The Dackel Princess

The Friday Five.

Here we are, another week has sped on by. As this week closes I am getting ready for a trip down to see my sister, Melodie. Her birthday is on Tuesday and for the first time in a long time, we will be celebrating together! Anyway, here is this week’s Friday Five!

1. I have been enjoying my birds. There are two that delight me. The first one is my Downey Woodpecker. It is tiny and yet so sweet and he is not at all worried when I am nearby. Thus, these two great pictures of my tiny friend!

Isn’t he just the sweetest thing?

I love this picture because you can see his beak inside the cage getting seed!

2. Jack and I went to a presentation at the local Airport. A Research Vessel is trying to local a Pan Am Flying Boat, Samoan Clipper, which crashed near Pago Pago, American Samoa, on January 11, 1938. The research vessel is trying to locate the remains, and the search is being led by a team from the Nautilus Live Expedition led by the Robert Ballard Group. Dr. Ballard found the Titanic and his expeditions have been fruitful. Alas, they have not located the Samoan Clipper, which I fear may be lost for all time.

I will be writing more about the Samoan Clipper tomorrow. We wanted to go to the presentation since Jack was associated with Pan Am for over 25 years. He started as a Flight Engineer and left as a Captain. More on that tomorrow.

3. I had to go to the Pharmacy today to get Anneliese’s Eye drops. I signed her up for the Pharmacy Program and so her drops, which normally cost $150.00 per little bottle, are $40.00. I have to say my Pharmacy team has been wonderful and helpful. Today I brought them a picture of Anneliese and they were thrilled. I was too. They are such kind people!

4. Yesterday I was driving in town and suddenly there was a traffic jam. Why? Well, two large flocks of Canadian Geese were crossing the road from one lake to the next. They were bringing all their little goslings and I think there must have been 40 Geese! Everyone stopped and watched the spectacle!

5. We had a remarkable sunset the other night. I ran off with my cell phone and snapped a picture.

Have a great weekend everyone!

TBT: Mandy & Me

This was taken just before Mandy’s First Birthday. I have always loved this picture, taken so long ago. Me and my girl.

She looks so much like both her children and it thrills me to see this. Ever wonder what love looks like?

This is it!

Zucchini & Summer Squash Saute

2 small zucchini squash
2 small summer squash
1 large Vidalia onion
1/2 green pepper
1/2 red pepper
1/2 orange pepper
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
4 small cloves garlic chopped
PAM

Slice squash into 1/2 inch slices, and make sure the slices stay small. Slice them 1/2 X 1/2 inch.
Chop onions, peppers into bite-size pieces.
Slice mushrooms.
Spray large saute pan with PAM.
Add onions, peppers, mushrooms, and garlic.
Saute until tender.
Add Zucchini and Squash and allow to cook.
Toss in some salt and pepper to taste.
Add fresh basil.
Cook until all vegetables are tender.

Enjoy!

Weekend Wrap

Sunday found me feeling a calm need to get a few things done. I had laundry to do, unexciting, and potatoes that required me to do something now before they started to sprout.

So I threw a load of clothes in and came upstairs to put on a pot of potatoes to cook for Potato Salad.

Then I started to chop. I chopped onions, celery, green peppers, red peppers, and mushrooms. I cooked up some of this for breakfast omelets, and saved the rest for later.

After breakfast, the potatoes were cooked and after peeling the warm potatoes I put them in the fridge to cool down, Meanwhile, I boned a rotisserie chicken I’d cooked last night, sliced some of the meat and then made chicken salad with the smaller bite-size pieces.

I was on a roll. My creative juices were flowing and as I went from one recipe to the next I truly amazed myself!

I prepared lunch and now I am just waiting to finish up my cooking day with a light dinner. Steak and potato salad for Jack and Cod-fish and corn for me.

Oh yes, and the laundry got washed, dried and put away (all in one day!). So I am feeling pretty good about all of that!

Plus we watched the 4 hours and 55 minutes Men’s Wimbledon Final! What a match it was! Both players were working so hard to win, and really, it could have gone either way. Congratulations Novak Djokovic!

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, (Kate) who is the Patron of Wimbledon, presented the tournament trophy. I was so surprised but very pleased as well. Kate is such an asset to the Royal Family and I really like her relaxed way of handling situations that are new to her.

Traffic Jams

I recall growing up on Cape Cod back in the sixties and being aware of the influx of tourists starting in May. Our otherwise sleepy town would suddenly grow to an almost intolerable size. Jokes were made, that we needed to dismantle the bridges which allowed tourists onto our beloved Cape Cod. Anyone who has been caught in a 6-mile long traffic jam can relate to this.

So where did I relocate in my grown-up years? To the Lakes Region of New Hampshire. And what did I experience today (Saturday) as I headed home (North) from my daughter’s home? Yes, traffic. Bad traffic! I mean, honestly, I am not sure I have seen it this bad in New Hampshire, ever! In fact, when I got to my exit off of Route 93, I was backed up a half a mile, just to turn onto another highway!

Now there were people who were stressed, with kids in the backseat feeling the boredom of a long, hot ride, but then there were people like me, who decided that they couldn’t change the situation, so I put on a playlist of my favorite songs and sang out loud, while I was doing the old stop and go on the highway.

It brought me back to those long-ago days on Cape Cod. All these travelers, trying to get to the same spot to have the vacation of their dreams.

And me, growing up, living in that special place! And now living in the lakes and mountains of New Hampshire! How lucky is that?

So, instead of getting upset with the traffic, I smiled and realized that I was a very happy girl living in this beautiful spot.

Grandchildren

Such a crazy Friday. I was scheduled to drive down to Mandy’s house to watch the kids so they could enjoy date night. During the ride I had torrential rain with hail! There was also a pick-up truck accident which had me stopped in traffic about 20-25 minutes.

Despite the rain we continued to have high temperatures and high humidity.

The kids came home from daycare and we played around, had a picnic for dinner and then decided to just hang out. None of us felt like doing too much in this weather.

Still the very best thing was seeing my grandchildren and their happy faces when they saw me. Put a smile on my face!

The Friday Five

We’re nearly halfway through July of 2019 and I wish I understood the whole cosmic speed of time. I’m still wondering how that little girl I was way back when, who lay in the sunshine watching the clouds, feeling like time just stood still, is living her life at 60, where the days, weeks and months fly by!

In any case, I won’t bore you all with those ponderings, but I will present this week’s Friday Five!

We’ve been so lucky as this week we have had amazingly good weather. Hot, dry days with bright sun. Shorts and tank top weather. Right up until Thursday when the air was so thick and humid you could have cut it with a knife! Then the clouds moved in and the rains poured down!
Lili, of course, had her day at the spa and was all shampooed and groomed. SO, I brought both dackels into the shower with me and they were washed, dried and groomed. Now all three of my doggy kids are fresh as daisies!
I’ve been doing well with my healthy eating plan. At WW this week I was two and a half pounds lighter. I have been eating very healthfully and happily. They have 200 Zero point foods and I use those to fill up my diet and I have really been feeling good about it all. I just hope I can keep up the positive feelings and keep going.
I’m on my way to see my daughter and grandchildren! I’m going to babysit so she had Matt can have a date night. Fun will be had!
Wimbledon has been amazing this year! Today’s match between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal will probably be the most exciting match of the entire series!

TBT: Grammie Alice

This week I am focusing on my girl’s grandmother, Grammie Alice. She was the mother of my first husband, and she was such a dear, sweet woman. She loved her family with her whole heart and was such a loving Grammie to all of her grandchildren.

In a few days, it would have been her birthday and so I have been thinking of her. I went in some old photo albums and found this cute picture of her and my girls taken one Christmas at our apartment in Milford, NH.

Mandy, Grammie Alice, and Katie!

I have always loved this picture as everyone has such sweet and happy smiles on their faces!

Throw Back Thursdays are such a great time to pull out those old pictures of our much-loved family.

Strength

I want you to close your eyes and think back to a time when you were in your prime. Back when you felt you could do anything and always your body would be strong.

Well, that was quick, wasn’t it? I remember a time when I would move my furniture around weekly, because…I could! I could bend, stretch and lift, and all my muscles worked the way they were supposed to.

Me in my mid-teens.

I took gymnastics in school until I grew to be 5 feet 6 inches. But even then, I was strong enough to perform the movements I learned.

That was…yesterday, right? Ha!

I’m not really sure how it is possible to still see yourself being young and carefree when things don’t work quite the way they used to.

The fact is, in my mind, in my soul, I am still that 15-year-old girl, who thinks young thoughts and dreams of a life on the beach. The only problem is, I’m sixty and due to circumstances beyond my control, things don’t work exactly as they once did.

All that being said the good news is that I am finally getting my strength back! My muscles are coming back and I no longer feel like I might drop the frying pan when I am cooking breakfast.

Now you may think this is rather pathetic, but after being so ill in 2017 where I was pretty much convinced I was going to croak, feeling this good is really fantastic!

Best of all, the pain in my neck and shoulders is finally diminishing and I am once again enjoying life!

I am so grateful!

After The Long Winter

One of the things that happen here in New Hampshire after a long, cold, snowy, muddy, slushy, winter is the annual clean out of the car. In our case, our Toyota Highlander is our year-round car. Or most importantly, the car we use in the winter, with all that bad weather!

The other day I noticed that the car was a mess. There was more sand and dirt on the carpets than at the beach near my home! And the seats in the car were simply filthy!

So first thing this morning out I went with the vacuum, Windex and paper towel. I washed everything down on the dash and instrument panel and then began vacuuming.

I felt the sun on my skin and immediately put on sunscreen, and then when I wasn’t sure that was working put on my rash-guard SPF-50 shirt to protect me.

I have a wonderful rug cleaner with all the upholstery attachments, so I got that out next and shampooed the seats and carpets. By the time I was done, I looked back and everything looked beautiful!

I came upstairs and drank down two huge bottles of water, and I noticed that I felt really sore too. I guess I got a workout.

However, the Highlander now looks fresh and clean and I feel pretty good about all that I accomplished.