My Life – Page 145 – The Dackel Princess

Friday Musings

I gave Fritz his spring bath on Thursday. This requires great skill, a lot of water and the ability to show no fear while in the shower with my big white boy.

Fritz hates baths with a passion that is truly unparalleled. I had to literally drag him into our bathroom, and then drag him into our walk in shower. I’d stripped down naked, because any hope of staying dry during this process was futile, and I set out about 6 towels to help dry him off after the big event.

I use Dove bar soap on him, as he tends to have slightly dry skin, and also the white of the soap helps to brighten his coat. I soaped and sudsed, and rubbed and soaped some more. Then it was time for the real fun….the final rinsing.

If you have never rinsed a German Shepherd in a shower, then you don’t know the real fun that I had. I had to pick up his front feet and hold them so I could get his belly, neck and ears all rinsed.

I’d expected Hubby to help, but the phone had rung just as I was going in, and so I was on my own. You should have seen the hair coming out of that boy! I kept freeing up the drain and it would just fill up again.

Finally he was rinsed and I kept bringing the towels into the shower and drying him off until he was finally fairly dry.

I let him out of the shower and allowed him tio sit in the kitchen in the sun and finish the drying process. Soon Hubby brought him outside for his annual stripping of the coat.

As you can see, Fritz loses quite a bit of fur in the spring, and this is just a small part of it. We used to brush him inside and then we noticed that everything would be covered with white fur, so we decided to de-fur him outside. One day we noticed birds flying in and picking up the fur to line their nests with. So if anyone in New Hampshire sees a fur lined nest, well, you’ll know where the fur came from!

The twins were here modeling their new dresses! They looked so adorable that I just had to take their picture.

That’s Sarah on the left and Kimmie on the right. We really enjoy those two!

Friday finds Hubby and I doing errands. Groceries, registering the cars and cholesterol checks. Oh joy! I’m hoping that my work on the Weight Watchers diet plan will have brought down my cholesterol level.

And speaking of Weight Watchers, I have now lost 31.4 pounds! I’m back in size 10/12 and feeling good! Yay!

Have a great weekend everyone!!!

Meme X 5

5 THINGS

I have been tagged by Maribeth (yes, another Maribeth!) to do a meme. Since she and I are name-twins, how could I possibly refuse?

5 Things found in my bag (purse)

In my purse right now

1… My Weight Watchers cards! They mean so much to me and I look at them often to remind myself of how many small goals I have reached.

2… My small photo album with pictures of Hubby and Amanda and the pups.

3… My wallet.

4… Dachshund date book.

5… My bifocal sunglasses. This way I can read a map in the car!

5 Favorite Things In your Room

1… Hubby

2… Fritz

3…Greta

4… Anneliese

5… Arnie

5 things you always wanted to do

1… Travel all through Europe for a year or more.

2… Take a cruise down to South America and then take a land tour to Machu Picchu.

3… Take a cruise that goes out to the Galapagos Islands, then spend time there seeing everything!

4… Go to Australia and see as much as I can before getting onto a cruise and cruising the coast of Australia as well as New Zealand.

5… Visit Asia. Starting in China and going all down the coast.

5 things you are currently into

1…Hubby and me. My marriage is at the top of all my lists.

2… My photography.

3… My garden.

4… My dogs, and raising healthy puppies.

5… Planning on what we will can from this years harvest!

5 People you want to tag:

Anyone who would like to do this. Let me know and I will link to your blog.

Michele at Smoochdog has joined the Meme. Go on over and check her Meme answers out!

Happy Meme-ing!!!

As always click on any picture to enlarge it.

I Feel Good!!!

I started Weight Watchers right after the New Year. I had been planning it for a couple of months because when we arrived home after our cruise I realized that my backside was not the size it once was!

I think I have tried every diet known to man. I think I have lost thousands of pounds over the last 49 years of my life. This time I decided that I needed something more permanent, something akin to AA, because yes, I am a food addict. I love to cook and I love to eat!

So I started. My first meeting was scary, but I went and weighed in and made it through. I came home planning each and every thing I would eat the next day and I started keeping a food journal.

And little by little, inch by inch, pound by pound, the weight started to come off. I did very well in January and February and then March and April were sort of slow, but my weight loss has picked up again and as of last Wednesday I have now lost 29.8 pounds!

I have 23 pounds to go until I reach my goal weight, and I feel pretty sure that I can and will do it. Spring is here, I’m doing more things outside, I will start my seeds for the garden tomorrow and plant them outside on the first of June, just before the puppies come. (That is, if Greta is, in fact, pregnant)

Hubby is taking a real notice of my weight loss and I think he likes the new slender me! Or perhaps I just like myself a little better. I wasn’t happy with the extra weight and I sure feel better about myself now.

So I am a happy, slimming woman, whose dog is possibly pregnant. Does life get any better than that?

It’s Spring!!!

Spring has come to the Dackel Princess household. It was in the upper 70’s and so totally beautiful that Hubby worked outside and I worked inside, spring cleaning. I did take time to go out and take a few pictures of our much anticipated springtime!!!

Hubby Pruning the Peach tree.

Look! No Snow!!!

We can now fly our flag once again!

You can see that our lake is still frozen! I guess it will be a little while longer until the open water returns.

Hubby is going to go skiing in the morning. I plan more spring cleaning and perhaps a leisurely moment sipping my coffee and reading the Sunday newspaper. The best way to spend a Sunday!

Saturday Scavenger Photo Hunt

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Photo Theme. Join the blogroll. Visit participants.

~Thirteen~

These are thirteen of my favorite pictures. The bottom picture is of Greta with her first litter of pups back in 2006. We will know in two weeks if she is expecting her next litter! I’ve got my fingers crossed!

A Wonderful Spring Day!

It was a very busy day for me today, but all in a good way, so there will be no complaining. Here is how I spent this wonderful spring day.

After getting up and making breakfast and sending Hubby off to ski (Day 57), I poured myself a coffee and got the two new pillows I’d purchased a few days ago, put them back in their bag and tossed them in the trunk of the car to return to the store.

Those of you who have been with me a while will recall that I have major pillow problems and my quest for the right pillow continues to this day. I thought I had found a good pillow last week, but alas, I was incorrect and found that these pillows were so hard that we felt like we were sleeping on concrete! So back they have gone. Now the quest begins again! This isn’t a complaint, just more of a long term search that isn’t over yet.

After I dropped those off, I went to a coffee shop and met up with my girlfriend, Barbie, for a coffee and a chat. We sat there for a long time talking and laughing and speculating on whether or not Greta is with children. Barbie is the proud Mama of Greta’s boyfriend, Bernie.

We dropped in at LL Bean and I found the cutest tote for myself, an LL Bean tote with a dachshund on it! I mean, it is so totally ME!

I said good-bye to Barbie then and hopped on the highway to head back north, intending to shop for food at the grocery and personal items at Wal-Mart. I was enjoying the ride, as today was just a perfect spring day, sunny, about 70 degrees (F) and not a cloud in the sky. I put on the satellite radio and sang my heart out!

Just then my cell phone went off and it was Hubby. He was done for the day skiing and was heading home. I explained what I was up to and he decided to meet me at the grocery store and then go out to our favorite Chinese Buffet for lunch. I just love this place because they have so many wonderful vegetables and salads and I do not have to stray from my Weight Watchers program.

So I drove to Wal-Mart and got the things I needed there and then met Hubby at the grocery store. We got that job done quickly and then we both needed to stop and fill up our cars with gas. Okay, we all know the price of gas, so I won’t go into how much we paid. Let’s just say we’re spending our kid’s inheritance each time we need to fill up!

Lunch was so relaxing and the food was great. I had my vegetable egg foo yung and hot and sour soup and salad. Yum, yum, yum!!!

We drove home, put everything away and played outside with the dogs for a bit, before sitting down to check our e-mail. I was going through mine and I saw a post from Hubby. I read it and it was such a funny joke that I started laughing and he knew immediately what I was laughing about and he started to laugh again too. Yep, life on the Internet!

Kimmie was over right after school today with a book she’d taken out of the school library. She came up to the door and asked for Hubby! Then she came in and wanted to read with him. It was so much fun to watch them.

I made a new recipe tonight using Dover Sole, Baby Bok Choy, and lots of ginger. It actually came out pretty well, although next time I will do a few things a little differently. However, I just adore the Baby Bok Choy. Oh, that is just the best!

Now the day is ending, and I’m sitting here with Greta beside me. I’m hoping she is pregnant. I am sort of thinking that she is. There is just something in the way she is acting. Keep your fingers crossed!

Time for a cup of tea. The perfect end to a perfect day!

Thursday Thirteen #75

Thirteen things that I love that start with the letter G

1. Greta! Yes, my girl Greta has brought so much sunshine into my life.

2. Gardening. I love to have my vegetable garden each summer. In fact I’m already starting my seeds to be replanted in the garden at the end of May.

3. Grands. I love having Grand Nephews and Grand Nieces. It’s so wonderful to see the next generation coming along!

4. Grandparents. I was so lucky to have a set of really wonderful grandparents. With out them, I’m not sure I would be the person I am.

5. Gingerbread. Oh boy, do I love gingerbread! Yum!

6. Goonies. One of my favorite movies. I just love the kids in it, especially Chunk!

7. Garlic. Mmmmmmmm. I love the sweet taste of garlic!

8. Grill. I love to grill foods outside in the summer. I am very partial to using charcoal in the grill to do this. The taste is great!

9. Girls. I was so happy that when I had children I had two girls! It was so much fun dressing them up and playing barbie dolls with them!

10. George. The name of my most favorite Uncle. He taught me to swim and dive and bowl, and never made me feel like a silly kid. When I married Hubby Uncle George walked me down the isle.

11. Gardenia. Probably my favorite flower. The scent is lovely and the flower itself is so fragile.

12. Grass. I love the feel of grass between my toes in the middle of the summer. Green and fresh!

13. Gift. Well, there are all sorts of gifts aren’t there? The gift of love, of friendship, of time of food or just your usual birthday or Christmas gift. I love the gift of love the best.

My Laptop & Spring!

With the fan fixed and the laptop no longer threatening to burst into flames, I went down to the shop today and brought her home. It’s a sad thing, you know. I’d had such high hopes for her back when she arrived. The excitement I felt, the happiness, and now I know that her time with me can be counted in mere months.

My computer Guru got her together enough that I can use her, but she will never be together enough again for me to bring anywhere and use on the road. However this does buy me some time to search for a new machine.

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It was another beautiful day here in New Hampshire, with temperatures in the upper 50’s and lots and lots of melting! Hubby went for his 55th day of skiing, and had fairly good conditions as well as beautiful views!

I re-potted my basil plant and decided that my first planting of Eggplants did not germinate, so I’m off tomorrow to get another packet of seeds to sow. In another 10 days I will start the rest of my vegetable seeds for the garden. Oh how good it will be to have fresh vegetables from my own garden!

Ah yes, spring has finally come to New Hampshire and I sure am ready for it!

This and That

My laptop is in the shop again and the news isn’t good. This time the problems are not anything covered by my warranty, so we took it to my local shop. His guess-ta-mate is that it may cost as much as $400.00 to fix.

Now I may not be the brightest bulb in the lamp, but I am thinking that I have already put a lot of money into this silly machine, and I’m not sure I want to put any more into it, considering that with this machines known problems, next week it could suffer a bout of chicken pox or worse yet, the bubonic plague!

So I am looking, and thinking…..

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In other news, we went out today to have Hubby refitted for ski boots. He has recently purchased new skis

and now finds a problem with his old (18 year old) boots. Much has changed with Hubby’s legs since his double knee replacements and so I’m pushing him to go out and just do it!

I am thinking Anneliese could be close to going into heat. She is starting to have episodes of PMS, and this leads me to believe that it may be close at hand. Her victim today was poor Arnie. Now my boy Arnie has to be the sweetest boy on the face of the earth so when she gets after him I have to wonder!

Since I am now sequestered in the office with our main desktop computer, I decided to scan in this very old picture. I was all of 19 years old and this is Mandy in my arms. It’s always been a favorite of mine, so I thought I’d share it with you!

I’ve also been playing with the macro lens on my camera and I came up with this picture

of one of the roses from our anniversary bouquet. I just loved the color of that flower!

As always you can click to enlarge these pictures. Also congratulations and thank-you to Ted in NY for being my 47,000 reader!!! And thank-you to all for visiting me each day!!!

Girl’s Day

On Saturday I drove down to the closest “big city” to us. Mandy drove up and we met at a local bookstore well known for their double cappuccino’s! After Mandy arrived, we got our coffees and then got into my car and headed over to the Mall. We stopped first at Applebees and had lunch and then the shopping commenced!

This is actually a pretty good mall, as malls go, and Mandy, who has also been dieting and lost even more weight than me, needed some new office clothes. We started in “Coldwater Creek” where there was a “70% Sale” sign in the window! I have to say that Mandy looks adorable in clothes, and I enjoyed watching her trying on different outfits.

I hadn’t intended to buy anything, but recently I had experienced our anniversary where I literally had NOTHING to wear. I did not want to buy anything that I really liked because I know in another 6 months it won’t fit, but I decided to try on a new pair of coral colored denim jeans, and a flowery top that matched. Both fit nicely, and the jeans were a size 12 and the blouse was a medium!!!

That was all I bought, but Mandy has an office job, so she truly needed a few outfits, and luckily, she found them and at sale prices.

Dinner was at a local placed called “The Common Man”. We met up with my cousin Janet. The place was mobbed! Talk about a place where you really want to either have a reservation or perhaps eliminate from your weekend dining list. They told us it would be over 1 hour, but we could wait in the bar!!!

We sat in there and decided that we would order dinner sitting at the bar. We ordered salads and lobster corn chowder.

Janet and I talked and talked and it was so nice. I’d brought with me old pictures that I’d gotten when my sister and I were going through things from our parents home. There were great pictures of Janet’s parents, grandmother and yes, even her brother. I was so happy to be able to give them to her. We also exchanged Christmas gifts! Janet gave me

Patty Boyd’s book on her life with George Harrison and Eric Clapton, and I gave her the cutest purse, with a Johnny Depp pirate inside. I hope she liked them!

My cell phone went off twice (I’d set it to vibrate), thus giving me a short thrill and the experience of trying to talk over so many bar patrons! I’ve decided that I like the thrill, but not the talking in a crowded bar.

I got home late. A first for me, the original country mouse who is usually in pajamas by 7:30!!!

Today? Well, I’m tired, but happily so!