Dackels – Page 6 – The Dackel Princess

This & That

Welcome to the year 2012. I hear today that this is the Year of the Dragon, which means that it is a lucky year!

I took the candles out of my windows today, but left up my Christmas trees. (I have two. A big one and a small one with only dackel ornaments.) After taking care of the candles, I just felt the wind go out of my sails, so I sat down and reminded myself that I didn’t have to get it all done in one day.

Meanwhile, I took the dackels for walks around the yard. This is not only my ‘new’ exercise, but a way to keep them from becoming Eagle food! It seems 2 Eagles have now moved into the neighborhood. I have not found a nest, but Eagles have been known to grab cats and small dogs for a quick snack! So until we haven’t seen them for a while, I’ll be walking the dackels while they tend to their business.

I started back on my Weight Watchers plan. I’ve been weighing and measuring all my food, as well as trying to make better choices! I have two months to get back in shape and ready for the trip! I sure want to look good for Hubby in my bathing suit! I would also like to get my legs in shape for all the walking and swimming I plan to do. (We won’t even mention the eating!)

We have no snow here at my house. We’ve had warm temperatures and rain! Not conducive to snow making. Poor Hubby. He really wants to get out there and ski!

I guess I’m happy any way it turns out. If we can ski, great. If not, well, then I’ll just have to work harder to get in shape.

So what are your resolutions this year? Getting in shape? Stopping smoking? (Which was the number 1 resolution this year.)

Have a great Tuesday, Everyone!!!

What I Did This Past Weekend

Although I planned to do so many different things, it turned out in the end that I didn’t really get a lot done.

We did go down and see Mandy and Matt to celebrate his birthday and we had a great time with them. Mandy cooked a terrific meal. My daughter is a good cook! And the time spent talking about her wedding was so much fun! I really look forward to helping her to plan the big day! I am so happy for her and for Matt!

Sunday found me hosting a dinner for family and friends. I’d decided to cook my famous crock pot pork. You can go HERE and get the recipe. In the morning I felt that my cousin must be in New Hampshire. I called her cell phone and asked if she and Dave wanted to come. They did, so I had three neighbors and my cousin and her fella, and we all just had a great time! And, the food was pretty good too!

The doggy drama continues, but we have just one more week of the intense doggy love fest and then Anneliese will be done with it for another 8 months.

It was a long day on Friday. When you have a female dog in heat, and a male dog who isn’t, trust me, it’s a long day.

It started as soon as we got up. I walked the dogs, one at a time, and even got my jacket and shoes on to walk Anneliese. I don’t want any accidental births!

I came in and Arnie would…not…leave…her…alone!

He followed her into the bedroom. He followed her down to the laundry-room. He followed her into the kitchen. He followed her into the bathroom. He wanted her in the worst way!

Finally after nearly an entire day of yelling at the poor boy, I gave him a tranquilizer.

Now he is following me. That’s fine for me as long as he leaves Anneliese alone.

I learned today that I cannot continue to breed Anneliese in Germany. I’m so disappointed. Since she does have one last litter in her I will try to find a male here in the USA that fits her needs for when she goes into heat next spring.

Or, I may say, it’s been fun and not breed her again. I think sometimes you need to know when it is time to hang up the old breeder shoes and just enjoy your animals.

Pet Names

Over the years Hubby and I have had many animals. He has never been so inclined, but since he has been hanging around with me, he has started to nick-name our animals.

When I was growing up, my mother would give our dogs long silly grandiose names, like Lorelei Siren of the Rhine, who I nicknamed Laurie, and a beautiful dog named Amber, that I named Bushie. Call me gifted in renaming animals, but once I get to know them, I usually rename them, or nick-name them, even if I am the one who named them originally.

When I married Hubby he had two animals. Rex (a fabulous white shepherd) and Dottie (the cutest barn cat ever) Let’s face it, with those names there were no other names I could call them, right? Well, Rex became Buddy and he always came when I called him this. Dottie was too much of a snob to be renamed.

Then after Rex, we got another white shepherd, Max, Sir Maxamillion Von Terrors. We called him Maxi, Bud-boy, or Mr. Budarino.

And then came Fritz. Baron Friedrick Von Surefiire. And he is called Fritz, Fritzi, or Bud.

The dackels are fun. Greta came to us from Germany and her Kennel name was Xochil Vom Geestmoor. Yeah, like I was going to live with that. While we were still in Germany she became Greta, and then Greta Garbo, and over time Miss Garbo! Greta is definitely a dog with an attitude!

Arnie was born and I liked Arnold for his professional name, and he settled in being called Arnie, but as he grew he became Arnie Man or Mr. Arnie Man! This makes me laugh, because like his mother he has an attitude, and has taken over under our coffee table, which has now become the man-cave!

Anneliese’s name is just my favorite. It is so sweet and beautiful, just like her. But over time she also got a nick-name. Lisa.

So, have you nick-named your animals? Do you have a pet name for your pet? Do tell!!

Bedtime

Last night, as I lay trying to sleep, three little dackels endeavored to push me out of bed. With their paws on my back, and their faces pressing there too, I nearly fell on the floor a few times. I must say that I’m getting very good as sleeping half awake! It’s either that or I will end up on the floor in a shocked heap!

Why do I let them sleep with us? Well, it goes back a long way. Here is the story, and I swear it is true!

Fifteen years ago, we were in Bavaria visiting our friends. Their dackel, Shubi, a handsome wire-haired dachshund, had recently been hit by a car and killed. We were all saddened, and their house was eerily quiet. I said, in my sympathy, that we should both get dackels!

Then Hubby and I went off to shop for socks because I had forgotten to pack them (he still taunts me about this), and when we returned, Otto had found an add for dackels in nearby Landshut. He had called and made an appointment for the next day.

We drove to Frau Lansinger’s house and we entered her kitchen and there in a basket by the stove were four small dackels. I looked down and immediately I knew I had found my puppy! She looked right up at me and I swear she smiled. I picked her up, and I knew…Magic!!!

So we paid Frau Lansinger, and I wrapped the puppy in a blanket and our friends bought her brother, and we headed back to their home.

The little puppies were a delight. We joke and teased about what to call them, and Hubby looked at me and said that it simply had to be Shubi! So Shubi she was, and her brother was named Toni.

The first night away from their mother, we put them together in a little box, but when everyone had gone to sleep I snuck them in the bed with us.

“No, no” said Hubby, who returned them to their box. And so it remained while we were there.

Eventually we left to come back to the USA, and bring our little puppy home.

We flew from Munich to Atlanta and the to Florida, where we were living at the time. It was a long day for a baby dog, but she did surprisingly well in her little carry on.

When we reached our home in Florida, Hubby once again insisted that we put Shubi in a box to sleep. But from the corner of our room I could hear her soft, pitiful cries. I said nothing, but my heart was breaking.

Finally Hubby got up and picked up Shubi and brought her into bed with us…where she remained for the rest of her life.

Needless to say, when Greta came and then the two puppies, Arnie and Anneliese, they all joined us, too.

We do draw the line at Fritz coming into bed with us, although during a bad storm last week he jumped right up between us.

So you see, gentle readers, my husband is a real softie when it comes to our dogs, and you know what? I wouldn’t have it any other way!

Thunder……

Monday, it was back to real life. I’m home, and Hubby and I worked hard making tomato sauce. This sauce we will can and put up on the shelf for use in things like lasagna, or perhaps my new eggplant casserole recipe. Which, after making it three times, I have finally gotten down to a science. The next time I make it, I will have Hubby take pictures to share with you all. This is a super healthy, very easy recipe.

I went to bed very early on Sunday night, as I was exhausted from my travels. The dackels came with me, and curled their little bodies into mine and soon I was fast asleep. I slept well, as I felt my body relaxing in it’s own bed, when suddenly, about 4:30 AM I heard terrible thunder, and since it was so close, I figured it was nearby. I got up, shut down all our computer systems, the satellite system and unplugged the TV. Then I was walking back to our bedroom when I saw at least three bolts of lightening hit the lake in front of our house!

I returned to bed, and snuggled again with the dogs and Hubby and then…crash…boom…thunder…and Fritz was suddenly in bed with us too! Now I know we have a king sized bed, but suddenly, it was very crowded! I tried to get him down and since we now had 75 pound Fritz in the bed, Hubby woke. He was calm and spoke to Fritz with such tenderness, that I nearly started to cry. It was that sweet.

Eventually, he did get him off the bed, and we all settled down and slept until 8:30. However, the day has been filled with rain and humidity and storms.

But, as I sat here thinking of all the places I would like to be, being at home sure is a great place, even if I am sometimes overcome with the dackels and Fritz, for their love is irreplaceable!

Summertime…..

You’ll never guess what I did on Monday? Well if you guessed that I made Plum Jam, you were right!

Hubby and I had to go down to the next town to the store where they sell canning supplies, and when we returned I made my first batch of Plum Jam. I’ll be making batch number two tomorrow.

The Plums are ripe and delicious, and so the Jam is coming out very well, but the tips of my fingers are slightly discolored from the purple plums!

Hubby and I actually had a lot of fun this morning before I got to work in the kitchen and he got to work in the yard. While we were out we stopped and had lunch at a great Chinese/Japanese restaurant. The food was great and for about 45 minutes we enjoyed each others company, while having lunch.

We also have a new tenant living in our stone wall! His name is “Chip”! “Chip” makes me and the dachshunds crazy!

I don’t worry that I will be tempted to chase “Chip”, but I sure worry that the dackels, especially Anneliese, will chase “Chip” and end up in trouble!

I’m hoping to evict him soon!

Hot, Hot, Hot!

It was another hot, but beautiful day here in the Lakes Region of New Hampshire on Monday, Memorial Day. I decided that today would be the day I would select my clothes for the Reunion, and the shoes too. I’ve decided that men are far more lucky because Hubby only needs to pack oxford shirts and chino’s and his suit and a couple of funky ties and he is fine. A woman must pack pants, skirts, heels, flats, an evening bag, jewelry and of course, my blow dryer, curling iron and electric rollers!

Yes, it takes a lot more time and far more work for a woman to make herself look glamorous! At least I have most of it done and all I need is to get out the big suitcase and put these neatly stacked piles of clothing and shoes into it!

I also had a little episode that made me think that either I was pregnant or I was suffering from heat exhaustion. I came in and cooled off with the air conditioners, and sat down and drank four glasses of cold soda and sugar free juice. After the fourth glass, I felt like I was floating, but the dizziness had passed!

I love the summer, but not when we have 92 degree heat, with high humidity! Then I totally suffer. I prefer the temperatures to be in the upper 70’s or low 80’s. Then I am a happy girl.

As I go out and check on and water my garden, the dogs have all become great little helpers. They run back and forth around the fence, and play with their toys and each other while I water the plants. This is a departure from previous years when the puppies (Arnie & Anneliese) would run off, causing me to stop and chase them. In fact, this year as they get closer to turning 5, they have become more mature and pretty much abide by the family rules of staying in the yard.

Fritz is good. He just follows wherever you go and then while you are busy, he will lie down and watch you and stay close.

Hope you all had a great long weekend!

Busy, Busy, Busy!

Things were super busy for me this week. I found myself trying to meet schedules and wondering how most people actually do it. I think I am one of those grown ups with a learning disability.

Seriously.

When I try to schedule all the little things into place I get to feel a bit overwhelmed.

But…

Somehow, I was able to get it all done and still find a few moments for myself.

Today I planted our peas. And after this weekend I will plant the green beans. On Labor Day Weekend I’ll plant the garden. My seedlings are certainly ready for that! All the plants are tall and healthy!

I also need to make a Scarecrow for the garden to keep out the birds, squirrels and chipmunks!

Anneliese is still having a bit of a false pregnancy, but I think she is close to being over it. She certainly is enjoying her chew bones!

Greta, had her rabies shot today, and Arnie is just enjoying life.

Fritz is doing well, although he has had a little bit of a limp for a few days. We’re hoping it is nothing but a twisted ankle. I’m trying to keep him quiet.

The weekend will also be a bit crazy with the Town Yard Sale, but I am hopeful that on Sunday I can spend the entire day just catching my breath!

Have a Happy Weekend, Everyone!

Thursday Thirteen

Miscellaneous Thoughts

I’m off skiing again today! I had such fun on Monday that I asked Hubby to ski with me again today.
Fritz was running on top of the icy snow and fell and skinned his nose! Poor pup has a pink spot just under his nose.
I didn’t do well at WW this week. What can I say, when I give in to my chocoholic side, I simply cannot control it!
Needless to say, since then I have been eating salads and writing everything down that I eat.
Hubby noticed. I was out in the kitchen the other day fixing a meal, and I didn’t want to listen to the news, so I had my MP3 player going and I was listening and dancing. For a bit no one knew and then the dogs noticed. Hubby spoke to me and I didn’t answer.
Anneliese is on day 4 of her heat. Two and a half more weeks to go.
I saw a wonderful motivational speaker on Tuesday. She was well spoken and the question she asked is: “What do the voices in your mind, say about you as a person?” It got me thinking. What do my voices say? Maribeth is…
Here is Arnie, who loves to steal my side of the bed!

I have a new plan. I need to clean out my kitchen and re-organize it!
I got a great new candle from a friend. It’s scent is “Mint Chocolate Chip”! OMG, is it nice!
Guess who have become sleeping buddies? Anneliese and Fritz. They cuddle up together on the sofa and sleep while we are watching TV.
The weather men are forecasting 50 degree (f) on Friday! Break out the shorts and tank tops!
I think I really want spring to come. Green leaves, flowers, forsythia!