My Life, Cell Phones & Puppy Dogs

I am so late writing this edition of Dackel Princess, as I was out spending money wildly today. Hubby and I had to break down and buy new cell phones. His dates back to 2002 and mine is over 2 years old. I probably could have waited a while longer, but I just knew that if I did, my phone would die, and then we wouldn’t be able to by the phones cheaply. We got a pretty decent 2 for 1 deal. In any case, after that we did our grocery shopping, picked up Hubby’s new glasses and I bought some new make-up at the Clinique counter, and got a special prize for doing so. (More make-up! Yay for me!)

The phone purchase put us way behind our schedule so when we came home it was a mad rush to put away the food, cook dinner and feed the doggies! I did it with a little help from Hubby, who peeled the potatoes, and soon we were all eating our respective meals!

Then the tough part of my day began. I’ve never been able to understand why they must radically change cell phones so that each time you “get a new one” you essentially must learn a new language. Once I had finished the dishes, I sat down with my owners manual and started to study our new phone. A few new features that I like very much, but some are simply a waste of time. And my clock. Now this is something I am very upset about. I can’t have it showing all the time on my phone. I must flip it open in order to see what time it is. I stopped wearing a watch years ago because I keep my cell phone on my belt. Oh well, next time (2 years from now), I will know that I need the darn clock on the outside to work all the time! Darn!

I programmed my phone and then Hubby’s. It took me a couple of hours. How I wish I were a Geek who could type faster with my thumb! Oh well, since it’s only every two years that we do this I think I can stand it.

Anneliese and Arnie are both doing splendidly! They went in for their check-up and shots today and they are just perfect! They enjoyed their ride in the car and seeing everyone at the Vets. They are good little puppies even if I have to spend part of my day tomorrow sewing my braided rug back up after some fierce puppy play.

I can also report that we had a bit of a heat wave here today with our temperatures getting up to 16 degrees (F) before starting to fall again.

Ah, spring!

It’s Fffffffffreezing!!!!!!

The temperature never climbed above 1 degree Fahrenheit today. The wind was blowing strongly with gusts up to 46 miles an hour. Greta went out only in her little doggy sweater and Fritz would run out and run back in as quickly as his legs could carry him. It was simply too cold to force the puppies outside. So I was very careful to make sure they had regular newspaper breaks.

Hello? This is March! We are supposed to be heading toward spring. Didn’t Punxsutawney Phil say we were having an early spring this year? Yeah, like I believe that today!

Tomorrow is puppy day. We go to the Vets so that Arnie and Anneliese can get their shots. I hope it is warmer, but if it’s not I will wrap them in a blanket and warm up the car first.

I got my surgery date for my right eye. I’ll be operated on, on May 8th. Springtime. Warmth. Sunshine! Yes, that will be a great time to have surgery. I’m not at all nervous about this. I know my doctor well, respect her work in so many ways, and feel totally comfortable in her hands.

But first, let’s get some springtime warmth here! Brrrrr! It’s too cold for me!

This, That and Good-Bye To Two More Puppies

Today was my first physical therapy session. I’ve decided that I could never have knee replacement surgery, because I just do not do pain very well. Anyway, I lay there while the therapist gently worked on the MCL and we sort of talked the entire time. No big deal, right?

Wrong! Tonight I can hardly walk. It’s amazing how much this stupid thing hurts. Nope, no knee replacements ever, ever, ever.

Two of the puppies left us yesterday. Anita has gone to Poughkeepsie, and is doing really well. I got a letter today and pictures of her at her new home. She looks so happy and loved! That makes me so happy! They have decided to give her another name (no big deal, after all Greta’s real name is Xochil!), and she is now being called Gabby! Isn’t that adorable?

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Gabby (Anita) in her new home with her new friend, Rita.

Anja has gone as well. She is just down the road and I am hopeful we will see her from time to time. She is such a pretty girl and shows great promise for blood tracking of wounded animals.

Now we have Arnie and Anneliese. Of course Anneliese is staying, but Arnie is our little orphan. Things just did not work out with the people who had hoped to take him. You know how it is? Life happens. So my boy is up for grabs.

March 5 007

Greta is doing better today, and we have had the puppies out to play with her a lot. She enjoys the rough and tumble play, but then looks forward to their naps as well.

March 5 001

I caught Anneliese watching the TV today. I just knew this dog was supposed to be with me. She likes General Hospital! LOL!!!

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All in all, not a bad start to the week.

Good-Bye Anita and Anja

It was a hard day for Miss Greta. She watched two of her babies go off with their new families. I’m not sure if it was because she was playing with all her babies one minute and then two of them went out the door, or perhaps she really can count, but after they left she kept looking for them. In the yard, around the house, until she crawled into my lap.

March 4 006

She whined and fussed and if it is possible, I swear, she actually looked depressed. We are giving her a lot of cuddles, treats and kisses.

She just proves to me each and every day how deeply a dog can feel.

Italian Pot Roast

We tried this tonight and we both agreed it was fabulous. It does use 3 cups of red wine, but Hubby says get a large bottle and then have some of the leftover wine while it cooks. Enjoy!

3 1/2 to 4 pound rump or chuck beef roast
1 teaspoon salt plus more to taste
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 large carrot, cut into chunks (about 1 cup)
1 large celery stalk, cut into chunks (about 1 cup)
3 large onions cut into chunks (1 to 1 1/2 cups)
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
2 Tbsp chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 bay leaf
1 Tbsp finely chopped fresh sage
3 cups medium-bodied Italian red wine
1 28-ounce can Italian plum tomatoes.

1) Trim some of the fat from the meat. Pat dry with paper towels. Season generously with the salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a large, heavy pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, shimmering but not smoking, add the roast and cook, turning it a few times, until it is nicely browned on all sides, 10-12 minutes. Transfer the meat to a platter.

2) Reduce the heat to medium. Add the carrot, celery, and onion. Cook, stirring occasionally until the vegetables are golden brown and begin to stick to the bottom of the pan, 10-12 minutes. Add the garlic, parsley, and sage, and stir until the herbs are lightly colored and fragrant, about 1 minute. Add 1 cup of the wine and stir quickly, lifting up the richly browned caramelized vegetables that stick to the bottom of the pan. When the wine is almost all evaporated and thickly coats the vegetables, return the meat to the pan and turn it over a few times to coat it with the savory base.

3) Raise the heat to high, adding the remaining wine, the bay leaf, and the tomatoes, and bring to a boil. Cover the pot, reduce the heat to low, and simmer, turning and basting the meat every half hour or so, until the meat is very tender and flakes away when pierced with a fork, 3-4 hours. Turn off the heat and let the roast sit in its juices for an hour. (You can also put the pot into a 300°F oven and turn the roast every hour.)

4) Remove the meat from the pot and place it on a cutting board, covered loosely with aluminum foil. If the sauce is too thin, bring it to a fast boil and reduce it until it has a medium-thick consistency. Taste and adjust seasoning.

5) Cut the meat into thick slices (it will probably fall apart), and place on warm serving dishes. Spoon the sauce over the meat and serve hot. Serve with rice, mashed potatoes, or polenta.

Serves 8.

Quiet

We are due for the mother of all storms tomorrow. They are saying we will get two feet of snow. And due to the temperatures around here being a tad warmer than they have been, I suspect it will be fairly heavy snow.

I like snow. I do. It’s pretty to watch as it falls, and if you go outside during the storm and stand very still you can hear something wonderful.

Quiet.

I think in this day and age most people have forgotten what real quiet is. We have the noise of TV, or music or automobiles or machinery. When was the last time you can remember hearing nothing? That sweet silence that you can only hear during a snowstorm.

I was about six years old the first time I realized that there was such a thing as quiet. I had gone outside of our house when the snow was falling after dinner one evening. I remember coming back in and asking my mother why it was so quiet outside and she explained to me about the snow soaking up the sound.

Pure quiet.

After that I would always try to go out in the snow during the storm, even if it was just for a moment. When I listen to the quiet of the storm it would always bring me back to that first time. When I was so very young and so very innocent. Back when a good snowstorm meant a day off from school and snowmen in the front yard and snow Angels on the lawn.

So tomorrow I am planning a little trip. Just a few steps outside my door where I will stand alone and listen and remember.

Quiet.

Eye Am Spectacular!

I went to Boston on Wednesday to see my eye surgeon. Can I just say, here and now, I really love her. She is just the sweetest woman! Anyway, I was examined and they found that my vision was correctable to 20/15!!! However, the glitch here is this, the stitches must stay in.

I have always had astigmatism in my eyes. With the stitches in, the astigmatism is gone. So, since I do not feel these stitches, nor do they bother me in any way, I feel, and so does my doctor, that it’s best to leave well enough alone. There are some patients who do not adapt to the stitches and need them removed, but heck, after what I went though before the surgery, I can safely say that this is easy.

So what’s a little fishing line in ones eye, anyway???

I had asked her to examine my right eye because we knew that this eye has a cataract and it needs to be removed. Today she evaluated my right eye and decided she will use the same lens in that eye and after that surgery, my vision will be really good and also balanced. Just think. I will be able to lie in bed and watch the TV with no glasses! Or go to the beach and not worry about losing my glasses or have to wear them into the water because I would be lost without them! All of those times when people wear their glasses because they can’t see past the end of their nose, will be gone! I will have to wear glasses for driving, and to read. But most of my glasses wearing will be cut down.

I have worn glasses or contact lenses since I was 13 years old. I put them on before I get out of bed in the morning, so I can find my way to the bathroom. Before meeting this doctor I thought my vision would never be returned. So to have this opportunity is beyond my wildest dreams!

She will be leaving the stitches in my right eye too. She asked if that bothered me? Nope! The way I look at it, we are all held together with a little string by the time we grow old, aren’t we?

And perhaps some of us, more than others!

Fun In The Sun

The last of our babies found a home today. Anita will be heading out to New York State as well! Three of my babies will become New Yorkers! Angelika, Arnie and Anita. I never would have guessed. In any case, I spoke to Anita’s new owner and it sounds like a wonderful home for her.

Are you all wondering what I will do with my free time once the pack of hounds have left me? Of course Anneliese will be staying with us, so I will be house breaking her, but I also need to paint the mud room and get it back to what it once was. A place to hang coats and store our wet boots. Of course part of me will always look out there and expect to see my babies.

I expect all the pups to be gone by Monday. I hope you all will show up that day to give me hugs. As much as I am ready for them to go to their new homes, I will really miss my little babies.

You see it’s on days like today that I think I never want them to leave. We had the four remaining pups out for a romp on this warm winter’s day. I hope you enjoy the video.

I get the stitches out of my eye today. Hubby is taking a day off from his skiing to drive me down to Boston for this big event. My surgery was back in August, so it has really been a while.

Happy Wednesday Everyone!

11 Weeks Old

We brought Greta and the puppies outside today to run around. They’re 11 weeks old now and full of energy. I had several of Greta’s balls out there for them to play with and they ran around and around and around!

We noticed a few things. Arnie and Anneliese like the balls the best, Anita loves to chase after all of them and Anja loves to smell everything!

We let them run around until they started to get cold and then we brought them in. They had a nice big dinner and then they quickly fell asleep.

I heard from a man who is looking for a little wire-haired dachshund female. I’ve got my fingers crossed that this will work out and the last of my puppies will find a good home.

My time with the babies could be over quite soon.