Ghost Dog Returns!

Today was an uneventful day, until around six o’clock, when Carl and Debbie Naylor arrived! Carl is the incredibly, talented and often hilarious auctioneer, who does the auctioneering for us, at our Bonefits, to help raise money for the rescue ranch. As Kinky often says, “Carl Naylor is the best auctioneer in Texas!” And, everyone at the rescue ranch agrees with Kinky’s assessment of Carl. He’s simply the best! We are so lucky!

As soon as Debbie and Carl got out of their car, we shook hands and then hugged, then Carl says, “Nancy, we read your blog everyday. I wanted to show Debbie the rescue ranch, and we also want to see the Space Ship, and go into Outer Space with y’all. Will that be okay, with you guys?”

“Sounds great to me,” I said. “Why don’t y’all follow me over to the launch pad over there, and we’ll show y’all the Space Ship, first. I am really proud of it.” They followed.

When we reached the Space Ship, I invited them inside. Debbie and Carl were shocked at what they saw! “This is absolutely beautiful inside,” Carl remarked. “Debbie, don’t you love the wood?”

Debbie nodded with enthusiasm. “Carl and I have been wanting to find an older recreational vehicle to fix up. Carl we need to look harder, when we get home—I want one just like this.”

We visited for a few minutes inside the Space Ship, and then Tony and I took them into Outer Space with us. They have never been in Outer Space before, and they were blown away when they sat down, and saw the view! Not to brag, but everyone who has gone into Outer Space with us, has had the same reaction, when they see our beautiful view. I just love it!

We hung out in Outer Space, for a while, and it was a blast! If Carl wasn’t making us laugh with one of his stories—Debbie was! When they told us about their two aged Schnauzers, my back started hurting from laughing so hard. Here is my Reader’s Digest version:

Their Schnauzers were both rescues. One claims Debbie and the older blind one, claims Carl. Carl told us that whenever he tries to give a kiss to Debbie, her Schnauzer starts growling at him to quit. Then when Carl’s Schnauzer hears Debbie’s dog growling, he then runs into the room and starts barking wildly at Debbie’s growling dog. “It’s a shame,” Carl said. “We have to sneak around, so I can kiss my wife.”

“Maybe,” I suggested. “Y’all need to think about meeting somewhere in town, once a week.” Everyone laughed.

Tony and I had so much fun in Outer Space with Debbie and Carl, I was sad when we left it. Tony invited Carl to go with him to feed and water the cows, so they left. Debbie wanted a tour of the rescue ranch, so I gave her a tour—starting with my writing cabin. She loved my carved wooden bear, that I bought in Ruidosa, New Mexico!

Now this story gets weird. As soon as Debbie and I had completed the tour, a big white Ford pulls into the rescue ranch. “That must be the guys,” I said, as I looked towards the truck.” I was wrong, it wasn’t Carl and Tony.

It was Lorri from Dallas! She was returning her friend’s dog—Nash aka Ghost Dog! Earlier this week, Malea had sent me an e-mail—Nash was not working out, and she wanted to return him to us. Her friend, Lorri, who was coming down, for a visit to see Carol, our super volunteer, asked if it would be okay for Lorri to bring him down. Of course, I said yes. So, Lorri gets Nash out of her truck, and then she gives me Nash’s leash, and then she gave me a great report about how well Sierra, the dog that she adopted from us, was doing. Then she leaves the ranch to go see Carol.

Ghost Dog, seemed fine about returning to us, but I had to wait for Tony and Carl to get back, so Tony could put Ghost Dog in a pen. Now it gets weirder!

Back in March, before we had captured Ghost Dog, after he had escaped from his pen, Kinky had called to tell me that Carl and Steven Fromholz were coming down for a visit, and he thought it would be a great idea, if Carl, Steven, Angie, Steven’s sister, Tony, him and me try to catch Ghost Dog, because he was so worried about him running loose on the ranch.

I told Kinky absolutely no way, because Ghost Dog would be scared to death, watching six senior citizens, falling down and running around, chasing after him—that we would never be able to catch him. Kinky took my advice.

So now, Tony and Carl drive up to see Debbie and me, standing by the pig pen, with Ghost Dog. Carl remembered Ghost Dog! “That’s the dog that Kinky wanted all of us to catch!” Carl said.

Ghost Dog, seemed a little timid with Carl and Tony, so I led him into the alley pen, that Tony had chosen—the one right next to Alfie, whose roommate, Red Sky, had been adopted out. “We’ll keep Ghost Dog in here for a few days, and then I’ll move him into Alfie’s pen,” Tony said.

After that was done, we visited with Debbie and Carl some more, near my writing cabin, until they needed to leave.

As soon as they had left, Tony took Kermit, and went to close our gate. Then he went out to our organic heirloom garden, to water the plants. He just walked in with our first zucchini! It is (h)uge! (I thought you might like that (H)erb—’Erb.) Here is a picture of it with Willie Nelson! We’re talkin’ Texas sized Zucchini! And, I am bragging! We will be eating on it for several days!

P.S. Congratulations go out to Debbie Naylor for winning the “Teacher of the Year” award at her school this year! It is not a surprise to me—Debbie Naylor Rocks! Y’all have a great evening!

The Man In The Moon!

About an hour ago, after I had worked on the Space Ship, Tony and I took off to visit with Kinky, over at the Lodge. When we reached our gate, a very large package was waiting for us! It was addressed to Kinky, care of me. So, Tony put it inside Buttermilk, and we went over the river and through the woods, to Kinky’s Lodge.

When we arrived, Kinky greeted us at the gate. “What?” Kinky said. “You’ve got a package for me?” Then Tony carried it into the kitchen of the Lodge. "Who is it from?”

“I bet it is another guitar for you to sign, Kinky,” I said. Kinky looked at the mystery box, and then he saw a letter taped to the front. He opened the letter and began reading it aloud.

“Please forgive this bulky delivery....This box has a couple books, two cigar ashtray stands, one cigar ash tray liner and two ashtrays that can be used with the metal, “man in the moon” stand. I’ve put arrows showing where the stands at the bottom, cut the box open...These items came from Smedley Butler’s estate. Do you know about him? Very cool guy who stopped a take over of the White House in Roosevelt’s time...I follow your blog...adore your husband’s photos... What? Nance, this letter is for you. Tony will you help me open this box?”

Kinky handed me my letter, and I began reading it, as Tony opened the box carefully, and then he and Kinky began carefully unpacking it. “Kinky, these ashtrays are way too cool, especially the ‘man in the moon,’” I said, then I picked up the books. “Kinky, can I borrow these after you have read them? It says on the jacket, that Smedley was a Brigadier General and there are rave reviews about this book.”

Kinky finished reading the letter addressed to him, from Deborah D. up in E. Chatham, New York. “Sure, Nance,” Kinky said, as he and Tony admired the interesting ashtrays. “I like these ashtrays and the books sound very interesting, too.”

We helped Kinky find places for the ashtrays and then we came home. I can’t wait to read those books! Gotta go, Tony and I are going into Outer Space!

P.S. Deborah D., Kinky asked me to thank you, and he sends you his best. And, I am glad that you love the Space Ship and your 200 year old barn sounds fantastic!

Space Ship Update!

Today, we got a lot of work done on the Space Ship! We first did some demolition. Here is what we accomplished today! Kinky loves it! Please click on the picture to enlarge it.

Happy Birthday, Tony Simons!

Today, Tony turned 54 years old! He is the love of my life and my rock! Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday, dear Tony—I love You! You're the Best and thank you for putting up with me!

P.S. Tony's address is: uncletony53@yahoo.com

The Deck Is Stacked!

Yesterday, I woke up at 5:30, fed the dogs and the cat and then did paperwork for more than two hours. Then I made Super Smoothies for Tony, Ben, Aaron and me. After drinking breakfast, the guys went to work outside.

I went over to the Lodge and Kinky and I had a short meeting and then I came back to the rescue ranch. When the men were finished feeding the dogs and cleaning their pens—Tony took off for Kerrville, to get three tires fixed. Yes, three tires.

Last Thursday night, Buttermilk had a rear flat tire, Friday morning, Buttermilk had a front flat tire, and our van, Van Morrison, had a flat—when John arrived to work his last (hopefully not) day.

Since Tony was gone, I asked Ben and Aaron to please help me set up the sawhorses, get a table for the chop saw, bring the chop saw, air compressor, extension cords, etc. And, they did.

When I was ready to go to work, I saw them watching me, so I invited them to help me—if they wanted to. Suddenly, I was without a job! Aaron jumped into the Space Ship to measure and use the nail gun, and Ben then became the official ‘wood chopper’ and they went to work fast! I wanted to help, so I became their official ‘gopher girl’—go get this, go get that. It was fun.

In no time flat, one wall after another, went from ugly to beautiful! I wanted the Space Ship to look like a cabin inside, so I bought 1x4’ s and asked them to stack them, so as to sorta look like logs. Ben and Aaron, both being Aquarians (Cardinal signs, too) thought I was crazy, because each of them, had their own ideas, as how it should be done. Here are a few before pictures I took of them—doing it my way.

I'm Tired Of This!

Yesterday, Tony and I were over at the Lodge, and I challenged Kinky to a game of pool. And, it was a short one. The Hummingbird Man—1 Cousin Nancy—0! It didn’t bother me—I always lose.

Kinky then challenged Tony to a game. And, it was a short one, too. The Medina Bulldog—1. The Hummingbird Man—0! I love it! The Medina Bulldog rules!

Yesterday afternoon, I showed Ben the Vita-Mix video and their cook book. After looking at the recipe book, Ben and I decided to try their recipe for blueberry ice cream, which only takes two minutes to make. We used organic blueberries, organic sugar, organic vanilla extract and organic 2% milk! In less than two minutes, we were eating the best ice cream on this planet! It blew Ben away—he's going to buy one!

This morning, Kinky called and he left this message on our machine, “Nance, I’ve got a flat tire on the Navigator. Could you please find Ben, and bring him over here, to help me change it, before it gets too hot? Brian Kanof is here, and he said he would help, too. Call me, please. Thank you, very much.”

In ten minutes, Ben, Tony and I were over at the Lodge. Brian and Kinky were outside staring at the dead, deflated tire. “Kinky’s jack is broken,” Brian stated. “Do y’all have one?”

“Yes,” Ben said, as he pulled the jack out of the back of Trigger. It took Ben less than five minutes to remove the airless tire, and replace it with a donut! Mission accomplished. Before leaving the Lodge, Tony and I volunteered to take Kinky’s tire to Kerrville with us, to get it fixed at WalMart—while we shopped.

After we had dropped the tire off at WalMart’s Tire department, we pulled out our cell phones and turned them on, so that we could call each other, after we were through shopping—so we could meet up. Then we grabbed our carts, and took off in different directions.

I filled my cart up with charmingly cheap stuff for The Space Ship, which will soon be completely solar and off the grid! I piled these items into my basket: a complete service for four blue stoneware dishes (made in China—that were on sale for only $9.00—which I'll now refer to as—my fine china), flatware, that left me flat, an olive green Coleman camp stove, which doesn’t go with my color scheme at all, two solar lanterns, blue-striped dish towels, blue cloth napkins, an enameled blue camp coffee pot, blue pot holders, blue can opener, off white dish drainer, a pack of two dark green propane bottles, and four cobalt blue drinking glasses, a small wooden cutting board and a box of my favorite wine—Chillable Red! I then called Tony to tell him that I was done shopping, so we met up at the checkout counter, to check out our many priceless treasures!

After we loaded up the back end of Trigger, Tony went back inside the store to get Kinky’s tire. I didn’t go, because I was too tired. As Tony was putting the tire into to the back of the truck, I phoned Kinky and got his machine. “Kinky, we got your tire fixed. It only cost nine dollars and fifty cents.”

“It cost fifty dollars!” Tony said.

“What? Fifty dollars?” I asked, in shock! "Oh my gosh!"

Tony started laughing. “I’m just kidding you, Nance.” Then he started laughing, again.

“Tony was kidding me,” I said to Kinky’s answering machine. “It’s only nine dollars and fifty cents.” Then I hung up.

We then went to Home Depot, so I could charge some lumber and nails to my account—for the Space Ship. Then we came home.

After unpacking Trigger, we drove over to the Lodge, and the three of us watched, as Ben tirelessly replaced the donut tire with Kinky’s now air-filled tire. Kinky then invited us in for a visit, but we declined, because we were too tired.

P.S. Tomorrow morning, before it gets too hot, I plan to start renovating my Space Ship! I know how to use our chop saw and nail gun, and I can't wait! I will write more, tomorrow—I'm too tired to blog one more word.

Never Say Goodbye!

Yesterday was a blast, even though it was a bit crazy! At one o’clock, John and Aaron arrived with my newest toy—a 1984 Nomad travel trailer, that a friend of ours, in Medina, had given to me! I have always wanted a guest (house) trailer, and now I have one!

I love that it is a Nomad, too! I told Ben, John, Aaron and Tony, “I know what the word nomad means, but my, soon to be beautiful, travel trailer, the word Nomad will stand for—no mad people are welcome to stay in it—only happy people are welcomed—No Mad.

It is in pretty good shape, and I plan on fixing it up, in my spare time—this Fall! I plan to paint it, redo the walls and floor, etc. I love decorating, and my new / old travel trailer, which I have named The Space Ship—will be a blast to fix up! I can’t wait to get started!

After The Space Ship arrived, I decided to give John Kemmerly an official going away party—even though we are sick about him leaving us. On July 1st, John told us that he was moving on—to Port Aransas. I could just kick myself now, for taking him down there, on Halloween last year!

Tony and I took him, as a bribe to stay with us longer, but it back fired. He fell in love with the town, and made fast friends, with our great friends, Rick, Pete and Kelly!

John’s going away party was planned to start at 5:30, at Jazz, in Kerrville, and I had made reservations. We invited our friends, Jon and Sandy Wolfmueller, Maribeth, Drew and Renee, Ben and Cindy, who all think the world of John.

Around, two o’clock, Ben B. showed up to officially adopt Princess! A few days ago, he had come over with his friends, Ben and Stevie, to check out our dogs, and by the end of his visit, he had picked Princess to be his dog! She is a wonderfully, sweet dog, and she couldn’t wait to jump inside Ben’s truck to start her new life. Yeah, another great adoption!

At 4:50, Ben Welch arrived out here, and the three of us took off for Kerrville, allowing us plenty of time to get there. After driving about seven miles, there was a road block—a big eighteen wheeler was stuck on top of the pass, and it had also run out of diesel! So, we had to turn Buttermilk around, and took another route, which added an additional twenty miles to our trip!

At 5:30, still twenty something miles away, Tony suggested that I call Drew to let everyone know that we were running late. So, I did. “I love throwing a party and not being there,” I said to Tony and Ben, as Tony drove faster than he has ever driven—which was actually the speed limit—65 mph!

We arrived at Jazz, at ten minutes till six, the party had already started without us! Everyone was there, having a great time, except Cindy, who was unable to make the party, because she was working on a deadline, for her upcoming documentary. As soon as we sat down, the appetizers were served and the laughter was non-stop!

At one point, Drew told us a funny, personal story, and he had everyone rolling on the floor with laughter! Our meals were delicious, but it was extremely hard to eat them, because of the constant laughing. Our waiter, Steve, was great, too.

The going away party for John was so much fun! Everyone seemed to have had a great time. The only sad part about it was—John is going away. We love him so much—he will be greatly missed—he is family. There is so much more, that I could say about what a great man John is, but I can’t because it will make me cry. And today, I am not going to say goodbye to John, because Tony, Ben, Aaron, Carol, June, Ellen, Charlie and Ellen, Maribeth, Kinky, Jon and Sandy, Cindy, Goat, Brian, Drew and Renee and I are all hoping that John will eventually come back home.

Here is a picture of The Space Ship, before I start renovating it, and turn it into—an out of this world—piece of art. And, yes—pink paint will be included on the pallet!