Dackel Princess

Dogs, Fish & Memories

I woke in the night and the dogs took advantage of the situation, by getting me up to take them out. It was -4 degrees (F) and so I did not even bother to go out with them. I just opened the door and they ran out. Moments later, they ran back in! I hadn’t doubted that for a minute.

We all went back to bed and as I lay on my side Anneliese came up and settled herself under my chin. I did snuggle with Anneliese and she was very sweet. She fell back asleep and I could feel her soft, even, breaths and a few times she sighed in her sleep. It was very sweet. It is times like that, that I understand why I have all these dogs. Each one, in their own special way, brings such love into our home.

Naturally, I could not get back to sleep. I just lay there and listened to Hubby and the dogs all making their sleeping noises. It was peaceful and nice. Unfortunately I couldn’t join in their sleeping! I was up at 6 with a mug of coffee in hand.

The day was beautiful, but very cold. I felt badly for the fishermen who are currently up for the annual Ice Fishing Derby!

Last year our neighbor won, both first and second place. A new fishing boat on a trailer and an All Terrain Vehicle! Woo-hoo!

Here is this years tote board. This is where they weigh in and hang the leader’s fish. The event lasts until tomorrow. Hopefully there will be bigger fish than what you see here.

I worried that we wouldn’t have as many people come out this year due to the extreme cold, but they are all out in their long underwear and snow suits! Many bring their “Bob Houses”,

so they can get in out of the cold, but some just drive their trucks right out on to the ice. I’m not sure I would be brave enough for that!

The kids love it because they can bring down their ice skates and practice their hockey moves. I always love to watch the kids!

I have to thank Hubby for these photographs. I am really bothered by the cold. It just gets to me. Hubby is not bothered as much, so off he went. Thanks, Honey for all the pictures.

One year it was 30 degrees (F) and just perfect for a walk out on the lake. I went with my old doggy Shubi and we walked all through town going from one lake to the next. Shubi found a little fish on the ground and she picked it up and wouldn’t put it down. All the fishermen laughed at the little wire-haired dackel with the fish sticking out of her mouth! Shubi really did love fish! Here she is with another fish.

She was my first wire-haired dackel and what a girl she was. It’s hard to believe she has been gone for almost four years. It was, after all, Shubi that made me love dackels.

My Eyes

At 7:02 this morning the temperature here was 4 degrees (F) with 55 mile an hour winds! Yeah, it was cold! So I got on the computer and sent a Twitter message to our local weatherman and about a half an hour later he mentioned that “Dackel Princess in ***** New Hampshire, reported in with 55 mile an hour winds and 4 degree weather!”

I’m such a kid, really. I was so excited that I jumped up and down and started screaming! “That’s Me!” And the only one here to witness this were the dogs!

Here is Greta witnessing the great event!

Before we knew it, it was time to drive over to the doctor’s office for my eye exam. I was nervous due to the fact that I am a born worrier. I was also concerned because I needed to step up and let my doctor know that I needed him to talk to me, and not rush me through my appointment.

Hubby drove me because of the high winds and blowing snow, and I was glad that he did. We chit-chatted all the way over and I felt pretty relaxed. I’d brought my computer with me because the last time I went I learned that the hospital now has free WiFi! So instead of reading 3 year old magazines, I sat and read my email, sent a message on Facebook, and surfed the web.

Finally I was called for my appointment and I must say I was very happy at the end. I felt I really connected with my doctor, and the news on my recently detached retina was good. It’s recovering right on schedule. My left eye (which had a detached retina 7 years ago), has been diagnosed with a macular pucker (also known as Epiretinal Membrane, ERM). In time I will need to have this membrane removed, and I should retain some if not most of my vision in that eye! He said I would probably need glasses for the rest of my life, but who cares? As long as I can see!

We drove home in the cold, talking and listening to the radio, and as soon as I got home I started a fire in the hearth. Oh how lovely that has been. Warm, bright and nice. At one time or another all the dackels have been in front of it. Fritz, who is afraid of fires, is hiding in the mud room bathroom.

Tonight is the Wolf Full Moon. I got on my coat, hat, scarf and gloves and went out and took pictures. It is lovely.

So my day was a good one, and it is ending nicely as well, despite the 50 mile an hour winds that continue to blow. Tonight I feel relaxed, happy and at peace.

Thoughts On A Snowy Day!

It’s snowing! My husband is a happy man!

Earlier this week we had a torrential rain storm, which resulted in much of the snow base in the mountains being washed away. The groomers worked hard to break up the ice that formed when everything froze and turn it into something ski-able. But the snow, which has started to fall, and is forecast for the next few days, will help replenish the slopes.

Meanwhile I want you to picture this. I let Fritz outside and then got busy doing things around the house. My cell phone rang and my sister needed me to assist her with a computer problem, and before I knew it, quite a bit of time had passed. I noticed that the snow had really picked up. I started to notice that things were pretty quiet. One, two, three dogs. Uh-oh, one dog short!

I looked outside at the top of the steps that lead to our driveway and there, sitting quietly, waiting for his Daddy, completely covered in snow, was Fritz! I called him in and spoke to him sweetly. After all, I am the mean old Mommy that forgot him in the snow!

Now before anyone reports me for doggy abuse, remember that Fritz’s coat is thicker than any winter coat on the market, and if I was forced to wear it, well, let’s just say it wouldn’t be a pretty thing to see! Me sweating like crazy, especially during a hot flash! Oh yes. At times I am my very own tropical island.

I digress!

I actually love snowy days like this. The flakes of snow are falling gently, and it makes for a pretty event to watch. The sun even came out for a while, during the snow storm, which made it even prettier!

A friend of ours from Vermont came by and we had lunch out at a wonderful Diner. The food was good and the company even better. A meal that usually takes half an hour to eat took us two hours, but it was worth every moment as we talked and laughed and joked.

I’d offered to give him one of our old desktop computers and when we got home, I fired it up to show him how easily it worked. Well, what do you know, the machine is screwed up and needs to have the hard drive wiped and the programs reloaded.

At first I thought I would take it in to my new favorite repair shop, but I started thinking and I decided that I would try the work myself. If it all goes south, then I will bring it in with the discs and beg for help. However, I think I can do this! I’ll keep you posted.

The winds have come up now and it is still snowing outside. I hope that the snow stops as I have to drive to my eye doctor’s office tomorrow for another exam. It’s just over 50 miles and this time I am on my own.

Happy Friday Everyone!!!

Getting Back To Being Me

Today I got out……alone. After Weight Watchers I drove to the next town and gassed up my Jeep, picked up Hubby’s favorite salad dressing, and then shopped for the foods to make me thin.

Yogurt, fake eggs, and new low sugar instant oatmeal! I’m not sure how that will taste, but I am hoping that it will be good. I also hit the vegetable isle and loaded the shopping cart with all sorts of yummy vegetables, and fish. I got the most delicious piece of Swordfish that Hubby and I shared for dinner.

By the time I got to the check out register I realized I was feeling pretty tired. Make that extremely tired. It then dawned on me that I have not done so much since early December. This was a first.

So I drove home, stopping for our mail and picking up a salad for my lunch. I came into the house and was greeted by excited and happy doggies, who I immediately let out to run. I put away the frozen foods, and once I got the dogs in, I sat down and had my salad.

Hubby arrived back home from skiing and he carried the groceries up for me. What a doll! After I put everything away, I sat down, pulled the blanket over my lap and fell asleep for about an hour. I woke feeling groggy, with three dackels draped all over me.

The best part of the day was that I actually did get out. I did get the shopping done, and I got the groceries put away. I’m getting back on my feet and that is a very good thing.

Daily Happenings

The sun came out at 4:10 pm, shortly before it set on Tuesday afternoon. The temperatures were starting to drop and since I find my middle aged body unable to control it’s thermostat, I decided to make a fire in the hearth. Hubby thinks I am insane, but I sure do love my late afternoon fires to take the chill off of the family room. I did smile when he went over and rearranged the logs, so the fire would burn better!

smiley

I’m a lucky girl to have a Hubby who looks out for me and the pups.

Greta was in the kitchen this morning with me while I made breakfast. I heard a noise and looked down. There was Greta picking up a dog dish, just like Snoopy!

It was the cutest thing. Since I am a soft touch, I got a little bit of crunchy food for the three dachshunds. Greta was smiling after that. Her little ploy worked!

I took today as a quiet day because many of you told me to. Of course I listened and put my feet up and snuggled with Arnie, Anneliese and Greta, who was very grateful for her crunchy snack!

Hubby is going skiing on Wednesday while I go to Weight Watchers and shop for a few things at the grocery. The Library calls me in the afternoon, so I will have a 2 hour meeting there.

You know what was totally wonderful? When I turned on my old computer and looked at the pictures, there were the “lost” pictures of Anneliese’s puppies birth! I was just thrilled!

It was truly a great way to end my day!

What If….

I was talking with my girlfriend Carol, in Florida and she told me I HAD to watch a new show on CWTV. The show is called “Life Unexpected”. I was skeptical, but last night the TV was poor, so I sat down and watched the first episode online here. It was terrific. Well thought out, and well written. I told Hubby he must watch the first episode during the day on Monday so we can watch the next episode together on Monday night.

The premise is, what if the child you gave up at birth, when you were 16, (and you thought had been adopted and wasn’t), suddenly appears in your life with a problem. She is not asking you to fix it, she just needs one thing. Your signature on a document.

So if you haven’t seen it and have a chance, take a look. You won’t be disappointed.

I guess we all have “what ifs” in this life. What if we had done this, or that, “what ifs” basically are quite often, about the road less traveled.

Sometimes we think we have everything all figured out, and then something that we had never even considered comes along and hits us on the side of our heads!

At times we think that these things are always bad. Not so. Sometimes something unexpected can turn into something truly wonderful!

I look at my marriage to Hubby. Falling in love with him after years of friendship was so unexpected, and yet, how truly wonderful!

In case you all need something to make you smile, here is a video of me making my bed. So, take a peek and see if you know why I have a tough time each day. They all love to help, but Arnie really gets into it!

Making The Bed from Dackel Princess Maribeth on Vimeo.

Have a great day everyone!!

Quiet Times

My day started exceptionally early due to the fact that Hubby and the three dackels were all trying to push me out of bed! I pushed back hoping everyone would get the message, but they only pushed harder and I had to fight for my space. Eventually we all settled down, and I got a little more sleep before Hubby woke me so I could help him prepare for the last day of skiing before the rain comes! Hopefully, the rain won’t wash away all of the snow, but it is not looking good.

While Hubby was out, I tossed Fritz out the door and put the dackels in the family room and vacuumed and washed the kitchen floor. That floor has been causing me a lot of grief, mostly because I know when it was last washed and it just wasn’t good! So, today with steely determination, I got that floor done!

My eye ached in the afternoon (I know, I overdid!) so I decided it was time to sit down, have a nice cup of coffee and turn off the TV and listen quietly to music. Something I have done a lot of, since my retinal detachment. Watching TV seems to bother my eyes, but soft music is soothing!

I have a fire burning in the hearth, and a simple dinner of lamb chops and baked potatoes planned. The evening should be quiet and dreamy, a perfect ending to the weekend.

Living On A Lake

This was how my day ended.

This picture was taken in the next town to mine. I have started putting my small camera in my pocketbook! You never know when you might see something great!

The day was bright and beautiful, cold, but beautiful! I spent most of the day doing laundry and napping, as the dogs got me up exceptionally early.

We went out tonight for dinner with our friends Vicki and Jack. I had duck and Hubby had Prime Rib. It was a nice time. I left the TV on while we were gone and it seemed to help Fritz. Although I was extremely worried when we walked into the house, that I might find….

**********

The other day a friend sent out this video from Germany. I just fell in love with the music and although I didn’t understand the lyrics (at first) due to my very poor German, I found a translation, that I believe is close (German speakers please correct the inaccuracies!). I like the theme. It’s all about life.

House at the Lake

I was born here, walking the streets
know the faces, every house and every shop
I got to get out, I know every pigeon by name
thumb out, I wait for a glamorous woman with a fast car

the sun glares, all flies past
and the world behind me shrinks slowly
but the world in front of me was made for me
I know she’s waiting and I come for her

the day is on my side, the winds at my back
a female choir at the side of the road, that sings for me
I lean back and look in the deep blue
close my eyes and walk straight ahead

chorus:
and at the end of the road stands a house at the lake
leaves of an orange tree lie on the path
I have 20 children, my wife is beautiful
all come to visit me, I don’t have to go out
seen in a dream, the house at the lake

I seek a new country, with unknown streets
faces of strangers and no one knows my name
winning all in a game with marked cards
losing all, god has a tough left hook

I dig for treasures in snow and sand
and women turn my world upside down
but one day I’ll have luck
and return with both pockets full of gold

I’ll invite all old friends and relatives
and all start to cry tears of joy
we have a barbecue, the mothers cook and we drink booze
and we have a party for a week every night

Chorus:
and the moon shines bright at my house at the lake
leaves of an orange tree lie on the path
I have 20 children, my wife is beautiful
all come to visit me, I don’t have to go out
seen in a dream, the house at the lake

and at the end of the road stands a house at the lake
leaves of an orange tree lie on the path
I have 20 children, my wife is beautiful
all come to visit me, I don’t have to go out

yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

I was born here, here I’ll get buried
my ears are deaf, I have a white beard and sit in the garden
my 100 grandchildren play cricket on the lawn
when I think about it, I can hardly wait.

You Will Not Believe This!

Do you all remember last spring when my old laptop computer died just as the warranty on it had expired? I was told that nothing could be done. The computer was dead. However I was told that the hard drive was fine, it was a memory chip problem. I thought that in time I would have the hard drive put into an external box to use for back up.

But when I got my new laptop, I just forgot the old one until the other day when Hubby’s laptop became infected with viruses. I was still pretty angry at how I had been treated at the old computer repair shop, so I had taken Hubby’s computer to a place in the next town owned by a husband and wife. I call them my computer wizards!

They not only repaired Hubby’s virus laden machine, but when I brought in my old laptop to have the hard drive turned into an external hard drive, they looked it over and found the problem!

Here is the long and short of it: the laptop had TWO memory chips, but the old shop apparently had never even discovered the second one!

So my computer wizards replaced the chip, cleaned the hard drive and reloaded all my information! My old laptop is new again!

Hubby was skiing while I was doing the computer stuff, but he picked me up at their shop, and we went to the big city and had lunch. It was so nice to sit quietly and share a meal with Hubby. Afterward, we went over to LL Bean (my second favorite shop), as I had a bunch of coupons. Hubby found a pair of jeans, and I found a lambs wool pea coat that fits me perfectly! It was also marked down from $200.00 to $39.87. Now I had great coupons and a special promotion, so our grand total for all items was $7.29!

Yes, I am the Queen of discount shopping!

Then I realized that I had lost my much loved blue scarf. I remembered taking it off in the restaurant we had lunch in, so we went back and there it was! Now I would like to make a scarf to go with my new coat.

Had I known what l was about to face at home, I would have jumped out of the car! But in my ignorance, I came home with a smile on my face, feeling happy to have gone out for the first time since my eye operation.

We opened the door to the house and were overcome with the horrific smell of poop. Now one thing you should know about me is that I do not do poop well. In fact I am still shocked that I raised two children and changed diapers without totally losing it!

We found a small amount in the office and cleaned that up, thinking that it was all there was. However, my nose told me otherwise. I tracked it down to our formal living room, and it was there that we found that Fritz, our White German Shepherd, had decorated my beautiful leather sofa in grand fashion! Oh my goodness, I have never seen such a mess! I know I will have nightmares about this for years to come!

I had Hubby get me my Big Green Clean Machine, and I started to clean up. It took me over 1 hour to clean it up. Of course, the scent lingers, so I have two candles burning to help dissipate the smell.

I decontaminated myself in the shower, and Hubby made dinner. Somehow I had lost my desire for food, something that almost never happens.

Fritz is looking quite guilty and yet sorry for what he has done. I’m considering allowing him to remain as a member as our family.

The dachshunds think we should pack his things and put him out on the road.

Puppies, Puppies, Puppies!!!

Lately I have been thinking about puppies. I know, you probably think I am insane to miss the little ones right now, with temperatures so low and snow so deep in my back yard, but I do. I even sat down a couple of weeks ago and made up a little booklet through Walgreens with pictures of the puppies from both litters. Oh my goodness, they sure were cute!

Wally & Fenway

Calvin and Curt

Schnapps

The five puppies above were from Greta’s litter, born at the end of August. They are all doing great in their new homes, but I sure do miss their furry faces!

Below we have our little German Babies!

Birgit (Ali) and Baerbel

Baron and Bogart

These four are Anneliese’s babies born last April. They were fathered by the gorgeous Isegrim Vom Bruchsee in Germany. I’ve been thinking that a repeat breeding is in the cards. Not only do I get a trip to Germany to see Uschi, but Anneliese gets to go for a plane ride and see her lover-boy, Isegrim once again.

As best I can figure, Anneliese will go into heat again at the end of May or beginning of June. That gives me plenty of time to let me eye heal, and get my papers in order.

So, what do you think? Are you all ready for me to breed Anneliese so you can read daily puppy updates, and see pictures and videos?