Yellow, Red & Pink!

Today has been great. This morning after Tony and I did our chores outside, we cleaned up, because we had to go to Kerrville to run a few errands and get back to the ranch before the kids from the Medina Children's Home came over to walk our dogs for us.

Before we left, I called Kinky, "Kinky, is it okay for us to come over? I have a book to give to Chet."

"Sure, come on over. Dylan, Chet and I are sitting on the front porch."

Four minutes later, Tony and I walked around the side of the Lodge to find Kinky and his friends. After howdies, I said, "Chet, you are going to love this book, as much as Tony, Kinky, Carol and I do." Then Kinky leaned forward to see the book The Art of Racing In The Rain by Garth Stein, in my hand.

"That's a great book," Kinky said. Then Tony and I had a fun visit with the guys for about ten minutes, before we took off for Kerrville.

Our first stop was Office Max, so I could get a few things needed for our upcoming concert. Then we went to Home Depot, because Tony needed to get some ranch supplies and I wanted to buy some flowers. After that, we went to Randy's & Lisa's Save Inn Restaurant and ate a delicious lunch.

Our last stop was at H-E-B, on Main Street, to get gas for Buttermilk and a few needed groceries. To save time, Tony let me out in front of the grocery store, so I could start shopping, while he went and filled up the Expedition.

When we got back home, Tony helped me carry the two heavy, hanging baskets with beautiful flowers, up to the trailer, because my elbow was really aching bad, probably from carrying around the heavy dog food bucket, earlier this morning. Here are three pictures that I took of my new yellow, red and pink flowers. (Please note how big the pink basket of flowers is, because they are the ones that Tony had to carry for me. They cost me $24.99 and I bet they weigh at least fifteen pounds, but they are so beautiful—they are well worth the money.)

As I finish writing this tonight, it is very windy outside and I hope that the pink flowers, in the hanging basket don't blow off of the hook and fall to the ground and get crushed from its own weight.

Y'all have a great evening!

Just A Swingin'!

Today has been great. This morning, around 10:15, Gretchen, from Austin came over with Chet. She had gotten lost and wound up over at Kinkys, so Chet brought her over here, so she could meet us and Buster Brown.

After greetings, the three of us went over to Buster's pen and he was excited to see Gretchen, as was Gretchen to see Buster Brown. Once Buster had settled down a bit, Chet, Gretchen and I took the little guy for a walk down to  the creek, where we bid Chet goodbye, because Chet needed to get back to what he had been working on.

On our way back to the rescue ranch, Gretchen and I started having several doubts about Buster Brown becoming her constant companion, because he was a little too much for her to handle, after she recently had hip surgery.

Gretchen had really wanted it to be Buster, but she and I both agreed that it was not a perfect match for either of them. So, after we returned Buster to his pen, I took Gretchen to meet two more small dogs: Twiggy and Merle Haggard.

Gretchen and Merle had an instant connection, so we took him for a walk down to the creek, but we didn't make it there, because halfway to the creek, Gretchen said, "I want to adopt Merle. He is perfect for me...." So, the good news is: Merle Haggard has moved to Austin! I took this picture of The Hagg, before he and Gretchen left our rescue ranch.

Forty-five minutes later, right after Tony and I had eaten lunch—we had another great adoption! Our friend Carol, of Cal-Bob's Smoke Shack fame, showed up with her and Calvin's friend, because he wanted to adopt a male dog, to be a companion to his sweet, eight-year-old, female Rottweiler.

As I drove them around the rescue ranch, in Kermit and showed the nice man all of our male dogs and told him their individual stories—Rio stole his heart and Carol really liked Rio, too! Ten minutes later, Rio was officially adopted! I took this blurry, action picture, of Carol getting ready to take Rio's leash, so she could put him, into the man's Mercedes back seat.

Late this afternoon, around 4:15, Becky called me, to give me a Maggie May update! Becky told me that Maggie is adjusting nicely to her new forever home. Yesterday, Maggie May jumped up, into the outdoor swing and swung with Becky. "Maggie loves to roll in the grass and she is doing a lot of smiling. She likes Eddie, but she does get a little jealous when he comes over and sits in my lap, because I think Maggie wants to sit in my lap. She is a great dog and I am thrilled that I can give her four to five years living as a dog should..."

After Becky and I adios-ed each other, I went over to see Kinky and he was thrilled when I told him about today's two great adoptions and about Maggie May, just a swingin', at her great, new home. And that is about it for today.

Y'all have a great evening!

Yes, I Do!

Today has been great. This morning our super volunteers aka good friends came out to walk our dogs for us. While they were walking our great dogs, down to the creek, Kinky called and asked me if I could come over, so we could discuss a few things about our exciting, upcoming Concert for Utopia, on April 13th (Palm Sunday) at 3:30, at the Cailloux Theater, in Kerrville, featuring Country legends Ray Benson & Asleep at the Wheel and Billy Joe Shaver, with guest performances by Chet O'Keefe and Jesse Dayton.

Before we adios-ed each other, I asked Kink, "Do you need some eggs? The Golden Girls laid eight eggs this morning." That made Kinky laugh.

"Sure, bring them on. We'll eat them for breakfast. Hey, Chet! Nancy is bringing over some eggs." After I heard Chet welcome our eggs and tell Kinky that he would cook them up. Kinky and I adios-ed each other.

After I bagged up the eggs, I grabbed George Fischer's great book, True Stories & Rhymes of the Range, part one of a trilogy for the Last of the DK Cowboy, because when I gave Kinky his copy, I gave him my copy by accident, because yesterday I realized that George had signed the book I was reading to Kinky. Then I grabbed the great article written about George Fischer, by my new friend Donna Hatch, for the Kerrville Daily Times, because Kinky had not yet read it. Then I took this picture and left The Cabin.

When I got over to Kinky's we discussed the concert and then we talked about what great writers George Fischer and Donna Gable Hatch are. Then Kinky's phone rang and he disappeared into his office, so Chet and I started talking about books, music, Terlingua, solar energy and Pork Chop (Kinky's dog Winston) and Tortellini (Chet's dog Willie) having put on a few extra pounds.

Around 11:30, Trigger brought me back over to the rescue ranch. Everyone was congregating, at the barn and talking about the concert, Donna Hatch's upcoming article about the rescue ranch and going up to the Medina Highpoint Resort to eat lunch together. And minutes later, all of us took off to go eat lunch.

Lunch was a total blast. I sat between June and Jim and across from Ellen and Suzanne, at one end of the table and Tony sat with Kris & Jim at the other end. As always laughter was non-stop and when June made her big announcement about her and Ellen going to Spain, we all had input from what they should wear to what to see and do. All-in-all it was a super fun time for Tony and me getting to spend time with this great bunch of characters.

When we got back home, I took a short, sleepless nap with our dogs. Then I went outside and did a little push-mowing and when I came back inside the phone rang—it was Chet's friend, Gretchen, from Austin, calling to let me know that she could not come out today, as planned, to possibly adopt Buster Brown or another one of our fabulous dogs. Before we adios-ed each other, her last words to me were, "I'll be there at 10:00, in the morning."

A couple of hours later, my good friend Carol, the sweet wife of Calvin, who own the famous Cal-Bob's Smoke Shack, on 16, the other side of I-10, called me to tell me that she is coming out tomorrow to possibly adopt a dog from us. So, the great news is that we might have two adoptions tomorrow!

This evening, around 6:15, I asked Tony if he wanted to go up to the Medina Highpoint Resort, to eat their delicious, Friday night Catfish buffet. After he said, "Yes, I do," we talked about calling, Kinky and Chet O'Keefe, to see if they wanted to go with us, so Tony called Kinky. 

After getting another "Yes, I do" from Kinky, he said, "Chet wants to go too..." Five minutes later, Tony and I were inside Trigger heading out of the rescue ranch. When we reached 16, all of these Harley Motorcycle people, about fifteen, were parked on both sides of the road. So Tony lowered his window and asked this young, pretty woman, if they were okay.

Then this twenty-something Harley babe, that Tony was trying not to drool over, told us that their friend had just run off of the road and flown off of his bike. "Is there anything that we can do to help?" Tony asked.

"No sir," she sweetly said, which instantly caused Tone's ego to drop several notches. "He is fine. He flew off of his bike when it hit the ditch. We are just waiting for a wrecker to come pick up his bike, because it is all banged up."

As Tony pulled out onto Highway 16, I jokingly teased Tony, "She said no sir? I guess she must have thought that you were an old man." Needless to say, "Tony didn't find my remark very funny."

Tony and I had just sat down outside, to eat and listen to the live band, when Kinky and Chet arrived, so I got up from the table to let them know where we were seated. When I returned to our long table some real nice women bikers, from Louisiana, came up and asked us if they could sit, at our table. After we told them that two seats were reserved for Kinky and Chet and the rest of the table was free for them to sit at, they got all excited about getting to meet Kinky.

When Chet and Kinky came to our table, the women were blushing as they greeted Kinky. Because the band was playing loudly, I had to half-holler, "Kinky, they are all from Louisiana!" 

"What?" he asked, as he sat down next to me.

"They're from Louisiana," I said. 

"Oh," then Kinky smiled at them and waved. Then a nice man, wearing a doo-rag, carrying about eight, cold beers, in his arms, to our table, for the out-of-staters, from the right side of Texas, bent down and told Kinky that he saw him perform once, in Louisiana and that he was a big fan of Kinky's. Kinky talked to him for a few minutes, until the band started playing another Country song.

Basically, the four of us ate our delicious dinner in silence, as the great sounding band played one Country hit after another and the bikers danced to their awesome music. 

When we finished eating, we had talked Chet into coming over for a visit, so Kinky adios-ed us and took off in Mr. Green Jeans. Twenty minutes later, the three of us jumped into Trigger and came back to the rescue ranch.

As soon as we got back home, I played my new favorite song for Chet. "I love this song. It's called Needed Time, sung by Eric Bibb live and it is an old Taj Mahal song. I've never heard of Eric Bibb and I love him. He reminds me of Keb' 'Mo..." As Chet listened to the song, I grabbed my guitar and started finger pickin' to it. 

When Chet told me that he really liked it too, I replayed it and handed my guitar to Chet, so he could really play the tune and Chete blew Tony and me out of our saddles. Oh my goodness, Chet was playing even better than Eric Bibb was and he was going all over the neck of my guitar. To say the least, "Chet's guitar magic was totally awesome and amazing to listen to." And that is about it for tonight, because I need to go to bed.

Y'all have a great evening!

Getting To Know You!

Today has been great. Early this morning after playing telephone tag with Becky, we finally connected. Becky called a few days ago and left a message that she was interested in coming out, to possibly adopt one of our dogs.

This morning when we talked, Becky told me that she was interested in our older female dogs. She had gone to our web site to look at our dogs and she was interested in meeting Maggie May, Roxanne, Dusty aka La Toya Jackson and Mandy.

I really enjoyed talking to Becky, on the phone and I liked her. It was obvious to me that she was a very nice woman and a big time dog lover, so we decided that it would be best for her to come out this morning, while Tony and I were outside doing our morning chores.

When Becky arrived we were almost finished with our chores. She and I visited for a few minutes, while I finished feeding Miranda Lambert and her brother Blake Shelton. Then I showed her Maggie May, Roxanne, La Toya and Mandy.

Becky was really interested in Maggie May and Mandy. So she got her adorable, rescued dog, Eddie, that she had rescued at the H-E-B, in Kerrville, out of her truck, to see how our girls would react to him. Eddie, that Becky had named in honor of H-E-B's owner, because she rescued Eddie at one of his grocery stores, was not real thrilled about the "getting to know you" deal, but he acted like a little gentleman when he was introduced to them.

After the meets and greets, Becky told me that she wanted to give Maggie May a try, so I went up to The Cabin and prepared Maggie's adoption papers. Fifteen minutes later—Maggie had been adopted and Tony and I were thrilled about it!

Because I wanted to give Maggie a bath and clean her up, before going home with Becky and Eddie, we agreed to meet, in Medina, at 4:00, to deliver Mag to Becky.

After Becky had left, Tony and I ate lunch and during our meal, Tony suggested that he take Maggie May to Hoegemeyer Animal Clinic to get her groomed, because it was cool outside and it was starting to rain.

At 12:30, Tony loaded up Maggie May, in Buttermilk and then they took off for Kerrville, so Mag could get her hair done. While they were gone, I caught up with some paperwork, e-mails and phone calls.

At 3:58, when we pulled up in front of the Bandera County Veterinary Clinic, in Medina, Becky was already there waiting for us, inside her pickup. After greetings, Becky, Tony and I went inside Dr. James Lindstrom's vet clinic, to visit with him and his sweet receptionist, Ginger.

Ten minutes later we went back outside. Tony then uncrated Maggie May and gave her to Becky. Even though Mag was a little nervous, they posed for this picture, before Becky hugged her and took her to her new home.

And that is about it for today, but before I finish writing this, I want you to know that the reason that I didn't write anything last night, was because Tony and I were at the bus station, in Kerrville, at 9:20. We were picking up Chet O'Keefe, because Chet had driven Don to his sister's house, in Austin, in Don's car, early yesterday morning. And when we got back home, we went straight to bed.

Y'all have a great evening!

Pork Chops & Tortellini!

Today has been great, but yesterday was a little more than exciting to say the least. Yesterday morning, after breakfast, I was getting ready to make some salsa and was in the middle of opening a can of tomatoes when the phone rang—it was Kinky. "Nance, you and Tony need to get over here right now! Tex fell..."

I hollered, "Tony! We've got to go to Kinky's now! Hurry!" I then put the partially unopened can of tomatoes inside the fridge and then we fled The Cabin, jumped into Buttermilk, because Trigger was still parked outside the rescue ranch with the bees.

On our way over to Kinky's I filled Tony in on what was going on and when we arrived, Kinky walked up to greet us. After he told us about Don falling and being diabetic and passing out because of low blood sugar and not getting his new glucose package opened in time, we went into the Annex to check on Don, while we waited on the ambulance to arrive.

To make a long story short, Don was taken to Peterson Regional Medical Center, in Kerrville and Kinky, Don, Tony and I were more than impressed with the professionalism of the Kerrville Fire Department EMS and the caring staff at, the P.R.M.C., that treated our dear friend.

So yesterday, Tony and I spent most of the day in Kerrville and we brought Don back to the ranch around 4:00. Don is fine, but he broke his foot when he fell and early tomorrow morning Chet is going to drive Don to Austin, to be with his sister. And that is one of the reasons why I didn't write last night and the other reason is: I could not wait to finish reading Donna Gable Hatch's fabulous, fiction book For Every Goodbye. I love her book. It touched me and I can't quit thinking about it, so I suggest that all of y'all read it, because I promise that you will love it as much as I do.

Today has been great, but much quieter, thank goodness. Late this afternoon Carol came over to borrow my copy of Donna's book For Every Goodbye, because after I told her about how much I enjoyed reading it—she could not wait to read it.

When Carol arrived, I went outside to greet her and then we jumped into Buttermilk, to go over to the Lodge, to visit with Kinky, Chet and Don. When we arrived Chet and Kinky came out of the kitchen to greet us and we had a fun visit, in the front yard, talking and laughing about Chet's and Tony's crazy trip back, from Port Aransas, transporting the bees.

At one point during our conversation, filled with laughter, Chet's dog Willie and Kinky's dogs Sophie and Winston walked up and I teased Chet about Willie putting on some extra pounds since coming to the ranch. Then Carol teased Kinky about Sophie and Winston being a little more than pudgy. They thought it was pretty funny and then Kinky changed the subject and started talking about what to fix for their dinner. "How does pork chops and tortellini sound?" he asked.

Before Chet could answer him, I teasingly remarked, "That's the dog's new names." Kinky, Carol and Chet started laughing.

"That's a good one, Nance," Kinky said. Then he looked at Winston and pointed at him and said, "He's Pork Chops and Willie is Tortellini." Then we all went into the Annex to visit with Don for a few minutes. Don seemed to be feeling fine and he was in good spirits.

A few minutes later, Kinky went into the Lodge, so Carol and I visited with Chet and we talked about our exciting, upcoming Concert for Utopia.  A few minutes later, Kinky came back outside and he was chuckling. "Tony just called. Kent's over there and Tony needs for you to come home, because he needs his bee gloves." So Carol and I adios-ed them and came back to the rescue ranch to give Tony his bee gloves, so he and Kent could move the bees.

Carol and I visited for a few minutes and then we adios-ed each other and she left with Donna Gable Hatch's book For Every Goodbye. And that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

Call Me, Bob!

Last night and today have been great for me, even though I have missed Tony. Last night, I enjoyed reading 83 pages of Donna Hatch's great book, For Every Goodbye. I didn't want to quit reading it, but I was feeling sleepy, so I decided to go to bed with our four dogs, in hopes that I might catch up on my beauty sleep. Unfortunately, that didn't happen.

My four-legged slumber party with Mama, Roy, Belle and Beau was so much fun, we stayed up most of the night, kicking each other, stealing pillows from each other and trying to get comfortable, on Tony's and my queen-sized bed.

Around 1:00, Mama, my lovable twelve-year-old Great Pyrenees got into a snit and jumped off of the bed and went to sleep in our walk-in shower, because Roy was so gaseous. Around 3:00, Beau woke me up heaving loudly, before finally vomiting up something really big and ugly, on the floor. But the good news is, I didn't oversleep, because around 6:00, Belle heard something outside and she started barking and once again, used my stomach, as her soft, diving board to the floor.

After I fed all of our dogs, I took a baby Aspirin and then sat down and drank a delicious cup of Green Mountain Donut Shop Coffee. Then I showered, dressed and went outside to do Tony's and my chores alone.

Two and a half hours later, all of the dogs at the rescue ranch had been fed and their pens were cleaned and I was on Kermit, hauling two buckets of corn and pellets to feed to the deer, turkey and donkeys.

When I came inside The Cabin, Carlton was flashing, on top of the breakfast bar, so I pushed his button and heard him say, "You have one message."

Then I heard a very familiar, cheerful voice say, "Hi, Nancy! It's Carol. I have some great news for you. Yesterday, I sent Jeff an e-mail about you wanting to YouTube his song, that you harmonized with him, and he has just sent me an e-mail, telling me it was fine for you to let everyone hear it. I am so excited, because it is too funny. Everyone is going to laugh their pants off when they hear it....Okay, I'll call you later tonight. Bye."

Carol's great news made me laugh out loud and I could not wait to get that song up on YouTube. Then I started cooking lunch for me to eat and to later save for Tony, when he and Chet O'Keefe arrive back from Port Aransas, with Rick's bees and equipment.

Ten minutes later, while I was cooking, the phone rang, so I let Carlton take the call. "Nancy, are you there?" Tony asked. "We're in"

"Hi, Tony! I was cooking lunch. Did everything go okay?" I asked, as I watched Mama open the front door and go outside. "Where are y'all?"

"Sinton and no...." Tony was not a happy camper, in fact he was madder than a hornet. He told me that the roof, on top of the bee box blew off and bees were scattered everywhere. He had gotten stung about twenty times and Chet had gone to get duct tape to temporarily tape down the roof and some Ibuprofen, for their bee stings... To say the least, "I felt sorry for Tony and Chet and all of the trouble that they had had transporting the bees."

After lunch, I cleaned up the dishes and the kitchen and then I made a very short video, focused on my iPod, of me singing/ruining The Singing Safety's great, new song. This is what I wrote on YouTube to explain the short, thirty-seconds video:

"Several weeks ago, my dear friend Jeff Severson, using the name Bob, played two pranks on me, back to back, so I warned him that I would get even.

Knowing that Jeff, was having our dear musician friend, Chet O'Keefe, work and tweak some of Jeff's latest songs that Jeff had written, for Jeff's new CD, which is soon to be released, I asked Chet to help me get even with our friend, Jeff aka Bob, The Singing Safety!

A few days later, when Chet was set up and ready for me to record myself, purposefully singing off-key with Jeff—it took one recording and only thirty seconds to totally ruin Jeff's great song.

Then, as planned earlier, Chet sent Jeff an e-mail asking Jeff to please listen to some tweaks that Chet had added to his song and to let him know what he thought about the changes. And the rest is history.

Rumor has it that when Jeff heard me singing, he nearly fell out of his chair laughing! Thank you, Chet! We did it! And thank you, Carol, for getting Jeff to give me permission to YouTube it and post it on my blog." Here is a picture of Jeff aka Bob to look at before you listen to the prank that Chet and I played on our good friend. (Thank you, Jeff, for being a good sport and please—no more pranks!)

Click here to listen, to laugh at me and to share.

Around 2:29, the phone rang again. I was writing this post, so I let Carlton take the call for me. "Hello Nancy. This is Keith Olesen, calling you from California." I immediately jumped out of the kitchen chair and grabbed the phone.

"Hi Keith. Oh my goodness, I can't believe that it is you! I want to thank you so much for having that Kinky tequila, cigar party, with your friends, to raise money for our rescue ranch and for sending us that very, generous donation!"

"You're welcome. Next year we are going to do it again and try to raise enough money to sponsor a dog pen. Listen, the reason that I am calling you is to tell you that when I received your thank you letter, I saw the information about the upcoming Concert for Utopia and I want you to know that I have just bought two tickets and I will be flying in to be at the concert. My friend, in San Antonio, that you met at the Bonefit, years ago, at the ranch, with music legends Jeffery Jeff Walker and Ramblin' Jack Elliott, is coming to it, too...." After my good friend Keith and I visited for a few more minutes—we adios-ed each other and I am so looking forward to seeing him and his friend again, before the concert.

It is now nearly 3:30 and there is no word from Tony. I am betting that he and Chet show up by 4:30 and I cannot wait to see him. Hopefully, he will be in a much better mood and that his bee sting pain is gone. 

Just as I finished writing that last sentence—Tony called. He sounded a whole lot better. He and Chet are between Hondo and Bandera and they should be arriving here in about forty minutes. I plan to jump into Buttermilk and drive down to the gate entrance, with the windows closed tightly, in about thirty minutes, so I can greet them and welcome them back to the ranch. 

Around 4:23, when Buttermilk and I arrived outside the rescue ranch, I saw Trigger, with Chet and Tony inside wave and turn off, so Tony could drop Chet off, at the Lodge. A few minutes later, I saw Trigger headed towards me. Then I watched Tony put on his bee helmet, gloves, zip up his bee suit and jump out of Trigger, with bees flying everywhere.

I waved to Tony, as he marched past me, towards the rescue ranch, with a bunch of bees following him. After I had gasped, I turned Buttermilk around and slowly followed Tony and his flying friends. When he was halfway to The Cabin, I stopped and he jumped into Buttermilk's back seat. Then he talked about his and Chet's big, bee nightmare all of the way up to our trailer.

It seems what could go wrong, on their way home—went wrong and he is no longer sure about wanting to be a beekeeper. When he told me that tonight, when it gets dark outside, the bees would settle down and go back to their bee box, for the night. Then he would be able to put a piece of plywood down, where the roof used to be, on top of the house and secure it once and for all to contain the bees.

Even though I really felt sorry for Tony and all of his bee troubles today, at times it was hard not to laugh at the situation. And that is about it for today. I apologize for my blog being so long tonight, but there was much to tell. 

This evening I plan to continue reading Donna Hatch's fabulous book For Every Goodbye while Tony sits in his office, contemplating to bee or not to bee. Personally, I hope that he decides not to bee, because we can always buy honey locally and not get stung.

Y'all have a great evening!

Donna Gable Hatch!

Today has been great. Tony and I got up at 5:30 this morning and I only got six hours of sleep, but I felt fine. The reason that we got up so early was because we had much to do before he and Chet O'Keefe left for Port Aransas.

While Tony showered, I fed the dogs and cooked his breakfast, while enjoying a delicious cup of Green Mountain Donut Shop Coffee. Then while Tony ate his breakfast I showered and got cleaned up. While he packed for his trip, Hazel and I vacuumed the entire trailer and dusted it, because Donna Hatch, a fabulous writer for the Kerrville Daily Times, was coming out, at 10:00, to interview Kinky and me about our rescue ranch and upcoming Concert for Utopia.

Around 7:10, I was totally awake and Tony was packed and ready for his trip to, Port A, to pick up the bee equipment and hives that Rick was giving to him. With all of our earlier accomplishments, we then went outside, as planned, to do the morning chores and it was still pretty dark outside, but we got it done in record time.

When Tony and Chet left the ranch at 8:30, I returned to The Cabin, so I could wash a load of clothes, answer some e-mails, etc. before the volunteers started arriving.

At 10:00, Donna Hatch arrived, while I was outside visiting with Kris' husband Jim. When Donna got out of her car we instantly liked her, so we immediately struck up a fun conversation with her. While we were waiting for Kinky to arrive, I told her about how much I had enjoyed reading her great article about George Fischer, The Last DK Cowboy and so did Jim. Then Donna told me that she had just written a fiction book For Every Goodbye and she wanted to give me a copy. Then she took off for her car to get a book for me.

When Donna and I got into Kermit, to take us up to The Cabin, I was telling her about me being an author also when June walked up with two friends and she said, "Nancy, do you remember Jane and Bob, from Canada?" My mind started racing, but it never made it to the finish line, because June said, "They were the first people to ever take me out to the rescue ranch, over ten years ago, and if it wasn't for them, I might not have never known about y'all."

"Wow!" I said. "I have to admit that I don't remember y'all, but thank y'all so much for bringing June out here, because of June, she has recruited everyone of our volunteers, except for Kris & Jim, The Mineral Man, because Tony and I invited them to come out and volunteer..."

A few minutes later, Donna and I went into The Cabin and she loved our old trailer and then I gave her signed copies of my four books. Then Kinky arrived for the interview. For forty-five minutes, while Roy slept under the kitchen table by Donna's shoes and Belle slept next to my pink boots, Kinky and I had a wonderful time visiting with Donna and being interviewed by her. Here is a picture that I took of Donna interviewing Kinky.

A little before noon, the interview ended and the three of us went outside, so Donna could meet our super friends/volunteers and take a few pictures for her article about our rescue ranch. Donna visited with several of our volunteers and then she took a group picture of us in Rufus' and Roxanne's pen. 

Then Donna thanked all of us for our time and then she went over to the Lodge, with Kinky, to visit with him and to meet The Friedmans and all of us went up to the Medina Highpoint Resort to eat lunch together, which of course was a lot of fun.

When I got back home, I took a short nap with Mama, Roy, Belle and Beau and then I went outside and push-mowed some small patches of tall grass, in three dog pens. Then I spent two hours killing Thistle, before returning to The Cabin, so I could trim some of Mama's long, white hair.

Around 7:00, after I had put the chickens up for the night, I started reading Donna's book For Every Goodbye and I love it and I can't put it down, so I hope that you will check it out. So that is about it for tonight, because I plan to read her great book non-stop, until it is time for my special slumber party, with all four of our dogs.

Y'all have a great evening!

The Cowgirl Sisterhood Rides Again!

Today ended up being great. The last two days have been very busy for me, especially since I have been some what sleep deprived. Last night, around 9:00, I had to run over to the Lodge, because Don, who is baby sitting The Friedmans for Kinky, thought that Winston Churchill had been sprayed by a skunk.

When I got over there, I smelled skunk nearby and fortunately for Winston he didn't end up being the skunk's smelly target, so I came back home and played Scrabble until 11:00 and I didn't fall to sleep until after midnight.

I got up at 6:00, so I could wake up before doing the Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch segment on The Harley Show, at 7:45. Before I did Harley, I cleaned both bathrooms, washed a load of clothes, wrote checks to pay a few bills, etc.

When Tony came back home, he walked inside The Cabin and said, "Dang it! Landry and Grace Kelly dug out again and they are running around the rescue ranch. I'm going to cancel Chet's and my trip to Port A, tomorrow, because I can't leave you here with them getting out and..."

"Settle down, Tone. You're not canceling your trip. We can fix this."

"I need to go put a hot wire at the bottom of their fence and..." Five minutes later, after Tony caught Landry he started working on wiring the fence, so I jumped into Buttermilk and drove around the ranch looking for Grace Kelly.

Twenty minutes later, I put Ms. Kelly back into her pen. She was totally exhausted from all of the fun that she had had and Landry was very happy to see her, while Tony continued working inside their pen. "I'll get started on the chores," I said. Then I took off for the barn, so I could feed the dogs.

A little past noon, Tony and I were finally done working outside. When we returned to The Cabin, Carlton was flashing, on top of the breakfast bar, so I pushed his button. "You have ten new messages, " he teased.

The first nine messages were depressing, because people were asking us to take their dogs and cats, etc. and I knew that I would have to call them back to tell them that we are at capacity and we can't. The tenth message cheered me up when I heard, "Hi Nancy. Hi Tony. It's Carol. I am calling you from the top of a mountain, behind my ranch. I rode Rosebud and ponied Maya up here. Nancy, when I get back down to the ranch, let's ride the horses. I should be back in about an hour and a half..."

After I returned all of the phone calls, except Carol's, I made us lunch. Anyway, as I said earlier, the last two days have been real busy, so I decided to take a few hours off and go horseback riding with Carol, because I needed to take a break from the rescue ranch and just have some fun riding our horses and laughing with Carol.

When I arrived at Carol's ranch, she had already saddled our horses, at the barn. "Thank you, Carol." In this picture Carol is standing next to Rosebud and Maya is on the right.

Within minutes, our exclusive, two members only, Cowgirl Sisterhood, was back in the saddle, riding around Carol's beautiful ranch and I was laughing about life once again, thanks to Carol and our magnificent American Quarter Horses. Carol took these two pictures of me riding Maya, using her iPhone.

Around 5:30, when I got back home, I felt like a new person, refreshed and ready to take on anything, which was good because, Kinky had already called twice and he needed to talk to me about several things, etc. There is so much stuff that I have left out about our busy days, because it would wear me out to tell it all. Anyway, that's about it for tonight. 

Y'all have a great evening!

Sleeping In Medina!

Today has been great, even though I overslept, because Tony overslept. Around 7:10, Tony walked into the bedroom and says, "Nance, I overslept. I woke up and then went back to sleep. When I woke up, I took a shower and got dressed and then I remembered I was supposed to wake you up..."

Knowing that I had just ten minutes before Big G called me to do the fun, Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch segment, I jumped out of bed, right after Mama jumped off of the bed snarling about her rude awakening. Like me, Mama likes to wake up slowly, so I didn't say anything to her about her growling, because Tony didn't need to hear the two of us growling and complaining.

I had only two delicious sips of Donut Shop Coffee, before the phone rang. "Hi, Big G," I said, Off-Air, trying to sound wide awake and alert. "Dang it, I overslept again."

Big G started laughing and then he teased me about oversleeping, again. Then we went On-Air. "....So Nancy, why did you oversleep?"

"I'm blaming it on Daylight Savings Time, Big G. When I try to go to bed at 10:00, I'm not tired and I can't sleep, because it used to be 9:00....Hopefully, by next week, I will have adjusted to the time change."

Big G and I talked about our exciting, upcoming Concert for Utopia and then we talked about sweet Peggy Sue, his Pet of the Week. "Peggy is about four and a half years old. She is a great little Beagle and she gets along great with other dogs. Her roommate is Buddy Holly and he is real nice, too..."

This afternoon, before Tony's chiropractic appointment with Dr. Hubble, Tony and I met Kinky and Big G for lunch, at the Acapulco Restaurant and it was a lot of fun. After we all ordered one of their  Specials, we talked about the Concert for Utopia. 

When we exhausted that subject I told Big G about that hilarious video, I posted, about the dog being left home alone and not allowed to get on the bed and me wanting to buy a camera to video Roy. Then we talked about the tragedy that happened at SXSW, in Austin, Faron Young, etc. And to say the least, "Lunch was a lot of fun with our dear friends."

After Tony had his adjustment and felt much better, Buttermilk took us back home. When we got home I was so tired, because I had only gotten about six hours of sleep last night, I decided to take a short nap with our four dogs and they were all for it, even though it probably wasn't such a great idea.

An hour and a half later, I woke up, after sleeping like a log. Roy and Belle were sleeping soundly and they had me sandwiched between them. Beau was sleeping on top of my pillow, above my head and Mama was snoring loudly, from our walk-in shower. "Come on, y'all. Time to wake up," I said. 

At first, no one did a thing. Then Beau stood up, accidentally pulling my hair, and then he slowly stretched. Then he jumped off of the bed, causing Mama to wake up suddenly and begin barking, as she ran out of the shower, into the bedroom. Then Belle used Roy and me as a diving board, as she leaped off of the bed to greet Mama. Then I got up slowly from the bed, as Roy turned over, on his back and went back to sleeping soundly.

By the time I walked into the kitchen, Mama had opened the front door and held it for Beau, Belle and her to go outside. After I drank a glass of water I went outside and killed Thistle for about an hour. 

Tonight, I plan to go to bed at 10:00 again, even though it used to be 9:00 last week. I know that taking a much needed nap today isn't going to help me fall to sleep tonight, so I plan to count sheep and if that doesn't work I'll count them again. And that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

An Early Frost!

Today has been great. This morning, Mama and I got up early. When Mama and I walked into the big room, Roy, Belle and Beau were outside staring at us through the front window. How they could have actually see us inside is beyond me, since they had done an early frost on the front window, using their cold, wet noses. I took these pictures earlier today, before wiping away their latest frosting doggie art. The first picture is taken from the outside looking in. The second picture is Belle contemplating what she could do to improve their work of art, just before Beau jumped up to add his finishing touches. 

After breakfast Tony went outside to start doing our chores without me, because I was off and on the phone with Rick, The Friendly Lighthouse Keeper, Chet O'Keefe and Kinky. Rick needed some advice about which iPod he should buy. Chet wanted to talk to me about his upcoming, short trip to Port Aransas, with Tony. And Kinky wanted to talk to me about some exciting news concerning our upcoming Concert for Utopia, on Palm Sunday, at 3:30, at the Cailloux Theater, featuring Country Legends Billy Joe Shaver and Ray Benson & Asleep at the Wheel, along with Chet O'Keefe and Jesse Dayton's salute to George Jones.

When I finally made it outside, I took this picture, from the front porch, of an almost friendly, family of wild hogs, near Rambam's House of Pigs pigpen. Then I hollered, "Tony!"which I knew Tony couldn't hear—the hog family ran off into the forest to hide, just as I had planned. 

Late this afternoon, my dear friend Nancy D., of the City of Hope, in Chicago, sent me the cutest YouTube video to watch, of a dog that is left home alone. The guardian of the dog did not allow the dog to get up on the bed and she decided to buy a camera to record what the dog does after she leaves her home. 

After I watched it and was still laughing out loud, I showed it to Tony, who had seen it before and it made him laugh, all over again. So, I called Kinky and asked him if I could come over and show it to him. And it made him laugh out loud, too. So, if you want to laugh really hard—watch this! It is short and only two minutes long.

After I wrap this up for tonight, which is any minute, I plan to go Online and check out those mini-cameras, so I can watch what our dogs do when we are away and catch Roy, on video, getting into our trash can.

Y'all have a great evening!

I Spent Most of The Day Pushing a Lawn Mower—Enough Said, Until Tomorrow!

Squared!

Yesterday was really great. After Tony took off for the Old Timer, in Medina, to drink coffee with his friends, I decided to go ahead and go outside and get started on our morning chores, so I could spend more time visiting with our friends aka volunteers.

By the time Buttermilk and Tony had returned home, all of the pens had been cleaned and there were only Willie Nelson and Gretchen Wilson left to feed. Tony felt guilty about me doing the chores, but I told him not to, because I had enjoyed visiting with all of our dogs.

Jim was the first to arrive, while we were inside The Cabin eating breakfast. Twenty minutes later, Tony went outside to greet Jim, while I stayed inside and cleaned up the kitchen and returned several
phone calls.

When I went outside around 10:30, Jim, Eileen, Lisa and Kris were gone walking dogs, down to the creek, so I walked up to Tony, who was sitting inside Kermit, visiting with Kris' husband, Jim, The Mineral Man.

After we visited for a few minutes, Jim said, "Nancy, if you want me to look at that Square credit card reader, I can do it right now. (Thanks earlier, to Chet O'Keefe's advice about getting a Square, to use at our merchandise table, for accepting credit cards, at our upcoming Concert for Utopia.) I suggested that the three of us go up to The Cabin, so Jim could help me figure it out, because I am not good at that kind of stuff.

Oh my goodness, Jim figured out how to program it to sell our merchandise, in less than twenty minutes. "That was easy," Jim remarked. Then we swiped my credit card to make sure it was working properly and seconds later, I was out twenty bucks, until the rescue ranch reimburses me. To say the least, "I was more than thrilled, that Jim had solved my Square mystery.

Before all of us went back outside, I said, "Jim, do you want to hear the prank Chet and I played on Jeff, with me singing/ruining Jeff's song?" With a nod of his head, I played Jeff's song and seconds later, Jim was laughing so hard, it made Tony and me burst out laughing. Then I played it one more time for him and when we walked outside, we were still laughing about it.

When we met up with our friends, everyone was ready to go eat lunch, at the Medina Highpoint Resort, so we took off, for a fun time. And as always, our lunch was delicious and was filled with lots of laughter.

Around 1:30, Tony and I jumped into Buttermilk and took off for Kerrville, to run several errands. Our first errand was the most important. We went to San Saba Cap to place a Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch t-shirt and cap order, so we (Kris & Jim) can sell them for us, at the Concert for Utopia, featuring Ray Benson & Asleep at the Wheel, Billy Joe Shaver, Chet O'Keefe and Jesse Dayton, on Palm Sunday, at 3:30, at the Cailloux Theater, in Kerrville.

Then we went to Office Max to buy a stylus pen, for our Square credit card reader. Our next stop was at Wild Birds Unlimited, so Tony could purchase some super bird seed for his feeders. Then I mailed some letters, at the Post Office sub station. And our last stop was at our favorite thrift store, on Main Street, to buy a few used things for Tony's Man Cave makeover, that Tone has put me in charge of.

When we came home I returned a few phone calls and then Tony and I worked for several hours on the Man Cave Project. And the reason that I did not write anything last night was because I was just too tired.

Today has been great, too. After lunch, Tony and I gave a few people tours of the rescue ranch. Around 3:30, Dallas and his sweet wife, the really nice couple that adopted Sparky from us, a while back, came out to deliver several more huge boxes of Milk-Bone Treats, for our dogs to enjoy. And Tony and I really enjoyed visiting with them, because all they could talk about was how great Sparky is and how much they love her.

Around 4:00, Tony and I were working, in his Man Cave when Mama barked, ran down the hallway and let herself out our front door. "Someone is driving in," Tony said. "I'll go see who it is..."

Minutes later, Tony walked inside The Cabin and said, "Nance, Callie (Ronnie & Nita's daughter—my sweet niece.) and her friends are here."

Tony and I had a blast seeing Callie and her friends. After we had showed them all of our dogs, we went into Outer Space and did a lot of laughing, as Callie and her friends entertained us with their latest exciting escapades. And that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

No-Shows!

Today has been great. This morning, before Tony and I went outside to do our chores, we went over to the Lodge to visit with Kinky and Brian Molnar. I took my computer and that cute, Bandera County Courier newspaper insert, This Is For You, Cousin Nancy !, about Jeremy Clyde, finding a fabulous forever home.

Kinky loved seeing the picture of Jeremy, all curled up and sleeping and he enjoyed reading about Jeremy's good fortune. While we sat around, in Kinky's kitchen, I opened up my computer and told Brian and Kinky about Chet O'Keefe and me playing a pay-back prank on Jeff, The Singing Safety and they thought it was a pretty funny prank.

When I played them the short audio clip of me singing, off-key, with Jeff and ruining his great song—they burst out laughing, as did Tony and I. "That is absolutely hilarious, Nancy," Kinky remarked. "That could go viral!" I agreed with Kink, but I told him that Jeff had not given me permission to release it.

When I told them about the great Ronny Cox House Concert, at Jim and Liz's ranch and confessed to them about me thinking Ronny played the banjo, in that famous Deliverance scene and me getting Ronny to sign my banjo—they burst out laughing, again.

After I cooked us lunch and cleaned up the kitchen, Tony and I jumped inside Buttermilk and took off for Kerrville, to run several errands.

Late this afternoon, while I was baking a peach cobbler for Tony, Karon, from the Medina Children's Home came over to take pictures of Bee Spears, because her sister is thinking about adopting this great eight-year-old dog, that used to live on Willie Nelson's golf course.

While Tony and Karon were outside taking pictures of Bee, Kinky called me. When I told him that I was baking a peach cobbler and asked him if he wanted some of it, his answer was, "Yes. That sounds great, but Tex, Bob, Alan and Colin should be here soon, and Brian Molnar is here, too. Do you have enough for them?"

After I told him, "Yes," Tony and Karon came inside The Cabin, because Karon wanted to show me some pictures that she took, earlier today, of three of Ginger Roger's pups, that are all living in forever homes, across the street from us, at the home. Needless to say, "They were precious and two of them looked just like little Ginger and the other one looked more like a Beagle."

Twenty minutes later, after Karon left, Tony and I ate some peach cobbler, topped off with Blue Bell's delicious Vanilla ice cream. Then we took the ice cream and cobbler over to Kinky's.

When we arrived at the Lodge, Kinky and Brian were there, but Kinky's Aussie friends, Colin and Alan had not yet arrived and Tex and Bob were due to arrive at any time. While we waited on Kink's other friends, we had a fun visit with Brian and Kinky. 

I told them about Bee maybe getting adopted and they were thrilled for him. "Kinky," I said. "If Bee gets adopted, I am thinking about adopting his roommate, Dale Evans. She is only about one and a half years old and she is a very sweet dog and she has been through he** and back. Because she isn't very pretty and is still missing some hair, I am afraid that no one will adopt her because of her looks. I know it sounds stupid, but a lot of people only want cute or good-looking dogs. It's a real shame. Brian, when we rescued her, she was in such bad shape and totally hairless, because of mange. Our vets told us that they wanted to keep her for at least a month. She had heart worms, was anemic and had all kinds of problems. And they kept her for over five weeks. She and Bee love each other and I love her, too."

Forty minutes later, Kinky's friends were still no-shows, so Tony and I adios-ed Brian and Kinky and came back home. And that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

Aussie Friends!

We had a blast Sunday night, at the Ronny Cox House Concert, at Liz and Jim's ranch. We intentionally got there early, so I could get Ronny to sign my banjo, because I thought that he had played the banjo, in Deliverance.

After Jim had greeted us, he saw me carrying my banjo and he smiled and said, "Nancy, I asked Ronny if he would mind signing your banjo and Ronny said he would be glad to, but he would have rather signed your guitar, because he doesn't play the banjo. In Deliverance, Ronny played the guitar, in the famous dueling banjo scene." We all started laughing and I was the last to finish laughing, at myself, for being so stupid. And to prove it, Tony took this picture of Ronny signing my banjo, for no reason. And I am betting that as Ronny signed my banjo, he is thinking—"And she's stupid, too!"

After Ronny had signed my banjo, Jim came up to me and said, "Cousin Nancy, we have four bar stools, upstairs, if y'all want to watch the concert from up there."

"Sure," I said.

"Go remove your names from the seats that y'all have already picked out and go upstairs and put your names on the bar stools." And we did exactly that.

Ronny's concert was fabulous. We loved his music. He is a wonderful entertainer, singer and songwriter and when he sang, Sanctuary, about a foal, I teared up. I found a YouTube version, of him singing Sanctuary, in case you want to check it out. And to say the least, "We had a wonderful time and the food was delicious." Here's a picture of Carol and me with Ronny Cox during a break.

Monday was great, but it started out bad for me, because of Daylight Savings Time. At 8:30, when Tony came into the bedroom, Mama and I were sound asleep. I was dreaming a happy dream about Ronny Cox really playing the banjo, in Deliverance, instead of the guitar. "Nance, Karon is here to pick up Ginger Rogers and she is ready to drive her to her new home, in Abilene," Tony announced.

In my sleepy fog, I said a few cuss words, because Mama accidentally stepped on my stomach, before jumping off of the bed. "What?" I asked. As Tony repeated his words, I climbed out of bed, looking for my robe. "Okay, let me wake up. I'll get Ginger's adoption papers ready..." 

Ten minutes later, we thanked Ms. Rogers for being such a great house guest. We wished her luck in her new forever home and then we adios-ed this sweet, precious, little dog.

The rest of the day was uneventful, but Kinky, Tony and I were thrilled about Ginger getting adopted.

Monday evening, around 8:37, the phone rang and I let Carlton take the call—until I was pretty sure it was Jeff Severson, The Singing Safety! Jeff, used Lorri's cell phone to throw me off and his Bob voice, but this time he said his name was Bill. "Hello, this is Bill. I am a religious man and I need to talk to you about those two saints—Saint Bernards...:"

"Hi Jeff! I know it is you."

"I'm sorry, ma'am. My name is Bill..."

"Jeff, I know it is you and thank goodness you called me. Carol and I have been going crazy trying to figure out why you haven't called." Jeff started laughing. 

Jeff told me that he and Lorri are still laughing about my debut singing performance. "Cousin Nancy, today I was talking with a recording company about my new CD. They told me that they weren't interested in my music, but they did want to sign you up for a record deal..." 

After a fun time laughing and joking with Jeff, we adios-ed each other—then I called Carol and told her all about Jeff's phone call. "Nancy, I am so glad that he called you, but beware. Knowing Jeff, the way I do, I bet he still has another prank that he is planning to play on you, in the near future and..." 

When I got off of the phone with Carol, I went back to Tony's office (man cave) and told him about Jeff calling me. Tony smiled and said, "I know. Ten minutes ago, I was on Facebook and asked Lorri to ask Jeff to call you..."

Today has been great. I asked Tony to please wake me up at 6:00 and he did, so that I would be awake and ready to do Big G's popular radio show.

This morning, after Tony and I did our chores outside, I decided to stay outside, so I could kill some Thistle that is sprouting up. An hour later, when I was nearly done removing that awful weed, the dogs started barking, because a truck was at our gate entrance.

I was in the middle of the rescue ranch, halfway from Kermit and halfway to the gate, so I decided to walk to the gate, to see who was here, but I didn't have to walk all of the way, because Carol waved, as she walked towards me. "Hi, Carol. Is everything okay?" Carol laughed.

"Yes. I need Tony to open my spray pump for me, because I'm not strong enough to open it. It's tighter than a drum." Then we heard Kermit start up and watched Tony drive up to us. Thirty seconds later, Tony had unscrewed the lid for Carol and he was teasing her about being a weakling. We visited for about thirty minutes and then Carol adios-ed us and drove off, in her big pickup.

As Kermit took Tony and me up to The Cabin, he said, "Nance, I'm starving. It's nearly 1:30..." When we walked inside our trailer (The Cabin) the phone was ringing, then I heard Kinky's voice, "Nance, Tony? Tony, Nance?"

"Hi Kinky. We just walked inside. What's going on?"

"Is it a good time for me to bring Colin and Alan over? I want to show my Aussie friends, the rescue ranch and I want them to meet you and Tony..."

Five minutes later, with Tony nearly starving to death, we went outside and greeted Colin, Alan, Dylan  and Kinky. Then we came inside The Cabin, for a short, fun visit, because Kinky wanted us to go outside, into Outer Space, so we could visit some more. 

Fortunately, thirty minutes later, when they had adios-ed us after another fun visit, Tony wasn't on his death bed, but he was close. So, I quickly fixed him a delicious, peanut butter and jelly sandwich and saved his life, in a jiffy. And that is about it for today.

Y'all have a great evening!

Jeff Called!

Jeff called last night. I will tell y'all about it later.

Don't Mess With Texas—Truce!

Today has been great and I am writing this early and have scheduled it to post at 7:30 this evening! Why, you ask? Because Carol, Chet, Tony and I are going to be, in Buttermilk, heading back home, after going to the super, cool, invitational only, Ronny Cox House Concert, at Liz and Jim's ranch.

Yesterday, I played my prank on Jeff Severson, with the help of our dear friend Chet O'Keefe. As you know, earlier this week, while I was trying to meditate It popped into my head, before Mama nearly knocked off my head, as she jumped off of our bed.

So, later that day, I went over to Kinky's to see Chet, so I could talk to him about possibly helping me play a prank on Jeff.

(FYI: Our dear friend, Jeff Severson aka The Singing Safety, is a very talented musician, singer, song writer and we love his songs. Currently, Jeff is getting ready to release another great CD of his latest songs. And since Carol, Tony and I introduced Jeff to Chet O'Keefe, who is another talented musician, singer, song writer, Jeff has been working closely with Chet, on a few of his recordings.)

When I told Chet all about needing him to help me pull off this prank—he was all in. "Chet, all I want to do is jump into one of Jeff's serious songs, after he sings the first line or so and then I start singing off-key with him, which is natural for me, because I am tone deaf and also hard of hearing..." Chet thought it was funny, so he agreed to help me get our friend. And when I finally talked to Carol about it, she thought it was hilarious, too, and could not wait for it to happen.

So, it happened yesterday afternoon, around 3:00, when I called Chet. "Hi, Nancy. Are you ready to come over to make your singing debut?"

"Yes."

"I've got everything set up and ready to go, so come on over." Ten minutes later, Tony and I jumped into Buttermilk and went over the river and through the woods to see Chet.

When we arrived at Chet's super cool, mobile recording studio, Chet and I talked about the recording for thirty seconds or less. Then Chet played Jeff singing the first and second lines of one of his beautiful songs. "Okay, Chet. I am going let Jeff sing the first line and then I am going to jump in and surprise Jeff when I start singing the second line with him—off key." Then Chet put the headphones on me, Tony took a picture of me and the next recorded twenty seconds is history or should I say hilarious.

When Chet turned off the mic, he played it back for us to hear and the three of us could not quit laughing, because I was soooooo off-key and sounded like a hick. When we finally quit laughing, I thanked Chet and then said, "Chet, if you don't mind, all I need for you to do now is send Jeff an e-mail, saying something like, "Hi, Jeff. I've been tweaking your song and I like it, but I need to know what you think.""

"I'll send it in fifteen or twenty minutes," Chet said. "Keep me in the loop." Then Tony and I adios-ed Chet, jumped inside Buttermilk and came back home, to discover that Grace Kelly and her running pardner, Tom Landry, had dug out of their pen, once again and they were having a blast running around the rescue ranch, teasing the dogs. And five minutes later, they were back inside their dog pen resting, as they watched Tony and me fill up their latest hole, with rocks.

Around 7:30 last night, Carol called me to see how my trip to Austin went and after I filled her in, I said, "It's done, Carol. Chet and I played the prank on Jeff, earlier today. And it is so hilarious, because my singing seriously stinks. Do you want to hear it?"

"Yes! I can't wait!" When I held the phone up to our Bose iDock, Jeff starts singing the first line and when he starts to sing the second line, with me singing off-key and intentionally echoing too slowly behind him, Carol laughed so loud, it made our phone shake, in my hand. "Nancy!" Then she started laughing non-stop, for a couple of minutes. "That is the funniest thing that I've ever heard and...."

This morning, with still no word from Jeff, I called a certain friend (Carol) to talk about it. Ten minutes later, a little birdie (Carol) told me that it had caught Jeff totally off guard and he is still laughing about it and he has not responded, because he is deep in thought, thinking of his next prank to play on me, but I am calling a Don't Mess With Texas—Truce. (Jeff, you got me twice and I have only played one prank on you and I am done. I promise.)

If y'all want to listen to my prank, of me singing with Jeff, click here. It is too funny!

I have to go now, because I need to shower and get dressed in my cowgirl clothes, because tonight Carol and I are going to the Ronny Cox House Concert, as the Cowgirl Sisterhood. I am taking my banjo, too, because I hope that Ronny will sign it for me and let Tony take a picture of us. Because Ronny Cox is the famous movie star that played the banjo, in that classic movie, Deliverance! How cool is that!

In case you did click to hear me singing with Jeff, it ain't going to happen without Jeff's permission. "Laugh out loud, Jeff! I got you, again! Now we are even-Steven! Two to two. Please no more pranks from here on out, because I think that I've already peaked in that department. Don't Mess With Texans— Truce and always Remember the Alamo, dear friend. I love that song that I temporarily ruined."

Y'all have a great evening like Carol, Chet, Tony and I are.

Not Real Thrilled About It!

Today has been great. It was drizzling most of the day, so not much has happened out here. One big thing did happen today, but unfortunately I can't write about it yet. But I will as soon as I can.

Right now,  as I listen to Keb' Mo', Mama is sleeping on our bed. Roy is under the kitchen table, next to my boots—snoring loudly. Belle is sleeping in her chair, in the big room and Beau is in Tony's office watching television with him.

I am fixin' to go ahead and reset all of our clocks and I am not real thrilled about it, because it means that I will definitely oversleep tomorrow morning, Monday morning, etc. And that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

Sorry, Not Tonight! I Went To Austin!

Call Me!

Today has been great. Mama and I woke up real early, just before Tony left to go drink coffee with his friends, at the Old Timer. As soon as Tony adios-ed us, I sat down, at the kitchen table and drank a delicious cup of Donut Shop Coffee, as I checked my e-mail.

Then I decided to try to meditate for a few minutes, before calling my friend, Harley Belew, at the radio station, to do the weekly Utopia Animal Rescue Segment. Nine times out of ten, it is hard for me to meditate for more than three minutes, because of the phone ringing or Mama holding the front door open for our other three dogs, to go outside, to bark at a deer, an armadillo or a squirrel. Anyway, I decided to give it a try.

I went into our bedroom, sat down on the dog-hair-covered wooden floor, next to our cedar bed, so I could use our bed, as a crutch, to help me stand back up. I had only been om-ing for about a minute or so, when this hilarious thought, about the perfect prank that I should play on Jeff, "The Singing Safety," popped into my head. I laughed so loud, it startled Mama who is hard of hearing like me and was sound asleep, on our bed. She barked once and then Mama leapt off the bed, not knowing that I was sitting right there beneath her, on the floor. She was in such a hurry, she barely cleared the top of my head, so I figured it was a sign for me to stop om-ing.

I have no clue, why things are always popping into my brain when I am trying to meditate, but I like it and I love the prank that was presented to me. It was perfect and I could not wait to go call Carol and tell her all about the perfect-prank-premonition that had come to me.

When I called Carol, I got her answering machine, that doesn't have a name. "Carol, I've got the perfect prank to play on Jeff. Call me. Bye."

A little later, when I did the Harley Show, his Pet of the Week was Roscoe. Last week, Roscoe was his Pet of the Week, too, because he is such a great Lab puppy that needs to get into a great home like his sister, Daisy, has found, in Arizona.

Right after I did Harley's radio show the phone rang. A nice man named Henry had just heard me, on the radio, talking about Roscoe and he was interested in possibly adopting him, but he had a few questions to ask me about this great, big puppy.

Around 11:00, as planned, Henry and his sweet wife and their two adorable girls arrived. Tony and I liked Henry and his wife immediately and we thought their little girls were precious, in their tiny, pink sweat suits.

The couple liked Roscoe immediately and we talked for a while about Labs, as Henry and Tony tried to calm Roscoe down some, so their children could pet him, without him accidentally knocking them down with his tail. "Why don't we take Roscoe on a walk down to the creek?" I suggested. And minutes later, we were walking Roscoe down to the creek.

By the time we returned to the rescue ranch, the super nice couple told me, "We want to adopt Roscoe. He reminds us of our last lovable Lab. We think he will work out fine, as soon as he adjusts to our home and daughters." So, I took off for The Cabin, so I could fill out Roscoe's adoption papers.

Ten minutes later, after they had signed off on Roscoe's adoption papers—he was officially adopted! Before we adios-ed the family, so they could take Roscoe to his new home, I snapped this picture of Henry and Roscoe. And, we all have our fingers crossed for Roscoe, that Roscoe isn't too much for their girls and that he has found his forever, great home.

When Tony and I came back inside, Carlton was flashing, on top of the breakfast bar, so I pressed his button and heard the sweetest message from George Fischer, that 82 year-old, author of The Last DK Cowboy and his other books about his life as a real cowboy. His last words were, "Nancy, my wife and I are looking forward to meeting you, Tony, Kinky and Big G for lunch, in Kerrville. Bye." And all of us are looking forward to doing lunch with George and his sweet wife sooner than later.

When I started to get out the pots and pans to cook us lunch, Tony suggested, "Why don't I treat you to lunch, at the Medina Highpoint Resort?" Fifteen minutes later, we were up at our favorite resort, laughing and cutting up with their fun employees. And, needless to say, "Our lunch was delicious and fun."

When we got back home Carlton was flashing, again. It wasn't Kinky or George who had left messages earlier—it was Carol, "Nancy, I can't wait to hear what you are going to do to Jeff. Call me." 

I picked up the phone and punched in Carol's number and got her machine again, "Carol, we're home. Call me!" When I turned off the phone, Tony handed me a copy of the Bandera County Courier, Thursday, March 6, 2014 newspaper. "You're in the paper again. Read this."

I looked at page 10B and read the headline: "This is for you, Cousin Nancy!" above Jeremy Clyde's picture.

I was smiling ear to ear when I finished reading the ad that Will and Sue had placed in the newspaper and I want to thank them and the Bandera County Courier for making my day so great. Kinky, Tony, our volunteers and I loved Chad & Jeremy and all of us were thrilled when Chad got adopted and then Jeremy finally found his fantastic, forever home, too. Here is a picture that I took of Jeremy, when he came to our rescue ranch.

And that is about it for tonight. (Carol, call me!)

Y'all have a great evening!