Dackel Princess

This & That ~ March 10th

The last few days I have been pretty busy. I’m so anxious for Spring to arrive and I have actually enjoyed the pouring rain we had at the start of the week, which washed away a lot of the snow.

However, we had a dramatic drop in temperature, and everything turned to ice. Some you could see and some were invisible. It was the invisible ice that got me on Tuesday morning and found me falling down like a sack of potatoes.

Lili and Heidi were with me and both ran over to me, covering me with kisses lest I be seriously injured! I wasn’t, but my gosh, I sure felt all of my 63 years.

I’ve had the Spring Cleaning bug and I’ve been trying to get things washed down and cleaned. My next big step is to take down the curtains and give them a good wash.

Heidi is a real character, and this morning she was posing in the funniest ways. The first was looking up at me.

And the second was taken as she slept in her favorite spot. On my chair between my knees!

As you can see in this picture, the poor baby has no toys! LOL!

I have binge-watched “Sex and the City”. I somehow never watched it the first time around and now in my geriatric years decided to give it a shot.

I nearly stopped watching the first two seasons, but then I got caught up in the growing up of Carrie and her friends. I’ve now gone all through the TV, both movies and the revival. And I actually can say I liked it.

Now don’t judge, it was pretty graphic. But if you look past that to the character development it was a good show.

It’s snowing again. I am so over that. I am really ready for Spring to come!

Happy Birthday, Quinn!

Today my darling grandson turns six years old! Wow! The last six years raced by.

From the moment you were born, Quinn and I held you in my arms my heart was full of love for you.

I am the luckiest Oma in the entire world!

Just Some Thoughts

So much is happening in the world. It makes me wonder where we will be in a year or two or three.

I recall the early days of Covid. Before we knew much of anything about the disease. I remember going out to get groceries in what seemed like a hazmat suit. I remember stripping all my clothes off in the basement and running to the shower lest I bring in any germs.

And now here we are looking at Russia attacking a country that was a beautiful, friendly place.

Years ago, when the WALL was still up surrounding West Berlin, I made several trips into East Berlin, as well as Poland, Hungary, Romania, and St Petersburg, Russia.

You cannot imagine what it was like if you had not been there. Military on the streets as well as secret police who were constantly watching. And almost no one had a car. It sort of freaked me out to go into East Berlin back then and only see a dozen or so cars.

Growing up we were basically taught to fear Russia. They were not trustworthy and we knew if given a chance they would invade.

So here we are in 2022. Russia under the guidance of Putin is going through Ukraine killing innocent people and basically showing the world how bloodthirsty and cold-hearted he is.

My heart breaks for the Ukrainian people. But it also is breaking for the world. I don’t believe that Putin will stop there and I foresee our lives and the lives of our fellow man getting worse.

The Friday Five ~ March 4th

Here we are the first weekend in March. Sometimes March is gentle and slightly warmer. But not this year. It is cold and snowy. Here is this week’s Friday Five.

March began with plunging temperatures and more snow. 3-4 inches on Tuesday and another 3 inches overnight on Wednesday. I called for a plow on Thursday because at the rate we were going I would need snowshoes to walk in our driveway!
I had paperwork to do for my health insurance. It made me wonder, why have health insurance if the insurance company doesn’t do their job, forcing you to get all the paperwork together and resubmit? I spent five or so days getting copies of everything and trying to make heads or tails out of their instructions in order to file. Ugh!
We finally put Lili’s bed back in the family room. Immediately Heidi put her toys on it and declared it hers. Heidi is like that. Lili doesn’t own anything.
It’s all Heidi’s!
Because I find the TV News and news shows depressing to watch right now, I am binge-watching a few shows that I somehow missed way back when. I am also throwing in the show “Friends” and a whole lot of music!
My weekend will be filled with the usual. Cleaning, laundry, and cooking. Maybe I will look for a movie or two to watch.

I hope you all have a great weekend and can find some peace and happiness in this crazy world!

Fun, Fun, Fun!

Yesterday while I started to deep clean the kitchen and family room, Heidi and Lili began to really kick up some dust playing.

Me and my baby!

Heidi is so funny to watch. She runs around so fast, like a speeding roadrunner. But her favorite game with Lili is that she runs around the island in the kitchen over and over and over, while Lili tries to follow her. Then when she knows Lili is falling behind, she turns and jumps out in Lili’s face, surprising her.

I just stood there in the kitchen, silently watching until the laughter burst out from my lungs!

Lili is so patient with Heidi and allows her to play these silly games with her.

It does my heart good to see the two of them playing so nicely.

After the big play session, it was time to crash with Mama.

A sleepy puppy!

Baby Feet.

The Weekend Wrap ~ February 28th

Our weekend really sped by. We had another 10 inches of snow, and then a cold front moved through dropping the temperatures as well as a little more snow.

Heidi is rather confused by all of this. Previously our snow was frozen enough so that she could walk on top of it. Now with the new fluffy snow, she sinks!

I spent time on the phone helping to find a new dackel baby for a woman I have known for many years. She owned Arnie and Anneliese’s sister Angelika. It is so strange, but the pups from that first litter all made it to age 14 and died within months of each other.

The best news is that Heidi and Lili are now total buddies who have started sleeping together.

This makes me very happy!

Have a great week ahead!

The Friday Five ~ February 25th

The week has flown by and as I write we are awaiting a big snowstorm. somewhere between 8-14 inches. So while I wait, here is this week’s Friday Five.

After two months I finally was able to get in and have my hair colored and styled.It felt so good to go and get myself all prettied up!
I also drove Jack to his eye doctor’s appointment at the VA only to become really concerned. They kept him for over two hours!
This was caused by a medical student using Jack as a Lab Rat. Jack wasn’t really happy about this.
I’ve been going soup crazy. I made two soups so far and I am toying with the idea of making a seafood chowder next. With the cold weather and gusty winds I really have wanted warm soups.
I’ve been dreaming quite vividly this week. people I miss, people I long to see again have visited me during my slumber.

That’s all for now. I hope you all have a great weekend!

Woooops!

It’s not often that I write about Lili and her klutziness, but Monday found poor Lili in one of her worst incidents yet.

Our weather was warmer on Monday, sneaking up to nearly 50 degrees. This means more melting of the ice and snow in the yard.

We always snowplow a walking area and pooping area for the dogs. Today’s warmth turned all of those places into soggy, grassy, muddy areas.

Heidi needed to go for a walk and so I thought we would go around the house and see how Jack was doing sweeping up the sand on the drive. We have so much sand we could fill several sandboxes. (That is if it wasn’t mixed with salt!)

As we rounded the corner, Lili saw us and raced up to greet us, then she turned to begin to run back toward Jack when she slipped and caught three legs, and her belly in the mud!

Once I got to her and made sure she was okay, I saw that my beautiful white shepherd was covered with mud.

Jack took Heidi into the house, and I took Lili into the garage where I could hose her off.

But oh my goodness, what a terrible mess she was. It’s moments like this that keep me from being a fan of mud season!

The Weekend Wrap ~ February 21st

Well, February is nearly done, and the Olympics in China is done, so here are some of my thoughts on February, the Olympics, and life in general.

This may be the worst Olympics I have witnessed. The cheating with people doping was bad enough, but to have the International Olympic Committee allow the 15-year-old to skate after she failed a blood test with three different heart medications in her system, is beyond me. They claim they were protecting her, but what they did was just the opposite.
I knew that fifteen-year-old Kamila Valieva, wouldn’t be able to handle the pressure and her last skate was a disaster. And after she had her meltdown, she was then abused by her horrible blond coach, this left me angry. I wanted to hug that little girl. I truly fear for her wellbeing.
I also found the people who were American-born, or Canadian-born, who switched their loyalties to another country, pretty upsetting. What’s that old saying, “I am who I am”. If I suddenly changed my allegiance to Germany or any other country it’s simply being dishonorable to myself and my country of birth. It was repulsive to me.
I also found that the Chinese made it very difficult for everyone who came to compete but their own athletes! Those who tested positive (I will not even go into that.) were kept in isolated hotel rooms that were little more than prisons. No hot food, no place for them to work out. And really, no way for the team doctors to examine them.
Since I subscribed to Peacock I was able to see certain events in their entirety. All the ski jumping, ice skating, etc. I liked that. But felt bad for people who did not have a streaming service.
Heidi is growing and changing every minute.She is simply so beautiful with a personality to match. I am just the luckiest dackel Mama!

The Friday Five ~ February 18th

I’m afraid I have reached the time in my life where time is speeding by quite fast. It seems we get through the weekend and before I know it, the week is gone and we’re at another weekend. Here’s what’s happening!

I could have cared less about the Super Bowl. I’m afraid that I’ve lost interest in the sport due to the fact that there are so many millionaire athletes getting into trouble, crying about their low pay, and just generally acting like whining babies. I loved watching Tom Brady but felt really bad when he chose to leave New England to play for another team, and then two years later when he retired, thanking everyone, except his fans in New England who supported him all those years. Sorry Tom, you totally blew it with me. So there was no Super Bowl Party here.
Valentines Day was pretty odd. I did cook a nice meal of lamb chops and mushroom risotto, with a sponge cake, cream, and strawberry filling. But when I went out to buy myself some flowers, the store had crappy ones and when I stopped over at the Florists, they were closed. I told Jack not to worry. I’ll buy something for our anniversary in April.
I got a hankering for the Chicken, Meatball and Escarole Soup. This stuff is just yummy and best of all, there are no points in it! You can find the recipe HERE.
Heidi was off to the Vet’s Office for her last vaccination. While there they weighed her (15 lbs) and I made an appointment for her to be spayed.
That will be at the end of April when she is six months old.
Not too much else really. Since the weekend is here it is laundry time and vacuuming time. Not because of sweet Heidi. But all Lili has to do is sneeze and her white fluffy fur fills the room!

Have a great weekend everyone!