The Seasons

I’m a New Englander. I was born here, in Wareham, Massachusetts. I spent the first 20 years of my life in Falmouth, Massachusetts on Cape Cod. When I was in my early 20’s I moved to New Hampshire with my first husband, and lived here until I was in my late 30’s. At that point Hubby and I thought that perhaps Southern Florida would be a nice place to retire, and once we sold our home here, we moved to a beautiful home in Punta Gorda.

We lived there, quite happily for 6 years, until I reached the point of not being able to handle the Florida “seasons”. You see, in Florida it is almost always HOT. Not only that, but the humidity is tropical and that will just kill you.

We had a small yard and I decided that I could mow the lawn and tan at the same time. In order to do this I would wear my bathing suit, a hat, drink a six pack of diet iced tea and top it all off by jumping in our pool to cool off. The mowing took me one hour and was done every 5-8 days.

I also learned during this time that Florida had several other “seasons” which one must learn to handle. Besides the “HOT” season, you have the “Rainy” season. There is also “Fire” season and “Tornado” season and “Hurricane” season.

It got to be that I felt I was constantly fearing one of those “seasons” with little to no break.

This girl needed to come home.

So Hubby and I sold our home and we drove our motor coach up north, built our house and have been here since 1999.

Today we have had tropical humidity, which led to terrible storms. I mean terrible. Just south of here it appears we have had a “Tornado”. Many homes are damaged and there is a report of one fatality.

So I ask, is there really any place that is perfectly safe to live?

I think not.

Perhaps the best one can do is find a place that you love, and enjoy what you do have.

For this New England girl, it’s the mountains and the oceans and the four wonderful seasons known as Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall!

Greta The Wild

Monday night I took Greta and Fritz out for their last visit with nature before going to bed. Usually they just trot up the hill and do their thing, but last night they ran down the steps and disappeared into the darkness! Ordinarily I would not worry, but we have a Mama Bear and her three babies living in the neighborhood, so I panicked! Not so much for Fritz. He’s smart and a fast runner, but Greta is bold and….well stupid. Or so I thought!

Fritz came right back, but not Greta. I ran for the house, threw the door open and yelled for Hubby to turn on the garage lights. I grabbed a flashlight and started to search for Greta. I walked through the mud and around in the darkness, I even yelled to Hubby that if the bear got me, well, it had been nice while it lasted!

Finally, I decided to come in and get the car. I walked up the steps and Hubby came out of the house and was laughing. I looked at him in horror! What was he laughing about?

“She’s inside.” he said.

“WHAT!”

Yep, she was inside. Apparently she had slipped in when Hubby opened the door to hand me the flashlight and come out to help me. She sat in my chair, and I swear she was laughing at me!

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Then on Tuesday morning I was working weeding in the garden. Hubby was checking his fruit trees and my neighbor, Aglaia was weeding her garden when we all heard Greta barking up a storm in the yard. Since we are all still worried about that Bear and her cubs, we all went running. What did we find?

Greta had two Labradors cornered in the Orchard! She had barked at them until they were trapped against the trees! Fritz had her back and she wasn’t letting them move! I hollered at her and then told the poor Labs to go home, which they happily did. They probably were terrified of that crazy dachshund!

I just can’t figure out that girl. 21 pounds and full of wildness!!!

Makes me laugh!

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Thursday was Weight Watchers and I lost 2.6 pounds! I feel like I am back on the road again. I have 9 pounds to lose and if all goes well, by the end of the summer this will be done!

Happy Birthday, Melodie!!!

Today is my sister’s birthday. What can you say about someone who has been such an important part of your life?

She was there in the beginning. I simply cannot remember a day when she wasn’t there for me.

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As I grew she became even more important. Playing Barbie Dolls with me, fixing me snacks or telling me stories while we washed and dried the dishes.

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We’ve shared our lives, enjoyed the good times together and held each other together through the bad.

Still, here we are, approaching middle age and not a day goes by that I don’t thank God for her love, her loyalty and her friendship.


Happy Birthday Mel!!!

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A Few Thoughts

I sat down to write a new post earlier and I found myself unable to think straight. The rain and the thunder storms of the last few days seem to have zapped my creativity, and left me with a migraine. However, I am committed to writing and keeping a journal of my day to day life, so I bucked myself up and sat down to write.

I think the best part of my day is always the dogs. They never cease to amaze and amuse me. Today it was Fritz who was barking at the door during a torrential downpour. I opened the door and he took one look at all that rain and turned around and went back inside! Well, it made ME laugh!

Also Arnie has started doing the cutest thing. He now follows me all around the house like a little shadow. He is his Mommy’s boy and I just love it.

You see, I have never been a “boy dog” fan. I have always preferred female dogs, but this boy has stolen my heart. I woke in the night last night and got up and when I returned Arnie was waiting for me. I climbed in and Arnie climbed over to me and wrapped his body around my legs. In that moment I felt very loved.

Isn’t that what it’s all about?

I’ve Got A Plan!

I’ve got a plan. You see, I am just a little crazy and I love to make a fuss over my pups, so next Sunday I am throwing a party for my boy Fritz! He will be celebrating his 5th birthday! I simply can’t believe it. 5 years! This is definitely some cause for celebration, so today I made a few calls and started inviting the kids to our house on Sunday for a barbecue.

It won’t be anything too fancy, just hot dogs (but of course!) and hamburgers, and a vanilla cake for dessert! How fun is that?

You know, looking back Fritz was all of 11 pounds when Hubby flew out to Portland, Oregon to bring him home. He traveled in Business Class in a soft sided carrier under the seat in front of Hubby.

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Shubi and I waited for them to arrive and when I saw him for the first time, I was completely smitten.

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He was just this totally adorable white ball of fluffy fur, only 8 weeks old and still at a point in development where he wanted to sleep more than run around.

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Eventually he began to grow. We took him to a dog show where he won “Best Puppy In Show”. I also took him to doggy classes where he learned how to behave. This was a good thing. He behaves quite well, unless, of course, he is in the car. Then he is a total terror!

So now I can make plans and make next Sunday a special day for my big boy Fritz. The absolute best German Shepherd that I have ever had!

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Friends

My dear friend and neighbor had a big family party today. She is the type of person who is so loving and giving of her self that she tends to adopt people along the way, so Hubby and I as well as several other “non family” members were invited to the party. We all consider ourselves extended family.
We had wonderful Greek dishes of lamb shish kababs, spanakopita, stuffed grape leaves, tsatziki, and these delicious philo dough triangles stuffed with feta cheese! It was mouth watering good!!!

I can’t begin to tell you how much fun this was. The party started at noon and we left at about 7:30. Mostly we left the dachsies at home, but Fritz is so good at a party that he stayed all throughout the day.

Here I am with my neighbor Aglaia. I am so lucky that she lives next door!
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Here’s Fritz with Hubby and I at the party.
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Here is the whole gang enjoying the day.
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We all caught up with stories from the last year or so. There were two worth sharing. One, because it is truly incredible and the other because it is just short of a miracle.

One of the kids (age 16) went on safari with his family in Kenya. During a break at one of the preserves that they visited he and his older brother were walking along when they were confronted by a group of baboons. Now, baboons are not nice. They attacked. The two boys fought back and finally were able to run for it, when S. fell. He got up quickly and continued to run, but when he fell he broke his hand. This poor kid had to fly all the way back to New Jersey to get hand surgery to correct the spiral fracture in his hand. It’s looking better, but just imagine the pain! Luckily, there shouldn’t be any permanent damage, just three pins in his hand to hold it in place.

Now here is the miracle. Two years ago some mutual friends adopted a little boy from China. He was a special needs child, as he was born with only one hand, but his adoptive parents didn’t care and loved him with all their hearts. Shortly after he arrived he began having seizures, along with a few strokes, and things became very grim. They predicted he would not be much more than a vegetable. Well his new parents brought him to Boston and found a doctor who operated on his brain, they refused to give up. Today he is a happy, healthy child!

Here he is with his Mommy and sister!

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So the day was filled with goodness and happiness and I am content. There are days that are just plain good and uplifting and this was one of them!

Driveways

There is great excitement here at the Dackel Princess House. We are getting the upper part of our driveway redone. This is quite important as the record breaking winter and heavy rains this spring have left the road in bad shape. Deep ruts, and giant bumps made it extremely dicey for us or our neighbor (whom we share the driveway with) to go up or down. It happened before when Hubby was laid up and I tried to keep things going. Now we’ve hired a firm to come in and put new drainage in and then more dirt and gravel.

I went up to check on Hubby, Fritz and our other neighbor, Frank to make sure they are doing a good job supervising. So far it looks good.

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Fritz is especially good at supervising!

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After I checked on things, I came back down our driveway, the part that is paved and I noticed what a beautiful day it was, and how nice the house and the lake looked, so I snapped a quick picture.

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It will take a few more days for them to finish the job, but then this should last for a few years. They will also resurface the tar and that will be done as well.

Meanwhile, I was busy with laundry, cooking and cleaning today. I got quite a bit done. Matina and James came down and we walked the dogs. Matina and I are talking about starting knitting projects together. I still hope to make the Harry Potter Scarf that I’ve had the yarn for, for a couple of years. Yes, the time may have come for me to start that!

Yippee!!!

I was up a tad late on Wednesday and decided to make coffee and breakfast for Hubby before I left to go to Weight Watchers. Once that was done I dressed and weighed myself here.

Groan!

I came out and told Hubby that I thought I might have either stayed the same or gained weight, but that it just didn’t look good. I decided to go to class though, as I’d promised myself when I started I would go unless I was in the Intensive Care Unit at the local hospital.

So I went.

I stepped up on the scale when I arrived and I’d lost ONE WHOLE POUND!!!!! YIPPEE!!!!!

I felt pretty happy about that because I had made some adjustments in my eating and it turns out that a little adjustment had made all the difference! I stayed for the meeting and saw my ladies. These women always make me feel stronger and better about my quest for control of my weight problem.

I came right home after and made myself breakfast. The children descended upon the house and the glorious chaos of kids and dogs soon took over. I just love the sounds of giggling children and the sight of wiggling dogs!