautiful CD and my favorite song on her album is the one that she wrote about her healing horse Katy K titled, "Katy K." And now I want to thank Joni Daniel and Tena Rae Helm for coming out and making yesterday special.

This afternoon we took in Dottie West, a lovable, homeless little dog, who had been picked up on the streets of Kerrville by a caring person, who then dropped her off at the Kerr County Veterinary Clinic, in hopes that they could help find her a home. Dottie is approximately one year old and she is as sweet as she can be and she is now ready to find her forever home, because of the kindness of Dr. Kim Eisenberg, D.V.M. and Amy, her vet tech, who delivered her to us, shared the expenses of spaying, worming, heart worm testing her, micro-chipping and giving her all of her shots. What great people! Here's Dottie West!

Y'all have a great evening!

A Bird In Hand! or Big Bird! or Weather Report!

Today has been great, even though I got up thirty minutes before the crack-of-dawn, so I could take care of all of my chores, before our good friend Rick Mender, our trusted air conditioning man and professional photographer, came out to repair our central air conditioning system. But before I tell you about today, let me tell you about last night.

Yesterday, around six-thirty the phone rang—it was Kinky, "Nance, do y'all have any Liquid Plumber or Drano?"

My answer was short, "No." After a short visit about his kitchen sink being stopped up, we adios-ed each other. And then I called him right back. "Kinky, I have a proven method to unstop your sink. Can I come over?" As soon as he told me to come on over, I grabbed our plunger and was over at the Lodge in less than two minutes.

After I told Kinky how I unclog sinks, we put our personal-plungers into the two sink drains—started plunging at the same time, as he counted, "Plunge. Plunge. Plunge..." When we finally stopped plunging, we removed our plungers and sadly stared into his kitchen sink, as a small amount of water slowly drained away.

Fifteen minutes later, after several more synchronized plunging attempts—we gave up and laughed about my so called, proven method that obviously had not worked. Before heading back home I suggested that Tony pick up some Liquid Plumber in the morning, when he goes to the Old Timer. "He usually gets home around eight-thirty, and then we will come over and fix it." Kinky liked my idea.

At eight-thirty this morning, while I was finishing cooking T.'s breakfast, Kinky called, "Nance, where is Tony? Did he forget to buy the Liquid Plumber?"

"He should be here any minute, Kink and I am sure that he won't forget the Liquid Plumber. As soon as he gets here we'll come over there." Eight minutes later Tony walked inside the trailer carrying a brown paper sack.

"They didn't have any Liquid Plumber or Drano, Nance. They highly recommended that we use this acid stuff, but warned me not to let it get on my skin, because it can burn your skin and I don't want you getting near it. As soon as I eat breakfast I will go over to the Lodge and you can stay here, because Rick should be arriving any minute." Then he ate his breakfast and I drank mine and then Rick arrived. After howdies, hugs and handshakes—T. jumped into Kermit and they took off for the Lodge.

Rick and I visited, outside in the backyard, as he replaced a broken capacitor on our air conditioning unit. Then June, our good friend and super volunteer arrived. Ten minutes later Tone and Kermit returned to the rescue ranch and Tony went to do his morning chores.

Around eleven o'clock Rick took off for Medina with our air conditioner's coil, so he could pressure wash it at the car wash, so I went outside to visit with June and to thank her for coming out. As always we had a fun visit and it was filled with laughter and then I went to talk to Tone, who was cleaning Mr. Rogers and Miss Dee's pen.

When he was done we jumped into Kermit and came up to the trailer, so we could return a few phone calls. After we washed our hands in the kitchen sink, at the same time—Tony went back outside to finish cleaning the last three dog pens, so I went into Outer Space and watered my flowers and then I picked up the dog poop in our front yard.

And, little did I know, that when I came back inside the trailer—I would be scared nearly-half-to-death—when I started washing my hands in our kitchen sink. As I was washing my hands. the soap bar slipped out of my hands and fell into the dishwater, so when I leaned forward to fish it out—a giant bird started flapping its wings wildly at me—and it was less than six inches from my face! Needless to say I was terrified, so I ran out of our trailer and screamed, "Tony!" But he did not respond, so I skipped down to Blackie's and Alfie's pen where he was cleaning their pen and found June, who was next door, in Honey's and Baxter's pen giving them treats.

"Tony!" I half-hollered. "There is a giant bird inside our trailer!" Then I looked at June and said, "A giant bird just scared me to death. It must have come in through the opened window on our porch and it was sitting on our windowsill and when I was washing my hands it started flapping its wings wildly and..." Then Tony and I jumped in Kermit and he took us up to the trailer.

When we came inside I immediately turned off our ceiling fan and then I said, "T. before you remove it I want to take a picture of it. It is hiding next to my Buddhadog. Look." Tone looked and then I shot it.

Then Tony walked over to it and gently picked it up. "Nance, it's not giant. It's just a Inca Dove."

As I stared at it in T.'s gloves—I said, "A bird in hand is worth something, but I forget, so I shot it again. 

"That's the biggest Inca Dove that I've ever seen, Tony" I said, as he started to carry it outside and then he or she Inca got away from him and flew directly into our glass front door and fell to the floor! Tony ran to the door and carefully picked up the stunned bird and then we went outside to the porch where he sat the giant Inca Dove down on the railing and then it happily flew away—unhurt! 

After the big bird had, so to speak, flown-the-coop-de-trailer, Tony started teasing me, as Kermit took us to go find June. After I told her all about Tony being a hero and a bird's best friend—we laughed and started joking about what the Inca Dove might tell its bird friends. "It was horrible! I found myself inside this old, single-wide trailer with loud music playing, "Bird Land" by Weather Report, while this furry, extremely dangerous, gigantic, four-legged creature slept peaceably on the porch and..."

When Rick returned with our pressure washed, super-cleaned coil, he installed it as he and Tony talked about photography, cameras and lenses and I found it to be very interesting, even though their conversation went way over my head. When Rick told us about his photography web site: rickmender.com I went to my computer and checked it out and I hope that you will too, because if you need a great photographer—Rick is it. "Rick, your site is awesome and I love your pictures. I am going to blog about it tonight and..." And then I told Rick about our "early bird visit" and showed him the remaining feathers left next to my Buddhadog and he seemed to be really impressed, so I gave him a little feather.

Tonight I am proud to say that, because of Rick, our old air conditioner, "Blowing In The Wind," is once again working beautifully, and I want to thank him and June for their caring, kindness and generosity towards us and our rescue ranch, and I also want to thank Tony for de-doving or de-Inca-nizing our trailer, and for saving the life of a beautiful, giant Inca Dove. Y'all have made my day great! 

But there is still more to tell about my great day, but unfortunately, I have to go to bed now, because I got up so early this morning, and also because this blog post is starting to look more like a book than a blog. Tomorrow I will tell y'all all about our fun and fascinating, late afternoon visit with Joni Daniels, the editor of "Texas Animal Imprints" magazine and her friend and now ours, Tena Rae Helms and Hope, her darling brown colored Cocker Spaniel.

Y'all have a great evening!

Gracie Allen Got Adopted Today!

Today has been a great day, because Gracie Allen, one of our great dogs that is a "smiler," found her forever home!

Around two o'clock, Sylvia, a very nice woman came out to look at Gracie, because our friends, Charlie and Ellen Cooper, her friends and neighbor too, had told her all about Gracie.

As soon as Gracie and Sylvia locked eyes on each other—it was a done deal. Sylvia said, "I want to adopt Gracie." Tony and I were thrilled, but not as much as Gracie was, because she wouldn't quit smiling and her tail wouldn't quit wagging.

After Gracie's new, forever friend, signed off on her adoption form, I took this picture of Gracie before Tone handed over her leash to Sylvia.

And that is about all that happened out here today. Tonight I plan to watch the Hallmark Channel's premier movie "Time after Time" and it comes on in about thirty minutes, so I need to go make some popcorn for us.

Y'all have a great evening!

My Spring Break!

Yesterday, I officially took the day off for my Spring Break, after I prepared Gus' adoption papers, so Tony could adopt him out to our friend, Sam, while I was gone.

Around ten o'clock I climbed into Trigger to go meet my sister and her husband in Fredericksburg for lunch, a visit and to show them my new teeth, because I haven't seen them since October when I got my dental work done. "Nance, I plugged in Garmina, so you won't get lost. Have a great time. I love you," T. said. "And please call me when you leave Fredericksburg, so I won't worry about you."

An hour later I met up with them, in the Fredericksburg's Walmart parking lot, and our fun day began. After howdies and hugs, I grinned and showed them my "new grill" and they were full of compliments about them, then we took off for Enchanted Rock, but it was so crowed with Spring Breakers, we went back to Fredville and ate a delicious lunch instead. After that we walked the crowded streets and had a great visit.

When Trigger and I returned home around five o'clock, Tony told me all about Gus' adoption and then we went to Medina to go watch our nephew's baseball practice. But when we got to Medina we made a quick stop at the new pizza parlor in town, Papa Don's Pizza & Hot Wings, so I could give Kevin, the owner, the pizza box that Kinky had signed, along with some pictures of Kinky signing the box and Kevin and his wife were thrilled. Then we went to the baseball field and had a fun visit with Sam & Stacie, as we watched their son practice with his teammates.

When we got back home I started tinkering with my new Yeti microphone, trying to make it, make me not sound like Gabby Hayes on helium, when I start working on my audiobook tomorrow, but because it is a high quality mic—it made me sound exactly like Gabby. And, that is why I did not blog last night, because I was semi-depressed about sounding so much like Gabby. And now, I am scared-to-death that everyone will laugh out loud, the second they hear me reading my book to them.

This morning while Tony ate his breakfast and I drank a smoothie, I played him a short "testing" of me reading my book and I started laughing, as I watched him trying not to laugh. "Tony, I know I sound  just like Gabby. I can't help it," I said, still trying to be optimistic about my project. "Who knows, Tone? Maybe it will be a best seller, because it is so funny, because of me reading it out loud." And that is when T. quickly got up from the kitchen table and grabbed a red dish towel to keep the 2% milk from coming out of his nose.

"Who knows?" Tony said, as he wiped away the milk on his nose, while trying not to laugh. "You don't sound that bad, Nance." And then we burst out laughing again, when I pushed the "play" button on the recorder and heard me reading my book.

Today has been quiet, so I spent most of my day today out in my writing cabin aka Cousin Nancy's Recording Studio, trying to record the Table of Contents, which I did a good job of, but is pretty funny to listen to.

Because of the Full Moon tonight, while T. and I were out in Outer Space for Happy Hour, I made a decision and told T. about it. "Tony, I want to go with you to the Old Timer tomorrow morning, so I can meet all of your friends. Would that be okay with you?"

"I would love it, Nance! What time do you want me to wake you up?"

Y'all have a great evening!

Happy Birthday Katelyn! We Love You!

My Yeti!

Today has been a quiet day and it was just what I needed. This morning our good friends, Ellen & Charlie came over with Catfish, their cute grandson that was visiting them, to do Tony's morning chores for him, because Tone finally took a day off and went to the San Antonio Zoo, with his sister Annie, to photograph the animals.

They had invited me to come along, but as you know— "I don't do San Antone" ever, because of the crazy, heavy-traffic, which stresses me out too much. So, I stayed home and babysat his dog Belle while I caught up with my mound of paperwork.

Around lunch time I called Kinky. I told him that I needed to go mail a letter in Medina and then I asked him if he wanted to split a pizza with me. "There's a new pizza place in Medina called Papa Don's Pizza & Hot Wings and their pizzas are exceptionally good." After I said goodbye to Kink I called Papa Don's Pizza & Hot Wings and ordered their supreme pizza with original crust, then I jumped into Buttermilk and we took off for town with my letter to be mailed.

After I mailed my letter I went to pick up our pizza, that I could not wait for Kinky to try. When I told the friendly owners that I was sharing their delicious pizza today with Kinky Friedman—their eyes lit up.
"Would y'all like for me to ask Kinky to sign this pizza box for y'all, so you can frame it?"

"We'd love it and could you take a picture of him signing the box?" They asked, all excited.

After Kinky took his first bite of pizza he smiled and said, "Nance, this is a really good pizza!"

"I know. Tony and I love their pizzas and the whole town is behind them..." Here is the picture I took of Kinky signing the pizza box.

Belle was pretty good today and she did a lot of sleeping while I cleaned our trailer. Here is a picture I took of her in La-La Land.

This afternoon UPS showed up before T. got home and I was thrilled to see that the package was for me, because it was my Yeti microphone, along with the headphones and a mike stand, that I had ordered from Amazon, for my very first audio book that I'm fixin' to record of, Meanwhile Back At The Rescue Ranch: The Dog Days Of Cousin Nancy. 

Right after I called Kinky to tell him about my microphone kit finally arriving—Tone walked inside the trailer. After he hugged me he said, "Nance, thanks for letting me take the day off today. I had so much fun and you're not going to believe the great pictures that I took..."

When he was finally done talking I said, "My Yeti is here, Tony. Look at this and the..." After I was done talking T. picked up Belle and hugged her and that's when I took this cute picture of them.  

Then I showed Tony the Pop Blocker that came with my Yeti. You put this shield in front of the microphone and it says, "The Pop Blocker is your best defense against distorting "P" and "B" consonants" and you know that I will need that since we both know that I sound like Gabby Hayes on helium." Tony started laughing, as he put Belle Starr-Simons outside to go potty.

"Tony, do you want to be my sound man?" I asked, as he fiddled with my Yeti. 

"I don't know, Nance," he said, "what does it pay?" And I started laughing.

"I don't know, Tone. I want to do the recording out in my writing cabin, with the occasional sounds of our dogs barking outside, in the background, so it will be authentic. I told Kinky about it and he thought it sounded like a good idea. What do you think?"

To Be Continued...(Sorry, Mari.)

Y'all have a great evening!

2nd Post For Today!

Late this afternoon Kinky came over to have a picnic with our dogs. While we were visiting, Tony showed him how his dog Belle Starr-Simons could sit on command and Kinky couldn't believe it. "Nance, you need to do a video of this. I've never seen an eight-week-old puppy sit on command."

So after Kinky went home I made a short, on minute video clip of Tony having Belle sit on command. It is pretty funny and the name of it is Good Girl! I hope you enjoy it and it makes you smile.

Have a great evening!

No Belle Pees Prize

Yesterday was great even though Belle, Tony's dog, had several potty-training accidents. Seven times, while T. was outside doing his morning chores while I was babysitting his dog inside—Belle would wet her towel on the floor, that she sleeps on. Each time during this two-hour long time period, I'd say, "No Belle," while carrying her outside and putting her down on the grass and repeatedly said,"You go potty out here."Then I would come back inside and replace the soiled towel with a fresh, new towel for her to sleep on.

When T. came inside, I was loading the seven towels into Queen Bee to wash them. "How did Belle do?" Tony asked, as he held his little girl in his arms. I laughed and then started the washing machine.

"Belle was great, Tone. In fact, she has just won the "No Belle Pees Prize" this morning, for wetting seven bath towels. I'm washing them now." Tony started laughing and Belle happily wagged her white-tipped tail.

After lunch I went over to the Lodge to visit with Kinky. While we were outside, sitting in the rocking chairs on the porch, while watching the Hummingbirds, Kinky told me that he had decided to sell his pool table and give the proceeds to the rescue ranch.

"That's great, Kinky! But, why?"

"Because I'm going to replace it with a Thigh Master." After we had quit laughing he said, "Kent came up with that one and it is pretty funny. Actually, I am going to replace it with a treadmill..."Before leaving the Lodge I told Kinky that I would help him get the word out about his pool table being for sale, on my blog.

So, if you are interested in buying Kinky's pool table, go to kinkyfriedman.com or Kinky Friedman on Facebook or give me a call at the rescue ranch. And please make note that the buyer is responsible for disassembling it and moving it.

Around two-thirty yesterday afternoon, Tony came inside the trailer and said, "Wilma Flintstone just got adopted to a really nice famiy!" As I prepared Wilma's adoption papers, T. told me that the woman's husband had heard about Wilma, when I talked about her on "The Harley Show" last Thursday.

After meeting the nice family and signing off on the adoption form we went to Wilma's pen. Here are a couple of pictures that I took of Tony bringing Wilma out of her pen and Wilma posing with her new family.

After Wilma jetted away Tone and I went inside her old pen and played with Fred Flintstone and Betty Rubble for a little while. Then we came back to the trailer and I called Kinky to tell him the good news about Wilma. To say the least, he was thrilled.

Around four o'clock we went over to see Carol and James and to check out their new riding arena that James built with Carol's help and it was totally awesome! They have been working on it for several months and it is nearly completed. 

While we were over there, Carol's new cutting horse, Dude, came inside the arena to check out the new sandy ground cover, so I turned on my camera and shot this short video, Dude's New Arena! After our fun visit with them we came home and I spent last night working on Dude's video and setting all of our clocks forward, instead of posting a blog.

This morning I woke up at eight-fifteen, which would have been seven-fifteen yesterday morning and needless to say—I was not a happy camper. But, this year I have decided not to complain about it like I have in the past years, so with that being said—I am going to go take a nap and then go outside and work on my Space Ship.

Y'all have a great day!

Fourteen Hours!

Today has been another great day. This morning our super volunteers / friends; Eileen, Lisa, June and Jim, came out to walk our dogs and we loved it as much as our dogs did. During a walking-break, I showed off the Space Ship to them and then we went inside the trailer, to watch a short video that Eileen wanted to show us, about her and Lisa's Master Naturalist class, that they took last Fall, to become Certified Master Naturalists and it was fun to watch and the photography was beautiful. And Tony's dog—Belle Starr-Simons played nonstop in the big room, during the entire video.

Before they left to go walk more dogs, I showed them the sweet letter and cute pictures of Lucy and Ashley Judd, that Alice and Boyd from Ft. Worth, adopted on February 24th. In Alice's humorous letter she wrote that the dogs were doing great up there and they loved them. She also wrote that Ashley Judd's new record for being a couch potato—was fourteen hours without ever leaving the couch, and she sent this hilarious picture of Ashley, relaxing on the couch to prove it, which made all of us laugh.

Y'all have a great evening!

Gerri Saves The Day!

Yesterday was another great day. When Tony came home from the Old Timer he said, "Charlie and Ellen are back from New Mexico. He was at the Old Timer this morning and he told me they had a fun time out there and look what they bought back for us, Nance!"

I was as thrilled as T., because it is our favorite jam in the whole wide world. While I was making breakfast the phone rang—it was Ellen Cooper. After I thanked her and Charlie for the delicious, made in Northern New Mexico jam, I told her that it was our favorite jam. "Last year, after Cindy moved out to New Mexico, she sent us a jar of this stuff and we have been hooked-on-it ever since."

"I know," Ellen said. "When we went to the Alpaca farm store, I saw it and remembered you telling us about it, so we brought y'all back a jar..."

After lunch Buttermilk took Tony, Mama and me to Hoegemeyer's, so we could get Mama groomed, because she still smelled of skunk. Here is a "before with fur" picture I took of Mama riding in the rear seat.

After we dropped Mama off at Hoegemeyer Animal Clinic, to get an early summer cut, we headed home and that is when Tone "dropped the bomb on me. "Well, tomorrow is our anniversary, Nance. I just remembered it and I forgot to get you anything. I'm sorry. Did you forget, too?"

Thinking fast, I remembered the "secret framed poster" that I had asked my dear friend Gerri Dickerson to make for Tony, of his first magazine cover for "Texas Animal Imprints," that she was going to deliver today and surprise him with it, so I lied. "No, Tone. I didn't forget our anniversary. Don't worry about it. I think that you are going to love what I got you." The rest of the way home T. tried to get me to tell him what it was, but my lips were sealed, because I was praying that Gerri would not cancel.

Around five o'clock Frank came over for a visit, while Tony was outside playing with his dog Belle Starr-Simons, in our front yard, so I went outside to play with Belle and to say hi to Frank. When Belle tired of playing we all went into Outer Space to enjoy the spectacular sunset, while listening to my favorite songs play on my iPod. Here is a cute picture that I took of Belle, sleeping like a log, in Outer Space.

Today has been great—thanks to our great friends Harley Belew, at the Rose 99.9, and talented graphic artist, Gerri and The Dunns! This morning when I did "The Harley Show" we first talked about Fred Flintstone being his Pet Of The Week and then we started visiting. 

During our fun conversation, I told Harley about me putting Meanwhile Back At The Rescue Ranch up for sale, as an ebook, on Amazon, this past Saturday, and he thought that was really cool. "Cousin Nancy, I think you should teach a Club Ed class on how to self-publish a book and how to make an ebook. There are a lot of people who would love to self-publish a book and make ebooks, but they don't know how to do it and you do. And you're from the Kerrville area."

"That's a great idea, Harley! I'll call my good friend Phil Houseal, over at Club Ed, and discuss it with him. Thanks for the great idea." Near the end of our conversation I told Harley that today was Tony's and my twelve year wedding anniversary and we talked about that for a few minutes. And, at the end of my Utopia segment with Harley, sponsored by Randy's & Lisa's  Save Inn restaurant, Harley played the song, "A Crazy Little Thing About Love," in honor of our anniversary! Thank you, Harley! 

After I got off of the phone with Harley I checked my e-mail and I got the sweetest note from our best Arkansas friends, Jimmie and Nelda Dunn, wishing Tony and me a happy anniversary. Thank you, for making me smile Nelda and Jimmie—you're our favorite friends from Arkansas and we love y'all. 

Ten minutes before Gerri was to arrive at eleven-ish, I went outside and found Tony and asked him, "Tone, Gerri is fixin' to be here in just a few minutes and I need for you to come up to the trailer, so you can help carry her computer and stuff inside. Okay?"

"Okay, but what kind of stuff are you talking about?" Tony asked. So I lied to him, again.

"I'm not sure, but she told me it was heavy and that she would need your help." A few minutes later we jumped into Kermit and he took us up to the trailer. 

When Gerri arrived Tony went outside to help her carry her laptop and her big sack of stuff inside. After howdies and hugs, Gerri handed me her sack of stuff. "Happy Anniversary, Tony!" I said, as I pulled his beautifully framed poster, that Gerri had made and framed for me, out of the bag and then I quickly hung it on a wall in the big room. Needless to say—it was absolutely beautiful and Tony was happily surprised and he loved it, too! And that is when I confessed to Tone, that Gerri and I had been secretly working on this project for over a week and that I had forgotten about our anniversary, too, but had lucked out, because Gerri had delivered it today.

After a few laughs about Gerri saving the day for me, and me "pulling the wool" over Tony's eyes, T. hung up my poster, above the entertainment center, of my first book, The Road to Utopia: How Kinky, Tony & I Saved More Animals Than Noah. Here is a picture of it, hanging on the same wall, with Gerri's framed poster of my second book below and to the left, that I hung up a few weeks ago. Thank you, Gerri!

When Tony went outside to return to his chores, Gerri opened up her laptop and showed me her brand new, never been seen before, beautiful blog, that she has been working on and was now ready to launch.  "OMG, Gerri, your blog looks beautiful! I love it. You did a really great job with it."

"Thanks, Nancy. That means a lot to me. I think that I am ready to launch it, but I would love for you to look at it first and read it and tell me what you think about it, before I launch it to the world." 

I sat down at the kitchen table and started reading one of the best blogs, Focused Nomad, Photos - Stories, that I have ever read. When I was done, I told Gerri, "I love your blog. It is absolutely beautiful and it has super good vibes and makes you feel good. I love your graphics, too. It is ready to launch."

Today, at three forty-eight, Gerri launched her new blog, as we arrived back at the rescue ranch with Mama. Here is a picture of Mama in the backseat with her new doo.

Tony and I had the best wedding anniversary thanks to all of our great friends and we want to thank all of you for making it great. I hope that all of y'all will check out Gerri's beautiful blog Focused Nomad of photo and stories and make a comment welcoming her into the wide world of blogosphere.

Y'all have a great evening! And, Happy Anniversary, Tony! I love you! 

How About Fred!

Yesterday was a great day. Around ten o'clock, our good friends Desiree and David called, because someone had dumped off three, three month old puppies at their bed & breakfast, the Trails End Guesthouse and they needed our help.

After talking with Desiree, I went outside and found Tony, in Buffalo and Tom Landry's pen. "Tone, we just rescued three pups from David and Desiree.... and I asked them to drop them off at Hoegemeyers for us."

Tony kept shoveling and said, "Okay. Have you called Hoegemeyers to tell them they are coming in?"

"Yes, they already know." I stayed outside and visited with T. as he finished cleaning the last two pens and then we came inside so I could fix lunch for us.

After lunch I spent my afternoon returning phone calls and e-mails and taking care of some paperwork.

At twenty-five minutes past six o'clock, I decided to try to compose some music for my upcoming video, using my Garage Band software and I had a blast. I could not believe how easy it was to lay down tracks and mix the music.

Six minutes later Carol & James came over for a visit and to meet Belle Starr. As Carol held Belle in her arms and cooed to her, I played my composition for them and they said they liked it and couldn't believe that I had done it in only five minutes and I couldn't either.

We had so much fun with Carol & James, because they love to laugh and are such upbeat people to be around. When we went inside the Space Ship to show them the progress I had made, Carol was still cradling Belle in her arms, as Belle slept peacefully. After complimenting my Space Ship, they started telling us some of the funniest stories about their latest adventure to Arizona. And we were all laughing so hard, I could not believe little Belle slept through it all. Near dark, Carol handed Belle over to Tony and we "adiosed" each other and then they drove away.

This morning, unexpectedly, Belle found her forever home and we are so happy for her! At ten minutes till nine, I was back in Tony's office talking to him about Maude needing another heart worm treatment today and us needing to pick up the pups at Hoegemeyers. "Maybe, one of the pups could be Belle's pen mate, Tone?" Tony shook his head.

"No, Nance. I want to adopt Belle," he said, as he sat in his chair, with her sleeping soundly beside him. "I need a dog and she's a great one. Ever since Blue died I've missed not having my own dog. Is that okay with you?"

"OMG, Tony! I love it. I love Belle, too and I am so glad that you want her to be your dog. Just think you can train her and take her to the Old Timer with you in the mornings and..."

"I know." Then Belle woke up and T. took her immediately outside for a "potty check." As I watched from inside, she quickly watered the grass and then Tony threw balls for her to fetch. Fifteen minutes later they came inside. "I've already taught her how to sit, Nance! Watch. Sit, Belle." Belle looked up at T., wagged her tail and then she sat down. "Good sit, Belle. Good, sit."

After lunch, Buttermilk took Maude and us to Hoegemeyers and Maudie slept the whole way, while Tony and I tried to come up with names for the three pups. Just before we hit the Kerrville city limits Tony says, "How about Fred, Wilma and Betty?"

When we walked inside Hoegemeyer Animal Clinic, Susan looked up from behind the counter and I said, "Fred, Wilma and Betty!" Susan smiled and chuckled and told us they were good names, before she took Maude back to the kennels.

A minute later Susan and a vet-tech came out carrying Fred, Wilma and Betty in their arms and helped Tony load them into the crate. Then we headed back to the ranch.

While T. put them into their pen, I went to get my camera, so  I could take pictures of them. Meet the Flintstones and Barney's wife!

Fred Flintstone

Wilma Flintstone

Betty Rubble (I love her smile)

These three dogs are the sweetest, well behaved puppies and like Tony said, "They are almost as smart as my Belle is and Eileen's Callie Dean."

Tomorrow Mama, because she still stinks to high heaven, is getting her summer cut, a little bit early at Hoegemeyers, when we go to pick up Maude.

Y'all have a great evening!

Girls Night Out!

Last night was really rough and it wasn't Belle Starr's fault at all. In fact, she was fantastic all last night. She never cried in her crate or had an accident and she slept like a baby.

The trouble started last night, around eight o'clock, when I made some popcorn for us to eat. Toto, who has a Napoleon complex, started growling at Mama and Abbie, so I put "the girls" outside, so we could eat our popcorn in peace and that made Toto happy.

Thirty minutes later, after cleaning up the kitchen, I went to the front door to let Mama and Abbie come back inside, but they weren't there and then I noticed that the front gate was wide open—Mama had opened the gate, again.

So, Tony and I drove all over the ranch, for over an hour, looking for them, but to no avail. Before going to bed we stood on our front porch hollering for them and right before we came inside I said, "T. I see eyes over there by the cabin. Look." And sure enough, it was Abbie and she came inside our trailer, like Tone had told her to do.

Of course, I didn't sleep very well last night, because I was so worried about Mama. At one-thirty, two -thirty and three-thirty, in the morning, I got out of bed and went to the front door to look and call for Mama, hoping that she had returned home.

At four-thirty my luck changed, when I saw her standing on the front porch. "Mama! Come on inside." Then I smelled a strong scent of a skunk—Mama had been skunked and she stunk to high heaven! Because I was so glad to see her, I told her to come on to bed and she slept like a baby on our bed until T. woke up at five-thirty.

"Good grief, Mama! You've been skunked," Tony grumbled, in the dark. "You need to go outside right now. Come on girl. Come on Abbie."

I climbed out of bed right after dawn, before Tone had taken off for the Old Timer. After I told him about Mama finally coming home at four-thirty we talked about our stinking bedroom and the big room smelling like skunk and then we talked about Belle sleeping throughout the night without a whimper. Then T. took off to go drink some coffee with his friends in Medina.

After feeding all of our dogs, I got on my laptop and searched the Internet to find ways to de-skunk Mama and our trailer. Twenty minutes later, I picked up the phone and punched in the Old Timer's phone number. "Hello, this is Nancy. Can I speak to Tony please?" Seconds later after greetings I said, "Tony, I found a recipe to de-skunk Mama! Please buy two bottles of Hydrogen Peroxide. Thanks. Bye."

Two minutes later after writing down the recipe I called the Old Timer, again. "Hello, this is Nancy again. Would you please ask Tony to also get two boxes of baking soda?"

"Yes, ma'am. Baking soda," the man said, slowly. "Tony, you need to also get two boxes of baking soda, too. He said, "okay." Bye."

After we ate breakfast Tony looked out the front window and said, "Nance, you've got to come see this." I looked out the window and across the creek from us were six, gigantic, mama, wild hogs, moving across the pasture, with about twenty-five to thirty, of their little, wild piglets. "Tony, do you realize that Mama could have been killed last night if she had run into that herd of wild hogs? Those protective mama's would have killed Mama for sure!"

"Yeah, I know."

"Thank goodness she only met a skunk last night and..." After Tony went outside to do his chores I started trying to de-skunk our trailer by washing all of our linens on our bed, while burning several sticks of incense in every room. After the sticks had burned completely out I went over to the Lodge with Belle, because Kinky wanted to meet her.

"Nance, she's beautiful and absolutely precious," Kinky said, as he stroked her. "Hi, Belle Starr..." By the time we reached the door of the Lodge, Belle had also met The Friedmans, who were all very nice to her. Thirty minutes later, after a fun visit, and after Belle had left a gift for Kinky on his expensive Persian rug, Trigger took us back over to the rescue ranch.

As we drove in, I saw three people walking around and none of them were Tony. Then I saw T. and stopped Trigger, to ask him who was out here, since we are closed on Sundays. "They want to adopt Pilgrim," Tony said. "They are Chelsea's cousins. She told them all about Pilgrim and she had them read your column in "Texas Animal Imprints" about Pilgrim and Pumpkin. They seem like really nice people, too. You're going to like them. And they told me that Harry is happy and he is doing great."

Before Trigger, Belle and I reached the trailer, I stopped and visited with the cousins and I was very impressed with them, to say the least, and I was also very excited that they were adopting Pilgrim. After Joshua signed-off on the adoption papers, I took this picture of Joshua with Pilgrim before they took him to his new forever home.

Before heading to Kerrville to meet Matt and his parents, Gail and Paul, and Lisa for lunch, I took this pictures of Belle Starr sleeping under my chair at the kitchen table.

Lunch with Matt, Lisa, Gail & Paul was a total blast for Tony and me and it was filled with non-stop laughter, as we caught up with each other's latest, good news. In fact, I noticed that people and the waitresses were staring at us, because we were laughing and having so much fun. I wish that y'all could have been there, because I love these people.

Then the funniest thing happened. Lisa, who I was sitting next to says, "Oh no. That had avocado in it and I am allergic to avocados. They make my lips swell up." And then she started nervously rubbing her lips to see if they were swelling. "Oh, I hate this. I can already feel them swelling. I am so embarrassed, you guys. Are they big?" I looked over at Lisa for a "lip check."

"OMG, Lisa!" I said, trying to sound serious. "They're the size of truck tires. They are so big that I know the Rolling Stones would want you to tour with them." Everyone started laughing.

Then Paul quickly adds, "They are so big, Lisa, that I bet in an hour they will temporarily blind you." Then there was another out burst of laughter at our table and then we all reassured Lisa that her lips looked just fine and not to worry. 

After our super fun lunch with our great friends, T. and I went to H-E-B and speed-shopped, so we could get back home and give Mama a bath, in the backyard, to help de-skunk her. And needless to say, Mama was not a "happy camper" about it.

After washing her twice with some de-skunking shampoo we left her to dry and came inside the trailer to  play with Belle and to give her the new toys that we had bought for her and she loved them.

After we had worn out Belle, she took a nap in the kitchen. Then I lit some more sticks of incense, while Tony sprayed "doggie perfume" on all of our dogs, while I remade our bed.

This evening when we brought Mama and Abbie inside for the night, she still smells some, but not nearly as bad as she did last night. Instead of "Genuine Skunk-Smell," it was more like "Eau de Toilet." Tomorrow I plan to give Mama another de-skunking bath and trim her hair a little, so I can remove the many new stickers and burrs, that she collected on her wild "girls not out" last night.

Y'all have a great evening! And May the Dog of Your Choice Bless You and Never Get Skunked!

Our Very Special House Guest!

Yesterday was a great day, because our great volunteers, Eileen Gotke came out to walk our dogs and Sharon Griswold, the dog whisper and owner of "Rover Misbehaving?" came out! And I am proud to report that Annie Oakley, with the help of Eileen working with Sharon—Annie is a much improved dog.
Thank you, Sharon and Eileen! We love y'all!

Today has been great, too, but tonight's post has to be short because of our very special and important house guest.

This morning I went over to the Lodge and had a fun visit with Kinky and The Friedmans. And rumor has it, from a very good source (me) that "my girlfriend," Sophie, is fixin' to get a new "hairdo" next week. And remember you heard it here first.

Around one-thirty today the dogs started barking outside, so Tony and I went outside to see who it was. Within seconds we were shaking hands with David, the nice man, who had adopted our Nellybelle, a while back, and his dear friend Chelsea. "We're here to adopt a dog," David said. So we took off walking, to show them our dogs, as David bragged about what a great dog Nellybelle was and how smart she was, which made us so happy for her. "She's the smartest, sweetest dog that I have ever had and..."

An hour later we had an adoption! Chelsea adopted Belle Starr's playmate, Harry Reasoner, and Harry could not have been happier about finding his new forever home, but poor Ms. Belle Starr whimpered and cried like a baby, when Harry left their dog pen. Here is a picture that I took of happy Harry Reasoner with Chelsea.

Right after they left with Harry, Tony and I had a quick discussion about who we should put with Belle. Minutes later we introduced Belle to Pilgrim and they liked each other, but in my opinion,  Pilgrim played a little too rough with her, because he was so much bigger. Here is a picture of Pilgrim and Belle playing with Tone.

An hour later, after watching them closely, Tony returned Pilgrim to his pen and we took Belle up to our trailer, so she could spend the night with us, because we think that she is too young to be outside by herself. And, here is a picture of Ms. Starr in our front yard after meeting our old "assisted living" dogs.

Early this evening Frank Mason, Kinky's friend and The Friedman's official babysitter, came over to visit with us and his big heart melted as he played with Belle inside the trailer. T. took this picture of Frank and Belle.

And here is picture of Belle Starr, that I took, of her taking a nap under a chair.

Before Frank left, I went out to my writing cabin and grabbed one of my favorite stuffed dog toys for her to keep her company tonight in her crate, while Tone carried a large dog crate into the trailer, so she could sleep in it tonight, because our house is not "puppy-proofed."

The reason tonight's post is short is because Tony volunteered to "babysit" Belle while I wrote this tonight and it is now my turn to "babysit" her. Here is a picture that I just took of her—sound asleep, as I type these final words. Isn't she adorable! If you know anyone who is looking for a smart pup please tell them to call us.

Y'all have a great evening!

As Fast As I Could!

Today has been a great day, but there's nothing much to write about, because it was quiet and peaceful.

I spent this morning taking care of business and doing a lot of paperwork. Around ten o'clock Kinky called and invited me to come over to the Lodge for a visit, so I grabbed my Apple laptop, jumped into Trigger and took off.

"Kinky, I want to show you the video I made of Belle Starr and Harry Reasoner playing together," I said, and then I showed Kink the video, that YouTube wouldn't accept because of copyright reason, which I totally understand, with Dean Martin singing "Just In Time" in the background. And it made Kinky smile. Then we went outside and sat in his rocking chairs, on the porch, as we visited with The Friedmans and talked about yesterdays great Texas Monthly photo shoot with him.

After laughing at Sophie playing with her stuffed duck toy I said, "Oh, Happy Anniversay, Kinky."

"What?"

"Nine years ago today is when Tony and I moved our trailer over to Echo Hill. Can you believe that it has been that long?"

"No. Remember that cold front that blew in that night?"

"Yes. And remember Lucky and Minnie Pearl riding over, in our bedroom closet, of the our trailer..."

This afternoon at one -fifteen, we met Kinky and Frank for lunch in Kerrville and I really enjoyed the conversation as well as the food. We talked about the Grant / Mark Twain book that I had loaned to him, that he was enjoying and Charlie Sheen, our books, etc. And it was really fun.

About twenty minutes later, I looked across the table at Tony's plate and saw it was empty. "Good grief, T.! I can't believe you ate so fast. I'm not even half done." Tony looked at my plate and shot me a wink.

"I didn't eat fast, Nance. It's because you are a motor-mouth and never stop talking," Tone joked, as Kinky and Frank started laughing. Then I looked at Frank's and Kinky's plates and they were empty, too. Then I started laughing with them.

Then Kinky smiles and says, "It's Nancy Motor-Mouth Parker-Simons." And we all started laughing again.

"No, Kink," I said. " It's—Cousin Nancy Motor-Mouth Parker-Simons." And they burst out laughing, as they nodded their heads in agreement, and I started eating as fast as I could.

After our fun lunch we headed home and just to get even with Tone's funny remark about me being a motor-mouth, which I know is absolutely true, so I decided to play a joke on Tony and give him the "silent treatment" as he kept trying to make me talk to him. "Nancy, you know I was kidding. Please talk to me. You're driving me crazy."

I gave him the "sound-of-silence treatment" for several more seconds, and I was loving it, and then I finally said, trying not to laugh, "I can't Tony. You said I'm a motor-mouth. My lips are sealed and I am never going to say another word. I promise."

"Nance! I'm sorry. I was just kidding. Please talk to me. You're not a motor-mouth..."

"Okay," I said, as we passed by the Mini-Mart on the right. And I talked non-stop the rest of the way home.

Y'all have a great evening!

Life Is A Ball!

Today was not so good, but it turned out okay. This morning I was fine until Tony came home from the Old Timer, because that is when I called Hoegemeyer Animal Clinic to check on Little Ann, the mama of her cute, little pup that we named Belle Starr.

After greetings, Dr. Craig Janssen told me that he needed to talk with me about Little Ann, because she was very sick. He told me about Little Ann's condition and I teared up. He said she was dehydrated, extremely anemic, her stomach had twisted, her kidneys were shutting down and she had a bad case of heart worms. "I've already started treating her, but it's not good, because....Nancy, she is in such bad shape I know she isn't going to make it. I really think we should put her out of her pain as soon as possible." And, I sadly agreed with him.

When I hung up the phone I burst into tears, even though I knew it was best for Little Ann not to suffer, but I felt like I had betrayed her, because when we unloaded Little Ann and her precious puppy at Hoegemeyers, I told them as we walked inside, "Don't worry, girls. You're just getting checkups and shots and we will pick you up tomorrow. Everything is going to be okay..." And, I feel like I lied to them and deceived them.

After I told Tony and Kinky about Little Ann, they were sad, too and they tried to cheer me up. "I just need to be alone and cry about this," I said. "I'll be okay." Well, that turned out to be another lie, because I cried the entire time that I tried to do my paperwork and take care of business.

Later this afternoon we took off in Trigger to fetch Belle Starr and bring her home. After Susan, their sweet office manager, told us they had wormed Belle, given her a bath and her first puppy shot they brought the newly orphaned pup into the lobby and handed her to Tony. And she looked precious. In fact everyone in the lobby told us that she was adorable and way too cute.

I held Belle in my arms and kissed her, as Tone drove us home. "Tony, why don't we put her and Harry Reasoner together and see if they get along?"

"I was thinking the exact same thing. Harry is so sweet. I bet it will work."

When we arrived at the ranch Tony stopped Trigger by Harry's pen. "Nance, take her inside her and Little Ann's pen and I'll get Harry." When T. walked inside Belle's pen holding Harry, both of their tails were wagging wildly, so we let them sniff each other before letting them down on the ground and it was love at first sight! As we watched them run around the pen and play together, we started laughing at them and then we took out our cameras.

Tonight in loving memory of Little Ann, a great dog who I loved, I put together a cute, short two minute video, of Belle and Harry Reasoner, two of the sweetest dogs that were rescued from the streets of Kerrville and San Antonio, by caring people, playing together for the very first time and I have titled it Life Is A Ball! I hope that you will enjoy it and that it will make you smile as it has me.

Bless Little Ann, who I hope is now in a better place. Rest in Peace Little Ann. You were a great dog and I promise you that we will find Belle a great home.

Y'all have a great evening!