The Dackel Princess

Random Dozen

1. Have you ever been so lost that you were really afraid?

Yes. One night it was so dark and I was in a heavily wooded area driving and I wasn’t sure where I was or how to find home. I now have my handy dandy GPS so I am all set!

2. Have you ever been to an island?

Yes, and I love islands. There is something very relaxing about them.

3. Are you more of a thinker or feeler?

I’m a thinking feeler!

4. Do you tend to see issues or situations in life as black and white or shades of gray?

I struggle to see gray, but I tend more toward the black and white.

5. If you were stuck on an island, what book would you hope to have with you (Let’s pretend the Bible is already there, so you can’t say that.)

The complete Shipbuilders Book! LOL. I don’t know, just one? The first Harry Potter book or the last.

6. What are you most afraid of?

Of losing the ones that I love.

7. Would you rather lose all of your old memories or never be able to make new ones?

I never want to lose my old memories. They are all I have left of so many wonderful and important people in my life. But I want new memories too. Tough question!

8. Pretend I’m looking at a scrapbook page about you. There are three spaces for you to drop in individual pictures. What are those pictures of, and why did you select them?

A picture of me with my firstborn daughter, Mandy; my second daughter, Katie; and my husband.

9. If you were re-doing your wedding, what would you do differently? (If you’re single, tell me one thing you would do if you were planning a wedding OR huge party.)

More and better pictures! Every thing else was perfect!

10. Tell me one thing you know/believe about forgiveness.

It must be total and absolute!

11. You’re waiting in a doctor’s office. What is your favorite way to pass that time?

My computer! Two of my doctors now have Wifi hotspots.

12. If there were a clone of you in a parallel universe what is one way you hope she/he would be the same as you and one way you hope she/he would be better?

I hope she would be loving, as I believe I am a loving person. I also hope she would have more self confidence something I struggle with.

I am please to announce that my eyes came through their exam with flying colors! Dr. C. was delighted with the healing and declared it safe for me to travel to Germany, when Anneliese decides it is time. I was thrilled with that!

I had the 50 mile to and from Dartmouth Hitchcock all to myself. It is in an area that does not get cell phone reception, and so I was forced to entertain myself.

I put on a CD of Maribeth’s Classic Rock Favorites, and sang at the top of my lungs, songs that were popular when I was in high school. Since Hubby is a wee bit older, he is not as interested in those songs, so I save them for when I am alone.

I must say, that I was as good as ever (lol) and hit every note (lol) and it felt great! In fact it felt so good, that it put me in a very happy mood!

On the way home, I put on the Mama Mia CD and gave Meryl Streep a run for her money, singing all of those songs. Once again, I was fabulous (lol) and wondered why I had not been chosen for the Mama Mia movie role? Oh yes, I know, too young to play the character, Donna, right? Ha!

I like days when I can drive alone and just sing, or think or do a combination of both.

I love to drive the back roads here, especially in the spring, when all the trees are leafing out and the flowers are blooming.

Yes, it was truly a lovely day!

Happy First Birthday!

I cannot believe it is the first birthday for Anneliese’s litter of pups. Baron, Bogey, Baerbel and Ali (aka Birgit)! It seems like just yesterday that they were born!

I put together a montage showing them from birth onward. I hope you enjoy it, as much as I enjoyed making it!

Happy Birthday, Babies! Grandma loves you!!!

Happy First Birthday Puppies from Dackel Princess Maribeth on Vimeo.

Fun Monday

My friend Gattina, host this each week.

This Monday’s question is, what do you drink in the morning, coffee, milk, tea, or something else ? and in what do you drink ? A cup or a mug or a bowl ? Please show us a picture !

I drink coffee all of the time. Unless i am sick, of course and then it is tea. Always in one of these mugs, however, because I like a good full mug of “hot something” to start my day!

Here is mine. I drink from one of four mugs. Two are from Cape Cod where I was born and grew up. The other two are from towns I lived in when my children were small and when Hubby and I were first married.

Nobska is the lighthouse in Falmouth, Falmouth is the town I grew up in on Cape Cod.

Wilton and Milford are in New Hampshire and are places I lived, raised my kids and met Hubby.

Bumble Bumble Bee!!!!!

Saturday was an incredibly busy day. It started early with the dogs, and I’m afraid I got carried away with house work, and then running errands, that before I knew quite what was happening, it was dinner time! Where had the day gone?

It was a lovely spring day and I was bale to catch the bumble bees as they worked the peach trees. One big fat bumble bee, was quite cooperative and seemed to almost pose for me!

After dinner we put on “The Blind Side” with Sandra Bullock!

What terrific movie. You know, one of those feel good movies! I cannot tell you how much I loved it, and what a great job Sandra did!

It’s very late now, so I am going to go to bed and get some sleep. I have an equally busy day tomorrow, and I sure do need my beauty sleep!

Fax

Our 11 year old fax machine recently bit the dust. We tried so much to revive it, but nothing worked. So after looking into a number of machines, we decided on a nice multi-function Canon. It is well made, feels substantial when you open and close it, or just lift it. It is well built. However, after 11 years of knowing exactly how to use my old Brothers machine, I now have to learn how to program and use a new machine.

Not only learn how to fax with it, but how to copy, scan, and print. Granted those three things are so much easier than actually setting up the machine to send and receive Faxes. Frankly, I worked in there with it for 2 hours and finally decided I needed a break and will try again tomorrow.

I really like the machine. It’s just getting my brain wrapped around the programming. I know I can do it, but it will just take a little time.

Anyone else have this machine? Do you like it? Any tips on how to make it work for you?

Well, it’s off to bed for me. After a busy Friday, I am ready for an early bedtime!

Happy Saturday!

Puppy-itis

I started to think that perhaps I am getting puppy-itis again. The last puppies left me in November, and here we are in April, nearly a year since Anneliese’s first litter was born, and I am feeling very much like she should hurry up, so we can have babies again.

I can’t explain what it is like when you hold those new born babies in your hands for the very first time as they make the quiet mewling noise, calling out for their Mom.

This is me with Baerbel.

Yes, I am ready for Anneliese to go into heat, so we can begin this adventure all over again…for the last time. Yes folks, I plan to enjoy every single minute of this breeding and birth because this will be my last litter.

Anneliese’s litter last year!

It was difficult to decide. I do love the babies, but like all good things it must come to an end. I never intended my girls to go on and on, breeding forever. They’re my pets. I want only the best for their health. So, after this last litter, Anneliese will be spayed and begin her life in retirement, being Mommy’s little girl.

Funny, that. I mentioned the other day that the puppies had gotten me up early. The person I spoke with asked if I had had another litter. I laughed. No, Arnie and Anneliese are my puppies, and no matter how old they get, they always will be.

Anneliese and Arnie when they were a six weeks old.

And here they are now at three and a half years old!

To have had them from the moment they took their first breaths is such a special thing. It’s hard for me to describe. I’ve never had a pet this way. They are my babies, that is for sure, and I love them with all of my heart!

Random Dozen

1. Ever had any run-ins with the “library police?”

Well, since I am a Library Trustee, I tend to be a very good girl in all regards at the Library.

2. Do you have a special organizational plan and place for wrapping paper, gift bags, etc., or do you just purchase whatever you need as you give gifts?

I have Christmas paper all boxed up together and it’s very organized. Usually I buy birthday paper as I need it.

3. Have you ever been in (first-hand witness) a natural disaster?

Yes. Hurricane in Florida and blizzards up north, oh yes and the floods two years ago up here in New Hampshire, that washed away roads.

4. What’s your favorite Barry Manilow song?

Mandy. Guess why. Yep, my daughter is named Amanda (Mandy) after that song!

5. What’s the best costume you’ve ever worn?

Queen of Hearts. I made it myself!

6. Which do you use more often, the dictionary or the thesaurus?

Thesaurus

7. What’s your favorite breakfast food?

Pancakes with real maple syrup and crisp bacon!

8. Have you ever purchased anything from an infomercial?

Yes. My Ronco Rotisserie Oven! Love it!

9. Have you ever crawled through a window?

Yes. Breaking into my own house!

10. Do you believe in love at first sight?

No. Lust at first sight. Love comes with time and getting to know a person.

11. How man pairs of jeans do you own?

4 pair

12. If someone were going to bake a cake to honor/represent you, what would it be? (Think creatively, like Duff and Crew on “Ace of Cakes.”)

Okay, it would be a red velvet cake with cherry blossom petals over the cream cheese frosting and a little bee here or there in the cherry blossoms!

I know, I’m really into the Cherry Tree this year! Here is today’s amazing Cherry Blossom/Bee picture!

Planting Time

It was planting day here at the Dackel Princess home. Immediately after breakfast I changed clothes and then got out the dirt. Excuse me, soil. You see peat moss, which is what the man sold me the first time, is far different than the soil that I bought the second time. The soil I got, which is fabulous, is full of nutrients, and small fertilizer pellets that slowly feed the seedlings as they grow.

Although I bought a couple of plants, I also bought seeds. Here is a tomato plant I bought this week

I’m really lucky to have this little greenhouse to start my vegetables.

Here are my seed packets.

I set about filling square pots of the good soil, and then planting and marking each pot.

In the end, I had a tidy looking shelf of seeds and re-potted plants.

Then I went for a walk about with Hubby to view his fruit trees when I came upon a bee in the tree pollinating a blossom.

and as I watched (and clicked) he climbed out,

and again

and lastly.

Fritz was a great help today to both Hubby and myself. He sat up under his Peach tree, where he could observe both Hubby and I as we did our various jobs!

Don’t you just love spring?

All The Right Dirt!

Monday found Hubby and I headed to the Garden Center to return the incorrect “Dirt” I had purchased on Friday. When we got to the shop the clerk argued with Hubby about this being the “right stuff” and Hubby corrected him. After all Hubby farmed his land in southern New Hampshire for over 20 years! He also is a voracious reader. He knows good dirt from bad dirt!

I stood listening, not saying a word, and allowed Hubby to “educate” this man! After a few minutes the clerk relented and we got the correct “soil” to start my seedlings. Two bags of the correct soil for the price of one bag of bad dirt the clerk sold me! I will be planting my seeds on Tuesday morning. I’ll get up and have breakfast and then put on my dirtiest clothes and plant seeds. Oh, the joy of working with the correct soil!

After getting the “soil”, we stopped for lunch and then headed to Loews, where I got 2 Ichiban Eggplant, plants and some eggplant seeds.

Here is an Ichiban I grew two years ago, when it was just starting to grow.

I love eggplant! And the Ichiban is Japanese Eggplant, which is long and thin and sweet! Hubby splurged and spent $20.00 on a new Macintosh tree. You see, this past winter our newspaper girl slid off our driveway and demolished the Macintosh tree along the way!

Lots of spring work around the Dackel Princess House and green house.

Still no news on Anneliese, and this is a very good thing. I hope she will go into heat on schedule at the END of May. Surely, by then the passengers displaced by the Volcanic cloud, will be safely home and there will be a seat for Anneliese and me on a flight to Germany.

Anneliese and me when we went to Germany a year ago!