The Dackel Princess

Gray Day

What can I say, Friday was one of those very cool, gray days. It rained, we had fog and I had no desire to go outside for any reason. I did force myself to walk the dogs, but hurried back in to dry off.

In order to increase my culinary skills, I tried to butterfly a pork loin for the very first time. It came out okay, but really I will need to practice more. I made a fruit stuffing and once I rolled it all up and baked it, it came out pretty well.

Greta wasn’t feeling too well on Friday and I spent a lot of time just sitting holding her. Now she seems back to normal, so I’m thinking I was had! Oh well, I’d do anything for my doggies.

Today is our School Board Meeting. It’s the yearly one, where the three towns that are in our co-operative get together and vote the budget. Last year our town was mugged by the smaller town in the co-op, and our taxes soared. I hope this year there are enough people who are angered over this, and will come to vote down the proposed increases.

Don’t get me wrong. I love my teachers and I respect what they do, but right now, no one is getting a raise, the economy stinks, prices everywhere are going up and I think we all have to work together to keep costs down.

Especially in a co-operative school system where the numbers of enrolled students is going down.

I sure hope that today’s meeting is not the blood bath that last years was.

I’m bringing my knitting and a snack as the meeting is at 10 AM.

Can you tell I am less than thrilled?

Friday Fill-Ins

1. Oh gross! I thought it was coffee. (It was, in fact cherry cola)

2. Driving all over England and Scotland, well THAT’s off my bucket list! (Love Scotland and England!)

3. No, way Jose!. (One of my favorite sayings)

4. I love my family with my heart and soul.

5. And then I was flying across the road and the Jeep smashed into the snowbank.

6. I can’t forget the sweetness of those that I love.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to making a new recipe for a stuffed pork loin, tomorrow my plans include _dusting. I have so much to do and I really hate it, but… and Sunday, I want to make a seafood stir fry, read the Sunday newspaper, and sip lots of coffee!

How We Spent Greta’s Birthday

For Greta’s birthday I made her a meat cake! She was not too thrilled that I held it while we sang, but eventually I blew out the candle and she devoured it!

I didn’t want you to think that she didn’t get anything, or that we gave her something unhealthy. It was the best treat and I’ll be doing this for all the other pups when their birthdays come along.

Hubby built some little steps into our snow bank, which allows the dackels to climb on top of the snow and tend to their needs. They are so adorable when using the steps, and Hubby and I really love watching them.

First he had to teach them to use them.

As you can see, Hubby is quite proud of his work, and the dackels love their own little stairway to their playground heaven!

All three dackels got baths today and so tonight we are surrounded by sweet smelling dogs! Next week when I feel slightly stronger, I will bathe Fritz, but today I just couldn’t handle him.

Lastly, for dinner I prepared zucchini boats that I had made last summer from our home grown zucchini, and then plash frozen. I poured tomato sauce that I made with our own tomatoes and canned and as a nice side dish had our own apple sauce.

It’s on nights like tonight that I know why I love my garden so much!

Thursday Thirteen

Today’s Thursday Thirteen are my current favorite TV shows. I used to be a real TV addict, but find that TV isn’t as good as it once was, so I watch a lot of cooking shows.

Okay, so here we go with my latest favorites shows on TV.

NCIS. I love the entire cast. They all work so well playing off of each other and this show has been consistently good!

NCIS

The Big Bang Theory. This is another great ensemble cast. I think the appeal is that almost everyone I know has felt awkward at one time or another. These guys are likable in their awkwardness!

“From Lark Rise to Candleford“. Y’all know how much I love that one!

larkrise

Mike and Molly. It’s a new show on CBS and it’s got to be one of the sweetest, truest little love stories out there. Love the crazy Swoozie Kurtz as the Mama. She is hysterical!

MIKE & MOLLY

What Not To Wear. Yes, I am still a devotee of the series. I am constantly amazed at the transformations and I love Ted Gibson. He is a fabulous hair stylist!

The Middle. A show about an ordinary family, in the middle of the country where almost nothing goes as it should. Patricia Heaton is great as the Mom, who struggles and just cannot seem to make it all come together.

the middle

Desperate Housewives. I’m not quite the devotee I was in their early years, but I do still watch occasionally.

desperate_housewives

Regis and Kelly! What will I do when I can’t start my day with Reeg? Their variety/talk show is just the right blend of lightness to start the day with.

Live-With-Regis-And-Kelly

Kathie Lee & Hoda! Another great pairing in the morning. It’s like sitting down with my girlfriends and having a good laugh!

Hoda Kathie Lee

All My Children. I’ve been watching the goings on in Pine Valley since I was in High School. I sure would miss it if my favorite Soap Opera got canceled.

all-my-children-

The Mentalist. A cute, and quirky escape. I love the characters and the writing is very good. Simon Baker is terrific. I had no idea he was an Australian!

The-Mentalist

Rules of Engagement. Another situation comedy that makes me laugh. I think I’m looking for laughter lately because the world is so full of depressing things.

RULES OF ENGAGEMENT

Almost any show about travel. Most especially about Alaska, Australia or Asia. I have seen some of Alaska, but I so want to go back for more of a naturalist adventure! Australia and Asia are on my Bucket List. So Travel Shows are right up there on my list!

What are you watching?

Happy 7th Birthday Greta

Can you believe it? Greta is now 7 years old! It seems like just yesterday that Hubby and I flew from New York to Berlin to see Auntie Uschi and Uncle Volker, and pick up our little bundle of fur!

Greta was only 8 weeks old when we picked her up and brought her home. It was Hubby’s birthday, so I guess in many ways it’s okay that she is more than partial to her Daddy.

Greta had two wonderful litters of pups, which gave us the fabulous and lovable, Arnie and Anneliese. She was also one of the best Mommy dogs I have ever seen.

Greta was rated twice and both times she was given an excellent rating for her form, coat and gravitas! To me, she has always been perfect!

She’s retired now, and enjoying her life in the household, and we in turn, really enjoy her, too!

So Happy Birthday, Dearest Greta!!!

Happy Birthday Greta! from Dackel Princess Maribeth on Vimeo.

Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. The season of Lent begins on March 9th this year…do you participate and if so, in what way?

I used to, but since joining Weight Watchers, I sort of feel like I’ve given up most of the things I would ordinarily have given up. Perhaps I will use the time to be contentious with the plan.

2. Traditionally pancakes are eaten on the day known as Shrove Tuesday which is the last day before Lent (March 8th this year). So….butter and syrup? Blueberry? Chocolate chip? ewww, no thanks!! What’s your pleasure when it comes to eating pancakes?

I love pancakes. I love blueberry the best, but with real maple syrup. I also love banana fritters, once again with real maple syrup!

3. Spring is coming. (It is coming, right?) What’s your favorite springtime flower and do you suffer from seasonal allergies? Two questions I know, but they’re lightweights.

I love Lilacs! Also Forsythia! I also love the greening of the trees. Do I have allergies? Oh yes, I certainly do!

4. “Our opinion of people depends less upon what we see in them than upon what they make us see in ourselves.” Author unknown. Agree or Disagree? Why?

I actually don’t agree. I see people as they are. (At least I try to.) I do try to see myself apart from others. Now if I see a characteristic that I like in someone, I may try to determine how to change and incorporate that into my own personality. Likewise, if I see something I do not like, if it is severe enough then I would pass on the friendship. Mostly, (I hope) I am open-minded enough to enjoy all sorts of people.

5. Since it’s “March” and also the season of Mardi Gras….have you ever been in a parade? What’s the best parade you’ve seen?

Yes, I’ve been in many parades, when I was a kid. It was fun. Especially the parades I was in with my High School Band!

6. You would jump up and down and shout for joy right now if someone told you_

I was going on vacation to a warm and wonderful place. Or perhaps over to see my friend in Germany or another friend in Australia.

7. How clean is your car on the outside? Inside? Is there junk in your trunk?

My current car (the old Jeep), is covered with salt right now and looks terrible. I plan to wash it today. The inside is completely clean, even under the seats, as everything went forward Monday after I hit the snow bank. It was amazing all the stuff I found when I got home and was taking everything out of the car.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Joanne continues to amaze us all with her progress, but she has so far to go, and both pain and depression really get her down. Please pray for her to have relief from her pain (it’s a balancing act, because they don’t want to give her too much pain medication, as this will slow her recovery), and peace in her heart, mind and soul, while she recovers.She is such a brave young woman, and she is in the fight of her life!

God Bless you, Joanne!

A Strange Day

Hubby and I woke to the sound of rain falling outside. We both looked at the clock, and saw that all four dogs had allowed us to sleep well past 8 o’clock! I think the reason they did, is because they had no intention of going out into the rain. We enjoyed the extra sleep, but then got up to start our day.

Actually, I enjoyed the lazy morning, and cooked a nice breakfast and lunch before preparing to go to my appointment for a mammogram.

However, between breakfast and lunch the weather took a turn here, that was a bit of a surprise. We had rain in the morning and then it began to snow!

Hubby offered to drive me to my appointment, but I said, no as I did not anticipate any problems. There were none going down, but coming home, the temperatures had dropped even further, the wind had increased and I was 3/4 of the way home when I lost control of the Jeep and skidded across the other lane of traffic and into a large snow bank!

I hate black ice!

I cannot tell you how scary it was to see the snow bank coming toward me so quickly. It brought back so many terrible memories, and then it stopped. Almost like in “The Wizard of Oz” when the house landed after being caught up in the tornado.

Immediately three men stopped and provided their help. One man had a large truck with chains, and two young men pushed and the three of them got my Jeep out of the snowbank. The man with the truck followed me home to make sure I got here okay, and then headed off with a wave.

It was above and beyond neighborly!

Hubby had come out to rescue me, but he saw me driving home and followed me. He got a fire started in the hearth and handed me a brandy to sip.

And he hugged me and let me know he was happy I was okay.

So tonight I am feeling totally wiped out and still very emotional. I think I need a good night sleep and perhaps a little distance from the event.

What I Did This 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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This was a very strange weekend. I actually accomplished a lot of things, but the things I looked forward to the most, did not happen.

I did get some cleaning done, although not as much as I would have liked. I also watched a movie, but nothing that was new and earth shattering. “From Lark Rise to Candleford” was not on, and on Sunday morning we were in the dark (no power) for about an hour. Hubby went out and got our generator going, so I was able to make our breakfast and we watched TV until the power was restored.

We also did some running around getting groceries. Part one found us taking Arnie with us, and part two found us bringing Anneliese. It was so much fun traveling around with them.

We also saw our unfair fair share of rain. In the last two days we have had so much rain, and warm temperatures that the snow has melted into ponds in our yard. Amazing!

So the weekend was just your average taking care of business kinda weekend!

Saturday Happenings!

Something kind of wonderful happened today, and I can’t really talk about it yet. You will hear about it in the future, but for now, just know that I smiled most of the day with a special secret.

We had a day where our temperatures were high enough to allow for some melting, and the roads were clear. Hubby did some more snow removal in key areas, and once again I watched every cooking show known to man, as I did my house work. It helps to give me ideas for new meals to cook.

For instance, Saturday night I am cooking a meatloaf, made from a recipe I found on the Food Channel. Now I hope this is a good meatloaf, because it took me well over an hour just to chop up all the vegetables that go into this meatloaf. I like to think of this as the “Everything But The Kitchen Sink Meatloaf”! I really hope it is good. If it is, I will post the link to the recipe, as it is a copy write-ed recipe.

I was flipping through TV guide when I noticed that my new favorite TV show, “From Larkrise to Candleford” is not on tonight! What? They are having fund-raising TV crap on instead! I am not happy, as now I must wait until next week for another episode.

Okay, I hope you are all sitting down. Here is the up to date latest. I actually finished all of my laundry! Ha! I knew I could do it if I just set my mind to it!

Some good friends of ours slipped away and tied the knot! The bride and groom both wore flannel shirts and jeans and life is good! Congratulations to Lou and Mary and our wishes for happiness always!

Love is grand!!!

Dackel Doctor Days

The Dackels went to the Dackel Doctor today for their yearly shots and physicals. I have been waiting for this as I have been working to reduce the weight of both Anneliese and Greta. They were weighed and examined and the three dackels weighed drastically different weights.

Greta was 23 pounds,

Arnie was 21 pounds

and Anneliese was 18 pounds.

The odd thing is that Arnie really is the biggest of the three, the longest for sure, but he has retained his youthful figure! Greta has already told me that she has had two large litters and her “youthful” days are long behind her! Anneliese is just plain perfect! She really is in great shape!

The Doctor and Office Staff were all amazed at Greta and her children. One woman had never seen a wire-haired dachshund, especially ones with such beautiful wild boar, color coats. So it was fun to show them off.

After the Dackel Doctor visit we came back home to a very lonely Fritz. It was not his day to go to the doctors, and so Fritz was “Home Alone” He seemed none the worse for wear, but boy, was he happy to see us!