Had Left The Building!

Yesterday afternoon was great. A dear old friend of ours, who we shall call B., because she likes her privacy, showed up out here, because she wanted to give us Betty White's ashes, because she had adopted this great dog from us many years ago, on November 12, 2008. In fact, I blogged about her super adoption and if you want to read my post about Betty White's fabulous adoption please click here. This is a picture I took of her when she was about 4 months old.

B. also came out to adopt a big dog from us to be a companion dog for her rescued Pit Bull. And it did not take her long to fall in love with Tom Slick! It was another one of those love at first site kind-of-things that seems to happen often out here.

We told B. Tom Slick's story about probably being dumped here, and that we had not vetted him yet, because we were trying to put some weight back on him, after his 2 1/2 day wild adventure, in this beautiful part of the Texas Hill Country.

Before B. and Tom Slick adios-ed us, we got to have a very fun visit with our friend, inside The Cabin. And B. told us not to worry about us taking Tom Slick to our vet to get him neutered, shots, etc., because she had already planned on dropping him off, at her veterinarian, on her way home, to take care of everything that he needed.

After B. and Tom took off, Tony jumped inside Buttermilk and took off to go pick up our mail. And when he returned my jaw nearly dropped to the floor when I opened the Bandera County Courier newspaper and read what our good friend Judith Pannebaker had written about our dog/aka B.'s Tom Slick.

So once again, I want to thank Judith and the Bandera County Courier for helping out our rescue ranch again, even though Tom "had left the building" just a few minutes ago. So please click here to read Judith's great story that she wrote about Mr. T.

Today while we ate a delicious lunch with our great volunteers aka our dear friends, at The Apple Store, Eileen, told us some great news, too. So I want to congratulate the Apple Cider Mill aka the Apple Store, in Medina, for being the only Hill Country burger (SPJ Burger) that made the Top 50 in Texas, per Texas Monthly's August edition! This is an excerpt from the Texas Monthly's August edition:

"Medina

SPJ Burger
Patio Cafe, $8.99Love Creek Orchards is exactly the slice of Hill Country life that sends city dwellers on weekend journeys along winding back roads. Perhaps a cautionary note for those very travelers, a sign near the Orchards’ Patio Cafe order window advises: “If you want fast, go to Austin or Dallas. We are south of the tension line.” Grab a seat at the red picnic tables under a sloping live oak and wait for the grilled SPJ (spicy pepper jack) Burger, which comes loaded with thick-cut applewood-smoked bacon, tangy jalapeño mustard, the promised SPJ cheese, and sweet-hot pickles. Although the pepper theme may seem like overkill, its kick is countered by the surprising sweetness of the jalapeño bun. Finish the whole thing and you’ll be slowing down too. 14024 Texas Hwy 16N, 830-589-2202. Open 7 days 11–3." And that's the latest good news that I have to report from Medina, Texas.

Y'all have a great evening!

More Good News! or Share Our Wealth!

Here's some more good news to tell you about. While I was taking a shower this morning, with Henry constantly trying to get into the shower with me, I was counting my many blessings. In fact, I was up to my 147th blessings counted when Tony said, from the kitchen, "Nance, I've got a surprise for you!"

At first I thought that Tony was going to jump into the shower with me, but I quickly blew that idea off, because we are both old and we ain't what we used to be in the looks-department.

While I was drying myself off, Henry Standing Bear tried to help me by licking my toes. "Thank you, Henry," I said, while I was sucking in my stomach, in hopes of buttoning up my too tight 501 Levis. "You've been very helpful. Now, go help Tony."

Standing proud, like he had really been so helpful to me, Henry slowly stretched and then he walked out of the bathroom to go find Tony.

A few minutes later, my top button on my jeans was at last buttoned, emphasizing my muffin-top(s). So, I put on my blue work shirt, tied a pink bandana around my neck to hide "the hide" that once I was so proud of.

Then I pulled on my pretty pink boots and was now ready to receive the world or at least get a delicious cup of Donut Shop Coffee. "Morning Tone," I said, trying to sound cheerful. "What's my surprise?"

Tony smiled, and said, "The rest of your Hans Freitag Wafers Cocoa With Cream filling arrived."

"Are you serious?" I asked, even though I knew he was telling me the truth. Some people call that a control-freak thing, but I do it, because I am hard of hearing and just want to make sure that I heard him right.

"Yes, but I wonder why they just didn't pack them all into one big box?"

"Too many calories," I explained, while I was placing the six new bags of the world's tastiest wafers, on top of the stove. Then I took this picture of our newest arrivals.

"Tony, we've got a ton of errands to run today. We've got to pick up Roy's meds, at Hoegemeyers, run by Pressler's for me to sign off on some paperwork, go to the Post Office Sub-Station, go to the craft store and go to Wolfmueller's Books, so I can drop off Jim & Liz's poster, Kris & Jim's Tom Slick book and something else, but I forgot?"

"Go by Wild Birds Unlimited? Because I'm low on my birdseed."

"Yes, but that's not it. I will remember it in a minute," I said, staring in disbelief at all of the bags of wafers we had. "Tony, I feel like we're sitting on a gold mine here, with all of these wafers. So let's share our wealth." Then I grabbed two bags of the incredibly delicious, Made In Germany, wafers and put them on the breakfast bar. "Let's give a bag of these to Kris & Jim and to Sandy & Jon." And that's exactly what we did.

When we were heading back home, on the down-side of the Medina Pass, I finally remembered what the other thing was that we needed to do today, but Tony was talking to me about me helping him put together an e-book of his beautiful pictures. And by the time he stopped talking and we had stopped Buttermilk to pick up our mail, I had forgotten once again about what we needed to do.

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

The Adventures of Tom Slick!

Late Saturday afternoon, when Tony and I got back from running a few errands, in Kerrville, we had a big surprise waiting for us at the gate. It was a very handsome, friendly, male Boxer/Pit Bull mix, not wearing a dog collar.

We tried to get this lost or abandoned dog to jump into Buttermilk with us, but he was too scared, then he took off into the woods. So after we had put up our groceries, we spent a few hours outside looking for the dog, but sadly it was to no avail.

When we finally gave up, we came back inside The Cabin and saw Carlton flashing, on top of the breakfast bar, so I pushed his button to see who had called us.

After listening to Angie's message I immediately called Angie. "Nancy, we came out after 3:00, because we are thinking about adopting a companion dog for our dog. Your gate was closed, but one of your dog's ran up to the gate to greet us."

"What did this dog look like?" I asked our friend.

"He was a beautiful Boxer/Pit Bull mix and he was real sweet and friendly...." Before Angie and I adios-ed each other, it was decided that Angie & Jim would come out Sunday morning, at 10:00, with their sweet dog, to look at our dogs.

The next morning Jim & Angie arrived promptly at 10:00, with their adorable, sweet, female Boxer/Heeler mix and before we took them on a tour, we started talking about the mystery dog they saw, at our gate. "He was inside the rescue ranch and he ran up to the gate to greet us," Jim said.

"He was outside our gate when Tony and I drove up," I said. "Someone must have thrown him over our gate and driven off. Poor dog. I hope that we can catch him..."

Angie and Jim picked Walter to go on a walk down to the creek with their adorable dog and those two dogs acted like they were best buds from the get-go, but when all was said and done, our friends told us that they needed to go home and talk about it some more, because Walter was so much bigger than the dog they had hoped to adopt.

Monday afternoon Tony and I met our great friends Kris & Jim for lunch, in Kerrville and it was so much fun.

During lunch we talked about many topics. I told Kris, before her husband arrived, that for the past few days I have felt really down and that I've not wanted to do anything, because my energy was drained and that several of our friends have also been feeling the exact same way.

So I asked Kris if they, too had experienced it and she told me that they both had and that she had wondered if possibly Mercury was in Retrograde again. Mercury wasn't Retrograde, but it helped me confirm that it wasn't just us and so many of our friends.

Then I purposefully changed the subject to a much brighter subject. "Y'all, yesterday I sat down and read the greatest book Tom Slick: Mystery Hunter written by his niece Catherine Nixon Cooke...."

And as I excitedly told them about this very famous man's life and his incredible adventures I instantly felt my energy change—I was re-charged and it felt so good to be back to normal or what I consider to be normal.

As I continued to rave non-stop about Tom Slick and all of his great accomplishments, research institutes and worldly adventures I told them the book was so entertaining for me to read, because my dear friend is a distant relative of his and that she grew up knowing one of Tom Slick's sons.

And that Tony and I also knew some of Tom's family and a few of his famous friends. Anyway, by the end of my story about Tom Slick, I told our friends, "Tony is reading it now and as soon as he finishes reading it I promise to loan it to y'all." (Please click Tom Slick, if you are curious about this incredibly great man.)

Today has been great, even though I overslept. When I was sipping my first delicious cup of Donut Shop Coffee, Tony walked inside The Cabin and he was wearing the biggest grin on his face. "Nance, I have some great news to tell you."

"What is it?"

"When I went outside this morning to do the chores, that Boxer/Pit Bull was sitting next to Bella's pen and he let me pet him. When I opened the gate to the alley between Bella's and Hank's pen he followed me into the alley."

"Omg! That is great news."

"So I immediately fed him and filled a water bucket and he ate like a pig, because he has lost a lot of weight since we saw him on Saturday. He's very sweet and friendly and he seems to be fine being in the alley, because he immediately got along great with Bella and Hank. And I think that we should wait a few days and get some weight back on him, before we take him in to get shots and neutered..."

Early this afternoon Tony and I went outside so I could meet the dog and take a few pictures of him. 

And after Tony gave him a few more treats and re-filled his food pan Tony asked me what I wanted to name this sweet dog. And my immediate answer was, "Tom Slick! Because he's been on his own thrilling adventure, too."

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

P.S. This morning Kris sent me this e-mail asking me to please check out the best dog parks, in San Antonio and you are not going to believe the name of the first one listed! Click here. And here's the link again to Yeti Hunter Tom Slick's 100th Birthday Celebration that occurred this past February, in San Antonio.