Dackel Princess

A Rainy & Cold Saturday Joy!

I left the house pretty early on Saturday. As it turned out I was way too early. I had planned to stop and get more Scallops at Market Basket, and gas up the Highlander, but I ended up with an hour to kill. What’s a girl to do? I went shopping.

I left home where our temperatures were close to 60 degrees and sunny, and as I drove south, the temperatures went down, the skies turned gray and it was rainy!

So, I stopped at Talbots Outlet and picked up three shirts. One I wore right from the shop, a nice long sleeve blouse. And because I am a frequent buyer I had $25.00 bonus points to use up! For three gorgeous tops, I only spent $35.00! Yes, I love a good bargain!

Then it was on to Savannah’s dance recital. As I said, I got there very early, so I stayed in my car playing CD’d and reading Facebook. Then, out of nowhere, I saw Mandy and Savi about to cross the street in front of me. I hollered to them, jumped out of my car and joined them.

Do you know how wonderful it is when your granddaughter throws their arms around you and tells you how much they love you and have missed you? Well, it made my day. Who am I kidding, it made my entire week.

I watched as Mandy helped Savannah get ready for the recital, and then we went out front to meet up with Matt and his parents. We took our seats and watched this amazing dance recital. Oh, they did have the young dance students and they were wonderful. But they imported their dance competition students for some amazing dance numbers.

Savannah was adorable and I loved watching her. It was so much fun! And as I have previously stated, I am so proud of Savannah in all her endeavors!

After the recital, we went for dinner at T-Bones. Nice place. Very casual and the steaks are good. I ordered a T-Bone and it was so huge, that I brought it home and Jack finished it for his dinner.

We all exchanged Mother’s Day gifts and cards, before finishing up our meals and leaving to return to our respective homes.

The drive was a bit long, but not too bad, but I admit to being just a little stiff and sore tonight. No, I didn’t dance, but driving for long periods of time, makes my neck stiff and sore. But, I wouldn’t miss it for the world!

Baked French Onion Soup

Okay, here it is. I use the store brand French Onion Soup mix. Here is what I do to dress it up:

Preheat oven 450 degrees

I slice thinly three onions.
Then I take 1-2 tbs. butter and melt that in a soup pot.
I sauté the onions until they are translucent.
Then I add 4 cups of water and cook covered for 15 minutes.
I add the store brand, (I use Best Brand French Onion Soup) mix, cover and cook another 12 minutes.
Meanwhile, I shred about 2 and 1/2 cups Gruyere Cheese and toast a circle of French bread for each bowl.
I spray the french onion soup bowls with Pam for easy cleanup and then when all is ready ladle soup into bowl within a half inch of the top.
Place toast into the bowl, (you may have to trim it to fit), and quickly cover with cheese.
Place in hot oven and cook until golden on top.
OMG, this is so good!!!
Serves 4.

The Friday Five

Our first week of real Spring weather has now gone by us. Finally! Spring! We have had perfect temperatures of 75-80 degrees each day, with bright sunshine and little wind.

The Forsythia is blossoming and the fruit trees are also starting to flower! Perfect. Now here are 5 things from my week to share with you.

I love the company, “Chewy”! I’ve been ordering the dogs food from them now for about ten months, and they are prompt, their prices are good, and they even have a dog food that is 100% Gluten Free for Lili, who really has a problem with Gluten of any kind. They also carry a tinned food for Arnie, who is the pickiest eater ever. I guess he takes after his Daddy Bernie, who was also a finicky eater.
I watched the last Jason Bourne movie today, called “Jason Bourne”. It got pretty bad reviews when it came out a couple of years ago, so I hadn’t gone to see it in the theaters. I did, however, like the other movies, so when I got home today after getting my hair done, I sat down and watched it. Actually, it wasn’t too bad. It was entertaining and held my interest. It’s not Oscar worthy, but it was entertaining.
As our temperatures rise, and the weekends get closer, so does the traffic. It’s funny. I grew up in Falmouth on Cape Cod, and that was a real tourist destination. Now I live in the Lakes Region of New Hampshire, which is also a prime tourist destination.
I was driving home from grocery shopping yesterday and a song came on that reminded me of my old White German Shepherd, Fritz.

Fritz

He’s been gone for over four years, and yet, there I was in the car, listening to this song, thinking of him, with tears streaming down my face. I’ve always known that Fritz was a special boy, but it hit me yesterday, Fritz is probably the best and sweetest dog I have ever had. And I still miss him!
I’m off to Savannah’s recital tomorrow. I try to make everything she does, or any event she is in. Not only do I want her to know how much I love her, but I want her to always know that I support everything she does. The same will be true for my darling Quinn. He’s just a little young to have Karate competitions just yet!

PS: I have a new comment section installed. Please, everyone, leave a comment so we can see how it is working! Thanks!

Sea Scallop Bake

I went grocery shopping on Wednesday and found the best deal! Dry Sea Scallops for $9.99 a pound.

Soaked” (also known as “wet” or “treated”) Scallops have been soaked in a bath of phosphates (or more precisely- sodium tripolyphosphate), for the purpose of adding water-weight. When scallops are exposed to a phosphate bath, they absorb it and swell – gaining water-weight. Sort of like women after eating a high sodium meal. These are the yucky kind!

“Dry” is the seafood industry term for natural Scallops, which have not been treated with phosphates. These are the best kind! Natural Scallops have a slightly tan, or “vanilla”-color. Dry Scallops are superior for the following reasons: For searing purposes, dry Scallops caramelize beautifully! Dry scallops taste sweet & natural. You are not paying for added water with dry Scallops.

So, what’s a girl to do? I bought 2 pounds. One to cook tonight and one to freeze. This is really a marvelous deal for those of us who live inland and cannot get fresh dry Scallops at reasonable prices.

I shall be serving this with Pine nut Rice Pilaf and fresh corn on the cob. All in all a great meal! I can hardly wait!

Heat the oven to 350 F.

Place the Scallops in a buttered baking dish, it should be large enough to hold the scallops in a single layer.
Sprinkle the scallops with salt, and pepper and some ritz cracker crumbs.
Bake the sea scallops in the preheated oven for 5 minutes.
Spoon melted butter over the ritz cracker crumbs to coat with butter and bake for about 15 to 20 minutes longer, or until the scallops are cooked through but still moist.
Serve with butter and herb sauce from baking dish and hot cooked rice or small pasta.

Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. What are your ingredients for a perfect Saturday?

Sunny, warm weather, either a trail to walk, or a beach to visit, or perhaps if the day is not great weather wise, watching old, much-loved movies! Saturdays tend to be my catch up day. I tend to really chill out on Sundays.

2. What skill do you wish more people took the time to learn?

I think the skill of manners. In this crazy world, I am amazed how many people lack manners and common courtesy.

3. What’s something you ate as a child you can’t stand now as an adult?

Trust me, there isn’t much. This is why I struggle with my weight. There are a few things I am not fond of. Kale is one of them. The Easter treat called PEEPS. My sister loves them, but I am just not a fan. The others I can’t think of right now. But I know there are a few.

4. Something parenting has taught you? If you’re not a parent tell us one important lesson you learned from your own parents.

Oh, now there is a great question. It took me many years to learn. I think that it is so important to live in the moment with your children. Enjoy each and every day. Play with them, laugh with them, and make memories. Time goes by so quickly. My daughter recently went to Disney with Matt and their two children. They spent the time just being with their kids, playing with them, loving them and laughing with them. What a great thing! Those memories will last a lifetime.

5. Share a favorite quote or saying about mothers or motherhood.

This is not a quote or a saying, but rather a way to honor one of the best mother’s I know. Being a mother and watching my daughter in her life, and seeing what a wonderful mother she is, fills me with such joy. Mandy is a self-made woman. She forged her own path in life and is not only an amazing person but one of the best mothers I know.

Motherhood isn’t easy, but My daughter makes it look like it is. Happy Mother’s Day Sweetheart!

6. Insert your own random thought here.

This weekend is Savannah’s Dance Recital. I’ll be driving down to go to it. I try not to miss any of the children’s events. Watching them grow and learn new things and gain confidence is a very wonderful thing. Savannah is very secure up on the stage. It’s fun to watch her and she really loves her dancing.

Happy 13th Anniversary Dackel Princess!

Thirteen years ago, I sat down at my computer and began to write this Blog. I’d been writing for nearly 18 years, but never put it into anything, until Janet, my cousin, and Megan, my friend, helped me create Dackel Princess!

I wasn’t sure how this was going to work out. would I like blogging? Would I actually have anything to say? Would anyone, besides my sister, cousin, and daughter read what I was writing?

What I learned early on, back in 2005, was that you needed to be a friendly visitor to other blogs and then people would check you out. For me, if the people weren’t interested in dogs, I lost them early on.

When I started the Blog, my first dackel, Shubi was sick with a condition called GME (Granulomatous Meningo-Encephalitis). She had gone through Chemo (which I administered at home) and was actually doing better in May of 2005. So my early entries centered on her, Fritz (our White German Shepherd), and baby Greta!

Fritz and baby Greta, December 2005

Shubi and me, 2006

Since blogging was new, I did a lot of Meme’s, wrote about things that had happened to me, and as I went forward in life, I wrote about things that were happening.

My health challenges were highlighted, my skiing attempts, and the growing of our fruit, our garden, new recipes and life on the lake.

There were German Dog Shows, and then puppies came along, and Greta’s first litter gave us Arnie and Anneliese.

Greta and her first litter of pups.

We knew Anneliese was staying, but when Arnie’s prospective buyer canceled at the last moment, we ended up keeping him too.

Anneliese and Arnie.

Thus, our life with four dogs began. When Fritz was alive, having four dogs was easy. Lili, on the other hand, has been a challenge. We keep waiting for her to grow up and settle down. Who knows, she may be one of those rare dogs that remain like a puppy their entire life.

Three more litters of puppies came along, 15 total puppies before the two girls retired. It was so much fun having the puppies around. Those were really great days!

Then something marvelous happened in 2012! My daughter, Amanda gave birth to the most wonderful baby Girl, Savannah and my entire world changed, in ways I could never have imagined!

Oma and Savannah May 31, 2012

Suddenly I was writing about my joys of watching my granddaughter grow. You know how some people lose touch with normal life and get all caught up when a baby is born? Well, that is me! She is all things girly and wonderful, and her heart is so soft and full of love. She is such a kind child and she makes my heart sing! Savannah amazed me then and at nearly six years old, she continues to amaze me!

My parent’s both died while I’ve been writing, and the Blog afforded me the opportunity to work through my grief. In fact, I think writing helps me work through so many things in my life.

Grandchild #2 arrived in 2016 and this time the baby was a BOY! I’d never had a son, so I never did do the boy thing.

Quinn and Oma March 7, 2016.

I have to say that having this all boy grandson, has been a real wonder. Quinn was destined to grow as quickly as he could, and I swear the child was born holding onto a truck, as anything with wheels has thrilled him since his eyes could focus and he could grip things! Quinn walked at seven months and he never looked back.

I watch him now and I have to remember that this little boy is just two years old, and not the older kid he resembles!

My Blog has helped me to keep my daughter Katie’s memory alive. When she passed back in 1985 one of the things that bothered me was that people would never know, never understand, how wonderful this little girl was.

And how loved and missed she is. On my Blog, I can write about her, and share my pictures of her, and my readers understand and have consoled me. It’s made the pain of this loss bearable. And I thank all my readers for being there for me.

I’ve shared my joys and my sorrows and each evening when I sit down the write the next day’s entry, I try to find things that will be relevant and will make you smile or even laugh.

Life is really good. When I look around me at all the blessings in my life, I am so glad that I am here to enjoy them. It has made writing this Blog and sharing my life with all of you, such an important part of my world.

We Were Down!

Mama said there’ll be days like this
There’ll be days like this mama said
(Mama said, Mama said)

I woke up on Sunday morning only to discover that Dackel Princess was down and out. I thought perhaps my Web Maven was working on a few issues I’d been having, but she came right back to assure me that it wasn’t her and to contact GoDaddy to have them work the problem.

I did just that, and after nearly an hour on the phone with them, they finally had to admit the problem was on their end of things and that they’d be working on it.

Somehow this doesn’t reassure me.

Right now I am looking at losing the last 7-8 years of my blogging. Why? Well, somehow I didn’t back up the blog! There I have said it! I need to remember to weekly back up the blog. That is if I get it back.

Right now I am feeling queasy and my head aches. When I think of all of the work, all of the hours spent at the computer, it makes me sick with fear!

Later

About 2 PM I was contacted that Dackel Princess had been revived! The first thing I did was back up all my files, all 18 years of blogging.

It’s funny but when I thought of all the things I have written in the last 18 years I was so worried that I’d lost them. How on earth does one recreate the feelings you had the first time you held your grandchildren? The first time you watched your dog have puppies? or the happiness you felt when you made your first batch of peach jam?

It’s all backed up now, and I will continue to run backups each week. Meanwhile, I would love to print out the entire blog. I’m sure at this point it will be the length of “War and Peace”, but at least I will have it in front of me and I will not stress nearly as much. Or will I?

—

Ugh!

I woke this morning and walked out into the kitchen to discover that poor Lili had been sick in the night. I mean, really sick. She had somehow managed to hit every throw carpet in the kitchen, and almost every inch of the floor.

Before I even had my first cup of coffee, I had to clean everything up and mop the floor after. I also got all four rugs into the washer and then I came up, washed up and sat down with my coffee.

Despite knowing I had done a thorough cleaning, all I could smell was dog sick. In self-defense, I lit a candle and sprayed Fabreeze and prayed for a change in the wind! LOL!

Fortunately, Lili recovered quickly, and none of the other dogs got sick. I suspect that Lili has been drinking out of the Spring on our property. Not exactly good for her tummy!

As I write Lili is curled up next to me. She was so upset this morning and acted rather ashamed of herself. Tonight she is acting so sweet and loving. I think this is her attempt to make it up to me. I’m just glad she is feeling better!

Happy 80th Birthday Jack!

Today is the eightieth birthday of my husband Jack. It’s quite a milestone for him and for us. We met many years ago and were friends for a long time. We saw each other through many difficult times in life, and eventually, when we figured it all out, we got married and started our life together. That was thirty years ago. How the time has flown.

Today we celebrate Jack’s birth and here is hoping for not only a happy day but a healthy and wonderful year ahead!

Thursday Thirteen

Since tomorrow I will be skipping the Friday Five, I thought I might skip back and do a Thursday Thirteen. When I first started blogging, I used to do a Thursday Thirteen list each week. Eventually, I ran out of ideas. Let’s face it, I’ve been blogging since 2005 and I think I may very well have made lists for almost every part of my life.

This week, I am going to write a list of thirteen things I have learned are important in life.

Always tell the people in your life that you love them. Don’t miss that opportunity.
Life is short. Don’t spend it being angry or carrying a grudge. Go forward.
Find your joy! Find it and hold onto it and allow yourself to feel it.
Remember that your children and grandchildren are the most important people in your life. Spend time reading to them, getting down on the floor and playing with them, laugh with them and when your kids are nearly grown or grown, remember to always listen to them. I saw a quote that said: Hearing is one of the senses, but listening is so important to learn. I’m still working on this!
Remember to treat your friends like you would a beloved garden. Nurture them, care for them and never be too busy for them.
Believe in something greater than yourself. I believe in God, and my faith has gotten me through some very tough times. My faith also gives me hope for the future.
Go someplace. A beach, a field, a mountain top, somewhere and sit in the quiet. Hear the peace around you. I always love to go outside in the middle of a snowstorm and just stand there and listen to the silence. It lowers your blood pressure and trust me, it will put a smile on your face!
Listen to music. Not just when you are in your car, but turn on a series of tunes when you are working around the house, doing laundry, etc. Make a playlist of your favorite songs and then…rock-on!
Laugh! If you are having trouble finding things to laugh about, put on a good old comedy movie. Quite honestly, having 4 dogs gives me plenty of chuckles each day. That and the fact that I am a big klutz makes me laugh a lot. Laugh at the silly things you do. Don’t take everything to heart!
Listen to the voices of your people when they call your name. A few weeks ago I entered my daughter’s home and the children both came running calling out my name…”OMA”! and my heart filled! Likewise when I hear my daughter call me Mom or Jack call me Hun, I smile because I know I am loved.
Take a long walk. Through a forest, along the shore, and just breathe. Remember the things that make you love where you are walking.
Take your time. Enjoy what you are doing, seeing, feeling, and believing. Don’t rush. Life goes by in a flash.