Dackel Princess

Dogs, Cameras & More

Last night was a cold, clear night and when I went out with Anneliese I saw the moon and how beautiful it looked. Many of you know how to take great night pictures with your cameras, but I have never had much luck. Until now. Remember I bought Hubby a new camera for Christmas? Well, I’m having a great time with it….and it takes great night shots easily!

Anneliese watched me quite intently.

During the day today I practiced a little more with it and both Anneliese and Arnie were great models.

Anneliese loves to dig in the snow and sometimes tunnel underneath.

You see how Arnie was able to get the snow just so on his beard so that he looks simply adorable!

I was able to get out to the grocery store today and get the last few things I need before the next snow storm, which is forecast for tomorrow.

Hubby is doing well. We’ve been watching movies, and reruns of NCIS and keeping busy. One movie we watched was “True Grit” with John Wayne. That was a great movie, with fabulous cinematography.

It looks like tomorrow I will have to conquer the recycling center. It’s not my favorite place to go, but I think I should get the trash dumped before the snow comes.

Wish me luck!

Life Goes On

We had about 5 inches of snow here between Wednesday and Thursday. I’d called and arranged to have the driveway plowed and the driver arrived here at 6:30 this morning to clear us out. I heard him and popped up to check out what he was up to. Not one dog (or husband) moved!

An hour or so later I got up and after turning on the coffee, I stepped outside with the dogs and pushed a few paths of snow from the doorway. There I was in my pajamas, robe, coat, hat and gloves, pushing snow around. I’m sure it was quite a sight!

The plowman called just after we had our breakfast and needed us to move one of the cars so he has a place to put snow after the next storm. So I went out to move the car we actually don’t drive in the winter, and as I opened the door to turn it on, snow blew in! I dusted off the seat so I didn’t get my pants wet, then got in and moved that car into the garage to thaw out.

I managed a quick hair trim with my stylist, Margarita before she leaves on vacation, and a run to the Post Office for more mail of no value. Lucky for us that we have such great neighbors because one looked in on Hubby while I was gone.

Hubby is doing somewhat better, but our new motto is “Slow & Steady Wins The Race”.

Hubby was good and took things extremely easy all day. I am really pleased about that. It will take time, trial and error with medications until we get him back to normal. That’s okay, I know he will get there.

It’s the power of prayer and positive thinking!

Quiet Day

I woke up early on Wednesday and after surveying the horrible weather and the cancellation of nearly all schools in the state, I decided I wasn’t going to attempt going to Weight Watchers. I later discovered that they’d canceled the meeting, so I had no reason to feel guilty.

Hubby slept 11 hours last night! I finally decided to make him some breakfast and wake him, but he came out and sleepily had his meal and read the paper.

He’s doing okay. He says he just feels tired. I know I sure am, and nothing serious has happened to me! All his appointments were made for his post-hospitalization care, and things are settling down.

He read his email, watched TV and did what I told him (I have been terribly bossy all day long!) and I am grateful.

I did manage a trip to the Post Office to get the mail and surprisingly little was there. I could have stayed home!

The dogs are thrilled to have Hubby here and take turns showering him with love. I plan another quiet evening tonight, and hopefully I will sleep better than I did last night.

Thank you all for your love and your prayers and for your good wishes. They really mean a lot to me, and to Hubby too.

Time….

Just when I thought that life could not possibly get any more interesting, I found myself living through the last four days. I’m actually thinking that perhaps we should fast forward and get through 2009 quickly before anything else happens! Let me explain.

On Saturday late in the evening Hubby exhibited all the symptoms of a small stroke. It was there for a few minutes and then he seemed fine. Tired, but fine. I forced him to come to bed early and all seemed well.

Sunday he lazed around and rested. I watched him like crazy, but he really seemed just fine. I was determined however, to get him into the doctor’s office as soon as I could.

Monday I woke up to find him out the door going skiing! I wasn’t happy about this, but off he went. He was home by noon, as the conditions were not the best.

Monday night after dinner, we were sitting watching the TV when Hubby exhibited classic symptoms of a stroke, only this time it did not resolve and were more severe. I dressed quickly, got Hubby into his clothes and into the car and raced drove the car down the eight and a half miles to the local hospital.

He was quickly admitted and testing began. CAT scans, blood tests, everything you could think. All the while, I sat and paced, nearly unable to breathe. I felt like a deer standing still in the headlights of a car! Trapped. Fear causing me to be unable to move or make things better. At midnight they determined that they needed to keep him overnight to continue drug therapy and testing, so I kissed Hubby and left.

I got to my car and sat there, exhausted. I picked up my cell phone and called my friend, Gail and she talked me up the road to my home. I have to say that driving eight and a half miles when you are this exhausted would have been impossible if it hadn’t been for her. Thanks Gail!

I slept for a few hours and then woke with a start! I got up, turned on the coffee and called the hospital to check on Hubby’s condition. All was stable. I called a few people, then I sat and just stared into space. I prayed.

I know I write quite often, joking about Hubby, but this man, this wonderful man that I have been married to for nearly 21 years, is the most important man in my life. He’s my best friend, my husband, and my lover. I simply cannot think about life without him in it!

Today I spent the entire day racing back and forth up and down that same road between our home and the hospital. I sat on Hubby’s bed and held him, raced home, and walked the dogs. Then I was back to the hospital and was trying to learn as much as I could about Hubby’s condition. It was indeed a stroke.

Later in the day I saw a surgeon. I have not felt well since before Christmas and today I learned that I have an ovarian cyst and will need surgery soon to have the ovary and cyst removed. Things like that I can handle, but not stuff happening to my guy.

My sister called late in the day to tell me that my Dad has been diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS, formerly known as “preleukemia”). He is quite old and hasn’t been well for a long time, and although I am not surprised by this it still saddens me.

Too much right now, Gentle Readers. It’s all feeling like it is too much. I told Mel that I felt so tired. So very tired.

Then Hubby called and he had gotten the doctor’s to release him. I drove down the same road and picked him up. I loaded him, with his things and drove immediately to a pharmacy. I seemed to be purchasing the entire store, but soon was back in the car, prescriptions in hand, and drove Hubby back home.

We’re sitting here in our pajamas now. Both of us feeling exahusted and weary. Time, dear friends. It can be your friend, filling your life with fun and frivolity, or it can be your enemy, making the time drag by and filling those hours with real unhappiness, tension and illness.

The Office

I bit the bullet, folks.

Today I got a bucket of cleaning water, rags, an extra large garbage bag and steely determination, and entered our office. My goal? To clean out the closet, and to clean the entire room, from top to bottom.

Why? Well, I am thinking quite seriously of turning this room from only an office into an office/den. You see now that both Hubby and I have laptop computers we are very seldom in the office, and I am thinking that at night when I pull a pillow over my head to dampen the sounds of the TV, how great it would be to banish Hubby into the “den” at the other side of the house, so I can fall blissfully, silently to sleep!

With a nose that kept running, and sneezing, Arnie and I set about cleaning the room. First I pulled all the “bad” stuff out of the closet, and then sat down on the floor to go through all of the “clutter”. I cannot believe the stuff I have saved over the years!

I have to mention that it would probably be best to have done this without Arnie. His contribution to the project was smothering me with doggy kisses, and although I love him and appreciated the affection, I didn’t get a lot done during his “helping” time!

I’m not done yet. By all accounts it is going to take me about 2 days to finish the project, especially since I have appointments to keep outside the home.

At least the project has begun. But boy, do I hate dust!

Ah-choo!

This & That

I was trying to decide what to write, but I’m afraid that today I’m feeling a tad tired and under the weather.

Despite this, I did manage to do some laundry, and cook three meals. I even IRONED a few things before putting them in the closet. And we all know how I detest that job.

I wrote the last of my holiday letters, watched “Mama Mia” again, and actually figured out how to fast forward a DVD, so I just got to enjoy the songs while I folded clothes.

I also heard from a breeder in Germany about the possibility of using one of her males to make babies with Anneliese! Yay!

Here is one of the pictures I sent over to show Anneliese’s beauty! She is adorable, yes?

When I went down to pick up the Sunday newspaper I noticed a huge box just inside the door of my garage. It must have come late yesterday. It contained my new blanket and mattress pad for our bed! January “White Sales” Woo-hoo!

Museum Day

It was a free day at our state’s Art Museum, The Currier Gallery in Manchester, New Hampshire. The museum was also having an Andy Warhol exhibition, so Hubby and I decided to get up early and go.

We went through the Warhol Exhibit first. He’s never been a favorite of mine, but I was intrigued by the series he did of Jackie Kennedy on the day of JFK’s assassination. The “before” picture shows her light and happy and the “after” is a face full of shock. Looking back, after that day, she never again showed an expression of carefree happiness.

After that we walked around the new addition of the museum and looked at a few paintings. There was one, done by William Preston Phelps, a New Hampshire painter, whose love of Mount Monadnock came through in his many paintings of the area.

There were several pictures painted by German painter Albert Bierstadt. He came to this country and seemed to move from one mountain range to another. This one is near North Conway, New Hampshire.

Lara Alma-Tadema did this wonderful painting called “A Knock At The Door” showing a woman arranging herself before answering it.

This Tapestry by an unknown Flemish artist in the 1450’s is called “The Visit Of The Gypsies”. It is only displayed for two months out of the year due to the fact that it is so fragile.

We also continue to marvel at the works of Edmund Charles Tarbell, New Hampshire’s very own Impressionist Artist. His work has that wonderful quality of lightness and beauty that is found so often in Impressionist works.

There was also a bronze relief (portrait) by Daniel Chester of a young girl that touched me very much.

And as we walked out of the museum we saw this wonderful portrait by John Singer Sargent, showing a haughty Marchioness.

When we left, Hubby suggested that we go to an Indian restaurant for our lunch. It was so good! I don’t think I have had any Indian food in over a year.

It was a nice way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

Frozen Toes

It’s been very cold here in New Hampshire the last few days. It’s been near 0 degrees (F), with high winds. I think Hubby said that our wind chill this morning was minus 52 degrees (F!). Yeah, that’s cold.

We’ve had fires in the hearth and dressed warmly, but the tough part are the dogs. Now I have little doggy sweaters for them, but the problem is that they go running around and their feet get frozen!

This morning Anneliese went running around and suddenly she stopped and looked at the house. Panic filled her little face. She lifted one front paw and held it in the air.

Frozen!

So I went outside and picked her up and carried her shaking body inside. I cuddled her close and waited for the shaking to stop. Five minutes later, she wanted to go outside again. The girl is crazy!

It warmed up as the day progressed. A heatwave, as it got up to 22 degrees! However, once the sun went down, so did the temperature!

Yes, it is winter. Now that I have put away all my Christmas decorations, it just looks like a cold and gray winter day.

**sigh**

George Daniell

My beloved Uncle passed away just before midnight on New Years Eve. It’s sort of funny that he died on this holiday, because he was born quite close to Valentine’s Day and we always celebrated his birthday then.

Uncle George is the father of my cousins, Janet and Larry. His mother was the sister of my Grandmother. However, he was raised with my Mom and the two of them were like brother and sister, and all of their lives they just adored each other.

The family many years ago. Uncle George is in the back on the left, with his mom and my mom is on the left in the very front next to her mother and father.

Then there is my other set of grandparents, my great Grandpa Daniell, and my Uncle Bob and Aunt Cynthia. Aside from my mom, they are all gone now. I miss each and every one.

One of my earliest memories of my Uncle is at the beach. It was there that he taught me to swim and to dive safely off his shoulders. I never worried about getting in over my head as long as his loving strong arms were around me.

I was perhaps 6 or 7 years old when during one of our beach trips, I stepped on a piece of glass and nearly sliced off my toe. I stood there crying and before I could call out, Uncle George was there. He lifted me up in his strong arms, examined the toe, and wrapped it in his t-shirt. Then he carried me home, a 5-10 minute walk from the beach. He drove us to the hospital and stayed with me while my toe was stitched up.

One time Janet and I decided to slip the noose of parental guidance and swim out to the raft in rough water. Oh ,we made it out just fine, but sitting on the rocking raft at Surf Drive Beach we sort of lost our cool about swimming back. Well, you guessed it; Uncle George swam out and helped us both swim in.

Besides rescuing us, he also made us feel important. He taught us to bowl, to hike, to build a camp fire, and to love life. He didn’t do these things in a big flashy way. He never asked for recognition, he just quietly went about being a great Dad to his own kids and to those of us that were lucky enough to be one of Uncle George’s kids.

When I married for the second time Uncle George gave me away. It was such a special moment in time. We looked into each others eyes, and smiled. I felt closer to him at that one moment than I ever had.

I’ll cherish that moment for the rest of my life.

Uncle George and Aunt Betty loved my kids and always were snuggling with them. It gives me a lot of peace to know that they are both with Katie now. I know she won’t be lonely.

I will miss this gentle man for all the days left of my life. He was the strong, silent type of man, who showed me what a real man was all about. I remember seeing him after Katie had passed away. He never said a word. He folded me in his arms and held me for the longest time, and once again, I was taken back to my youth, when Uncle George made me feel safe.

So good bye for now, my dearest Uncle. You were greatly loved in this life, and will be missed. Thank you for making such a difference in my life. God Bless!

Happy New Year 2009!

Okay, someone want to tell me where 2008 went? It feels like just the other day we were toasting the New Year and bam, here we are ready to do it again! Looking back 2008 has been a great year, but it’s time to look forward and plan out the year ahead.

So, what will be this years New Years Resolutions?

I’ve thought long and hard about this and come up with two.

1. To continue to go to Weight Watchers and maintain my weight. I’ve never had trouble losing it, but keeping it off? Well, let’s just say, I’ve never been able to do that very well! So, to class I go!

2. Two years ago I started knitting a scarf. A Harry Potter scarf. I’d only gotten a few rows done and then I put it down. However, Amber over at Serenity Days kept mentioning her knitting, and it got me thinking about that darn scarf and I pulled out my knitting bag. I have all of about 8 inches done. I know, pathetic, really, so I am going to attempt to get this done in 2009!

Aside from that I don’t have much else planned. I mean, I do hope for the usual. I’d like Greta and Anneliese to have puppies, I’d love it if Arnie could get a girlfriend and sire a litter of pups and for them all to remain healthy.

I’d love to have Hubby remain in great condition and ski as much as he possibly can, and perhaps for us to sneak off for a quiet vacation just us two, but if that doesn’t happen that is okay.

Health, happiness and peace. It’s what I wish for my family and for all of you too!

Happy New Year!