Dackel Princess

Dust Pitbulls

The other day Hubby pointed out that there was a piece of foam rubber on the carpet. He picked it up and did an examination. Where had this come from? The great mystery began.

He looked all over the place, convinced that the dackels were shredding something important like their little beds. I, however knew the real problem.

It was my recliner chair.

The poor thing is 11 years old, and literally falling apart. Two springs have fallen out, as well as various amounts of stuffing, but until now, no actual foam rubber.

So yesterday, when Hubby was outside the dackels and I broke out the vacuum and decided to get under the recliner. Now this is tough because the chair is very big and very heavy, but what I did was tip it on it’s back so I could see under it.

Oh my goodness! I didn’t just find dust bunnies, but a dust “Pitbull”, as well as plenty of foam rubber.

I vacuumed quickly, afraid that the dust pitbulls would jump out and get me! The dackels barked at them and I gasped at their size.

Unfortunately this means that I really do need to get a new chair, and I love my chair! It’s a chair and a half and I can sit here with all three dackels. They do not make my chair any more. *SOB*

The company now makes “pleather” ones. You know “pleather” = fake leather.

Anyway, Hubby and I will need to start shopping now so I can find something I like before I sit down in the chair and hit the floor.

Funny how attached we become to our favorite chairs.

Pet Names

Over the years Hubby and I have had many animals. He has never been so inclined, but since he has been hanging around with me, he has started to nick-name our animals.

When I was growing up, my mother would give our dogs long silly grandiose names, like Lorelei Siren of the Rhine, who I nicknamed Laurie, and a beautiful dog named Amber, that I named Bushie. Call me gifted in renaming animals, but once I get to know them, I usually rename them, or nick-name them, even if I am the one who named them originally.

When I married Hubby he had two animals. Rex (a fabulous white shepherd) and Dottie (the cutest barn cat ever) Let’s face it, with those names there were no other names I could call them, right? Well, Rex became Buddy and he always came when I called him this. Dottie was too much of a snob to be renamed.

Then after Rex, we got another white shepherd, Max, Sir Maxamillion Von Terrors. We called him Maxi, Bud-boy, or Mr. Budarino.

And then came Fritz. Baron Friedrick Von Surefiire. And he is called Fritz, Fritzi, or Bud.

The dackels are fun. Greta came to us from Germany and her Kennel name was Xochil Vom Geestmoor. Yeah, like I was going to live with that. While we were still in Germany she became Greta, and then Greta Garbo, and over time Miss Garbo! Greta is definitely a dog with an attitude!

Arnie was born and I liked Arnold for his professional name, and he settled in being called Arnie, but as he grew he became Arnie Man or Mr. Arnie Man! This makes me laugh, because like his mother he has an attitude, and has taken over under our coffee table, which has now become the man-cave!

Anneliese’s name is just my favorite. It is so sweet and beautiful, just like her. But over time she also got a nick-name. Lisa.

So, have you nick-named your animals? Do you have a pet name for your pet? Do tell!!

Friday Fill-Ins

And…here we go!

1. Why do I seem to be falling down so much lately?.

2. There have been times I wanted to go, but I have so much to stay for.

3. By far the most important part of my life, is my loving family.

4. Proud American.

5. But when the going gets tough, the tough, make jelly!.

6. Happiness has been with me for the longest time. How lucky I am!

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to having the grape jelling made and in jars, tomorrow my plans include taking my blankets to the laundromat to wash and Sunday, I want to catch up on a few housework things and take a nap too!

Rainbows

I just woke up and looked outside and there is a rainbow outside. We really do not see too many up here, but down on Cape Cod, where I grew up, we saw them a lot.

I’ve always loved them. There is something so mystical and magical about them. Especially because they last such a short time, and yet their beauty has inspired so many songs, poems and dreams.

As much as I love rainbows, I don’t think I have ever seen one in a dream. Just in person, which makes me feel that I much be totally devoid of magical imagination! lol!

In some ways this rainbow happened on a morning after I dreamt of a few people that are no longer with me. So perhaps my affinity for rainbows does have something to do with dreams.

I’ll be posting the Friday Fill-Ins later in the day.

Thursday Thirteen

Scav Sat

It’s time for Autumn’s harvest. Here are 13 things that I love about the Autumn months.

The changing colors of the leaves from green and soft, to red, yellow, orange, brown and crisp beneath your feet.
The shortened days, which spell hibernation for the squirrels, chipmunks and bears.
I also like the shortened days because I also like to hibernate in the winter, with warms mugs of tea, and my soft squishy bathrobe.
The first crisp, dry days of fall, when the air just smells so fresh.
Sweaters. Oh I love sweaters. They are absolutely like being cuddled!
Soups and stews! I love to cook them in either my crock pot or Dutch oven. Then you can smell them through the entire house!
Having a fire in my own hearth. Sitting here in my family room, watching the flames lap the logs.
Hot chocolate! Need I say more?
A fresh, crisp, Macintosh apple! Yum!

Making applesauce. I always make my own and then freeze at least two big batches to have all through the winter.

Pumpkin pie! I know that everyone loves apple pies at Thanksgiving, but my favorite has always been pumpkin!
Jackets. I love a mid-weight jacket. A lot of places keep their buildings cold and I Iove to have a jacket to wear.
Seeing my breath for the first time, when I go out with the dogs in the morning. That could be on Friday!

Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. What do you do at the first sign of a cold? Will you get a flu shot this year?

I’m the Queen of Denial! LOL!

I do drink lots of juice and ginger ale, and chicken noodle soup. Campbell’s Chicken Noodle Soup. To me, that is what I want when I’m feeling bad.

I have already had my flu shot. Did you know they are vaccinating for three separate strains of flu this year? It’s all in one shot, but apparently they expect a bad year.

2. What advice can you give about how to conquer fear?

Take a deep breath, and just go forward. Things will come in your life and there is nothing you can do to stop it. So get a grip and go forward and don’t look back! (Of course, I fall apart afterward, but I do get through the actual event.)

3. Share two good things about your life right now.

Mandy and Matt’s engagement, and the fact that we have had such a large peach crop!

4. A hot fall fashion trend in 2011 is a return to sixties style…tunics with pants, shift dresses, pencil skirts, cinched waists, bold prints, high necklines and short lengths to name a few. How does this fashion trend fit with your wardrobe and personal sense of style?

I tend to live in a vacuum. Unless I have somewhere to go, I don’t really shop. So, I will wear my cords and jeans, and sweaters and just be comfortable.

5. Were you involved in scouting as a kid? How about as an adult?

As a kid, yes. But when we moved when I was in fourth grade to a new school, I quit Scouts.

6. Apple, pear, plum, pumpkin…your favorite fall flavor?

To snack on, apple. But I simply love pies, and my favorite is pumpkin.

7. What characteristics do you think are essential in a good teacher?

Patience and organizational skills. My niece, Jinny is an Elementary School teacher, and she also has a great love for kids.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

The apples are starting to come in, and once we have enough Macintosh and Cortland’s, we will be making apple sauce. I’m nearly out of my frozen apple sauce and really need to put some up. There is nothing like homemade applesauce in the Autumn, Winter, Spring and Summer!

Bedtime

Last night, as I lay trying to sleep, three little dackels endeavored to push me out of bed. With their paws on my back, and their faces pressing there too, I nearly fell on the floor a few times. I must say that I’m getting very good as sleeping half awake! It’s either that or I will end up on the floor in a shocked heap!

Why do I let them sleep with us? Well, it goes back a long way. Here is the story, and I swear it is true!

Fifteen years ago, we were in Bavaria visiting our friends. Their dackel, Shubi, a handsome wire-haired dachshund, had recently been hit by a car and killed. We were all saddened, and their house was eerily quiet. I said, in my sympathy, that we should both get dackels!

Then Hubby and I went off to shop for socks because I had forgotten to pack them (he still taunts me about this), and when we returned, Otto had found an add for dackels in nearby Landshut. He had called and made an appointment for the next day.

We drove to Frau Lansinger’s house and we entered her kitchen and there in a basket by the stove were four small dackels. I looked down and immediately I knew I had found my puppy! She looked right up at me and I swear she smiled. I picked her up, and I knew…Magic!!!

So we paid Frau Lansinger, and I wrapped the puppy in a blanket and our friends bought her brother, and we headed back to their home.

The little puppies were a delight. We joke and teased about what to call them, and Hubby looked at me and said that it simply had to be Shubi! So Shubi she was, and her brother was named Toni.

The first night away from their mother, we put them together in a little box, but when everyone had gone to sleep I snuck them in the bed with us.

“No, no” said Hubby, who returned them to their box. And so it remained while we were there.

Eventually we left to come back to the USA, and bring our little puppy home.

We flew from Munich to Atlanta and the to Florida, where we were living at the time. It was a long day for a baby dog, but she did surprisingly well in her little carry on.

When we reached our home in Florida, Hubby once again insisted that we put Shubi in a box to sleep. But from the corner of our room I could hear her soft, pitiful cries. I said nothing, but my heart was breaking.

Finally Hubby got up and picked up Shubi and brought her into bed with us…where she remained for the rest of her life.

Needless to say, when Greta came and then the two puppies, Arnie and Anneliese, they all joined us, too.

We do draw the line at Fritz coming into bed with us, although during a bad storm last week he jumped right up between us.

So you see, gentle readers, my husband is a real softie when it comes to our dogs, and you know what? I wouldn’t have it any other way!

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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It was an odd weekend for Hubby and me. Hubby is still picking peaches, and at this point has picked and sold over 500 pounds of them, and I have tried to keep up with him by doing laundry, cooking meals and not injuring myself.

What was that, you ask, about injuring myself? Well, my middle name is klutz, and somehow on Saturday when I was preparing for my shower I slipped, bashed my head and shoulder into the wall abutment that sticks out in the bathroom! I went down in a heap and once the stars stopped clouding my vision, I did a cursory check and determined that I was okay, but the headache from that little incident seemed to last all weekend.

I’ve been making things with peaches, as well as gobbled them up. I don’t know what Hubby did to our peaches this year, but they sure taste great!

Sunday was filled with sadness as we recalled all who lost their lives on September 11, 2001. We watched new programs recalling that day, as well as the memorial services.

Eventually I turned it off, and put on the US Open Tennis and watched Serena Williams and Samantha Stosur play. Congratulations to Samantha Stosur and all of Australia for a grand win!

September 11, 2011 Ten Years

I think we all can tell you where we were, and what we were doing on that fateful day, ten years ago.

September 11, 2001

It was a beautiful day here in New Hampshire. Sunny, bright, clear with blue skies. I was taking a shower getting ready for a dental appointment, while Hubby was working on shingling the house. It was a day like any other here.
Hubby had the TV in our bedroom pointed out the window so he could listen to the morning news.

Suddenly, I felt a hand on my arm and Hubby told me I had to get out of the shower now, something was happening. I was a little dazed and confused. I shut the water in the shower off and grabbed my towel.

Hubby and I sat in our family room watching Fox News, ABC, and CNN. A plane had hit one of the Twin Towers at the World Trade Center in downtown New York City.

While we watched, suddenly another plane came in and hit the other Tower!
We were both in shock. We listened to reports. No one was saying terrorism, not at first. But both Hubby and I knew.

We watched the Tower’s come down one and then the other. We knew people had died. We just didn’t know how many.

At 12:30 I drove to my dental appointment. There was not another car on the road. Not one. I got to my dental appointment and found that I was the only patient that hadn’t cancelled that day.
When I got home we watched the TV all day. I called my family and my close friends. Just to hear their voices.

It doesn’t matter your political affiliations, or how you feel about the war.
What matters is on September 11, 2001 innocent people died in New York City, In Washington, DC and in Shanksville, PA.

People like you and like me. Just because they were Americans.
That was the day I learned that we are no longer safe here at home.

I also learned that when our country is attacked in such a manner, we pull together and unify.

God Bless all who lost their lives that day, and all who serve this country each and every day to protect and defend us.

September 11, 2001: Basic Facts

Chronology
8:46 AM Plane crashes into the north tower of the World Trade Center.
9:03 AM Plane crashes into the south tower of the World Trade Center.
9:17 AM The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) shuts down all New York City area airports.
9:21 AM The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) halts all flights at U.S. airports. It is the first
time in history that air traffic has been halted nationwide.
9:38 AM Plane crashes into the Pentagon. Evacuation begins immediately.
9:45 AM The White House evacuates.
10:05 AM The south tower of the World Trade Center collapses.
10:10 AM A portion of the Pentagon collapses.
10:10 AM Plane crashes in Somerset County, Pennsylvania.
10:22 AM The State and Justice Departments, as well as the World Bank are evacuated.
10:28 AM The World Trade Center’s north tower collapses.
10:45 AM All federal office buildings in Washington, D.C. are evacuated.
1:44 PM Five warships and two aircraft carriers are ordered to leave the U.S. Naval Station
in Norfolk, Virginia to protect the East Coast.
4:10 PM Building 7 of the World Trade Center collapses.

The Flights
American Airlines Flight 11
From: Boston, Massachusetts (Logan Airport)
To: Los Angeles, California
Lives: 92 people on board
Crashed into North Tower of World Trade Center at 8:46 AM

United Airlines Flight 175
From: Boston, Massachusetts (Logan Airport)
To: Los Angeles, California
Lives: 65 people on board
Crashed into South Tower of World Trade Center at 9:03 AM

American Airlines Flight 77
From: Washington, D.C. (Dulles Airport)
To: Los Angeles, CA
Lives: 64 people on board
Crashed into the Pentagon at 9:38 AM

United Airlines Flight 93
From: Newark, New Jersey
To: San Francisco, California
Lives: 44 people on board
Crashed into rural Pennsylvania (southeast of Pittsburgh)

Victims
Victims came from more than 90 countries around the world.
The following are the number of people who died at each site:

World Trade Center 2,823 (includes airline passengers)
Pentagon 125 (not including plane victims)
Flight 11 – 92 people on board
Flight 175 – 64 people on board
Flight 77 – 64 people on board
Flight 93 – 44 people on board

The initial numbers are indelible: 8:46 a.m. and 9:02 a.m. Time the burning towers stood: 56 minutes and 102 minutes. Time they took to fall: 12 seconds. From there, they ripple out.

Fact Sheet
U.S. Department of State
Washington, DC
August 15, 2002

Tomato and Eggplant Casserole

Slice thinly, one or two eggplants.

Place eggplant slices into strainer and salt well. Let this rest for 45 minutes.

Rinse off all the salt and allow the eggplant to sit in sink and drain. Take a ziploc bag and add a half a cup of Italian bread crumbs and then toss each eggplant slice until lightly coated.