Craziness – The Dackel Princess

It’s All In A Day

On Saturday I:

Walked the dogs, hung the bird feeders and had a cup of tea.
Made breakfast, cleaned it up and got dressed.
Went with Jack to a WW II Museum in Wolfboro, NH.
Drove to Jack’s favorite Chinese Buffet for lunch.
Was able to eat white rice, egg drop soup, and some plain cookies.
Came home, got Heavenly Jam Batch #1 on the stove.
Sterilized the lids and caps and jars.
Cooked the jam for an hour, added the pectin and cooked it another 20 minutes.
Canned 12 jars of Peach Jam at 4 PM.
Got out a 7-pound chicken and seasoned it, tied it up and put it in the rotisserie to cook for 2 hours.
I got Batch #2 going on the stove.
Sterilized the lids and caps and jars.
Cooked the Jam 1 hour, added pectin and cooked another 20 or so minutes.
Canned 12 jars of Peach Jam at 6:30 PM.
Cooked two baked potatoes.
Sat down for a few minutes and then the chicken was done and I served dinner to Jack and me.
At 8 PM I finished the dinner and the cleanup and I could sit down!
Bedtime will come in a few minutes, and quite frankly I am exhausted!

Nite-Nite!

It Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time

Last week I was shopping online at Amazon.com. I was looking for a book on Highclere Castle, the real Downton Abbey. I came upon a book about Highclere Castle and the origins of the castle and the owners of it.

The reviews looked good, but since I wasn’t sure, I thought I would order myself a copy and then if it was any good I would order one for my sister Melodie.

My copy arrived and I was thrilled when I looked it over. So many details of the Castle and so many beautiful pictures. I sat right down and ordered it for my sister. I knew she would just love it!

On Saturday I was contacted by Amazon that the book had been delivered. Since it was pretty early in the morning I wanted to make sure she got the package before the rain set in, so I sent her a text.

“Did a package arrive for you?”

Well, my phone rang almost instantly! She was laughing like crazy! You said between giggles “You will not believe this!”

It seems that my sister had the same idea. So about the same time I ordered this book to review, she had done the same thing! When her mail carrier arrived he delivered two packages with the same book inside!

At first, Mel thought she had ordered two of them! Until my text! Then she knew that we had done this again.

So often we have similar ideas right at the same time! But this was pretty spooky! We are both still laughing about it.

Great Minds…

Dishes

Why is it that you get the cooking bug at the same time that your dishwasher has broken down? Now I do not mind washing a dish or two along the way, but my gosh, you should see the mounds of dishes that I have been washing!

My cousin Janet jokes with me because she actually likes washing dishes. She finds it relaxing.

For me, I could list about a dozen reasons why I really do not like to wash, dry and put away dishes, but I’m trying to remain on the positive side of things!

Today I made Italian Meatballs to go with the Spaghetti Sauce I made the other day. Jack likes meatballs with his spaghetti! Well after mixing the meat and then shaping the meatballs and using my cast iron skillet, I found I had a ton of dishes!

One thing is for sure. You are never really lonely in life. The dishes and the laundry will always be there for you. Right now the dishes sure are keeping me company!

Hopefully, the parts will arrive for my dishwasher by early in the week and my repairman, Barry can get it all fixed up!

A Scary Event

Well, we brought Anneliese into the Canine Ophthalmologist and her right eye is actually worse than her left eye. She is in a precarious state with these Corneal Ulcers, but I will give her the ointment for her eyes and keep her as quiet as I can. And hopefully, we will have some healing.

The ride home waws rather eventful, as we had a road rage incident with a burly truck driver.

We were in a line of traffic on Route 11. The truck in front of us was bothering Jack because he couldn’t see, and all he wanted to do was pass and get by him.

Bad idea.

Finally, he started to pass and I told him not to because on the other side of the road the traffic was closing in fast, and the truck driver sped up and came on the passenger side of the car trying to almost push us into oncoming traffic.

This is an example of the truck that nearly ended our lives today!

I could see the truck driver’s angry face. I was scared and screaming. I felt I was going to die.

Somehow we made it into our lane, and disaster was averted. But the truck followed us all the way from Rochester until Alton.

A police car started following us and so at a scenic pull-off, we pulled off. That’s when the trucker pulled in, tried to block us into the pull off. The trucker jumped out of his truck and came toward our car! I told Jack not to open the window or get out of the car. I told him to drive away.

The trucker smashed his fist on the driver’s side window and windshield! (It did not break, thank God!) I was screaming again.

He followed us for a long time and I was telling Jack that if he followed us to Meredith, we needed to drive to the Police Station. But the truck did pull off.
I am feeling terrified. I am so scared this trucker will look up our plate number and find our address.

This guy was furious and a maniac!!!

I went to the New Hampshire State site and looked up the Law for this incident. It clearly stated that the truck driver was at fault. In the Law, it says, if a car starts to pass you, you are to back off and pull closer to the right side of the road to make the pass easier for the passing car.

And then to follow us and try to destroy the glass windows on our car, well, that is under the heading of road rage.

The truck was a simple yellow boxed van truck and I couldn’t make out the license plate. Oh, how I wish I had!

So by the time we got home, I was feeling pretty stressed out. I did have a chance to make dinner and clean it up before collapsing in my chair with Arnie and watching another episode of Downton Abbey.

The Wall

Our wall claimed another victim today. Let me explain.

A few years ago, Jack was recovering from surgery and we hired a young man to mow our lawn. He’d just gotten a new rider super mower and he was on our sidehill when he got too close to the edge and he flipped the mower over and actually landed right side up! No harm to him or his machine.

Two days ago, Jack came in because our rider mower was sliding down the hill and he thought he should use the Highlander to pull it back up. Since I am of sound mind and rather a large body, I suggested that I stand on the mower on the uphill side and lean. It was just the right amount of weight so that the wheels could dig in and we backed our mower uphill! Yay!

The sidehill in the winter.

Today, Lili started pacing and making a fuss. She just would not settle down. Then I heard that Beep, Beep, Beep of a large vehicle backing up. I sprung to my bedroom window and saw a firetruck backing up my driveway and a lawnmower looking like it was on fire!

Well, our neighbor’s yardman had flipped at the end of our wall and ended up jumping off the mower as it plunged into the drive!

Fortunately, no person or mower was damaged! But it happened again.

I’ve always hated that wall. It’s the same wall that Greta fell off of the last week of her life. and ever since we moved in here I have wanted a fence or something to keep me and the pups from going over. I think, in the end, it will be something I will not miss when I finally sell this place and move on.

Meanwhile, the Chipmunks and Squirrels love the wall and make their home there. Oh well, call me a naturalist for providing a home for the little animals!

Why Grooved Pavement Isn’t Groovey!

We have five seasons here in New England.

Autumn
Winter
Spring
Summer
Road Construction

Now Road Construction occurs overlapping Spring, Summer, and Autumn, but is at its peak in mid-summer. Thus, our roads and bridges are in a current state of disrepair!

On Monday I had to drive down to Manchester for a doctor’s appointment. Going down I went through about 10 miles of grooved pavement.

I am not a fan of grooved pavement. It can grab your tires and drag you one way or another. I found myself tightly gripping the steering wheel and holding on tight. I slowed my speed and fought the road the entire way through the roadworks! I would love to know how many accidents this has caused.

It’s not like they groove up the road and immediately repave it. This started back in May and this is the end of July! Enough!

There are signs warning motorcycles of the danger. There are also a few signs that say pass at your own risk. After today I am not too interested in driving on that road! Even though I know I will have to next week.

So even though I know that this type of grooved surface helps the new pavement adhere to the road, I am not a fan! If they are going to groove it up, then have the paving set up for the next day or so. Not months!

I know I have grouched about this enough. What do you think of grooved surfaces? Does it bother you to drive on them, or am I making too much of it?

Tell me what you think?

A Tale of Two Bags

Back in 2011, I flew to Germany with Anneliese to breed her for the second time. I was Pass Riding with the company my husband had flown for before his retirement, and since there was an open First Class seat, Anneliese and I were upgraded.

Anneliese and me on the way to Berlin.

It’s always nicer, when flying with a doggy, to have good seating. And so it was with Anneliese on that trip.

Part of the First Class experience was being gifted with a small toiletry bag of goodies. Toothbrush, toothpaste, sleep blinders, and tissues. The contents were nice, but what I really loved was the Little Red Bag they came in!

It was made of a material that would not absorb water. Best of all, since it was mesh, you could see the contents in the little bag.

I knew immediately that this little bag was perfect to help me to organize my purse.

I set it up with dental floss, lipstick, glasses cleaners, Splenda packets, and chapstick. I have used that bag every day of my life since.

That was until 10 days ago when I lost my Little Red Bag! I was so upset. I tried to recall the last place I had used it, which was at a Chinese Buffet, and I even called them. No luck.

I searched the cars and even looked inside my purse again. Oh my, I felt terrible. Losing something that one loves and uses is not easy to deal with!

I searched Amazon.com for a replacement type bag and finally found one that would do. Same material, same size, and when it arrived I put all the things that had been in the other bag, with the exception of my favorite lipstick. Which, unfortunately, had disappeared with the Red Bag.

Saturday I needed to change pocketbooks so I can wash my Vera Bradly bag, after spilling my flavored water on it, and as I went through the pocketbook I heard a noise. Like Tylenol tablets in a bottle (also in my little Red Bag!). I searched again and there it was in this secret zippered pocket! Just where I had stashed it!

The Red Bag alongside the new Gray Bag. For now, I have tucked my Red Bag away for safekeeping and will use the Gray Bag.

Oh my gosh, I have now reached that stage of my life where I can hide my own Easter Eggs!

PT & Shopping

Yesterday was my first Physical Therapy treatment. It was not as bad as I thought it would be, but afterward, I was sore. The therapy treatments are not acupuncture, but they do use needles to stimulate my trapezius muscles and get them to spasm and release. Since my surgeries in 2017, my muscles have been clenched and I’ve been in a lot of pain. I tried everything myself to deal with it, but gave up in the Spring, and begged for help.

So my Physical Therapist, Evan, spent about half an hour yesterday sticking my muscles with needles looking for a reaction. They are a stoic lot, my muscles, but eventually, my left trapezius spasmed. Yikes!

On my trip home, I felt sore, and last night I had trouble finding a comfortable position, but finally, I did sleep.

On another positive note, I met my new GP in the Women’s Clinic and she is amazing. My previous and much liked GP’s, husband was transferred to Japan. So she left last Spring. Dr. M. took her place and we hit it off immediately. Yay!

The drive home, which included a stop at the grocery store, was crazy. You see I live in The Lakes Region of my State. We are the place to be if you want to fish, boat, or camp in the summer. The craziness starts in May and really doesn’t end until September, but the fourth of July is the worst!

Yesterday, many people got off work early, packed their cars, trucks or campers and were headed north. More than likely, they will stay up here throughout the weekend, and stay during the week until the Fourth on Thursday. The grocery store was packed as was the gas station at BJ’s. Everything took more than twice as long as it should have, and all I wanted was to get home.

So, Friday was a good day and I did get everything accomplished before I fell into bed last night.

Have a great weekend everyone!

A Mommy’s Work

Like any mother of children, cats or dogs, we all have that day where we get puked on. Our beloved children or pets don’t mean to do this, but in their feeling of sickness, they just want to be near the one who makes them feel comforted.

Such was the case this morning.

It started when Anneliese came up the stairs onto my chair and jumped toward me. I had a freshly cleaned, special shirt on, that I’d planned to wear out to lunch with old friends, and my coffee spilled down the front of it. Ugh!

Downstairs I went, immediately treated the coffee stain and then came back up, dressed (again).

About this time, Jack got up and wanted breakfast, so, short order cook that I am, I started his bacon. I felt something squishy under my left sneaker and looked down.

Doggy puke!

Not just on my sneaker, but somehow she’d managed to hit two rugs as well!

So while attempting to cook bacon, I had to toss the carpets down to the laundry room, clean my sneakers, wash my hands repeatedly, and make Jack’s breakfast!

Somehow I managed to do this. Jack is happily eating his breakfast, the kitchen floor is clean, as are my sneakers.

But let’s add that up. 1 shirt and two rugs to launder, 1 pair of sneakers to clean, 1 breakfast made and dogs to watch and walk.

Still, despite all the work, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Orange Coffee

Did you ever have one of those mornings when, despite sleeping well and heavily, you only half wake up?

Such was the case for me this morning. I was still groggy as I got out of bed, and walked to the kitchen and turned on the coffee maker, as I always do. The dogs were in a hurry to get out, so I systematically let each one out as I do each day.

I came in, filled the suet feeders for the birds, and Lili and I went back out to hang them. All was going well.

I came back in, gave the dogs their breakfasts, cleaned up the bird seed mess on the counter, and then, as I listened to the beeps on the coffee maker telling me that the coffee was ready, I went over and pulled out my coffee mug.

I added my Splenda and poured the coffee into my cup. Mmmmm! I went over to the fridge and pulled out my creamer and went back to my mug and started to pour.

Orange!

Oh, My, God! Orange Juice! Only a few drops went in. But what a screw-up! I had three choices. Drink my coffee with the slight addition of the orange juice, dump the coffee and start again, or add a little cream, with the orange juice, and suck it up and drink it.

Since I have been married to the cheapest Scotsman on Earth for 31 years, I have also become, ah, thrifty! I opted for the last one. Why waste a perfectly good cup of coffee over a little bit of orange juice?

Well, I grimaced and groaned and then took a sip. Oh sheesh, I really should dump it, I thought, but ah well, I can get through one cup!

I did make it, but the residual problem I encountered is not worth it. Somehow the orange taste hasn’t left my mouth despite two more cups of perfectly made coffee.

So, this is how I started my Saturday morning. Walking the dogs, feeding the birds and drinking orange coffee!