They Came In Twos!

Today has turned out to be a wonderful day. This morning it was the usual: get out of bed, do my morning chores, fix breakfast, clean up the kitchen and walk four miles with Leslie Sansone.

Around 11:45, I went outside to go tell Tony that our lunch was ready and when I saw him down at the barn talking to two men I jumped into Kermit and we went to see who was here. "Nancy, this is Robert and Lee. They train drug dogs and they are thinking about adopting Gus, because he just passed their initial tennis ball test and they want to train him to find illegal cell phones in prisons."

As I shook hands with these two nice, friendly men Robert said, "We are also very interested in Annie Oakley, because she is part Pit and Dalmatian, but I think we want to start with Gus first..." After we had talked about Gus and Annie and they had explained their K-9 training program to us—I couldn't wait for them to adopt Gus and our Annie-O.

Forty minutes later, before leaving Robert told us, "We need to go check out one other dog at a shelter, but I'm pretty sure that we will come back later today and adopt Gus. We think he would be an excellent cell phone finder dog." Then he handed me a business card, then T. and I shook hands with them and then they got into their truck and drove away, as Kermit took us to the trailer.

As I reheated our lunch, Tone and I talked non-stop about how happy we were for Gus getting a job. Then we talked about it, again as we ate our lunch.

Right after I had cleaned up the kitchen Tony walked into the big room, "Somebody is driving up. I'll go see who it is," then he, followed by Belle, went out the front door.

A few minutes later, out of curiosity, to find out who was here, I started to go out the front door and there was Tony walking up the porch steps with two women. As I stepped outside to greet them, this nice woman says, "Hi, Cousin Nancy! We know that you're famous and we just had to come out here and meet you and Tony and see the rescue ranch. I'm Alecia and this is Carrie."

"Wow," I said, followed by a chuckle, because if they only knew. "Trust me we're not famous, but I can tell you that you sure know how to lift people's spirits. Right, Tone? It's very nice to meet, y'all. Come on inside the trailer. Where are y'all from?"

"OMG! I love your trailer and these painted rugs and those cabinet doors and...," Alecia said. "Can I buy your books?" As I signed my two books to Alecia (and yes, that is the way she spells her name, because I always ask people before signing a book. I learned to always ask for the spelling, from my embroidery business days.) Tony introduced them to Belle Starr-Simons, Hank, Little Girl and Toto. Then T. and I had a very nice visit with these two interesting women—who, in the near future want to be volunteers.

Before Carrie and Alecia were about to leave I asked them, "Have y'all read the book, The Art Of Racing In The Rain by Garth Stein. They hadn't, so after telling them it was a must read I gave them a copy.

An hour later, Robert and Lee were here to adopt Gus, hopefully the future "Cell Phone Finder Dog" and Paul was here, too, delivering some free dog food! After T. introduced Robert and Lee to Paul, Robert and Lee started showing Paul, Tony and me pictures of their K-9 drug dogs and explained to Paul how they train them and what all is involved to get them certified and about their new developing program to locate alcohol, tobacco and cell phones, so by now Paul was as thrilled as us about them adopting, "Gus The Bust!"

Twenty minutes later, after signing off on Gus' adoption papers, Tone, Paul and I adios-ed Lee, Robert and Gus and then the three of us unloaded the dog food from the back of Paul's pickup. Then we had a nice visit with Paul.

After Paul left I came inside the trailer and I started working on Kia's plane reservations to Toronto. Then Tony realized that we were out of dog food for our dogs, so we made a mad dash to H-E-B to get dog food for Mama, Abbie, Hank, Little Girl, Toto and Belle and by luck, we ran into our good friend Irene Van Winkle and we had a wonderful visit with her on isle six. And that is about it for today.

To find out more about where Gus will be working please check out: Croft & Hicks Investigations & Security.

Y'all have a great evening and please keep praying for rain for us!

Kris Kristofferson!

Today has been a great day because of the two surprise phone calls that made my day.

This morning, after breakfast, I walked four miles with Leslie and then I took care of some paperwork, returned a few phone calls and then I took a break so I could recycle an old cutting board instead of throwing it into the trash. An hour later I took these pictures of the paint drying in the sun and then I hung it on my kitchen wall.

 

My first surprise phone call was from Kinky, in Australia, at 1:14. "Hello, Nance! How are you doing?..." He sounded great and we talked about the drought, The Friedmans and caught up with each others news and then we adios-ed each other. 

My second surprise phone call was from Fay, in Toronto, at 5:30. "Hello, Nance! How are you doing?..." My good friend Fay had called me because she and her family want to adopt Kia, to be a companion dog to Kris Kristofferson, who they adopted from us many years ago. So after we discussed Kia's adoption and trying to figure out how to get her up there—we had fun visit catching up with each others news and then Tony wanted to say "Hi" to her, so I put him on the phone to visit with her, before she and I adios-ed each other.

I am so glad that Kinky and Fay called me today, because I have really been missing him and I can't wait to see him next week, when he finally gets back to the ranch and I always love talking to Fay because she is so funny and always makes me laugh a lot and I am also thrilled that she and her family have officially adopted Kia for Kris, because I know that they and Kris are going to fall in love with her and Kia is going to fall in love with them. Like I told Fay today, "It's a perfect match."

Well, that is about it for today. I'm fixin' to go play my guitar.

Y'all have a great evening and please keep praying for rain for us! And, May the Dog of Your Choice Bless You!

Happy 1st Birthday, Ella!

Today is Ella's 1st birthday! She is the beautiful daughter of Woody & Rose. Happy Birthday to You. Happy Birthday to You. Happy Birthday dear Ella. Happy Birthday to You!

The Midnight Hour!

The reason that I didn't blog last night was because there really wasn't much to tell and also because I wanted to re-watch Lonesome Dove with Tony. We love that movie so much, that we traditionally watch it on every New Year's Eve, but we didn't watch it this past New Year's Eve, because our good friends Leisa and Rick were up here, from Port Aransas, to celebrate bringing in 2011 with us. In fact, it was one of our best New Year's Eve ever, even though none of us made it to the midnight hour.

Today has been a nice and quiet day, too. Kinky called me, real early this morning, but unfortunately for me, I missed his phone call because I was in Outer Space drinking some coffee and listening to my iPod play my favorite music, until T. returned back home, from drinking coffee with the old timers, at The Old Timer, in Medina.

After we ate breakfast I walked another four miles with Leslie and then I spent most of my morning doing some paperwork and returning a few phone calls before fixing our lunch—peanut butter & (strawberry) jelly sandwiches and Cousin Nancy's Lentil Soup. "Nance, the lentil soup was delicious," Tone commented, as he put his dirty dishes into the kitchen sink for me to wash.

This afternoon when I heard the news about the Los Alamos wildfire, in New Mexico, I got on my laptop to check it out and to see how far away it was from Cindy's ranch. Then I called her to make sure that she was safe. After Cindy had reassured me that she was fine and had told me about "monsoon season" starting, where it rains every evening and about the thunder shower predicted for tonight—we caught up with each others news. And that's about it for now.

Y'all have a great evening and please keep praying for rain for us!

Your Dog!

Yesterday morning the Fab Four came out to walk our dogs and they made me laugh so much—they made my day great and I thank them.

After June, Eileen, Ellen and Lisa had walked our dogs we went to the barn for a fun visit. As soon as we had sat down they started telling us about some rescued Llamas that they had recently visited. "I had this Llama named Mrs. Jones and she didn't like me at all," Eileen said, "She would not quit spitting on me. It was like projectile—spitting. In fact, I need to wash my Utopia rescue ranch cap, because that Llama spit on it," and then Eileen removed her cap and showed us where.

"Well, the one I had, had such bad breath," Ellen remarked. "It was so bad that I had to keep her at arms length..." Tony and I were laughing non-stop as the Fab Four took turns telling us about their hilarious encounters with the Llamas.

Then we talked about birds of all kinds and June's hilarious story about rescuing a swan off of a busy street in Dallas, with the help of her husband Kevin, made me nearly fall out of my chair, because I was laughing so hard.

When they told us that they had to leave I didn't want them to leave, because the Fab Four are always so much fun to be around, but I must admit that I was secretly happy that they were leaving, because I needed a break from laughing so much, because of my back.

Today, OMG, today has been another hilarious day out here. This morning the phone rang and when I recognized the phone number I picked up the phone and said, "Hi, Carol! How are you?" Carol started laughing.

"Hi, Nancy. You're not going to believe what happened to me yesterday! Then she started giggling which made me chuckle. "I have this cousin who I haven't seen in years, because he lives up in Dallas. Anyway, yesterday he calls me up to say, "Hi, this is James," and then he tells me that he and his girlfriend are motorcycling around in the Hill Country and he wanted to know if they could come by for a visit." Then Carol starts laughing again.

"Well, I had no clue who "this James guy" was until he told me his last name. His father was my dad's twin, so I say, "Sure. Where are y'all?" And he says, "We're at #@$%$# in Medina!"

"You're kidding me? What a coincidence, Carol."

"I know. So, I told him to look down the hill because I was waving." Then Carol and I burst out laughing. "Nancy, I couldn't believe it. Just think of all the places to be in the Hill Country and he's right next door to me. Anyway, so they came over and I had the best time with them. They are really nice people."

"Anyway, the reason I am calling is because when we were visiting yesterday I told him about all of these rich and famous people living out here like you and Tony..."

"Carol, you lied to them. We're not rich or famous."

"Well, they want to come over and meet you and Tony and see the rescue ranch. James knows all about Kinky and Lee Ann is a big time animal lover and she has heard of the rescue ranch. So, can we come over today?"

"Sure, we'd love to meet them and give them a tour. Anytime is fine with us."

"Great. They are out motorcycling around right now, so I will call them and ask them when they want to come over. Thanks. Bye."

Ten minutes later Carol called. "They just called me from the Alamo. How does 3:45 sound?"

Around 3:45 the dogs started barking outside—it was them, so Tony and I went outside to greet them as they climbed out of Carol's giant pickup. Then we came inside the trailer and started visiting with them. Tony and I instantly liked Carol's cousin James and his girlfriend Lee Ann and her son Colton and it was like we had known them for years. "Y'all, this is Tony's puppy Belle. We are working on her manners, so please feel free to say "No" to her if she starts chewing on your clothes, fingers, etc. because she needs to learn what is okay and what is not."

After Belle had been reprimanded at least once by everyone in the big room, Tony and I put Belle outside for a Time Out, in hopes that she would learn that bad manners are not tolerated. Five minutes later, we decided to go into Outer Space to continue our fun time and Belle Starr-Simons was thrilled to be included and go into Outer Space with us.

And in no-time-flat I said, "Tony, your dog is acting up again. I think she needs a Time In since we are in Outer Space, so T. took her out to the porch. A little while later Tony, Carol and I gave James, Lee Ann and Colton a tour of the rescue ranch and all of our dogs enjoyed meeting them as much as we had.
After showing them my writing cabin they told us that they needed to leave, so after hugs and handshakes and promising us that they would come see us sooner than later, they jumped into Carol's Ford F-250 and drove away in a cloud of dust.

When we came back inside the trailer I told Tone, "We are so lucky to be blessed with so many nice friends. We couldn't do what we do without them and you know it, so I'm going to blog about some of them tonight." And that is exactly what I have done.

Y'all have a great evening and please keep praying for rain!

In The Next Couple Of Weeks!

Today has been great, even though it was a little far-out. This morning after I walked four miles, inside the trailer, I checked my e-mail. A very nice woman from New York, who I spoke to yesterday about possibly adopting two of our dogs, told me that she was too scared to come to the Texas Hill Country, in her motor home to pick them up, because of  KHOU's report: Texas Drinking Water Makes Pipe and Plumbing Radioactive. Which I had not heard anything about.

After checking out the video and a few other links that she had sent to me about this I called a friend to tell her about it, because it concerned me. She told me that she had already heard about it and she told me not to worry about it, because one of her sources had told her that in October a giant solar flare is going to change everything on our planet. So that sort of put me in a "the sky is falling" tailspin.

Around 1:30 Tony and I jumped into Trigger and took off for the H-E-B in Kerrville and I told him all about the KHOU report and the gigantic solar flare coming soon and he didn't have much to say about it.

When we got back home, after I had returned a few phone calls, I got on my computer and Googled solar flares in 2011 and I was shocked. The first link I went to was Forbes "Huge Solar Flares Could Spell Catastrophe For Earth" and that was not the kind of news that I was hoping for.

Then I discovered and checked out Nasa's "Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory" and I found it to be very interesting, but it was way over my head.

Still wanting to find something positive, I went to spaceweather.com and there was a storm warning about a fast moving stream of solar wind that is buffeting Earth's magnetic field for today, June 23rd and 24th. Then I scrolled 3/4 of the way down the page and I was thrilled to find out that PHAs (Potentially Hazardous Asteroids), which I found out, are big space rocks, were not on a collision course with us today—thank goodness! So, with that good news I decided to stop searching and leave it at that.

Then I went down the hallway to Tone's office, where he was farming or plowing a virtual field, with Belle sitting by his side and I told him the great news about the PHAs not heading our way today, but that the Big One was coming in October, hopefully not on my birthday and all he had to say was, "That's good, Nance."

At 4:35 the phone rang—it was our dear friend Matthew. "Hi, Miss Nancy..." He had called to invite us to an upcoming dinner at his new apartment, when his parents come down to visit him, in the next couple of weeks.

"We'd love to come Matt!..." Then we caught up with each others news. Before we adios-ed each other, I said, "Matt, I am so glad that you called me, because you have just made my day! Thank you so much. And please tell Gail and Paul that I said "Hi" and that we look forward to seeing them soon."

Y'all have a great evening!

Cousin Nancy's Borracho Beans!

Last night it started raining, thundering and lightning around 11:15, so I jumped out of bed and then ran (actually skipped) around the trailer unplugging everything from the electrical outlets. Even though I am scared-to-death of lightning I went out on the front porch, for just a second, to smell the rain.

When it started hailing pea-sized hail I woke Tony up and asked him to please go outside and roll up Trigger and Buttermilk's windows and he wasn't real happy about that, but he did and then he went back to bed mumbling something about Kevin. Around 12:15 the thunderstorm was nearly over so I went to bed, too.

This morning after breakfast I walked four miles again and then I decided for lunch today, as a side dish, I would try a new Borracho Beans recipe, from one of my many cookbooks and that was a big mistake. Even though I had all of the recipe's ingredients: pinto beans, tomato, onion, garlic, jalapeno and one can of Tony's beer and prepared it exactly like the recipe said to, except for using mild peppers instead of jalapenos—it was way too hot for us.

Thank goodness the Borracho Beans were the side dish, because they were so hot we couldn't eat them and ended up throwing them out.

This afternoon Tony and I had a serious conversation about what we should do in case of a wildfire, so we came up with a plan for us and for our rescued dogs and four pigs. Then I went outside, jumped into Kermit and took off for the barn to get leashes. Then I hung the appropriate number of leashes on the gates of our dog pens. Then I returned to the trailer with a big box of donated dog collars, so Tony and I could put our Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch's dog tags on each collar, to help identify our dogs, in case of an immediate evacuation. Then we left the trailer to collar our dogs.

When we were halfway done I said, "I can't believe those beans were so hot, Tony. I even used the mild peppers instead of the jalapenos."

"Which ones did you use?"

"The ones you brought in this morning from the garden." Tony burst out laughing.

"Those were habanero peppers, Nancy. Not the mild peppers. No wonder it was so dang hot." Then I burst out laughing, too.

When we finished our project outside we came inside to cool off and that's when Tony gave me a "pepper lesson." Even though I now know the difference between a habanero pepper and a mild pepper, I don't think I am going to be making Cousin Nancy's Borracho Beans anytime soon.

Well, that's about it for today. I'm going outside now to roll down Trigger's and Buttermilk's windows.

P.S. We got one inch of rain last night.

Y'all have a great evening and please keep praying for rain for us!

What Kevin Suggested!

Today has been fun. This morning I cleaned the dog pens instead of walking the distance with Leslie. Then I came inside the trailer to get ready for our eleven o'clock appointment with a nice man and his wife, who drove all of the way down from Arkansas, who wanted to see our rescue ranch and talk to Tony and me about animal rescue, because they are thinking about moving to Texas and starting a horse rescue ranch.

But unfortunately that didn't happen. He called me twenty minutes before they were supposed to arrive to cancel our meeting, because his wife had become suddenly ill, so he was going to take her the hospital instead. Hopefully, tomorrow he will call me with good news about his wife before they head back up to Arkansas.

Around 11:45 (Please note that I have decided to use numerals instead of spelling out the time, because it is faster.) I checked my e-mail and the note I received from Mari, of The NoMads, tickled me and made me laugh out loud and that was when Tone walked inside the trailer and said those famous words, "Nance, I'm starving. Can we go eat at The Water Street Cafe, in Kerrville, since you haven't started cooking, yet? It will be my treat for helping me this morning." 


"Sure, that sounds good, but give me two minutes, so I can reply to Mari's funny e-mail. I'm going to invite her to join us for lunch because she loves that place, too."

Thirty-two minutes later, we walked into the crowed, popular restaurant and sat down, in hopes that Mari would join us before we placed our order. Well, Mari was a no-show, but Kevin, the owner of Water Street Cafe, did and we got to visiting. "Kevin, I just want you to know that we love your cafe and now our two most favorite places to eat in Kerrville is here and at Randy & Lisa's Save Inn Restaurant."

As I enjoyed his delicious, homemade Lentil Soup, I complimented him on how good it was and I almost got him to tell me all of his secret ingredients, but I didn't get all of them, because he reads my blog and probably realized that I was attempting to steal his secret recipe and make it mine, because he is one sharp cookie, so to speak and then he changed the subject. "Did you walk four miles this morning?"

"Nope, I cleaned dog pens instead. Kevin, by the way, thanks for the funny comment you made on yesterdays blog, suggesting that we wash Trigger and roll the windows down, like you—to help make it rain today. Do you want to go wash Trigger for us? He's right outside and could really use a bath." Kevin thought it was funny, but took no action, so Trigger is sitting outside and still dirty.

After we left Kevin's cafe we marched up the street to Wolfmueller's books to say "Hi" to Sandy and Jon. When we walked inside their, bustling with customers, bookstore they greeted us and then they introduced us to a nice couple, who were their friends from Fredericksburg and we had a real fun time visiting with them.

When Sandy and Jon got busy helping their customers find books we adios-ed them and then we headed for Office Max to pick up a few office supplies before heading home. As we were checking out we had the nicest surprise. Mari walked inside, "Hey, Mari!" T. and I half-hollered from the checkout counter.

Mari, who had not seen us looked over and then the three of us started laughing. And then we had a fun visit, standing outside the front door of Office Max and of course, it was filled with non-stop laughter. Then she headed home and so did we and that's when my back started aching.

Early this evening, I spent over an hour playing my guitar, that Ronnie made for me, eight or nine years ago and not to brag (Yes, I truly am bragging.) I sounded pretty good or at least that's what T. said. I figured out how to play a couple more of Neil Young songs and then I practiced on my finger-picking skills until my fingertips were killing me.

As I finish writing this tonight, I want Mari to know that I am sitting on her pretty, pink sheepskin, that she gave to me, because my back is aching from laughing way too much today thanks to her, Sandy & Jon and Kevin. And now, as soon as I finish typing this, I 'm fixin' to find out if Mari's magic sheepskin can heal the pain in my fingertips.

Y'all have a great evening! And please pray for rain for us tonight by doing what Kevin suggested Tony and I do to help make it rain—wash your vehicle and then roll down the windows and wait.

Pray For Rain!

There is not much for me to report today. This morning I walked four miles and then I went outside and cleaned pens for Tony while he fed the dogs.

At four minutes past one, Kinky called me from Sydney and we had a fun, but short visit and the good news is: he is really enjoying his tour in Australia.

Around one-thirty, Will, took a break from babysitting The Friedmans, to eat lunch with us, while he washed and dried a load of laundry over here.

At three o'clock Trigger took us to Medina so I could mail some letters and drop off some books at the library.

Early this evening I went outside, with my camera, to try to capture Kia talking and like me—she didn't have much to talk about today, so I will try again tomorrow.

Tonight on the local news they are predicting a 30% chance of showers tomorrow evening. And that is about it.

Y'all have a great evening and please pray for rain for us!

The Dog Whisperer!

Today has not been a great day, but it has been good enough. This morning after I walked four miles with Leslie Sanson, in the big room, I started a load of laundry in Queen Bee, then I took care of some paperwork and then I went outside to talk to Tony, while he finished doing his morning chores.

"Tony, Ann called and left a message on Carlton. Do you remember a dog named Festus, that we adopted out years ago?"

"Yes, he was a great dog. A Heeler mix. Why?"

"Because he's coming back and he's also bringing a friend with him. Then I told him what Ann had said about her neighbor, that had adopted Festus and gotten another dog, was moving away and no longer wanting her dogs and the woman was wanting us to take Festus and his friend Kia."

"Where are we going to put them, Nance?" The only pen we have left is that small puppy pen."

"Then we'll have to put them there, I guess. Hopefully, our adoptions will pick back up and then we can get them into a big pen. I'm going to call Ann back and tell her that we will come to Medina and pick up her neighbors dog's after we get back from Kerrville."

After calling Ann and getting her machine I left her a short message about us coming to pick up Festus and Kia, then I started cooking our lunch.

Around eleven forty-five I went outside to tell T. that our lunch was ready to eat and was surprised to find him petting Festus and Kia, inside the puppy pen. "That woman came out with a friend, a few minutes ago and she really put on a show—faking tears and trying to act upset about leaving her dogs. I wish that you could have seen her."

"Me, too. Hi, Festus and Kia. Don't worry you're not going to have to stay in this pen long. Everything is going to be fine," I said, as Festus wagged his long tail and she swung her short stump.

"These are really good dogs," Tone said. "I like them." And that's when Kia, put in her two cents and started talking to us in a soft, sweet sounding whisper. It was so cute it made us laugh out loud and the more we laughed the more Kia kept talking. It was very similar to the way Malamutes talk, when they are happy.


"Oh, Tony. Kia is too adorable and I love that she is a talker. And Festus, you are precious, too. I checked my records and Festus is only about four years old and Ann told me that Kia is only about two years old, if that. I am so glad that they are so adoptable." Then I jumped into Kermit and went up to the trailer to get my camera, so I could shoot them and get them up on utopiarescue.com for all to see.

On my way back to Festus' and Kia's pen I had one of those lightbulb moments. "Tony! I just had a lightbulb go off in my head. I think Kia would be a perfect dog for Fay and her family to have and Kris Kristofferson would absolutely love her. What do you think?"

"Both Kia or Enzo Swift would be a great match for Kris and they would love living in Toronto's much cooler weather and..."

The first picture is of Kia, because of "The Girls First Rule" and also because I cannot wait for Fay to see her and have first chance to adopt her.

Tomorrow I will try to get some better pictures of these two magnificent dogs and hopefully capture Kia talking and make a video of it—the dog whisperer.

Y'all have a great evening!

Happy Birthday Mark Stevens!

Today is our good friend Mark Stevens' birthday and I want to be the first to wish him a Happy Birthday! I think it so cool that he and his sweet wife, Denise's birthday are only a day apart. So, Mark, Tone and I want to sing the Birthday Song to you and we hope you have a great one.

Happy Birthday to You. Happy Birthday to You. Happy Birthday Dear Mark. Happy Birthday to You. And Many More! We love you and Denise and Tater Catfish Stevens so much! When is Tater's birthday?

The Fab 4!

Today has been great because our "Fab 4" volunteers," Lisa, Eileen, June and her sister Ellen came out this morning, while I was outside cleaning the dog pens. I love the Fab 4 because they are so upbeat and they always have me laughing the minute we get to visiting and today was no different.

While I was visiting with Eileen, as Lisa and June walked our dogs and Ellen groomed on them, she gave me a fire warning brochure, from a wild fire conference that she had attended, about wild fires and how to prepare for them in advance, because we are in such an extreme drought out here and I learned so much that I didn't know.

When Ellen joined us she told me about a dog brush that June had purchased on sale at Kerrville's Pet Supplies Plus store and recommended that we get one. Then I went on a walk with Lisa and Eileen and Maggie and La Toya and it was fun, because Maggie and La Toya went into the water and "got their feet wet" for the very first time, and they seemed to love it.

Before the Fab 4 left to go eat lunch in Medina, before heading back home to Kerr Town I had a great visit with them in Outer Space and it was filled with non-stop laughter. So I want to say, "Thank Y'all For Coming Out!"

After I fed Tony lunch, because he was once again starving, we took off in Trigger—headed for Kerrville, so we could hopefully purchase one of those "super combs" on sale at Pets Supplies Plus and then to Home Depot to buy fire extinguishers, and lastly, to mail off some letters.

Well, we got lucky, probably because we were no longer in F.M.T. (Full Moon Time). We bought the last "super comb" on sale at Pet Supplies Plus and we also bought the last five fire extinguishers on sale at Home Depot, that Eileen had recommended to me.

On our way home I talked non-stop to T., my captive, not by choice, audience, about how lucky we were to have gotten the last comb on sale and the discounted, five fire extinguishers. "I think we should put one inside the trailer, two in the barn, one in Buttermilk, Trigger and Kermit," I suggested, and I was thrilled that Tone thought it was a good idea, too. Then the rest of the way home, I read the fire extinguisher's manual, out loud to Tony, so we would know how to use them in case of a fire emergency.

And that is about it for today.

Y'all have a great evening and please pray for rain for us!

Happy Birthday Denise Stevens!

Today is Denise Stevens birthday and Tony and I love her and we want to be the first to wish her a happy birthday!

Happy Birthday to You. Happy Birthday to You. Happy Birthday Dear Denise. Happy Birthday to You!
And many more!

Tony and I wish that we could be there with you and Mark and Tater Catfish Stevens to celebrate your birthday and Mark's birthday tomorrow. We love y'all and we look forward to seeing you two soon.

Baublit! or Perfect Timing!

Today has been great. This morning I walked six miles with Leslie Sansone and then after breakfast I went outside and helped Tony clean the dog pens and I really enjoyed it because I got to visit with our dogs.

This afternoon, after lunch, Trigger took us to Kerrville to run a few errands. Our first stop was at the big discount store where years ago I had bought my cheap, Made In China wristwatch, Pinky, in hopes that they could replace the battery for me and revive her. 

But, because today is F.M.T. (Full Moon Time) I lucked out and got this lady D.E.M. (Disgruntled Employee of the Month) who did not want to wait on me. After I told her about Pinky's untimely death the other day and asked her if she could put a battery into her, she sarcastically said, "No! All I can do is give you this screwdriver, so you can get it out." Then she handed me this small green screwdriver and stood back and watched, as I tried for three minutes to unsuccessfully pry open Pinky's tightly sealed back.

When I finally decided to give up on Pinky I took three deep breaths and then silently counted to fourteen, because ten wouldn't cut it for me and then I gave her tool back to her and said, as nicely as I could, "Thank you, for your help."

Then the D.E.M., who could have also been an alien in disguise, softened a little and she or it whispered, "Take it to a pawn shop. I'm sure they can fix it for you. That's what I tell everyone to do," as I slipped Pinky back into the sandwich-sized baggie and put her back into my purse. 

Then I called Tony on my cell phone to find him and then we left the store and headed to H-E-B and picked up a few groceries. Then we went to Wolfmueller's Books to pick up two more copies of The Art Of Racing In The Rain that they had ordered for me and I am so glad that we did.

When we walked into their bookstore Jon was at the counter ringing up a customer and Sandy was sitting at her desk doing some paperwork and she said, "Hi, Tony and Nancy. Come on over here and sit down." Then we started visiting.

"Sandy, you know it is Full Moon Time and I think I just had a first encounter with an alien or a D.E.M.— disgruntled employee of the month," I said, as Jon's customers walked out of the store.

Sandy laughed. "Really? What happened?" Sandy asked, as Jon walked over to join us. "Jon, Nancy thinks she met an alien just a while ago," Jon smiled and then they started chuckling, as I opened up my purse and took Pinky out to show her to them, as I told them about my unpleasant encounter. 

When I finished my story they both said, in perfect harmony, "You need to take it to Dayton!" Then Sandy says, "Dayton Baublit can fix it and his store, Baublit Jewelers, is right down the street. He's our good friend and he fixes and repairs every body's watches in town."

"Where?" I asked.

"On Water Street, Sandy said. "Jon, why don't you take Nancy over there and Tony can stay here and visit with Mary Jo and me." Jon and I took off and marched down the street to Baublit Jewlers. The minute that I walked into their friend's jewelry store I felt the good vibes bouncing off of the walls and immediately fell in love with the store. Then Jon introduced me to Dayton, his daughter Amy and Clipper and I immediately liked them, as I did the store. 

"Cousin Nancy and her husband Tony run Kinky's Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch, in Medina and she needs for you to replace the battery in her watch," Jon said. While Dayton worked on Pinky's backside we had a fun visit with them. In a matter of minutes Dayton brought Pinky back to life and her little ticker was ticking, again! And I was as thrilled about Pinky's recovery as I was to have found the best and friendliest jewelry store in Kerrville. 

When we returned to the bookstore we had a fun visit with them and somewhere in the conversation Sandy said, "Kevin is now reading your blog."

"Who is Kevin?" I asked.

"Water Street Cafe—Kevin," Jon and Sandy said, once again in two-part harmony.

"Oh, that Kevin. Yes, I met him the other day when we had lunch with Carol. He and I had a fun visit and I really like him and I'm sure you know that he is a big Kinky fan too and..." 

When my back started aching because of all of the laughter, I grabbed my two books and paid for them and then we adios-ed them and came home. And the weirdest thing happened when we stopped to pick up our mail before turning off of Highway 16—Netflix had sent me the movie, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back! 

"Tony, talk about perfect timing! I can't believe this. I meet an alien, Pinky is alive and ticking and then this shows up—it's a sign!..." By the time we had reached the rescue ranch I had talked non-stop about the alien, the Star Wars movie phenomenon, Pinky and tonight's Full Moon, so Tony jumped out of Trigger—unloaded our groceries faster than he ever has before and then he and Belle took off in Kermit, so I took these pictures to document my day.

Tonight because it is Full Moon Time I am going to watch Star Wars tomorrow night. And that's about it for today.

Y'all have a great evening and May The Force Be With Y'all!

Dear Jon!

Today has been great, but I am tired tonight because I didn't sleep well last night because I couldn't quit thinking about going out to New Mexico to see Cindy for a few days. Yesterday, after getting off of the phone with my good friend is when I started thinking and worrying about it.

On our way to town yesterday, to meet Carol for lunch, I mentioned it to Tony. "Why don't we go see Cindy for a few days? It would be a lot of fun and a nice break from the heat." Tony shook his head sideways.

"Nance, we can't both be gone that long from the rescue ranch with the burn ban in effect. This place is a tinderbox and I would be worried the whole time that we were gone."

"Well, maybe I could drive out there, even though it is a hard twelve hour drive. It has been almost two years since I've seen Cindy."

"The thought of you driving out there to New Mexico, all by yourself, isn't a good idea. I'd worry about you the whole time that you were gone..."

During our fun lunch with Carol I casually said, "I'm thinking about driving to New Mexico all by myself, to see Cindy. What do you think?" Carol's jaw dropped to the floor, then she smiled and looked at Tony and then me.

"I think you should do it! Even though I know Tony will be worried about you the whole time that you are out there." Tony nodded his head in agreement.

"But what if you have car trouble or get lost like you always do?" Tone asked. 

"Well, I could take Mama along with me, for protection, and then board her at a nearby kennel for a few days until I'm ready to come back home? And I won't get lost, Tony, because I'll have Garmina with me to give me driving directions. Heck, Tony, you're forgetting that I used to hitch-hike back and forth from Crested Butte, Colorado to Fort Worth all of the time, with Boomer, my first Great Pyrenees, when I was young and I never had a single problem." Carol and Tone burst out laughing. 

"Yeah, I know, but you're not young anymore, Nance and you're going on your fifth Pyrenees," Tony teased. "And you keep reminding me, all of the time, that you can't believe that you're fixin' to be sixty-years-old."

"I think you and Mama should hitch-hike out there! Don't you, Tony?" Carol joked, as we burst out laughing, again, as the people in the restaurant smiled and stared at us, wondering what was so funny.

"No way. Only a crazy person would pick up an old gray haired lady, like me and besides Mama's nine and a half and she's too old. I could walk out there I guess. It would only take me about seven or eight months round trip..." Then we changed the subject and talked and laughed about something else.

And that is why I didn't sleep well last night because I am kind of scared to do it, but at the same time I feel like I should do it to prove to myself that I can do it—so as of this morning, while I was walking four miles, with Leslie, I added "Drive to New Mexico" to my bucket-list.

By eight o'clock this morning I had washed and dried a load of laundry, walked four miles and had a delicious breakfast ready for T., when he returned from the Old Timer. And then I sat down behind my laptop and did paperwork all morning.

At eleven forty-five, right before lunch time, the phone rang and I let Carlton take the call. "Hello, Nancy. This is Ronnie, I don't know if you remember me. I gave you an outdoors massage last year and Marcie and her friends, Paz and Debora."

"Hello, Ronnie. This is Nancy and yes I do remember you, because I will never forget that outdoor massage with all of the traffic and strange people coming through, while I was laying naked under a sheet. What's up?"

To put it in a nutshell: Ronnie's daughter had rescued a sweet kitten, but she was allergic to cat hair and they did not want to take it to the pound, because it was so sweet. Two minutes later after I called Hoegemeyer Animal Clinic and talked to my good friend, Dr. Craig Janssen, about the kitten crisis, I called Ronnie back and told him that we could take the kitten and that the clinic would adopt it out for us and to please drop it off at Hoegemeyer's. Problem solved. 

After lunch I spent the rest of my day doing paperwork with the exception of checking my e-mail only once. My good friend Jon Wolfmueller sent me this e-mail and it made me smile because I am now officially out of The Art Of Racing In The Rain book.

"Hi Nancy,

Next time you are in town come in.

I have 2 copies of THE ART OF RACING IN THE RAIN.

1 regular and 1 large print for your older friends.

Jon

Wolfmueller's Books 229 Earl Garrett St.

Kerrville, TX 78028

830-257-7323

www.wolfmuellersbooks.com

Business Hours: 9am - 5pm, Mon - Sat"

I was so thrilled about the books, I wrote a short, dear Jon letter and shot it back to thank him and Sandy for finding the books for me and I told him that we would be seeing them sooner than later.

Early this evening Ellen Cooper, our dear friend, good neighbor and rescue ranch volunteer, came by to drop off a full pickup-load of free dog food, for our dogs, that she had picked up for us in San Antonio today and she was just in time because we were going to have to go buy dog food tomorrow. Thank you, Ellen! We love You!

And, by the way, last night I did watch Babe, because of Little Ricky's passing and I really enjoyed it, because I knew that I loved that movie, but had forgotten the story.

Y'all have a great evening!

When Time Stood Still! or For Old Times Sake!

Today has been a great day until early this evening. This morning after walking another four miles with Leslie Sansone, I took care of some paperwork and returned phone calls and e-mails. Then I called my dear friend Cindy in New Mexico, whom I haven't seen for nearly two years, and we had a fun time catching up with each others latest news.

We talked about the weather, the terrible fire in Arizona, the awful drought down here, our dogs, life in New Mexico, books that we've recently read and Belle Starr-Simons. So after we adios-ed each other I signed a copy of my first book that I wrote, to her friends Willy and Stef, because they recently lost Froggy, their beloved Boston Terrier, because I know the terrible loss of losing a best friend, because Yoda, my Boston Terrier, was my best friend.

Then I got a mailer, from my office and put my book for Cindy to give to them, in hopes that it would comfort them because Yoda's story is in it and then I slipped in my last copy of The Art Of Racing In The Rain for Cindy to read. And that's when literally speaking—Time Stood Still for me at exactly 11:14, as I sealed the envelope fixin' to travel all of the way to New Mexico.

I was sick about my time standing still, because my beloved, cheap, pink watch, that only cost me $10.00—literally died or should I say, "Her time had run out on this planet." So, I shot her.

Then T. walked inside the trailer and I told him my sad news about Pinky's untimely death and I was so relieved that he took my news so well and didn't laugh. Then he picked up poor Pinky, for old times sake, and examined her closely and then he operated on her to look for any clues as to how to replace my priceless Made In China timekeeper's battery. 

And guess what? After T. completed Pinky's ten-seconds autopsy he said, "Throw it in the trash, Nance," because he discovered that her fate had been tightly sealed, because he could not open up the battery compartment and the only other way to get to her "377 Battery" inside was by using a hammer.

"No, Tony! Put the hammer down. I'll take Pinky to the store where I purchased her to see if their Watch Department can replace the battery," I said, as T.'s stomach growled fiercely at me. Then I grabbed a baggie and stuffed Pinky inside it and put her into my purse.

"I'm starving, Nance.

"I know. I heard all about it. Listen, I need to go to Kerrville to mail Cindy's package and to pick up a few groceries, so let's call Carol and see if she can meet us there for lunch?"

At straight-up one o'clock T. and I arrived at The Water Street Cafe on Water Street and two minutes later our good friend Carol arrived and we had the best time laughing and catching up with each others news as we ate our delicious lunch. 

After lunch I mailed Cindy's "care package" and then we went to H-E-B to grab some groceries and then Trigger took us home.

Around five-thirty Tony walked inside the trailer and told me some truly sad news, "Little Ricky has just died. He was next to Rambam's "International House of Pigs" (pig house). He hasn't been dead for long. He ate good this morning and he was drinking water too. I guess he just died from old age, Nance."

Little Ricky, was one of our smallest Pot-Bellied pigs. He was a sweet, little fella and we know that he had to have been at least twelve-years-old and he had arthritis. "Oh, Tony. Bless his heart. He was a great pig. You want me to help you bury him?"

"No. I'll go over to the Lodge and ask Will to come help me bury him." Thirty minutes later Little Ricky was laid to rest next to Porky—thanks to Will and Tony.

Tonight, in loving memory of our Little Ricky, I am going to watch that sweet movie, Babe. Below is a picture that I took of Little Ricky in 2003.

Rest In Peace, Little Ricky. We love you and we will never forget you. You were one fine pig.

Y'all have a great evening!

The Lightkeepers!

Last night I was on Netflix browsing for a movie to watch and I came across the 2010 movie, The Lightkeepers starring Blythe Danner, Richard Dreyfuss and Tom Wisdom and I absolutely loved it. It takes place in the year 1912 where Dreyfuss is a light keeper for Eastham Light, located on a deserted beach of Cape Cod.

Certain parts of the movie reminded me of our good friend Rick, The Friendly Lighthouse Keeper, in Port Aransas and the beautiful island that he lives on, so that made watching the movie even more fun to watch.

This morning after I walked four more miles with Les, I watched it again while I cleaned up the trailer. And I enjoyed it even more than the first time I watched it. The music and the cinematography is top notch, so I highly recommend that you watch The Lightkeepers, if you have not already seen it. I promise that you will enjoy it.

Late this afternoon I decided to take a nap and once again, as I headed back to our bedroom, Toto and Belle raced into the bedroom so they could "help me." Because there is no way for Toto to jump up on our bed I let him "help me" get on the bed. Then to Belle's dismay I sat down on our bed, patted the mattress and said, "Come on Belle. Get up here," and she was so mad at me she started barking and running around in circles. "Tony!" I hollered, so he could hear me from the other end of our trailer. "Belle won't get up on our bed!"

When Belle heard Tony coming to "help me" she immediately quit barking and jumped up on our bed and laid down before he reached the bedroom door. "What's the matter?" he asked, as Belle jumped off of the bed to greet him.

"Belle wouldn't get on the bed, again," I said, as she happily pounced back on the bed and laid down beside me." T. started laughing and returned back to his office. And twenty minutes later, because I could not fall to sleep—another non-nap was over. And that's about it for today.

Y'all have a great evening!

Jumping 101!

Today started out normal. I got up early and did my morning chores. After breakfast I walked four more miles with Leslie, in the big room and it felt good to have exercised.

Since I walked 1,825 miles with Leslie Sansone last year I was so burned-out by December 31st that it has been hard for me to get myself motivated again to walk regularly. So I feel good for walking this morning, even though it was only four miles, because at least now I'm trying to get back into a daily walking routine. And hopefully in a few weeks I will be back to walking six miles or more a day.

As I type this, I'm sitting on my pink sheepskin, that my dear friend Mari gave to me a while back, because my back is on the verge of going out, because of Tony's dog—even though it is my own fault for teaching her a dumb trick.

A few months ago when I was going to take a nap, Toto and Belle Starr-Simons raced into the bedroom because they wanted to take a nap with me but they could not jump up on our bed. Because little Toto is at least fourteen-years-old I always pat the mattress first and say, "Help me, Toto," and that is his cue for him to jump up on his hind feet, with his two front paws leaning against the sideboard of the bed, so I don't have to bend all of the way down to lift him and put him on our bed.

On that day, after Toto had "helped me," I looked at Belle and said, "Help me, Belle," and because she is so smart—she jumped up and did exactly what Toto had done, so I could lift her and put her up on the bed with Toto, so we could take a nap together. And since that day Belle always "helps me" lift her up onto the bed or up on a chair in the big room. Here is a pretty funny, short 20 second video clip that Tony took of "my little helper" and me that I have titled: Jumping 101! And below are pictures of us that he took after shooting the video.

I thought it was a cute trick back then, when she was just a little puppy, but now weighing in at forty-five pounds—my little helper Belle has been pretty hard for me to lift. In fact, there have been several days lately, when I wanted to go take a nap, but didn't do it, because she has become a real pain in the back for me.

So, this afternoon when I was fixin' to take a well-deserved nap I decided to try to get Belle to jump up on the bed instead of "helping me." After Toto "helped me," Belle jumped up on her hind legs, so she could "help me" but instead I jumped on the bed, patted the mattress and said, "Jump on the bed, Belle."

Belle made a couple of unsuccessful attempts to get up on the bed with us and then she threw a temper tantrum and started barking at me. Then Mr. Toto ran to the edge of the bed, bared the only two teeth he has left and he began barking back at her, so, now we had a full blown bark-a-thon going on in our bedroom.

Since my non-nap had obviously turned into a nightmare before I even had the chance to close my eyes, I decided to end their doggie-daytime--drama, so I could teach B.S.-S. how to jump up on the bed, etc.

Belle and I went into the big room and she sat and curiously watched me remove everything off of our coffee table, then I said, "Belle, jump up," as I patted the rustic, cedar coffee table that Tony had made for me, fourteen years ago. Belle balked.

So I lifted her up and put her on the coffee table and she sat down. Then I lifted her and put her back down on the floor. "Come on Belle, jump up. I know you can do it..." And I was wrong, because Belle couldn't do it, so I lifted her and put her back on the coffee table and that's when Tony walked inside the trailer.

"Why is Belle standing on our coffee table?"

"Because she doesn't know how to jump, Tony. I am trying to teach her how and the coffee table is the nearest to the floor." T. started laughing and then Belle jumped off the tabletop and ran to him.

"My Belle, knows how to jump, Nance," Tony said, as he patted her on the head. "She is just being lazy because she likes for you to lift her up on things. I'll show you." Then the three of us went outside so Tony and Belle could show me that she knew how to jump. Two minutes later we came back inside because Belle had jumped up two feet to get on the doggie ramp.

Then we came back inside and went into our bedroom. "Nance, watch this," Tone said, as he got on our bed and patted the mattress. "Get up here, Belle!" Belle shot me a quizzical glance, either to make sure I was watching her or wondering if she should do it, and then to my surprise—she jumped up on our bed and laid down next to Tony. "See, I told you she could jump."

"Okay, get off of the bed and let me try it with her." Belle and T. got off of our bed and then I got on our bed and said, "Get up here, Belle!" Belle looked at me strangely and then she stood up on her hind legs and leaned against the bed so she could "help me." Tony burst out laughing and then Belle started barking at me. Life is not fair when you live with a dog that is smarter than you.

Y'all have a great evening!

Thanks To Eileen!

This morning I got up real early and did all of my morning chores and then I walked four-fast miles with Leslie Sansone and then I had breakfast ready for Tony when he returned from the Old Timer. I'm not real sure why I did all of this so early this morning, but I was glad that I had.

After returning several phone calls, e-mails and paying some bills I needed to clean up, so I decided to take a bath and try to meditate in the bathtub, because I have not been successful at meditating anywhere else in the trailer and that turned out to be a joke.

While my old, plastic garden tub filled with warm water I lit a special red candle that a dear, old dead friend had given to me years ago, before she died and then I lit a stick of my favorite New Mexico Pinion Pine incense and I placed them on the counter top by the sink. Then I turned on the television in the big room and selected Direct TV's  New Age music on Channel 856 and turned it up loud enough so I could hear the music in the bathroom and then I got into the tub.

I decided to bathe first and then meditate. When it was time for me to start meditating I closed my eyes and said a silent prayer and then I took some deep breaths to relax. When I softly whispered my first high-pitched "om" I started laughing at myself, because I felt stupid, which is the main reason why I have so much trouble meditating, because I can't quit laughing when I start "om-ing."

On my fourth "om" attempt I didn't laugh—until this stupid sounding music started playing loudly from the living room. And it would have made you laugh too because it sounded a little like Ravi Shankar Gone Country and it was horrible—so I gave up trying to meditate and got dressed.

After blowing out the red candle I decided to smudge the trailer before the sweet smelling incense burned out and then because I was a little depressed about not being able to meditate, I went outside and discovered that Eileen our super, great volunteer and good friend was here. And that immediately cheered me up, so I took off to find her.

When I reached the barn I saw that Maggie and La Toya were gone from their pen. "Eileen's not here," Tony said. "She just left to take La Toya and Maggie for a walk."

"I know. Let me help you clean pens while she is gone." By the time I had cleaned Blackie & Alfie's, Wolf's, Little Girl & Layla's and Honey & Baxter's pens Eileen returned with two very happy dogs and that's when I went over to thank her for coming out and to visit with her. And thanks to Eileen after a fun visit filled with laughter—she had made my day great. Thank you, Eileen!

This evening at ten minutes past seven the phone rang—it was Kinky calling from Down Under—Sydney to be exact, so I picked up the phone. "Hi, Kink!"

"Hey, Nance! How are you doing?..." After a brief but fun conversation we adios-ed each other and I am so happy that he is having a fun tour and that his and Van Dyke Parks' shows are selling out even though I miss him and he won't be back at the ranch until July 4th.

Y'all have a great evening!

Be Careful What You Wish For!

Up until two-thirty this afternoon it had been another quiet day for me and I could just kick myself for what I wrote last night on my blog when I said, "Hopefully tomorrow I will have some exciting news to write about," because we had some excitement and it wasn't the good kind.

Around two o'clock, after returning phone calls and e-mails, I decided to rest and take a short nap with our dogs. Forty-five minutes later I heard the front door open and close and then I heard, "Nance, I'm sorry I was gone so long to get the mail. I've been putting out a fire."

"What!" I said, as Tone walked into our bedroom sweating and smelling of smoke and his light-blue shirt that he was wearing was now a dark-gray smoked stained shirt. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. I was at the mailbox when a man drove up and told me that there was a small grass fire that had just started about a half mile up the road towards Kerrville and then he tells me that he couldn't help and drove off towards Medina. I was the first one there and started trying to stomp it out. About four minutes later a man on a motorcycle arrived and he soaked his jacket with some bottled water and then he started helping me. Then a Highway Patrol Officer showed up and he started helping us stomp out the fire. A minute later the Medina Volunteer Fire Department showed up and helped us put it out. And I bet it was caused by a tourist tossing out a cigarette."

Two minutes later Tone, Belle and I took off in Trigger to go see where the grass fire had been and I took these pictures of it.

On our way back home T. and I held our breaths, in hopes that Belle Starr-Simons wouldn't get car sick and vomit on me. And I am proud to announce that B.S.-S. held her cookies and did not cover me in vomit! So we immediately rewarded her with some treats when we got home.

Well, this is about all of the news I have for today and I promise that I am never going to write, "Hopefully tomorrow I will have some exciting news to write about," again. Because once again I've learned my lesson—to be careful what you wish for.

Y'all have a great evening.

The Hangover!

Today has been quiet and was uneventful until this afternoon when I tried cooking, freezing and bagging Tony's beautiful crop of organic tomatoes while watching June's and Ellen's cousin, Ed Helms, in the movie The Hangover.

Because I was laughing so much at the comedy and not concentrating enough on what I was trying to achieve in the kitchen—I'm not sure if I did it right, so I quit after bagging half of his crop, which amounted to two full one-quart baggies, and then I sat down and watched the rest of the hilarious, zany movie while our dogs stared at me.

Hopefully tomorrow I will have some exciting news to write about. And if any of y'all know hot to freeze tomatoes properly I would dearly appreciate your input.

Y'all have a great evening!

Home Grown Tomatoes!

Today has been great, but yesterday was a blast because around one o'clock we met up with our new friend Monk, from Comanche, Texas, who bought Kinky's pool table a while back, at a restaurant in Kerrville to eat lunch before we all came back to the rescue ranch to spend the day visiting, before going to the Kerrville Folk Festival later on that evening. The only bad part about this whole deal was Monk's beautiful, sweet wife Lynn was unable to come with him because of her heavy work schedule.

Monk is one of those people who you feel like you've known all your life, so eating lunch with him was not only fun, but interesting as well, as he told us some hilarious stories about his days as a commercial jet pilot for a major airlines and as a private pilot for the wealthy.

When we had finished eating we decided that it was best for Monk and I to remain at the restaurant while T. went and filled up Trigger, so Monk could follow us back to the rescue ranch without getting lost. While Tone was gone getting gas our friend and author Kathleen Hudson, walked up to our table. "Hi, Cousin Nancy..." After introducing the famous Schreiner University music history professor to Monk—we talked nonstop about music, the Kerrville Folk Festival, which she is highly involved with, and then we talked about Kinky, Tom Wells, our books, e-books, etc. before Tony sat back down at our table.

When we arrived home Monk was more than impressed with our rescue ranch and how beautiful it is out here, even though we are suffering through a terrible drought, and he loved our trailer, too. "I can't believe this is an old trailer," were his exact words, "it is so cool how you have fixed it up and I love the wooden floors and..." After we gave him a tour of The Nellybelle we went outside and went into Outer Space and sat for a while and he fell in love with it, too. Then we came back inside to visit because it was way too hot outside.

Before he and I started playing our guitars he surprised us with a gift of two bottles of fine wine from the Brennan Vineyards, a nearby winery in Comanche, that has won many honors and awards and to say the least, "I was thrilled, so I gave him a copy of The Art Of Racing In The Rain in return for his and Lynn's thoughtful gifts. Then he whips out an envelope with a card inside for me, to thank me for giving him my signed Kinky poster of Cuddles Epilogue to put in their Kinky pool room.

I loved reading the beautiful card and before thanking him for his kind words a piece of paper fell to the floor. It was a song that he had written especially for me, to thank me for the poster and it was so sweet I almost started crying. Then we grabbed our guitars and started playing them and I had a blast, even though my fingers were killing me from not playing as I much as I should have these past weeks.

When we arrived at the Kerrville Folk Festival, carrying our fold-up chairs, our friend Donna Schloss was the first person we saw. Then we went and found our friends Sandy and Jon Wolfmueller sitting up on a hill above the stage, because we were meeting them there.

After introductions, we sat down in our chairs and then the men took off to get us some refreshments. When they returned with beer and wine for me, the sun had nearly set and the talented musician Bob Livingston took the stage and his music was incredibly great and he had the crowd begging for more and not wanting him to stop.

But, it was actually okay when Bob finished playing his dynamic set, because Shake Russell took the stage with his two band members and he immediately mesmerized the hundreds of people in the audience and me with his beautiful sounding music.

During intermission before the legendary Ray Wylie Hubbard took to the stage Sandy and I took off to go buy some of Bob Livingston's music. When we returned to our seats Ray Wylie already had the audience wrapped around his little finger, because—Texas Loves Ray Wylie Hubbard.

Unfortunately, nearly half-way through his set Tony and I had to leave, so we could get back to our dogs at the rescue ranch, even though we didn't want to leave and miss his music and Asleep At The Wheels, because we were having too much fun under the beautiful Texas stars.

When we got home Kinky had called earlier and had left a message on Carlton, so I called him back and he sounded great and really excited about his Australian tour. Then I took this picture and then Tony and I went to bed.

This morning after breakfast Tony brought in a bucketful of his beautiful, organic, home grown tomatoes and I took this picture of them because tomorrow, after Googling "How To Freeze Home Grown Tomatoes" I plan to cook, freeze and bag his summer crop for our upcoming winter. So, wish me luck.

Sandy called me this morning, before I walked four miles with Leslie Sansone, to tell me that Ray Wylie Hubbard's performance was fantastic and that they stayed, even though it was so late (midnight), to listen to Asleep At The Wheel and she said that they were incredibly great, too. 

All in all it was a magical, musical evening for all of us. Thank you, Kerrville Folk Festival for a job well done. No wonder this is your 40th Anniversary! You're the Best!

Y'all have a great evening!