Happy Pranksgiving! or Moon Pies!

Today has been great and I am happy to report that last night Stephen K. Morris' awesome music was a big hit with the fun crowd, at the Medina Highpoint Resort.

On my last blog I promised to tell you about the prank I played on our dear friend, Jeff Severson. Many years ago, because of dear Carol, who is dear friends with Jeff and his sweet Lori, introduced us to Jeff and since that time Carol has always made sure to get us together with Jeff & Lori when they come to visit her & Bill.

For several years Jeff & Lori have come down to Carol's ranch to spend Thanksgiving with her & Bill. In fact, it has become a "family" tradition, so to speak. And when Lori & Jeff are down here Jeff and I always get to do a little picking & grinning and it is so much fun. And please note that Jeff is a much better musician than me hands down. 

In fact he is actually a professional actor/retired pro football player who earned 4 or 5 Super Bowl rings/singer/songwriter/ musician known worldwide as "Jeff Severson The Singing Cowboy." Here is a picture of Jeff.

Anyway, this Thanksgiving Lori & Jeff spent Thanksgiving with Carol & Bill, up in Weatherford instead of at Carol's. And Carol called me and she gave me a heads-up before Lori & Jeff arrived, at Bill's place. "Nancy, be on alert about Jeff pulling a prank on you. They should be here any minute and I promise you that within the first hour Jeff is going to ask me about you and then give you a prank phone call."

With that said, I prepared myself to be ready to receive one of "Bob's" (Jeff's prankster alias) crazy phone calls. And sure enough, a few hours later, Jeff called me and left this hilarious message, on Carlton. With his voice changed to sound more like a redneck, he said, "Hello. Hello. This is Bob and I need a turkey—now. Please get me a turkey...."

When Tony and I listened to his message we were nearly rolling on the floor. But because we had company, I didn't return his call, because I had decided to wait and return his phone call as soon as I came up with a good prank to play on him.

The following day Jeff called me again and left another message on Carlton. This time Jeff went on and on about needing a turkey which made Tony and me burst out laughing when we heard it. Tony urged me to call him back, but I didn't because I had not come up with a good-enough prank to play on him. So I let it slide until Thanksgiving morning. This is the e-mail that I sent to Carol around 11:00 Thursday morning:

"Hi Carol! I received Jeff's aka Bob's 2 hilarious phone calls about needing a turkey. I am finally ready to get him back. Here's the plan and you must be a good actor:

1. Tell Jeff and everyone (i want to also get Lori and Bill, too.) that you just got an e-mail from Tony telling you that I've been totally exhausted and depressed about.... and please tell Jeff that Tony has asked you to please ask Jeff to please quit calling me, because I am a basket case, etc. 

2. Then tell them that Tony told you that I've been so depressed that each time that Jeff (Bob) called that I burst out in tears when I heard his message, because i am so sad they didn't come down here.

3. Now let that sink in for a minute or two until Jeff, Bill and Lori feel bad about Jeff calling me and depressing me more.

4. Then call me so I will know that it is working and then act like I am crying on the phone, because I am so sad and make sure to do it in front of Jeff, Bill and Lori. Then tell Jeff that I want to talk to him so i can say, "I got you Jeff, Bill and Lori!"

I plan to be here for the next hour or so and then we are going over to the property to work, so, if y'all are not around we can do it later today…Nancy"

About an hour later Carol called me, and she whispered into the phone, "This is perfect. We just went for a short walk and while we were walking Jeff said that he wondered why you haven't called him back." Then Carol and I burst out laughing.

"Okay, Nancy. I am going to call you right back." Click. 

"Hello Nancy?" Are you okay? We miss you and.....(I talked back to Carol trying to sound like I was depressed, etc. in case Lori, Jeff and Bill could hear me.) "Nancy, I am going to put you on Speaker Phone now, because everyone wants to talk to you." 

"Happy Thanksgiving Nancy," the three said in unison and they sounded like they felt sorry for me and I was loving it. "We miss you and Tony," Jeff said, sounding very serious.

"Next year we are all coming to Carol's," Jeff proclaimed, in an effort to try to cheer me up and I had heard enough.

I started laughing and then in the background Tony started laughing and then Carol burst out laughing, on the other end, "Ha, ha, ha. I got you Jeff! I mean Bob and Lori and Bill!" Then there was a moment of silence, in Weatherford, Texas, until they had figured out my (and Carol's) prank. "I'm not depressed at all, y'all. You fell for it hook, line and sinker...." I said between fits of laughter. 

Later that evening Carol sent me this e-mail: 

"Jeff's brain is in overdrive trying to come up with a way to pull One on you 😊 
You got him good!
I miss y'all and I'll be home in a day or two. Happy Thanksgiving!"

Late this morning Tony, Little Girl and I went, over to the property, to meet up with our dear friend Ellen and her super-nice friend Curtis, because sweet Ellen was ready to adopt Little Girl from us. But before Ellen signed-off on Little Girl's adoption form, she gave Tony and me two-mini Moon Pies, and said, "Today is Moon Pie Day and we're celebrating its 100th Anniversary...."

Tony and I love Moon Pies and I was so excited about it I forgot to take a picture of Ellen and Little Girl's adoption. But at least here's a picture of our mini Moon Pies, before we ate them.

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

Big Time Pranksters!

Yesterday and today have been great. Wednesday afternoon I spent about three hours working on the Mother Ship's kitchen area. Around 6:00, I came inside to check my phone messages.

I had two messages. One message was from Kinky and the other one was from Carol & Bill's and our friend, Jeff Severson, aka The Singing Cowboy, who earned four Super Bowl Rings, during his pro football days.

Jeff is a big time prankster and every time that he and Lorri come to visit Carol & Bill, he plays a prank on me and this has been going on for several years. Jeff's hilarious message had to do with kangaroos and if I hadn't known, in advance, that he was coming to visit Bill & Carol yesterday—I would have fallen for another one of his pranks.

I was still laughing about Jeff's phone call when Carol called me. " Hi Nancy. Jeff, Donna & Jack Roddy are here. Jeff wants to see y'all and Jack & Donna want to meet the famous Cousin Nancy and Tony. We just got back from Luckenbach and....And if Chet's around please invite him, too."

After I told Carol that I was in the middle of painting some trim, inside the Mother Ship, I told her that we would love to see them and Jeff and meet Jack & Donna as soon as I finished my project.

FYI: Jack & Donna are best friends with Jeff & Lorri and Carol & Bill. In fact, the Roddy's introduced Carol to Bill and Carol & Bill got married on their ranch, in California. And like Jeff and Bill, Jack is a big time prankster, too. And you can check out Jack Roddy, who is a member of the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame, for winning two world championships in steer wrestling, in 1966 and 1968.

Last night, Tony and I had a blast, over at Bill & Carol's ranch and unfortunately Chet wasn't able to make it. Jeff, Bill and Jack kept all of us laughing, as they told us about some of their big time pranks that they had played on each other. And Donna backed up everyone of their hilarious stories.

When Jeff told us about renting a $7,000.00 blow-up gorilla, the kind that you see at car dealerships and grand openings, for this famous trail ride they had went on, many years ago, I nearly wet my pants as they described what they did to that rented 30 foot tall gorilla.

When all of our backs were aching from laughing so much Jeff and I grabbed our guitars. Jeff sang several great songs that he has written and then Jack serenaded us with some old cowboy songs. And while I was picking' & grinning' with Jeff, I nearly teared up when Jack sang the classic, American cowboy song, Little Joe The Wrangler.

When it started to sprinkle, on the deck, Jeff and I put away our guitars. And as soon as we had put them back inside their cases—it stopped raining. So we talked about our horses, dogs, Jack & Donna's Chihuahuas and our Little Debbie & Big Al(ice), Jeff playing for the crowd, in Luckenbach, a few hours earlier, the serious drought, in California and in Texas. And that led us to talking about rattle snakes and other poisonous snakes that we've dealt with. And before we knew it—it was time for Tony and me to come back home.

Right before we went to bed, we had a scare. Tony went outside to bring our dogs back inside and when he got Roy, Belle, Beau, Little Debbie and Big Al(ice) inside, he said, "Don't go outside or let the dogs out again, because there is a big rattle snake, rattling under the porch." When I asked him where it was, he said, "Basically, right below where you're standing, by the sink." And that's about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

You Are My Sunshine!

Today has been great. This morning Tony did all of the chores outside, while I did all of the chores (dust and vacuum) inside The Cabin. And I think he got the better end of the deal, because when I started deep cleaning I couldn't quit cleaning this and that until it was time for me to cook our lunch.

Because we have watched that fabulous documentary Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead, we are seriously taking everything that we eat to whole higher level. In fact, this morning Tony and I juiced and each drank 16 ounces of Mean Green juice.

So, for lunch I sauteed some mushrooms and onions, with garlic, while cooking the veggie burgers. Then I peeled an avocado, added a small amount of salt to it and then mashed it up, because I was going to top our veggie burgers with the mushrooms, onions, garlic and avocado.

Then I made us healthy fruit smoothies made with blueberries, strawberries, banana, peach, pineapple, grapes, pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, almonds and almond milk. Then I let Jaws, our incredibly great Vitamix Machine pulverize it. Then I half-hollered down the hallway, "Tony! Lunch is ready!"
And needless to say, "Our lunch was absolutely delicious and Tony loved it!"

After lunch I cleaned up the kitchen and then I said, to whatever dogs were awake, in the big room, "I quit. No more cleaning. It is what it is. When our friends/volunteers come out tomorrow morning, to help us cook and serve our dogs their annual people Thanksgiving dinner—they are not going to care one bit how clean our home is." Then our dogs dozed off, again. "And I am taking the rest of today and tomorrow off, too." And no one responded, so I sat down, at the kitchen table to check my e-mail.

My dear, old friend Judy, from Austin, had sent me an e-mail that linked me to a really cool site that calculated exactly how old you are today and all I had to do was just type in my birth date. Wow, it was amazingly fast, but I wasn't sure if I really wanted to know that:

     Today I am 23,051 days old
     3,293 weeks + 0 days old
     7,573 months old
     And was born on a Wednesday

Anyway, it was fun and if you want to check it out, here's the link to it.

This afternoon I practiced playing the scales on B.B. again, then I took a short sleepless nap with our four-legged family.

About one hour after getting off of the bed, I walked back into our bedroom to get something and I saw Little Debbie still sleeping, on top of the 2nd, cheap, protective blanket, that she, Alice and Beau have enjoyed ripping and tearing apart. So, I tip-toed back to the kitchen to get my camera. And seconds later, I took this cute picture of her and our 2nd torn up, cheap blanket-bedspread cover.

I love this picture, because she looks like a little angel sleeping, even though I am sure she was dreaming about where she was going to put another hole, in the inexpensive cover-blanket. And, I like that the "Yoda Lisa," above the headboard, is looking down on her. (I cut & pasted that picture of my dog Yoda, in 1994. She was another one of my soul-mates that loved me unconditionally and she always put a smile to my face.) I've named this picture of Little Debbie sleeping, You Are My Sunshine.

I this this early, and having it post at 5:30, because Tony and I will be over at Carol's ranch visiting with her & Bill and Lorri & Jeff and be playing guitars with Jeff. Jeff Severson is the prankster that tries to play phone pranks on me when he and Lorri come to visit Carol.

In fact, Jeff has already tried twice since he got there, on Monday. On his first phone prank this week, Jeff tried to sound like an Englishman and left a message, saying his name was Robert Glickman and he wanted to adopt some of our dogs and fly them over to England, but it didn't work, because I checked the caller ID and saw that it was a California area code. So, I called him back. He answered, "This is Robert Lickman."

"Jeff, I know it's you," I said, followed by a laugh.

"I'm sorry. This is Robert Glickman. Who is this and why are you calling me?...." Finally, he fessed up and then we laughed and visited for a few minutes.

This afternoon, Jeff left another message about him wanting to adopt an armadillo and I could hear Carol & Bill and Lorri laughing, in the background. It was pretty funny and you can Click Here to listen to Jeff's latest prank phone call that he tried to play on me. 

A few minutes later, I returned Jeff's aka Hans' phone call. When he answered, I said, "Hello, this is Gretel and yes, we do have an armadillo that you can adopt. But first, I need to know if you have a fenced back yard, Jeff! I got you, again!" And that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

Aussie Friends!

We had a blast Sunday night, at the Ronny Cox House Concert, at Liz and Jim's ranch. We intentionally got there early, so I could get Ronny to sign my banjo, because I thought that he had played the banjo, in Deliverance.

After Jim had greeted us, he saw me carrying my banjo and he smiled and said, "Nancy, I asked Ronny if he would mind signing your banjo and Ronny said he would be glad to, but he would have rather signed your guitar, because he doesn't play the banjo. In Deliverance, Ronny played the guitar, in the famous dueling banjo scene." We all started laughing and I was the last to finish laughing, at myself, for being so stupid. And to prove it, Tony took this picture of Ronny signing my banjo, for no reason. And I am betting that as Ronny signed my banjo, he is thinking—"And she's stupid, too!"

After Ronny had signed my banjo, Jim came up to me and said, "Cousin Nancy, we have four bar stools, upstairs, if y'all want to watch the concert from up there."

"Sure," I said.

"Go remove your names from the seats that y'all have already picked out and go upstairs and put your names on the bar stools." And we did exactly that.

Ronny's concert was fabulous. We loved his music. He is a wonderful entertainer, singer and songwriter and when he sang, Sanctuary, about a foal, I teared up. I found a YouTube version, of him singing Sanctuary, in case you want to check it out. And to say the least, "We had a wonderful time and the food was delicious." Here's a picture of Carol and me with Ronny Cox during a break.

Monday was great, but it started out bad for me, because of Daylight Savings Time. At 8:30, when Tony came into the bedroom, Mama and I were sound asleep. I was dreaming a happy dream about Ronny Cox really playing the banjo, in Deliverance, instead of the guitar. "Nance, Karon is here to pick up Ginger Rogers and she is ready to drive her to her new home, in Abilene," Tony announced.

In my sleepy fog, I said a few cuss words, because Mama accidentally stepped on my stomach, before jumping off of the bed. "What?" I asked. As Tony repeated his words, I climbed out of bed, looking for my robe. "Okay, let me wake up. I'll get Ginger's adoption papers ready..." 

Ten minutes later, we thanked Ms. Rogers for being such a great house guest. We wished her luck in her new forever home and then we adios-ed this sweet, precious, little dog.

The rest of the day was uneventful, but Kinky, Tony and I were thrilled about Ginger getting adopted.

Monday evening, around 8:37, the phone rang and I let Carlton take the call—until I was pretty sure it was Jeff Severson, The Singing Safety! Jeff, used Lorri's cell phone to throw me off and his Bob voice, but this time he said his name was Bill. "Hello, this is Bill. I am a religious man and I need to talk to you about those two saints—Saint Bernards...:"

"Hi Jeff! I know it is you."

"I'm sorry, ma'am. My name is Bill..."

"Jeff, I know it is you and thank goodness you called me. Carol and I have been going crazy trying to figure out why you haven't called." Jeff started laughing. 

Jeff told me that he and Lorri are still laughing about my debut singing performance. "Cousin Nancy, today I was talking with a recording company about my new CD. They told me that they weren't interested in my music, but they did want to sign you up for a record deal..." 

After a fun time laughing and joking with Jeff, we adios-ed each other—then I called Carol and told her all about Jeff's phone call. "Nancy, I am so glad that he called you, but beware. Knowing Jeff, the way I do, I bet he still has another prank that he is planning to play on you, in the near future and..." 

When I got off of the phone with Carol, I went back to Tony's office (man cave) and told him about Jeff calling me. Tony smiled and said, "I know. Ten minutes ago, I was on Facebook and asked Lorri to ask Jeff to call you..."

Today has been great. I asked Tony to please wake me up at 6:00 and he did, so that I would be awake and ready to do Big G's popular radio show.

This morning, after Tony and I did our chores outside, I decided to stay outside, so I could kill some Thistle that is sprouting up. An hour later, when I was nearly done removing that awful weed, the dogs started barking, because a truck was at our gate entrance.

I was in the middle of the rescue ranch, halfway from Kermit and halfway to the gate, so I decided to walk to the gate, to see who was here, but I didn't have to walk all of the way, because Carol waved, as she walked towards me. "Hi, Carol. Is everything okay?" Carol laughed.

"Yes. I need Tony to open my spray pump for me, because I'm not strong enough to open it. It's tighter than a drum." Then we heard Kermit start up and watched Tony drive up to us. Thirty seconds later, Tony had unscrewed the lid for Carol and he was teasing her about being a weakling. We visited for about thirty minutes and then Carol adios-ed us and drove off, in her big pickup.

As Kermit took Tony and me up to The Cabin, he said, "Nance, I'm starving. It's nearly 1:30..." When we walked inside our trailer (The Cabin) the phone was ringing, then I heard Kinky's voice, "Nance, Tony? Tony, Nance?"

"Hi Kinky. We just walked inside. What's going on?"

"Is it a good time for me to bring Colin and Alan over? I want to show my Aussie friends, the rescue ranch and I want them to meet you and Tony..."

Five minutes later, with Tony nearly starving to death, we went outside and greeted Colin, Alan, Dylan  and Kinky. Then we came inside The Cabin, for a short, fun visit, because Kinky wanted us to go outside, into Outer Space, so we could visit some more. 

Fortunately, thirty minutes later, when they had adios-ed us after another fun visit, Tony wasn't on his death bed, but he was close. So, I quickly fixed him a delicious, peanut butter and jelly sandwich and saved his life, in a jiffy. And that is about it for today.

Y'all have a great evening!

Don't Mess With Texas—Truce!

Today has been great and I am writing this early and have scheduled it to post at 7:30 this evening! Why, you ask? Because Carol, Chet, Tony and I are going to be, in Buttermilk, heading back home, after going to the super, cool, invitational only, Ronny Cox House Concert, at Liz and Jim's ranch.

Yesterday, I played my prank on Jeff Severson, with the help of our dear friend Chet O'Keefe. As you know, earlier this week, while I was trying to meditate It popped into my head, before Mama nearly knocked off my head, as she jumped off of our bed.

So, later that day, I went over to Kinky's to see Chet, so I could talk to him about possibly helping me play a prank on Jeff.

(FYI: Our dear friend, Jeff Severson aka The Singing Safety, is a very talented musician, singer, song writer and we love his songs. Currently, Jeff is getting ready to release another great CD of his latest songs. And since Carol, Tony and I introduced Jeff to Chet O'Keefe, who is another talented musician, singer, song writer, Jeff has been working closely with Chet, on a few of his recordings.)

When I told Chet all about needing him to help me pull off this prank—he was all in. "Chet, all I want to do is jump into one of Jeff's serious songs, after he sings the first line or so and then I start singing off-key with him, which is natural for me, because I am tone deaf and also hard of hearing..." Chet thought it was funny, so he agreed to help me get our friend. And when I finally talked to Carol about it, she thought it was hilarious, too, and could not wait for it to happen.

So, it happened yesterday afternoon, around 3:00, when I called Chet. "Hi, Nancy. Are you ready to come over to make your singing debut?"

"Yes."

"I've got everything set up and ready to go, so come on over." Ten minutes later, Tony and I jumped into Buttermilk and went over the river and through the woods to see Chet.

When we arrived at Chet's super cool, mobile recording studio, Chet and I talked about the recording for thirty seconds or less. Then Chet played Jeff singing the first and second lines of one of his beautiful songs. "Okay, Chet. I am going let Jeff sing the first line and then I am going to jump in and surprise Jeff when I start singing the second line with him—off key." Then Chet put the headphones on me, Tony took a picture of me and the next recorded twenty seconds is history or should I say hilarious.

When Chet turned off the mic, he played it back for us to hear and the three of us could not quit laughing, because I was soooooo off-key and sounded like a hick. When we finally quit laughing, I thanked Chet and then said, "Chet, if you don't mind, all I need for you to do now is send Jeff an e-mail, saying something like, "Hi, Jeff. I've been tweaking your song and I like it, but I need to know what you think.""

"I'll send it in fifteen or twenty minutes," Chet said. "Keep me in the loop." Then Tony and I adios-ed Chet, jumped inside Buttermilk and came back home, to discover that Grace Kelly and her running pardner, Tom Landry, had dug out of their pen, once again and they were having a blast running around the rescue ranch, teasing the dogs. And five minutes later, they were back inside their dog pen resting, as they watched Tony and me fill up their latest hole, with rocks.

Around 7:30 last night, Carol called me to see how my trip to Austin went and after I filled her in, I said, "It's done, Carol. Chet and I played the prank on Jeff, earlier today. And it is so hilarious, because my singing seriously stinks. Do you want to hear it?"

"Yes! I can't wait!" When I held the phone up to our Bose iDock, Jeff starts singing the first line and when he starts to sing the second line, with me singing off-key and intentionally echoing too slowly behind him, Carol laughed so loud, it made our phone shake, in my hand. "Nancy!" Then she started laughing non-stop, for a couple of minutes. "That is the funniest thing that I've ever heard and...."

This morning, with still no word from Jeff, I called a certain friend (Carol) to talk about it. Ten minutes later, a little birdie (Carol) told me that it had caught Jeff totally off guard and he is still laughing about it and he has not responded, because he is deep in thought, thinking of his next prank to play on me, but I am calling a Don't Mess With Texas—Truce. (Jeff, you got me twice and I have only played one prank on you and I am done. I promise.)

If y'all want to listen to my prank, of me singing with Jeff, click here. It is too funny!

I have to go now, because I need to shower and get dressed in my cowgirl clothes, because tonight Carol and I are going to the Ronny Cox House Concert, as the Cowgirl Sisterhood. I am taking my banjo, too, because I hope that Ronny will sign it for me and let Tony take a picture of us. Because Ronny Cox is the famous movie star that played the banjo, in that classic movie, Deliverance! How cool is that!

In case you did click to hear me singing with Jeff, it ain't going to happen without Jeff's permission. "Laugh out loud, Jeff! I got you, again! Now we are even-Steven! Two to two. Please no more pranks from here on out, because I think that I've already peaked in that department. Don't Mess With Texans— Truce and always Remember the Alamo, dear friend. I love that song that I temporarily ruined."

Y'all have a great evening like Carol, Chet, Tony and I are.

The Singing Safety!

Sunday evening, at 7:14—the phone rang and I let Carlton take the call. "Rescue Ranch," I heard myself say, "We can't come to the phone right now. Please leave a message and we'll get back to you as soon as possible." Beep.

"Ah yeah, this is... ah, Bob Zidecky," the man said, as I walked towards the phone. "I would like to talk to you about an animal to rescue."

I figured it was this old man calling me, from East Texas, that Kinky had called me about, earlier in the day, so I answered the phone. "Hello, this is Nancy."

"Nancy? I want to speak to Cousin Nancy," Bob said.

"I am Cousin Nancy. Can I help you?"

"I want to know about that dog."

"Which dog?"

"Uh, the one in the paper. I think I want to adopt him."

I had no clue what this man was talking about. "What paper?" I asked.

"Uh."

"Are you talking about the Black Lab, that's on our Concert for Utopia poster?

"Yeah, that one! What's his name and do you still have him?"

"Yes, we still have him and he is a wonderful dog. His name is Willie Nelson," I said.

"His name is Willie Nelson," echoed Bob. "Is Peggy Sue still there?"

"Yes, she is with Buddy Holly right now," I said. The man started laughing.

"Peggy Sue and Buddy Holly are in the same pen!" Then Bob laughed again. Then I realized who it was calling me and I started laughing.

"Dog gone it, Jeff Severson! You got me again. I promise that I am going to get you BIG Time! Are you, Lorri and Carol still up in Fort Worth having a good time, at the American Rodeo?"

Jeff, the former American Football safety in the National Football League for the Washington Redskins, Houston Oilers, Denver Broncos and St. Louis Cardinals and starred in the movie, North Dallas Forty and several popular TV shows, just kept on laughing.  

"Hello, Cousin Nancy. We are having a wonderful time with our friends and this weekend we've been telling our friends some funny stories about you. Carol told us that when you were a kid, growing up in Fort Worth, your mom used to tell y'all to be sure and flush...."

"Yeah, she did." Then we started laughing, again. "Jeff, Dallas and Ft. Worth have always been rival cities and it is ingrained in us at an early age to dislike each other. Dallas doesn't like Fort Worth and Fort Worth doesn't like Dallas..." Jeff and I talked for a few more minutes and then we adios-ed each other. 

Over the past several years, Jeff aka "The Singing Safety" and Lorri have sent me some cool pictures that Jeff has signed to me and I want to share them with y'all. My favorite picture is the one with Roy & Dale and Jeff.

Today has been great and before I finish writing tonight I want to tell you that I did Big G's radio show this morning and it was a lot of fun. His Pet of the Week is Roscoe and Roscoe still needs a great home like his sister, Daisy has found, in Arizona.

After Big G and I talked about six-month-old Roscoe, we talked about Jim and me meeting George Fischer, at the Boerne Library and his book The Last  DK Cowboy. Big G had read the Kerrville Daily Times article about him, so we are planning to do lunch with George, Kinky and Tony real soon. 

FYI: Please note that this is just the beginning of me getting even with Jeff Severson playing another prank on me. In the next few days, I plan to get with Carol, to help me come up with something hilarious to pull on Jeff, to get the score even. And that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

Peggy Sue! Peggy Sue!

Yesterday, while having a fun lunch with the volunteers, at the Medina Highpoint Resort, I had some exciting news to tell them. "While y'all were outside walking dogs, this real nice man named Bob called me. He is thinking about adopting Peggy Sue! He asked me all kinds of questions about her to make sure that she was spayed, clear of heart worms, had all of her shots, etc. When he told me that he wanted to adopt her I was thrilled about it. Then I got worried when he asked, "Now, how old is this four and a half month old Beagle?"

"I answered, "She's four and a half months old. But, I need to tell you that there is also someone else interested in adopting Peggy Sue.""I also kinda started getting nervous with Bob, at the end of our conversation, too, when after I had told him about Starsky being Peggy Sue's roommate and him maybe getting adopted, Bob asked me, "Can I change her name to Hutch?""Of course," I told him."

"Y'all, I hope Bob's not a loony-tune or something. Anyway, he told me that he will call me back, at the exact same time, in the morning, about coming out and adopting her. Isn't that great news!" The volunteers loved my news. And to say the least, "As always, having lunch with our friends was a total blast."

Oh my goodness! We had a blast at Carols last night. When we got there, Carol, Lorri and Jeff were working in the kitchen, preparing a snack tray. After hugs and handshakes, Jeff asked me about my day. I told them, "It has been great." I told them about Bob calling me this morning about Peggy Sue. "I am so excited, because I think Bob is really going to come out tomorrow and adopt sweet Peggy Sue." Even though their backs were turned away from me, I could tell that they were as thrilled to hear my good news about Peggy Sue, as I was. Then Tony and I excused ourselves, so we could go outside to get my guitar and banjo, because I couldn't wait to show off my banjo to Jeff Severson, who is one very talented, singer, songwriter musician—just like Chet O'Keefe is.

When we returned with my banjo and guitar, I told Jeff about how cool my banjo was, because the volume matches the volume of a guitar. Then I gave Jeff a quick lesson on some chords. Then Jeff and I grabbed a couple of bar stools and started pickin' and a grinnin'. And believe it or not—we sounded good, as Jeff sang one of his songs after another. At one point while we were playing, Jeff told me, "This is a great banjo and a lot of fun to play. When we get home, I'm going to get one just like yours."

Fifteen minutes later, when Chet arrived, with his Martin guitar, we moved Carol's birthday party outside, on the deck, that had a fire already burning inside her chiminea. "Chet," Lorri said. "Last night after Carol had played us your Game Bird CD we loved your music so much, she showed us the great Austin Chronicle article about you and your music. We would love to hear you play us some of your new songs that Carol has been telling us about."

As Chet was removing his guitar from its case, I stood up and handed my guitar to Jeff, so they could play together, because Jeff had left his Martin guitar, at home. "No, Cousin Nancy. You play with Chet," Jeff said.

"No, Jeff. You play. You are a much more talented musician than me, but at some point I do want to play at least one song with Chet, so I can later brag about it, when Chet becomes a super famous musician." Then they started pickin' and grinnin,'and taking turns singing their songs, as their magical music mesmerized us.

During a break, Jeff handed me my guitar and said, "It's your turn to play with Chet. I had a blast having Chet play lead guitar, to a simple finger pickin' tune, but unfortunately, me jamming with Chet wasn't nearly as good as listening to those two pros play and sing, so after playing one song and Tony taking one ugly picture of me, playing with Chet—I gladly handed my guitar back to Jeff.

After their fabulous concert ended, Carol announced, "Dinner is ready, everybody." And while we were eating a delicious dinner, Lorri and Carol made Jeff confess to me about him playing a prank on me, this morning, and telling me that he was Bob, which I thought was so funny I nearly choked on my food. 

After everyone had quit laughing, Jeff says, "Nancy, I was reading the Bandera County Courier article about Peggy Sue being the Pet of the Week, the whole time when I was talking to you. I thought you would figure it out when I said, "Now how old is this four and a half month old Beagle?" "You were so sweet, and said, "She's four and a half months old.""And when I asked you if I could change her name to Hutch. You said, "Of course.""

"I thought you would surely have figured it out," Carol teased, in between chuckles, "when you started telling us about Bob, in the kitchen, and saw us turn our backs away from you, at the same time, because we were trying not to laugh..."

By the time dinner was over, Chet had invited Jeff and Lorri to come over, in the morning, to let Jeff cut a few of Jeff's latest songs, on Chet's fabulous recording equipment.

About five minutes, before Tony and I adios-ed our good friends, Jeff called the rescue ranch and left a message, that we couldn't hear.

When we got back home, after letting our dogs go outside, I pressed Carlton's button, so I could hear Jeff's hilarious Bob message and Tony and I are still laughing about it. 

Today has been great, but I will keep it short, because this is one, very long post. At 10:00 this morning, a nice couple, came out to check out our dogs, because they wanted their older dog to have a companion. We walked George and their adorable dog, down to the creek, but George wasn't nice to their dog. Then we walked Merlin and their dog, down to the creek, but their chemistry together wasn't good. 

On our third walk, Peggy Sue joined us and their dog seemed to really like her. As we were walking down the road, Lorri and Jeff drove up. "....Jeff just cut three, great new songs, on Chet's recording equipment," Lorri said.

"And, one of the songs I wrote and just recorded, is about you," Jeff said. I was flabbergasted. Then I remembered to introduce the nice, retired couple, standing next to me, to Lorri and Jeff. "And Jeff, this is Peggy Sue! They might adopt her!" Then Lorri, Jeff and I all started laughing, about Jeff's hilarious prank. "We've got to go," Jeff said. "We're going to meet up with Carol and we're running late..."

To make this long story short, "The couple took Peggy Sue home to try her out and they are pretty sure that they are going to adopt her. And Jack called me this afternoon to tell me, "Nancy, we love Starsky and we definitely want to adopt him..."

Y'all have a great evening!

Happy Birthday Carol!

Yesterday was an incredibly great day. I wanted to write about it last night, but I ran out of time and energy, so I am going to write about it now.

Thursday morning, our super friends/volunteers, Eileen and June came out, as planned, to pick up George Carlin, because they were taking him to the San Antonio Rodeo. And George was not going there to ride a bull or do the two-step with a poodle. He was going to the Dock Dog Expo, to learn how to be a Dock Dog and possibly adopted. Dock Dogs is a fun sport where dogs run down a long dock and then leap into a pool of water, to fetch a tennis ball.

I am not sure which one of us was the most excited about George going to San Antone to spend the day, but I am pretty sure it was George, because he loves the water so much.

After Tony and I adios-ed June, Eileen and George, we finished doing our chores outside. When we came back inside The Cabin, Jack had called and left a message on Carlton, "Nancy, my wife and I were wondering if we could come out later today, to pick up Starsky. We would like to take him home for the weekend, to see if he gets along with other dog..."

Around 4:15 things started popping, at the rescue ranch, when Carol Called me! "Nancy, I'm heading home. I'm between Pipe Creek and Bandera right now and Lorri just called me and they should be at my ranch about the same time that I get there! Jeff and Lorri are anxious to see y'all, so come on over as soon as you can..." 

Tony and I were excited about seeing Lorri and Jeff, so I told Carol that as soon as George got back and Jack picked up Starsky, I would come over and then Tony would come over, after the kids had left, around 5:30.

Ten minutes later, while Tony and Karon were down at the creek, supervising the kids and the dogs, I went outside to greet Jack, Eileen and June. "Nancy, George was fantastic!" Eileen said. "Sydney, the DockDog trainer, was very excited about letting George, learn how to be a DockDog. When June and I walked out on stage with George, Sydney was telling the audience all about George and the rescue ranch. He told them about his master dying in a fire, in Hunt, then a friend of the family fostered George for four months, before bringing him to the rescue ranch! And when he finished introducing George, several people made donations to the rescue ranch."

"Nancy," June said. "George had a blast today. Sydney told us that he would adopt George, in a Montana minute, but because he already has too many dogs, he couldn't. I wish that we could stay, but I've got to get home."

"Nancy, I'll send you some pictures when I get home," Eileen said, before they drove off.

"Hi, Jack," I said, as I grabbed a leash. "Looks like Starsky can't wait to go spend a weekend with you and your wife..." And I was right about that. As soon as I put a leash on Starsky, he ran to Jack's truck and immediately jumped into the backseat.

Ten minutes later, I jumped into Trigger's front seat and took off for Carol's ranch and twenty minutes later, Tony jumped into Buttermilk and took off for Carol's ranch.

We had a wonderful visit with Carol, Lorri and Jeff, as we sat out on the deck, with a fire burning in her Chiminea. 

When we came back home—Eileen had sent me these pictures of George's unforgettable fun day, in San Antone.

We are so happy for George Carlin! If you are interested in adopting this great three-year-old dog, please call me at the rescue ranch: 830-589-7544.

This evening, Chet O'Keefe, Tony and I are going over to Carol's ranch to celebrate Carol's birthday, with Carol, Lorri and Jeff. Chet and I are taking our guitars, so we can play a little music with Jeff!

And that is about it for now, but before I go eat lunch with the volunteers, I want to say, "Happy Birthday Carol! And Happy Valentine's Day to Y'all!"

Y'all have a great day like we are!

In Good Company!

This morning I woke up with a tummy ache and feeling sick to my stomach, so after helping Tony clean the dog pens I have spent most of my day feeling a little puny and laying in bed with Mama and Roy to comfort me, but fortunately, tonight as I write this I am feeling much better. So, now I am going to attempt to do a little catching up.

Friday morning was beautiful the temperature was in the mid sixties outside, a perfect day for our super volunteers to walk all of our dogs for us. As Tony and I were finishing up our outside chores June, Ellen, Eileen, Lisa, Dottie and Jim showed up and they began walking our dogs and our dogs were thrilled about it and so were we.

When our chores were done, T. jumped into Buttermilk and took off for Kerrville, so he could take photos of our nephew Zachary showing his pig, at the Kerr County Stock Show and I took off to go visit with the volunteers and I really enjoyed it.

After the dogs had all been walked, "The Girls" invited me to join them for lunch, but I couldn't because I was on a mission. One hour later I was at a J.C. Penneys cash register buying socks for Tone and me, because ours were threadbare. After accomplishing my mission I swung by H-E-B to pick up some groceries and then Trigger took me home.

Early Saturday morning, Rick called and left a message on Carlton, "Hey, Tony and Nancy. John is driving us to the airport for our trip to Nicaragua! Don't worry we will be fine. Bye."

When I had finished my first cup of coffee, I picked up the phone and punched in Rick's number, in hopes that I could catch them before they took off and I am glad that I did, because I had a really fun visit with the three of them. And before hanging up I invited John to please come up soon to visit us and he said he would, so I have my fingers crossed that he will, because Sandy & Jon, Carol, Tony and I have really missed him.

Saturday, I got the coolest care package, in the mail, from our dear friends Lorri & Jeff Severson, Redskins Super Bowl VII, who I recently had fun pickin' with over at Carol's ranch. They had sent me some pictures of Jeff—in good company, hanging out with some of his old friends and Jeff signed each picture to me, which I absolutely loved. Thank you, Lorri and Jeff!

In the next few days I plan to frame Jeff's photos and hang them in our big room. Here are the pictures they sent.

Hopefully, tomorrow I will be feeling much better. Tonight I plan to do some more writing and that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

Toilet Paper!

Today has been fabulous. This morning after we did our chores outside, we adopted Little Sister aka Peggy, the darling little Chihuahua, to a lovely family!

Then, after an urgent phone call from Charity, at the Kerr County Animal Control, telling us about a beautiful, older yellow Lab that his time had run out and that today would be his last day in Texas, I told her to please hold him, because we would take him and she thanked us and said she would, so after telling Tony all about it—he grabbed my camera and then jumped into Buttermilk and off they went to the pound, so I could stay home to clean The Cabin, because our dear friends Leisa and Rick are coming up, from Port A., to visit us on Thursday, for a few days.

While I was cleaning up our master bathroom, with a plastic garden tub, I realized that we were nearly out of toilet paper, so I called Susan, at Hoegemeyer Animal Clinic, "Hi, Susan. This is Nancy over at the rescue ranch. Is Tony there?"

"No, not yet. What's up?"

"Good. He's rescuing a Lab from the pound, that was going to be put down today and they should be there in just a few minutes. This dog needs to be neutered, shots, wormed and do anything else that he needs and I need to ask you a favor."

"Okay."

"When Tony gets there please ask him to pick up some toilet paper, because we are nearly out." Then I started laughing and so did Susan.

"Sure, I'll tell him..."

Forty-five minutes later, T. walked inside the trailer, I mean The Cabin, carrying a jumbo pack of Scott Super Soft toilet paper and I was thrilled beyond belief. "Did you take some pictures of the Lab for me?" I asked, because I had asked him to shoot him, because I've really been missing our old Thunder and was seriously thinking about adopting him—sight unseen.

"Yes, but I only got to take one picture of him, because your battery died and you're going to have to charge up the battery, before you can see him. It's not a great picture, because I only got his head..."

While my camera's battery was charging, Carol called me to invite us over for dinner tonight with Lorri and Jeff. "Jeff and Lorri are in Kerrville right now buying groceries for our dinner and they want to come see the rescue ranch, before y'all come over. And, Jeff told me to tell you to bring your guitar, so y'all can jam again..."

One hour later, Lorri and Jeff arrived at our rescue ranch. "Y'all come on inside, so we can show you how we have cheaply copy-catted Carol's ranch house. Before they had walked inside The Cabin—Mama had fallen deeply in love with Jeff and she wouldn't leave him alone—constantly begging for him to pet her.

Lorri and Jeff loved The Cabin and they really enjoyed getting a private viewing of T.'s Photography Hallway and they thought the bed that Tone made for us, after we got married, was absolutely awesome, as I do too.

Then I quickly plugged my guitar into my amp and Jeff sang us a song that he has written about me and it was so hilarious. Then he sang us a beautiful song, that he has recently written, that almost made me tear up.

Because they needed to get home, because their groceries were in the car, I gave them a quick tour of my writing cabin and they loved it too, but not as much as I do.

As soon as they had left, I came inside The Cabin and put the recharged battery back into my camera, so I could look at Walter, my soon-to-be, new forever friend and I teared up, because I know that Thunder has sent him to me. "Thank you, Thunder Bunder. I love you and I sure do miss you, girl."

Early this evening, Buttermilk took us over to Carol's ranch and we had so much fun with them tonight and our dinner that Carol, Lorri and Jeff prepared was absolutely delicious. During dinner Lorri started telling us about them going to Wolfmueller's Books today and what an awesome bookstore it was and meeting the friendly owners. "Those are our good friends Sandy & Jon, that we told you about, that we went out to Big Bend with in September," I said. "We love them and their bookstore is the best kept secret in Texas..."

After dinner, Jeff and I started pickin' and grinnin' again and I enjoyed playing with him so much, because he is a much better guitarist than me and playing with him has made me a better picker. "Thank you, Jeff Severson!"

Tomorrow Lorri and Jeff are leaving Carol's to go spend Christmas with her family in North Texas and hopefully tomorrow we can go to Kerrville to pick up Walter, so we can give him a forever home. And that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

Jeff Severson Jam Session At Carol's Ranch Tonight!

Today has been so wonderful. This morning after we did our chores outside Tony went over to Sam's, his brother's and Stacie's house, in Medina, to help celebrate their son Zach's 13th birthday, while I stayed home to get some writing done.

Twenty minutes after T. was gone, Kinky came over to see The Cabin, because he has been on the road and he loved what we had done to improve our 1983 trailer, that I bought for only $7,000.00, back in  '95! "Kink, I have officially changed the name of our old trailer from Nellybelle to "The Cabin." You have the Lodge and now we have the Cabin. And look at our new fireplace that only cost me ten bucks." And that literally blew him out of the saddle, so to speak, while Neil Young was singing Harvest Moon on my iPod.

"Nance, I love this. It feels just like being inside a real cabin. I can't believe y'all did this..."

Early this evening, Buttermilk took T. and me over to Carol's ranch, so we could visit with Lorri and Jeff , her dear friends, which are now our friends too, who came to visit her all of the way from California.

I don't know if y'all remember my March 23, 2010 post about Jeff Severson, the famous, now retired NFL Safety who played for the Red Skins, the Oilers, the Broncos and the St. Louis Cardinals, who also played in two Super Bowls and who once opened for Willie Nelson at a private party for the Minnicks, at Billy Bob's in Fort Worth—we jammed tonight!

After we had a super fun visit with Carol, Lorri & Jeff out on Carol's deck, with her two beautiful dogs Scout and Jake, we went inside her beautiful ranch house, so Jeff and I could play some music together and I had a total blast, even though he is a much better guitarist than me. Tone took this picture of us pickin' and a grinnin' with Lorri and Carol, as Jeff sang some of his new songs that he has recently written, which were dynamite.

And that is about it for tonight, because my fingers are killing me, except for the great news we had this morning from Ian—"Queen Latifah is fitting in real well with Scooby Doo. She's definitely a keeper and we love her!..."

Y'all have a great evening! Happy Birthday, Zach. We love you!

Mari Rocks!

To Be Continued...(Warning! This is a long one!)

Last night Tony and I had so much fun with our friends. As soon as we pulled up to Carol's house in Trigger we were greeted by Carol's friendly dogs, Scout and Jake and then James came out the front door and welcomed us and told us that everyone was outside on the deck and then he took off to go buy some ice because they had run out.

When T. and I went around the side of the house we heard laughing and then we saw Lorri and she gave us big hugs and then she introduced us to "Jeff from California" who we liked instantly. After handshakes Brenda walked up and gave us big hugs even though she was wearing a big cast on her foot.

With box in hand I then went inside the house to pour myself some of my fine-boxed wine and found Carol working on our dinner in the kitchen. After hugs she handed me a glass for my wine. "Are y'all totally out of ice?" I asked. Carol opened her freezer and there were three ice cubes left so I took them and plopped them into my wine. Then Jeff came into the kitchen to refresh his drink and I felt guilty for taking the last three ice cubes but I didn't say anything. Then we all went outside to the deck to visit with each other.

Within seconds Jeff had all of us laughing with his funny story about him deciding to open for Willie Nelson at a private party held at Billy Bob's in Fort Worth for his friends, the Minnicks and then I asked him about his NFL football career and I was blown away when he told us about playing for the Red Skins,  the Oilers and the St. Louis Cardinals and playing in two Super Bowls. Then we had a fun discussion about him playing against the the Dallas Cowboys back when Tom Landry was Head Coach.

Then I saw James down by the road closing the gate. "The ice man cometh," I said which really cracked Brenda up. "Carol told me that you are a great guitar player, Jeff. Please play something for us." Oh my god, Jeff was fantastic on the guitar and the songs that he had wrote were hilarious and had all of us rolling on the deck with laughter. Tony and I were having a great time as was everyone else.

After his last song Jeff asked me to play something on his guitar and he tried to hand me his beautiful, old Yamaha guitar, but I refused because he played much better than me and everyone was enjoying his music. Thank God, I didn't take his guitar and try to play something because when he sat back down and strummed his guitar we heard a loud "ping!" I figured he had popped a string and so did he, but when we looked at his guitar all six strings were still intact. "What?" Jeff said as he stared at his great-sounding guitar in his hand. "The bridge just broke," Jeff said in amazement as he showed it to all of us. "Does anybody know what time it is because I have to do a call in interview at seven?"

Tony looked down at his watch and said, "Five minutes before seven," while I'm thinking it is really five minutes till six, because I still haven't adjusted to the stupid time change. Then Lorri and Jeff went inside so Jeff could call in and do the show.

When they returned outside Jeff said to me, "I just talked about you on the air and I told them the title of your new book coming out..." Needless to say I was speechless and as you know that rarely happens to me. Then we sat down around the table and began eating our delicious Fajita dinner.

I was having so much fun because the conversation flowed and went back and forth across the table from one person to another until it always led us to laughter, then the subject would change and in no time flat we would all be laughing again.

After dinner T. and I had to get back over to the rescue ranch even though we didn't want to leave, because we were having so much fun with our friends. Before leaving Jeff told us a joke that he wanted us to tell Kinky and it was hilarious!

Today has been really fun and then it went weird. This morning around eight o'clock, Kinky called me about our breakfast date this morning with our good friends Tinkerbell and her father in Kerrville because he wanted to know if I was going to ride with him. After all was said and done we decided to take separate vehicles because I needed to get back to the rescue ranch to take care of some business.

When I stepped inside the restaurant I was ten minutes late and found Tinkerbell, Bob, T-Bone Herring  from the Rose 99.9, Frank and Kinky sitting at a table by the front door. Our breakfast was fun and full of laughter.

After taking pictures with Tinkerbell and Kinky we said our goodbyes to everyone and headed for our trucks and that is when I told Jeff Severson's joke to him and he about fell over laughing. "That's a good one, Nance. I like it. Tell Jeff I liked it." Then he told Jeff's joke to Frank and Frank thought it was really funny too. Then we climbed into our pickups and took off  in different directions.

When Trigger and I arrived back at the rescue ranch Tony, Lisa, Matt and Meghann were leaving to go feed the cows so I visited with our great volunteers for a few minutes and then they took off. As Trigger and I were coming in Jim McMahon another one of our great dog-walking volunteers was on his way to return two happy dogs back to there pen so he and I had a short visit too.

When I came inside I had nineteen new phone messages and forty-seven e-mails to return. After returning all of the phone calls I started returning e-mails and was over halfway done when Kinky called.
"Nance, are you having phone trouble?"

"Yes, Kinky, I am. I have just returned nineteen calls and my ear is starting to ache. Why?"

"That's not what I am talking about," Kinky said. "I can't make long distance phone calls since about twenty minutes ago. Will you call me to see if I get your call." We hung up and I punched in Kink's number and Kinky picked up on the second ring when he saw my number show up on his new giant Caller ID. "Thanks, Nance."

"Kinky, Tone and I have got to go to Kerrville and we've decided to eat lunch in town. Do you want to join us?" There was a pause and then he told me he would love to so we decided on a time and then I hung up on him before he hung up on me.

Tony and I first to arrive at the restaurant and Kinky sat down at our table two minutes later. "Nance, my cell phone isn't working either," Kinky said. "See if you cell phone is working." Then we gave our waitress our order and that is when things started getting weird.

I pulled out my cell phone and punched in the rescue ranch's phone number and after no rings there was a beep and a  message appeared that read: "All signals are busy," so I tried again as Tone nibbled on some chips and Kinky stared at me. After trying to call Ronnie in Dripping Springs and Wolfmueller's Books and getting the same dead phone response I said, "Kinky, this is really weird. Maybe we are being attacked by..." T. and Kinky started laughing.

"Or space aliens have landed and..." Then we all started laughing.

When our sweet waitress set our plates down I asked her if the restaurant's phone was working and she shook her head no. "All of our lines are down and so is our credit card machine. They've been down for over an hour now..."

After she left our table I told Kinky that Tony and I were going to go over to Wolfmueller's Books before going to Walmart to see if their phones were working. Kinky thought it was a good idea, then we ate our lunch.

When we showed up at Jon and Sandy's bookstore Sandy told us that her cell phone and their store phones were working so we had a short visit with them and then we took off for H.E.B. to fill up Trigger.

After writing a check for Tone's and my supplies at Walmart for over one-hundred and fifty dollars as we were walking out of the store an announcement came over their intercom: "Attention all Walmart shoppers! Due to the phone lines being down we cannot accept any checks over the amount of one-hundred dollars. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you and..."

As we exited the store I said, "Whew, we just made it under the gun. If we had been checking out five minutes later we would not have been able to buy all of our supplies..." As we drove home I kept trying to use my cell phone but got nothing.

When we got home we found out what was going on with our phones from a local newscast that said that an optical fiber line had been cut between Fredericksburg and Comfort causing most of the area phone, cell and internet connections to be down and it could possibly take up to eight hours for it to be completely restored.

It is now seven-twenty and Kinky just called to tell me that his phone is still down and then he invited me to come over for a visit but I told him no, because I am fixin' to watch the movie "The Blind Side."

P.S. I want to do a big shout-out to thank Mari of the NoMads for offering to help us pick up Ben Stiller and Gracie. Mari Rocks!

Y'all have a great evening!

I Think It Is Weird!

Today has turned out to be one fantastic day filled with more excitement than my old ticker can handle, but thanks to baby Aspirin I am still here!

Last night I didn't sleep well because I was so worried about Ben Stiller and Gracie, because I had not found anyone that could help us pick them up from the Town Lake Animal Shelter in Austin and get them to our rescue ranch so this morning I skipped walking with Leslie and let my fingers do the walking instead.

First, I called Lisa before she and Matt came out to the rescue ranch to volunteer and I told her about my problem trying to find someone that could pick up Ben and Gracie. "Nance, I can do it. Quit worrying, I would love to pick them up for you," Lisa said. "Matt and I are on our way to the rescue ranch now." I was thrilled.

When she and Matt arrived thirty minutes later they came inside the trailer to discuss Ben Stiller and Gracie. Fifteen minutes later Matt had loaded a crate into Lisa's SUV and then they took off for Kerrville to drop Marlin off at Hoegemeyers to get dipped for his mange and to drop Matt off because he had an appointment that he could not cancel.

After they took off I went inside the trailer and checked my messages. The second message really got my attention. "Hello, this is Melissa Murray. I read your blog last night and I want to offer to pick up Ben Stiller and Gracie for you. I know that you don't know me, but last week I lost my old dog to old age," and then she started crying, "Please let me help you..." I picked up the phone and punched in Melissa's phone number and then we both started crying when I told her about Ben Stiller's story.

"I love Ben Stiller," I said. "Five years ago an elderly man called me and started crying. He told me that someone had dumped Ben off in the country and Ben had wandered up to his house. Then the kind man started crying and told me that he was poor and could not afford to feed Ben because he had taken in several dumped strays. Then he begged me to please help him with his new stray. Well, I was crying like a baby about this dog and told the man that we could take him if he could get the dog to us. And then the man tells me that he will have to borrow the money from his mother for the gas and he would see us the following day. The next morning the old man showed up with the dog and I fell in love with the dog and immediately named him Ben Stiller. After the man helped us put Ben into a pen with Gracie he started crying and so did I as we watched the two playing. Then he thanked us and drove away..."

When I was done talking my head off about Ben Stiller I thanked Melissa and then I told her that I would love for her to help us. After she told me that she would be at Town Lake at eleven-thirty when they opened I called Lisa to tell her about our new plan and gave her Melissa's phone number so they could meet somewhere on the road to transfer the dogs.

As soon as I hung up the phone it rang again. "Rescue Ranch," I said.

""Hello, Cousin Nancy this is Christy Cotter. If you haven't found anyone to pick up Ben Stiller and Gracie from Town Lake I can do it..." I had a good visit with my friend Christy and I thanked her for offering to help. Then we talked about our good friend Georgia and Tasha, the dog that she had adopted from us back in October.

At twelve o'clock I called Melissa and she told me that the people at Town Lake had been great and they had even given Ben and Gracie free rabies shots along with their other shots and she was on her way to meet Lisa somewhere down the road. Then I walked six miles with Leslie.

At two-thirty I went outside to greet Lisa and her precious cargo—Ben Stiller and Gracie because Tone had gone to Bandera to run some errands for me. Lisa and I put the dogs into the front yard of my writing cabin because that was the only space that we had available. As I played with the happy dogs Lisa went to the barn to get them food, water and dog collars. When Tone arrived ten minutes later Ben and Gracie remembered him and were thrilled to see him and wouldn't quit kissing him.

After we handed out treats and played with the dogs for over an hour Lisa and Tone took off to go feed the cows. I stayed behind so I could visit with the happy dogs. Then Kinky arrived and he came into the yard to welcome the dogs back to our rescue ranch and to play with them and they loved seeing him.

After Lisa and Kinky left the rescue ranch I came inside the trailer to check my messages. I had fourteen new ones but the one from Melissa Murray at three thirty-seven made me smile. "Hello, Nancy. I hope that the dogs have arrived safely at the rescue ranch and I want to thank you for letting me be a part of their rescue. I just turned PBS on the radio and they are interviewing Ben Stiller right now and I think it is weird and I don't think that it is a coincidence..."

After checking all of the messages and returning the many phone calls I washed my white hair and cleaned up because Tone and I were going over to Carol and James for dinner with our friends Brenda and Lorri and to meet Lorri's famous new boyfriend—"Jeff from California" that we had heard so many nice things about!

It is nearly ten-thirty now and I must go to bed because Kinky and I are meeting our good friend Beth for breakfast in the morning with her dad and friends.

We had a wonderful evening this evening with Carol & James, Brenda, Lorrie & "Jeff from California" and I cannot wait to tell y'all all about it tomorrow. For those of you who are curious about "Jeff from California" here is an autographed picture that he gave me tonight and you can check him out at:
"Jeff from California" and be sure to read "About Jeff."

Y'all have a great evening! To Be Continued...