Monday, March 30, 2015

Short!

Today has been great and I am so happy that Tony is back home. But tonight I am keeping it short, because I'm outside, having fun painting The Mother Ship, my new/used Shasta RV! And I love the color.

Y'all have a great evening!

Sunday, March 29, 2015

Slumber Party!

Today has been great and so was my "bachelorette" weekend that I spent without Tony. Last Friday morning, around 7:30, as planned, my sweet husband and our dear friends Chet and Fourth, took off for Big Bend and beyond.

So Friday afternoon, when I went to go eat lunch with our fabulous friends/volunteers, at the Koyote Grill,  I made a dietary decision and announced to our friends, "Since Tony won't be back until Sunday, I am ordering a pizza with everything on it, because I plan to spend a lot of time writing while he's gone and I can just eat pizza all weekend instead of wasting my time cooking for one!"

Even though no one seemed impressed, I thought it was a brilliant decision I had made. So Friday afternoon I ate two oven-hot slices of the delicious pizza for lunch. Then Friday night I ate two more slices, but I shared a lot of it with our dogs. And that's when I discovered that Little Debbie really loves pizza and that she's also a drooler.

Friday night I had a slumber party with all five of our dogs. The dogs loved sleeping with me, but when I woke up Saturday morning my shoulder was aching, probably from a pinched nerve, due to sleeping in all kinds of odd, uncomfortable positions, to accommodate our dogs sleeping arrangements.

For breakfast Saturday morning, I had coffee and one slice of cold pizza and I shared the crust with the dogs. For lunch I ate two more cold slices and divided up one slice to give to the dogs.

Around 2:30, this nice couple, Kelly and Maydell, from Kerrville, came out to look at our dogs, because they were interested in adopting a dog to be a companion to their other dog, because their old dog had recently passed. I showed them all of our dogs and I had a really fun time getting to know them and before we adios-ed each other, they told me that they were very interested in Hank and they would call me back.

Later that afternoon, after I got back from Kerrville, Kelly had left me a message, on Carlton. Bottom line, he told me that they could not wait to adopt Hank and he wanted to know if they could come out this morning to adopt him. And you can guess what my answer was.

This morning, when I reached into the fridge, I just couldn't make myself pull out another slice of cold pizza to eat, even though our dogs were cheering me on like crazy and Little Debbie's drooling had formed a cute, little, miniature pond, for her to wade in or for me to slip on, beneath the kitchen sink cabinets.

Now don't get me wrong, I love pizza, but enough was enough, so I ended up dividing up one slice of cold pizza and giving it to our dogs and then I went outside, with an empty stomach, to go open our gate for Kelly.

I had nearly finished feeding all of our dogs when Kelly arrived, but I intentionally did not feed Hank, because I wanted Kelly and Maydell to be the first to feed him today. Hank totally understood my logic and it was very obvious to me that he could not wait for Kelly to sign-off on his adoption papers, so he could get the heck out of here and go to his fabulous forever home. In fact, when Kelly opened his truck door, Hank immediately jumped right into the front seat and went and sat down in the passenger seat. Here's a quick picture that I took of Hank and Kelly before Hank eagerly jumped into their pickup.


Late this afternoon around 4:30, Tony, Chet and Fourth arrived. They had a wonderful time, in Big Bend and they were a little road weary. I am glad that they had a great time out there and I am more than thrilled to have my Tony back home with me.

As I finish writing this, I want you to know that I've put the remaining slices of leftover pizza, in the freezer and please know that I won't be eating pizza again for a very long time. And please keep your fingers crossed for Hank's adoption to stick.  

Y'all have a great evening! 

Thursday, March 26, 2015

Ximbal! or My Problem!

Yesterday and today have been great. Early yesterday morning while I was cooking breakfast for Chet and Tony and making smoothies for all of us the phone rang and I let Carlton take the message.

Bottom line: A young, Black Lab mix had shown up a couple's home and they could not keep the dog and they did not want to take this sweet, friendly male dog to animal control. So after breakfast, I called the couple back. Then I called Kathy, at Hoegemeyer Animal Clinic. "Hi Kathy... The reason that I'm calling is a couple is going to be dropping off a young, male dog for us. He needs the works: shots, tested for worms, heartworms and neutering, etc. I'll call y'all later today to give him a name..."

Later in the afternoon, while we were outside mowing, Kathy called and left the funniest message. She said that after Dr. Rydberg had vetted the dog he jokingly named him, Ximbal. After she had quit laughing, she continued, "Ximbal is Lab mix spelled backwards. Call me when you've come up with a name. Bye."

Last night, before I fell asleep I came up with Ximbal's new name.

Early this morning Tony woke me up, as asked, at 6:00, so I could be awake enough to do the Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch segment on The Harley Show. It was a lot of fun and Harley's Pet of the Week was B.B. King. A one-year-old, sweet, Shepherd/Lab mix. And he's not a digger or jumper or hyper.


After doing The Harley Show, I grabbed the Direct TV remote to turn on the television and nothing happened. I then punched all of these different buttons, on the remote, but nothing happened, so I figured the remote's battery must be dead.

A few minutes later, after installing a new AA battery, in the back of the remote, I tried turning on the television, but once again nothing happened.

So when Tony returned from The Old Timer, I told him about "my problem" with the remote, etc. While I was cooking him breakfast, he tried to make the remote work, to no avail. So, while he was eating his eggs and piece of toast, I put the phone on Speaker Phone and called Direct TV.

After explaining to a very nice technician about the remote not working and having replaced the batteries, she started walking me through things to do, etc., as Tony sat, at the kitchen table, eating his breakfast, while watching me do this and that with the Direct TV receiver box.

When the woman was telling me that she would send me a new remote and thanking me for being a long-time loyal customer, since 2005, I was watching Tony remove two batteries from the back of the remote. "Wait a second!" I said. "Tony, it has two batteries?" Tony nodded yes. Then he closed the back of the remote and pointed it at the television. The Emerson TV came on. It was working! Then he started laughing and so did I.

"Never mind," I said, just like Rosanna Danna used to do on Saturday Night Live, to the technical advisor who was now laughing, too. "I'm sorry, I only replaced one of the dead batteries. I didn't know...."

Then I called Sarah, at Hoegemeyer Animal Clinic, to tell her that Ximbal's new name is going to be Jack Black.

After lunch today, Tony and I plan to spend most of the afternoon mowing. And that is about it for today and tonight.

Y'all have a great day and evening!

Sunday, March 22, 2015

I Don't Know!

Yesterday and today have been great. Late Saturday afternoon Kinky invited Tony and me to come over, to the Lodge, for two reasons. The first one being that our good friends Sean Rima and Syria, his beautiful, new bride and Chet O'Keefe were over there. The second reason was that he wanted us to come over to listen to the songs he had just recorded, for his soon to be released CD, that our friend Brian Molnar is producing.

We had a hilarious and super fun visit, in Kinky's kitchen, with our friends, while Sean was busy cooking up his famous, homemade Vodka Sauce Pasta dinner, for everyone. While the tasty sauce was simmering, on the stove top, all of us went next door, to the Annex, so we could listen to Kinky's newest recordings.

Before we sat down and started listening, Brian introduced us to Mike, the friendly, technical recording engineer, for the CD and Joe, a super talented musician that plays the guitar, mandolin and violin, on Kinky's songs. Oh my goodness! All of us were blown away with the songs Kinky sang and the fabulous sound quality. And to say the least, I had goose bumps from the beginning of the first song to the ending of the last song we listened to. And I told Kinky and Brian, "I know that I am going to buy at least ten copies of this CD and probably more..."

This afternoon, Tony and I went to Kerrville, to meet Lori and then eat lunch with her. She had called me Saturday morning, while it was still raining outside and told me that she was in Texas, visiting relatives and she wanted to come see our rescue ranch and meet all of us, but because of the weather she asked if maybe she could come out today, instead of Saturday.

After I told her that it would be fine, she said, "I am also a good friend of Bill Christman, in St. Louis. The man that has the most popular bar and music venue, Joe's Cafe Galleryin St. Louis, where Kinky recently played. Bill told me that he had met you and that I had to come meet you, too. And, I must admit that I also read your blog and I love it and what y'all are doing. I also love dogs and have two of them..."

When Tony and I arrived at the restaurant, there was a young woman, standing in the parking lot, talking on her cell phone, so Tony waved to her and she waved back to him. So I waved to her, and Tony says, "Hi Lori."

The woman then gives Tony and me a funny look, like we're crazy, and says, "I'm not Lori." Then she sort of ran, inside the restaurant, to get away from us.

Then Tony asks me, "What does Lori look like and what kind of car does she drive?" And I started laughing.

"I don't know." Then Tony looks down at the pavement, shakes his head sideways and starts laughing with me. "Maybe she's already here. Let's go inside to see if she's in there."

When we walked inside the restaurant, the place was packed with people and this young waiter comes over to us and asks, "How many?"

"Three," I said. "But she might already be in here." And I already knew what was coming next.

"What does she look like?" The waiter asked.

"I don't know," I said, as Tony started chuckling. "Tony, I'm going outside to call her." But I didn't get very far, because Lori walked right up to me, stuck out her hand to shake mine, and said, "Hi Cousin Nancy...."

We had a really fun lunch with Lori and then she followed us out to the rescue ranch, so we could give her a grand tour and visit with her some more.

While Lori was out here, I drove her over to the Lodge, in Kermit, so she could meet Kinky, The Friedmans, Chet, Brian, Mike and Joe. After a short, fun visit with them, we came back over here and had a great visit, in Outer Space, with our new friend, from St. Louis.

And Little Debbie really liked Lori too and she spent almost all of the time that Lori was here, sleeping peacefully, on her lap. And here is a picture that I took of Lori, from St. Louis, so you'll finally know what she looks like, too. Mystery solved.


Y'all have a great evening!

Friday, March 20, 2015

Guess!

The last few days have been great. Nothing real exciting to report, from the rescue ranch, except that we've been way too busy push—mowing, weed-eating and riding lawn mowers, because of the weather man's latest guess, that we might possibly get up to 4 inches of rain, before Sunday. Anyway, I'm sort of doubting that we get that much rain, but his guess is as good as mine, so I guess we'll have to wait and see.

I've been getting a lot of writing done on my Part III novella, so tonight I am going to take a break from it so I can watch Deadly Drifter, a movie starring Danny Glover and Peter Coyote, that Chet O'Keefe has recommended and loaned to me. And that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!










Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Life Is Like A Box Of Chocolates!

Yesterday was great. We had many errands to run, in Kerrville, so we called our good friends Kris and Jim and asked them if they wanted to meet us for lunch somewhere and we also asked them to pick the restaurant. And around 1:00 we met them, at The Lake House and we had a really fun lunch with them.

After we adios-ed each other Tony and I went to Wolfmueller's Books, because I needed to drop off Gumbo's (Forrest Gump's) medical history folder and his adoption papers, so Duane and Sherry could swing by and pick them up and take Gumbo's paperwork to their veterinarian, before they come out, this Thursday afternoon, to officially adopt this great dog.

Last week, I had talked several times, on the phone, to Duane. The last time we talked was a week ago today. Duane had called me to see if they could come out, on Thursday, to see our dogs, because they wanted to possibly adopt a big, short-haired dog from us.

I told him that it would be fine, but explained to him that I wouldn't be here to meet them, because early Thursday morning I was going on a research trip with my sister Cindy. Then I quickly added, "But my husband Tony can show y'all our dogs and...."

After I finished telling Duane about Gumbo/Gump and Hank, two of our big, sweet, smart, short-haired, super dogs, he told me that he was having minor hand surgery, on Monday and that he wanted to know if they found a dog that they wanted to adopt, on Thursday, could we please hold the dog for them until his hand had healed. And you can guess what my answer was.

So last Thursday afternoon, while Cindy and I were guiding Sparky, to our destination, Sherry and Duane came out and Tony gave them a tour. And they fell in love with Gumbo aka Forrest Gump, the name that I had given him.

Now back to the future—Yesterday, after we dropped off Gumbo's paperwork and had a fun visit with Sandy and Jon, I called Duane back to tell him that we had just dropped off Gumbo's folder.

When we got back home, we had just missed a phone call from Duane. "Hello Nancy. We just dropped off Gumbo's paperwork at our vet's office and we are heading your way. In hopes that we can adopt and pick up Gumbo today, because we can't wait to take him home. I hope it is okay. Please call me back as soon as you get this message."

Ten seconds later, I said, "Hello Duane. We just got back home and yes, we would love for y'all to come on out...." Then I went down the hall and told Tony, "Tony, they are on their way and we need to go outside and get Gump ready..."

Fifteen minutes later, Sherry and Duane arrived and Gumbo seemed to know what was fixin' to happen, because he is that smart. This sweet couple couldn't wait to be with Gumbo/Gump and they told me that they loved Gumbo's original name and that they were going to call him Gumbo. And they had already bought him a new bed and dog collar and that Gumbo would also be an inside dog, etc. That made Tony and I smile and when I looked over at Gumbo he was smiling, too.


We had a really nice visit with Sherry and Duane talking about how much they love dogs and Gumbo, even though I could tell that Gumbo could not wait to get out of here and hopefully never come back. Here's a pictures I took of Gumbo with them and the other just seconds before he happily jumped inside the back of their SUV to go home.



Kinky, Tony and I are so thrilled about Gumbo finally finding his fantastic forever home. And that Forrest Gump movie, where Sally Field says that famous quote is so true, "That life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're going to get." And that is about it for tonight, because I need and want to work on my Part III novella.

Y'all have a great evening!

Monday, March 16, 2015

Under Pressure!

Today has been great, but I am still a little bit tired. Tony and I got up real early, so we could get a lot of things done. While he was outside feeding our dogs and cleaning their pens, I was inside The Cabin, returning as many phone calls, e-mails and catching up on middle-of-the-month paperwork, before we took off for Kerrville to run several errands.

While we were in Kerrville, we decided to eat breakfast, at Randy's & Lisa's Save Inn Restaurant, because we had skipped breakfast at home and were running on low. Right after we had sat down, at our table, our good friends Eileen and Wayne walked inside Kerrville's popular eatery, so we asked them to please join us. And to say the least, "Tony and I really enjoyed eating breakfast with them and we did a lot of laughing."

After we bought groceries, at the big H-E-B, our last stop was at Wolfmueller's Books. I needed to purchase a copy of my book, Road To Utopia: How Kinky, Tony & I Saved More Animals Than Noah, because I wanted to send it and my three other books to our new friend, Jim, that Cindy and I met, while on our "book research trip."

The reason for wanting to send Jim (James Everette) my books was because he had nicely surprised Cindy and me, by leaving two of his fantastic music CDs, that he had secretly slipped, early in the morning, in the door handles of Sparky, before we woke up, packed and took off. "Thank you, Jim. We love your music and have a safe trip."

Sparky, is the name that I gave to our fabulous and fun to drive, silver, KIA Soul rental car. Cindy and I loved taking turns driving Sparky, until Sunday afternoon, when we were heading back home, on I-10. It happened around Sonora, when Sparky's "Low Tire Pressure" light came on.

While Cindy drove I checked the Soul's manual about under pressure tires, I said, "Cindy, it says that the tire or tires could heat up, blow up and come apart and possibly kill us. Thank goodness I wrote that holographic will last week."

A few minutes later, we swerved into a filling station and drove up to the air thing, to check our tires, even though neither one of us knew how to do it. While Cindy and I walked around, staring at Sparky's tires, trying to figure out which tire looked under pressure, I said, "Cindy, I have no problem asking a man to help us. I'll use the "old ladies card." Then I went inside the convenience store and purchased an air pressure gauge, for under two dollars.

While Cindy and I were trying to get the dang tire gauge, out of its packaging, this big pickup pulls up and a nice cowboy, probably in his early forties, jumps out of it and starts walking past us. "Excuse me sir, my sister and I are old and we rented this car for a trip and the "under pressure tire" light came on. Could you please help us, because we don't know how to do it?"

Then this nice man, wearing a big shiny belt buckle and a tight green t-shirt, says, "Sure." Then he took my tire gauge and quickly started checking the four tires. After checking three of the tires that were fine, he checked Sparky's rear passenger tire and he looked up and said, "It's this one. It's fourteen pounds low." So I dropped four quarters into the red and silver, air box and we stood back and watched him put the right amount of air into it. "That light should go off now."

After thanking him for helping us, he asked us where we were from. "I'm from Austin," Cindy said.

"And I'm from Medina," I added.

The cowboy chuckled and then he looked at me and said, "Howdy neighbor. I live between Medina and Kerrville, on 16." Then Cindy and I started laughing with him and then I told him that Tony and I lived, off of 16, too. Then we adios-ed each other and wished each other a safe trip.

And that's about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening.

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Where There's A Will!

Today has been great. This morning when I woke up Tony was gone and happily drinking coffee, with his friends, at The Old Timer, in Medina. When  I went into the kitchen I read the note that Tony had left for me, on the breakfast bar. When I read it I laughed out loud, because once again he and I had forgotten our March 10th wedding anniversary. In fact, we've only remembered about four of them, since 1999.


After making my coffee I decided to hand write a holographic will, because I've been meaning to do this for a very long time.

After I wrote out my wishes, I made a PDF copy of it and then when Tony got back home I gave him the piece of paper, for him to keep. Then I e-mailed a copy of my handwritten will to my sister Cindy, even though I know that copies of a holographic will don't stand up in court. I did it just to make sure she could vouch for me if and when God honks my horn.

Then I called Cindy, so that she wouldn't worry about me sending her a copy of my last will and testament. "Cindy, I just sent you a copy of my holographic will and I want you to keep it just in case. I've already made a mistake writing it and probably will need to rewrite it, because I wrote holistic will instead holographic will." She and I burst out laughing. "Anyway, I just want you to know that I want my...."

"Well Nance," Cindy said, in between chuckles. "I'll print it out and save it, but I think that we will be okay."

Once again, we started laughing, as I knocked-on-wood—the breakfast bar to be exact. "Where there's a will there's a way," I joked. "And when I wrote, "being of sound mind" I started to write "most of the time," but I figured that since it is a legal document, it was best not to make jokes. Even though it would have been pretty funny." Then we changed the subject and talked about our trip.

After we had talked about our upcoming trip we adios-ed each other. Then I plugged in my iPhone to charge it and then I sat down, at the kitchen table and decided to feng-shui my contacts list. I was amazed to find that I had over 368 contacts. And twenty minutes later, I had deleted my contacts down to only 272 and it felt good. Then I went outside to help Tony finish up doing our morning chores.

This afternoon Tony and I went to Kerrville to run several errands, before I leave, in the morning, with Cindy. Then I started packing for my trip. And I have one more clue to give to you about Cindy's and my fun,"research expedition," for The Cowgirl Sisterhood: Part III novella. And I wish you luck in trying to figure this one out.


While I'm gone I might try to post something on my blog, but then again I might not, because I want my next novella to be a complete surprise to everyone including me. And that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Who?!

Today has been great even though Kinky, Tony and I overslept, which was not good because Kinky needed to catch an early flight, out of San Antone and I needed to be wide awake so I could do the Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch segment with Big G.

Only having been awake for about twenty minutes before Big G called me, I tried to sound wide awake, but I am not sure that I pulled it off. Anyway, before we went on-air I told him that a friend of his had made a donation in his honor, but before I could finish telling him, we went live on-air.

Big G's Pet of the Week was sweet Hazel, a beautiful four-year-old shepherd mix. "She's a fabulous girl," I said. "She's not hyper, or a digger or a jumper..."


After we did the rescue ranch segment, Big G asked me to stay on the line, so we could talk off-air. "Big G, a friend of yours named David *^%$ made a $100.00 donation in honor of you."

"Who?"

"David *^%$/. In his note he wrote, "in honor of a kindness done me by J@#$# Ames."

"Nancy, that's not my name and I don't know anyone named David *^%$/."Then we both started laughing.

"This is great," I said, sort of sarcastically, "because yesterday I wrote him a thank you note telling him that I would let Big G know. He's going to think I am crazy...."

Later in the morning, Kinky called me from the airport. While we were talking I told him about blogging about his foreign exchange story last night and he laughed. Then in his best German voice, he said, "This is a driving school." 

Then we both started laughing and that's when I realized that I had written that he had said, "This is an auto parts store." So after Kinky and I adios-ed each other, I got on my blog and immediately changed it to "This is a driving school." So, I apologize for the misquote. 

This afternoon, while I was washing dishes someone drove up, so Tony went outside to see who it was. Ten minutes later, Tony walked inside The Cabin, and said, "It was a fan of yours, from New Mexico. She and her husband were real nice. She told me that she loves all of your books and she and her husband are moving to Bandera. She told me that she just wanted to come out and see the rescue ranch, the pink cabin and find out if you are going to write a Cowgirl Sisterhood Part III, because she can't wait to read it...." 

I felt terrible about not going outside to meet the nice couple, from New Mexico and I asked Tony to please come inside and get me if that ever happens again. "So, if you are reading this tonight and it was you, please call me, so we can pick a date, so you can come back out and we can drink coffee and have a fun visit, in Outer Space, The Cabin and inside my pink writing cabin. And yes, I am having a blast writing Part III." And that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

Monday, March 9, 2015

Foreign Exchange!

Today has been great even though I overslept. I spent nearly all day doing paperwork, returning phone calls and answering e-mails, etc. In other words, "It was a pretty boring day, but I did get a lot accomplished."

Early this evening Kinky called to invite me to come over to the Lodge for a visit. When I got over there he suggested that we take The Friedmans for a short hike down to the creek. And while we were hiking and The Friedmans were running all around us, he told me a funny story that happened to him and his friend while he was touring Germany.

These aren't his exact words, but they are close enough. "One afternoon, while we were in Germany, we decided to go to a bank to exchange some euros to U.S. dollars and it took us a while to find a bank. When we found one we went inside. There was this friendly, German woman teller and nobody else was in the bank. She didn't speak English and we didn't speak German, so we tried our best to explain to her that we wanted to convert some money."

"Did she do it?" I asked, as Winston took off after a squirrel, that safely high-tailed it up a tree.

"No. She basically let us know that she couldn't help us. So we left."

"The next morning we went back to the bank to try again. And this time a German man was the teller and he was the only one inside the building. When we tried to tell him that we wanted to convert some currency, he looked at us, shook his head sideways and said, "This is a driving school.""

Kinky and I laughed about it, all of the way back to the Lodge, about the foreign exchange that didn't happen. And that is about it for today.

P.S. I am running late posting tonight, because of the time change.

Y'all have a great evening!

Sunday, March 8, 2015

One Clue!

Today has been great, even though I am having a hard time dealing with the time change, again. In the past I  have growled too many times about how much I dislike the time change and how it always fouls me up, for at least a week, but I am not going to do that this time. It is what it is and I've said enough about it.

These past few weeks I have been working very hard on my third Cowgirl Sisterhood novella and I am very excited about it and that is one of the many reasons why I have not posted so often, on my blog. I plan to keep putting up posts about our rescue ranch, etc., but my posts will not be nearly as long to read, etc., so I can spend more time working on Part III and finish it.

I've sworn Tony to total secrecy about my upcoming trip, later on this week, with my sweet sister, because I want this novella to be a surprise to all of my readers. My sister and I are going to have a blast spending time together, as we always do when we get together, while I do some more researching for the novella.

I can't wait to go on the trip with Cindy, but I am already starting to get a little nervous about being away from Tony, our dogs, the rescue ranch, Kinky and friends for so long. Even though I will only be gone for four days, it will be the longest time that I have ever spent away from Tony. In other words, "I do not like to travel at all, because I am happiest being home."

I have already started packing and making a list of what all I need to pack, etc. and every time that I put something else into my leather duffle bag, with our dogs watching me and trying to make me feel guilty for leaving them, I briefly think about canceling and not going. Then I quickly remind myself that I need to make the trip and I know that I will have a total blast with Cindy. And for goodness sakes, I will only be gone for four days and I that I need to quit being a big baby about it. And that seems to work for me most of the time.

As I finish writing this post for tonight, I will give you just one clue about my upcoming trip. And that is about it for tonight. Even though I am having it post at 7:00 tonight, when actually yesterday evening, at the exact same time it was only 6:00.


Y'all have a great evening!

Saturday, March 7, 2015

I Love Roy!

The last few days have been great, but I have been so busy lately that I have not had enough time to write. So, tonight as I give y'all my "Reader's Digest" condensed version of what's been going on, Roy is nearby, sleeping soundly, in his chair. And I want you to know that I now call Roy "My Home Land Security."


Late Thursday afternoon, Chet, Tony and I went to the Thomas Evans art reception, held at the Kerr Art and Culture Center. We had a wonderful time getting to meet Tom and viewing his beautiful  paintings. Tons of people showed up for the fabulous art event and it was a lot of fun getting to see so many of our friends there, too.

Friday was a great day, too. Around 11:30, Tony and I went up to Koyote Grill, so we could meet our dear friends/volunteers, so we could help celebrate The Mineral Man's birthday. Eileen had gotten Creative Cakes By Sharon to make Jim's designer, delicious, German chocolate cake and it was a big hit at the birthday party, because we were all in awe of Sharon's creative cake decorations. 

Because Jim was in law enforcement, Sharon had decorated it with guns, bullets, badges and handcuffs, that even included a key and they were all edible, too. In fact my slice of birthday cake included the capital H(appy) with the Capital B(irthday) beneath it and Tony ate a couple of the silver bullets.



Today has been another great day, too. Late this afternoon, I jumped into Trigger and took off for the Apple Store, in Medina, because at 3:15, I was having a business meeting with my new friend Roy Holley. Roy is a well known Texas radio host and on Saturday mornings from 9:15-10:00, he does his Talk About Texas show, on KKYX 680AM. 

He and I met in Medina, so we could meet each other and then discuss the upcoming Action Magazine's 40th Anniversary Celebration, that will benefit our rescue ranch, on April 12th. Roy is helping Sam Kindrick promote the blowout music extravaganza and he wanted to talk about him interviewing me on-air, to talk about our rescue ranch, etc.

Anyway to squash rumors, it was pretty funny when Roy and I walked inside The Apple Store together, to drink some coffee. Dawn, our good friend/volunteer, who adopted Sissy from us, was at the checkout counter, when she looked up and saw me with Roy. She did a double take and then she said, "Hi Cousin Nancy." And it made me chuckle.

"Hi, Dawn," I said. "This is my friend Roy. He is a radio host on KKYX and he..." After Roy and she greeted each other we went into the next room to get us some delicious apple coffee. Dodie, another good friend of Tony's and mine then walked into the room and like Dawn, she too did a double take and then greeted me and once again I introduced and tried to explain to her who Roy was.

Our business meeting lasted until their 5:00 closing time, because after Roy and I had talked about the rescue ranch and the event, etc., we discovered that we knew many of the same musicians, radio hosts, etc. and we had a lot of fun talking about our mutual friends in the music business.

When we went outside, we stood by Trigger, talking about our old friends that used to work at KVET and KASE, in Austin. And we talked and laughed, for about fifteen more minutes, standing outside in The Apple Store's parking lot, as a few pickups slowed down as they passed by us. 

So, to make things perfectly clear, I want everyone to know that I love Roy Rogers, my sweet, old, Yellow Lab and that I enjoyed meeting Roy Holley today. And that is about it for tonight. Now I must go reset all of our clocks.

Y'all have a great evening!

Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Thomas Evans!

Today has been great. First off, I want to wish Jim "The Mineral Man" a happy birthday. This morning when I called in and did the Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch segment, with Big G, I wished Jim a happy birthday on-air and then Big G asked me to sing the Happy Birthday song to our good friend.

After I quit laughing at his request, I said, "Big G, I can't sing it. I'm tone deaf. Why don't you sing Happy Birthday to Jim?"

After Big G quit laughing at my request, he said, "I only sing Happy Birthday to you and Ruth Buzzi. Come on Cousin Nancy. Sing the song." Because I really can't sing worth a dang, I ended up sort of singing the birthday song really, really fast.

Big G's Pet of the Week was Bee Spears and after we talked about Bee being nine-years-old and really sweet, Big G asked me, "What is Chet O'Keefe's contraption that I saw on Tony's Facebook page?" After I told him that Chet had made the Chet Pack, a backpack with a small amp attached to it, so he can walk around and play music, Big G thought that it was a really cool thing to do. Then I changed the subject.

"Big G, did you know that there is going to be a great art opening and reception for Steve Pietzsch's Austin friend, from Austin? His name is Thomas Evans."

"No, I didn't. When is it and where?"

"This Thursday afternoon/evening from 4:30 to 6:30, at the Kerr Arts and Cultural Center, across the street from Wolfmueller's Books. Tom Evans has a really big show of his great Texas landscapes and our friend Donna Hatch has written an upcoming article about him that will appear in The Kerrville Daily Times, Thursday edition. Steve, Chet, Tony and I will be there, as will Donna and Ryan Hatch. And it would be great if you could make it, too. You can check out Thomas Evans art on his website to check out his beautiful art."

"I will and I'll probably see y'all there..."

Late this afternoon Tony and I went to Kerrville to run several errands and our first stop was at Wolfmueller's Books. After we found the books that we were looking for we had a fun visit with Sandy and Jon. But it was s short, fun visit, because Sandy and Jon were busy helping their customers find books, etc."

Our last stop, before coming back to the ranch was at Wild Birds Unlimited, another one of our favorite stores, because it too, always has such great vibes. When we walked inside the store Linda greeted us and then said, "I'm sorry, but you just missed Marguerite. She left here about ten minutes ago. Can I help y'all find anything?"

As she talked to Tony about some birdseed I browsed around the store looking at all of their new inventory and their 50% Off display. When I was admiring this beautiful, tall, shingled A-framed birdhouse, near the front door, Linda laughed loudly and said, "I think that's Marguerite's mini-van that just pulled up."

I looked out the front window and when I saw Marguerite get out of her vehicle, I joked, "It is. Let me handle this." When our good friend walked inside the store, I said, "Welcome to Wild Birds Unlimited. I'm Nancy. May I help you?"

It took Marguerite a second or two, because I had caught her totally off guard and then she started laughing with us. Then the four of us had a really fun visit. Marguerite and I had fun trading hilarious Chihuahua stories about Mini-Marguerite, Little Debbie and Alice, while Linda helped Tony pick out certain birdseed that would attract certain birds that he has been wanting to photograph.

When it was time for Linda to ring us up, the cash register started acting up and it would not let Linda enter the code for a certain sack of birdseed. We got to laughing about it and then Linda gave up trying and asked Marguerite to please ring it up on the other cash register. "It's probably happening," I said, "because the full moon is in a couple of days, on the 5th."

As Marguerite started putting in the codes again, she laughed and joked, "No, I think it's because of Nancy's crazy vibes." Then she looked at the cash register and said, "This one won't take the code either." So we all burst out laughing again.

I looked over at Tony and shot him a wink and jokingly said, "Tony, we love this store, but they won't let us buy anything. What are we going to do?" Then Marguerite, Linda and me started making jokes and laughing even harder, when this nice man walked into Linda and Kevin Pillow's Wild Birds Unlimited store. And I would bet you that when he saw us laughing and giggling, at the counter, he probably thought that we were a bunch of crazy ladies that Tony had been assigned to chaperon.

Anyway as always, we had a great time at Wild Birds Unlimited. And I guess, because of the nice man's vibes their cash register started working immediately and it let us pay for our birdseed. And that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

Monday, March 2, 2015

The Sound of Music!

Today has been great. This morning Chet O'Keefe came over to drink coffee and a smoothie and eat breakfast with us. When Chet walked inside the trailer, I mean The Cabin, he greeted us and then said, "I'm nearly finished with it and I brought it with me to show to you." Then he went back outside. Then he came right back in wearing his custom made "Chet Pack."

While Little Debbie and Alice fiercely barked at Chet's wearable amp backpack, he slipped it on his back and then he grabbed B.B., my telecaster and plugged it into his Roland AC/DC powered amplifier. Then there was the sound of music! The incredibly great sound of Chet's music.

Chet started out playing us some cool rock 'n roll licks and then he cruised into some jazz, etc. His music was so great and powerful he instantly mesmerized Little Debbie and Alice—making them barkless. Thank goodness.

For the past several days Chet has been designing and working on his light weight, portable, amplified backpack and I think he has named it the Chet Pack. And here are two pictures that Tony took, this morning, of the Chet Pack and Chet playing us a mini house/trailer concert. And please note my beautiful, sparkling, pink guitar strap around Chet's neck.



During breakfast, we told Chet that his amp sounds great and then we teased him about the Chet Pack "definitely going to be turning a lot of heads when he walks into a room." That made him laugh and then he told us, "I know. And when I walk into a room or go on stage, I will already have its drum machine playing a beat before I even start to play my guitar. It is big and it takes up a lot of room, in my car, but I am going to take it with me when I go back out, to Terlingua, to play some gigs. Because, while I am out there I'm planing on hiking around Big Bend some and I'm going to wear it and play my music while hiking with Willie, on the trails..."

Before we adios-ed Chet, he told us that he will be playing, at The Starlight Theatre, in Terlingua, on March 9th. He will also be playing at The Boat and at The Terlingua Lodge, on the 13th. As Chet was about to leave, I teased him and said, "The Pack-Man cometh!"

Here's some exciting rescue ranch news that I want to share with you. Kinky's and our good friend, Sam Kindrick, the owner, publisher and editor of Action Magazine, the Texas entertainment magazine since 1975, will be celebrating Action Magazine's 40th Anniversary, on Sunday, April 12th, at Texas Pride Barbecue, in Adkins, Texas. The $10 donations collected at the gate with all proceeds going to our Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch! "Thank you Sam Kindrick! We love you!"

Action Magazine's 40th Anniversary & Music Extravaganza promised to be the largest, semi-outdoor concert ever held in South Texas starts at noon to closing and it is filled with music legends and many fine musicians. To name drop just a few of the music legends that will be performing are: Johnny Rodriguez, Johnny Bush, Darrell McCall, Joe King Carrasco, Augie Meyers and Kinky Friedman. And Augie will also emcee this blowout event. Here's the poster, that Sam sent to me today, about Action Magazine's 40th Anniversary celebration and fundraiser for our rescue ranch. 


I hope that y'all can go to this event and will help us spread the word about it. As April 12th nears I will write more about this fun music-filled celebration benefiting Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch. And you can also check out Action Magazine's current issue to read more about their event and also read a great article about Kinky, too. Click here on Action Magazine and then click on current issue. 

And that is about it for tonight, because I am getting ready to cook the Pioneer Woman's delicious Peach Whisky Chicken recipe, so we can eat it for lunch tomorrow. And lastly, I want to be the first to wish our dear friend Jim "The Mineral Man" a happy birthday tomorrow!

Y'all have a great evening!