This weeks Throw Back Thursday features my beloved Shubi our first wirehaired dachshund, and our white shepherd, Max.
We brought Shubi home from Bavaria, Germany to Max when he was about 5 years old. He immediately adopted her, and the two were best friends.
The mighty Max!
Me with Shubi in the motorcoach. She loved to travel, almost always in my lap!
1. Besides Thanksgiving, something you’re looking forward to on your November calendar?
My Birthday!
It’s coming up quickly. This is #57! I am looking forward to this because, I think we should celebrate any and all of our birthdays! Life is so good, and if we embrace it, and love it, then we should celebrate our time in it!
2. If I gave you a thank you card right now who would you send it to and why?
My granddaughter, Savannah! Why? Because every day she makes me happy and proud and I feel her love. Last week when we had that day and night together, it was so very special!
3. Of the breads listed, which one’s your favorite…bagel, cinnamon, sourdough, garlic, banana, biscuit, pita, Naan, or plain old fashioned white bread?
Okay, it’s a tie between banana and cinnamon, although I also love sour dough. Basically if you take flour, eggs, yeast and any sort of flavoring, I’m there. I am a carbohydrate junkie!
4. What’s something you have in abundance? Is that a good thing?
Apples. Our trees are so full this year and because our Autumn was so late, we are still harvesting them. In life, I am blessed to have so much love around me.
5. November 5th is National Love Your Red Hair Day. Are there any redheads in your family? Who’s your favorite redhead?
Yes. My daughter Katie had the most beautiful red hair. It was thick and curly. I miss it very much.
6. The travel website Busbud recently calculated the most Instagrammed spot in every state. Go here to see what made the list where you live. Are you happy with your state’s #1? If not what do you think should be the most photographed spot in your state? Have you snapped a photo there? If you live outside the USA answer as it relates to your state, city or province.
They say it is the White Mountains. Yes, we have taken pictures there. Here is a picture I took .
7. I’m going to try to have something related to gratitude in this spot each week during the month of November. Here’s this week’s question-
What’s something you’ve learned about yourself this year that you’re grateful for?
The importance of being a true and loving self. I have stopped worrying if I am a true and loving person, and just have been.
8. Insert your own random thought here.
Tomorrow is another weigh in at Weight Watchers. I’ve had a good week and been diligent weighing and measuring everything. I hope it pays off!
Monday found me in deep reflection as my husband’s childhood friend, passed from this world to the next. Ted had a very bad heart and had suffered for years with medical problems. His heart finally gave out and before any of us could say good-bye, he was gone.
Ted was a gentle soul. I met him early on, when Hubby and I became engaged. He was not just a brilliant mind, but had a beautiful heart. 
Way back, when computers hit the market for ordinary people like you and me, I was afraid to use them. Ted got me set up with an email, and then each day he would write me, sending me things to do on the computer.
His patience kept me going until I was finally pretty good using the machine. That was way back in the days of our old IBM, dial-up and a slowness on the Internet, that we all accepted, but would drive me insane now.
Ted and I could sit and talk for hours during his visits to our home. The fishing trips that he and hubby took to the great North Woods of New Hampshire are legendary.
Back when we had a motor-coach, Ted would come up from New York, and the two would drive up to Pittsburgh, New Hampshire to go fishing. One time they conned me to come along to cook for them. It rained so hard, that eventually I left to come home. I went and bought a beautiful 2 pound lobster. I was thrilled that I would have this treat after all that rain! A while later I got a call, they were headed home. Rain and no fish meant they were bored, wet and tired! I raced to the store and bought two more lobsters, but the secret was out. As we sat eating these big boys, Hubby and Ted teased me unmercifully! This memory brings only smiles!
Oh, how I will miss this wonderful man. In the last years of his life he didn’t get up here, but he was always just a Skype call away. I talked to him a couple of months ago and he was telling me all about his son, his life partner, Barbara, step daughters and grandchildren. He felt very much at peace with his family and his life.
I hope, dear Ted, that you have found a wonderful spot in Heaven. A place where all your illnesses are healed and only happiness surrounds you.
I shall miss you!
On Sunday, I had these great plans that would find me doing laundry, organizing my winter sweaters and cooking a nice big meal for Hubby.
However, our clocks changed today and fell back an hour. Now this should be a good thing, right? An extra hour of sleep? Not if you have children or dogs.
The dogs were all going crazy most of the day. Their internal clocks have not adjusted, so at four this afternoon, they started barking for their dinner. I finally broke down at 4:30 and fed the beasts!
So, I watched football (a very odd occurrence if the patriots aren’t playing, and they weren’t), and I also cleaned the stove. Ah well, see, that was productive! Aside from those two things, not much was done to further any of my plans for the day.
Ah well, it’s the start of a new week! Have a great one!
Saturday was one of those days where I felt I needed to be quiet and somewhat lazy. I somehow picked up a slight cold with a fever, and that just seemed to zap me of any desire to do much of anything.
I did cruise the Web, and did some online shopping, and I watched some HGTV shows, as well as a Documentary about the short life of Harry Nilsson.
For those of you who can’t recall Harry here is a video clip of him singing. What a wonderful voice.
Harry wrote over 400 songs in his 52 years of life. His gift was not just for writing the music, but the poetic lyrics as well. He was a self taught musician, and he was able to record all the background vocals for his songs.
Hubby and I watched the documentary together. It was well done, and it included Harry, his family and his friends. It’s called “Who is Harry Nilsson (And Why Is Everybody Talkin’ About Him)?” It’s available on Amazon Prime, and definitely worth the time.
Saturday night we “Fall Back” time wise, so I hope that you all remembered to do this, or you will be up early and missing your chance at a little extra sleep.
Anneliese has been assisting me in my efforts to photograph our flock of Wild Turkeys. She simply stands at the back sliding door and goes ballistic! I sneak out the side door and off I run, with the camera in my hot little hands!
My first attempts were pretty sad. It was raining, and the pictures came out very grainy. Ugh! But today, I was able to run out and get the pictures that I wanted in the bright sunshine.
So here are my Friday Five Favorite Turkey pictures!
I’m not sure why I love these guys so much. Perhaps it is because I have watched them grow from the tiniest of poults into full grown turkey birds!
Perhaps it’s because they now know the crazy turkey lady and they allow me to get closer and closer without fear of my hurting them.
In their own special way, these turkeys are really quite beautiful.
You are probably wondering if I will still eat turkey on Thanksgiving. Yes, but it is not a wild one, and it will come from the freezer!
Me and Hubby at the beginning of our life together.
1. Are you comfortable with silence? If you’re home alone, do you like silence or do you need regular background noise? Do you seek out times and places to be silent? What’s your favorite place to find silence/be silent?
I love silence. It does not happen often, though. Sometimes Hubby is out, and all the dogs fall asleep and the TV is off, and I am here quietly, happily, alone. Good times. Sometimes driving in the car, I chose to be silent, rather than have music or the radio on.
2. October 28th is National Chocolate Day. Can’t let that go by without a mention now, can we? Will you celebrate? How? Let’s say you can have one of the following right this very minute… a cup of hot chocolate, a strawberry dipped in chocolate, a bowl of plain chocolate ice cream, or a slice of chocolate pie…what’s your pleasure?
At this time of year, hot chocolate. But really a nice chunk of dark chocolate, is perfection!
3. How do you feel about blue jeans? Favorite thing in the world to wear or nope, don’t own a single pair? How often do you wear blue jeans in a typical week? Do you own a blue jean jacket?
I LOVE jeans! I wear them almost every day. I do own several jeans jackets too. My favorite being one I cannot wear right now, but will one day when I have lost all this weight! Hope lives!
4. Are you superstitious? If so, in what way?
Oh yeah. I am very superstitious. I try not to be, but somehow I look back in life and see all those old superstitions that came true. So I try not to mess with them.
5. If you had to come up with a costume using only things you have on hand right now, what could you come up with?
Ghost, Witch, Not a big Halloween fan.
6. What scares you a little? What do you do when you feel scared?
A lot scares me. But I won’t go into it. When I feel scared I try to retreat to my home and find ways to relax.
7. Perhaps today will be the day I:
Have another good weight loss at Weight Watchers class!
8. Insert your own random thought here.
I’ve been among the missing the last two days due to Hubby getting a new laptop. Why? You might ask. Well, I am an ace at programming machines and setting them up. So, I managed to move email, address books, and stored files, plus bookmarks and passwords all over to his new super fabulous laptop! Yes, I am having a little computer envy! He has a beautiful machine, that really outshines mine!
Since I have not figured out how to upload a photo from my phone to Flickr and then to my blog, I wasn’t able to share these until this morning. These are, what I call, my dancing Savannah photos!
She was so excited to be at her ballet class. I love her little leotard and soft ballet shoes. I mean, is there anything sweeter than a little one in a tutu?
Savannah loves to try new things. She is almost fearless in that pursuit. I love her steely determination, and positive attitude.
I really enjoy these Oma and Savannah moments, and I wouldn’t trade that time for anything in the world!
I’m down at my daughter’s house babysitting Savannah. I attended her ballet class in the morning and then, in the afternoon and evening I took care of my granddaughter.
We watched movies and played games, I made dinner and then gave her a bath and put her to bed.
All in all, a successful day.