The Dackel Princess

Poor Arnie

Monday was shopping day here at the Dackel Princess household. But the big question was what to do with either Arnie or Anneliese? Anneliese is getting close to being in the prime part of her heat. In a day or so I will have to break out the big crate for my poor Arnie, as he won’t be able to contain himself, but right now he’s still pretty good. I just can’t completely trust him. I wouldn’t breed Anneliese until about day 11 or 13, but it is possible to make puppies earlier so…

Arnie, lusting after his sister.

What fun it was to take Arnie for a ride today in the car while we did our grocery shopping. Since it was cold, we put Arnie in his adorable little sweater. He was an absolute angel! He watched the world go by, enjoyed the warmth of the sunshine, and gave me a ton of kisses.

At one point when we finished the shopping and came out to the car, he was sound asleep on the front seat! I mean, how cute is that, right?

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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Despite the fact that I was determined to have a quiet weekend, I am here to report in on quite a few activities that you too can do on a lazy day.

As far as going out went, we decided to stay in. It was very cold and VERY windy. The temperatures topped out at perhaps 18 degrees (F) and the winds shook the house and trees at 44-55 miles per hour! A friend of mine lost her windshield when a tree branch smashed it!

So, Hubby and I, along with the dogs, stayed in. We watched various movies and shows on the TV. We watched my new favorite show “From Larkrise to Candleford”, as well as the movie “RED” which I had gotten for Hubby.

Quite often he cannot make out what the actors are saying when they are speaking in hushed voices. So often he misses out on important dialogue. Watching a movie at home, we can turn on closed captioning, and get every bit of the conversations. Heck, at this point in my life, even I miss some of the words being spoken!

Then we watched another movie, one that I gave Hubby for Christmas. This one is called “Hachi”.

It is about a professor (Gere) who adopts a lost Akita puppy that grows up to be the most loyal dog ever (even after a tragedy that I will vaguely allude to). Both Hubby and I were so smitten with this movie that we began to read more on the Internet, only to discover that Hachi existed in Japan and the story, was basically a true one.

Both Hubby and I recommend the movie, but you will have to rent it or buy it as it was never released in the USA market. With all the crap in our theaters, it sort of ticks me off, that this gentle love story, was considered beyond American audiences.

Anyone who has ever owned a dog will understand the relationship, and if you are lucky enough, you will have had a Hachi of your own.

We even watched the Daytona 500, with all of the spectacular crashes! I’m so glad that it’s not me driving those cars! I also want to go on record that I am simply not surprised by all the crashes considering they are doing this new thing called drifting, where one car literally is pushing the other. (Or so it seems.) The winner, 20 year old Trevor Bayne!

Fritz was outside on Saturday and apparently slipped on the ice and twisted his bad ankle. He’s been hobbling around and we have spoiled him with extra attention and affection. On Sunday, we managed to keep him very quiet and I hope by Monday he will be back to normal.

The dackels are all fine, and we have now finished week one of Anneliese’s heat. Two more to go! Arnie is just starting to become annoying, I may need to use a little Benedryl to calm his nerves.

To wrap the weekend, even though we didn’t go anywhere, we certainly were well entertained!

Why I’ve Been Loving Saturday Nights

A few weeks back, our local PBS TV station finished up, yet another round of “All Creatures Great and Small“, which is my all time favorite BBC series. I’d been hoping that they would immediately start it again (I never tire of it), but instead they began showing a “new” show. This show is called FROM LARKRISE TO CANDLEFORD.

I wasn’t sure I would like it. You know, it wasn’t my beloved, “All Creatures…”, but I decided to give the first episode a watch and go from there.

The first episode centers around the young girl Laura, who is sent from her home to work at the local Post Office, because her family can no longer afford to keep her at home. She is a teenager, after all, and needs to go and earn her way. Especially since her Ma has been able to secure a good job assisting the Post Mistress.

There are various characters who live in her family’s home town village, including one played by Dawn French, with much hilarity.

I’m on episode 4 now and I find that all week long I look forward to Saturday nights, when I can settle down for an hour enjoying the villages of Larkrise and Candleford.

It you see it on your local PBS or BBC stations give it a try. I can heartily recommend it.

Ski Lifts

Friday found me just chilling out and being extremely quiet. When I woke up, besides a rather dull headache, my neck hurt on the right side telling me that I really did take a good crack to my helmet.

For those of you that missed it, here is what happened.

I was getting off a ski lift on Thursday and was hit in the head by the lift chair. I kind of think it knocked me out for a second, as my husband said I just lay in the snow like a dead seal., but when I came around, it was like an explosion of pain in my head unlike anything I have ever felt. Anyway, thank goodness I had a helmet on, as it could have been much worse.

I am so grateful to have been wearing my helmet! I nearly went out that day with Just a hat. So it was lucky for me that I didn’t. I never will even attempt to ski without the correct gear.

Friday Fill-Ins

1. New experiences and possibilities are something I look forward to in life.

2. Sometimes an unexpected turn on a daily walk will lead you on a new adventure.

3. I’m looking forward to SPRING.

4. Traveling around the world with Hubby is something I never would have imagined when I was young.

5. Try to find that place inside of your heart and your mind, where there is peace and contentment.

6. My ability to cook good food, My ability to love unconditionally, is what’s extraordinary about me. (When I went back and reread that it sounded rather pompous. So I switched the answer. I love my friends and family unconditionally, but I am the first to admit, there are some that I cannot love this way and there for it was an incorrect statement!)

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to taking it easy, as I had a little accident Thursday on the chair lift and whacked my head. (Thank goodness for helmets!), tomorrow my plans include not quite sure. Perhaps just catching up with things, and Sunday, I want to maybe go to a movie? Just not sure!

Thursday Thirteen

Miscellaneous Thoughts

I’m off skiing again today! I had such fun on Monday that I asked Hubby to ski with me again today.
Fritz was running on top of the icy snow and fell and skinned his nose! Poor pup has a pink spot just under his nose.
I didn’t do well at WW this week. What can I say, when I give in to my chocoholic side, I simply cannot control it!
Needless to say, since then I have been eating salads and writing everything down that I eat.
Hubby noticed. I was out in the kitchen the other day fixing a meal, and I didn’t want to listen to the news, so I had my MP3 player going and I was listening and dancing. For a bit no one knew and then the dogs noticed. Hubby spoke to me and I didn’t answer.
Anneliese is on day 4 of her heat. Two and a half more weeks to go.
I saw a wonderful motivational speaker on Tuesday. She was well spoken and the question she asked is: “What do the voices in your mind, say about you as a person?” It got me thinking. What do my voices say? Maribeth is…
Here is Arnie, who loves to steal my side of the bed!

I have a new plan. I need to clean out my kitchen and re-organize it!
I got a great new candle from a friend. It’s scent is “Mint Chocolate Chip”! OMG, is it nice!
Guess who have become sleeping buddies? Anneliese and Fritz. They cuddle up together on the sofa and sleep while we are watching TV.
The weather men are forecasting 50 degree (f) on Friday! Break out the shorts and tank tops!
I think I really want spring to come. Green leaves, flowers, forsythia!

Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. Your favorite chocolate treat?

Chocolate Peppermint Bark. It’s only available at Christmas, but oh, it is so yummy. Truth be told though, I’ll eat anything chocolate!

2. What more than anything else makes you feel loved?

It’s the very little things. Hugs, cuddles, smiles, the look in someones eyes, etc.

3. Cherries or blueberries?

Since we have three Cherry trees, I’ll say Cherry, but….our friend has Blueberries, and we go over and pick like crazy, and I make things with those too.

4. What is the one trait you most want the leader of your country to possess?

Integrity. Definition: Integrity is a concept of consistency of actions, values, methods, measures, principles, expectations, and outcomes. In ethics, integrity is regarded as the honesty and truthfulness of one’s actions. The word “integrity” stems from the Latin adjective integer (whole, complete).[2] In this context, integrity is the inner sense of “wholeness” deriving from qualities such as honesty and consistency of character.

5. Are you a saver or a spender?

I used to be a spender. I really love to shop. Now, I have learned that it’s best to be a saver.

6. If you gave a party for all of your friends would they already know each other?

Not at all. I have friends far and wide. I think they all know of each other, but they haven’t met.

7. Are you interested in antiques?

Only family ones. For instance this Noah’s Ark came from Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany, with my grandfather, when he emigrated to this country. He was just 9 years old at the time. I love this little ark, and the memories of him that it evokes.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

For all of you who have been following my blog friend, Joanne’s progress since her stroke, there are great things to report. She is eating pop-cycles, and using an Ipad to communicate with everyone! If you go to this post you can read and see her progress. This post was written by Joanne’s sister complete with some of the most beautiful pictures! Her sister and husband are in a few of them, and Joanne’s beautiful hands! So go HERE and read and see how God really does answer our prayers.

Feeling Great!

Monday morning I woke with a feeling of extreme fitness! Now this doesn’t happen often for this middle aged, menopausal woman, so I quickly woke Hubby and suggested we go skiing! It was actually near perfect weather! In the upper 20’s, a slight wind, and skies that were clouded over and not too bright for my, rather sensitive eyes!

Once Hubby recovered from the shock of my actually wanting to go skiing, he quickly donned his clothes, and once the thermos was full of delicious hot coffee, we headed to the ski area.

Along the way, we grabbed a breakfast sandwich, and enjoyed the beauty of snow covered trees.

The Ski Area was nearly empty, also perfect, and we parked and carried our gear into the lodge. We left our skis and poles outside, and proceeded in to put on our ski pants and boots. Slowly, due to age and the fact that the ski gear doesn’t go on, as easily as it did when we were younger, we dressed!

After I was all set and in my gear, barely recognizable to even Hubby, I saw a friend. I went over and said hello in a deep voice and then pulled my face mask down, laughing all the while! We visited for a bit and then Hubby and I headed for the mountain.

We rode on the high speed quad lift, and about half way up, we saw a family of tiny chickadees pecking at some bird feed that someone had tossed out for them. And in the middle of the birds was one tiny, baby, red squirrel. How adorable is that?

The skiing was perfect and I flew down the mountain over and over and over. Hubby hardly knew it was me, as there was no groaning or complaints coming from the skier next to him on the lift or when we stopped on the slopes!

I even skied the entire morning with him! I was really feeling happy and smiling all the while. We changed back into our normal clothes, and then grabbing our skis, returned to the car.

I felt great!

We rode home, which only took about 20 minutes, but by the time we arrived, my legs felt a little bit like spaghetti! I somehow made us a quickie lunch, and then sat down to sip on my tea. It actually took me three teas until I got my second wind.

But, I am happy. I felt a little more confident and I think my legs are actually getting into shape! Could that be?

Hubby then surprised me with roses and I made lamb chops, and it was then end of another perfect Valentine’s Day!

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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It was a full weekend here in Dackel Princess land. I sort of knew it would be, and I wouldn’t have it any other way!

Saturday was a bit of a lazy day, but then we enjoyed some interesting TV shows, a little snow, and each others company.

It’s nice to be married to your best friend, because there are times in a long term relationship that you just want to be quiet, and your other half seems to know that you need that time.

Sunday morning started off with….Anneliese going into heat! Now, before anyone gets excited, I’m not breeding her this time, but next fall when both she and I will have the time. Meanwhile I had to break out the panties!

My cousin Janet came up with her boyfriend, Dave and we celebrated Christmas, New Years and Valentine’s Day with a fantastic meal of Lobster and Steamers!!! Janet and Dave gifted us with the seafood for our Christmas gifts! Thanks guys! It was just perfect!!!

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The cook.

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Our meal.

It was also the Ice Fishing Derby up here. The derby is a large event where fishermen from far and wide come to try their luck on the ice of our great lakes here in New Hampshire. The lakes freeze up and you can even drive a heavy truck on them. Men (and the ladies too!) bring their augers and drill large holes in the ice and fish. You can go HERE and learn all about it.

The temperatures were mostly bearable, and we had a great time walking around. We all were taking pictures and here is a short montage I made from the pictures Hubby and I took!

Sunday at the Ice Fishing Derby from Dackel Princess Maribeth on Vimeo.

We came home to 4 very happy dogs, and we made hot tea, and chocolate dipped strawberries. Yum!

A Lazy Saturday

Saturday I decided to make Hubby one of his favorite meals. My friend Uschi’s Meatballs, and German fried potatoes, a dish known as Bratkartoffeln. You can view my recipe for that HERE. So I made that and the meatballs, and it was like sitting with Uschi at her house!

Here I am making the meatballs. You can see it was a real, ‘hands on’ job!

Then I shaped them and rolled them into dry bread crumbs.

While I was cooking the meatballs, I was also cooking the Bratkartoffeln. I felt like a real short order cook.

But it was worth it, when I served up Hubby’s plate to him, and saw his smile.

Since the recipe for Uschi’s Meatballs is not mine I don’t feel right printing it here. But if you would like it, leave a comment and I will email it to you privately. It is so good, that I know you will enjoy it!!!

At the end of the day I had removed my bedspread from our bed, turned to say goodnight to Hubby and turned back, when I saw this.

I mean, just look at that face! The little bugger actually dug his way into my side of the bed clothes! Too, too much, but adorable, nonetheless!