Secret, Undisclosed Location!

Yesterday afternoon after working next door I came home and put on my sweats and pink Crocs. Because I was already tired I took a short nap with our dogs and when I woke up I felt refreshed.

Knowing that I was not going to be working today and would have the day off, so I could write, I divided my evening by watching several episodes of Ancient Aliens and Downton Abbey, because I am addicted to both of those shows. And it was after midnight when I finally went to bed.

Today has been great. This morning after Tony went to work next door I wrote and edited my nearly finished novella.

Around 10:30, I decided to take a break and go outside and do something I haven't done in a very long time—Earthing! And I sat outside barefooted for over an hour and I must admit that it feels so good to be more grounded. And I have Carol to thank for reminding me about earthing last week when we spoke, because she is now into earthing. Here is a short video that I made on July 4th 2014 about my earthing project.

Here is another 2014 picture of my old earthing station when we still lived over at the rescue ranch.

After doing my earthing I came inside and checked my e-mail. And I am excited to say that Eileen's, Lisa's, Kris' & Jim's, Tony's and my first AACC (Ancient Aliens Coffee Club) is set for this Wednesday morning at a secret, undisclosed location (The Save Inn), in Kerrville.

And that is  about it for today, because I must get back to my writing.

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

Wild! or Cheryl Strayed!

Things have been wild in more ways than one. Last night, after I blogged, I went to Amazon and downloaded the Kindle Version of Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed, because I could not wait to read her true story. This book is a New York Times Best Seller and Oprah's Book Club 2.0 selection.

Seconds later after downloading it, I opened up my iPad Mini and took this picture of the cover of the book. Then I spent the rest of my evening reading over 100 pages of the "I can't put this book down." I was hooked by the second page. It is a fabulous read and an incredible story.

During the middle of the night I woke up, not because it was snowing again—I simply woke up. When I turned my head and looked across the bed everyone was sleeping soundly, especially Little Debbie. She looked so cute. She was sleeping, on her side, with her head and upper part of her body resting on my pillow, with the covers pulled halfway up her small body and her little front leg was resting on top of the covers. She looked like a little human being and I had wished that I had my camera, before I fell back to sleep. So it's official that Little Debbie has truly stolen my heart.

Early this morning I got up to do Harley Belew's popular radio show The Harley Show, on REV FM 94.3, at 7:45 and Harley's Pet of the Week was Hazel. Hazel is the sweetest, four-year-old female shepherd mix that we rescued from the Kerrville pound, a few months ago.

After having a fun time visiting with Harley, On-Air, we adios-ed each other. Then I made myself a cup of H-E-B's delicious Texas Pecan Coffee. Then I sat down at the kitchen table, plugged in my Nike+ Fuel Band, that I haven't used for more than a year, so I could charge it and reset it, because I plan to wear it for my new hiking program, that starts as soon as my Danner Light Cascade hiking boots arrive, in four days. 

When it was completely charged, I slipped it on my left wrist and then I did some light house (trailer) cleaning until Tony returned home from The Old Timer. And before I cooked him breakfast I checked my Nike+ Fuel Band and I was thrilled when I saw the number 156, because I had set my daily goal to reach 2,000 points. I only had 1,844 points to go for the day.

Before Tony and I went outside to do the morning chores, I grabbed a Baggie and put a half pound of leftover meatloaf and a half teaspoon of minced garlic in it—then I zipped it close. 

Then I put it inside my coat pocket, along with my camera. Then I went outside to find Tony to find out where I should start feeding the dogs.

Around 11:00, as planned last week, Hank arrived back at our rescue ranch, because his owners had decided to return him to us for personal reasons. Hank is our famous dog that we rescued, in January 2010 and if you want to read about his rescue, escape, etc. Please check out my blog archives, on the side bar, to read these posts: 

     1/6/10 Hank The Cowed Dog!

     1/7/10 I Am Sick!

     1/8/10 Hank Update!

     1/9/10 Knock On Wood! 

When the nice man returned Hank to us, he was feeling so terrible about having to do it. Tony had decided to put Hank in the writing cabin's front yard. Hank seemed nervous about what was going on in the yard. He sniffed Tony and me, but his tail was down between his legs the whole time. As Tony and I petted Hank, to reassure him that he would be fine, the nice man gave us Hank's paperwork, vet records, dog food, heart worm preventative, treats, his crate and then he also made a generous donation.

When I tried to give Hank the meatloaf, he acted uninterested. It was obvious to us that he was scared of what was happening to him, so we suggested that we take him inside the cabin, to hopefully calm him down, while his former owner drove away.

After Hank saw his best friend drive away without him, Tony and I went to work trying to distract Hank and make him feel better about his situation. We took turns sitting on the couches, encouraging Hank to come and sit with us, on the couches. And within forty-five minutes, Hank had begun to lift his tail and wag it and jump up on the couches. In fact, one time he got up on the couch with me and let me hug him tightly, for nearly thirty seconds and he ended up devouring that tasty meatloaf and he wanted more. And while all of this was going, I took some pictures of our returned guest.

While all of this was going on a bad thought popped into my head. "Tony, I want Hank to stay here, but something just popped into my head. Hank is an escape artist and I am afraid that he will try to escape to go back home, because he watches the door and checking out the fences. I hate to do this, but I think for the next three or four days we need to put Hank where Bonnie is, because that pen is escape proof."

"Nance, quit projecting."

"I'm not. Seriously, we need for him to settle in first. Then he won't try to escape. It's for his own good. I'll cook him sausage and eggs every morning just like I did the last time. He loves my cooking, too."

"I know. He loved the meatloaf."

Then I chuckled and said, "I know. He just ate your lunch....Okay, let's switch him and Bonnie out. Then we will go to Kerrville to eat lunch and then buy more dog food and get three pounds of sausage for Hank. We've got plenty of eggs..."

After we had moved the dogs, I called Hank's former owner to tell him that we had decided to put Hank in another, safer pen for the next three or four days and that I was going to be cooking for him. And that I would make him my official hiking dog, until he gets adopted. The man thanked me. Then Tone and I jumped into Trigger and took off for Kerrville. He was starving thanks to Hank.

Our first stop was at Randy & Lisa's Save Inn restaurant. The place was packed as always and we got to have a fun chat with Lisa before we ate our delicious lunch. Then we went to the big H-E-B.

On our way home, as we neared the top of the pass, we saw a dog, in the middle of the highway, that looked scared and lost—tail tucked between its legs, too. "Stop, Tony!" Two minutes later, this big, female puppy was sitting on our front seat—licking me to death, while Tony wrote a note about finding the dog that he stuck on a nearby mailbox.

"She's a stray, Nance. And I bet someone dumped her too," Tony said, disgustedly. "She's a sweetheart though and...." When we got back home, Tony put this sweet, approximately six-months-old pup, in the alley between Miranda Lambert and Merlin. Then we drove up to the house, to quickly unpack the groceries and I took this picture of Hank's sausage, before we went back outside to go feed and water her and take pictures, of this stray that I've named Cheryl Strayed, in honor of the fabulous author of Wild. 

When we got to Cheryl's alley, she and Miranda had already become fast friends, which is good, because maybe, after we get Ms. Strayed vetted, she and Miranda can be roomies. Here are some pictures I took of this sweet girl, who was once lost, too. Please meet Cheryl Strayed!

And y'all, that's about it for tonight, because I am fixin' to grab a glass of wine and start reading Wild, because I love strays. And just so you'll know my Nike+ Fuel Band is up to1,760!

Y'all have a great evening!

She Loved It, Too!

Today has been a quiet day around here, so after doing our morning chores outside, I spent most of my day doing ranch paperwork, returning phone calls and e-mails.

This past Friday while the volunteers were out here, I gave my friend Kris my finished second novella, because she had offered to help edit it for me.

Sunday evening, I received an exciting e-mail from Kris. She wrote:

Nancy:
Just finished reading your novella....I loved it!  Very funny, fast paced, surprising turns. I took out and put in a few commas.... 

Kris' sweet note almost made me tear up, because I was so thrilled that she, like Carol, also loved it. In Kris' e-mail she had offered to deliver it to me Monday morning, because she knew how anxious I was to make her edit corrections and get it published.

I wrote Kris back to thank her and to tell her that she didn't have to deliver it to me, because Tony and I were doing lunch with our friend Beth and we could pick it up after lunch, at Randy & Lisa's Save Inn restaurant.

Monday afternoon we picked up Beth and drove to the Save Inn, to meet her three friends and Sage & Dylan and Kinky. Angie, one of the Save Inn's friendly waitresses, happily put three tables together for all of us to sit at. And to say the least, lunch was really fun.

After lunch, as Beth, Tony and I were walking to Buttermilk, I called Kris and Jim to let them know that we were headed their way. 

Kris greeted me at the front door and invited me inside. After thanking her for helping me edit my book  I had a fun, but very short visit with my friends, because Tony and Beth were waiting for me outside, in the Expedition.

As soon as we had dropped Beth off, we headed home, because I could not wait to start the final edit for my novella, which I finished before eight o'clock last night. And that is why I didn't post anything last night. And that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

In Fredville! or If It's Free—It's For Thee!

Today has been a great day, because after I did my outdoor morning chores, I officially took the day off and went to Fredericksburg, 44 miles away, to meet my sister Cindy for lunch, at Wheeler's and to do a little shopping.

Our lunch at Wheelers was totally delicious and it was filled with too much laughter, to say the least, but unfortunately, I didn't get to see my good friends Randy & Lisa, the owners of my two favorite restaurants, in the Texas Hill Country: The Save Inn, in Kerrville and Wheelers, in Fredville.

Even though my sister and I shopped at seven different clothing stores, on Main Street, Cindy didn't find what she was hoping to find, but I did, at Marilyn's. I bought myself a beautiful, hand embroidered, cotton peasant shirt, that was made in Mexico and when I got home and put it on—Tone loved it— which is really good, because he would faint if he knew how much I paid for it.

And that is about it for tonight, because I need to clean up the trailer, I mean, The Cabin, because Ben Welch is coming out tomorrow to work for us, for a few days.

But before I say, "Y'all have a great evening!" Which I honestly do mean, there is just one more thing I must do. I have just received an exciting e-mail announcement from Marilyn Anderson, co-author of the newly released e-book Muttweiler: An AutoDOGography, that Kinky, Tony, our rescue ranch and I are in. And because I love Boomer, Marilyn and Dennis and their e-book so much and want to help them anyway that I can to get the word out about their free download offer on Amazon, I figure if it's free—it's for thee. Here is the announcement she sent to me:

Starting Weds July 25, our new book MUTTweiler: An AutoDOGography is FREE on Amazon.com

 

Boomer, my rescue dog who wrote it - would LOVE you to have a copy - and please send this to your Facebook and Animal Lover friends so they can get their FREE COPY, too. And you'll be helping Boomer, too. The more people who download it, the higher his ranking goes! Sooo, this is the perfect time to share it or gift it.

MUTTweiler: An AutoDOGography by Boomer

Translated by Dennis L Lanning and Marilyn Anderson

It's a quick, fun read with comical photos about his travels from Kinky Friedman's Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch to Hollywoof, Colliefornia!

Click to see: MUTTweiler: An AutoDOGography

or cut and paste this into your URL:

http://tinyurl.com/7njwhr4

Even if you don't have a Kindle you can easily read MUTTweiler on any computer, smartphone or tablet, including Apple products, by downloading the free Kindle reader:

Get Kindle Reader Apps Here

Boomer is a rescue dog and a portion of the proceeds are being donated to the Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch, where he was first saved as a puppy.

THANKS and ENJOY it....

Marilyn

I hope that y'all will download their free e-book, because it really is a fun read, it also benefits our rescue ranch and we're in it.

Y'all have a great evening!

A Little Bit Wiser!

Today has been great. This morning at 8:30 Tony and I jumped into Trigger and took off for Kerrville. Our first stop was at Wolfmueller's Books so I could buy a copy of my first book, The Road to Utopia: How Kinky, Tony & I Saved More Animals Than Noah, to send it as a gift, to Katie, in California, who supports our rescue ranch and we also wanted to visit with Sandy and Jon about our upcoming trip to Terlingua, because we are so excited about it—we're ready to start packing and we needed to know what we should bring.

After I had paid them for my book and a couple of others about Big Bend we had a fun visit with them and when we left their fabulous bookstore we were a little bit wiser, because we knew what we needed to pack for our upcoming fun, road trip with them.

Our next stop was at Randy's & Lisa's Save Inn Restaurant, because we were meeting our good friends, aka L-BeNT band members, aka super volunteers, Eileen, Ellen and Lisa there for breakfast, before going over to Hoegemeyer Animal Clinic to pick up and so Tony and I could say goodbye to Blackie and Alfie, because these three super women were going to transport Blackie and Alfie to Austin for us, so they could start their journey to their new forever home in New York state.

When we arrived at The Save Inn it was packed full, as always, with loyal customers and tourists and we felt lucky to have found a table for five, because The Save Inn always wins the "Best Breakfast in Kerrville Award" every year by voting Kerrverts.

Right after T. and I had ordered the exact same thing, as we always seem to do,  the Sinker Omelet and iced tea, from a very friendly waitress, Ellen and Eileen walked inside the popular cafe and came over and sat down at our table and then the fun began after Eileen and Ellen placed their orders. 

Ten minutes later when Lisa arrived at the Save Inn she had no trouble locating us, because we were sitting at the table where all of the laughing was coming from. Because Eileen, Lisa and Ellen are such funny people, Tone and I had a really hard time trying to eat our delicious breakfast, because we couldn't stop laughing at their hilarious stories. 

At 10:15 after thanking our great waitress for great service and a delicious breakfast, I had a short visit with Angie, their best waitress, who always keeps us laughing with her funny jokes and for taking our picture, we jumped into our vehicles and headed a few blocks down the road to Hoegemeyer Animal Clinic to pick up Blackie and Alfie.

Before going into the clinic the women rearranged the backseat of Eileen's Avalanche with Blackie's and Alfie's pretty, new doggie pillows, that Deborah had shipped to us last week, for Blackie's and Alfie's trip up to New York state, while Tony put their dog tags on their new dog collars. Then we went inside to get two very lucky dogs.

A few minutes later after visiting with their friendly office manager Susan, Blackie came out and then Alfie came out wearing their pretty, pink bandannas that Deborah had also sent to us, for them to wear.

After we thanked Susan for all of their help, Lisa and Tony took the dogs outside to the grassy area, so they could relieve themselves if needed—which wasn't needed after all.

Then Tony loaded our/their special cargo into the backseat and then Lisa climbed in to ride beside them to Austin. After saying goodbye to our friends and the two dogs that had stolen my heart years ago— we adios-ed each other and they drove away and we headed home. 

At 1:22, while Tony and I were outside finishing up "our morning" chores, Ellen called and left a "good news" message on Carlton. "Nancy and Tony we have just left Blackie and Alfie at Tony's apartment and we feel really good about the people who will be delivering Blackie and Alfie to Deborah....We are now headed over to Shady Grove to eat Brisket Tacos and then we are going to Whole Foods and then..."

When T. and I came inside the trailer we were thrilled hearing Ellen's message and then we went over to Kinky's so he could autograph my book that I was sending to Katie, in San Diego, because he wrote the Foreword for it and she is a major fan of his. 

After he autographed my book for Katie, we told him Ellen's good news about Blackie and Alfie and he was glad to hear it and then we talked some rescue ranch business and then we talked about putting The Friedmans on a diet, because they were getting a little pudgy and then Trigger took us back home to find that we had missed Eileen's phone call from Austin.

"Nancy, we are at Whole Foods right now and we want to get you something for you to take, to relax you when you go to Whole Foods and Target, in San Antonio, with Sandy and Patty and out to Big Bend with Jon and Sandy. Please call me in the next five minutes. Bye." I looked at the clock on the wall in the kitchen—thirty minutes had passed since she had called, so I picked up the phone and punched in Eileen's phone number.

"Hi, Nancy."

"Hi, Eileen. I am sorry I missed your call. We were over at Kinkys and we just got home."

"That's okay. We are leaving Dripping Springs right now. We decided to buy you some Rescue Remedy droplets, as a little gift, to put into your mouth, to calm you down. Is that okay?"

"Yes, and thank y'all very much for doing that. I'm sure it will help. Eileen, thank you so much for helping us out today by taking Blackie and Alfie to Austin for us today and please thank Ellen and Lisa, too. Y'all are the best and we..."

Y'all have a great evening and please keep praying for rain for us, because tonight Tony told me, "Nance, I think you need to start doing the laundry every other day for a while, because of the drought." So, tomorrow I am going to J.C. Penney's to buy us more clothes, so we can go longer without washing a load of clothes.

Nopalitos!

Today has been great, even though it has been pretty quiet around here, which is exactly what I needed, so I could catch up with my paperwork, etc.

This morning at 7:45 I called Harley Belew to do the Utopia segment, sponsored by our good friends Randy & Lisa Sanders, who own the famous Save Inn Restaurant in Kerrville and Wheeler's restaurant over in Fredericksburg.

Today Harley's Pet of the Week was our beautiful, now four-months-old—Betty Rubble and I had a fun time visiting with Harley, at the Rose 99.9. Don't you just love her smile and those Betty Grable eyes.

Around ten-thirty this morning, after talking to way too many people on the phone, who wanted to bring us their dogs and a goose from Houston, I decided to take a much needed break, so I called Sandy at Wolfmueller's Books to ask her a couple of questions about her Nopalitos Salad recipe, because I was going to make it for Tony's and my lunch and I didn't want to screw it up. 

After interrogating her, I thanked her for her helpful tips. And before we adios-ed each other Sandy said, "Nancy, please call me and let me know what y'all think of it." After promising her that I would, I gathered all of the ingredients, took this picture, and then carefully prepared it as she had instructed. And Sandy's recipe was so easy and simple to prepare it only took me fifteen minutes to make her cactus salad.

Right after I took this next picture of the salad that I had prepared, T. walks inside the trailer and declared, "I'm starving, Nance. Did you fix Sandy's salad?" I nodded and pointed to the bowl and the rest is history. We loved it! It was absolutely delicious and we ate it all up!

After lunch I cleaned up the kitchen and then I called Sandy at Wolfmueller's Books. "OMG, Sandy! We loved your salad. And it's now going to be our favorite salad."

"Jon and I are eating it right now for our lunch. I'm glad that y'all liked it."

"Sandy, we didn't like it—we loved it. I was a little worried about it because Tone says he doesn't like Cilantro or onions and he cleaned his plate and took second helpings and...." After Sandy and I adios-ed each other for the second time today, I called a couple of my friends and told them that they had to try my new recipe, Cousin Nancy's Stolen Cactus Salad, and they promised that they would. And I hope that y'all will try it too. Here's my latest recipe that I stole from Sandy. Enjoy!

Cousin Nancy's Stolen Cactus Salad 

Ingredients:

1  15 oz. jar of Nopalitos (I used La Costena brand) Drain and rinse to remove the slime and then dice.

2  Tomatoes—diced

1  Can of Bush's Black Beans—drained and rinsed.

1/2  Red onion—diced

Jalapenos optional (I didn't use any nor does Sandy)

1/4 Cup or more of chopped Cilantro

Juice of 1 Lime

1  Avocado (Or packaged avocado like I used.)

Pepper to taste.

Enjoy! Eat and be merry! I can't wait to make this salad for Kinky and Ben to try, because I know that they are going to love it, too.

This afternoon Jon Wolfmueller called while I was outside, so Carlton took his call. "Hi, Nancy it's Jon. I just wanted to let you know that we have the two books that you ordered, The Art of Racing In The Rain. Next time y'all are in Kerrville come by and pick them up. Bye."

P.S. Mari, I swear that you'll love this recipe. It's the best! I love Nopalitos!

Y'all have a great evening!

"The Wild Blue Yonder!" or "He Was Completely Wrong!"

Yesterday was great. Around eight o'clock in the morning our good friend Ellen Cooper came out to help Tony with his chores, because Tone was going to take the rest of the day off to spend the day driving around the Hill Country with his sister Annie and our sister-in-law Stacie, because they are all shutterbugs and they wanted to go take pictures of the Bluebonnets.

Stacie arrived first, around eight-thirty, so I invited her inside for some coffee, since T. and Ellen weren't done with his chores and Annie hadn't arrived yet. During our fun conversation I told her about how much I loved this years CMA awards and how much I loved the new upcoming artist Eric Church. Since Stacie had missed the show that I had recorded, I showed her Eric Church's performance and Carrie Underwood and Steven Tyler's performance and then Ellen walked inside the trailer, carrying a small cardboard box with plants in it, and said, "Charlie and I have a gift for you from Big Bend and a carton of fresh eggs from our chickens." My eyes lit up when I looked at the beautiful plants!

"This odd looking one is called a Lithrop and I can't remember what the succulent is called. And this little cactus in the pot, with the magnet attached, is for your refrigerator door and you only have to water it once a month."

After I thanked her and asked her to please thank Charlie for the lovely plants, Stacie and I admired them and then the three of us watched Eric Church's performance, Carrie and Steven's performance, to catch Ellen up, and then we watched the duet with Zac Brown and James Taylor and it blew them out of the saddle, too! 

Then our hen party began when we started talking about how cute we thought Eric was and what a heart throb Steven and Zac were and that's when Tony walked inside. "I wonder where Annie is?" Tony asked, as I started to replay Eric Church's performance on our television, so T. could watch it. "That guy's really good. I like him," Tony commented, as the three of us girls stared at the TV, trying not to drool. Then Annie arrived! And ten minutes later they took off for the wild blue yonder and Ellen went back home to Charlie. 

An hour later after catching up with all of my paperwork, e-mails and phone calls I decided to take the day off too, because I couldn't wait to read more of, The Art of Racing In The Rain, by Garth Stein. 

 I took a break from reading, when I met Kinky for a late lunch in Kerrville and basically all we talked about was how much we were enjoying reading Garth's book. After our lunch I went to H-E-B to get a few more groceries and then Trigger took me home.

Tony and "the girls" arrived back at the ranch, halfway between four-thirty and five and they told me they had had a blast, even though there were no Bluebonnets to shoot. "We found one Bluebonnet," Tony said, "and we ate lunch at Wheeler's in Fredericksburg and the food was the best and you have got to tell Harley about it."

"Our good friends Randy & Lisa, who own The Save Inn Restaurant in Kerrville, recently purchased Wheeler's. I'm so glad that y'all ate there..." After Annie and Stacie took off for home I started reading, again and I didn't stop until I had finished the book, which I still can't quit thinking about today, because it is now one of my most favorite books in the whole wide world.

This morning after I walked six miles with Leslie I called Kinky, "I finished reading the book and I cannot say enough about it."

"Come on over, Nance. Let's talk about it," Kinky said. "I still have sixty pages to go, so please don't tell me how it ends." After a short, but fun visit with Kinky I came back home and went to work doing more paperwork, etc.

This afternoon while we ate lunch with Kinky we started talking about Stein's book again and then he tells me that he thinks he knows the outcome and how the book is going to end, but he doesn't want me to give him any clues or signs, as to whether he is right or wrong, because he wants the ending to be a surprise. After I agreed to be stone-faced about it—he told me his theory and I just stared blankly back at him, from across the table, with my face frozen like a statue, with no expression, and it was very hard for me to do—because he was completely wrong—just like I had been when I thought I had figured it out!

This evening Kinky called me and wanted to come over later tonight, after his Australian interviews, to have a picnic with our dogs. "Let's do it tomorrow, Kink," I said. "I need to write my blog tonight and you need to finish reading the book, so we can talk about it. I can't wait for you to finish it."

Y'all have a great evening and give your dogs a hug from me!

P.S. Tony has just started reading, The Art of Racing In The Rain! 

Today Has Been A Quiet Day!

Today has been a quiet day thank goodness, even though we are under a full moon attack. This morning after feeding the dogs I decided to cook a really nice breakfast for Tony and me, instead of our usual: (his) oatmeal and (my) healthy smoothie.

When he returned from the Old Timer with the Sunday edition of the San Antone newspaper he was happily surprised with what I had cooked him for breakfast. We had "Cousin Nancy's Texas Omelet" which is my version of Randy and Lisa's Save Inn Restaurants' famous, mouth watering—"Sinker Omelet." The omelet was delicious and it had everything in it except the kitchen sink along with a side of bacon, hash browned potatoes and whole wheat toast drizzled in olive oil. To say the least, Tone loved it and he cleaned his plate and that made me feel good.

After I had cleaned up the kitchen and T. had done some important virtual farming on his laptop, he went outside to do his "real" chores, so I walked eight miles with Leslie Sansone. Then I tied a wet, pink bandana around my neck and went outside to help Tony clean pens.

 I really enjoy cleaning the dog's pens, because it gives me an opportunity to spend time visiting with all of our dogs. An hour later, after I had petted and talked the dog's ears off, we were done cleaning up the pens, so we returned to the trailer.

No sooner had we walked inside the trailer the phone rang and it was Kinky, and believe it or not—I picked up the phone on the second ring, so I could talk to him. He told me that he was on a train from Philadelphia which was fixin' to arrive in Washington D.C. where his sweet sister, Marcie was picking him and Little Jewford up. We mainly talked about Lucky and what a great cat that he had been and how much we were all going to miss him. Then I put Kink on the "Speaker Phone" so we could discuss some rescue ranch business, as I started fixin' lunch for Tone and me.

After eating a not so great lunch, because I didn't have all of the needed ingredients—Buttermilk took us to Walmart so Tony could buy a few new shirts and some new socks. Then we came back home and that is about all of the news I have for today.

Y'all have a great evening!

Well, I'm A Long Tall Texan—I Wish!

Early this morning before Tony did his chores outside he and I went to Kerrville to eat breakfast at Randy and Lisa's Save Inn Restaurant. They make the best breakfast in town and to prove it, when we arrived their parking lot was nearly full and the restaurant was packed with happy people laughing inside. The reason that it is a happy place can be blamed on the sweet and funny waitresses and the good food. Not a bad combination if you ask me. And as always our breakfast was absolutely delicious.

After we left the Save Inn Restaurant we went to H.E.B. to get a few groceries and that is when things got a little weird and ugly. As Tony and I were walking to the store an old man probably about my age came walking out of the store nicely dressed but wearing shorts and it was twenty-nine degrees outside. Tony and I looked at each other and chuckled because we knew what each other was thinking—the guy was crazy.

When we arrived in the dairy section I just about had a cow when I saw an old woman probably about my age wearing just a sweatshirt and sneakers with rolled down black socks. We're talkin' no pants at all and the bottom of her dark blue sweatshirt just barely covered her bottom and she had varicose veins so bad her legs looked like a road map done by a drunk tattoo artists who had tried to connect all of her dots—it was not a pretty sight to see!

Everybody was staring at her and holding their breath as she casually lifted a quart of milk off of the shelf and then put it into her carry basket.  Tony and I looked at each other trying not to laugh and then we got out of there as fast as we could. As soon as we were three isles down and completely out of sight of her, near the frozen pizza section I said, "Tony, that woman wasn't wearing any pants! I can't believe it. Thank goodness the milk wasn't on a lower or higher shelf." Then we laughed all of the way to the bean isle.

When we got home at nine-thirty I helped Tony clean pens while he fed the dogs. Then I spent the rest of my day working on my book. Around four o'clock I went back into my office to try to find the picture I have of Molly Ivins and me because I want to put it into my book. After a ten minute search I found it along with a couple of hilarious pictures of me when I was young. They made me laugh out loud.

At four-thirty Kinky called to ask if he could come over so he could have a picnic with Toto. Ten minutes later Kinky was having a picnic on the front porch with Thunder, Little Girl, Hank and Toto. Here is picture that I took of the picnic.

When the picnic was over and our dogs were full of fried chicken I showed Kinky the photos that I had found. He loved this one of Molly and me that was taken in 1999 while she and I were visiting backstage at our first Bonefit.

Then Kinky laughed out loud when I showed him this goofy picture of my sister Cindy and me on my parent's patio, when I was a sweet sixteen. We were working on a dance routine for the song "Well, I'm A Long Tall Texan." Cindy is wearing the hat and I'm pointing a fake pistol at her. 

And Kinky nearly flipped out and then he started laughing when he saw me wearing a "Flip" hairdo at a party at my Uncle Howard's house. I was seventeen. My grandfather is the gray-haired man on the left standing by the door watching the man flirting with me.

Well, I hope that my pictures made you laugh out loud because I am still laughing about them. The Grammy's are fixin' to come on so I must end tonight's blog. I've gotta feeling that the Black Eyed Peas will win everything tonight and I hope they will.

Y'all have a great evening!

None!

So far, today has been really fun and filled with surprises. This morning I got up early so I could do the Harley Show. When I got on my laptop to watch and listen to Harley before I called in, I was surprised to see Rick doing the show. At seven-forty-five when I called the station Rick answered the phone and told me off air that Harley was over at the stock show.

When the song that was playing stopped playing that's when we went live on the air. "We have Cousin Nancy on the phone from the Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch. How are you doing?"

"Good morning Rick! I'm doin' just fine."

"That's good," Rick said. "Who is Harley's Pet of the Week?"

"Well, since Harley isn't there, Rick's Pet of the Week is Miss Moose and she is a wonderful four year old black Lab."

"Tell us some more about Miss Moose."

"She is like a doublewide Labrador. She weighs over a hundred and twenty pounds. She's not tall just real wide..." We talked about the rescue ranch for a few minutes then my segment of the show was over. I had fun doing the show with Rick.

After I walked six miles I cleaned up, and then I cleaned up the trailer. At ten-thirty my friend, Sheryl arrived right on time. Sheryl is the kind heart who is helping me edit my book. When she came inside the trailer with my edited pages of the book she surprised me with a gift. She gave me a first edition copy of Two Guys Four Corners by Don Imus & Fred Imus! "Sheryl, you didn't need to bring me a present, heck, your help with the editing is the biggest gift I could ever want or ask for. You are too sweet. Thank you so much."

Sheryl and I spent the morning talking about her edits and the book in general. Even though there are a lot of red marks on every page for me to correct, most of the corrections are to delete  all of the unnecessary commas that I used after every two breaths. I plan to start the editing tonight! Sheryl left around one o'clock. Thank you, Sheryl!

After Tony and I ate lunch I found the Club Ed classes catalog to get the phone number for registration. "Club Ed. This is Bill. How can I help you?" (I think he said Bill, but because I am hard of hearing he might have said Phil.)

"Hi. I'm Nancy Parker-Simons and I want to sign up for a course."

"Great! Which one?"

"The drum course," I said. "Can I sign up for it now on the phone?" After I gave Bill / Phil my name, address, phone number and credit card information he asked me for my e-mail address. "It's Cousin Nancy..."

"Cousin Nancy! You're Cousin Nancy! I listen to you everyday on Harley."

"Well, thank you. I love Harley."

"I'm doing the Harley Show tomorrow morning about Club Ed," the friendly man said. Then we talked about Harley for a few minutes and how much he has done to help the Kerrville community. Then Bill / Phil surprised me and said, "Would you like to teach a course for Club Ed?"

What? I didn't know what to say, so there was a moment of silence, because his question had blown me out of the sadde, so to speak. "Sure. I guess I could teach a writing course as long as it doesn't have anything to do with punctuation, or I could teach a course on how to write a book or something."

"What if you did a course about animal rescue. People could sign up and take a bus down there one day and spend two to three hours."

"Yes, Tony and I could give them a tour, explain what we do and how they can help."

"I like that idea," Bill / Phil said. "We will send you a teacher application. Cousin Nancy, there are still a few openings left to fill for the drum class, so please invite all of your friends to take the course with you." I told him that I would and then we said goodbye to each other.

The first people I thought of who are fun and might want to take the course with me were Mari and The NoMads, Lisa, Matt, Jon & Sandy at Wolfmueller's Books, Donna S., Trisha at Copies Plus, Randy & Lisa at The Save Inn, Carol V., Rick & Leisa, Pete & Kelly and David & Desiree at the Trails End Guest House!

I think it would be a blast to take the drum course with all of them! It would be just like a party, but sadly it would be without Tony, because he hates drumming. Who knows, maybe I could talk the instructor into letting Tony come to the class for just a few minutes so he could take a few videos of us banging our drums slowly on Sunday, February twenty-eighth.

This afternoon Lisa and Kevin came out to the rescue ranch to help Tony replace a water pump and to walk a few dogs for us. T. wanted me to go with them so I went with them. I had a fun visit with everyone even though Tone teased me relentlessly about being scared of the cows and he kept honking the horn trying to get the cows to chase us.

"I am not scared of cows y'all," I said, in self defense. "What I am scared of is when Tony goes to feed them and they chase us to where he feeds them, and they run right beside the window that I am sitting next to! If one of them stumbled, they could fall over and crush me."

"So, how many cows have you seen stumble and fall and crush someone inside a car?" Lisa asked.

"None," I said. Then we all broke out laughing. It took us about thirty minutes to get the pump running and Tony was soaking wet by the time we were done, because he actually did most of the work.

Y'all have a great evening!

It Was A No Show!

Tony woke me up this morning. "Nance, it's five-thirty. You need to get up." Before I could climb out of bed, our dogs pounced on me, using me as a human diving board—before leaping off of the bed to go outside!

"Ouch! Thank you, Tony. Ouch! I'm awake, now. Ouch! Dog-gone it!"

By seven o'clock, we were on our way to Kerrville with our precious cargo—Ellen Degeneres, to do the Harley Show! As soon as Buttermilk crossed over the cattle guard—Ellen became unhappy, and she started howling, actually it was more like high pitched screaming! Yikes! Tone and I figured by the time we reached Highway 16, she would quiet down—we were wrong. She yelled at us the entire trip, as we tried to listen to Harley on the radio.

As soon as we got out of the car with Ellen, at the Rose 99.9 radio station—she turned into a different puppy! Her tail was wagging wildly and she could not quit kissing us, and she was quiet! She was happy, Tone was happier, and I was the happiest girl in the whole U.S.A.! I'm serious.

Doing Harley's Show was a lot of fun this morning, and Ellen did great! She was calm and relaxed in the studio, as we talked about her, and she even showered Harley with wet kisses, near the end of the show! I was so proud of her!

When our rescue ranch segment was over, Tony, with Ellen sleeping peacefully in his arms, and I descended the stairs to the parking lot to load up. As soon as Buttermilk pulled out onto the Junction Highway—Ellen became a basket case, again—yelling her lungs out! I thought to myself—Ellen has turned into Hell-en!

She screamed the entire three-point-two miles to Hoegemeyers, where we dropped her off to chill out, so we could go eat breakfast at Randy and Lisa's Save Inn restaurant. Of course, the restaurant was packed, but Tony and I were lucky to find us a table! Then the weirdest thing happened!

In less than two minutes, after their friendly waitress had taken our order—Ben walks into the restaurant! We knew Ben was coming to the rescue ranch today to work, but we weren't expecting to see him at the restaurant—it was a happy surprise for us! "I heard y'all on the radio, tell Harley that y'all were coming here. When I saw Buttermilk parked outside, I decided to join you two for breakfast." T. and I were delighted, and so was our waitress!

When the sweet waitress handed Ben a menu, she asked, "Is he your son?" Tony and Ben burst out laughing, and I nearly choked to death on my ice tea!

"No. Ben is our good friend," Tony replied, as I waited for someone to come do the Heimlich manuever on me! Unfortunately, no one came—it was a no-show, but fortunately I survived another one of my—"Well, Nance almost wasn't with us anymore today" incidents, an expression my incredibly sweet, loving parents used to say often, when I was growing up. I must admit my 'almost dead' incidents do seem to occur quite frequently—just ask Kinky, Ben or Tone.

Our party-of-three breakfast was delicious and a blast! T. and Ben teased me about getting all choked up over nothing, and we did a lot of laughing, as we caught up with each other's latest news. I found out, during our meal, that Miles of Chocolate has now been voted 'Best Chocolate' by the Austin Chronicle—for two years in a row! Congrats Miles and Ben! Austin knows chocolate!

As Tony paid our bill, I didn't want our breakfast fun to end, because I was already dreading the twenty-two mile trek, back to the rescue ranch with Hell-en!

As Buttermilk took us home, Hell-en serenaded us non-stop, for thirty-two minutes, with gut-wrenching, soul piercing sounds, that I hope I never hear again in this lifetime! If I do, it will be another one of those "Well, Nance almost wasn't with us anymore today" incidents!

Y'all have a great evening!

And Baby Makes Three!

Talk about bad timing, it actually started on Sunday. Sundays are Tony's and my official day off, and usually we go to Kerrville to get groceries at H.E.B. and run a few errands. After Tony and I had run a couple of errands, we went to H.E.B. to buy some much needed groceries, but it was closed, so we returned to the rescue ranch.

Yesterday, after walking five miles, catching up on some paperwork, and returning several phone calls, Tony and I took off for Kerrville, again. We took Trigger, because Buttermilk was low on gas.

I needed to get some new guitar strings, so we took Baby, my guitar, so we could drop it off, at the Melody Corner store, so Stan could restring it for me, while we ran some errands. When Tony put Baby in the back of Trigger—his shoulder went out and he was hurting. Before arriving in Kerrville—we had made us a plan.

First, we would stop by Wolfmueller's Books, to see Jon and Sandy, and for me to purchase a copy of my book, so I could give it to Freda, at La Four's restaurant. I had promised to bring her a book, but I seemed to always forget. When we arrived at Wolfmueller's, Tony painfully took Baby from the back of the truck, and locked her inside Trigger.

Jon was in his office, having a conversation with a man, so we just waved to him—he was busy. Then we go and get a copy of my book off of the shelf, and go to the checkout counter to pay for it. Mary Jo was there and she greeted us. "Where's Sandy?" I asked.

"She's gone, but she will be back in a little while." We were disappointed. After paying for my book, I opened it up, and inscribed it to Freda. Then we left. And, Tony once again, put Baby in the back of the truck, then we headed to 'Stan the Man's' music store. When we arrived—the sign on the door said, 'Sorry, We're Closed.' I was disappointed, but Tony wasn't. I think he was glad that he didn't have to get Baby out of the back.

We were hungry, so we headed to La Four's Seafood Restaurant, I was excited about finally giving Freda my book! When we arrived at La Four's—it was closed, too! Tony and I were definitely on a roll, and we were not smiling! "Tony, there's another music store on Water Street. Let's go there!"

When we pulled up and parked at 'Bandera Strings,' Tony grabbed Baby and we went inside the store. "Do y'all carry guitar strings?" I asked.

"No. We just repair guitars. Sorry" A pleasant woman said. As we walked back to Trigger, I could tell that Tony was starting to get really agitated with Baby, and he groaned when he lifted her up and returned her to her resting place.

Trying to smooth things over, I suggested we eat at The Save Inn. Tony liked my idea, until he had to lock her inside Trigger, again! As always, our lunch was delicious, and the friendly waitress seemed to cheer Tony up some—thank goodness!

As we walked back to Trigger, I said, "Tony let's go to Home Depot. I want to build a coffee table like Carol's. It's just two blocks down."

When we parked, Tony said a few cuss words, as he shoved Baby back into the cab! After locking the doors, we went inside Home Depot. Twenty minutes later, we walked out of the store with fifty dollars of lumber. "Tony, let me load the truck, I know your shoulder is killing you." Tony helped me load the truck, and grumbled something, when he returned Baby back to her place. Then Trigger took us to H.E.B.

After Tony threw Baby into the cab, we went inside to shop. Twenty minutes later, we were back in the parking lot, loading the back with groceries. "Cheer up, T.," I said. "You only have to move Baby two more times!" My words fell on deaf ears. Tony was starting to hate Baby!

When we arrived at the rescue ranch, Tony carried Baby inside, as I carried a bag of groceries. After the groceries were put up—we unloaded the sticks of lumber, and then set up shop on the front porch! Tony's shoulder was really hurting him, so I only asked him to help me nail the base boards together—then he went inside and I went to work! Two hours into my outdoor project—Kinky called! He wanted to come over and have a picnic with Toto and our gang, and he wanted to see my coffee table project!

Kinky was impressed with my building skills, even though I was actually building a big box—to put our feet on. After the picnic, Kink hung around for a little while, as we discussed his plans to plant bamboo.

At seven-fifteen, I had finished my coffee table! Unfortunately, it doesn't look like Carol's at all, but I love it! In fact, I am proud of it! Here are a few pictures! Y'all have a great Tuesday!

P.S. Later today, we're taking Baby back to Kerrville to get new strings!

Smiling Faces!

Last Thursday, during a conversation with Harley on his radio show, he told me that our friends, Randy and Lisa, of The Save Inn Restaurant, wanted everyone to know that their son and his wife, Trisha, had recently opened up a copy shop in Kerrville. He went on to tell me that they can do just about any kind of printing including posters. “Harley, that’s great news!” I said. “I’m going to go see them, because I want to get a poster done for Tony. It’s going to be a surprise for him.”

Tuesday morning, I found a little bit of time, to work on my poster project. I ended up using two pictures of Blue, and the poem that Tony had written on the day that Blue died. It took me less than an hour to put it all together—using Adobe Photoshop, and then I burned it to a CD. And, then I told Tony about the poster, because I couldn’t keep the secret any longer.

That afternoon, we drove to Kerrville to get it printed! We drove to the print shop, walked inside and I said, “Hi. Are you Randy’s and Lisa’s son?”

This man looked at me like I was a crazy old lady. “What?” He asked. “Who is Randy and Lisa?”

I turned about five shades of red and Tony just stood there wearing a big grin. “Our friend’s son has just opened up a print shop and I thought this was it,” I explained.

“You’re talking about Copies Plus,” he said, “They’re down the road—next to Auto Zone.”

“Thank you,” I said, “I’m sorry.” And then we walked out of the business—feeling embarrassed. Tony teased me all of the way to Copies Plus.

When we found Copies Plus, Tony parked Buttermilk, and then we went inside. “Hi, welcome to Copies Plus. My name’s Trisha. What can I do for you?”

After introducing ourselves, and telling her about going to the wrong copy shop—I handed Trish the CD and explained what we needed to get printed. Trisha understood what we were wanting and she was very helpful. In less than five minutes, we left Copies Plus and headed home.

Yesterday morning, I received an e-mail from Trisha. She had sent me a proof and it looked great! She wrote to tell me that the poster would be ready today, and she wrote that she had a Heeler named Ziggy. She said that the pictures and Tony’s poem had touched her and she had played around a little, with my design and just wanted to show it to me.

When I looked at her design—I loved it and was so glad that she had included it in the e-mail! I immediately e-d her back, and told her that her design was fantastic and to please use it, instead of mine.

This morning I received another e-mail from Trish—the poster would be ready around noon! Tony couldn’t wait to see it, so at 11:30, Tony left the rescue ranch, to go pick up his poster at Copies Plus!

When Tony arrived back home—he was smiling from ear to ear—he loved his poster! When I saw it—my jaw dropped—it was absolutely beautiful! When Tony showed it to Ben and Maribeth—they thought it was great, too!

Because I was so thrilled about how well it had turned out—I called Trish. “Trish, this is Nancy. Tony just got home with your poster, and I am calling to thank you for doing such a great job. It’s perfect and we love it! And, I am so glad that we went with your design. Thank you so much for making Tony smile, again.”

P.S. Ben and Toto dropped in this afternoon—just to say hi!

P.S.S. Kinky is leaving tomorrow for his Amsterdam, England and Ireland tour with Little Jewford and Washington Ratso!