The Dackel Princess

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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It was a nice, albeit wet, weekend. Since it was wet and cold we had our first fire in the hearth! I loved it! The way a fire smells, and the warmth and the look. Yes, I hope that I can have a fireplace where I live for the rest of my life. There is something about it that warms my heart and soul.

We watched movies, and of course The New England Patriots Football Game on Sunday, and now that the normal referees are back and allowing the players to play, (unlike the temporary referees, who tried to micromanage games), the game was actually interesting.

We attending a “Chowder Festival”, and sampled clam chowders from several different restaurants in our area. Then we got to vote for the best one. Naturally, my favorite one, did not win, but oh well.

I enjoyed my visit with Mandy and Savannah on Friday, and despite the rain then too, I managed the drive, and enjoyed every moment.

I will simply be happier when we have a return to cool, crisp and dry weather.

PS: I got no laundry done and I’m still working on the chicken soup. I simply ran out of energy and ambition, so everything can wait until Monday!

Happy Birthday Uschi!

Today is the Birthday of my dearest Friend and Sister in Soul, Uschi. I look back over the years and it amazes me how close we have grown. A simple friendship began all those years ago, and now, well I cannot imagine my life without her in it.

We do not see each other often. Usually every few years. However, we both take time each day to write each other and share our lives.

Thank you so much, my dearest Uschi for being my friend. May your birthday be filled with happiness and love and joy!

Happy Birthday Uschi from Dackel Princess Maribeth on Vimeo.

Savannah Rose 4 Months Old

I went down on Friday to see Sweet Savannah Rose. What a doll she is. I was amazed at all the little changes, and the big changes as well. She now wants to play, and reaches for toys. Also today we brought Savannah shopping for a bouncing chair and we found one that Mandy and I liked, but…Savannah had different ideas! She liked another one, and so in her first shopping selection ever, we allowed her to buy the bouncy chair of her dreams!

I was amazed how she very clearly got her point across that this was the seat for her. She is strong. She can easily stand on her feet, and loves to do this. Her neck is also strong and she holds her head well. I have a feeling that she will be a very happy girl in her new chair.

I also took a little video of her playing with her silly Grandma! That’s what I call myself! She just laughs!

Friday Fill-Ins

And…here we go!

1. The tale is told of holidays past.
2. My Sauer Braten recipe is something that always makes me think of my ancestors.
3. To ensure Savannah knows me well, I try to visit as often as possible.
4. Weight Watchers Triple Chocolate ice cream pop is a fine thing.
5. It’s never too late to learn something new.
6. I have often made lists on the back of an old receipt.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to an early bedtime, tomorrow my plans include the weekend laundry and Sunday, I want to go to the Chowder Fest up here!

Thursday Thirteen

I was thinking that I should put together my current 13 favorite TV shows. So as of September 27th, here they are.

NCIS. I love the entire cast, and the writing just keeps getting better and better as the years have gone by!
The Big Bang Theory. This is a great show too! I just love the hard to fit in “Smart Guys”. And the addition of Mayim Bialik, as Amy Farrah Fowler, just tickles me! At times, she is funnier than they are!
Two Broke Girls. Another funny show. Max, the wise cracking “Cupcake Queen” and Caroline, the newly broke “Princess”.
Mike & Molly. This is a great show and it demonstrates the depth of feelings that those of us with weight problems have. Mike and Molly, are so lovable!
NCIS LA. Another great cast, with super writing and interesting episodes! I especially love, Hetty!
The Good Wife. I am a late comer to that show, but I really like it. Julianna Margulies, does a great job juggling motherhood, being a lawyer and trying to figure out her relationship with her soon to be ex-husband.
The Mentalist. I love the writing and the interesting plots. Great show!
Person of Interest. Another interesting crime drama. Writing and acting are just great!
Long Island Medium. Okay I admit, there are a few trash TV shows that I like and this is one of them! I would so love to have her do a reading for me.
Say Yes To The Dress. I love this show because the brides are bride-zillas! They go into these fancy shops and announce their budget for a dress is 10 thousand dollars or even more! Let’s get real people!
Ice Road Truckers! Yeah, baby, give me some Dalton Highway Blues! Blowing snow, and near zero visibility! Woo-hoo!
Kathie Lee and Hoda! They are a breath of fresh air on Morning television! Both have been dealt some hard blows in their lives, but they refuse to let that keep them down!
What Not To Wear. I live in mortal fear, that one day Clinton Kelly and Stacy London will jump out and demand all of my inappropriate clothes and re-do me!

There you go. A little view into the shows on TV that I like!

Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. The Wednesday Hodgepodge this week falls on John Chapman’s birth date. He’s more famously known as Johnny Appleseed…what’s your favorite variety of apple?

Oh I love “Snow Apples” and “Winter Banana“. You can go HERE to read about antique varieties of apples. They are hard to find now that we don’t have our 65 acre farm. We grew 45 different varieties of apples, and there are even more out there being grown! A good “Macoun” or “MacIntosh” are both terrific, but I had a “Jonathan” the other day that was so good!

2. When did you last say ‘ick’?

Yesterday, when Greta came in for the second time, after she rolled in some kind of wild animal poop!

3. Do you think there’s a generation gap? Explain.

When Hubby and I were first married we had a retired Air Line Pilot living with us. He was 20 years older than Hubby, who is 20 years older than me. We also had Hubby’s daughter living with us, who was 20 years younger than me. Got all that? Okay, I can assure you that there is definitely a generation gap, as we all had very different opinions on the same issues.

4. What’s on your computer screen saver? Do you leave it alone or change it often?

What do you think? It’s a lot of pictures of my Sweet Savannah Rose!

5. If you had the attention of the entire world for two minutes, what would you say?

Wake up! If we don’t all work together to make the world a good and safe place, we will be annihilate in a Third World War!

6. Four fashion trends to try this fall are-brocade/jacquard (fancy printed fabrics), peplum, lace, and printed pants…which of these four would you be most likely to wear?

I get teased all the time, but I wear, what I call, “New Hampshire Chic”! Jeans, turtlenecks and sweaters. It’s so cold and wet, that it doesn’t make much sense to wear fancy clothes.

7. What can make your bad day better?

Any day I see Mandy and Savannah makes my day that much better. But then, being with Hubby and the doggies makes me very happy too. Actually, I would say, I am blessed.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

I have been working on getting my couponing up and running. This past week I had over $10.00 in coupons at the grocery store. I am amazed at the web sites where you can clip coupons. I also joined a testing group, that does taste tests of new products. I love that because I actually got two cans of Progresso Soup in the mail! Every little bit I can save, helps.

Do you clip coupons?

The Smell

Hubby was outside the other day, picking apples. He came in for another basket and when he went back out, Greta scooted along behind him.

I swear, she is a great escape artist! Harry Houdini could never have matched Greta, when she wants to escape!

But it was a lovely day, so I told Hubby to let her stay out, but to keep an eye on her. Usually, she is very good, but occasionally, she likes to go and visit up the hill at my neighbors house, and Mrs. R. loves it!

Anyway, she stayed nicely in the back yard, watching Hubby tend to his crop, but when I called her in, and she came right along, so did the excrement she had been rolling in.

Now you all know that we have a fair amount of wild game in my yard. There’s the Ground Hogs.

ground_hog-8220

The Wild Turkeys.

The Black Bears.

And the Deer.

Not to mention the Bald Eagle, moles, skunks, chipmunks and squirrels!

Whatever it was that went through our yard last and used it as a toilet, certainly left a pile of terrible smelling excrement, and that is exactly what Greta rolled in!

So, when she came in, and my eyes watered and my sinus’ cleared! Unfortunately they cleared! Oh what a horror, and of course it was just as we were sitting down for dinner!

I ate quickly, but truthfully, I didn’t taste anything, as I just wanted to get all three of the dackels in the shower and wash them up! Even Greta’s collar was a mess!

Arnie and Anneliese were not smelling bad, but it had been a while since they had a bath so I brought them all in.

The shower went well, and they were all very good, but it was at the end, when Hubby and I were drying them off that we sort of stood back and laughed. As soon as we opened the bathroom door, they took off and chased each other around the house! Full of life, and full of trouble!

The house was filled with the scent of wet dogs, but at least they are smelling a bit sweeter than they did at dinner.

That was until Monday morning when I had all the dogs in the yard and when I came in, Greta had once again found that pile of poop and this time really rolled well in it! This time, she went in the sink, and is now all cleaned up, but my gosh, it was bad.

When Hubby gets home, he will be sent out into the yard to hunt it down! I can’t take another moment of poop smelling pups!

Ah, the joys of pet ownership!

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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I hate to say, this weekend was a nice one. It was relaxed, included a trip to the movie theater to see “Trouble With The Curve“, and found me eating apples, freshly picked off of our trees! Does it get any better than that?

I also enjoyed cooking some nice meals for Hubby. A Pot Roast, Pork Chops and Chicken Breasts sauteed with mushrooms! There are times I really enjoy cooking more than others, and this weekend was one of those.

I also watched more than my fair share of movies on the movie channels. I watched a cute “Chick-Flick” called “Love Actually“, which had just about every British actor currently making films in it! I also watched “Red” for about the millionth time and “Harry Potter & The Prisoner Of Azkaban“!

I read parts of the “Girl With The Dragon Tattoo” on my Kindle and played more games of Solitaire, and losing, than I thought possible.

I also gave the dackels a shower, which was tons of fun! Just picture three wiggling dackels in a shower with me! It was very funny!

So now the week begins and at the end of it, I’ll be seeing my girls!

Happy Monday, Everyone!

My Pot!

I have had a lot on my mind lately and when this happens, I cook. I chop, I saute and I bake slowly in my oven, casseroles of deliciousness!

Today I decided that since I wanted to use up some beef from the freezer, I would make a New England Pot Roast. The nice thing about that is, that you chop up a lot of vegetables, , do a light saute of everything, and then place it in a low heated oven, and the rest is done by low heat, and a fantastic Dutch Oven!

That was the best item I ever bought. A heavy, green Dutch Oven, that you can use on the top of the stove and inside the oven too! I never knew that I needed this pot, until I actually had it and started to use it!

I’m going to put the recipe for New England Pot Roast below. It’s easy. At least it is, when you’ve got the right pot!

Yankee Pot Roast

Six generous servings:

1 piece of chuck roast, 4- 5 pounds, trimmed of excess fat
Sea salt or kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
Vegetable oil, such as canola
4-5 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb carrot, julienned
2 onions, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
1/2 teaspoons dried thyme
2 bay leaves
3 tablespoons flour
3 ½ cups beef stock, and red wine.
2 tablespoons tomato paste
8 – 10 small onions
1 pound red potatoes or larger white potatoes in chunks
1 pound large mushrooms, quartered

Over high heat, pour sufficient oil to cover the bottom of a large Dutch Oven or other large heavy pot (we use a large French enameled iron pot), generously salt and pepper both sides of the roast and sear meat until well browned on both sides. Remove meat and pour off oil. Return pot to medium heat and add julienned carrots, celery, onion and the garlic. Cook stirring, adding a small amount of oil if necessary, until softened but not browned. Sprinkle flour over vegetables and stir for 2-3 minutes. Return meat, adding water, tomato paste and herbs.

Bring to a simmer on top of the stove, cover (use aluminum foil under cover if it does not fit tightly). Place into preheated 300 degree oven and cook for 2 hours. Check at 1 hour and turn meat if it is not covered by liquid; add additional water if liquid is too thick – it should be the consistency of thin gravy.

At 2 – 2 ¼ hours, add remaining vegetables; the time varies according to size. Cook for a total of 3 hours. If the vegetables are not quite cooked, cover and let sit – cooking will continue using retained heat. Check for seasoning, adding salt or pepper to taste.