Author: Dackel Princess

Happy Birthday Greta

Today my baby girl is three years old. Last year I totally forgot her birthday because Hubby was having surgery, but this year I plan to get her a small cake and sing Happy Birthday!

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My Greta is sweet and loving and has given me so much over the last three years! Have a long life, good health and much happiness, Greta Girl!

Playful Pups!

Anneliese is really stealing my heart. I’m afraid that Arnie is too. What a splendid pair they are. I had them out this morning for a couple of hours after I got done sewing my braided rug. That rug is older than Hubby and at this point it should just be tossed in the dump, but I have a feeling the rug will be here for a long time, so I had better just shut up and keep stitching.

Back to the pups. What fun it is to watch them play with each other and with Greta. My favorite of their play events is when they are all running back and forth between the family room and the kitchen going 100 miles an hour! Greta loves to play this way with the pups and from time to time she will stop and roll around on the floor with them.

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Anneliese likes to come over and stand on her back legs and almost dance to get me to pick her up. Then she will settle into my lap either showering me with kisses, or chewing on a bone. Arnie loves me too, but he would rather be playing rough with Greta all the time.

They’d been out for a while when I noticed the Fritz hair had gotten pretty bad. So I pulled out the vacuum and started to vacuum. Anneliese disappeared under my chair and Arnie ran for the puppy room where he promptly wee-wee’d on the floor. Poor boy! After the big bad vacuum went away, I coaxed them both back out and the play resumed.

I sat down with them on the floor and they came over and settled into my lap. Soon I noticed that their heads were slowly drooping. So I picked them both us and put them to bed in the puppy room.

They were out most of the afternoon once Hubby and I finished our lunches and then I fed them their dinner and they have literally crashed in their bed.

I sure hope a good owner for Arnie can be found. He is a beautiful boy and needs a loving family, but also one that will allow him to have his way with certain wire-haired dachshund ladies. I hope this miracle family comes along soon, because it will get harder every day he with us, for us to let him go.

My Life, Cell Phones & Puppy Dogs

I am so late writing this edition of Dackel Princess, as I was out spending money wildly today. Hubby and I had to break down and buy new cell phones. His dates back to 2002 and mine is over 2 years old. I probably could have waited a while longer, but I just knew that if I did, my phone would die, and then we wouldn’t be able to by the phones cheaply. We got a pretty decent 2 for 1 deal. In any case, after that we did our grocery shopping, picked up Hubby’s new glasses and I bought some new make-up at the Clinique counter, and got a special prize for doing so. (More make-up! Yay for me!)

The phone purchase put us way behind our schedule so when we came home it was a mad rush to put away the food, cook dinner and feed the doggies! I did it with a little help from Hubby, who peeled the potatoes, and soon we were all eating our respective meals!

Then the tough part of my day began. I’ve never been able to understand why they must radically change cell phones so that each time you “get a new one” you essentially must learn a new language. Once I had finished the dishes, I sat down with my owners manual and started to study our new phone. A few new features that I like very much, but some are simply a waste of time. And my clock. Now this is something I am very upset about. I can’t have it showing all the time on my phone. I must flip it open in order to see what time it is. I stopped wearing a watch years ago because I keep my cell phone on my belt. Oh well, next time (2 years from now), I will know that I need the darn clock on the outside to work all the time! Darn!

I programmed my phone and then Hubby’s. It took me a couple of hours. How I wish I were a Geek who could type faster with my thumb! Oh well, since it’s only every two years that we do this I think I can stand it.

Anneliese and Arnie are both doing splendidly! They went in for their check-up and shots today and they are just perfect! They enjoyed their ride in the car and seeing everyone at the Vets. They are good little puppies even if I have to spend part of my day tomorrow sewing my braided rug back up after some fierce puppy play.

I can also report that we had a bit of a heat wave here today with our temperatures getting up to 16 degrees (F) before starting to fall again.

Ah, spring!

It’s Fffffffffreezing!!!!!!

The temperature never climbed above 1 degree Fahrenheit today. The wind was blowing strongly with gusts up to 46 miles an hour. Greta went out only in her little doggy sweater and Fritz would run out and run back in as quickly as his legs could carry him. It was simply too cold to force the puppies outside. So I was very careful to make sure they had regular newspaper breaks.

Hello? This is March! We are supposed to be heading toward spring. Didn’t Punxsutawney Phil say we were having an early spring this year? Yeah, like I believe that today!

Tomorrow is puppy day. We go to the Vets so that Arnie and Anneliese can get their shots. I hope it is warmer, but if it’s not I will wrap them in a blanket and warm up the car first.

I got my surgery date for my right eye. I’ll be operated on, on May 8th. Springtime. Warmth. Sunshine! Yes, that will be a great time to have surgery. I’m not at all nervous about this. I know my doctor well, respect her work in so many ways, and feel totally comfortable in her hands.

But first, let’s get some springtime warmth here! Brrrrr! It’s too cold for me!

This, That and Good-Bye To Two More Puppies

Today was my first physical therapy session. I’ve decided that I could never have knee replacement surgery, because I just do not do pain very well. Anyway, I lay there while the therapist gently worked on the MCL and we sort of talked the entire time. No big deal, right?

Wrong! Tonight I can hardly walk. It’s amazing how much this stupid thing hurts. Nope, no knee replacements ever, ever, ever.

Two of the puppies left us yesterday. Anita has gone to Poughkeepsie, and is doing really well. I got a letter today and pictures of her at her new home. She looks so happy and loved! That makes me so happy! They have decided to give her another name (no big deal, after all Greta’s real name is Xochil!), and she is now being called Gabby! Isn’t that adorable?

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Gabby (Anita) in her new home with her new friend, Rita.

Anja has gone as well. She is just down the road and I am hopeful we will see her from time to time. She is such a pretty girl and shows great promise for blood tracking of wounded animals.

Now we have Arnie and Anneliese. Of course Anneliese is staying, but Arnie is our little orphan. Things just did not work out with the people who had hoped to take him. You know how it is? Life happens. So my boy is up for grabs.

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Greta is doing better today, and we have had the puppies out to play with her a lot. She enjoys the rough and tumble play, but then looks forward to their naps as well.

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I caught Anneliese watching the TV today. I just knew this dog was supposed to be with me. She likes General Hospital! LOL!!!

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All in all, not a bad start to the week.

Good-Bye Anita and Anja

It was a hard day for Miss Greta. She watched two of her babies go off with their new families. I’m not sure if it was because she was playing with all her babies one minute and then two of them went out the door, or perhaps she really can count, but after they left she kept looking for them. In the yard, around the house, until she crawled into my lap.

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She whined and fussed and if it is possible, I swear, she actually looked depressed. We are giving her a lot of cuddles, treats and kisses.

She just proves to me each and every day how deeply a dog can feel.

Italian Pot Roast

We tried this tonight and we both agreed it was fabulous. It does use 3 cups of red wine, but Hubby says get a large bottle and then have some of the leftover wine while it cooks. Enjoy!

3 1/2 to 4 pound rump or chuck beef roast
1 teaspoon salt plus more to taste
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 large carrot, cut into chunks (about 1 cup)
1 large celery stalk, cut into chunks (about 1 cup)
3 large onions cut into chunks (1 to 1 1/2 cups)
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
2 Tbsp chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 bay leaf
1 Tbsp finely chopped fresh sage
3 cups medium-bodied Italian red wine
1 28-ounce can Italian plum tomatoes.

1) Trim some of the fat from the meat. Pat dry with paper towels. Season generously with the salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a large, heavy pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, shimmering but not smoking, add the roast and cook, turning it a few times, until it is nicely browned on all sides, 10-12 minutes. Transfer the meat to a platter.

2) Reduce the heat to medium. Add the carrot, celery, and onion. Cook, stirring occasionally until the vegetables are golden brown and begin to stick to the bottom of the pan, 10-12 minutes. Add the garlic, parsley, and sage, and stir until the herbs are lightly colored and fragrant, about 1 minute. Add 1 cup of the wine and stir quickly, lifting up the richly browned caramelized vegetables that stick to the bottom of the pan. When the wine is almost all evaporated and thickly coats the vegetables, return the meat to the pan and turn it over a few times to coat it with the savory base.

3) Raise the heat to high, adding the remaining wine, the bay leaf, and the tomatoes, and bring to a boil. Cover the pot, reduce the heat to low, and simmer, turning and basting the meat every half hour or so, until the meat is very tender and flakes away when pierced with a fork, 3-4 hours. Turn off the heat and let the roast sit in its juices for an hour. (You can also put the pot into a 300°F oven and turn the roast every hour.)

4) Remove the meat from the pot and place it on a cutting board, covered loosely with aluminum foil. If the sauce is too thin, bring it to a fast boil and reduce it until it has a medium-thick consistency. Taste and adjust seasoning.

5) Cut the meat into thick slices (it will probably fall apart), and place on warm serving dishes. Spoon the sauce over the meat and serve hot. Serve with rice, mashed potatoes, or polenta.

Serves 8.

Quiet

We are due for the mother of all storms tomorrow. They are saying we will get two feet of snow. And due to the temperatures around here being a tad warmer than they have been, I suspect it will be fairly heavy snow.

I like snow. I do. It’s pretty to watch as it falls, and if you go outside during the storm and stand very still you can hear something wonderful.

Quiet.

I think in this day and age most people have forgotten what real quiet is. We have the noise of TV, or music or automobiles or machinery. When was the last time you can remember hearing nothing? That sweet silence that you can only hear during a snowstorm.

I was about six years old the first time I realized that there was such a thing as quiet. I had gone outside of our house when the snow was falling after dinner one evening. I remember coming back in and asking my mother why it was so quiet outside and she explained to me about the snow soaking up the sound.

Pure quiet.

After that I would always try to go out in the snow during the storm, even if it was just for a moment. When I listen to the quiet of the storm it would always bring me back to that first time. When I was so very young and so very innocent. Back when a good snowstorm meant a day off from school and snowmen in the front yard and snow Angels on the lawn.

So tomorrow I am planning a little trip. Just a few steps outside my door where I will stand alone and listen and remember.

Quiet.