Category: Life

Okay, here is my scarf!

I’ve learned to knit! Now I’m not saying that I am ready to move to Ireland and knit cable sweaters, but I am learning. I’m under a little bit of pressure here, because Hubby actually knows how to knit (no he did not teach me. I stuck to the old rule: never have your husband teach you to do anything).
When he was in college he broke his leg. This was long before satellite TV or even cable TV. No, VCR’s weren’t around either. So, what did he do while he was laid up in the hospital? He had the nurses teach him to knit. (I truly believe that this was a brilliant move on his part to get dates. Although he swears this was not the case.)
He knit three sweaters while recovering and he still has them. I can see that I have a lot to learn before I can compete with him. I’m still working on my first scarf.
I’m not a fast knitter. In fact I am incredibly slow, but I find it so relaxing that the longer I knit, the slower I tend to go. It will be interesting to see if I speed up while I wait for Hubby to come out of surgery in two weeks. I wonder if stress increases speed?

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OLD


This is my grandmother on her wedding day. Her name was Mary Francis Daniel Prussman. She was a strong, warm, wonderful woman who made my life so much better just by being in it. Here’s to you, Gramma!

Life has been a challenge, but as the week ends I can honestly say, I have stayed faithful to my diet! Good for me!

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For those of you who are wondering, our new passports arrived and are now safely stored, awaiting our next trip. Not that this will happen soon, but if I can sneak away at the end of the summer to Berlin to see my friend, Uschi, I might just do that for a few days.
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I’ve decided that, although in my mind I do not feel old, my body is obviously not cooperating. I carried a 50 pound bag of planting soil up the steps from the driveway to the greenhouse (full flight of stairs), on Tuesday. I cannot tell you how my shoulders have ached since. I used to be able to do this stuff without thinking about it. I am getting soft! I think after Hubby’s next surgery we should join a gym and then I will be training for the Mrs. Universe pageant!
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I did get all my seeds planted in the greenhouse. I spent a good part of the day on Wednesday cleaning the greenhouse and then planting. What fun! Here you can see the results of my labor.

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Our little Greta has really come into her own. She has always been a fun pup, running around, playing with her toys, chewing her rawhides and being a real little snuggler, but in the last few months she has become this little sweetheart. She runs to greet you, she sleeps cuddled in your arms and she is able to express the fact that she would rather be with you than with anyone in the world.

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Have a great Friday everyone!!!

Thirteen Things about Maribeth When She Was 13 Baby dog, Maribeth, and Laurie 1. I wanted to grow up and get married and have children. 2. I dreamt of having a small house with a vegetable garden. 3. While I was planting this garden, my children would run around in the fresh clean air. 4. I would have 4 children. 5. I would be married to a man who would love me forever. 6. I would become an artist and I would work at this at home. (when I wasn’t gardening) 7. I would have cats and dogs. 8. Life would be good and simple and happy. 9. I would wear jeans and t-shirts and straw hats. 10. And my hair would grow down to my waist. 11. I would have a little swing in my yard, where I would sit and watch my family. 12. Eventually my grandchildren would come to see me. 13. And I would live peacefully and happily ever after. Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

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Yesterday we drove to the beautiful state of Maine to have Greta’s eyes examined and certified free of a disease called PRA (progressive retinal atrophy) and cataracts. The German Dachshund club requires this exam before a dog is bred. I also wanted this done, because I believe in breeding only healthy dogs and cats.
Greta (her German name is Xochil, but that’s another story), passed her exam with flying colors. She has beautiful eyes with no sign of disease! I am so happy I am on cloud nine!

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On another subject, Fritz the amazingly nervous car rider proved that the Vets don’t know everything. They mentioned that Benedryl might help to calm him when he is in the car. Wrong!!! The boy was crazed. He jumped, he whined, he fussed, he was basically so irritated that I had wild thoughts of leaving him on the side of the road in Maine. The only thing is, the boy has such a sense of smell, I know he would find his way home to New Hampshire.
Something must be done for my boy. Either he gets some sort of tranquilizer or I do.
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Today I am doing laundry and air conditioners.
Our house is on a hill and due to view restrictions we are not allowed to have any sort of shading trees on our property. Dwarf fruit trees, yes. But not any tall nice shade trees. Consequently, the afternoon sun just cooks our family room and bedroom. Opening windows just doesn’t work, so we need those heavy in the window air conditioners. Today we install them and prepare for the summer ahead!
Laundry? Well, I have been terribly remiss this week in keeping up with this task, so time to play catch up!
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To all far and wide, have a great day!!!

I slept.
Now I know you are all thinking that I have lost it, writing about sleeping, but I have to tell you what happened on Wednesday night.
If you haven’t been following the news in New Hampshire, you won’t know that the officials have been trying to figure out what to do about “Sudafed”. What’s Sudafed? It’s what I use and have used for years to treat my allergies (which are many). It is also what the druggies have been using to make crystal meth in the many home labs nationwide. I’ve always been able to buy a cheap Allergy/Sinus medication that contained both Sudafed and Tylenol. This makes me a happy girl and one with a dry nose and who is not sneezing all over you, day and night. (Had Hubby seen me at my allergy worst, I am sure he never would have married me!)
New Hampshire, which is currently being run by a “I feel your pain” governor, put pressure on all the stores that carried my beloved Allergy medication until one day, you couldn’t just pick it up at the store.
I talked to the Wal-Mart Pharmacist and he told me that the new ingredient in my allergy medication was “just the same” and would be fine. (At this point he wouldn’t sell me my Sudafed, even though it is still a legal, over the counter drug. Can I help it if the druggies buy the stuff and make meth out of it?)
So, I took the new stuff home and I tried it on Wednesday night.
Oh my God!!! I felt like I had been drinking super espresso all day and all night when I tried to go to bed! I tossed, I turned, I rocked in the sheets. I did not sleep! The bed looked like a violent crime had occurred there the next morning. And worst of all, it didn’t work!
I went back to Wal-Mart to get my Sudafed. If they refused to sell me this medication, I would call my doctor, Dr. D. and get a prescription. I explained what had occurred. The Pharmacist said, “Oh I am sorry, it happens occasionally to sensitive people”.
I wanted to throttle him!
He agreed to sell me the Sudafed, but I had to fill out a form, show my license, a credit card and then sign another document. All the while the pharmacist looked at me like I was some criminal.
I’ll see what they’re charging at my local drug store. They know me there, they know I’m not a “Meth Maker” and I’m sure I won’t get that treatment there.
Meanwhile, last night, I took my beloved Sudafed. I wasn’t stuffy and I slept like a baby! And yes, I slept in my nice comfy cotton pajamas!

I’m in a ramblin’ mood folks. Nothing is happening that would fill a post, but a lot of little things are, so here goes.

Last night as I prepared for bed, I looked up at the wall near my computer. What did I see? A gazillion Black Flies! (blackfly – (Diptera Simuliidae) small blackish stout-bodied biting fly having aquatic larvae; sucks the blood of birds as well as humans and other mammals) What to do, what to do? Well, I got out the vacuum and vacuumed them all up (I also got the cobwebs that I’d been ignoring for the last couple of months). Hubby was puzzled about how they got in. Easy. We open our sliding glass doors a million times a day for the dogs.

Fritz and Greta went in for their heart worm/shots appointments at the Vets yesterday. Greta is definitely my dog. She is a little chubby right now (19 1/2 lbs) and I am to exercise her more and reduce her wet food a bit. She is in good health. She did, however, get all her shots yesterday and last night she was a sore little girl.
Fritz is a skinny dog (73.4 lbs) and he is not a good eater. As I have said before, he is definitely not my dog! All my dogs have been good eaters and like me, on the verge of chubbiness! I talked to the Vet about Fritz being a nervous wreck in the car, and he suggested that on long trips we use Benedryl to calm him down. I sure hope that works. If not, I have the sign made.

As we watched TV I went to pick up Greta who screamed! Hubby was convinced I had done her bodily harm, but a few moments later he went to pick her up and she did the same thing. “It’s the shot’s”, I said. And I am sure that is was.

Now, due to the fact that both dogs got shots yesterday, they were feeling a little punk (under the weather). They both slept late today and this meant that I also got to sleep. What is late? 8:15!!! This is the latest I have slept since Fritz came to our house 2 1/2 years ago!!!

Here are a few pictures from our yard. Spring is just around the corner!!! The first is a lilac bud, not yet open. The second is a baby lilac! The third is a view from our house.

Yesterday I looked around my family room/kitchen area and decided I needed to get up off my rear end and do some cleaning. No one was around, and I could work in peace while I listened to All My Children. (I simply can’t miss that right now, as Dixie and Tad just saw each other for the first time after she reappeared, after she drove her car off a cliff in Switzerland! Yes, I know!)
So I cleared stuff away, washed shelves down and refilled doggie bowls with fresh water and kibble. Then I dusted. Since I had the dust thing out, I did the entire house. I got to the guest room where hubby was resting and he looked at me with a puzzled expression and said, “What’s gotten into you?”.
I had planned on vacuuming too, but then I started to sneeze and since I could not longer breath after that (allergies), I never did vacuum.
Hubby is well and progressing nicely. He’s actually been working in the yard on his beloved fruit trees, and out playing with the two dogs in the yard. When we go back on May 8th for the appointment with the Orthopedic Surgeon, I’m going to push for the next surgery. I want it to all be over with. Now before you all think I am a terrible wife, Hubby feels this way too.
I went to visit my neighbor on Easter afternoon. We sat with Greta, talking and the subject of sweet Shubi came up. A. loved Shubi like Shubi was her own. A.’s house is above ours on our hill. She looks down on our back yard. She told me that often she looks down and for a second the thinks she sees Shubi running in the yard. I smiled because I’ve had my own Shubi sightings, or maybe feelings would be a better description. I told her that I really believe that when someone or something we love dies that they never really leave us, but remain by our side, sort of like a Guardian Angel.
Today is Vet. day for Fritz and Greta, and Physical Therapy day for Hubby. Life goes on, doesn’t it?

The Gas Man arrived about 7:45 last night. He said he thinks the valve wasn’t screwed on tightly after the last fill. I hope that is all. I did have gas to cook with this morning, so all is well, for now.
I know today is Tax Day. Unbelievably, Hubby got ours done a month ago, and so today is just another day for us! A friend in Florida sent me this funny graphic:

I’m a creature of habit. I have certain things I do and I like to do them at certain times. I don’t like my little boat to be rocked, which is why I was very unhappy last night, when, at 10 PM, my usual bedtime, another episode of “The Apprentice” came on. There are few things in life I will stay up past 10 PM for and “The Apprentice” is one of those things.
Now before you all think I am a total wimp, let me say, in my defense, I am sick with a sinus and ear infection and I was feeling kind of lousy last night.
Okay, back to the show. The first pitted Lenny against Michael. Both performed poorly and the biggest difference in the two projects was that Michael’s team outperformed Lenny’s. I felt bad for Lenny. I liked him. He is driven and a good worker, he just isn’t strong in the idea department. Michael’s problem was his inability to make any decision, but his team just went ahead without him.
The next episode had Andrea vs Leslie. No question, hands down, Andrea was going to win. I don’t really like Andrea, but she is smart and well organized and can lead a team. She is someone to watch. Leslie and her team didn’t know or understand their market and got greedy. The bottom line was Andrea understood so much more than Leslie.
So there I was wide awake at 11 PM. Well past my bedtime. Hubby had physical therapy the next morning and really needed me to get him up and fix him a good breakfast. I wanted to go to sleep fast. Of course, just because my boat was rocked and I was out of my little routine, I had trouble getting to sleep.
I just hope that they don’t sneak another one of these back to back episode deals in again for a while. I’m really grumpy when I don’t get my beauty sleep.