Dackel Princess

Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. What’s something you miss about the 1980’s? If you’re too young to miss the 80’s how about the 90’s?

I miss my kids being little. That was such a great time. And I miss cheap gasoline!

2. Do you have a library card? If so, how often do you visit?

Yes and weekly. In fact, I am a Library Trustee!

3. What’s the secret to success?

Believing in God, yourself and your family. Also, never give up!

4. This is National Backyard Games week…what’s your favorite backyard game?

Throw the ball for the dogs!

5. If I dropped by today what would I find on your coffee table?

Just a few magazines. Recycling day was yesterday, so my table is quite neat!

6. Do you own a bicycle? When was the last time you rode a bicycle? Is that something you enjoy?

I do own a bike, but since we moved back to hilly New Hampshire I don’t ride. In Florida, I rose almost everyday, with Shubi in my basket.

7. What’s your favorite cheese?

It’s a tie. A good Tilsiter, or Vermont Cheddar!

8. Insert your own random thought here.

The Baby Shower sure was fun! It was so nice to see my daughter so happy, and I couldn’t believe how generous everyone was!

The garden is coming along. I have 12 plants in patio pots with tomatoes, eggplants, and green peppers outside on the patio. Our temperatures have been nice enough so we have just been able to leave them outside. I think last week we only had two nights where we dragged the pots into the green house to protect the plants.

Meanwhile the little seedlings are growing by leaps and bounds! I think the best ones are the zucchini and the squashes. The cukes have really struggled, but are starting to look better.

Where we are in the growing charts, it really isn’t safe to plant until after Memorial Day (the end of May). Then we rake up the garden and plant little hills of all the vegetables.

We do have one big disappointment this year. No Cherries! In years past, we have so many that our fingers turn maroon from seeding and eating them. It was this totally wacky spring we have had!

So, sadness all around…no cherries to eat or make my favorite Cherry Jelly!

It does look like we have a fair apple crop, peach and plum crop and possibly a small pear crop. I will be grateful for each piece of fruit grown here.

My snowball bushes should be in full bloom this weekend! They have a nice crop of blossoms this year. That brings back wonderful memories of my childhood.

What I Did This Past Weekend

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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On Saturday, after weeks of preparation, Mandy’s sister, Ally, Ally’s mother, Di, and Matt’s Mom and I gave Mandy a shower for the baby.

I know that many countries don’t have baby showers, like we do in America, but they are so much fun, and a way for all family and friends to gather together, tell baby stories, labor and deliver stories and shower the baby with gifts of all sorts.

My gift was going to be a high chair that Mandy had selected. I went all over New England looking for this special chair, which you can use from birth until the baby is about 4 years old, and NO ONE had them! I finally called and found one in Parsipanny, New Jersey! They said they would ship it to me. Fine, but they couldn’t guarantee it would be here in time for the shower.

Oh dear! Here I am, the mother of the new Mommy, first time Grammy, and no present for my baby! It was really bothering me! One morning I woke and it hit me!

I had saved all the special dresses the girls wore, including the white dress I wore home from the hospital in 1958 (above), and the pink dress Mandy wore home from the hospital in 1976
(below)!

See the close up of the dress in the picture above? That was a newborn Mandy in her dress.

I knew right where the box was, and pulled it out of the attic! I washed the clothes carefully, and pressed them smooth. Then I found pictures of Mandy wearing the dresses, printed those out, pinned each to the dress and told the little stories behind them.

I put these dresses in 4 baby bags, and called them “Bags Full Of Memories”!

Savannah will not need clothes until she is about three years old! She has enough clothing, soaps, blankets, etc to last until then. She also got a Pack N Play (portable bed, playpen, changing table) and yes, the high chair arrived!

So many of our family and friends came. My sister, Melodie, My niece, Jinny, my cousin Janet, and my best friend, Gail.

Mandy was glowing and so happy to see so many loving faces. For me, it was wonderful to see so many people I had not seen in decades.

The Shower

It’s pretty late and I am exhausted, so I will post a couple of pictures and then write about the Baby Shower tomorrow!

OMG

What a busy day! I had not planned for it to be so busy, but it just turned out that way. Between Hubby, the dogs and cleaning, I was really out straight.

You see, last night they predicted that we would be having a frost. Since I have 12 potted patio plants I was worried about them. Would they freeze?

So I carried them all into the green house, closed that us, and went to bed. This morning, I carried them all back outside, watered them and noticed that it had not, in fact, gotten cold enough to freeze!

I set about doing all I needed to do and by 3 PM I was quite literally exhausted. It will not be hard to go to bed early tonight, which is good, as I must get up early tomorrow.

Big day on Saturday. I will write about it on Sunday. Have a wonderful weekend!

Friday Fill-Ins

And…here we go!

1. When we think vacation, we think sun and sea!!
2. I would love to head to Cape Cod. That’s where I was born and raised.
3. It’ll be wonderful when Mandy’s baby is born.
4. Paris is a place I always wanted to visit, but haven’t yet.
5. When I’m sad I cry; when I’m happy I cry too, but with a big smile on my face.
6. I love the fact that people are warm and caring. It’s the best thing about my community.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to an early bedtime, tomorrow my plans include taking care of some business and Sunday, I want to sleep and rest all day long!!!!

Happy Blogoversary 7 Years, To Me!

I just looked and realized that Dackel Princess is now 7 years old! How did this happen? The last 7 years have flown by. Shubi is gone now.

She was the original Dackel Princess. Greta the new senior Dackel Princess, is 8 years old.

She has two children that still live with us, Arnie & Anneliese, and life has shifted from looking forward to new puppies to the simple enjoyment of all of our dogs.

I love writing about the dogs, Hubby, Mandy & Matt and soon their little baby. I mean, how blessed am I to have all of this love around me?

Thursday Thirteen

The flood edition.

I noticed a puddle in the basement the other day.
I walked it off, and determined it had to come from the dishwasher.
We pulled the dishwasher out, and found the split hose.
Good!
We ordered the hose.
It came in record time.
W e replaced the hose.
And found another leak.
Isn’t that always the way?
The washer is nearly repaired now.
I had to pull up all of the shelf paper under the sink.
What a mess.
We will finish the repair on Thursday afternoon…I hope!

A Flood

My dishwasher broke last week. How did we know? Well the big give away, was the puddle on the floor in the garage below and the leak in the cieling!

The first night, we planned our course of action the next day, we would undo the gazillion screws, carefully putting them aside, and then we would spend about half an hour moving the machine out from under the counter. No small feat when both Hubby and I have problematic knees.

However we did it, and we found pockets of water in the insulation, and before we knew it, the floor was covered. What a mess!

Mops and sponges were brought out and we cleaned up the mini disaster as we went about finding the hole in the hoses.

It did not take long. There it was!

A tiny little slit capable producing big puddles!

We looked through the Owners Manual & Parts book and Hubby got on the phone and ordered the new hose. I think that was on Sunday.

This afternoon the UPS truck pulled up and lo and behold, our new hose arrived from Frigidaire!

Now the challenge begins…installation!

Making Meatloaf

I’ve been making this for a while now and we really enjoy it. In fact, it was what I made for dinner on Monday night!

Meatloaf!

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup chopped yellow onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1/2 pound ground pork
1/2 pound ground veal
2 eggs (used egg beaters)
1/4 cup ketchup
2 teaspoons Spice Mix, recipe follows
1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2/3 cup fine dried bread crumbs

Spice Mix Recipe
(save the rest in airtight container.)
3 tablespoons paprika
2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons dried parsley
2 teaspoons onion powder
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon celery salt

Position rack in center of oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Heat the vegetable oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, celery, bell pepper, garlic, salt, basil, thyme, and black pepper. Cook, stirring, until the onions are soft and lightly golden, about 6 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the ground beef, pork, and veal with a wooden spoon or with clean hands. Be sure to wash up afterward.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine the eggs, ketchup, Spice Mix, Dijon mustard, and Worcestershire sauce, and whisk to combine. Add the egg mixture to the meat mixture along with the cooled vegetables and bread crumbs. Mix with your hands or a wooden spoon until thoroughly combined.

Transfer the mixture to a 9 by 5 by 3-inch loaf pan. Using your fingers or the back of the wooden spoon, smooth the top into a rounded loaf shape. Wash hands again.

Place strips of bacon on the top.

Bake the meatloaf for 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Author: Dackel Princess