Random Dozen

This week hosted by Kelly.

The theme is Spring . . . and any other random questions that crept in.

1.  What is your favorite sign of Spring? The flowers poking out of the ground.

2.  Did you remember to spring forward on March 14?  If not, how did it impact your day? I did, and I even blogged about it and Face-booked so others would know!

3.  If soil, time, talent and climate were no problem, what vegetable would you plant in a garden this year? Yes. I love Asparagus!

4.  If soil, time, talent and climate were no problem, what fruit would you plant? Orange trees. I loved having them when we lived in Florida.

5.  What is your least favorite insect? Mosquitos. They simply adore me!

6.  March 22 was World Water Day. To celebrate, here are some water questions. Do you drink bottled water? If so, what brand? Only if I am somewhere I can’t get safe tap water.

7.  Have you ever been somewhere that it was not safe to drink the local water? If so, how did you handle that? Yes. Mexico. The first time I was so careful but brushed my teeth and got deathly sick! The second time I didn’t even touch or go near water and I still got sick. So no more Mexico!

8.  How many glasses of water do you drink per day? I do not like water. But I drink a ton of herbal tea!

9.  March 24 is the birthday of Harry Houdini.  Have you ever watched a professional magic show? Share. I don’t think I have.

10.  Have you ever been a participant in a professional magic show (up on stage!)? No.

11. March 24 is also the birthday of Steve McQueen and Clyde Barrow. Do you like Westerns or gangster movies?  If so, what is your favorite? I wouldn’t exactly call them gangster, but I have just sort of rediscovered Steve McQueen. So sad he died so young!

12. (Really random)  What U.S. state that you’ve never visited would you like to visit someday? Hawaii, baby!!!

What Is Written

E-mail-dackel

The other day I posted an entry about how much I don’t like to clean, and yet, how it simply must be done. I was amused to find in my SPAM catcher, some of the funniest comments yet. So I decided to share them with you. Here is what they wrote…

“Insightful comments, from everyone. So what is your ultimate conclusion, do you think? Given all the input and your experiences thus far, I mean.”

Okay, there was absolutely nothing insightful about my dislike of spring cleaning, except perhaps that it must be done.

“Oi! That was brilliant! Bloody brilliant, in fact! Not often I find a blurb worth remarking upon, but this one was worth it. Good job, lad!”

As you all know, I am not a lad, and even I know that my post was not brilliant!

I must tell you, your piece goes to the heart of the issue. Your clarity leaves me wanting to know more. I will immediately grab your feed to keep up to date with your site. Alleging thanks is simply my little way of saying bravo for a marvelous resource. Let In my best wishes for your next post.”

The heart of what issue? The heart of disliking to clean in the spring? Well if that is the case, I am a genuis!

“I am not new to blogging and genuinely value your site. There is much original message that peaks my interest. I am going to bookmark your internet site and keep checking you out.”

Glad someone values the site, but that particular post was not one of my best. I’m so glad the SPAM senders enjoyed it though!

“Hi – I want to say thank you for an interesting site about a subject I have had an interest in for a while now. I have been lurking and reading the comments avidly so just wanted to express my gratitude for providing me with some very good reading material. I look forward to more, and taking a more proactive part in the discussions here, whilst learning too!!”

Now, see! I mean, how many of you actually think that cleaning is so interesting that you would write that you want to express your gratitude!

Anyway, occasionally when I read my spam folder I just burst out laughing at what the spammers will write just to get their links up for you all to follow. The funny thing is, thank goodness for my SPAM guard, because those sights are way too adult for all of us.

Random Dozen

1. Do you prefer even or odd numbers? Any particular reason?

Odd. My birthday and Anniversary are odd numbers. But then again my daughter is born on an even number and so is my husband, so…..

2. On a scale of 1-10, with 1 being “not at all” and 10 being Carly Simon-worthy, how vain are you?

Five. I worry about how I look and so I try to arrange myself in a nice way when I go out.

3. Among these Irish stereotypes, with which do you identify most closely? Talkative, Proud, Inquisitive, Love to party, Hot-tempered

Talkative. Especially if I am impassioned about something.

4. How lucky do you consider yourself?

Not at all…but then again very lucky. I have had some very unlucky things happen in my life. But I have worked hard to make a good and happy life for myself.

5. What is the subject of your favorite post that you’ve written?

Writing about the birth of my dog’s puppies. here, here, and here.

6. Describe March weather where you live in three words.

Snow, Sleet, mud.

7. How apt are you at detecting blarney when you hear it? (Smooth talk, flattery)

I am spot on. I sometimes wish I wasn’t.

8. How “green” are you, environmentally speaking?

I do pretty well.

9. What is your favorite song this week?

Haus Am See By Peter Fox.

10. You are walking along and see a coin on the ground. What denomination does it have to be before you will stop to pick it up?

I will stop even for a penny.

11. Complete the sentence: “Every time I look outside my window …. I feel lucky to live where I do!”

12. What was the #1 song on the day you were born? See this site to find out.

Kingston Trio – “Tom Dooley”. Yup! I’m that old!

Splish Splash!

After breakfast I got all the dackels together and washed them down in the shower. I think I had not bathed them since last summer! In any case, Jack came into the bathroom and I was going to hand him Anneliese to dry, when Greta snuck out of the shower dripping wet and ran from the room! Oh my goodness everything got soaked! We tried to find and dry off each of the girls, and then we got Arnie out. The poor little guy was all alone in the shower. Ah well, rugs dry!

Bathing beauty and all around sneak, Greta!

July 9 09 Stinky Greta19

Now if I had been smart I would have just stayed home, and done housework all day. But no, I decided to run some errands, which is never a good idea.

I did the usual. I got the mail, went to the grocery store and then on my way back home I saw that the car wash was open. Hmmmm, I thought, this Jeep sure could use a wash. It was covered with sand and salt and grime from our sloppy winter roads. However, in the last few days things have dried out and I knew that this would be a great day to get it washed.

I turned in, paid my money, and started through the automatic wash. Splish, splash, spray, and the brushless system, cleaned the Jeep right off. I could hear the under carriage jets washing off below. All was going along well, until we reached the rinsing part of the cycle.

The water came pouring into the Jeep through the drivers side door frame! I got soaked! I tried to put my hand up to stop the water coming in (like that would even have worked!), but it didn’t. I sort of felt like  I was in an “I Love Lucy” episode and glanced around for Lucy’s faithful sidekick Ethel! But all I found was a drenched Maribeth!

I came home soaking wet!

As I sit here tonight, giggling over the events of the day, I have to say one thing, besides having a clean car and clean doggies, I also laughed a lot!

Isn’t that what we hope for at the end of the day?

Love, Life and Lots of Laughter!

Readers!

Every morning I get up and check my computer for updates on the Blogs I love to read. For 5 years I have been using Bloglines. That was, until today!

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I’ve been a fan of Bloglines for many years. I like the way things are laid out, and I felt comfortable using it. I even tried to overlook the fact that about twice a month they get totally messed up and I do not get any of my feeds. Then I recently found out that people using Bloglines don’t get my feeds at all! How did I find this out? I subscribed to my own feeds and didn’t get them!

I had Google Reader, but not with a current listing of the Blogs that I like to read. So, I went through all the export/import stuff this morning and have moved everything onto Google Reader. It’s not my favorite reader, but I just want to know when you all are updating your Blogs!

Sheesh, is that too much to ask for?

Well, I won’t delete my Bloglines account, I’ll keep it for now as a back up, but I may need emotional support to keep from going back to it. I know that switching to Google Reader will be good for me in the long run, more reading and less frustration, but I am not a woman who makes changes easily.

What Reader do you use and why?

De-Lurking Day!!!

Hi Everyone.

Once a year a whole handful of bloggers I know get together and we have a day we call De-Lurking Day.

DelurkerDay2010

This is a day when we ask everyone who may be reading our blogs to comment. Just say hi, guten tag, bonjour, hola, ciao, or well, you get the idea.

We all love to get comments, and more than anything we love to know from what part of the world you are commenting from.

So don’t be shy, join the fun and De-Lurk!

You Just Gotta Laugh!

Last week, while I sat here sniffling and coughing, I decided to do some on-line Christmas shopping. I found several items that I felt were perfect for various people, and then I stopped by a shop and  found women’s summer clothes on sale! Great! I looked through and found three shirts and a skirt and a pant set that all looked like they would be good for the cruise and all very cheap! So, I ordered them.

A few hours later, I realized that the items wouldn’t get here in time, so I called back and spoke to a lovely woman, who was happy to help me expedite the order.

Wonderful!

On Sunday my tracking number showed that the items had been returned to the sender because the customer had moved with no forwarding address. I called the shop I’d ordered them from, and sure enough, they’d gotten the same note from the shipper, The United States Post Office.

It was decided that they would Fed Ex my order on Monday, overnight to get it to me quickly. I felt frustrated about it, but what can you do?

On Monday I went with Anneliese to get her shots at the Veterinarian’s Office and we stopped on the way home to get the mail, and guess what was there?

If you guessed my box of clothes that had been erroneously reported to have been sent back to the shop, you would be right!

I grabbed the box and rushed home. I called the shop and told them to stop the Fed Ex order, which they did! Thank goodness!

After I made the call I sat laughing at the absurdity of the entire thing. Somewhere out there a clerk put the wrong information in a computer and it made a mess of everything.

But…as William Shakespeare wrote, “All’s Well, That Ends Well!”

What People Do In The Rain

I decided today to build an ark. I mean, with the rain falling constantly (now close to 2 inches in less than 24 hours!) and the fact that I am living in my rain boots, I figure the safest bet is to just build the darn ark and they will come.

Hubby and I decided to go out today to do our holiday shopping (the USA 4th of July Independence Day), and we brought Arnie with us. He was so glad to get out of his crate, where he has been living since Greta went into heat. He was an angel in the car and when we stopped for Chinese food, I smuggled some chicken out in a napkin to share with my little man. He now wants to go back for egg rolls! lol!

The stores were all mobbed and what normally takes an hour of isle shopping and checking out, took nearly 2 hours! However, we got everything we need and somehow managed to escape the grocery store without serious injury.

Upon arriving home, Hubby and I brought up the first load of bags and who was at our back door? Makenna! She came in to help us, and both she and Hubby stood looking into the puppy room with horrified expressions on their faces! I laughed and said, “Yep, that’s what I get up to every morning of every day! Four squirming pooping puppies!” I cleaned up their room and then Makenna played with them while I put the groceries away.

My sister took her grand kids to a museum today in Connecticut. What did they see? The skeleton of a dachshund! She took this picture for me! Thanks Mel!

Dackel Skeleton

I made a quick dinner, fed all the dogs and then soaked in a bath. Ah, I sure love to soak in a hot tub! Now there’s something funny…I complain about the rain and yet I go sit in a tub of water! Go figure!

Is This A Healthy Dog?

Today I realized that the world had gone totally mad.

You see, I took Anneliese to our local, Board Certified Veterinarian for her Health Exam. Guess what? He’s not good enough to tell if Anneliese is a healthy dog. No, I had to go to a State Veterinarian to have Anneliese examed. Not only that, but my poor baby had to be treated for worms she doesn’t have, be microchipped, even though she already has a tattoo, and get treated for ticks, even though it’s not tick season.

You would think that this would be enough for the E.U., but no, they want more. Friday I must take Anneliese to a Ferderal Veterinarian so he can look at her fill out another paper, put his seal on it and send her off.

Now first of all I have to say that I take VERY good care of my dogs. My Vet knows them, gives them all injections and his license should be enough to give Anneliese traveling papers. It would have cost me $45.00.

But then I saw the State Veterinarian and had to get all those things done to the tune of $300.00 and I am actually afraid of what tomorrow will bring with the Federal Vet.

Something tells me that we have

TOO MUCH GOVERNMENT and TOO MANY REGULATIONS!!!!

Do you suppose that in this day and age when we average poeple are struggling with our finances and so is our government, that perhaps we need to cut some of these redundant governmental programs?

Just a thought.

After all, doesn’t this dog look healthy?

Jan 31 015

I’m Hooked

I’ve decided I am hooked on Youtube. Do you know that you can find almost anything in the world on there?

You can find, “How to knit”, “How to tape a foot with plantar faciitis”, music videos from all of our favorite groups, including my favorite group “The Beatles”!!!

You can learn to make a crepe, or wedding cake or a classic taco salad! So far when I have typed in a search, I have gotten something back.

Now I am not slow. Actually I even have a few videos on Youtube from back when Greta had the pups.

It’s hard to believe they were ever that small!

The only downside here….I’m not getting much done. I need to put the laptop down, get away from learning how to knit and do something serious like make dinner.

I wonder what they have on Youtube for “What to make for dinner”?