Author: Dackel Princess
It Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time
Last week I was shopping online at Amazon.com. I was looking for a book on Highclere Castle, the real Downton Abbey. I came upon a book about Highclere Castle and the origins of the castle and the owners of it.
The reviews looked good, but since I wasn’t sure, I thought I would order myself a copy and then if it was any good I would order one for my sister Melodie.
My copy arrived and I was thrilled when I looked it over. So many details of the Castle and so many beautiful pictures. I sat right down and ordered it for my sister. I knew she would just love it!
On Saturday I was contacted by Amazon that the book had been delivered. Since it was pretty early in the morning I wanted to make sure she got the package before the rain set in, so I sent her a text.
“Did a package arrive for you?”
Well, my phone rang almost instantly! She was laughing like crazy! You said between giggles “You will not believe this!”
It seems that my sister had the same idea. So about the same time I ordered this book to review, she had done the same thing! When her mail carrier arrived he delivered two packages with the same book inside!
At first, Mel thought she had ordered two of them! Until my text! Then she knew that we had done this again.
So often we have similar ideas right at the same time! But this was pretty spooky! We are both still laughing about it.
Great Minds…
Savannah’s Play
Yesterday I went to Savannah’s play Alladin Kids. Savannah played a Persian Monkey! It was such a cute production with music and dances. I recognized many of the kids from past productions. Especially the young red-headed boy who played Alladin. He was very good. Savannah says he is really funny and likes to joke around.
Here is Savannah’s Cast Picture. I think it came out quite well.
After the production we three girls went out to lunch! It was such fun being out to lunch with Mandy and Savi. Three generations.
Savannah is so interested in everything. She asks such good questions and also enjoys a good joke or saying things that make us laugh. Really, it was a delightful day.
The ride home was wonderful. Almost no traffic and just the hint of color on the tips of the trees reminding me that is is the start of Autumn.
My pack of dogs was really happy to see me, as was my husband Jack. It’s so nice to be missed!
Happy Sunday Everyone!
My Plants Lived!
Thursday night was pretty cold up here. When I woke at 6 AM it was 38 degrees (F). I looked outside and there was a heavy dew on the ground. I decided that it was time for me to bring in my Christmas Cactus Plants.
Last Spring, after I was sure that the frosts were over, I put all three of them outside. They all looked pretty bad and if they died, they died.
We had a lot of rain in the Spring and I was worried they wouldn’t do well because of all the moisture. Then I read all about Christmas Cactus’s and learned that they are not Cactus! They are succulents! They are also, three different varieties of Christmas Cactus!
So I left them alone. Out in the warm rain with both sunshine and rain and they came back! So I repotted all three of them, putting them in nice mossy soil with good drainage, and they continued to thrive.
This is my oldest Christmas Cactus. It’s looking so much better now.
This is my second Christmas Cactus and I thought I could pull this one back and I did.
And lastly, this one I thought for sure was a goner! I predicted that I would be throwing it in the compost pile! But if you look at all the lighter color leaves, you will note all the new growth!
So the Christmas Cactus plants were all moved inside today and now all I need to do is remember to water them daily and mist them once a week.
I think I can handle that! Have a great weekend everyone!
The Friday Five
It was an amazing week, another that seemed to rush by. I found myself driving here and there, getting a lot done. So here goes!
- Anneliese had her Eye Exam and right now her eyes are stable. I need to keep up the drops and keep an eye on her, but hopefully, we are through the worst of it. She will never be perfect, but at least she is out of imminent danger.
- My Repairman, Barry is here fixing my dishwasher! Yahoo! I have managed to do the dishes, but I admit that last night I’d had enough of the cooking and then cleaning it all up.
- So. last night I got a takeout menu online for the local Chinse Restaurant and we ordered meals for each of us. A night off.
- I fear I was being punished for being so lazy because we got the worst Chinese food that either of us had ever had. And things only got more annoying. When Jack went to pick it up it was almost $15.00 more than we had figured. It turns out that they had added pork fried rice to the order, and not just changed the option. (You know Pork Fried Rice, Fried Rice or White Rice?) S0 we had fried rice in the take out box and an extra box of pork fried rice. The good thing about being married to a thrifty Scotsman is that he wouldn’t accept the order! The woman eventually admitted her error and Jack came home with the meal. However, it was awful!
- Tomorrow Savannah will be in another play. My darling girl just loves acting in plays.
I am going down for the midday performance and then will head right back home. I’ve been so worried about Jack and I don’t want to leave him for too long.
Have a great weekend everyone!
Thursday Thirteen
Thirteen Things I Think About.
- I saw a sneaker on the side of the road. I wondered…where is the other one? Is there a man or woman walking around with only one sneaker?
- Why do people enter the roadway in front of you, and then slow down? I wondered at this today when I had no car behind me and yet a young man roared in front of me from a side road and then slowed down to a snail’s pace?
- Why do Wild Turkeys always seem to gather near the edge of roads? Are they trying to get hit?
- Why do Tornados seem to head for and hit Mobile Home Parks?
- How does dust settle on my tables, shelves etc, mere moments after I dust them?
- My “Crow Proof” bird feeder isn’t exactly crow proof.
Those little buggers fly up, grab some suet, fall off and go right back and try again. It’s provided Jack and me with endless moments of entertainment! - My little Downey Woodpecker comes by to visit each day.
By this, I mean he actually comes to feed when I am standing outside or seated at our little patio table. He almost seems to know me and trust me. I just love this! - There is a Fox in our neighborhood. We’re all a bit nervous. The last fox taken into custody was Rabid. So we’re watching the pooches carefully.
- I finally got tired of seeing Arnie’s ears all but dragging on the ground! So I picked him up and gave his ears a good trim!
I still need to work the stripping comb on him. He has such a thick and luxurious coat, that needs thinning and stripping, that is for sure.
- What am I making for dinner tonight? After such a long day I would hate to cook a big meal, knowing I still have no dishwasher and will need to wash, dry and put away all the dishes I make! Ugh!
- I need to get paid more. Besides doing the cooking, dishes, cleaning, and laundry, I have another title…Nurse! Jack fell again today and cut himself in three places. After cleaning the wounds, I bandaged them up. Yup, add Nurse to my job description!
- I’m struggling with WW. There I have said it! I try and I get through breakfast and I’m doing well and then at 10 o’clock I want to eat. Ugh! I will not give up.
- And lastly, today I saw a company moving one of those huge water tanks. You know, the ones you see in towns up on stilts? Anyway, the flatbed truck had it strapped down, and it took up two entire lanes. Four State Police vehicles with lights were guiding the way as well as two outriding company trucks. I have never seen anything that large on a public highway! I was driving and I couldn’t take a picture. But here is a water-tank very close to what I saw on the flatbed.
The cone-shaped top was not there, just the large cylindrical capsule. It got off the road in Rochester. I wish I could have followed it for a while.
In Memoriam September 11, 2001
I think we all can tell you where we were, and what we were doing on that fateful day, in September.
September 11, 2001
It was a beautiful day here in New Hampshire. Sunny, bright, clear with blue skies. I was taking a shower getting ready for a dental appointment, while Jack was working on shingling the house. It was a day like any other here.
Hubby had the TV in our bedroom pointed out the window so he could listen to the morning news.
Suddenly, I felt a hand on my arm and Jack told me I had to get out of the shower now, something was happening. I was a little dazed and confused. I shut the water in the shower off and grabbed my towel.
Jack and I sat in our family room watching Fox News, ABC, and CNN. A plane had hit one of the Twin Towers at the World Trade Center in downtown New York City. Jack, as a former Airline Pilot knew immediately, that it was no accident.
While we watched, suddenly another plane came in and hit the other Tower!
We were both in shock. We listened to reports. No one was saying terrorism, not at first. But both Jack and I knew.
I look at this picture, and I know that none of those innocent people got out alive. That thought brings me to tears each time I see it.
We watched the Tower’s come down, one and then the other. We knew people had died. We just didn’t know how many.
At 12:30 I drove to my dental appointment. There was not another car on the road. Not one. I got to my dental appointment and found that I was the only patient that hadn’t canceled that day.
When I got home we watched the TV all day. I called my family and my close friends. Just to hear their voices.
It doesn’t matter your political affiliations, or how you feel about the war. What matters is on September 11, 2001, innocent people died in New York City, In Washington, DC and in Shanksville, PA.
People like you and like me. Just because they were Americans. That was the day I learned that we are no longer safe here at home.
I also learned that when our country is attacked in such a manner, we pull together and unify.
God Bless all who lost their lives that day, to their families, who will never be the same, and all who serve this country each and every day to protect and defend us.
September 11, 2001: Basic Facts
Chronology
8:46 AM Plane crashes into the north tower of the World Trade Center.
9:03 AM Plane crashes into the south tower of the World Trade Center.
9:17 AM The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) shuts down all New York City area airports.
9:21 AM The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) halts all flights at U.S. airports. It is the first
time in history that air traffic has been halted nationwide.
9:38 AM Plane crashes into the Pentagon. Evacuation begins immediately.
9:45 AM The White House evacuates.
10:05 AM The south tower of the World Trade Center collapses.
10:10 AM A portion of the Pentagon collapses.
10:10 AM Plane crashes in Somerset County, Pennsylvania.
10:22 AM The State and Justice Departments, as well as the World Bank are evacuated.
10:28 AM The World Trade Center’s north tower collapses.
10:45 AM All federal office buildings in Washington, D.C. are evacuated.
1:44 PM Five warships and two aircraft carriers are ordered to leave the U.S. Naval Station
in Norfolk, Virginia to protect the East Coast.
4:10 PM Building 7 of the World Trade Center collapses.
The Flights
American Airlines Flight 11
From: Boston, Massachusetts (Logan Airport)
To: Los Angeles, California
Lives: 92 people on board
Crashed into North Tower of World Trade Center at 8:46 AM
United Airlines Flight 175
From: Boston, Massachusetts (Logan Airport)
To: Los Angeles, California
Lives: 65 people on board
Crashed into South Tower of the World Trade Center at 9:03 AM
American Airlines Flight 77
From: Washington, D.C. (Dulles Airport)
To: Los Angeles, CA
Lives: 64 people on board
Crashed into the Pentagon at 9:38 AM
United Airlines Flight 93
From: Newark, New Jersey
To: San Francisco, California
Lives: 44 people on board
Crashed into rural Pennsylvania (southeast of Pittsburgh)
Victims
Victims came from more than 90 countries around the world.
The following are the number of people who died at each site:
World Trade Center 2,823 (includes airline passengers)
Pentagon 125 (not including plane victims)
Flight 11 – 92 people on board
Flight 175 – 64 people on board
Flight 77 – 64 people on board
Flight 93 – 44 people on board
The initial numbers are indelible: 8:46 a.m. and 9:02 a.m, the times the Towers were hit. Time the burning towers stood: 56 minutes and 102 minutes. Time they took to fall: 12 seconds. From there, they ripple out.
Fact Sheet
U.S. Department of State
Washington, DC
August 15, 2002
Lovely
Today was beautiful. In fact, I felt like walking around our yard and I took a bunch of pictures. Lili, of course, was only too happy to pose for me.
Awww, my lovely Lili!
The tourists have all gone home. In a few weeks they will close up their camps and life in my small town will go back to a simple, quiet, normal. Oh, how I love this time of year!
I sidled up to the plum tree and grabbed a delicious succulent one, and wolfed it down. These are tiny little plums known as a Mount Royal Plum! Oh my goodness, so very good!
Tomorrow we have a man coming to see if he can fix the mess left by Sunday Paving & Sealing Company of Wolfborough, NH. These people worked on our driveway and 11 hours after they finished the driveway failed. They refuse to return our calls or to stop by. Anyone in my area thinking of using them, trust me, you do not want to do it! I will be filing a formal complaint with the Better Business Bureau!
We’re limited with time now, as in a few weeks our temperatures will drop and the ground will freeze. Oh my goodness, did I really write that? Yes, before we know it, winter will be here!
Automatic Dishwashers
After standing at the sink with my hands in flocked rubber gloves, washing dishes three times a day, I wondered what man I should be thanking for my automatic dishwasher.
Well, low and behold, when I looked up who invented the automatic dishwasher I discovered that a woman had invented this cherished device!
Josephine Garis Cochran invented the first useful dishwasher in Shelbyville, Ill., and received patent # 355,139 on December 28, 1886. Cochrane, a wealthy woman who entertained often, wanted a machine that could wash dishes faster than her servants, and without breaking them.
Thank you, Ms. Cochran!
I’m amazed that this woman not only designed the machine but with help from a mechanic built it and then marketed it to hotels and restaurants. Kitchen Aid would eventually puy her patent.
So either Tuesday or Wednesday the parts to fix my machine should be here, but in the long run It’s been interesting to learn something about a product I have used since I was in 4th grade and never knew was invented by a woman!