The Dackel Princess

Snuggles

Wednesday found my sweet boy Arnie cuddling up with me, while I attempted to get rid of my cold. He was such a sweetie, that I grabbed my camera and started snapping away. After all, how often does the opportunity present to cuddle, take pictures and recover from a cold?

Anneliese is doing well, although she is still carrying around her little lamb toy. No matter where she is, she has that little lamb in her mouth or by her side.

But I’m encouraged because she is healing well and feeling so much better! She has even begun eating regular dog food again, after going through a spell where she refused all food.

The week is slowly coming to an end and I am really looking forward to the weekend. It’s not that I have a lot planned, it’s just that Hubby and I tend to spend more time together during the weekends.

Happy Thursday everyone!

Random Dozen

1. What is your favorite Mexican dish?

I’m your typical Tacos girl.

2. When you were a kid, did you get started on your homework right away after school, or did you procrastinate?

Oh I am a life long procrastinator!

3. What is your favorite store for home furnishings?

I don’t think I have one. I have just purchased what I liked, wherever that may be.

4. When you were young, did you like school lunches?

Oh yeah, for sure. Many people cringed at American Chop Suey, or Friday Fish Sticks, but I loved them.

5. Is religion a crutch?

I wouldn’t say it was a crutch. However, my faith gives me strength and courage.

6. In your region, what is the “big” (most popular in the community or state) high school sport?

Football. Sadly we don’t have enough kids in our local High School to have a team.

7. Do you consider yourself rich?

Monetarily no. But I am rich in all the ways it counts. I am loved by my hubby, family and friends, I have food to eat, a warm place to sleep, and four dogs to snuggle with!

8. Which of these would you have the best chance for success in administering:
A) CPR. I do know CPR
B) Heimlich Maneuver. I also know the Heimlich Maneuver.
C) Changing a flat tire. Forget about that. I would call AAA!

9. Which dance would you prefer to learn & why:
A) Salsa. For fun and exercise!
B) Hip Hop
C) Waltz. Because it is beautiful!
D) Swing

10. What’s the worst news you’ve ever delivered to someone?

That my daughter had passed away.

11. Name something you learned in college that had nothing to do with classes or academics.

I never attended college. But in life in general, it has been the ability to get along with other people.

12. New variation on an old question: If there’s a song in your head that just won’t get out, what is your favorite (or most repeated) line in that song?

Usually it’s the refrain. The paragraph that is repeated over and over again.

Friendships

On Monday Hubby’s Buddy from the military came with his lovely wife to take us out for a wonderful luncheon meal!

We drove over to the Common Man Restaurant and had a wonderful meal. Jim and I had the Lobster Salad, and Geraldine had the Crab Cakes and Hubby had a weird Reuben Hamburger sandwich! We all had French Onion Soup as well! Yummy!

At the end of the meal Geraldine and I decided to have an ice cream puff. Now last week I watched Julia Child make these and they were the size of a half dollar coin. Small and sweet. They brought out our orders and they were just huge!!!

Can you believe how big this is? Hubby helped me a little to eat this, but in the end, there was still plenty on the plate. I do admit, though, it was very good. Still, I ask myself, why it had to be so big?

After we took a nice drive, stopped in a few places to shop and came back to the house. We walked around looking at the fruit trees and then we chatted and caught up on life.

Toward the end of the day we decided to take a picture of the four of us. Now we both played with our cameras in order to figure out how to take a timed picture. We worked and worked and finally I figured out how to do it! I was so proud!

Arnie was insisting that we include him.

We came home and enjoyed more time together before they said good bye and headed out. Hubby and I had a small meal later in the evening and then went to bed.

What a very nice day we had!

Just This Side Of Disaster!

On Saturday, while trying to find owners of lost dogs, bake endless batches of zucchini bread and put together a homemade spaghetti sauce, I was confronted with an urgent problem.

Hubby was on the phone calling the Police about the lost dog, when he bumped his wine glass. As if in slow motion, I watched it fall, spilling the contents of his glass right onto the top of his laptop computer!

I ran around the breakfast bar and grabbed the laptop turning it immediately upside down, pulling out the cord, and pressing the power button, in what seemed like one motion! I stood there holding the laptop in this odd manner until I could decide what to do with it.

I propped the machine upside down and used a pot to balance it on so the keyboard stayed parallel to the counter top while it either dried or died.

It was dry in the house, and cool as well. We left the laptop like that for several hours before Hubby turned it on. Presto! It worked just fine. Apparently Dell computers like a little red wine now and then. Who knew?

The only long term casualty was Hubby’s cordless mouse. When I grabbed the machine to save it from being soaked by the wine, I damaged the receiver. More like ripped that little sucker out of the machine and tore it almost in half!

So today Hubby and I drove down to Wal-Mart to pick up a new mouse for him. He got exactly the same mouse that he had before as he really liked it.

We also bought 2 lobsters for dinner as the local Market is having a big sale this week.

So one big disaster was averted, even though another smaller one happened. I look at it this way, I would rather spend twenty dollars on a new mouse, than a thousand on a new computer!

The Dog House

Happily, Anneliese is doing much better and today, she even allowed me to take a picture of her. She is getting up and around much more, and has been going for walks with me and runs in the yard. It’s so nice to see her getting back to her old self once again.

Anneliese

Meanwhile today I was looking for Greta and I couldn’t find her! I went walking around the house calling her name and nothing! Finally, I walked up the hill to my neighbors house to see if she had seen Greta. I didn’t even have to ask, for there Greta was asleep on her door step!

My neighbor’s grandchildren are visiting from Oregon, and Greta simply adores them. The year I brought Greta home from Germany Matina and James were visiting their Grandmother for three weeks and that was enough for Greta to fall very much in love with them!

Greta

After her trip up to see the kids, she came home and took a little nap.

One really great thing about each and every one of my dogs is that they are all characters, with their own personalities and quirks!

Also, if we didn’t already have enough dogs of our own, tonight we had a guest.

I was going out to walk Greta when I saw this dog sitting on our patio. Before I knew what was going on the other three dogs brushed by me (Fritz knocked me down!), and were all over this poor thing.

The dog was lost and scared. Once we put the four Dackel Princess dogs in the house, Hubby and I examined it to make sure it was okay. I called a few neighbors, but no one knew whose dog it was.

Then we called the Police and they were going to come and take it to the Dog Pound. A few minutes later, they called us back. They’d located the owner and within 15 minutes they arrived to collect the poor dog. It turns out the dog is a rescue and had only been with them for a week.

All I can say is…what a nice dog. It looked like a cross between a Boarder Collie and an Australian Shepherd. I sure hope she is okay now and won’t run off again.

If she does, then I hope she ends up back here at the Dackel Princess house, where we can take care of her until her owners come.

Just Breathe

I woke up on Friday morning to pleasantly cool, and slightly breezy, sunshine. I opened my windows and sat down with Anneliese in our chair. The wind danced across our faces, and I could feel it in my hair, and then I thought of a song I heard yesterday and the refrain kept playing through my mind,

‘Cause you can’t jump the track, we’re like cars on a cable
And life’s like an hourglass, glued to the table
No one can find the rewind button, girl.
So cradle your head in your hands
And breathe… just breathe,
Oh breathe, just breathe‘

from the song “Breathe” by Anna Nalick

(You can go HERE to listen to the entire song)

I love the quiet like this. I can hear the Loons as they call to each other on the lake. No one seems to be awake, and there are no cars along the road near my home. It seems to be a time I can just shut out the noises of all the world and enjoy the peace.

Friday Fil-Ins

And…here we go!

1. Laughter _Is the best medicine_.

2. _Thursday. I cannot_ are the three words that started off the last email I sent.

3. What I’m most looking forward to today is _Fried whole belly clams?_.

4. _My family_ puts a smile on my face.

5. Where in the world _can I find a little peace and quiet?_

6. _A cup of tea is_ just what I needed!

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to _a fresh eggplant from my garden_, tomorrow my plans include _walking Anneliese_ and Sunday, I want to _curl up with a cup of coffee and read the Sunday paper_!

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

Baked Chicken

Right now I find cooking eases my mind. So, I am cooking a lot. Tonight I cooked Julia’s Baked Chicken. Mmmmm, was it good! Here is a picture and the recipe below.

Aug 18 002 Ingredients

* 1 (3 1/2 to 4 pound) chicken
* 1 small yellow onion, quartered
* 1 lemon, thinly sliced
* 1/2 cup celery leaves
* Salt and black pepper
* Butter
* 1 small onion, chopped
* 1-4 carrots, chopped
* 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
* 2 cups chicken broth

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Wash the chicken in water and dry thoroughly. Season the cavity with salt and black pepper and stuff with the onion, lemon, and celery leaves. Rub the chicken lightly with softened butter and season all over with salt and pepper. Tie the drumsticks ends together and set the chicken, breast side up, in an oiled v-shaped rack or on an oiled roasting pan in the oven.

Roast for 15 minutes at 425 degrees F, then reduce the heat to 350 degrees, baste the chicken, and roast for 15 minutes. Add the chopped onion and carrots to the pan, basting them and the chicken. Continue roasting the chicken until the juices run clear, for a total of 45 minutes plus an additional 7 minutes for each pound. (In other words, a 3 1/2 pound chicken would take a basic 45 minutes plus an additional 25 minutes, for a total 70 minutes or 1 hour and 10 minutes of cooking time.)

Remove the chicken and spoon the fat out of the roasting pan. Into the pan, stir in the herbs and blend in the broth and, stirring constantly, boil for several minutes on the stove top to concentrate the flavor. Correct the seasoning and strain the sauce into a warm sauce boat. Carve the chicken and serve with the warm sauce.

Check your veggies and if they need to cook more you can toss them into the stove top saucepan and simmer for a few more minutes on there.

Making Julia Child’s Beef Bourguignon

I’m here to announce that my attempt at making Julia Child’s Beef Bourguignon, went very well. It was not, however a meal that one can just throw together. I had to go to the grocery store in town and ask for pork fat. It seems that this makes the sauce even more flavorful, and nothing burns when you use it. Of course now that I have asked for pork fat in town, I’m sure they will label me as eccentric! In case any one is wondering, they did not charge me for the pork fat.

There is a lot of preparation from the cutting of the meat into cubes, to the drying of the meat before one browns it in the rendered pork fat.

After drying the meat I tossed it into the very hot pan to saute.

It takes almost no time at all to do this part.

Then after you have browned all the meat and removed it to the dutch oven, you put the onions and carrots into the pan and saute until they are browned.

Then, after 3 hours in a low oven I pulled it out, added the braised onions and sauteed mushrooms, and stirred them in. Then dinner was ready!

It was delicious, but very labor intensive and after I got done with the cooking I had to pull my kitchen apart and clean everything! (Sauteing the meat in the pork fat sent the grease flying! Quite a mess!)

Was it worth it? Oh yes, very much so.

Will I do it again? Absolutely!

Random Dozen

1. What is your favorite fair/carnival food? Fried dough yum!

2. Are you holding onto something you need to let go of? Yes

3. What is your favorite gift to receive? Almost anything. I love to get presents.

4. When was the last time you tried something new? A few weeks ago I tried soft shell crabs and I LOVED them!

5. What is your favorite and least favorite book genre? Favorite are enduring love stories (hopeless romantic that I am) and least favorite are Science Fiction.

6.Silver or Gold? Gold.

7. What makes you sigh? A beautiful sight, a gentle hug, a peaceful melody.

8. If you didn’t know how old you are, how old would you claim you are? Very. I have often said I am an old spirit, living in a young person’s body.

9. Would you break a law to save a loved one? To protect a loved one? Yes. In a heartbeat.

10. If you had to teach something, what would it be? Cooking. I would love to be Julia Child! (LOL)

11. You’re having lunch with 3 people whom you respect and admire. They begin to criticize a close friend of yours, not knowing she is your friend. What do you do? I would point out her strong points and if it didn’t stop them, I would explain that she is my friend and hope this would end the discussion. If it didn’t then I would leave.

12. Which of the 5 Love Languages is your prominent means of experiencing love?

Quality Time
Physical Touch
Acts of Service
Gifts
Words of Affirmation

The one I am least interested in are gifts. I know everyone loves presents, but I think it’s the least important. I love being with the people I love, I love hugs and kisses, and I never tire of hearing those three words, “I love you“!