The Dackel Princess

The Friday Five ~ August 27th

Here we are on the last Friday of August 2021. How did that happen? Despite the fact that Covid is still with us, I have found that 2021 is just racing by. So, here we go with the end of August, Friday Five.

The last few days have been really hot and the air quality is humid and looks so thick like you could cut it with a knife. Most of the time I am able to be inside with my much-loved air-conditioners, but Tuesday found me bringing Jack to a doctor’s appointment. Just walking from the car to the building made me a soaking wet mess, despite wearing a short skort and lightweight top.
Since I am determined to get back on my healthy eating plan, I brought a cooler with a salad for me and a sandwich and drink for Jack. Although lunch ended up happening about three o’clock pm, it was still good planning.
I was again quite productive here, but I do have plans for the weekend. I would like to vacuum my throw rugs and then toss them into the washer. Then I hope to wash the floor and start what I’d like to call Autumn cleaning.
I was watching a documentary on Judith Durham the lead singer of the 60s group “The Seekers”.
Because when someone is singing, they often lose their accent, I never knew that Judith was from Melbourne, Australia. She’s quite an amazing woman, and after many hardships in her life, she remains positive and much loved by her family and friends. “The Seekers” biggest hit here in the States was probably, “Georgy Girl”, which I have been singing for many decades.

I’ve always loved her voice, with perfect pitch, and her ability to enunciate, which I fear is lost on many of today’s musicians.

In any case, I have been enjoying listening to them.
I am just sick about the current happenings in Afghanistan. The entire thing has been so poorly handled. 13 soldiers dead so far and I fear more loss of life is to come.

TBT: Arnie

I know I publish a lot of pictures of Arnie. Now that my little Prince is closing in on the ripe old age of 15, I find myself loving him more and at the same time worrying about his health. I just hope that Arnie lives to be, oh, I don’t know, 25!

So, I was looking back at his puppy pictures when I came across this one. Arnie was about 8 weeks old here, and the cutest little guy ever!

Arnie had four sisters and he allowed them to be the boss of the whelping box. Arnie simply ate and slept and snuggled. He was really low maintenance compared to his sisters.

As Arnie grew, alongside his sister, Anneliese, the two became the very best of friends.

And right up until January of this year, Arnie and his sister were devoted to each other.

Sadly, she passed away and in many ways, Arnie still mourns her loss. Siblings, best friends, and littermates, they’d been together their entire lives.

Now Arnie is left with just us and Lili. He follows me around everywhere I go. And at night when I get out of bed, I come back to find him waiting for me.

My friend, my sweet boy, my joy! As Mr. Spock said many times on Star Trek, “Live Long & Prosper“!

This & That August 24th

The last few days I have scored big with my dinner meals. Since the Pandemic began, I have done more day in and day out cooking than I ever have. We have been out to a restaurant exactly twice during this time. So I’d started cooking the same stuff over and over again, as well as just throwing together casseroles, which have not been well received.

All that being said, my meatloaf was fabulous, and my baby-back ribs, lip-smacking good! I made parmesan-crusted turkey cutlets (totally to die for!) and made Jack a London broil tonight. All in all, the meals I have served this week have been pretty darn good.

My trick is to plan the night before what I will make and then do all the prep work in the early afternoon. I am one of those people that has a sinking spell about four o’clock and then I don’t want to do anything to make dinner.

It’s like the girl scouts taught me, “Always Be Prepared”!

My new Amazon Fire-Stick arrived today and I installed it. It’s sort of a funny story. I’d gotten the new Router about six weeks ago. I had good reception in my bedroom after I’d hooked it up. Then one day…it just stopped working. After troubleshooting with Amazon, we decided that the stick was done. So I ordered a new one, and installed it today, and WOW! Great streaming once again.

Kicking Back

Saturday found me kicking back a little. My eye feels pretty good, and I have only used the artificial tears a few times. And best of all, my vision is completely clear at this point! Yay!

My other health problem is not responding as quickly and I really have not felt too well. I think that this is what has contributed to my feeling like I want to be quiet. I’ve watched a few movies, a documentary on ABBA, and read a few chapters in my book.

And lucky for Jack, I found some beautiful baby back ribs this week, and so I am making my specialty. “Maribeth’s Perfect Ribs”. It’s a favorite of Jacks and we have not had them for so long because they simply have not had any good ones in the market.

Now we await the arrival of Hurricane Henri. I’m hoping it will be nothing more than some wind and rain by the time it reaches us. Time will tell.

The Friday Five ~ August 20th

This week truly did fly by! It seemed I was here, there, and everywhere and once I thought things had calmed down…well, here is this week’s Friday Five!

I started the week cleaning shelves and changing sheets. It’s sort of funny that you start one thing, and it leads to a laundry list of other things you need to do. Cleaning was big this week.
I also did some cooking. Once again our local grocer had lamb chops reasonably priced. So I bought those and we really enjoyed them.
On Wednesday I started to feel ill. It wasn’t anything I could put my finger on, I just felt unwell. I woke at 2 AM Thursday and there was no question about what was wrong. Another UTI!
At six o’clock, I got out of bed, drank as much as I could, and dressed, getting ready to drive to the Walk-In Clinic. I was running a small fever, and I prepared myself for a long wait. Lucky for me, I got in quickly, my diagnosis was confirmed and they called in a prescription.
After waiting for the prescription to be filled, I finally got home and I wasn’t in the door for too long when a young woman brought me flowers! Beautiful flowers like you would find in a home garden.They made me smile and when I read the card I cried. They were from my daughter. My sweet Amanda, who knew I needed something nice like this on a rather bleak day. Thank you again, Sweetheart!

So, that was my week. Today, (Friday) I am off to have Glaucoma Laser Surgery on my left eye. After that, I plan to do nothing for the weekend!

TBT: Shubi & Me

This is a picture of Shubi and me taken at sunset the year we built this house, 1999. It’s a favorite of mine and one I keep on my dresser.

Me with the little love of my life, Shubi!

A Kinda Crazy Day

Tuesday started out cool, but with excessive humidity. By the afternoon, we had temperatures near 85 degrees. When I think of it, I am actually looking forward to the Autumn, when the leaves change and we have a cool, crisp day throughout the month!

I decided to go to the Post Office today despite the fact that I knew we didn’t have much mail. Thankfully, I got a good parking place and I was able to get the sale fliers and junk mail that gets sent out. I also needed to fill out a new form with a lot of information on it. Name, street address, email, and phone numbers. I was puzzled because I have had my Post Office Box since 1999. But yes, my email had changed and I do have a Smart Phone number.

Done!

I’d decided to get Jack a Subway Sub (grinder, hoagie, etc). However, when I got to their shop they were completely out of business, and all the equipment is gone.

We also lost our only Chinese Restaurant in town. Locked up with no sign of opening.

More than likely they both were casualties of the Pandemic. Sad. This really is very sad.

In our little town, there are signs for help wanted. If you want a job, come to New Hampshire. There is a job just waiting for you!

Today I did something that I truly dislike. I dusted! Ugh! But the dusting was done and now I have a wonderful feeling of being productive! ~~Not!~~

In the last few days, I have not slept well. My brain clicks on and I simply cannot get back to sleep. I sure hope that I can get some sleep tonight.

Maribeth’s Meatloaf!

Maribeth’s Marvelous Meatloaf

(This is my favorite meatloaf recipe. I know it looks complicated, but really, it is not! Best of all, the sandwiches the next day are fabulous!)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F

Ingredients:

1 lb hamburger
1 lb ground pork
1 egg
1 tbs olive oil
½ onion finely diced
¼ cup finely diced green pepper
¼ cup finely diced red pepper.
2 tsp Cumin
2 tbs spicy mustard
3 sliced Italian bread
water
½ cup dry Italian bread crumbs. (you may need slightly more)
3 slices of bacon

First, take the 3 slices of Italian bread and place them in a large bowl.
Add as much water as it takes to cover them.
Meanwhile, in saute-pan using 1 tbs olive oil, saute onions, and peppers until the onions are translucent. Set aside to cool.
In a separate bowl, beat egg, Cumin, and mustard until well mixed. Set aside.
Take Italian bread and squeeze out all the water and pour all the water out of the large mixing bowl.
Add ground beef and ground pork.
Add soggy bread that you have mashed up.
Add the egg mixture
Add cooled onion and pepper mixture.
Mix thoroughly with your hands. Add the dry bread crumbs and mix well.
You may need slightly more or less. Make sure the mixture is well mixed and evenly mixed.
Place in large loaf pan sprayed with PAM.
Place bacon over the top lengthwise. Tuck edges down the side of the meatloaf.
Place in a 375-degree oven and bake for 1 hour.
Turn heat up to 400 degrees and cook for 15 more minutes.
Remove from stove. Allow to rest for 5-10 minutes.
Carefully place on platter. Slice into potion size as needed.
Serve with a salad, mashed potatoes, and gravy.

Makes great sandwiches the next day!

The Weekend Wrap ~ August 16th

This weekend I attempted to read my book. I finally accomplished this on Sunday afternoon. In fact, it was quite easy to do because there was absolutely nothing to watch on the TV.

In the morning, I did watch a movie I had not seen in years. Beverly Hills Cop! Now that sure was a fun movie.

Northwoods Law was on in the afternoon, but I had seen all the episodes, so it was just background white noise even though it was on.

I’ve been working through Ancestry.com tracing our family’s roots. I recalled my Grandmother Stevens had a younger brother who served in the Canadian Armed Forces in WW I. Just for the heck of it I googled his name and the battle that took his life. I was shocked to find this:

He was just 20 years old when he died. He is buried in France. So sad. His life had not even begun. I can see my Dad’s eyes in this young man. Oddly enough, my Grandmother never spoke of her family. I think my Dad may have mentioned it to me along the way.

You just never know what you will find when you Google someone!

Our weather finally has changed. We’re back to cooler temperatures and lower humidity. Thank goodness. I moved back here from Florida because I could not handle the intense heat and humidity. One thing that’s for sure is that when I eventually leave this house, my next home will have air conditioning.

For the most part, I can say that my desire for a quiet weekend finally happened.

The Friday Five ~ August 13th

It is now one very hot summer. The dog days of summer? Probably yes. We had a rainy July, and now August finds us being cooked with our temperatures in the 90’s with Florida-type humidity! All I can say is ugh! So, here we go, this week’s Friday Five.

I was actually pretty productive this week. At least until the heat arrived. On Monday I loaded up the Highlander and made a run to the Recycling Center. I have decided to just do it on the same day each week. As the load I took was really big.
Tuesday found me getting my hair done. No cutting yet. Just some creative coloring. My goal is to grow it out so I can wear it up or in a ponytail or braids. Apparently, for an old thing such as myself, I still have a ton of hair!
I changed sheets, washed and dried them, and even did four more loads of laundry. I washed, dried, folded, and put everything away! That in itself is amazing.
I’ve been listening to a lot of music lately. I know I am getting old as the music I enjoy comes from the 60s, 70s, and 80s. I know there are a few from the 90s, but not much. Ah, music! It helps me to get into a wonderful calm place!
This weekend I plan to sit and read for at least two hours each day. LOL. Now if I actually accomplish this, I will be amazed.

Have a wonderful weekend!