Bangkok!

Today has been a total blast and super great. This morning, around 11:30, after all of our great friends/volunteers had walked our dogs, we went up to the Medina Highpoint's Koyote Grill to celebrate Eileen's birthday and to eat lunch together.

June and Ellen brought the cutest "Bat Cake" made by Creative Cakes By Sharon, in Kerrville and it was delicious. June and Ellen chose to use a Bat theme, because Eileen loves bats and she volunteers regularly, at the Old Tunnel State Park, a popular place to learn about Bats and view them. And Lisa also baked a chocolate, pecan-pie-cake for Eileen and it was totally delicious, too.

When we started eating lunch Eileen opened up her birthday cards and then we passed them around the table so we could all read them. Her birthday cards were so hilarious, it sounded like we were doing a laughing wave around the table over and over again. And her Bangkok/Charade card was my favorite card and I am still laughing about it and that's all that I can say about it.

After we all sang Happy Birthday to Eileen, she made a wish and blew out the flaming candles, spinning around on Lisa's pecan-pie cake. 

Before I ate my slice of Lisa's mouth-watering, chocolate, pecan-pie cake I took this picture to show  the pecan pie inside of the chocolate cake.

On our way back home Tony and I were still laughing about how much fun Eileen's birthday was and I didn't think my day could get any better. But it did—just a few minutes later!

When we stopped to pick up our mail, before going home, there was a box addressed to my from my sweet friend Jo, who also lives in Northern New Mexico, near Cindy. I had known that Jo was sending me something that she had made especially for me, since last weekend, because she had asked me for our address.

I totally love Jo's beautiful Cousin Nancy flags and here are a few pictures of the ribbon, connected flags, to show off her creative talent. And I think that I am going to have Tony help me hang it, in my pretty, pink, writing cabin, because it is over six feet long when strung out.

After I took the pictures of Jo's beautiful flags, I am thinking that today could not get any better and then the phone rang—it was Claudia, the sweet woman that came out last Tuesday morning and adopted Bonnie Raitt from us.

"Nancy, I just want to give you an update on Bonnie. She is working out beautifully and she and I are best friends. I take Bonnie on a long walk every morning around 7:30 and every afternoon she and I take a nap together. She's perfect and she loves to ride in my car with me...I cannot thank you and Tony enough for Bonnie and for what y'all do...." And to the least, her great news made me tear up, because I was so happy for Bonnie and for Claudia. 

So, Happy Birthday Eileen! Thank you Jo! And best wishes for Bonnie and Claudia! And that is about it for tonight, because Tony and I are fixin' to go take Henry on his first adventure—a hike in the woods and down to the creek.

Y'all have a great evening!

Fingers Crossed!

Today has been a great day. This morning, as planned, Claudia and her sweet sister Beth came out here, so Claudia could adopt Bonnie Raitt from us. While Tony was putting Bonnie's tags on her new collar, Claudia and I decided to take Bonnie for a walk down to the creek, to calm her down some, because Bonnie was so excited about going to her fabulous forever home, in Utopia.

It was a fun walk and by the time we returned to the rescue ranch, Bonnie was tired and much more calmer than before she left. Tony and I are thrilled about Claudia adopting Bonnie and here is a picture I took of Bonnie with her new best forever friend.

This afternoon after we ate lunch, our dear friend Ann arrived, as earlier planned. I've known Ann since I was eight years old, because she is one of my sister's very best friends. We also love Ann and we had a wonderful time visiting with her and catching up on each others news. 

I want to thank everyone who kept their fingers crossed for Bonnie. And that's about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

Again!

Yesterday and today have been great. Ben Stiller got adopted Friday morning, with almost all of our great friends/volunteers out here. He is now living, in Kerrville, with a super nice man that adores Great Danes. Tom adopted Ben to be his and his older, female Great Dane's constant companion and all of us are thrilled about Ben's fantastic adoption.

Also, while our great friends were out here, I dressed in my "crazy lady" costume, smeared red lipstick on, put Little Debbie's alien-attracting helmet back on her again, so we could shoot the Longmire/crazy lady scene, out on the highway, and Jim did an excellent job playing the part of Longmire.

Friday afternoon after eating a fun lunch with our friends, at the Koyote Grill, we took off for Kerrville to run several errands.

Our first stop was to go by Wolfmueller's Books to visit with Sandy & Jon. When we walked inside their super cool bookstore, Harley, Sandy & Jon greeted us. Then we started catching up with each other's latest news and it was a lot of fun.

After I purchased two Bill Bryson books from Jon, we adios-ed them and then we went next door to Bad Girlz of Texas, so I could shop for some hilarious birthday cards. While we were in this great store, with super great vibes, we visited with Andie, the owner.

And after I had paid her for my cards, we left the building and climbed into Trigger to take off for the big H-E-B, because we needed to buy dog food for our rescued dogs and for our five dogs and Henry, our giant puppy.  

While we were waiting for the light to change to green, I faintly heard Sandy hollering, "Nancy! Nancy!" So, I turned around and lowered the window and waved to Sandy and Andie. "Nancy, Andie has your books that you forgot to take with you!"

"Okay! We'll drive around the block!" I hollered, as Tony made a sharp, right-handed turn onto Main Street.

A minute later, Tony again pulled back into the same parking space, in front of Bad Girlz of Texas. Sandy and Andie were standing there holding my books and they were laughing. "I can't believe I left my books. I feel so stupid. Thank y'all for catching us, because I can't wait to start reading them."

"You also dropped a dollar bill on the floor," Andie teased, as she handed me back my one dollar bill. Then I thanked them and jumped back inside Trigger and we took off again. And Tony teased me about leaving my books, on Andie's counter, in Bad Girlz of Texas, all of the way to the big grocery store.

When we got back home, I checked my e-mail. My dear friend Cindy had sent me a note about her writing and posting a short story she titled"It's Not Important..a very short story" on her blog about me and Jim, my late husband who passed away in 1995. 

So I immediately went to Cindy Pickard's awesome blog: Pooh & The Brown Piglet to read it. And to say the least, I totally loved it. Then I read some of Bryson's book and then once again I re-watched the awesome show, unBranded, that's now trending on Netflix.

Today has been busy. We had several people come out to look at our dogs and keeping my fingers crossed I am pretty sure that Claudia is going to adopt Bonnie Raitt from us, on Tuesday. So please keep your fingers crossed for Bonnie, too.

Early this evening I organized the Longmire—Texas Style videos and then I sent them all to Gerry Olert, so he can start putting our Longmire spoof together. And that's about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

Amazing Grace and Bonnie Raitt!

Today has started out great and I will write more later this evening. This morning when I checked my e-mail, my dear friend Mari sent me this awesome Native American video to enjoy. It is a beautiful video about Cherokees singing Amazing Grace. In fact, I loved it so much I watched it twice. Mari wrote: "Love the drumming – said to mimic the sound of the human heart."  So I want to share this link with all of you: Amazing Grace in Cherokee-Native American.

A little while ago, the two nicest women came out to check out how Bonnie Raitt would get along with their precious four-year-old, rescued Black Lab, Sadie.

Paula's sweet Sadie was a saint, but unfortunately Bonnie wasn't, because she is an alpha dog and wanted to control things. Even though we took them for a long walk down to the creek, Bonnie kept acting aggressive towards sweet Sadie. So, to say the least—Bonnie blew it.

Paula and her nice sister were sick about Bonnie's behavior, but they told us that they would keep in touch with us. So that's about it for now. I will write more later on as the day progresses.

P.S. Last night we watched the movie A Walk In the Woods, starring Robert Redford and Nick Nolte. It was  fun to watch and it was adapted from author Bill Bryson's hilarious book. I am a big fan of Bill Bryson and I read his book several years ago and I totally enjoyed it. So after watching it I once again want to go hike the Appalachian Trail like they attempted to do.

Bill's Signature Dish!

Today has been great. This afternoon Tony and I went to Kerrville to buy groceries and a bottle of whiskey and to pick up Dude, that dog we rescued that belonged to that homeless young man, trying to get back to his parent's home, in California.

At the big H-E-B, with the exception of whiskey, I filled my shopping cart with all of the ingredients needed to make Ree Drummod's Peach-Whiskey Chicken recipe. Her easy to make, delicious recipe is on the Food Network, courtesy of Ree Drummond. So click on: Peach-Whiskey Chicken to check it out, because it has a Five-Star rating on the Food Network.

I luckily found out about Ree Drummond's Peach-Whiskey Chicken recipe, because of my dear friend Carol. When she told me that it was Bill's signature dish and how much she loved it and Bill, I knew I had to try the recipe

When I made it for Chet, Kinky and Tony they loved it more than me, because they all got second servings. Anyway, I hope that y'all will try it, because I promise you that it will become your favorite recipe, too.

Before we went to Hoegemeyers we stopped, at Spec's liquor store, so I could buy the whiskey for the recipe. And when I was paying the cashier, a woman standing behind me tapped my shoulder and loudly said, "Trust me. This woman is way over twenty-one-years-old." Then our dear friend, Gerri laughed, the cashier laughed, the people in line behind me and I laughed.

"Yes, it's true," I joked back, as the cashier handed me my bottle of booze, in a sack. "And this woman is way over the legal drinking age, too! Good grief, Gerri! It is so good to see you. How are you and Don doing?...."

When we arrived at Hoegemeyer Animal Clinic, I told Susan, "We're here to pick up Dude, but I want to change his name."

"I knew you would," Susan said, followed by a chuckle. "What's his new name?"

"I won't know until we meet him. I'll tell you in just a minute." Then we followed Robin to the kennels, in the back of the clinic, so we could meet him.

Oh my gosh, this great, once homeless dog, instantly stole my heart. His eyes are what did it for me, because they were full of love. Then Robin told us that he is really cool around other dogs, extremely sweet, but he does need to be leash trained. Then Robin showed us Daisy, a dog that we also rescued last week, from a man losing his battle with cancer, with little time left.

Last week this gentleman told me that Daisy had showed up at his place and she looked like she had been hit by a car, because she had a hard time getting to her feet. He told me that she was a sweet dog, but due to his medical costs he could not afford to take her to a vet and there is more to Daisy's story, but not for tonight, due to time.

She is a lovely, sweet dog, but because she needs three expensive, upcoming surgeries, because she was hit by a car, she is going to have to stay, at the clinic, for a while. Here is a picture of Daisy that he had e-mailed to me earlier. She is only one-year-old and is as sweet as she can be.

When Tony and I returned to the lobby, I told Susan, "His new name is B.B. King!" That made Susan laugh as she changed it on B.B.'s rabies certificate. "And because we already have a Daisy, I'm changing her name to Bonnie Raitt." Susan and the people, in the lobby, chuckled. Tony didn't laugh, because he wasn't there, because he had gone to the rest room.

"Robin and I knew that you would change her name too," Susan teased. "Bonnie Raitt is a great name for her." Then we watched B.B. King literally drag Robin, out the front door. "Let me help you, Robin!" I half-hollered. Then I turned around and joked, "Better her than me." Then I left the building, to go help Robin load B.B. into a crate.

Mr. King road great, inside his crate, in the Expedition aka Buttermilk. Before Tony put him in a temporary pen, I tried to take some quick pictures of B.B., but he was so excited, because some of our dogs were barking at him, I didn't get a good picture of him, but I promise I will in the next few days.

Before we drove on up to The Cabin, I took this picture of Springsteen and Katee Sackhoff together at last, in their pen, because they had been the welcoming committee that greeted B.B. King, to the rescue ranch.

After we put up our groceries, I started cooking the Peach-Whiskey Chicken recipe, for tomorrow's lunch, because I do that often, so we will have a, warmed, delicious meal awaiting us, when we finish up our chores outside.

I had just started browning the chicken when Carol called me. "Carol, I am putting you on Speaker Phone, because I have just started cooking Bill's signature dish..." We had a really fun visit, filled with laughter, that lasted as long as it took me to put the foil over the Peach-Whiskey Chicken dish and slide it into the 300 degrees oven, to bake for one and a half hours. And that is about it for tonight. I wish y'all could join us for lunch tomorrow.

Y'all have a great evening!

The Harleys And The Hog!

Today has been a great day even though it has been a long one. At seven-forty-five this morning I was live on the air talking to Harley Belew about our dogs. Harley's Pet of the Week was Bonnie Raitt, and I told him all about her and her mother, Sheryl Crow our two little Chihuahuas. And as always Harley had me laughing from the get go.

After I did The Harley Show a man called me about the Chihuahuas and wanted to know more about them. Before I had finished telling him all about the girls he told me that he was going to come out tomorrow morning and was probably going to adopt one of them. His good news set the mood for my day.

 Late last night Kinky returned to the ranch after being on the road for several days. Around eleven o'clock this morning he called me right after I had walked my six miles to invite me to come over and drink a cup of coffee with him so we could catch up with each other's news. I told him that I would love to come over, but I could only stay for ten or fifteen minutes because I had to get back to the trailer so I could cook lunch for Tone and me. "Tony!" I half-hollered down the hallway. "I'm going over to the Lodge and will be back in about fifteen minutes." Little did I know that I had just lied to Kinky and T.

As I sipped my coffee at the kitchen table Kinky told me that some people would be arriving shortly for a camera shoot for a magazine cover about Harley Davidson motorcycles. Then he told me this afternoon David Woo was coming out to take pictures of him and our rescue ranch for The Dallas Morning News, while he was being interviewed by Jessica Meyers, a staff writer for the newspaper and Jason was going to be driving her down to the ranch. Then Kinky dropped the bomb on me and told me that he wanted her to interview me, too.

As you know I dislike being interviewed because I always wind up sounding like a complete idiot so I pointed that out to Kinky but he ignored me and told me not to worry about it. "That's easier said than done," I said. "Thanks a lot." Then the camera crew arrived and we left the Lodge to go greet them down by the dining hall where the camera shoot was going to take place.

After introductions and handshakes the friendly crew began setting up for the camera shoot inside the dining hall while we visited with the crew. Here are a couple of pictures I took of Kinky sitting on one of their beautiful Harleys and the second picture is of Kinky visiting with Jim and Bubba. (Bubba is the tall one.)

After the crew was done shooting Kinky we all went up to the Lodge for coffee and a visit. We had a really fun visit with everyone. They were all so nice. Before leaving Craig Slovak, the General Manager for Republic Harley Davidson down in Stafford, Texas told us that he loves dogs and he wants to do a Harley ride for our rescue ranch to raise money for us in April! Kinky and I were thrilled. And, talk about a small world—Jim is friends with Rick Reichenbach, our dear friend down in Port Aransas. (Rick, he told me to tell you hello. He is the man who rebuilt the wooden water barrels.)

When they left to go pack up their camera equipment David Woo arrived. David is an outstanding photographer from Dallas who shot Kinky with one of our pigs years ago, for his and Richard Pruitt's star-studded coffee table book Top Dogs And Their Pets. Check out his awesome picture of Kinky that is in this beautiful book. I love it! I just wish that I could remember the pig's name.

Before David, Kinky and I headed over to the rescue ranch David asked Kinky to sign a few of his poster sized pictures of Kinky with our pig and then he gave me a poster and a couple for us to auction off to raise money for our rescue ranch! David told me that the posters should be sold for a minimum of $250.00 each. So if any of y'all want to buy an autographed copy please give me a call.

While Kinky signed the posters David and I laughed about the day that he came out to photograph Kinky. It was a hotter than hot day and our pigs did not want their pictures taken with Kinky no matter how hard he tried to entice them to pose with him. Finally, when Tone went and got some corn and scattered it for the hogs to eat, David was able to capture the perfect pig pose with Kinky. I can't wait to get Kinky to sign my poster and get it framed! Thank you, David.

After the poster signing party we went over to the rescue ranch so David could start shooting Kinky. David shot him in Outer Space, our screened-in porch, and inside the trailer before Jessica and Jason arrived. 

Since it was raining hard outside Jessica interviewed Kinky in "the big room" inside the trailer as David snapped away on his camera while Jason, Tony and I watched and listened. During a break I showed Jason, David and Jessica the beautiful cedar bed that Tony made for us when we got married and they thought it was awesome of course. In fact, David went and got his camera and started taking pictures of our bedroom! "Y'all," I proudly bragged, "our bed and bedroom has been on the cover of the Chicago Tribune years ago. Our dear friend Bill Hageman who writes the papers most popular column for them took the pictures and..." After the bedroom tour we went outside to show David and Jessica our dogs. Here are a couple of pictures that Tony took of us outside. From left to right: David, me, Jessica and Kinky. (And just so you will know, the reason that I look fat is because I am wearing a down vest inside my jacket.)

This is a picture of Kinky talking to Jason and David.

When I introduced them to Hank and told them his incredible rescue story they went inside the pen to pet him and Nellybelle. When they came out of the pen they were covered in mud. Fortunately, they all laughed about it and it didn't seem to bother them.

Before leaving the rescue ranch Jessica interviewed me, and then I told her about my book that I wrote for the University of Texas Press in '06 and then Jason told her that his dog, Echo's (formerly Sponge Bob) story that he adopted from us years ago, was in my book. 

After they left the rescue ranch I checked my answering machine messages thank goodness. A woman named Donna had called and she had heard me on The Harley Show this morning and was interested in adopting one of our Chihuahuas, so I called her back immediately. Then I went back over to the Lodge to visit with Jessica, Jason and Kinky.

At five-thirty I returned to the rescue ranch and cooked dinner for Tony and me since we had missed lunch.

Tonight at seven-thirty Sheryl Crow was adopted in the dark. Yes, she has found her forever home and we have our fingers crossed that her adoption will stick. Here is a picture of Donna's daughter with her new forever friend.

I also have my fingers crossed that Bonnie Raitt will find her forever home tomorrow morning. It's late and I need to go to bed. Good night.

P.S. I want to thank Lisa, Matt, Meghan and Don for coming out this morning and helping Tony with his chores and walking our dogs. We love y'all!

Y'all have a great evening!

The Chihuahuas Are Coming!

Well I am glad that yesterday was peaceful and quiet because today a lot has happened and it was all good. This morning while I was drinking one of my super healthy-smoothies for breakfast I realized that it is only twenty-six days until my drum class for beginners and I can't wait, even though I have not had any time to secretly practice on my pretty lavender colored drum pad.

While I was walking with Leslie I decided to walk eight miles, again so I could get a nice head start on this months 140 miles. So as of this morning's walk I only have a 124 miles to go!

Around eleven o'clock I went outside to thank and to visit with our super volunteers but they were all  out walking dogs so I went into Nellybelle's and Hank's pen so I could take a picture of him for our utopiarescue.com web site. The original pictures that I took of Hank Hill were not great pictures because they showed Hank as a scared and unhappy dog and I do not like to use pictures like that on our web site because no one will want to adopt him.

When I went into their pen I gave them a couple of treats and then they took turns jumping up on me for more treats and their tails were wagging high. Normally we don't encourage dogs to jump up on us but it was okay for Hank because he was showing his love and giving me kisses. Here is the picture that will be going up on our Utopia site in a few days. Doesn't Hank Hill look fantastic! He has definitely gotten his confidence back. I am so in love with this magnificent dog and so proud of him.

While I was playing with Hank and Nelly—Lisa, Meghan, Bethany, Carly, Steve and Don returned from their dog walk and I had a fun visit with all of them as we took turns praising and talking to Hank. During our visit I glanced back and saw Hank standing up on his hind legs kissing Meghan on her face! 

As we were saying good-bye to Lisa and her troop of super volunteers a pickup truck drove slowly into the rescue ranch. "The Chihuahuas are coming!" Tony said as Lisa and her friends drove off. "Nance, meet me down at the puppy pen." I started walking down to the puppy pen as Tony went to greet the man who could no longer keep his two little dogs.

Five minutes later the three of us were standing inside the puppy pen with two cute dogs and talking to the man about his dogs that we had agreed to take. I didn't like the names that he had given them so after he left I renamed them, then we took them to Hoegemeyers Animal Clinic to get them spayed and given all of their shots.

These pictures that I took of them are not all that great because they were squirming in Tony's and the man's arms but I want to show them anyway. Please meet Bonnie Raitt. She is about seven months old and as sweet as she can be.

And this is a picture of Sheryl Crow who is about one and a half years old and Bonnie's mama. Sheryl is a sweetie pie, too and loves to cuddle and give away kisses. (I know that in real life Bonnie Raitt is much older than Sheryl Crow, but to make it simple for us and our volunteers to remember these cute dogs names I named the little black one Sheryl Crow because crows are black.) 

After Tony and I dropped off the girls at Hoegemeyers we went to Wolfmueller's Books so I could buy a copy of my book so I could give it to Josh, who was coming out to the rescue ranch at three o'clock for a tour. When we arrived at Kerrville's favorite bookstore we found Mary Jo holding down the fort for Sandy and Jon. We had a short but fun visit with her and then we went to Randy and Lisa's Save Inn Restaurant for lunch.

Angie, their sweet, upbeat waitress waited on us and she had us laughing before we even gave her our order. Our lunch was delicious and fun as always. While T. paid for our lunch at the cash register, I asked Angie to please tell Lisa and her daughter-in-law Trish, over at Copies Plus, that I hoped that they were taking the beginners drum course with me, Lisa, Sara and Donna "The Drummer" Schloss and she said she would. After our bill was paid we went to Walmart to buy dog food then Buttermilk took us home.

At three o'clock sharp Josh arrived at the rescue ranch. After Tone and I greeted him I gave Josh a tour of the rescue ranch and he seemed impressed with it. Then I gave him an autographed copy of my book so he could learn more about us because his new company wants to help us. After a short visit inside the trailer, Kermit took Josh and me over the river and through the woods to the Lodge so Kinky could meet Josh and it was a fun visit. Here is a picture that I took of Kinky and Josh in Kinky's office.

After Josh left I came inside the trailer to find that I had twenty-seven new phone calls to return, most of them were from people wanting us to take their dogs. I returned half of them and plan on calling the rest of the people back tomorrow morning after I walk the walk with Leslie Sansone. I may try to walk another eight miles if my old body is up for it. Wish me luck.

Y'all have a great evening!