Dackel Princess

What A Day

In anticipation of puppies arriving very soon, Hubby and I took to the Market and did our fair share of buying. I stocked up on dog food and puppy food, and yes, I picked up my glasses.

So, here they are. What do I think? I think it is wonderful to be able to see again!

We got home and I found some beautiful pictures waiting for me of Ali and her very own little girl, Faith. Faith’s Mom is a professional photographer in Michigan and as you can see she did a great job with these!

When I saw these pictures I started to cry with happiness. Ali has a great life with Faith and her parents. She is greatly loved and then she is a real dynamo out in the field learning to track with her Dad. Thank you so much for these great pictures!

Greta is getting bigger by the second. Since today was in the upper 90’s, we had our air conditioners going just to keep my little princess cool and comfortable!

She is so close to having her x-rays and I am just dying to know how many babies she has in there.

A New Recipe

It was another hot and humid day here in paradise. So what did I do? Not a whole lot. I did manage one load of laundry, the cleaning up of three meals and the feeding of Hubby and the dogs. I also had an idea for a salad and I tried it out.

Green Bean and Cherry Tomato Salad

4 cups of fresh green beans

1 cup of cherry tomatoes sliced in half

1 & 1/2 cups of fat free Feta cheese

1/2 cup Fat Free Balsamic and Basil Vinaigrette

I cooked the green beans and drained then, tossed in everything and blended it by tossing with two spoons. It was great hot, but I am thinking that tomorrow the left overs will be even better.

The Opticians office called and my glasses are ready for pick up. Since Hubby has an appointment today, I will tag along with him and pick them up.

Greta keeps getting bigger. I think soon she will just pop! In this heat about all she wants to do is lay down on the floors in the air conditioning.

Friday and the x-rays that will be taken then, just can’t come soon enough!

Hot Belly Days!

I woke Sunday morning and looked over at Hubby, but what did I see? My big girl, Greta rolled up on her back with her gigantic belly sticking up in the air. She looked comfortable, and I swear, she was smiling at me.

I patted her belly and then gently lifted her up and placed her on the floor. I don’t want her jumping around in her “condition”.

We’re having another high humidity, high temperature day. Anyone who has been pregnant in the summer can relate to Greta’s plight. I turned on the air conditioning about 10 AM just to help keep her comfortable.

She went out, and usually enjoys lying in the sun, but as soon as she was done with her business she came right back to the door and wanted to come in.

I got her to lie down on my chair so that I could take this picture. It shows pretty clearly that she now has a 24 inch waist! Wow!

Click to bring you to Flickr where you can see it in large format.

I did get her out in the yard and I played ball with her for a while. She loves to run after the ball and then bring it back. I always know when she has had enough because she escapes up under the Peach tree and lies down.

Just a few more days until the x-rays. I think I shall go crazy waiting for that! Best of all, the Vet has a digital x-ray machine so I will be getting the x-rays on a CD and can report in on Saturday with pictures of the unborn puppies!

Have a great week everyone!

Family, Friends,…… What A Weekend!

You will, perhaps notice the lateness that I am posting my Sunday entry on Dackel Princess. Why, you might ask, is this happening? Well, after two fabulous days of family and friend parties, I’m afraid that when I settled in for the night last night, I just felt like doing nothing but sleeping! So, no column was written. In fact I was nearly asleep in my bed, when suddenly I remembered this fact. I thought about going out and writing it then, but the dackels talked me out of it!

On Friday night, Mandy and M. came for a cookout. I made grilled chicken, and potato salad and fresh from our garden green beans. All I can say is YUMMY!

It was wonderful to see them, as it has been a while since we got together. I think it was Mother’s Day, and that was back in May. I am determined to get down to see Mandy for a lunch date once Greta has calved. (You should see her today! I swear she has baby cows in there, and not dackels!)

In any case, Mandy and M. took a bunch of pictures while here, and so you get to see us in all our summer happiness!

Me and my girl! I do not think it is possible to ever explain how much you love your kids. Mandy is just the light of my life and I adore her. Not just because I gave birth to this beauty, but because I love who she has become over the years. She works hard and she is such a nice and kind person.

This is M. and Mandy. Someday he will be less shy and allow me to publish his name. Let’s just say it’s Biblical.

I finally got a picture of M. Laughing! I love it!

Mandy was eating, when suddenly Fritz just helped himself. Totally unlike him!

And lastly, here is another shot of Mandy and me.

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Saturday, we were invited to a Lobster Fest. Now I am smart enough to RSVP quickly to such an event. It was so much fun, very laid back, the food was great (how can lobster not be?) and the company was a mix of people both warm and interesting.

The day was perfect except for the slightly high temperatures. But as you can see, we live near a lake, so once people got hot, they disappeared and went swimming.

We did have one scare. A beautiful Sheltie, who was a guest, took off toward the road and just barely got missed! Oh I wanted to die, and so did his owner, who was sitting next to me! Fortunately the car stopped and all was well!

Makenna with the Sheltie.

Soon the cooking started and lobster after lobster was fed into the pot!

Before you knew it, the salads, corn, prime rib and lobsters were laid out on the table!

Everyone immediately sat down and began to crack shells and go to town on their meal!

Our host was wearing a T-shirt that summed it all up! I am all for helping the farmers!

Our host, enjoying his birthday meal!

The lovely Makenna, whose parents hosted the event!

Soon the sun set and the bats came out, but even they could not handle the multitude of mosquito’s. It was getting late, so we said our good-byes and came back home, walking very carefully on the small path through the woods to our house.

What a great weekend!

Kick, Kick, Kick!

My day started at 5:30 AM. Greta was restless and wanted to go out, so all the dogs got up and out we went to commune with nature. Now I have nothing against the beauty of Mother Nature on a warm August morning, but 5:30? Bah!

We came back in and I told the dogs to come back to bed with me, because Mama needed her beauty sleep!

They let me sleep until 6:30 and then they all demanded that I get myself out of bed and start the coffee. No, they didn’t need to go out, no they didn’t want to do very much at all, but letting me sleep in was not on the docket!

I sipped my coffee while Greta demanded that I pay attention to her. She wasn’t feeling too well. I think the babies kicking was bothering her. As she lay across my lap, close to my stomach, I could feel the babies kicking her! It was amazing!

She spent most of the morning feeling sorry for herself, but by noon she had perked up and was back to her normal self. I gave all the dogs compressed rawhide bones and they each took their bone to a corner of the family room and spent several hours chewing them.

I’m starting to think that I should probably set up the puppy room again. I want Greta to understand that this is her special place.

Later in the day the pups started kicking again. Now Greta is simply lying on her side, resigned to the fact that she can’t escape the little monsters!

Kick, kick, kick!!!

Hello Big Belly!

I was talking to my cousin Janet on Thursday while I was photographing Greta and her enormous belly.

Janet suggested I put a tape measure around her waist, so I did. My only problem was that I couldn’t get it to stay put. Oh well, at least this gives you an idea of how her belly is popping out each day.

I took her outside in the afternoon and threw her ball around the back yard. She had so much fun running after it, and since I left the other dogs inside she had no competition for the ball.

I try to walk her around as much as I can, and then I let her rest. She also gets very tired now and needs more sleep than usual.

Tonight Mandy and M. are coming up for dinner. I’m planning a nice barbecued chicken and potato salad. It’ll be great to see them and to show them how big Greta is. After all it’s 18 days and counting until Greta’s puppies arrive! Wow!

Have a great weekend everyone!!!

Getting Bigger By The Second!

I get up every morning and after I rub the sleep from my eyes and drink my first cup of coffee, I look at Greta and my jaw drops! My goodness, she gets bigger by the second!

Of course, between now and her due date of September 1st she will be gaining weight each and every day. Considering a dogs gestational cycle is only about 62 days they do gain quickly, especially in the last few weeks.

You will notice that Greta is smiling. Coincidentally, the puppies were kicking her at that moment. I think she enjoys the feeling of her babies inside of her. It seemed to bother Anneliese, but Greta truly embraces being pregnant.

As you can see she is most happy on her back. I love that because then I can really see the changes she is going through. Anneliese lay on her tummy the entire time, thus making it difficult for me to gauge the changes.

We have one and a half weeks until the x-ray to determine how many little babies are in there. I can hardly wait for that. Leave your guesses and we will see who gets the closest. You can also leave your guess about what day she will deliver. Her due date is September 1st, but she could go early or late. Want to guess?

Also start thinking about German C names. This is my C-litter so I need some proper German names starting with the letter C.

Have a great day everyone!

Okay, It Works, But…

I went in today and got my eyes examined for glasses. Wow, my left eye is worse than I thought. Once the Optician finished prescribing the lenses I went out and selected frames for them.

It works. I mean, I will be able to see and once again, everything from the standpoint of my vision, will be good. But, gosh darn it, I detest glasses. I guess these will look okay, but I really do prefer myself without them.

However, I really like being able to see, so once they arrive (in about a week), I know I will be happily wearing them. Until then I will brood and make faces and torment myself knowing I will be in these glasses for a while, perhaps forever.

But, at least I can see!

Puppies, Kickers and Eyes

Monday was the first day I really could feel the puppies inside of Greta moving. There is one pup on the left side who is just kicking the heck out of her! A few days ago I could feel butterfly wings when I touched her. Today I felt a football kicker!

It’s the most amazing thing ever. I am so excited, but with Greta there is also a little bit of nervousness. You see, her last litter she had to have a cesarean birth and although it all went well, it also scared me. I love Greta more than anything, and I worry.

We will be having x-rays done on the 21st of August to be sure that all is well with her, that there are many puppies and not just one big one, and that she can deliver them naturally. Perhaps I will relax a little bit more after that.

Greta is so big and getting bigger by the moment! I almost look forward to waking up with her in the morning just so I can check out her expanding belly!

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Meanwhile, I will be going tomorrow to be fit for glasses. Since my second cataract surgery I have not had to wear glasses. This was so wonderful for me after a lifetime of glasses and/or contact lenses. However, with the advancing problem of scar tissue on my left eye, the doctor feels that I should get glasses to assist my right eye. You see, the left one has been losing vision and the right one is doing all the work. By using glasses I will ease the burden on the right eye.

I freely admit that I am just vain enough to not want to wear glasses. But I am “pulling up my boot straps”, (now there’s an idiom for you) and going in tomorrow for the exam and the fitting. I will post once I actually have the glasses in about a week or so.

It is Hot, Humid & Hazy here today. I have had the air conditioners on all day and Greta is most comfortable inside stretched out on the floor or my chair. It will be like this most of the week.

Busy-Ness

The day dawned bright, but quickly I found the clouds moving in. The weather held off long enough to have a nice barbecue out on the patio, and actually we were able to spend quite a bit of time there before coming in to escape the darkening skies and brief showers.

Steve, Vicky and Shirley.

Jim, Steve and Vicky.

These are our friends from Florida with their son and daughter in-law. So nice to have them with us for the night.

As we sat talking I looked down and saw Greta. My Lord, she is getting so big!

Three weeks left until she has her babies! I can hardly wait!