Thank You, Karen and 'Erb Cares And Alfredo! We Love Y'all!

Today has been wonderful, but due to some predicted thunderstorms I've got to keep it short tonight. This morning right after we finished our chores outside, the dogs outside cranked up to let us know that someone was at our gate, so we jumped into Kermit to go see who was almost here. And it turned out to be a friendly FedEx man delivering a package from out dear friends, up in Boston—Karen and 'Erb Cares.

When we returned to The Cabin I immediately opened up their "Cares package" and I nearly fainted. Sweet Karen had sent me a beautiful turquoise bracelet that she had made especially for me for my 60th birthday, along with a very generous donation that they had made to our beloved rescue ranch. "Thank you, Karen for making me the prettiest bracelet in Texas and New Mexico and thank you and 'Erb for helping support our Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch. We love y'all and hope that your holiday season is filled with joy and the best ever! And please note that I am wearing my treasured bracelet that you made for me, as I type this and please know that I might not ever take it off, even though the picture does not do it justice."

Okay, it is now starting to rain pretty hard outside, but not thundering outside yet, thank goodness, so I hope that I can finish writing this post tonight. 

Before T. and I took off for Kerrville to run several errands, we picked up our mail on 16 and once again I nearly fainted when I opened up Alfredo's Priority Mail package. He's the super nice man who recently purchased a signed copy of David Woo's print of Kinky with one of our beautiful pigs that recently passed away. 

Alfredo had sent T. & me and Kinky handmade holiday cards that he had made especially for us and they were so awesome, it touched my heart, so I teared up, because of the love that I felt from his lovely holiday cards. 

When we met up with Kinky and our mutual dear friends Sage & Dylan Ferrero and Big G (One of the Hill Country's favorite DJ's) for a laughter-filled lunch, in Kerrtown—Alfredo's card touched Kinky's heart too. When he saw all of the detail work that Alfredo had put into making his card to him. Seriously, I don't think Kink or us have ever received such heartfelt cards. 

Alfredo's card to Kinky was unbelievably beautiful, because Alfredo had even put real wire strings on the small guitar, etc. Here is a picture of the inside of Tone's and my card and the front of the card that he had made for Kinky. "Thank you, Alfredo! We love your customized cards and Kink has asked me to please tell you, "That he wants to meet you," and so do we! You are one extremely talented artist with a heart filled of love."

Okay, it is now starting to rumble outside, so I must go now to unplug everything in The Cabin and I am so glad that I got to finish this post.

Y'all have a great evening and thank y'all for sending us some much needed rain!

'Erb Just Had A Birthday!

Today has been great, but tonight's blog is going to be short for two reasons. One, I spent almost all day preparing Tony's and my income taxes. Two, I cannot wait to sit down and watch Hallmark's movie, "The Lost Valentine" starring Betty White, who I absolutely adore and respect.

Tony and I had so much fun last night with Carol and James! Before James and Carol picked us up to go with them to the comedy club in Kerrville, we already knew that we were going to have a great time, because we love Carol and James, because they are two of the sweetest and nicest people we know.

On our way to Kerrville, we (mostly Carol and me) talked and laughed non-stop. And by the time we arrived at the Santo Coyote my back was already starting to ache, because of laughing too much. After we took our seats Carol took off to go powder her nose and when she came back from the "Little Girls Room" she was grinning ear to ear, because she had met one of the comedians.

After Carol told us about her meeting the nice, funny, woman comedian, we started telling stories about our youthful pasts and all of us were laughing so much about finding out who had worn long hair, an afro, smoked, etc.—I quickly realized that I didn't need to see comedians to make me laugh—I just needed Carol, James and Tony.

The comedy show was hilariously great and when it ended we (all of us) talked non-stop about the show, as James drove us home. And before we said goodbye to Carol & James we have decided to go again.

This morning Kinky called. "Nance, Sophie asked me to call you, because she wants to see you." Twenty minutes later I was over at the Lodge telling Kinky, Sophie and "The Boys" about our-night-out with Carol & James and the comedy club.

Before I left to come home Kinky's phone rang. "Hello, Herb!" Kinky said, as we sat outside on the porch with The Friedmans. "How are you  and Karen doing?..." A few minutes later, Kinky said, "Cousin Nancy is sitting here with me and she sends you her best...."

After Kinky said goodbye to Herb, who y'all know as 'Erb, because I pronounce it wrong, because I was taught that the "H" is silent from a communist in Fort Worth, Kinky and I started talking about how much we liked Herb and Karen. "I love them, Kinky," I said. "'Erb just had a birthday last week on the 27th and..."

Late this afternoon I took a tax break and went over to the Lodge to visit with Kinky, Dylan & Sage and in time flat—we were all laughing. Then Sage blew me out of the saddle when she told me that *&%#$@, a famous movie and television star, with a hit TV show,  liked her writing. I would tell you who he is, but first Sage has to give me her permission to make it public. Before leaving the Lodge I told Sage, "I am green with envy of you, because I love that actor so much and his show..."

Y'all have a great evening! I'm fixing to watch "The Lost Valentine!"

Kinky's Doing The Harley Show, Tuesday Morning, Live At 8:00!

This morning, after I had walked my six fast miles, and Tony had finished with his chores outside, he went to Medina to get some gas for Kermit and Buttermilk. Even though we are not driving Buttermilk right night, because the air conditioner is dead, and our hard hitting, rock tool, no longer seems to work—she needed gas.

When Tone returned, he apologized for being gone so long. "Nance, I'm sorry for being gone so long. On my way to Medina, I had to stop to help a man stand his Harley up, near Freeman Crossing."

"What happened? Was he hurt?"

"He took the turn too fast. It happened just before I got there," Tony said. "He was wearing leather and a helmet, and he just got skinned up a little. Then after I got gas, Ed asked me to help him lift an air tank, inside the Old Timer. Do you still want to go to Kerrville?"

"We have to. We're nearly out of groceries and cat food, and I need to go by Home Depot."

"Home Depot?" Tony asked. "What do we need..."

"The Eternal Squirrel died last night. It never came on." I said. "I need to buy a solar battery for it. Let's go." T. and I took off in Trigger.

I am going on my third Eternal Squirrel, not counting the one that I gave to Kinky for his Friedman Family Bone Orchard. Every time that they quit working—I threw them out, and bought another one. A few months ago, when I was in Outer Space, visiting with Ben and Cindy, I found out that all I have to do to fix the dead squirrel, is to replace their solar battery. I never knew they had batteries.

When we arrived in Kerrville, we decided to eat an early lunch at our favorite Chinese restaurant, before running our errands. Tony ordered sweet and sour shrimp, with a medium sized bowl of hot and sour soup, and I ordered their house fried rice with shrimp, and a medium sized bowl of hot and sour soup. After our waiter brought out our two teas, he returned with two giant bowls of hot and sour soup! "I apologize for the extra large bowls, we are out of our medium sized bowls. I just broke the last one. I am giving you our large serving, but not charging you extra." Then he walked away.

Tony and I love their hot and sour soup, but our bowls were so big, people were staring at us, as we ate our soups! After my fifth spoonful, I coughed and my nose started running, because of the hot spicy soup. Then the same thing happened to Tony. And, about a minute later, a man and woman coughed, and teared up as they ate their soup. "Tony, you can tell who is eating the hot and sour soup, because of the coughing and people blowing their noses!" I whispered. Then a man coughed, at the table next to us. We looked over, and he was eating the hot and sour soup, too!

When Tone and I had nearly emptied our gigantic soup bowls, our lunch was served. Three minutes into our meal, Tony put his fork down and so did I. "Are you as full as me?" I asked. Tony nodded yes, then we started laughing at ourselves. Tone flagged our waiter and asked him for two take-out boxes. We laughed as we filled the boxes with our uneaten meals. After paying our bill, we went to H.E.B. and Home Depot, and then we came home.

As soon as we got home, I put a new battery into the Eternal Squirrel!

Then I helped Tony bring the groceries into the trailer. While we unpacked our groceries, we listened to Carlton's latest phone messages that he had taken. There were only two, and they were both from Kinky. "Call me, Nance!" Kinky said. "I've got to talk to you. Please call me as soon as you get this." The second one was an hour and ten minutes later, "Tone? Nance?" Kinky said. "Where are y'all? Nance, please call Kinky. Thank you very much!"

After putting up the toilet paper, I punched in Kinky's phone number. Five minutes later, I was over at the Lodge, talking to Kinky, in the kitchen. Then we carried our conversation outside, by the Friedman Family Bone Orchard. An hour later, we were in Kinky's office discussing our books, and that's when I saw a picture and picked it up. "Kinky is that you?" Kinky looked at it and laughed.

"Yes, Nance," Kinky said. "That's me with Dylan, when we were in the Peace Corps. Dylan found it the other day, and he made me a copy."

"Wow! I love it, Kink! How old were you then?"

"I was twenty-three or twenty-four," Kinky said. "I was in the Peace Corps from '66 to '68." Then Kinky started laughing, again. Here's Dylan Ferrero's picture of him and Kinky:

Kinky then invited me to go on a walk down to the creek, with him and The Friedmans. We took off. Twenty minutes later, after the dogs had tired from swimming and fetching, we headed back to the Lodge, but when we reached the area where Kinky had buried his beloved cats, Cuddles and Mr. Scat, Kinky said, "Lets write the word 'Love' using rocks, to honor Cuddles and Scatman."

Even though it was pretty hot, I wasn't tired, so I helped Kinky gather big rocks, by the creek, to write the word love. Just when I thought we were done, Kinky walked over to an old oak tree, where he picked up a large heart-shaped rock, and then he placed it in the middle of the 'O.' It took us about twenty minutes to complete his project and I loved the results of our efforts. Here's a picture of it, that I took later in the day:

Before I go watch the movie, The Secret Life of Bees, I forgot to tell you that this afternoon, while over at Kinky's, I gave him a copy of the Two Wolves and he absolutely loved reading it, and he thanked me for giving it to him!

Y'all try to have a great evening, even though Mercury went into retrograde today!

P.S. Kinky is doing Harley in the morning, live at 8:00 CST! I hope that y'all can watch it! And, I just looked outside, and the Eternal Squirrel is glowing! I love it!

New World Record—Four Dog Hike!

Yesterday, Kinky decided to start a new health regimen. It is pretty simple—eat healthier and exercise more! So this morning, after Tony and I drank our super healthy smoothies, I made smoothies for Will, Kinky and Ben. The ingredients I used were: ginger, almonds, orange juice, pomegranate juice, kale, banana, apple, carrot, radish, flax seeds, barley grass powder, honey, blue berries and strawberries. Here is a picture before I pulverized it in Jaws, my mighty Vita-Mix machine.

Tony and I took my concoction over to the Lodge. They drank it and loved it. Then T. and I came home. Tony went outside to work and I stayed inside to workout. We're talkin' six miles, again!

At twelve-thirty, the phone rang—it was Kinky. "Nance, I've got blog material for you. Call me." I picked up the phone and called him, then I went over to the Lodge!

After saying hello to Ben, Will and Dylan Ferrero, Kinky walked into the kitchen. "Nance, the four of us just climbed Echo Hill, with four dogs, Brownie, Penny, Chumley and Mr. Magoo! We have set a new world record! Dylan and I are the eldest human beings to ever climb Echo Hill! Dylan is sixty-six, and I am almost sixty-five! Ben and Will were our Sherpas, and I am sure that in over sixty years or maybe longer, no man our age, has ever climbed to the summit!"

"Wow! I said. "What's a Sherpa?"

Kinky spelled it, and then quickly explained it to me. Then I suggested that we go outside so I could shoot them. After I shot them, I asked Kinky to do a video for me and I have posted it on the sidebar under favorite video clips. And, Kinky was great in it! Here are three pictures, that Ben Welch took on their expedition and the last picture I took of the four brave men, who made history today at Echo Hill Ranch!





Here's the video clip of the Four Dog Hike!

Y'all have a great evening!

The Arts & Entertainment Channel!

Warning! This is another long one!

Tony and I arrived at the Cowboy Steak House, around a quarter till seven. Kinky was standing outside, talking to Rambam. We visited with them for a few minutes, and then the four of us went inside—to the bar, to visit with Sage and Dylan Ferrero, Copper Love, and to meet John Mankieiwicz!

After the handshakes, hugs and howdy doody's, I went back to the bar to visit with Copper. "Hello, Cousin Nancy," a woman said, sitting next to Copper. I knew the face, but I couldn't remember her name, then the man sitting next to the woman greeted me, too!

I said hello to them, and then Copper and I visited for a few minutes. Then I went back over to Tony, tugged on his sleeve and whispered, "Tony, who are those two people sitting next to Copper? They said hello to me, and I know we know them. And, they called me Cousin Nancy, too."

Tony looked over to see. "That's Randy and Lisa, Nance." I was so embarrassed! I love those two people. I then went back to where they were seated, and apologized to them for not recognizing them. They laughed about it, and we had a short visit.

Then John enters the bar, and Kinky introduces me to his friend, John! After handshakes, Kinky says, "John, Cousin Nancy is a writer, too, and she has a very popular blog, with a ton of fans."

"I know," John said. "I have read it." Oh my gosh! I couldn't believe my ears, and I was scared that my head was fixin' to swell, because this famous, great writer actually had read my blog! I was on cloud nine! I couldn't wait to tell Tone, so I took off!

"Tony! John Mankieiwicz has read my blog! He told me so! He was a writer for the popular television series, 'House,' during its first two years on the air! He has also written tons of articles for big named magazines, Playboy, Rolling Stone, and newspapers, etc.—that man knows how to write! I can't believe he has read my blog!" Tone was thrilled for me.

Then Abel, Rosie and Laura entered the bar, and there were more handshakes, hugs and howdy doody's. After a brief visit with them, Linda, another famous NoMad, enters the bar, and walks right up to T. and me, and catches us up on the NoMads latest dog agility victories! Then she left us, because she had to get back to work at the steak house. Then Kinky walks over to Tony and me.

"Nance, everyone has arrived. Linda told me that our table is ready. Would you and Tony go check it out in advance, while I roundup everybody?" Tony and I left the bar. Linda saw us, and showed us to our table.

Tony and I couldn't figure out where we should sit, so we finally sat down near the middle of the table—across from each other. In no time at all, everyone was seated at the table, and the fun began! The food was great, and so were the conversations!

My favorite part was listening to Kinky, John and Dylan talk about the past they had shared. They were backstage at 'The Last Waltz' concert at Winterland, and they told us some hilarious backstage stories, about their friends Mike Bloomfield, Eric Clapton, Van Morrison, Dr. John, Neil Young, etc.! I didn't want the evening to end, but unfortunately it did, and Trigger took Tony and me home.

This morning, I changed things up! While Aaron fed the dogs and cleaned their pens, Tony and I went to Randy and Lisa's Save Inn Restaurant for breakfast! And, yes it was delicious, too!

When we returned to the rescue ranch, I called Kinky to let him know we were back at the ranch, because John had wanted to come over to see our rescue ranch—he loves dogs, too! Needless to say—we gave him 'The Grand Tour!' John wanted to see our dogs first, so we took him to every pen to meet our dogs. He petted them and took many pictures of them. When he met David Beckham, our soccer playing wild hog, he must have shot him at least fifty times!

After the meet and greet with our dogs and pig, we took John into The Space Ship, and then went into Outer Space! Kinky and John swapped more old stories about their famous friends, and there was much laughter. Before they left, I gave John a tour of the trailer and my writing cabin! John liked them—especially my plastic garden tub!

After lunch, Kinky called to invite us to come over to the Lodge. "Nance, tell Tone, that last night, John beat me twice in pool. I want Tony to win back the title." Seven minutes later, Tony and I were at the Lodge—Copper, Sage and Dylan were there! "John," Kinky said. "I want you to play a game of pool with The Medina Bulldog."

Before the game commenced, John was given the pool playing name, 'The California Kid.' As John and Tony took turns sinking balls into the pockets, Copper and Kinky came up with a new name for John—The California Wussie, because of his finese with each of his shots. John liked it, and laughed, and then he added Mr. to his new moniker, and then sank the eight ball. Mr. California Wussie -1, Medina Bulldog -0.

After Tone's tragic loss, Kinky got out of his chair, went to the bookcase and grabbed something. "I want to give Mr. California Wussie a trophy for beating Tony and me in pool. Nance, grab your camera and let's all go outside for the award presentation." As we left the Lodge, everyone was laughing at the 'pool' trophy that Kinky had chosen.

Once outside, we decided to shoot a video of the event, for my blog. When everyone had taken their positions over by the Friedman Family Bone Orchard—I turned on the camera and the rest is history!

Before you watch the video clip, I need to tell you that John came to visit Kinky, because he is the writer for a new A & E television series—about Kinky's mystery novels! I can't wait for it to air! And, I wonder what actor is going to play the Kinkster! Here is a picture of John, after receiving his 'pool' trophy! I have posted 'The Pool Award' on the side bar and below, and I must apologize in advance for the shakiness in the video clip— I was laughing way too hard!

The Pool Award


Happy Birthday, again Fay! Y'all have a great evening!

True Love!

In the wee hours of the morning, Doug Everett and his fabulous crew, began cooking their authentic chuck wagon dinner, to be served later in the day, for over two hundred and forty people!

Saturday, at five in the morning, Tony and I were up! We fed our dogs and cat, and then T. took off to Medina to drink coffee with his friends. While he was away, I made Kinky’s giant birthday card, so everyone at the event could sign it! It looked okay, but it was not the best that I could do—after a sleepless night in Medina. After that, I dusted and vacuumed the trailer—just in case someone had to come inside!

When Tony returned around 7:45, I fixed him and Ben and me breakfast. Ben had spent the night in my writing cabin with his two dogs, Valerie and Penny. After breakfast, Ben went over to Kinky’s to help set up things.

When Tony and Aaron had finished feeding the dogs and cleaning their pens, they clipped on our walkie talkies, and went over to help Ben out. Then I grabbed a drinking glass, from the kitchen cabinet, and wrote the word ‘LOVE’ on it, and then I filled it with water. Then I took another aspirin for my heart, and then drank another glass of ‘worded water.’ I then said a few silent prayers for the event, and then I headed over to Kinky’s. By the time I had parked Trigger—I was filled with love, thanks to M. Emoto’s books—on the power of water! It really does work—I promise!

While Aaron and Ben set up the benches for the concert, A.J. Agiewich, Ben’s business merchandising partner, showed up, and he began setting up their merchandise tables, while Debora busily set up the items for the silent auction in the Gazebo.

After Tony and I had swept the leaves off of the Pavilion floor, the men went to fill the ice chests up with ice, and the water jugs, so I skipped over to the Lodge to see Kinky. His Lodge was full—everyone was in the kitchen and the vibes were great! His sweet sister, Marcie, who had flown in from Vietnam, for the event, was there, and the incredibly talented photographer, Brian Kanof, from El Paso, was there, too, with his better half—Jackie, and Jerome was there from Pasadena, Texas to help us! After a short visit with everyone, I left. I was on my way back to the rescue ranch to get ready, just as Dylan and Sage Ferrero arrived! They are our friends and had volunteered to help out with the parking over at Kinky’s.

By eleven thirty, our great friends and volunteers, Copper Love and Max Swafford were set up, outside of the rescue ranch, ready to greet our guests, and invite them to take a tour of the rescue ranch first, before going over to Kinky’s. Then our friends and wonderful volunteers, Carol Vail and Charlie Cooper arrived to help Tony and me give rescue ranch tours. Then Tony and Aaron arrived to help! We were ready for the event to start—let the fun begin!

At 12:00, Tony opened our rescue ranch gate, and the cars started arriving, and the nicest people on the planet, began walking into our rescue ranch—full of love and smiles and compliments! I don’t know if it was because I had drank those two glasses of ‘love worded water,’ that I saw things through rose-colored glasses, but all I know for sure was—love was definitely in everyone’s hearts! I loved it! Here are some pictures, that Tony and I took of the event! I wish that all of y’all could have been there!

Kinky giving tours of the rescue ranch!

Our dear friends, Dianne and Len Nowicki, showed up, and surprised me with a beautiful turtle for my birthday! It was absolutely gorgeous, and poor Len had to carry, the thirty pound turtle, all the way in! I love it and I plan to put it into Outer Space tomorrow! I gave them a tour of my Space Ship, and then we went into Outer Space for a fun visit! I love those two people!

“Welcome to the rescue ranch!” I said. “I’m Cousin Nancy. Where are y’all from?”

“California. I am Keith O., and this is my friend Jimmy, from San Antonio.”

“Keith?” I said. “Oh my gosh—I finally get to meet you in person, after all of these years!” We hugged and Tony shook hands with them. Then I invited them to go into Outer Space with me, for a visit!

Then our friend, Matt, from Austin, arrived with his latest pictures of Albert Einstein, a dog that we had rescued years ago! And, he joined us in Outer Space! It was a lot of fun and filled with laughter!

Here is a picture of the Gazebo full of items for the silent auction!

A picture of the people in line for their chuck wagon dinner! And, it was absolutely delicious and Kinky could not get over how great it was! He wants to use them again, for our future events!



Here is a picture that Tony took of Carol and Ben talking, with me in the background!

The concert:


P.S. After the concert, when I met Jimmie Dunn and his lovely wife, Nelda, from Arkansas, he confessed that he reads my blog, which absolutely delighted me! Then when he told me that he now has every book that Kinky has written, and his collection was now complete, because he had just bought a copy of “The Missing Puppet Head,” which is only available at Wolfmueller’s Books, where he had also purchased the fantastic book, “The Kinky Files,” the day before! I smiled, and then introduced him to the talented author, Max Swafford, who had written, “The Kinky Files”— because he was standing right behind us!

P.S.S. Love is definitely all you need—and it truly works! Thanks to everyone who came out to help us out on Saturday, and to everyone who has supported us through the years ! I love y’all so much! Have a great evening—I’m headed to bed, now—it’s past my bedtime! Good Night!