Dackel Princess

Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. April showers bring May flowers or so the saying goes. Is there a flower you associate with a particular memory? Explain.

Growing up on Clipper Lane, in Falmouth, my mother had a hedge along the fence of lilacs. I would crawl under the bushes and sit and inhale the scent of her lilacs! When I smell lilacs now, it brings me right back to my mother’s lilacs. I miss them, and I miss her too!

2. Last time you helped someone? Tell us how.

I was in the grocery store today and a very small, elderly woman was trying to get a can off one of the top shelves. She almost had it, but I could see it was going to fall right on her head, and I ran over and grabbed the can and steadied her. She was quite distressed and tried to apologize for bothering me, but I smiled and I told her that I was the tallest person in my family of “circus people” and I am used to getting things off of the top shelves! This made her laugh.

3. It’s National Salsa Month (the food, not the dance) so tell us, do you like salsa? Hot, medium, or mild? Homemade, store-bought, or from your favorite restaurant only?`

I do like salsa, sometimes! But mostly, I’m not a fan, unless there are nice warm tortilla chips! Then that is just fine.

4. When I was twelve years old…

I rode my bike everywhere, still went to parks to swing on swings, and went to the beach every day in the summer. I babysat for the very first time, for a baby boy, who was born prematurely. He was so tiny! But he was a really good baby.

5. It’s the first of May so let’s run with it-first things first, don’t know the first thing about it, first dibs on something, first impression, first rate, first cousin, first string, first come first served, at first light-which phrase can best be applied to something in your life currently or even recently?

First Rate. My weekend mini vacation on Cape Cod was First Rate! We went to three new restaurants, spent time watching the Ospreys and stayed in our favorite hotel, and had a First Rate room! All in all, it was a First Rate weekend!

6. Insert your own random thought here.

I had to go to the dentist today to have some minor dental work done. It required Novocain and I could feel my heart race for a good 5 minutes. I guess I will need to mention this to my dentist before any further work. I wonder if there is a Novocain like medication, without the stuff that makes one’s heart race? The numb feeling lasted nearly 5 hours! Tonight my mouth is just a little sore, but nothing too bad!

Oceans & Ospreys & Quahogs!

Now that I have been back home in New Hampshire for over 24 hours, I simply want to repack my bag and head down to the Cape again. I want to watch the ocean and the Ospreys and walk along the shoreline. Alas, that is not to be right now, but I do have a trip planned again this summer. That’s great, as it gives me something to look forward to.

While I was down in Falmouth, I stopped by the Green Pond Fish Market and got wonderful Stuffed Quahogs and at another shop I was able to get a Seafood Pie. I was so excited to bring these home to share them with Jack. Surprisingly, he was not too impressed with the Cape Cod fare. Perhaps one has to be raised on it, to love these delicacies.

I think in many ways, I fell in love again with Falmouth. As I drove around the familiar streets, I could recall so clearly, my time spent there. Oh well, I guess I know where I will be going over the next few years for my weekend getaways!

And I know when I go, my two faithful sidekicks, will always be going with me! We sure have a good time together!

Love you two!

For The Love Of Cape Cod

Like all good things, my time back in my hometown came to an end yesterday just after lunch. We spent the morning on the beach collecting shells and sea stones and watching the Osprey’s building their nests as they get ready for another year of raising their young. You can read about the Osprey’s HERE.

We had stopped in a parking area to watch one particular nesting pair, and before we knew it, they were dive bombing my car. We snapped a few more pictures and then drove off so they could once again relax.

Besides the Ospreys, we saw Swans, also nesting, Canadian Geese, and Mallard Ducks. As I watched all of this nature around me, I couldn’t help but think how much I had missed in my youth, simply taking for granted the things that occurred around me. I spent so much time scanning the level earth, that I forgot to look upward into the skies and be amazed at all I saw there.

I also spent time watching the wild rabbits hopping around. Now, these aren’t your typical small bunnies, but rabbits that are the size of a small dog or good sized cat!

In so many ways, during this visit to Cape Cod, I felt like I was seeing my hometown through new eyes. The sheer beauty of what I saw was overwhelming.

From the gardens to the ocean, I was truly awed by the loveliness of my hometown. More pictures to follow.

Beautiful Day

Saturday proved to be a really amazing day! Not only did we enjoy two lovely gardens, but the sun shone brightly, the air was warm and the woman who made a real impact on my life, Carol, my second grade teacher, and I were reunited!

Truth be told, I have been looking for her for a couple of years. And today there she was!

There is much to write about and I will elaborate on it all in Monday’s post.

This is one of my best visits yet to my old hometown.

All Good Things

The most wonderful thing happened to me yesterday. My daughter, who is vacationing with her family at Disney World wanted to Facetime with me. So, I called her, and I discovered that my grandson, Quinn wanted to talk to his Oma! I cannot tell you how that warmed my heart.

We talked for a bit and Mandy showed me around their room at The Polynesian Resort. I also got to say hello to Savi and their Daddy, Matt. I felt so loved!

‌Meanwhile, I am in Falmouth with my sister and cousin, and despite the rain yesterday, we are looking forward to a pleasant day today. Except that it is 4 AM and I am wide awake writing this, while my lovelies sleep.

Last night we went out to The Bear in Boots Restaurant and had a great time. We shared a huge Charcuterie Board, and Steak Tips and a Korean Dumpling. Like my friend Krista, who loves Proseco, that is what I ordered! It was so nice.

We came back to the room, watched a little TV, but mostly played Words With Friends with each other. I knew I should have brought the Scrabble game.

Today we’re off to shop, go to the gardens and tonight go out to The Landfall for dinner. Seafood, fresh off the boat is in our future!

Have a great Saturday, everyone!

The Friday Five

Here we are at the very end of April! The year seems to be rushing by, although a neighborhood child told me that this school year was soooooo long! It made me laugh to recall how I’d felt the same in my youth when every day seemed like an eternity!

As the week ends and I look forward to my girls weekend on the Cape (Cape Cod), here are the things that have been on my mind.

I’ve done all the laundry and packed my suitcase for the trip. I don’t have to worry about Jack running out of clothes, or having to do a lot of laundry when I get back.
Besides packing my clothes, I have packed a bag of teas, and goodies to have in our room. The room has a coffee maker, that you can heat water in for tea. Perfect. I am a big herbal tea drinker.
I did a thorough cleaning of the Highlander. After a long, cold, snowy, wet, winter the inside and outside of the car were a mess. I brought down the carpet cleaner, I’ve written about before, and used the upholstery attachment on the seats and rugs. It came out so well. I must interject here, anyone that does detail work like this on your car is worth their weight in gold. I spent an entire afternoon doing this! But it is so worth it!
Tonight I cook the last meal for a few days! I am really looking forward to the time off!
I bought these wild napkins. Now I didn’t know exactly how wild until I opened the package. You see, I love a bargain, and these were 700 napkins for $2.50! But when I opened them I realized they are full of goofy printed napkins. Oh well, it’s an adventure, right? Here is one of a dachshund.

TBT: My Sister & Me

I have so many pictures of my sister and me, but this week I thought I would share one of my favorites. This was taken when I was in 5th grade and my sister was a Sophmore in High School. Back then I was still shorter than my sister but soon grew to be much taller than her.

I remember how much I loved that brown dress. It was the height of fashion in the late 1960’s and I felt so grown up in it. I also recall that it fit me for such a short time as this was the year that I grew several inches and started to get my adult body. But oh, looking back at this picture, I can easily recall how lovely I felt!

My sister’s dress never fit me. She is so slender and her body frame is so petite compared to mine. I loved it and we usually did wear each other’s clothes, but this beautiful dress just never fit me. Even now, Mel is slightly built, and when we compare our wrists, hers is tiny and mine is quite large.

It’s also interesting to note that at that time we did not look too much alike. However, in our twenties, we looked like twins. Now as we enter our golden years, we have gone back to being quite individual.

The one thing that has never changed from the time when we were very little until now is our deep and abiding love for each other. How very blessed we are to have each other.

Love you so much Mel!

Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. They say you learn something new every day. What did you learn yesterday?

That Dackel Princess Blog is slightly broken (comment section) and I am not swift enough to actually fix it! It looks like I will have to hire someone who understands code to go in and reinstall my comment section. This all stems back to 2016 when my blog was hacked by a porn site!

2. Have you ever had a now or never moment? Elaborate.

Yes, and it’s not easy. About 6 weeks ago I started a new way of eating. I will not call it a diet, but my cholesterol numbers are higher than is good for “a woman of my age” and this requires a change in how I eat. That is not easy for me, because I love to cook and love to eat and most of my specialties are not cholesterol friendly!

3. April 25th is National Telephone Day. Do you still have a landline or have you gone mobile only? When you receive a text message do you respond immediately? Last time you turned your phone off? In two or three sentences share with us a story/memory/incident from your childhood (or something current if that’s too hard) where the telephone is featured.

Yes, we do still have a landline. I think I probably always will. It’s not horribly expensive and the battery doesn’t die. I leave my cell phone in the other room at night. I do not want to be awakened by it going off for whatever reason. Now, a story about the phone from my childhood? Well, this is a good one and completely true. My grandmother had a three-minute egg timer by her phone and a piece of paper. She would enter each long distance call on the paper and the time. Now Grandma never talked over 3 minutes to anyone back then. She told me once that if you couldn’t say what you needed to in 3 minutes, I should write a letter!

4. Close call, at someone’s beck and call, call the shots, call a meeting, call it quits, call in sick, call on the carpet, wake up call…which call have you ‘heard’ recently? Explain.

I tease my husband all the time that I am at his beck and call. There is no rest for the weary!

5. What subject do you wish you’d paid more attention to in school?

I think I wish I had paid more attention in my English class. I try very hard to write correctly, but I catch myself making sloppy mistakes. I also wish I had learned a language. French, Spanish, and Latin were offered, but I wish I had learned to speak German.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Today is another leftovers day! That’s a good thing because as much as I love to cook, I also enjoy a night off. Tonight’s the night!

Also, we had Ice Out on our small lake last night while we were eating dinner. Once again our lake is open, and alive for the Spring and Summer!

Our Lake

I gazed out my window all day on Monday. Our temperatures soared into the upper 60’s and I literally watched the ice on the lake get thinner and thinner. It’s strange how the ice goes from a white color to a hazy dirty white color, to a grey and now to an almost translucent blue color. It’s then that you know that ice out is just days or perhaps hours away.

I’ve heard that ice out on Lake Winnipesaukee is still some days away, but ice out on our smaller, Lake Waukewan, is so close. I almost expect to wake up in the morning and find that the ice fairies have come and cleared it all.

I love our Lake. I love all the action I see on it during all four seasons. Summers find swimmers, boaters, and people fishing. Spring and Autumn find boaters enjoying either the first clear waters of the season or the last clear water before the ice sets in. Winters are perhaps my favorite, as the ice comes along slowly before the hard thick ice sets in. Then we have a plethora of activity, from ice fishing to skating, to snowmobiling. So much to do on this wonderful lake of ours.

The sun shone brightly today as well. Not a cloud in the sky all day and as the sun set on Monday night, and the moon rose, I could see every star in the sky.

A perfect ending to a nearly perfect Spring Day

Home

On Friday I leave to go home. I know that sounds funny to many of you, but in my mind, in my heart, Falmouth will always be home.

It’s where I took my first steps, learned to laugh, to love, to swim, to ride a bike. It’s where I had my first room all to myself, and where I learned to love animals of all kinds (Except, of course, mice and snakes!).

Falmouth is where I go to recharge my batteries. It’s where I go to sit on the beach and feel the wind in my hair and smell the sweet salty air.

Falmouth is where I gave birth to my two daughters. Where they both were Baptized. In fact, it’s where I was Baptized. And it’s where I got married, both times.

I love Falmouth because it was there that I learned to be a singer, an actress, a ham! (In the theatrical sense!)

I hiked the trails, walked the beaches, and climbed trees. I skated at the local ice rink. I had my first ever kiss there. I didn’t realize it then, but I was so lucky to grow up in such a place. Falmouth in the 1960’s was safe, fun and a loving place to bring up a family. I played all over my neighborhood, in relative freedom. No one worried about their kids being out playing back then. We just went and made sure to be home by supper time.

I’m staying in a motel that I used to walk past on my way to school. I don’t recall how many times I turned to look at it on my way to or from school. But I do recall thinking that one day I wanted to stay there. Now, all these years later, it’s where I want to stay and I do! And, it is just as special as I knew it would be!

So, off I go. Home to Falmouth. To relive a few memories, to close my eyes and to remember all those from my past. And most of all, to feel the ocean melt away the tensions in my soul. It’s like taking a deep breath and as you exhale feeling all the worry melt away.