Blast From The Past!

Today has been great. This afternoon I was trying to de-clutter my computer and I found this old, blast from the past video that I had made about us and our Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch, back in January 2007. I watched it and it made me smile and also tear up, because it brought back so many fond memories of some of our past rescues.

I was just learning how to make movies back then, so there are no fancy lead ins or lead outs, like I use now when making my videos. 

I have loved the Rolling Stones, so I chose to use one of their most popular songs Gimme Shelter and I used Tony's and my photos in this video.

My video also includes a photo of Kinky and me, in Austin, in 2006, doing the Texas Book Festival together, my awesome, 2006 first book signing for my first book The Road To Utopia, at Sandy & Jon's famous, Wolfmueller's Books store, Ben kissing his sweet Valerie, that he had adopted from us and several of Tony's beautiful nature shots. 

One of my favorite pictures, in this video is Tony's incredible photo he took of Bosco, his Boston Terrier, jumping out of the wading pool. To view my blast from the past video, please click on Gimme Shelter. I hope that you will enjoy watching it as much as I did today. And I bet that some of y'all might recognize your dog that you have adopted from us.

Y'all have a great evening!

Sweeter Than Honey!

Today has been great. Ten days ago a sweet woman called me to tell me that she and her son and his wife wanted to come out, because they were thinking about adopting sweet Honey. After I told her everything about Honey, I told her that they were welcome to come out anytime, but to please call me first, so we would make sure to have the gate opened for them.

Well, this morning Linda called me, asking me if it would be alright if they came out around 1:30. "Yes! We'll have our gate opened for y'all," I said.

They arrived out here around 1:40 and Tony and I liked them instantly. We showed them Honey and then we walked her down to the creek to let her swim. When we returned Danny asked us if we could show them the rest of our dogs.

And after we gave them a tour, Danny, who owns Ark Plumbing, in Ingram, asked his wife and mom to name their three favorite dogs.

After they had told each other that Lois Lane, Dale Evans and Honey were their favorites, Tony and I excused ourselves, for about ten minutes, so they could talk privately about it.

When we returned they asked us if they could take Dale Evans for a stroll down to the creek, so this time Tony went with them, so I could go up to The Cabin, to cool off and drink some water.

Twenty minutes later, Tony walked inside The Cabin and said, "They want to adopt Dale Evans." And we were absolutely thrilled about them picking Dale, because she, like Lois and Honey, are three of the sweetest dogs we have, at the rescue ranch.

After they signed Dale's adoption papers I asked them if it would be okay for me to take their picture with Dale, so I could post it on my blog tonight.

Before leaving with Dale, they told us that Dale will be an indoor dog and that one of them would always be home with her and their little, old Chi-weenie! So everyone please keep your fingers crossed for Dale that her adoption sticks. And that is about it for tonight, because I plan to spend my evening writing.

Y'all have a great evening!

Sorry, Not Tonight. We Had Friends Over!

A Real Pain In The Back! or Tony's Traveling, Musical, Fishing, Blue Chair! or A Giant!

Today has been great. This morning Chet O'Keefe came out to see us and he brought along his Blaze Foley DVD, Duct Tape Messiah: The Documentary Movie, so Tony and I could watch it, because we were interested in watching the documentary.

For lunch today, Chet, Tony and me went to Medina, to eat a delicious BBQ lunch, at our friend's new Williams Creek Trading Company food wagon/cabin and so did everyone else, in Medina. Jo & Rick's  weekends BBQ business is located right next door to Debbie's world famous, The Old Timer store.

Of course, Tony and I ordered the exact same thing and Chet ordered a two meat plate with sides of coleslaw and beans. And needless to say, "We all thought our lunch today was absolutely delicious and I am so glad that we went to eat early, because when it was time for us to leave everybody in town had shown up to eat some of their mouth-watering BBQ."

When we pulled out of the parking lot, we drove about 200 feet, before Tony pulled off to the side of the road and parked Trigger, because we wanted to check out a garage sale. I ended up buying a pair of bar stools, because for a long time, I've been wanting to replace our bar stools, because they are a real pain in the back, because anyone who sits on one of our bar stools, their jeans or belts usually get caught in the decorative metal chair backs, causing them to walk away, with a stool attached to them.

When we arrived back at the ranch, Tony's famous, blue, folding, musical, fishing chair, that I gave away that night, at the Kerrville Folk Festival, was leaning up, against the gate. Tony was thrilled to see it, and he said, "Oh no. We've missed seeing Donna Hatch." But he was wrong.

As soon as we walked inside The Cabin, Tony called Kinky, at the Lodge, to see if Donna was still over there and she was, so Tony asked Kinky to please tell Donna that we were back, from eating lunch and that we hoped that she would have the time to come by for a visit.

One hour later, after we had just finished watching an extremely interesting Hangar 1: The UFO Files episode about Presidential encounters, when our good friend Donna arrived. Then we had a really fun visit with her.

We talked about everything under the sun and beyond. While Donna took turns holding Little Debbie or Big Al(ice) we discussed Tony's blue chair, books, writing, aliens, concerts, Terlingua, our dogs, our travels, Tony's upcoming photography coffee table book and the great article that she had written, in today's Kerrville Daily Times, about our mutual friend, Stan Morris, the friendly owner of, The Melody Corner, music store.

And that prompted Donna to ask Chet if he would please play his new mandolin for us. After Chet fetched his mandolin, from his van, he played it for about thirty minutes and his skill and talent totally blew us away.

Early this evening, I went outside to take a picture of Tony's beloved traveling, musical, fishing, blue chair that has two little speakers, embedded in the armrests, behind the cup holders and the two bar stools that I had purchased, at the garage sale.

Then I dragged one of the stools, inside The Cabin, to see how it would look, next to our breakfast bar and I was surprised and disappointed by how much shorter the new/used bar stool was compared to our old stools that hook people's clothes. 

Then I pulled it up to the bar and sat down on the new/used bar stool, next to the breakfast bar, to see if it was at all usable. And the answer is, "Nope," because my chin was level with the breakfast bar and it would have to take a giant to be able to sit at the breakfast bar. 

So, as I finish writing this, the next thing that I plan to do is drag the bar stool back outside and put both of the bar stools, inside our storage unit. And that's about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

#26, #27, L-Guac, 2-ts! or Musical Chairs!

Today has been great. This afternoon Tony and I went back to El Sol de Mexico Restaurant, to eat lunch with our good friends: Steve Pietzsch, the incredibly talented artist, Chet O'Keefe, the super talented singer, songwriter, musician and Donna Gable Hatch, a fabulous author and the best Features Editor that The Kerrville Daily Times has ever had.

Tony and I got their twenty minutes early and Beto greeted us at the door. "We're going to need a table for five today. And we don't need a menu, because we want the #26, #27, L-guac and two teas," Tony said. Then we followed Beto to our table for six, near the cash register and then we sat down.

To fill our time waiting, Tony and I made bets as to who we thought would show up first, second and last. And I won the bet! Steve was first, Chet was second and Donna was last and they were only minutes apart.

After Beto had taken our friend's orders, we got to talking and laughing and it never stopped. We talked about Steve's upcoming art show, in late August, at the Kerrville Arts & Cultural Center and Donna writing an article about Steve and his art, how much we all love Stan Morris, the super nice, friendly musician that owns The Melody Corner, music store, on Junction Highway, Tony's upcoming photography coffee table book, the movie Foxcatcher, Nova Scotia, Chet's music and about him buying a mandolin, and the Kerrville Folk Festival and David Crosby's awesome performance, at the festival.

Then Donna started laughing. She told us that she had read my funny blog, back in June, about that night, at Crosby's concert, and me giving away Tony's favorite fishing, musical, blue chair, that was equipped with small speakers and a jack, so Tony could plug his iPod into it, while he was fishing. "After reading your blog I contacted my girlfriend that you gave Tony's blue chair to and she has no problem returning it to you. I'm coming out to the ranch, this Saturday, to visit with Kinky and I'll bring it with me." To say the least, Tony was more than thrilled with her good news.

After a super fun time, at El Sol de Mexico, eating a delicious lunch with our dear friends, we hugged everyone and then everyone adios-ed each other and went our separate ways.

Our first way was going to The Kerrville Daily Times office, so I could renew our yearly subscription to the newspaper and our next way was at Hastings, so I could hopefully buy the 2012 Academy Award winning documentary, Searching For Sugar Man and our last way was a quick stop, at the little H-E-B, to buy a gallon of 2% milk for Tony, deodorant and toilet paper. Then Trigger took us home. And that's about it for today, because I am fixin' to go watch Searching For Sugar Man, the awesome documentary that many of my friends have been raving about.

P.S. My dear friend Mari sent me this awesome story about a man in Brazil that has unusual pets, a Golden Retriever named Bob, several birds and a hamster. I loved reading the short story and the photos that he has taken of his pets are more than awesome. If you want to instantly put a smile on your face please click here. I love his pet pictures so much that I keep going back to look at them, because they warm my heart. "Mari, thank you for sending this to me!"

Y'all have a great evening!

A Breakdown!

Today has been great—until three hours ago when I tried to hook-up a new ink jet printer, because six days ago, the old one totally lost its mind and had a total breakdown. Even though everyday since its total breakdown, I have wasted many frustrating hours trying to revive it, I finally gave up yesterday afternoon and pronounced it dead.

My exact words, before Tony removed it from my office, were, "Good riddance. Rest in peace. And maybe the next time that you come back around, the printer gods will have given you a better unit than this one."

So late yesterday afternoon, Tony drove me to Office Max and I purchased a new, less expensive all-in-one model, figuring that keeping it simple would be the better choice. Well I was wrong about that, because today I have spent/wasted three frustrating hours trying to install the printer.

I finally gave up about thirty minutes ago, so I wouldn't have a total breakdown, caused by a stupid printer, because for one that would be too embarrassing for me. With people and friends saying things like, "Omg! Did you hear that Cousin Nancy had a breakdown?" And then when asked what caused it, they'd laugh and answer, "Printing problems."

Anyway, enough said about my personal, printing problems, because I am sure that all of us have had at least one, from time to time. So tomorrow will be a new day and after I finish helping Tony with the morning chores outside, I plan to call a printer tech to help walk me through the printing problem process. And I am sorry for dumping on y'all tonight, but I had to get it off of my chest.

Now let me tell you about the earlier part of my day, which was a total blast. Tony and I met our dear friend Marguerite, for lunch, at El Sol de Mexico, because we all love Mexican food and Marguerite had never eaten there!

Tony and I were the first to arrive at our favorite Mexican food restaurant and Beto, our favorite waiter, immediately greeted us and took us to one of his tables. Seconds later, he served us iced teas, because he knows that we always order iced teas. After we told him that there would be three of us, he wrote something down, on his order pad and then he smiled and showed it to us:

#26

#27

L-bowl guac

2-teas

"Am I right?" Beto asked. Tony and I nodded our heads up and down and then we all started laughing, because Tony always orders their #27 and I always order their #26, with a large side dish of freshly made guacamole. 

A few minutes later Marguerite arrived and the fun began. First off, we introduced her to Beto and when he went to get her iced tea, we told her that he is our favorite waiter and that everything on the menu was delicious. So after checking out the menu, Marguerite decided to order the Combo Plate, which Beto had highly recommended.  

During our fun, delicious lunch, we talked non-stop about our dogs and told funny stories about their quirky habits, etc. And when lunch ended, Marguerite invited us to follow her over to her house, so we could see her place and meet all of her cats and dogs , including the four lucky dogs that she has adopted from our rescue ranch: Enzo, Odi, Mini and Scout, the lucky pup.

Even though Tony jokingly remarked that Marguerite had a lead foot—he and Trigger did a fine job keeping pace with her and when we arrived at her ranch, both of our jaws dropped to the floorboard, because she has one of the coolest ranches, in the Hill Country.

The good vibes were everywhere and it was obviously a place of peace and quiet, until Marguerite let her dogs come outside to meet us. Only for a few minutes, Enzo, her German Shepherd, stood back to show that he was being protective and watching us, while Odie, Mini, Scout and her other adorable dogs sniffed and licked us, while wagging their tails. 

When her dogs settled down and went their separate ways, Marguerite gave us a grand tour of her home and it totally blew us away. Tony and I loved the Frank Lloyd Wright architecture home that her father had built and I was blown away with her creativeness and how she had decorated her home. "Tony, I would love to have a home just like this," I remarked, several times and I came close to asking her if she would come and decorate The Cabin for us.

Marguerite's gardens were also awesome and the yard art that she had created, in each area, nearly caused me to start drooling and the good thing was I had taken the napkin, from El Sol de Mexico, just in case. 

Her lovely home and beautiful gardens are a sanctuary and is filled with super cool bird feeders, solar lights of all kinds, beautiful statues, that she had made, and the whimsical yard art, has totally inspired me to get busy and make something. Anyway, we had a wonderful time today being with Marguerite. And that's about it for tonight. Please wish me luck with the printer.

Y'all have a great evening!

We'll Be Back! or The Chow Hound Awaits!

Today has been great. Late this morning, while Tony was outside finishing up his chores, I cooked us lunch or so I had thought, because when Tony came inside The Cabin and I told him, "Lunch is ready and we're having steamed zucchini, my homemade pinto beans with cornbread."

He said, "Nance, it all sounds good, but I think that you've forgotten about us going to Medina for lunch, to eat at Rick & Jo's new BBQ place, in the parking lot, next door to The Old Timer. I'm starving, so can we eat your lunch tomorrow?"

Twenty minutes later, we arrived at our good friend's new BBQ food trailer and I instantly loved what I saw, because their Williams Creek Trading Company was a cute, log cabin food trailer and you know how much I love log cabins. So I took this picture of it.

When we arrived, the BBQ place was packed with Medina people and tourists sitting outside, on the big, shaded, picnic tables, enjoying Rick's famous, delicious, smoked BBQ. 

In some circles, Tony and I are known as, "The Cute Couple," because we always order the exact same thing when we go out to eat and this time was no exception. We both ordered double meat (Brisket & Sausage) plates with potato salad and beans, instead of coleslaw. It was a hard decision to make, because there was all kinds of BBQ and they also serve sandwiches, sliders and wraps.

After we gave Jo, Rick's super sweet wife, our order we found a shady place to sit down. And I am glad that we got there when we did, because more and more people kept showing up and the parking lot got full. 

In fact, famous Mikey, who writes a humorous, weekly column for the Bandera County Courier, was there and she said hi to us, before going over to visit with a coupe of the Bandera County Constables, who before leaving, told Rick, "Rick, we'll be back for some more of your BBQ." And our dear friend Debbie, the friendly owner of the famous Old Timer store, next door, came over to our table and we had a really fun visit with her, as we always do.

To say the least, "Rick Anderson's mouth-watering BBQ has been famous, in the Texas Hill Country, for over twenty some odd years, long before he and Jo ever decided to buy a food cabin, on wheels and sell BBQ on Saturdays and Sundays. And by their customers reactions today, it was totally obvious that the whole town, the tourists and us are more than thrilled about them being there, on weekends." 

And I loved their Open Hours sign:

Saturday 11 -7

Sunday   11 -3, or until we run out of our fresh BBQ

Here are a few more pictures that I took of the Williams Creek Trading Company BBQ Cabin, on wheels.

And since I am writing about food tonight, I want to show you another cute picture, that Marguerite took of Scout and sent to me. In her note, she wrote, "Scout always keeps her food dish, inside her crate, until it is close to her feeding time." She's a chow hound and Tony and I can't believe how much she has already grown! 

Y'all have a great evening!

Pickups & Puppies! or And Tony Likes That!

Today has been great. This morning before I called Harley Belew to do the weekly Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch segment, Tony told me, "Nance, you've got to check out Pickups & Puppies, because Adina has just written to tell me that they are pre-selling it, on their site! When you get to the site scroll down to the bottom of the page to see my book and the details and then go up to the top of the page and then click on Utopia..."

Tony was so excited about his photography book I got instant goose bumps, because I know just how exciting it is to get published. And now I am going to tell you how all of this came about.

On April 4th, the same day that Bee Spears got adopted to a fabulous family, Adina, from Fort Worth, had called me and she had left a pretty exciting message that involved she and her husband, Butch's Win A New Pickup sweepstakes business and their NASCAR race car drivers friend's charities. So after Bee left our rescue ranch I returned her call and then things started rolling from there.

And before the wheels started turning too fast, I got our dear friends, Kris & Jim, involved, because they are die-hard NASCAR fans and Tony and I needed for them to give us a crash course on NASCAR. And also because they had already volunteered to drive me me up to the Texas Speedway, in Fort Worth, to represent our rescue ranch at a fundraising event during NASCAR's race weekend, on November 5th. "Thank you, Kris & The Mineral Man. Y'all did a great job of teaching us."

On June 9th, Adina drove down from, my home town, to see our rescue ranch, to introduce herself to us and to meet Kinky, Tony and me. And it was a very fun visit that included several business meetings and some really cool NASCAR t-shirts, posters and other Nascar merchandise.

Then on July 4th, she and Butch drove down to see us and spend the night. We had a blast with them. And so did Kris & Jim, Sunday morning, because we had invited them to eat breakfast with us, at Koyote. And during our breakfast Adina, Butch, Kris & Jim, talked non-stop about NASCAR and the drivers. And Tony and I actually understood what they were talking about.

And while Adina and Butch were down here, she told Tony that she had already put together a book of his awesome photographs with his name on it, that he owned the rights to and that they were going to sell his coffee table books, Online and during Fort Worth's NASCAR weekend, in November. And all of the proceeds from the sale of his book will go directly to our rescue ranch.

Then she gave Tony a prototype of his photography book, because she had just one printed proof made, so she could check out the color and quality. And here is a picture of Tony's Utopia: A perfect place for refuge that she gave to him two weeks ago.

I love Adina's title for Tony's book and that she chose to use that awesome picture he took of Belle & Beau hanging out, on our front porch. And the best news is, Adina has already told Tony that after the November event she will be glad to help him publish another book of his photography, with this time all of the proceeds going directly into Tony's pocket. And Tony likes that.

I confess that I have not been blogging as often as I used to do and my reason for that is lack of time and I've been too busy, because I have been trying to finish writing two books, writing grants, taking a fun trip with Chet to, New Mexico and then to Dripping Springs, playing my guitar, while also taking care of business at the rescue ranch. So please hang in there for me, because things are starting to slow down some and that I will soon have much more time to blog. And that's about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

The Pink Pony!

Today has been great. I spent most of the morning doing paperwork, etc. This past Saturday and this morning, our good friend Marguerite, who over the years has adopted four dogs from us: Enzo, Odi, Mini and Scout, the female puppy, has sent me some adorable pictures of Scout (formerly Sara Lee) taking a nap and Scout playing with her newest best friend, O.E.O.—one-eyed Odi. And I want to share them with you, because they are so cute.

Early this afternoon we met our dear friend, The Mineral Man, for lunch, at Billy Gene's restaurant. And unfortunately, Kris couldn't join us, because she was out with her archaeological friends digging up rocks, bones, etc. 

We had a fun, delicious lunch with Jim. When the three of us started talking about Longmire, I told them that I really wanted us and the volunteers to do a Longmire-Texas Style short video with a very funny plot. And this is my author's enhanced version of the conversation that we sort of had:

"Lisa could play Vic Morretti, because she is young and beautiful," I said. "And she could carry around my  Daisy Red Ryder, pink bb gun. Jim, you could play the part of Sheriff Walt Longmire. Chet could play Henry Standing Bear, who owns The Red Pony Bar & Grill. Tony could play Ferg and the other Jim could play Branch Connally and always have leaves falling out of his hair! And Kris could play Cady Longmire. Which means that your wife, in real life, would be playing your daughter, in the video." Then Jim, Tony and I burst out laughing. "Eileen could play Ruby, Longmire's sweet, competent dispatcher. And just think if it were to go viral maybe the real Longmire cast would invite our Longmire: Hill Country Chapter, to be on location, in New Mexico, with them, when they start shooting one of their Season 5 Longmire episodes. Wouldn't that be so cool?"

"Yes it would, Nancy," The Mineral Man replied, half chuckling. "But I want to know what character you would play?"

"I guess I could play a runaway, aging, senior citizen, that escaped from an insane asylum, that gets lost and winds up on the Res or at The Red Pony Bar & Grill. And we could film most all of it, in The Okay Corral, and use my pink cabin as the Red Pony Bar & Grill building and the Sheriff's office, but we would have to change the bar's name to The Pink Pony Bar & Grill. And Eileen could use my pretty, pink, Princess phone, that she gave to me, to dispatch important messages to y'all!...."

After our fun lunch with Jim, Tony and I went to Wild Birds Unlimited, one of our favorite stores, in Kerrville, so Tony could buy some more birdseed and we could visit with Marguerite and the nice owners, Kevin & Linda. And when we walked inside the super cool store, Marguerite greeted us with a smile. Then she and I immediately started talking about our dogs, while Tony shopped around. Marguerite and I had a good laugh about Odi and Scout only using the small, Chihuahua-sized doggie door and them refusing to use the much bigger doggie door, that Enzo, the German Shepherd uses. And needless to say, "We had a wonderful time at the Wild Birds Unlimited store.

Late this afternoon when I walked into the kitchen I caught Belle and Beau, under the kitchen table, staring out the window at something. I called them to come to me, but they wouldn't budge, because something had caught their full attention.

So, I went and looked out the window to see what it was they were staring at and I found this cute bunny sitting just outside our backyard fence.

And that's about it for tonight, because Kinky wants me to come over for a visit and go on a hike with him and The Friedmans.

Y'all have a great evening!

We're Back From Our Road Trip!

Today has been great and so was Saturday, because early, yesterday afternoon, Chet, Tony and I went to Dripping Springs, to attend my brother Ronnie's 65th Birthday Party, while sweet Ellen baby-sat the rescue ranch for us.

Ronnie's party was a total blast and the jam session was incredibly great, because there were so many talented musicians there. And needless to say, "Everyone, including the super talented musicians are now Chet O'Keefe fans."

We got back here this morning and all was good. Tony and I are both pretty tired from the road trip and we are planing to go to bed early tonight. I will write more tomorrow.

Y'all have a great evening!

Sandy & Jon Wolfmueller Started All Of This!

Today has been great. This morning I got the cutest e-mail from Eileen, she and her husband are now  major fans of Netflix's Longmire hit series, just like Kris & Jim, Lisa, Chet and Tony & me are. And our dear friends Sandy & Jon Wolfmueller started all of this, because they were the ones that told Tony and me that we had to watch Longmire. And I am so glad that they did, because we're hooked.

After Eileen and I had shot back and forth, several e-mails about us loving Longmire, etc. This is my edited version of what Eileen wrote this morning:

"Oh Nancy, great idea about a Hill Country Walt Longmire Fan Posse! I also love Jim's idea about all of us getting Longmire or The Red Pony Bar & Grill t-shirts and post a picture! I think we should write a fan letter & ask if we fan possebers can be on the set, in NM, for the filming of a next season's episode! Wouldn't that be the coolest?!!

My predictions for Season 4:

Vic & Walt spend all season 4 flirting, hiding their feelings & making us wait for the end to see them get together, finally. Lizzie might come back in the picture to try to break them up!

Branch is alive!! Yea!  He has killed his dad & takes over the business to cause more turmoil for Longmire as Branch starts turning into his dad! Mean creep!

Cady gets back with Branch - for 2 or 3 episodes but he gets too crooked & mean like his sinister dad & they break up.

Vic's husband returns & wants to reunite with her while she & Walt are on the verge of declaring their love!

Poor Ferg, he is just ignored!

Finally, Henry meets a lovely, smart, honest woman, but that darn crooked Deanna returns & he just can't resist a trashy woman who will cheat & steal from him - again! Or then again, I may be totally wrong!"

We did a lot of mowing today and I kept thinking about Eileen's exciting Longmire e-mail, while I was riding the lawn mower, all over the place. Bottom Line: Our rescue ranch looks beautiful, once again.

After mowing, we came back inside The Cabin and we cleaned up and then took off, for Medina, so we could wash Trigger, because he really needed it and because I had a hidden agenda.

I was more than thrilled about how nice Trigger had cleaned up and my hidden agenda was to immediately put bumper stickers, on Trigger's rear bumper, after he had dried out. And I confess, that I copied what Kris & The Mineral Man had done with their Walt Longmire For Sheriff and their Utopia In Dog We Trust bumper stickers, because it looked so cool. In case you've forgotten, here's what they did to their bumper.

And here's what I did to Trigger's bumper. I wanted to put the bumper stickers, side by side, like Kris & Jim had done, but what the heck—I still love how they look.

Around 6:00 this evening, Kinky called to invite Tony and me to come over for a visit with him and Brian Molnar and five minutes later, we were, over at The Lodge and I was talking to Kinky and Brian about the late, great singer/songwriter Townes Van Zandt. "I loved Townes and was good friends with him," Kinky said. "He was so great..."

"I love Townes music," I said. "And do you know that when I was young and living, in Crested Butte, I met Townes on several occasions, because back in '71 and '72 he was either hanging out, in Aspen or hanging out, in Crested Butte. I wasn't a good friend of his, because he was older. And do you know that Townes got kicked out of Crested Butte? And after he got kicked out he wrote a song called The Sheriff of Crested Butte. And Kemp, who was the Sheriff of Crested Butte and his brother Cordley were both good friends of mine. And Townes was born in Ft. Worth and ...." Then I caught Kinky, Brian and Tony all looking at each other and grinning. I guess that you could say that I was on another roll.

When it was time for us to leave, before we all adios-ed each other, I asked Kinky to please come outside and let Tony take a picture of him and me, posing between the two best bumper stickers, in the world.

And that's about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

The Luckiest One!

Today has been great. My back is sore tonight, because we did a lot more mowing outside and are almost caught up with that.

This morning Ashley called and left a message on Carlton. "We've decided that we want to adopt B.B. King and...." Tony and I were thrilled for B.B.

Early this evening I went over to the Lodge to visit with Brian and Kinky. Brian wanted to see my new guitar, so I took it with me. Brian who is a Martin Guitar collector played mine and he loved it. Then we and The Friedmans took a hike around the ranch and that was a lot of fun.

When I returned home, at 6:30, Tony walked out on the porch and said, "Ashley has just called and they are on their way over here to adopt B.B."

Fifteen minutes later, B.B. King was officially adopted and he was more than thrilled about it. And before they loaded him up into their car, I took this picture of B.B.'s new best friend. And then I snapped this shot of B.B. with his new best friend and the best friend's friend, so you could see how happy B.B. was to have finally found a fabulous, forever family.

For the next couple of days please keep your fingers crossed that B.B.'s adoption sticks. And that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

The Lucky One!

Today has been great. We had a wonderful 4th of July weekend, because we spent it with our good friends, Adina & Butch and Kris & Jim aka The Mineral Man.

Early this morning, while Tony was still drinking coffee at The Old Timer, in Medina, I decided to surprise him by pushing the lawn mower around, in several dog pens, because he was so sweet to "hold down the fort," while I was gone to New Mexico.

The good news is he was pleasantly surprised and he really appreciated me helping him with the mowing. So after we ate a fun lunch with Chet, in Kerrville and took care of a few errands, we returned to the ranch and I started mowing again, until a nice woman and her great kids came over to check out B.B. King, our sweet, young dog.

B.B. is in the pen right next to sweet Lucille, the Boxer mix. that I named after B.B.'s guitars. So to make a long story short—Ashley and her nice kids fell in love with B.B. and Lucille and they could not make up their minds which one they wanted to adopt. So it was decided that tomorrow morning Ashley is going to call me to tell me which one gets to be the lucky one.

This evening Tony and I went over to visit Kinky and Brian Molnar, the talented musician that is producing Kinky's soon to be released awesome CD.

When we drove up in Trigger, they were just fixin' to go hiking with The Friedmans. Kinky invited Tone and me to hike with them, but Tony declined, because his knee was aching.

I had a fun time hiking with them, because they told me some funny stories about them being backstage, at Willie's 4th of July picnic, while Tony hung out, at the Lodge, on the front porch, taking pictures of Kinky's huge herd of Hummers.

When we came back to the Lodge we had a fun visit and then Tony and I returned home.

I can't wait for tomorrow morning to come, so we can find out which dog Ashley and her sweet family want to adopt. And that's about it for tonight, because I'm fixin' to drink a glass of boxed wine and play my guitar, in Outer Space.

Y'all have a great evening!

My Signs Of The Times! or Craig Johnson, The Author Of Longmire Rules & So DoesThe Hit Drama Series Longmire!

Today has been great. This afternoon while we were eating lunch with our fabulous friends/volunteers, at the Koyote Grill, I told Kris and Jim aka The Mineral Man, "I really love the picture, that y'all sent to me, of your Longmire For Sheriff and the Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch bumper stickers...."

Near the end of our lunch I glanced over at the Medina Highpoint Resort check-in-or-out counter and started reading some of their funny signs that they sell and one in particular made me laugh out loud—so I bought it! Then I told our friends, "I'm going to hang this sign on the Area 51 fence that will be going around The Mother Ship. Along with my Area 51 sign, that I purchased from the Alien Museum, in Roswell. And I think that I am going to paint the sign's trailer, so it will look like The Mother Ship."

When we got back home, I was inspired to do what Kris & Jim did with their bumper stickers, so I took pictures of my new signs, on our refrigerator door and my guitar, to show my new Walt Longmire For Sheriff, the Red Pony Bar & Grill: Continual Soirre, the Boy Howdy, the Yeti, the Zombie Hunter's Permit and the Big Foot Research Team. In hopes that Craig Johnson, the fabulous author of the Longmire novels, might see it and respond to it too, because all of our friends/volunteers, etc. love watching the hit drama series Longmire and we can't wait for Season 4 to be released. In fact, today The Mineral Man even suggested that we all buy Longmire t-shirts and take a group picture.

And that's about it for tonight, because I need to start cleaning our trailer, because our great Nascar friends, Adina & Butch, are coming out to see us tomorrow and will be spending the night, too. And Tony and I can't wait to see them. 

Y'all have a great evening!

Red Man! or Longmire! or Warm Day!

Today has been great. All that I've done today is playing paperwork catch up, etc. and I still need a few more hours to be totally caught up, again. So tonight's post is going to be mainly pictures, because I want to get caught up.

I had a fabulous time, at Cindy's beautiful, off-grid ranch, in Northern New Mexico. It took Chet and me thirteen hours to drive there. I only drove The Red Pony for about one hour and Chet drove the rest of the way, because I think my driving skills worried him.

And when we arrived, at the ranch, Saturday night, Jody, who is a super, multi-talented, skilled artist, gave each of us two of his beautiful pillows that he had painted.

Cindy's fabulous Rites of Passage premier, film event was held, in Taos, Sunday evening and we met some incredibly great people there, with some of them being the Who's Who, of Taos, including Jonathan Warm Day, the famous Native American Pueblo artist and author, who is also good friends with Cindy & Jody.

I wore my official dress-up uniform: the long-sleeved emerald green blouse, pink bandana around my neck, pink boots and cowboy hat and the art gallery owner's partner, a very nice woman, said to Jo, who was standing next to me, "Now this woman knows how to wear a hat." Then she smiled and looked me in the eye, and said, "I bet you're Cindy's friend, from Texas..." Basically, I looked like this photo taken at my latest Medina Community Library book signing.

And that night I also purchased one of Jody's beautiful, hand carved and painted plaques: the Third of the Seven Sacred Teachings: COURAGE-BEAR: "It takes a lot of courage to listen to your heart and your spirit when your mind is telling you something else."

During the days, Cindy and I spent most of our time visiting, either sitting out on the porch, hiking down to the pretty pond or in her studio, while Chet and Jody took hikes, worked or went horseback riding, on their awesome horses, Red Man, the Quarter Horse. in the picture below and Boss Man, the handsome Paint.

In the evenings, Chet treated us and their friends to several, awesome, mini-concerts, that would always give us goose bumps and leave us speechless, because of his incredible musical talents. 

And while we were out there we also celebrated Cindy's birthday. Jo, who had moved out there, three years ago, from Blanco, is both Cindy's and my girlfriend. She surprised Cindy with the cutest, delicious, homemade "Aliens Welcome" birthday cake. And she also made fresh, raw milk ice cream, using the milk from Cindy's & Jody's sweet milk cow, Tilly. The cake and the vanilla ice cream were so tasty, I ate way too much of it, but what the heck—I was on vacation and I also love Aliens and Yetis.

This afternoon I took a ten-minute break from doing the paperwork, so I could hang up Jody's beautiful plaque. I had to rearrange a few pictures, on the walls, to finally find the perfect place for it.

And I moved our small "All you need is Love" hand-sewn plaque, that a very sweet, young woman made especially for us, because several years ago we had rescued, Roscoe, her families beloved dog, and I hung it on the wall, next to the front door, so the last thing that anyone will see, when going outside, will remind us that all you need is love, because it is so true.

P.S. Earlier today our dear friends Kris & The Mineral Man sent me a picture of their two favorite bumper stickers, on their bumper, that they also tweeted to Craig Johnson, the famous author of Longmire, in hopes that he will respond. And I love it!

Y'all have a great evening!

I'm Back! Had A Blast! Will Try To Write Tomorrow! Good Night and Sleep Tight! Come OnTony & Dogs Let's Go To Bed!