The Dackel Princess

Morning Sickness & Cherry Jelly

This morning Hubby reported that one of the dogs had vomited next to the toilet in the half bath. Since it was just bile, and a small amount, he suspected Anneliese.

He joked that, had her legs been longer she could have reached the toilet, but seeing as she has those short little legs…well, we just have to be grateful she made it into the room with tiles!

Later in the day, after she had eaten, she vomited again. Now normally I would be upset if one of the dogs were ill, but tonight I am feeling a little more like this is confirmation, a day in advance that Anneliese is pregnant!

What do you think?

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I went to Weight Watchers and lost 2 pounds! I will keep eating the fruits and vegetables and watch the proteins and hopefully next week I will do just as well!

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I came home from Weight Watchers and took the cherry juice and made 16 jars of cherry jelly. That was three batches. I did the first one alone, and I found I was a pair of hands short, and I just couldn’t move fast enough, so I begged asked Hubby to help me with the second and third batches. That went so much better!

I’ve got a big shopping to do tomorrow for the weekend. It’s the 4th of July here in America. Our I’ve got a big shopping to do tomorrow for the weekend. It’s the 4th of July here in America. Our Independence Day! My sister and cousin are coming up and we will have a quiet barbecue. Then in the evening, we’ll drive down to the docks and watch the fireworks!

Cherries, Cherries & More Cherries!!!

Tuesday, while I went in to work, Hubby finished picking the cherries, and he cleaned two bushels of them for me to cook down and make jelly out of.

So after lunch, and a previously scheduled doctors appointment, I came home and cooked the cherries down.

Once they were soft and juicy, I mashed them and then strained the juice, filled some nylon bags with the last of the mash, and tomorrow I will take all the juice and make jelly!

If you have never had cherry jelly, you have never lived. It is totally amazing and delicious! At least mine is!

Here is a jar from last year’s batch.

Wednesday is Weight Watchers and I sure hope I have done okay. Either way, I will report in.

Happy Wednesday!

Cherries!!!

Monday found me playing catch up. You know, even if you just go away overnight, when you get home there is always stuff to do that you must catch up with.

One of the first things was paying our taxes.

You know what Benjamin Franklin said, “Our new Constitution is now established, and has an appearance that promises permanency; but in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.”

So true. So off to the Town Hall I went with checkbook in hand. After signing away our savings, I headed to the Post Office to mail a package to my friend in Delaware. There is a certain German food that I can get up here that they simply do not sell down there. So, off it went.

I finished weeding the beets in the garden, and picked two summer squash, which I sautéed up for our dinner, and made another fruit salad.

Sheets and blankets were washed, meals cooked and cleaned up, and by the end of the day, I was feeling quite happily tired.

Just a few more days until we learn if Anneliese is expecting her puppies. I am going a little crazy, as I wait! She is sure acting like she is, but…

Fritz is doing well.

His neck is looking good and on Friday he gets his stitches out. He is a happy, healthy dog once again, and I am thrilled!

Hubby is picking our cherries now.

This is a full two weeks ahead of schedule! A local farm stand is buying some of them and reselling them to the public. I’ll tell you, these are some of the best cherries that we have ever had!

We have plenty of cherries so I can make cherry jam! Here is one of my baskets, full of cherries just waiting for me to make them into jam!

Family

I promised you all more pictures from this past weekends Family Party. So here they are, in a short montage. These are my family, my loved ones. All special to me in their own ways.

Family Party June 2010 from Dackel Princess Maribeth on Vimeo.

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My drive home was so much less stressful and I made it in 3 hours and 50 minutes! A personal best. I didn’t speed (too much), and until I got near the speedway, the traffic was light, but I am still shaking my head about the man who wanted to drive 30 miles an hour in a 65 mile an hour zone! Why, by all that is good, do people do this? Thankfully I was driving my car (a Cadillac), with a big powerful engine, and eventually I was able to fly by him! Thank you General Motors!

I slept for an hour and a half after lunch, cuddling with my dackels. They are all so happy to see their Mommy. Fritz said hello, and then was off with Hubby. My feelings would be hurt, but I know, he is Hubby’s dog!

I plan an early bedtime, and hopefully a good long night’s sleep!

Happy Monday, Everyone!

Oh yes, and Happy Birthday, Mom!

Family

Sometimes you have one of those wonderful fun days when family gets together, and you talk up a storm, and eat some good foods, and make memories.

Today was one of those days.

One of our cousins was unable to come at the last moment, as well as another cousin, due to illness, and although we missed them and wished they could have joined us, we still enjoyed each other and the perfect day that we had.

I was able to swim in my sister’s pool with her grandchildren, and this gave me a real special thrill! I love children and playing around and joking around was so much fun!

Here I am with my grandniece, Abby.

My grand nephew, Taft.

My grand nephew Luke, making his shirt blow up like an airbag!

My beautiful cousin, looking happier than she has in so long. That just made my day!

Dave and Janet.

I will do a longer post tomorrow, but for now, gentle reader, I need to kick back and put up my feet. After all, tomorrow I drive 4 + hours back home to Hubby and the fur kids!

Traffic & Oleander

I drove the 4 plus hours to, my sister’s home today in some of the worst traffic that I have seen in a while. In fact, I saw 4 or 5 accidents along the way and nearly ended up being a statistic myself. I was so grateful when I finally arrived and could get out of the car and just breathe a little.

Unfortunately, today was a busy day. Groceries needed to be purchased, and I wanted to go and get the special dog food for Anneliese that I plan to use during her pregnancy. (Yes, I do think she is pregnant, but I won’t say for sure, because I’m terrified of jinxing it!)

I arrived back at my sister’s in time to change and head over to my mother’s house. For her 81st birthday I had gotten her a bottle of her favorite perfume. Oleander Perfume, from Bermuda, made by Lily. I was really pleased to have gotten her this.

The funny thing was that she had gotten me a small gift to keep with me always as a token of her love and affection. What did she get? Yes, a silver Oleander Blossom on a chain from Bermuda!

Coincidence? I think not.

The Oleander perfume and flowers are just something both Mom and I loved and shared over the years. Something that is just us.

Tonight we took Mom and Mel’s mother in-law out for dinner. I have known Nan since I was 8 years old, (so nearly all of my life) and it was great to have dinner with them. We went to “The Rustic Oak” and had a delightful meal.

I had soft shell crabs. I had never had them before and they were fabulous!!!

They were so very good! Everyone tried mine, except Mom who is allergic.

Mel had Scrod and said it was very good.

For dessert they brought Mom a dessert of her choice with a candle and sang to her.

And Nan also had dessert. I think it was Key Lime Pie!

So dinner is done, and the ladies are back home, and now Mel and I get ready for Saturday’s Family Reunion!

Friday Fil-Ins

And…here we go!

1. On vacation, I like _to do very little work_.
2. _I love to swim_ in the ocean.
3. One of my favorite vacation spots _a cruise ship anywhere_.
4. _I love a _ full moon.
5. Up, up and away _my beautiful balloon_.
6. Bananas _and monkeys_.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to _hugging my sister_, tomorrow my plans include _see all my family_ and Sunday, I want to _come back home to my Hubby and fur family!!!!

Questions Posted by Janet. Answers provided by me.

Slimming

I have now stayed faithful to the Weight Watchers Plan for two days. I can tell my clothes are starting to feel big on me! I swear to God they do!

I saw a woman in a store who knows me from class and she tried, in a very nice way, to make me feel less bad about the weight I have gained back. Her smiling face, just made me want to do this even more.

So, we are eating fish tonight for dinner!

I also made up one of my favorite drinks. Lemonade. I make it with Splenda and it just quenches my thirst like nothing else (except a good cold German Beer! Ah, I digress!), and helps me stay on the plan.

I leave for my sister’s home on Friday, and we are taking my Mom out for dinner to celebrate her 81st birthday, I groaned when she told me this, not because I don’t want to go out, but because it is hard for me to stay on plan when I am not in control of the food.

I told her we have to go to a place where they have grilled or broiled fish and salads! I really do not want to jinx myself the first week back. Perhaps, I will take my sister on a couple of walks around her neighborhood and swim in her pool to keep my calorie intake under control!

I will also get to see my nephews and niece, their children and my cousins and their kids as well. It should be a fun summer family reunion!

Barbecues & Cute Dogs

Well my first day back at Weight Watchers was not as bad as it could have been, but then, not as good either. I decided to adopt the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy for this week, as I weighed in. I know exactly what I have to do, and now I just need to get on with it, and do it!

After the meeting I came home, stopping at the grocery long enough to buy some fresh fruit. I know that the more fresh produce that I eat, the better I will do. So I stocked up.

Then I came home and began to prepare for dinner guests. It was an easy meal of chicken and steaks with corn on the cob, potato salad and fresh fruit. Hubby dressed in his finest Barbecue clothes,

and the dogs got ready too.

Greta

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Anneliese

Arnie

While we dined outside on the patio with our friends, the moon began to rise and it was so beautiful that I grabbed my camera and snapped this picture.

We had a great evening, and it lasted fairly late, which is why I need to close this off and get myself into bed. The day will start fairly early tomorrow and I absolutely need my beauty sleep!

Back On The Wagon

It’s now 7 PM on Tuesday night and I have finally had a chance to sit down! The best part of a vacation is all that you get to do while you are on it. The worst part is trying to catch up on everything, when you get back!

Today I started the day paying bills, washing shelves and organizing the house. I walked the dogs, tidied their toys and then I started the ironing. Oh, I cannot begin to tell you how much ironing I had to do. I ironed and watched “All My Children“, I ironed and watched an hour of “Wimbledon Tennis“, I ironed while Hubby attempted to watch “World Cup Soccer“. Finally, just before it was time to start dinner, I finished ironing.

I got our dinner started and then made dinner for the dogs. At this point the day seemed to be dragging along. No matter how productive it was, my mood was grumpy and unsettled and then it hit me.

Wednesday is Weight Watchers Day!

Let’s just say that I REALLY enjoyed Germany! I mean REALLY! So Wednesday is going to be sobering to say the least!

See how much I enjoyed Germany!

I have determined not to beat myself up, but to go to class, and get onto the program again. I know what I have to do and so I will stop crying like a baby and just DO IT!

Anneliese is showing early signs of being pregnant. Besides being very tired, she wants her Mama (me, not Greta) all of the time. I am really hopeful that a week from now, we will be getting a positive exam with our Vets.