My Life – Page 159 – The Dackel Princess

A Family Tree

I was sitting in my chair today when I glanced over and saw this.

Ah yes, a boy and his mother.

It’s sort of funny. Arnie is up to 16 pounds while his little sister, Anneliese remains at 13. I think he will be a big boy like his grandmother Erika.

Erika.

While Anneliese will be smaller liker her Mom and Grandfather, Meyer.

Greta above and Meyer below.

We were lucky to be able to visit the Vom Geestmoor Kennels in Rehden, Germany. We spent an afternoon with Herr Hollmann and his wife and their two daughters. I was able to see his Kennel set up, discuss with them their breeding program, and celebrate Hubby’s birthday and also Frau Hollmann’s.

The moment Greta was placed in my arms.

Meeting Greta.

It’s so amazing when these little creatures come into our lives. They bring with them their own personalities and likes and dislikes. A lick from them can change a bad day into good, and a sleeping puppy in your lap can cure the worst problem.

Yes, our animals make our lives complete in so many ways.

“I think dogs are the most amazing creatures; they give unconditional love. For me they are the role model for being alive” ~Gilda Radner~

Good Knees, Well Almost!

It was another lovely day here in New Hampshire. Usually I’m busy and not able to go for a relaxing car ride through the countryside, but today I had an appointment with my Orthopedist, and his office is about 50 miles away. The roads are all back country roads, and at this time of year they were quite lovely.

I left the house after lunch and drove our car. I love my car. It is a Cadillac Deville and runs beautifully. It also drives fast, steers likes a dream and is comfortable to ride in. Best of all it takes regular gas and gets good mileage.

I’d brought several CD’s with me and while I drove across the state I sang with James Taylor, Sting, and Five For Fighting (in addition to others) at the top of my lungs! I don’t subject anyone to these rare outbursts of my “American Idol Want-to-be” moments. But today the planets were aligned and it just felt right.

The good news is, I do not need surgery on my knee! Yay for me! The bad news is, the doctor looked at me and told me that I must lose 25 pounds (he actually was being kind) and exercise to strengthen the knee. Because of some damage to that knee I will need to be careful when I ski again using a knee brace, but for now I should be fine.

I returned to my car feeling happy and ready for ski season to begin. (Not really, but it sounds good! Ha!) I called Hubby and relayed the good news and headed back east. There was a bit more traffic on my return drive, but not even that could dampen my happiness at having had this wonderful drive.

Letting Go…

Several things kept my mind busy today. This is good. My grandmother used to say “Maribeth, as long as you keep your mind busy, it won’t stop working”. Well Gram needn’t have worried. If anything, my brain tends to function overtime!

I woke with the concern that the pedigrees from Germany won’t arrive before the Zuchtschau next fall. A Zuchtschau is a German dog show. I brought Greta last year for her rating. You can read about it here and here.

Greta received the highest rating of excellent, and I was so proud. Now I will bring her babies and see how they do before the German judge. I am hoping that they will do as well as Greta. Oh, I am nervous already!

Anyway back to their German pedigrees. The dogs have already gotten their AKC pedigrees and registration numbers and now I await their German, (DTK) pedigrees. So I called our German breed warden and asked her what would happen if they did not arrive? She said not to worry she would email Germany and ask specifically to have them taken care of.

End of concern #1.

Then I was worried because as I was putting laundry away I turned to go out of the room and tripped over Arnie. I caught him with my sneaker and he squealed and made me feel terrible. I picked him up quickly and held him tight until he had forgotten his ills. However, the guilt was terrible for me!

Arnie.

Pretty much the end of concern #2, although I still feel bad.

Anneliese.

It was a great day weather wise, so we had the puppies out a lot. They played in the back yard and had such fun, that was until they ran around the side of the house and I had to chase after them! I managed to chase them back and all was well.

End of problem #3.

The day seemed to pick up then. I made nice salads with barbecued chicken on top for lunch, drove out to get the mail and pick up some repaired feet for the snow blower for Hubby, and came home and played with the puppies again.

The day is ending, the sun setting and I’m hoping I won’t be so worried when I wake up tomorrow. I know in the long run of life, everything takes care of itself. It’s just that I often have difficulty of letting go…..and letting God handle things.

It’s All In A Day’s Work

Ever have one of those days where you wake up and are full of energy?

I know, I don’t have them very often either, but today I felt really good and really motivated! I fixed Hubby’s breakfast early, and before my second cup of coffee, I had stripped the bed, and started the laundry. I also began putting things away. Now this is truly a miracle. Quite often I will be looking at something, and a puppy will whine near the door and I drop what I am doing and rush out the door. When I return I completely forget what it is I have been doing or was holding and it sits in the exact same spot for…a while.

Today I was clearing shelves, putting magazines in the used bin, and I even got down and cleaned the fire place for the summer. By noon I’d gotten so much done that I was actually scaring myself.

Was I sick?

Now before you all think I am a total slob, let me tell you that I like to think of myself as a comfortably neat housekeeper. My home is always clean, but often has that lived in look.

The afternoon was so beautiful that I decided that this was a good time to re-pot my tomato plants. I grow my tomatoes in the green house. I grow them in large pots. So today I took the foot tall plants and put them in new pots with nice rich soil.

I sat down on the patio watching the puppies play with Greta and Fritz and drank a tall lemon water. They were still full of energy and racing around the back yard. It was about that time that I began to wind down, but dinner was still ahead of me.

Anneliese, Greta and Arnie in front of the Gala apple tree in our yard. That is our neighbor’s home in the background.

I tried a new recipe for Haddock (quite good actually) and then once the dishes were done and the puppies walked again, I found myself in a hot shower rinsing away all the dirt from my day.

I’ve got my dachshund pajamas on, the remote control all to myself because Hubby is at a meeting, and the makings of a beautiful sunset across the lake in the next hour to enjoy. What a great way to end this day.

See? I was right. The sunset was beautiful!

Getting There

This morning I had appointments with two different doctors, whose offices are 10 miles apart. The first appointment was for 10:15 the second was for 11:45. I was not at all stressed because I believed that I would have plenty of time to drive the lovely country roads of New Hampshire from point A to point B.

I arrived at Doctor #1’s building right on time. The first problem I noted was that the elevator was broken, and his office is on the 5th floor! I climbed the stairs, huffing and puffing, but made it to his office before hyperventilating! I collapsed in a chair and sat waiting. Finally 15 minutes after my appointment he called my name. The appointment went smoothly, except I kept worrying that I would be late for the next appointment, so I had a lot of trouble thinking (not one of my strong points). I am so glad that I’d written all my questions down in advance

When the appointment was over, I raced down the stairs. The fact that I had 20 minutes to get down the stairs, get to my car, and drive the 10 miles to the other office seemed to light a fire under me. You see, there is also construction on the one road that goes between point A and point B!

I drove faster than usual (I am a granny driver) and made it to Doctor #2’s office, arriving right on time! I checked in and sat down. I waited and waited and waited. Doctor #2 was a half an hour late.

Somehow I could forgive him. You see, he is leaving his practice to work as an Emergency Room doctor, so he can spend more time with his children and wife. He’s been a wonderful general practitioner for us and we have enjoyed him not just as a doctor, but as a friend. We talked a lot about his life, his wife and kids, and what is truly valuable in life in general. When I left him we hugged and I told him that, should he ever start his own practice, I would be his first patient. Both Hubby and I really admire this young doctor.

When I got home Greta was waiting for me in the driveway. I walked up the steps and saw Hubby working on weeding the lawn. Fritz was playing with a ball, and then I saw two little puppies by the stone wall. I put my hands over my head and yelled, “Arnie, Arnie!!” And he came running full speed toward me. Then I called to Anneliese and she also came running! What a greeting.

Hubby and I worked turning the soil in the garden this afternoon and got about half way through. Besides growing fruit and vegetables here in New Hampshire, we grow a lot of rocks! More seem to surface every year. I hope to get the rest of the garden turned tomorrow and then do the corn planting this weekend. The vegetables will be transplanted on the last day of May.

The sun was shining all day, not a drop of rain. All is right in my world!

Just 10 More

(See Saturday Scavenger Photo below)

I have ten more entries until I reach my 1000th post. So after all this time, and after all this writing, what do I think?

I think that writing in this blog has been one of the best things I have ever done. Writing down my joys, my sorrows, my accomplishments and my failures has truly helped me grow as a person.

It’s not only when you write the post, but later when you go back and read again what you have written. I feel a little like George Bailey in “It’s A Wonderful Life”. The life you have lived may not have been perfect, but with people around you whom you love and care about, life really is pretty wonderful.

Rain, Eyes & Baby Teeth

Wednesday Hubby drove me to Boston to see Dr. W. for my one week post operative check up. There is one thing I must say before I tell you about the trip.

1. I was so glad Hubby was driving!

The day dawned foggy and rainy and cool. We got up had our breakfast and dressed and got ourselves ready to go. On the trip down we talked and talked, catching up with the past weeks events, arriving in the city with plenty of time to go out to lunch.

We noticed a German Restaurant nearby and decided to give it a try. It was fairly good, although we both got food poisoning, proving that it wasn’t nearly as good as we thought. It’s funny but of the three restaurants we have been to in the area, the only one we haven’t gotten food poisoning from has been the Indian restaurant. Guess where we will be eating next time?

We got in to Dr. W.’s office a tad early and her technician took me right off. He checked the eye pressure and examined my vision. Amazing how my distance vision is coming into focus in just one week! I knew it had, as coming down in the car, with no glasses I could see perfectly clearly all the leaves on the trees and the signs along the road.

Next the doctor who assisted with my surgery examined me and he was very pleased. He said the lens is sitting well and the eye was healing nicely.

Then we got to see Dr. W. She is thrilled with my eye and after hearing about my fever (I still have it) said she wants me to go in to see my regular doctor, Dr. D. to get my sinus’s checked.

I’d brought with me some Heavenly Jam, my Moonglo Pickles and Brandied Peaches and she was thrilled! She just loves my cooking and her husband loves my pickles.

We made it out of the city before “Rush Hour” and just as we got north of route 495 the skies opened, darkness fell and the winds blew. The rain fell so hard it was like a sheet of water was just being poured from the sky. There was also hail and the traffic slowed to a snails pace.

I was so happy Hubby was with me and driving!

The ride home took much longer due to the terrible weather and we were lucky to get Emily to come over after school and walk the dogs for us. The pups were happy to see us when we got in, but their needs were not as urgent as they would have been, had Emily not come over to care for them.

Greta and Anneliese

I sat drinking some tea, and I noticed Arnie was playing with something. I got down and looked at it and then picked it up to see what on earth he had. You will never guess!

Anneliese and Arnie

It was one of his baby teeth!

I’ll tuck it away in my book of puppy memories. It makes the end of this day, somehow sweet and puts a smile on my face.

This & That Wednesday

We’ve started to plan a trip to Nova Scotia in July. Hubby’s family is from that beautiful spot, and this summer they are having a family reunion. This is the fun side of the family! I am really looking forward to the time we will have there and seeing all of our wonderful family!

Our usual house sitters won’t be back yet from their trip, so the biggest challenge is finding someone crazy enough to stay here with our pooches and house sit. I thought and thought and wasn’t sure what to do, when one of our neighbor’s stopped by with her daughter-in-law. Her daughter-in-law seems to think she would be fine and have no trouble handling the crew, so perhaps I can go off with Hubby for a few days and relax.

Wednesday finds me headed back to Boston for a recheck on my eye. I’m sure all is well and this will be just a formality, but Dr. W. insists that she see you 1 day after, 1 week after and 1 month after the surgery to check on eye pressure, the stitches, etc. Hubby will drive me and if I am a very good girl perhaps he will take me out for lunch at the Indian Restaurant near her office.

Hubby finished mowing the lawn last night and I went out to take a look. It was so beautiful. Springtime is like that. Flowers are blooming, the grass, the tree leaves, all are turning that deep emerald green and when you look out over on the lake you can see the circles in the water telling you that the fish are rising.

The earth has once again been reborn.

Fruits & Vegetables

We went for a ride today in search of another fruit tree for Hubby’s small orchard. Well, it once was a small orchard, but since he has expanded, it is now a medium sized, back yard orchard. Although not all of the trees are productive yet, many are, and in a few years we will be functioning as a small fruit enterprise. I can see Hubby packing up his fruit for the town’s farmer’s market and all of this done with the biggest of smiles on his face. He really loves the care of the trees and the harvest of the fruit.

Our Orchard now has:

3 MacIntosh
2 Cortlands
3 Empire
3 Macouns
2 Golden Delicious
1 Gala
1 Spy Gold
2 Winesap
1 Cox’s Orange Pippin
1 Red Stayman
1 Enterprise (A surprisingly good Apple that has a long shelf life)

1 Stanley Plum (I love to make jam with these!)
1 Castleton Plum
1 Mount Royal Plum

1 Moonglow Pear
1 Clapps Favorite Pear
2 Red Bartlett Pear

1 Lapins Cherry
1 Stella Cherry
2 Bing Cherry
1 Black Tartarian Cherry

2 Reliance Peach (My favorite)
2 Finger Lakes Super Hardy Peach
1 Elberta Peach
1 Richhaven Peach

Wild Concord Grapes (The best for Grape Jelly!)
Seedless Concord Grapes
New Hampshire Reliance (A hardy canadice type) Grapes

In any case, we didn’t find another fruit tree. My man knows what he wants to see in his fruit trees and apparently he didn’t see anything that made him happy, but we did see two flats of tomato plants for the garden, so we got those and brought them happily home.

The tomato plants

These tomatoes will join my cucumber, eggplant, zucchini, summer squash, butternut squash and corn plants in my garden. Currently they are all sprouting in the green house until we are sure that we’ve had our last frost. Usually that is Memorial Day Weekend, then we will be replanting everything outside except the tomatoes, which I will continue to raise in the green house.

My seedlings

We were out longer than we anticipated and so we stopped at a small restaurant and we got two orders of fried “whole bellied clams”, coleslaw and fries. The lunch was so good and we enjoyed the brief stop. Then we headed back to the house where our puppies, all four of them awaited us.

We walked them in the yard, I watered my vegetable plants and Hubby watered his fruit trees and then he headed off to the store to get the weeks groceries. Although I am doing really well, I was feeling a bit tired, so he volunteered to do this without me. I have no worries at all, as he is one of the few men in this world who can do this job as well as I can.

Yes, I’m a lucky girl!

A Day

There are some days that are more beautiful than others, but today was a particularly lovely one. The skies were pure baby blue without one cloud, and the sun shone warmly on me when I went out to walk the pups or water my plants.

Most of the day found me being quiet with the doggies all around me. Only occasionally did Anneliese bark loudly and then, I believe it was only to wish her own Mama, Greta a Happy Mother’s Day.

Hubby took me to lunch, mowed the lawn and worked at his computer, the last done while listening to a ball game and the final rounds of a golf match.

I switched off the TV in the late afternoon and just enjoyed the quiet around me. So many days life is full of noise. Perhaps it is the TV or radio, at other times a brain that simply will not shut off. Tonight, right now, blessedly I am finding the silence, I so long for, soothing.

The wind has picked up. A sign that a cold front moved through yesterday, and I can just hear the light whine as the wind whips down the lake. The sun is setting and the icy blue sky foretells a cold night ahead.

The doggies are fed and are stretched out on the carpet chewing their bones. Soon they will slip off into a golden slumber where they can dream of chasing rabbits and toy balls.

I will get my warm pajamas on and curl up once again with my puppies to perhaps watch a little TV, a cup of tea in my hand. Before you know it, tomorrow will be here…

…and there is no telling what tomorrow will bring.