My Life – Page 116 – The Dackel Princess

Cherries!!!

Monday found me playing catch up. You know, even if you just go away overnight, when you get home there is always stuff to do that you must catch up with.

One of the first things was paying our taxes.

You know what Benjamin Franklin said, “Our new Constitution is now established, and has an appearance that promises permanency; but in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.”

So true. So off to the Town Hall I went with checkbook in hand. After signing away our savings, I headed to the Post Office to mail a package to my friend in Delaware. There is a certain German food that I can get up here that they simply do not sell down there. So, off it went.

I finished weeding the beets in the garden, and picked two summer squash, which I sautéed up for our dinner, and made another fruit salad.

Sheets and blankets were washed, meals cooked and cleaned up, and by the end of the day, I was feeling quite happily tired.

Just a few more days until we learn if Anneliese is expecting her puppies. I am going a little crazy, as I wait! She is sure acting like she is, but…

Fritz is doing well.

His neck is looking good and on Friday he gets his stitches out. He is a happy, healthy dog once again, and I am thrilled!

Hubby is picking our cherries now.

This is a full two weeks ahead of schedule! A local farm stand is buying some of them and reselling them to the public. I’ll tell you, these are some of the best cherries that we have ever had!

We have plenty of cherries so I can make cherry jam! Here is one of my baskets, full of cherries just waiting for me to make them into jam!

Family

I promised you all more pictures from this past weekends Family Party. So here they are, in a short montage. These are my family, my loved ones. All special to me in their own ways.

Family Party June 2010 from Dackel Princess Maribeth on Vimeo.

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My drive home was so much less stressful and I made it in 3 hours and 50 minutes! A personal best. I didn’t speed (too much), and until I got near the speedway, the traffic was light, but I am still shaking my head about the man who wanted to drive 30 miles an hour in a 65 mile an hour zone! Why, by all that is good, do people do this? Thankfully I was driving my car (a Cadillac), with a big powerful engine, and eventually I was able to fly by him! Thank you General Motors!

I slept for an hour and a half after lunch, cuddling with my dackels. They are all so happy to see their Mommy. Fritz said hello, and then was off with Hubby. My feelings would be hurt, but I know, he is Hubby’s dog!

I plan an early bedtime, and hopefully a good long night’s sleep!

Happy Monday, Everyone!

Oh yes, and Happy Birthday, Mom!

Family

Sometimes you have one of those wonderful fun days when family gets together, and you talk up a storm, and eat some good foods, and make memories.

Today was one of those days.

One of our cousins was unable to come at the last moment, as well as another cousin, due to illness, and although we missed them and wished they could have joined us, we still enjoyed each other and the perfect day that we had.

I was able to swim in my sister’s pool with her grandchildren, and this gave me a real special thrill! I love children and playing around and joking around was so much fun!

Here I am with my grandniece, Abby.

My grand nephew, Taft.

My grand nephew Luke, making his shirt blow up like an airbag!

My beautiful cousin, looking happier than she has in so long. That just made my day!

Dave and Janet.

I will do a longer post tomorrow, but for now, gentle reader, I need to kick back and put up my feet. After all, tomorrow I drive 4 + hours back home to Hubby and the fur kids!

Traffic & Oleander

I drove the 4 plus hours to, my sister’s home today in some of the worst traffic that I have seen in a while. In fact, I saw 4 or 5 accidents along the way and nearly ended up being a statistic myself. I was so grateful when I finally arrived and could get out of the car and just breathe a little.

Unfortunately, today was a busy day. Groceries needed to be purchased, and I wanted to go and get the special dog food for Anneliese that I plan to use during her pregnancy. (Yes, I do think she is pregnant, but I won’t say for sure, because I’m terrified of jinxing it!)

I arrived back at my sister’s in time to change and head over to my mother’s house. For her 81st birthday I had gotten her a bottle of her favorite perfume. Oleander Perfume, from Bermuda, made by Lily. I was really pleased to have gotten her this.

The funny thing was that she had gotten me a small gift to keep with me always as a token of her love and affection. What did she get? Yes, a silver Oleander Blossom on a chain from Bermuda!

Coincidence? I think not.

The Oleander perfume and flowers are just something both Mom and I loved and shared over the years. Something that is just us.

Tonight we took Mom and Mel’s mother in-law out for dinner. I have known Nan since I was 8 years old, (so nearly all of my life) and it was great to have dinner with them. We went to “The Rustic Oak” and had a delightful meal.

I had soft shell crabs. I had never had them before and they were fabulous!!!

They were so very good! Everyone tried mine, except Mom who is allergic.

Mel had Scrod and said it was very good.

For dessert they brought Mom a dessert of her choice with a candle and sang to her.

And Nan also had dessert. I think it was Key Lime Pie!

So dinner is done, and the ladies are back home, and now Mel and I get ready for Saturday’s Family Reunion!

Friday Fil-Ins

And…here we go!

1. On vacation, I like _to do very little work_.
2. _I love to swim_ in the ocean.
3. One of my favorite vacation spots _a cruise ship anywhere_.
4. _I love a _ full moon.
5. Up, up and away _my beautiful balloon_.
6. Bananas _and monkeys_.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to _hugging my sister_, tomorrow my plans include _see all my family_ and Sunday, I want to _come back home to my Hubby and fur family!!!!

Questions Posted by Janet. Answers provided by me.

Slimming

I have now stayed faithful to the Weight Watchers Plan for two days. I can tell my clothes are starting to feel big on me! I swear to God they do!

I saw a woman in a store who knows me from class and she tried, in a very nice way, to make me feel less bad about the weight I have gained back. Her smiling face, just made me want to do this even more.

So, we are eating fish tonight for dinner!

I also made up one of my favorite drinks. Lemonade. I make it with Splenda and it just quenches my thirst like nothing else (except a good cold German Beer! Ah, I digress!), and helps me stay on the plan.

I leave for my sister’s home on Friday, and we are taking my Mom out for dinner to celebrate her 81st birthday, I groaned when she told me this, not because I don’t want to go out, but because it is hard for me to stay on plan when I am not in control of the food.

I told her we have to go to a place where they have grilled or broiled fish and salads! I really do not want to jinx myself the first week back. Perhaps, I will take my sister on a couple of walks around her neighborhood and swim in her pool to keep my calorie intake under control!

I will also get to see my nephews and niece, their children and my cousins and their kids as well. It should be a fun summer family reunion!

Back On The Wagon

It’s now 7 PM on Tuesday night and I have finally had a chance to sit down! The best part of a vacation is all that you get to do while you are on it. The worst part is trying to catch up on everything, when you get back!

Today I started the day paying bills, washing shelves and organizing the house. I walked the dogs, tidied their toys and then I started the ironing. Oh, I cannot begin to tell you how much ironing I had to do. I ironed and watched “All My Children“, I ironed and watched an hour of “Wimbledon Tennis“, I ironed while Hubby attempted to watch “World Cup Soccer“. Finally, just before it was time to start dinner, I finished ironing.

I got our dinner started and then made dinner for the dogs. At this point the day seemed to be dragging along. No matter how productive it was, my mood was grumpy and unsettled and then it hit me.

Wednesday is Weight Watchers Day!

Let’s just say that I REALLY enjoyed Germany! I mean REALLY! So Wednesday is going to be sobering to say the least!

See how much I enjoyed Germany!

I have determined not to beat myself up, but to go to class, and get onto the program again. I know what I have to do and so I will stop crying like a baby and just DO IT!

Anneliese is showing early signs of being pregnant. Besides being very tired, she wants her Mama (me, not Greta) all of the time. I am really hopeful that a week from now, we will be getting a positive exam with our Vets.

Fritz & Berlin

I need to start off this post by letting you all know that Fritz’s pathology report came back and he is going to be okay! The doctors got all the tumor and there shouldn’t be a re-occurrence of the problem! Hubby and I are rejoicing tonight!!!

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I was sitting here thinking of Uschi and Volker and the wonderful time I had with them in Berlin. So, I went through all the pictures we took, found my favorites (way too many, so this is a tad long) and made a montage.

Watching it brings tears to my eyes, as I recall the time spent with my dear friends! I hope I will be able to make a trip back, soon!

Berlin June 2010 Germany from Dackel Princess Maribeth on Vimeo.

As I said the video is a little long, but full of smiles and doggies and happiness!

Fun Monday

Melli over at Prevailing Insanity is hosting this weeks “Fun Monday”. So here we go…

Show me (or tell me about) that ONE item in your house that you would just LOVE to put in the next neighborhood yard sale – or take to the dump – but that for SOME reason you just “can’t”… and share the reason too!

Okay, let’s see, my bedroom set. The furniture is about 40 years old and it is not something I picked out. It came with Hubby when we married. Over the 22 years of our marriage I figured it wasn’t important enough to do anything about, because after all, how much time are you in bed awake over the years, looking at this?

But it is boring, and old and I just do not like it! Here are a few pictures.

This is my dresser. You can probably tell because of the jewelry box (not much there, I don’t wear too much) and the dackel items and the red-headed dancer stuck in the mirror.

This is Hubby’s dresser. Trust me, it usually isn’t that neat (neither is mine!).

And our bed. I really dislike the headboard and would like an entirely new set. However, I realize that this set will do until I move from this house…someday.

Fritz News!

Yesterday our White Shepherd, Fritz was operated on. He had a rather suspicious lump on his neck and we became quite worried about it when it began to grow. So, we arranged surgery to remove it. We are still hoping for the best, as our Vets have sent the tumor off to pathology for a definite diagnosis, but my Vets told us to be prepared for the worst.

So, I brought Fritz home last night and went back and forth between steely determination and tears. I really am hoping that all will be well, but I am fairly convinced that it is malignant as they suspect.

I’m holding the right thoughts, that my furry white friend will be making a complete recovery!

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Anneliese is showing me many signs of the early part of pregnancy. She puts herself to bed at about 8-8:30 each night, and then the rest of the time is stuck to me like glue! She is cuddly, and loving and very sweet. Not that she isn’t like this normally, but it is just more so right now.

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I decided to make a beer batter fish and chips tonight for dinner. I found a recipe, even watched a video showing how to do this. The end result…It was terrible. The fish was cooked, so we peeled off the beer batter, and ate the white meat of the Haddock, but both of us agreed we enjoy the Haddock broiled much better.

So we will chalk that up to experience! Ha!

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I got my peas tied up, and the garden is doing well. I need to get some Miracle Grow vegetable plant food, and spray that out. All in all, I am really pleased with the garden this year!

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Have a great Saturday, Everyone!