Harvest Moon!

Tonight, we've got us a Harvest Moon to enjoy, if you love full moons, which as y'all know—I don't. The only Harvest Moon or full moon that I enjoy is Neil Youngs' beautiful song, Harvest Moon, which I listen to every morning, to help me jump-start my day, while drinking my first cup of coffee.

Today has been pretty uneventful, so I spent nearly four hours, late this afternoon, working on my novel and I am pretty worn out from all of the writing, but I am so pleased where my funny, mystery novel is headed, I decided earlier tonight, not to post on my blog and just take a break from writing, so I could enjoy finish reading Pam Stone's wonderful book.

But, I changed my mind at 7:07 tonight, when I received a phone call from Susanna, in San Antone, who is the lovely lady that adopted Lola aka Lola Falana aka iPod from us, because what she had to tell me about iPod has totally made my day great.

Susanna told me that Lola aka Lola Falana aka iPod is a PERFECT DOG and when iPod first met her French Bull dog companion, they became instant friends, like they had known each other forever. She also told me that when she took iPod to her vet to get her checked out, her vet gave iPod a clean bill of health.

So, after Susanna and I had talked for about five, fun minutes, about what a great dog iPod was and that iPod had turned into a part-time diva and was sometimes prone to be a drama queen, when she felt it was necessary, I just had to write this tonight. "Thank you Susanna, for calling me tonight, adopting iPod from us and making my day great—Your iPod Rules!"

Y'all have a great evening!

Our (Metal) Cabin!

Yesterday and today have been great, because of Ben Welch and our wonderful friends/volunteers. Yesterday after Ben and Tony did the morning chores outside, I recruited his help to help me remodel Tony's and my bedroom, because I wanted to cover two of the bedroom's walls with that, made in Sweden pine, from Home Depot.

Yesterday, when I enlisted Ben to help me, I was expecting to share the work load, but it ended up that Ben basically did all of the work, which was good, because unlike me, he is somewhat of a perfectionist and it turned out beautiful and it feels like a cozy cabin.

So, when he had finished covering the wall, within a couple of hours, I loved it so much—he and I went to Home Depot and bought thirty-five more boards, so we could do the opposite wall today. Here is the new boarded wall that Ben built.

The reason that I did not write last night, was because I completed building the small section between the wall and the closet door. This is the way the wall looked before I started putting up the boards, where Willie's concert poster is hanging.

This morning June, Ellen, Eileen, Lisa, Kris and Jim, our super great friends/volunteers came out to walk our dogs and as always, I had a blast with them. Before all of us took off to go eat lunch at the Koyote Kafe, Eileen and Lisa came up to the trailer, because they wanted to give me something. 

First they gave me two scratch offs they had gotten for Tony, but because T. was gone on a Texas Master Naturalist field trip, they asked me to scratch off the tickets, which was fun, but unfortunately did not turn out to be a financial pleasure. 

Then Lisa gave me a large sack of Brookside Dark Chocolate Covered Cranberries, which are totally delicious and hard to quit eating. Then Eileen handed me a copy of Pam Stone's latest book, I Love Me A Turkey Butt Samwich: Finding A Farm Life After Hollywood," who her sister Dean knows and Dean got it signed by Pam, because they know that I watch Coach reruns every night and that I love the character, Coach Watkins, that Pam played. "Thank you, Lisa, Eileen, Dean and Pam!"

Ben and I were the last to arrive at the Koyote Kafe and lunch with our friends/volunteers was a total blast for me. June's hilarious story about what happened to her and her husband, who were inside their house, when lightning hit their house, because of their flag pole, had tears falling from my eyes, because my back was killing me from laughing so much. And Jim's hilarious story about what happened to his friend's fifteen-year-old son, when lightning struck their house, while he was secretly, in his room, reading a Playboy magazine, made all of us shake with laughter. 

I embarrassed Ben, when Pete, one of the friendly Koyote Ranch employees, walked over to our table and asked me, "Where's Tony Bologne today?"

I looked over at Ben and jokingly said, "I dumped Tony. Ben's my new boyfriend." That caused Ben to blush and everyone else to laugh.

Then Ellen says, "It's a no-brainer. Ben brings her chocolate." And that made Ben and us burst out laughing again.

When Ben drove me back to the rescue ranch, we immediately "set up shop," on the front porch and then got to work on finishing the rest of the wall that I had started on last night, while Roy Rogers slept peaceably in the middle of the bed. 

It took us less than an hour to complete my project and I was thrilled that Ben actually let me use a screw gun, a couple of times, to drive a few of the screws into the wall. When we had finished, Tony arrived and like us, he could not believe how great, the two newly boarded walls, made our bedroom look. "It feels just like a cabin to me. I love our metal cabin!" I raved, in delight. Here's how that unfinished wall turned out.

And that's about it for tonight, because I am fixin' to go back into our cozy cabin bedroom, snuggle up on the bed with our six dogs and read Pam Stone's book, which Ellen and Eileen told me is very funny and a great read, while it continues to rain outside.

Y'all have a great evening!

It's Right Here!

Today has been great. This morning, after Tony and his brother Sam did the morning chores outside, I went outside to tell them that this man, from Kerrville, was coming out to possibly adopt a dog. While we waited for Don to arrive, we walked around the rescue ranch searching for Tony's favorite pocketknife that he had lost three days ago, when he had laid it on Kermit's tailgate and forgot about it and then drove off.

When we gave up looking for it, we jumped into Kermit and went to Bob Dylan's pen, so they could repair a fence. After they had fixed the fence, Sam and I were standing next to Kermit and Tony was standing behind Kermit, when I said, "I wonder where your pocketknife is?"

"It's right here between my boots!" Tony said, as he bent down to pick it up. "I can't believe this!"

"You're kidding?" I asked, as he started laughing. Then he stood up and showed it to us and then he began cleaning off the dirt and the grass.

"When you asked where it was, I just looked down and there it was. How weird is that?"

"I love it," I said. "Do you realize that if you hadn't stopped Kermit exactly where you did, we might not have seen it. It could have been under Kermit or..."

We really enjoyed meeting Don, and showing him all of our dogs and before he left he told us, "I'll come adopt one of your dogs on Saturday, because I need to go home and get things ready for him, before I bring him home." And we can't wait to see which one he decides to adopt.

This afternoon, Tony and I went to the Melody Corner Music Center, in Kerrville, on Junction Highway, to see if Stan could install a built-in pickup jack, on my guitar, so it will make it faster and easier for me to just plug it, when I want to use my Genz-Benz amp.

When we walked inside Stan's music store, it was full of musicians, trying out his different amps, playing guitars and getting Stan's advice about their musical instruments and we had to wait for about five minutes, before it was my turn to talk to Stan and it didn't bother me at all, because I love being around people who can make music.

When Stan opened up my guitar case to look at my guitar, he smiled and said, "Oh yeah, now I remember this guitar, Cousin Nancy. It's awesome and your brother made it for you..." Five minutes later, we walked out of Stan's place empty handed, with smiles on our faces, because the soonest Stan can work on my guitar is Thursday and his low, "special Cousin Nancy discounted price" that he quoted me, to install the pickup, was music to my ears. Thank you, Stan! And that is about it for today.

Y'all have a great evening!

Jed Clampitt!

Today has been great. This morning after we did our chores outside, we went over to the Lodge to visit with Kinky, for a few minutes and it was fun. Before we left to come back over here, I told Kinky that we were going to Kerrville today, because we needed to go by Hoegemeyer Animal Clinic, to drop off Goldie Hawn and to bring Jed Clampitt to the rescue ranch.

"Let's meet for lunch, around 1:00," Kinky suggested.

Around noon, we jumped into Buttermilk, drove down to Goldie Hawn's pen and picked her up and then we headed for Kerrville.

Thirty minutes later, we arrived at the vet clinic to drop off Goldie. After Susan had filled out Goldie's paperwork and taken her back to a cage, we told Susan that we needed to run some errands and would be back later to pick up Jed Clampitt. "Jed's a great dog, but I doubt if he is an actual hound dog, like the man had told you." Then we started laughing about people getting the breeds mixed up.

"Can we go take a peek at him?" I asked, wondering what breed he actually was. Then the three of us went to see Jed, "the dog that looks exactly like Jed Clampitt's dog, in the Beverly Hillbillies."

When we walked up to Jed's dog run and first saw him—we were a little bit surprised. "Hi, Jed," I said, to this very friendly handsome, 68 pound, 18 month old, tail wagging dog. "You're right, Susan. He's definitely not a hound dog, but he sure is a nice looking dog."

Lunch with Kinky was fun. Tony ordered a Mexican plate which includes: three enchiladas, taco with beans and rice, and when Kink heard me order, "I'll try The Special Dinner," which included a taco, a chile relleno, one enchilada, a tamale, guacamole salad, a cheese and bean chalupa with beans and rice," he decided to give it a try too. After the friendly waitress walked away, Kinky and I started laughing, when Tony says, "I can't believe y'all ordered that. You're never going to be able to eat all of it."

"I know I can't eat that much food, Tony. I would explode. I'm just going to eat a little bit of everything."

Omg! Tony's jaw dropped to the floor when his meal was served on just one plate and it took two, strong waitresses to deliver Kinky's and my, "Special Dinner," because his and mine were such big meals they had to be served on two large hot plates. After Kinky and I had quit laughing about the Special Dinner, while staring in amazement at our four plates, sitting on the table in front of us, we began to eat and eat and eat.

When we had finished eating, the waitress happily removed Tony's cleaned plate, Kinky's three-fourths of the food missing, on his two plates and my two-thirds of food still left on my two plates. "That was delicious and I am full," I said, "and I never even tasted the enchilada."

After we adios-ed Kinky, Tone and I went back to Hoegemeyers to pick up Jed Clampitt. On our way home, Tony, in a serious voice, says, "Nancy, let's just call him Jed, not Jed Clampitt, because he doesn't look anything like the hound dog on the Beverly Hillbillies."

"That's fine with me, but I was thinking of changing his name all together. How about calling him Jethro Tull?" Everybody, please meet Jethro Tull!

Y'all have a great evening!

Congratulations Tom & Nicki!

Yesterday, around noon, while Maribeth baby sat our rescue ranch for us, Tony and I went up to Dripping Springs, so we could attend Tom & Nicki's wedding. It was a totally awesome wedding and we had the greatest time. We got back here early this morning and Tony did our outside chores, while I did laundry, etc. and because I am feeling so tired right now, I will write more about the coolest wedding that we've ever been to—tomorrow.

Y'all have a great evening!

Goldie Hawn And Jed Clampitt!

Today has been great. I surprised Tony this morning by feeding the dogs and cleaning their pens, before he returned home, from the Old Timer, and I did it, because it was so beautiful outside and I wanted to visit with the dogs.

Later this morning, right after June had arrived, I went outside to the barn and told Tony that he needed to go to Medina, to rescue a small dog, that our friend Sherry had just called me about. "Sherry told me that and the dog is real sweet and she has it with her, at work and..." So, Tony took off for Medina.

Then I visited with June and we talked about how excited we were about George Clooney and Annie Oakley getting adopted together and going to such a fabulous home. "Gail, told me that she is going to send me some pictures of Annie snoozing in Gail's lounge chair and I cannot wait to see them..." Then I grabbed my poop bucket and scoopers and took off to spot clean any pens that needed it and June grabbed two leashes, so she could go walk Layla and Little Girl.

Forty minutes later, Eileen showed up to walk dogs and then Tony arrived with the cutest, little female dog. And we're guessing that she is about one or two years old, but we will know more, after we take her to Hoegemeyers, on Monday, to get her shots, a checkup and spayed.

June, Eileen, Tony and I went to Koyote Kafe for lunch and I really enjoyed it. The food was good, but the company was better and we did a lot of laughing. And before we adios-ed each other, June came up with a great name for our new rescued dog—Goldie Hawn and here's a picture that I took of her when she arrived at the rescue ranch.

On our way home, we stopped to pick up our mail and I was thrilled when I saw that Gail had sent me a letter and included a few pictures. In Gail's fun-to-read letter, she wrote to tell me that she renamed George Clooney to George Washington and Annie Oakley to Abigail Adams and her dogs love their new digs. She wrote that Annie is definitely the boss, when it came to what furniture George could relax on and George has an aversion to throw rugs and keeps removing the rugs from the bathrooms and leaving them piled up, in the hallway, so she has to keep the doors closed. And she told me that Annie and George were a "piece of cake" to handle, compared to her last dog Buster, who lived to be twelve-years-old, who was a Boxer, Pit Bull and Akita mix and he weighed in at eighty-five pounds. And Gail's dearest wish is to get both of them Canine Behavior Certificates, so they can go to the VA hospital and visit the soldiers. Then she thanked us for letting her adopt George and Annie. And we can't thank Gail enough for adopting those two dogs and giving them a loving home. 

I saved the pictures for last and Tony and I absolutely love them. Here are two pictures that I scanned of Annie relaxing in her super forever home.

Around 2:30 this afternoon, I received an urgent phone call from a very nice man, about a stray that had shown up, in his trailer park, in Kerrville. He said, "The dog is real friendly, probably about six to seven-months-old and he's been running around in the trailer park for about six days and I am scared for him. I have an old, eighty pound dog and we live in a Airstream and she doesn't want anything to do with him. He is a hound dog and he looks like the dog in the Beverly Hillbillies and he just needs a break..."

"Sir, let me call you right back," I said. "We are at capacity out here and we just rescued a small dog this morning, but I want to talk to my husband about this. I'll call you back in just a few minutes." 

After we had adios-ed each other, I walked down the hall and told Tony about the dog and after a short conversation with him, I returned to the big room and called the man back. Then I called Susan, at Hoegemeyer Animal Clinic, "Hi Susan, we have a dog coming in and a man will be bringing him to y'all. The man told me that the dog is a hound dog, so I'm naming him Jed Clampitt." That made Susan laugh. "Jed needs all of his shots, neutering, etc. and Monday we will be coming in with the cutest small dog, to get her taken care of and her name is Goldie Hawn..." 

Early this evening, I went over to the Lodge to show Gail's letter and pictures to Kinky and he really enjoyed reading Gail's letter and when I showed him the pictures he chuckled.

I can't wait until next Friday, so I can show Gail's letter and her pictures to the volunteers, because I know they will love it. And that is about it for tonight. I need to go write.

Y'all have a great evening!

Happy Birthday, Friendly Lighthouse Keeper!!

Today is Rick's birthday and Tony and I want to be among the first to wish him a happy birthday.

Happy Birthday to You. Happy Birthday to You. Happy Birthday Dear Rick. Happy Birthday to YOU!

And as you like to say to us on our birthdays, we hope you have another one!

Pretty Chubby!

Today has been fun. This morning after we did our chores outside, I went over to the Lodge to visit with Kinky and Dylan.

While we were in the kitchen and Sophie was walking into the room, Kinky spoke softly and admitted to us, "Sophie really does need to loose some weight."

"She has gotten pretty chubby, Kink," I said. "She needs to sign up for Over Eaters Anonymous."

"That's a good one, Nance," Kinky said, as he and Dylan laughed.

"I can just see her at a O.E.A. meeting saying," I said. "I'm fat. And I'm fat, because of Kinky, because he is always cooking for us and giving us too many treats. I eat everything that he gives me, because I don't want to hurt his feelings..."

"I guess I'm going to have to start feeding her separately."

"Why?" Dylan and I asked.

"Because I don't want to hurt her feelings, when she sees how much I am feeding Winston and Chumley. Let's go outside and sit on the porch."

When we went outside, Kinky and I sat down in the rocking chairs and before Dylan could sit down, Sophie jumped into his chair, sat down and then made goo-goo eyes at Dylan, which made all of us laugh. "Kinky's right," I said. "She is definitely in love with Dylan. Kinky's been telling me about her getting love struck, every time that you come over."

"I know and I don't know why?" Dylan said, as he gently scooted Sophie over, so he could sit down on a third of the chair. As Dylan began to pet Sophie, she stared deeply into his eyes, like she was in some kind of a trance, and Kinky and I watched in amazement.

When it was time for them to take The Friedmans, on a hike, we agreed to meet for lunch, in Kerrville and then I adios-ed them and came home.

Lunch was a total blast, because Dylan kept us constantly laughing, with his hilarious tales about his and Kinky's escapades, when they were young. And that is about it for tonight, because I'm heading out to my writing cabin, with Mama and Roy, so I can do some more writing.

Y'all have a great evening!

Out Of Juice!

The last two days have been pretty uneventful at the rescue ranch, but today has been great, because I spent five hours yesterday evening and five hours today writing. I am really having fun with my writing, too, because I am using some of my friends names, for the characters.

In fact, yesterday, when my friend Vern called me, I asked him if he wanted to be in my fiction novella or novel and he said, "Yes, use my name. I would love to be in your book." And, when I sent Fourth an e-mail, asking if I could use his and Lynda's names for a couple of character—he was all for it too.

I have not yet decided, if I want this to be a novella, which is approximately 20,000 to 50,000 words or a novel, which is 50,000 to 110,000 words, because I can't wait to publish it.

It is my first fiction, mystery novel about my friend Carol and I, along with our horses, Rosebud and Maya and our dogs Roy Rogers and Scout, going on an adventure to New Mexico, to help a friend solve a mystery and it is pretty funny.

"Last night, I asked Tony to read the first 25 pages of it and to tell me what he thought about it and he told me that he loved it and to keep writing." And I hoped that he wasn't just being nice to me, because his power cord to his lap top broke four days ago and he has been having to borrow, my Apple power cord, to keep his lap top powered up until his replacement cord arrives, which has been driving both of crazy, because about every two hours, for the four past days, he'll borrow my power cord to power his up to last for a few hours, as my my lap top runs out of juice. Actually, it has been pretty funny.

This afternoon, while we were outside, his power cord was delivered and he was happier than I have ever seen him. So, now that Tony has his power back and he no longer needs my power cord to work on his computer, I am going to go ask him to please reread it again, because  I have done a lot of editing to it tonight. So, please wish me luck.

Y'all have a great evening!

Her Recliner!

Today has been so great, but I must keep tonight's post short, because since yesterday, I have been on a roll—writing my book and I am so excited about how it is turning out.

This afternoon, after we ran several errands in Kerrville, we met  Kinky and Big G for a late lunch and I really enjoyed it, except when they discussed politics. While we were eating lunch, Kinky gave Big G and us a copy of the new Jesse Dayton CD to listen to, that is fixin' to be available this Fall, called, Jesse Sings Kinky.

The Kinky songs that Jesse recorded are some of my favorite Kinky songs and after listening to the CD on our return trip home—all I can say is, "It is a great CD and Tony and I love it."

When we returned home, Gail, the sweet woman who adopted George Clooney and Annie Oakley from us on Saturday, had left a message on Carlton, about needing to speak to me about them and that made me instantly sad. "I'm fixin' to call Gail back. I guess Annie and George were just too much for her."

Well, guess what?  I guessed wrong! When I called Gail, the first thing Gail said to me was, "First off, please don't worry. The dogs are doing fabulous, but I need your advice about..." After we had a discussion about them getting porcupine-ed, this past Labor Day, Gail told me that I was dead wrong about thinking that Annie preferred to be outdoors, because she told me that the first thing Annie did when she got them home, was to run and jump on Gail's lounge chair. "She's claimed my chair as her chair and she never leaves it."

Before Gail and I adios-ed each other, she also told me that she is going to send me some hilarious pictures of Annie sleeping on her back and in other odd positions in her recliner! And y'all, Gail's great news about Annie and George has totally made my day. In fact, I would go so far as to say, "It has made my week, because Annie and George have finally found the greatest home that they both deserve. "Thank you so much, Gail!"

And that is about it for tonight, because Roy, Mama and I are going outside, to my writing cabin, so I can write some more fiction before going to bed!

Y'all have a great evening!

Jake Spoon! or Are Y'all Dead!

We got over 4 inches of rain Thursday night and all of the creeks are full and the grass is already turning green! It is hard to believe that Thursday morning the grass was dead, the creeks and ponds were completely dried up and then twenty-four hours later it was the complete opposite.

Today has been great. At 6:15 this morning, Tony left The Cabin, so he could be in Johnson City by 8:15, for a Texas Master Naturalist field trip.

After drinking two cups of coffee, I went outside around 7:15 to do the morning chores. First, I fed the chickens, pigs and deer and then I fed all of our dogs and I really enjoyed it, because the dogs were frisky, because the temperature was in the low 60's.

By the time I had fed everyone, I was covered in mud, because many of our dogs greeted me by jumping up on me. When I was halfway through cleaning the dog pens, the dogs started barking wildly at something near the entrance gate, so I left Bob Dylan's and Rockette's pen, jumped into Kermit, to go find out who or what was here, even though I figured it was probably the donkeys and the horses.

Of course I was wrong, because when I saw it, I half-hollered, "Hi, buddy. How are you doing today?" It said nothing, because it was a large Catahoula dog, with one blue eye and one brown eye. The friendly dog, wearing a dog collar and tags, walked right up to me, wagging his tail, so I slipped a leash over his head and walked him over to Kermit. "Load up," I said. He looked at me and then he jumped into Kermit and sat down on the bench seat, next to me.

Because we are at capacity right now and we have no extra space, I drove him down to The Okay Corral and he thought it was okay, but he wasn't real happy when I left him, to go call the number on his tag.

I got an answering machine and left a message that we had their dog and two seconds after I had hung up the phone—it rang. "Rescue Ranch. Can I help you?"

"Yes, ma'am. You just called here. You've got my dog and his name is Jake Spoon."

"That's a great name for him," I said. "He is doing fine."

"He's a nice dog. I'll come get him within the hour..." After we had adios-ed each other, I went outside and told Jake that he would be leaving shortly and then I went back to Dylan's pen to pick up where I had left off. And ten minutes later Jake Spoon was picked up and taken home.

At 10:00, Gail arrived to adopt George Clooney and Annie Oakley and after she had filled out their adoption forms, she followed Kermit and me down to their dog pen, so we could load George and Annie into the back of her blue SUV, so she could take them to their new home. Before Gail left, I told her, "Annie can be a real handful, Gail and just remember, if she doesn't work out, we will gladly take her back..." As Gail drove away, with her future fur-family, I realized that I had forgotten to take a picture of her and the dogs, so I could show it to Tony and y'all.

Susanna arrived around 2:00 this afternoon, to adopt sweet, little iPod (aka Lola Falana) and iPod could not wait to leave the rescue ranch and go to her new home and I did remember to take their picture, before they drove away.

At 3:00, I jumped into Trigger and went to the library, in Medina, so I could be there to help celebrate the life of Randy Solis, the beloved Director of the Medina Community Library, who passed away last Tuesday morning, in a tragic bicycle accident. When I got to Medina, I finally found a place to park, down the block, because everyone in town was at the library, sharing their favorite stories about Randy, with his friends and his lovely family. 

I teared up three times, when I spoke to Randy's wife Liz and when I met Randy's 92 years-old father and when my friend Susan W. told me what Randy had recently said about his dad, "My father is my very best friend..." Even though it was a sad occasion, the library was totally filled with love and happiness and I am so glad that I went, because Randy was loved by so many and he will never be forgotten for all that he did for the Medina Community Library.

Tony and I both arrived back home around 4:30. He was tired from driving, but he really enjoyed his field trip and he did not quit talking about it, until forty minutes later, when we walked back inside The Cabin and heard our friend Sandy leaving this message on Carlton, "Hello, Tony and Nancy. Are y'all dead?"

When we had finally quit laughing, I punched in Sandy and Jon's home phone number and quickly apologized for forgetting to call them back on Friday, to give them a ranch-rain-report and then she and I had a fun conversation. And that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

It's Raining Big Time!

I have to keep this short tonight, even though today has been a totally fun and a wonderful day, because it's actually raining big time! We've been having super, heavy thunderstorms here— since 5:00, when sweet Blayre, the super Girl Scout, that I have so admiration for, delivered another ton of her delicious, homemade dog treats, for our dogs. "Thank you, Blayre—we love YOU!"

Tony and I have almost everything unplugged right now, except for the wi-fi, so I could quickly post this. It is 59 degrees outside, the beautiful rain is pouring and the sky's light-show is awesome, but a little bit scary to me, since lightning freaks me out. I am listening to Neil Young sing my favorite song, Harvest Moon and I have my little, white Christmas lights plugged in and they are twinkling inside The Cabin, as I finish writing this. It finally feels like Fall, so as far as I am concerned—Summer is now officially over at last! Yeah!

Y'all have a great evening!

The Boy From Ipanema!

Today has been great. This morning Tony and I were outside at 6:15, using flashlights to help us feed the dogs, chickens, deer and pigs, because he had to leave at 7:15, to go to his Texas Master Naturalist class, in Kerrville.

After he and Buttermilk drove away, I came inside The Cabin, to drink my second cup of coffee and then I went back outside to clean the dog pens. Then I came back inside and took a shower and then I returned some phone calls.

The two most important phone calls I returned were to Gail and to Suzanna. Gail had called to ask me a few questions and to tell me that she is coming out Saturday morning to adopt Annie Oakley and George Clooney. And Suzanna's call was about her wanting to adopt a small dog from us, so it could be a companion for Ousie, her sweet, four-year-old French Bulldog. When all was said and done, Suzanna had made an appointment to come out around 3:30 today, so she could meet Lola Falana aka iPod, the sweet little Chihuahua mix that we have been fostering.

Around 11:30, Trigger and I took off for Kerrville, so I could run a few errands before meeting Kinky, Tone, Big G and his brother Larry for a late lunch. After going to Office Max, H-E-B and the cleaners, I arrived at 1:28 and everyone was already there, placing their orders at the counter.

Lunch was a lot of fun, especially after they had quit talking politics. When Larry, Big G's older and taller brother, who was visiting him, told us about his interesting job in Rio de Janeiro and the heavy traffic he has to put up with, in Ipanema, I chuckled and said, "Larry, you're the boy from Ipanema," as Big G began humming the Girl From Ipanema tune. Then we got into a hilarious, short-lived argument with Kinky, when I said, "Kinky, it was a 'Erb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass song."

"No, it wasn't a 'Erb, Herb Alpert song," Kinky disagreed. "It's a Stan Getz song and..."

"It was also a Frank Sinatra, Dionne Warwick and Amy Winehouse song, too," I said, just to tease him.

Late this afternoon Suzanna came out and she and Lola aka iPod fell in love with each other and after a fun visit with Suzanna, in Outer Space, she told us that she would come out on Saturday to pick up Lola aka iPod, because she wanted to get her new dog a new dog collar, leash, harness, toys, doggie bed, etc. and Lola / iPod can't wait to go live with her and Ousie, in San Antonio. And that is about it for tonight, because I am fixin' to learn how to play Petula Clark's version of, The Boy From Ipanema, on my guitar. "Tall and tan and..."

Y'all have a great evening!

Your Biscuit! or The Way It Was!

The reason that I did not write last night was because my back was aching and I was really pooped. The reason for me being pooped and my back aching last night is actually pretty funny now, that I can look back at it and my back doesn't hurt this evening.

As you already know, last Friday night I spent the evening reupholstering two chairs, inside my writing cabin, after Ben had helped me haul off the super heavy blue couch and several other things to the storage barn. Ben had also moved two heavy chairs and a couch around, inside my writing cabin, so I could redecorate it, because I had decided to turn one of the rooms into an actual bedroom.

Well, I spent most of the day Saturday, even though Ben was still out here helping us and we were having fun, wondering if I had made a big decorating mistake, because I wasn't real happy with the way the new visiting room looked and I was starting to have serious doubts about putting a bed into the cabin, because I knew that a lot of visitors would ask me if they could stay there and it would be very hard for me to tell them, "No, I'm sorry, we need our privacy and time off and..."

Sunday morning, after Tony and I had done our morning chores outside and we had cleaned ourselves up, he took me to a late breakfast at Randy & Lisa's Save Inn restaurant, in Kerrville.

Because T. knows me so well and he knew that I was semi-depressed about the condition of my pretty, pink writing cabin, without me even saying a word about it, he nonchalantly says, "Nance, I don't like the way the new visiting room looks. I think you should ditch your bedroom decorating plans and just put everything back the way it was."

His words absolutely thrilled me, because that was exactly what I wanted to do, but I was too embarrassed to admit it. "I'll help you, as soon as we get back home. Are you going to eat your biscuit?" And that is why I did not write last night, because Mama, Roy and I spent a few hours outside, sitting inside my beautiful restored cabin. "Thank you, Tone! I love it!"

Today has been great, but it has been a quiet day. Early this evening I went over to the Lodge to visit with Kinky and The Friedmans. He and I sat outside, in his rocking chairs, on his front porch and we watched his dogs play, while the Hummingbirds drank from his feeders and we talked about the weather, the movie Bernie, his thirty-something plants that will need to be moved inside the Lodge soon and the rescue ranch, etc. And that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

Blue Monkey!

Today has been great. This morning while Tony was gone on a Texas Master Naturalist field trip, Ben and I did the chores outside, while we talked and listened to my music play outside.

Early this afternoon, Rose and Bonnie, two really cool Girl Scouts from Dripping Springs, showed up with their parents, to deliver their Silver Projects, that they made for our dogs and have been working on for months.

When they arrived, after howdies and hugs, I took this picture of Rose and Bonnie standing by the trailer, carrying The White House, that Bonnie had made for the portable Puppy Pentagon pen, that Rose had built, to complete their Girl Scouts Silver Projects.

Tony, Ben and I were blown away with their craftsmanship, skill and creativity and we could not wait to set up the portable puppy pen and put The White House inside it, so we asked them to follow us down to where we were going to put it. Here's Ben helping Rose set up her puppy pen, around The White House, which is the perfect size for puppies.

In no time at all, Rose's pen was set up, so I took this picture of the finished portable puppy pen, surrounding The White House, with Bonnie and Rose trapped inside the pen, so I could take their pictures.

As we stood back admiring the young ladies hard work and the clever names that they gave to the doghouse and pen, I joked, "All I can say is, "Because we are a non-profit organization, our puppies are going to have to be bi-partisan-pups. I can't wait for Kinky to see this..."

After Tony, Ben and I had thanked the girls for their work and helping out our rescue ranch, Rose and Bonnie told us that their was even more. "We made toys and have toys to give out to all of the dogs and we also brought you some dog food and dog treats."

As Ben and Tony helped unload the dog food and doggie treats, I thanked the girl's parents for helping the girls deliver their projects to us and for also doing such a fine job raising their children. Then Bonnie and Rose grabbed their big, blue bag from the car, so they could hand out the toys to our dogs. Of course our dogs loved their new toys and here are a couple of pictures that I took of Miss Dee playing with her new, blue monkey and Rocky ready to catch his tossed toy in mid air.

When is was time for Rose and Bonnie and their parents to head back to Dripping Springs, we thanked Bonnie and Rose once again, for being such great Girl Scouts and for taking their time to help our dogs at our rescue ranch. And that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

Sorry, Not Tonight!

Sorry, not tonight, because I am in the midst of completely redecorating my writing cabin and it is a total mess right now. And I am reupholstering chair cushions for two chairs tonight. Wish me luck.

Y'all have a great evening!

Curry Powder!

Today has been great. This morning, Tony and I got up really early, so we could feed the pigs, chickens, deer and the dogs and clean the dog pens before Tony took off for Kerrville, to attend his third Texas Master Naturalists class.

We went outside at 6:00 this morning and we quit at 7:15, so Tony could grab his notebooks and take off in Buttermilk. With only four dog pens left to clean, I came inside and drank my second cup of coffee of the day and then I went back outside and cleaned the four pens. Then I came back inside to make a delicious, healthy smoothie for my breakfast.

After adding my normal ingredients into Jaws: an orange, a hand full of kale, 1/4 cup of blueberries, banana and 1/4 cup of strawberries, I reluctantly added a tablespoon of Curry powder and six, shelled pistachio nuts, because yesterday I had read on the Internet, that we seniors all need to add Curry powder and pistachio nuts to our diets.

Omg! My healthy smoothie tasted terrible and it was really hard for me to swallow it, because it only tasted like Curry powder, which I quickly realized this morning—I'd rather die early than spend the rest of my life having to drink that foul tasting Curry powder every morning.

After tossing the jar of Curry powder into the trash, I cleaned up the kitchen and then I walked four more fast miles with Leslie, which now makes forty-four miles that I've walked with her since ten days ago. Then I went back outside to check on the dogs and to spot-clean any dog pens that needed it.

When I came back inside, Kinky called to invite me to come over for a visit. While we sat outside, watching The Friedmans play, we talked about Las Vegas and by the time we were done with that topic—he wants me to join him and his friends, on his next trip out there, but I don't think that is going to happen, because the only way that I would fly out there, is if Southwest Airlines has built a new terminal in Kerrville, because I don't do San Antone or its airport.

Before I left the Lodge, Kinky and I decided to meet Tony for lunch, around 1:00, after his TMN class ended, so when I got home, I wrote Tone a note, asking him to please meet us for lunch and then I jumped into Trigger and took off for Kerrville, so I could slip the note inside Buttermilk, so Tony would see it and meet us.

At 1:00, Mr. Green Jeans pulled up next to Trigger, in the restaurant's parking lot, so Kinky and I got out of our trucks and went inside the restaurant. "Shall we wait for Tony, to order?" Kink asked.

"No, let's go ahead and order. T. should be here any minute," I unintentionally lied. While we ate our lunch we talked about Vegas, Weatherford, Texas, Mary Martin and Larry Hagman, Churchill, Curry powder and pistachio nuts.

By 1:36, Kinky had finished eating his Menudo and I had nearly finished off my small, delicious shrimp cocktail, then a man and his wife walked up to our table, "We've got to quit meeting this way," he said to us.

"Omg!" I said. "Hi, Kris and Jim! Kinky, this is Jim and Kris, our new friends / volunteers, that I have been telling you about." After Kinky had greeted them, shook their hands and had thanked them for helping our rescue ranch, they visited for a few minutes and then they adios-ed us. Then Kinky adios-ed me. "Thanks for lunch, Nance. Tell Tony, "I'm sorry I missed him..."

After Kink had left the building, I waited for five more minutes, then I asked for the check. As I was about to pay the cashier for our lunch, Tony walked in and said, "I'm sorry that I am late. I'm starving." So we went back to Kinky's and my table and I sipped iced tea and talked about the Curry powder ruining my smoothie, as I watched Tony magically make two, large tacos disappear. Then I followed him home. And that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

Labor Day! or Bernie!

I hope that everyone has had a great Labor Day Weekend. Last night before going to bed I declared, "I am taking Labor Day off tomorrow," and that turned out to be another one of my unintentional lies.

This morning when Tony returned home, after drinking coffee with his friends, at the Old Timer, he walked inside The Cabin and declared, "I've got to take Annie Oakley and George Clooney to Hoegemeyers right now. They got porcupined really bad last night."

"Is the pocupine okay?" I asked.

"You don't want to know."

"You'd better call the clinic, in case they are closed today." T. took my advice and punched in their phone number and talked to their answering service, because they were closed.

A few minutes later, Dr. Rydberg called Tony back and agreed to meet him at the clinic in forty minutes. Then we went outside. "I need to get crates and my heavy duty leather gloves, Nance. You take Kermit down to their pen, so you can help me crate them."

When Tony and Buttermilk met me at their pen, he put his gloves on, grabbed two slip-on leashes and then he went into their pen to get them. Even though they were covered in quills, they seemed happy to see Tony and they let him easily leash them up.

Once Tony, George and Annie were outside of their big pen, Tony handed me George's leash and said, "Be careful, Nance. Don't let him touch you with those quills. I'll load him up as soon as I get Annie into her crate.

When they were ready to take off for Kerrville, I told Tony, "I'll go ahead and start feeding and cleaning the dog pens. Drive careful."

A couple of hours later when Tony and Buttermilk arrived back at the rescue ranch I only had two more dog pens to clean and only four dogs left to feed, so Tony helped me finish up and then we went to The Cabin, so we could eat a late breakfast.

Because we couldn't pick up Annie and George until tomorrow afternoon and we're not into watching tennis on the television all day, I suggested that Tony watch the movie, Bernie, while I cleaned up the kitchen, because I had watched the movie last night and had totally loved it.

Well, Tony loved the movie as much as I did and we talked about what a great a performance Jack Black did, as I cooked us shrimp with fresh vegetables for our lunch and he loved that too.

After I had cleaned up the kitchen, Roy, Belle and I walked four fast miles with Leslie Sansone, in the big room and it was pretty funny to watch, because they kept following me around the big room and kitchen trying to get me to stop, so I could pet them.

When our fun, fast, four mile trek ended, I took a short, sleepless nap with all of our dogs and then I decided to play catch-up with some first-of-the-month paperwork and I am pleased, because as of this minute, I am totally caught up with all of my paperwork.

Even though I have worked most of the day, on Labor Day, I am glad that I did, because "Tomorrow, I am taking the whole day off, after I do my morning chores outside." And that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

Princess & The Clown!

Today has been great. This morning after doing our outdoor chores, Kinky called to invite me over for a visit, so I went over there for a short visit, because we had Sally and her sister Midge coming to visit us around noon.

When Kinky and I were outside visiting, sitting on the rockers on his front porch, a really nice young man, who had been a counselor at the camp this summer, came up to greet us. While we were visiting with him, he told us that Princess, a beautiful dog that was adopted from us, this past August, was here and then he invited me to come see her, down at one of the bunks.

As we walked up to the bunk, Princess spotted me the same time that I spotted her, "Hi, girlfriend," I half-hollered, as she came racing up to me. As I petted my dear old girlfriend, Ben, the man who had adopted her, walked up to greet me.

Ben told me that Princess, who he had renamed Copper, was the greatest dog that he had ever had and I loved hearing him brag about how smart and sweet she was, because I already knew it. "My mom loves her so much, too. In fact, she has told me several times that she wants Copper to be her dog and..."

Twenty minutes later, after playing with Copper and then watching her run free around the ranch, I adios-ed Ben and started to walk away, "Wait Nancy!" Ben hollered, as Copper ran up to go with me, which made me laugh. "I think she likes you more than she likes me," Ben said, as he walked up to get his dog.

"No, Ben. She loves you and was just wanting to say goodbye to me. Thank you so much for adopting her..."

When I returned to the Lodge, I visited with Kinky for a few more minutes and then I adios-ed him, because I had a clown to meet and I was running late.

As Trigger and I entered the rescue ranch, I saw Sally's car parked up by The Cabin. "Hi Sally," I said, as I walked inside our trailer. "I apologize for running late..." Then Sally introduced me to her sister Midge, "Midge is visiting us from Albuquerque. She's a teacher and a certified clown and her clown name is Polkadottie!" Then the laughter began.

While Tony, Sally, Polkadottie and I sipped coffee and visited inside The Cabin, Mama picked Sally and Roy picked Polkadottie as the lucky ones to pet them non-stop and the sisters were good sports about it, as they took turns telling us one funny story after another.

Because Polkadottie was the first, real clown that I've ever met in person, I was very curious about how she had become a certified clown. "Years ago, I met a clown, on the phone, from the Ringling & Brothers Circus," I confessed. "He told me that he was good friends with Captain Kangaroo and he was wanting us to rescue eighteen elephants, but we couldn't help, because we're not set up for elephants. How'd you become a clown?"

"For many years I went to clown camps," Polkadottie told us, "and my favorite class was, Pie In The Face and..." As my back began to ache from laughing so much at Sally's and Polkadottie's hilarious tales, I invited them to come out to my pink writing cabin, because I could tell they were getting tired from constantly petting Mama and Roy.

Sally and her sister Midge loved my writing cabin and we had a blast out there, too and Tony, Mama, Roy and I were sad, when it was time for them leave, because we didn't want them to go. And that is about it for tonight, because I'm fixin' to watch a movie, before going to bed.

Y'all have a great evening!

She Loves Big Dogs!

Today has been great, even though there was a beautiful Blue (Full) Moon last night, which explains why we had so many visitors come out today. This morning after I had cleaned the dog pens, I came inside and took a shower and while Lassie was BLOW drying my hair, our first visitors showed up, so Tony showed the out-of-towners around.

When I came outside to help him, two car loads of people showed up, so I gave them tours. Then Gail, a super nice woman arrived, while I was inside on the phone giving directions to the rescue ranch. Then Kinky called me and after I had told him I would come over to the Lodge, in just a few minutes, I went outside to meet Gail, who had called earlier in the week, because she wanted to adopt two of our larger dogs, because she loves big dogs.

After a fun visit with Gail, who we really liked, she told us which two dogs that she wanted to adopt, but she was not quite ready to take them home and she would would come back to adopt them and pick them up in two weeks.

When Gail drove away, I jumped into Trigger and drove over to the Lodge. When I told Kinky about the upcoming, pending adoptions, he was delighted, to say the least. After we had talked about his upcoming tours, I came back home and cooked lunch for T. and me. Then we spent the rest of the day giving some very nice people tours of the rescue ranch.

Around 4:30, after I had walked four more fast miles with Leslie Sansone, I took an enjoyable, sleepless thirty minute nap with our dogs.

This evening Tony and I are going to watch a movie and then go to bed early, because we have two sets of visitors coming out tomorrow. And that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!