A Herd Of Elephants!

Yesterday and today have been good days, because I got a lot of exercise outside, using the heavy duty weed whacker, to cut all of the grass and weeds, inside The Okay Corral and then by helping Aaron and Tony, clear brush and burn it, for our upcoming big and beautiful horse & donkey holding pen.

Last night before going to bed my arms were the only body parts aching, but when I woke up this morning I could hardly get out of bed, because I felt like a herd of elephants had walked back and forth on my back, during the night.

Even though my back and shoulders are still pretty sore, from using the heavy, hand-held-Weed Eater, lifting, bending over and dragging brush to the burn pile, I feel really good about getting the strenuous exercise and seeing all of the work that we've accomplished, in just two days.

Tomorrow, I plan to stay inside The Cabin, with our dogs, to do paperwork, etc., because T. has banned me from going outside to do any more manual labor—until my back feels much better and I have absolutely no problem doing that. And that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

Best Cole Slaw In Texas!

Today has been great and so was yesterday, because yesterday we had really hot water and also because we took the day off and met my sister and her husband, in Fredericksburg, for a fun-filled afternoon, while Aaron came out to work and baby sit the rescue ranch for us.

The first thing we did when we arrived in Fredville was jump into their car and head to the famous Willow Loop, to take pictures of the gorgeous wild flowers and it was beyond spectacular.

After our super fun photo event, we went back to Fredericksburg to eat lunch at Wheeler's Restaurant, that our dear friends Randy & Lisa also own and our meals were delicious.

Wheeler's Restaurant serves American and German food and is famous for having the Best Burger in Town. But, I must tell you that their cole slaw is the best cole slaw that I've ever tasted, so I think Wheeler's should also be famous for serving the Best Cole Slaw in Texas. And when Karin and Air Gun, our dear German friends, come back to see us—we're definitely taking them there.

Before leaving Wheeler's, Randy saw us and came over to our table to visit with us. "Randy, I love your cole slaw!..." I proclaimed, wishing that he would tell me the ingredients and my wish came true right then and there, because he told us the secret ingredient he uses in the recipe, but unfortunately I can't tell y'all, because it is our little secret.

Around 2:00, we hugged and adios-ed my sweet sister and her dear husband and then left Fredericksburg to go to the Home Depot, in Kerrville, to buy some dirt and flowers for the upcoming flowerbed, in The Okay Corral. Then we came home.

As soon as we arrived back, Tony and Aaron, under my creative supervision, created the prettiest flowerbed for me, on the rescue ranch and I am so thrilled with it. "Thank y'all. I love it and I hope the rabbits don't find it."

Around 7:00, after Aaron left to go home, I picked up my guitar and figured out how to play a few more Keb 'Mo tunes and then I went to bed early and that is why I did not write last night.

This morning after I did The Harley Show, which is always fun, I did paperwork and returned several phone calls and then I spent the rest of the afternoon repainting some things, in the Okay Corral.

Before our day ended, our dear friend, Rambam came out with his friends Sam and Lisa, because they love dogs and they wanted to see our rescue ranch and we really enjoyed meeting and visiting with them, even though, because I'm hard of hearing, I kept calling Sam—Stan. "Sorry about that, Sam. And thank y'all for that generous donation and that expensive bottle of fine Italian wine, that I will save for a very special occasion!" And that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening, even though Mercury is still in retrograde, until the 12th of April!

In Hot Water! or Buddy Holly Was Here!

Today has been a great day, but I am a little tired tonight, because my day ended at 7:00 tonight.

This morning I had Tony wake me up real early, so I could drink some coffee and wake up before doing my Utopia segment, about our rescue ranch, on Big G's popular, morning radio show.

As I poured my first cup of coffee, Tone walked into the big room and declared, "We have no hot water."

"Do we need to replace the hot water heater?" T. started chuckling.

"Nance, they're called water heaters—not hot water heaters. And yes, we need to get a new one this morning after we do The Breakfast Club with your friends. I'm going to call Aaron right now, to see if he can come out later this afternoon to help me install the new one. " Then he called Aaron at 6:35 and then Tony adios-ed me and took off for the Old Timer with Trigger.

After I did a fun Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch segment with Big G., I called Kinky to make sure he was up, because he was going to our Breakfast Club, in Kerrville, too. He answered on the first ring, "Thanks for calling, Nance. I'm up..." Then I heated up some water on the stovetop and took a sponge bath, because we had no hot water.

Breakfast with our friends Beth and her father was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed it and when it ended we went to the Post Office, so I could mail out a package, before we went to Home Depot.

"Welcome to Home Depot," a friendly woman said to us. "Can I help you find something?"

"Yes. We need a new hot water heater," I said. She smiled and Tony winked at me and then he started laughing.

"She's from Ft. Worth and they call them hot water heaters up there," he explained to the helpful Hill Country woman, as we followed her back to the hot water heater section. We ended up buying a 40 gallon electric one, then we came home and did our chores outside, even though we were running thirty minutes late doing them.

When we were done working outside, Tony took off in Trigger to go make a bank deposit for me, in Bandera, while I returned several phone calls before Hazel and I quickly cleaned up the trailer, because we were scheduled to do a camera shoot at 2:30, with our new friends from the Cailloux Foundation, because they had recently awarded us with a substantial grant.

The camera shoot was a lot of fun. We did it outside of the rescue ranch, next to our sign, on the white boarded fence and my Roy Rogers was in it too! Mark, Betty, Kinky and I smiled and laughed as Chris, from the foundation and Tony shot us, because we kept trying to get Roy to pose and look at their cameras as we held their check. Here is one of Tony's pictures.

When Tony jumped into Kermit with Roy sitting beside him, so he could return Roy back to our front yard, Betty, Chris, Mark and I strolled back to the The Cabin and that's when I found out that Chris played guitar and that he was the actor who portrayed Buddy Holly, in the local production of “Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story,” at The Point, in Hunt and at the Cailloux Theatre, in Kerrville, which has been rocking the Texas Hill Country ever since, that everyone has been raving about, and he is in The New Buddy Holly Band, while Betty walked behind us so she could stop and pet and visit with all of our dogs along the way.

So, I invited them to come inside The Cabin, so I could show Chris my guitar, that I am so proud of, that Ronnie custom made for me. And little did I know, that Chris would actually pick up my guitar and do some Buddy Holly for us. It was fabulous and he was so good I got goose bumps. Here's a picture of Chris Huber that I took, right before he gave me those goose bumps. It was like Buddy Holly was here, in our big room.

Early this evening Aaron came out to rescue us and by 7:00 we were in hot water, once again. Thank you so much, Aaron. And that is about it for tonight and by the way—Chris loved playing my guitar and he could not believe that Ronnie made it for me. Talk about making my day!

Y'all have a great evening!

Page 42!

Today has been a great day. Early this morning, while I sipped some Kona coffee, I checked out our new Texas Monthly, April edition and I nearly fell out of my chair when I turned to page 42 and saw our dear friend, Rick Reichenback, "The Friendly Lighthouse Keeper," picture—sitting on his front porch, on the private island that he lives on, near Port Aransas.

As soon as I read the great two page article written about Rick and his super-cool job, which Texas Monthly normally uses only one page for that column, I called him to congratulate him, then I called Sandy & Jon, Cindy & Ray, Kinky and then Ronnie, of course, to tell them about Rick being in Texas Monthly. "And he is also in there twice. He is in the Texanist column, on the back page." And when T. got back from the Old Timer, he sat down, at the kitchen table and read the cool column and The Texanist column, before eating his breakfast.

This morning, while Tony did his and my chores outside, I spent most of my morning doing paperwork and I am now temporarily caught up with it all—thank goodness. And then we took the rest of the day off—relaxing. I hope that y'all will check out the story on our dear friend Rick. And that is about it for tonight. Except Tony just told me that he is thinking about buying a mule, so he can go riding with Maya and me!

Y'all have a great evening!

Cameras And Carrots!"

Today has been a great day. Our super volunteers; June, Ellen, Jim, Eileen, Lisa and Dottie came out and walked our dogs for us and many of our super dogs also went for a swim in Wallace Creek and so did Lisa, because Lois Lane pulled her into the cold, clear water.

Later, on a fun walk with Ellen & Cosmo Topper, Dottie & Latoya Jackson and me with Little Lulu—Ellen found Lisa's wet socks drying on the side of the bridge and we had a good laugh about it.

When Ellen and I returned Cosmo and Lulu to their pen we forgot to close the gates behind us and Mr. T. ran out of his pen and started running all around the rescue ranch. "Tony is going to put us on probation." Ellen joked.

"Don't worry about it. He's gone to shoot pictures of the Bluebonnets, in Fredericksburg, with his sister and her friend. He'll never know about it." And about that time Lisa caught him, up near the barn. As Eileen walked him back to his pen, she teased us for letting him get loose.

"Tony is not going to be happy about this when he finds out. Which one of y'all did it?"

"Ellen and I started laughing and both started pointing fingers at each other. "No, I did it," Ellen confessed.

"No, it was my fault," I said. "And we're going to keep it a secret from Tone and..."

Today, since Tony took a day off, I decided to also and I finished reading the fabulous book, Half Broke Horses that Karin and Air Gun bought from Wolfmueller's Books, to give to me. Then I read Joe Herring, Jr.'s fascinating book, Home; Photographs Of Kerrville and I really enjoyed reading it and looking at the interesting photographs.

Early this evening, Tony and I grabbed our cameras and carrots, then we jumped into Trigger, to go find the horses and donkeys, on the ranch. Needless to say, "They loved the carrots." Here's Little Jewford saying a little prayer of thanks, before he received his delicious carrot from Tone.

Yesterday, the beautiful Monarch Butterflies arrived, so when we came back home I saw several of them , next to our front yard gate, so I shot this one with my camera. 

Y'all have a great evening!

Sorry, Not Tonight!

Sorry, not tonight, because I can't quit reading the fabulous book, Half Broke Horses that Karin and Air-Gun gave to me. I totally love this book and I highly recommend it to everyone.

Y'all have a great evening!

The Price Tags!

Today has been great. After we ate lunch we jumped into Buttermilk to run several errands, in Kerrville. Our first stop was to go see Sandy and Jon, at their bookstore, because they had a book to give to me, that Karin and Air Gun, our dear German friends, wanted me to have.

During our fun visit with the Wolfmuellers, they gave me Karin and Air Gun's book, Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls and they told me that it was a beautiful book and that I would enjoy reading it. And I can't wait to read it. Thank you, Karin and Air Gun! Y'all are too sweet!

When I showed Jon and Sandy my poster that I had made of Maya, that Carol painted—they loved it and they told me that they thought Carol was a very talented artist, which of course she is. Then Joe Herring, Jr., our mutual friend, author and the owner of Herring Printing, Kerrville's favorite print shop, walked into the bookstore and greeted us and then things got real interesting, because Sandy had found an old (1915) book, in the bookstore's basement that she wanted Joe to see.

The small, rare book was titled My Automobile and it was a detailed diary, with small black & white pictures documenting each trip that this woman, from Kerrville, had taken in her car. There were great pictures of her and her friends and her car and it was fascinating to look at and some of her captions were hilarious: "This trip was rotten," because her gas tank got clogged up and "Here we are at Camp Laugh A Lot." 

While Joe and Sandy read us some funny, bits and pieces from the woman's automobile diary, I took off to find the book Home; Photographs of Kerrville that Joe had written about Kerrville, from the turn of the last century forward, because I wanted to buy a copy for Tony and me to have and to also get Joe to sign it, because it is a beautiful book, filled with over 200 historic photographs of Kerrville and Kerr County, Texas. And I cannot wait to read it too, because I love reading local history!

Our next stop was at Billy's Western Wear store, so Tony could pick up the cowboy boots that he had ordered. And after he had tried them on to make sure they were a perfect fit I suggested, "Why don't you wear them out of the store, so you can start breaking them in..." And he did.

When we arrived at Hoegemeyer Animal Clinic to pick up some medicine for one of our dogs, T. took off to go visit with Dr. Craig Janssen, while I stayed in the lobby and had a hilarious conversation with his sweet wife, Kathy. 

A few minutes later, when Tone returned to the lobby I said, "Goodbye to Kathy," and started to walk out the door, but Tony sat down on their bench, so I turned around to see why and I started laughing, because he had his Wranglers pulled up high, above his new boots and was cutting off the price tags, using his knife. "We stole them," I joked to Kathy, before walking out the door.

Our next stop was at the craft store, so I could purchase a picture frame for my poster of Maya and our last stop was at H-E-B to get groceries and then we came home.

After we had put up all of our groceries Tony helped me frame the poster and hang it on the wall, in the big room and I am thrilled about it, because it such a beautiful picture of Carol's painting and it will make me smile every time that I look at it.

And that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

Two Pieces Of Popcorn!

Today has been a great day and so was yesterday. Yesterday, after lunch, I went outside to the corral and helped Aaron and Tony remove brush from it and burn it and I am proud to say that I only tripped and fell once.

Around 6:30 last night, right before I was fixin' to sit down and write about my day, we had one fast moving thunderstorm sweep through, with popcorn sized hail, so we had to unplug everything, including our computers.

One hour later, after we had plugged everything back into their wall sockets, I started to write a short blog, but I only had two sentences typed when all hail broke loose and that monster thunderstorm came with more lightning and hail about the size of two pieces of popcorn. So I gave up and went to bed early, only to discover this morning, that we got a little over four inches (four pieces of popcorn lined up side-by-side) of much needed rain.

This morning, after doing some more paperwork, I went over to the Lodge for a fun visit with Kinky and then I came home and made lunch for Tony, Aaron and me. Then we went out to the soon-to-be real horse corral, near the entrance gate and removed more brush and burned it, so as you can guess—I'm pretty tired and my back hates me, again.

Early this evening, Kinky, The Friedmans and I went on a short hike and I really enjoyed it, because I wasn't dragging a giant, dead limb to put into the fire pit. And that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

Beyond Awesome!

Today has been great and Tony, Aaron and I accomplished much today outside and my body is paying for it now.

This morning after Tony and I did our morning chores outside, Aaron arrived to help us clean up and burn old brush, in our old horse corral, up near the front entrance gate. And it was really hard work stacking up cut wood, that Aaron cut with his chainsaw, then dragging large branches and picking up smaller branches from the ground, to the two fire pits so they could be burned.

With the exception of taking a thirty-minute lunch break, we burned and hauled brush for eight hours and my arms, legs and back are killing me, which means that I am somewhat out of shape. But it has been well worth it today, because we have nearly cleaned up half of the huge corral, for Maya and it is starting to look like a beautifully manicured park! And the bottom line is—Maya is going to love it and I got a great workout today.

Tonight, even though Tony and I smell of cedar, which I don't think is a bad thing, because I love the smell of cedar—we plan to do it again tomorrow—if I can get out of bed in the morning.

But the really great news for today is my poster, of the picture that I took of Maya grazing, that Carol painted years ago, arrived and it is absolutely awesome! In fact, it is beyond awesome and I can't wait to get it framed, so I can proudly hang it in our big room and smile every time that I see it.

And that is about it for tonight. I hope that everyone has had a great St. Patrick's Day and that I can get out of bed in the morning! Wish me luck.

Y'all have a great evening!

Fort Winston!

Today has been a lot of fun, as was yesterday when I made a fool out of myself, in front of Ben and Tony.

Yesterday morning, before Kinky took off for a few days, Tony and I went over to the Lodge to talk with Kinky, Ben and Brian Molnar, who btw: is playing SXSW at Opa's tonight, in Austin.

After a lengthy, but an hilarious discussion about the mini-backyard that we were going to build for Kinky, because of Winston Churchill, "The Roving Beagle," Ben jumped into his truck and Tone and I climbed into Trigger and headed back over to the rescue ranch, so they could do the outside morning chores, while I went to Medina to buy cement for "Fort Winston."

Before we went over to the Lodge for them to erect Fort Winston, I asked Ben to please mix up some cement and pour it in front of our front yard gate entrance, where I always trip and where the gate hangs going into The Okay Corral, because I am always having to ask people to, "Please watch your step."

After Ben had added some water to the cement, inside the wheel barrel, he told us that he needed a hoe to use to mix up the cement, but T. told him he didn't know where it was, which seemed to frustrate Ben a little, because that meant he had to use a shovel, which doesn't work as well.

When Ben shoveled and tried to mix up the cement, I felt sorry for him having to use a shovel and that is when I innocently asked, because I am not a "Garden Person," because of snakes, dirt, stickers, scorpions and ants, etc., "What does a hoe look like?" T. and Ben looked at each other and burst out laughing and I am not going to tell you what they said to me, even though it was pretty funny.

Once we had quit laughing about my dumb question, Ben and Tony described what the garden tool looked like, so I went to Tone's garden, determined to find Ben a hoe to help him out.

And with my luck, since I am a Libra and a Rabbit (The luckiest) on the Chinese calendar—I found Ben a hoe, laying next to some recently dead Thistle that I had killed last week. And to say the least, "Ben was thrilled about me finding him a hoe so quick."

And the reason that I am telling you the story about yesterday's "Hoe Incident," in the first place, is because Tony, Ben and Will demanded that I blog about it, to prove once again, that I am not the sharpest tool in the tool shed, which I have always known. Hoe! Hoe! Hoe!  : )

This morning our great volunteers: June, Eileen and Jim came out to walk our dogs for us and we cannot thank them enough for making our dogs so happy today and for all that they do for our super dogs well being. And before they left to go eat lunch, I grabbed Eileen and whisked her away, in Kermit, so I could show off Maya to her, because Eileen is a genuine horse woman aka cowgirl, like Carol is, and Eileen thought Maya was absolutely beautiful, too, which made my day today. "Thank you, Eileen!"

Later today, it was non-stop laughter and teasing, over at the Lodge, as I watched and tried to help (gopher) Ben doing most of the work on the fence, with Will and Tony assisting him, to finish the Fort Winston mini-backyard, for Kink and I must say, "It looks absolutely beautiful and I totally love it and so will The Friedmans. And I'm sure when Kinky gets back to the ranch he will be very pleased with it, too."

Before Ben left today to go back home to Austin, he came over for a fun visit and to see the clean-up work that Tony and I have done to my old saddle.

"It's looking good, Nance..."

P.S. Great news! I actually woke up at 7:15 this morning!

Y'all have a great evening!

AQHA!

Today has been a great day even though I overslept again and didn't crawl out of bed until 8:00, which caused me to be a little bit grumpy this morning. I think I'm having such a difficult time adjusting to Daylight Saving Time is because I am a senior citizen and it is hard to teach an old dog new tricks.

So, I think Congress might ought to consider passing a Bill, making senior citizens exempt from Daylight Savings Time, to cut us some slack or else designate a place, somewhere in Texas, because I ain't leaving here, where all of us Oldies, in the country, could move to if we wanted to avoid DST—like Arizona does. Anyway, it is just a thought or else I'm having another Senior Moment or it is because Mercury is retrograde and is messing with me.

After lunch today, I checked my e-mail and was thrilled when I read that the beautiful poster I had ordered of Maya, that Carol had painted, is heading my way, because I plan to frame it and hang it in our big room, so it will make me smile every time I look at it. Here is the picture that I took of Carol's awesome painting of Maya. I love it because it looks exactly like Maya and is filled with Carol's love of the horse that she gave to me.

So, after checking and responding to all of my other e-mails I decided to go ahead and fill out and write a check to pay for Maya's American Quarter Horse Association transfer papers, that Carol gave to me last week, to make Maya officially my horse. (Even though, in my heart, I know that she will always be Carol's and my horse.) And tomorrow I plan to mail Maya's transfer papers to the AQHA.

Late this afternoon I went over to Kinky's to visit with him and to meet his guest, Brian Molnar, who is a very talented musician, who is in between gigs for two days and will be performing at Austin's famous SXSW. And who is also going to be opening for Kinky, for four gigs, when Kink does his upcoming East Coast, Bi-Polar Tour, in a few months.

While Kink talked on the phone, in his office, Brian and I sat outside on the porch talking about our guitars and amps, etc. and when I told him about my great guitar, that Ronnie made for me, I invited him to come over to see it and to check out my Genz Benz amp, which is made especially for acoustic guitars.

When Kinky returned to the porch, Brian took off to go get something and when he came back he said, "Here, Nancy. I want to give you my latest CD." And I love it and am listening to his beautiful music as I type this tonight.

We visited with Kinky and The Friedmans for about twenty more minutes and then Brian put his beautiful guitar in the back of Trigger and then he and I took off for the rescue ranch to play some music together and I had a blast trying to accompany him on my guitar. And needless to say, Brian thought Ronnie's guitar was awesome and Tony and I thought Brian Molnar's music was incredibly great.

But during our fun jam session, inside The Cabin, Mama was outside and decided to open the gate, in the front yard, because I had forgotten to put the latch on it, so after I returned Brian back to The Lodge, Tone jumped into Trigger and I jumped into Kermit and we took off to go find her. And, thank goodness we found her thirty minutes later. And that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

Ziggy!

Today has been great even though I over slept until 8:00 Sunday and Monday morning. Yesterday was great too, because Ziggy, our beautiful Blue Heeler, got adopted to a great home, yesterday morning, while we were outside doing our chores.

The reason why I didn't write last night was because I went over to visit with Kinky, around 6:00 in the evening and because of the long hike we took with The Friedmans, I didn't get back home until after 8:00 and then I was too tired to write, but not tired enough to fall to sleep when I was supposed to.

This morning Tony gave me an early wake up call as I had requested at 6:00, 6:30 and then at 6:45 and because I have not yet adjusted to Daylight Saving Time—I climbed out of bed feeling exhausted. The reason I had asked for an early wake up call was so I could do Big G's "Utopia Segment" on his popular radio show and Sparky was his Pet Of The Week and I had fun doing the show.

When T. returned home from drinking coffee with his buddies, in Medina, he ate breakfast and I drank one of my super smoothies. Then we went outside and did our morning chores.

For lunch, I fixed a roast, mashed potatoes, okra mixed with corn, bell pepper and red pepper and Tony loved it so much, I took a plate of it over to the Lodge for Kinky and he and The Friedmans loved it too.
Then I came home and took a short, sleepless nap with Roy Rogers, Mama and Toto.

Around 2:00, T. and me went outside and installed ten solar lights in the Okay Corral. Then I mowed it, while Tony removed sticks and rocks, for me, from the newly created corral.

Up until 7:00 this evening I have been outside killing Thistle, while visiting with our super rescued dogs and I really enjoyed it. And now I plan to relax, go into Outer Space, drink a couple of glasses of my fine boxed wine and play my guitar.

Before writing this tonight, I checked my e-mail and my dear friends Karin & Air Gun Pohlman's, over in Germany, note made my day. Thank you, Karin and Air Gun! This is what they wrote:

"Dear Nancy, your mail made my day! Today I received the beautiful Weimaraner postcard with your kind words to us. The "What Would Ronnie Do?" magnet and also Sophie´s and your business card, which are now decorating our fridge and will make us smile every time we open it. It´s often....Especially Sophie´s card is very funny! Love, Karin and AirGun"
And that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

Jimmie Dunn Done It Again!

Yesterday after I had posted on my blog things got a little interesting. As I was cleaning up the kitchen Tony walks up to me and says, "Happy Anniversary, Nance! We did it again." Then he hugged me and we started laughing, because for two years-in-a-row we have forgotten our wedding anniversary. "I'm sorry I forgot."

"Me, too and I'm blaming it on Mercury fixin' to come in retrograde on Monday and for being sixty-years-old. At least you finally remembered it."

"No, I didn't," Tony confessed. "I was just on Facebook and Jimmie Dunn just wished us a happy anniversary."

"Thank goodness for our dear friends, Jimmie and his sweet wife Nelda, for reminding us for the past two years about our wedding anniversary or we would have completely forgotten about them. Please thank Jimmie and Nelda for me, for helping us remember our anniversary. I wonder why we always seem to forget our wedding anniversary?" And that's when T. started laughing and went back to his office.

One hour later, after playing a few games of Scrabble on my laptop, I got up to stretch my legs and that is when I noticed Roy sleeping soundly in my chair, which Belle had claimed as hers, once she learned how to jump up on things, after six months of her helping me lift her up on things.

Anyway, Roy Rogers looked so content sleeping in his chair, that he stole away from Belle, a few weeks ago, I grabbed my camera and shot him twice.

When Roy went back to sleeping, I ran around The Cabin resetting all of our clocks and by the time it was dark outside all of our clocks were ready for the 2:00 AM time change, even though I knew I wasn't. 

After I had put our dogs outside, to take care of business, I started watching another hilarious Frazier rerun and halfway through it, I paused it, so I could let our dogs come back inside. As I held the door wide open for Abbie, Mama, Belle, Roy and Toto to come back inside The Cabin—a Bat flew inside, which of course caused me to immediately scream, "Tony! A Bat just flew inside here. I bet it has rabies..."

When T. saw the Bat flying around the big room he turned off the ceiling fan, as the dogs and I watched the frightened Bat circling above us. After a couple of minutes the Bat finally settled on the wall, right next to one of my straw cowboy hats, above the bench. "Tony, please don't hurt it."

"I won't." Then Tone grabbed a red dish towel and slowly approached it.

"Be careful," I warned, as he gently reached up with the dish towel and covered the little, black Bat and then carry it outside to set it free. 

Seconds later, when T. came back inside The Cabin he told me, "The Bat is fine. He flew away into the darkness." Then we tried to figure out why it had flown inside The Cabin, with all of our lights on. And we still haven't figured it out, yet.

Today has been a great day, even though I over slept, big time this morning, thanks to the time change. After doing our morning outside chores, I went to check on Maya and her new found friends and they are doing great together and that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

Me—Oh Maya!

Today has been a chilly, rainy day, so no one came out to adopt a dog, so I spent a few hours today making this short 1:43 video, Me—Oh Maya!, to celebrate my Quarter Horse.

Maya arrived at her new home Thursday morning. And, with Kinky's permission, we put her in the big corral for two days, so she could meet Shalom, the horse and our adorable donkeys Roy, Gabby and Little Jewford.

Today we let Maya come out of the corral to be with her new best buddies and they are all happy.

Y'all have a great evening! And don't forget to set your clocks forward!

Taking Care Of Business!

I have been very busy the last couple of days, taking care of business, and I am glad to say that I am finally caught up with it.

This morning, after doing our outside chores, I went over to the Lodge to visit with Kinky. Before having a fun visit with him, he watched our friend and talented videographer, Gerry Olert's "Kinky's Man In Black Tequila Bottle Signing Party," on my laptop and Kinky seemed to really enjoy watching it.

When I came back home, because it has been a chilly and rainy day outside, I sat behind my computer, for hours and worked.

Around 5:45 this evening, the phone rang and it was Susan, at Hoegemeyers. "Nancy, I have some good news for you. I want you to know that people do listen to you on the radio. Yesterday, a man heard you talking about Minnie, the Chihuahua, on The Harley Show and he told his wife about Minnie and they came by the clinic, met her and fell in love with her and they adopted her!..."

Tonight I plan to do some writing, until the predicted thunderstorms light up the sky, because then I will have to unplug everything and that is about it for today.

Y'all have a great evening!

Solar Flares! or "Have-a Tequila!"

The reason that I didn't blog last night was because I couldn't quit reading the book, The King Ranch Quarter Horses, even though I only read about the history of the King Ranch and not their famous Quarter Horses.

Today has been a total blast. After doing our morning chores outside, we called Carol to invite her to have lunch with us, in Kerrville and to run a few errands with us. And we laughed so much, my back is still aching and that is why I am sitting on Mari's pretty, pink sheepskin, as I type this.

While watching the nightly news, early this evening, I became a little worried when I found out about the two giant solar flares headed towards our planet, because the duo-huge-flares can possibly affect our power grids and GPS systems, for the next couple of days. And to make it even worse, tomorrow is the full moon and four days later, on the 12th—Mercury goes retrograde. So, not to worry about the solar flares, full moon and Mercury, I called Ronnie to visit with him, because he always cheers me up.

During our fun telephone visit, we started talking about Maya, of course, and he made me laugh when he said, "I think you should call her, Maya Trigger."

"Maya Trigger?"

"Yes, Nance. Just about everything you own is either named Trigger, Roy, Buttermilk, Dale, etc. You can say, "Where's My-a Trigger?" A few minutes later, before adios-ing each other, I told him I liked his idea and that I was going to start calling her, My-a Trigger.

Tonight, before I start reading my book again, about the awesome King Ranch Horses, I just received an e-mail news flash from our dear friend and awesome videographer, Gerry Olert, to tell me that the video he made for the unveiling of Kinky's first signing party, for his Man In Black Tequila, at the Main Street Liquor Store, last Saturday, is now up on YouTube and it is so fantastic, even though I am briefly in it, talking to Big G on the air! Please check it out, because it is fun to watch and the music is great, especially the, "Have-a Tequila" song performed by Greg Forest and Ronnie Leatherman. "Congrats Gerry, on a job well done. I love it and I can't wait to show it to Kinky, in the morning. I know that he will love it, too."

And FYI: Dale Evans got adopted yesterday to a very nice couple, who adopted B.J. from us eight years ago, so please keep your fingers crossed that it will stick.

Y'all have a great evening!

King Ranch Quarter Horses!

Today has been a good one. This morning after we did our morning chores outside, I came inside and did some paperwork and cooked lunch, before we picked up Carol, at her ranch, to go with us to Kerrville to run a few errands.

The three of us laughed all the way to the big city, as Tony chauffeured us, in Buttermilk. Our first stop was at Billy's Western Wear, so T. could get some new cowboy boots and when the three of us walked out of the fabulous cowboy store—T. had new cowboy boots and I had a new, pretty purse.

Our next stop was at Wolfmueller Books for several reasons. One, to see Sandy and Jon, because we wanted to see them. Two, because they had seven Clyde Edgerton books to give to me, because he is now my new favorite author. "Thank you, Sandy and Jon."

And the third reason we went to Wolfmueller Books was to buy the book, The King Ranch Quarter Horses by Robert Moorman Denhardt, that they had gotten in, especially for me.

The second that we walked inside their cool bookstore, Sandy and Jon greeted us, from behind the counter and then the laughter commenced, as Carol, Jon and Sandy teased me about my new, pink horse blanket that I had purchased for Maya, my awesome Quarter Horse. "Wow, Nancy. I like your bright pink saddle blanket," Jon said, as he looked at the pictures of it, on my blog, on his computer. "Does it glow-in-the-dark?"

After taking some teasing about Maya's beautiful, pink, non-glow-in-the-dark saddle blanket, we talked about Maya's awesome lineage, as we took turns thumbing through, The King Ranch Quarter Horses book. Then after a fun visit with Jon and Sandy, Carol, Tone and I adios-ed our dear friends and headed for our last stop—H-E-B, to buy some groceries.

Early this evening Kinky called to invite me over for a visit. When I pulled up to the Lodge, in Trigger, Winston Churchill and Sophie S. Friedman came running outside to greet me, because Kink was talking on the phone, in his office. A few minutes later after Kink got off of the phone, he and I talked some rescue ranch business, while we petted The Friedmans and then we decided to go on a hike with them.

While we were hiking, I told Kinky about all of these people, who read my blog, sending me self-addressed stamped envelopes, because they want me to send them one of my free, "What Would Ronnie Do?" refrigerator magnets and it made him laugh. "I'm serious, Kinky. I had to order a bunch more magnets to keep up with the demand and today I received from our dear German cowgirl friend, Karin Pohlman, a stamp to cover the postage, because she and her husband Air-Gun can't wait to put it on their fridge..."

And that is about it for tonight, because I am going to spend this evening reading about the famous King Ranch Quarter Horses.

Y'all have a great evening! And Karin and Air-Gun—"It's in the mail! And everyone in Texas sends you our love."

It's Sunday! We Took The Day Off!

Today has been a total blast, because it's Sunday—we took the day off. This morning after we did our morning chores outside we cleaned up, because we met Carol in Bantucky, because she treated us to lunch.

After a fun, delicious lunch Tone and I went over to Carol's beautiful ranch, so Maya could wear her brand new, beautiful halter,  pretty, pink horse blanket and reins and we had a blast. Once Carol and I took off on our horses—T. shot us having fun and here are a few of his pictures.

Following a great ride, we sat out on Carol's porch, next to her lake, for happy hour and then we came home.

When we got home, after hugging all of our dogs and telling them how much we loved them, I went into Outer Space with my iPod Bose Dock and happily cleaned my old saddle again, as I listened to my music. And that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

Unveiling Party!

Today has been a total blast. This morning after T. and me did our morning chores outside, we grabbed my old saddle out of the barn and took it into Outer Space, so I could start cleaning it up, because it has not been used for years.

After Tony had read the instructions on how to use Horseman's One Step cleaning and conditioning he told me to go get some rags, so he could help me clean it up, which I thought was very nice of him to do. And thirty minutes later, after we had cleaned and conditioned the old leather—my saddle looked a whole lot better. "The directions recommend cleaning old leather saddles several times, so tomorrow we will clean it again," Tony said. "We had better go clean up, so we can go to Kinky's Man In Black Tequila unveiling party."

When we arrived at The Main Liquor Store, in Kerrville, around 1:45—the parking lot was filled with cars and trucks and people were standing in line outside, waiting to get inside to buy Kinky's tequilas and get him to autograph their bottles and get their pictures taken with him.

Before we went inside to find Kinky we saw our friends Harley Belew of KRVL Classic Rock 94.3 REVFM and Big G (Gordon Ames) of Big G's Texas Roadshow on The Real Deal 93.5 and KOOK 1230 KERV doing a remote, so on our way over to say "howdy" to them we saw our dear friend Gerry Olert, the best videographer in Texas. Guess which one is Big G.

After  howdies, hugs and handshakes with Gerry, Harley and Big G, they surprised me, "Okay, Nancy, you'll be the first to do our Kinky Man In Black Tequila remote with us. Put these on." I started laughing, as I put on a huge set of headphones with a mic, that looked like something I would have worn when I listened to my music back in the 70's. Then Gerry grabbed his video camera and started filming Big G and me talking on air, in the parking lot, about our rescue ranch. So, T. stood behind Gerry and shot all of us.

After we had a fun visit with our friends, Tony shot me next to a gigantic Man In Black tequila poster. Then we went inside the crowded liquor store.

The unveiling party of the tequila, which was the first one ever, was so much fun. Everyone was laughing and having a great time inside and the two musicians playing, blew me away with their talent. While our friend Gerry walked around videotaping the extravaganza, we had a blast running into old friends and people who have adopted dogs from us and visiting with them. All in all, it was like a family reunion for us. Here are some pictures that T. took. The first one is with Max Swafford (in the middle) visiting with his famous musician friends, bass player Greg Forest and lead guitarist and singer Ronnie Leatherman.

Here is Kinky with his Kerrville Folk Festival friends, Rod Kennedy and Dalis Allen.

Here is Gerry Olert posing with Kinky

And here is Copper Love, Dylan Ferrero and me visiting.

Before 3:00, there was good news and bad news. The good news was they sold completely out of Kinky's tequilas and the bad news was they sold completely out of Kinky's tequilas, because the liquor store was still full of people wanting to buy an autographed bottle(s) of Man In Black tequila, but everyone seemed fine with it and they signed up and prepaid for a bottle. And that is when Tony and I said goodbye to our friends, because we needed to get back to the rescue ranch.

As Kinky walked with us outside to say goodbye to us, we had a wonderful surprise waiting for us when we walked up to Buttermilk—our dear friends that we haven't seen for several years, Dianne and Len, from Round Rock, Texas, walked up to greet us. After howdies, hugs and handshakes we had a fun time catching up with each others news and because they made me laugh so much, my back is still aching a little. T. took this picture of us laughing.

On our way home Tony and I talked and laughed about how much fun we had at the unveiling party. I wish that all of y'all could have been there.

Y'all have a great evening!

Chem Tac, Inc. Rules!

Today has been really fun. This morning while Aaron was mowing and Tony and I were doing our morning chores outside, June, Eileen, Jim and Lisa, "Texas Greatest Volunteers," showed up to walk our dogs for us and our super dogs were thrilled to see them, as we were.

While we were outside Carol called and Carlton took her message. Around 11:00, when I came inside to check our messages, I burst out laughing when I heard Carol's. "Nancy, Tony. This is Carol." Then she started laughing. "I have done the dumbest thing and I need a big favor." Then she started laughing again. "Three days ago I put a trash sack in the trunk of Mom's Cadillac, that she loaned me until I get a new truck. Anyway, it's been sitting in there for three hot days and it stinks to high heaven. I was wondering if I could come over and throw it away in your dump. Call me." So, I did what she had asked.

"Hi, Carol...." Fifteen minutes later, while we were outside by the barn visiting with everyone and laughing about Carol's stinky dilemma—Carol drives in, so to make her laugh when she drove up—Tony and I pinched our noses like we smelled something awful. Then we all had a fun time teasing her about it. Then we all decided to do lunch at Koyote Ranch.

After Eileen and I had talked to Carol about Maya's impressive lineage, I took Carol aside, "Carol, we got our IRS refund. When do you want to go to that tack shop, in Fredericksburg, so I can buy Maya a pink horse blanket, halter and reins?"

"Let's go today, after lunch." Then everyone jumped into their vehicles and took off for Koyote Ranch for a fun lunch.

Aaron, Tony and I were the last to arrive at Koyote and when we walked inside the building, the volunteers had already placed their orders and were sitting and laughing, at a long table and that's when the party began.

We laughed hard as Eileen and June took turns telling us about their fun-filled trip, with Ellen, up to Dallas last Saturday, to cheer on Luna-Tick Tick Boom and as we ate our delicious lunch the laughter and teasing never ceased.

When it was time for us to leave, I told Eileen, "Carol, Tony and I are fixin' to go to that super tack shop in Fredericksburg..."

"Can I go, too?" Eileen asked.

"Sure, but you have to ask Carol," I joked.

"Carol, can I go with y'all?"

"No," Carol said solemnly, wearing a straight face, and then she broke out laughing and so did we. Then we told her that Tony was driving us and then we made plans to pick her up at the Subway, in Kerrville.

As T. chauffeured us to Fredland, Carol, Eileen and I talked non-stop about horses, etc. and trust me—there was plenty of laughter and that is why I am sitting on Mari's pretty, pink sheepskin as I type this right now, because my back is sore.

When we walked inside Chem Tac, Inc., just outside of Fredricksburg, Eileen, Carol and I were like kids in a candy store, as we checked out all of their beautiful tack.

Thirty minutes later, after I had picked out Maya's pretty, pink saddle blanket, a beautiful pair of leather split reins decorated in silver (aluminum brads), an awesome black and tan, braided Rope Halter Elite that Carol told me, "This is what Lawlor uses on his horses. They are the best," and a jar of Horseman's One Step saddle cream cleaner for my saddle—I wrote a check to pay for everything and then I took this picture of my big Maya purchase.

While we visited with the young, friendly, knowledgeable horse woman, at the counter, Eileen purchased a one-size-fits-all llama halter for her friend Baxter, who rescues llamas, to try out, that our super volunteers also help and then our chauffeur drove us home, as we talked non-stop about our adventure, which T. and I jokingly referred to it tonight as a mini-vacation for us.

"Nancy, when it comes to horses, instead of asking, "What Would Ronnie Do?" Eileen joked, Carol and I started laughing, because we already knew where she was heading with this. "We should ask, "What Would Lawlor Do?"

"Yes!" Carol said. "It's perfect."

"I love it. Tomorrow morning I will make some free refrigerator magnets that will read, "What Would Lawlor Do?" I can't wait..."

Early this evening, Kermit took Tone and me over to the Lodge for a fun visit with Kinky, to check out Sophie's new summer-cut doo and for T. to put Winston Churchill's dog tags on his new dog collar. And then I bragged about buying Maya's new pink saddle blanket, awesome halter and decorated reins and Kink thought it was cool. Then we came home and that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

The Cowgirl Sisterhood—Rides Again!

Today has been one great day and there is much to tell, but not tonight because I am pooped, because late this afternoon I went over to Carol's beautiful ranch, so she and I could ride our horses for two hours and I had a blast and am now on Cloud Nine, as I type this.

When I returned home tonight, from cowgirl-ing, Tony and our dogs were glad to see me home and Roy, my Roy Rogers, would not quit sniffing my horse-scented jeans, as I listened to Carlton's 23 new messages for me to return and since none of them were urgent, I am not going to return them until tomorrow morning, because I need to go clean up before going to bed.

Y'all have a great evening!