Category: My Life

So…here we go!

1. When pigs fly, will I ever get a tattoo. I am a real chicken about needles and pain.

2. Life without chocolate, seriously?!

3. Call me when you need a friend. I’m here.

4. I love the warmth of a fire, if you know what I mean.

5. The most entertaining person in my life is not a person at all, but my dogs, because they never leave my side, or let me down and are always happy to see me.

6. I’m back on the Weight Watcher Wagon, who’s next?

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to playing with my grand-puppy, Bogart, tomorrow my plans include playing with Bogart and all the dogs and Sunday, I want to Read the paper, drink my coffee and play dackel games!

Now that the Random Dozen has closed down, I’ve been looking for something to fill my Wednesdays, which, as you know are my Weight Watcher mornings. I’m up bright and early on Wednesday and have no time for writing or thinking about a post.

Joyce, From This Side Of The Pond,  has taken up the challenge and has put together Wednesday Hodgepodge. A list of 7 questions, plus an eighth of our choice, just to keep us on our toes. So, without further introduction, here we go!

1. Do you think you’re more like your mom or your dad?

Neither one, I hope.

2. Do you like roller coasters?

No. I figure why pay to be scared out of my mind!

3. How did you name your blog and do you now wish you’d thought about it maybe another five minutes before you hit publish?

We came up with 4 names and then I sent them to my Web-Maven, and she sent me back her thoughts and then PRESTO “Dackel Princess” was born.

Would you change your blog title if it were not a huge pain in the derriere? (French makes everything sound a little nicer doesn’t it?)

Nope. It fits.

4. What is the best wedding gift you received?

A set of fabulous heavy beer mugs. We still have them and still use them!

Not married? Didn’t get any gifts? Then what is the best wedding gift you’ve given?

I like to go to the local Artisans and get things like hand made pottery chip and dip sets, or coffee sets.

5. What is the one bill you most hate to pay?

Fuel Oil!

6. Is the glass half full or half empty?

Tough one for me. It really depends on the day. I strive for half full!

7. What is your favorite word? Okay okay. Calm down. How about one of your favorite words?

Puppies!

8. Now, this is where you insert one random thought of your own… Don’t make me get out my wooden spoon.

We have a small Rosewood coffee table that Hubby bought in Hong Kong. It is round and beautifully carved. All our puppies enjoyed going under the table, even Fritz, when he was a mere babe of 8 weeks old! Now Arnie has set up shop. He drags his toys, bones, blankets, etc, under the table and we have started to call this, “The Man Cave”!

Here is Mr. Arnie Man, in his “Man Cave”!

Thanks Joyce and Happy Wednesday to All!!!

So…here we go!

1. Sometimes, I ponder the meaning of life!

2. I always worry, about the whole thing. (I am the original worrier!)

3. Small wonders.

4. Every day that I live, is very enlightening.

5. I keep meaning to get my Christmas cards down from the attic, so I can start to address them.

6. No weight loss …yet.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to watching a new “What Not To Wear”, tomorrow my plans include finishing up the laundry and Sunday, I want to read the Sunday paper, sip my coffee and enjoy some down time.

Friday Fill-Ins are sponsored by my cousin Janet. Come on and join the fun!

1. What does my daughter, Mandy do?

She is in Oncology Research. I am so proud of her, as I know how hard she works, and how difficult her job is.

2. Does she live far away from you?

She lives about 55 miles from here, and so we do not get to see each other as often as I’d like. She has a really nice condo of her own, and has decorated it so nicely.

3. How often do you bath your dogs?

About every six to twelve weeks, unless they get all smelly, which happens. After all, they are low to the ground, so sometimes it is hard for them to stay clean.

4. My cousin asks, “What do you like most about me?”

Physically? Janet’s eyes are so beautiful and a real window to her soul. Her best trait is that she is the most loyal person I know and one of the most loving!

5. What did Hubby do for his work before he retired?

Hubby was a pilot for the military, Pan American World Airlines and Delta, before he retired in 1998.

6. Do you enjoy crafts?

Oh I do enjoy crafts, I just am not terribly crafty!

7. How often do you show your dogs?

Usually once per year, but this year Anneliese was expecting and it did not work out. I would love to breed Arnie, but I am afraid that none of the girls think he is cute enough.

8. When will you have another litter of puppies?

I am hoping to have puppies again next fall. Anneliese should be ready to breed in the summer and so I will be breeding her then for a litter that would be due in the Autumn.

9. Am I still going to Weight Watchers?

Yes, although, quite honestly, I have been having a tough time lately. I will not give up. I truly believe that WW is the best plan for me, and so I will persevere.

10. Favorite “diet” meal?

I think my favorite “diet meal is baked chicken, baked potato and asparagus, with a small side salad.

11. Janet wants to know, “Who was my favorite of her boyfriends?

That’s easy! DAVE!!!!

12. What’s the best meal that I cook?

Herb Crusted Standing Rib Roast, roasted potatoes and butternut squash. I love to make either apple pie or pumpkin pie for dessert.


13. What’s my favorite flower?

Lilacs!!!

I’ve always been totally honest with you, regarding the fact that really, I am a freak of nature. There is simply no other way to put it. Ever since I was a little kid, I have defied being classified as an “average” person.

Most people will develop appendicitis at approximately 20 years of age. Men have a slightly higher incidence of developing appendicitis than women.

I was three and a half years old when my appendix blew and yes, I am a girl.

I’ve never really been able to read music, I can certainly follow it along, but I couldn’t tell you instantly what note that is. However, once I have heard a piece I can sing it again and again, and when I played the flute, it was the same.

Also when I reproduce, I have longer pregnancies than most women. In fact, I am more like an elephant. With my first pregnancy, I went three weeks over my due date! The second time it was two weeks over the expected time of arrival!

Perhaps that explains why elephants are my favorite Zoo animal.

Now in the last few years I have developed terrible leg cramps at night. These were the worst cramps ever, usually requiring me to jump out of bed, walk around and use a heating pad to release the cramps in my calves. I started to eat bananas, as I heard that this meant my body needed more potassium.

Wrong!

Well, apparently while potassium is good for some people, it isn’t good for me. You see, I have really high potassium levels all on my own! No one knows why, but they tell me it can be a real problem. So eating high potassium foods or taking a supplement is actually dangerous.

So I suffered, believing that there was nothing I could do. Then about 6 weeks ago I went to see my doctor and I mentioned the leg cramp problems. She said I should try taking magnesium. She said that there was a supplement that contained zinc, calcium, vitamin D and magnesium and that this would stop the leg cramps.

Yeah, like I believed that!

Well, I went to the Pharmacy and got a bottle of this stuff and started to take it every day. The first few days were nothing to write home about. I still had the cramps, and I felt a bit discouraged. Would I spend the rest of my years wrapping a heating pad around my leg each night?

Then, suddenly, the cramps stopped! I sleep through the the night without being awoken by the incredibly painful cramps, and all without potassium!

So I am once again faced with the fact that I am not average, but at least I have finally found something that has stopped the night time leg cramps and I swear by it.

If any of you out there have this problem (really, am I the only one?), go to your local pharmacy, or even a health food store and get a bottle of Calcium, Magnesium, Zinc & Vitamin D!

Our host is Gattina. Come join us and tell us what YOU did this past weekend! After all you never know when you might need an alibi!

Saturday found me doing laundry! Ugh! On the bright side here, is the fact that after a week of not having a washing machine and having to really limit clothing changes, and laundry, I was finally able to catch up and do…8 loads of laundry!!!

I suspect that the machine hasn’t been working well for a while, because I notice that the clothes seem almost cleaner than they were getting before. It is either true, or I’m so overly happy about having the machine back in use, that I am imagining it!

When I wasn’t in the laundry room, I was at the kitchen table with the new sewing machine! Yes, after almost 30 years, I have a nice new machine and it works like a charm. It even threads it’s on needle, which is wonderful for me, with my vision problems.

Sew so, what did I make? Dog toys. I’d gotten two different types of fabric at Wal-Mart and my idea was to make various shape toys, and then stuff them with old socks. I figured that Arnie wouldn’t be able to shred them that way (and so far, so good).

The lovely Anneliese decided to pose for me while I snapped a few pictures of the toys. However, it’s Arnie who really loves them. I just wish I could get that stinky toy away from Fritz. Perhaps I will have to steal it and trash it!

We arrived back home just before lunch time this afternoon. I’m rather tired after being up late and not sleeping too well. Yesterday was quite interesting and I learned so much. Not just about fruit production, but vegetables, and the trials and tribulations of fungus’s, winter kill and insect damage. I was really interested in all but one of the presentations, and learned quite a bit about the vegetables I have in my garden.
The conference was held at the Mountain View Grand in Whitefield, New Hampshire.

At the conference they had two sessions in the morning, one on marketing. The second was on how to keep birds and pests away from your fruit trees and the garden. All in all, the best way is to net the cherry tree. But, the man speaking was really good and very funny as well, which made his time fly by, at the podium!
At noon we went into recess and adjourned to the main dining hall where they had a buffet lunch. Mostly it was salad or sandwich fixings, and coffee, tea or iced tea. They also served home-made chocolate chip cookies for dessert.

Rain seemed to plague us all day long, and at one point walking back to the conference hall, I was taking a picture and it started to rain again. I stood there posing with the giant chess set, anyway.

After that we ran back down the hill and had the afternoon session. The first man was a Professor that both Jack and I know pretty well. He sat with us at lunch and we laughed a lot with him. Anyway, he spoke about the difficulties of growing fruit in the “arctic” climate of Coos County. It is colder up there than where we are, but we do see a lot of the same problems with winter kill and winter damage to the trees.
Then a woman spoke about problems in the garden especially to cucumbers and squash plants. Hers was truly fascinating and I learned quite a bit about Powdery Mildew. I also learned during her presentation, quite by accident, how many people in my State of New Hampshire are now getting food stamps. My gosh, it is so terrible that there are so many people unemployed and having to get help from the government and from local food banks.
At the end of the show they had a door prize raffle and they had many wonderful prizes. I so wanted the new pruning saw, but no, what did we win? A basket full of gourds!

Oh they are pretty, but, I sure did like that pruning saw! LOL!!!!!
We drove back to our friend, Jon’s house in Vermont, and just as we went over the pass we could see clearing a bit in the distance. I told Jack to pull over so I could take a picture.

We had a great meal of fine lamb chops grilled on the barbecue and stir fry vegetables and couscous. We drank champagne and sat around chatting. It was such a nice evening.
The next morning I walked around Jon’s yard and enjoyed the cows. Jon leases some of his fields to a local farmer to graze his cows. They were so friendly and followed me every where.

Jon’s dog, Sammy, also followed me everywhere too. He is a nice dog, but he is high energy! That is until he snuggles up with you and then he is a real cuddler!

l got one good shot with my macro lens. What do you think?

And that was how I spent my two days away from home!

It’s been a while since I have done one of these. However, since I won’t be home in time to post on Thursday morning, I’ll get this set and join in for the first time in a long time.

So here we go. Here are 13 things about me that you may or may not know.

1. I was born on November 17, 1958 in Wareham, Massachusetts, as Falmouth did not yet have a hospital.
2. I was one of the first children admitted to the Pediatric Unit at Falmouth Hospital when I had appendicitis at the age of three and a half.
3. I have an older sister, Melodie and I had a brother Dickie. He was seven years older than me, and passed away at the age of 26 of cancer.
4. I lived in Falmouth my first 20 year, and both my children were born at Falmouth Hospital.
5. When I was 4 I was in the community theater production of “The King and I”. I was the King’s youngest child, and I still remember showering after each performance and watching the pancake make-up wash down the drain!
6. At the age of 8 I was in “The Sound of Music”. I played Gretel.
7. I studied classical singing, and remember how tongue tied I got singing in Italian!
8. I used to sing for large assemblies, but developed terrible stage freight in my mid teens and stopped. So the only one who hears me sing now is Hubby and the puppers.
9. I enjoy singing in choirs, but since we moved back from Florida, I haven’t found one to sing in.
10. My favorite food is Lobster, but only in New England. In Germany it is Wiener Schnitzel.
11. I was 30 years old before I met my Grandmother’s sister (on my Dad’s side). My Great Aunt had no idea I even existed.
12. Worked for Hubby before we even dated. Helped deliver apple, and press cider. I guess he was impressed, because eventually he married me!
13. Found my wedding dress for Hubby at a salon in Ft. Lauderdale Florida. Then had to hand carry it back on a plane without Hubby seeing it.

Next week if you have any questions that you want me to answer, then ask them in the comment section and next Thursday I will answer them in the Thursday Thirteen. So, here’s your chance!

Here I am, Tuesday night and nothing to write about. I had a very ordinary sort of day. Had the bone density test and learned that despite my advanced age, I have the bones of a twenty year old. Went to the Post Office and my book finally arrived from Amazon! Yay!

We did have a marvelous day with sunshine, blue skies and warm temperatures. A single Indian Summer day!

I came home and did housework and actually worked on a few little projects until it was time to make dinner. What did I make? A very plain and ordinary dinner of meatloaf, baked sweet potatoes and asparagus.

Later in the day I packed a suitcase for Hubby and I, as we are going off for the night up north. Our house sitter arrives in the morning, and we will be at a fruit growers meeting in smack dab in the middle of the white mountains! I’m hoping for good weather so I can take some photographs, but the forecast is for fog and rain as a cold front approaches us.

Keep your fingers crossed for good weather.