Happy Thursday all you TBT folks!
Today I am putting up a picture of Mandy at one year old! She was such a happy baby and adorable, too!
Author: Dackel Princess
Wednesday Hodgepodge
1. June is National Great Outdoors Month. Have you spent any time appreciating the great outdoors this month? If so where, and if not do you have any plans to enjoy the great outdoors before the calendar turns?
Oh yes, I have been in my garden. Each day, it seems I have something to do besides water out there. This year we’re having a lot of trouble getting the cucumber plants going. But I hope (fingers crossed) that the newest replants will take hold.
2. What’s a current hot button issue for you?
I’m trying not to let anything bother me these days. I have too much on my mind. If I allow things to really bother me, then I do not sleep.
3. What’s a food or treat that ‘disappears like hotcakes’ in your house?
For me popcorn. I get the single serving size and those are a great low cal treat.
4. How hot is too hot?
Anything over 80 degrees F. Especially if it is accompanied by humidity.
5. Do you have an artistic outlook on life? What does that mean to you?
I’m really not sure. I think I used to, but now I am just practical. I really need to kick back and let my inner artist flow a bit!
6. What’s one question you’d like to ask your father, or one you wish you could ask your father?
I’d ask him more about his childhood and family. He never talked much about that.
7. Something you learned from your father?
My love of music of all kinds.
8. Insert your own random thought here.
I am still learning all the little bells and whistles of my new Smart Phone. Oh my, there is so much! I like the phone, but will be happy when I know what I need to, to make this phone work correctly for me.
The Wild Boar
Five years ago, I took a trip to Germany with Anneliese, to breed her. We spent a week with my best friend, Uschi, and we enjoyed our visit.
Like all good things in life, the visit soon ended and we had to fly back home. Both over and back, we got seats in Business Class, and Anneliese was the perfect little traveler.
On our flight back the flight attendant handed out the Customs Declaration forms, to be filled out before we landed.
I had all of Anneliese’s paper work in my large carry on pocketbook, and knew if we were to be stopped I could produce the documents quickly.
I filled out the form, which asked if I was traveling with an Animal? I wrote, Yes. Color of animal? Well, her official color is Wild Boar, so that is what I wrote.
We landed at JFK International Airport in New York, and since I had all my bags, I just walked off the plane and right down to Customs.
The first Customs Official saw that I had an animal and sent me to the Agriculture Officer for inspection. The officer examined the customs form, and then asked to see the animal. So, I unzipped the top of her bag, and as I did this, the man took two steps back.
You see, he thought I was bringing in a “Wild Boar“!
Once he saw Anneliese’s head pop out he started to laugh! He told me why he was laughing and we both laughed together.
Lili
We have had Lili for a year now. This first year will go down as one of the toughest puppy dog years of my life.
It’s not that Lili is a bad dog. Quite the contrary, Lili really has a good heart, and there is not a single mean bone in her body.
That being said, Lili has been tough to love. She came to us ill, and being a puppy, she just didn’t understand what was happening.
She became anxious and stressed, and then began to systematically destroy my house. Have you seen the movie “Marley and Me”? About a man and his wife who get a dog who destroys everything. That’s us. I have one entire room (The dog room.) that needs to be completely redone. That did not endear her to me.
I tried to take her to classes and she flunked. At that time I thought she had some sort of hyper activity disorder. Yet, here we are, Lili is over a year old now, and in the last week I have started to see a new dog.
She wants to please. She follows me everywhere. She is starting to play ball with Hubby, out in the back yard, and then when she is called for dinner she comes right in.
It’s unfortunate that we never really had that sweet, loving, puppy-hood, that I have had with my other dogs. Yet now, now I feel like the worst is over and she may very well become part of our family after all. So much time spent anxiously, on her part, but I think she may be through the worst.
She is a beauty, that is for sure. Perfectly white with the exception of the very tip of her tail, which looks like it has been dipped in light apricot paint. Her nose is jet black, not reddish in what the breeders call snow nose. And her eyes. Those two beautiful brown mud puddles. When she looks at me, I melt.
Yes, we’re making progress with Lili. Quite happily so!
30 Years
It’s been 30 years since the car accident that took my youngest daughter’s life. (You can read about the accident HERE. )
Kathleen Alynne
Katie would be all grown up now, 36 years old! Even after all this time, the shock and pain of her loss is unbelievable. And really, there is no way to explain it. Somehow Mandy, Bob and I, managed to go on, and yet for the rest of our lives, there will always be a spot, a bright star, in our lives, that is missing.
We never got to see her grow up, fall in love, graduate from school, or hold her baby in her arms. She was robbed, and so were we.
This year, the thirtieth anniversary of her passing, I will try to be happy. Happy for those six and a half wonderful years that we all shared with her. After all, she was really an amazing and greatly loved little girl!
In Memory of Katie from Dackel Princess Maribeth on Vimeo.
Friday Five
Five New Presents
- My new cell phone. Hubby realized that I really did need a Smart Phone, so we both researched it, with the help of my online friends, and Consumer Reports, and decided that the Galaxy S5 was the right one for me. Immediately I loved it! I also bought an Otterbox Case to protect it, as I am always dropping things! Bright pink! Perfect for me!!!
Then three days after the purchase, they “upgraded my operating system to Lollipop and two of my apps stopped working. I spent most of yesterday looking up the problems on the Internet and then…I found my answers and fixed them both! Now I feel Smart!
- My daughter recently gave me a wonderful mini book of Savannah pictures. There are also pictures of my daughter Mandy with Savi.
I love it! It fits right inside my pocketbook, and as always, I am the doting Oma, and show anyone who asks (or even if they don’t) my beautiful girls.
- My sister heard that I have a rather weird neighbor who walks slowly to his car if I am out early with Lili.
So she went out and found the cutest summer bathrobe for me. It is light weight cotton, and so pretty!
- I bought myself a prezzie too! My old clog slippers finally died. They were a pair of Merrell Clogs I wore when I first was diagnosed with Plantar Fasciitis. (8 and a half years ago) After I got my inserts, I used these well worn and well loved clogs for slippers, as I could run out with the dogs and had good rubber soles. But all good things eventually come to an end. The soles literally peeled off! I searched and searched and I found the same model, but in dove gray.
Not my first choice, but pretty none the less, and best of all, cheap at $29.89. They arrived on Wednesday and I love them!!!
- I also bought myself another prezzie. A new night gown.
Do you ever fold your clothes after laundering them, and realize you haven’t had a new night gown in like 5 years? Or more? Mine are all in rags, and so now that I have the new bathrobe, I bought a new night gown. It’s pretty and pink!
So there you have it. Five new things that I am extremely thankful for. The pictures of Savi and Mandy being the most loved, and the new Smart Phone being the most desired! A banner week for sure!
TBT: Katie & Mandy 1985
Cell Phones & Photographs
Hi Everyone. I feel quite guilty for not writing until now. However, I finally became the owner of a Smart Phone, a Galaxy S5, and since I have never had a Smart Phone, I have had to spend a lot of time learning about it, and programming it to my needs.
In fact I took these pictures today of a Christmas Cactus that was given to me years ago by a very special friend, Carol. The cactus loves my bedroom window, and just keep blooming, over and over again!
The camera is easy to use and takes such nice pictures!
Anyway, I did get the sheets washed and the bed made, and cooked three nice meals, and in between, I worked on learning the new phone.
Cancer Survivor’s Day 2015
I want to take a moment to pray and be thankful for all those who have survived cancer.
My dearest cousin, Janet, went in for a routine test and was then diagnosed with a difficult form of cancer. She made the best choices in life and fought this battle with all she had. It was not easy, but she handled her fight with dignity and grace. I was so afraid I would lose her, my best friend, and cousin. But she was victorious!
Best of all, while she recovered she had time to surf Facebook, and she found and old friend, met up with him for coffee, and now they are married!
I have a cousin, Erica, who survived a terrible time with cancer. It is only by the grace of God, and the skill of many doctors, that she is with us today and is doing so well.
I knew a man in High School, and met his wife along the way. What a sweet and wonderful woman. She is also a cancer survivor, and I know her family, and we, her friends, are grateful beyond words.
A woman in Australia, I have not met, but whom I share the same sort of skin cancer, in nearly the same place, and I have become friends. Michelle, I am ever so grateful that you keep winning your battles with cancer!
Lastly, I thank God every day that I am here, that my face is reasonably intact, and that I am well.
I send my prayers to Heaven to all we have lost. Far too many to name. I know, in my heart, that God will restore those who have suffered. Blessings to you all.
This & That
The Sunday Edition
Yesterday we watched American Pharoah with The Triple Crown! I was jumping up and down, and crying. Oh, I felt so emotional, because the last time a horse won The Triple Crown, I was sitting in the living-room at my childhood home, with my six month old baby, (Mandy), my parents, sister, and grandparents! So, it was very exciting!
I did get all the cucumber plants, purchased yesterday, planted. I hope these will take, and that we will have some good cucumbers. Next year, I will start my own seeds. I’ve been so disappointed this year with the store bought ones.
I still have not done the silly ironing, but today is the day, I promise! I simply have to get this done or have nothing to wear!
I have finally decided on a Smart Phone. I want to buy the Galaxy S5. I weighed all the comments I got from family and friends, then I went to Consumer Reports. After that I looked at what I need the phone to do, and the Galaxy seemed to be the one for me!
Yesterday, one of the dearest women I know from Weight Watchers passed away. Laura had Down’s Syndrome, but she never let that hold her down. She was sweet and happy and kind. Often wearing her chunky pearls to class. She just loved those. After my first facial surgery I went to class, and she hugged me and told me I looked beautiful, even though I didn’t. I will miss her, but will think of her often with a smile. Rest in peace, Laura.
We’re planning on a huge shopping trip on Wednesday. Motorcycle Week starts on Friday and during that week I try very hard to stay out of the stores and off the roads in this area. Last year, about 320,000 visitors came to New Hampshire for the annual rally and organizers say they anticipate about the same number of people this year.
The weather is due to be good, so hopefully the crowds will enjoy themselves. In recent years it has become a more family event. I really hope this is true this year.