Dackel Princess

Happy Birthday Amanda!

Today is my daughter’s birthday. A special day for her, but in the beginning, it was a very special day for her father and me.

Amanda was the first child born to us. She was healthy and happy and amazingly beautiful! We both immediately fell in love with our girl.

She was a bright and alert baby, who seemed to grow up very quickly. Always sweet and loving, yet determined to set the world on fire.

Whatever she sets her mind to, she accomplishes, but perhaps her greatest accomplishment is the fact that she is a wonderful mother to her two kids and their 2 dogs and a cat!

I am so proud of the woman she has become. She is a self-made woman who continues to tackle challenges that many would run from.

So on this, her special birthday, I wish her, good health, much happiness, and a fulfillment of all her dreams.

I love you so much, Amanda!

The Weekend Wrap ~ December 20th

The weekend seemed to rush by. I was busy with a few things, as I prepare for my trip in 10 days to get Heidi. I am actually a little under the weather myself with a kidney problem.

I started packing up my suitcase for the trip, and I also have a lightweight duffle bag with Heidi’s soft carrier inside and a few other things in it. It’s pretty much packed and ready to roll.

I cannot believe that it is almost time to go and get her. Right from day one, I knew that Heidi would fit in perfectly with us. People have asked how I knew? Well, I’m not sure. But it is the same way I knew that Anneliese and Arnie were meant to be with us.

The only dog I ever wondered about was Lili. She was quite ill when we got her, with Celiac disease. It took us nearly 4 months to get that diagnosed. Now she is sweet and kind and happy, and feels good! It’s amazing what the right food will do.

And for those who may have missed this, Lili also saved me during a daytime break-in back in January of 2019. If not for her growling, barking, and throwing herself against the door, I am sure the thief would have come in. But a German Shepherd, with a full set of teeth and a growl unlike I had ever heard, was enough to scare him off!

Lili also fiercely guarded my three dackels, Greta, Anneliese, and Arnie. Now she will have a new baby, Heidi!

On Saturday night and into Sunday we had 8 inches of snow fall on us! This found me going outside early in the morning to climb the ladder, to brush the snow off the satellite dish! It’s actually not hard to do. The ladder is a solid one and I have a great snow brush that reaches and clears the dish.

I hope you all had a great weekend and no matter what the weather was, I hope you could enjoy this last weekend before Christmas!

The Friday Five ~ December 17th

Another week has come and gone. I’ve been busy driving to and fro and thankfully, our weather has been good. Here is this week’s Friday Five.

I had planned this for a while. I went and had my hair done, colored and shaped, and I had my fingers done with pretty sparkling pink polish. Everything came out and in two weeks I leave to go and get my Heidi.
After seeing the devastation in Kentucky, I started to evaluate my whirl-wind trip to get my wee friend. Doing it all in two days was not something I felt good about, so today I called my hotel in Nashville, and Delta and changed my plans. I will leave a day early and instead of doing it all in two short days I am taking my time and doing it in three. I feel so much better about that.
All my Christmas plans are done. The one thing I have left to do is find a marvelous gift for Mandy’s birthday. I have a few ideas, but I will leave it up to her which thing she would like.
A good friend of mine lost her 14-year-old dackel today. I’d known Veela since she arrived as a puppy from Germany. She also sired a litter of puppies with Greta’s mate, Bernie. Veela was a good girl and I will miss her as will her owners.
Jack had all his blood work today and goes for his physical next week. I took the hour he was inside the VA to begin making my travel plan changes. Very wise on my part!

Have a great weekend everyone. Stay safe and stay healthy!

I love Linemen!

I was so grateful to hear that my friend and breeder of the fabulous Heidi now has power and water! This is truly amazing!

I’m not sure how often any of us think about our electricity. I mean, well we think about it when we lose power, but do we truly appreciate when the men and women who go out after hurricanes and tornados and get the poles back up and the wires strung, bringing light into the homes of so many?

I’ve watched and learned and I have seen these people bringing light back to a community filled with darkness.

You Electric Linemen, are my heroes!

This & That ~ December 15th

I feel quite remiss at not writing before now. I’ve been rather worried and upset the last few days since the Tornados tore through Kentucky and the heartland of America.

You see, little Heidi, with her birth family and the breeder, who has become a friend are in Kentucky and they were very close to the epicenter of the storms, Mayfield, KY.

Luckily, the breeder, Gail, and all her pups and all of her family came through okay. But so many homes in her town were severely damaged, and there is no power or water. I fear that will be some time to come back.

So, since my middle name is “Worry-Wart” I have just felt really unsettled. I realized it was getting to me last night at about 12:30 AM when I woke and could not get back to sleep. I sat up for a while, watched a little TV, and eventually fell back asleep at around 3:30. But today I feel a bit tired and I know I have to give this to God. Me not sleeping is not going to help anything.

My grandchildren are visiting Disney. How wonderful! I’m getting pictures several times a day and they are having a great time. But I was suddenly amazed because my granddaughter looks very much like a pre-teen. Gone is my little girl! Wow!

But here is the other thing about Savannah. She has always been beautiful, but as she grows into a young woman she is strikingly beautiful.

Okay, I know. I am her grandmother and I look at her face and see the beauty of her face and soul!

I am thrilled to see that Quinn at least still looks like a little boy. I’m not ready for him to grow up and become a teen!

So that wraps up the last few days. I hope you are all well.

Fingernails!

In recent weeks I have been planning everything for my trip to pick up Heidi. Right down to getting my hair trimmed, colored and my nails done.

My nails were longer than I have ever had them, and I was looking forward to a crazy wild manicure.

That was before Wednesday when I caught my left index finger and tore the nail down past the quick! (Insert scream and bandaids for the bleeding)

I resolved to ignore this and still have long nails on the nine other fingers. Then today, in the space of one hour two of my nails split! Ugh!

At that point, I trimmed them all lightly and have filed them. I will still have Becca give me a good manicure with pretty polish. And truth be told, they were almost too long for easy typing. So, I am looking on the bright side!

I am done Christmas shopping. Yay! A few items are off to be delivered, but as far as thinking presents for people, I am done.

Jack and I are not exchanging gifts. We are getting Heidi and that is a present that we both will enjoy.

I have set up everything for Heidi and before I leave I want to put my pull-on boots by the door as well as my slip-on jacket and hat. Oh yes, Jack hates the new snow hat, but you know, it’s warm and for running outside to house train a puppy, it is good enough!

My breeder sent us the cutest picture of sleeping Heidi being sniffed by her Daddy, Ralph!

Isn’t that the sweetest thing?

The Friday Five ~ December 10th

The week is nearly over and I know that Christmas will soon be here. Then it is just a matter of days until I leave to go and bring Heidi home. Yes, the excitement is building! So, without further adieu here are this week’s Friday Five.

Getting the house ready for a new puppy requires a little thought. One must get down on all fours and then glance around. See anything that little piranha teeth might want to chew? Well, let’s get it all cleaned up!
Next, I got out the doggy crate, cleaned it, and put a fresh bed inside. I also sat down and ordered some “Made in the USA” puppy toys, and her food from Chewy.
I think what I have been doing could be called “nesting”. Much like a new mother. I think the best puppy adoptions are when you think of everything before and follow through. So, nesting it is!
I finally sat down and made up a calendar of my family and friends’ pictures. I do it each year and usually, I have a great deal of enthusiasm. This year I didn’t feel like doing it, until just recently. Now it is all set and ordered, and best of all I had a great coupon!
My new hat arrived. It’s warm. I’m not sure I really like it. However, It covers my ears and will keep snow out of my eyes. There is just no glamour. Do I need glamour? I don’t know. Meanwhile, I will keep and use the ugly hat.

Have a great weekend everyone!!!

TBT: Greta’s First Litter

It’s hard to believe that fifteen years ago tomorrow the A-litter, otherwise known as Greta’s first litter of pups were born. Greta had labored for some time, and not had a puppy, so I rushed her to the Vets, where he delivered all 5 puppies safely, and healthfully. One big fat puppy was stuck in the birth canal, so the cesarean had to be done.

Arnie is in the blue-collar and Anneliese was the green. Everyone made it through just fine, including Greta, who went on to have one more litter before we retired her.

Greta was a fabulous mother and she tended to her babies so sweetly. It was truly a joy to watch her with her pups.

Fun times!

Cleaning

Yesterday I was a complete dynamo! I decided to clean out the mudroom bench. It’s the place where all my extra doggy stuff is ~~shoved in~~ kept. I emptied it all out and then began the sorting.

There were frisbees and toy balls, leashes and poop bags and dog dishes and our gloves, hats, and old bird feeders. Ugh!

At least everything was clean, just unorganized. So, I sorted everything, gave the puppy toys and extra cleaning, and made up a basket of puppy toys.

Jack passed by and asked where my other hats were?

Quite honestly, I have had one hat for the last 23 years! I love this hat, but Jack said that really, he hated it. Hmmm. Imagine 23 years he hated it and never told me.

I looked at myself in a mirror and decided I needed something a little newer. As much as I hated to admit it, this hat is showing signs of falling apart.

Later in the day, I found a hat online and I hope I like it. I washed my old hat and I think it will be one I keep until I am very old and very gray!

My day ended at 8:30 when I fell into bed. I was really tired, but happily so!

Happy Tuesday

Yesterday I spent time sorting through brick-a-brack around the house. Over the years it seems that I have acquired a lot of really cute, but junky crap! I also have more vases from all the lovely flowers I have been sent. How many clear bouquet vases does one need?

So, I got some old boxes (yes, I save those too!) and started filling them with all this stuff. So far, I have four large boxes of stuff.

I want to continue this cleaning and on Thursday or Friday, bring a large load of “stuff” to our recycling center’s rehoming room. You know, one man’s junk is another man’s treasure!

Little Heidi is continuing to grow and change and I am counting the days until I fly out to get her. Her wonderful breeder is raising those little babies with love, a sense of adventure, and such care. I feel so lucky to be getting one of Gail’s babies.

Little Heidi taking a nap after playing in the yard.

With each picture, with each puppy report, my heart swells with love. I feel like the luckiest of new puppy-mommys!

My plan today is more junk thinning, and also to dig out my doggy-poop bags and get those in my suitcase. Yes, believe it or not, I have started to pack for my New Year’s Eve trip!

Happy Tuesday Everyone!