Joanne

In my sidebar you will see a widget about another blogger named Joanne. She is a young wife, mother, and writer, who suffered a serious stroke on January 11, 2011. Her condition is serious and we are asking everyone to pray for her.

You can click on her button and go over to read updates, but I also urge you to go back in her blog and read Joanne’s posts. She is a wonderful, happy, loving, giving, woman. Her writing will make you smile and laugh and look inward.

Currently, she is in a drug induced coma to help her brain to rest. Let us all take a moment to pray for a miracle recovery and return to her family and friends.

What I Did This Weekend

Miss Marple 2

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 an off weekend for me, this past weekend. I did a fair amount of cooking, which also means cleaning up, and with getting my hands wet so much, all of a sudden the skin just started to crack.

Yes. I am old.

To help, I have purchased several pairs of rubber gloves to protect my hands while I am cooking/cleaning and chopping food. It is amazing to me just how wet your hands get when you are in the kitchen.

I never did get my Christmas boxes up in the attic, however, I resolve to do that on Monday, no matter what I do!

I did some laundry, played with the dogs in the snow (yes we had more), and even went to see a movie, “The Fighter”.

All I will say about “The Fighter” is this,  Christian Bale is fantastic. I simply cannot believe what a fabulous actor he is!

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He WAS Ricky! They announce the Oscar nominations on January 25th. I hope he is among them.

Oh jeeze, I just heard that The Golden Globe went to Christian Bale, for  “The Fighter.” for Best Supporting Actor! I told you he was phenomenal!

The week ahead finds me expecting more snow, going to several meetings, and getting my teeth cleaned. All important things.

Have a great week everyone!

Furry Best Friends

Sometimes I forget how lucky I am to have these wonderful dogs, who hang around me and shower me with so much love. Then one of them will do something as simple as jumping up into my lap and look, with such love, into my eyes. Then I know. I am the lucky one.

Today it was Anneliese. She’d been tearing around the house barking at chickadees, who were resting on the branches of our snowball bushes, out front. Frankly, the barking was driving me insane. Then the next thing I know, she has jumped up, and got into my lap, and was looking at me with the most beautiful eyes.

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And I felt loved.

When I was out and about in town today, it was bitterly cold. Still, there in the front seat of various cars and pick-up trucks were the beloved best friends of their owners. Some wore sweaters, some didn’t. All were beyond thrilled to be out with their masters, on the Saturday morning errand run.

I came up to my car and a little dog in the next car, was wagging his tail expectantly. Right behind me was her Daddy.

“That’s a really cute baby you have there.” I remarked.

This man, a big old New Hampshire woodsman, with steel toed boots, a stocking cap and woolen plaid jacket, smiled and picked up his friend.

“She’s the best friend I got.” he said, as she licked his face.

He put his tiny mixed breed mutt back into his truck and off they went.

I stood there for a moment watching them, before jumping into the Jeep and heading home to my brood.

There is something to be said about man’s (and woman’s) best friends. Mostly, how very lucky we are to have them in our lives!

The Pack

All day on Friday, as I was puttering about the house, I noticed that Anneliese and Greta were always cuddled up, fairly closely! Okay, now what is wrong with this picture?

Since almost the moment that Greta kicked Anneliese off her teets, Anneliese has been trying to gain the upper hand in the relationship between mother and daughter.

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Greta and baby Anneliese.

A few times, they’ve even gone at it with each other, and only my heavy clogs and a lot of hollering, got them apart. (Remember: Should you ever have to break up a dog fight, Do Not Do It With Your Hands!)

It’s all about position in the Dog pack in the house. We all know that Hubby is the Top Dog, (Or thinks he is!) I am the next dog in line, followed closely by Greta. After Greta is Anneliese, Arnie and at the bottom of the food chain is Fritz.

Dogs fighting with each other, is not allowed. Once the offenders are separated they are crated until they have calmed down. I think the last time they fought was a year ago, and since then, nothing.

It could be that Greta is now spayed and has no desire to maintain her position in the pack, but is happy just being a member in it.

I digress.

So, today it seemed that every time I turned around they were sleeping together, almost cuddled up! In the morning they were lying in the sun by the back door. At lunch they were curled up together on the carpet. In the evening, (as I write this) they are curled up on the sofa asleep.

This is a strange but welcome change in attitudes! Still I am leery, that the peace may be shattered at any time.

It’s Delurking Day!!!

Hi Everyone. Once a year a whole handful of Bloggers I know get together and we have a day we call De-Lurking Day.

This is a day when we ask everyone who may be reading our blogs to comment. Just say hi, guten tag, bonjour, hola, ciao, or well, you get the idea.

We all love to get comments, and more than anything we love to know from what part of the world you are commenting from.

So don’t be shy, join the fun and De-Lurk!

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DLD 2011

Friday Fill Ins

Friday Fill-Ins

1. Right now I need to get some extra energy to get my Christmas boxes put away.

2. Coffee is what’s in my glass/cup.

3. A copy of this letter will be sent to many people in this town.

4. An ice cream Sundae is best with a spoon.

5. The best movie I’ve seen lately is RED.

6. I’m a lucky woman to have known love, like; as a wife, sister, friend and mother. There is nothing better than love. (Wow, that sentence is not well crafted!)

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to a nice fire in the hearth, tomorrow my plans include the weekly, infamous laundry and Sunday, I want to make a beef stew in the crock pot and watch the Pats Game!

Thursday 13~Snow

I finally got my much wished for snow!

January Snow 2011 from Dackel Princess Maribeth on Vimeo.

Here are the 13 things I love about fresh snow.

1.   The clean bright surface it gives my otherwise plain yard in the winter.

2.   How pretty it is to watch during the day, when it is falling.

3.   The way it can swirl and blow around looking so full of energy and yet so easily falling to the ground.

4.   Snowmen.

5.   The quiet of fresh snow. Before the plows get out, when the ground is completely covered, there is a quiet that is describable. I love that silence.

6.   Rides in the Jeep after the roads have been cleared to see the beauty of the snowfall.

7.   The birds that come out looking for a morsel of food.

8.   The way the dogs run, hither and yon, through the snow like little kids!

9.   Seeing only the heartiest of souls out at the Post Office picking up their mail today. It’s funny, but there were more than you might think.

10. Seeing neighbors help neighbors.

11. Pink cheeks after shoveling snow.

12. Watching the radar on my computer to track the storm.

13. The way Hubby and the dogs come in and curl up for naps after being outside in the snow.

Yes, I’ve now had a nice big snow fall, and all is right in my world. I’m a happy little New Englander. It’s quite funny, but my sister, who lives in an area not known for large amounts of snow, got the most snow in all of the New England area! We got considerably less, but I am still quite happy!

Happy Tenth Anniversary, Uschi

Today is the tenth anniversary of my friendship with Uschi. You can go HERE to learn how we met each other. Over the years, we have written to each other almost every day. We aren’t able to speak on the phone like many people, but then, sometimes I think we know each other better because we can write all of our thoughts down and send them off.

When we get together and start talking, it is as if we just saw each other yesterday and we chatter along like two little parakeets!

It still amazes me, that when I least expected to find a friend and sister of my soul, I found one in Uschi!

Happy 10 years to us!

Celebrating Friendship from Dackel Princess Maribeth on Vimeo.

Wednesday Hodgepodge

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1. Every January 1st since 1976 Lake Superior University has published a list of words they’d like to see banished from the Queen’s English. Words may be banished due to mis-use, over-use or just general uselessness and they receive over 1000 nominations. Here are the fourteen words/phrases they’d like to see banished in 2011-viral, epic, fail, wow factor, a-ha moment, back story, BFF, man up, refudiate, Mama Grizzlies, The American People, facebook/google when used as verbs, I’m just sayin’, and Live life to the fullest.

What word or phrase would you like to see banished from our everyday vocabulary in 2011? You can choose one from the ‘official list’ or you can get creative and come up with your own.

Those words don’t bother me so much as the number of times people say, “huh” or “ya know?” or “eh?”

2. Do you consider opportunity something that comes to you or something you create for yourself?

I think some people have to go looking for it, while others are lucky enough to just sort of have it happen. So both.

3. Since we’re all eating healthy this month, ahem, what’s included in your favorite salad? Is there dressing?

My salads are like this: mixed greens, cucumber, and grape tomatoes, 2 ounces of low fat cheese and and ounce of two of chicken. Then I take two ounces of southwestern tortilla strips on top with a zesty low fat orange dressing on the side.

4. The fourth Monday in January is said to be Blue Monday…aka the most depressing day of the year. The date was calculated using many factors including weather, debt level, time since Christmas, time since we’ve failed at our new year resolutions, low motivation and feeling a need to take action. Do you get the blues this time of year and if so what is something you do to lift your spirits?

No, I don’t usually get the blues in January. Usually my blues happen in June.

5. Do you wear a watch? Any other everyday jewelry essentials?

I never wear a watch. I kill all watches. Don’t ask me why. My cell phone is the way I tell time. My essential jewelry consist of, stud earrings, wedding ring, and the cross my friend Gail gave me for my 50th birthday.

6. What is something useful you learned in high school?

It wasn’t anything I learned while “in” High School, but 35 years later, the men and women I shared that time with have grown, developed into amazing people. Through facebook and email, I have learned so much about life through what they have been through. High School is so unrealistic. There are clicks and when people are 16, a person’s looks matter so much, and no one is looking past that to see what is inside of people. There is such beauty inside of a person. High Schoolers don’t get that!

So aside from the basics, I can’t really say I learned a whole lot. The important things, I learned afterward in life.

7. Do you use an accountant when completing and filing your income tax returns or do you attempt to muddle through all by yourself?

Nope, Hubby is my accountant!

8. Insert your own random thought here.

As I sit here filling this out it is Tuesday 1/11/11. (weird) The weathermen are forecasting snow for 1/12/11. Let us hope that they are right!

Australian Lamb!

Well, we did it. Hubby and I went out on Monday to grocery shop, for the first time since the holidays! It was a big shopping and we spent a lot of money (thank goodness for plastic, I would hate to have to carry that much cash), and we loaded the car up with all sorts of foods, both fresh and packaged.

I love having Hubby come with me on these jaunts. He is great selecting meats and poultry, and he really knows his produce! He also knows me well enough, so that when I say, “Oh I need that stuff, you know”, he actually knows.

We both remembered “The List“, and because we remembered it, we remembered to get a new flashlight for yours truly!

Ever since the Coyote and bear episodes this fall, I have taken the dackels out at night and used a flash-light. My old light, is so bad that I was constantly shaking it to get any light at all, and then, it would go out again.  A candle would have given me more light than the flashlight did!

We got a super duper, extra large, super lumen flashlight that has a great bright beam! I can see all the way up to my neighbors house with it!

The other great part of our day was that when we went into BJ’s Warehouse to shop they had wonderful Australian lamb for $2.99 a pound! Yes, you read that right! $2.99 a pound! We bought 5 packages of them and froze 4 and have kept out 1 package for our dinner tonight! Lamb has been so expensive, that I cannot even recall the last time we bought lamb.

Since I enjoy lamb with mint jelly, I bought a new jar today. Oh I can hardly wait for dinner tonight! Lamb, roasted potatoes and cauliflower! Oh yummy!!!

Life is good!