Dackel Princess

Losses & Gains

2019 will be a year I will not easily forget. This has been the year that I have had to learn how to cope with and let go of many people who were very dear to me in life. I guess that everyone reaches a certain age when they start losing their peers, and so it has been for me.

There have been nine wonderful souls that departed my life this year. Several were very close to me and the pain I felt at their loss was very deep.

Now I am faced with yet another good friend being terminally ill. I know it will not be too long until she passes from this world to the next. She called me yesterday, out of the blue. I was cleaning my bathroom, but I stopped and talked to her. She told me she is now in Hospice Care. So, I know the time is close.

I’ve never handled death terribly well. I would cry and cry and go through periods of great depression after. But, somehow Candy taught me so much.

Since her passing, I have found a new relationship with God and when I feel unable to cope, I literally give it all to God. Ever been in a grocery store and heard someone say: “God, I can’t take it anymore so I’m taking all the problems and giving them to you!”

Yes, that was me. Whenever and wherever I am, I give it to God. It seems he is always around for me.

Psalm 119:114 – You are my refuge and my shield; I have put my hope in your word.

I also find that by asking for his help, I am comforted.

Jeremiah 33:3 – Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.

It’s a place of deeper knowledge and comfort.

The Friday Five

It’s been a crazy week this week. Despite the fact that I am still not my best, I decided to keep plugging away. Here’s my list.

I went in and had a bunch of tests. Still awaiting the results. I hope they find out what it is so I can start to get on the road to recovery. It’s so annoying to be sick.
I’ve cooked for Jack all week. I’ve tried to make meals that I can eat a little bit of too. Baked potatoes are my best friends right now and plain simple Chicken breast.
I attempted to make a new recipe for Peach Bread. It came out badly. I think I might make Jack a banana bread tomorrow. I have enough to do a splendid job of it.
I decided to release the turkey! By this I mean, I got a turkey for 69¢ a pound and it’s been in my deep freeze. So, I pulled it out and it will be a turkey this weekend for dinner. I expect turkey will also be fairly easy on my stomach.
Lastly, I ordered “Yesterday” and it arrived today.
Over the weekend, I want to watch it with Jack. The music is great and I so enjoyed watching it with Mandy and Matt, so I bought the movie!

TBT: Savannah & Me!

Whenever Savannah has the chance, she asks me to tell her the story about when we first met each other. She loves to hear about how happy I was, and how I couldn’t believe I was her Oma!

Savi actually knows the story so well, she could tell it herself, but she always will sit there listening to me, and if I miss something she will jump right in and correct me!

“I saw you lying in a little hospital cot. You were all wrapped up in a blanket and little hat! I went over and looked into your face and asked Mommy if I could pick you up? She said yes, and I held you in my arms and my heart filled up with so much love. You see, Savi, I immediately fell in love with you!”

This is one of the pictures taken when I got to hold her for the first time! Me and my darling grand-girl!

The next day, I was back snuggling with her! Look at those beautiful long fingers and that perfect little face! It just doesn’t get any better than this. Or that was until Quinn came along!

This week Savi wanted to hear all about Quinn. That was a fun story too! But that is for another day!

Savannah Rose and her Oma, Me!

Getting It Done

Tuesday Jack and I spent down at the VA getting things taken care of.

He needed to get his hearing aid repaired, a financial matter is taken care of, and lastly a flu shot.

I was there to see my doctor about why I do not feel well. I had my exam with her, and tests have been ordered. I am hoping it is merely GERD, but she is leaning toward Gallbladder.

I had the blood work today and will go in early next week for the ultrasound. Then we will go from there.

Of course, she told me that if I got sick in the meantime with severe pain to go straight to the hospital.

I also had a flu shot.

When we finished up it was lunchtime. We went to a restaurant and had a nice meal. And nice for me these days is bland. In fact tonight Jack is eating pizza and I am having eggs and toast.

The drive home was a pretty one and we even saw Wild Turkeys!

So although I still feel a tad under the weather, we did get an awful lot done! I love those kinds of days!

Questions & Answers

I went down to watch my grandchildren on Sunday, and that was wonderful. We played a few interesting games. Twenty questions, Savi is so good at that. I told her she could ask me anything and I would answer her. This was interesting because she was interested in what I was like as a child.

She asked what I was most proud of having done when I was her age? Hmmm. Well, I was in the Community Theater’s production of “The Sound of Music”. I played Gretl.

I had a speaking part and lots of singing and dancing and well, just being your average 7 years old.

Yes, that really little girl is me!

Yep, that’s me with my mouth open again, singing!

And the local newspaper wrote a review where they praised my performance.

And when I showed her this article from 1966, she was so surprised and said: “Oma you are marvelous!”

It was a fun way to spend about an hour before Mandy came to tuck Savannah in.

Earlier in the day, I was showing Quinn a picture of me taken when I was his age. He looked at it and said: “Is that me?”

Maribeth age 3.

Quinn age 3.

Yeah, I think we at least look related.

I just love spending time with my grandchildren! I learn something new every time! And I hope they can think the same thing.

It’s All In A Day

On Saturday I:

Walked the dogs, hung the bird feeders and had a cup of tea.
Made breakfast, cleaned it up and got dressed.
Went with Jack to a WW II Museum in Wolfboro, NH.
Drove to Jack’s favorite Chinese Buffet for lunch.
Was able to eat white rice, egg drop soup, and some plain cookies.
Came home, got Heavenly Jam Batch #1 on the stove.
Sterilized the lids and caps and jars.
Cooked the jam for an hour, added the pectin and cooked it another 20 minutes.
Canned 12 jars of Peach Jam at 4 PM.
Got out a 7-pound chicken and seasoned it, tied it up and put it in the rotisserie to cook for 2 hours.
I got Batch #2 going on the stove.
Sterilized the lids and caps and jars.
Cooked the Jam 1 hour, added pectin and cooked another 20 or so minutes.
Canned 12 jars of Peach Jam at 6:30 PM.
Cooked two baked potatoes.
Sat down for a few minutes and then the chicken was done and I served dinner to Jack and me.
At 8 PM I finished the dinner and the cleanup and I could sit down!
Bedtime will come in a few minutes, and quite frankly I am exhausted!

Nite-Nite!

Another Day

Well, yesterday, after my disaster with the last batch of Heavenly Jam, I set about peeling, pitting and setting about two batches of Jam to work on today.

The biggest problem is that doing the prep work is so labor-intensive. What to do, what to do?

Well, this is what I did:

I cooked the peaches for one minute and fifteen seconds, then toss them in ice water and the skins seemed to slip off very easily. Then I crushed the peaches in my hands until they were in tiny bits.
I juiced the oranges and removed all the pulp inside then tossed the rinds in my food processor and shredded them. This was in place of me sitting there finely chopping them into ribbons.
Then I did sit and dice the cherries. That was a bit labor-intensive, but there is no quick alternative.
I measured out the sugar and mixed it all well, covered them, put that in a cool place and set it to rest.
Later on today I will carefully cook and can these two batches and then I am done!

Jack wants to go to a World War II Museum today and although I would usually be thrilled by this, today I would be happier to stay home, do my jam, and rest. But, he sort of guilted me into it, so I will go.

Meanwhile, I will be making him pancakes this morning. He got a box of pancake mix when we went shopping the other day and wants them for breakfast. Okay, one more thing to cook. As well as a rotisserie chicken for dinner.

Pass my apron!

The Friday Five

For me, this week seemed to go by at a snail’s pace. I haven’t felt well this week, so each day just seemed to go on and on. Luckily, we are at the end of the week and there is the weekend ahead. Here are the five things going on here right now.

I have not felt well for a while. I mean I feel okay, but I’m having trouble eating. Odd. I’ve had to go on a very bland diet, which is no fun, but I have no choice. Jack finally suggested I need to go to the doctor. I’m going on Tuesday.
I lost 3 pounds at WW this week. Now before anyone says woo-hoo, this is not the way to lose it. I joked with a friend that I need to ride this stomach thing for about 20 pounds! lol!
I spent Wednesday afternoon, preparing the peaches and oranges and rind and sugar for my Heavenly jam. Then Thursday I made the first batch and it came out beautifully! However, disaster struck my second batch and the bottom of my beloved heavy soup pot burnt the fruit and sugars! It all went down the disposal and I will need to start all over today! Ugh!
My pot was so badly burnt I wasn’t sure I could clean it. But I used Bartender’s Friend (Basically Baking Soda) and Vinegar. Put that in the pot and then brought the vinegar mixture to a boil. I let it cook for about 5 minutes and presto! The pot was clean! Whew!
Jack and I went to the opening night of Downton Abbey at our little local theater.
There wasn’t an empty seat. I’d sent Jack out after lunch to purchase our tickets. Good idea! Our theater has new recliner seats! They were so comfortable. The movie was wonderful and I enjoyed every moment. Jack enjoyed it, even though he has not seen all of the TV Series. The cinematography was amazing, the costumes beautiful and the acting fabulous. A great way to start the weekend!

Redd Foxx

On Tuesday I found a new animal in my Yard-Zoo. Why I have Deer and Wild Turkey’s, a plethora of Birds and Geese, a Duck or two, Squirrels, Chipmunks and Ground Hogs, and now I can add a handsome and seemingly healthy Fox.

I think I will call him Redd Foxx!

He scampered about the Orchard in our yard grabbing Pears, Peaches, and apple and munching on them. I knew something had been in the yard, I suspected Bears, as frequently Lili wakes up around 2:00 AM barking at something. I usually stumble to the bedroom door and tell her to be quiet! Then stumble back to bed!

Now I know, it’s Redd Foxx!

Since he/she looks healthy I am thrilled with the new addition. It certainly makes life interesting!

Isn’t that just wonderful!

Peaches

Usually, I cook and can my Heavenly Peach Jam in early August. But for us, this year, our peach crop is still not completely ripe.

Our Spring was very wet, very cold and very late. Our Apple and Peach trees blossom in mid-May, but this year it was the first week in June!

Thus the Peach Crop is small and late. We have all the supplies that we need to make the Heavenly Jam, but it will be the weekend before I can even start.

It got me to thinking back to when my friend Emily lived next door. She would come over and the three of us would work, Dipping the peaches in boiling water for a minute, tossing them in ice water and then peel off the skin and then we would take out the seed, and chop the peaches.

Emily and I back in August 2006.

Yes, Jack, Emily and I were a great team and the prep time went fast and we talked and joked and had fun. Below you will see some of the Jam we made together.

I sure miss Emily and I wish that she lived closer! Of course, she and her husband are expecting baby boy #2 any day now, so I don’t think she would be up for jam making.

So on Wednesday I will be preparing the peaches and setting the Jam to rest before cooking it up on Thursday and canning it.

The Recipe can be found HERE

A little aside, if you share this recipe, I am all for it, but please be sure to credit me. Recently someone “borrowed” one of my very own recipes and took credit for the recipe. For the first time in my 60 years, I felt bad. Perhaps it was because I’d worked hard to create that recipe. In any case, use whatever you would like and please don’t forget me!