My Life – Page 127 – The Dackel Princess

Thanksgiving Prep Work

Today Hubby drove me to buy all the fixings for our Thanksgiving meal. It was my first trip out since getting sick. I thought I was ready for it, but by the time we got home an hour and a half later, I was dragging.

But, we did get what we needed, including the freshest turkey that they had. With plump breasts and chubby thighs, our turkey looks like a chefs dream! We also bought the chestnuts for the dressing, the Yukon Gold Potatoes, some Pearl Onions, and fresh cranberries to make the cranberry relish with. Of course we will be eating our home grown butternut squash and an apple pie made with our own apples.

Oh I shiver in anticipation of our Thanksgiving meal! I’m not sure that anyone loves Thanksgiving as much as I do! It is simply the best. It was the first thing I learned to cook and I do cook it often. Of course you cannot always get the chestnuts. They seem to only be available in November and December.

When Nat King Cole sang about “Chestnuts roasting on an open fire…” he sure knew what he was singing about!

Wednesday we will do as much of the prep work as we can. Hubby is always such a help with peeling and chopping things. I’m so lucky to have him.

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In other news, I heard from Calvin’s new family and he is being well loved there. He has settled in and has a blood hound sister looking out for him and playing with him. I love it when my puppy buyers write and let me know how the little ones are doing. The house does seem oddly quiet now and we do miss them.

Preparing For Turkey Day!

Recipes have been read, lists have been made and the planning of our Thanksgiving meal is well underway. I’m still undecided about the pies. I am definitely making an apple pie, but I have been craving a pumpkin pie too, so I may make both!

One thing I am planning is our family’s traditional Chestnut Stuffing! Oh how I live for that! I’m not sure I mentioned that a couple of weeks ago I bought a few chestnuts, roasted them in the oven and just ate them. Oh my, they are so good!

I’m also going to make fresh cranberry relish this year. A friend gave me a recipe and will be making that.

Also on our menu will be mashed Yukon Gold potatoes, mashed candied butternut squash, peas, gravy, bread and butter pickles, and some sort of table bread or rolls.

I love cooking and baking and I’m looking forward to doing all of this. Thanksgiving is my favorite meal of the year!

In fact the family legend is that I was born a week early just so I could get my turkey dinner!

That sure sounds like me!

A Thing Of The Past

I woke to absolute quietness, which in turn made me think that something was amiss. After all, the puppies are never this quiet unless they are getting into to something they shouldn’t, like the night they escaped the puppy room.

Sleepily, I pulled on my robe and slippers and headed out to check, and there I saw it…an empty puppy room!

Consciously I knew they were gone, but in those first moments of wakefulness, I had totally forgotten. I smiled a sad smile, and turned and made the coffee.

Later, as I poured my first cup, I looked over at the vacant room, and in my minds eye, I could see those beautiful brown eyed babies watching me.

It’s always like this, the first few days after all the puppies have gone. Hubby and I were growing dangerously close to Curt, and we both admit to missing him quite a bit today.

Meanwhile, I have scrubbed the room, repainted a few spots and late this afternoon returned the table and bench to their rightful places, and rehung our jackets on the wall pegs. I have pretty much erased all the signs of puppies in there.

All of this made me feel tired, so after I finished putting things away, I made some tea and then sat down to relax.

Yes, this granny can relax until next summer when I do it all over again with Anneliese!

Catch-Up

On Monday I visited my cousin Janet to celebrate my birthday. The surprise was on her, as my sister also joined us! It was so great for us three cousins to sit around talking, reminiscing and sharing the day.

Janet had to have some surgery a couple of weeks back, but she is looking fabulous now!

It was also great to see my sister, who I do not get to see very often.

My sister made me a cake for my birthday. A red velvet cake and it was so delicious!

It was a a great visit with two of my favorite people!

Today I received a package from “down under” in Australia. It was a birthday present from my friend, Bernie. He sent a wonderful book of Australian Poetry.

Thank you so much, my friend. I love it! Both the poems and the pictures are fabulous!

And during all the excitement we tried to have Curt out as much as possible. He is such a sweetie, but unfortunately he bugs Anneliese, so we have had to be very careful with him when he is around her. I did take this picture this morning though and I think it shows just how adorable he is!

I’m feeling a little better and I think the antibiotics have taken hold. Good thing. I do not like being sick!

Have a great weekend everyone!

It Came In The Night

I wasn’t going to bring this up, but since I am currently down and out on my chair, I thought it would be best to fill you in.

I had a splendid birthday! I heard from my family, and friends from all over the world wishing me a happy day and letting me know that I am thought about, and loved!

Really, it was just the best birthday a middle aged woman girl like me could have. I thank each and every one of you for making my day so wonderful!

And then it happened. One and a half hours after my birthday ended, I got sick. It’s not the H1N1 Virus, just a little pneumonia! I had been restless all night in bed, and had trouble with my breathing. So, when I got up on Wednesday I knew a visit to the doctor’s was in the cards.

When I arrived at the office I’d been instructed to put on a mask and use the hand sanitizer so I wouldn’t infect anyone. As soon as people see you with the mask, you can just see their eyes widen and their bodies stiffen in fear. I felt pretty lousy before I went into the office, but all those people pulling away from me as if I had the plague! made me feel like a leper!

Once I was seen and unmasked by the doctor, I left with prescriptions in hand and headed home. I gave the prescriptions to Hubby, who took them to our local pharmacy and got them filled.

Since then I have been, quite happily in my pajamas, watching the TV and drinking juice. I have stayed warm, napped often and done nothing whatsoever productive.

Perhaps when you are ill, that’s what you are supposed to do.

It’s My Birthday

I started to write about my feelings of depression at now being officially over the hill. But the last few days I have felt so alive, so vital and so very happy that I do not care in the least what number happens to be attached to my profile. Life! Yes, life is good, my family and friends are well and I am a happy and blessed woman.

Here is a short montage of me with my loved ones as I look back over the last 51 years!

I WON!

I will now stop being one of those people that says they never win anything, because I’ve decided that it isn’t true. I actually do win things and I am blessed.

Recently a great Blog that I read A Glimpse Into Midlife had a contest and the winner got a Mennonite Cookbook from Paraguay! I am so excited! As you all know, I love to cook. So once I receive the book, I will make something and document the event.

Thank you so much Betty!

I hope you all will pop over and say Hi to Betty and tell her I sent you!!!

Sleep!

I was awoken in the night by Greta. Yes, Greta enjoys tormenting me, by waking me up at 3 AM. I was so groggy and cold and I couldn’t find my robe. I did find a jacket that barely covered my bottom. So out I went into the frost in my underwear socks, slippers and jacket. Oh thank you dear Lord that there were no Paparazzi outside to capture that on film!

I came inside and Greta decided that she did not want to go back to bed. After an argument with her, I gave up and went back to bed. I pulled the warm blankets over my body and pulled Arnie closer…and “bark, bark, bark!”

So I got up and this time told Greta to get into the bedroom and stop all this silliness and go to sleep! I managed another couple of hours before it was time to start the day.

I put the puppies outside in their pen and spent half an hour washing up their room. I cleaned everything, washed the floor and fed them. All that before drinking my first cup of coffee!

Hubby had a meeting this morning and so I fed him and sent him off with Fritz for a working meeting in the woods. Meanwhile I stayed home alternately cleaning the puppy room, walking them and then cleaning the puppy room again!

Later in the day our friends came by for a puppy visit and then later on Makenna arrived to run the pups for us.

Tonight, the pups and I are all exhausted. I think we will all get a good night sleep. At least I hope so. I do know one thing. Greta will be walked two seconds before we go to sleep.

Tattoo You!

You’re still a part of everything I do
You’re on my heart just like a tattoo
Just like a tattoo, I’ll always have you

Today was tattoo day here at the Dackel Princess home. Our Breed Warden came up last night and this morning we gathered the little ones together and tattooed them. One by one their tiny ears were shaved, washed and then they were tattooed with their official numbers.

Here is Calvin.

Caspar (aka Fenway)

Claus (aka Wally)

Curt.

Hubby comforting Curt.

And our little Miss Christel (aka Schnapps)

It went very well and the puppies stayed out in their pen until the ink dried. Then they came in and took a 5 hour nap. Schnapps climbed into the crate and hid in the very back. I think that she didn’t like the whole tattoo experience.

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I heard tonight that I have been appointed to serve as a Library Trustee until the next elections. I’ve decided that this is something I would like to do, and so in 4 months I will run for the 3 year term.

When A Stitch In Time, Doesn’t Make A Bit Of Difference!

I don’t sew. In fact I don’t sew so much that Hubby brings his clothing to a local woman to hem and fix, because I am just hopeless. It’s not that I don’t want to sew, it’s more like the machine I own is possessed and everything I try to sew with it becomes suddenly destroyed!

This morning I got up to a true disaster in the puppy room. They had somehow managed to chew up their nice puppy bed, and started shredding the foam mattress. This was the last bed that I had for the puppies to abuse, so I suddenly wasn’t sure what to do.

If I put a blanket down, they would tear that apart. If I put Greta’s bed in there, they would just destroy that too, and even a mother needs a nice comfy bed!

Then the idea struck me. I could put a large crate in there with a remade cushion and then take their old bed, with the cover, and using my sewing machine, sew it permanently closed.

Now isn’t that quite the endeavor for someone like me who has no sewing capabilities at all? It is, but I decided to give it a try, as we have just one week to go with the “Fabulous Five”.

First I made a smaller mat/bed for the crate. I lined it with a plastic table cloth, and sewed it together. Yes my demon machine acted up, but I persevered and got the darn thing done.

Then, once the big cover was dry I put the cushion inside, and then sewed it up along the zipper line. Since the little devils had chewed the zipper, I could not fix that. So I just sewed it up.

Well the possessed machine started acting up then. The thread got all jumbled up in one spot and then broke! I would had to go through the eye blinding process of threading the needle! more times than I care to say, but eventually the sewing was done!

It’s not pretty, and my Home Economics Teacher would be truly scandalized by it. She actually liked me, but I think it was because I liked to cook. It definitely wasn’t because I was a great seamstress!

However the puppies did not notice and when I put them down for their afternoon nap they fell instantly asleep!

Sometimes good enough, is well, good enough!