The Dackel Princess

Friends

A good friend of mine came by on Saturday with this wonderful collage with poems honoring Fritz. I think I have said before, Fritz had no enemies, only friends he hadn’t met yet. His loss is being felt not just by us, but by the community we live in.

Hubby is on the Parks and Recreation Committee, and when the spring and fall would come, and the paths needed to be cleared, Fritz was always with him and the rest of the volunteers.

Arnie also has been feeling the loss. Tonight we noticed that he had dragged Fritz’s blanket out and was cuddling it.

But now, we need to let Fritz rest in peace, and move forward in our lives. I’m looking for a white shepherd puppy now and I am hopeful that this summer we will find our new family member.

Stay tuned!

Thoughts

WHEN you are old and gray and full of sleep
And nodding by the fire, take down this book,
And slowly read, and dream of the soft look
Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;

How many loved your moments of glad grace,
And loved your beauty with love false or true;
But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you,
And loved the sorrows of your changing face.

And bending down beside the glowing bars,
Murmur, a little sadly, how love fled
And paced upon the mountains overhead,
And hid his face amid a crowd of stars.

William Butler Yeats

Got Soup?

I made more of my cabbage soup, as Hubby has really been enjoying it. It is so easy to make, really. Just a lot of chopping of vegetables. But it is wonderful because it is so nutritious!

I worked so long and hard to get the soup just right, and what happens? Just before it is time for dinner I got terrible heart burn! So while Hubby had two big bowls of soup with some bread, I had cream of wheat and cinnamon toast. Not what I had planned.

If you missed the soup recipe when I first posted it, you can go HERE and copy the recipe. For any Weight Watchers out there, there are no points, so eat away!

Well, it’s back to my book now so that I can work through another few chapters. Greta and Anneliese are telling me it is time for bed.

Happy Spring, NOT!

Because we have not had enough snow, I woke this first day of spring to find another 10-12 inches of snow had fallen in our yard!

I am so over the wonder and beauty of snow this year! I imagine that Hubby is too! After all, after breakfast he has to go out and snow blow the driveway.

The poor little dackels, could barely trudge through the snow to find a place to wee-wee. Poor little ones!

Must go and make Hubby a good breakfast. He has lots of snow blowing to do!

Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. Thursday marks the first day of spring…to celebrate would you rather plant a garden or go for a walk in the woods? Would either of those activities be possible on Thursday where you live?

Plant a garden, but no. With four feet of snow in our back yard it would be impossible!

2. When did someone last spring something on you? (or when did you last spring something on someone?)

No surprises lately. Thank goodness!

3. We often think of spring as a time for new beginnings. What’s something you’d like to start doing this spring?

Seeing Savannah again, more often. Last year due to surgeries I didn’t see her as much as I’d have liked.

4. Where do you like to sit in a movie theater? When did you last sit there, and what were you watching?

Towards the back, and in the middle on the isle.

5. When you meet someone for the very first time, what do you want them to think about you?

That I am nice.

6. March is frozen food month (yes, really!). Besides ice cream (gotta make you think a little) what’s your most often purchased frozen food item?

Pizza.

7. What’s something you avoid?

Pineapple.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Greta is having a little problem with a disc in her neck. The medication is helping. One things for sure, she is being extra cuddly.

Corned Beef And Cabbage: How To Do It Right!

I found this recipe and tried it last night. It is the best way I have found to desalinate the corned beef a little, and the meal comes out perfectly!

Ingredients
1 (3 pound) slab of corned beef, preferably home made (I had a store bought brisket)
2 tablespoons pickling spices, preferably home made (I used a tea ball)
8 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1″ segments
2 onions halved
2 pounds of potatoes, peeled, cleaned and cut in half
1 small head of cabbage, outer leaves removed, cut in quarters
Do this:
Open the package the meat came in and dump out all the liquid. Rinse thoroughly. Trim off all the fat cap. The place in cold water and soak for half an hour.

Corned beef is essentially pickled in salt, and straight out of the pack it is way too salty. Before we can eat this cured meat, we need to cook it and desalinate it a bit. Place the beef in a large pot along with enough hot water to cover it by at least 1″ and put the lid on.

Turn the heat to medium and bring to a low simmer for 30 minutes. Do not let it boil. If you boil it, it will get tough and shrink. Beware that the meat is cold, so when it warms the water will slowly move from simmer to boil. Keep an eye on it and do not let it boil.

After 30 minutes, dump out the water and cover the meat with fresh hot water. This time add the pickling spices. (I used the tea ball to hold the spices)

Bring to a low simmer again, this time for 1 hour.

Again dump the water and pickling spices and replace it with fresh hot water. Bring to a low simmer and let it simmer for 1 hour. Add the carrots and onions. After 30 minutes add the potatoes. After 30 minutes add the cabbage. After 20 minutes the cabbage will be done and so should everything else. But remember to check.

Remove the meat and place it on a carving board. There are often two horizontal muscles separated by a thick layer of fat. Separate them by sliding a knife through the fat. Carve and/or scrape off the fat layer. Carve the meat by cutting across the grain about the thickness of a pencil. Any thinner and it will fall apart, any thicker and it will be chewy.

Lift out the cabbage, potatoes and carrots and onions and divide them into serving bowls. Place the meat in the bowl. Spoon some of the cooking liquid over them and serve. Happy Holiday!

You Gotta Have Friends!

Sunday was a wonderful day. A new friend of mine, Diane, came by with my s=cousin, Janet, and we talked about Lyme Disease. Diane has it and she told me all she has learnt over the years. She had prepared a notebook for me, with all the information about Lyme Disease, treatments available, and doctors in the area that treat the disease.

I’ve been rather depressed about having been so sick for so long, but today I felt hope for the first time. Now I know treatment is still a a ways down the road, but I will be patient and eventually I will get the treatment I need.

Then in the late afternoon I hopped over to another friend’s home. She was having a small gathering for a man who is running for Congress. I liked him very much, and with him good luck.

However, the best part of the evening was seeing friends from the town I live in. No one has really seen me since I had all the plastic surgery. Everyone was kind. They told me how well I’d healed.

It felt great to be out again.

Shopping Day

Saturday was the first time I have been out and about since last August. Pretty much all Autumn and Winter I have not been able to do anything alone. Poor Hubby has driven me most places, except a few times I was feeling I could make a trek.

Today I literally did a big trip. I gassed up the station wagon, and picked up a few things at the Warehouse Club we belong to, I went to Walmart to get a few things, and then did a full grocery shopping at Market Basket in the crazy, madness of Saturday afternoon.

There were screaming babies, harried parents, the elderly in their electronic carts, and people restocking shelves as quickly as they are emptied.

About three o’clock I realized I had missed lunch and my blood sugar was low, so I grabbed a quick hamburger and diet root beer. That kept me going until dinner tonight.

Hubby worked really hard while I was gone. Our driveway was all snow and ice, and pretty bad. Hubby chopped up the ice, and pushed it all off the tarred driveway. It’s a tad tricky at the very top, but really, he did a great job on the 500 feet of our drive downhill to the house.

Arnie has been such a comfort to Jack. They pal around together, and Arnie is so loving. You know, Arnie wasn’t supposed to be ours. I had sold him to someone else and because of life changes, this person changed her mind. Well, after 12 weeks of Arnie being with us, we were sunk. Arnie was ours!

This morning at breakfast an economist was talking about buying meats, chicken, fish, etc. when they are on sale and freezing things. Today it was corned beef brisket. I had already gotten one for Monday, but since they are only $1.99 a pound I grabbed two more and tossed them in the freezer.

So the day is done, and I am really tired. I think I will go to bed and read and then go to sleep. Night everyone!

Eastern Airlines Crash And The Ghosts

I’m reading a book on the flight of Eastern Airline 401. You can go HERE and read all about it. The most interesting thing are the reports of the two Ghosts that haunted other L1011’s in the Eastern fleet. The book is so good that I stayed up until after eleven o’clock last night reading.

On Friday morning I found a documentary all about the accident, with interviews from some of the survivors.

It’s a good show, so if you are interested in avionics you can watch this.

Friday, Freezing, Fur

Today was make the puppers beautiful day. I started in the morning, combing, stripping and trimming their coats. One after another I put them on the counter and worked.

Hubby helped by stabilizing them, in between snow blowing and ice chipping in the yard. There is just so much snow, ice and yes, even wet under the snow out there! I am so ready for spring!!!

I’d let the little buggers go fur wise for a bit because it has been so darn cold. I felt they needed every last hair on their body. Even though today was bitterly cold, I’m thinking of springtime!

I do have little sweaters for the dackels, all washed and ready to be worn.

Hubby was great today and made a lovely fire in the fireplace and all three dogs have snuggled up with it after they came in.