The Cousin Nancy Show! or The Peep Show!

 Since my last post, my podcast The Cousin Nancy Show, is now available to listen to on Apple, Spotify & Google, etc. and I am more than thrilled about this.

But I am even more thrilled about doing my first podcast, Season:1, Episode:1, with my dear friend Gerry Olert—last Saturday.

In my opinion, Gerry Olert is the Best Videographer & Editor in Texas. And if you recall Gerry, is the man who was the Utopia Animal Rescue Ranches official videographer and he was the editor of the Longmire—Texas Style spoof.

Anyway, a month before I had even made The Cousin Nancy Show trailer, he had volunteered to be my  very first guest (guinea pig) for my podcast. So, right now I would like to say, "Thank You, Gerry! You made doing the podcast so much fun."

Last Saturday, when Gerry arrived at Big Foot Ranch at 1:00—I had already set up the recording equipment, in the kitchen and I had been pacing the floor for an hour, because I was so nervous about doing the podcast and then editing it. Basically hoping that nothing would go wrong with the equipment, etc.

After howdies, Gerry and I spent about ten minutes discussing what we planned to talk about while Tony stood back and took this picture of us doing a sound check.

And a few minutes after T.'s photo shoot we adjusted our headphones and then I pushed the red record button on my computer and the audio interface lit up and we started talking. 

Gerry and I chatted, told jokes, talked about our friends: Billy Joe Shaver, Kinky, Jay Pennington, Nancy Harvey, the owner of Spirits of Texas in Bandera, our dear friends at Escondida Resort & Spa, Big G, Asleep @ the Wheel, Chet O'Keefe, Jim Keaveny, the Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch, etc. ,jobs, etc. and I did so much laughing my back actually started aching. 

One of my favorite subjects that we discussed and had fun with was when Gerry gave me a Peeps taste test. Even though I did not know anything about Peeps, he had brought with him 4 packages of different colored Peeps for me to taste.

And that is when we really did a lot of laughing. In fact, I think the subtitle for my first episode should have been The Peep Show, but you will have to listen to Episode:1 to decide for yourselves.

Gerry and I talked and laughed our way through my first podcast and we had recorded 59 minutes (998 megabytes). So, Sunday morning I spent a few hours editing the podcast down to 54 minutes before uploading it to Buzzsprout for them to rss feed to Apple, Google, Spotify and many other podcast platforms. 

And as a teaser the first joke I told many of my friends are still laughing about it and telling it to their friends and families. 

To listen to my first podcast you can go to cousinnancy.com and click the Podcast button at the top or at the bottom of the page and it will take you to The Cousin Nancy Show on Buzzsprout. Or you can just click this link: The Cousin Nancy Show or listen to it on Apple, Spotify or Google, etc.

As I finish writing this post/announcement, Sunday evening, Gerry sent me this cute photo that he took of his cat, sitting on top of his desk, watching the video he took of us talking about Peeps. (Gerry brought some of his video recording equipment and he had set it up to record the show, before he and I started talking.) Gerry titled his photo:

The Peep Show.

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

Gerry Olert—Is The Best!

Today has been great. Tonight's post is going to be rather short, because I have something very important to do in few minutes— spend Happy Hour with Tony and our five four-leggers!

I am looking forward to doing this, because I need a break from hearing any more depressing, negative news, etc.

But I do want to share what my dear friend Gerry Olert sent to me this morning. He has just uploaded his latest video Gerry Olert's Reel 2020, on YouTube, and several of our dear friends (including me) are in Gerry's video. Such as: a clip of Jay Pennington starring in his and Gerry's Short Western—Smile, Ruth Buzzi, Chet O'Keefe and Billy Joe Shaver. So please click here to watch it and please give Gerry a thumbs up.

Thank y'all for watching it.

Y'all have a great evening and keep on laughing! And stay safe, healthy and happy! Cheers!

Rick's Gone Again! or Island Moon!

Yesterday Rick and his good friend Ronnie Narmour arrived, right after Hazel went back, into the closet, to rest.

Tony and I already knew Ronnie, but not very well. Because Rick and Ronnie came out to the rescue ranch, several years ago, for a short visit, before taking off for Leakey, to spend the weekend with friends.

By the way, if you're not from Texas, for some reason the small, beautiful, Hill Country town of Leakey is pronounced—Lake-y. Not leaky like in a leaking faucet.

And yes, I agree it is a little weird, but that's how we say things in Texas. In fact, I could write an entire post about how we Texans talk. But not tonight.

Anyway, we also met Ronnie a few times when we went, to Port Aransas, to visit Rick aka "The Friendly Lighthouse Keeper." We liked Ronnie, but basically all we knew about him was he wrote a weekly column, about the music scene, for the local Island Moon newspaper. And here is a copy of Ronnie's article that he wrote in last week's Island Moon.

After Rick and Ronnie unloaded their stuff, in the Airstream, we got to visiting, on the front porch. And in no time flat, we discovered that music was our common thread amongst us and that we knew many of the same musician friends.

So last night, when my entertaining skills were dipping, I told them about Mike Judge Presents Tales From the Tour Bus. "It is this super cool, music series where famous musicians and their friends are interviewed and it is animated....I love it and have never seen anything like it."

"My dear friend Carol told me about it several weeks ago and she had strongly suggested that we watch it. So last week, I finally watched the thirty-minute, Billy Joe Shaver episode. And it blew me out of the saddle. In fact, I asked Tony to watch just a few minutes of it and he ended up watching the entire episode, too."

"In the Billy Joe Shaver episode which is totally awesome, Kinky, Bobby Bare, Connie Nelson, Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top), to name just a few of the famous people interviewed. And that famous lawyer, Dick DeGuerin, is in it too. Where he talks about Billy's famous trial, in Waco...."

"Kinky is great in it, too. He did his interview, in his office, and talks about Billy Joe adopting Mama from us and Billy's trial...."

Well I had said enough to peak their interest, so we sat down and watched the entire Billy Joe Shaver episode. And Rick and Ronnie totally loved it like I knew they would.

My entertaining skills were now on a roll, so to speak, because they were hooked. So we then watched the two episodes about Waylon Jennings and then the two episodes about Tammy Wynette and George Jones.

By now all of us were speechless after watching these episodes. So it was a good time for me to say, "Good night, y'all. See you in the morning."

After Ronnie and Rick marched off to the Airstream, Tony went to bed and I stayed up and watched a couple of episodes of Heartland, on Netflix.

This morning I cooked Blueberry Belgian Waffles for everyone and Rick ate two of them.

Tony adios-ed us, around 9:15, and he took off to go with friends to another Medina baseball game, in San Antone, so I told them about,

"The Wrecking Crew is an amazing documentary, on Netflix, about these hand-picked, incredibly talented, unknown musicians, who played on just about every hit record during the 50's and 60's. And some of them were Leon Russell and Glen Campbell. So Ronnie, Rick and I ended up watching that, before they took off for Austin, around 11:00.

And the rest of my day has been great, except for when Tony got back home, a little while go, and told me that Medina had lost the baseball game.

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

No Bull!

Today has been great, but not to brag, not nearly as great as our Concert for Utopia was. A beautiful, saddled, Texas Longhorn steer was outside, at the event, for people to sit on and take pictures and I think everyone at the event sat on him. And that's no bull.

When Tony and I arrived at the Cailloux Theater, our good friends/volunteers. Kris and Jim were already there, willing and ready to help us unload the t-shirt and cap boxes, etc., so they could set up the merchandising table for us.

The performances by Chet O'Keefe, Billy Joe Shaver, Jesse Dayton and Ray Benson & Asleep at the Wheel were over the top and the crowd loved their music. Big G and Kinky did a wonderful job introducing the performers and they were also very funny.

Before the Intermission, Brian Kanof, with the help of our friends/volunteers:  Lisa, Eileen and Fay, auctioned off three donated items. The Wolfmuellers donated the book, Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die, signed by both Willie Nelson and Kinky. Rick Reichenbach donated a Baby Taylor guitar autographed by 37 famous Texas singer, songwriter musicians. And Kinky's friend Sean donated a Fender guitar autographed by Willie Nelson.

After the Intermission, Ruth Buzzi, Big G, Kinky and I went up on the stage, so Kinky could introduce Ruthie and thank her and her husband, Kent, for coming to our concert and then I quickly thanked our super volunteers for all they do for us and then I quickly read off all of their names. Then Ruthie started cutting-up with Kinky and before you knew it, Ruthie had the crowd roaring with laughter. And to top that off—Ruthie, famously known, on Laugh In, for bopping famous men (such as Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Muhammad Ali...) with her purse, she used her jacket instead (Because Fay was backstage holding on to Ruthie's purse for her.) and Ruth Buzzi smacked Kinky, Big G and me. It was hilarious.

All in all, it was a fantastic concert and once again, I want to thank Donna Gable Hatch for writing those wonderful articles, for The Kerrville Daily Times, to help spread the word about our concert. Here are some pictures that Tony took at the concert. And that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

An Early Frost!

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

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

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

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

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

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

Y'all have a great evening!

Squared!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Y'all have a great evening!

It Is M.I.R. Time, Again!

The last couple of days have been great, but I was too busy, which made me too tired to write in the evenings.

Today has been great, too, even though it is M.I.R. (Mercury In Retrograde) time, once again and it officially starts tomorrow. After I cooked lunch for us and had cleaned up the kitchen, Tony and I jumped inside Trigger and took off for Kerrville, to run a few quick errands. The reason that we were sort of in a hurry was that I needed to get back to the ranch as soon as possible, so Kinky and I could have a business meeting about our exciting, upcoming Utopia Concert, on Palm Sunday, at the Cailloux Theatre.

Our first stop was at the big H-E-B, on Main Street, to get a few groceries. While Tony was outside filling up Trigger's tank, I was inside filling up my grocery cart as fast as I could. I ended up running into a couple of good friends and because I visited a little too long with them, because I talk too much, Tony got worried about me and came into the store to find me.

He found me in the card isle reading funny cards and laughing out loud. "Hi, Tony. You've got to read this card. It's perfect." After he read it he laughed, too, so I put it in our cart. During the ten minutes it took for us to finish shopping and check out, I had told Tony almost everything that I had talked about with our friends. "When I saw Laura, she looked like she had lost some weight, so I told her, "Hi, Laura. You've lost some weight and you look great!" And then she laughed, Tony, and said, "No, I haven't, but I do want you to know that you are now my very best friend...."

After we went to the Post Office Sub Station, that has some of the friendliest Postal Workers, we took off for Hoegemeyer Animal Clinic, so we could pick up Ginger Rogers and take her home with us. We took Ginger there, Monday afternoon, so we could get her spayed, a month after having weaned her five puppies, because next week she will be going to her new, fantastic, forever home, in Abilene and I will have my office back. Then Trigger took us home.

When I went over to the Lodge, Kinky and I took care of rescue ranch business first and to say the least, "We are so excited about Billy Joe Shaver and Ray Benson and Asleep at the Wheel doing the Concert for Utopia, that also includes Chet O'Keefe and Jesse Dayton performing his awesome salute to George Jones." Then we had a very fun visit talking about his mystery book that he is working on and the two books that I am working on.

Before I left the Lodge to come back home, around 6:00, Kinky and I went outside, jumped inside his truck, Mr. Green Jeans, along with two of The Friedmans: Winston Churchill and Sophie, so we could ride around the ranch, to gather some wood for his fireplace. Thirty minutes later, he had a big stack of firewood and I was back home checking on the pot of beans that I am cooking. And that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

The Secret Is Out!

Today has been great. Kinky, Tony and I have had a big, exciting secret and we've been so excited about it, but until "it was set in stone" we couldn't announce the great news, except to just a few of our closest friends.

The Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch's great news is—there is going to be a "Concert For Utopia!" Yes, thanks to Kinky and our dear friends, at the Cailloux Foundation, Billy Joe Shaver and Ray Benson and Asleep At The Wheel, are going to do a Utopia Concert to benefit our rescue ranch! And we can't wait!

The "Concert For Utopia"will be on Palm Sunday, April 13th at 3:30, at the Kathleen C. Caillioux City Center for the Performing Arts Theatre! So, everyone please mark this date on your calendar, now.

When the tickets become available we will be announcing it on Kinky's site, utopiarescue.com, my blog. And with the help from our dear friends, Harley Belew and Big G—it will sell out fast!

We love the Cailloux Foundation, Ray Benson and Asleep at the Wheel, Harley and Big G, for helping our rescue ranch! And that is about it for tonight, because I am so excited about the Concert For Utopia I can't type.

Y'all have a great evening!

Best Birthday Ever—Thanks To All Of Y'all!

First off, I've had the best birthday ever—thanks to all of y'all and I want to thank you so much for all of the many phone calls, e-mails and best wishes comments y'all made on my Facebook page and I want to thank my dear friends, Karin, Lisa, June, Don, Baxter, Jon & Sandy, Eileen for coming to Cal Bobs Smoke Shack, at noon today, to help me celebrate my 60th birthday and a very special thank you to Ellen for treating Tony and me to our delicious lunch today with all of them and a super fun birthday party! Thank y'all!

Now I must play "catch-up"and tell about Saturday's fun and exciting day.

Saturday morning our dear friend and talented professional videographer and film maker, Gerry Olert, came out to see Tony and me, because he wanted to give us DVD's of the two videos, that he did for Alan Warren's Sports show, the one's with Lisa and Eileen in it—that Tony, Kinky and I love.

Before our fun visit started inside the trailer, Gerry gave Tony a cap and then he gave me two, cute pink caps to wear, which we love and Tony won't take off of his head. Thank you, Gerry!

While we drank coffee and had a fun visit with him, Jim Keaveny's music was playing in the background and Gerry like me—instantly fell in love with Keaveny's awesome music. After we talked about Keaveny's music style we talked about the two, exciting upcoming Bonefits at The Springs in Salado.

An Evening With B. J. Thomas on Saturday, November 26th and on Saturday, December 17th the Bonefit starring Rodney Crowell, Billy Joe Shaver and Kinky, which he will be at filming parts of, so he can make another great video for our rescue ranch to help promote us. Thank you, Alan Warren and Gerry—we love y'all!

After I had poured us another cup of coffee, I complained and then laughed about fixin' to turn 60 years old, but still feeling like I was 18 years old and he agreed with me, even though he is only 48 years old. When Gerry told me that he was hoping to win the Texas Lottery I said, "Life is so funny, Gerry, because I plan to win the lottery, too, so please, age before beauty—let me win it first. With my luck, I will actually win it and then immediately drop dead from a heart attack and Tony will probably marry some pretty young woman."

"No, I won't Nance," Tony said, followed by a chuckle. "I'll buy a new truck and bass boat and play the field, because it is much cheaper!" Which caused Gerry and me to burst out laughing at his remark. After too much laughing and fun with Gerry Olert—we sadly adios-ed our good friend, because we were having so much fun with him, but knowing that we would be seeing him soon at the Rodney Crowell, Billy Joe Shaver and Kinky Bonefit on December 17th, at The Springs.

Around 4:00, Karin arrived at the rescue ranch, so she could go on her horseback riding date with Carol, over at Carol's beautiful ranch, so we dressed up in our cowgirl clothes and then jumped into Trigger and took off for Carol's ranch.

Fifteen minutes later, after Karin gave Carol a cute cowboy t-shirt to wear, as her thank you gift to her, Karin put her pretty, Justin Gypsy Boot into the stirrup and climbed up on Dude, like she had been riding for years and it was awesome to watch her ride, like a skilled Texas cowgirl, all over Carol's ranch with Carol riding Maya. Here are three pictures that I took of their fun ride.

When the horses had tired from being ridden, because of the hot weather, we went up to the deck and drank beers to celebrate our fun time and then we all told Karin that she was a great rider, which made her blush. 

When our bottles were emptied, and after a Colic scare with Dude was happily resolved, Karin took off for Kerrville and on our way back home I said, "Carol is so sweet for letting Karin ride Dude today. She has just made Karin's trip the greatest thing that she has done in Texas and we can't thank Carol enough and... " And that is about it for tonight.

I want to thank everyone for making my 60th Birthday today, the best birthday that I have ever had. I love y'all and will never forget today. And like Rick, The Friendly Lighthouse Keeper, told me early this morning, "I hope you have another one!" And I do! Thanks to y'all!

Y'all have a great evening and please keep praying that we get some rain.

I Love This! Thank you, Rodney, Billy Joe and Kinky!

Crowell! Friedman! Shaver! It's an Evening of Monumental Entertainment! 

 

What better excuse to rushmore over to The Springs Music Hall and Restaurant? On Saturday, December 17, enjoy a show featuring The Kinkster, Grammy winning country superstar Rodney Crowell, and Texas songwriting legend Billy Joe Shaver. Heck, Thomas Jefferson may even sit in on the Jew's harp! Anything's possible when it comes to supporting our four-footed friends at Utopia Rescue Ranch. Click here for ticket information or phone 254-947-5933! 

OMG! Kink!

Today has been great. This morning after Tony and I did our morning chores outside he was sweet and took Angel and Blue, two, sweet, two-year-old Chihuahuas to Hoegemeyer Animal Clinic so they could be neutered and spayed and get their shots and he dropped off Toto, so he could be groomed, because I did not have the time to play "Beauty Shop" with him, because I had too many things to do and take care of.

While T. was gone I did the Chihuahua's intake papers and Zeke's, the little Yorkie that we adopted out in July and then was returned to us and then I sent their pictures with their descriptions to Pat, our wonderful web master, so she could put them up on our utopiarescue. com site.

All three of these tiny dogs are two years old and as sweet as they can be. I took their pictures this morning before Tony took Blue and Angel to Hoegemeyer's. In alphabetical order is Angel, Blue and Zeke.

By the time Tone got home I had our taco salad lunch ready and the papers were in order for him to go to Medina to get Trigger's and Buttermilk's vehicles registered with the state and a check to pay to the county tax assessor.

While T. was gone to Medina to make our vehicles legal to drive Hazle cleaned the wooden floors of our trailer while I started a load of clothes washing in Queen Bee. Then I sat down at my laptop and began writing my bi-monthly column for Texas Animal Imprints magazine for their digital December issue.

Around 5:00, when I was nearly finished writing my column, Tony took off for Kerrville to pickup a "cleaner version of Toto. By the time they returned I had sent Joni, the editor for Texas Animal Imprints my column with a few of Tony's and my pictures.

When T. and T. returned home, a little after 6:00, Mama, Abbie and Belle sniffed him to make sure that Toto was the same dog that left here this morning. When everyone was finally convinced that it was Toto, Tony and I left the trailer and jumped into Kermit, so Tony could add several more feet to the pipe down at the creek, that provides our water, because the water level had dropped so much. Here are a couple of pictures I took, standing in the middle of a once beautiful, wide flowing Wallace Creek, while Tony lengthened the pipe, so we can have water.

This evening Kinky called me with some great news about the Saturday nights November 26th Bonefit and December 17th Bonefit, at The Springs Music Hall in Salado, Texas. "Nance, Billy Joe Shaver is going to do the December 17th show with me. Isn't that great news!"

"OMG! Kink, I love it. I love Billy Joe and...!"

Y'all have a great evening and please keep praying for us to get some rain and for the Fire Fighters fighting our states many wildfires.

May The Force Be With Y'all!

This morning I was feeling a little down because of no sunshine for too many days, because I am one of those people who literally powers-up on sunshiny days. So, I've come up with a new name for people like me, who are so affected by the lack of sunshine and it is—WASP! And it doesn't stand for White Anglo Saxon Protestants. It means "We Are Solar-Powered-People!" And for all you WASPS out there reading this, you'll understand why my mood drastically changed for the better, when the sun finally came out this afternoon, as Trigger took us to Kerrville to run two errands.

Our first stop was at Home Depot, so I could buy some lumber, screws, paint and nails for my nail gun, for my upcoming Space Ship Project which is scheduled to start tomorrow afternoon, after I return phone calls, e-mails and do some paperwork, because it has been predicted that the sun will be out in full Force to power-me-up! So I guess my new sign-off for now, on e-mails etc., is going to be the same as the "Star Wars" famous saying—"May The Force Be With You!"

After we left Home Depot we went to Hoegemeyer Animal Clinic to pick up Walter Cronkite and Cowboy, but Cowboy wasn't ready to come home, because he had torn out his stitches. Here is a  picture of our new rescue ranch anchordog, Cronkite, in the front yard of my cabin. He is one great, happy dog and is so sweet. In fact, he kissed T. and me non-stop as we drove him home. Tomorrow I will take his official "glamour shot" for our web site and post it on my blog tomorrow night. Isn't he adorable!

Early this evening I went over to the Lodge to visit with Kinky and he was thrilled when I told him the good news that Dustin Hoffman was being adopted on Thursday by the Kemp Family. While I was over there he showed me a beautiful, black & white photo that Billy Joe Shaver had sent to him, of Billy Joe and Kris Kristofferson standing side-by-side, in their late twenties or early thirties and I absolutely loved it. After that, we went outside and played with The Friedmans for a while. Before leaving, I offered to help Kinky gather some firewood to burn in his Lodge and it turned out that it was an offer that I should not have made.

As I finish writing this blog tonight my foot and butt are somewhat sore, because of the fall that I took when helping Kinky. And here's what happened when I picked up my very first log."Nance, that log is way too big for you," Kinky warned. "Get a smaller one." I laughed and picked up the heavy log anyway.

"I'm fine, Kink. Don't worry about it." Then I tried to take a step, but my pink boot wouldn't budge because it was tangled up in a vine, so I stepped backwards with the other foot to try to free my boot and that's when a rock shifted under my boot and I lost my balance and fell right on my butt and started laughing!

"Are you okay, Nance?" Kinky asked, with concern in his voice, as he came over to help me.

"I'm fine, Kinky," I said, before laughing, again, as I stood up and brushed off the back of my 501 Levis. "I just lost my balance, again, that's all. You know how I am always tripping or falling on something outside. And that's why I don't like to walk outside because I..."

"Well, I must say that it was a really great fall, Nance," Kinky said, as we both started laughing about it, and loaded our original two heavy logs into the bed of Kink's pickup, Mr. Green Jeans. "It was as good or better than any of Chevy Chase's famous falls. He was so good at that and..."

Have a great evening and May the Force Be With Y'all!

Billy Joe Shaver Just Found Not Guilty! Yeah!

Kinky just called. He told me the great news that the jury has just found our good friend Billy Joe Shaver—Not Guilty!  We are thrilled with the verdict! We love you, Billy Joe and we are so happy for you!

Tonight's blog is going to be very short because I am pooped because I spent much of my morning returning phone calls from concerned friends who received that ridiculous and fraudulent bogus e-mail about me being in England and desperately needing money. All I have to say is thank y'all for caring and  for those mean spirited people, in that organization over in Africa behind this spam-scan—y'all can go straight to you-know-where.

 Today I walked eight miles and am quickly catching up to my monthly quota of five miles per day. I want to thank Lisa, Meghann and Jim for coming out this morning to help Tony and to walk our dogs. Y'all Rock!

This afternoon Tony and I went over to visit our new-found friends Tom and Barbara Carpenter at their ranch and we had a blast. They are so cool! I wish that y'all could meet them because they are two of the nicest, interesting and down-to-earth people left on our planet.

Late this afternoon I went over to the Lodge to visit with Kink and I stayed nearly two hours because Kinky was receiving updates every fifteen minutes or so about Billy Joe's trial from a friend who was at the Court House. We talked about my new book which should be out within the next ten days, Billy Joe's trial, last night's Kinky Friedman Cigar Store Grand Opening at Republic Harley-Davidson in Stafford, Texas  and Marcie's visit in May.

Ellen Cooper just called me and we had a fun visit even though she and Charlie teased me relentlessly about me supposedly being in England. Fortunately, I am finally starting to laugh about the fraudulent spam-scan but I still have a lot of work to do to repair the damages done to my address book. I think that I am going to change my e-mail address and passwords real soon so I can hopefully prevent this from ever happening again.

Tone and I are fixin' to go into Outer Space for Happy Hour. Cheers!

Y'all have a great evening!

Puff The Magic Dragon!

As I write this, it is eight o'clock, Sunday night. Tony and I just got back from Bandera. Earlier this evening, Kinky was inducted into the Bandera Music Hall of Fame! Kinky was great, as always! He spoke and he sang to the crowd, and then he signed copies of his new book, Heroes Of A Texas Childhood, along with our good friend, Copper Love, who did the beautiful artwork for the book. And, the good news is—his book was selling like hotcakes! Here is a picture of Will, Kinky, Copper and Frank, taking a short break.

The event was really fun. Tone and I saw, and got to visit with our friends: Liz and Jim Cravotta, Pam and Steve Boynton, Grace and Dick Atwood, Linda Buckalew, Danny Hatfield and Dylan Ferrero, to name just a few! To put it in nutshell—we had a wonderful time!

Kinky told me this morning that he is going to be on Imus, on October 7th, to kick off Don's first week on the Fox Business channel! Imus is no longer on RFD. Tomorrow morning, T. is giving Kinky a wake up call real early, so Kinky can take off to Austin, to catch a plane for his European Tour! He is going to be gone for over two weeks, and we are really going to miss him.

I apologize for not writing yesterday, but I was a little bit too busy, but I am going to try to catch you up, now. For starters, I walked six fast miles. Around eleven o'clock, the pinion pine incense that I had ordered from New Mexico arrived! I love that stuff, so I ordered two boxes, because it is my favorite scent. Here is picture that I just took of the boxes beside my little smokin' adobe house, on my drain board.

Todd and Jan came out yesterday morning to walk our dogs! Tony and I love these two nice people. During a dog walking break, I invited Jan and Todd into my writing cabin, so I could show them my new guitar amp, and to get Todd to play my guitar. He is one very talented guitar player!

As soon as Todd picked up my custom made guitar, that my brother, Ronnie, made for me years ago, that is signed by Billy Joe Shaver and Willie Nelson, Tony, Jan and I sat back, and enjoyed his great concert! He was amazing, and he could play any song. It was a real treat for me, and Todd has inspired me to keep on practicing, even though it hurts my fingers so much right now. But, I know in time, the pain will go away, and hopefully I will be playing better than I ever have. Hopefully.

After Todd's great performance, they went back to dog walking, and I came in the trailer, to find out the sad news, that Mary Travers had stepped on a rainbow. I loved Peter, Paul and Mary. In fact, when I was in the sixth grade, the first songs that I learned to play on my first guitar, which was a fifteen dollar, Montgomery Wards Deluxe, were Where Have All The Flowers Gone, If I Had A Hammer, Michael Rowed The Boat Ashore and Puff The Magic Dragon. Ronnie and I would sit for hours, in our bedrooms, strumming our guitars together and singing those songs.

In 1964, when I was in the seventh grade, I actually got to meet Peter, Paul and Mary, at a T.C.U. concert! My girlfriend's mother took Lindie Brown and me to their concert. It was my first music concert, and it was so awesome! We sat about twenty feet from the stage and I watched in awe.

When the concert was over, Lindie and I took our albums over to the table, to get them autographed by them. Lindie and I were probably the youngest and the shortest people there, and when Mary saw us, standing there, among the towering college students, she looked at me and said, "Everyone please step back, and let these two young ladies come up to the table first." Then she gestured for Lindie and me to come up to the table! I was star struck, and my knees were shaking.

When I handed Mary my Peter, Paul and Mary album, she asked me my name and what grade I was in. After answering her questions, I told her that I played guitar, and I knew how to play many of their songs. It made her smile, and then she signed my album, and then Paul and Peter signed it, too! She had no idea of the impact that she had made on me, with her simple act of kindness. I will never forget it or her. Godspeed, Mary.

Saturday afternoon, at three o'clock, when the rescue ranch officially closed for the day, I went out to the Space Ship with my iPod and Bose Dock, and listened to Peter, Paul and Mary, for hours, as I made a few improvements to it.

It is now nearly ten o'clock, and I must go to bed. I hope the Dallas Cowboys win tonight, because Ronnie and Nita have season tickets, and they drove up to Dallas today, to watch their and my favorite team play. Go Dallas Cowboys!

Y'all have a great evening!

The Legend Of The Nellybelle!

Two days ago, while Jan and Todd were at Pet Supplies Plus, finding forever homes for Ellen, Oprah and Bandit, I received a phone call from Bob Wightman! Bob and his wife, Helen, are the super sweet couple, who sold me my beautiful 1983 Fleetwood trailer, back in 1995, when I moved to Utopia, Texas. And, they let me make low monthly payments to them, because I could not afford to buy it out right. I love these two people—they are the cream of the crop in Utopia, and were a Godsend to me!

I ran into Bob, three years ago at the Super S grocery store in Bandera, right after my book had come out. He and I had a long visit, and we caught up with each other's news, and then he told me about Blue's latest escapades.

Bob was one of the first people to adopt one of our dogs, back in 1998! I just looked it up in my book. On page sixteen, I listed "The Magnificent Seven," actually forty-one dogs, that we rescued during that Labor Day Weekend. Blue was the sixth dog that we rescued! In my book, it reads: "#6. Blue: Med. blue merle Aussie mix—male, approx. 3 months old."

Blue was rescued along with his two litter mates—Amigo and Candy—all beautiful puppies! I named Blue, because he had one blue eye. When we rescued forty-one dogs over that three day period—we didn't have much time to come up with names, when we were only two miles away from dropping them off at Hoegemeyer Animal Clinic to be spayed, neutered, given shots, etc. And besides—I love dogs named Blue. It is a great name—just ask Tony!

When Bob called, I was so happy to hear from him! He told me that he had had a very rough year. He had a hip replaced and his lovely wife, Helen, at the age of 79, had just passed away on June 5th, from cancer. They had been married for fifty-five years. His sad news broke my heart and I teared up. Tony and I loved Helen.

After we had talked about Helen and his loss, Bob changed the subject, and caught me up with Blue's news. I learned that Blue is doing great, slowing down a bit, because he is eleven years old, but he still goes on daily walks, down to the river, with Bob, and he now wears a seat belt when he and Bob go somewhere in his old white pickup! I loved hearing Bob's Blue's news!

Before our conversation ended, Bob told me that his friends, D. J. and his wife, Barbara, were thinking about getting a small dog, and he wanted to know if we had any. I told Bob about our small dogs, but when I told him about Rowdy, our small, sweet, one year old Min Pin—he told me that his friends had always wanted a Min Pin! He told me that he was going to call Barbara and D.J. and would call me right back!

A few minutes later, the phone rang—it was Bob! He told me that they were interested in meeting Rowdy, and Bob made an appointment for them to come out this morning around 9:45—they were on time!

After meeting Barbara and D..J., I gave Bob a big long hug. Bob then handed me a picture taken of Blue, last year, with this caption on the back, 'Blue 2008—On morning deer watch.' Tony and I loved Blue's picture! Isn't he beautiful!

After I put Blue's picture inside Buttermilk, for safe keeping, Tony and I gave them the 'Grand Tour.' They loved the Space Ship, and going into Outer Space with T. and me! While we were visiting, I invited Bob inside the trailer, for a tour, even though it needed vacuuming! When he walked inside, he was amazed at what all Tony and I had done to it! He loved it! Then I found out that my trailer, the Nellybelle, was even more famous than it already was!

My trailer, over the past fourteen years, has been in several Kinky documentaries, a large picture of our bedroom, was on the front page of the Chicago's Tribune Lifestyle section, years ago, and just to name a few famous people like: Gary P. Nunn, Imus' MSNBC camera crew, U.S. Representative Lamar Smith, Bill Hageman, John Kelso, Little Jewford, Copper Love, Harley Belew, Billy Joe Shaver, Will Hoover, Animal Planet, Mike McGovern, Rambam, Captain Midnight, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Sage and Dylan Ferrero, Tom Price, Kinky Friedman, Christopher Hitchens, John Mankieiwicz, Reverend Goat Carson, Steven Fromholz, PBS film crew, Larry Dierker, Kent Perkins and Ruth Buzzi—have all been inside it, and they loved it, and could not believe that it was a 1983 trailer! I love it!

Enough bragging. Bob told me Nellybelle's untold story. Bob and Helen had bought some property in Utopia. They hired a broker to find them a nice used trailer, in Houston. Bob told me that once a month, there were these trailer auctions, and on one rainy Saturday, their broker went to the auction. Because of the rain, not many buyers showed up. The trailers were parked in a half circle, like a horseshoe, and the Nellybelle was the last trailer their broker looked at. He bought it for a good price!

When the trailer was going to be delivered to Utopia—there was a problem! When it reached San Antone, on 410, the road was suddenly shut down, and their/my trailer caused traffic to stop, and pile up for hours and miles! Bob told me that he and Helen watched it on TV, as the news helicopters circled above our trailer, while the newscasters talked about it! Wow! Bob told me that they had it for over six years, before selling it to me.

After Bob's and my visit, the five us left Outer Space, and we went to show them Rowdy. As soon as Rowdy saw them coming, she turned on her charm, and started climbing up the fence, one foot at a time! When she reached two feet, she climbed back down, to get petted. Barbara and D.J. really liked Rowdy, and told us that they wanted to take a day to think about it. And, before leaving the rescue ranch, she told us that she would call us tomorrow! We've got our fingers crossed!

Y'all have a great evening!

Girl Scout Troop 619 Really Rocks Big Time!!

This morning I was awakened, at six o'clock, when the phone rang—it was Kinky. "Nance? Nance are you there? I just remembered that we are having breakfast with Beth and two of her friends this morning. Call me." Click. Then the phone rang again—it was Kinky. "Nance, call me!"

After my dogs had used me, for their human diving board, to leap off of the bed, I rolled out of bed. I went to the front door, let my furry-friends outside, and then I picked up the phone, and punched in Kinky's number. "Morning, Kinky," I said, sleepily. I just woke up." He and I talked for about three minutes. By the end of our conversation, we had us a plan. I would ride with Kinky, and he and Mr. Green Jeans would pick me up a little before eight-thirty, so we could be at the restaurant by nine o'clock.

After feeding our dogs and Lucky, I made some coffee, and then cleaned up. At eight-sixteen, there was a knock at our door—it was Kinky.

We had a really fun breakfast with Beth and her good friends, Norma and Mack. They were really nice, interesting people. Kinky had huevos rancheros, and I just had coffee, because I had drank my healthy smoothie breakfast, earlier. Following breakfast, Kinky ran a couple of errands, and then we headed back to the ranch.

Kinky and Green Jeans dropped me off at the rescue ranch around eleven o'clock. Our super volunteers, June and her friend, Kay, were here, and so was Jim! June and Kay were in the pens handing out treats, while Jim was out walking our dogs! I loved it, but not as much as our dogs did! Thank you, June, Kay and Jim!

Around twelve-thirty, the dogs outside—started barking! Without looking out the door, I knew who it was! Not because I am psychic, but because they had made an appointment earlier in the week. I picked up the phone and called Kinky! "Kinky, it's Nance. The Girl Scouts from Dripping Springs have just arrived with their doghouses!"

"Great! I'm on my way!"

I grabbed my camera, and then left the trailer, so I could go greet them! When I arrived at the barn, I saw two of the prettiest, well built doghouses that I have ever seen, and then I met Sharon K., the sweet troop leader, in charge of their 'Bronze Award' project! Sharon's daughter, Rose, along with Girl Scouts Bonnie and Brady had built two super doghouses for us! The girls doghouses were beautiful, well engineered with air vents, and mighty heavy! I knew our dogs were going to love them!

I visited with Sharon, Brady, Rose, and Bonnie, and some other troop members, as Ben and Aaron unloaded the doghouses from the trailer. Then Kinky and Mr. Green Jeans arrived. Kinky was awestruck when he saw the super doghouses! While he shook hands and thanked the three girls for their hard work and fine craftsmanship, Sharon filled me in on Dunn, the little dog that she and her family had adopted from us, over three years ago! She told me that Dunn had turned out to be Rose's best friend, and they were inseparable, and he was spoiled rotten! I loved it! You might be wondering why I would name a dog Dunn. I named him and his little buddy, Brooks and Dunn, because I like their music.

After Kinky had admired the doghouses more closely, we had an awards ceremony! Kinky proudly awarded the 'Bronze Award' medals to Rose, Bonnie and Brady—thanking each girl, and then shaking their hands. I have to admit that it brought a tear to my eyes, but no one noticed because they were tearing up, too. Here's a picture that Tone took of the event!

After the award ceremony had ended, Rose went to the car, and she returned with a giant sack, and a big box, full of dog toys, that she had spent her birthday money on—for our dogs! And yes, I teared up, again, but no one knew it, except for Tone, who took this picture.

After sorting through the cool doggie toys, Sharon and the Girl Scouts went from pen to pen handing out Rose's collection of toys to our dogs! It was fun watching our dogs receive their toys and playing with them!
After all of the toys were given away, the girls wound up sitting in Oprah, Ellen Degeneres and Bandit's pen—playing with the happy pups!

When it was time for the Girl Scouts Troop 619, from Dripping Springs, Texas, to leave, we thanked them for being such great girls. And, before leaving the rescue ranch, they promised to return in a few months to volunteer! All that I can say is, "Troop 619 Really Rocks Big Time! We love y'all! Here are pictures of the new doghouses in the dog pens and Pearl playing with her new toy!


This evening, around seven o'clock—Kinky called. "Nance, Billy Joe is playing tonight in Pipe Creek. Do y'all want to go with me to see him?"

"I would love to see Billy Joe Shaver! Let me ask Tony." I asked T. and he shook his head no, because he was too tired. "Kink, we can't go. Tony is pooped and I need to blog tonight. Sorry. Please tell Billy Joe I love him. Wait, maybe Ben wants to go." I handed the phone to Ben. Kinky and Ben left the ranch at seven-thirty to go see our friend Billy Joe.

Before I go, I want to show y'all another picture that Tone took of our new Lab mix puppies. I love it! And, this morning Kinky and I passed that restaurant with the funny signs. This is their new sign!

1969
Hoping for a BMW!

2009
Hoping for a BM!

Y'all have a great evening!

We'll Be Coming Around The Mountain!

Today, our neighbor, our dog walking volunteer and good friend, Carol V., sent me an e-mail about our adventurous trip to Port Aransas, that we’ve been planning—another twenty-four hour get-a-way for Tone and me! We have worked out the details, and unfortunately Ben can’t go with us this time—even though Rick demanded that Ben bring a brick of his and Miles delicious chocolate—Miles of Chocolate.

After a couple of e-mails back and forth to Carol, Ben, Rick, John Kemmerly and Pete and Kelly—Tony and I are taking another vacation to the coast with Carol! And, we can’t wait! We’re talking a Blast—with a capital B!

When I called Rick and told him that Ben wasn’t going to be able to make it down there, he was really disappointed, until I told him that we would bring him and Leisa some of our Miles of Chocolate stash. I don’t know who is more excited about our trip, but I can tell you this, T. has already packed his bags and fishing equipment!

After all of the arrangements were set in stone, Buttermilk, Tony and I went to Kerrville to shop for our trip—Tone bought two new pairs of Wrangler jeans at Gibson’s, while I shopped for groceries over at HEB. He is planning on wearing a new pair to “The Riders In the Sky” concert, this weekend on Valentines Day, and he is taking both pair to Port A.

On our way back home, I said, “Tony, I am going to bring my guitar, so Rick and Pete and I can maybe play some music together, out on the porch by the lighthouse. It has been over a year and a half since I’ve played, and my callouses are completely gone from my fingers, but if I start strummin’ today —maybe my fingers won’t hurt so bad.” Tony liked my idea.

When we arrived back at the rescue ranch, Kinky had called and left two messages on our answering machine. When I called Kinky back, we discussed two things—our vacation to Port Aransas, and The Friedman’s serious low supply of chewgars. “Kinky, ‘Erb has just sent me an e-mail about him sending more ‘Chewgars’ and I promise you that we will only be gone for twenty-four hours or less.”

Here are some pictures of the incredibly great guitar, that my brother, Ronnie, custom built for me, which is signed by Willie Nelson and Billy Joe Shaver! Willie signed my guitar on March 28, 2003, when Kinky took Ben, Tony and me, as his guests, to a Willie concert at The Backyard in Austin, Texas! We spent over an hour on Willie’s bus—talk about fun! And Billy Joe, signed my guitar, two year later, after visiting Tony and me and singing two love songs to us, inside our trailer, several years ago!. He fell in love with Ronnie’s guitar, too! And, the last picture—Tony took of me today—tuning up my guitar. My fingers are killing me! Y’all have a great evening!

P.S. Just a reminder—I’m doing The Harley Show in the morning! I hope that y’all can catch the show at 7:45! And tomorrow Kinky, will be doing an interview with Bob Cole on KVET, 98.8 in Austin at 8:05! (Kinky has asked T. and me to please give him another wake up call—just in case he doesn’t wake up in time.)