Tiger Balm!

Today has been great, even though my back went out, when I got up this morning, to do the Harley Show. I had a lot of fun talking to Harley Belew, on the radio and his Pet of the Week is Roscoe.

Roscoe is a very sweet, full-blooded Yellow Lab, but because Roscoe's hair is so white instead of yellow tan, like Roy, many people refer to them as Silver-haired Labradors. Roscoe is a fabulous pup. He loves to play, give away kisses and he is great with other dogs. So please help spread the word about Roscoe.

When Tony returned home, after drinking coffee with his friends at the Old Timer, I told him about my back going out, as he ate breakfast, wearing his lumbar brace, for his back. And we ended up laughing about both of our backs. And, when it was time to go outside to do our chores, Tony went outside to do all of the chores by himself, so I could rest my back.

While Tone was outside, Kinky called me, to check on us and The Friedmans. When I told Kink about Tony telling me yesterday, "Fourth teased me this morning, about my back, because he threw his out, too. He told me that he caught it from me, because it is contagious."

Kinky said, "I think Fourth is right about that. Remember many years ago, when Tony's back went out and two days later, yours went out and I teased y'all about it. Then mine went out the next day, the same day that Pryor, Richard Pryor's dog, that he and his wife Jennifer had rescued and flew out to us."

"Yeah, I do. It was pretty funny, when the three of us carried Pryor's crate into his pen, around ten o'clock at night, during that terrible thunderstorm. And we had to scoot our way, looking like we were doing a bad imitation of Tim Conway..."

Before we adios-ed each other, Kinky said, "Nance, you need to put Tiger Balm on your back. It really works. I've got some in my office, in..."

"Thanks, Kinky. That's a great idea. I've got some here and am going to put some of it on, right now..."

After talking to Kinky, I decided to do something productive, since I wasn't outside helping Tony feed the dogs and clean their pens, so I made a list of everything that I would need to pack, for the Boerne Library's 1st annual Local Authors Expo, this coming Saturday. Then I grabbed our three, insulated, red, H-E-B tote bags and filled them with copies of the four books that I have written, along with some rescue ranch and my business cards, information sheets, etc. Then I zipped them up and took this picture of them.

After Tony did the chores outside, he and I went to Kerrville, to start putting up Concert for Utopia posters. We put up twelve posters this afternoon, before we had to get back home, for the kids to come over and walk our dogs for us. So far, the Concert for Utopia posters can be seen at Hoegemeyer Animal Clinic, Randy & Lisa's Save Inn Restaurant, Gibson's, El Sombrero, the Medina Highpoint Resort, Wolfmueller's Books, one Mini-Mart, Pet Supplies Plus, Classic Burgers & Moore, Dr. Hubble's Chiropractic office, Bank of the Hills, Cal-Bob's Smoke Shack and The Pooch Parlor. We hope by the end of next week we will have saturated the Kerr County businesses and surrounding counties with our beautiful, Concert for Utopia posters, that Karen designed for us. So, please wish us luck, in achieving our goal.

Early this evening, while Chet was over here, Kinky called me, again. He wanted to check on Tony's and my backs. I told him, "Don't worry about my back, Kinky. I am fine. The Tiger Balm has really helped my back and I am hardly feeling no pain..." Then Kinky talked to Chet for a few minutes and then he adios-ed us. And now I am going to adios y'all, until tomorrow.

Y'all have a great evening!

Pink Cadillac!

Today has been great, even though it was a very busy day. This morning, while Tony was in Medina, I washed a load of clothes, vacuumed up the dog hair and had steam-mopped The Cabin's wooden floors and had breakfast ready and waiting when Tony returned home.

I did all of this, because I knew that we had a busy day ahead of us. When it was time to do our morning chores outside, I stayed inside, so I could return several phone calls, before going outside to help Tony. It was a good decision, because Paul called to tell me that he was already on his way to deliver a load of dog food to us. Then my dear friend Ann, who I've known since I was seven-years-old called to discuss a good time for a visit.

Forty minutes later, I was outside, helping Tony finish feeding the rest of the dogs and cleaning up their pens. Paul arrived with a full truck load of free dog food, as I was cleaning up Miranda Lambert's and Blake Shelton's pen. So Tony took off, to go help Paul unload the dog food, while I wound things up.

Thirty minutes later after exchangeing emails with Mari, Tony and I put Daisy, in a crate, so we could drop her off at Hoegemeyer Animal Clinic, for Mari to pick up. Then we jumped inside Buttermilk and took off for Kerrville.

After we had dropped off Daisy, Tony and I went down the road, to Randy's & Lisa's Save Inn Restaurant, to eat a delicious lunch, before Tony's chiropractor appointment, at 1:30.

When we left Dr. Hubble's chiropractic office, Tony's back felt much better, so we decided to run a few more errands, before heading home. Our first stop was at The Cailloux Theater, so we could vote early. Then we went to Wolfmueller Books, to visit with our good friends, Sandy & Jon and for me to pick up 10 copies of The Road to Utopia: How Kinky, Tony & I Saved More Animals Than Noah that Sandy and Jon had ordered for me, so I can turn around and sell them at the upcoming Local Authors Expo, in Boerne, this Saturday.

After a fun visit with Sandy & Jon at their fabulous bookstore, we took off for the Post Office, so I could mail a few letters. Then we went to Gibson's, to buy four, new, replacement wheels for our old wagon, for me to use, when feeding our dogs outside, because carrying around those heavy feed buckets, every morning, makes my joints ache. 

We also purchased another wagon for Tony to use, because with Tony's serious back problems, he doesn't need to be lifting those heavy buckets out of Kermit all of the time and it would be much better for his back, to pull a wagon loaded with several buckets, half full of dog food.

Before leaving Gibson's Tony spotted a jar of Udderly Smooth skin lotion, that we were told is great for dry skin.

When it was time for us to check out, I had another senior moment and it embarrassed me, because I had forgotten to cut a rescue ranch check, to pay for the the wheels and the wagon, so I ended up writing a personal check for everything, knowing that the rescue ranch will reimburse me later. Then we came home. 

When we got back home, I took these pictures of the four wheels that Tony put on the old, green wagon, which I will paint pink tomorrow and have already named The Pink Cadillac and the building of the yellow wagon, that I've named The Yellow Submarine, that Tony will be hauling around, with lighter, half-filled buckets of dog food.

And that is about it for tonight, except I want to wish David the best birthday ever!

P.S. Tony and I love the Udderly Smooth skin cream and we highly recommend it. We plan to buy another jar of it, so we can have his and her Udderly Smooth skin!

Y'all have a great evening!

A Deer Magnet! or Girl Scouts Rule!

Today has been great. This morning after we did our chores outside, I called Hoegemeyer's to check on Tuesday Weld, who had just been spayed and in recovery. The veterinarian that I spoke to, told me that Tuesday was a lovely, Pit Bull and as sweet as she could be and she is probably one to one-and-a-half- years old. And, we get to pick her up tomorrow and bring her to the rescue ranch.

As soon as I hung up the phone, it rang and it was Kinky calling me from the road, because tonight he and Little Jewford will be performing in Lufkin, to kickoff The Tour-Ette, to help raise money for our rescue ranch. "Hi, Nance. I'm calling to find out how Tuesday Weld is doing." After I told him what I had just found out about Ms. Weld, I wished him luck with his show tonight and then we adios-ed each other.

A few minutes later, around 11:00, I went outside to greet Chris and Jennifer, from Houston, who earlier had made an appointment to come out for a tour. Tony and I gave them the Grand Tour, because we really liked this young, friendly, dog-loving couple. When their tour began, our neighbor's people friendly, pet deer decided to join us and tag along and it followed us from one dog pen to another and it was pretty funny. And when we ended the first part of their tour, in front of the pigpen, the people-loving-deer would not leave Chris alone, by walking back and forth, in between Chris' legs and then standing up on its hind legs and leaning on him, so Jennifer and I teased Chris about him being a deer whisper and a deer magnet.

The sweet couple loved our rescue ranch and The Okay Corral, Tony's No Whiner Diner, Outer Space, The Cabin and our six member fur-family, that loved them back.

They stayed for about an hour and a half and Tony and I really enjoyed their visit, but they sure pulled the wool-over-our-eyes. Right before they were ready to leave, Jennifer told us that she and Chris had been married for thirteen years, which shocked us. "Did y'all get married when y'all were ten-years- old?" I jokingly asked, which made them laugh. "Seriously, I thought y'all were in your mid-twenties."

"Me, too," Tony added.

"We got married when we were thirty," Jennifer said. "I'm forty-three and people are always telling us that we look a lot younger than we are." We chatted for a few more minutes and then we adios-ed them, as they climbed on their Kawasaki motorcycle, to go eat lunch at Toucan Jim's, in Center Point, because we had recommended it to them, along with Cal-Bob's Cook Shack, The Save Inn and being sure to check out Wolfmueller's Books.

Because my time was getting tight, because I had made an appointment at 1:30, with Blayre, (Correct spelling) a really cool, thirteen-year-old Girl Scout, I made grilled cheese sandwiches and bean soup for our lunch and Tony loved it.

As soon as I had cleaned up the kitchen, Blayre and her father arrived promptly, so we went out to my pink writing cabin, so we could discuss her Silver Project, that she wants to do to help our rescue ranch.

"We came out here last year and you gave us a tour and after I had read both of your books, all I've wanted to do is help Utopia," Blayre told me. Then we talked about her Silver Project.

Blayre, along with some of her friends help, that she has already recruited, are going to bake healthy dog treats for our rescued dogs, using peanut butter, whole wheat flour, oats and water! "I ate one of them," she confessed to me, "but, I didn't like it much, because I like white flour and white bread..."

As I listened to this wonderful, kind-hearted, young lady, I nearly teared up a few times, because I was so impressed with her. "I love dogs so much and I think it would help your visitors and possible adopters get a better impression of your dogs, if they gave them treats," she explained. "We will try to bake 500 dog treats weekly and deliver them to you and..." Then she handed me two, sample baggies filled with her homemade dog treats to give to our dogs.

When our Silver Project meeting had officially ended, I thanked Blayre for being such a sweet and caring girl for wanting to help us and then I told her how impressed I was with her and then I told her that she was a real winner, in my book and a great person and for her to never change, because our world needs more people like her. While I shook her father's hand, I said, "You and your wife have raised your daughter right and I thank you for that. I can't express how impressed I am with her..."

After this truly great, young Girl Scout and her father drove away, to go back home, I came inside The Cabin and told Tony all about my impressive meeting with Blayre and then we tried out six of her doggie cookies on our dogs and they absolutely loved them, especially Roy Rogers, who wouldn't quit begging for just one more. Tomorrow, we will give the rest of Blayre's delicious doggie cookies to our dogs outside. And that is about it for today. "Thank you so much, Blayre! You truly made my day."

Y'all have a great evening!

A Real Pot Of Coffee! or Navajo Sand! or Cal-Bob's Smoke Shack!

I have been having a blast these past few days and that is why I haven't had a chance to blog, so now I am going to play a little catch up and tell y'all about the fun I have had, since Rick, "The Friendly Lighthouse Keeper" arrived Monday evening.

Tuesday morning, after Rick and Tony had returned from drinking coffee with the old timers, I cooked them some scrambled eggs and they split and ate the one rib eye, that Mama hadn't had time to consume and they thanked me and told me over and over again how tasty their breakfast was and then the three of us went outside and jumped into Kermit, to do the morning chores.

As we rode from one spot to another, around the ranch, to feed the many deer and wild turkeys, Rick and I decided to make a contest out of cleaning up the dog poop and when it was over and all said and done—it was a tie, because both of our buckets weighed the same.

Around 11:00, while Rick was out riding his Triumph all around the Hill Country, Tony and I went to the Home Depot in Kerrville to buy paint, so when Ben and Aaron came out, on Wednesday and Thursday, they could paint our five red barns, because they really looked drab and needed painting badly. And in less than five minutes I had picked the color for our barns and forty-five minutes later we were back at the ranch waiting for Rick to arrive.

We spent Tuesday evening playing music all night, in the big room and it was so much fun and we sounded pretty good, too. Rick and T. took turns playing my mandolin, while I finger-picked songs on my guitar.

Wednesday morning Rick overslept, so Tony went to the Old Timer by himself. Around 8:00, after I had showered, washed and dried our laundry, Rick knocked on the front door, just as I was making a fresh pot of coffee, " Good morning, Rick. Come on in! We'll have some hot coffee to drink in just five minutes or less." I unknowingly lied.

Two minutes after Rick had sat down on a stool at the breakfast bar, I turned around and was surprised to see the coffee ready so soon. After I had poured Rick a cup, I poured myself some coffee and added some Half 'n Half and one ice cube, as I always do, because I don't like it so hot.

When Rick and I toasted each other with our mugs and then took a sip—it was ice cold. "Nancy, did you do something wrong?" Rick teased.

"No, Rick. I poured the water where I am supposed to and if I had poured it over the coffee grounds—we'd have coffee grounds in our coffee. I guess it's time to buy another Mr. Coffee. What should I do?"

"Pour it into a pan and heat it up," Rick suggested, so I did.

Five minutes later, when I poured Rick a cup of hot coffee I laughed and said, "I guess that you could say, "That this is a real pot of coffee."

While the Friendly Lighthouse Keeper and I sipped our coffees and visited, I unplugged Mr. Coffee and was about to put him into the trash can and Rick says, "What are you doing?"

"I'm throwing him away, because he is broken." After Rick had persuaded me not to dump Mr. Coffee so fast and to give him another chance, Tony walked inside the trailer.

After Ben, Aaron, Rick, Tony and I had fed and cleaned all of the dog pens, Aaron and Ben worked on our paint sprayer. "What color are we going to paint the barns?" Ben asked. 

"Navajo Sand," I replied, and Ben started laughing.

"Nav...a...jo Sannnnd," he mockingly teased. "We're painting this here thang Nav...a...jo Sannnnd. I love the way you drag out a word." After we had all quit laughing, I asked him how he pronounces it. "Navajo Sand," Ben quickly quipped. "Not Nav...a...jo Sannnnd."

When Ben and Aaron had nearly finished painting the barn closest to the trailer, Rick, Tony and me jumped into Buttermilk and took off for Kerrville to get some more paint supplies and to eat lunch at Cal-Bob's Smoke Shack, the new, only 100-day-old, best BBQ place in Kerrville, about one mile from I-10. 

As soon as we had sat down at the last table available in the friendly good-vibes, Cal-Bob's Smoke Shack, Carol, Calvin Abercrombie's sweet wife, greeted us and asked us what we wanted to drink. Seconds later, friendly Carol served us our iced teas. "I remember you. You're Cousin Nancy," she said, "the birthday girl," and after a fun visit with her, she took our order.

Ten minutes later, at our table, there was the sound of silence, as we happily ate our delicious lunch. "I love this place," Rick said, as we nodded our heads agreeing with him. "This is the best BBQ that I've eaten in years! I'm going to tell everyone in Port Aransas about this place..."

After a fun visit with Calvin, the best BBQ cook in Texas, we grabbed Aaron's and Ben's takeout lunch boxes and then we headed to Home Depot and then we came home to feed the hungry "Navajo Sand painters." Which they raved about how delicious Cal-Bob's Smoke Shack BBQ was, as I repeated myself several times, telling everyone how I much I loved the newly painted barns.

Second verse same as the first, Rick, Tony and I spent last night pickin' and grinnin' and we sounded even better than the night before.

This morning before the sun came up, Tony woke me up at 6:00, so I could do Harley's, the next Kerr County Commissioner's radio show at 7:45 and then Rick followed him, on his Triumph, to the Old Timer to drink a hot cup of coffee, before heading back to the privately owned island, where he lives with a lighthouse.

I spent most of my day sitting behind this computer, taking care of some paperwork and that is about it for tonight. Before I start watching some Frazier reruns that I recorded earlier, I hope that everyone in the Texas Hill Country and visitors will go eat at Cal-Bob's Smoke Shack, Randy & Lisa's Save Inn restaurant and the Water Street Cafe, because these are my three favorite places to eat in the Texas Hill Country.

Y'all have a great evening and please keep praying that we get some more rain!

Good Morning, Harley!

This morning at 7:45, I called The Rose, at 104.9, to talk to Harley about the rescue ranch. This morning Lana was ‘Harley’s Pet of the Week,’ but fortunately, and unfortunately—she had been adopted, so basically there was no Pet of the Week, to discuss.

We talked about Randy and Lisa over at The Save Inn, and how good their food is, and Harley suggested that we try their Migas. Before our conversation was over, I told Harley about Kinky’s Friedman Family Bone Orchard, and Kinky wanting his ashes scattered in Rick Perry’s hair. And, before signing off—I told Harley that I was going to blog him today. Here is the story I wrote a while back about him and one fine dog.

On December 19, 2006, at 10:30 a.m.,the phone rang, and I let the machine take the call because I was doing some paperwork.

“Hello? Hello? Please call me, I need your help! I am at a Shell station in Kerrville and...”

“Hello. This is Nancy. Can I help you?” I asked.

“Yes! Thank goodness you are there!” said the woman. “I am at a Shell station in Kerrville, and I have just rescued a beautiful, big, black dog! I am trying to get out of town for the holidays, and I don’t know what to do!”

“Is the dog wearing tags?” I asked.

“Yes! One of them is a Utopia Animal Rescue tag and that is why I called you.”

“Can you give me the tag number?” I asked.

The woman gave me the tag number.

I quickly looked up the tag number! It was Bridgett Bardot!

Bridgett Bardot belonged to Harley Belew, a good friend of ours, and the most popular radio personality, in the Texas Hill Country. In fact, once a week, I do a short call-in to his popular radio show, and we discuss the happenings that go on out here. And, every week, there is a dog that I pick out, who is the ‘Harley Pet of the Week.” His show has really helped us with our adoptions, too.

“Ma’am,” I said. “The dog’s name is Bridgett Bardot. Can you stay at the Shell station long enough for me to call the owner so he can come and pick her up?”

“Yes, but please hurry because I need to get out of town. Here’s my cell number...”

I immediately called Harley.

“Hello?” Harley said.

“Harley, this is Cousin Nancy. Bridgett Bardot is at a Shell station in Kerrville!”

“I’m at Shell station in Kerrville. Hey lady! Hey that’s my dog! Lady that’s my dog! Nance, I will call you right back!”

Harley called me back a few minutes later. “Cousin Nancy, this is Harley. I apologize for hanging up on you, but this lady was putting Bridgett into her car as I was walking outside to check on Bridgett. And this man, who was sitting in a truck nearby said, ‘Hey, dude that woman is messing with your dog.’ Right when you called me. Then I see this old woman trying to force Bridgett into her car.”

I started laughing and said, “Harley, that woman had just called here, and thought Bridgett was lost, and she was going to wait there so I could call you.”

We both laughed.

“Thank goodness Bridgett was wearing her rescue ranch tag,” I said.

“I know and thank goodness you picked up the phone,” he teased.

We said our goodbyes and I went back to my paperwork.

Battle of the Sticks!

Thursday morning, when I did the ‘Harley Show’ on The Rose, we had a lot of fun. Foxy Lady was Harley’s Pet of the Week! After discussing what a great dog Foxy was, I told Harley about Kinky nominating me for the Dallas Morning News: Texan of the Year 2007! Harley thought that was great news!

“Cousin Nancy,” Harley said over the airways. “Congratulations on the nomination. I am really happy for you. I wish I was nominated for something. I’ve never been nominated for anything.”

As soon as Harley spoke those words, I said, “Hey Harley, I’m fixin’ to make that happen! Guess what? You and Randy and Lisa at The Save Inn Restaurant, as of right now—are our 2007 Texans for the Year! Congratulations!”

“You’re kidding me, Cousin Nancy? Really?” Harley said. “Randy, Lisa and me are this years winners?”

“I’m as serious as a hair stuck on a biscuit,” I said, using a quote—I stole from my good friend, Pete Hartje. "Check out utopiarescue.com tomorrow morning and there will be a running banner announcing it to the world."

Harley laughed. “Thanks Cousin Nancy—I’m honored. Is the trophy going to be a pile of dog poop—plated in gold?”

“No, Harley,” I said. “Unfortunately, we can’t afford to do that, but you are welcome to come out this morning, after the show, to help John and Tony clean pens. I’m sure they would let you take home as many trophies as you want.”

FYI: This morning at 11:23, John aka The Louisiana Wood Pecker, defeated the Hummingbird Man—3 to 0! The Medina Bulldog is quite anxious, and he has now challenged ‘TLWP’ and ‘THM’ to a tournament tomorrow afternoon! And, Ben, aka ‘The Mountain Man,’ is going to show up, and surprise them! I promise to keep y’all posted on ‘The Battle of the Sticks!’ May TBMW!