Author: Dackel Princess

Good-Bye, Baby Peaches

Today I found myself doing something that was really hard for me. It goes against everything I believe in and all I have been raised with.
I thinned peaches on our peach tree.
What this means is that I went outside and climbed up on a ladder, and took off the little baby peaches. Not all of them, you understand, but we tried to thin them down to 1 peach for every six inches of branch.
Hubby did not thin well enough last year, frankly we didn’t know that we needed to be so aggressive, and we suffered the “Great Peach Disaster”.
We nearly wept when we saw the tree. One minute is was beautiful and full of fruit, and a few hours later, kaput!
In any case, back to today. Hubby had been sitting in the yard thinning the peaches on the lower half of the tree. When I poked my head out the door to see how he was doing, he had me!
He called me out, had me get a step ladder and the next thing I knew I was plucking peaches for the next hour or so.
It wasn’t necessarily bad work, but it was sad. I saw all those little baby peaches being tossed to the ground, so that the tree would have a good harvest, not one which would break it apart.


The little baby peaches on the ground.

Hubby checked my work several times and told me I wasn’t being aggressive enough. Then he claimed I wasn’t saving the “big” peaches.
I gave him a glaring look that let him know that people who beg for help, can’t be so choosey!
We’ve left the tree for now, but I think we will have to go through and thin one more time before our August harvest.

The thinned tree branches.

Thursday 13



Thursday 13

Thirteen of My Favorite Ice Cream Flavors

1. My favorite is Ben and Jerry’s Cherry Garcia.
2. Heavenly Hash.
3. A Pure Vanilla Bean
4. Coffee & Cream
5. Raspberry Sorbet
6. Chocolate Swirl
7. Chocolate and Vanilla Swirl Soft Serve
8. Butter Pecan
9. Mint Chocolate Chip
10. Rum Raisin
11. Pistachio
12. Black Raspberry
13. Orange Sherbet

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Ying & Yang

Since I believe in the ying and yang of life, the ups and the downs, and yesterday was a bit of a downer day for me, today will be an up day. Hmmmm, what to say, what to say?
Hubby has his staples out! Yes, and he did not fall apart so this is good news, very good news indeed!


He is still hobbling around on crutches and wants his meals served to him on a tray in his room, but I am personally suspicious that this is just a ploy on his part for attention.
In between meals he hobbles out into the yard to work on his fruit trees, pointing out where I over sprayed here, and under sprayed there. What he doesn’t know is, I have him now!
The next time we are due for spraying I intend to bring him out and make him do it! Oh and I’ll sit there and watch and say “helpful” things like “you missed a spot” or “a little more on the left”. Now that I’m an official sprayer I can offer these words of advise!
I was still worrying about him this morning. “How’s the pain?” I asked. He would put on that brave face, and tell me how he was getting by.
This afternoon I went outside to check on him while he was thinning peaches and asked how he was doing and would he like anything. He said a glass of ice cold white wine in a long stem wine glass would be nice.
Dream on, like that is going to happen! I did relent and brought him some wine, but in a cheapo glass that I would not miss if Fritz knocked it over and broke it.
He has since come back in and has retreated to his room where he is “King of the Remote Control” and his food and the beverage of his choice will magically appear…maybe.

Twenty-One Years

Another year has rolled by. Time has slipped away and my daughter, Katie has been gone from us for an even longer period of time. It’s hard for me to believe, but it is true. It’s been Twenty-one years.

She was a sweet child. Funny, full of life and full of laughter. She was just six and a half years old.

I remember back to 1980 when I heard John Lennon sing a song called “Beautiful Boy”. It was a simple but sweet song, that he sang to his son, Sean.

Close your eyes,
Have no fear,
The monsters gone,
He’s on the run and your daddy’s here,
(refrain)

Before you go to sleep,
Say a little prayer,
Every day in every way,
It’s getting better and better,
(refrain)

Out on the ocean sailing away,
I can hardly wait,
To see you to come of age,
But I guess we’ll both,
Just have to be patient,
Yes it’s a long way to go,
But in the meantime,

Before you cross the street,
Take my hand,
Life is what happens to you,
While you’re busy making other plans,

Beautiful,
Beautiful, beautiful,
Beautiful Boy,

Back then I believed that I could protect my children from anything, as long as I was a good mother. But as I have written
here, here and here, I was soon to discover that indeed, life does happen to you while you are busy making other plans.

So today, take your children and hold them close, and hug them. Remember to value each day, each moment with them and know what a real blessing they are in your life.

Bike Week 2006

It’s Motor Cycle Week here in the Lakes Region of New Hampshire. Woo-hoo!

Bike Week 2006

I don’t mean to sound unappreciative of all that this momentous week brings to our area. Our motels, restaurants and area merchants all benefit from the tourists that come during that week. Especially our local Tattoo Parlor. Why after last year they made enough money to buy new curtains for their shop.
As one can expect, traffic can be a problem. A few years ago, Hubby and I climbed up on his 1981 BMW R-65 bike and decided to cruise on down to “The Weirs”. This is the heart of Bike Week action and a mere 4 miles away from our home.
We got about a mile down the road and stopped. The bike traffic was so thick and so backed up, that after 20 minutes of not moving one bit, we turned around and headed in the opposite direction, where we found a nice restaurant and had a nice lunch, far from the maddening crowd!
Aside from the Weirs there are many places to ride your bike while visiting the area. The Kancamagus Scenic Byway is just beautiful and perfect for a day trip. There is also the Mount Washington Toll Road which is bike friendly on Thursdays.
Most bikers enjoy camping at the local camping areas, which are all booked a year to two years in advance. When we built our house we lived in our camper and the only week we had to find other accommodations was Bike Week!
I can say that for the most part it’s a fun time around here.
Now if I could just get
Harley Davidson to make a bike with a quieter muffler…

Signs Of Life

It has stopped raining long enough for me to tend to the trees and the plants. Everything is thriving with all the rain, but of course since it is not currently raining, this meant I was out spraying the fruit trees once again. Please pray that we don’t have a lot more rain because if we do, I wll end up going out and having to do the spraying all over again! Oh woe is me!
Actually, there is a great sense of accomplishment when you are out checking the fruit and the plants and you see that your sprays have kept the bugs and fungi off your fruit and they are growing beautifully. Yes, MY peaches, and MY apples etc. all looked very good today!
Time for some Advil.

Rain measured in the last 24 hours!

Gala Apples & Peaches


Plums & Concord Grapes

Pears & Tomatoes

Cherries

Need A Bath?

It was bath day for my boys today. First up was my 73 pound Fritz. Although his white coat looked clean, it didn’t exactly smell “downy fresh”! So, I locked him in the bathroom with me and forced him into the shower. I always just jump in with him, naked, because no matter what I do, or how hard I try, I am always covered in white dog fur, so I might as well not add to my discomfort with a layer of sopping wet clothes.


We have had wrestling matches in the past and today I was prepared for the worst. However, Fritz surprised me, and was such a good boy, I nearly fainted with the shock of it. The bath went so quickly, that we were done before I knew it.
Of course, I had to wash every piece of cloth in the bathroom. The rugs, the other towels, etc. all had to be laundered as they were soaked and covered with white fur, and since the floor was half wet anyway, I grabbed the bucket and mop and washed that as well.
Time for boy #2. Hubby! I wish I could say that we were the delightful young marrieds that we once were and that our shower was full of fun and frolicking, but let’s face it, he’s just had his second knee replacement, and I’d just gotten done washing a big dog. It wasn’t so much frolicking as it was wash and rest.
How do you know when you’ve been married 18 years? When you shower together and the only thing you think about is actually getting clean!
Am I disappointed by my lack of action in the tub? Not really, giving a bath is more exhausting than being an active participant.
Can someone pass the soap?

I’m Getting Sloshed

I’m starting to think that my new occupation should be “Ark Builder”! It seems that all it does is rain! Now this is just great for my garden. All my squash, zucchini and cucumber plants are growing like crazy. The peas, it seems, do not enjoy the heavy rain and would like just a smidgen of sunshine!


It’s not that I don’t enjoy an occasional rain shower. There is nothing like it after a dry spell, but these continuous, cold raw days where is rains, no pours, is getting all too familiar and very old!
Hubby sent me out to see how much rain had fallen in the last 24 hours. Yes, it was still raining, and yes I was unhappy about having to go out in it.
I got my rain coat on and traipsed up the hill to the rain gauge. One and one half inches of the liquid stuff!
I sloshed my way back down the hill and into the house. Feet soaked and feeling none too happy. Hubby smiled and then his next words froze me in my tracks.
“If it rains much more, you’ll have to spray again.”
Then he hobbled off on his crutches to the sick room to sit with his blanket and watch another rerun of “Law and Order”.
I stood there with my mouth hanging open and with tears in my eyes. My poor aching body hasn’t recovered from the last spraying.
Oh well, when we finally get some fruit, it’ll taste awfully good.