Another Fasterpiece Coming Soon!

Today has been great even though it didn't start out so great. This morning we woke up and were without water because a pipe broke outside. So that caused Tony to be a little late getting to Medina, to drink coffee with his friends at the Old Timer.

After cleaning up our breakfast dishes I volunteered to clean the dog pens outside for Tony because it allows me to spend more time with our super dogs and also because it always puts a smile on his face and mine.

When I was cleaning (pickin' up poop) Frank came over. "Happy Birthday, Frank!" I hollered from Walter Cronkite's and Lulu's pen. "T. and I want to take you out for lunch today to celebrate your sixty-seventh birthday. And you get to pick the restaurant..."

A few hours later we walked into the Chinese restaurant that's across the street from Albertsons. An hour later we were walking down the isles at H-E-B to grabbing some groceries. Thirty minutes later I was in the Quiet Valley office buying Kerrville Folk Festival advanced tickets for T. & me for their June 5th concert, featuring Shake Russell, Ray Wylie Hubbard and Asleep At The Wheel.

When we got home Carlton had six new messages for me. Two were from Kinky, but the most important one was from a woman who had rescued Paul McCartney in Austin, so I called her first. "Hello, this is Nancy at the rescue ranch. I'm sorry that I missed your call. The dog you have is Paul McCartney and he belongs to..." Five minutes later the woman called me back to tell me that Paul's parents had just come by and picked up Paul. Then I called Kinky on his cell phone, as I opened up a surprise package from my friend Cathie Bernhardt.

"Hi, Nance. I'm going to be home earlier than planned. I should be back at the ranch tomorrow around four o'clock..." His news thrilled me because it has been over three weeks since he left the ranch to go do his tour and I have missed him, but what Cathie sent to me thrilled me even more.

Cathie sent me some Prismacolor Art Stix and Prismacolor Scholar art pencils for my future watercolor paintings. And hopefully tomorrow I will have time to paint another fasterpiece. Thank you, Cathie. I love them. Please tell Donna and Robert howdy for me.

 I am now fixin' to watch "The King's Speech" and I can't wait to see it, because I have a secret crush on Colin Firth.

Y'all have a great evening! 

I'm So Lucky!

I apologize for not posting a blog last night. The reason I didn't write one last night was because I was pretty depressed. Yesterday afternoon when we brought Lucky home I was sad, because I knew that his time left with us was precious and wasn't long. I love Luck-A-Luck so much and so does Tony, Kinky and our dogs. He's family.

Anyone who has ever been graced by the love of a cat knows what I am talking about. Seeing old Lucky so frail and knowing that he was fighting for everyday of his life was hard for me to take even though you would think I would be used to it by now, since we have been rescuing animals for over twelve years. But to tell the truth it is never easy losing a family member—no matter how many times that you've had to say goodbye to one.

Last night, early in the evening as I was reading Susan Wittig Albert's brilliant mystery novel Chile Death Lucky surprised me when he jumped up in my chair and wanted to snuggle with me. When I looked into his beautiful eyes I decided to stay put in the chair and spend time with my dear, old friend instead of writing a blog and I am glad that I did, because I had a long talk with him and told him how much I loved him and that I did not want him to suffer. And I told him not to stick around for me because he thought he needed to. I promised him that I would be okay, but would miss him.

I think Luck understood my words, because he purred softly for hours as he slept in my lap, as I turned the pages of Albert's entertaining "can't put it down" book. She is a great writer too, like Tom D. Wells.

This morning I overslept. When I woke up I realized that T. was already gone to Medina to drink coffee with his friends, and I was happy to find all of our fur family on the bed sleeping soundly and snuggling close to me. Lucky was right next to my head with his back turned next to me—purring away. I didn't want to get up, so I didn't—I just laid there with my best friends, because I love sleeping with my animals and I decided to enjoy it. Thirty minutes later I reluctantly I climbed out of bed.

After putting all of the dogs outside to take care of their personal business obligations, I decided to feed Lucky first. Instead of serving him his usual cat food I decided to make him a special breakfast. With Luck sitting on the drain board watching me as I began preparing his meal, I pulled some "people" frozen cocktail shrimp out of our freezer and that is when I noticed that he looked much better today than yesterday. "I love you so much, Lucky," I said, as I tossed the eight, frozen, already cooked, small shrimp without-tails into Jaws. Then I added a small amount of tap water and flipped the 'on' switch on my mighty Vita-Mix machine. Seconds later I turned Jaws off and scooped out the icy, shredded shrimp into Luck's dish. "Enjoy!" Lucky could not eat it fast enough. That's a good sign!

This morning after breakfast and doing my chores, I walked eight miles with Leslie Sansone and then I did some important arithmetic. After crunching the numbers I am proud to say that I have walked 878 miles with only 947 miles to go! Then I checked the Farmer's Almanac to find that today is the 174th day of the year. I then multiplied that number by 5 miles per day which equals 870 miles. I am finally caught up with my daily mileage and 8 miles ahead of the game! I love it and plan to walk eight miles tomorrow morning.

As I type this Lucky is sleeping on the kitchen table next to my laptop and peacefully purring away, as Paul McCartney is singing "Hey Jude," one of my favorite songs. In my book it doesn't get much better than that if you ask me. I'm counting my blessings—I'm so Lucky.

Y'all have a great evening.

Seven Seconds!

On Saturday Leisa and Rick arrived at the rescue ranch around one o'clock. After howdys and hugs Leisa's sweet, little rescued dog, Squirt, jumped out of the truck to greet us too. When we started to help them carry their bags into my writing cabin we discovered that somebody was already staying in my cabin and they had not been invited nor were they welcomed guests.

As we stood inside my cabin we could hear the tapping sound of little feet running around above the ceiling and it was fairly loud. It appears that an out-of-work squirrel family had secretly invaded my cabin to raise their babies in and Tony told me that they would leave when their kids were big enough to leave home so I felt somewhat relieved, but Leisa and Rick weren't. They decided that they wanted to stay in my Space Ship instead which was fine with me, so they moved their stuff over to my little guest trailer. Then we came inside the trailer to visit and catch up with each others news. Then Leisa took off for Kerrville to purchase a new cell phone because hers was dinosaur and she was tired of people laughing at her when she pulled it out of her purse, so she put Squirt inside the cabin and took off and Squirt was not a happy camper.

When Leisa returned she had a new cell phone and a sack full of cheeses, breads and wine for us to dine on. But before we officially started Happy Hour we decided to try Squirt out with our dogs to see if they would get along.

Well our dogs totally embarrassed Tony and me because they were not good hosts. They were rude, unfriendly, growling and talking about Squirt under their breaths until she showed them how cute and friendly she was. Then our dogs apologized to her (sniffed her butt and let her sniff theirs) and then everybody seemed fine, so Rick popped a cork of cold champagne and Happy Hour began and we had a blast in Outer Space and stayed up late.

Sunday morning after breakfast Rick and Leisa wanted to show us how fast Squirt was because she now has the title "The Fastest Dog In Port Aransas 2010" so Tony grabbed my video camera and we went outside to the parking lot, near our trailer for a demonstration.

It was so funny because Leisa and Rick were acting like proud parents and bragging and they couldn't wait for Squirt to perform for us. As Leisa stood next to us Rick took off walking with Squirt in his arms. When he was a good distance away he turned around, put Squirt on the ground, ready for Lisa to call Squirt's name. Here is Tony's short seven-seconds video of "The Fastest Dog In Port Aransas 2010" in action. She is soooooooooooo fast!

Around ten when it was time for our Space Ship guests to leave and head back to Port A. Tony and I did not want to see them go, but they did. My last words to them were, "I hope we get a lot of hurricanes on the coast so we can see y'all sooner than later!"

Today started out kind of sad because Lisa, Matt and their friends did not come out to help Tone and walk our dogs, because they had some business that needed tending to. We miss y'all and look forward to seeing you soon!

P.S. This afternoon we got a great update on Paul McCartney! Jessica called to tell me that they love Paul and he is a great dog and she and Mike and Jessica's dog Charlie are so happy to have him in their family! Nice way to end my day.

Y'all have a great evening!

Our Part-Time Poltergist Is Back, Again!

I got up really early this morning and everything seemed normal. Like every morning, our dogs and Lucky couldn't wait for me to feed them. After I fed my fur-friends, I started a load of laundry in Queen Bee. Then I made some coffee and fixed breakfast for Tony and me like I always do.

While washing the dishes in the kitchen sink, little did I know that things were fixin to get weird soon. After the kitchen was clean I walked six miles with Leslie even though my arms and back ached a little from pushing a lawn mower and using the weed eater for the two past evenings.

When I had completed my six mile walk that is when our friendly, once a month poltergist startled me.  I am prettyt positive that it was our part-time, prankster poltergist because it always does the same thing to me—it throws stuff onto the floor always landing near my feet. Not very creative for a poltergist if you ask me. And it probably showed up because Mercury is in retrograde.

As I was walking towards our "homemade armoire" in our bedroom that I built over twelve years ago, I saw my black case holding my first pair of bifocals that I don't use, fly off the top shelf and land three feet away—right in front of my feet—making a loud thud as it hit the floor. Hank and Thunder's hair went up on their back and they started barking immediately even though they are deaf, and Lucky jumped off of the bed and raced out of the bedroom screaming at the top of his lungs. He hates our poltergist.

To say the least I was startled too, so I picked up the  dusty case and opened it. Fortunately my bifocals were not damaged so I closed the case and put it back where I always keep it which is far back on the shelf. "You got me again," I said before turning around and heading back to the kitchen so I could take one more baby Aspirin for my heart.

Then I took a shower while Thunder, Hank, Toto and Little Girl bravely stood guard for me at the bathroom door entrance. Needless to say our little bathroom was standing-room-only. I did appreciate their protectiveness even though I wasn't scared of our poltergist with such a limited imagination. Then I opened up all of the windows.

As I walked around smudging the trailer with some sweet smelling sage from New Mexico, I  thought about what I would do if I were a poltergist. I know for certain that I would be a lot more creative than ours and do cool stuff like move pictures and things around, and hide things, etc. but I would never throw things off of shelfs or fling things from the top of the refrigerator like ours always does because someone could get hurt. I am positive that I would definitely be a cool poltergist unlike the boring one that we have.

Afte I smudged the trailer I went outside to say hello to Lisa, Matt and Meghann. First I visited with Meghann who was inside Ben Stiller's and Gracie's pen playing with them and giving them kisses even though they were covering her in mud. Then Matt walked up or should I say sauntered up wearing his new straw cowboy hat and he gave me a hug. "Is the cowboy hat helping you meet girls?" I asked. Matt blushed and then he shook his head up and down as Lisa walked up wearing a big smile on her face that we haven't seen for days.

"See, Matt! We were right," Lisa teased. "We told you that girls love cowboys..." Meghann, Lisa and I laughed as Matt continued to blush and shake his head. Then he saw Tony in Kermit and took off in his direction.

"Well, it looks like Mr. Rogers and Miss Dee have found their forever home!" I said. "Last Friday this really nice woman from Fort Worth called me and we talked for over thirty minutes about Mr. Rogers and Miss Dee. She told me that she wanted to adopt them and she was willing to be patient and work out their problems. She wants them to be indoor and outdoor dogs and I really liked her. She told me that she can't come down here until May 15th. Isn't that great news! And it looks like Paul McCartney is going to be living in Austin real soon!" Lisa and Meghann were thrilled with my new news about the dogs.

Early this evening I went outside while T. was in his office plowing and planting on his virtual farms. I mowed the grass outside of our front gate on the riding lawn mower, and then I pushed mowed more of the rescue ranch for almost two hours. I love getting the extra exercise and the rescue ranch is starting to look well manicured again.

Y'all have a great evening!

Day O!

At six-thirty this evening before sitting down at the kitchen table to write tonight's blog, I turned off 'Wheel of Fortune' and turned on my Himalayan salt lamp and lit some pinion pine incense to set the mood. Then I turned on my Bose iDock and cranked it up a few notches. Neil Young started singing, Sugar Mountain, one of my favorite songs and I was ready to write! Unfortunately, Neil is not one of Tony's favorite singers, because he only likes country music, so he went back to his office to harvest a strawberry crop.

Today has been absolutely wonderful! I woke up at six o'clock and fed our dogs and Lucky. By nine-thirty the sun was shining outside and I had made breakfast for T. and me, washed and dried a load of clothes and had walked eight miles with Leslie Sansone! As I write this Harry Belafonte is now singing, Day O! I love him and that song.

After getting cleaned up, I checked my e-mail. My good friend Mari, of the famous NoMads, sent me a video to watch and she warned me to grab some kleenex because it would make me cry. I heeded her advice sort of. Since I didn't have any kleenex tissues in the trailer, I grabbed a roll of Scott toilet paper and then sat down at the kitchen table and watched the video Just One Dog and I cried as I watched it. It is a beautiful video about shelter dogs and I hope that y'all will check it out, because it is not depressing but heartwarming.


As I was wiping away my tears, Tony came inside the trailer and said, "Lobo has just been adopted to a nice young couple! You need to get his adoption papers ready. Why are you crying, Nance?" I told him about the touching video that I had just watched and he gave me a big bear hug, then he went back outside.


As soon as I had filled out Lobo's adoption papers, I went outside to meet the people adopting Lobo. (Paul McCartney is now singing Hey Jude from his live Back in the USA CD! It is so fantastic! He now has the men in the audience singing a verse, and now it is the women's turn! It is definitely one of his best albums ever! ) 


As I walked down to Lobo's pen, I saw Jim, our great dog walking volunteer, coming in with Lucy and Ashley Judd! I could see that the dogs were really happy, because their tails were wagging high! When I reached Lobo's and Layla's pen Lisa was inside their pen getting goodbye kisses from Lobo! He was all over her and so happy! "Nancy, I am so happy for Lobo getting adopted, but I am also sad, because I wanted to adopt him. I love this dog." Here is a picture of  Lobo kissing Lisa goodbye!

Matt, Lisa, Tony and I visited with Jill and her husband as Jill filled out Lobo's adoption papers. We all felt good about the adoption even though Lisa and I teared up as they drove away with Lobo. Good luck Lobo! We love you! Have a great life!

After Lobo left, I went over to the Lodge to tell Kinky about our first great adoption for 2010! Kink was thrilled with the news, and then he teased me relentlessly about our "Will Bark For Food" bet. Saying things like: "Make sure I see the fabrics before you reupholster the sofa and chairs," and "Nance, when are you going to going to start cleaning up the Lodge? I hope that you will do it while I am on the road..."


My response to his kidding remarks were, "Kinky, I promise you that I am going to win this bet! If you want to borrow one of my vacuum cleaners, Hazel or Witch Hazel just let me know..." Here is the artwork I made for our "Will Bark For Food" campaign. I used Toto and Blue's picture!

Tony treated Lisa, Matt and me to lunch today! We went to the Apple Store in Medina and laughed throughout our entire lunch! Lisa and Matt are two very funny and witty people, and Tony and I really enjoyed our lunch with them!


When we got back to the rescue ranch, Lisa and Matt visited with our precious pigs, and then they started walking our dogs again! 


This evening before setting the mood to write this blog, I checked out the latest comments made on my blog and burst out laughing when I read them! Enjoy!

 Mari of the NoMads said...

Now Nancy, I'm not saying that I'm betting on Kinky to win, but let's just say that I recommend that you ask for donations not only to Utopia Animal Rescue, but also to the expense of reupholstering certain chairs and a sofa.....

January 4, 2010 9:30 PM

 cousin nancy said...

Good morning, Mari! I bet you that I win!

January 5, 2010 5:52 AM

Anonymous said...

bet you both win:)

January 5, 2010 7:31 AM

Anonymous said...

ok you all. let's help the winners win :) my 5 bucks in the mail today...

January 5, 2010 8:18 AM

 DY_Goddess said...

Sounds like a win/win situation to me ; ))

January 5, 2010 9:17 AM

Mari of the NoMads said...

OMG - does that mean I'd have to go to the Old Timer with Tony and scoop even MORE poop than I do around here with OUR dogs if you win? And surely not the walk with Leslie Sansone - YOU already do that for me!YIKES!

January 5, 2010 11:23 AM

cousin nancy said...

Hi everyone! Thank y'all for the comments they have made me smile and laugh out loud!

Anon, I hope that I really do win, because I really don't want to clean the Lodge or reupholster Kinky's couch and chairs, again! I'm too old for that kind of stuff and I might get thread poisioning! If I do lose the bet, I have already decided that I will go to the Salvation Army store in Kerrville and just buy Kinky some new used furniture! And, instead of cleaning the Lodge, I have decided that I will just give Kinky my beloved Space Ship and suggest that he move into it. He could use the newly built breakfast nook that I built as his office/kitchen table, and he could call it his "Portable Lodge On Wheels!" Thank you for sending the $5.00 for our "Will Bark For Food Campaign!"

Fay, I hope that it is a win/win situation too, but honestly I would love to win so I could shoot video clips of Kinky hanging out with the old timers in Medina, talking about the weather, etc., then showing Kinky actually working with Tone in the dog pens, and him doing some serious farm work chores with T. on Tony's computer, but the best video would be the one with Kinky 'walking the walk' with Leslie and me! That video would be priceless! Trust me, Kinky would be huffing and puffing the entire time and I would be chasing him around the 'big room' with an ashtray!

And Yes, Mari, you would have to do it all! The Old Timer would be fun, the poop scooping with Tony would be a breeze for you, too since you already have your hands full with all of your dogs, and the virtual farming would be easy since it is make believe and there's no heavy lifting involved! And I would love for you to meet Leslie! She's a kick!

January 5, 2010 7:23 PM

Y'all have a great evening and wish me luck on my bet with Kinky! If I win the bet, I promise that you will love the video clips! It is now nine fifteen and Sting is singing, If You Love Somebody! Good Night.

I Love Paul McCartney!

Yesterday morning, our good friends, P&P, aka Patty K. and Peggy R., came out to see us! As soon as they got out of their car after hugs, it was non-stop laughter! They brought Tony and me some of Patty's chocolate birthday cake, and it was delicious! The girls also brought us two boxes of fine wine, which is now sitting in our (closet) wine cellar chilling. I can't help but laugh, because right now, T. and I have an over abundance of boxed 'spirits' out here. I guess you could say Tony and I are going through a 'spiritual thing,' or we have been receiving gifts 'to enlighten us.'

As always Peggy and Patty didn't stay long enough, but it is probably a good thing that they left when they did, because my back was starting to hurt, because of so much laughing! 

Early Saturday evening, Kinky arrived back at the ranch! Ben, Tony and I went over to the Lodge to see him, so we could catch up with each other's news. We had a fun visit.

This morning I got up early and walked six miles, because we had a dog coming in. At eleven o'clock, Marlin, a six month old wannabe Labrador, arrived! He is precious, sweet and I want him, but I can't because we have four assisted living dogs, two eight year old dogs, and Lucky the cat. 

I spent nearly twenty minutes with him, in his pen, trying to capture a great picture of Marlin, but he was too fast for me. Here is the only descent picture that I got of him. Tomorrow I plan to shoot him until I get a better picture to post on utopiarescue.com.

After lunch, Buttermilk took us to Kerrville, so we could buy our dogs, and our Thanksgiving dinners. We figured that by going today, we would beat the crowd, but we were wrong! I think everyone had the same idea we had, because H.E.B. was packed full of holiday dinner shoppers.

We used two carts to shop. Tony's cart was reserved for our dog's Thanksgiving dinner, and I pushed the cart for T.'s and my turkey day dinner. We decided it was best to stay together to shop, because Tony had forgotten to bring his cell phone, so Tony chased me around the grocery store, and he only rear ended me once. He told me it was accident, as he laughed his head off on isle three.

It took us over forty minutes to fill our baskets on wheels. Tony's basket was more expensive than mine, because he purchased four and a half dozen of eggs, two large jars of minced garlic, fifteen pounds of ground turkey, five huge bags of stuffing, four giant bags of mixed vegetables, three bags of cheddar cheese, six cans of Alpo prime cuts, three large bottles of olive oil, and large sack of dog food—for our rescue dog's Thursday cooked dinner. I guess because of the economy, this year's dog dinner cost more than it ever has—$150.22, but it is well worth it, seeing those dog's tails wagging wildly with excitement, and knowing that they will get second servings, too!

When we got back to the rescue ranch, after unloading all of the grocery bags in the barn, we came inside the trailer to find that we had just missed a call from our good friend, and dog walking volunteer, Lisa. Tony called her back immediately, because she wanted to bring some friends out, who wanted to adopt one of our dogs.

Forty-five minutes later, Tone and I were outside, giving Lisa's friends a tour of the rescue ranch, so they could meet all of our super dogs. Thirty minutes later, I was inside the trailer filling out Paul McCartney's adoption papers! I love Paul McCartney, and I was so happy for him! Today was finally his day to get adopted!

Yesterday and today have been great! And you know—all you need is love.

P.S. Happy Birthday, Brian!

Y'all have a great evening!

Don't Count On Us!

Today has been another great one for me! This morning I walked six fast miles with the Sansone Squad, then Kinky called me, because he was concerned about Mr. Magoo not feeling well. After I had showered and dressed, Kinky called me, again. "I'm leaving Austin, now," Kinky said. "What do you think I should do about Magoo?"

"I think he needs to go to the vet, and get some laxatives, Kink. His tail is still wagging, but he's not walking right. Tony and I have to go to Kerrville this morning to buy some dog food, and we could take Gooie in with us and drop him off at Hoegemeyer's if you want us to."

"I don't know, Nance. Goo really hates going to the clinic..."

At ten-thirty, Buttermilk took T. and me over to the Lodge to pick up Mr. Magoo. Ten miles from Hoegemeyer Animal Clinic, I called Kinky from my cell phone. "Kinky, we're about ten minutes from Hoegemeyers. Gooie is in the backseat and wagging his tail."

"Great! I'm about fifteen minutes away from Kerrville. I'll meet y'all at Hoegemeyer's. Thank you and Tony, for bringing Gooie in for me."

After we hung up, I punched in Wolfmueller's Book phone number. "Wolfmueller's Books. This is Mary Jo."

"Hi, Mary Jo. This is Nancy. Are Jon and Sandy around?"

"Jon is, but he is with a customer. Give me your number and I will have him call you back in a few minutes."

"I can't, because I don't know my cell phone number. I'll call back in a few minutes. Bye." A few minutes later, as we passed by Albertson's, I called Wolfmueller's, again and Jon answered the phone. "Hi Jon, it's Nancy."

"I know," John said.

"We're heading to Hoegemeyer's to drop off Mr. Magoo, and we were wondering if Sandy and you wanted to eat lunch with us at Francisco's? Kinky might be joining us, too."

"Mary Jo and I were right. We figured that was what you were calling about. Sandy is not here, and my brother and his wife, from Oregon, are down here visiting us, and they are eating lunch with us today, and I don't know what their plans are or where they want to go eat. They are running late, too. So, don't count on us."

When we pulled into Hoegemeyer's parking lot, Gooie seemed fine and jumped out of the Explorer and followed us into the clinic, which was full of people with their best friends, needing to see the doctors. As we were explaining to Susan Kelley why we were there—Kinky walked into the clinic, and Goo was so happy to see him!

After Kinky bent down and kissed Goo-man, he spoke with Susan about his fourteen year old dog. Susan suggested that we leave Mr. Magoo at the clinic, so Dr. Rydberg could check him out and suggested that Kinky come back in an hour. The three of us went outside to our vehicles and discussed having lunch, even though Kinky wasn't hungry. Then we took off.

When we got to Wolfmueller's Books, Mary Jo was there, and she told us that Sandy and Jon had left in their van, to go eat lunch somewhere, so we walked out of the bookstore, and headed down the block to eat at Francisco's. Halfway there we saw Kinky walking towards us! Kinky joined us for lunch, but he didn't eat. Our meals were delicious and Kinky and I talked about the books that we are self-publishing.

After lunch, the three of us walked back to Wolfmueller's. Jon and Mary Jo were the only ones there—then the bookstore's population began to swell rapidly. In no time at all, Jon's younger brother, Chuck, came in, then Sandy, then Chuck's wife, Allenda. A few minutes later, Kathleen Keen, Robert Earl's sweet wife, entered the bookstore from the rear door, while Ridge came through the front door!

After a few introductions, we all started visiting with one another! Sandy showed us some hilarious pictures in a Mount Everest book, Kathleen told us some really funny Robert Earl stories, and we talked about how much all of us loved Miles of Chocolate, etc.! Twenty minutes later, the fun unplanned party ended, and we all went our separate ways.

When Tony and I drove into the rescue ranch—Paul McCartney was back in his old pen, and there was a note stuck under's Trigger's windshield wiper! The couple's note basically said that Paul had eaten their two-thousand dollar dining table, and they could not afford Paul's expensive tastes.

Mr. Magoo is doing fine, and he is back at the ranch! Y'all have a great evening!

P.S. I was able to spend three hours today on my book! And, I am already halfway there!

All You Need Is Love!

Friday evening, near dark-thirty, Tony was loading Trigger's bed with our portable puppy pen, a large crate, towels, a blanket, a water bowl, a case of bottled water, our card table, and two metal folding chairs, while I stuffed ranch brochures, puppy adoption forms, a clipboard with pens, paper towels, a dog leash, business cards, and three big rocks into Trigger's cab. When the Eternal Squirrel, on Yoda's grave lit up—we were set and ready to go! Ready to go to bed, that is, because morning was coming early for us.

Saturday morning, by the dawn's early light, T. and I were in Outer Space—drinking organic coffee, while anxiously waiting for Churchill to crow his first, funny 'crock-ar-droodle-droo' for the day, but that never happened. We figured that he must have stayed up too late.

Around eight-thirty, Tony went to do his morning chores, and I went over to Kinky's for a short visit, because Tone and I needed to leave the rescue ranch no later than nine-thirty, so we could meet Jan and Todd, our friends/volunteers, at Pet Supplies Plus! They had volunteered to sit from ten until two, out front, at the popular pet store, to help us hopefully find forever homes for Oprah, Ellen Degeneres and Bandit!

Trigger pulled up, in front of Pet Supplies Plus at ten o'clock—we were on time! After Tony unloaded the truck bed,and I had unloaded the cab, I went inside and introduced myself to Susan, the store manager, to thank her for helping us. She was real nice, and she gave us some donated dog food! Here is a picture I took before we had everything set up. I've titled it, "Jurassic Bark!"

Todd and his better half, Jan, showed up a few minutes after ten! After handshakes and hugs, they unloaded their car—unfortunately, I don't know its name, but I will find out. To our surprise, Jan and Todd have made up some color brochures with all of our dog's pictures on it, so that people could look to see if we had a muttigree they might be interested in! It was impressive and I loved it! They also had made up a cute donations jar, and they wore their Utopia volunteer t-shirts! I loved it and I had my fingers crossed, that those three cute puppies would get adopted to super homes!

After we had discussed everything that needed to be discussed, and they were ready, set, go—I shot them! Then Trigger took us back to the rescue ranch.

When T. and I got home, Carlton had taken four messages for us. All four messages were from people, who had been to Pet Supplies Plus, who had met and talked with Jan and Todd! I rapidly returned the four calls! All four of them had questions about a dog that they might be interested in, and they all paid me compliments on how nice, friendly and professional— Jan and Todd had been! And yes—I loved it, and I love Jan and Todd!

At one-forty-five, the phone rang—it was Jan! "Nancy! I am so excited! Oprah and Bandit just got adopted to some really nice people!"


"That is fantastic news, Jan! Congratulations! Did they go to the same home?"

"No! Todd and I are so happy for them!" Jan exclaimed.

"Me, too!" I said. "Tone is on his way to the store now. Thank y'all so much! You just made my day!"

After we hung up, I punched in Kinky's phone number and told him the great news! He was thrilled!

At two-fifty-one, the phone rang—it was Jan! "Nancy, I am so excited! Ellen just got adopted to a great home! We are so excited! We can't believe it! Tony's here. Do you want to talk to him?"

"Yes, please." Tony sounded as excited about Ellen and the puppies getting adopted, as did Jan! The three adoptions had made my day or so I thought.

As soon as I got off of the phone—I called Kinky to tell him the great news about Ellen—he was thrilled, again, and he could not believe that all three of those precious puppies had found their forever homes! Before hanging up, he asked me to be sure and thank Jan and Todd for him!

Thirty minutes later or ten minutes before T. came home—the phone rang—it was Todd! "Nancy, I just wanted to give you a heads up. Some people are following Tony home—they're interested in Henry! And, I want to tell you that this very nice woman, Bairbre, that we met today, wants to help the rescue ranch. She is a quilt artist, and she wants to make a quilt to donate to the rescue ranch, to be auctioned off at the next event, because she loves what we are doing! In fact, tears came to her eyes, when we were telling her about Utopia! I put her card inside the brochure sack."

After thanking Todd, we talked about what a great day it had been, and I thanked them for helping us. After we got off of the phone, I decided to go ahead and get Henry's adoption papers ready—just in case, they wanted to adopt him!

Tony and the people showed up around four o'clock, and we gave the nice couple and their kids, a tour of the rescue ranch. At six o'clock Paul McCartney got adopted! They loved Henry, but Sir Paul stole their hearts!

At five minutes past six, I called Kinky one more time, to tell him about Paul! This time Kinky was shocked with my great news! He was so happy that we had four adoptions!

Yesterday was one great day for our rescue ranch, three precious pups and a lucky dog named Paul McCartney! I want to thank Jan and Todd for going that extra mile for our dogs! We love y'all!

Y'all have a great evening! And remember—All You Need Is Love! It really works!

P.S. The three big rocks were used as paperweights.

Tum Tum—In The—Dum-Dum!

Today was a great day! After walking five miles with 'you know who,' I showered, dressed and then Kinky called me! He and I talked about the rescue ranch, as I pushed Hazel around the trailer floor—hoping to catch that renegade scorpion—that bit Tony behind the ear.

After disconnecting with Kinky, Hazel went back into the closet. Then Ben and Aaron came into the trailer to discuss what needed to get done today. We went into Outer Space, to discuss it, as the much needed rain pounded the rescue ranch! After our discussion and a fun visit, just as Ben and Aaron were leaving to go back to work, a cute, black and white, Mini Cooper pulled up to the trailer.

Aaron and Ben introduced themselves to the couple, and suggested they come up to the trailer to talk to Tone and me. "Hi, I'm Fran, and this is my son, David." We shook hands with them, and then invited them to go into Outer Space with us. While we visited with them, Linda T. showed up—ready to walk our dogs with Aaron! Since it was pouring cats and dogs, Linda went to the barn with Aaron and Ben, to wait out the rain. When it quit raining, she and Aaron started walking our dogs! Thank you Linda T. and Aaron!

Tony and I enjoyed our visit with Fran and David! They left a little before noon, to return to Austin. Then Kinky called to tell me that Stephen, from Houston, a big time animal lover, who wanted to see our rescue ranch, and talk some business with Kinky—had called, and would be arriving soon. Then I quickly fixed Tone, Ben and me lunch—which later turned out to be a big mistake for me!

Around two o'clock, Kinky brought Stephen over to the rescue ranch for a visit and a tour. We first went into Outer Space and had a great visit! I really liked Stephen! Then the three of us gave Stephen a 'Grand Tour,' after we had gone into the Space Ship—which seemed to really impress Stephen!

I think the highlight of Stephen's rescue ranch tour was meeting David Beckham! He fell in love with our little soccer playing—wild hog! Stephen also liked meeting Paul McCartney, in person, and our precious little L.T.! We finished up the ranch tour at Kinky's truck—Mr. Green Jeans, where we hung out and visited for another thirty minutes. Then Kinky and Stephen left the rescue ranch, to discuss some more business, over at the Lodge.

After they had left, I was feeling a little puny—my stomach wasn't happy with the lunch that I had prepared, so I layed down, for a short nap. I never fell to sleep, and forty minutes later, at five-thirty, I ended my sleepless nap with our dogs. My dogs were upset, but not as much as my stomach was! I took a couple of Tony's Rolaids, and then I got dressed, so T. and I could go over to Carol's for her Costa Rican dinner—with Lorri, Malea, John, Brenda and Carol! I knew it was going to be a fun evening, and we could not wait to get over to Carol's ranch!

When Tony and I arrived at Carols, her great dogs Scout, Paladin and Jake were the first to greet us! I loved it! Her dogs are way too cool! Tone and I were disappointed when we learned that Brenda had to get back to San Antone, and wasn't going to be there—she is a really funny person and her laughter is contagious! "John is on his way," Carol announced, as we went down and sat down by her lake. Then we caught up with each other's news.

When a mild cold front blew in, we moved the party, up to Carol's deck—to continue our fun visit. Then John and his dog, Dexter showed up! Oh my gosh, I love Dexter! He is part Rottweiler and is so lucky—to be John's best friend!

Carol's dinner was absolutely delicious—everyone cleaned their plates! Unfortunately, I couldn't eat much food, because my tum-tum was in the dum-dum, so to speak.

During dinner, I told everyone about a certain, super cool, famous celebrity—musician, who was coming to Kinky's Ranch Round Up event on June 13th—and it blew everyone away! "He is coming with friends, from Houston, and he is not going to perform, but I hope that he does. I love him and his band, and cannot wait to meet him!" I said.

I wish that I could tell y'all his name, but I am sworn to secrecy—and Kinky would kill me, if I leaked it on the internet. Sorry.

My upset stomach is finally starting to calm down—thank goodness! I think it was caused by the fried scallops that I made for lunch. I haven't eaten anything fried in over two years. I'm fixin' to go to bed and sleep in late.

Y'all have a great evening!

It Only Takes One Bad Apple...!

First off, I apologize for not blogging yesterday. I walked five fast miles, got cleaned up, and then Kinky showed up with some visitors—Kari, a reporter and her partner, Bobby. They were real nice people and after giving them a tour of the rescue ranch, we went into Outer Space and had a really fun visit. After that, I went outside, to take some pictures of Paul McCartney, the dog we rescued a few days ago, so I could get Pat, to post him up on our web site.

Our good friend, Carol, came over around five-thirty, and we had Happy Hour in Outer Space! After we had caught up with each other's news, I told her about 'Playing For Change.' She seemed really interested in watching it, so we came inside the trailer, and the three of us watched it! Needless to say, Carol loved watching 'Stand By Me,' and the three of us all got goose bumps, as we watched it—it touched our hearts! Before going home, Carol told us that she couldn't wait to share it with all of her friends around the world!

This morning, Tony nearly scared me to death, when he came home from the Old Timer! "Morning, Tone," I said, as he walked inside our trailer.

"Good morning, Babe," He said, as he put away his camera. "I almost woke you up last night."

"What? What are you talking about?"

"Last night, around two in the morning—a scorpion bit me behind my right ear."

"Oh my gosh!" I said, feeling sick at the thought of scorpions. "Are you okay? What happened to the scorpion?"

"I'm okay, now, but last night my tongue got thick, and my nodes swelled up on my neck. I took some antihistimine, and then I
stayed up for the rest of the night, because the pain was killing me."

"T., I am so sorry. You should have woken me up." I said, as I cringed at the thought of a scorpion in our bed last night. And, I hate to admit it, but I also thought—better him than me. "What did you do with the scorpion?" I asked, again.

"I threw him against the wall, it was a gut reaction, and I couldn't find him this morning."

"You mean he is still somewhere in our bedroom?" I said softly, feeling sick and more than a little bit scared.

"Sorry, Nance. I was in too much pain. He must have fallen from the ceiling, and landed on my pillow and bit me. That's all that I can figure."

"Don't apologize, Tone. I'm just glad that you are okay. And please, if that ever happens again—wake me up!" Tony then showed me his spider bite. There was a big red, puffy ring around the bite, and it really grossed me out, and gave me bad goose bumps.

After breakfast, I walked five miles, again. Then I had to work on some artwork, for a new sign that we are fixing to have made for our rescue ranch, while Ben, Aaron and Tony put up some new fencing outside.

This afternoon, Buttermilk, Tony and I went to Kerrville to get groceries at H.E.B. Tony and I turned on our cell phones, then he dropped me off at the store's front door, and then he went to fill Buttermilk up with gas.

After speed shopping through the store, my last isle was the fruit section. I grabbed bananas, lemons and then I went over to the apple area. I pulled a plastic shopping bag from the roller, and then, one by one, added four apples. I decided to add one more apple, to the see through sack, and that's when the bottom fell out! Yes, five apples fell to the floor, and started rolling away from me, as I stood there in disbelief!

I was so embarrassed, so I did the only thing that I could do—I laughed out loud, as the runaway apples slowed their pace! I looked up, and this sweet, young couple with a darling little baby—smiled as they stared at me! "Looks like it only takes one bad apple..." I joked. They and several other people, started laughing with me, while the nice young man—helped me gather up my MacIntosh crop!

After thanking the kind, wannabe, Johnny Appleseed, for his help, I went to check out my groceries. As the friendly checker scanned my items, I called Tone to find out where they had parked.

As Tony loaded up our canvas bags, full of fresh fruits and vegetables, I told him about my 'Bad Apple' accident on isle one.

Tone must had found it pretty funny, because he wouldn't quit laughing. "Did you find all of the apples?" T. asked.

"Nope. We only found four of them. I think 'number five' must have rolled under the bin and was hiding." Then we returned to the rescue ranch.

"Nance, this is Kinky—call me." That was the only message on the answering machine. I called Kinky, and then went over to the Lodge, for a short business meeting with him, then we went outside, and visited by the Friedman Family Bone Orchard.

I was back home by seven o'clock. Before writing this blog, I downloaded my pictures of Paul McCartney and out of ten shots, I picked this one to send to Pat to post on utopiarescue.com. The other photo, tongue-in-cheek, is too cute, and it made me laugh out loud, so here it is, too!.


Y'all have a great evening! I'm going to bed early, because I've got a busy day planned for tomorrow!
P.S. Paul McCartney is approximately one year old, and one super, fine dog! I wish that one of y'all would adopt him! He is well trained and ready to be someone's best dog ever!