Dackel Princess

Prime Rib Night

Last night we’d made a date to meet our neighbor for dinner at a small Tavern in town. Friday and Saturday they have Prime Rib and I felt like this would be a nice meal for us. Prime Rib for under $20.00 is a deal in these parts!

We arrived at 6:30 and the place was so wild I couldn’t believe it! Then I remembered we are still in the summer tourist season, so that would explain the wall to wall people! It was also Friday, date night, and of course the Prime Rib!

I’m usually patient about these things, but for the love of all that is good and kind, I waited about 15 minutes before I went in search of the waiter.

He was the only waiter they had working! There was him, the bartender, and two people in the kitchen. One cook and one bus-boy/dish-washer. They all looked harried.

I asked about him coming to get our order. He smiled (rather a pitiful smile) and said he would be right there. I returned to our table and we waited 15 more minutes before he showed up, wiped our table down and took our drink order.

I got a Tuckerman’s Pale Ale, Jack got a Budweizer Light, and Paul got another beer, which is escaping my brain right now. It took about 10 minutes until he returned with those, and I told him to hold on so we could order our meals.

It was easy, three Queen Cut Prime Rib, fries and green beans. All three were to be medium rare.

Then we set about talking and drinking our first beer. We sat, we talking and before we knew it, an hour had passed, our beers were gone and we all started looking around for our poor, harried, waiter!

He finally returned and said they didn’t have three medium rare Prime cuts. They had two and an end cut. I can say that I felt if the order had been placed quickly and delivered quickly then we would all have gotten the medium rare cuts, but, because we were committed to the meal at this point, I said I would take the end cut, and we all wanted more beer!

Again we waited another 15 minutes and finally, I saw the waiter bringing our three meals. I said, “Oh look, our meals!” and Jack said, “Don’t get your hopes up!”

Luckily, they were our three meals! I mentioned to Jack and Paul that this had better be the best Prime Rib ever or I was never coming back!

We all took our first bites and it was so good!!! After that, there wasn’t a lot of talking as we three ate our meals. We all agreed that it was so crazy due to all the tourists, but in the winter when it is just us town folk, this will be a great place to come for Prime Rib on a cold Friday night!

And my end cut was amazing! I got all of the wonderful spices and delicious flavor! I had almost no fat or gristle on my piece, but Jack and Paul had plenty. Now, this is a good thing. Everyone’s meat was very tender, but the fat helps to keep the meat like that. All scaps were put into a container and brought home to feed Greta and the other pooches!

We did not arrive home until well after 9 PM. I was so tired, but I needed to unwind, and I guess it was closer to 10:30 before I got to bed. Well past my bedtime!

Still, I must say, this was a nice enjoyable night!

The Friday Five

Another week has come and gone. This was sort of a crazy week. I didn’t get a lot done around the house, but I was pretty busy. So, here are the top 5 things that kept me busy this week.

A friend is coming to visit from Germany. She wanted to know a good coastal route from Boston north to visit some of the prettier places in our area. Now New England is just full of beautiful coastal places and it was tough to plot out a trip, but I came up with a nice, easy journey, stopping in Gloucester, Massachusetts, Portsmouth, New Hampshire and Freeport, Maine. I’ve made maps, and directions and I’m excited to share all of this with her!
We’ve started to take Anneliese with Arnie with us when we go out to get the mail. Anneliese loves to go for rides, we just need to train her to stop barking at everything that moves (including Arnie’s tail!). She get’s so excited when we prepare to go out and waits at the door looking at us with pleading eyes, “Oh take me too!”
I saw a funny thing on the lawn today. It was a gray squirrel holding an apple in his mouth while running the length of the lawn back to his home in the stone wall! Honestly, it was hilarious. I wish I had my camera right there to capture that!
My back is better. When I did wake in the night with a twinge, I would roll on my side and pull up my knees sort of in the fetal position and this seemed to help. I slept from 9 PM on Wednesday until 7 AM on Thursday! A really good night’s sleep!
Today finds we doing laundry and sort of setting myself up for a free weekend. Saturday I want to attend a Craftfair uptown, and Sunday I’m heading south to see Mandy, Matt, and the kids! It’s supposed to be really hot, so I am planning to get in a nice swim in the pool with my grandchildren! Monday, I get the kids all to myself, as their schools are closed as the teachers prepare for the school year. I am thrilled! I get an entire day with two of my favorite people!

Wow! I sure love these two!

Toasters

I woke on Wednesday at 3:30 AM! I didn’t want to be awake then, but I woke with such a severe back ache that I was unable to get back to sleep. I tried everything, including a heating pad, but it was a no go. I was awake, and that was that.

I lay there and watched the morning news, and suddenly Greta needed to go out. I jumped out of bed, put on my slippers and carried her outside. The other dogs followed and by 5:45 I was drinking my first cup of coffee.

After an hour or so, I was feeling hungry, so I went to the kitchen and made my eggs and tossed two slices of bread in the toaster to enjoy with the eggs. The toaster eventually popped up, and I was there ready to put some butter on them, but when I went to take the “toast” out of the toaster oven only the top of the bread was toasted! The toaster was done, and no longer toasting the bottom of the bread!

Well, crap! We’d just gotten that toaster 22 years ago!

So when Jack finally got up I broke the news to him. He suggested we go to Walmart to buy a new one. He also suggested we get lunch out.

Great idea, unfortunately the Chinese Restaurant we have been going to for 15 years is under new management and it was such a disappointment! In fact it was so bad, we decided that we cannot go back. The previous manager was so good, took pride in the restaurant and I never had a bad meal there. In the last two months I have had three bad meals! And today, Jack’s Mongolian Beef was totally inedible! And my Crispy Orange Chicken, was soggy and had no taste of orange!

Walmart was a bust too. They had perhaps 4 toaster ovens and none met our specifications. So we came home and I found a perfect one online at Amazon. It will be here on Friday!

As I sat here tonight writing this, I felt so darn tired. Why is that, I wondered? Then I remembered. I got up at 3:30 this morning!

Time for bed!

More Wildlife

How much wood would a woodchuck chuck
if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
A woodchuck would, chuck all the wood he could
if a woodchuck could chuck wood!

Tuesday afternoon I was walking into our family room when I noticed something outside the front window. At first, it was almost flat against the ground, and I was fairly sure it was some sort of critter, but I was not sure.

I grabbed my camera with the telephoto lens and when I got back to the window this little guy had stood up, nice and tall and was giving me quite a shot!

I thought he was rather cute as he sat there. You can see his big fat belly and little hands (paws) and the ring of white fur around his snout! Isn’t he cute!

The Woodchuck, or Groundhog, is a common rodent with short, powerful legs and a medium-long, bushy, and somewhat flattened tail. The long, coarse fur of the back is a grizzled grayish brown with a yellowish or reddish cast. Woodchucks weigh least in spring when they are just out of hibernation and most in fall prior to hibernation. When alarmed or suddenly disturbed, they can give a loud, shrill whistle.

Size: Total length: 16–27 inches; tail length: 4–7 inches; weight: 4–14 pounds.

The best Groundhog movie was made with Bill Murray! It was called “Groundhog Day”. Now I like this movie and I admit I have seen it more than once. It appeals to the romantic in me, as well as being a hilarious gem.

So imagine my surprise to learn that I had this handsome STAR (creature/critter/rodent) in my front yard. I was amazed! This seems to be the year of the wild animals for me. It seems almost every day I find some new wild animal has come to see me. Best of all they pose!

Now here is my next question for my little Groundhog friend…”What’s our winter going to be like and will we have an early Spring?

I know that Groundhog Day is in February, but hey, if this little sucker is living in my sidehill, eating my grass and various other pieces of vegetation, don’t you think he could cough up an answer before February?

My Mom

My Mom passed away five years ago today.

Rosamond Ruth, my Mom.

In life, ours was a very complicated relationship. However, with her illness and then passing, so much of the bitterness was forgiven, and in the end, there was only love.

Now five years later, I find many moments where I miss my Mom. I wish I could call her, and hear her voice. There were so many times where I would call her and say, “Mom, just say it’s okay” and she would, then she asked what was up.

As a small child, I recall sitting in her lap and holding her hand up to my lips. Not that I was kissing it, but just having her touch me, calmed me down. She was so beautiful, and yet, I do not think she ever knew that. But just look at the picture below, taken when she was maybe 40 years old.

I remember her sitting and listening to me when I had voice lessons. I was singing in Italian, and she loved that. Me? Not so much. But I sang and she was happy.

Mom loved her family. Her pocketbook weighed a ton. Why? Because she had pictures of each and every one of us in her bag. Not just to show to other people, but more than once I caught her looking them over. She etched the faces of each and every one of us in her memory.

Me, Mom and Mel.

When Mom was dying of cancer, I got out all of the old slides. I scanned in pictures of all of her loved ones Past and present. I made up a slideshow on my laptop for her, so she could revisit each one of those moments. Mel, Janet and I played it for her at the Hospice. She loved that.

Amanda brought baby Savannah down, and Mom got to see her Great-granddaughter one last time. Oh, how she adored Savi and the thought that another generation of girls in her family would go on.

Mom has two grandchildren that she never got to meet. April and Quinn. No doubt, Mom would have loved them as she loved us all. I’m sorry she didn’t get to see them. They’re such beautiful and happy children.

The last day I was with her, she was mostly drifting in and out. At one point I thought she was asleep, and I told her all the things I wanted to say to her. I had hoped she heard me, where ever she was at that moment. I told her that I loved her so much.

She spoke quietly, slowly, and softly. “I’m here. And I love you too”.

This & That On A Sunday Morning

I woke up on Sunday morning, made the coffee, sat down with a steaming mug, took a sip and it was nirvana! I wonder why it is that days the coffee tastes just right and others, not so much?

Well, today is definitely my perfect cup day and I sure am enjoying it!

As I opened the door to go outside this morning, I noticed it was just 56 degrees! So, I grabbed my”Falmouth” sweatshirt and proceeded on.

In the night we had an air shift. We’ve gone from the 3-H‘s, Hot, Humid, and Hazy to the 3-C‘s, Crisp, Clear, Clean air! Lovely. It is forecast to be in the upper 70’s today, but I will take that over the 3- H‘s any day!

Jack saw a nice bench advertised in a local paper, so we will be off today to buy it and bring it home. One thing we have learned being up here in Meredith is that our rain and snow ratio kills anything wooden!

When we had our farm in Southern New Hampshire, we had a lot of picnic tables, chairs, and benches, all wooden. However, we had a barn where we stored everything in the winter! No barn here!

Yesterday I finally got the last of the Gel Nailpolish off my fingernails. I have had three cuticle infections since I was in the shop for a second coating of that stuff. Here is a note on that: Find a reputable shop, Gel polish is fine occasionally, but it took its toll on me. Currently, my once beautiful nails are cut short and will need time to grow out. That stuff didn’t just damage my cuticles, but the nail-beds as well.

Today I will finish up the laundry, do some ironing (ick) and settle in the watch the Cincinnati Masters (Western & Southern Open). Novak Djokovic will play Roger Federer and Kiki Bertens will play Simona Halep. Now there’s some good tennis to watch!

And just like that, the weekend was over!

Making Plans

Saturday arrived slightly early for me. I was up by 5:45 and enjoying my first cup of coffee by 6:00. It had rained hard on Friday night, so the ground was fairly damp, but at least the skies were dry when I walked the dogs for the first time.

I thought at first that the sun might shine, and we would have a pleasant day, but soon the clouds came in, and although we have not had any rain, it looks gloomy out there.

Jack and I have been making our plans for our vacation. Excitement is building as we anticipate our arrival in Virginia Beach, and the 5 days we will spend with our friends, Jim and Geraldine. We get along so well and always have fun together. Jim and Gerry have known Jack since 1962! A lot longer than I have.

Geraldine & Jim.

Jack and Jim at a reunion a few years back!

Gerry was teasing me the other day about that and I told her that in 1962 it would have been highly illegal and sort of icky if Jack had been interested in me. I was only 4 years old! No, I told her, anything that happened to Jack before my 18th birthday, is just fine! Jack was on his own! As it was we didn’t even meet until I was in my twenties.

We have many things on the agenda at the Reunion. We will visit MacArthur Memorial / Spirit of Norfolk Cruise visit with other members of the Otter/Caribou Association in the Hospitality Room, go to a Welcome Dinner Buffet, Tour Ft Eustis / US Army Transportation Museum, attend a General Membership Meeting and finally go to a lovely Banquet.

In between things, Jim, Gerry, Jack and I will go out for a meal here or there, and pal around. We always meet for cocktails in our room and I try to remember to have gluten-free snacks for Jim! Gerry says I spoil him! I’ve been reading about gluten-free products and I think I can come up with a few interesting things!

I hope you are all enjoying your weekends!

The Weekend Comes

Friday was a busy day. I felt like I was never really sitting in one spot for too long. There were so many items on my to-do list, and try as I might, I never did accomplish them all.

Ah, but tomorrow is another day, right?

I’ve set aside Saturday as being my laundry, and sheet changing day. I would also like to work a little more on my map collecting for the trip.

I have all the actual maps that I will need, but I would like to blow up certain highway areas, to give us a better view of what we will encounter.

I’ve spent a lot of time with Greta in recent days. She seems to follow me from room to room, and when I am cooking in the kitchen, she is right by my feet.

At first, I thought that she was hoping I would drop food or something, but then I realized that she just wants to be close to me. It is so very sweet.

The Friday Five

The end of another week and I find that although I am trying quite hard to keep things simple and low key, things are happening around me that are both exciting, and on the other hand Poigniant. So here are this weeks Friday Five.

Greta. My goodness I’m just heartbroken. She continues her slow deterioration and I try so hard to keep her comfortable and happy, but I am losing this battle. I don’t want to be the one to make this decision, but I feel that very soon I will have to. When Fritz died it was all out of my hands. Fritz had an aneurysm rupture and he went so quickly. With Greta, it has been a long good-bye.
We are starting to plan out a trip this Fall. We never travel anymore, so this trip to get together with other Army Otter and Caribou Association members is something we are really looking forward to. When we first joined the association was a large group of men and their wives. However, over the last 25 years, so many of the gang have passed away. But, it’s exciting to go and renew old friendships, and also see places we have not spent time in.
Our maps arrived for our trip. Have I ever confessed that I am a Map Junkie? I love maps, good maps, I love following along and finding my way through crazy places. So far we have mapped out a good, easy route for our trip.
I’ve decided that I am over summer! Well, not the bright sunny skies, but the heat and humidity part. It just seems to go on and on!
I’ve really been enjoying looking back at our time living in Germany. I will do a few more posts next week and share more pictures.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Germany Part 4, Our Daughters

Before I go forward with my story of Berlin in the Summer of 1989, I must explain that the West Berliners were cut off from the rest of West Germany. There were three corridors out of West Berlin, but it wasn’t easy for West Germans to use these. Pan Am had an Internal German Service, and they flew shuttles in and out of Berlin. This was why, back in 1989, Jack was brought back in with Pan Am to fly Charter Flights out of West Berlin to various vacation destinations. Here is a map that shows just how cut-off West Berlin was from West Germany.

While living there I was so impressed with the West Berlin people I came into contact with. They were happy people, and despite the fact that they lived in a closed city, they made their own parties! There were, The German/American Folkfest, The German/French Folkfest, and The German/British Folkfest! There were parades and parties and life was good.

In July of 1989, we flew over to the USA, picked up our two daughters, Mandy almost 13 and Jessica age 11. Neither one of them had been to Germany as teenagers, and we decided before we arrived back in Berlin to have them experience Germany as a German. No American Fast Food, and to learn and use some German language.

Jessica, Mandy and me at the Berlin Zoo.

Jack, me and Jessica at the Berlin Zoo.

The girls were a little nervous at first, but soon Mandy was asking to go out alone or with Jessica and get Currywurst and Pomme Frites at the corner stall. I encouraged them, as back in 1989, West Berlin was one of the safest places in the world.

We lived close to the Europa Center, and I would take the girls there for shopping and lunch and I seem to recall Mandy having her first beer (with me) there. As you can see, Mandy did not look 13 years old! The waiter asked if she would like a beer and she looked at me, with questioning eyes and I shook my head yes!

The girls enjoyed the festivals, and we went to everyone they had while we were there. They enjoyed all the rides and the foods, and I think in many ways these light-hearted times have remained with them.

We ate out a lot and they both tried new things, but mostly they stuck to the tried and true, chicken, sausages, and french fries.

We took them to the Glienicker Brücke, which is also known as the Bridge of Spies. The Glienicke Bridge was a restricted border crossing between the Eastern Block (namely Potsdam in East Germany) and territory affiliated with the Western powers (namely the American sector of West Berlin), the Americans and Soviets used it for the exchange of captured spies during the Cold War.

The first prisoner exchange took place on 10 February 1962. The Americans released Rudolf Abel, convicted for spying for the Soviet Union in 1957, in exchange for Gary Powers, the pilot of a U-2 spy plane shot down in 1960.

Amanda in the white skirt and Jessica in the navy blue skirt.

Remember, at this time, the bridge was still off limits and the Wall was still very much in place.

We also took them to a viewing area, where they could look at the Wall and look over the Wall. It made a big impact on them. Especially Amanda, who flipped off an East German Border Guard while she was standing there!

And of course, we took them to places where they could go up close to the Wall. The West Berliners had many walking areas, right up alongside!

I think the best part of the summer was that the two girls got to see Communism in action. I am so glad that they did!

More to come!