The Dackel Princess

Grand-Puppies

You all know how much I love my own doggies. What you might not know is that I also adore each and every puppy that has been birthed in my home. I’m really lucky to have kept in touch with many of the owners and occasionally I get pictures of my babies as well.

Here is Faith with Ali. Ali is Anneliese’s daughter from the B-Litter. Her B-Name was Birgit!

As you can see she is a beautiful girl and is obviously adored by her little girl, Faith. It still amazes me how big she is now. Ali was the smallest of the pups, and yet she hasn’t let that slow her down. In fact this week she helped to track down a deer for a local hunter in Michigan.

My other grand-puppy news is that Bogart is coming to visit me again. His parents are going on vacation, so I will be puppy sitting while they are gone. I haven’t seen him since last February, and I wonder how all the dogs will do with each other. I think it will be okay, and I plan to take a lot of pictures

Bogey arrives on Thursday evening.

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No More Wild Animals!

I’ve started singing when I go outside in the evenings with the the dogs. That should be enough to scare off any wild animal! Perhaps they will decide to simply move along and leave me, my yard and my dogs alone!

In Memory Of My Daughter, Katie

32 years ago today, I gave birth to my second daughter, Kathleen Alynne. She weighed 8 pounds and 10 ounces and was 21 inches long. She came into this world with red curls and green eyes and left us six and a half years later, with the same bright red curls and flashing green eyes.

I miss her more each year. I still cannot believe that she is gone from us. She was a sweet, kind, gentle little girl, who never had the chance to grow up.

So bear with me today, as I remember and shed a few tears, for the sweet daughter, I lost, far too early in her life.

Katie Birthday Memorial from Dackel Princess Maribeth on Vimeo.

Happy Birthday, my dear, Katie and rest in peace.

In Time

Okay, fess up. How many of you forgot to change your clocks? Yes, it’s Autumn in North America, and our clocks all went “BACK” an hour last night. The USA is on Standard Time once again.

Of course, just to be different, there are places that do not observe a change in the time. Hawaii and most of Arizona do not follow Daylight Saving Time. They stay on Standard Time year round.

However, the Navajo Indian Reservation in Arizona DOES observe Daylight Saving Time; the rest of Arizona does not.

And the territories of Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Guam, and American Samoa do not observe DST. The Eastern Time Zone section of Indiana also does not observe DST.

Are we confused yet?

I’ve never been a big fan of Daylight Saving Time. I would much rather stay on Standard Time year round…but then, no one asked me.

Daylight Saving Time used to be much shorter, until the passing of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which extended Daylight Saving Time by nearly 5 weeks per year!

Now, if you look at things Globally, it is my opinion that we should all change time at the same time, if we are going to change time at all!

Did you follow that?

Well, I will start my Sunday morning going around, room by room, changing the clocks in the house. After I finish that, I think it will be “time” for a nap!

TGIF

Friday found me driving south to meet up with my daughter and have lunch. The weather was just miserable! It was cold and rainy when I left home and I tossed a cooler in the car because I had planned to stop at a German Deli and pick up some goodies.

It took me a bit longer to get to the Deli, but I was able to buy some wonderful German bread, Leberkäse, Tilsiter cheese, some Weiss Wurst, Leberwurst and Christmas Stollen! It is always fun for me to shop when I can get authentic German foods!

After that I met up with Mandy at a great Fish restaurant, called “The Fish Market”. Yes, I know, very originally named!

We both ordered coffee, and a small cup of clam chowder and then a lovely Lobster Salad. My regular readers already know that I LOVE Lobster! This Lobster salad has to be one of the best I have ever had!

Now doesn’t that look fantastic? Everything was so fresh and wonderful. We will definitely go back again!

Mandy and I hung out and talked until she had to leave for an eye examination. What a joy it was to spend part of my day with her!

The drive home was a bit tedious. The traffic was heavy and my mood was not the best. I really don’t like traffic as it tends to make me nervous, but eventually I got home to Hubby and the beasts!

I’d gotten some wonderful wursts and so I made Hubby Bratkartoffeln (fried potatoes) wurst and rutabaga for his dinner. He was quite a happy man!

Friday night found me curled up with Arnie and Anneliese, and my laptop catching up on my mail. All in all, it was a good day. Of course any day I get to spend with my daughter, is a good one, indeed!

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PS: After dark, Arnie begged to go out. I always leash them and grab my handy, dandy heavy flashlight, ever since finding out that Mr. Bear enjoys going through our yard!

So, we go out and I flashed the light around and what do I see? Mr. Coyote. This is what he looked like.

The was borrowed from Wiki for demonstration purposes only.

One super big coyote! I was scared to death, as a coyote will kill a dachshund and could do me some damage too! I grabbed Arnie and ran into the house. After a bit, Greta went ballistic, because she knew something was up! So, I leashed her, grabbed my flashlight, and went out. No problems. Then I took Arnie, and lastly, I took Anneliese. I looked around the back yard with the light and what did I see?

Mr. Coyote, sitting on the stone wall. As soon as my light hit is eyes, he slipped over the stone wall and was gone!

All I can say is: I lived to tell the story!

Friday Fill-Ins

So…here we go!

1. Sometimes, I ponder the meaning of life!

2. I always worry, about the whole thing. (I am the original worrier!)

3. Small wonders.

4. Every day that I live, is very enlightening.

5. I keep meaning to get my Christmas cards down from the attic, so I can start to address them.

6. No weight loss …yet.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to watching a new “What Not To Wear”, tomorrow my plans include finishing up the laundry and Sunday, I want to read the Sunday paper, sip my coffee and enjoy some down time.

Friday Fill-Ins are sponsored by my cousin Janet. Come on and join the fun!

Thursday Thirteen

What does my daughter, Mandy do?

She is in Oncology Research. I am so proud of her, as I know how hard she works, and how difficult her job is.

Does she live far away from you?

She lives about 55 miles from here, and so we do not get to see each other as often as I’d like. She has a really nice condo of her own, and has decorated it so nicely.

How often do you bath your dogs?

About every six to twelve weeks, unless they get all smelly, which happens. After all, they are low to the ground, so sometimes it is hard for them to stay clean.

My cousin asks, “What do you like most about me?”

Physically? Janet’s eyes are so beautiful and a real window to her soul. Her best trait is that she is the most loyal person I know and one of the most loving!

What did Hubby do for his work before he retired?

Hubby was a pilot for the military, Pan American World Airlines and Delta, before he retired in 1998.

Do you enjoy crafts?

Oh I do enjoy crafts, I just am not terribly crafty!

How often do you show your dogs?

Usually once per year, but this year Anneliese was expecting and it did not work out. I would love to breed Arnie, but I am afraid that none of the girls think he is cute enough.

When will you have another litter of puppies?

I am hoping to have puppies again next fall. Anneliese should be ready to breed in the summer and so I will be breeding her then for a litter that would be due in the Autumn.

Am I still going to Weight Watchers?

Yes, although, quite honestly, I have been having a tough time lately. I will not give up. I truly believe that WW is the best plan for me, and so I will persevere.

Favorite “diet” meal?

I think my favorite “diet meal is baked chicken, baked potato and asparagus, with a small side salad.

Janet wants to know, “Who was my favorite of her boyfriends?

That’s easy! DAVE!!!!

What’s the best meal that I cook?

Herb Crusted Standing Rib Roast, roasted potatoes and butternut squash. I love to make either apple pie or pumpkin pie for dessert.

What’s my favorite flower?

Lilacs!!!

What Should I Do On Wednesday?

I’ve been trying to find something I can do or write about on Wednesday, now that Random Dozen has shut down. I loved the Random Dozen because, well it was all so Random! Now I have to sit down and think about writing something coherent and hopefully amusing.

Winter Wednesdays? Whining Wednesdays? Wonderful Wednesdays? Wishful Wednesdays? Wiener Wednesdays?

That last one could be it. Wiener Wednesdays. Sounds just about right, what do you think? I could write stories about the dachshunds, put up pictures and stuff. This could be interesting!

Yes. It’s perfect.
No it’s cheesy.
What’s a Wiener?

So comment and let me know what you think.

Lastly today, I ask once again to pose any question you might want me to answer for tomorrows Thursday Thirteen. I will answer all questions each week until I am out of answers and then we will have a contest to find a new Meme for me to write about on Thursdays! LOL!

Have a great day everyone!

Never Average

I’ve always been totally honest with you, regarding the fact that really, I am a freak of nature. There is simply no other way to put it. Ever since I was a little kid, I have defied being classified as an “average” person.

Most people will develop appendicitis at approximately 20 years of age. Men have a slightly higher incidence of developing appendicitis than women.

I was three and a half years old when my appendix blew and yes, I am a girl.

I’ve never really been able to read music, I can certainly follow it along, but I couldn’t tell you instantly what note that is. However, once I have heard a piece I can sing it again and again, and when I played the flute, it was the same.

Also when I reproduce, I have longer pregnancies than most women. In fact, I am more like an elephant. With my first pregnancy, I went three weeks over my due date! The second time it was two weeks over the expected time of arrival!

Perhaps that explains why elephants are my favorite Zoo animal.

Now in the last few years I have developed terrible leg cramps at night. These were the worst cramps ever, usually requiring me to jump out of bed, walk around and use a heating pad to release the cramps in my calves. I started to eat bananas, as I heard that this meant my body needed more potassium.

Wrong!

Well, apparently while potassium is good for some people, it isn’t good for me. You see, I have really high potassium levels all on my own! No one knows why, but they tell me it can be a real problem. So eating high potassium foods or taking a supplement is actually dangerous.

So I suffered, believing that there was nothing I could do. Then about 6 weeks ago I went to see my doctor and I mentioned the leg cramp problems. She said I should try taking magnesium. She said that there was a supplement that contained zinc, calcium, vitamin D and magnesium and that this would stop the leg cramps.

Yeah, like I believed that!

Well, I went to the Pharmacy and got a bottle of this stuff and started to take it every day. The first few days were nothing to write home about. I still had the cramps, and I felt a bit discouraged. Would I spend the rest of my years wrapping a heating pad around my leg each night?

Then, suddenly, the cramps stopped! I sleep through the the night without being awoken by the incredibly painful cramps, and all without potassium!

So I am once again faced with the fact that I am not average, but at least I have finally found something that has stopped the night time leg cramps and I swear by it.

If any of you out there have this problem (really, am I the only one?), go to your local pharmacy, or even a health food store and get a bottle of Calcium, Magnesium, Zinc & Vitamin D!

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 might need an alibi!

Saturday found me doing laundry! Ugh! On the bright side here, is the fact that after a week of not having a washing machine and having to really limit clothing changes, and laundry, I was finally able to catch up and do…8 loads of laundry!!!

I suspect that the machine hasn’t been working well for a while, because I notice that the clothes seem almost cleaner than they were getting before. It is either true, or I’m so overly happy about having the machine back in use, that I am imagining it!

When I wasn’t in the laundry room, I was at the kitchen table with the new sewing machine! Yes, after almost 30 years, I have a nice new machine and it works like a charm. It even threads it’s on needle, which is wonderful for me, with my vision problems.

Sew so, what did I make? Dog toys. I’d gotten two different types of fabric at Wal-Mart and my idea was to make various shape toys, and then stuff them with old socks. I figured that Arnie wouldn’t be able to shred them that way (and so far, so good).

The lovely Anneliese decided to pose for me while I snapped a few pictures of the toys. However, it’s Arnie who really loves them. I just wish I could get that stinky toy away from Fritz. Perhaps I will have to steal it and trash it!

Machines

Friday found two important things happening here. First, the washing machine was fixed. However, when I got the bill, I just about passed out. We’d been quoted one price and the final bill was considerably higher! For what he charged us to repair the machine, we could “easily” have gone out and purchased a new one. I was not at all happy, but bit my lip and told myself that I won’t call this man again, nor will I repair the machine if anything else goes wrong!

After we’d been taken advantage of with the washer, I really didn’t feel like spending any more money. I was kind of just stewing about the outlay of funds, when Hubby started talking about my sewing machine. I told him I found that actually these were quite reasonably priced, and that it was time to send my 30 year old Singer to the recycling center.

Hubby decided to drag me out to buy a new machine. We had done a little looking on line, and got an idea of what was out there, and what had done well with Consumer Reports. In fact it was a best buy and considered a reliable machine.

Now I was nervous when we got her home and I set her up on the table. First I wound the bobbin, and put it into the bobbin slot. Then I walked away. Why did I do that? Frankly, sewing machines freak me out and I needed the time to calm myself.

After an hour, I went over and sat down and threaded the machine. Now here is the totally cool part…the machine is self threading!!! This is so great for someone like me whose vision is quite limited. After I did this, I turned the machine off for the night and went to calm my nerves once again.

Sunday morning, after Hubby and Fritz went out to hike, I sat down at the table and sewed. I made two dogs toys, and then took an old linen dish towel and made rows of practice stitches. You see, this machine comes with 50 pre-programmed stitches! Wow!

I’m excited about the machine and even see myself attempting something wild like a curtain or two! What a joy. I always believed I couldn’t sew, now I realize it was the blasted machine!

Oh I am a happy girl!