Foreign Friends! or Faded Glory!

Yesterday and today have been great, because we've worked hard here and there, had fun with dear friends and Tony and I bought our entire 2017 Fall & Winter wardrobes.

Tuesday around noon, Tone and I met up with Hans & Marita, our super-nice, visiting Norwegian friends, for lunch, at Cracker Barrel. Except none of us ate lunch there, because we all ordered from their breakfast menu. And believe it or not Tony and I did not order the same breakfast like we usually do, but Marita & Hans and I did order the exact same thing.

Being with Hans & Marita is always a real treat for us, because they love the same kind of music that we do and they keep us laughing with hilarious tales about their life and interesting, music-related adventures. So as you can imagine we had a total blast seeing them.

After we ate lunch and adios-ed our fun, foreign friends Tony and I went to see our dear friend Stan, the owner of the Melody Corner, because I needed to buy a new Snark tuner for my guitars, banjos and mandolins. And a banjo strap for my latest banjo that I also purchased from Stan.

Anyway like always, Stan's music store was jammed-packed and buzzing with all kinds of musicians and wanna-be musicians. So we had to wait to visit with our friend and buy my stuff while he helped out his friends and customers.

And we didn't mind waiting at all, because it was fun eavesdropping and talking to some of the friendly musicians. Here's my banjo strap and new Snark Super-Tight tuner.

Our last stop was, at the Home Town Craft store, so I could purchase some fabric, because I am going to make the curtains for our new cabin. And this is what I bought, even though I don't plan to sew the curtains until Saturday afternoon, after the East Kerr 4-H Club, one of our all-time, favorite organizations, that is coming out to walk our dogs for us. It will be fun, because our dogs love it and so do we. Anyway, here is the white fabric and the hunter green plaid fabrics that soon will be our new cabin's curtains.

After I bought the fabrics we came home and then we went, over to the property, to do a little more work, on the big room, until dark-thirty.

Today was so much fun. First we went, over to the property, to stain some wood for the big room's walls and we worked for about an hour and got every stick of wood stained. And even though our fingers were stained with a reddish, cedar color and our clothes reeked from the fumes of the stain, we met up with our dear friends: Denise & Les and Jim aka The Mineral Man. But unfortunately, Jim's sweet wife, Kris, couldn't make our lunch date.

Jim was the first to arrive outside Po Po's and we we came in second place. And while we were visiting and standing outside the restaurant, Denise drove by and honked at us and waved before driving off to go park her car.

A few minutes later, Denise joined us, standing on the corner, with us and two minutes later her sweet husband, Les, appeared. And just before the five of us walked, into the restaurant, another person pulled up, to the signal light and honked the horn at us. And it turned out to be our good friend, Harley Belew, waving at us. So we all waved back at him before he took off as we entered Po Po's for a delicious and very fun lunch. 

And to our surprise our great and friendly waitress was also our good friend, Jennifer. The sweet woman and her husband that, several months ago, adopted Hollywood from us. Of course, our lunch was delicious and a lot of fun. 

We all resisted getting desserts, so Jennifer it topped-off by showing us some recent pictures of Hollywood playing with her new best Weimaraner puppy friend. "The two are best friends," Jennifer said. "They play constantly and wear each other out..." 

Yes, I know this is turning into a very long post, but please hold on, because I am almost finished writing this.

And to put it on a bumper-sticker for times sake: After our enjoyable lunch with our friends Tony and I went to Walmart, so I could buy a couple of stools and we got them and also bought our entire 2017 Fall & Winter wardrobe collection. 

As you must know by now, neither Tony or I are big on fashion and we like to keep it simple and cheap and that's exactly what we did. Walmart had their Faded Glory long-sleeve, buttoned-down, plaid, flannel shirts on sale for $8.00 and we love those shirts. So we each bought five shirts.

I bought three flannel shirts that were just alike and two in different colors and after Tony saw my selections, he made sure to buy five different flannel shirts that did not match any of mine, because he hates it when we accidentally dress alike. 

We are thrilled about finding our favorite shirts on sale and to give you a glimpse of our upcoming Fall & Winter wardrobes, I stacked up his and my new shirts, on top of the stove and I took this picture of them. And please note that my five, pretty, flannel shirts are stacked, on the front and back left burners. And finally that is about it for tonight.

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

About Last Night! or Norwegian Wood!

This morning has been great, but it is still early. I overslept this morning, even though Tony kept trying to wake me up every fifteen minutes or so, like I asked him to.

Fortunately, I finally crawled out of bed, around 7:00 and was awake enough to call in and do Harley's Show.

I had a lot of fun talking to Harley Belew this morning. Right off the bat Harley asked me when was the last time that I had spoken to our mutual, good friend Sammy Allred and I told him that it had been way too long and that it was probably about two years ago. "Now Sammy is the one who nicknamed you Cousin Nancy. Is that right?"

"Yes, Sammy gave me that nickname, back in 1986."

So then Harley started talking about Sammy and Bob Cole, two of Austin's number one DJs. When he told me about being, at Bob Cole's Hill's Cafe, many years ago and that being the last time that he saw our dear old friends I reminded him about us being there too, because we were having a benefit that night for our rescue ranch. and then Harley remembered.

Well that jogged my mind, so I said, "That was such a fun night. And do you remember that Dwight Yoakam showed up, near the end of the show, as our mystery guest?" And Harley remembered that, too.

Then Harley changed the subject and started telling me that you shouldn't judge a dog or a person by their looks, because I had just told him that Rocky was his Pet of the Week. "Rocky is so sweet and he probably is about eleven-years-old. He sort of looks like a Chow, but...."

"He sounds like a great dog, Cousin Nancy," Harley remarked. "Do you know that I once had a friend who didn't like me, because my teeth were straight? Can you believe that?" 

After I had quit laughing, I said, "That's hilarious. Well, at least you had teeth..."

Before the end of our Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch segment I asked Harley if I could please put in a plug for a Hurricane Harvey relief benefit that we're going to with Carol and he told me yes. 

"Well, this coming Sunday, at 3:00, at the Western Edge Cellars, on Main Street, in Fredericksburg there is going to be a fabulous, fun benefit with a super, great line up of musicians. We're talking Walt Wilkins, John Arthur Martinez, Mike Blakely, Stephen K. Morris, Hollin McKay....and there is going to be auctions, too."

"Hollin McKay is great," Harley said. "I really like his music and did you know that...." 

"Yes and I love Hollin McKay's music, too. I love Stephen K. Morris and I also love Mike Blakely's music. Did you know that Mike is also a famous author and that his books are ranked right up there with Larry McMurtry and Elmer Kelton's?" And Harley didn't know that. And then he gave a plug for Randy's & Lisa's Save Inn Restaurant, because they have sponsored our Utopia segment for many, many years. Then Harley and I adios-ed each other.

I have some news about last night. When Tony and I got back home from working, over at our property, Tony hooked-up my Bowl Light for me and I totally love it. And our dogs are sort of freaked-out about it with the seven, changing colors and motion-activation features. 

In fact, yesterday evening when I was watching Heartland, my newest favorite binge-watching show, on Netflix, I realized that Henry wasn't sleeping in his chair like he usually does. So I paused Season 3: Episode 4 and went looking for him. And I found him, sitting in the bathroom, mesmerized and staring at our magical toilet. So, I left him there, staring at the toilet and went back to watching Heartland.

Before I finish writing this post, I've scheduled it to post it, at 5:00 this evening, because I am fixin' to go over, to the property, to hopefully finish up my latest, painting/building project, before our dear friends, Hans & Marita, from Norway, come over to visit with us.

And if you'll remember, over a year ago about this same time of the year, Tony and I met this lovely, music-loving couple. And they are the ones who we quickly discovered are also good friends with our good friends: Chet O'Keefe, Stephen K. Morris & Eva Robinett, Brian Molnar and Kinky. 

Anyway, I'm hoping to finish my latest, painting/building project, before they arrive today, because I want to name this almost-finished-colorful cabinet door, made with imported wood from Sweden—Norwegian Wood, so it will always remind me of them. And I guess that is about it for today.

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

The Night of The Iguana!

Yesterday was great and the only reason that I am writing this right now, on Thursday morning, @ 1:10 AM, is because I'm not sleepy and because Tony dared me to write about it.

But before I tell you about why he dared me to write about it, I want you to know that since last Friday my days have been great. And to put it all of it on a bumper-sticker:

1. Friday evening Tony and I went up to the Medina Highpoint Resort for their Friday Night All You Can Eat Catfish Dinner, which is always absolutely delicious and is also one of Tony's favorite places to eat fried catfish, in the Texas Hill Country. And it was a super fun evening, because the super, great band Exit 505 played outside, on their big patio. Bottom Line   the place was rockin'.

2. Saturday we had several people come out to visit our rescue ranch during our Open House and we spent that evening, doing some work over on our newly acquired property.

And, yes, that has been my big secret and I am letting it out-of-the-bag, at last. We are so thrilled with our new place and we love that it is so nearby. In fact, you will not believe how close it is to our rescue ranch. Anyway, I will tell you more about it, in my upcoming, soon-to-be-released Cowgirl Sisterhood: Part III novella.

3. Sunday Tony and I spent most of our day off over at our property.

4. Monday I baked Carol's totally delicious Chocolate Sheet Cake and I took some of it over to Kinky's. Bottom Line   Kinky is wild about it and he has become totally addicted to it.

5. Tuesday was great, because we met our good friend Sue, for lunch at the Acapulco Mexican Restaurant and we had a wonderful time with her. And during our fun lunch with Sue, Kinky showed up and he was surprised to see us there.

When he came up to our table, after greeting us, his first words were, "Cousin Nancy's chocolate sheet cake is the best cake that I've ever eaten. You could make a fortune baking those cakes..."

"Well, thank you, Kinky," I said. "But it is actually Carol's secret cake recipe. Not mine. She deserves all of the credit. And I agree that it is the best cake that we've ever eaten."

Actually, I was shocked, because I could not believe that I had admitted that it was Carol's secret recipe. And it was truly a first for me to admit that, because as everyone knows I always steal recipes from my friends and then I turn around and call them Cousin Nancy's...

Anyway, I am going to keep Carol's secret, best-ever Chocolate Sheet Cake recipe under-wraps, until I reveal it in my in my upcoming third novella, but please don't tell Carol. Because as excited as she already is about me making her a Top Bun, for her Christmas present, I am afraid that if I tell Carol about me including her Chocolate Sheet Cake recipe, in Part III—she might just get a big-head about it and then her little, hand-spun-bun-by-me will be way too small for her enlarged head.

So back to the story. While Kinky was standing there visiting with us and raving to Sue about how delicious my cake was and hoping that I would bake him another one real soon, our dear friend Harley Belew walked up to our table and greeted all of us. And then Kinky starts telling Harley all about my cake. Bottom Line   lunch was so much fun.

Okay, it is now 1:30, in the morning and that Z-zz-Quil that I took earlier is finally starting to kick-in thank goodness. So I am going to finish this post with what Tony dared me to write about.

Late this evening before we went to bed I went to the door to let our dogs go outside one more time. When I opened the front door the dogs ran outside and before I could close the door this creature, on our door jumped on me and then it bounced off of me and landed on the floor. Then it took off down the hallway. I was so shocked and startled, I half-hollered, "Tony! Come quick! There's an iguana in our house!"

I heard a chuckle, coming from the man-cave area and I could not believe that Tony's knee-jerk rescue-reaction was so slow. "There it is!" And then I pointed to it before it ran/crawled-fast, behind a box of books that I plan to drop off, at Wolfmueller's Books.

Tony laughed when he saw the little, six-inch critter, and then he said, "It's just a harmless gecko, Nance. Not an iguana."

"I know that. I meant to say, "a gecko," but I was in a total state of shock." And after Tony had quit teasing me about calling it an iguana he dared me to write about it. And so I have. And that's why I titled this post The Night of The Iguana.

Goodnight and keep on laughing!

Today Tomorrow!

The past few days have been great and they have flown by so fast—I can't believe that it is already Wednesday. Here his what we've been up to, at the rescue ranch.

Late last Friday afternoon, Tony and I ran several errands and our last stop was, at Home Depot, so we could purchase a Club Cadet Walk Behind Trimmer that my brother Ron had told us about, when we had visited with him, in Dripping Springs.

Ronnie had bragged and told us about how much he loves this trimmer, because it can easily get in and out of small, cramped in spaces, rolls over rocks and stumps easily while whacking down the tall grass and weeds around it—unlike our push-mowers that seem to last only about a year for us. Because, we go through many mower blades several times during the mowing season, because I am accidentally hitting hidden rocks and stumps, etc. when I push mow the grass in our dog pens.

After we purchased this "miracle machine" we went straight home so we could "test drive" it. Omg, after I "trimmed down the thick, tall grass and weeds, in our front and backyards, easily, in record time, without my back aching—it was Tony's turn and he could not wait to try it.

Bottom Line    We love this Cub Cadet Walk Behind Trimmer and it is the best piece of lawn equipment, on the rescue ranch. We joyfully spent Saturday and Sunday outside, taking turns "plowing" down the weeds, thistle and grass, in every dog pen while no longer caring if we hit rocks, roots, stumps, fencing, etc.

And we did all of this in record time too, because it is much smaller and lighter than our push-mowers and it has a 22" cutting range. And we know that it will pay for itself, in less than a month, because we usually have to hire someone to come help us with all of the mowing and weed-eating.

Anyway, we are very thrilled to have this new piece of lawn equipment, because what used to take us at least 30 minutes to push mow a dog pen—now takes only about 10 minutes or less!

Monday morning our good friend Rick came to visit us and we had a lot of fun with him, even though he adios-ed us Tuesday morning, because he had a long list of things to do, before his return to Nicaragua.

I spent yesterday morning and the early part of the afternoon doing rescue ranch paperwork and then later in the day, we went to Kerrville to run a few errands, before going to TNJ Engraving Company, on Water Street, to have those friendly people put on our new rescue ranch signs, on Trigger's and Buttermilk's front doors, because our old rescue ranch signs, which they had put on our vehicles, in 2010, were finally starting to crack from age and the elements.

TNJ Engraving Company has always been one of our favorite businesses, in Kerrville, because they are great people and they do such great work. We've used them since 2010 to make all kinds of ranch signs for our rescue ranch and funny, personal signs too, like "Tony's No Whiner Diner" for his outdoor chuck wagon kitchen.

And while we were waiting, in their lobby, for Patrick and Garrett to remove our old signs and replace them with our new rescue ranch signs, we visited with their friendly staff. And while we were in their lobby, we looked around and noticed that several businesses that we love also use them, too. Like Hoegemeyer Animal Clinic and Herring Printing just to name a few.

Well today has been great. While I was taking care of some rescue ranch paperwork, a nice man  called and he left a message for me and it went something like this. "Hello Nancy. This is Mike. I need to talk to you about a couple of sweet, small, 6 year-old female, litter mates that need rescuing. They are spayed and are house broken as sweet as they can be. My neighbor's wife recently passed away. My friend is having to move soon and I am trying to help him find homes for his precious, little dogs. Nancy, please call me as soon as possible, so we can discuss this...."

This afternoon I called Mike back. "Hello Mike. This is Nancy, at the rescue ranch."

"Hi Nancy," he said. "Thank you for calling me back."

"Mike, do I know you?" I asked, because I was curious.

Mike chuckled, and said, "Not really, but I sort of feel like I know you, because I hear you on Harley's show...." Before Mike and I had adios-ed each other I had told him that we could help and would take in his neighbor's small dogs and Mike told me that he would e-mail me pictures of them. And he did just that. This is Cindy and she only weighs about 12 - 14 pounds.

This is Cindy's sweet, little sister, Misty and she only weighs about 6 pounds. So if you can, please help us spread the news about these two, sweet, adorable, little girls needing loving homes, to all of your friends. And if they are interested please ask them to call me for more information. 

I have a little more news to tell you, but I am running out of time, so I will write more about today tomorrow.

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

Wild! or Cheryl Strayed!

Things have been wild in more ways than one. Last night, after I blogged, I went to Amazon and downloaded the Kindle Version of Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed, because I could not wait to read her true story. This book is a New York Times Best Seller and Oprah's Book Club 2.0 selection.

Seconds later after downloading it, I opened up my iPad Mini and took this picture of the cover of the book. Then I spent the rest of my evening reading over 100 pages of the "I can't put this book down." I was hooked by the second page. It is a fabulous read and an incredible story.

During the middle of the night I woke up, not because it was snowing again—I simply woke up. When I turned my head and looked across the bed everyone was sleeping soundly, especially Little Debbie. She looked so cute. She was sleeping, on her side, with her head and upper part of her body resting on my pillow, with the covers pulled halfway up her small body and her little front leg was resting on top of the covers. She looked like a little human being and I had wished that I had my camera, before I fell back to sleep. So it's official that Little Debbie has truly stolen my heart.

Early this morning I got up to do Harley Belew's popular radio show The Harley Show, on REV FM 94.3, at 7:45 and Harley's Pet of the Week was Hazel. Hazel is the sweetest, four-year-old female shepherd mix that we rescued from the Kerrville pound, a few months ago.

After having a fun time visiting with Harley, On-Air, we adios-ed each other. Then I made myself a cup of H-E-B's delicious Texas Pecan Coffee. Then I sat down at the kitchen table, plugged in my Nike+ Fuel Band, that I haven't used for more than a year, so I could charge it and reset it, because I plan to wear it for my new hiking program, that starts as soon as my Danner Light Cascade hiking boots arrive, in four days. 

When it was completely charged, I slipped it on my left wrist and then I did some light house (trailer) cleaning until Tony returned home from The Old Timer. And before I cooked him breakfast I checked my Nike+ Fuel Band and I was thrilled when I saw the number 156, because I had set my daily goal to reach 2,000 points. I only had 1,844 points to go for the day.

Before Tony and I went outside to do the morning chores, I grabbed a Baggie and put a half pound of leftover meatloaf and a half teaspoon of minced garlic in it—then I zipped it close. 

Then I put it inside my coat pocket, along with my camera. Then I went outside to find Tony to find out where I should start feeding the dogs.

Around 11:00, as planned last week, Hank arrived back at our rescue ranch, because his owners had decided to return him to us for personal reasons. Hank is our famous dog that we rescued, in January 2010 and if you want to read about his rescue, escape, etc. Please check out my blog archives, on the side bar, to read these posts: 

     1/6/10 Hank The Cowed Dog!

     1/7/10 I Am Sick!

     1/8/10 Hank Update!

     1/9/10 Knock On Wood! 

When the nice man returned Hank to us, he was feeling so terrible about having to do it. Tony had decided to put Hank in the writing cabin's front yard. Hank seemed nervous about what was going on in the yard. He sniffed Tony and me, but his tail was down between his legs the whole time. As Tony and I petted Hank, to reassure him that he would be fine, the nice man gave us Hank's paperwork, vet records, dog food, heart worm preventative, treats, his crate and then he also made a generous donation.

When I tried to give Hank the meatloaf, he acted uninterested. It was obvious to us that he was scared of what was happening to him, so we suggested that we take him inside the cabin, to hopefully calm him down, while his former owner drove away.

After Hank saw his best friend drive away without him, Tony and I went to work trying to distract Hank and make him feel better about his situation. We took turns sitting on the couches, encouraging Hank to come and sit with us, on the couches. And within forty-five minutes, Hank had begun to lift his tail and wag it and jump up on the couches. In fact, one time he got up on the couch with me and let me hug him tightly, for nearly thirty seconds and he ended up devouring that tasty meatloaf and he wanted more. And while all of this was going, I took some pictures of our returned guest.

While all of this was going on a bad thought popped into my head. "Tony, I want Hank to stay here, but something just popped into my head. Hank is an escape artist and I am afraid that he will try to escape to go back home, because he watches the door and checking out the fences. I hate to do this, but I think for the next three or four days we need to put Hank where Bonnie is, because that pen is escape proof."

"Nance, quit projecting."

"I'm not. Seriously, we need for him to settle in first. Then he won't try to escape. It's for his own good. I'll cook him sausage and eggs every morning just like I did the last time. He loves my cooking, too."

"I know. He loved the meatloaf."

Then I chuckled and said, "I know. He just ate your lunch....Okay, let's switch him and Bonnie out. Then we will go to Kerrville to eat lunch and then buy more dog food and get three pounds of sausage for Hank. We've got plenty of eggs..."

After we had moved the dogs, I called Hank's former owner to tell him that we had decided to put Hank in another, safer pen for the next three or four days and that I was going to be cooking for him. And that I would make him my official hiking dog, until he gets adopted. The man thanked me. Then Tone and I jumped into Trigger and took off for Kerrville. He was starving thanks to Hank.

Our first stop was at Randy & Lisa's Save Inn restaurant. The place was packed as always and we got to have a fun chat with Lisa before we ate our delicious lunch. Then we went to the big H-E-B.

On our way home, as we neared the top of the pass, we saw a dog, in the middle of the highway, that looked scared and lost—tail tucked between its legs, too. "Stop, Tony!" Two minutes later, this big, female puppy was sitting on our front seat—licking me to death, while Tony wrote a note about finding the dog that he stuck on a nearby mailbox.

"She's a stray, Nance. And I bet someone dumped her too," Tony said, disgustedly. "She's a sweetheart though and...." When we got back home, Tony put this sweet, approximately six-months-old pup, in the alley between Miranda Lambert and Merlin. Then we drove up to the house, to quickly unpack the groceries and I took this picture of Hank's sausage, before we went back outside to go feed and water her and take pictures, of this stray that I've named Cheryl Strayed, in honor of the fabulous author of Wild. 

When we got to Cheryl's alley, she and Miranda had already become fast friends, which is good, because maybe, after we get Ms. Strayed vetted, she and Miranda can be roomies. Here are some pictures I took of this sweet girl, who was once lost, too. Please meet Cheryl Strayed!

And y'all, that's about it for tonight, because I am fixin' to grab a glass of wine and start reading Wild, because I love strays. And just so you'll know my Nike+ Fuel Band is up to1,760!

Y'all have a great evening!

The Perfect Dog!

Today has been great. This morning I got up real early, so Hazel and I could remove the latest dog-hair- drifts that had accumulated on our wooden floors, before I called Harley Belew to do his popular morning radio show.

When the floors were once again hair-free Hazel went back in the closet. Then I called Harley and I really enjoyed visiting with him On-Air and talking about our rescue ranch. Bee Spears, the sweet eight-year-old dog was Harley's Pet Of The Week.

At 9:00 sharp, as scheduled, the nice man, Steve, from Hill Country Pest Control, showed up to exterminate our trailer, yard and my writing and that is the reason why Hazel and me vacuumed the floors so early this morning. Tony and I really like Steve, because he is professional, friendly, gets the job done fast, he is proud to work for Hill Country Pest Control and he always does a great job for us. And that is one of the reasons why we only use Hill Country Pest Control. The other reason why we only use Hill Country Pest Control is because they are heavily involved with helping out the community.

After Steve drove away, I went outside to go help Tony finish up our morning chores and luckily for me, he was nearly done. I only had to clean two dog pens. When I had finished picking up, I decided to push the lawn mower around. I ended up mowing down the tall grass in Springsteen's dog pen and two more alleys. Then I came back inside to cook lunch for Tony and me.

Because we have zucchini coming out-of-our-ears I went Online, to The Food Network and found this fast and easy way to make Zucchini Fritter recipe, so I decided to give it a try. Thirty minutes later, while Tony and I ate our rib-eye steaks with delicious zucchini fritters, Tony asked me to please make it again, because he absolutely loved it and so did I. So, here's the link to The Food Network's delicious Zucchini Fritter Recipe. 

This afternoon we went to Kerrville to grab a few groceries, mail out some of my books and then go to, Hoegemeyer Animal Clinic, to drop off Tuesday Weld, pick up another refill of Mama's pain pills and that super sweet, ten- year-old Molly Ivins.

When we got back home, while I was putting up our groceries, Tony put Molly, in my pink cabin's front yard and she seems to really like it there too. Thirty minutes later, when I went outside to go have a little talk with Molly Ivins, she was happily rolling around in the grass and sniffing things.

After I had welcomed Molly back to the rescue ranch, after having been gone from here for over nine years and explaining to her that some times life throws us a curve—I took these two pictures of her posing for me. So if any of y'all know of someone who is looking for the perfect dog, Molly Ivins is definitely it. She is sweet, a little bit on the chunky side, house broken, ten-years-old, gets along great with kids and other dogs— please call me at the rescue ranch.

I went over to Kinky's early this evening for a fun visit with him and The Friedmans. While I was there I took these two pictures of his young, handsome cat, Yellowy, that he rescued and Peanut, the thirteen-year-old Poodle that he is fostering for his friend who is very ill and in and out of the hospital. 

Y'all have a great evening!

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!

Call Me!

Today has been great. Mama and I woke up real early, just before Tony left to go drink coffee with his friends, at the Old Timer. As soon as Tony adios-ed us, I sat down, at the kitchen table and drank a delicious cup of Donut Shop Coffee, as I checked my e-mail.

Then I decided to try to meditate for a few minutes, before calling my friend, Harley Belew, at the radio station, to do the weekly Utopia Animal Rescue Segment. Nine times out of ten, it is hard for me to meditate for more than three minutes, because of the phone ringing or Mama holding the front door open for our other three dogs, to go outside, to bark at a deer, an armadillo or a squirrel. Anyway, I decided to give it a try.

I went into our bedroom, sat down on the dog-hair-covered wooden floor, next to our cedar bed, so I could use our bed, as a crutch, to help me stand back up. I had only been om-ing for about a minute or so, when this hilarious thought, about the perfect prank that I should play on Jeff, "The Singing Safety," popped into my head. I laughed so loud, it startled Mama who is hard of hearing like me and was sound asleep, on our bed. She barked once and then Mama leapt off the bed, not knowing that I was sitting right there beneath her, on the floor. She was in such a hurry, she barely cleared the top of my head, so I figured it was a sign for me to stop om-ing.

I have no clue, why things are always popping into my brain when I am trying to meditate, but I like it and I love the prank that was presented to me. It was perfect and I could not wait to go call Carol and tell her all about the perfect-prank-premonition that had come to me.

When I called Carol, I got her answering machine, that doesn't have a name. "Carol, I've got the perfect prank to play on Jeff. Call me. Bye."

A little later, when I did the Harley Show, his Pet of the Week was Roscoe. Last week, Roscoe was his Pet of the Week, too, because he is such a great Lab puppy that needs to get into a great home like his sister, Daisy, has found, in Arizona.

Right after I did Harley's radio show the phone rang. A nice man named Henry had just heard me, on the radio, talking about Roscoe and he was interested in possibly adopting him, but he had a few questions to ask me about this great, big puppy.

Around 11:00, as planned, Henry and his sweet wife and their two adorable girls arrived. Tony and I liked Henry and his wife immediately and we thought their little girls were precious, in their tiny, pink sweat suits.

The couple liked Roscoe immediately and we talked for a while about Labs, as Henry and Tony tried to calm Roscoe down some, so their children could pet him, without him accidentally knocking them down with his tail. "Why don't we take Roscoe on a walk down to the creek?" I suggested. And minutes later, we were walking Roscoe down to the creek.

By the time we returned to the rescue ranch, the super nice couple told me, "We want to adopt Roscoe. He reminds us of our last lovable Lab. We think he will work out fine, as soon as he adjusts to our home and daughters." So, I took off for The Cabin, so I could fill out Roscoe's adoption papers.

Ten minutes later, after they had signed off on Roscoe's adoption papers—he was officially adopted! Before we adios-ed the family, so they could take Roscoe to his new home, I snapped this picture of Henry and Roscoe. And, we all have our fingers crossed for Roscoe, that Roscoe isn't too much for their girls and that he has found his forever, great home.

When Tony and I came back inside, Carlton was flashing, on top of the breakfast bar, so I pressed his button and heard the sweetest message from George Fischer, that 82 year-old, author of The Last DK Cowboy and his other books about his life as a real cowboy. His last words were, "Nancy, my wife and I are looking forward to meeting you, Tony, Kinky and Big G for lunch, in Kerrville. Bye." And all of us are looking forward to doing lunch with George and his sweet wife sooner than later.

When I started to get out the pots and pans to cook us lunch, Tony suggested, "Why don't I treat you to lunch, at the Medina Highpoint Resort?" Fifteen minutes later, we were up at our favorite resort, laughing and cutting up with their fun employees. And, needless to say, "Our lunch was delicious and fun."

When we got back home Carlton was flashing, again. It wasn't Kinky or George who had left messages earlier—it was Carol, "Nancy, I can't wait to hear what you are going to do to Jeff. Call me." 

I picked up the phone and punched in Carol's number and got her machine again, "Carol, we're home. Call me!" When I turned off the phone, Tony handed me a copy of the Bandera County Courier, Thursday, March 6, 2014 newspaper. "You're in the paper again. Read this."

I looked at page 10B and read the headline: "This is for you, Cousin Nancy!" above Jeremy Clyde's picture.

I was smiling ear to ear when I finished reading the ad that Will and Sue had placed in the newspaper and I want to thank them and the Bandera County Courier for making my day so great. Kinky, Tony, our volunteers and I loved Chad & Jeremy and all of us were thrilled when Chad got adopted and then Jeremy finally found his fantastic, forever home, too. Here is a picture that I took of Jeremy, when he came to our rescue ranch.

And that is about it for tonight. (Carol, call me!)

Y'all have a great evening!