Dackel Princess

The Friday Five

Here we are, it’s mid-September. Can you believe that? It seems this year has been flying by and some days I can hardly catch my breath. Here are this weeks Friday Five.

At the start of the week, I prepped 4 batched of Heavenly Peach Jam. The Peaches were not ripe and the next day when I attempted to cook and can it, it all tasted like Peach Vinegar! Yuck!
Realizing my error, I quickly picked some nicely colored Peaches for my second attempt. I then proceeded to put the Peaches in Brown Paper Bags, where I closed them up and left them for two days to ripen. Sure enough, this morning they were beautifully ripe and ready to be prepared for Jam.
So, I prepped 4 batches of Peach Jam, and they are ready to be cooked and canned tomorrow. I was so careful this time, and I also had my lucky charm.

My friend Emily, who used to live next door to me, was on my cell phone and the two of us talked about the days of yester-year when we used to make Peach Jam together!
Saturday and Sunday are laundry and vacuuming and dusting day. Ugh! Not a fan of either one.
Next week I need to pull the suitcases down and start working on packing them for our trip. I’m excited about the trip, but really, I am so over the packing of the suitcases. When you get older the packing of suitcases means, packing of pills, blood pressure kits, and various other medical necessities!

So that’s my week this week and a look ahead at the week ahead. I am hoping that the Jam cooks up well tomorrow, but if you hear screams from Central New Hampshire, you will know that I failed! I shall report in tomorrow!

This & That

It was an eventful Weight Watchers day on Wednesday! I was down another two pounds. I feel like I am in the groove following the plan, and I like how I am feeling.

I bought a new digital bathroom scale so I can keep better track of my weight at home. I know I am doing well, but I need to keep better track of things.

My first batches of Heavenly Peach Jam were a bust! The peaches weren’t ripe enough, and everything came out tasting like Peach Vinegar! Ugh!

So, I picked 20 pounds more, put them on paper bags, and on Thursday I will start the process all over again! I will start in the morning preparing the oranges and maraschino cherries, and once Jack is up, I will work on blanching, peeling and chopping up the peaches to be used. It all must rest overnight, so I am looking at actually canning this on Friday! Oh, wish me luck!

I’m running out of time because we leave here on September 25 for Virginia Beach. That is if the Hurricane doesn’t wash it away. We’ll be gone for a few days, with my house/doggy sitter enjoying the fruit!

Life here has settled into a routine. The three doggies have adjusted and Jack and I seem to be getting on with it. It’s quieter, easier. I guess because I’m not jumping up every two minutes to care for Greta. Yes, life is calmer.

I’m hoping to get Dackel Princess overhauled over the next few weeks. It’s been broken now for nearly two years and it’s time. So those of you that read me, but cannot comment, please know I am hoping for a complete reinstall and links that work and a comment section that works as well.

Another Day

I was sitting here on Tuesday morning thinking of my Greta. Yes, I was missing her, but I was also thinking I should write to her breeder and let him know that she lived for fourteen and a half wonderful years and had been a good mother dog and a wonderful companion. And I thanked him for breeding such a great dog.

My written German is even worse than my spoken German, (which is almost non-existent. I can order a beer and I can ask for a ladies room and I can also ask to be excused, but…), I asked my friend Uschi to translate my letter, and to clean it up for me. She did a fabulous job, and I sent it off to the breeder, with a picture of Greta and me that was taken a few years ago when both Greta and I were in our Prime!

Life has gone on for me, but I really do miss my Greta.

Last night I was sitting in my chair and Anneliese came up onto the chair and lay down. She let me know she wanted a belly rub, and while I was rubbing it, she started to talk to me just like Greta used to do. It struck me as being very odd because she had never done that before.

Oh, and the funniest thing happened today. Arnie and Lili chased a red squirrel up a tree. Oh, they carried on and on until the squirrel leapt from one tree to the next until he ran up a large tree and out of sight. I laughed and laughed and eventually Lili and Arnie came in and forgot all about the terrorist squirrel!

And I’m off to Weight Watchers. Looks like it will be another good week!

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

It’s All About…The Peaches

Sixteen pounds of peaches were peeled and chopped up, and then mixed with sugar, orange rind, orange juice, and maraschino cherries, and each four-pound batch is now resting overnight, and on Monday I will can this glorious jam!

Jack went outside this morning and picked the 16 pounds off the trees in our backyard. He brought them in and I washed them and then the two of us worked at blanching them and peeling them up.

We started just after lunch and worked until 4:45! It’s a lot of work, but I decided to make all four batches at once because the next few weeks will be really busy with other things.

This morning we took Arnie to the Recycling Center with us, while we threw out a lot of old useless stuff I have cleared from shelves and closets, and afterward, we drove him to see his human girlfriend, Rebecca at the State Liquor Store. He is always so happy to see her and she just adores our little dog-boy!

Tomorrow I will work to cook and then can the Heavenly Jam. I should get at least thirty-six half pints of this delicious jam!

Let me tell you a little bit about this Jam recipe. The recipe came from Jack’s mother, Pearl. She liked her’s a little bit softer than I like mine. I still recall the first time I had it though. It was just after Jack and I were married. She bought fresh, plain doughnuts and we dipped them into the jam. I am telling you, Heaven on Earth! I was hooked.

I asked her for the recipe and she frowned and told me that she only shared her recipes with family members! I was a new, young, bride, (and second wife) and I was crushed by her words. And unfortunately, the recipe came to me a few years later when she passed away and I inherited her recipe file.

Oh, how I wish that she and I could have been friends. Life is so short. She never did approve of our marriage, but after being together for over 30 years now, I guess Jack and I have shown all the naysayers that we actually made a good life choice.

In any case, when I was doing the prep work today I thought of Pearl and I wondered what she might think of the fact that I have carried on making one of her favorite recipes for her son? I would like to believe that she would be pleased, to know that even after all these years since her passing, we still recall her through the recipes she left.

Monday is canning day!

The Recipe for Heavenly Jam can be found HERE

Tennis Tantrums

I woke up on Saturday morning with a sore neck and shoulder. All the work I have been doing and furniture moving had taken its toll on my body. So, as I sipped my coffee and watched cooking shows on The Food Channel, I decided to take the day off from the heavy work.

Oh, I still needed to cook meals, walk dogs, and help Jack bring the lawn mower to the shop, but the real heavy work would be left for another day.

I watched the US Open Women’s Final Tennis match this afternoon, and I was truly disheartened by Serena Williams actions. I was also shocked and saddened at the New York crowd, who booed a 20-year-old woman after her first major win.

The young woman, Naomi Osaka, is the first Japanese citizen to win a Grand Slam. She is young and had always dreamed of playing Serena Williams, whom she idolized. As the game progressed a few incidents occurred and Serena was judged to be getting coaching from the stands and also broke her racket in a fit of pique and Serena screamed at the Referee!

When Serena lost in straight sets and as the announcement was made that Naomi had won, the crowd booed this winner! It was one of the worst moments I have witnessed in tennis. In fact, while they set up for the formal award ceremony the crowd booed. And young Naomi cried. It was the saddest thing ever.

During the awards, Serena asked for people to stop booing, but by then the damage had been done. Noami’s fabulous win had been stolen from her! Shame on you New York Tennis Fans! Naomi played better than Serena and she won fair and square. Grow up!

Naomi Osaka, I apologize for the rude New York audience. I wanted to jump through my TV screen and slap each and every boo-er!

Tomorrow it’s back to work around the house. Not that I really feel like it, but it must be done. Oh yes. The peaches are starting to come in. You know what this means? Time to make the Heavenly Jam!

Life Goes On…

It’s been a crazy time for me this week. I feel like I’ve been wandering around in a daze. My heart is heavy, as I try to snap out of this and get back on my feet.

My life has become quieter since Greta went to Rainbow Bridge. I can sleep in a bit more, but her presence is sorely missed.

I continue to clean and clear the office and linen closet, and the new mattress arrived yesterday and the base today. The bed is set up, we just are uncertain if the angle we will put it in the room. Jack wants it under the window, and I want it flush against the wall. I don’t want anyone cracking their head on the window sill.

I went out to get my hair done, and it came out quite well. I cannot believe how long it is getting. I did have her shape it for me and I mentioned that my bangs are not falling correctly. (Read that as they do not fall correctly and cover the scars on my face!) So I am not sure what she did, but they came out perfectly!

I had a Twin Bed to just give away, FREE, to anyone who wanted to come and get it. This afternoon at 5:30 our neighbor drove up and got the Twin Bed to use for her grandson. She did not know I was her neighbor when she answered my add and I didn’t know until she asked for directions that she was my neighbor! It is a small world! I feel good that this bed will be used by another generation of children. I didn’t want to just throw it away.

Saturday is laundry day, and boy, do I have a mountain of it to do! I will spend most of the day just doing the laundry, folding and putting away. Such is life!

The Friday Five

Another week has come and gone. In many ways, this was a big week. It started with me pulling everything out of my linen closet, and tearing apart our office and ended with the loss of our beloved pup, Greta. So here it is. My weekly, Friday Five.

I decided the clear out the Office of all the junk that has gathered in there over the 20 years we have been here. I was ruthless and I was throwing away all sorts of useless stuff!
Something brought me out to the linen closet and when I opened the door I thought, well, time to do this too! So everything I laid my hands on went out and on the floor!
I found rabbit ears for the TV (like those are ever going to work again!) and those were immediately tossed away! My sewing box was a total mess and I spent time organizing that! And the towels! People I had 42 bath towels in that closet! Twenty-two of them will be going to the homeless shelter.
Currently, I am 3/4 of the way through both projects. We can once again walk down the hall and actually into the office without stepping on something. I should be done this weekend!
And yes, lastly, we bid farewell to darling Greta. It seems like just yesterday we brought her home from Germany. How I will miss my girl. Rest peacefully, Greta!

The day I first met my Greta in Germany! That was a very good day!

The New Normal

I started Wednesday by going to WW Class. I did very well this week, and I feel like I am starting to actually live the plan.

It was tough to get up and actually get ready for class today. I hadn’t realized how much I’d actually been doing for Greta recently. I would carry her outside, wait for her to finish, mostly carry her back in, get her little panties on, and then try to start my day.

Today I actually just got myself ready, with no distractions, but boy, did I miss my girl! You know, she had this way of kind of, growling, talking, that no other dog I have had did. I miss that.

Arnie has been spending a lot of time under the coffee table in what I call the Man Cave. All you can see is his little face peeking out. Anneliese has been sleeping on the rug by the back door, and she has been looking for Greta. And when they aren’t doing that, they are sticking together.

Lili is confused and she also keeps patrolling the yard on the lookout for our departed darling, Greta.

It’s tough, you know. After fourteen years of having this little being in your life, to suddenly not have her just plain hurts. You go on, but it isn’t the same. Even the dynamics between the three remaining dogs has changed.

It’s the new normal.

Greta

March 9, 2004 – September 4, 2018

Greta and I, back in the day.

To My Darling Greta

When you must go,
my furry little friend,
I will be by your side.
I will hold you tenderly,
until the life has left your eyes

I see you wandering,
your eyes seem lost each day,
I watch you as you try to walk,
and tears fall on my face

The long goodbye is over
I held you in my arms
You closed your eyes and sighed at me
as you drifted off with God

I hear that Rainbow Bridge
Is a happy place to be
I hope you’re happy there
as you dance and wait for me

I will not forget you
Your fur and lovely eyes
I shall see you in my memories
As if you were alive.
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