Dackel Princess

The Wednesday Medley

We’re joining Terri at Your Friend From Florida

SPRING BEGINS
Spring begins on the March or vernal equinox, which is when the amount of sunshine is approximately 12 hours long. The amount of sunlight will incrementally increase until the first day of Summer.
The vernal equinox marks the moment the Sun crosses the celestial equator. This is the imaginary line in the sky above the Earth’s equator, from south to north. This happens on March 19, 20 or 21 every year in the Northern Hemisphere. In the Southern Hemisphere, this same event marks the beginning of fall. Meteorologists actually mark the spring from March 1 through May 31st.
In 2016, spring arrived a little earlier due to it being a leap year. On Leap Day, there’s a little math lesson regarding the Gregorian calendar. To keep our calendar following the seasons so that spring happens when flowers grow and winter arrives when snow falls, an additional day was figured into years divisible by the number four. This has caused the 2016 spring to occur earlier than any living human being alive had ever seen. Before 2016, the earliest spring on record took place in 1896.
For more information visit almanac.com.
HOW TO OBSERVE
Get ready for longer days and increased sunshine. Tune up the lawn mower. More sunshine means the grass will be growing. Use #SpringBegins to post on social media.
HISTORY
Human beings have been following the sun and creating a calendar based on seasons since the beginning of time.

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1. The first spring flowers are usually daffodils, dandelions, lilies, tulips, iris. and lilacs. Which one of those choices is your favorite? Have you seen any yet?

Well, I love Lilacs the best.

But right now we still have well over two feet of snow in our yard. So, it will be a while! Usually, we see flowers in mid to late April.

2. What is your least favorite thing about spring?

Mud Season! Not only are our roads a mess then, but once beautiful White German Shepherd is brownish and dirty during this time!

3. Okay, what puts a spring in your step?

My grandchildren. Always!

4. What is your favorite springtime song?

I have loved this song since I was in High School. I loved John Denver’s voice and this song is all about the wonders of Spring!

5. What really says spring to you?

No more snow! Warmer temperatures and sunshine!

6. Tell us something random about your week.

It’s been a quiet week. The highlight is going out for groceries and the fact that we have not had snow in seven days!

Corned Beef and Cabbage Recipe

Corned Beef and Cabbage St. Patrick’s Day Feast!

Heat the oven to 290- 300 degrees F.

Heavy Cast Iron Dutch Oven
Large thick FLAT CUT Corned Beef Brisket.
3 onions
2 carrots, 1 stalk celery, 2 cloves garlic sliced thinly
4 fresh marjoram,
4-6 fresh thyme
4 bay leaves.

On the bottom of pot place, 3 large onions cut up into ¼ inch slices.
Add a few thinly sliced carrots, celery, garlic, fresh marjoram, fresh thyme and bay leaves.

Set the meat on top of the vegetables and add water to just cover the meat. Bring to a boil skimming any foam that surfaces.
Cover with lid. Place the Dutch Oven in the oven and cook slowly for 6 hours. Check and if it is boiling hard, turn oven down. If the meat is tough when you check it, it’s not done! This cut of beef needs a lot of slow cooking!
Remove from the oven, set on wire rack. Leave it covered and let it rest for 20 minutes. Slice the corned beef, and serve

Meanwhile: Portions vary depending on how many you are feeding.
Peel potatoes and cook until tender.
Peel carrots cut into chunks and cook until tender.
Remove outer skins from Pearl Onions and cut off ends. Cook until tender
Cut a large head of cabbage into wedges. Cook until very tender.

The Weekend Wrap

Our weekend was a busy one. I finally got the laundry caught up with, and on Sunday, of course, it was time to cook the annual Corned Beef and Cabbage, St. Patrick’s Day Dinner!

My attempts at following in my Mom’s footsteps had never really succeeded. In fact, I got out her cooking notes and could find nothing relating to Corned Beef. Drat!

So after reading The Pioneer Woman’s comments on fixing a tender Brisket, I found a recipe by Tyler Florence, and then I sort of took from both and threw caution to the wind and cooked that sucker!

I used a slow oven, my cast iron Dutch Oven, and time. Six long hours of cooking the Corned Beef.

All I can say if OMG!

Since I was cooking a lot of Corned Beef, I decided to cook the veggies separately. Pearl Onions, Cabbage, Carrot Chunks, and Boiled Potatoes!

Not my meal, (photo from the Internet) but this is what mine looked like. I just forgot to take a picture!

We’d invited friends for the meal, and everyone ate so well. I was so happy that the meal turned out to be one I took pride in. I hate it when I have cooking failures.

Lili enjoyed being the center of attention for her birthday, and she has now settled in to being a full-fledged five years old.

And that my friends, is the weekend, wrap!

Happy 5th Birthday, Lili!

Today our Lili is five years young! Hard to believe it! Time has flown! Our little St. Patrick’s Day Pup will get a special dog food molded cake with five mini dog bones for candles! Bless you, Lili, you really are a gem.

We found that Lili would have been great fun in a Circus. She loves to run and jump and run some more. Winter is her favorite time, as she enjoys being able to leap through the snow at full speed. It’s like watching a deer.

Lili is the sweetest girl and has developed a wonderful relationship with our smallest dachshund. The two are devoted to each other and sleep curled up together a great deal of the time at night.

She is amazingly intelligent. She follows commands and has become a retriever. Let me explain. If one of the dachshunds is out and is taking too long, I will say, “Lili, go get Anneliese” and she will run off and herd her back to the door. She seems to love having jobs to do.

Likewise, my husband has begun going outside to exercise and of course do some snow shoveling, Lili will go with him. She never leaves his side and keeps a close watch. She is closely attuned to him.

While I am crocheting in the evenings she is either at my feet or in my loveseat next to me. She follows me everywhere I go and she is so loving, at times it brings tears to my eyes.

She is also the most beautiful White Shepherd we have ever had. No kidding. She is nearly completely white, with a fabulous black nose and nails. Her eyes are perfectly brown and her coat is a full, short tight coat, with soft fur.

Her best little friend is a four-year-old girl that is our neighbor’s grandniece. She will stand on their balcony and call “Lili” and Lili happily runs to greet her, pulling up just before she gets to her, so as not to knock her over.
She also loves our two grandchildren who wanted Bolt Dogs for Christmas that looked like Lili.

Lili rescued me on January 12th of this year, when a man broke into my house during the day. He made it to the top of our cellar stairs, but the door was locked and Lili was fiercely barking and was between me and the door. She saved me that day!

So here we are, our darling Lili is five and all grown up and settled down. Knowing she is the last large dog we will have, makes her all the more special to us.

Happy Birthday, Lili!

The Friday Five

Another week has gone by. I was supposed to travel this weekend but opted to stay home. I have been so tired and run down, that I felt the need to rest up this weekend.

But here are this week’s Friday Five.

I finally got all 8 loads of laundry done. Much of them were blankets and towels and I just got way behind!
We had the twins Arnie and Anneliese out several times this week. They really love going for car rides and they really love going to visit the clerks at the State Liquor Store! Especially Rebecca!
I made a new soup. Roasted Vegetable Ratatouille Soup! Wow, was that good!
I got Anneliese a new bed. At first, she didn’t like it and lay next to it. Now she is finally used to it and sleeping in it constantly.Thank you, Tommy Hilfiger and TJ Maxx!
I have been glued to the Internet watching April the Giraffe as she is in her last days of labor. I’m going to link up so maybe by tomorrow there will be a baby calf Giraffe!

TBT: Sibling Love

Since Facebook was down all day yesterday, I did things like, read a book, cook a splendid dinner, and make the picture I am posting!

This is a collage of my two grandchildren. It starts the day of Quinn’s birth, March 7, 2016, and then shows them each year since. Three years of Sibling Love!

And they really do love each other. Here is a great example. I was babysitting for them, and Quinn fell off the chair onto the floor. It was a tough fall and knocked the wind out of him. I asked if he needed me to make it all better?

“No”, he said, “I need Sissy”. He went over to her, climbed in her lap and she sang to him. Then he was fine!

That was just the sweetest thing I have seen.

The Wednesday Medley

We’re joining Terri at Your Friend From Florida

NATIONAL GOOD SAMARITAN DAY
National Good Samaritan Day is observed on March 13th. This day is also known as Good Samaritan Involvement Day. This is a day for unselfish actions to help those in need and to celebrate kindness.
The term “good Samaritan” comes from the Bible parable where a Samaritan helped a stranger who had been robbed and beaten and left to die by the side of the road. The Samaritan not only cleaned the man’s wounds and clothed him, but took him to an inn where he paid for the man’s care.
The term is used today to describe those who perform acts of kindness for those in need, especially those who are strangers.
HOW TO OBSERVE
Make an effort to help someone who is struggling or having a problem. Use #GoodSamaritanDay to post on social media.
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1. When did someone come to your rescue and can you tell us about it?

I must say, when I had my car accident, I was very fortunate. Total strangers stopped to help, until the Police responded. Two wonderful Paramedics witnessed the acident and they were on the scene in minutes. A crane driver was two blocks away, and he knew that his equipment would be needed to get the truck off my car. Everyone worked together that day. I have always been so grateful.

2. When did you help someone out of a jam and can you tell us about it?

I would like to remain anonymous. Lets just say, I try to do things, big and small to help other people.

3. What are your thoughts on being a good Samaritan? Some states (like Florida) have even passed Good Samaritan laws so you don’t get into trouble with the law for trying to help someone.

I think we should all do what we can to help our fellow human beings.

4. Thursday is National Pi Day. It’s a fun play on the date 3.14. Will you have some pie to celebrate?

Nope! I am once again back on a diet (I am a Yo-Yo Dieter, I know!) and I really do not want to break my diet for anything!

5. Did you know that Pi is the most studied number in mathematics? Are you good with numbers?

Ugh! I am not great with numbers. I know some people can see numbers in there minds, I see dachshunds!

6. Tell us something random about your week.

Let’s see, We had a snowstorm on Sunday and then Monday and Tuesday we were close to 50 degrees and we’ve had a lot of melting! The sun shines brightly and it almost looks like Spring!

This & That Tuesday

Good Morning Everyone.

As I sit here writing, I am reflecting on a rather beautiful day weather-wise. The sun was bright, there were no clouds and the temperatures were close to 50 degrees! Needless to say, we had a lot of melting and some of our snowbanks are not nearly as big as they were.

I needed to run errands today and I was getting ready and Jack volunteered to drive me all around. We eventually got to the grocery store, and found a nice piece of brisket and a beautiful cabbage, for St. Patrick’s Day. I always make Jack this meal. It’s one of his favorites but we don’t eat it often due to the high sodium levels!

I’m thinking that Anneliese’s eye does look better. I could be wrong, but I hope when she returns to the Ophthalmologist in April, he will tell us that there has been healing!

Our darling Lili will be turning 5 years old on Sunday! Yes, she is a St.Patrick’s Day baby!

I simply cannot believe that we have had Lili for nearly 5 years! In so many ways she is still a pup. She runs and leaps and acts like a much younger dog. And since we discovered her inability to digest grains and switched her food to all grain free, she is a happy and healthy girl!

And of course, I still refer to her as my savior after our house was broken into during the day, when I was home alone, back in January. Yes, Lili alerted me and then fiercely protected me! What a girl!

Maribeth

The Weekend Wrap

Saturday was Quinn’s Birthday Party. It was so much fun! The kids raced around playing, we ate copious amounts of pizza, and then watched Quinn open his gifts!
He got some really cute items which you will see in a moment, but as soon as he opened gifts he wanted cake!

He could hardly wait until the cake was cut, and you can see how he helped himself!

Yep, the kid loves his cake!

Now back to the toys. He got the chicken toy from Moana, called Heihei! Silly chicken, but he LOVED it!

This is Quinn and his cousin in the fire truck that was also a gift. Madi loved that fire engine and she played with it all afternoon!

But then things settled down a little bit and the kids all played with the Magnatiles. I got down on the floor with them too. Those magnetized building tiles are so much fun!

It was a great group of close friends and family, and it was wonderful to see our little guy have such a great day! This was such a fun, yet relaxing party! I had a great time.

After a beautiful sunrise on Sunday morning,

we had more snow! Yes, you read that right 4+ more inches of that flakey white stuff!

Ah well, in the end, it was fine. While Jack worked his snow blower, I made us a nice rotisserie chicken!

And yes, we remembered to change our clocks.

The Oilman Cometh

Bright and early on Saturday morning, the Oilman and his big truck arrived at our house! It was not the driver who had refused to deliver here, instead, it was our neighbor’s son who works in the winter delivering oil! We’re not on his usual route, but he saw our name for a Saturday delivery and knew right where we were and we were his first stop!

He delivered 248 gallons of oil to a 250-gallon tank. To say we were dangerously close to running out is pretty accurate. But Eric got here and got us all taken care of.

Eric has helped me out before with other things. He has his own business doing yard maintenance and when Jack was in the hospital or at times when Jack cannot take care of the yard, Eric steps right in! He is a good friend and gets all my thanks!