Life Is Good!

Today has been great. Late this morning Tony and I took off, for Kerrville, to a few errands. Our first stop was the Save Inn, because we had not eaten breakfast.

So, when we got there, just before noon, we beat the restaurant's rush hour traffic and found a vacant table. And as fate would have it Tony and I ordered the exact same thing—Sinker Omelet, because it is our all time favorite. And needless to say, it was absolutely delicious as always.

Our next stop was at the big H-E-B, because I needed to pick up some ingredients that I didn't have to make Kris' famous, delicious Fruit Pancakes recipe, so I can cook some up tomorrow, because Jim raved about it when we met them for lunch, on Monday.

Our last stop was at one of our favorite stores, in Kerrville—Wild Birds Unlimited, so Tony could pick up some more of their choice birdseed blends.

When we walked inside this amazing store, with great vibes, Linda and Marguerite, behind the counter, greeted us. While Tony checked out the birdseed selections, etc. I started talking to Marguerite about her dogs, especially Scout, who Henry Standing Bear has a huge crush on.

While Marguerite was giving us updates on her four legged family, that she had adopted from us, she chuckled, and said, "When our great customers come in here, a lot of them know me and they want to talk to me about their dogs and pets. And I am always telling them about y'all's rescue ranch, too. So the other day I decided to make this, so I can show it to them." Then she went to the back of the store and returned with the pictures of the four dogs that she has adopted from us, over the years.

Tony and I loved her pictures, because we love seeing our dogs, in their forever homes, after being adopted from us. On this side of her card stock was Mini-Marguerite and sweet Enzo.

As we looked at these dogs Marguerite chuckled, and said, "I tell them I adopted Mini Marguerite, because Nancy had named her after me, in hopes of getting me to adopt her. And I adopted Enzo, because when I went into Hoegemeyer's to pick something up, Susan knew that I could not resist German Shepherds and in front of everybody, in their lobby, suggested that I go meet Enzo."

On the backside of the sheet were adorable pictures of Scout and Odi.

Then Marguerite continued on, and said, "I tell them I adopted Scout, when once again, I walked into Hoegemeyer Animal Clinic and there stood you and Tony holding that adorable puppy in your arms, and you told me she had been deserted, in a park, that some kids had found her. And then Nancy tells me, "This pup is part German Shepherd and she is so sweet...." Then we all started laughing, because it was so obvious that there is absolutely no German Shepherd in her.

"And then I tell them sweet Odi's story, that you had blogged about. So after reading your blog about the one-eyed pup, I went to check him out, at the clinic and I immediately fell in love with him."

So, I asked Marguerite if I could take pictures of her dogs, so I could blog about it tonight. So you can guess what her answer was.

When Tony and I got back home, Carlton was flashing, on top of the breakfast bar, again. So after we put up the groceries, we listened to several new messages. 

Two of the messages were from our dear friend Garnet and Tony and I were thrilled with what we heard, because she and her husband Sandy wanted to come and take sweet Lola back home! 

I called Garnet immediately to tell her that we would love for her and Sandy to come get their lovable Lola. 

So tomorrow morning, Garnet and Sandy are coming out to get their sweet Lola!  So once again, life is good. (Knock-on-wood.)

Y'all have a great evening and keep on laughing!

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.

Oh Cedar!

Friday, Saturday and today have been great, if you don't count that Kinky, Tony and I have cedar fever. The good news is I am getting on the well side and Tony and Kinky are just starting to kick the cedar fever, too.

Friday was a busy day for us. In the morning our great friends/volunteers came out and we celebrated Eileen's birthday, at Koyote Grill. It was a lot of fun and Eileen's birthday cards were hilarious. Lisa made her signature rum birthday cake and everyone said it was more than delicious. I didn't get to eat any of it, because I was on my second day of juice fasting, that I was doing with my dear friend Mari. But, I did take a slice home with me and put it in the freezer, so I could eat it today. It is defrosting now and when I finish writing this I plan to share it with Tony.

When Tony and I got back home some good friends came out to visit us and in between Tony's and my coughing and sneezing it was a lot of fun. While they were still here Kinky called to tell me that his good friend Bill Christman had arrived. Bill is a very famous St. Louis sign maker, artist, author, sculptor and he owns Joe's Cafe Gallery, in the historic district of St. Louis. Anyway, Kinky told me that Bill wanted to meet us and get a tour of the rescue ranch, so I took off in Kermit to go meet Bill and bring him over here.

Bill and I instantly hit it off. We liked the same kind of music, he plays guitar, etc. so I ended up giving Bill the grand tour of the rescue ranch even though I coughed, sneezed and blew my nose for the whole two hours that he was here. If you want to check out my newest friend Bill Christman here are some links:

 http://www.yelp.com/biz/christman-studio-and-sculpture-park-saint-louis

http://www.joescafegallery.com/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoZvkgxij2I

Saturday was great, too. Our good friend Dennis Lanning and his motorcycle friend, David, came out to visit us after spending the early afternoon celebrating Bandera's Mardi Gras. We had a wonderful time with them, even though they had to suffer through Tony's, Kinky's and my cedar fever bouts of coughing, sneezing and blowing our noses. Tony took these pictures of Dennis and me posing by his new BMW motorcycle and one with David, me and Dennis.

Like I said earlier, today has been great, too. To celebrate completing my three day juice fast with Mari, Tony and I ate brunch at Randy's & Lisa's Save Inn Restaurant. I ordered their Sinker Omelet that comes with hash browns and toast and Tony had their grilled hamburger steak with cauliflower and mashed potatoes. Tony cleaned his plate and I only ate half of the delicious omelet, because I was already full and even though it was tempting, I did not eat the toast or hash browns. 

After lunch we ran a few errands. We went to Tractor Supply and the little H-E-B. Then we came back home and did a little mowing. Tony warmed me about making the cedar fever worse by mowing before we started mowing the grass down and I wished I had listened to him, because now I can't quit coughing or sneezing. And I was sick when Carol called me, later this afternoon, to invite us over for a happy hour with her and Bill, because I had to decline her invitation, because of the cedar fever. 

I plan to watch the Grammy's tonight and that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

Super Day!

Today has been a super day. This morning, as soon as we finished doing our morning chores outside, Little Debbie, Tony and I took off for Kerrville.

Our first stop was at Hoegemeyer Animal Clinic, to drop off Little Debbie, so Dr. Rydberg could remove Little Debbie's stitches and cone, while we ate delicious Sinker Omelets, at Randy's & Lisa's Save Inn Restaurant.

While we were at the clinic, Kathy and Robin told us about them trying to find a super home for one of their clients dog, who no longer could care for her, because of illness. "Her name is Annie," Kathy told us. "She is about eleven or twelve years old. She's a Chi-Weenie. Everyone at the clinic loves this little old dog, but none of us can take her, because she must be in a single dog home, because she is very protective, like Chihuahuas can be and she will not tolerate other pets."

"I wish we could take her in to live with us," I said, "but Little Debbie and Alice run things and I know it wouldn't work out."

"I know. That's the same problem that all of us have, too," Kathy said. "All of us have several dogs and cats. Don't worry, I know we will get her into a safe home."

"We're fixin' to go eat breakfast at The Save Inn and Tony and I will discuss it," I said. "If nothing else, when we get back here I can at least take a picture of Annie and blog about her tonight, needing a great home. We'll see y'all in about 45 minutes." Then we took off for our favorite place to eat breakfast, in Kerrville.

Every table was taken at Randy & Lisa's popular restaurant, so Tone and I went up to the counter to say hello to our friend Lisa, who was ringing up sales, etc. Three minutes later, before we went to our table, Lisa had told me that she wanted to create a donation jar for our rescue ranch, to put on the counter, to help us. And as Tony and I were thanking her for wanting to do this for us, I handed her three of our business cards. "Great, this is all I need," Lisa said. "Enjoy your meal."

Tony and I both ordered their Sinker Omelet which comes with toast and hash browns, because it is our favorite breakfast and it was more than delicious, as always. 

After eating way too much and paying our check we went back down the street to Hoegemeyer Animal Clinic. 

Kathy and Robin greeted us when we walked into the lobby. "Little Debbie is ready to go!" Kathy said. "And her eye really looks great."

"That's great, but before we get her can I go take a picture of Annie?"

"Let's go!" Then we followed Kathy to the kennel. "Here she is!" I looked at sweet Annie and then I looked at Little Debbie, who was in the kennel right next to Annie's. When our cone

As Little Debbie frantically tried to get her door to open, so she could get to us, Kathy removed Annie from her kennel, so I could take a picture of her. This is the best one I got of Annie and just so you'll know this sweetheart also stole our hearts. So if you think that you might want to adopt Annie please call Hoegemeyer Animal Clinic.

As I finish writing, I just took a break so I could watch the Super Bowl Halftime performance and it was totally awesome even though I didn't know who the performers were, because of my old age. And it's been a super day even though it is F.M.T. (Full Moon Time) and Mercury is retrograde until February 11th. And that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening! 

Made In China!

Continued from earlier post today...Today has been great. Lunch with our friends, at the Save Inn, was a lot of fun and everyone, at our table, thought Tony's new binocular glasses were really cool.

After lunch, we stopped by The Salvation Army, so we could donate a giant garbage bag, filled with clothes and a blanket and a box filled with my set of Made In China dishes. Then Buttermilk took us home.

I spent the rest of the afternoon doing paperwork, returning phone calls and e-mails and then I went over to Carol's ranch for a fun visit with her. As I finish writing this tonight, Tony is outside shooting butterflies with his camera, and I am fixin' to go into Outer Space for happy hour.

Y'all have a great evening!

A 400 Pound Yellow Lab!

Yesterday was great. For the past several days Tony has anxiously been waiting to receive these wearable binocular glasses, that he ordered Online. He told me that they were under $10.00 and that I should buy a pair too, to use when I am writing on my computer. He got me excited about the binocular glasses, but I told him that I would wait and see how his worked.

Well yesterday, before taking off to Kerrville, we swung by our mailbox and sure enough his binocular glasses had arrived in the mail. As we sat inside Buttermilk, by the mailboxes, he ripped open his package. When I saw the pair of glasses, that he was anxiously trying to remove from the package, I tried not to laugh, but I did anyway.

When Tony put them on I laughed even harder, as he adjusted them. "There is no way that I am going to wear those things, Tony. They make you look like a mad scientist," I stated. Then he started laughing, as he removed his high-powered, plastic, wearable binoculars.

"They sort of work," he replied, wearing an upside down smile on his face. Then he handed me his B.G.s to try on, as we took off for Kerrville. When I put them on, I looked into the mirror and burst out laughing, even though my vision was highly magnified and somewhat blurry, then I removed his latest mail order purchase and asked him if he liked them. "Yes, I like them." Then I purposefully changed the subject.

When we returned home with our groceries, he put his new glasses back on, while I put up our groceries. "It makes your TV look like it's a big screen TV," he declared. "They really do work. Check it out."

I reluctantly slipped them back on and Roy instantly began barking at me, like he was scared of me. When I looked down at him, he really scared me, because he looked four times bigger, than he already is. He looked like a 400 pound Yellow Lab. Then Belle and Mama came running down the hallway to see what was the matter. When they saw me, they started barking too, and the fur on Belle's back stood up. So, I quickly removed Tone's glasses and their barking stopped. And that is about it for this morning, because we're meeting Kinky and some friends for lunch, at Randy & Lisa's Save Inn restaurant. I think I will bring Tony's new binoculars with us, so everyone can try them on and tell us what they think. I'll write more tonight.

Y'all have a great afternoon!

A Pickup!

Today has been great. This morning after Brandon and Tony finished working outside, we jumped into Buttermilk and took off for Kerrville. There were three reasons that we were going to Kerrville.

Our first stop was at our friend Stan's music store, The Melody Corner, because I wanted to buy a pickup for my banjo.

After a fun visit with Stan and buying a pickup, we headed over to Randy & Lisa's Save Inn restaurant, because we were meeting our good friend Eileen, #3 of the super Fab 4 friends/volunteers, and her husband for lunch.

Our lunch with them was a lot of fun and the food was delicious as always. When we left the Save Inn, Eileen followed us to Hoegemeyer Animal Clinic, because we were going to take a picture of Tadpole and she wanted to meet him.

When Susan brought Tadpole into the lobby for his photo shoot, Brandon and Eileen could not believe how cute he was and how healthy he looked. When Susan put Tadpole on the tile floor, he ran to greet each of us with his tail wagging non-stop.

Susan ended up having to hold him for his photo shoot, because he was running all around the lobby, making it hard to snap a good picture of him. Here's Tadpole, a very lucky pup that has already been adopted, thanks to the great people at Hoegemeyers.

When we returned to the rescue ranch, I did some paperwork and returned phone calls and e-mails, until Karon came over with a sweet girl, from the Medina Children's Home, who wanted to volunteer by taking Red Skelton and Gretchen Wilson for a walk, to see if they would get along, so she could replace Buttercup, who had been Red's short term pen mate.

Even though Red decided that he did not want to share his pen with Gretchen, Karon told us that Buttercup aka Butterball had fit right in with her furry family. And that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

Happy Birthday Lynda Coates!

Yesterday was great and today has been great too. Yesterday afternoon we met Kinky, at Randy & Lisa's Save Inn restaurant, for lunch. Kinky chose to go to the Save Inn, because he recently tried their Huevos Rancheros and he was very impressed with his tasty meal and the restaurant.

While we were eating lunch I started telling Kinky the story about last Saturday night, when we had dinner with his and our friends, Sandy and Jon Wolfmuelller. Before I could finish telling him about me thinking it was Sandy's birthday and us wanting to surprise her at El Sol de Mexico, he laughingly guessed, "It wasn't her birthday." And he thought it was pretty funny, too.

This morning after we did our morning chores outside, a very nice man named Steve, representing Hill Country Pest Control, arrived to exterminate my pink writing cabin and The Cabin. We met Steve one year ago, when for the very first time, he came out to rid our home of Scorpions and other pests. We were so impressed with him and what a good job he had done for Hill Country Pest Control, we asked him to please sign us up for yearly pest control inspections and treatments.

"Have you had any Scorpion problems?" Steve asked, as he pumped up his sprayer.

"No. Thanks to you," Tony said. "Until you came along last year and sprayed, we used to find Scorpions in our sinks, tubs, closets, shoes, etc. and we haven't seen any since you sprayed last year."

"Did Hill Country Pest Control call you and tell you that they are giving y'all a bigger discount this year, because of the good work you do?" Steve asked.

"I can't remember," I said. "That is so nice of them to do that for us. Please tell them thank you."

"I will. They are good people and they enjoy helping out the community as much as they can..."

Ten minutes later, I felt guilty about writing a check for so little, because I doubt if the small amount they charged us even covered the costs of their products used. I am not trying to be Angie here, I just want the people, in the Texas Hill Country, to know that Hill Country Pest Control, Inc. is the best and that I highly recommend them.

Late this afternoon Tony and I jumped into Buttermilk and we went over to see Carol. We had a fun visit with her. She is as excited as me about my second novella fixin' to be published and I think that I am going to let her have a peak at it, since she is one of the main characters.

It is fixin' to storm here, so I guess that is about it for today, because I need to go unplug. Happy Birthday Lynda Coates! We love you!

Y'all have a great evening!

Your Biscuit! or The Way It Was!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Y'all have a great evening!

Randy's & Lisa's Save Inn Restaurant Rules!

Today has been a great day. This morning while Tony did the chores outside, I did the chores inside with the help of Hazel and by 11:30 The Cabin was as clean as Hazel and I could get it and Tone was finished with his chores outside.

Before we took off for Kerrville to run some errands, I called Kinky, who was with Dylan on their way to Austin, to tell him how The Friedmans were doing at Camp Okay Corral and he was pleased as punch, as I bragged about how well The Friedmans were doing at camp.

After that, I grabbed my camera and purse and then we took off for Kerrville. Our first stop was at Randy & Lisa's Save Inn Restaurant to eat lunch and while we were eating our delicious lunch our dear friend Max Swafford walked inside, so we invited him to join us. "I know Tony is eating a Chicken Fried steak, but what are you eating, Nancy? It looks good."

"It is, Max. It's their English Fish & Chips, one of their specialty plates." Then the friendly waitress, wearing a pretty, pink Save Inn Restaurant came up and asked Max what he wanted to eat.

"Hmm. I think I'll have the Chicken Fried Steak, but make it the half order, please."

We had a really fun visit with Max as he ate his half Chicken Fried Steak dinner and Tone happily devoured his peach cobbler a la mode.

After a short, but fun visit with Lisa as I paid our bill, we left The Save Inn and went to the Kerr pound, so we could rescue two dogs, because Reata and Walter Cronkite fortunately found their forever fantastic homes. After going through the pound to check out the dogs Tony and I decided to adopt a sweet male terrier and a lovable, female Lab mix, right next door to him and after we signed the dog's paperwork we took the dogs to Hoegemeyer Animal Clinic to get them spayed/neutered, shots, etc.

When I walked inside Hoegemeyer's with the terrier and T. walked inside with the Lab, Susan greeted us, "Hello, Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch! Who are these beautiful dogs?"

"The terrier mix is Cosmo Topper and the Lab mix is Dale Evans," I said, which caused Susan and the people in the lobby to chuckle and to say nice things about the dogs. "We just rescued them from the pound and they need to be spayed/neutered, shots, wormed, etc." 

When Susan came out of her reception office to take the dogs from us, Cosmo Topper and Dale Evans happily wagged their tails, as she petted them and told them how lucky, beautiful and handsome they were—and she was absolutely right.

Our last stop was at Herring Printing, Kerrville's favorite print shop. When we walked inside Joe Herring greeted us and we had a fun visit with him, as he found our printing order. Then Buttermilk took us home.

Tonight I am going to play my guitar with Tony on mandolin and I can't wait!

Y'all have a great evening!

I'm Pooped!

Today has been great, but I'm pooped, because it has been one busy day for us. This morning I got up early so I could get my morning chores done. Then I called Continental Airlines to change Kia's flight reservation to Canada, because the first one I made was so early in the morning, Charlie and Ellen would have had to get up at 3:00am to get her to the San Antone airport by 5:00am. And, it only took me ten minutes to get her on the next earliest flight departing at 9:45 tomorrow morning.

Then Tony called Ellen to tell her about the new reservation I made for Kia, as I sent Fay and Charlie & Ellen e-mails with the new flight info. Then Tony and I jumped into Buttermilk with Kia and took off for Medina to get her required health certificate. While she was at the vet's office being examined, we decided to walk across the street and eat a quick breakfast at the "Highway 16 Cafe" and it was delicious and by the time we were done—so was Kia.

When we got back to the rescue ranch my friend Ronnie of "Head To Toe Spa," in Kerrville, the man who gave me that private outdoor massage out here that the whole world saw, compliments of Kinky's sister Marcie, had left a message on Carlton about coming out with his family to hopefully adopt a small dog from us. So I immediately called him, because we currently have no small dogs, but I got his machine instead and left him a brief message. Then I went outside to clean the pens for Tony, because he was running late on his morning chores, because of our earlier trip to town.

Thirty minutes later, as I was walking out of Harley's and Daisy's cleaned pen the dogs started barking to let us know that Ronnie was slowly driving in. When Ronnie drove up, I was heading to Mr. Roger's and Miss Dee's pen to clean, but I didn't quite make it, because I tripped on a rock and immediately fell face down to the ground—sort of.

Because I was carrying a heavy bucket, half-full of morning poop in one hand and the scooper and rake in the other hand I some how hit the bucket before the ground and found myself suddenly covered in poop, which believe me was not a pretty sight, but actually it was pretty darn funny.

As Ronnie parked his mini-van nearby and got out of it, I grabbed a nearby hose and began quickly washing todays dog's gifts, off of my hands and arms and then I started laughing at myself. "Hi, Ronnie! It is good to see you." Ronnie stuck his right hand out for me to shake and I pulled back and said, "I don't think you want to be shaking hands with me today after what all just happened." We started laughing.

"I saw you fall. Are you okay?"

"I think I might have sprained my wrist a little and my rib hurts a little too, but it's not that bad. I'm fine for someone who just got pooped. I guess you could say, "I'm Pooped." After telling Ronnie about calling him back and having no small dogs right now, he introduced me to his family and then they drove away to check out another animal shelter.

Then T. walked up and saw the broken poop bucket and poop scattered on the ground and he asked me what happened to the bucket, so I lied, "I was fixin' to go clean Mr. Rogers' and Miss' D's pen when the poop bucket just exploded! I couldn't believe it and I can't believe that you didn't hear it. Poop was flying everywhere." Then I started laughing and told him the ugly truth.

Early this afternoon, after taking another shower and putting on cleaned clothes, we jumped into Buttermilk and took Martha Stewart's pups George Clooney and Candace Bergen to Hoegemeyer Animal Clinic to get them spayed and neutered and given all of their adult shots.

After we dropped off Candace and George we went to Randy's & Lisa's Save Inn restaurant, down the road, to eat lunch and as always it was delicious and fun, because the waitresses are so cool and always upbeat. Then we went to Wolfmueller's Books to see Sandy and Jon and we had a fun, but short visit with them, because they were so busy helping their customers.

Our last stop was at Pet Supplies Plus to buy an absorbent pad and two bowls that can be attached to Kia's crate gate, because Continental requires it—then Buttermilk brought us home.

When we got home I pushed Carlton's button, because we had one new message and it was from Ellen, "Hi, Tony and Nancy. We got your e-mail about Kia's new plane reservation, so we will see y'all in the morning a little before 6:00. Bye."

Around 7:00 this evening T. and I went outside and I cleaned Kia's crate as Tony attached the feed and water bowls to its gate. Then we put the new absorbent pad inside it with all of the required paperwork and a pretty bandana for Kia to wear tomorrow during her flight, so everything will be ready-to-go when Ellen and Charlie arrive to pick up Kia.

Since I will be getting up real early in the morning I need to go to bed sooner than later, but before I do, I want to thank our dear friends Ellen and Charlie Cooper for helping us get Kia up to Canada and Fay Maclachlan and her lovely family for adopting another super dog from us. We love y'all so much!

Y'all have a great evening!

Sleeping It Off!

Today has been almost great. This morning instead of fixing breakfast for Tony when he returned from the Old Timer, we took off for Kerrville, in Trigger, with precious cargo aboard—Belle Starr-Simons.

When we arrived at Hoegemeyer Animal Clinic, we were happy, because Belle had not thrown up and even better—we were on time for her appointment to have her spayed and to receive all of her adult shots! Even though Miss Belle was not happy about her doctor's appointment, we kissed her goodbye and then we went down the street to Randy's & Lisa's Save Inn Restaurant to eat one of their delicious breakfasts.

As usual T. and I ordered the exact same thing—Sinker Omelet with hash browns and a biscuit with a side of gravy and needless to say,"It was absolutely delicious and the waitress was fun to visit with while we ate."

When we got back home, the first thing I did, after T. went outside to do his morning chores, was to check my e-mail and I nearly fell out of my chair when I saw over 142 notices from Twitter—telling me that all 142 people were now following me on Twitter! I could not believe it, so I went to my Twitter page: "cousinnancy" and it was true and I was so thrilled that my dear friend Ruth Buzzi at: Ruth_A_Buzzi was also following me. Thank you, Ruthie! I loved reading your tweets.

After I went outside to tell Tone my exciting Twitter news I came back inside and returned phone calls, e-mails and then I started catching up with my personal pile of paperwork. Then the lights went out—literally. The ceiling fans quit moving air-filled-with-hair, the air conditioner quit humming loudly and there was no music.

"Tony!" I half-hollered, then the phone rang—it was Kinky.

"Nance, is y'all's power down? Mine is."

"Yes, Kink. It just went out and now I can't do anymore paperwork until it comes back on."

"Well, why don't you come over here for a visit?" Minutes later Kinky and I were sitting outside, on his front porch, rocking-away, in the rocking chairs, as we visited and played with The Friedmans, while thousands of beautiful Hummingbirds swarmed around us and drank from Kinky's many bird feeders. An hour later Buttermilk returned me to the rescue ranch.

Three hours later, when the power outage finally ended, T. and I jumped into Trigger and went back to Kerrville to pick up his dog—Belle Starr-Simons. When we walked inside the filled lobby at Hoegemeyer Animal Clinic Susan greeted us. "Belle is still a little bit groggy, but she is doing fine, y'all..."

When the friendly veterinarian intern walked into the lobby carrying a sleepy-looking Belle in her arms, everyone made cooing sounds, including us, because she was so cute, even though she was still a little bit out-of-it. And, when she saw Tony she wagged her tail a little.

Two miles before arriving back at the ranch—Belle—blew it—all over me. As the warm vomit soaked my clothes I said, "It's okay, Belle. Don't worry about it. You'll be okay, little one..."

As I finish writing this, Belle is in her crate—sleeping it off. I can't wait until tomorrow morning when she will be totally back to normal, and back to biting at my boots, with her sharp little baby teeth, because as you can see—she has stolen my heart, too.

Y'all have a great evening!

Gerri Saves The Day!

Yesterday was another great day. When Tony came home from the Old Timer he said, "Charlie and Ellen are back from New Mexico. He was at the Old Timer this morning and he told me they had a fun time out there and look what they bought back for us, Nance!"

I was as thrilled as T., because it is our favorite jam in the whole wide world. While I was making breakfast the phone rang—it was Ellen Cooper. After I thanked her and Charlie for the delicious, made in Northern New Mexico jam, I told her that it was our favorite jam. "Last year, after Cindy moved out to New Mexico, she sent us a jar of this stuff and we have been hooked-on-it ever since."

"I know," Ellen said. "When we went to the Alpaca farm store, I saw it and remembered you telling us about it, so we brought y'all back a jar..."

After lunch Buttermilk took Tony, Mama and me to Hoegemeyer's, so we could get Mama groomed, because she still smelled of skunk. Here is a "before with fur" picture I took of Mama riding in the rear seat.

After we dropped Mama off at Hoegemeyer Animal Clinic, to get an early summer cut, we headed home and that is when Tone "dropped the bomb on me. "Well, tomorrow is our anniversary, Nance. I just remembered it and I forgot to get you anything. I'm sorry. Did you forget, too?"

Thinking fast, I remembered the "secret framed poster" that I had asked my dear friend Gerri Dickerson to make for Tony, of his first magazine cover for "Texas Animal Imprints," that she was going to deliver today and surprise him with it, so I lied. "No, Tone. I didn't forget our anniversary. Don't worry about it. I think that you are going to love what I got you." The rest of the way home T. tried to get me to tell him what it was, but my lips were sealed, because I was praying that Gerri would not cancel.

Around five o'clock Frank came over for a visit, while Tony was outside playing with his dog Belle Starr-Simons, in our front yard, so I went outside to play with Belle and to say hi to Frank. When Belle tired of playing we all went into Outer Space to enjoy the spectacular sunset, while listening to my favorite songs play on my iPod. Here is a cute picture that I took of Belle, sleeping like a log, in Outer Space.

Today has been great—thanks to our great friends Harley Belew, at the Rose 99.9, and talented graphic artist, Gerri and The Dunns! This morning when I did "The Harley Show" we first talked about Fred Flintstone being his Pet Of The Week and then we started visiting. 

During our fun conversation, I told Harley about me putting Meanwhile Back At The Rescue Ranch up for sale, as an ebook, on Amazon, this past Saturday, and he thought that was really cool. "Cousin Nancy, I think you should teach a Club Ed class on how to self-publish a book and how to make an ebook. There are a lot of people who would love to self-publish a book and make ebooks, but they don't know how to do it and you do. And you're from the Kerrville area."

"That's a great idea, Harley! I'll call my good friend Phil Houseal, over at Club Ed, and discuss it with him. Thanks for the great idea." Near the end of our conversation I told Harley that today was Tony's and my twelve year wedding anniversary and we talked about that for a few minutes. And, at the end of my Utopia segment with Harley, sponsored by Randy's & Lisa's  Save Inn restaurant, Harley played the song, "A Crazy Little Thing About Love," in honor of our anniversary! Thank you, Harley! 

After I got off of the phone with Harley I checked my e-mail and I got the sweetest note from our best Arkansas friends, Jimmie and Nelda Dunn, wishing Tony and me a happy anniversary. Thank you, for making me smile Nelda and Jimmie—you're our favorite friends from Arkansas and we love y'all. 

Ten minutes before Gerri was to arrive at eleven-ish, I went outside and found Tony and asked him, "Tone, Gerri is fixin' to be here in just a few minutes and I need for you to come up to the trailer, so you can help carry her computer and stuff inside. Okay?"

"Okay, but what kind of stuff are you talking about?" Tony asked. So I lied to him, again.

"I'm not sure, but she told me it was heavy and that she would need your help." A few minutes later we jumped into Kermit and he took us up to the trailer. 

When Gerri arrived Tony went outside to help her carry her laptop and her big sack of stuff inside. After howdies and hugs, Gerri handed me her sack of stuff. "Happy Anniversary, Tony!" I said, as I pulled his beautifully framed poster, that Gerri had made and framed for me, out of the bag and then I quickly hung it on a wall in the big room. Needless to say—it was absolutely beautiful and Tony was happily surprised and he loved it, too! And that is when I confessed to Tone, that Gerri and I had been secretly working on this project for over a week and that I had forgotten about our anniversary, too, but had lucked out, because Gerri had delivered it today.

After a few laughs about Gerri saving the day for me, and me "pulling the wool" over Tony's eyes, T. hung up my poster, above the entertainment center, of my first book, The Road to Utopia: How Kinky, Tony & I Saved More Animals Than Noah. Here is a picture of it, hanging on the same wall, with Gerri's framed poster of my second book below and to the left, that I hung up a few weeks ago. Thank you, Gerri!

When Tony went outside to return to his chores, Gerri opened up her laptop and showed me her brand new, never been seen before, beautiful blog, that she has been working on and was now ready to launch.  "OMG, Gerri, your blog looks beautiful! I love it. You did a really great job with it."

"Thanks, Nancy. That means a lot to me. I think that I am ready to launch it, but I would love for you to look at it first and read it and tell me what you think about it, before I launch it to the world." 

I sat down at the kitchen table and started reading one of the best blogs, Focused Nomad, Photos - Stories, that I have ever read. When I was done, I told Gerri, "I love your blog. It is absolutely beautiful and it has super good vibes and makes you feel good. I love your graphics, too. It is ready to launch."

Today, at three forty-eight, Gerri launched her new blog, as we arrived back at the rescue ranch with Mama. Here is a picture of Mama in the backseat with her new doo.

Tony and I had the best wedding anniversary thanks to all of our great friends and we want to thank all of you for making it great. I hope that all of y'all will check out Gerri's beautiful blog Focused Nomad of photo and stories and make a comment welcoming her into the wide world of blogosphere.

Y'all have a great evening! And, Happy Anniversary, Tony! I love you! 

Every Portrait Has A Story!

This morning after doing all of my morning chores I called Harley at seven forty-five to do his show. After telling him that James Dean was his Pet of The Week, and how great the cute  little one-year-old Chihuahua was Harley asks, "Cousin Nancy, are you watching us on the computer, because I have something to show you. Go get it and bring it in here." Here's a picture of James Dean.

"No, Harley, I'm not. Our internet just went down. What is it?"

"We rescued, well Sarah rescued a newborn, little goat whose mother died. Do y'all rescue goats?"

"Yes, we do, Harley," I said. "We rescued Buddy, a gigantic Nubian goat on Monday and yesterday we found a forever home for him...." As I told Harley about Buddy, Tony walks into the big room with his laptop in hand and shows me the cute little goat that Harley has in his studio. "Oh, Harley, she is adorable. Tony showed her to me on his computer."

"You want her? You want to bottle feed her?" Harley asked, then there was a little too long—moment of silence. Then he laughed. "What if we bottle feed her and you take her after she is weaned?"

"That sounds great! Maybe Charlie and Ellen would want her, so she could be Buddy's companion..." After we talked about that I changed the subject on Harley. "Guess what I am fixin' to do?"

"What?"

"I'm leaving here in thirty minutes for Club Ed's portrait class taught by the award winning artist, Joan Sullivan! I can't wait!"

"That's great Cousin Nancy, but why are you doing this?" Harley asked.

"It's another bucket-list deal," Then we started laughing. "It is something that I've always wanted to do."

"Now, I'm starting to worry about you," Harley said, which made me laugh. "What else is on your bucket-list?"

"I guess motorcycles," I answered. "And Club Ed has a class for that, too."

"You want to ride a motorcycle? Have you ever driven a motorcycle?" Then we started laughing, again.

"Yes, I have," I said. "When I was eighteen years old, I kept flunking my driver's license test, because I couldn't back up, so my sister Cindy loaned me her Honda 50 Automatic, that she had won in a radio contest. I had to get a license for it and I passed it, because I didn't have to back up. In fact, I still have my motorcycle license and am legal to drive a Harley, but that's never going to happen, because they are too big for me."

"So, what would you drive?" Harley asked. I started laughing, again.

"I guess a Mo-Ped or something like that..." Then Harley changed the subject on me. It was his turn.

"We're your ears burning yesterday?"

"No. Why?"

"Club Ed's Phil Houseal and I were talking about you. He's a great guy."

"I know. I really like Phil, too and I love Club Ed..." After the show ended I looked up at the Atomic Clock above the water cooler and realized that I had talked way too much, because I still had to find a portrait to use for Joan's class and print it out in color and in black & white. Ten minutes later I came out of my office with black and whites and color pictures, one of Tony and the one of me, that Phil Houseal took of me with new teeth. Ten minutes later, Buttermilk and I were on 16 heading for Kerrville, as I listened to The Harley Show.

Three minutes before our class began I met Joan Sullivan and she and I had a fun visit with two of her other students: Virginia aka Dina and Billie. Then we got out our watercolors, water, brushes and pictures that we brought to paint and the fun class began. After Joan suggested that I paint my portrait first and do Tone's later, she explained some basics about washes and techniques for portrait painting and then she passed out some supplies and instructed us what to do.

As our class began seriously working on their first portraits, I started laughing a lot at my portrait as it quickly progressed, because let's say, "I sort of over did mine to say the least." I even got Joan, Billie and Dina to laughing as I joked about my faster-piece artwork. 

As I admired and praised everyone's artwork but mine, my stomach started growling loudly, but  everyone pretended not to hear it. Finally, I burst out laughing and said, "Y'all, my stomach is growling and I am not hungry. I had a smoothie for breakfast and I guess that I should have also eaten a piece of toast with it."

An hour and a half later, as my artwork started to digress rapidly and literally take a nose-dive, my nervous stomach started to make even stranger, louder gurgling sounds, that would cause me to uncontrollably burst into loud laughter, which would then startle the artists and then make them start laughing. I was pretty embarrassed about it all, but I counted my blessings, that I didn't also have gas. 

When it was time for us to break for lunch I jokingly told Joan, "My self-portrait looks like I am a visitor from another planet and it is starting to scare me." Joan started laughing. "I mean, look at my teeth, nose, eyes, neck and..." Joan, a fellow Libra, who I really liked, laughed and then she looked at my picture and burst our laughing and so did I. "What can I do to fix it? I had promised to post it tonight if it wasn't goofy looking and it is goofier than h#@*. I could burn it?" After Joan studied it, without trying to laugh, she gave me a few suggestions on how to fix it. Then Buttermilk and I took off for Randy's & Lisa's Save Inn Restaurant.

On our way to the coolest restaurant in town I decided that I needed to over eat, because of my whining stomach. After I sat down at a table in the crowded place, Lisa came over and greeted me and a few minutes later I enjoyed another delicious meal at our friend's fine eatery and it made my stomach quit rumbling—thank goodness.

When I returned to my class I took Joan's suggestions to heart, but it didn't help, because I am not skilled or talented enough and I quickly realized that I am not meant to be a portrait artist—I'm supposed to paint mountains to remember and canyons to forget—not me.

Around two o'clock we had a nice surprise. Phil Houseal showed up at our class with his camera and then he started shooting us. "Cousin Nancy, your story that I wrote for Club Ed is going to be in next weeks "Community Journal" on Wednesday..." After talking to all of us he went outside and came back with a video camera and shot us again. Before Phil had left the building he had all of us laughing. Like Harley Belew at the Rose 99.9 likes to say, "Phil is one great guy." And I totally agree with him.

An hour later, after a very fun day, I packed up my art supplies and my pitiful, goofy looking self-portrait and then I sincerely thanked Joan Sullivan, who is an incredibly talented artist and instructor, who has now become a new friend and kindred spirit of mine, for a wonderful time and then I bid her and my friendly classmates adios and then Buttermilk took me home.

As Buttermilk drove me home I thought about Joan Sullivan, a woman who I so much admire for many reasons, my friendly classmates and Phil Houseal and what a wonderful time that I had today. I want to thank Phil and Joan for another great experience with Club Ed. I love y'all and thank you for enriching my life and I highly recommend Joan's art classes and Club Ed to everyone! They're the Best!

After telling T. how much fun I had had today in Joan's art class today and how much I had learned, but really needed to practice some more—I showed him my first attempt at a self-portrait which I have jokingly titled, "Ears, Eyes & Nose Need Doctoring Not To Mention The Hat..." 

When Tony looked at my first attempted self-portrait he bit his lower lip, as I had expected and he tried not to laugh, so green tea came flowing out of his nose which made me laugh out loud as he coughed,  choked and tears filled his eyes! After wiping the light green tea off of his face with a paper towel he nervously asked, "What does mine look like?"

"I'm doing yours tomorrow if I have time. And I can't wait! I promise that it will be much better than this one. I over did it on this one and..."

P.S. Billie's portrait of Abraham Lincoln turned out to be totally awesome and looked like an old photograph, as did Dina's portrait of her handsome grandson and Joan's forty-something son. 

Y'all have a great evening and keep laughing!

Number 3!

Today has been fun, because Ben is here! This morning Tony woke me up at five o'clock as I had asked him to, because I had to take care of my morning chores early, because I had to be in Johnson City at nine-thirty for an appointment.

Because Ben was coming in to work at the rescue ranch, Tony phoned him in Austin at six-thirty to invite him to join us for breakfast at Randy & Lisa's Save Inn Restaurant, but Ben declined because he had not left Austin yet.

At 7:44 I called The Rose 99.9 radio station. "Good morning, Harley!" I said. "You're not going to believe where I am calling you from."

"You're not at the ranch?"

"Nope. I'm at the Save Inn and am standing outside the front door to do the show with you and it's chilly..." Harley then told me that three members of the East Kerr County 4-H Club were in his studio and they were coming out this Saturday morning to volunteer their services, like walk our dogs, etc.

I had fun talking to the 4-H'ers and told them how much Tony and I were looking forward to Saturday and then I told Harley about Moe Bandy being his Pet of the Week. "He's about eight years old, sweet, good with other dogs, loves to swim—excuse me sir, but you left your headlights on." Harley burst out laughing and started teasing me about being asking Randy and Lisa if I could be their official greeter for the Save Inn.

A few minutes later I looked inside the restaurant and T. was waving for me to come eat my breakfast that the waitress had just served, so I talked a few minutes more and then went and ate a delicious breakfast with Tone.

As we left Kerrville on Highway 16 heading for Johnson City I said, "Tony, I will bet you that we see Ben before we reach Fredericksburg. Tony took the bet. He bet me that we would pass Ben between Johnson City and Fredericksburg. Ten minutes later I won the bet—as Ben flew past us while we waved to each other.

This afternoon when we got back to the ranch I caught up on some business and then Tony and I went outside and found Ben, so we could visit and catch up with each others news. In no time flat we were inside the trailer and laughing about our crazy lifes. Then out of nowhere Ben tells me that when he saw Kinky this morning he told Ben about my paintings and he said that Kinky loved my artwork and couldn't quit talking about how good they were. Then the phone rang and it was Kinky.

Five minutes later I was over at the Lodge talking to Kinky about my watercolor fasterpieces. Thirty minutes later I was back at the trailer visiting with Ben and Tone. After I showed Ben my artwork I decided to paint another one in the kitchen and it took a little over an hour, because Ben kept making me laugh. I named this one "Barn Free" and then I went over to the Lodge to show it to Kinky.

Kinky didn't like the name Barn Free, so I told him that I could change it, but I wanted him to name it for me and it only took him a second. "Live A Little," Kinky said.

So, when I came home I had to turn the light brown colored dirt road into a blacktop to cover up the words Barn Free and I like the new name better. I have put it on eBay and it will post tonight at 9:00 PM Pacific Standard Time and I hope that you like it. This is the auction item number: 130441456742  

This afternoon Lisa showed up with some friends that she wanted to show the rescue ranch to and for us  to meet. Even though Lisa could not stay long it was great seeing her and meeting her friends. Before they drove away Lisa told me that she is still madly in love with Mark in Mississsippi and that he is coming to Kerrville to see her real soon and I hope that we get to see him too. I am so happy for them.

Y'all have a great evening!

Paint It Pink!

This morning Tony got up at five o'clock. I climbed out of bed at five thirty and turned on Mr. Coffee. After feeding the dogs I fed Tone and then he went outside as soon as the sun came up—to feed the dogs.

At six forty-five the phone rang—it was Kinky. "Good morning, Nance. Do you and Tony want to come over for some coffee and so you can say goodbye to Marcie before she leaves for the airport at eight o'clock?"

"Sure, but Tony can't because he is already outside feeding the dogs." When we hung up, I poured the rest of the coffee into my favorite coffee mug, the one that is decorated with four beautiful turtles and then Buttermilk took me over to the Lodge.

When I arrived Kinky and Marcie came outside and greeted me at the gate and then we went inside the Lodge for a fun visit. I came home at seven-thirty.

This afternoon we had to go to Kerrville for supplies and Tone treated me to lunch at Randy's & Lisa's Save Inn Restaurant. After we sat down at a table near the front door our friendly waitress came up to our table and greeted us with two iced teas—she has a great memory.

A few minutes later she returned and asked us what we wanted to eat. "I'll have a chicken fried steak, okra and fries," I said. Then T. told her he wanted the same thing that I was having, which made me laugh, because we always catch ourselves ordering the same food. After the waitress left our table I said, "I guess we are what you would call a cute, old couple, because we do this every time that we go out to eat."

"That's because we have good tastes," T. said. After our delicious lunch we came home and there were three new phone messages. After I returned the phone calls I went over to the Lodge to visit with Kinky.
We sat outside by the Friedman Family Bone Orchard and talked about the weather, because it looks like we are fixin' to get a lot of rain with high winds in the next forty eight hours. "I can do without the high winds, Kinky, but we sure do need the rain." Kinky agreed with me and then I told him about the orange colored 1983 VW Bug that Tony's brother gave to Tone. "It needs some work and our good friend Charlie Cooper has offered to help Tony fix it up. His wife Ellen told us that Charlie paid his way though Texas A&M by repairing VW's. I think it will be a fun project and I am going to try to talk Tony into letting me paint it pink, but I doubt if he will..."

Y'all have a great evening!

My Birthday Present!

Today has been great! This morning Tony and I got up real early and he treated me to breakfast at Randy & Lisa's Save Inn Restaurant. As always their friendly waitress knew what we wanted to eat, so she turned our order in real quick for us. Then I told T. about wanting to put a new toilet in the Space Ship and we discussed toilets throughout our delicious breakfast.

After breakfast Buttermilk took us across the street to Home Depot so we could look at commodes. Within ten minutes I learned a load of information about toilets and their high prices. I needed a really small one to fit in the small space in the Space Ship's bathroom, but unfortunately they didn't carry one small enough, so we came home.

While Tony did his chores outside I got on the internet and checked out RV and eco-friendly toilets. The eco- friendly toilets were really cool, but not friendly price wise. The cheapest one I found was over a thousand dollars and that was way too expensive for me, so I checked out over a hundred other RV toilets and finally found one that I could afford. I purchased the Thetford Porta Potti 135 RV for $81.10! Then I went outside and jogged (yes, I am now jogging instead of skipping) to the dog pen that T. was cleaning up dog poop in.

"Tony, I am so excited! I just bought a Thetford Porta Potti 135 RV for the Space Ship and it is really cool! And it only cost me $81.10!" Tony smiled and then he laughed as he dumped the full pooper scooper into the bucket.

"Nance, you're the only person that I know who would ever get excited about getting a porta-potty. Tell me about it."

"There were several models to choose from. The more expensive ones had five gallon holding tanks, with five gallon water tanks and since I can't lift five gallons very easily, I decided on the Thetford Porta Potti 135 RV, because it has two and a half gallon tanks and I can handle that."

"How big is it?" Tony asked, as he walked into Ben Stiller's and Gracies's pen to clean it.

"It is fifteen inches long and thirteen inches wide and twelve inches high and it only weighs about eight pounds. It said it was sized for adults." Tony burst out laughing as he shoveled more poop into the bucket. "What's so funny, T.?"

"Twelve inches is sure low to the ground, Nance. Are you sure you can get up from it?" Then he started laughing, again. "I can see it now. You'll holler, 'Tony! Can you come in here and help me get up?'" Then I started laughing, because I hadn't thought of that and I knew that he was probably right.

"Well, then I'll just build a little pedestal for my porta-potty to rest on, Tony. Or you could build my porta-potty pedestal for my birthday present!" I said. Then I frowned. "I can't believe that I am fixin' to be fifty-nine years old. Tony I'm really getting old." Then I went back to our trailer and measured the height of our toilet in the master bedroom's bathroom—we're talkin' 15 inches tall. I figure that Tone can use some 2" x 4"s to get it up to code to meet my regulation standards.

This afternoon while we built another ramp for the three steps that lead into our trailer for Thunder, because she is really having trouble climbing those steps, June, our friend and super great volunteer, came out with her friends to show them our rescue ranch and I feel terrible about not meeting her friends. I was so busy looking for roofing nails to nail the outdoor carpet down and getting the ramp ready for Thunder—they left before I could go greet them. I'm so sorry, June! Thank you for coming out and please apologize to them for me and bring them back out. We can have a fun visit in Outer Space or the Space Ship.

I spent the rest of my day painting the nine metal screened-frames-window-covers blue for the Space Ship. And, I feel like a new person, again and I am so glad that I took today off, because I really needed a break from the rescue ranch. Tomorrow it is back to business as usual and I hope to mail out 200 more newsletters before the day is done.

Y'all have a great evening!

Martians And Ghosts!

This morning at eight-thirty Tony and I took off for Kerrville in Buttermilk. Our friend Beth had invited us to join her and her friends for breakfast. When we were coming down the pass we saw our friends and great volunteers, Meghann and Matt, so Tony pulled Buttermilk off to the side of the road as Meghann pulled over and stopped. They were headed to the rescue ranch, so T. gave them our electronic gate clicker so they could get in the rescue ranch to do the rest of Tony's chores. Thank you, Meghann and Matt!

We arrived on time at nine o'clock sharp. When we walked inside the restaurant Kinky stood up and greeted us at their table by the door. Kinky was sitting at the end of the table so I sat down next to him and Tony sat down next to me. I was as snug as a bug or so I thought. Max and his wife Norma who were sitting across the table from us introduced themselves and then Kathy introduced herself when Beth arrived and there wasn't a chair for her to sit on, so she pulled up a chair next to Tony, then Kinky helped me scoot closer to him and then T. scooted closer to me to make room for Beth. And now I know what it is like to be a sardine in a can.

After the waitress took everyone's order, but mine because I had already drank my smoothie, she poured T. and me some coffee and then she went away to go turn in their orders and that is when the fun started. "I don't know if I have lost my mind or what," Kinky said. "because I am reading a nine hundred page book about Winston Churchill and I can't put it down. Can you believe it is over nine-hundred pages?"

"How much does it weigh?" I asked. Everyone started laughing.

"A lot," Kinky said. "Did you know that Winston, as a boy spent most of his youth in fancy boarding schools and the woman that he loved, but wouldn't marry him said after his death, 'When I met Winston it only took me minutes to see all of his faults and I have spent a lifetime discovering his many virtues.'"

After Kinky gave us his 'book report' we talked about religion. When the waitress served Norma and Max their waffles, Beth's cheese omelet, Tony's huevos rancheros and Kinky's huevos rancheros, we started discussing Mel Gibson's mess, which is exactly what T.'s and Kink's eggs looked like on their plates. The eggs were real runny and mixed with salsa and the refried beans and hashbrowns that surrounded them were like a food fortress—keeping their egg mixture from sloshing around on their plates.

As I sipped my coffee and watched Kinky and Tony trying to soak up their eggs with flour tortillas Norma talked about her religious beliefs and then the Beatles. Then she started talking about martians and ghosts that she has seen, etc. which I found to be extremely interesting since I believe in all of that kind of stuff and have seen many ghosts and because we have a part-time poltergeist that likes to hang out in our trailer.

Our breakfast was so much fun, but it ended when the huevos finally disappeared, so we went outside and said our goodbyes to Beth and her interesting friends. Then we disappeared and headed back to the rescue ranch, while Kinky went off to run some errands before leaving tomorrow morning for his fifteen cities West Coast Tour with Little Jewford and Washington Ratso.

On our way home after I asked Tony if his breakfast was any good he said, "It was okay, Nance, but not as good as Randy and Lisa's Save Inn Restaurant. They know how to make huevos rancheros better than anyone in town." Then we talked about how nice it was for Matt and Meghann to have come out to do Tony's chores, so he could go to breakfast with us. And then a minute later we waved at Meghann and Matt as they passed by us headed for Kerrville.

When we got home I got on the internet and checked out our utopiarescue.com site and I was thrilled to see that Pat Symchych, our talented web master, had already posted our 2010 newsletter! "Tony!" I half-hollered down the hallway. "Our newsletter is up on our site! Check it out! It looks great!"

Around two o'clock after doing a bunch of paperwork I went over to the Lodge to see Kinky, because I needed for him to autograph 100 copies of his book, Heroes Of A Texas Childhood and sign 100 of Max Swafford's book, The Kinky File that we are giving away free for a $50.00 or more donation to the rescue ranch. I have also donated 100 copies of my new book, Meanwhile Back At The Rescue Ranch too, but I didn't need for him to sign those.

I hope that all of y'all who read my blog will check out our 2010 Newsletter that wound up giving me the dreaded Carpel Tunnel Syndrome. And I hope that y'all will make a donation to our rescue ranch so we can keep on rescuin' on and that is why I write this daily blog. Thank y'all in advance for your support. My wrist is hurting, so I am done for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

You Know What I Mean!

Last night I got a lot of reading done, because it rained non-stop and it rained and didn't stop until six o'clock this morning when Tony woke me up so I wouldn't oversleep, so could do the Harley Show with Harley Belew at 7:45.

After I dressed in a sweat suit I fed our dogs and then I started a load of laundry and then I poured myself a cup of coffee and checked my e-mail and did some paperwork until it was time for me to call the Rose 99.9 radio station to talk to Harley about our rescue ranch.

The radio show was fun and went well. Annie Oakley was Harley's Pet of the Week. "Well Harley, she's just a little over a year old and she's a great dog. Annie is a beautiful dog and she only weighs about forty-five pounds and..."

Before we were done talking Harley mentioned Randy and Lisa's Save Inn Restaurant who sponsor our rescue ranch segment. "Harley, the Save Inn is the best restaurant in town," I said and Harley agreed with me. Then he asked me to tell him what ingredients are in their delicous Sinker Omelet, which is my favorite and what I always order. "Let's see, Harley. There are onions, bell peppers, mushrooms, cheese, sausage, ham and eggs and I cover them with their delicious homemade salsa that they make from scratch..."

After breakfast I walked four miles with Leslie Sansone, while Tony and Ben fed the dogs and cleaned their pens in the down pouring rain. After the four miles I put some sliced potatoes in a pan of water and started boiling them on the stovetop and then I proceeded to walk four more miles, again.

Around eleven o'clock when Tony and Ben came inside the trailer I visited with them while I prepared our lunch. "We're having steak, mashed potatoes, sausage, mixed vegetables and cherry tomatoes from Tony's organic garden for lunch," I said as I dropped the steaks into the skillet to cook. "Ben, our friend Tom Carpenter told me his secret to delicious steaks. All he uses is salt and pepper. He told me that people ruin steaks by putting all of the seasonings on steaks, so I am doing it Tom's way. I was going to grill them outside, but I can't because of the rain. I hope that they turn out as well as his. Seriously, his steaks were the best steaks that I have ever eaten."

"Ben, Nancy's right. Tom's steaks were the best steaks that I have ever eaten. You're going to love them," Tony said as I salted and peppered the steaks. "How much longer, Nance? I'm hungry."

As soon as we sat down to eat we all tried the steaks first and I got rave reviews from T. and Ben. "Thank y'all," I said, "I have to admit that they are good, but they're not as good as Tom's were. I wish that I could have grilled them..."

We had a fun conversation as we ate our delicious lunch. At one point during our conversation Ben told us about a friend of his that reminds him of me. "Nance, she is a lot like you and really cool. I mean she is out there and quirky like you are." We all started laughing and then I asked Ben to tell me more. He and Tony started laughing. "Well, she's into astrology, talks to trees and flowers and believes in ghosts like you do and that kind of stuff. Not that that is all that weird. I mean she is really cool, but she'll say these off of the wall things like: This morning I saw some fairies and I got to talk to them before they disappeared and she believes in poltergeists, too and reincarnation like you do. You know what I mean? Supernatural stuff, the full moon and the effects of Mercury being in retrograde. I believe in some of that stuff, but..."

"Yes, Ben, I know you do.  I would love to meet her," I said. Then I started laughing. "This is so weird that you are talking me to me about this because you're not going to believe what has just happened." Tony and Ben quit laughing and there was complete silence—waiting for me to tell them. "I just got goose bumps over this," I said. "Ben, last week after you left the strangest thing happened. You know those two Roy Roger foam coasters that I use to set my glass of water on, that I keep one by my laptop and the other one on the breakfast bar. Well, after you left last Saturday the coaster that I keep by my computer totally disappeared and now it is back as of right now! Look, there it is by my computer. It has been missing in action for over five days and now it is back. I have looked everywhere for it. I know that it has to be our poltergeist playing with me, again." Tone and Ben said nothing and then they got up and quickly went outside. As soon as they were gone I thanked our friendly poltergeist for returning the coaster and then I smudged the trailer with sweet sage.

It is starting to rain again and rain is forecasted for the entire weekend. I love it!

Y'all have a great evening.