Dackel Princess

Another Great Day

Sunday was Veterans Day. Many places offered free meals for Veterans. Naturally, Jack wanted his meal, so off we went at lunchtime for a nice meal.

Jack had a wonderful piece of roasted pork tenderloin with a balsamic glaze, and I opted for a burger. The food was really good and we enjoyed being out and about.

Jack also decided that today would be a good day to take me shopping for my birthday gift. There is a women’s store nearby that I love. Talbot’s. I just love their clothes.

A chair was situated at the back of the store near the dressing room for him to sit on. We’d selected a bunch of clothes, and I would try them on, and then show him. It was fun and I got a whole bunch of stuff for the winter months. One sweater, in particular, I just adore. I put it on and I felt like it was made for me!

It may not look like much on the hanger, but on me, it looks great! It will look nice with black, brown or white slacks. So pretty.

Jack also bought me a bunch of new tops, another sweater, and two pairs of slacks. I am all set for the winter!

Now before you all think that I went hog wild, I must tell you that this was an Outlet Store, (everything was marked down 50%) and I had fantastic Coupons! In fact, I love Coupons and I got all of this for half of what it would have cost. So trust me when I say that this was a steal!

I’ve always been a bargain shopper/hunter. I hate to pay full price for anything, and after living with a Scotsman for 30+ years I am perhaps cheaper than he is!

This was so much fun and I think even Jack enjoyed the process.

Saturday in New Hampshire

As I write it is Saturday afternoon. I simply had to sit down and write while all the memories are fresh in my mind. It really was a wild, crazy and wonderful day!

I was up nice and early and showered and dressed and made myself a nice hot cup of coffee and breakfast. The high point here was definitely the coffee. Even though my coffee is 1/2 regular and 1/2 decaf it still warms my soul and gets me going.

As I got ready to leave the house, I lamented that it was still raining. I had to leave early to stop at Mr. A.T.M. and get some cash, and then stop over at the Hardware store and pick up the Roof Rake and Salty Paws. For those who don’t live in snowy areas, we need the roof rake to get the snow off our roof, so it doesn’t build up and cause leaks. And the Salty Paws is salt that is pet-friendly to use to melt ice. There was a good sale and Jack wanted to prepare before the first snowfall.

Then I picked up Laurie and off we went. The first stop was the Catholic Church in our town. They have one of the nicest Bazaars. I was able to purchase so many gifts for Christmas and a beautiful dried floral centerpiece.

The other thing I must note is how many friends and neighbors we saw at this event. It was marvelous! There were hugs and smiles and great happiness as we drifted from room to room and stall to stall. I felt so blessed to be living in the community.

The next Bazaar was down in the next town, at the Greek Orthodox Church. I wanted to stop in, as they have all those wonderful Greek Pastries as well as a local favorite French Canadian Pork Pie!

I love going to the Greek Church because everything is made by the Greek families that go to this church and the proceeds go to their church and their community outreach programs.

We knew that there was another Catholic Church in Laconia that was having their bazaar today, and we went there next. They also had many cute things, that I was happy to purchase for Christmas.

Again, I saw so many people that I know, and hugs were exchanged. I also met the mother of one of my dearest local friends. She is quite elderly, and it made me happy to tell her what a great job she did with her family. She was very pleased. This lady, who I know is in her eighties, was just amazingly beautiful. I hope when I reach her age I can be so very lovely.

Our fourth and last bazaar was at the Belmont High School. We went there before and enjoyed it a great deal. This year we didn’t actually buy as much, but the French Club provided lunches. Different Quiches, and also my favorite French Canadian Meat Pie. It was served with salad and a roll and was so nice. The kids had gotten together and done all the baking themselves, and everything was so good.

I must also note here that all of the kids were dressed nicely. The boys in khakis and oxford shirts, the girls in dressy tops and skirts. Call me old-fashioned, but there was something in their appearance that made me have hope for the future. I know we are not supposed to judge a book by the cover, but these kids not only looked nice but followed it all up with big smiles!

As we left the High School, the sun came out! The skies were still very cloudy, but the sun gave us hope that maybe the day’s weather would improve.

Fat chance. As we drove up the hills back to our town, we could see the snow falling across the valley and up into the mountains where the ski area “Waterville Valley” are located. It was fierce and heavy, as we watched from a distance, where the sun still shone.

Then, as we reached our small town, the sky opened and the rain began to fall again, only this time much heavier and the wind accompanied it!

We have had so much rain this Autumn that our lakes are full. As I drove Laurie back to her home, we lamented that the docks were flooded and actually had cement blocks on them, to keep them from floating off.

So that was my Saturday. Fun, some sun, snow, wind, and wonderful bazaars. Some of the reasons I love this time of year.

Roasted Potatoes, Carrots, Parsnips, and Brussel Sprouts With Bacon

This is an amazingly simple and good recipe. I made this last night for Jack and he loved it! I was quite surprised as he is not a roasted vegetable fan. Anyway, it is good, so give it a try!

Ingredients:

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 slices of bacon diced
3 medium carrots (about 1 pound), cut into 1 1/2-inch thick circles
1 1/2 cups Brussels sprouts (about 1/2 pound), halved
4 medium potatoes, cut into 1-inch thick slices
3 medium parsnips (about 1 pound), cut into 1 1/2-inch thick slices
1 tablespoon dried rosemary (I used fresh)
1 teaspoon dried thyme (I used fresh)
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Grease a large baking sheet pan with extra-virgin olive oil.
Place vegetables and bacon in the bowl and toss well with oil, herbs and salt and pepper.
Toss well, evenly coating all the vegetables with the seasonings and oil.
Add more oil if the vegetables seem dry.
Pour onto large cookie sheet.
Spread the vegetables evenly.
Place on middle rack in oven and bake for 35 to 40 minutes. stirring occasionally.

When vegetables are nicely browned and done to your desired texture, pull out and eat right away.

The Friday Five

Here we are. Another week has raced by. I cannot believe how quickly the month of November is going. The Christmas Bazaars are starting, and Thanksgiving is nearly here. It’s my favorite time of year! So, here are this week’s Friday Five!

1. Despite the dark, and dreary days, there is so much that is good going on. When I think of Christmas Bazaars, and cooking for Thanksgiving, My heart and soul fill up with happiness.
2. I cannot tell you how happy that I am with Anneliese’s eye exam. She has Corneal Edema, after having an injury to her left eye. Dogs cannot tell you that they hurt their eye, but apparently, she did. She is now on special drops for her eyes and we hope it will help. However, if it doesn’t this is not the type of injury to blind her quickly and at the age of 12, she is probably going to have a happily ever after with that eye.
3. Anneliese does have very healthy eyes. No cataracts, no glaucoma. Her eyes are healthy and lovely.
4. We enjoyed having her out, just Anneliese with us, yesterday. She was so cute and sweet and loving. Thursday when we went to get the mail, both she and Arnie came along. They are so good in the car.

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5. On Thursday I actually slept until 8 AM. This never happens. It felt very good! I would love to be able to stay up a little later and sleep in a little longer!

Happy 40th Birthday Katie

Many of you know that besides Mandy, I had another daughter, Katie, who was killed at the age of 6 1/2 (click the link to read that story) by an impaired driver. Most days I get along very well, however, there are certain days that I find myself missing her and longing for her. Today is one of those days.

Today Katie would have celebrated her 40th birthday.

Kathleen Alynne was born at 5:29 AM on November 8th, 1978. She was two weeks late and I had begun to feel as if I were part elephant. In the delivery room, I remember asking the nurse to clean off her head because the blood made it look red. She laughed at me (She also had red hair) and told me that this was it! My child was a redhead!

Katie was a neat kid and we all loved her. She had a wicked sense of humor, yet was also sensitive and empathetic, which was strange in one so young.

Her loss is bothering me a bit more this year probably due to the fact that I have been feeling angry that we were robbed of so much of her life.

Of course, she missed so much of her own life too. I wish she was here to meet her brother and sister, to see her niece and nephew and to be enjoying her life.

I think of what she would be like at 40 years old, where she would be in her life, and how many kids she would have. She once told me she wanted 5 children! That made me laugh. But she did love kids, so who knows.

Here is a montage of some of the pictures that I like the best. She was a real joker in front of the camera, almost always had a smile on her little face.

I know one day Katie and I will be together again, and that we will share an eternity, but for today I miss her something fierce!

Happy Birthday, Sweet Girl!

The Wednesday Medley

It’s all about – What, what, what???

What is your claim to fame?

My cooking. Most people know that I love to cook and I like to believe that most people like what I cook.

What is something you like to do the old-fashioned way?

Cook! In this day and age when people believe cooking is heating things up in a microwave, I like getting all the ingredients and making things from scratch!

What did you think you would grow out of but haven’t?

My wonder of snow. I love to go out, in the middle of a snowfall and stand and listen to the silence. There is something wonderful about the way snow muffles all sounds. It’s magical!

What is the dumbest thing you’ve done that actually turned out pretty well?

I don’t know, people would say getting married at 17 was pretty dumb, but we had two wonderful children, and I have two fabulous grandchildren, so even though the marriage didn’t work out, look at all we have! And in the end, my former husband and I are friends.

If you had to change your name, what would you change it to?

I wouldn’t. I’m sort of attached to my name now. For many years I didn’t care for my name. However, as time has gone on, my name has grown on me. It’s who I am.

What is something random you can tell us about this week?

I had my biopsy on Tuesday and there are now three small stitches in my brow. They come out on Tuesday next week. I’m a little sore tonight, but I hope by tomorrow I will be fit as a fiddle!

Coffee & Muffins

The day has arrived, and by the time most of you read this I will be down having my biopsy. Nothing to worry about, right?

I got a call earlier today and my Primary Care Doctor wants me to have my bloodwork done while I am in-house, (read: at the VA Hospital). It’s fasting bloodwork too! Ugh!

Jack was concerned about this and I told him not to worry. I went out to the store, bought a couple of muffins,

some bottled orange juice,

and a Dunkin Donuts Coffee. The coffee is bottled as well and meant to be sipped from the bottle cold.

This should get me through my appointments after the bloodwork until I can go have lunch.

On Monday I met up with my friend Laurie and had lunch. It was so nice to catch up with her. In fact, we’ve already made plans to get together Saturday to go to the Christmas Bazaars.

Life is speeding by.

Fall Back For Fun!

Sunday was a fun day! I do not usually say that on the Sundays after the clocks change, but today was different.

I woke up at 6 AM which was actually 7 AM. I turned on the coffee, and then I grabbed my robe, hat, gloves, and coat, and walked the dogs. It was still pretty windy, and now the cold had set in. 27 degrees! Brrrrrr!

I got myself cleaned up, did my hair, put on a little make-up and was out of the house by 7:45.

I had to stop and tank up the Highlander, and then I proceeded to pretty much fly down the road to South Nashua where the closest Trader Joe’s is. I wanted to get there first because I was looking for a certain item, and last year they sold out the first few days of November.

As soon as I got into the store I went right to the area where they keep the item I was interested in. I turned the corner, and there it was!

They had three boxes of Stollen with Marzipan (a personal favorite from childhood!) and I quickly snached all three of them. I saw the manager and asked him if there were more. He told me that the Stollen came in on November first and those were the last three boxes!

I recall last year I went in around Thanksgiving and they were sold out. I’d decided that since I was going to be in the area…and a good thing I was. Not only did I get what I wanted, but the sale price was perfect too! I’m still floating on clouds!

Next, I went to find the Nurnberger Lebkuchen. I love these. Many people like sugar cookies at Christmas. Not me. I was raised eating these German delights! Aunt Hedwig made them, Grandma made them and so did Mom, although these weren’t her favorites.

When I checked out of the store I was walking on air. All these things are packaged to remain fresh until Christmas and I am so very happy!

Next, I drove over to the LL Bean Outlet. I’d hoped to find something for me, but there was nothing. However, they did have two beautiful shirts for Jack. So, I bought them for him!

After that, I stopped at a place called The Christmas Tree Shop and I purchased napkins for the Thanksgiving table. They are cute with a spray of Thanksgiving flowers on them and a turkey. A little hokey, I know, but they are nicely made and will be pretty on the table.

About 11:30 I started to feel very hungry and I looked around for something to eat. I saw a Chinese Buffet and so my car steered me into that. It was an amazing place with an abundance of food. They had 10 steam tables with food. Honestly, it anyone left there hungry it was their own fault.

After that, I drove over to the High School where they were having the Play. The place was huge! I looked around trying to decide where I should park. Needless to say, I parked in a really bad spot and walked a lot to get in. No kidding. And might I just add that whoever designed this parking lot is a moron!

I found the auditorium, and eventually got in and located seats, Mandy and Matt and his folks all showed up right after, as well as some of Mandy’s and Savi’s friends.

The play was “101 Dalmation’s Kids”. They all did a great job and it was a lot of fun to watch them.

This is Savannah’s headshot for the cast roll. I swear their photographer is very good. They always get such cute pictures of the kids. I love this one because it shows all of her lost teeth!

All too soon the day down south ended and I needed to hit the road and head home. There wasn’t much traffic and I made great time. Best of all I got in before the sun set.

It was a wonderful day and I must say that I really enjoyed myself, and Savannah was truly wonderful!

Another Rainy Day!

Our day was warmish, (55 degrees) but rainy and windy and it left us feeling like we wanted to simply hibernate. However, it was recycling day and Jack had me gather everything to go to the dump.

The Highlander was loaded up and off Jack went. Poor Arnie was so disappointed, but the car was full with nary a spot for Mr. Arnie.

While Jack was gone two interesting things occurred. First, we had about 10 mini rail cars go down the track. Twice a year these little vehicles all gather to ride the rails. Here is what these mini rail cars look like. Have you seen them?

It was fun to watch them all speed down the tracks. They’ll go pretty far north, spend the night at one of the hotels along the way and then return tomorrow.

After that the dogs let me know that we had a flock of Hen turkeys in the yard. I didn’t see a Tom, but I admit, I loved seeing them all as they fed on the grass, leaves, and grains in the yard.

This got me thinking about Thanksgiving, and I started looking at recipes for the big day. I plan to cook a traditional meal that day, But I want to choose recipes that are easy to cook. One thing I am thinking about doing it to cook the butternut squash the day before and have it in a casserole to be reheated in the oven. Since I always prepare the stuffing the day before, making the butternut squash that day will be a breeze.

I rewatched “The Blind Side” on HBO. What a great movie. Sandra Bullock stars in it, and she is so good. The movie also has a great message. Just do it. Help someone, for no other reason than it’s the right thing to do. It’s what the Tuohy Family did and they found that love multiplies and is color blind.

I cooked a nice dinner, did some laundry, and got everything set for tomorrow. I sure am looking forward to Savannah’s play.

My Life, Or Something Like It

Have you ever noticed how you make all these great plans and then a few things happen and everything gets rearranged?

This week I had Anneliese into the Vets about her left eye. We will bring her over to Portsmouth, NH on Wednesday afternoon to see a Canine Ophthalmologist.

It’s sort of strange but Jack has known this man since he was a baby. Jack flew with his father way back in the day, for Pan American World Airways. I am hopeful that he can help Anneliese. She may not have much vision left in that eye, but if he can at least save it, that will be good. I will not entertain the worst case scenarios. Anneliese will be just fine. I know it.

I was due to spend the night down at Mandy’s after watching both of Savannah’s plays. Sadly both Quinn and Matt are sick, so it just wouldn’t be a good idea. I’ll meet up with them for the 2:00 performance and then drive home.

I may actually go down early so I can do a little Christmas shopping. But I will have to see how that all works out.

As much as I have claimed that I am not nervous about the biopsy, I admit, I am. I was worried about a few things last night and my brain clicked on about the biopsy and at 2:00 AM I was wide awake. I could not get back to sleep.

After an hour I put on a movie that I know so well, that I don’t have to follow it. I close my eyes and I let the music carry me away. Usually, I am asleep after about 10-15 minutes.

I will be very glad when we are past Thursday next week and cruising toward the weekend. I plan to go to a few Christmas Bazaars and also relax.

But for right now, I need to put one foot in front of another, relax and try to remember that it will all be okay. It’s just that my middle name is worry-wart!

Today, Saturday, my only plan is a little housework and then this afternoon while it rains like crazy, I plan to sit and crochet. Savannah keeps asking me about her blanket.

I hope you all have a marvelous weekend!