The Dackel Princess

Thursday Thirteen

I really dislike rainy days in the Autumn. Especially when the rain comes with fog!
It seems like the Autumn is going very quickly.
There are a ton of leaves now residing on the ground. It’s a carpet of color!
Yesterday Hubby and I did our shopping.
We make lists, so that we only go every ten days, and can get everything done at one time.
With the price of gasoline right now $3.74 a gallon, we simply cannot go for a luxury ride any more.
A few years ago, when gas was well under $2.00 a gallon, we often took rides, just for the heck of it.
I will be voting this year in the hopes that my vote will help for a financial recovery for our country.
It sort of makes me mad that in the last few years the wild spending means that my infant grand-daughter, already owes $50,000.00 in taxes!
I will be happy when the next month is over and the election is behind us.
I’m tired of the TV Commercials, the phone polls, and mailings.
It’s chilly tonight.
Think I’ll make a fire in the hearth!

Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. In what ways do you indulge yourself?

I used to be a big shopper. Now my only big indulgence is getting my hair done every 6-8 weeks and driving down to see Mandy and Savannah. Gasoline sure is pricey, but I wouldn’t miss this time for anything.

2. Have you ever taken a cooking class? Any interest? What type of class would you most like to try?

No, I have never taken a cooking class. At least not a proper one. I watch Cooking TV and then try to replicate what I have seen. Yes, I would love to take a class. I’d love to take a class on French Cooking given by Julia Child!

3. What does it mean to be a good citizen?

Contributing Time, Talent, and doing due diligence for your country/state/county. I served on Jury Duty over a six week period, I vote each election and I have held public office.

4. ‘Tis the season of the political advert…do these ads influence your vote?

I live in the “Meet and Greet State of New Hampshire! We are fortunate that when someone is running for office, especially for President, we see them first! So no, the ads do absolutely nothing for me. Well, let me answer that again. The negative ads often make me refuse to vote for that candidate. If you want to tell the country about “your ideas” for the future that is fine. Just do not tell me, all the dirt on the other candidate. That is dirty politics!

5. What’s something you see today that makes you wish you were a kid again?

We live near one of the biggest Arcades in the northeast. Oh, how I wish I was a kid again and could play all those games! I walked through the other day, smiling with anticipation! In a year or so Savannah will be old enough to bring and enjoy the Arcade with!

6. What’s your least favorite cliche?

My dogs are barking (meaning: “my feet hurt”) I’m sure that there are others, but this blog is G rated!

7. What percentage of your Christmas shopping has been completed? How does that make you feel?

Only about 15%. I need to get going!!!

8. Insert your own random thought here.

I get to go see Mandy and Savannah on Friday! I’m trying to get down every two weeks. We visit, talk, and I get all sorts of baby loving time with Miss Savannah!!!

The Beginning Of The End

It was a fairly nice day here in New Hampshire, so I decided to go out in the garden and pull the Basil “shrub” that I grew there! Honestly, that thing was about 2 and a half feet high and grew up like a shrub.

Once pulled, I took each leaf off and washed them thoroughly. Then put them in a salad spinner, and then out on clean dish towel to dry. Once they are all dried, put the leaves on a cookie sheet and flash freeze them. After, you wrap the leaves in wax paper, and tuck them into a Ziploc Bag, and return to the freezer.

Soon I will pull the last of the weeds from the garden and then turn the soil once more. Hubby will fertilize it and then the garden is ready to be left for the winter.

I broke out my wool winter sweaters today and have them airing on our screened in porch. They smell a wee bit like cedar, and that scent bothers me, so I hope that the airing will work.

I’ve also gotten together our winter coats, hats and gloves. I would like to get Hubby’s Ski Bag packed for the year as well. There is nothing worse, and more nerve wracking, then trying to get this all ready the night before the first snow!

Now, off to clear out our kitchen freezer and organize it a bit. Really people this cleaning bug had better get lost quickly! I simply do not feel like myself holding a vacuum cleaner in one hand and a dusting cloth in the other!

What I Did This Past Weekend

Our host is Gattina. Come join us and tell us what YOU did this past weekend! After all, you never know when you will need an alibi!

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Well, I think I can safely chalk this weekend up to being one where I cleaned like crazy, expecting guests, only to find that the only ones that are impressed with my hard work are Hubby and me. The guests never called! Ah, that’s okay. At least I am all set, should someone stop in unannounced!

I did not go crazy with cooking, nor did I do a lot of free reading on the Kindle, as I am working to retrain my eyes to track while I read and not get tired.

Let me explain. Do you know that if you do not read for a very long time, your eyes, your mind sort of forgets how to track from one line to the next. It is a little exhausting. I am currently trying to retrain my eyes to do what they are supposed to. In the mean time, I get a little tired and have eye strain after short periods of time reading. It wasn’t anything that the doctors warned me about, as being a side effect of all the surgeries

Meanwhile, the foliage train has started running Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It goes by the house at 11:05 AM and returns at about 3:15 PM. This was Fritz watching the train this morning, holding his blanket in his mouth!

Fritz loves that smelly thing. He is the only German Shepherd that I have ever known that had a security blanket!

Fritz actually loves the train, and when it passes our property below, he will run like a Greyhound back and forth on the upper lawn! Boy, is he fast!

Autumn weather has moved in, bringing with it, cool, crisp, air, while the trees turn a marvelous array of colors! Yes, my favorite month of the year has to be October!

Welcome Autumn!

Not Much, Really!

It was such a weird day here on Saturday. I woke to a foggy start, then it cleared out and I thought for certain we would have a little sunshine, but before I knew it, the grayness returned and with it…the rain!

I’ve been trying to get things accomplished here at the house, and actually, I’m doing pretty well! Much better than I thought!

Actually, I have found myself, doing other little cleaning jobs. Things that no one but me will see. Apparently, the cleaning bug has bitten me.

I was quite wrong about how long it would take me to clean things up. At this point I simply need to change the sheets and I’ll be all set.

I’m amazed at how much I can get done when I apply myself!

Uh-Oh!

I was having a lazy day today, you know, in my pajamas until noon, not doing too much, mostly surfing the Internet, when I decided I really should dress and go to the grocery, mail and the seamstress, who was fixing a pair of corduroy jeans, that I had split! (OK, I know. I really need to concentrate for more than 1 week on my diet!)

So, I got going around 12:15 and did all of the errands, and arrived home in time to get lunch ready for Hubby.

I’d planned the rest of my day. I was going to catch up with a little laundry, and probably read some.

That’s when Hubby remarked that we were going to be having company. Sometime over the next few days!

Company!!! Oh no!!! Not when my “Dust Bunnies” were in the process of multiplying! And the dust! I do not even want to go there! Let’s just say, the dust was so thick you could easily write your last will and testament legibly!

I knew I could not clean everything at once so I divided it up. I washed the slip covers to the sofa, vacuumed and dusted every surface in the family room and kitchen, and started important laundry!

I know, if they come before Monday, I am screwed. I just cannot get it all done. I’m afraid it will have to be love me for myself, not for my ability to clean house. Meanwhile, I am prioritizing. Tomorrow I am washing up the guest room and guest room bath.

In my own defense I must say that I have a huge house well over 2400 sq. feet! I also have four dogs and a husband, and none of them really help out with the house work. I do love my house, but I don’t like cleaning it. My next home will have a lot of closets and basement storage, and be a whole lot smaller upstairs!

Friday Fill-Ins

(Picture done by my cousin, Janet. She has such a great eye and a super imagination!)

And…here we go!

1. I said how happy I am that I am surrounded by loving and supportive people..
2. Apple pie with vanilla ice cream is what I’m craving right now.
3. I was thinking about how cute Greta looks when she is asleep and smiling.

4. I’m planning to really pay more attention to my healthful eating plan, will you?
5. We should have this one is tough. You see I try not to live with a lot of regrets..
6. I need to get into my office, go through all the mounds of paperwork, and vacuum, dust and clean, whether I want to or not!
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to watching a movie, tomorrow my plans include trying to catch up with my laundry and Sunday, I want to watch the New England Patriot’s Football game!

Love

On Sunday, Hubby and I went to a local festival called “The Chowder Fest”. It was held at a local Arcade, with every sort of fun machine to play on, and also has a bowling ally.

It was interesting to go from table to table and try different recipes of chowder. Some was thick and creamy and a couple others were thin and vegetabley. Not exactly my favorite. One restaurant even had a butternut squash and apple chowder, which in my opinion, isn’t a chowder at all, but just a thick soup.

But I digress…

At the Arcade after the Chowder Fest, I played “Ski Ball” for a while, until my 53 year old back started to give out, then I sat down, and let Hubby play, and did what I do best…people watch.

It was during the time, when I was sitting there watching these humans, that I realized something quite profound.

Love really does make the world go round. You see, be it that love between a man and woman, or parent’s with their child, love was all around me.

These people, these children, were all average humans. None of them were Marilyn Monroe, or Elizabeth Taylor, or Richard Burton or George Clooney. And yet, the people exchanged looks of love, laughed together, and loved.

I think how lucky we are that if we open our hearts, quite often we will find love filling it. I know it is not all storybook love, but what I saw today, made me realize how blessed you are in life, if you can begin the day or end the day, with someone who thinks the sun rises and sets on you.

And our children, that we hold in our arms and teach to smile, to talk, to walk, well, today I saw a lot of that kind of love too! The most profound was watching a mother with her handicapped daughter. The little girl had Cerebral Palsy, and walked with crutches, but her Mom smiled broadly at her while she played “Ski-Ball” and laughed and giggled when she did well, and even when she didn’t.

Savannah has brought such joy to me and to Mandy and her father and the other grandparents too. That wonderful, happy, little smile, reminds us again of the important things in life.

Yes, if we just open our hearts and our eyes, we will see that love is all around us. It’s ours for the taking…and the giving.

Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. It’s a brand new month…share one thing you’re looking forward to in October.

Cool, crisp, air, with the changing of the leaves!

2. Is chivalry dead? Explain.

Yes and no. Hubby is such a gentleman, and so are most of the men his age or older, but those in their early 30’s or younger, have no idea. Funny you asked about this. The other day I was going into a shop and a man with a walker, rushed to open the door for me! It blew my mind, as most of the time, the younger men, open the door for themselves and then just let the heavy thing shut heavily behind them!

3. On October 2, 1950 the Peanuts comic strip made its debut. Which character is your favorite? Which character is most like you? (Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus, Shroeder, Snoopy, Woodstock, or Pig Pen)

Snoopy. I love Snoopy! Greta is so much like him in her character, that it is funny! She even carries her dish in her mouth to show she is waiting for her dinner!

4. What’s something you’re competitive about?

I’m really not competitive at all. However, if someone cooks something I think I can cook better I will try it out, over and over, until I perfect it. So yes, I guess I am a competitive cook.

5. October is National Popcorn Popping Month…are you a fan? How do you like your popcorn?

I love popcorn! I love it hot with butter and salt! I could make a meal out of it! Kettle Corn is also good, but movie theater, buttered popcorn is the best!

6. When did you first realize the world is small?

I think when I started to travel around Europe with Hubby. I saw the homes, the families and people going to and from work. I also was on a flight to Frankfurt, Germany and was on my way to the Lavatory, and there sat a man whose children I babysat so long ago!

7. In terms of architecture, what’s the most beautiful building you’ve seen up close and in person?

There was a beautiful church in Bavaria. The Wieskirche located in Steingaden in the Weilheim-Schongau district, Bavaria. You can go HERE and view some of the pictures of this Church. You can also go HERE and learn more about this beautiful church.

There is a little side story here. Our dear friend, Otto, took us on a ride through the countryside despite his failing health. He wanted to share this most beautiful church with us. I’m so happy he got to see this church again, through our eyes, before he died.

So, forever, this church will hold a very special place in my heart!

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Tuesday found us going to a Fly-In. It’s a day when retired Pilots and their families get together to share stories and cook-out. It was so much fun, as many of them flew in their own planes to get there.

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Here is our friend and his plane. He was just getting ready to take off to return home.

The Memory Of A Shepherd (Fritz is Fine)

Many years ago, nine to be exact, Fritz came to our home as a little white ball of German Shepherd fur. We watched TV and for the most part baby Fritz, ignored what he heard or saw. That was until this commercial for Honda.

Every time it would come on, he would stop, walk over to the TV and listen, tilting his head this way and that.

Eventually, they stopped running that commercial every 30 minutes, and for a couple of years it was gone. Then one day I was on You Tube, and I found it there! I played it in a silent room and he came running over.

Since that day, I play it occasionally and he always comes to listen.

Today, I played it again, after seeing that they were running it in a new campaign, with newer cars. Fritz was asleep on his bed, and he jumped up, ran over and even sang a little.

People say that dogs are stupid. They also say they have no memory. I am here to tell you that those people are full of it!

My dogs, and most dogs, are very smart, and have very long memories.

Whenever I hear that Honda Commercial I will always remember my baby boy, Fritzi!