Author: Dackel Princess

Our host is Gattina. Come join us and tell us what YOU did this past weekend! After all, you never know when you will need an alibi!

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What a busy weekend we had. It was all homey stuff, but it kept us on the go. Everything from making pickles,

to doing laundry to clearing out the dead vines in the garden!

I’m not sure how the pickles have come out. I will put a jar in the fridge to chill and try them in a day or two. It would be nice if they came out well.

You know me. The weekend always finds we catching up with our laundry. We are either the dirtiest people I know, or the cleanest. I haven’t decided yet, but we certainly produce a lot of laundry!

We did manage to watch our fair share of movies. I amend that statement. I watched a lot of movies. I admit, they were chick flicks and I ended up crying at the end of every one!

I did work outside clearing the garden. I managed to scratch up my arms and even cut my hand, despite the fact that I had on gloves! Alas, the garden is clear and it looks good.

We made Spaghetti sauce, and froze more of that and the next batch of chili will be put up later this week.

See? Busy, busy, busy!!!

Saturday was like most Saturdays in my life. Cooking, laundry and dog walking. The sun was out, the grass is green and deep, as all the rain has prevented us from mowing it.

I did get the chance to clear out the zucchini, summer squash and some of the dead cucumber plants in the garden. It’s looking rather amazing in there right now. It’s so early in the summer for the garden to be so empty!

Unfortunately the squashes and some of the cucumber plants got powdery mildew, and that was the end of them!

Sunday we will be canning our batch of Dill Pickles. I sure hope they have come out well. remember we have 10 pounds of cucumbers pickling!

I made 4 quarts of tomato sauce on Friday and here I am cooking down more tomatoes. I think this batch will have to be for chili.

I’m looking forward to a slightly less hectic Sunday. Perhaps I can actually read the newspaper after we can the pickles!

Happy Sunday Everyone!

1. I included this quote (attributed to William H. Danforth) in my blog post yesterday… “The best cure for a sluggish mind is to disturb it’s routine.” When was the last time you ‘disturbed your routine’ and how’d you do it?

Becoming a Grandma has disturbed my mind and my routine, but only in the best of ways. I am driving to see Savannah and Mandy, spending time with them, talking to my daughter in new and exciting ways! Yes, being a grandmother is just the best!

2. What’s your favorite fried food indulgence?

Whole belly Clams! They are just the best! Of course you have to go to a place where they do it just right. Whole Belly Clams can be terrible if they are not cooked correctly!

3. Did you have an allowance as a kid? What did you do with it? Do you give your own kids an allowance?

No I didn ‘t. We did not have a lot of money growing up, so I just did my chores. When I was twelve years old I started to babysit, and that was my money!

4. What’s something you wish you knew more about?

Plant sciences. I have a real problem in my garden and I am not sure what to do. I need to read, to call the local Extension Service and find out what to do with my diseased garden!

5. Is there anything you feel too old to do anymore? If so, what?

I was thinking about this last night. I used to do gymnastics, but I am afraid my old body wouldn’t allow me to do a back flip anymore. In fact, I know it wouldn’t. I am going to try to practice and train, so I can show Savannah how to do a somersault. However, handstands, flips and splits are now out of the question!

6. What’s a song you think has a great first line?

When I find myself in times of trouble
Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be

7. Who are you writing to/for when you create a blog post? In other words…as you write, who is the audience in your head?

That’s a good question. During my breeding of dackel’s I wrote for the prospective puppy buyers. Over time, I started to write for family and friends, but now, now I write for me!

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Today I am at Weight Watchers weighing in. I have really worked hard, writing down everything I eat and drink. I also have tried to make good selections as to what I am putting on the table, and weighing and measuring what I put in my mouth. So keep your fingers crossed that I have a good loss!

Last night I was lying in bed when it dawned on me that I had forgotten to write Dackel Princess! Since I’d had a rather bad day, I decided I would wait until morning, and write then.

I was very nervous about going to see the Endodontist. I wasn’t sure what he would do. He examined me, took x-rays and then we spoke at length. Mostly he told me that the current root canal looks good, but he says he did see infection under the tooth. Which leads him to think one of two things. Either there is another canal or two in the tooth, or there is a crack. For $1100.00 he can re-root canal the tooth, but he cannot guarantee that the tooth will be good. In fact he indicated that he thought the tooth was bad.
I am supposed to go back on Friday, but all the way home I kept thinking…$1100.00 is a lot of money. Should I spend it on a tooth that may not make it? Or should I have it pulled, get an implant and be done with it. Meanwhile, I am in pain, and not a happy girl!

Today I am planning to go out and work in my garden. I plan to pull all the zucchini and summer squash plants, as well as the bean, and pea vines. I also need to go through the cucumber plants and pull he ones that have died.

The garden has been terribly disappointing. I need to find out what to do to the dirt once the garden is clear, to remove the bacterial infection that killed my plants.

Tomorrow is my second full week back on the Weight Watchers program. I think I have done well, and I sure hope it is reflected on the scale.

Happy Tuesday, Everyone!

I know I write an awful lot about my weight, but the fact is, I like to eat. I also like to cook, so the combination is just deadly for my waistline!

Currently two out of the four pairs of my jeans that I can actually zip, have a hole in the left knee. Yes both pairs have the hole on the left knee. I guess I kneel on that knee the most. Anyway, the point here is, I do not want to go out and buy new pants until I have lost the weight and I am back in my usual size.

That’s even funny because my usual size is actually the size I was a couple of years ago for about 5 minutes! As soon as I eat “normal” food or have a couple of drinks, the weight jumps back on me and it brings friends.

When I was younger, I used to be able to eat just about anything, and I didn’t gain weight. It didn’t seem that I was as consumed by thoughts of food back then. Perhaps because I was such a bad cook.

Then I married Hubby and found he liked to eat. Not just that, he didn’t mind being used as a Guinea Pig, while I learned to cook.

Julia Child video’s and I became good friends. Having her turn an omelet and miss the pan, somehow made the tuna roll I had tried to make, but that fell apart, easier for me to take.

Not everything a person cooks will turn out like a Master Chef. We all have our bad days, but over the last 25 years, I’ve actually improved.

Thus my weight problem, and my lifetime membership with Weight Watchers!

On Friday I saw my Dentist once again. He wants me to go down to the city and see the Endodontist about this tooth. The Endodontist will look to see if there is a crack or another canal in the tooth. Meanwhile, I’m afraid I am suffering quite a bit with this pain in my mouth.

Our peaches are coming in and so are the plums. Last night I made a batch of Plum Jam. But at the critical moment when Hubby was to add the pectin, he opened the packet and the pectin was more solid than liquid. Quite odd. I continued to cook it all, and then after filling 10 half pints, I processed the jars of jam. The Jam tastes fine and the consistency is good, but I went out today to buy more sugar and fresh pectin. My next batch of jam is the peach “Heavenly Jam” and I want all the correct and fresh pectin!

We were supposed to go out tonight for dinner, but I begged off at the last minute. I can not eat too much with this darn tooth and I’m afraid I am like a dog when they hurt. I just want to curl up and get ready to die!

I was making more spaghetti sauce from our tomatoes, so I fed that to Hubby and I was able to slurp down a little.

We’re just having the worst weather this weekend. Heavy rain and down in Massachusetts they even had a tornado! Wild summer weather!

Have a good weekend everyone!