Category: Family & Friends

End Of The Summer

The past weekend, the last in August, was simply perfect. The temperature was warm, and sunny with just a light breeze.

My town had an Artisan’s Craft Fair, and it was simply the best. My cousins, Janet and Dave were here on Sunday, and we three walked all over town, enjoying each and every Artisans booth. In fact they had the cutest necklaces with miniature maps under glass. And with the maps were something special about that place.

For instance, I bought two. The first is a map of Germany, and the small charm was a beer stein! It is amazing.

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The second one I got was of Barbados. That one came with a pair of leaping dolphins. Both these places hold a special place in my heart. 20150830_204005

We also had our end of the year, Lobster Party, complete with steamers and corn on the cob. Oh goodness!

It was amazingly good!
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The picture is courtesy of my cousin, Janet!

The dogs really enjoyed it too. You see after we are done with the Lobster, I get the tamale, the eggs and all the wonderful juices, and allow the dackels and Lili to slurp and eat away!

I can definitely say that by the end, we all were stuffed!

Weekend Wrap-Up

  • Started the day driving 219 miles home from my sister’s home in Connecticut. Traffic was light, and I listened to a combination of music and news, but 219 miles is 219 miles. That’s a long, long way. Four hours, and fifteen minutes.
  • My new pet peeve are drivers that ride your tail on the highway. I am no slouch. I was going 70 miles an hour in a 65 mile per hour zone and this crazy driver from Massachusetts, rode my bumper like crazy. She finally passed me, only to do the same thing to the man in front of me.
  • I stopped at BJ’s just as my gas tank empty alarm started. I made a round trip on one tank of gas!
  • I also needed to renew our membership at BJ’s and the nice Customer Service Agent, told me that Hubby’s Veteran discount to our membership is automatic since we signed up a year ago. I think it is great when businesses give discounts to our Veterans!
  • As soon as I came home I peeled peaches from the yard, and mashed them, chopped the skin of 1 orange thinly, added the juice of the orange, and cut up maraschino cherries, to rest overnight in the kettle, and tomorrow Hubby and I will make the Heavenly Jam. You can fine the recipe Here. Tomorrow we will cook the jam and can it.
  • I also managed to cook homemade spaghetti sauce, which I will freeze for the winter. I toss in lots of vegetables, and some ground beef. That recipe is Here. It’s a good one!
  • I also, somehow made dinner for the two of us. Weiss-wurst, oven fries and corn on the cob.
  • The weekend was wonderful. I had 4 days with my sister and niece.

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  • The baby shower was a great success. Jinny got so many beautiful things for her expected baby, April. Just one more month.

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  • Hubby and the dogs were all happy to see me when I got back. But I must say, as wonderful as my visit was, it is good to come home to all this love!

Getting Ready

Friday found Melodie, Jinny and I going off to get a few things done.  We wanted to get a new DVD player for Mel’s house, get a few last minute items for the baby shower and have lunch at Olive Garden.  Mel and I stopped at Best Buy to get the DVD player and then we came out got into the car and watched the man next to us strap in his two girls.  Then he drove off and my sister was checking for other cars,when she spotted a wallet.  She quickly grabbed it and found no money, but all of his credit cards and his drivers license.

So she took it back to the store and we are hopeful he will return and get it back.

Lunch was great and then we came home to cook. We had one old family recipe for three layer bars, and one for Lemon Squares, that Melodie got from a friend.  We even watched a DVD movie “The Fault In Our Stars”. Now the gifts are wrapped and we are ready for tomorrow!

Blessings

Today I am writing about my dearest friend, Carol. I met her 8 years ago, and she quickly became one of the most important women in my life.

Carol is an identical twin. Her sister is named Carolyn. I cannot recall how many times I have teased her about this. After all, back when she was born, times were different. And with an identical twin, she may actually be Carolyn and not Carol at all! (lol)

She has told me many stories of her mother, affectionately called Ma, and I wish I’d gotten to meet her. She sounds like an amazing woman.

Carol is always a phone call away. She is never too busy to answer a call, or listen to my happy chattering, or hold me in her arms when I cry.

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I’ve told her many times, that she is not just a friend, but a second mother to me. Someone who loves me regardless of my short comings.

She has said I am another daughter for her. I wasn’t looking for her, and she wasn’t looking for me, and yet, there we were eight years ago falling into each others paths.

Sometimes I believe that God finds people we should have in our lives. So he drops us into a situation and then lets us see how things work out.

So it was with Carol and I. We met, and decided that we really wanted to be in each others life.

What a blessing that has been in our lives.

Happy Birthday, Melodie

Today is my sister, Melodie’s Birthday. She’s always been a very important person in my life, as well as my dearest sister!

Melodie’s greatest joy is watching her twin grandsons, Nolan and Gabriel grow, as well as her much loved Grandchildren, Abby, Taft and Luke. And now she is awaiting the birth of her daughter, Jinny’s first baby, a girl, in September!

Many people will never realize just how loved they are by Melodie. When she is in your life, you have a devoted family member or friend, who will do anything, and expect nothing more than a smile in return. My sister is a real gem!

Happy Birthday, Melodie!!! from Dackel Princess Maribeth on Vimeo.

I wish for you a Happy Birthday, today, Mel and a wonderful year

Family!

Tonight we had my cousin, Larry over for dinner. I don’t see Larry as often as I would like, so this was pretty special to me.

Anyway, I decided to make some good old fashioned comfort food. Home-style meatloaf , mashed potatoes, and gravy, with corn on the cob. I also bought a light, fluffy, strawberry cake that was simply divine!

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This was taken a few years back. My cousin Larry, my sister, Melodie, my cousin, Rikki, and me.

We sat around, talking and sharing, and enjoying each others company. We’re hoping he will come back soon to visit and bring his wife, Cindy. Although, since they are building an addition to their house, it may not be anytime really soon. But we shall see.

The best part was to watch Larry and Lili. She just loves him, and Larry is so good with dogs. He took her out for a walk and then played ball with her until he left. Currently she is on the sofa drowsing.

Happy Birthday, Bernie!

It’s funny how you meet people these days. Years ago I met Bernie and his late wife, Louise online. They kept a blog and so did I. Soon we were messaging off our blogs and becoming friends.

Tragically, Louise passed from this world to the next and her physical presence is deeply missed, even though she lives in our hearts.

I was lucky to meet Bernie back in 2010, when I was in Berlin, Germany breeding Anneliese, and he was there on business. We hit it off right away!

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Today is Bernie’s Birthday. I want to wish him a happy day and a healthy year ahead! You are deeply loved and cared for by all you friends and family!

TBT: Siblings

Here are my older brother and sister, Richard and Melodie. This picture was taken in front of our home on Clipper Lane, in Falmouth, Massachusetts. I was not even a glimmer in my parents eyes at this point. Arriving 5-1/2 years after my sister and 7-1/2 after my brother.

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I’ve always loved these pictures of them, so adorable in their outfits, as they stood holding hands. They were best friends all of my brother’s life, until his untimely death at the age of 26 from cancer. We both still miss him very much.

TBT: Grandma Honey

Yesterday, February 4th would have been my Grandma Honey’s 117th birthday. It’s difficult to imagine her at that age. She passed from this world into the next 30 years ago. She was a very important woman in my life, and taught me so much. Even now, I miss her like crazy!

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Here she is, Mary Frances Daniell the day she married my Papa, Frederick Carl Prussman.