Dackel Princess

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!

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!

Oh, It’s Annoying!

I think sometimes you are going along, everything seems well and then there is frustration. My day began on Friday at 5:00 AM. I woke to feel a tad cold, so got up, made the coffee and checked the outside air temp. It was six degrees below zero!

I sipped my coffee, but then I had the thought that we had not had a fuel delivery in a while, so I went down to check the fuel level. Just a smidgen above Empty!

I came back up and alerted Jack to call for a delivery. Which he did. Explaining our plight.

The morning passed with my friends from the Jehovah Witnesses stopping by for a visit. They drove in with a normal car. No four wheel or all wheel drive. But it seems the driveway was fine for them. Jack and I went to get the mail, and I noted the driveway was so much better at the top then it had been. Good, I thought. The oil truck won’t have any trouble.

Then later in the afternoon, I went out to get some Mozzarella Cheese and I went right up the drive, no problem. So, imagine my confusion and disbelief when I got back home and Jack told me that the Oil Company had called and the driver had refused to deliver because our driveway was unsafe!

Now we usually catch the tank before it is this low, but heck we have had below zero temps all week and it just sucked up the oil! However, that being said, really, today the driveway was good. Not only could I get up the top of the drive with no problem at all, but the lower 3/4 of the drive where it is paved is completely clear!

Between Jack and I, we were able to relate our anger at this outright lie. At first, we were told that for an additional fee they could deliver tomorrow. Ha! We have used this company for 20 years. We told them if they tried to pull a fast one like that with us, we would bring our business to another company. We must have gotten the point across because they will deliver on Saturday morning, with no additional charge.

However, I am really annoyed. I have seen our driveway much worse in the winter and the driver never had a problem. So this is not sitting well with me at all.

As a child I recall the Oil Trucks having chains around their tires making deliveries in the snow. So, come on. This is 2019, not 1960 and people here in New England should know how to drive in snowy roads. And in the case of our drive on a small portion has snow on it! The rest is dry and clear!

Yes, yes. I am truly annoyed by this.

It is my hope they actually get here tomorrow and deliver fuel before we run out!

The Friday Five

Here we are, the first weekend in March and tomorrow night we will turn the clocks ahead one hour and “Spring Forward”! Ah yes, the first signs that Spring is on its way even if the weather isn’t cooperating.

So, here is this week’s Friday Five!

I found out my hairstylist had a cancellation on Thursday morning. I immediately sent a text to secure the appointment! It’s funny because I had stopped in to see her on Wednesday so we could plan what we were going to do with my hair.
I had gotten up on Wednesday and decided to go to WW. My hair was a wild bedhead mass of curls, and I was not feeling ‘the pretty’, so to speak. However, so many people commented about my lovely long locks, I began to doubt my decision to go short.
So, I came home and talked to Jack about it and he told me he likes my long hair. Maybe it’s the shape?
I decided to wash my hair on Wednesday night to get all of the product out of it. Then it was all set for my Thursday appointment.
And here we are! The new hairstyle! So what do you think?

Author: Dackel Princess

The Weekend Wrap

Happy 5th Birthday, Lili!

The Friday Five

TBT: Sibling Love

The Wednesday Medley

This & That Tuesday

Maribeth

The Weekend Wrap

The Oilman Cometh

Oh, It’s Annoying!

The Friday Five