Good News—Bad News!

First, the good news. This morning as I was finishing up my sixth mile the phone rang—it was Nancy! Not me, but the Nancy who adopted Toby Keith from us yesterday, so I muted the sound and shut Leslie up, answered the phone and continued walking with the video. "Nancy, this is Nancy," she said. "I had to call you to tell you about what an incredibly great dog Toby is!" Her words made me smile, as I started race walking in circles around the big room while holding the phone up to my ear.

"I know," I huffed. "He is a great dog. I love Tober so much—he is close to my heart and..."

"Me, too! His manners are impeccable. He sits and waits at the door for me to let him go outside and our caretaker is in love with him! In fact, I know he wants me to give Toby to him, but I won't. I can't. This beautiful dog has stolen my heart. He is truly a magnificent dog! I've never had such a great dog."

"I know," I said breathing heavily into the phone, hoping that Nancy wouldn't think I was some kind of a weirdo. "How'd he get along with your old Blue Heeler?" I asked, crossing my fingers, as I spoke the words.

"OMG! Smokey growled at him when they first met, to let him know that he was number one, and Toby was number two and Toby did nothing—like he didn't seem to care. They are now best friends and inseparable. They are sitting together on the porch as I speak. This dog is awesome!"

"I know," I said, sounding like I was on the verge of having an asthma attack, even though I don't have asthma, as I finished the sixth mile and turned off the workout video.

"Oh, let me tell you what he did last night!" Nancy said, as I took a sip of water and started making choking sounds, because I swallowed the wrong way. "Are you okay?"

After a short coughing spell I gasped, "Yes, I think so. I just swallowed some water the..."

"Well that's good that you're okay," Toby's best friend said, as I wiped away the tears forming in my eyes, caused by another one of my almost near death (choking) experiences. As Toto stared at me with concern in his eyes—Nancy went on to say, "When I got in bed last night Toby came over and sat down beside me on the floor and looked at me. I invited him to sleep on the bed and he jumped up on the bed and laid down beside me with his head resting on my pillow! I couldn't believe it! He slept there all night! I cannot thank you enough for telling me about Toby and letting me adopt him. I promise you, that I will give him the greatest life that he deserves. Thank you, so much!"

Once again, I wiped away the tears, but this time they were tears of happiness for Toby. "No. Thank you, Nancy for adopting Toby. I cannot thank you enough. You have truly just made my day..."

After our conversation ended, as I was putting the phone back into its cradle Tony walked inside the trailer. "Nance, I need for you to call—what's wrong, babe? Why are you crying? Tell me." After I told him he smiled, gave me a hug and then he went back outside to work.

Now for the bad news. I've got to keep it short because it is raining and starting to thunder outside. I'm sad to say that Trace Adkins, my new, used overhead projector that I was going to use to do portraits, has left the building (trailer) and he is now on his way back to New York City and it isn't his fault.

Unfortunately, the company sent me the wrong projector. I had purchased model 9550 and when I started messing with Trace I realized that he was a model number much lower—9100—and could not perform like the newer model with all of its bells and whistles. So this afternoon T. helped me put Trace Adkins back into his box and we drove him to the UPS Store in Kerrville and bid him farewell and a safe trip.

As I sit now and stare at the twenty-eight dollar plastic bag from the craft store, sitting on the kitchen table, filled with assorted sketch pads, pencils, the must-have ARTGUM eraser and the professional pencil sharpener, that I bought a few days ago for my new hobby—I am not sure what to do, because maybe it is an omen that this is not the right hobby for me after all. I know that it said that 'no skill is required' and all, "Which makes it the perfect hobby for you," Tony declared, reassuringly to make me feel better, as he loaded Trace into the back seat of Buttermilk, but I don't know. I've got to think about it some more. Sweet dreams, Toby!

P.S. I just went to the sink to wash a few glasses and screamed when I saw this drowned, five inch long Scorpion in the dish water! Tone came running and removed him and placed him in the trash can. Yikes! Maybe it is another omen. Come on Fall!

Y'all have a great evening!

Borax!

Today has been great and so was yesterday. Yesterday afternoon around five o'clock while I was visiting with Rick and Tony inside the trailer the phone rang—it was Kinky. "Nance, they're here. Can we come over now?"

"They're coming! Right now!" I said, after hanging up the phone. T. and Rick looked at each other and they asked simultaneously, "Who?" Then they started laughing.

"I'm not sure," I said. After taking a sip of water I said, "Kinky is bringing over a man who is a real famous fisherman. He has a fishing show on TV and..."

"I hope it isn't (name withheld to protect the innocent or the guilty, so we will call him Borax) Borax!" Rick said. "I knew Borax forty years ago and his wife and me... If it is Borax, I am going to go hide in your bedroom closet." I could tell that Rick wasn't kidding.

"Here's what we will do, Rick," I said, calmly. "When they get here I will go outside and greet them. If he's Borax I will introduce you as Scooter. I'm sure after all these years— there is no way that he would recognize or remember you." The dogs started barking outside, so I left the trailer to go meet or not to meet Borax.

When we walked inside the trailer I looked directly at Rick and said, "Scooter, I mean Rick, and Tony this is Alan Warren and his assistant Jeffrey." As Rick let out a deep sigh, Tony said, "You're Alan Warren! I love your show Alan Warren Outdoors and I watch it religiously. You've got a twin brother too, right?"

"Yes, I do, Tony," Alan said. "Is that your bass boat outside?..." Then Tony and Alan started talking about fishing for a few minutes.

"See, Alan, I told you that Tony would know who you were," Kinky bragged. As the men visited and talked some business, I could tell that Kinky, Tony and Rick liked Alan and Jeffrey as much as I did—they were two really nice guys.

When there was a lull in the conversation Rick says, "Do you know Borax?" Alan and Jeffrey burst out laughing—they knew Borax. Then they started trading funny stories about Borax and they had all of us laughing. When it was time for them to leave I gave Alan a copy of both of my books to read about our rescue ranch. We hated to see them leave and we are looking forward to their next visit and I am going to make sure to take a picture of Tony with Alan and post it.

Tony woke me up at six-thirty this morning, so I could do the Harley Show at seven forty-five. Rick came inside the trailer around seven o'clock to drink some coffee with us before taking off on his Triumph to meet up with Leisa in San Marcos.

Five minutes after Scooter left I called the Rose 99.9 radio station. I had a lot of fun talking to Harley on and off of the air. His Pet of the Week is Hank Hill. "Hank's a wonderful dog. He is only a year and a half old, sweet, good on a leash and great with other dogs..."

This afternoon at three o'clock, Toby Keith, who is close to my heart and one of my favorite dogs found his forever home and I am so happy for him. After I told Nancy, a nice woman, about the same age as me, about Toby's sad life story and the awful events that led up to us rescuing him—she could not wait to adopt him and take him home and spoil him. Toby seemed thrilled to be leaving our rescue ranch for the second time, and he appeared to be very happy and comfortable sitting in the back seat of her big, fancy white pickup as they drove away.

Ten minutes later as I was filing Toby's adoption papers away the dogs started barking outside and Tony went outside to see who was here or what was the matter. A few minutes later T. walked inside the trailer. "Nance, your overhead projector is here. I'll open it for you."

When I walked into the big room—there it was sitting on the breakfast bar! "I love it, Tony!" I said, as I touched it. "I'm going to name it Trace Adkins. I can't wait to try it out." Tony laughed.

"I like the name," T. said. "Maybe I can use it to trace a few portraits, too. I was thinking about doing that Hummingbird..."

Y'all have a great evening!

Tony Said Not A Word!

Today has been a great day. This morning I got up really early and fed the dogs, walked four miles, and had breakfast ready when Tony came home from the Old Timer. After I cleaned up the breakfast dishes I decided that I wanted to go for a five mile bike ride before it got too hot.

"Tony!" I half-hollered down the hall. "Nellybelle and I are going for a ride. We will be back in a little while. Bye!"

"Wait, Nance," T. said, as he walked down the hallway toward the big room. "Where are y'all going?"

"We're going down the road to 16 then turn around and come back. It's only five miles."

"Will you take a walkie talkie with you, so I won't worry?" Tony asked. I nodded yes and then he went into my office where we keep our walkie talkies. When he came back into the big room I was plugging my earphones into my iPod. "They're dead," he declared. "I just plugged them in to recharge. Please be careful," he said, as we walked out of the trailer. When we reached the front yard gate he went to get Nellybelle for me out of the barn, as I selected my "walking playlist," which is loaded with real up tempo music.

When he and Nell-belle arrived, he had put a bottle of water in the cup holder for me. Then he helped me put my camera in my leather handlebar bag and kissed me on the forehead. When we took off I turned on my iPod and "Magic Bus" by the Who began playing loudly in my ears. As I pedaled past the dog pens I could barely hear the dogs barking at us.

I didn't pedal far, because I had to stop at the Echo Hill Ranch cattle guard to walk Nelly over it. A half mile down the road, as Sister Sledge began singing, "We Are Family" a little fox crossed the road about five hundred feet ahead of us. Then I saw some young deer chasing after each other in our neighbor's pasture. Then I had to stop and push Nellybelle up a steep hill, because I was out of breath.

Before taking off, again I drank some water. The rest of the journey was uneventful, but fun. When we returned to the rescue ranch T. whistled loudly at me as we zoomed past Hank's and Nellybelle's pen, so I stopped Nelly. "How far did you go?" Tony asked.

"All the way to 16. We're talkin' five miles. I really love Nellybelle, Tony." After I told him about seeing the fox and the deer I pedaled down to the trailer and put her kick stand down and then I came into the trailer.

After I had cooled off and drank some water I decided to walk two more miles with Leslie. Five minutes before I was done T. walked inside the trailer and shook his head. "Nance, don't overdo it, now."

"I'm not. I'm finishing up two miles to make my daily total of six miles. Then I will fix us lunch."

At one forty-five we took off for KVHC in Kerrville with Toby Keith sitting in the back seat. When we arrived at the television station Brian and Kim Williamson came outside and greeted us and then they invited us inside the station. As the camera crew was setting up the cameras Kim asked me to tell her Toby Keith's story.

"It's a sad one, Kim. A little over two years ago this really nice woman came out to our ranch for a tour and she brought her two dogs, Toby and Baby, a merle colored Sheltie, with her for us to meet. After a nice visit with the lady, she told us that she was putting our rescue ranch in her will and leaving her entire estate to us if we would take Baby and Toby and find them good homes in the event of her death."

"Well, a couple of weeks later this attorney calls to tell me that this sweet woman, who I had really liked, had taken her own life ten days earlier and they had just found her body, and the lawyer wanted to know if we would take her dogs. Two days later, Tony and I picked up Toby and Baby from a vet clinic in Junction, Texas and brought them home to the rescue ranch."

"Three or four months later a young couple came out with their young children and adopted Baby and Toby after hearing their sad story. But, before they adopted Toby and Baby they told us that they would adopt the two dogs on one condition—that we would board them for four days during the Christmas holidays, so they could go out of town to visit family. We told them that we would and they drove off with Baby and Toby."

"During the holidays when they called to tell us they were bringing the dogs out to be boarded, Tony and I moved the dogs that were in Baby's and Toby's old pen to another pen, so Toby and Baby would feel more at home."

"When the family arrived in their big pickup Baby and Toby jumped out of the windows before they could park the truck and the dogs ran into their old pen! It was hilarious! The minute they were inside the pen they started rolling in the dirt and sniffing the trees and seemed really happy to be back home."

"I'm almost finished with the story, Kim. I promise. Well, a year or so later the man called to tell me that because of the economy he and his family had lost their house and they were moving to East Texas where they had found jobs. Then he asks me if we can take Toby back, because they couldn't afford to keep him. After I tell him yes, I asked him if he could meet us somewhere between Medina and Kerrville to get Toby and he tells me that he can't, because they had left Kerrville and were nearly to their destination! Then he tells me that we can go by their house and pick Toby up."

"I asked him if he was in their backyard and the man tells me no. He told me they left Toby sitting on the front porch steps and then he gives me the direction to their house. Tony and I then jumped into Buttermilk and took off to get Toby."

"When we got to the vacant house—Toby was sitting on the porch all alone and he looked sad. Tony then gets out of Buttermilk and says, 'Come on, Toby. Load up.' And Toby came running and jumped into Buttermilk!"

"Kim, Toby Keith is one fine dog. He is about four or five years old, great with children, dogs and cats and is extremely well trained. We really love this dog and he deserves to have one of the best forever homes..." Kim looked exhausted when I had finished talking and she went to get us and Toby some water.

When the camera crew was ready to shoot us, Kim sat down in her chair and then I sat down on the couch with Mr. Toby Keith resting his head on my leg. "Tony," Kim said, "why don't you do the show with us?" Tony shook his head no.

"No," T. said. "Nancy is good in front of a camera and I'm not good at talking."

"Oh, come on Tone," I said. "It will be fun and you won't have to say a thing. Please?" Tony looked trapped and then he walked over to the couch and sat down beside Toby and me. "Tony, please smile—you look miserable," I said.

As Kim put a wire on me she asked Tony if he wanted to be wired too, with a mike—T. shook his head sideways. Then the sound man told me that my necklace (The beautiful one that Karen Cares made for me a few years ago. The turquoise one with the cowboy hat—that I love and had worn for luck.) was interfering with the sound on my mike, so I reluctantly took it off and took a deep breath and said a silent prayer, before the lights came on and the cameras started rolling.

Thirty minutes later the show was over and I had a blast. Even T. told me on our way home that he enjoyed doing it, too, even though Tony said not a word. Kim and I talked about Toby Keith, David Beckham the soccer playing wild hog who was adopted and now lives at Trails End Guest House, and then I read a short story from my new book.

Before leaving the station Brian and Kim told me that the show will air tomorrow morning at 7:30 and my interview will be in the last thirty minutes of the hour long show. And it will air a few more times tomorrow and can be seen on the internet at  www.kvhc.com.

"Just log onto KVHC and go to the little tv near the bottom of the page that says, 'Watch Me' " Kim said.
"We will send you the video clips of the show so you can upload them to YouTube."

If y'all know anyone that might be interested in adopting Toby Keith please ask them to call us, because he is one super, great dog! We love you, Toby Keith!

Y'all have a great evening!

We Love Toby Keith!

Today has been pretty interesting because Mercury is still in retrograde. Before I tell you about what all happened I want to share the comment that I just checked out made by Anon earlier today, about the drum course that I am signing up for in late February.

Anonymous said...

nance, you are going to drive the dawgs crazy with your new hobby : ) let alone tony...

January 18, 2010  3:21 PM

cousin nancy said...

Hi Anon! I already drive Tone crazy and I will only use a little drum pad with hardly any sound output. But, if it drives the dogs crazy I promise to stop and I will take my next course in Karate or Wine Appreciation for Beginners.

January 18, 2010 7:05 PM

Now back to the past. This morning I got up early, so I could get my six mile walk in before my good friend Ann, from New Mexico, came out for a visit along with her good friends Colette and David and their children. Right after my workout with Leslie, Kinky called. "Nance, I threw my back out last night. Do you have any Tylenol that I can boroorborrow?"

"No Kink, but I have some Aleve. That is what Tone uses for his back. I bet you threw your back out doing those twenty pushups that you do twice a day."

"I doubt if it was the forty pushups. Could you bring the Aleve over?"

When I showed up at the Lodge, Kinky was standing at the gate waiting for me. "Here's the Aleve and I brought you one of those heating pad patches. They really seem to help T." We went into the Lodge, had a short visit and then I returned to the rescue ranch.

Right after I walked inside the trailer the phone rang. I let Carlton take the call. "Hello Tony and Nancy, this is Mike. I adopted Toby from y'all over a year and half ago..." I picked up the phone to talk to Mike. Mike (which is not his real name) told me that he had been out of work this past year because of the economy. He had finally just found a job in East Texas, and he and his family were moving there, and the place that they were moving to would not let them have dogs. In other words he asked me if we would take Toby Keith back. I told him yes, of course. Then he asked me if Tony and I could please pick Toby up in Kerrville because they were on their way to East Texas. He gave me their old address and directions to their house where Toby was. I told him that we could not pick Toby up until this afternoon and he told me that it was no problem because the neighbors were watching out for him. Before hanging up I asked Mike what vet I should call to get Toby's shot records and Mike told me that Toby was due his shots now. Then Ann and her friends showed up!

I had a wonderful time visiting with Ann, David and Colette and their cute daughters! As usual I talked way too much, but they were polite and they never asked me to shut up so one of them could talk. I showed them the Space Ship, then we went into Outer Space followed by a meet and greet with all of our rescued dogs. Then we came into the trailer for a short visit and then we took off for the Lodge so they could meet Kinky. (Ann already knew Kinky. She has pet sitted for The Friedmans several times over the years.)

We had a really fun visit with Kinky even though his back was out. When Ann and her friends left to go to Medina to eat lunch, I told Tony that I loved David and Colette and their sweet girls and that I now consider them to be good friends. Of course, T. agreed with me about them being great people.

We met Kinky at one-thirty for lunch at the orange colored restaurant in Kerrville and it was fun and delicious. After lunch we went our separate ways. We went to get Toby Keith and Kink went to H.E.B. to get some groceries.

When we pulled into the driveway where Toby was, we found him sitting on a tarp beside the house looking lonely and he wasn't in the backyard or wearing a dog collar with dog identification tags! Yikes! I guess you could say that we were pretty shocked that they had just left him there. No, it was more like we were mad, but Toby wasn't mad at all thank goodness! When he saw us pull up he jumped off of the tarp covering something, and came running to us with his tail wagging! "Hi Toby," Tony said, as he opened the back seat door for him, "Come on Buddy! We're taking you home with us!" Which was a lie sort of, but Toby Keith didn't know that and he immediately jumped into the back seat!

As we headed for Hoegemeyers Animal Clinic so Toby could get all of his shots, he showered us with wet kisses and seemed glad to be reunited with us. On the way back to the rescue ranch he slept peacefully in the back seat. When we arrived at the rescue ranch Tony put him in Hank's old pen, the puppy pen, and tomorrow we are going to introduce him to Miss Moose. If they get along they will become roommates! I've got my fingers crossed and am pretty sure that these two great dogs will get along just fine. Here's an old picture of Toby Keith.

Toby Keith is approximately four years old and he is one great dog! He gets along great with other dogs and we hope that someone great will come out here and adopt him sooner than later. His first master died on him, and the last one deserted him and he deserves super people who will give him a forever loving home because he deserves it. We love Toby Keith!

Here are two pictures that I took yesterday of Hank with his new roommate, Nellybelle. They aren't great, but I love the last one with Nellybelle's head turned. They are great dogs and so beautiful!

Y'all have a great evening!