Dackel Princess

Friday Five

Hubby and I have been working hard out in the garden. I am afraid that we will not be as prosperous this year. It makes me feel rather sad.
You see, I did not start my own plants this year. I bought all my plants, save the Butternut Squash. However, everything in the big garden, except the summer squash, are just not doing well.
I sat down with my notebook and began to plan next years garden. I will buy my own seeds early on, get good soil, and start my plants in March in the greenhouse in larger pots.
It is kind of funny, I have potted plants on the patio, and they are doing just great! Loads of tomotoes, eggplant, green peppers and my basil overflowith!

This year we will simply make daily runs to the local farm stand for fresh vegetables. It will be good for the local economy.

TBT: Baby Maribeth

Me, at about 10 months old. In the front yard of our house on Clipper Lane.

Falmouth, Massachusetts.

Wednesday Hodgepodge

1.July 15th is National Give Something Away Day. What can you give away? Will you?

I have a bag of clothes and shoes to go to ST. Vincent DePaul. I donate things regularly there. They not only have a Thrift Store, but also clothe the homeless.

2. Do you have a mantra? Please share with the class if you feel comfortable doing so.

“Sometimes Chickens, Sometimes Feathers”. It’s sort of my outlook on life. Neither negative or overly optimistic. Just sometimes it works and sometimes it just doesn’t (through no ones fault).

3. Who does the grocery shopping in your house? How many times a week do you shop? Do you make a list or pray for inspiration in the produce aisle?

We do a big shopping about every two weeks. That requires us to drive 30 miles to a nicely priced store. To fill in, we go to the local super market a couple of times a week.

4. Is there a TV show you’re embarrassed to say you watch? You’re going to tell us what it is, right?

Not at all. The only show I am passionate about right now are the NYPD Blue reruns on the satelitte. Every night at 7:00 we sit down and watch the commercial free episodes. We are on Season 10 and by summers end, it will be over and we will have watched it from Episode 1, Season 1. What a great show that was.

I also love Blue Bloods. That is sort of my new favorite. Amazon Prime has it, so my plan is to start with Season 1 Episode 1 and watch up to the last episode of this year. Then I will be all caught up.

I guess I like these two shows because they are about good people, trying to make a diference.

5. A recent article listed fifteen words we should eliminate from our (written) vocabulary in order to sound smarter-

that, went, honestly, absolutely, very, really, amazing, always, never, literally, just, maybe, stuff, things, and irregardless

Of the fifteen, which word is your most overused?

Irregardless, literally, and really, are the ones that kind of bug me. Mostly because they are not used correctly.

6. So apparently dying your hair gray (in your youth!) is a thing right now. It’s called ‘The Granny Hair’ trend. Your thoughts?

I am fighting tooth and nail to keep my sweet, young, pretty, youthful hair! Kind of crazy to actually dye your hair gray. All in good time!

7. A while back Buzz Feed asked members to share the most beautiful sentence they’ve read in a piece of literature. A hard thing to narrow down, at least for me, but let’s try. What’s one of the most beautiful sentences you’ve ever read in a piece of literature?

It is from “A Fault in Our Stars“. Augustus Waters says to Hazel Grace Lancaster: “I am in love with you. And I know that love is just a shout into the void, and that oblivion is inevitable, and that we’re all doomed. And that one day all our labor will be returned to dust. And I know that the sun will swallow the only earth we will ever have. And I am in love with you.”

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Yesterday, at lunchtime, I walked into my room while speaking with a friend on my cell phone. I looked in the mirror to check out my eye and there it was. A perfectly shaped STYE!

So, I read everything I could find on how to heal it. So I am showering twice a day, using a mild soap to wash the eye lash area (obviously with my eyes closed) and using drops. It is still incredibly uncomfortable, (like sand rubbing under my eyelid), but just knowing what it is, makes me feel a lot better!

Just Another Day

Monday afternoon my eye seemed to be somewhat better. The swelling is down and it isn’t weeping so much. I picked up some gel artificial tears, and that is helping to make the eye feel comfortable. What a strange thing this has been. I’ve never had anything like this. It’s a mystery!

Hubby and I worked in the garden in the morning, and then went out for lunch, and to shop for adult doggy food for Lili.

I have noticed that Lili does not do well with many grains. So I wanted a crunchy food that was all natural, with no gluten in it. Biggest requirement is that it is made in the USA with only products made in the USA.

Lili likes the Bison puppy food she is on, so we looked for a Bison based adult food. Luckily, we found a food that is looking promising, and she started on a small portion added to her regular food.

She loved it, and gobbled down the new chow! And since Arnie shares her chow, we are also changing him over.

Lili continues to do well with her outdoor ball playing. Every day Hubby brings her out and plays fetch with her, and then we bring her in for a meal.

Fun times at the Dackel Princess Home!!!

The Eye

On Saturday night, after I got done doing the dishes, I noticed that my right eye hurt. I got a flash light and Hubby looked at it, but couldn’t see anything.

An hour later, I passed by a mirror and noticed my eye lid was swelling and blotchy red. Hubby checked it out again, but could not find anything that looked like a bug bite or any kind of injury.

By midnight, the eye was weeping, and all night long I woke with an very uncomfortable eye. By this morning the eye was just about swollen shut. I used a warm compress to get the eye to open. I popped more Benedryl and that seemed to help the swelling.

eyelid

By dinnertime, the swelling began again. I need to do warm compresses, take more Benedryl and then if it is the same in the morning, call my eye doctor.

After the surgeries I have had on both of my eyes to repair my retinas, I am a bit alarmed by this. A call to my retinal surgeons office to run my symptoms by him, will probably make me feel better.

Currently I look pretty aweful! But there is not much I can do, but ride it out.

Oh So Sweet N Easy Boneless Pork Ribs

1-2 lbs country-style pork ribs, (without the bones)
Sweet Baby Rays Barbecue Sauce
1 large on cut in half and sliced
salt and pepper
One Dutch Oven

Dutch Oven

Directions

Sprinkle salt, and pepper all over each slice of boneless rib.
Pour 2-3 tbs of olive oil in a Dutch Oven. Heat to medium heat.
Place ribs inside the uncovered Dutch Oven. Brown on all sides.
Remove ribs from pot and keep warm on plate.
Put onion slices in pot and stir around until they are caramelized.
Once onions are caramelized add ribs to pot and sauce and stir to mix well.
Cover the ribs with the top of the Dutch Oven, and put back into the oven.
Turn oven to 250 degrees so sauce won’t burn and let them bake for 2-3 hours. After two hours have passed, check the ribs with a fork to check tenderness of the meat, if you desire them to be even more tender put the cover back over tightly and let them sit for another hour in the low oven.
After ribs are done take cover off carefully as steam will come out, take out ribs and let them sit for 5-10 minutes in their sauce.

Lili & The Vet

Friday was the big day. I had to drive Lili over to our Veterinarian’s Office, which is a bit of a distance. Here in New Hampshire, it is over the river and through the woods, like much of our driving around for services.

Lili was not thrilled to be in the car, but I recalled how as a puppy she enjoyed music, so I popped in a CD and she settled down in the back seat on the floor and was quiet. I sort of held my breath, waiting for her to flip out, but she didn’t!

We arrived at the office, and once again, I worried. However, she was an angel! We got her weighed in (she is 66 pounds of muscle!), and then the Vet did her exam, and gave her all of her shots. I was really thrilled with the appointment and with my excellent doggy companion!

Where was the real Lili?

We drove home and came in the house, and Lili crashed out on the sofa pretty quickly, and has remained quiet most of the day.

exhaustion

I’m just glad that something I have been dreading, went so well. She really is growing up and settling down!

Friday Five

Here we are, at the end of the second week of July. I can recall, oh so clearly, on New Years when I was freezing and had a couple of feet of snow in our back yard.

Anyway, I was sitting here thinking about things and decided to number them up and viola! They become my Friday Five!

Today I take Lili to the Vet for all of her shots. Most normal dogs will be quiet and sleepy afterward. I sure hope that is the case with Lili. Both Hubby and I can use the time off.

20150707_092728

Thursday found me being incredibly productive. I got the house vacuumed, (not easy with the ever shedding LIli around), shelves washed and cleared, and my plastic container storage area, cleaned and organized, finding two tops to two containers as I did!
This weekend is going to be a quiet one. I would like to get the air conditioner into the office. Currently that room is just plain stuffy.
I was in said office for a while today, backing up documents on our desktop computer. It was hot, but I got a lot done backing up our files and income tax records. I’m sure if we were asked to provide documentation from previous Income Taxes, that would be the very moment that computer would chose to die.
I’m playing Words With Friends with several different people. I love it! Best of all, as I play I think I am getting better at it. What a great workout for the brain!

Have a wonderful summer weekend, everyone!!!

TBT: My Uncle George

This weeks TBT is all about my Uncle George. Uncle George was my Mom’s first cousin, and they were so close. Just like brother and sister.

I was raised calling him Uncle George, until I made a stupid joke one day, and called Aunt Betty, Uncle Betty, and after that everyone called him Aunt George.

He loved Betty so much he allowed this nickname to be used for years and years. It wasn’t until after her death that he asked me to call him Uncle George again. Which I did, until the day he died.

Growing up, Uncle George was the one who taught us all to swim, dive, bowl, ride a bike, play badmitton, or give us the keys to his car, so we could listen to America’s Top 40, on the car radio.

When I was at the beach one day, I stepped on glass, and Uncle George walked, carrying me the entire way home, and then helped Mom get me to the doctor, where my dangling toe was stitched up.

Over the course of my life, he was always there for me. Which is why, when I married for the second time, he walked me down the isle, while my father played the organ.

I was really happy about this, as it somehow just seemed right to do it this way. Me with the wonderful man, who meant so much to me, all of my life.

Getting his bouteneer.

Walking me down the isle.

He has been gone a while now, but I still miss this wonderful and important man. He truly was one in a million!

Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. When did you last ‘swim against the tide’? Explain.

I am more of a go with the flow, kind of girl. However, I am going against the flow in one very important area in my life. My involement with food. My goal is to lose this extra weight, but it is so hard. Food advertisments are everywhere. Restaurants do not really cater to people on diets. It is definately a challenge. One I work on every day.

2. What’s the last self-help or self-improvement book you read?

I read my Weight Watchers books almost every day. I check foods for points values and I am journaling everything I eat.

3. “Tolerance is a tremendous virtue, but the immediate neighbors of tolerance are apathy and weakness.” (Sir James Goldsmith)

Agree or disagree? Discuss. With civility please, because I think we have a good thing going in our very diverse (in geography, age, religion, political persuasion, ethnicity, marital status, upbringing, and cooking abilities) neighborhood here on This Side of the Pond.

OK. I will keep this short and sweet. I think there is very little tolerance in the world. American’s (not all, but a good many) lack any form of tolerance. In fact, if you do not agree with those out standing on soap boxes you are considered a bigot. I believe that people should be left alone to make up there own minds on religion, political persuasion, ethnicity, marital status, upbringing, etc. I want to be left alone. Unfortunately there are always people who tell me I am wrong.

4. What is one of your most vivid memories of the kitchen from your childhood?

Standing on a kitchen chair in front of the sink, which looked out into our back yard, washing and drying dishes with my sister, Melodie. We sang songs and she told me stories to pass the time. I would tell her to tell me a story, but not to start it “Once upon a time…” and then she would say just those words when she started her story!

5. How did/do your own children’s summers compare with your summers as a child? If you’re not a parent, answer as it relates to what you’ve observed about the current generation of children vs. your own childhood.

As a child I spent my summers at the beach, on my bike, or swimming in the ocean. Looking back, my childhood was pretty magical, as to location. Cape Cod! What better place?

6. Tell us what body of water you would most like to be on or near today, and why?

Vineyard Sound! The water just off of my childhood home of Falmouth, Massachusetts. As I said, Cape Cod is just the best!

7. Share a favorite song about water, or a favorite song with the word water in it’s title, or a favorite song to listen to as you sit beside the water.

I love this You Tube video, made back in 2012, by the Town of Falmouth’s Beach Personnel. It shows the beaches I love and grew up with.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Once again it is Weight Watcher Day and I am nervous about the weigh in. Yeah, menopause is great, but it slows the metabolism down to a snails pace!