We’re On Our Way Home

We are half way home. In Rochester, New York. We pulled in about 4 in the afternoon, and got settled in our room. Not quite as glamorous as the room we had in Fairborn/Dayton, Ohio, but nice none the less.(LOL)

He came back and had a menu from an Indian Restaurant. I was game, so off we went. I had a wonderful stuffed Naan.

20151004_183615

It had pistachios, coconut and a sweet raisins. Oh my goodness, it was wonderful! I also had lamb in a yogurt sauce and topped the meal off with Chai. (Tea)

 

20151004_190416

Hubby had lentil Soup, Chicken Marsala and Naan. It was all so good.

20151004_182449

While we ate they had a Bollywood version of MTV. It was really great, with Indian music and dancing. The dancers and singers were all probably twenty-somethings. Anyway, it was fun, and I really enjoyed it.

Now we are back at the hotel and will crash after we watch Madame Secretary.

Thursday Thirteen

Nov 24 015

Today’s Thursday Thirteen, will be things I love about cruising.

First to get you into the mood, this classic song!

  1. Once I step on board the ship, I become a Pampered Princess! No dogs to walk!
  2. Each morning when I wake, there is coffee at my door.
  3. As I go through my day, people smile at me, and offer coffee, tea, or anything else my heart desires.
  4. I love having tea each afternoon. The servers all wear white gloves and it reminds me of days gone by with my grandmother.
  5. I love the sun. Even though I have to wear a ton of sunscreen and a hat. It’s okay.
  6. Swimming. I love the big pools. It’s so soothing.
  7. The movies on the Jumbo-tron screens! Fun! Movies under the stars.
  8. Someone to cook my breakfast, lunch and dinner.
  9. And then to clean it all up!
  10. Someone makes my bed too, and brings me clean towels several times a day!
  11. Sitting out on my own balcony sipping a cool beverage!
  12. The shore tours we take. Those are so interesting.
  13. But best of all, I love cruising with Hubby. He makes it all wonderful and special!

What I Did Last Weekend…Part One

On Thursday morning June 2nd, Hubby and I finished packing everything we could possibly use at Hubby’s 50th College Reunion into our car. I’d made a thermos of coffee, and had two bottles of juice, and we had two fried egg sandwiches to eat in the car for our breakfast! The trunk contained two suitcases, two duffel bags, two suit bags, two computer bags, a shoe bag and a camera bag. I’d also tossed in an iron, some diet soda and snacks. Oh yes, and a couple of umbrellas, jackets and the GPS!

So, off we went, up and over the mountains from New Hampshire to Vermont. It’s funny how different the two states are. Our roads tend to be twisting and turning and up and down, and in Vermont, they have miles of flat pasture land with the mountains on either side. We did our fair share of driving the Vermont Mountains to get to Middlebury though and they sure have a number of challenging mountain roads!

We arrived on campus about 1 o’clock in the afternoon, taking us just over three hours to get there. We checked in, got our name tags, folder of information and parking placard for the car, before we left and headed to The Middlebury Inn to check in there. Since we had a TON OF STUFF with us, we asked for help filling up our room. A very nice man got the luggage cart, and brought us up in the elevator. After that we took the grand staircase, as it was truly a lovely thing to do.

The old Inn, founded in 1826 has so many finely carved wooden shelves, stairs, bars and registration areas.

June 2 11 005

Our room was beautiful and best of all…quiet. I slept like a baby.

June 2 11 009

Tea was served every afternoon, making me think lovingly of my grandmother. In fact the Inn itself, made me think of her.

Hubby and I sat down and had lunch before heading back over to the college to meet up with Hubby’s friends from the class. There were meetings and events and a lot of joking around before we returned to the Inn to change into our evening clothes.

You all will recall that I was worried about finding a dress for this event. I even fretted that the dress I bought was not good enough, or the right look. Well, I needn’t have worried as most of the women wore slacks or even jeans. Hubby and I were surprised at how casual the entire Reunion was. Not to worry, I looked great and that helped me with my confidence.

Of course the saddest thing is, I don’t have one picture of me in my dress! It just didn’t work out. You see, it was Hubby’s weekend, so all the pictures are of him. I was the cameraman! The picture below is the only one of Hubby and I from the weekend!

June 2 11 008

The first night we met with the President of the college and his wife for a cocktail party. It was quite lovely, held in the garden of their home, under a tent. The President and his wife seemed very nice, but were shockingly young! He is only one year older than me!!!

After the cocktail party we all were driven to the Atwater Dining Hall. It had been specially decorated for the event and the meal and the short and sweet speeches made it a lovely night. The food was good, and the company at our table also quite nice.

Hubby and I headed back to our room at the Inn.

End of Part 1

Traffic & Oleander

I drove the 4 plus hours to, my sister’s home today in some of the worst traffic that I have seen in a while. In fact, I saw 4 or 5 accidents along the way and nearly ended up being a statistic myself. I was so grateful when I finally arrived and could get out of the car and just breathe a little.

Unfortunately, today was a busy day. Groceries needed to be purchased, and I wanted to go and get the special dog food for Anneliese that I plan to use during her pregnancy. (Yes, I do think she is pregnant, but I won’t say for sure, because I’m terrified of jinxing it!)

I arrived back at my sister’s in time to change and head over to my mother’s house. For her 81st birthday I had gotten her a bottle of her favorite perfume. Oleander Perfume, from Bermuda, made by Lily. I was really pleased to have gotten her this.

The funny thing was that she had gotten me a small gift to keep with me always as a token of her love and affection. What did she get? Yes, a silver Oleander Blossom on a chain from Bermuda!

Coincidence? I think not.

The Oleander perfume and flowers are just something both Mom and I loved and shared over the years. Something that is just us.

Tonight we took Mom and Mel’s mother in-law out for dinner. I have known Nan since I was 8 years old, (so nearly all of my life) and it was great to have dinner with them. We went to “The Rustic Oak” and had a delightful meal.

June 2010 005

I had soft shell crabs. I had never had them before and they were fabulous!!!

June 2010 006

They were so very good! Everyone tried mine, except Mom who is allergic.

June 2010 002

Mel had Scrod and said it was very good.

June 2010 008

For dessert they brought Mom a dessert of her choice with a candle and sang to her.

June 2010 004

And Nan also had dessert. I think it was Key Lime Pie!

So dinner is done, and the ladies are back home, and now Mel and I get ready for Saturday’s Family Reunion!

Fritz & Berlin

I need to start off this post by letting you all know that Fritz’s pathology report came back and he is going to be okay! The doctors got all the tumor and there shouldn’t be a re-occurrence of the problem! Hubby and I are rejoicing tonight!!!

***************

I was sitting here thinking of Uschi and Volker and the wonderful time I had with them in Berlin. So, I went through all the pictures we took, found my favorites (way too many, so this is a tad long) and made a montage.

Watching it brings tears to my eyes, as I recall the time spent with my dear friends! I hope I will be able to make a trip back, soon!

Berlin June 2010 Germany from Dackel Princess Maribeth on Vimeo.

As I said the video is a little long, but full of smiles and doggies and happiness!

Shrek Feet

Okay, I know I have pretty ugly feet. I accepted this long ago. With feet, there is not much you can do about it either. Just cover them up and hope that no one asks to see them, and that your partner doesn’t break off the relationship when he or she does!

Why am I bringing up feet right now, when all my thoughts should be surrounding Anneliese and our trip to Germany?

June 10 002

I woke up yesterday morning with “Shrek Feet”!

shrek the third SPLASH

See the similarities?

It has been unmercifully hot here in Berlin. Last night when I went to bed it was nearly 90 degrees just in my room and not much cooler outside! So, yesterday morning when I woke up and my two feet looked like meatloaves, I was more than a little concerned.

I decided I needed water. I drank and drank, but noticed that the liquid was just staying put. Uschi and I went to the Apotheke and spoke to the Pharmacist who gave me an all natural fluid pill. Eventually I should get rid of the fluid. (and so far they seem to be working)

We came back home, I drank a ton of liquid and took my pill. Then we both sat with our feet up and watched TV.

June 10 005

Even Anneliese came out for a while. Uschi’s dog Noah, went outside under the sprinkler, so until he dried off, he was kept out of the house. Anneliese didn’t mind that at all!

June 10 006

In fact on this trip, Anneliese has made herself right at home. She loves her Uncle Volker and her Auntie Uschi, and considers their furniture, her furniture!

June 10 007

Yesterday we also went to a discount shoe store and bought a pair of sandals for the trip home. I still cannot get my puffy feet into my shoes, so velcro sandals to the rescue!

On my last day here, we are going in to Potsdamer Platz. It is a wonderful area to shop around, and most of it is well shaded. I am taking Uschi and Volker out for a meal today and Potsdmer Platz has many nice restaurants there. If Uschi’s and my feet hold up, we may walk around the Tiergarten and enjoy the sights. If our feet give out, we will have Volker drive us back home.

It is hard to believe that my time in Berlin is at an end. I so enjoy spending time with Uschi and her family, and going to the beautiful places in this country! Germany will always be my second home!

I love Drugs!!!

All I can say is, thank you, Doxycycline! It seems that this is the wonder drug that is helping to make me well! I woke up this morning feeling so much better. That is after 3 doses of the drug! I was able to get a few things done. AND I actually want to get up and do something.

I admit to being a little bit nervous when I woke and felt better. Should I get back to life, or should I stay on my chair another day? I decided to go 50/50. I would do what I needed to do for a while, then sit down and rest for a few, then get back and do a little more.

Besides getting some laundry done, I also got out a few Christmas things, which just cheered me up! The first thing up was the little Christmas village that Mandy gave me a couple of years ago. I just love the two skaters twirling around, and I can also turn on the Christmas music if I want.

dec 2 011

I also got my mantle decorations out with the cast of snowmen and Santas.  My little Christmas tree with my mini dackel ornaments is up and my ceramic Christmas tree.

Then I stopped. I told myself it was time to get the jammies back on and kick back. I feel pretty good about what I have gotten done. Perhaps tomorrow I can actually do something like vacuum! That would be wonderful. Anyone living with a German Shepherd can appreciate this, I know!

Hubby and I also brought our suitcases down from the attic today and although we haven’t started to pack, they sit in the hallway and each time I pass them, I smile. 8 days and counting!!!

Soon I will be on the deck of our ship enjoying the warmth of the Caribbean!

By the way, anyone who would like the web site to watch our ship’s web cam, as we cruise around the Caribbean, let me know and I will send it along. I’m watching the ship right now, and enjoying it. It helps me dream of the warmth and the relaxation that Hubby and I will enjoy!

Traveling

The trip down to Pennsylvania took us about 8 hours. It didn’t seem so long because we listened to Julia Child’s “My Life In France” on an audio book.

Oh how my mouth watered and I thought of all the wonderful foods she was describing and I found myself incredibly hungry. But I stayed away from exits with food and all went well.

I ate a lovely Schnitzel for dinner and then we came back to our room and walked the two dogs.

Now I am going to say goodnight as tomorrow we must be up early in order to go and eat and then go to the dog show. I will post results as soon as I can.

We’re On Our Way

With Hubby at home caring for Fritz, Greta and the puppies, I am off to Pennsylvania with Arnie and Anneliese for the German Dog Show. All the primping and preening I’ve been doing should help. Oh yes, and I’ve groomed the dogs too! lol!

We’re going back to the site of last years show, in Reinholds, PA. It’s really lovely there. The show is held at an Equestrian Center in the middle of rolling pastures. It’s such a pleasure to go there.

The Judge this year is a man I have shown under before. He rated Greta three years ago. He is a kind man, who enjoys the dogs and is very fair. I’m happy to be able to show both Arnie and Anneliese to him.

I’ll be posting all weekend from Pennsylvania. Yes a Dackel Princess road trip! Complete with pictures and up to the minute stories of life on the road with two dackels!

Trip

Here is Greta when she went to the show three years ago.

Sept 23 028

And Arnie two years ago.

Sept 21 025

And Anneliese last year.

Sept.27 009

Yes, my life has now truly, gone to the dogs!

White Berlin!

I woke on Thursday to find it snowing once again here in Berlin! Oh dear, I think the Berliners will all blame me for this frosty winter! After all, I come from the land of snow back home in the USA!

We have had Anton overnight. Oh how wonderful this is. He hasn’t been taught any English yet, but like most children he is already parroting back what I say to him!

Anton

Anton cleaning

Anton loves to help and he is very good at cleaning the kitchen floor! Oh boy! I am having so much fun with him! In fact he even helped me today when I was writing Dackel Princess!

anton helps me

Uschi and I took turns reading to him. Now this was quite funny because my German is really poor, even at a pre-school level!

Oma Reads

Anneliese thinks the snow is wonderful and she goes out and runs around the house the a crazy dackel! Her favorite thing is to plow head first through the snow!  She is happily waiting until Saturday and I’ve kept her relatively quiet.

mb and noah

I was quiet today as well. I think the Jet Lag caught me and I have felt very tired. So with all the snow coming down, and being this tired I decided to just hang out today. Noah took advantage of this and I found him in my lap quite a few times, with tons of kisses! Tomorrow we have great plans to go out and visit a few places in the area. Shopping or at least window shopping!

Have a great day everyone!