My Life – Page 158 – The Dackel Princess

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.

The Family Dackel

On Saturday I found I was running a temperature. Nothing too high, just enough to make me have chills and retreat under my blanket with my sunglasses on. I found a little nurse who simply would not leave my side, and seemed to enjoy sleeping curled up next to me under the blanket. Yes, Anneliese is really a little snuggler. A great love and a super kisser!

Arnie and Anneliese

Arnie is developing into the neighborhood watchdog. He loves to sit in the front window and watch the people walking by below, the boats on the lake or the cars driving by. He is also fascinated with the recently returned ducks and is always so excited when Fritz walks by the window. Occasionally he gets up into the chair to check me out, but he sees that Anneliese is doing a great job, so off he goes.

Arnie and Anneliese

Greta loves her independence. She will go out with Hubby and Fritz when they are in the yard planting trees or watering the new ones, she also loves to go up the hill and sit under the peach tree and watch the house. She is still the only doggy we have in bed with us, but once the pups are house broken I’m afraid we will be a three dog bed. For now, nighttime is Greta’s time for snuggles and cuddles and attention.

Arnie, Anneliese and Greta

Fritz, follows Hubby all around. Inside or outside, up the hill, down the hill, it doesn’t matter. He is his Daddy’s boy and faithful beyond words. I think in my minds eye, when I think of Hubby I will always think of him with a White German Shepherd by his side. Fritz is Hubby’s 6th White German Shepherd. His third with me. As much as I have an affinity for my wire-haired dachshunds, he has the same with the White Shepherds.

I hope that this fever burns itself out soon, in the meantime, I’ll stay warm, drinks a lot of herbal tea and snuggle with my puppies!

Brown Eyes & Lots Of Rest

Photo courtesy of my cousin, Janet.

Amanda and I got up late this morning. How wonderful it was to sleep in and enjoy the comfort of the hotel’s sleep number beds. (I learned my number was 55) We both showered and dressed and went down for a breakfast of french toast and eggs. Although still bandaged, I tried to maintain my dignity, even when I missed my coffee cup when pouring myself a refill! I’m sure I blushed several shades of red!

We packed up our suitcases and watched a little TV before checking out and heading toward Dr. W.’s office. It was so bright and I was glad to have my good sunglasses to shade my left eye. We had a pleasant walk to the office and got there in plenty of time. I was first examined by the technician who removed the bandage and had me attempt to read the chart. I couldn’t do too much reading as my eye is still swollen, and everything is distorted. I found I was very sensitive to light and so he handed me a pair of sunglasses.

Then I went back to wait in the lounge area until the assistant surgeon examined my eye. Soon he came out and brought me in to examine the eye. He was pleased with the eye and soon I was asked to wait in the lounge again, this time for Dr. W.

I finally got in to see her and she was pleased with my eye. She asked if I was having much pain (yes!) and then she did her examination. She also was pleased, handed me my post operative eye care kit and we left. I will go back in a week.

A few funnies from my surgery.

When I got into the pre-operative area two of the nurses looked at me and exclaimed, “Oh no! It’s the finger lady!” You wee they all remembered me from the last surgery and the problems I had then. In fact one nurse even ran in and checked that the correct lens was on hand for the operation.

Last night we went to dinner and I was attempting to read the menu with my one eye. (the other one was still bandaged) A man at the next table literally was staring at me and wouldn’t stop. Finally I turned toward him and winked with my good eye and smiled. LOL I know, that is evil, but finally he stopped. It was fun while it lasted!

Then this morning on our way to breakfast a woman asked me to press the elevator button for her. My goodness, with one good eye and the other one bandaged I simply couldn’t find the #6 button! Finally she realized what was wrong and a laughing Mandy pushed the button.

We made it to our rendezvous point and met up with Hubby, and I switched cars and finished the ride home. The pups were happy to see me, and I have been trying to rest as much as possible.

We’ll watch “Desperate Housewives” soon and then I am hoping for an early bedtime.

And I’m Back!

We arrived in Boston on time, despite the heavy traffic. I feel bad for the people who had accidents this morning. They certainly made our commute hectic.

Once I arrived at Tufts I was escorted in almost immediately to get ready for the surgery. Two people had done the unforgivable and eaten breakfast, so my surgery was moved up, while they were forced to wait.

I was immediately remembered by the nursing staff. Several of them took care of me last August and recalled the strange series of misadventures. Of course they were all thrilled to learn that the operation had been successful.

Dr. W. came in and prepared my eye and soon I was wheeled into surgery. They gave me a nice cocktail in my I.V. and soon I was in Lala land and the operation began. Dr. W. performed her magic and before I knew it I was being wheeled into recovery and was given some apple juice and dry toast to eat. At that point I would have eaten dry shoe leather, I was that hungry.

I begged to be released and Mandy helped me get dressed and then we walked to the hotel. It’s a beautiful sunny day here and the walk was a pleasant one.

I’ve had some Chai and a muffin and I plan to take things easy this afternoon. Tonight Janet is coming and the three of us will eat down stairs in the cafe.

I am doing well though and I wanted to let you all know!

Arrived

I arrived down here where my daughter lives and we went to dinner at a wonderful Italian restaurant. I had eggplant parmesan. Yum!

We leave tomorrow before 6 for Boston. I expect I will be one of the first cases of the day and I hope to be back to our hotel by early afternoon.

I brought toys for my grandkitties and they loved them. Especially the little tent I got for them. They have been racing in and out of it, and they just love the toys! So cool.

Well, time for me to get some sleep and then we are off to the city at dawn. I will try to post tomorrow.