Pistol Packin' Mama!

Today Mama and I have been feeling much better. It's a good thing that I wrote early yesterday, because last night we had STORMS. It started raining heavy around eight-thirty last night, so I unplugged everything that needed to be protected, then I went to bed and it seems that every time that I was falling into a deep sleep the sky would light up followed by a big bang, causing Mama to jump off of the bed— barking loudly. So, this morning when I got up—I was pretty tired, because I never slept for more than 45 minutes at a time.

Early this afternoon, before Trigger took us to Kerrville, we stopped by to welcome Carol back home, because for the past two weeks she has been out in Arizona practicing her "cutting" on Pistol, her new cutting horse.

After howdies and hugs Carol took us up to the barn to meet Pistol. "He is a wonderful horse and Maya is in love with him already..." And when I laid my eyes on Pistol for the first time—I was in love too. As we petted Pistol and Maya, Carol told us, "When I called Lorri and Jeff to tell them about getting Pistol, Jeff tells Lorri to tell me that, "I am a Pistol packing mama." And I am..." Then we talked about the cool pictures that Lorri and Jeff had sent to me.

This afternoon before heading back to the ranch we stopped at Wild Birds Unlimited for two reasons; to see our friend Marguerite, who adopted Enzo 2 from us and to pick up some specialty Woodpecker bird seed that Jon and Sandy had raved so much about last week and had told us to get, as soon as possible.

We had a fun time catching up with Marguerite and hearing about Enzo's hilarious, latest escapades and Tony was beside himself inside the cool store, because he wanted to buy one of everything that he saw. "Tone, when we win the lottery, I want this wind chime for over $200.00 and you can buy everthing else," I teased.

On our way home Tony stopped at the last Mini-Mart on 16, before leaving Kerrville—to buy a lottery ticket for us. Wish us luck.

Y'all have a great evening! And don't forget that tomorrow is Ben Welch's birthday!

Best Book Signing That I've Ever Been To! or The Art Of Racing To Hayden's Book Signing!

Well, I didn't lie. This morning Tony and I got up really early and we did our morning chores outside when the sun peaked over the high bluff behind our trailer, to shed some light on us and our dogs, pigs and even the deer, that we feed year round, seemed a little confused by our early morning start. Then we came inside and ate breakfast and then cleaned up and dressed for Hayden Hickner's very first book signing in Medina.

Our dear friend Sandy Wolfmueller arrived around 8:15, so we could visit a little, before we went to Hayden's book signing and during that time we gave Kinky a wake up call, I loaned Sandy a couple of my Leslie Sansone workout videos to sample while we listened to Clint Morgan's fabulous CD.

When it was time for us to leave we decided to ride with Sandy, so we could visit some more and leave Trigger parked down by Highway 16, so when coming back she could just drop us off at the road instead of driving the 2.5 miles back in to the ranch. I sat in the passenger front seat, which was a big mistake and T. sat in the backseat.

Halfway to Medina, Sandy, who was driving like a Nascar wannabe race car driver, suddenly slowed down her fast moving mini-van Pace Car, because of a big, slow driving, tow truck that was hauling a big black, wrecked Ram pickup on a trailer and then she scared the heck out of me when she suddenly pushed the pedal-to-the-metal, swerved into the left lane and passed the tow truck on the narrow two lane highway—just twelve inches away from me.

"Good grief, Sandy!" I said, nervously clenching my hands and looking around for Jon's crash helmet to put on my head. "I didn't know that you drive like a bat out of h*%$ too!" Then she and Tony burst out laughing. "I think that I am going to have to rethink Patty's and our upcoming day trip to Whole Foods and Target, in San Antone. Maybe we should just stay home and shop online together."

Then Sandy jokingly tried to defend her unsafe driving. "Nancy, it was a passing lane for goodness sakes and I was only going fifty-five  miles per hour and that tow truck was going thirty-miles per hour."

"Nancy drives like an old lady, Sandy. And she never passes anyone," Tony said, in Sandy's defense. "She gets nervous if I drive over forty miles per hour. I think it is another Fort Worth thing."

"That's sort of true, Tony," I said, "but if that tow truck had swerved, just a little to the left, I wouldn't be here anymore and y'all would miss me. I hope." Then we laughed about it the rest of the way to Medina.

Hayden Hickner's book signing was so wonderful! When we arrived at the library it was packed with people, so before the book signing started we visited with Andy Hickner, Hayden's father and Garnet Sheffield, our dear friend from Utopia and some of the friendly staff at the Medina Community Library. Here is a picture I took of Garnet with her adorable dog Chiquita.

When the book signing started, outside on the library's beautiful back patio, Andy proudly introduced Hayden and then he thanked everyone for coming to it.

Then he introduced Hayden's Special Education teacher and she told us about why Hayden had written his book. Then Hayden read his lovely, beautiful illustrated book, The Bear & the Bee's, while his pretty sister turned the pages on an enlarged book, so the crowd could see, and it nearly made me tear up, because I was so happy and proud of this talented young man. And during Hayden's reading Kinky arrived through a back door and stood with us as we listened to Hayden.

When the incredibly great book signing ended, Kinky and I purchased T-shirts with Hayden's book cover on the front of it and then we bought his book, which Hayden later signed for us. Then I took this picture of Kinky, Hayden and Andy.

Following the best book signing that I've ever been to, Kinky, Sandy, Tone and I went to the Highway 16 Cafe, next door, so Kinky and Sandy could eat breakfast and I was surprised when T. ordered a breakfast taco since we had already eaten breakfast.

After Candace had served Kinky his huevos rancheros with beans and flour tortillas, that looked delicious and Tony's and Sandy's breakfast tacos—they dug in and started eating, as I sat back in my chair and sipped on my unsweetened iced tea, we talked about Hayden's book and what a great book signing it had been. 

During their breakfast several people walked up to our table and introduced themselves to Kinky and told him about having voted for him and how much they loved him and when it was all said and done Kink told Candace, "Please tell the cook your huevos rancheros were the best that I've eaten in a long time." Then we left the cafe.

As we stood by our vehicles visiting, Sandy told Kinky about me saying that she drove like a bat out of h*%$ and it made Kink laugh. "Nance is like me. We don't like for people to drive us, because it makes us nervous." 

"But, Kinky!" Sandy said.

"Sandy, Cousin Nancy is crazy and you know that," Kinky joked. "She's a nervous Nelly, so please drive her home slowly, so she doesn't have a heart attack and die on us. Bye Sandy. Tell Jon that I said, "Hi." See y'all back at the ranch." Then Kinky climbed into Mr. Green Jeans and waved goodbye to us and then Sandy slowly drove us back to Trigger parked on our road next to Highway 16.

There is so much more to tell about our fun day, but it is late now and I must go to bed now.

Y'all have a great evening and please pray that "Don" the tropical storm, pays a visit to us and the Hill Country for some much needed rain this weekend!

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

Time Goes By!

Well, first off, I feel like a complete idiot about the time change that happened, but never really happened. Last night or should I say in the wee hours of the morning I got up and reset all of our clocks back one hour and then I went back to bed and had some really weird dreams.

At six o'clock this morning (which was really only 5:00) when the alarm went off I was having this funny dream that I didn't want to end, because I was enjoying my dream and felt really tired. In my dream I was with Jim (my late husband) standing inside our monogramming shop, holding Yoda, my beloved Boston Terrier, in my arms and we were laughing with all of these people that I didn't know. Then I was rudely awakened when Hank and Toto used my stomach as their launching pad to get down to the floor.

After I fed the dogs I started a load of laundry in Queen Bee, drank my smoothie and then walked eight miles before Tony got home. Then I fixed him his breakfast, cleaned up the kitchen dishes and threw our cleaned, wet clothes into Airy Queen to dry.

When T. went outside to do his morning chores I took care of a little paperwork and then I went outside and reset the clocks in Trigger and Buttermilk, so Tone wouldn't have to do it later. Then I set down and read a few pages of the book, The Help by Kathryn Stockett, that Eileen had loaned to me. I love the book and it is another one of those books that you can't put down.

Around eleven-thirty (fake time) Tony returned to the trailer and I told him that I was tired of eating soup and suggested we go out to eat for lunch, because I was officially taking the day off. "After lunch can we go to the storage unit in Medina, because I want to see if there is anything I have that I can sell on eBay. I'm hooked and I don't have anything to sell."

"That sounds fine to me, but on our way to Medina can we go by and see the buffalos on 2828, so I can take some pictures of them?" I nodded my head up and down and smiled.

Since I am still on a liquid diet we decided to speed things up, so we went to the Sonic Drive Inn for lunch, which we haven't been to in over four years. Tony ate Tater Tots, drank a Coke while he munched on a # 1 Cheeseburger without onions, with mustard, mayonaise and ketchup, as I spooned what was left of a cold, chocolate milkshake into my mouth.

Twenty minutes later T. was outside standing next to Buttermilk shooting a herd of Buffalo with his Canon, as I finished off my healthy lunch. Eighteen minutes later we were standing inside the storage unit staring at "our stuff" that we had forgotten about and obviously didn't need. After we loaded a few possible eBay items to sell into Buttermilk's back seat we headed home.

When we walked inside the trailer—Carlton was flashing to let us know that someone had called, so I pressed the play button and listened. The first call was from Kinky, "Nancy, Tony. Nancy, Tony. Call me. It is not urgent. I just walk to talk to you." The second or the last message was from our friend Jon Wolfmueller.

"Hello, Nancy. This is Jon. It is 12:43 not 11:43. The time change happens next Saturday. I hope you've got the right time now. It is 12:44 now. Bye." I was speechless, but only for a second.

"Tony!" I half-hollered down the hallway. "The time change is for next Saturday. You were wrong, but it is no big deal. We've just gained an hour!" Then I happily went about resetting all of our clocks, again, including Buttermilk's and Trigger's.

Nineteen minutes later I started cleaning the items I was going to put up for auction on eBay and then I shot them and started uploading them on eBay. After putting a framed 1981 Larry Dyke limited edition print, an old wooden wall display for miniatures, a Hermon (the spelling is correct) Adam's collectible porcelain plate titled "Spirit of the Night" by the Western Heritage Museum I was done, so I took a break and folded and hung up our laundry and that is when I discovered another item to auction off on eBay!

As I was wrestling with a coat hanger that refused to come off of the rod in the closet I spotted a shiny thing that was nearly covered up by an old quilt, so I reached up and grabbed it. The moment that I saw it—it made me smile and warmed my heart as fond memories filled my head of the good old days of long, long ago.

Thirty minutes later after shedding a few tears about Jim and our past, I wrote this and uploaded it to eBay to be auctioned off, because I don't need it anymore and it is only taking up space which I have so little of. I hope that it will make you laugh and smile as it did me as I wrote it.

"In 1984 my late husband, Jim Parker and I won 1st place in our sailing division, at the annual Austin Yacht Club Turnback Canyon Regatta, a two day event every Memorial Day. He got the honors and this handsome 10-1/2" pewter trophy plate and I only received a keychain for crewing for him and doing all of the hard work: like changing out the sails, winching in the sheets, while hoping not to get knocked in the head by the Boom and sunburned, etc. When I think about it now, it makes me laugh about our fun-filled sailboat racing days way back when. And, not to brag, but Jim and I won 1st place at the Turnback Canyon Regatta—three years in a row and I think we still hold the record for it.

I lost my two-dollar keychain somewhere down the road of life and when I found this trophy that he prized, tucked away in my closet, I decided to put it on eBay, because it is just taking up space. If you buy this prestigious trophy you can put it out for display and impress your friends with telling wild stories about how you won this trophy on a Catalina 22 named the "Bull Sheeter" in the non-spinnaker division. And I promise not to ever tell. Happily, my sailing days are over, but I will always have those fond memories—unless I get Alzeihmers. Happy Bidding and the shipping is free—no pun intended!  : )

P.S. If I can find my leather sailing gloves I will throw them in for free if I can find them and my dogs didn't eat them...

Y'all have a great evening! It is now 8:30. 

Milk Money!

Friday afternoon, Will came over to the trailer to show us his first video, that he made of his good friend, Mickey "The Milk" Baden, shooting balls on Kinky's pool table! Will shot Mickey, in the Lodge, the night before!

When Will showed Tone and me Milk Money, our jaws dropped to the floor! I could not believe, that Will had put it together in less than thirty minutes, but then again, I can, because Will is a Mac Wizard! Here it is: Milk Money

After we watched Milk Money five or six times, Buttermilk took Tony, Will and me to Kinky's and Copper Love's book signing at Wolfmueller's Books! When we arrived, Sandy and Jon's bookstore was packed with people, getting their books signed by Copper and Kinky! I loved it!

While we were there, we visited with our friends, Mary Jo, Laura, Sandy and Jon, Grace Atwood, Dylan Ferrero, Jane, Frank, Marcie Friedman, Steve Price, Irene, Jim & Liz Cravotta, Beth, and her father, Bob, Jan & Todd Bauer, Jim McMahon, Harley & Becky, Kinky and Copper! It was sorta like a family reunion, but no one was related except for Kinky and Marce.

At one point during the fun book signing, Grace Atwood introduced us to her sweet sister-in-law, Vicki, and her nice husband, who, unfortunately, I can't remember his name, that have just moved here. They are our new neighbors! After handshakes, Vicki asked me to go with her to the "Kinky bookshelf section" so I could recommend some of Kinky's books for her to buy.

"Well, this one here is my favorite," I said, as I pulled a copy of my book, The Road To Utopia: How Kinky, Tony & I Saved More Animals Than Noah off of the shelf! Grace started laughing! Then she quickly explained to Vicki and her husband, that I had written the book. Then I recommended some of Kinky's books.

Vicki ended up buying several Kinky books, and mine, too! Here is a picture of me signing her copy of my book. Vicki is the pretty blond, standing behind me. And that's Mary Jo ringing up sales.

As Copper and Kinky continued to meet people and sign their names,

Sandy came up to me, "Nance, did you see Tony's postcard display table?"

"Nope," I replied. Then Sandy led me over to a this table displaying all of T.'s postcards! I was impressed! It was beautiful!

At six-thirty, when the book signing was over, Buttermilk took Will, Tony and me back to the ranch. Fortunately, we made it home just before dark-thirty!

Around eight o'clock, Tone half-hollered from his office, down the hall, "Nance, Sandy and Jon are online with me on iChat! Come here and say hi to them!" This was the first time that we had iChatted with them! The four of us had a really fun visit, talking about the book signing! And, it was fun to see them talking to us from their house!

We went to bed early, because I had to get up early. Before leaving Wolfmueller's, I had told Kinky that I wanted to make breakfast tacos for everyone in the morning, before he and Frank took off for Dallas, and Marcie took off for Vietnam. So, this morning at eight o'clock, Tony and I went over the river and through the woods with eighteen hot breakfast tacos!

Kinky, Marcie, Frank, Will, T. and I had a fun breakfast over at the Lodge, and there was a ton of laughter! "Nance," Kinky said. "Your breakfast tacos are delicious! I am very impressed with your cooking."

"Kink, don't talk with food in your mouth," I teased.

"No, seriously, Nance, I think you and I should start a breakfast taco cafe. We could make millions with these! We could name it..." We had a lot of fun thinking up possible names.

By nine, Kink and Frank were on their way to Dallas, so Tone and I came home, so Marcie could pack for her trip back to Vietnam.

While Tone fed the dogs outside and cleaned their pens, I went outside and visited with June, as she groomed our dogs. Then I took pictures of three more dogs that we have rescued this week, so I could send them to Pat, to post on our web site: utopiarescue.com
Here's a picture of Lefty aka Buddy! We rescued him seven years ago, but he was returned to us last Saturday, because he is not a cat fancier. He is one great dog and I hope that he finds another forever home real soon!

Here is a picture of Lobo! Lobo is big, friendly dog, that was abused, but you could never tell it. He is about one and half years old and very outgoing and friendly. Lobo would make a great companion for someone who doesn't fancy felines.

Here is a picture of Scooby Doo! Scooby is a precious little dog, that loves children, especially rowdy little boys! He is upbeat, and only one year old. He is a Libra, and like me, he loves to have fun and laugh!

Around one o'clock, Tony came into the trailer, "Nance, there are some people here from New York, that have asked to see Cousin Nancy." I went outside and found them down by Pearl Jam and Laz's pen.

As soon as I saw them, I recognized them! It was Denise and Bruce! Four years ago, they had come out to the rescue ranch, and visited with us. After introducing them to all of our great dogs, we went into the Space Ship, and ended up in Outer Space, where we had another great visit!

This afternoon, Marcie came by to say goodbye to us, and then she took off for Vietnam. We hated to see her leave, but fortunately, she will be back in May. We love her! After she left, Tone and I had a fun visit with Copper, as always!

After Copper left, our good friends, Jan and Todd Bauer came up to the trailer, after they had walked eighteen of our dogs! They had a birthday present for me! They gave me a beautiful Lenox Fine Crystal vase, which I love! Thank you, Jan and Todd! I already have flowers in it! And, thank you for walking our dogs! We love y'all!

I am sorry for this being such a long blog, but now I am caught up, and fixin' to watch a movie with Tone!

Y'all have a great evening!

Phenomenon!

I apologize for not blogging yesterday—it was a very busy day for me, to say the least! My morning started out fine. I got up early, fed my dogs and Lucky, made some organic coffee, and then I called Harley to do the Harley Show. It was a lot of fun! While I was preparing our breakfast smoothies, the phone rang. I let Carlton take it. "Nancy, Tony? This is Aaron! Please pick up..."

"Good morning, Aaron. What's up?"

"Before coming to work, I picked up the three little puppies, that I found on Monday, from Hoegemeyers. I'm now on top of the mountain, and I don't know what to do. There are some puppies running around up here on 16! I'm scared they are going to get run over! Somebody must have dumped them."

"We'll take them—if you can catch them, Aaron." As soon as I hung up on Aaron, Tony walked inside the trailer. After greetings, I told him about Aaron and the puppies.

Tony smiled, "It looks like Aaron has turned into a puppy magnet." We sipped our smoothies in silence. At eight-thirty-six, Aaron arrived at our trailer—in his 'Puppy Patrol' pickup truck. Tone and I went outside to greet him, and to see the pups that he had single-handedly rescued.

"The ones I picked up from Hoegemeyer's are in the crate in the back, and the new puppies are crawling all over the inside of my truck! If they weren't licking me to death—they were pooping!" T. and I looked inside the cab window. They were cute, little Lab mixes, and there were four of them—maybe two months old, if that! Then we walked to the back of Aaron's truck, and looked at three adorable little puppies—probably two and a half months old. After checking out the seven pups—Tone and Aaron left to go put the happy little ones into puppy-safe pens. I returned to the trailer to check my calendar.

After carefully checking my calendar for cosmic events, I was disappointed to learn that we weren't under a full moon, and Mercury was not in retrograde, so I had nothing to explain our sudden puppy population phenomenon on—other than Aaron, and he can't help it. He is one super sweet, dog loving, good guy.

Starting around one o'clock, we had a string of unexpected visitors show up for rescue ranch tours. Even though we are closed to the public during the week, and it was pretty hot outside—I was a good sport and gladly gave them tours—with Tony's help.

And, the last couple who showed up, around six o'clock, didn't want a tour—they had just read my book, and they just wanted to take pictures of me standing by Yoda's graveside shrine, with the tombstone, Eternal Squirrel and the flying pig! I was honored to do it, even though I still miss my little Yoda—and always will.

So by the end of the day—I was wore out. And, that's my excuse for not blogging. I watched Gran Torino, again and loved it even more. Clint Eastwood is amazing!

This morning after walking five miles, Tony walks inside the trailer to tell me that Chuck and Ruth Buzzi—got porcupined during the night, and they were covered in quills, and he needed to take them to Hoegemeyer's immediately! After he left for Kerrville, Kinky called me, and asked me to come over to the Lodge—he needed to talk to me!

On Buttermilk's and my way out of the rescue ranch, I waved to Jim, our friendly dog walking volunteer, who was walking Martha Stewart and L.T.! Thank you, Jim!

When I arrived at the Lodge, Kinky asked me to help him edit his new book, the one that he is self-publishing—I told him that I would love to do it. Before leaving, with his manuscript in my hand, I told Kinky that Tone and I were having lunch with Sandy and Jon, before picking up de-quilled Ruthie and Chuck, and I invited him to join us.

In less than an hour Sandy, Jon, T. and I were sitting outside, at our table at Franciso's—waiting on Kinky. When the pleasant waiter came to our table, I once again asked for separate checks. "Tony and I are together, Sandy and Jon are together, and Kinky should be here any minute. The waiter smiled and took our orders.

"Should we order for Kinky?" Sandy asked. I shook my head no, and then I pulled my cell phone out of my purse, and did something that I have never done! I used my cell phone at a restaurant!

"Hi Kinky," I whispered. "We saw you pull into the bank across the street. Do you want us to order for you? We're all having the Special. Sandy said it is delicous!"

"No. I'll be there in a few minutes." And he was! And, he ordered the Special, too!

Our lunch was fun and filled with laughter! When the waiter came with our three separate checks, he handed them out, and then he carried off our empty plates. Kinky started laughing about us going Dutch, and he knew I was the one responsible for it, even though I wasn't wearing wooden shoes. As always, I was wearing my pink Justin Gypsy cowboy boots!

After lunch, we all went to Wolfmueller's Books, so Kinky could sign some books for them. Then Kinky and us left Wolfmueller's Books.

As the three of us were walking to our vehicles, a nice woman, walks up to Kink and says, "Hi Kinky! I'm a swallow! I wish I had my books with me for you to sign!" Kinky stops and shakes her hand, and then he tips his cowboy hat at her. I'm thinking, Kinky is a monkey, Tony is a horse and I am a rabbit in Chinese astrology—and there are no swallows! Kinky looked a little confused, and I am thinking that she is a loon. Then the sweet woman, quickly explains to us, that her name is Ima Swallow and she was visiting from Louisiana. I was relieved, as Kinky visited with her for a few minutes. Then we walked on and went our separate ways.

This evening, around six-thirty, I went over to the Lodge, to show Kinky my edits. His book was a great read, and flawless, except for a couple of typos. I can't wait for y'all to read it!

Y'all have a great evening!

P.S. Tony walked inside, just a little while ago, with today's crop! We're talkin' radishes, onions, squash, zucchini, beans, tomatoes, and jalapenos! And, can y'all tell me what these yellow plants are, that just sprung up yesterday, in Outer Space! I have no clue as to what they are or where they came from! They're weird looking!

The Road Not Taken!

Saturday morning, around seven o'clock, Rick came inside the trailer. "Good morning, Cousin Nancy!"

"Morning, Rick," I said. "How are you doing this morning?"

"Not good. I didn't get much sleep last night, because I was worried all night about Leisa. She finally arrived at the rescue ranch a little after four o'clock this morning. She's still sleeping." As I fed my dogs, and cat, Rick poured himself some coffee and sat down at the breakfast bar, and told me all about it. When I started making our breakfast—he was finished. Bottom line, Leisa couldn't get away from Port A. until eleven o'clock, then her cell phone went dead, etc. Leisa was fine—just wore out.

Tony showed up, around seven-thirty, and the three of us ate and drank breakfast. At eight-thirty, my dogs started barking—Ruthie and Kent were here! What a wonderful surprise! I was so excited!

They had come over to drink some coffee with us! Oh my gosh, I was so embarrassed, because I was still in my sweats, the bed wasn't made, and Hazel hadn't made her rounds, yet, etc.! Fortunately, Ruthie and Kent didn't seem to care about any of that.

We went into Outer Space to drink our coffees, and to visit. During the stories and laughter, I kept secretly pinching myself, because I couldn't believe that Ruth Buzzi, the world famous Ruth Buzzi, one of my heroes— was sitting in Outer Space—in my chair, visiting with us, like we'd known each other forever! I was thrilled and must admit truly star struck! I was also glad to see Kent, too. I've known Kent for over seven years, and I count him as family. He's one great man.

After forty minutes of fun, it was time for them to leave. "We're going to Medina to eat breakfast," Kent said. "And, we want Cousin Nancy to join us." I pinched myself really hard—and it really hurt. We're talking a bruise later on. I could not believe that they had just invited me to breakfast!

"I can't believe this!" I said. "Here y'all are, asking me to go eat breakfast with y'all, and I've got to turn you down. I would love to, but I have so much to do this morning—I just can't." Fortunately, they understood. After hugs and handshakes—they took off for Medina.

While Hazel was doing her magic floor trick, I silently cussed to myself for not going to breakfast with Ruthie and Kent. I couldn't believe that I had turned down a once in a lifetime opportunity like that! I was full of regret for not going. I should have gone, but it was too late—that window was closed and nailed down tight. We're talkin'—the road not taken, here, and I was absolutely sick about it.

After Hazel's magic act was over, she went backstage, to the closet—to rest, and I went into action! I called Wolfmueller's Books, first. "Hi Sandy, this is Nancy."

"I know."

"I'm sorry, but I need to ask one more favor from y'all."

"Okay."

"Could y'all swing by H.E.B., and pick up a box of Cafe Du Monde's beignets mix for me, and a jar of Fain's honey? I want to fix Kent and Ruthie beignets for breakfast tomorrow morning, because Kent told me that Ruthie loves them. And, I would love for you and Jon to join us, for breakfast tomorrow morning." After giving Sandy a detailed description as to where to find that New Orleans famous beignet mix, we said goodbye to each other and then hung up.

After taking a shower, and getting dressed, I went into the kitchen—it was nearly twelve o'clock—time to make my peach cobbler recipe, that my grandfather had given to me—it's delicious, and T. and Kinky love it!

By twelve-fifteen, I had filled three large, foil pans with peach cobbler batter and peaches. Then there was a knock at the door, my dogs didn't bark, because it was my dear friend, Carol. "Come in," I half-hollered, as I shoved the heavy pans into the oven. Carol and I visited, as my dessert for our volunteer's lunch—baked—while Ben was outside, starting to cook the chicken, the sausage, and the beans. Then there was another knock on the door. It was Jon and Sandy, and their friend, Steve Price—ready to volunteer and come to my rescue! "Come in," I half-hollered, again.

"Here's your potato salad, and the beignets mix, and the honey," Sandy said.

"Thank y'all so much," I said, as I put the big pan of potato salad into the refrigerator. "Y'all are lifesavers! Seriously, I can't thank y'all enough for doing this for me." Then there was another knock on the door—it was Mr. Cooper, Charlie and Ellen Cooper, and Charlie's sister, Margaret—reporting for volunteer duty.

After howdys, hugs and handshakes, I gave them all rescue ranch t-shirts to wear. A few minutes later, at one o'clock, the cobblers were done, and the gates outside, by the cattle guard, were opened to our ticket paying guests! Let the show begin!

I then went outside to greet and welcome, and to visit with our other super loyal rescue ranch volunteers: Aaron, Ben, Rick and Leisa, Linda T., Todd and Jan, June, Ellen, J.R. and Jim! They were ready, set—go! And, that is exactly what they did! They happily greeted every visitor, and gave them tours of the rescue ranch.

Ben served lunch to our volunteers around two o'clock. The chicken, sausage, beans and potato salad were delicious! And everyone loved my peach cobbler, served with vanilla ice cream! Then Ben surprised us, when he brought out a brick of Miles of Chocolate, and began serving it to everyone! They loved it, and ate it up, and asked Ben where they could buy it! Here are a couple of pictures of them—following lunch.


I met several really nice people that afternoon, and really enjoyed meeting and visiting with them, and giving them tours of the rescue ranch, including U.S. Representative Lamar Smith, who was unable to attend our event, but who sent his two children, to represent him. Thank you, Lamar! I wish that you could have been here!

At three o'clock, we shut down the rescue ranch, and everyone went over the river, and through the woods—to enjoy the event!

At six o'clock—the concert started, and it was more than fantastic! Kinky and Little Jewford performed first, and they were the best that I have ever seen them! Then Kinky invited Ruth Buzzi on stage, and she was hilarious and had the crowd in her hands! Then Ramblin' Jack Elliott took the stage, and he was totally awesome! And when he sang, 'Don't Think Twice, It's All Right'—I got goose bumps, and my eyes teared up—it was so beautiful! Jerry Jeff Walker was the last to perform, and he was the icing on the cake! He was so great! My favorite songs that he sung, were Navaho Rug and Mr. Bo Jangles, which also made me tear up! His performance was so great—I don't know the words to describe it. Then, at the very end of the concert, Jerry Jeff surprised everyone in the crowd—including Kinky! He invited Ramblin' Jack Elliott, to join him on stage, and sing one last song. Together, they sang, 'Old Shep' and wrapped up the concert, and tied the knot! There was not a dry eye in the crowd.

Following the concert, I went over to the gazebo with Tony, where the silent auction was ending. Here are a few pictures that Tony and I took.


This is my favorite picture that I took, of Kinky signing my 'Governor Kinky Friedman's Command Center,' sign, that I had made for him, years ago, which hung above his kitchen door—until the day before this event. I guess that I will just have to make him another one—real soon.

Around eight o'clock, as everyone was leaving, Tony and I invited Becky and Harley Belew to come over to the rescue ranch, for a visit. We took them into the Space Ship, and then we went into Outer Space and had a really fun visit! They left around nine-thirty. By ten o'clock, Tony and I were sound asleep, and snoring loudly.

It's now past my bedtime. I will tell y'all about Sunday's breakfast tomorrow. But before I go to bed, I want to thank, the event volunteers, who helped make Kinky's 2nd Ranch Roundup, a howling success! They are: Will Wallace, Dylan and Sage, Copper, A.J., Constable Richard McCain, from Austin, and his friendly deputy, Stacey, and Steve Samet's supurb team of Echo Hill Camp counselors! Thank you—y'all are the best, and we could not have done it without you!

Y'all have a great evening!

R.I.P.!

Thursday morning, I only walked five miles, because I had much to do for the upcoming event. Around noon, I went over to the Lodge, to talk to Kinky about the event. When I returned to the rescue ranch, at one-thirty, Rick had just arrived! I quickly finished up some business, and then the fun began. Tony, Rick and I caught up with each other's news, while my iPod serenaded us in the background. Carol came over around six for a visit in Outer Space, but it was too hot outside, so we went inside the trailer and had a good time!

Thursday night, I went to bed, after posting my mini-blog, but I could not fall to sleep! I guess that I had too much on my mind. I got up around eleven o'clock, and came into the kitchen, turned on the light, and sat down at the kitchen table—and opened up my laptop.

At three minutes past three, I closed my laptop, got up from the table, turned off the kitchen light, and climbed into bed, because we have a high bed, or do you call it a tall bed—or pedestal?

Anyway, I must have slept like a log, because I didn't remember any of my dreams—and I always remember them. When I woke up, it was ten after seven! I had overslept and under slept—at the same time! I had only slept four hours! I do not recommend doing this to anyone, because it causes people to become 'Rather Irritable People,' I call it R.I.P., for short, and I had a bad case of it!

I felt like I was in a fog, as I fed my always happy dogs, and sometimes happy cat. I then started fixin' breakfast for Tony and Rick. I was nearly half-done preparing it, when—in walks Tony and Rick—and they were real happy. As we ate and drank breakfast—I found out that Rick had gone with Tony to the Old Timer, and he had really enjoyed meeting Tony's friends.

Since coming down with R.I.P. this morning, I discovered that being around happy people, places and things—can actually worsen your condition! I was glad that my dogs, cat, Tony and Rick were happy, but as Kinky likes to say, 'I was not a happy camper.' My R.I.P. syndrome had taken its toll on me. I was now borderline crazed and confused. There's a name for that, and it starts with a 'B.'

Following breakfast, Tony and Rick happily took off for Hondo, to bring Buttermilk home, so I semi-consciously—walked four fast miles, with Leslie and her really happy friends. Even though I was so tired, I realized that the four miles, had helped my R.I.P.—sorta go into remission! Thank goodness! I was now almost feeling lighthearted, even though I was still lightheaded, so I went to the closet, and brought Hazel out and put her to work.

After vacuuming the outside wall of my front porch, Hazel came inside, and sucked all of the dirt and hair out of the trailer. Then she went back into her closet to rest, and I was jealous, and I had every right to be!

Right before I was fixin' to take a bath, in my beautiful, plastic, made for trailers only—garden tub, there was a knock on the front door, and my dogs went to barking. Fortunately, I was still dressed, because I hate scaring people—especially in the morning. I quickly turned off the bath water, and then went to see who was here.

It was Ellen, one of our great dog walkers, with her friend, J.R., who had to come all of the way from Mississippi—to volunteer! Ellen wanted me to meet J.R. and she told me that J.R. couldn't wait—to meet us.

J.R. is the wonderful woman, who adopted Louie, from us nearly two years ago, for her daughter, Shannon—who has seizures. Louie, a lovable, gigantic black Lab/ Great Dane mix, is a certified seizure dog, and it was a perfect match! But, because Louie is an extra-large dog, John Kemmerly drove Louie out to Baton Rouge, to meet J.R.—at the half-way point, between us, and Louie's new home in Mississippi!

I had a nice visit with J.R. and Ellen, then I called Kinky, and asked if I could bring them over to the Lodge.

Kinky enjoyed seeing Ellen, and meeting J.R., and so did I. When we looked at the pictures, of Louie with Shannon, that J.R. gave to us—our hearts melted with joy. When the visit was over, Trigger brought me back to the rescue ranch, and they took off for Kerrville. I was still tired, running on empty, and realized that my mood had changed for the better.

When I arrived at the rescue ranch, Carol and Lyle, from Ingram, were here to possibly adopt one of our dogs! They had made an appointment earlier in the week, to be here at eleven. They were on time, but I was five minutes late for it. I gave them a tour of the ranch, and before leaving, they told me that liked Daisy and Paul McCartney, and would call me on Monday, to tell me who they wanted to adopt!

After they drove away, Tony and Rick showed up with Buttermilk! I was so glad to have her back home! I visited with Rick and Tony for a few minutes, then Rick told us that he was going to Kerrville, to run some errands. As soon as Rick had left the building— Jon Wolfmueller called me. He and I talked about the event, and my sleepless night, and all of the things that I still needed to do. Before hanging up, Jon told me to call them if there was anything that they could do to help.

After we hung up, I reran my bath water, cleaned up, and then I walked into the kitchen where Tony was, "Tony, I am making an executive decision. I am not going to make potato salad, as planned, for our volunteers. I'm going to call Sandy and Jon and ask them to pick some up for me, instead." Tony smiled.

"Hi, Jon it's Nancy."

"I know," Jon said. "What's up?"

"I need a big favor," I said. "I've decided to not make the potato salad as planned. Could y'all pick some up for me, and bring it out tomorrow?"

"I'm sure we can. Listen, a customer just walked in. Call me back in ten minutes, and let me know how much you need. Bye." I felt so relieved to cross off making potato salad, from my 'to do list.' Then I had a light bulb moment.

Tony was starving, and it was nearly one o'clock, and I didn't feel like making lunch, so I picked up the phone. "Rick, this is Nancy."

"I know," Rick said. "What can I do for you little darlin'?"

"Where are you?" I asked.

"I'm on 16, on the bridge, fixin' to head your way."

"Great! If I call Dominos Pizza, and order a couple of pizzas—could you pick them up for me?"

"Sure, not a problem. Where is Dominos?" I answered his question, thanked him for helping me, and then I hung up, and dialed Domino's phone number and placed my order. Once again—I felt relieved. My load was starting to shrink, by the minute, and I loved it. It made me smile and that felt good.

"Tony, I need to go tell Ben and Aaron, that Rick is bringing us pizza for lunch. Could you do me a favor, and call Jon back, and tell him we need about twenty to twenty-five pounds of potato salad." I walked out the door, as Tony grabbed the phone.

Ben and Aaron were busy mowing, and they looked tired and hot. It was over a hundred degrees outside. When I told them about Rick bringing us lunch—they smiled, and then went back to work. Thirty minutes later, the pizza delivery boy, arrived at the rescue ranch.

The pizzas were good, and the conversation was even better. Rick had us laughing the whole time, with his funny tales. After lunch—Rick decided to go out to my writing cabin to take a nap. Five minutes later, Tone suggested that I take a nap, too. I did as I was told.

My dogs raced to the bedroom, jumped up on the bed and we slept for over two hours! When I woke up—I was a different person—the old Nancy was back! I was refreshed, and was really happy about it! And, so were T. and Rick. Then Jon called.

"Nancy, Sandy thinks that is way too much potato salad to buy. Tony told me twenty to twenty-five pounds. Sandy wants to know how many people, you will be feeding."

"About twenty to twenty-five people."

Jon laughed, and then he repeated my words back to Sandy. "Nancy, that is one pound of potato salad per person!" We both started laughing!"

Around six o'clock, Kinky called, and invited us over to the Lodge, so we could visit with Kent Perkins, and his wife, Ruth Buzzi! We did as we were told. And we had a blast! It was non-stop laughing! We stayed for a couple of hours, and then returned home.

There were four new phone calls from Jon and Sandy, asking us to please call them! Since I was still suffering from R.I.P. syndrome, I delicately, delegated Tony for the task. Tone picked up the phone and punched in their home phone number. "Hello Jon. This is Tony."

"I know. How is Nancy doing?" Jon asked. "She sounded really exhausted today, and we were worried about her."

"Well, I took her to the mental ward," T. said, faking a serious sounding voice, "to drop her off, but they wouldn't take her. They said she was too crazy, so I brought her back home." Rick, Tony and I burst laughing, as did Sandy and Jon! "Bye."

Before calling it a night, Rick called Leisa, his better half, who was driving up to help volunteer for us. "Leisa is running late."Rick said. "She said that she should be getting here around midnight," Rick said.

Boy, was he ever wrong! Too Be Continued... (Sorry, Mari!)

Y'all have a great evening!

Long Live The Queens!

Today was a great day, again! This morning I did The Harley Show, at 7:45! Baxter Black was Harley's Pet of the Week. We had a fun time talking about Mr. Ziffle going to the Trails End Guest House, and Hannah Montana finding her forever home!

This afternoon, Jim Boyd, from Boyd's Appliance, in Sabinal, Texas—delivered our new Speed Queen washer and dryer—Queen Bee and Airy Queen! I don't know who was happier, Tone or me, because our dirty clothes were piled up, to our eight foot ceiling, in the trailer!

While the men were outside, I said goodbye to Mr. and Miss Tubby, and then thanked them for all of their hard work. Then they left the trailer speechless!

OMG! As soon as they were gone, Tony and I were shocked at the mess they had left behind—we're talkin' true trailer trash! There were piles of old dog hair, which included an unused hairy paint brush, a furry blue fly swatter, several coins, a couple of drill bits and a few hair-covered socks! I was so embarrassed! "Nance!" Tony said, with excitement. "Here's my fly swatter!" I sighed. Then T. began sweeping as I vacuumed up—our seven year collection of 'never could find' relics and dust bunnies.

Jim Boyd, and his co-worker, brought in Queen Bee and hooked her up! It was love at first sight—she was beautiful! Next came Airy Queen! He was beautiful, too! Then after signing some paperwork, and writing a check, Jim and his buddy left the rescue ranch, and then we did, too.

Tone and I went to Kerrville, to run some errands. We first stopped off, for a short visit with Sandy and Jon Wolfmueller and then we ran our errands, then Buttermilk returned us safely to the rescue ranch.

As soon as we were home, I started a load of clothes in Queen Bee. When she had completed her job, I let Tony, be the first to load Airy! After figuring out his settings—T. pushed the right buttons, and Airy did his thing!

We love our Speed Queens! Long Live The Queens! Y'all have a great evening! I've got some clothes to fold.

If!

When we returned to the ranch, Kinky had left a message, on the answering machine, “Nancy, Tony call Kinky! Y’all need to get over here!”

I immediately called Kinky and got his machine! “Kinky, it’s Nancy. Are you okay? We just got back from...”

“Nance, can you and Tony come over? I want to show y’all my new truck!”

“What? You got a new truck?” I asked.

“Yes. Jon Wolfmueller and I went to a dealership over in Boerne, and I bought a green Chevy four door, Silverado. And, you can’t name it, because I already have. I’ve named it—the Irish Fairy.” Then he laughed and so did I.

“I like it,” I said. “You can call it ‘If’ for short, or if you are with people trying to figure out whose car to take, you can say something like, ‘that sounds a little Iffy to me!” We both laughed. “Tone and I will be over there in about five minutes. I can’t wait to see it, Kink!”

Before leaving, I grabbed my camera. When Tony and I arrived at the Lodge—Kinky was outside, puffing on a cigar /eaning on the Irish Fairy’s tailgate! As Tony and I checked out the Irish Fairy, from headers to tow (bar), Kinky told us all about his truck, and the great deal that he had gotten on it.

As the three of us /eaned on the back of the truck, we told Kinky how much we liked If. We then talked about the calendar, and the upcoming Ranch Roundup on October 25th. “Guess who is going to be at the event?”

“Who?” we asked!

To be continued...

P.S. I have to go now, because today, I promised Jon and Sandy, who are and have been for years, hooked on the popular tv show ‘Survivor,’ that I would watch it—for the very first time, to see if I get hooked on it, too.

P.S.S. Tony just went into Outer Space to set up our Space Station for happy hour, which always requires our portable Bose iDock, my iPod, cold beer and a box of my fine wine! Tony just came back inside to tell me that happy hour has just commenced! I can hear Willie Nelson singing one of my favorite songs, ‘Far Away Places!’

Last P.S. I promise! Jon and Sandy, I have just come up with the perfect name for your beautiful patio—how about calling it...

To be continued...

(Laugh out loud! I’m sorry, I couldn’t resist it! I needed the laughs!)