Hazel!

Today and the past few days have been fine with not much happening here and that is why I haven't posted anything. Because all that we've basically been doing is keeping up with paperwork, returning phone calls and e-mails and mowing and weed-eating—over and over again.

The only exciting news that I have to share is that it appears that our sweet Hazel is going to be adopted soon by my dear friend Cindy and she'll have a fabulous, forever home, on Cindy's beautiful ranch, in Northern New Mexico.

Once again, we are going to use Breeders Select Pet Transport, located in Center Point, because in the past, Julie Griffith has done such a fabulous job safely transporting Blake Shelton and then Henry Standing Bear's twin sister, Miss Moneypenny, up to Fay and Ian, in Toronto.

So we are thrilled about Hazel's great upcoming adoption and we plan to tell Hazel, as soon as we know the date that Julie is going to transport her. And that's about it for tonight.

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

Oh Canada!

Tony and I just watched the movie Vacation, starring Ed Helms and we totally enjoyed it and we laughed a lot. Before we go to bed tonight I want to share some more great news with y'all.

Earlier this evening our dear friend Fay and her husband Ian, in Toronto, called me. I had a wonderful visit with Fay and Ian and Ian even sang me some old Scottish songs, that he rewrote and sings to their dogs when they are walking them everyday. (I loved Ian's Scottish accent and he has a beautiful voice.)

Over the past several years they have adopted three of our super dogs from us: Kris Kristofferson, Wee Lassie (Kia) and Ranger (Blake Shelton.)

Even though Kris went to the Rainbow Bridge, several years ago and Wee Lassie is now over ten-years-old and is showing signs of slowing down, they are going to adopt Sasquatch aka Sassy aka Grandma from us, so she can be Ranger's companion and running buddy!

Fay told me that she and Ian cannot wait to adopt our adorable, female Great Pyrenees mix. She also told me that she is already in the process of scheduling Sassy's transport, using Julie Griffith's "Breeders Select Pet Transport," in Center Point. Who is the same super, nice woman they used to safely deliver our Blake Shelton/ Ranger to them.

And to say the least, Tony and I are more than thrilled about them adopting our gigantic puppy. I told Fay, "We rescued Sassy and Big Foot on Thursday, December 17th. The next day we took them to Hoegemeyer Animal Clinic, to get them checked out and wormed. Each of them were healthy and they each weighed 5.5 pounds. And Tony and I are guessing that they now weigh close to twenty pounds. We're talking big puppies and it's not because they are from Texas...."

So this coming Monday, Tony and I will be taking Sassy back to Hoegermeyer Animal Clinic, so we can discuss with Dr. Craig Janssen when she will be ready to permanently move up to Toronto.

Life is good. Good night.

Rock Steady! or Double Whammy! or Drive Carefully!

This past week has been pretty uneventful, so I didn't really have much to write about, but today has been great.

This morning our dear friends/volunteers came out to walk our dogs and our dogs totally loved it. Kay, our newest friend/volunteer came out too, because she and I had planned, earlier this week, for her to get to know Miranda better, because she was interested in possibly adopting her.

Miranda Lambert is our beautiful, sweet, 2 1/2 year old Great Pyrenees mix. Miranda is an awesome dog. When our dear friend Fay, up in Toronto, adopted Miranda's brother, Blake Shelton, last year from us, Miranda's behavior began changing and she started becoming more and more shy with strangers and would bark at them.

Miranda had never been like that when she was with her brother, so we figured that Blake had been her rock steady. She would always follow his lead. If he was friendly, she was friendly. If he barked, she would back him up, etc.

Anyway, after Blake moved up to Canada and became known as Ranger, Miranda decided to pick out Tony, Jim M., a few others and me to  be her rock steady, because she trusted all of us.

When Kay arrived, she and I immediately went to Miranda's pen, so I could put a leash on Miranda so we could take her for a long walk, down to the creek. When I went into her pen, Miranda was all happy to see me and she easily let me leash her up, but she was acting a little unsure of Kay, who was outside of the pen watching all of this.

Within less than two minutes, I handed Miranda's leash over to Kay and we continued walking and talking. Miranda still seemed a little uneasy about Kay, so when we arrived down at the creek I suggested that Kay and I sit down on a giant rock together and let Miranda get used to her.

A couple of minutes later, Miranda let Kay start petting her. Kay and I petted Miranda for several minutes and talked to her and then I stood up and told Kay that I was going to go sit on a rock about twenty feet away from them, so Miranda wouldn't lean on me for support.

And it worked! In less than a minute Miranda totally relaxed with Kay and she started enjoying Kay's attention and affection. After about twenty minutes, Kay stood up and walked Miranda to the creek and Miranda went in as far as the leash would allow. Her wet tail was wagging non-stop the entire time and it was obvious to both of us that Miranda now liked and trusted Kay, too. They were buddies. Bottom line: Kay is very excited about adopting sweet Miranda, in the very near future. So please keep your fingers crossed for Miranda.

Lunch with our friends/volunteers was a blast. We ate at the Medina Highpoint's Koyote Grill and believe it or not—Tony and I didn't order the exact same thing.

While we were eating lunch, June asked #$#@^*, "How was your doctor's appointment this morning?"

#$#@^* started laughing and so did I, because #$#@^* had told me about her doctor's appointment while we were standing in line, waiting to give Kelly our orders. Every time that #$#@^* started to tell June, she and I would burst out laughing. So finally, #$#@^* says, "Nancy, you tell June."

"Okay. #$#@^* had made a list of things to ask her doctor after he examined her hips (In the past two years #$#@^* had both of her hips replaced.).

Then #$#@^* interrupted me. "Okay, I can tell it. After his examination I asked him to please check behind my scar, because there seemed to be some kind of swelling back there. I joked to him that it might be a fat pone." Then #$#@^* and I both started laughing, again.

"Please stop laughing and tell us," June begged.

"Okay," #$#@^* said. "He said, "Yes, it is a fat pone." Jim, Tony and June joined #$#@^* and me in laughter. "Wait there's more to tell," #$#@^* said. "I asked him to please check my other hip and it was a fat pone, too! But he said that it was much smaller!"

"A double whammy!" I interjected. June liked my comment and she nearly fell out of her chair, because she was laughing so hard. "Or you could call them bumpers for your hips," I teased. "With a bumper sticker, across her behind that reads, "Caution Wide Load..."

After we had all calmed down and quit teasing #$#@^*, Suzanne confessed about recently getting a warning ticket for speeding and then we started talking about who likes to drive fast and who likes to drive slow. And it was by a unanimous vote that Lisa, hands down, wins the award for driving way too fast, with Ellen, June and me tying for being the slowest drivers. And that's about it for today. Drive carefully.

Y'all have a great evening!

Your It—Marianne Faithful!

Early yesterday evening, while I was writing, Tony was outside mowing, or so I thought. When I decided to take a break and go help Tony, I went into our bedroom to take off my pink Crocs and put on my pink boots. When I entered the bedroom I immediately turned around and came back into the kitchen to grab my camera. I call this picture "When Little Debbie Runs With The Big Dogs—She Sleeps On Her Back With The Big Dogs Too!" Please note, the big dogs are covering all of the big holes that she made in the blanket.

In the foreground Alice and Beau had just woken up and were getting ready to jump off of our bed.

After I took this picture, I removed my Crocs and put on my boots. As I walked back into the kitchen I saw Tony, on the front porch, talking to a man and woman. When I went outside, Tony introduced me to a very nice couple, from the Netherlands. I immediately liked Clarissa and Jorrit, so I invited them to come inside The Cabin.

They loved our trailer and asked if they could take pictures of it, as Little Debbie and Alice went into their high-pitched barking routine. As the little girls constantly snarled and growled at our visitors, we managed to have a really fun visit them.

When I found out that Jorrit was a big fan of Kinky's, I invited the friendly, newly engaged couple to stay a little longer, because Kinky was on his way back to the ranch after being gone for a few days. Then I punched in Kinky's cell phone number. "Kinky, there's a nice couple from the Netherlands here...."

"....Nance, I'm up for meeting them. I'm about thirty minutes away...." When I told the couple that Kinky wanted to meet them, we left The Cabin and went into Outer Space to visit some more. And while we were passing time, I asked Jorrit how he spelled his name, because I was having trouble pronouncing it correctly.

He laughed. "A lot of people do," he said. "especially my American friends. They call me Your It..." Twenty minutes later, Tony took this picture of our new friends, Roy and me, before we went over to the Lodge, to wait for Kinky's arrival.

We were only there five minutes when Kinky arrived. After he unloaded his truck, Mr. Green Jeans, he gave the interesting couple a tour of the Lodge and then he invited us to go on a short hike with him and The Friedmans. That was a lot of fun.

A little before 8:00, I took this picture of Kinky, Clarissa and Your It, in Kinky's office. Then we adios-ed each other, so I could go back home and they could return to their hotel, next to the Alamo, in San Antone, where they are staying for the next few days.

Today has been great. Just before noon, Tony and I adopted Marianne Faithful to a very nice couple, that fell in love with her the moment that she fell in love with them. To say the least, "Kinky, Tony and I are thrilled about Marianne's adoption. That's two great adoptions this week!" Here's Marianne with her new forever family, minus their sweet, six-year-old son.

This afternoon Fay sent me another great e-mail, with more pictures of Blake.  

"Hi Nancy,
We all had a great night last night. We put a crate in our bedroom and he didn't mind at all, he just went right in and went to sleep. He's being too rambunctious for Wee Lassie's liking, she's a bit of a diva and he's messing her, and her routine up LOL All in all he's being a very good boy and it's fun seeing his reaction to things like the walk in shower, television, etc.

My handsome Scottish husband's favourite soccer team is the Glasgow Rangers. We want to pay homage to Texas and thought of the Texas Rangers. Then, with his antics in the hotel room on Thursday night when he was standing up like a horse on his hind legs and waving his paws. OMG It is a hilarious memory and pretty much sealed the deal on his new name:  we've decided to call him Ranger, he really suits it!

Here are some cute photos I took of him this morning. The first one is hilarious! This is how Ian watches Premier League soccer now, with Ranger on his lap LOL I love Wee Lassie's horrified look, it captures her mood about her new roomate pretty well.

As you can see, he fits on the loveseat pretty perfectly and looks so handsome too. We love him like crazy! Have a great weekend, we'll keep you updated over the next week.

Much love,
Fay & Family xo"

Here are Fay's pictures with my comments:

Fay's right about Wee Lassie's expression saying it all, about how she feels about Ranger.

Canada! My Home Sweet Home at last.

Looks like handsome Ranger has claimed the love seat, too, when he's not sitting on Ian's lap watching the Glasgow Rangers soccer games with him. 

Earlier this evening I went over to the Lodge to show Kinky the posts. on my blog, of Blake's incredibly great adoption and he is as thrilled as everyone else is about Blake aka Ranger—The TEX-I-CAN. And all of us love his new name and think that it is perfect. And that is about it for tonight, because I am fixin' to go bake Tony's favorite dessert, Cousin Nancy's Peach Cobbler served with a scoop of Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream.

P.S. Yesterday, Fay posted the sweetest comment on my blog about our wonderful, dedicated volunteers. So, just in case you didn't read it I am reposting it here.

 Fay said...

My family is SO touched by this, it's absolutely wonderful!
Texican... PERFECT! LOL!!

I have seen how much the amazing volunteers contribute to the Utopia Ranch and how everyone supports the amazing work that Tony and Nancy do for all the strays that end up there.

Blake wouldn't be so amazing if it weren't for alls ya'll investing your valuable time walking and caring for all the furkids at Utopia. He was well loved before he arrived with us and you all need to give yourselves a pat on the back for the selfless contribution you make. We have ourselves one fine dog and it wouldn't have happened without each and every one of the Volunteers!
Much love, Fay & Family xoxo

October 3, 2014 at 6:50 PM

And this was my response to her comment:

Hi Fay! Our rescue ranch is so lucky to have the best friends aka best volunteers, in the Lone Star State! Please tell Blake, The Tex-i-can, that we love him and all of us are so happy for him. And don't forget to use the word Y'ALL!

October 3, 2014 at 8:22 PM

Y'all have a great evening!

Eh, Y'all!

Eh, y'all! This morning and early this afternoon I wrote this to help pass the time while waiting to hear if Blake, Fay & Ian made it back home safely.

Blake is the third dog that Fay's & Ian's family have adopted from us over the years, so this morning while I was outside doing my chores and thinking about his super great adoption and how smoothly it went thanks to Fay and Julie, I came up with a name to describe what kind of a dog Blake is. So, when we were finished with our chores outside, I came back inside The Cabin and quickly designed this sign, so I could use it in today's post.

Everyone at the rescue ranch has been more than thrilled about Fay & Ian adopting Blake, because we love Blake so much. So last night, Eileen sent me an e-mail about how happy she was for Blake getting to live with Ian & Fay, in Toronto. Then she asked me if tomorrow it would be okay for her to bring out a poster board and use my paints & paint brushes, so she could paint a sign about Blake's adoption. And we get Tony to take a picture of all of us posing next to the sign, so she could post it on Facebook, for Fay & Ian and Eileen's friends to see. Of course my answer was, "Yes! That's a great idea!..." Here is a picture of Eileen painting her sign this morning and a picture that Tony took of us posing with it. "Thank you, Eileen and Tony!"

Back row left to right: Ellen, Suzanne, Jim "The Mineral Man," June and Jim

Front row left to right: Me, Eileen and Kris, holding Ringo Starr

At 4:26 this afternoon, Fay sent me this e-mail to let me know that Blake is now at their home, in Toronto, Canada! 

Fay wrote:

"Hi Nance & Tony,

We are all home safe in the Land of the True North, Strong and Free! Thank you so much for your hard work and coordination of Blake's trip home to Canada. Julie was stellar in her care of Blake on the long trip north to his new home. I highly recommend her dog transport service, she's the Best of the Best.

Last night was a bit *ahem*... well, let's just say that staying with Blake in that hotel room was like being in an 12 hour MMA Cage Match with a circus bear. LOL! Hi Ho Silver!!! There was too much going on for his liking - noise, lights and mirrors - and I'm pretty sure he knew it wasn't "home".

We crossed the Border with no problems whatsover today, there wasn't even a long wait like usual. He is being a very clean and well behaved gentleman, so it's a wonderful start. We absolutely adore him, he's the BIGGEST, sweetest dog! He even got the seal of approval from Wee Lassie. They are getting along great, here are a few pics to show you how much he loves it here in Canada with us. It was raining and he was loving the grass and pond areas. So fun to see him experience somethign new! He crosses his front paws when he's relaxed and happy, it's soooo cute! He is probably 4 times the size of Wee Lassie, they look adorable together ; ))"

Well, it looks like Blake's 2 day trip was well worth it for him. He's now living in the best home, in Canada and he is being loved big time. What more could he possibly ask for? More mirrors?

Y'all have a great evening!

Eh! Another Erie E-Mail!

Eh! Late last night at 11:52, Fay sent me another Erie e-mail! Fay wrote:

Hi Nance! We are all safe and sound in Erie, PA. Blake is an amazing dog and more than we even hoped for. He's so cute and HUGE, he's bigger than Kris!! We love him like crazy, he's a gorgeous boy xo he's quite vain as he keeps looking in the mirrors!! Too funny! Here he is standing on the bed looking at himself in the mirror LOL 

Tony and I are so happy that Julie safely delivered Blake Shelton to Fay & Ian! We want to thank Fay & Ian and Julie for making this happen for Blake. 

I'll write more later, because Tony and I are fixin' to go outside to do our chores, because our friends/volunteers will be arriving soon! I am on Cloud Nine and can't wait to celebrate Blake's incredible adoption with our friends/volunteers. Breeders Select Pet Transport Rules and so do Fay & Ian! Life is good.

About A Year Ago!

It is 10:09 and I must go to bed now, even though I can't wait to hear from Fay. I'll definitely write more tomorrow afternoon.

Earlier this evening, I found this cute picture, that I took of Blake, when he and Miranda first arrived at the rescue ranch, about a year ago. He was only 6 months old then, when a very kind-hearted woman rescued him and and his sweet sister Miranda Lambert, from death row, from a pound, in Lancaster, Texas. The woman who brought them to us told me that Blake and his sister were literally just hours away from both being euthanized.

I am totally amazed about how much Blake Shelton has filled out since then and I want to share his puppy picture. Good night.

Y'all have a great evening!

Eh! Here's Some Erie News!

Eh! Here's some Erie news! This afternoon at 2:15, I received this e-mail from Fay and it made my day greater than great! Fay wrote:

Hi Nance,
Got a text a little while ago from Julie that everything couldn't be going better! Since Blake Shelton is used to being "on the road", they have made excellent time and will probably arrive in Erie, PA the same time we do. TONIGHT! I found dog friendly accommodations, so Blake is going to have his first night in a hotel room tonight! Will give him a chance to rest and stretch his legs before we head back to Canada tomorrow. 

There's also a chance we will be doing our part to reinforce the wonderful cross border relations between the US and Canada: Julie may have a pup that we will be bringing to her from Toronto on our way to pick up Blake! Stay tuned....

Fay

To say the least, Tony and I are more than thrilled with the great news about Blake Shelton meeting up with Fay & Ian tonight, instead of tomorrow morning! I'll write more when I get another update from Fay, because right now I need to go grab a Kleenex to wipe away my tears of joy, before I go outside and tell Miranda Lambert the fabulous news about her brother Blake.

Eh! Blake Shelton Has "Left The Building!"

Today has been really great and it started early this morning. While Tony was at the Old Timer, drinking coffee with his friends I went outside around 7:00 to do my part of our chores. The main reason for me doing this was to feed Miranda and Blake Shelton first, so Blake would have time to digest his breakfast, before Julie arrived, at 10:00, to pick him up, drive and deliver him safely to Fay and Ian, Friday morning, in Eerie, PA.

After I had just finished feeding "my dogs" and was about to start cleaning their pens, Tony arrived and he went to work immediately feeding "his dogs." By 9:00 all of our chores were done and I was back inside The Cabin filling up two Baggies with Blake's daily dry dog food portions, for Julie to feed to him Thursday and Friday morning. And the name of Julie's business is Breeders Select Pet Transport, in Center Point, Texas.

Julie arrived at 9:45 and after she and Blake drove away I came inside and sent this e-mail to Fay:

"Hi Fay,

Julie showed up 15 minutes early. She was a little concerned about Blake being a problem for her to load him up. When we told her that he had made 6 trips in a crate and that he had jumped up on the bumper the last time we picked him up to bring him home, she was a little relieved. Then when Tony took him to the back of her van, without any of us saying a word—Blake jumped right into the crate, with his tail wagging wildly! Julie and us were surprised and totally thrilled that he knew what to do and he did it on his own and he seemed real happy. When Julie latched his crate door closed, he lay down and was still wagging his tail. Then she gave him a hog ear treat and he was the happiest camper that we ever saw. After we had said goodbye to Blake, hugged Julie and thanked her—Blake "has left the building, at 10:00! Nancy

P.S. Here is another copy of his rabies certificate that I took with my camera because the printer went "nuts"...." 

Then a few minutes later, I received this e-mail from Fay:

"Awww! I'm so teary just reading this! I just knew he was an adventurer! He's a smart, handsome boy and will have lots of fun and a long life with us. We love him already!

Will send updates from the road!

Fay"

A few minutes later, Tony took off to go make a deposit for me, in Bandera, so I could stay home and finish doing the rest of "the first of the month" paperwork. After I was done with the paperwork I downloaded these three pictures that I took of Blake, before he jumped inside Julie's crate for his trip.

In this picture, Blake is on the left and Miranda is on the right.

This one is before Tony took Blake out of his pen for the very last time.

This is a picture of Julie's transport van and that's her standing behind the door, getting Blake's crate ready for him.

After looking at these pictures and still being on Cloud Nine about Blake's awesome adoption and him happily jumping into his crate I decided to write Fay another e-mail. Here's a portion of it:

"When you pick up Blake, on Friday, to take him to his forever home, please tell him that we love him and that we will miss him. Please occasionally say the word "Y'all" to him, so he doesn't forget that he came from Texas and remembers the Alamo. And be patient with Blake, because he is not used to hearing Canadians say the word "Eh." Thank you once again, for adopting Blake and please know how happy we are that Blake is now y'all's dog."

Then I cooked a yellow squash & zucchini casserole for Tony's and my lunch, because Tony loves it so much. And it came out of the oven when Tony walked inside The Cabin.

After lunch we went to Kerrville to run several errands. Our last stop was at the big H-E-B, on Main Street, to buy groceries. When I had filled up the basket with half of my grocery list, I heard a familiar voice half-holler, "Omg! That's Cousin Nancy! Cousin Nancy is in the store! Hi, Cousin Nancy!" Then we looked over and saw my dear friend Carol standing on the opposite side of the frozen meat freezer, laughing. So I blushed and then Tony and I started laughing too, as several people stared at us. Then we had a short visit with Carol, by the Italian Meatball section, before pushing our carts in opposite directions. Carol, had once again gotten me.

Julie and Fay decided that they are going to text each other back and forth during Blake's trip and then Fay is going to e-mail us to keep us updated on Blake's journey to Eerie and then his final destination Toronto, Canada. Here's the first update Fay has sent to me. And that's about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

The First Week of October!

"The crate in her van, looked big enough for Blake's 24 hour trip, to Michigan, where Julie would hook-up with Fay and Ian, but we had to make sure it was. So, Tony lifted up Blake's gigantic front paws and placed them on the bumper. Then he bent down and lifted up Blake's rear and...."

Continued from yesterday....

Then he bent down and lifted up Blake's rear and Blake went right inside the crate and the crate was big enough! Blake is going to Toronto, to live with Fay and Ian and Kinky, Tony and I are more than thrilled about it. He will be departing here around the first week of October and we know that he is going to love living with Fay & Ian and enjoy the cooler Canadian weather and all of that snow. And that is about it for tonight, because I am going to watch a movie.

P.S. I know that Blake Shelton is also going to be very popular, in Toronto, because of his good looks and deep Texas accent. He'll drive the other girl dogs wild whenever he barks, "Remember the Alamo!"

Y'all have a great evening!