It Looks So Real!

Today has been great! This morning Aaron came out for a few hours to help me work on the Space Ship, because he knows how to frame things better than me and I cannot wait for y'all to see the improvements. Before he left to go home our dear friends Geraldine and Don came over for a visit and they surprised me with this beautiful framed poster that Gerri made using her new "super printer!" I hope this doesn't make me sound conceited, but I love it! Isn't it beautiful! And please ignore the bright orb under my arm—the flash on my camera caused the effect when I took this picture of it.  I don't know if to hang it in the trailer or the Space Ship. Hmmm....Thank you, Gerri and Don!

This afternoon we took off to Walmart in Kerrville to get my eyes examined and new bifocals. Then we stopped by Hoegemeyers Animal Clinic to pick up Tony's Maudie and to meet Buddy, the little Chihuahua mix dog we rescued yesterday from a lady who had found him. OMG! He is so adorable and one of the sweet vet techs might adopt him, so we have our fingers crossed for him and I hope that you'll cross yours for him, too.

When we came home Ellen Cooper called me. "Nancy, I have something funny to tell you. Today I moved that giant Aloe Vera pot plant that you gave to me and when I sat it down I screamed, "Charlie, come quick! There's something live in this Aloe Vera plant!"" Then Ellen started laughing and then I started laughing, because I knew exactly what she had seen.

"A little Horned Toad?"

"Yes! It really startled me and it looks so real. I will bring it the next time we come over."

"No, keep it. It belongs with that thriving plant. I bought it at the Plant Haus in Kerrville and will get another one. I can't believe how real it looks, too and..."

This evening I worked a little bit more on the Space Ship and then I lassoed T. into helping me finish screwing down the top of the breakfast nook seats, because the weather is going to be rough for the next couple of days and I won't be able to work on it, before Friday, when hopefully if the weather is good, Eileen, Lisa and June come out, so I can show it off to them. Unfortunately, Ellen won't be coming out with them, because she is having hip surgery tomorrow. So, let me be the first to wish Ellen a fast mend.

Around six o'clock tonight, I went over to the Lodge to visit with Kinky and The Friedmans, and we ended up going with Frank for a fun hike on the ranch. And the good news is—I didn't trip or fall once!

Tomorrow my good friend Patty, of the famed P&P team, is flying in from Florida to visit her father and Peggy and I am so looking forward to seeing her. Have a safe trip, Patty and Thanks for helping me today, Tone! I love you1

Because of the predicted cold weather for the next two days I am fixing to take a shower and wash my hair, wash our clothes and fill the bathtub with water.

P.S. Mari, thank you for sending me the latest forecast for our area.

Y'all have a great evening!

P.S.S. Our neighbor Ellen just called. "We just went outside and it looks like there is a fire over there..." I just looked outside on the porch and didn't see anything, but Tony and I fixing to go outside and check things out.

As we were going out the front door Ellen called. It's a false alarm...." Thank goodness!

Northern Exposure!

Yesterday was great and today has been great too. Yesterday afternoon Tony and I jumped into Trigger and took off for Kerrville to get supplies. First, we went to Home Depot and bought some lumber and then we went to H-E-B to get groceries, because our cupboards were nearly bare, because it had been over a week since our last trip to Kerrville, because of the harsh weather.

On our way home I talked non-stop to T. about being so happy that the weather had warmed up to sixty-five degees and so thankful that the sun was shining brightly and everything getting back to normal. My happiness came to an abrupt hault, right after we walked inside the trailer with our groceries.

As we started to put up the groceries we listened to the new messages that Carlton had collected while we were gone on our shopping spree. "You have four new messages," Carlton blandly stated, before playing back the messages. "Nancy, Tony, Nancy, Tony call me!" The second message was forty minutes later, "Tone, Nance call Kinky!" The third message was made an hour later, "Nancy, Tony! Where are y'all? Please call me as soon as you get this message." By the time the fourth message played we had put up the milk, dog food and canned goods. "Nancy, Tony please call me as soon as you get this message or just come over," Kinky said. "I need to shut off the water to the Lodge, so Ray can finish fixinf the plumbing and I don't know where it is, and I did something wrong and now my televison isn't working..."

"Tony, leave the groceries—they'll keep. We need to get over to the Lodge," I said, as I turned on the kitchen faucet to wash my hands. "Tony! We have no water, again! No hot or cold!" And that is officially when my meltdown began.

As Tone drove Buttermilk over the river and through the woods I said, "I can't believe we don't have water again. This is starting to get really old and I can't believe it." Then I  realized that I was starting to whine like a baby, so trying to be more positive and upbeat I said, "Well, at least we have some clean clothes, clean hair and it's not cold outside."

When we pulled up to the Lodge, Kinky and Sophie came out to greet us. "Are you okay, Kinky?" I asked, as Sophie jumped up on me. Kinky laughed.

"I am now," he said, as we entered the Lodge, "I now have hot and cold water! Thank goodness. Y'all aren't going to believe my day..." As I walked into the big room to see if we could fix his television. "The TV is fixed, too. I had to talk to three different people at *&^%^&# to fix the problem..."

"That's great, Kink, but we need to take off, because we are out of water," Tony said. "Let's go, Nance."

When we returned to the rescue ranch Tony and I walked from pen to pen to look for a busted pipe and then we checked under our trailer and found nothing—then Tony found the problem in the outside bathroom and quickly fixed it and an hour later we had hot and cold running water inside and outside!

When Super Bowl 45 started I went outside and worked on the Space Ship until dark and then I came inside and watched it with Tony.

Today has been warm, windy and sunny at the same time and I spent most of my day catching up on my paperwork and returning phone calls and e-mails. Around two o'clock I was so tired of sitting behind the computer I decided to take a break and went over to the Lodge to visit with Kinky and pet The Friedmans and it was exactly what I needed, because we went on a hike with The Friedmans and it was fun for all.

Tonight I plan to work on my "Secret Project" for a while and then watch some of Season Five of "Northern Exposure" that I ordered from Netflix and I can't wait to watch it, because "Northern Exposure" is one of my all time favorite televison shows, because of the quirky characters and plots, but more importantly, because it makes me laugh.

Y'all have a great evening and stay warm!

Happy Birthday James Nash!

Tony and I wanted to be the first to wish James a Happy Birthday! Happy Birthday to You. Happy Birthday to You. Happy Birthday Dear James. Happy Birthday to YOU! Please ask Carol to give you a hug from us!

Blast From The Past!

Compared to yesterday—today has been incredibly great—thank goodness! And I am proud to announce, after all of the water pipes that broke yesterday, that we now have hot and cold water running inside our trailer and our "his and hers toilets" are no longer frozen and working properly! Thanks to our great friends Charlie, Ellen and Aaron, who came out and helped fix them for us.

Yesterday morning my last dream before waking up was being so happy because the sun had finally come out and then I woke up and discovered that I had over slept and the sun was shining outside and the outside temperature was quicky rising and I could not have been happier.

After feeding our dogs I called Kinky to see if he wanted some Cousin Nancy breakfast tacos and then I started cooking them, as I sipped some Dunkin' Donut French Vanilla coffee and watched the morning news to find out how many people had wrecked their cars in the Alamo City and the school closings due to the ice, while Tony, who didn't go to the Old Timer because of the icy roads, was outside checking on the dogs and hand-watering them, using the water that Ellen & Charlie had brought over the day before, because our water pump was frozen and we were nearly out of water.

Breakfast over at the Lodge with Kinky was fun and we tried to laugh about the troubles we had, because of the uninvited Artic Blast that had been wreaking havoc on all of us for the past four days.

When T. & I came home the outside temperature was thirty-five degrees and rising, so Tone told me he would feed the dogs and clean their pens, so I could stay inside and make sure when our pipes thawed out I could quickly turn off the water to the trailer, in case they started bursting.

I spent the next hour getting happier by the minute, as the temperature outside rose to forty-seven degrees as the sun shined brightly.  I was literally on Cloud Nine when our toilets and bathtubs finally thawed out and once again became useful. Then twenty minutes later when the hot water started flowing—I was the happiest girl in the whole USA and could not wait to take a shower, instead of a sponge bath, and wash my hair! And then twenty minutes later when Tony came inside the trailer to eat lunch—everything went south and it wasn't T.'s fault that the hot water pipes burst under our trailer, so he ran outside to the pump-house and cut off our water supply.

To say the least—I was not a happy camper and I didn't complain much when Joni Daniels, the publisher of "Texas Animal Imprints" magazine arrived. After howdies and hugs, Tone took off for Medina to get plumbing supplies, as Joni and I drank coffee and caught up with each others news. We had a short, but fun visit and Joni was gone before T. arrived back at the ranch.

Around four-thirty Ellen & Charlie showed up to see if they could help us with our busted hot water pipes, as the sun disappeared behind the back of the trailer and the outside temperature began quickly dropping. Forty minutes later, they drove away, because there was nothing he could do, because we needed a special plumbing fitting and we couldn't get it until this morning. Then Aaron showed up to see if he could help us.

An hour later, near dark-thirty, after Aaron had crawled around under our trailer, he confirmed what Charlie had told us about needing the special fitting to fix things. So after thanking Aaron for trying to help us, too—he drove away and then we jumped in Kermit to go water the dogs and it was a little past seven o'clock when we returned to the trailer. And because we were both so tired—that is why I did not post a blog last night.

Today has been beautiful was the weather. By ten-thirty this morning—The Nellybelle was no longer a dysfunctional trailer, because we had hot and cold running water, as the sun shined brightly outside and our dogs basked in the warm, seventy degree weather.

Before I end tonight's post I am happy to say that we now have plenty of water inside and out, Tony and I have finally gotten to bath properly, washed our hair and thankfully, we no longer stink to high heaven, and thanks to Queen Bee & Airy Queen, we now have several loads of clean clothes and laundry and all of our dogs are doing great outside and looking forward to another warm day of seventy degrees. And as far as I am concerned, that Arctic blast is a blast from the past that I will never forget and hope to never see again.

P.S. Tomorrow is James Nash's birthday and I want to be the first to wish him a happy Birthday. even though I know it will be great because Carol loves him so much.

Y'all have a great evening and stay warm!

What A Day!

Today has been great even though the sun never came out and the outside temperature never got above twenty-three degrees.

After having a fun time doing the Harley Show with Harley I decided to cook something for breakfast instead of drinking a cold smoothie, so I started cooking homemade blueberry pancakes on the stovetop. While I was in the middle of this I called Kinky. "Hello," Kinky said.

"We're talkin' 16.1 degrees," I said. And Kinky chuckled.

"I've got 17.3 here. What's up, Nance?"

"I'm fixing blueberry pancakes and wanted to know if you and Frank would like some..." After T. and I ate the delicious pancakes, we took two, large pancakes over to the Lodge and Kinky and Frank devoured them and told me they were delicious and a perfect breakfast for a day like today.

At ten o'clock this morning our Angel Neighbors, Ellen and Charlie Cooper, showed up to help us feed and water the dogs and clean their pens, but before we started, we invited them inside the trailer for some coffee and a short visit.

Before going outside to work I looked at the big atomic clock on the wall, that Carol & James gave to us and said, "It's now 17.2 degrees outside. Let's make a bet about what the temperature will be when we finish our chores. I bet it will be 18 degrees outside."

"18.6 degrees," Ellen said.

"No, it will be 19.8 degrees," Charlie said. "I'm good at this."

"I'm betting on 24 degees," Tony said, and then we went outside to work—all wishing that T. would win the bet.

When the chores were done we came back inside the trailer after spending over an hour outside and the first thing we did was look at the atomic clock to see the outside temperature and it was 19.8 degrees. "I won!" Charlie said, with excitement. "I hit it right on the nail..."

At three o'clock the dogs started barking outside to let us know that Zeus' real owner had arrived to pick him up and take him home! Now let me backtrack a little and tell you about yesterday's strange phone call.

A young woman, who we'll call Karen, called me and told me that she had just found out that we had her Pit Bull, Duke and she wanted to come and get him. "We don't have a Pit Bull named Duke," I said. "We have Annie, Rockett, Landry and Rocky, but no Duke. I'm sorry, but we don't have your dog."

"Yes you do," Karen insisted. "My friends are friends of Kinky and they told me that they took him to the rescue ranch." And that is when something clicked in my brain.

"Are you talking about "Blank & Blank"?" I asked.

"Yes! Her mom, is "Another Blank" and she drove him down there. You see I have been out of the country and "the Blanks" told me they would take care of him until I got back and then they got busy and needed to travel and that is why they brought Duke to you..."

"Yes, we do have your dog, but they told me his name was Zeus and he has been heartbroken since he came here and we would love for you to come and get him, because he is breaking our hearts. Three weeks ago I called "Another Blank" and left a message about him being so unhappy, but she never called me back, but now it all makes sense as to why she asked me to promise to call her if someone wanted to adopt him and told me, "I'll drive back down here and pick him up." Hmmmmm...Is his name Zeus or Duke?"

"Both. He has two names," she answered. "I am so happy! When can I pick him up?"

"Right now," I said, but due to the weather she drove out today to pick him up and I don't know who was the happiest: Zeus aka Duke, Karen or Tony and me. Before we took Karen down to Zeus' pen I told her that I wanted to make a short video of their reunion and this is it and I have titled it, "Reunited!"
And I hope you like it and here are a couple of pictures of them happy to see each other and Zeus happily sitting in the front seat as they departed our ranch .

An hour later, while Tone was in Kerrville to get supplies, Darrel and Jennifer, a really nice couple, and their three delightful children, took Ben Stiller home to try him out with their other dog! And Ben was more than happy to leave, too. So, please keep your fingers crossed that it will work out and become Ben's forever home in Medina! And, I'm betting that it will be.

After T. and I watered the dogs we went over to the Lodge and told Kinky about Zeus and Ben and to say the least—he was more than thrilled to hear the great news.

Tomorrow the sun is officially supposed to come out—thank goodness and hopefully, we will be in the low forties and finally get to thaw out.

Y'all have a great evening and stay warm!

Zeus!

Y'all, I have been trying to write a blog tonight, but with the many interruptions on the Internet tonight and the rolling power outrages, due to the coldest weather that we have ever seen—I've given up.

Today has been a great day thanks to the kind comments made by Mari and 'Erb and for Charlie and Ellen Cooper, our Angel Neighbors, showing up this morning, to help us this morning,  to feed the dogs, clean their pens and watering the dogs, and for the caring phone calls from Jon Wolfmueller, Rick, the friendly lighthouse keeper, down in Port Aransas and Joni, the publisher and my editor for the new, great magazine "Texas Animal Imprints."

As of this morning, Kinky's pipes are frozen and he has no water over at the Lodge, but fortunately, we have cold water, but no hot water. It has been a rough and hectic day today and it ain't over, yet. The temp right now is 19 degrees and dropping to 15 degrees by morning, but tomorrow it is supposed to warm up finally—thank goodness.

I have some super great news about Zeus being adopted out tomorrow, but I will tell you all about it tomorrow, when the sun comes out tomorrow, because I'm fixin' to go to bed now, because I'm doing Harley in the morning at 7:45.

Y'all have a great evening! And stay warm. Burr......I can't believe that people chose to live in this kind of weather, because I need the sun and it's warmth,

The Secret!

Today has been great. This morning our good friend and neighbor, Charlie Cooper came out and helped Tony with his chores, because it was so cold and we are not used to having weather like this and we cannot thank Charlie enough.

After tending to rescue ranch business this morning, I started working on "my secret" project, which I am very, very excited about! And, hopefully I will be able to announce it by next week. As a "teaser" I will tell you that last night this idea popped into my brain and I could not quit thinking about it. And this morning when my brother Ronnie called me to visit he tells me that he thinks that I should do this project—without me saying a word about it, which blew me out of the saddle, because it came out of nowhere, so I took it as a sign! And, I am doing it! Okay, enough teasing. I'm done talking about this for now.

Late this afternoon our "Angel-Neighbors" showed up, again to help Tony drain pipes, etc. and it was colder than cold. After Charlie and Ellen Cooper helped Tony, I told them that I was fixin' to cook cheese & garlic quesadillas for our dogs and they wanted to help, so we came inside the trailer  and started cooking Mexican food for our dogs outside. And in no time flat—we were outside handing out delicious, warm treats to our dogs—who could not wait to eat them! So, I want to do a big shout-out to Ellen and Charlie Cooper. "We Love Ellen & Charlie!"

About an hour ago I sat down and caught up with my e-mail and I have some exciting news. My dear friend Mari, of The NoMads, sent me a note about her and one of her "super" agility dogs being in the Abilene newspaper and I want to share it with you. It is a great article and "Mari, Tony and I think you look good without shoes."  : )

Well, that is about it for today. I am now fixin' to get back to work on "My Secret" project.

Y'all have a great evening!