The Dackel Princess

Arnie, Anneliese & Lilacs

When the day ends and I am getting ready for bed, I often look to see if my boyfriend has arrived. He is small, and dark with big brown eyes, which he flashes at me in such a way that he melts my heart! I’m not sure if Hubby is jealous of him or not, but I am thinking he is. What do you think?

This is his “come hither” look!

I must admit that between Arnie and the girls, I am well snuggled and well loved in bed each night. I woke briefly in the night last night and the two girls had my back and my belly and Arnie was near my feet, under the covers!

We’ve been having a cold snap the last few days, which means that Hubby has gotten out to ski again. Sadly, the forecast is for heavy rain the next three days, so I think that his skiing might be over for the year.

I hope we have some warmer weather soon, because my lilacs are starting to bud. I just want warm weather now to bring them out.

A lilac bud today.

This is the earliest I can remember them being out.

This week finds me preparing Anneliese’s documents for travel, as Arnie is showing me the first indications that Anneliese is close to going into heat. He simply will not leave her alone. I also have Library business to attend to, so that will keep me out of the house a bit.

Next weekend is Easter and I have a great menu planned for my guests, but I will tell you all about that in another post.

Spring Flowers

The other day I picked up this cute little ducky with mini yellow roses in it. I selected the Ducky because he made me think of the Easter candy “Peeps”, and although I do not really like “Peeps”, my sister does and this makes me think of her! I selected this plant because the roses looked healthy and I thought that they would eventually open and give me a fair amount of pleasure.

I was right. Today when I looked at the little ducky, the buds were opening and looking very spring-like and lovely!

And there are still a few little buds that will open as the week goes on.

That was the best couple of bucks I have spent in a while, because every time I look at Mr. Ducky and the yellow roses, I smile and feel good.

MUD!

I woke not feeling like doing anything particular, but I managed to get my laundry completely done. Often I tell you about doing the laundry, I know, but more often than not, I do not get it finished. Today I succeeded! Yay me!

In the middle of the afternoon Hubby wanted me to go out with him to do errands and ride around. I did not feel like it, especially since after our walk with the dogs yesterday, and my falling down into a deep mud puddle, while chasing the dackels, I was not terribly interested in going out. However, he convinced me it would be a good thing. Here is a picture of the dackels in the mud.

And here is Greta laughing at me. I swear to God!

So, we went off to the Post Office, and then over to see a friend of ours and his new lady. We sat around talking, and joking and laughing and eventually went out for fish and chips at a local place called “The Mug”. The food was good and the company even better.

We got home late and as we came into the drive I said to Hubby, “So what am I going to write about on Dackel Princess?”

He had no suggestions, so you will simply hear about my day and see these great photos of my little mud dogs! You will, of course, notice that there are no pictures of yours truly covered in mud. It’s a moment in time that I chose not to remember.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Ice Out

I know I have written about Bob Houses going through the ice, but the true measure of springtime in my area is when “Ice Out” is declared.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

This year’s “Ice Out” on Lake Winnipesaukee is one for the record books.

“Ice Out” was officially declared at 2 p.m. Wednesday, four days earlier than the previous record of March 28, set in 1921.

“Ice Out” is declared when the MS Mount Washington can safely reach all of its ports of call: Center Harbor, Meredith, Weirs Beach, Alton Bay and Wolfeboro.

I knew yesterday would be the day. It was rainy and a bit on the raw side, but we had the tell tale winds that cause the ice to be broken up. Perfect “Ice Out” conditions for the big lake. Our little lake iced out last week and we have been enjoying the open water once again!

Here is a little bit of information about our bog lake, Lake Winnipesaukee. The Winnipesaukee Indians, a subtribe of the Pennacook Tribe, lived and fished at a village called Acquadocton. Today, the site is called The Weirs, named for the weirs colonists discovered when first exploring the region.

Location = Central New Hampshire, USA
Area of water surface = 72 square miles
Number of islands = 253
Distance around lake = 182 miles
Height above sea level = 504 feet

Here is a live view from Weirs Beach. Remember I am in the Eastern time zone so, if it is still dark here, you won’t see anything. Come back after sunrise and check it out.

Weirs Beach Cam

Going on the Mount Washington is a fun afternoon. You can have lunch on the ship while you are cruising. They also have weddings, parties and in the Autumn they do dinner cruises.

The first few years we lived here, I didn’t get out on the ship at all. Then once I went, I decided to go each year. It is so relaxing, and very beautiful! When my cousin Janet had a special birthday I took her out and we ate Lobster rolls and enjoyed the sunshine!

When we have company from anywhere, we bring them on a cruise if it is summer. Here is a picture of my sister and I on a cruise back in 2006!

So all the area is celebrating the arrival of spring. Myself among them!

Random Dozen

This week hosted by Kelly.

The theme is Spring . . . and any other random questions that crept in.

1. What is your favorite sign of Spring? The flowers poking out of the ground.

2. Did you remember to spring forward on March 14? If not, how did it impact your day? I did, and I even blogged about it and Face-booked so others would know!

3. If soil, time, talent and climate were no problem, what vegetable would you plant in a garden this year? Yes. I love Asparagus!

4. If soil, time, talent and climate were no problem, what fruit would you plant? Orange trees. I loved having them when we lived in Florida.

5. What is your least favorite insect? Mosquitos. They simply adore me!

6. March 22 was World Water Day. To celebrate, here are some water questions. Do you drink bottled water? If so, what brand? Only if I am somewhere I can’t get safe tap water.

7. Have you ever been somewhere that it was not safe to drink the local water? If so, how did you handle that? Yes. Mexico. The first time I was so careful but brushed my teeth and got deathly sick! The second time I didn’t even touch or go near water and I still got sick. So no more Mexico!

8. How many glasses of water do you drink per day? I do not like water. But I drink a ton of herbal tea!

9. March 24 is the birthday of Harry Houdini. Have you ever watched a professional magic show? Share. I don’t think I have.

10. Have you ever been a participant in a professional magic show (up on stage!)? No.

11. March 24 is also the birthday of Steve McQueen and Clyde Barrow. Do you like Westerns or gangster movies? If so, what is your favorite? I wouldn’t exactly call them gangster, but I have just sort of rediscovered Steve McQueen. So sad he died so young!

12. (Really random) What U.S. state that you’ve never visited would you like to visit someday? Hawaii, baby!!!

Gone To The Dogs

Tuesday morning I was trimming Arnie’s fur when Hubby noticed the grin on his little dackel face! He carefully got up and took this picture. Now I must admit to cropping the picture as I was in my pajamas, with my hair going in sixteen different directions and not looking too good! Instead, I cropped it so you could see his happy face!

After breakfast I was sitting in my recliner with my feet up checking email, reading blogs, when my coffee cup ran dry. So I went to put down my feet to go and get another cup, when “SCREECH!”. Yes, there was Greta underneath the footrest! I got her out, picked her up and listened to her growling at me, letting me know that she was not at all happy with me! Oh I felt so bad that I had done that. I am usually so careful with my footrest, but the one time I just put the footrest down without looking, Greta is there!

I cuddled her for a while and then I had to shower and dress and when I got back I found this.

Greta all curled up in my soft blankets! I tried to move her over to one side or the other of the chair, but I have to say, she was not easy to move!

Anneliese was limping for a while during the day and I am still not sure what was wrong with her foot, but tonight she appears to be better.

It rained all day and it made the dogs all quite crazy. All they wanted to do was run around outside, but they didn’t want to be out in the rain. Oh well, we have one more day, before the sun shines again.

Springtime Colds

I woke on Monday morning with Hubby’s cold. He claims it is not his cold that I have gotten, but I know better. It’s his, I can tell!

I decided that the best course of action was no action at all. Rest, warm fluffy blankets to keep me comfortable during my feverish chills, a dackel or two sitting next to me and vast amounts of herbal tea with honey to soothe my tender throat.

That and I watched a marathon of a show I had never seen before. It’s called Amazing Wedding Cakes and it is fascinating. I watched them spin sugar to make chandelier like decorations to go on a cake, another cake was of (cake) shoe boxes and (edible) stilletos and a (cake) purse for a woman’s bridal shower, and lastly a wedding cake for a couple who are crazy for silent movies. These people are really amazingly crafty!

Listen, when you are sick you do not want to watch anything too serious on TV because it’ll just make you cry. I was talking to my sister on the phone this morning and I started crying just talking to her! Yeah, I cry when I have a cold pretty easily. Add to that this silly thing called menopause and it’s no wonder I have purchased stock in the Kleenex Corporation!

I have decided that this cold will not last longer than a couple of days. I have far too many things going on to be down and out again with a yucky cold!

Knitting, Laundry & Chili

For anyone who may be wondering, I have been working on my scarf quite a bit.

I’m now not sure that I am as crazy about the color as I was when I started, but I’ll finish it and then bestow it upon some one who loves me. I’ve actually been enjoying it and it has helped me to learn to relax. You simply cannot knit if you are bouncing off of walls. I mean, you can, but it isn’t pretty in the end.

The knitting has come to school board meetings with me, town meetings and has been keeping my hands occupied when I watch TV and just when I need to sit down and zen out. I use it as a total de-stress tool. Sometimes I pick it up and just do a row.

What do you do to de-stress when life is pulling you down?

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In other news, I managed to get 5 loads of laundry done, after ignoring it most of the week, and I made a triple batch of chili, which we will have for dinner tonight, and then I will freeze several meals worth for Hubby. You see I decided to breed Anneliese again and so when she goes into heat in May, I will be going to Germany!

I will spend time with my Uschi, and we will enjoy the sights, sounds and foods of Germany in the spring. Anneliese will spend two days with her “husband” Isegrim, and hopefully come home pregnant.

So, I have been cooking and freezing meals for my wonderful husband, so he doesn’t have to eat at McDonald’s every night.

After all, Anneliese could surprise us all and go into heat at any time.

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Monday is the big day. I am pulling down my curtains and washing them. I’m in spring mode and all of the household curtains need to be taken down, washed, dried and put back up! Then I can take a deep breath and enjoy the smell of clean!

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I watched the movie Babe today. What a precious story that is. I liked that so much more than yesterday’s movie, “Crazy Heart”. I like simple stories with characters I can relate to.

Loving Spring

This morning I woke to bright sun and another beautiful day. However, after my long walk yesterday I was literally doubled over with leg cramps last night. I tried to walk them off, but wound up using my heating pad to release the muscle spasms.

Okay, yes, I know. I am old!

I made sure the pups all played in the yard with their toy balls, got a little domestic work done, before going to see a matinee of “Crazy Heart”.

First off, we were the only people in the theater to watch the movie. I was really surprised by that! After all Jeff Bridges won the Best Actor Academy Award for his portrayal of the lead character. The nice part about being the only people in the theater? We could talk during the movie, ask to have the volume adjusted, and when I got a charlie horse in my leg I could stand and no one complained!

Anyway,

I think I am the only person on the planet that didn’t like this movie. I want to have some sympathy/empathy for the lead character, but he was a dirty, down on his luck, and not doing much to help himself, drunk and I just couldn’t like him. In fact I wanted to scream at Maggie Gyllenhaal’s character to run the other way!

Hubby liked the movie and felt it was a great character study. He also felt the movie is not for every one. He liked the music.

Yes, Jeff Bridges was good, but heck, I liked him better in “The Fabulous Baker Boys” or “Fearless” better than I did in this. But….no one asks me.

I thought Maggie Gyllenhaal looked very beautiful. Someone said recently that she has trouble getting good parts because she is not beautiful enough. I do not find this to be the case, and I like her acting as well. She was wonderful in “World Trade Center” a true story movie she made a few years back. If you have not seen it, watch it. That movie reminded me of how good Americans can be during a crisis like that.

We came home to wild dogs, who wanted to play outside. Hubby took them out and I made some tea.

The ice is nearly gone from our small lake and I will not be surprised if they declare ice out on the Big Lake today or tomorrow, which would break all records!

Sunday will be a catch-up day. I need to do laundry and some more cooking and perhaps even do something wildly crazy, like dust!

A Walk In The Springtime

It was a perfectly beautiful day. So perfect that I decided to take Anneliese and go for my first walk of the Spring. About 10 o’clock I put on her cute little harness, snapped on the leash and we headed out. I wanted to go to the Post Office and the docks down on the big lake. After that, I was open to almost anything.

Up the driveway we went until we ran into our neighbor, Frank. He is a 92 year old man who served during World War II. He is the most positive, happiest and fit man that I know, for his age. I tease him all the time and call him my boyfriend! Anneliese and I gave him hugs and kisses and off we went.

We stopped at the Post Office and got the mail. I had a plastic bag to put it in, but in the future I really need to use my back-pack. Those silly plastic bags really cut into you after a while.

So off we walked to the big lake. It was beautiful. The lake temperature is up to 39 degrees (F), so we should have ice-out almost anytime.

As you can see around the dock area it is clear of ice.

Anneliese is such a big girl and she handles herself so well. She does not know she is a small dog and when a Greyhound passed her by, she barked like she was going to eat him! The poor thing just shook! The Greyhound, not Anneliese!

I spoke to her a lot and then I remembered that I needed to get sworn in at the Town Hall as a Library Trustee for the next three years. I turned back and walked to the Town Hall and went in. I took my Oath of Office with Anneliese as my witness. (The Tax Collector was also my witness.) Then we started our walk home.

Anneliese was so good and when I spoke to her about our walk she stopped and turned back and looked at me with love in her eyes. Or is that annoyance that I am photographing her again?

Eventually after about three miles of walking, we got to our driveway and started down hill. It was so beautiful that I stopped and took a few pictures.

As you can see our little lake is nearly ice free. Truly amazing. Usually it is late in April when this occurs.

I think Spring is here!