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!!!
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.
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.
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!
I have been joking with people for years that when I am old I will be The Crazy Old Dackel Lady that lives on the hill. I will surround myself with a dozen or so dackels and instead of furniture for people I will just have dackel beds all over the house. I’ll have a kiddie pool with water in it for them to all drink from, and will cook roasts for them every night. We’ll have a large screen TV where we will watch Animal Planet and TLC. And I will have a big recliner to get comfy on.
Well, that’s always been the dream until Daylight Savings Time ended. Now the dogs want to get up in the middle of the night, they want to be fed early and quite frankly my four have been just a little cranky with the disturbance in their sleep habits.
And so have I.
Take last night. I stayed up until 10 o’clock. I walked the older dogs (the sweet puppies were asleep) and we climbed into bed. I fell asleep quickly and slept well, until about 4 when Greta started in. She paced back and forth, up and down the bed, stepping on my head, pulling my hair, until I grabbed her and put her under the blankets near my stomach. I eeked out another 2 hours of sleep before the dogs forced me to get up!
Anyway, all of this sleep deprivation has caused me to rethink my goals of becoming The Crazy Old Dackel Lady on the hill.
Shoot, now I have to think up something new to aspire to!
I slept so well on Tuesday night. It was wonderful. In fact, I slept past the time I normally get up and when I finally looked at the clock my heart sank. I had exactly half an hour to shower, dress, clean the puppy room, feed the little guys and make a breakfast to go for myself, as Wednesday is Weight Watchers day.
I lingered at nothing, and accomplished it all, and as I headed out the door I called back to Hubby “Good luck getting your breakfast!”
At Weight Watchers I lost one and a half pounds, and found the meeting to be a good one. I like our leader and find her very uplifting.
Upon my return to the house I was greeted by 9 very happy doggies. My four and the puppies all barked upon my return, with great happiness.
It was a rainy day, but I was able to get the puppies outside anyway. They played and ran about and today I caught them frolicking in a puddle. Now that was cute!
Almost as cute as their continuing to try to fit into that bed.
Schnapps, above.
Calvin, above.
Hubby and I are planning a trip just before the holidays. We’ve got a house sitter coming in to stay with the puppers and the two of us will go off someplace warm and rest up. This year has been full of life’s ups and downs, and both of us are really tired. Time to recharge the batteries!
I’ve been waiting to tell you all this, but I am going to Norway in August 2010 to a Blogger’s Convention. I hope to be giving a short talk on Dackel Princess and how my blog has brought me together with people from all over the world! Yes, sharing my life, my dogs and my small part of the world with you all, has made me feel that places that I’d only once dreamt about, are really quite close.
I am really excited about this and I can hardly wait. I’ve been hoping to meet Renny and his wonderful wife, Diane, as well as fellow Norwegian and blog friend, Tor and his wife Anna!
There will be many more of our blogging friends attending. I have always wanted to visit Norway and now I have the chance to.
Yes, in the 4 1/2 years I have been writing Dackel Princess, blogging has truly changed my life. I’ve met new people, read their blogs and related to their thoughts. It’s been quite a wonderful experience!
Tuesday was one of those days where you meet yourself coming and going all day. I knew it was going to be a busy day, and I really thought I’d prepared for it, but in the end I found I was on the run all day.
The puppies now demand and require a lot more of my time. Oh I don’t mind that. They are so totally precious, I really do not mind getting down on the floor and playing with them, fixing their meals or cleaning their box. Well, maybe cleaning their box, but the rest of it is fine.
I particularly love to watch the pups now that they are running and jumping. Here is Fenway.
They now leap and jump! I love this shot of Curt!
And this one of Schnapps, too.
I got my hair done. Check. Picked up the mail. Check. And attended a meeting for the Library Trustees. I am in the running to fill a seat vacated by a woman who has moved to Florida. I wasn’t sure I wanted it that much, but it turns out, I do. So keep your fingers crossed for me.
Now I am sitting, feet up and blanket across my knees. Cold weather has come to New Hampshire. I’m afraid winter is on it’s way.
It was one of those days, filled with potential, and yet, it seemed disaster was following just behind me!
I woke feeling happy and nice. I had a good night sleep and actually wanted to get up for a change. Yes, I was rested and in good form!
The first thing I noticed was that Greta had a very enlarged teat. This required a visit to our Veterinarian. She has Mastitis, and needs to be on antibiotics, and medication to relieve the swelling and help dry her up.
Yes, the puppies are now weaned and eating puppy food and drinking water and a little puppy formula.
Okay, we went home after the Vet visit and gathered up our friends from Australia, and Arnie and Anneliese and off we went to see the beauty of Autumn!
We drove up into the “Notch” and saw the beauty of mother nature. Red, orange, and yellow leaves dotted the mountains. Lovely!!
I mentioned to Hubby that we needed to stop for lunch. Words I will will regret for at least the foreseeable future. We found a restaurant that advertised “Fish and Chips” for lunch, so we pulled in and got in the line waiting at the door for the lunch rush. I should have known. I should have walked away, but I didn’t.
We had the waiter from Hell! He brought warm, nearly cold water for Jill’s tea, never brought Hubby’s or my drink and it was terrible. I finally asked to speak to the restaurant manager and I complained. Another waiter came to help, but the food was terrible and none of us enjoyed it.
I got to the car and Anneliese needed to be walked. I slipped off her pants and left them next to my car. While I walked Anneliese I saw a woman pass my car and she looked at the pants and then kicked them under my car!
“No!” I yelled. “Those are for my dog!”
Too late. I ran back and had to lie down on the ground and retrieve the pants. This meant nearly crawling under my car. The woman was aghast. I tried to explain they were for my dog who was in heat, but she wasn’t very helpful.
I did get them, but they were soaked. They’d gone into a puddle under the car. So, I took a pair of pants out of my purse and put those on. Unfortunately I was so upset, I forgot to put the pad on the pants!
Okay, we saw beautiful leaves on our journey across the Kancamagus Highway.
It was beautiful and we had a great time. My neighbor went in and checked on Greta and the pups and Fritz, while we were gone.
The puppies are doing great, and I am holding a hot water bottle on Greta to help her teat. Poor baby girl. She is really uncomfortable with those swollen breasts of hers!
Oh my goodness, the puppies are all over three pounds now! I weighed them in this morning and couldn’t believe how much they had gained! They are all much more animated now and I hope next week we will have a warm day and I can get them outside for a little while.
You should see them run around the box and they have the sweetest little barks ever. Sort of, miniature dogs! lol!
Here they are in their puppy box!
I cannot believe how much they have changed and grown! Here is Calvin.
And Wally.
Curt and Fenway.
And Schnapps.
I was busy on Monday, as I have guests expected, almost any time from Australia. The last time they were here Greta was a baby and had come into heat for the first time. So what happens today? If you guessed that Anneliese is now in heat you would be right. I noticed just after lunch and now she has her little pants on!
No, life is never dull here!
Hubby and I ran out to the grocery store and shopped for food, and supplies before returning and having lunch. Then I was tearing into the house, so that all looks fresh and smells clean! The last room to do was the puppy room.
I got them all fed, the box cleaned and then they played with Makenna for half an hour. After that, they curled up and fell asleep.
