Thirteen Things About Today
Thursday Thirteen #46
Thirteen Things About Today
Category: Life
Thirteen Things About Today
Kids, Dogs and Love
One of our little neighborhood girls came by. Our house is now the place where the kids come. They play with the dogs, help me with cooking or the gardening, but most of all, I think they come to talk.
Today Jacqui came by. She was feeling angry at her Mom for restricting her on playing on the trampoline before it was properly set up. I listened intently to all she said before I offered my words of wisdom. (Or what seems like wisdom to a 10 year old.)
I explained how much her mother loves her and would not want her to fall and break a leg or arm or worse yet to be killed. I told her how mothers always try to do their best to protect their kids.
She looked up at Katie’s picture and I explained that sometimes you can’t even do that, but at least Katie and I had spoken only words of love before the accident.
She was calmer when she left and I hope tonight when she kisses her mother goodnight there will be some real affection and understanding between them.
Meanwhile, the pups just get to be more and more fun. Arnie is nearly as big as Greta, while Anneliese remains petite. It is so hard to believe that they weighed the same at birth!
Hubby took this great picture of the three dachsies this morning while they watched the early morning activities on the lake.
Arnie, Anneliese and Greta
Yes, between the love from our dogs and for them as well, and the children of our neighborhood who seem to find their way to our home, and the love that exists between us, life is good.
Are We There Yet??
Have you all seen the Garmin Navigation commercial on TV? The one where the husband and wife are arguing about her reading of the map and then suddenly she balls it up and throws it out of the car? Then the basketball player (whose name I cannot recall), hands them a Garmin GPS and they punch in a few numbers and all is well.
This has happened to Hubby and me more times than I care to admit, (The map arguments) so, for Father’s Day I bought him the “World’s Easiest Navigational Tool!”
I sort of looked it over, figured out how to type in an address and thought I probably had it figured out.
Well, let’s just say, the 78 page users guide should have tipped me off. No sooner had we gotten in the car then the argument began. Basically he thought I should know how to use it, and I thought that since he was used to operating glass cockpit airplanes then an automobile GPS should be nothing.
Well, we were both wrong. This thing is truly mind boggling for a first time user. You can be sure that we will be reading and testing it out before our trip to Canada and to DC later this year.
Do you know why I got this “wonder”? Because I simply am “map reading challenged” when I am in a moving vehicle. My brain doesn’t work that fast. I usually say stuff like, “Oh yeah, that last exit 7 miles ago? That’s the one we wanted.”
I will be studying…..I wonder if there will be a quiz before the Canada trip?
Paint, Dirt and A Little Nap
I also, weeded the garden (or more precisely we cultivated the garden, but that’s about the same thing) and I worked out with both puppies so that they start to learn to walk in a circle for their presentation to the German judge in the fall. I came in, feeling exhausted and dehydrated and sat down to an iced coffee. Ahhhhhhhh!!!!!!
Then I glanced over and saw this:
Now, doesn’t she look comfy?
What We Did On Sunday
It was a busy day here in Dackel Princess Land. As our cupboards were nearly bare, we needed to go grocery shopping. I also wanted to get paint for the puppy room and in the end I got Hubby a new lawn mower for Father’s Day which is next week.
It was a pretty day and nice for our trip south to the shopping area. As I have mentioned before, we live in the country and aside from one very high priced grocery store, there isn’t much around.
The shopping took a few hours and then we returned and drove the car up and around the side of the house so we could avoid the 14 steps up to the inside of our house. Fourteen steps! What a pain. But I have no one to blame for that one but myself, as I drew the plans for the house. In fact, I remember saying, “Oh that will be good. The stairs will keep my legs in shape”.
What an insane thing to think! How about the reality of grocery shopping and having to make a dozen trips up and down the stairs? Sheesh!
Anyway, we drove the station wagon around to the back of the house where it would be an easy job to unload the car.
We worked putting the groceries away, and Jackie arrived to play with the puppies. I love when the kids come over, so I let the dogs out for a run with her and her friend, Cameron.
Jackie
After a bit, the girls left and we let the pups run around the yard a little more. Hubby was putting his new lawn mower together and I was trying to get a few pictures.
Hubby with his new mower
Anneliese
It’s wonderful to see the puppies grow and play. They’re 6 months old now! So grown up. Arnie weighs a whopping 17 pounds and Anneliese is a lightweight at 14 pounds. One thing is for sure, they are both beautiful and sweet babies!
Sunday night is the “Soprano”s” finale. Will they kill Tony or not? Will Carm save Tony’s life, or AJ? Will they go into witness protection? One thing is for sure, it’s got the world talking!
Sunday, Rain & Sun
Sunday was an odd day. It started with gray skies and hinted at some rain. Within an hour or two of our getting up the skies opened and we had torrential rain. In fact our rain gauge showed we got an inch of the wet stuff over the course of the day.
With the refrigerator nearly empty we decided to spend time stocking up. Now those of you that work during the week and shop on weekends know what it is like in the grocery stores on Saturday or Sunday. What a zoo! Frenzied parents, screaming exhausted children and shelves that don’t stay stocked very long.
I had my list, and we got in and got out of the stores as quickly as we could, but still it took us over two hours to get our errands done. As we drove back home, the rain stopped and when we pulled in I ran up the stairs and took the two puppies right out.
You see, in the last few days we have started to use the crate at night and during the day when we leave the house. We are finding that their house training is progressing much faster and the puppies actually let me sleep later in the morning.
Once we had some lunch and put the food away, we took all four dogs outside and let them run. Despite the gray skies it was a bit brighter and so I grabbed my camera for these pictures.
The back of our house.
Anneliese near our little stream.
Anneliese and Arnie playing near the Gala Apple tree.
Fritz in his favorite place.
Hubby pruning the grape arbor.
We watched the Boston Red Sox beat the Atlanta Braves 6-3, had scallops for dinner and noticed that the long absent sun started to shine. Could this be the beginning of some nice weather for us? I’ve got my fingers crossed.
Arizona
In the second year of our marriage, we lost our White German Shepherd, Rex, when he passed away at age 10 1/2. We did some researching and located a new puppy out in Arizona. As I had never been to Arizona, we planned a trip around the state to see all the highlights, the Grand Canyon, the meteor crater at Winslow, Oak Creek Canyon, Flagstaff, Sedona, and Montezuma’s Castle, cliff dwellings from a long extinct tribe.
Two days before we left I heard the cats fighting at the foot of our bed and I jumped up and when I came down I landed incorrectly on my foot and broke it! Hubby was not at all happy because this certainly would make the trip difficult. But here is what happened.
Upon arriving in Manchester to take our flight out, a Porter met us at the curb and wheeled me to the gate. I was pre-boarded and given a nice crate to rest my foot on. Everyone was so nice.
When we arrived in Phoenix, I was met with a wheel chair, and wheeled to the car rental company. The car rental agency gave us a handicapped placard for our car, giving us the best spots in all of Arizona to park. At each state park we were met with a wheel chair and smiles. What a great way to go.
We traveled down to Tucson to pick up our puppy and the woman who raised the pup asked if we had seen Tombstone? Since we hadn’t, she offered to keep our new puppy, Max, for us so we could visit this famous town.
Tombstone is a real western town. With a saloon and of course the OK Corral, we found the town, really interesting. At a saloon there was a photographer who took pictures in period dress. I wanted to have our picture taken in costume. Hubby said that was fine, as long as he got to be a gun slinger!
It was so much fun to do and I love the picture of Hubby and I. It still hangs in our office.
We also went to Boot Hill Cemetery where Hubby saw a headstone, “Here lies Lester Moore, four slugs from a .44, no Les, no more!” Yes, that still cracks up Hubby!
Once we got done posing, we headed back and picked up our boy Max and flew home. Max was a dear big boy (128 pounds fully grown!) for nearly 13 years. In many ways that picture of Hubby and I reminds me of Max when he was a puppy.
Max at sunset in his later years.
Saturday Scavenger Photo
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COOKING
Here is Hubby cooking hot-dogs and hamburgers on our deck. There is nothing we like better than cooking out in the summer!
Rainy Days & Fridays
Another gray day here in New Hampshire. Hubby spent the day working on his fruit trees, while I spent the day doing the laundry. How can two people make such a mound of laundry in just one week? We also picked up my car at the garage, where it had gone to get inspected. This marks the first time I have driven without glasses! It felt good and strange all at the same time.
Apple Blossom Buds
After lunch I felt very tired and sat down in my chair with Anneliese and Arnie and before I knew it an hour had gone by. I heard barking at the basement door and went over and there was Greta. How she got into the basement we aren’t sure, but she definitely wanted to come up!
I sat back down with Arnie and worked stripping his coat. Anneliese’s coat is beautiful and she will need very little grooming to get it in shape, but Arnie tends to be like a little raggedy man and he needs his fur stripped down. I am so lucky that he likes this and doesn’t fight me. I worked for about half an hour and already his back is looking very nice.
Anneliese
I’d planned to make an easy dinner tonight and currently it is under way. A while back I made breaded and fried eggplant. I had a lot left over, so I put the slices in waxed paper and then a freezer bag and froze enough to make eggplant parmesan for Hubby and me. Today I took out the frozen slices and in a casserole covered the frozen slices with sauce, cheese, another layer of eggplant, etc. Now it is in the oven cooking and I’m hoping that this will work out. Doing it this way made the preparation time fast and the work easy.
My doctor has called in a prescription for antibiotics for my sinus infection. It’s a 7 day dose and then I should be right as rain. (Where did that phrase come from?)
Happy Friday everyone! Have a good weekend!
To my stepdaughter Jessica, Happy 29th Birthday!
Fruits & Vegetables
We went for a ride today in search of another fruit tree for Hubby’s small orchard. Well, it once was a small orchard, but since he has expanded, it is now a medium sized, back yard orchard. Although not all of the trees are productive yet, many are, and in a few years we will be functioning as a small fruit enterprise. I can see Hubby packing up his fruit for the town’s farmer’s market and all of this done with the biggest of smiles on his face. He really loves the care of the trees and the harvest of the fruit.
Our Orchard now has:
3 MacIntosh
2 Cortlands
3 Empire
3 Macouns
2 Golden Delicious
1 Gala
1 Spy Gold
2 Winesap
1 Cox’s Orange Pippin
1 Red Stayman
1 Enterprise (A surprisingly good Apple that has a long shelf life)
1 Stanley Plum (I love to make jam with these!)
1 Castleton Plum
1 Mount Royal Plum
1 Moonglow Pear
1 Clapps Favorite Pear
2 Red Bartlett Pear
1 Lapins Cherry
1 Stella Cherry
2 Bing Cherry
1 Black Tartarian Cherry
2 Reliance Peach (My favorite)
2 Finger Lakes Super Hardy Peach
1 Elberta Peach
1 Richhaven Peach
Wild Concord Grapes (The best for Grape Jelly!)
Seedless Concord Grapes
New Hampshire Reliance (A hardy canadice type) Grapes
In any case, we didn’t find another fruit tree. My man knows what he wants to see in his fruit trees and apparently he didn’t see anything that made him happy, but we did see two flats of tomato plants for the garden, so we got those and brought them happily home.
The tomato plants
These tomatoes will join my cucumber, eggplant, zucchini, summer squash, butternut squash and corn plants in my garden. Currently they are all sprouting in the green house until we are sure that we’ve had our last frost. Usually that is Memorial Day Weekend, then we will be replanting everything outside except the tomatoes, which I will continue to raise in the green house.
My seedlings
We were out longer than we anticipated and so we stopped at a small restaurant and we got two orders of fried “whole bellied clams”, coleslaw and fries. The lunch was so good and we enjoyed the brief stop. Then we headed back to the house where our puppies, all four of them awaited us.
We walked them in the yard, I watered my vegetable plants and Hubby watered his fruit trees and then he headed off to the store to get the weeks groceries. Although I am doing really well, I was feeling a bit tired, so he volunteered to do this without me. I have no worries at all, as he is one of the few men in this world who can do this job as well as I can.
Yes, I’m a lucky girl!