No Way!

Today has turned out great, even though this morning when I woke up I was feeling a little depressed, so I didn't walk.

This morning as I tried to do some paperwork, I kept thinking about two, sweet, little terrier dogs that a volunteer at the Kerrville pound, had called me about a few days ago. Brooke had told me that their time was up and they were going to be euthanized today and that is enough to depress anybody. 

Even though I knew that we are at capacity out here, I couldn't quit thinking about those two little dogs. Around ten o'clock while Tony was outside doing his chores, I picked up the phone and called the Kerr County Animal Control and Nicole answered the phone. After talking to her for five minutes about the terriers I went outside.

"Good morning, Marvin," I said, as our good friend / volunteer was cleaning Hank's and Lois Lane's big pen, near our trailer. "Thank you, for coming out to help Tony. Guess what I'm fixin' to do?"

"What?"

"Go to Kerrville and rescue two little terrier mixes from the pound. They were scheduled to be euthanized today," I said, wearing a big grin on my face, which caused Marvin to grin, too. "I need to go tell Tony and get him to help me put a crate into Buttermilk, so I can take off for Kerrville."

Forty-five minutes later, Nicole greeted me as I walked into the office. "Nancy, thank you so much for taking the terriers. I'll be right with you after I take care of these two people." As I stood in the office with two lavender colored leashes in my hand, I watched a nice man, in his late thirties, write a check to get his dog out of jail—for getting out of their fenced yard. Then a volunteer appeared with his big chocolate Lab that was more-than-happy-to-see her owner and high-tail it out of there.

After they left the pound, a woman wrote another check, so she could adopt a cute Lab-mix puppy. And then there was a prison break, so to speak. A big, black Lab probably about one year old came flying into the office off leash and he was headed for the front door to escape. Then the volunteer came running into the office area and she and Nicole tried to catch the happy dog and that is when I came to their rescue.

"Here, let me get a leash on him," I said. In seconds the beautiful, gigantic, sweet dog was wearing a pretty Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch, lavender colored leash around his neck and he didn't seem to mind as he kissed the volunteer and happily went back to his cell. 

After the woman left with her sweet puppy, I handed the volunteer the other leash and she disappeared. Seconds later the two terriers were in the office and my jaw dropped when I saw them, but I didn't say anything. As the two happy dogs danced around the office I signed off on their paperwork. "Y'all, have a great Thanksgiving," I said, as I walked out of the office with a volunteer, to help me load the two beautiful looking dogs.

The two young dogs yapped with excitement as we drove away—headed for Hoegemeyer's Animal Clinic, so I could pick up some more pills for Thunder. Because of timing and it being a holiday weekend Hoegemeyer's was full with boarders, so I told Dr. Craig's sweet wife aka receptionist that we would bring the dogs in on Monday for shots, spaying and neutering. "What did you name the cute terriers?" Kathy asked, as she handed me a plastic bottle with another one week supply of Previcox for Thunder. I laughed.

"Pumpkin and Pilgrim," I said. "They are precious, but not terriers. They look more like miniature coon hounds with Dachshund heads." Kathy burst out laughing and she was still laughing as I exited the veterinary clinic.

When we arrived at the ranch the first thing Tone said when he saw them was, "Nance, these aren't terriers. They're cute, but no way terriers." After we put the two happy, playful pups in the front yard of my writing cabin we played with them and then T. fed them. Then they saw the pigs next door! It was hilarious. Pumpkin's hair went up on her back, while Pilgrim barked at them. The pigs did nothing.

When we came inside the trailer the phone rang—it was Kinky. After I told him about rescuing Pumpkin and Pilgrim he asked us to join him and his sister for lunch in town. "No way, Kinky. I just got back from Kerrville and am too tired. Two minutes later, I changed my mind, because I didn't feel like fixin' lunch.

Thirty minutes later we walked into the restaurant and placed our order and then Marcie and Kinky arrived. We had a fun lunch.

When we came home Tony and I went outside to play with Pumpkin and Pilgrim and to let me take pictures of them. Then I took a short video clip of Pumpkin & Pilgrim playing in the yard. Pumpkin is the red and white dog and Pilgrim is the one with tan and black hair.

Pilgrim

Pumpkin

Pumpkin #2

Aren't they adorable! Before leaving their pen I took this picture of some birds nearby hanging out.

Well, tomorrow is the big day, so I need to go to bed early. I can't wait to get up and cook our dog's Thanksgiving Dinner tomorrow morning with T. and Marvin is going to help us! I want to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!

Y'all have a great evening!

Not A Problem!

Today has been a quiet day, which was good, because I walked six miles and then spent most of my day doing paperwork and returning phone calls and e-mails.

After lunch Buttermilk took us to Kerrville to get dog food and gas at H-E-B. Then we swung by Copies Plus so Tony could pick up some postcards that they printed for him. Marcie greeted us when we walked inside and then she handed T. his large pack of beautiful postcards and they looked beautiful, as usual. Unfortunately, Trisha was out running errands, so we wished Marcie a happy turkey day and then we took off for home.

"Tony, you have got to read Doug Fine's book. I finished reading it last night and I loved it." T. nodded his head up and down, as he slowed down and carefully steered Buttermilk through some never-ending road construction on 16. "In one chapter of his book, Doug talked about raising his chickens and eating their healthy organic eggs and about a coyote who loved his chickens more than their eggs. I want to buy some chickens."

"Nance," Tone said. "I want chickens too. I miss them. But remember last year when a coon found ours and killed everyone of them within a week. I don't think it is a good..."

"Tony, I want chickens, so we can eat healthy eggs, again. I was thinking that maybe next week after everything settles down here, I'd build us a new chicken coop and I know I can do it all by myself and it would be a fun project for me, healthier for us and help us leave a smaller carbon footprint. I've been checking out chicken coop designs on the Internet this morning while doing paperwork and..."

"T. shook his head sideways. "Okay, but you are going to have to build it by yourself, because of my back." I smiled and thought, "Not a problem."

"Great! We can go to Home Depot on Monday or Tuesday and I will charge it all to my account. I can't wait! I bet I can build it in a couple of days and then we will go get us some chickens! Hello, healthy eggs! And, I could paint it pink!"

This evening I took some pictures of our newly decorated trailer. Thunder is in the first picture and Toto is the "old man" on the newly upholstered navy blue chair. I love the transformation and I hope that you like the new curtains, painted kitchen and painted rugs that I made.

I just took this of Mama. I am fixin' to surf the Net for chicken coop designs!

Y'all have a great evening!

Happy Birthday Brian aka Woody!

I want to wish my dear friend Woody, in California, the best birthday ever! Happy Birthday To You. Happy Birthday To You. Happy Birthday Dear Woody. Happy Birthday To You! We love you! Please come see us when you come to Texas. We want to hug you and Rose and your pretty little girl!

Early-Bird Shoppers!

Today has been good. At six o'clock this morning I woke up to the sound of Tony talking and laughing in the kitchen, so I climbed out of bed and went to the bathroom and put my teeth in and then I went to the kitchen to find out who he was talking to. "Morning, Nance," T. said, as he put the phone back into it's cradle. "I just called Kinky to give him his wake up call, so he can head out by seven..."

After drinking a cup of coffee with Tone, he took off for the Old Timer in Medina to visit with his friends, so I started doing my morning chores. First, I fed our six dogs, then I started a load of laundry in Queen Bee and then I cooked up some breakfast tacos for Tony and stuck them in the oven to keep them warm until he got home.

After drinking a healthy smoothie for breakfast, I put the laundry into Airy Queen and then I walked six miles with Leslie, while our clothes dried. Then I finished up my decorating and I am proud to say that the kitchen and the big room look a whole lot better and I am pleased with my work.

I made cheese enchiladas, beans and rice for lunch and Tony cleaned his plate, which to me means he liked it or was just starving. After I cleaned up the kitchen, I grabbed my purse and went with Tony to the H-E-B in Kerrville to buy groceries for our dog's annual Thanksgiving Dinner, which this year was underwritten by our dear friend Fay MacLachlan, up in Canada, and to also buy what we needed for our turkey day meal paid by us.

As T. drove Buttermilk to town, I made out the two grocery lists. When we arrived at H-E-B, the store was filled with early-bird shoppers, so to speak. We grabbed two shopping carts, so T. could put the dog's food in his basket-on-wheels and our food in mine. Then we took off.

Because Tony had forgotten to take his cell phone with him, we decided it was best to shop together, so we wouldn't get lost in the bustling crowd of bird hunters. After thirty-five minutes of walking up and down almost every isle in the store and filling our red colored push carts to the brim, we checked out our groceries at different check out stations.

On our way home I asked Tone how much the dog's Thanksgiving Dinner had cost, because Fay had sent us a check for $125.00 to cover the expense. Tony started laughing.

"It cost $127.01," he said, followed by a laugh. "I'm going to tease Fay and tell her that she owes the rescue ranch two more dollars and one cent..."

"If we hadn't bought the forty-eight brown 'n serve dinner rolls for the dogs dessert, we wouldn't have gone over budget," I said. "Please make sure that Fay knows that you are kidding her..."

When we arrived back at the rescue ranch we unloaded and filled the refrigerator in the barn with our dogs groceries and then we came home and filled our refrigerator with our food.


Here's a list of what we bought for our dogs 2010 Thanksgiving Dinner:

54 eggs

2 - 32 oz. jars of minced garlic

15 lbs. of ground turkey

3 - 51 oz. bottles of olive oil

6 - 14 oz. bags of Pepperidge Farms stuffing

12 lbs. of frozen mixed vegetables bags (which consist of: corn, green beans, lima beans, peas and
 carrots

2 large bags of shredded Colby Jack cheese

48 brown 'n serve dinner rolls (which every dog will get for dessert after cleaning their bowls)

Thank you, Fay! Our dogs will love your Thanksgiving Dinner. We love you!

Y'all have a great evening!

Good Night, Mama!

Today has been great. Because of the full moon we had a ton of visitors come out today, so we spent much of the day meeting nice people and giving tours of the rescue ranch.

A little after noon a super nice woman came out with her son and her friend to look at our dogs. Thirty minutes later after the friend had met all of our dogs, she fell in love with Rockett! Twenty minutes later after the sweet woman had played with Rockette in her pen she said, "I love this dog and I definitely want to adopt her, but it will take me a few days before I can take her home, because I need to repair my backyard fence..." T. and I were thrilled and I am sure that Rockette knew that she was going to get adopted soon, because her tail would not quit wagging.

After they drove away, Diane and her family arrived to adopt Jill. As her grown son gently held Jill in his arms as we walked to their car, Diane said, "I know that I can help Jill get over her fears and I really think it is going to work. I am a Special Ed teacher in San Antonio and I have a lot of patience..."

Tony and I really like Diane and her family. They were soft-spoken and gentle with Jill. After they drove away I told Tone, "I really think it is going to work this time." And T. agreed with me, as we walked to the trailer to eat our lunch.

This evening I am going to finish up my decorating at last. I enjoy decorating, but I am glad that I am nearly done with it and so are Tony and our dogs. Right now, Mama is sleeping soundly on the newly painted rug in the big room as I type this. When I got my camera out to take a picture of her sleeping, she woke up when she heard my Sony's startup noise. Then Mama stood up, stretched and then walked slowly past me, into our bedroom and just jumped up on our bed. Good night, Mama.

Y'all have a great evening! (I've got some things to do.  : )

Happy Birthday Patty Kearns!

I want to wish my dear friend Patty Kearns the best birthday ever. Happy Birthday to You. Happy Birthday to You. Happy Birthday Dear Patty. Happy Birthday to You! And many more...............

Tony and I can't wait to see you during the holidays and please bring Peggy with you, because you and Peggy aka P&P Rocks Big Time! We love you!

Fingers Crossed!

Today has been great. This morning June, Eileen and Jim came out to walk our dogs, and then Marvin, our good friend and neighbor showed up to volunteer! Thank y'all so much for all that you do!

Since I painted "the wall" a few days ago I have been busy reupholstering the chairs, making new curtains and painting new rugs—in between running the rescue ranch and returning phone calls and e-mails. It seems that every time that I paint a wall or change something inside, I end up redecorating and it drives me crazy until everything is done and looks right. Thank goodness, I figure that I only have about four more hours left to finish my new work-in-progress and can then rest.

A little after twelve-thirty, Tony and I went to Medina for two reasons. One, to eat lunch with Eileen and June and then go to the Medina Ace Hardware, so I could buy some paint. Lunch was a lot more fun and entertaining than picking paint colors for the rugs and cabinets—just ask Tone. And, thank you June for treating us to lunch—you're too sweet and our lunch was delicious.

This evening I discovered that our web site: utopiarescue.com is temporarily down due to some technical problems and it should be fixed and back up by tomorrow.

For today's good news—it looks like Jill is finally going to find her forever home tomorrow, with a very nice woman, who lives in San Antonio, who knows Jill's story and she can't wait to adopt her. Tony and I have our fingers crossed for that sweet little dog. This will be her fourth time to get adopted and hopefully this time it will stick. And, please keep your fingers crossed for her, too.

It is nearly eight o'clock and I am tired. After I post this blog, I plan to read some more of Doug Fine's fine and funny book, for an hour or so, and then I am hitting the hay.

Y'all have a great evening!