All You Need Is Ove! or Lost In Translation!

The past few days have been great and so has today. Thursday evening, I finished reading this great book A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman, that made me laugh a lot and cry at the ending, because it had such a perfect ending. My sweet sister Cindy had given it to me and she loved this book, too.

It takes place, in Sweden and the author of this fabulous novel, Fredrik Backman, lives in Stockholm. And there is a reason why I am telling you this information.

So Thursday evening I did something that I seldom do. I conferee that because I love Ove, I went on Amazon Prime and purchased the movie. Yes, I know it was instant gratification and it was worth it. 

I was so excited about getting to watch this movie immediately I made myself some Hippie popcorn and then I sat down and started the movie. I was picking up Little Debbie and Big Al(ice) to put in my lap when the movie started to play—we were all set for a great evening! 

Then it happened. None of the actors were speaking English, because everyone was talking Swedish. I was so disappointed I wanted to cry, but I didn't, because I asked Tony to help me find the English version. Bottom Line__Only English Subtitles.

And I must admit that the actors were fabulous and the movie was totally great, but a lot of it was lost in translation. So, I suggest that everyone read the book first, because then it will make a lot more sense when reading the subtitles.

This past Friday evening, I picked up the phone to return a phone call and it was dead and the message on Carlton was, "Line In Use" and the phone line was not in use.

Since we could not call out, I sent Kris & Jim an e-mail telling them about our phone problem and asking them to try calling me. A few minutes later, the phone rang once and that was it—it was dead again. And a few minutes later, they called me back and I was able to talk to them even though there was too much static on the line.

We could get one or two words in and then came the loud, noisy static. Anyway, I asked them to please call Kinky for me, to check if his phone was working and to also let him know that we were having phone trouble and not to worry about us.

Saturday morning, to my dismay, the phone was still not working and around 10:00, after I had checked my e-mail, our Wi-Fi went down, too. But I quickly cheered up when our dear friends Garnet & Sandy showed up around 10:30 to bring us a generous donation and a large sack of donated doggie blankets, chew toys, cutesweaters, pretty dog collars, stainless feeding bowls, doggie jackets, leashes, etc.

Then we drank some coffee and had a really fun visit, inside The Cabin, with our dear friends from Utopia.

Around noon, Tony took off to go to our nephew's 18th birthday party, in Medina, so I decided to put on my paint-clothes (Because they are covered in paint—mainly pink.) and work on the rugs.

Bottom Line__I had to totally repaint the big room rug and I finally finished them by 5:15, Saturday evening. And I had Henry Standing Bear and Roy pose with the finished painted rugs.

Sunday, because our phone and Internet were still down, I spent most of my day deep-cleaning our trailer aka The Cabin and it is really starting to look like we don't live here, because it is so clean.

Early Monday morning, a very nice man, from the phone company, showed up to fix our lines, because he said they were old and rusting, under our trailer. And 30 minutes later, we had our phone and Wi-Fi working.

Around 11:30, while I was cleaning out the refrigerator–Kinky called me and left a message, "Hey, you phone is working. Call me, Nance or Tony."

Ten minutes later, after I finished cleaning the freezer and refrigerator I returned Kinky's call. Later, around 2:15, Kinky, Tony and I were sitting together, at the Acapulco restaurant, giving Phyllis our orders. And yes, Tony and I ordered the exact same thing—two Acapulco Dinners and two teas and that made Kinky laugh and tease us.

While we were waiting on our orders and munching on the delicious chips & salsa, our great friend, Harley Belew and his son, Seth, walked up to our table to greet us. And we had a really fun conversation with them. And before they adios-ed us Harley invited all of us to come to his official swearing in, at the Courthouse, on January 1st, at 1:00. And we told him that we would certainly try to make it.

Today we had several visitors show up and we gladly gave them rescue ranch tours and I spent the rest of my day doing ranch paperwork and catching up with the phone calls and e-mails and more deep cleaning. And that is about it for tonight, except I want to show you Henry looking through the newly cleaned window, because by tomorrow afternoon I am sure that it will be clouded with our dog's nose art, again.

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

Big Ears, Too!

Last night, I watched the 7th game of the World Series. I like both teams, but because I have so many friends, in Chicago, I was hoping that the Cubs would win the game and the World Series.

I started to go to bed when they called the rain delay, but I couldn't, because it had been such an exciting game. And I am so glad that I stayed up and saw the Cubs win the 2016 Baseball World Series.

Today has been great. This morning I got up at 6:30, so I could drink a cup of coffee and wake up, before doing the Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch segment, on The Harley Show, with my dear friend Harley Belew. And once again, Clovis was his Pet of the Week.

The reason that this super, smart, 3 yr. old dog was his Pet of the Week too, is because I always use the same dog each week for Big G's Texas Road Show and for Harley's Show, to make sure that their loyal listeners will check out our super cool dogs.

This afternoon, we met some good friends for lunch, in Kerrville and we had a total blast. During one point of our conversation Kris pulled out her iPhone to show us a few pictures of their adorable, new grandson. Denise and I were oohing and ahing at his pictures and then Kris held up her iPhone to show Denise another picture, and Denise laughed, and said, "Oh he's so cute and it's funny that one of his ears is smaller than the other and they're so big! One stands up and the other one doesn't." 

And that got my attention, because I couldn't believe that Denise had just said that about Kris' new grandson and that they were laughing about it. "Who cares that his ears are uneven," I remarked nonchalantly, hoping to make Kris feel a little better about Denise's unkind remark about her grandson. Then they burst out laughing.

Then Kris turns, in her chair to show me the picture that she and Denise were laughing about and it was—Charlie, their adorable dog not their grand baby. "Omg!" I remarked."I thought y'all were talking about her grandson. Good grief, I was fixin' to defend Kris' grandson and make up something nice to say like, "Well, my brother Ronnie had real big ears when he was a baby, too and it didn't matter at all, because he was real popular all through junior high and high school."

By now, Jim, Les and Tony, on the other end of our table, are quiet and they're trying to eavesdrop on our confusing conversation. Then Kris pulls up another darling picture of her and Jim's new, adorable grandson and shows it to our husbands, then to Denise and me. "Omg," I said. "He looks a lot like Jim. In fact, he's got Jim's eyes," I stated. "Look."

"You're right," Denise agreed. "They really do have the same eyes." Then Kris puts her phone away and explains to our husbands what we had been talking and laughing about and me getting confused when she showed Denise a picture of Charlie, while I was thinking it was another picture of their grandson. 

And before I finish writing this tonight I want to set the record straight. Kris & Jim's grandson is a beautiful baby and he has normal ears. And Ronnie really didn't have big ears, but he sure the heck was popular in school. And that's about it for tonight.

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

Ximbal! or My Problem!

Yesterday and today have been great. Early yesterday morning while I was cooking breakfast for Chet and Tony and making smoothies for all of us the phone rang and I let Carlton take the message.

Bottom line: A young, Black Lab mix had shown up a couple's home and they could not keep the dog and they did not want to take this sweet, friendly male dog to animal control. So after breakfast, I called the couple back. Then I called Kathy, at Hoegemeyer Animal Clinic. "Hi Kathy... The reason that I'm calling is a couple is going to be dropping off a young, male dog for us. He needs the works: shots, tested for worms, heartworms and neutering, etc. I'll call y'all later today to give him a name..."

Later in the afternoon, while we were outside mowing, Kathy called and left the funniest message. She said that after Dr. Rydberg had vetted the dog he jokingly named him, Ximbal. After she had quit laughing, she continued, "Ximbal is Lab mix spelled backwards. Call me when you've come up with a name. Bye."

Last night, before I fell asleep I came up with Ximbal's new name.

Early this morning Tony woke me up, as asked, at 6:00, so I could be awake enough to do the Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch segment on The Harley Show. It was a lot of fun and Harley's Pet of the Week was B.B. King. A one-year-old, sweet, Shepherd/Lab mix. And he's not a digger or jumper or hyper.

After doing The Harley Show, I grabbed the Direct TV remote to turn on the television and nothing happened. I then punched all of these different buttons, on the remote, but nothing happened, so I figured the remote's battery must be dead.

A few minutes later, after installing a new AA battery, in the back of the remote, I tried turning on the television, but once again nothing happened.

So when Tony returned from The Old Timer, I told him about "my problem" with the remote, etc. While I was cooking him breakfast, he tried to make the remote work, to no avail. So, while he was eating his eggs and piece of toast, I put the phone on Speaker Phone and called Direct TV.

After explaining to a very nice technician about the remote not working and having replaced the batteries, she started walking me through things to do, etc., as Tony sat, at the kitchen table, eating his breakfast, while watching me do this and that with the Direct TV receiver box.

When the woman was telling me that she would send me a new remote and thanking me for being a long-time loyal customer, since 2005, I was watching Tony remove two batteries from the back of the remote. "Wait a second!" I said. "Tony, it has two batteries?" Tony nodded yes. Then he closed the back of the remote and pointed it at the television. The Emerson TV came on. It was working! Then he started laughing and so did I.

"Never mind," I said, just like Rosanna Danna used to do on Saturday Night Live, to the technical advisor who was now laughing, too. "I'm sorry, I only replaced one of the dead batteries. I didn't know...."

Then I called Sarah, at Hoegemeyer Animal Clinic, to tell her that Ximbal's new name is going to be Jack Black.

After lunch today, Tony and I plan to spend most of the afternoon mowing. And that is about it for today and tonight.

Y'all have a great day and evening!

Tiny Presents!

Day 7 of my rainbow juicing adventure has been great, but first I must tell you about yesterday Day 6.
Yesterday morning I woke up feeling full of energy, without even having to crank up the volume of B.B. King singing his awesome, live version of The Thrill Is Gone, because life was already good, at the rescue ranch.

At 7:45, I called my dear friend Harley Belew, at the radio station, to do The Harley Show, so I could do my weekly Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch segment and it was a lot of fun. Harley's Pet of the Week was Miranda Lambert, the sweet, eighteen-month-old, gentle, giant dog that is several inches taller than me, when she stands up on her two hind legs to kiss me. And she is even a foot taller than me if I am standing in one of her holes/crevices that she recently has dug out.

After doing Harley's popular radio show, on the Rev 94.3, I made myself a Mean Green juice and drank it and when Tony returned, from The Old Timer, in Medina, I made him one, too. Then I started doing a little paperwork until Carol called me.

Basically all we talked about was our healthy juice fast and by the time we had ended our fun conversation we had decided to start including whole foods (still only raw vegetables and fruits), because both Joe Cross and Dr. Furhman recommend it.

While Tony was outside beginning to do his part of our morning chores, I stayed inside to clean and mop our, old 30+ year old trailer aka The Cabin, because recently my sweet Little Debbie has decided that she would much rather leave us her tiny presents, on the floor, instead of going outside with our other dogs.

At 10:20, while I was throwing out her pee pad, that Little Debbie sometimes forgets about, the phone rang—it was my sweet sister. "Hey, Nance. I was just calling to..."

As soon as my sister and I adios-ed each other, I went outside and talked to Tony. Then I skipped back to The Cabin and started packing, while running my bath water.

At 11:00, I put my packed, leather duffel bag, in the back of Trigger, plugged in my iPod and then Trigg and I took off to go find Tony. "Tony, I'll try to be back by 10:00, in the morning. I love you and thank you for holding down the fort..."

Two hours later, we arrived at Ronnie's and Nita's ranch, in Dripping (Springs) and two minutes later, my sister Cindy arrived, so she could pick me up and take me back to her lovely home, in Austin and so I could leave Trigger parked, at The Ronderosa Ranch.

Later in the afternoon, Cindy and I decided to go to Kerby Lane Cafe, to eat lunch and the funniest thing happened to us. Just as she and I both grabbed the door handles, to walk inside the popular restaurant, this popular rock 'n roll song, from the 70's, that we both knew, but neither of us could remember the name, started playing real loud—like it was announcing our arrival. We both burst out laughing about it and as we each grabbed the next glass door handles to open, with the music in perfect timing with us. "Cindy, it's like we are in a comedy movie and we're the stars!"

We could not quit laughing about the timing of the song, as we tried to place our to-go orders, with a young man who must have thought that we were two, crazy, old women. I ordered a vegetable only salad and she ordered two tacos. And a few minutes later, as we were leaving, we were still laughing and the young man was shaking his head sideways and scratching the top of his weird-looking hat.

To Be Continued....(Sorry, Mari) because I am going to search my iTunes until I find that song that was playing as we opened the doors to go inside Kerby Lane Cafe.

Y'all have a great evening!

Thank You, Harley!

Today has been great. This morning at 7:45, I called our friend, Harley Belew, to do our weekly Utopia Rescue Ranch radio segment and I had a lot of fun. Harley's Pet of the Week was Walter Matthau and thanks to Harley—a nice woman called me late this afternoon about wanting to come out tomorrow afternoon, after she gets off work, to adopt Walter!

I instantly liked Priscilla when I talked to her. She and I had a long conversation about her and her husband wanting to adopt Walter. I feel great about Walter going to live on their ranch, that has a big fenced-in yard for Walter to play in, with their two, sweet Chihuahuas. He is going to live in their home and he will also be the biggest dog there. I know that Walter, being a terrier mix, is going to love being the big dog on the block (ranch) and his new forever home sounds absolutely fantastic. I am so happy for him and I hope that he doesn't mind me giving him a bath, in our kitchen sink, tomorrow afternoon, because I want him to look his very best when he meets his new family. Thank you, Harley! Life is good.

Y'all have a great evening!

Happy Birthday June!

Today has been another hot, dog days of summer day and I've about had it with the heat, no rain and the serious drought that we are in. For the past two weeks we've had consecutive one-hundred-degree days and it is starting to take its toll on me, but I am fighting it, by doubling my Nike+ daily goal.

Actually I am not depressed, yet. I'm just tired of feeling sorry whenever I look at the trees, shrubs, grass, animals, fish, birds, turtles, rivers and dried up creeks—all needing precious water. We have a twenty percent chance of rain this evening and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will rain. And if it doesn't rain by 6:30, I plan to walk with Leslie, inside The Cabin, until I triple my daily goal of 2,000.

I know that I always start my posts with, "Today has been a great day," and it actually has been a great day, I just needed to vent about the weather.

Late this morning, Robert and Lynn, from Fredericksburg, came out to look at our dogs and possibly adopt one, because they had heard me talking about our rescue ranch, on the radio last week. Robert had called me on Thursday morning, right after I had done Harley's Show, to make an appointment with me for today and after a nice visit with Robert on the phone, I was excited about him and his wife possibly adopting one of our super dogs from us.

When Robert and Lynn arrived with their three cute grandchildren, all little girls, I was very impressed with the couple from the git-go. After meeting them, I gave them a tour of our rescue ranch, because Tony had gone to Medina to get a battery and feed.

 By the time Tony had returned home, Lynn and Robert had adopted Wilma, and they were already gone, so they could take their grandchildren back home to San Antone. "Did we miss them?" Tony asked.

"Yes. They adopted Wilma and they are going to meet us tomorrow, in Kerrville, to pick her up and take her home. They didn't want Wilma to have to be cooped up in their small car all of the way to San Antone and then to Fredtown..." Tony and Brandon were as thrilled as me about Wilma getting a super forever home.

And that's about it for tonight, but before I start walking with Leslie again, for the third time today, I want to wish June, our dear friend/volunteer, a very Happy Birthday with many more to come. And I also want to thank my dear friend, Harley Belew, for helping us get Wilma Flintstone a great home.

Y'all have a great evening!

Your Power!

Today has been really great, even though it didn't start out good, because of an electrical power outage that lasted for over seven hours. When Tony woke me up at 6:00 this morning, as I had asked him to, so I could do The Harley Show, he said, "Wake up, Nance. We have no electricity. I have already called the Bandera Electric Cooperative to report it."

When I climbed out of bed The Cabin was really cold, so I quickly dressed in my winter uniform: navy blue turtleneck, pink sweatshirt, 501 Levis, heavy socks, pink cowboy boots and then I put on my pink Carhartt jacket. And I was still cold, when I came into the dark kitchen, ready to make myself a cup of Donut Shop coffee, in the dark and that's when it hit me—no electricity—no delicious coffee—no breakfast—no Internet, no running water, etc. In other words, "Let's just say that I was not a happy camper." Then Tony bid me farewell and left to go drink coffee with his friends in Medina.

At 7:45, when I called Harley Belew, to do his popular morning radio show, The Harley Show, a five to ten minute segment about our rescue ranch, it was pretty funny and went something like this. "Good morning, Cousin Nancy. How are you doing?"

"Not so good, Harley, because we are experiencing an electrical power outage and right now it is fifty-seven degrees inside The Cabin..."

"Well, I hope your power comes on soon," Harley said to me. "So, tell me who is Harley's Pet of The Week." Which made me chuckle.

"I can't Harley. I can't get on the Internet." Then Harley laughed.

"Let me get on utopiarescue.com and tell you." A few seconds later, Harley told me that Lois Lane was his pet of the week. Then I told him all about sweet Lois Lane. When my Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch ended, I paced back in forth in the big room, until Tony returned home from The Old Timer, in Medina, Texas.

Then my friend Alfred, in Von Army, Texas called me to see if I had received his Christmas present. "No, Alfred. It has not arrived, yet." Then he and I had a fun telephone conversation. Before we adios-ed each other, he told me that he was going to track his package and get back to me. Then Bandera Electric called me to discuss our power outage. Then a few minutes later, Julie, at the Medina Post Office called me to ask if I had received Alfred's package. "No, Julie, but Kinky received a box the other day and maybe that is it. I'll drive over to The Lodge and check to see if it was from Alfred and call you back." Then I drove over to The Lodge.

When I arrived at The Lodge, Marcie was wrapped in blankets. After we talked about the missing package and the power outage, she told me, "I was up late last night and around 2:30 there was a loud explosion and all of the power went out and it came from that direction." Then I checked to see if Alfred's package was in Kink's mail. Then I came back home.

"Hello, Julie. It's Nancy. Kinky's package was from someone else." Then she told me that she had tracked it and found it. The package was in Dallas and on its way to the Medina Post Office.

A few minutes later, at 9:32, the electricity finally came back on thank goodness and it was fifty-seven degrees inside The Cabin, so I cooked us breakfast and drank a cup of coffee while I did it.

After we ate breakfast Kinky called me from Portland, Oregon.

To Be Continued.... (Sorry, Mari.)

Mystery Guest!

Today has been great, but no thanks to the strange, often annoying side effects of F.M.T., M.I R. and because I stupidly watched the always depressing local and nightly news tonight. But, thanks to Harley and our early morning mystery guest showing up unannounced—I am still laughing.

This morning, at 7:45, I called-in and did the Harley Show and it was a lot of fun. When I told Harley that Marie Osmond was his Pet of the Week, he thought it was pretty funny and he had me laughing non-stop with his hilarious wisecracks.

After breakfast, our dogs inside The Cabin, started barking, so I went out on the porch to see what was going on. "Tony! We've got a visitor!" I half-hollered, as I stared at an old, dear friend standing, in front of our gate, happily wagging her tail at me.

"Who is it?" Tony asked, as he opened the front door to come outside.

"I think Princess has come over to say good bye to us and Marlin, because I heard that she and Ben M. and the camp counselors are leaving today to go back home. Hi, Princess! You, sure look happy," I said, as Tony walked out of the gate to put a leash on her, so he could return her to Ben.

And that is about it for tonight, because I really need to distance myself from all of that negative, depressing news I watched earlier on TV. And, to do that, I'm fixin' to watch Woody Allen's award winning movie, Midnight In Paris, that all of my friends have been raving about. And I already know that I am going to enjoy watching the movie, because I love any movie that Owen Wilson stars in.

Y'all have a great evening!

Green Sauce!

Today has been fun, with a little excitement added. This morning I did the Harley Show and Rufus was Harley's Pet of The Week and after we had talked about Rufus being a sweet dog, about nine-years-old, I told Harley about eating a delicious lunch, at Wheelers, yesterday, with my sister. "What did you eat?" Harley asked.

"I had a sausage," I replied.

"What kind of sausage was it?"

"I don't remember." Harley started laughing and then he jokingly mocked me.

"Hi, I'm from Fort Worth. I'll just have a sausage," he said, using a thick Texas accent. Then he and I started laughing about it and then we talked a little more.

Before 8:00, while I was fixin' breakfast, I got a call from a woman in Bandera, who had just found two dogs in her neighborhood and one of them was wearing one of our numbered Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch dog tags. When I looked up the tag number I told the woman that I would call the owner and then call her right back.

When I called the dog owner, I got her machine and left a message about her dogs being found. Then Tony, walked inside the trailer. "Tony, a woman in Bandera just found $#@! and another dog and I just called &#@, but I got her machine and I am fixin' to call the woman back and tell her that we are leaving right now to go pick up the dogs."

Then the phone rang and Tone took the call. It was &#@ returning my call. After Tony gave &#@ the woman's phone number and address, she told T. about their new dog being a digger and that's how they had gotten out. Then she thanked him and told him, she knew where they were and that she was going to go pick them up. So, we didn't have to go to Bandera after all.

Early this evening, after Ben had finished mowing outside, we came inside The Cabin, so I could show Ben how to make my latest, easy to make, healthy, low cost, stolen recipe, Cousin Nancy's Avocado & Tomatilla Sauce. "Ben, these are the ingredients and you add them into a blender in this order:

1/2 lb. of peeled Tomatillas
3 slices of Onion
1 tsp. minced Garlic
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 peeled Avocado

Then blend them at a low speed, until the texture is sort of lumpy—then serve." Then I served it with some chips, to Tony and Ben. "We put it on top of our scrambled eggs, the other morning, Ben and it was delicious," I said, as Ben and Tony politely, took turns dipping their chips into my delicious, stolen green sauce. Needless to say, "Ben loved it, as much as we do.

"I'm definitely going to make this, but I think I will add some Cilantro and roasted Red Pepper to your recipe and serve it with Ceviche," Ben said.

When it was time for Ben to take off, we invited him to come over for breakfast, tomorrow morning, so he can try my scrambled eggs with the sauce and he told us, "Sounds good. I'll see y'all at breakfast." And that is about it for today.

Y'all have a great evening!

Harley's At The REV FM, 94.3!

Today has been fun. This morning I called Harley at 7:45 at the REV FM 94.3 radio station, to do my Utopia segment and Harley had me laughing from the minute we started talking and Maggie May was Harley's Pet of the Week.

Maggie is approximately six to seven years old and she is a very sweet, shy dog. She smiles when she greets you and Maggie would be a wonderful companion for someone who doesn't get out much, even though she loves to go on long walks.

This morning T. and I went outside early to do our chores. When I was cleaning Blackie's and Alfie's pen I told them about them being adopted and moving to New York state and how lucky they were and then I started crying because I am so happy for them and have loved them for a very long time. I'm not sure if they understood me, but Blackie licked my hand before I left their pen.

Right after T. and I had finished feeding the dogs and cleaning their pens Ben drove up and we were so happy to see him. When Ben and I took off to go empty the poop buckets I told him about the last few days being a little off for me and I didn't know why. "It's because Mercury went into retrograde yesterday, Nance and also because of the high heat and the drought." Hearing his bad news about Mercury made me feel better and it explained a lot of the stuff that's been going on.

Late this afternoon after Ben had put new brake pads on Trigger we came inside to get out of the heat. After the three of us drank  big glasses of cold Ozarka water we grabbed our musical instruments, so we could practice together and I had so much fun jamming with the guys and believe it or not—we actually sounded pretty good.

Tony and Ben have different styles of playing the mandolin and it really comes out sounding great. After we had practiced playing, My Rifle, My Pony And Me, over and over again, we took turns choosing different songs to play and we picked and grinned for over an hour and a half until our fingers were killing us. Then Ben packed up and left to go spend the night at the Lodge with his two dogs, affectionately known as, The Girls From Austin.

As soon as Ben was gone I got out my 2011 Farmer's Almanac and discovered that as of yesterday, Mercury is in retrograde, just like Ben had said, and Mercury stays in retrograde until the 26th of this month. So, I've decided to not tell Kinky where Mercury is until he returns to the ranch this coming Sunday, because as they say, "No news is good news."

And since my fingers are still killing me as I type this tonight I guess that is about it for today. Tonight I am going to read some more of Elmer Kelton's award winning book, The Time It Never Rained and then go to bed early, because tomorrow is going to be a busy day and I am going to make it a fun day for me too— no matter where Merc is.

Y'all have a great evening and please keep praying for some rain for us.