Dackel Princess

Knitting, Laundry & Chili

For anyone who may be wondering, I have been working on my scarf quite a bit.

I’m now not sure that I am as crazy about the color as I was when I started, but I’ll finish it and then bestow it upon some one who loves me. I’ve actually been enjoying it and it has helped me to learn to relax. You simply cannot knit if you are bouncing off of walls. I mean, you can, but it isn’t pretty in the end.

The knitting has come to school board meetings with me, town meetings and has been keeping my hands occupied when I watch TV and just when I need to sit down and zen out. I use it as a total de-stress tool. Sometimes I pick it up and just do a row.

What do you do to de-stress when life is pulling you down?

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In other news, I managed to get 5 loads of laundry done, after ignoring it most of the week, and I made a triple batch of chili, which we will have for dinner tonight, and then I will freeze several meals worth for Hubby. You see I decided to breed Anneliese again and so when she goes into heat in May, I will be going to Germany!

I will spend time with my Uschi, and we will enjoy the sights, sounds and foods of Germany in the spring. Anneliese will spend two days with her “husband” Isegrim, and hopefully come home pregnant.

So, I have been cooking and freezing meals for my wonderful husband, so he doesn’t have to eat at McDonald’s every night.

After all, Anneliese could surprise us all and go into heat at any time.

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Monday is the big day. I am pulling down my curtains and washing them. I’m in spring mode and all of the household curtains need to be taken down, washed, dried and put back up! Then I can take a deep breath and enjoy the smell of clean!

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I watched the movie Babe today. What a precious story that is. I liked that so much more than yesterday’s movie, “Crazy Heart”. I like simple stories with characters I can relate to.

Loving Spring

This morning I woke to bright sun and another beautiful day. However, after my long walk yesterday I was literally doubled over with leg cramps last night. I tried to walk them off, but wound up using my heating pad to release the muscle spasms.

Okay, yes, I know. I am old!

I made sure the pups all played in the yard with their toy balls, got a little domestic work done, before going to see a matinee of “Crazy Heart”.

First off, we were the only people in the theater to watch the movie. I was really surprised by that! After all Jeff Bridges won the Best Actor Academy Award for his portrayal of the lead character. The nice part about being the only people in the theater? We could talk during the movie, ask to have the volume adjusted, and when I got a charlie horse in my leg I could stand and no one complained!

Anyway,

I think I am the only person on the planet that didn’t like this movie. I want to have some sympathy/empathy for the lead character, but he was a dirty, down on his luck, and not doing much to help himself, drunk and I just couldn’t like him. In fact I wanted to scream at Maggie Gyllenhaal’s character to run the other way!

Hubby liked the movie and felt it was a great character study. He also felt the movie is not for every one. He liked the music.

Yes, Jeff Bridges was good, but heck, I liked him better in “The Fabulous Baker Boys” or “Fearless” better than I did in this. But….no one asks me.

I thought Maggie Gyllenhaal looked very beautiful. Someone said recently that she has trouble getting good parts because she is not beautiful enough. I do not find this to be the case, and I like her acting as well. She was wonderful in “World Trade Center” a true story movie she made a few years back. If you have not seen it, watch it. That movie reminded me of how good Americans can be during a crisis like that.

We came home to wild dogs, who wanted to play outside. Hubby took them out and I made some tea.

The ice is nearly gone from our small lake and I will not be surprised if they declare ice out on the Big Lake today or tomorrow, which would break all records!

Sunday will be a catch-up day. I need to do laundry and some more cooking and perhaps even do something wildly crazy, like dust!

A Walk In The Springtime

It was a perfectly beautiful day. So perfect that I decided to take Anneliese and go for my first walk of the Spring. About 10 o’clock I put on her cute little harness, snapped on the leash and we headed out. I wanted to go to the Post Office and the docks down on the big lake. After that, I was open to almost anything.

Up the driveway we went until we ran into our neighbor, Frank. He is a 92 year old man who served during World War II. He is the most positive, happiest and fit man that I know, for his age. I tease him all the time and call him my boyfriend! Anneliese and I gave him hugs and kisses and off we went.

We stopped at the Post Office and got the mail. I had a plastic bag to put it in, but in the future I really need to use my back-pack. Those silly plastic bags really cut into you after a while.

So off we walked to the big lake. It was beautiful. The lake temperature is up to 39 degrees (F), so we should have ice-out almost anytime.

As you can see around the dock area it is clear of ice.

Anneliese is such a big girl and she handles herself so well. She does not know she is a small dog and when a Greyhound passed her by, she barked like she was going to eat him! The poor thing just shook! The Greyhound, not Anneliese!

I spoke to her a lot and then I remembered that I needed to get sworn in at the Town Hall as a Library Trustee for the next three years. I turned back and walked to the Town Hall and went in. I took my Oath of Office with Anneliese as my witness. (The Tax Collector was also my witness.) Then we started our walk home.

Anneliese was so good and when I spoke to her about our walk she stopped and turned back and looked at me with love in her eyes. Or is that annoyance that I am photographing her again?

Eventually after about three miles of walking, we got to our driveway and started down hill. It was so beautiful that I stopped and took a few pictures.

As you can see our little lake is nearly ice free. Truly amazing. Usually it is late in April when this occurs.

I think Spring is here!

Flashback Friday!

I actually posted a great post (I think) last night for today. Then when I was trying to correct a link I erased it all! How I could do that is simply beyond me! In any case I am trying to redo it although I know the prose will not be nearly as good.

I’ve decided to start having my very own Meme on Fridays. It will be called Friday Flashback. I’m trying to create a link back, but please be patient. I know very little about writing actual HTML code, but I am trying to learn.

Okay, the first picture is of my brother, my sister, Mel in the middle, striking a pose. and little squirt me, playing the kazoo. Mel and Dickie were best friends growing up. They were just 2 years apart in age and had so much in common. I was 5 years younger and quite a pain in the neck! Sadly, my brother passed away at the young age of 26 from cancer.

The next picture was taken when I was 15. I had all four Wisdom Teeth removed as well as part of my jaw bone. Back then they actually hospitalized you. I was swollen like a chipmunk, and totally spaced out on pain-killers!

This is my High School graduation picture. I was not yet 17 years old. I loved that dress as it was a mini, mini, mini skirt. I definitely don’t wear them that short now!

This is me with my sister Mel. In our twenties we looked very much alike. I don’t think we look so much alike now. We always joke that we are really twins separated by 5 years!

Lastly, is a picture of Amanda at about four and a half years old. She was the flower girl in a wedding. She did a great job and I was very proud. I have always loved Mandy in dresses and flowers in her hair!

So Fridays will now be my Flashback Fridays. I will be scanning in pictures and then telling you the story behind them. Hopefully next time I won’t erase what I have written!

What Is Written

The other day I posted an entry about how much I don’t like to clean, and yet, how it simply must be done. I was amused to find in my SPAM catcher, some of the funniest comments yet. So I decided to share them with you. Here is what they wrote…

“Insightful comments, from everyone. So what is your ultimate conclusion, do you think? Given all the input and your experiences thus far, I mean.”

Okay, there was absolutely nothing insightful about my dislike of spring cleaning, except perhaps that it must be done.

“Oi! That was brilliant! Bloody brilliant, in fact! Not often I find a blurb worth remarking upon, but this one was worth it. Good job, lad!”

As you all know, I am not a lad, and even I know that my post was not brilliant!

“I must tell you, your piece goes to the heart of the issue. Your clarity leaves me wanting to know more. I will immediately grab your feed to keep up to date with your site. Alleging thanks is simply my little way of saying bravo for a marvelous resource. Let In my best wishes for your next post.”

The heart of what issue? The heart of disliking to clean in the spring? Well if that is the case, I am a genuis!

“I am not new to blogging and genuinely value your site. There is much original message that peaks my interest. I am going to bookmark your internet site and keep checking you out.”

Glad someone values the site, but that particular post was not one of my best. I’m so glad the SPAM senders enjoyed it though!

“Hi – I want to say thank you for an interesting site about a subject I have had an interest in for a while now. I have been lurking and reading the comments avidly so just wanted to express my gratitude for providing me with some very good reading material. I look forward to more, and taking a more proactive part in the discussions here, whilst learning too!!”

Now, see! I mean, how many of you actually think that cleaning is so interesting that you would write that you want to express your gratitude!

Anyway, occasionally when I read my spam folder I just burst out laughing at what the spammers will write just to get their links up for you all to follow. The funny thing is, thank goodness for my SPAM guard, because those sights are way too adult for all of us.

Random Dozen

clovers

2nd Cup Of Coffee

1. On a scale of 1-10, how superstitious are you, honestly? Very much.

2. Julius Caesar is quoted as saying, “I came, I saw, I conquered.” Which circumstance or experience of yours does this saying best describe? I survived a terrible accident. There have been so many challenges in life since that time.

3. If I peeked in on your day like a mischievous little leprechaun, at what time would I most likely find you blogging? I write early in the evening, I read early in the morning.

4. Re springing forward for Daylight Saving Time, is there anything you’ve ever been really early or really late for? I was very early to the church for my second wedding! Ha! I could hardly wait! I was very late delivering my first baby! Three weeks!!!

5. What are you most looking forward to concerning Spring? Green grass and flowers!

6. Shamrocks are the national flower of Ireland and are picked on St. Patrick’s Day and worn on the lapel or shoulder. Do you wear green on St. Patty’s Day? Usually not, but heck, today I will.

7. One of Caesar’s assassins, Casca, said, “But, for my own part, it was Greek to me,” which of course means he didn’t understand something. Probably his own lines in the play. Anyway, what is something that is “Greek to you,” something incomprehensible or indecipherable? Too many things to list.

8. Is March behaving more like a lion or a lamb where you live? Lamb. A wet lamb. (Although today it is sunny!)

9. “An extra yawn one morning in the springtime, an extra snooze one night in the autumn is all that we ask in return for dazzling gifts. We borrow an hour one night in April; we pay it back with golden interest five months later.” -Winston Churchill. If you had one extra hour per day every day, what would you do with it? Probably write more.

10. Legend says that every Leprechaun has a pot of gold hidden deep in the Irish countryside. Aside from real gold or money, what material item would be in your dream pot of gold? Pictures of my loved ones. Old and new!

11. “The best things are nearest: breath in your nostrils, light in your eyes, flowers at your feet, duties at your hand, the path of God just before you.” Robert Louis Stevenson. Look around you right now and tell us about something essential or beautiful very near you that you take for granted every day. It’s an antique pewter plate that was given to me by our dear friend, Otto before his death.

12. Just for a bit o’ fun, click here and then report your Irish name. Mine is Gemma O’Callaghan! I love it!

Cleaning, Dackels

Monday was Veterinarian day. The three dackels went in for their yearly shots, examinations and I bought their heart-worm and flea & tick medications. Now I am broke for the rest of the month! Not really, but it did take my breath away when I got the final bill!

All the dackels are healthy. The two girls are, a little too healthy! Like their Mama Maribeth, they need to be on a strict Weight Watchers program for myself and my girls! Greta has a good 2 pounds to lose and Anneliese is about 1 pound over.

What I am planning is to take the girls on walks once this rain stops. I could use the exercise myself. I’d like to take the girls out in the morning. Walk down and get the mail, and then in the afternoon, take Arnie and Anneliese out for a walk. Fritz doesn’t need to be walked as he is the best boy in the entire world, and runs between our house and our neighbors, but never goes any further. Unfortunately the dackels do, so they need to be walked.

I actually got some spring cleaning done today. Hubby is off training for working on the US Census during the day, and this gives me all kinds of time to clean. What I need now is motivation!

Does anyone out there like to clean?

Sundays

Yesterday I wrote that I’d hoped that my cousin’s picture of me and her dogs came out. I spoke to her today and she forwarded it on to me this afternoon. As you can see, Max and Wolf love their Auntie Maribeth!

You probably can’t tell, but I’m a real dog lover!

I woke at about 1:50 AM Sunday morning. I knew that at 2 AM the time changed and we were due to leap forward an hour. Now, my bedside clock is a satellite clock and I wondered if it would reset itself at 2 AM. I truly wish I were not so inquisitive because I lay there watching the clock until 1:59……3:00 AM!!! I was very impressed and fell back to sleep smiling.

It rained all day on Sunday and yet I needed to go out to the store, because after buying out the grocery shop the other day, I realized I had forgotten celery! Now how could I have done that? So off I went, in the rain to get a bunch.

I drove down town because I wanted to see if the Bob house was still on the ice, had been removed, or fallen through the thin ice. If you guessed that it had fallen through then you would be correct. All that showed was the very top of it that was somehow floating. Our town will need to dredge that area out before The Mount Washington Cruise Ship can come into the town docks.

Hubby still has a cold and I feel like I either have hay fever or a small cold as my nose is pretty stuffy! A feeling I do not like.

I take the dackels in for their yearly shots today. They love the ride over and it’s always nice to see my Vets.

Have a good Monday, everyone!!!

Girls Day!

Saturday was girls day! I met up with my daughter, Mandy and my cousin Janet for a luncheon date and some serious girl chatting! I arrived first at my cousin’s condo and the two of us talked and I snuggled with her two dogs. I got this picture of her Shiba Inu, Wolf.

Wolf and I have a thing going. He loves me and I love him and his soft fur. Janet warned me about how much he sheds, and I was amazed at how much fur he left on my slacks! But I didn’t care. He was really sweet with me. So was Janet’s other dog, Max. Unfortunately I didn’t get a picture of him. I hope the one of me with the two dogs that Janet took comes out!

Janet took us to a Great restaurant in Lowell called “Life Alive”.

I had “The Innocent”, a fusion of delectably nutritious flavorings forming a savory sauce for steamed sweet corn, shredded carrots, broccoli and tamari roasted almonds all served over light and protein rich quinoa and short grain brown rice.

Mandy had the same but added some cashews, apples and carrots.

And Janet had “The Goddess”, a nurturing blend of smoked tofu, short grain brown rice, steamed carrots, beets, broccoli, and dark greens surrounded by our zesty Ginger Nama Shoyu dressing.

I also decided to order some tea. I was glancing over their teas when Something caught my eye.

Yerba Mate was recently written about on my friend Betty’s Blog, A Glimpse Into Midlife! Just two days ago she had written about this tea, so I knew I had to try it. It was wonderful and I really enjoyed it! Thanks for sharing the information about Yerba Mate, Betty!!

We ate our lunches and talked the entire time, we sipped our teas and enjoyed each others company. I really think we need to have these “Girls Days” more often. It was so much fun! Here I am with Mandy at the restaurant.

After lunch we went back to Janet’s and had some coffee and dessert. All too soon it was time to say goodbye, and head home. I hugged Mandy and Janet and said my good-byes.

The ride home was something else! It was pouring rain and windy. I drove slowly and carefully, and I made it home in good time. However at one point the wind picked up and blew the car all over the place. It was just a bit scary!

Now I am sitting here with all three dachshunds asleep around me and Fritz at my feet. I am so happy to have such a loving family and loving pets too!

TGIF

The day was gray and drizzly. We managed to get quite a bit done though. After a couple of weeks, where we were too busy to shop, we finally got out to do a full grocery shopping. We had to go to three different shops to get all the things that we needed and we spent a fortune! But with the food that we bought, I think we will be good for a couple of weeks at least.

When we got home I had to put it all away, and bag up some of the meats that we bought before putting them in the freezer. By the time I sat down I felt totally spent.

I managed a nice meal of Swordfish, baked potatoes and spinach for dinner.

Now that the dishes are done I am quite happily sitting with Arnie in my chair, watching “The Bourne Identity”. I did not go to see the “Bourne” movies in the cinema, because I thought it would be a waste of time and money, but I found that I enjoyed them on the TV movie stations.

Saturday finds me getting together with my cousin Janet and my daughter, Mandy. I will take pictures! I’m looking forward to getting out with the girls! We’re going to Janet’s favorite restaurant and I will take lots of pictures!

Meanwhile, Hubby will be home, taking care of the dogs. He is such a good guy!