Two Doggie Doors!

Today has been great. This morning around 11:45—Daisy got adopted! Yes, our sweet, nine-year-old Beagle mix finally found her loving forever home and she's going to love it.

Daisy is going to live on a big ranch, mainly inside Diana's & Barry's home and if she and their other older Beagle mix want to go outside—they have two doggie doors to chose from. Seriously, she's got it made, in the shade and Kinky, Tony and I are more than thrilled about it, because Diana and her husband are great people and big time dog lovers.

Here's Daisy posing, for me, with her new, super nice family, just before she got into their Suburban's back seat with Diana, and they took off to go to her fabulous forever home. "We love you, Daisy!"

Y'all have a great evening!

Can You Believe That She Did That!

Today has been great. This afternoon Tony and I went, to Kerrville, to run a few errands before meeting our dear friend, Drew, for lunch.

We went to the shopping center, on Junction Highway, where Wild Birds Unlimited is located to take care of all three of our errands. First, we stopped at the Sub Station Post Office, so I could mail a few letters.

Then to save us a little time, Tony dropped me off, at Home Town Crafts store, so I could pick up Nancy J. Bailey's beautiful "Fall Trail Ride" watercolor, that I had the River Oaks Framing Company double-matted and framed for me, while Tony went over to the Wild Birds Unlimited store, to pick up some dog leashes and collars that Marguerite wanted to donate to us.

The River Oaks Framing Company did a beautiful job framing Nancy's artwork and after I had paid for it, I left the store and started walking across the parking lot to meet up with Tony, who was already backing Trigger out, of the parking space, so he could come and fetch me.

When I climbed into the truck, Tony admired the great framing job and then he said, "Marguerite gave us this huge sack of dog leashes and collars. And look what else she gave us." He handed me a Wild Birds Unlimited envelope, with Tony's and my names on it and inside it was a $40.00 Wild Birds Unlimited gift card! "She told me that it was just a little gift from her. Can you believe that she did that?"

"Yes I can, because I love Marguerite, because she is such a sweet, kind-hearted woman. We need to take her out to lunch soon, so we can thank her for the gift card. I'm going to use my part of the gift card to buy another super-cool, solar lantern. And that's when we can invite her and make a date, to treat her to lunch, with us."

"I'm going to buy more bird seed with mine," Tony said.

Our delicious lunch, at China Town, with Drew, was a total blast, because Drew and I had so much to catch up and tell each other that we never stopped talking. And our conversation was filled with a lot of laughter, too. Tony did get a few words in edgewise, because we had to occasionally pause to breathe, but he didn't seem to mind us solving all of the world's problems, while he sat back and enjoyed his tasty Sweet & Sour Shrimp.

When we got back home, the first thing I did was hang up the "Fall Trail Drive" painting. I hung it, on the wall, below Karin & Air Gun Pohlman's  fabulous, German-made Coo-Coo clock, that I absolutely love and also under one of my Resistol cowboy hats, next to Little Debbie's adorable, little sombrero that sweet Eileen gave to her. And the framed watercolor looks perfect there, except for the lighter shadow, above it and below it, because it is the outline of the old, green clock that had hung there for many years, before I replaced it today with Nancy's fabulous artwork.

Before I finish writing this post, I want to let you know that later this afternoon we rescued another stray and tomorrow morning a certain old dog of ours is getting adopted to a fabulous forever home, so it can be a companion to another old dog. Life is great—knock-on-wood. And that's about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

Jamming—Party Of Five!

Today has been great. This morning I grabbed my guitar and went to Kerrville, to play some music, because last Friday, our great friend/volunteer, Jim, invited me to bring my guitar and come to the weekly jam session, he attends, at Club Ed's Auld Center.

When I arrived, it was 9:56 and I was four minutes early, but I was also the last one to walk into the room, filled with friendly musicians. Everyone greeted me and welcomed me to join them, which was good, because I was a little nervous, because Jim was the only person that I knew.

At 10:00, we immediately started jamming and I was so glad that I had tuned my guitar before going there. There were about ten ukulele pickers, a flutist, an auto harp player and Jim, who is an awesome harmonica player.

The nice woman, in the chair next to mine, shared her music song book with me and we played about ten songs, before everyone took a ten minute coffee break and munched on the delicious, healthy cookies, that Jim's sweet wife, Diane, had baked for the jam session.

During the break, this really nice man came up to me and introduced himself to me. "Hi Nancy. I'm Craig. Do you know Les and Denise?"

"Yes. I love them," I said. Then he told me that Les is his very best friend and he and Les go way back, because they met when they both worked and lived, in Colorado. Then I told him, "Then you must know Cosmo, that they adopted from us, a couple of years ago..." After we had talked about Cosmo being one of the cutest and luckiest dogs, in Kerrville, Craig admired my guitar and told me that he also plays the guitar, so I handed him my guitar to play. He loved playing my guitar and he was a good guitar picker. Then the coffee break was over and we played many songs, for about another hour.

I was having so much fun jamming with these fun musicians I didn't want it to end, but it did. While I was packing away my guitar, another nice woman came up to me and asked me to please come and bring my guitar, to a dulcimer jam session this coming Monday afternoon and I am seriously thinking about doing it, too. So, to say the least, "This morning was a total blast for me."

This afternoon Kinky called me to ask if he could bring some friends over to see our rescue ranch, because they are dog lovers and big fans of our rescue ranch. And you can guess what I told him, too.

Thirty minutes later Kinky and his two friends, visiting him from out of town, arrived. Kinky first wanted them to see our trailer aka The Cabin, which was fine with me, because Hazel and I had just finished removing all of the new dog hair that had been swirling around, on the floor, because I haven't vacuumed for three days.

After we had a fun visit, inside The Cabin, Kinky suggested that we move our party of five outside and go into Outer Space, so he could smoke his cigar. Little Debbie and Alice wanted to go with us too and they did, but I didn't count them as part of our party of five, because together they only weigh about twelve pounds. But I should have, because they stole the party being way too cute.

Before I finish writing this I want y'all to know that Nancy J. Bailey's beautiful "Fall Trail Drive" watercolor, is already framed, so I can pick it up the next time that we go to Kerrville and I can't wait, because I already know where I am going to hang it, in the big room.

And last night, when it finally got dark outside, I instantly fell in love with my new solar lantern, on the front porch and that I am planning on buying a few more, at Wild Birds Unlimited. Here is a picture of the blue lantern hanging outside. And the other picture is one of my favorite pictures that I've ever taken of Roy winking with Little Debbie sitting behind him, just because I love those two so very much.

Y'all have a great evening!

The Flood!

Today has been great and I want to catch you up with what has been going on out here.  Last Friday, after we ate lunch with volunteers, at Koyote Grill, it started to rain. Then came the thunder and the lightning, heavier rain, small hail and strong winds. And yes, I unplugged everything.

Within two hours time, the creeks had risen out of their banks and we were smack dab, in the middle of a much needed flood. We couldn't believe it and we were grateful. From our windows, inside The Cabin, we watched branches, giant logs, trees, etc. floating swiftly down, Big Foot Wallace Creek.

When the heaviest rainfall had passed over us, we went outside and stood on the porch. The creek was roaring so loudly that Tony could not hear me talk or at least that is what he told me when I had asked him to please help me do something. Anyway, the bottom line is—Kinky, Tony and I were land-locked and so were our neighbors. But the good news was the creeks were full and overflowing!

I took this picture from our front porch showing just how high the creek was, because under normal conditions we can never see the creek, from the front porch. It's the winding brown patches behind the trees.

By Saturday morning the creeks had gone down enough that we were no longer land-locked. And the reason that I did not blog about it was because I was out of town, at a special event, wearing  The Dress. 

Early Sunday morning, I was back on the highway, driving my way back to the ranch and I was not wearing The Dress. Instead, I was wearing my uniform—navy blue turtleneck, 501 Levi's, pink boots and my Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch cap. I felt good and could not wait to get back home.

When Trigger and I arrived, back at the ranch, Tony was already outside doing our morning chores, but he had some bad news to tell. The first thing that he said to me, "Please don't take a bath."

"What? Why?"

"The water pump is not working and we're nearly out of water. The flood must have taken the pump down the creek with all of the rest of the debris and...."

His news was not what I wanted to hear, because I so wanted to take a shower, wash a load of laundry and I knew that the pump replacement could be very costly.

After I had unpacked and kissed all of our dogs, inside The Cabin, I decided to make lemonade out of our missing water pump situation. Because I could not take a shower and get cleaned up—I decided to do some push—mowing outside, while Tony finished up the chores.

Four hours later, Tony asked me to please stop push— mowing, because he didn't want me to over do it. I felt fine, but I took his advice, because I had push-mowed seven dog pens, two alleyways, and our backyard.

In the late afternoon, I climbed onto the riding lawnmower and mowed down the grass in Baxter's and Honey's big pen, up by the gate. Then I called it quits and came inside. I was dirty and too tired to write or post anything, on my blog, so I watched reruns of Everybody Loves Raymond.

Early this morning our friend Bill, an excellent plumber, came out with his helper, to help Tony with our no-water situation and since they didn't need me to stand around giving them friendly advice or talk my head off, I cranked up the push—mower and cut the grass in our front yard. Then I mowed a big swatch of land starting from The Cabin all of the way to the feed barn. Then I cut off the mower, because Tony came to get me. "Nance, I've got good news. The flood didn't take our pump, down at the creek. It was still in tact and it was just stopped up with gravel, sand and debris and that's why it couldn't pump water up to the pump house."

I was thrilled with Tony's great news and Bill's bill. After writing our friend a check, I skipped up to The Cabin and took a nice, long, hot shower and dressed into a clean uniform. I washed a load of clothes while cooking us lunch and then we went to Kerrville to run several errands.

As I finish typing this tonight, the "Fall Trail Ride," Nancy J. Bailey's beautiful watercolor that she gave to me, is inline to be framed, by this coming Thursday. Our cupboards are once again restocked with food. And I am anxiously waiting for it to get dark outside, so I can watch my new, cool, Stella Solar Lantern, that I bought today, at Wild Birds Unlimited, light up, on our front porch.

And that's about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

The Dress!

Today has been great. For the record, please note that our wood floors, inside The Cabin, were spic and span, before the heavy thunderstorms and hail arrived this afternoon. Now I have a dress story to tell you.

Years ago I finally feng shui-ed the only dress I owned, because I am not comfortable in dresses. And as you know I dress very simple. In fact, I basically wear the same kind of clothes/uniform everyday. My uniform for fall and winter months is 501 Levi's, navy blue, colored turtlenecks and boots. And it's 501 Levi's, denim work shirts and boots, for the spring and summer months.

For the past six or seven years I've know that I should go buy a dress to wear for funerals, weddings or special occasions, but I didn't, until last week, because Tony and I have several upcoming events to attend, that I should wear a dress at, in the next couple of months.

Before I purchased The Dress I talked to my dear friends, Kris & Jim, about wanting and needing to buy a dress and they suggested that I buy a simple black dress, because they are good for any occasion. That was good advice, but I didn't heed it, because I don't look good in black.

On Tuesday, April 7th, I did not dress up to go buy a dress and neither did Tony. We wore our uniforms and went to the mall, in Kerrville. We checked out dresses, in several department stores, but I didn't see anything that I really liked. Which makes sense, because I don't like dresses to begin with, because they make me look frumpier than I already am.

Anyway, after the third store, Tony started grumbling and was starting to make those kinds of noises that you do when you roll your eyes. So I decided to go to Cross Cultures, my favorite store, in the entire mall, because I knew they would have the perfect dress for me to wear. (Over my jeans. I wish.)

I love Cross Cultures for several reasons and the main ones are: The good vibes are incredibly great inside the store, it always smells fabulous, because of their huge selection of quality incense and the storeowners are incredibly nice, friendly, helpful people. Plus they have super cool stuff to sell.

Well, I was right about finding the perfect dress there and Tony was so happy watching the man fold up The Dress and slip it inside a plastic bag, because he knew that we were finally done shopping and could go back home.

In fact, Tony was so glad that I had finally purchased The Dress to wear, he tied the sack handles, into a tight knot, I guess, so it wouldn't fly out of the bag or something like that, which would then cause us to have to make another day spent, at the mall.

Anyway, a few days later, I realized that it might be smart for me to try on The Dress just to make sure that it would fit me. So, when Tony went outside to mow, I went into the bedroom to try on The Dress for most occasions.

The Dress was still folded up, inside the tied up bag, on our dresser, where I had left it. When I untied Tony's knot and pulled The Dress out of the bag, I instantly smelled that store's sweet fragrant incense, on The Dress. The aroma filled the air, in our bedroom, so I went into the kitchen and wrote down, "buy incense," on my "To Do" list. Then I took The Dress off and got back into my uniform.

An hour later, Tony, who, let's just say "Isn't real fond of incense," walked inside The Cabin, sniffed the air, and asked, "What's that smell?"

"It's The Dress!" I said, proudly. "And it fits, thank goodness."

"Where's The Dress?"

"In our closet," I said. "Why?"

"It's all of the way back there? And I can smell it all of the way from here?" Then he chuckled.

"I love the way it smells and I'm going to buy that same kind of incense, the next time we go to the mall," I said, defensively. "And for your information, it will make it easier for you to find me, at events, too."

"Don't worry about that," Tony joked. "They're going to smell us coming from a mile away." And that's about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

Steaming Mad!

Today has been great. I was very busy all day and I got a ton done. As of today I am temporarily all caught up, so I am celebrating tonight, by playing with my new Bissell POWERFRESH steam mop.

Sweet Tony bought it for me this afternoon, at Penneys, because my old steam mop was so undependable. It seemed that every other time that I wanted to use it, it wouldn't work or it would get clogged up, even though I always used distilled water in it and that always made me steaming mad.

And that's about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

Fall Trail Ride! or Nancy J. Bailey Rules!

Today has been great. This afternoon, my new friend, Nancy J. Bailey, an extremely talented author, who wrote the fabulous book The North Side Of Down: A True Story Of Two Sisters sent me a package.

After I asked Tony to please open up the box for me, because I was checking our other mail, he asked, "What do you think it is?"

"It's that great book that Eileen gave to me. I enjoyed reading the book so much, Eileen gave me Nancy's address, so I could send it back to Nancy, for her to sign to me."

When Tony opened up the box, there was my book or should I say Nancy's fabulous book "that you can't put down."

As I looked to the page to see what Nancy had written, Tony says, "There's more." Then he pulled out this beautiful 11"x15" watercolor that she had painted and I loved it, because when I had first checked out Nancy J. Bailey's beautiful art, months ago—this watercolor was titled, "Fall Trail Ride" and it was instantly my very favorite painting. In fact, this painting spoke to me so much that I had even blogged about how much I loved her "Fall Trail Ride" watercolor.

When Tony first showed it to me, still wrapped inside its protective cover, I assumed that it was a signed print and I was absolutely thrilled about receiving it and I could not wait to get it framed. But when I removed it from the protective cover to admire it some more— I almost fainted, because it was not a signed print. It was her signed, original watercolor! "Omg, Tony! I can't believe that Nancy gave her beautiful painting to me!" Then I started to tear up, because I was so touched by this awesome watercolor and her kindness to me. To check out more of Nancy J. Bailey's beautiful artwork please click here.

"It really is beautiful, Nance and there's a more thing she sent." Then he pulled out a sample package of Wysong Biscuits dog treats. So I took this picture of it and then Tony opened up the sample package and fed the dog treats to our four legged family and they absolutely loved them. So, we plan to order them some more, because our dogs loved them and they are MADE IN USA, family owned and operated organization. And Nancy J. Bailey recommends them.

Before I finish writing this tonight I want to do a big shout out to one very multi-talented woman. "Thank you so very much, Nancy! I love what you wrote to me in the book, too! Nancy J. Bailey Rules!"

Y'all have a great evening!