Once upon a time in the land of lakes and mountains, there lived a girl named Maribeth. She lived in a house with her Hubby and two dogs, Fritz and Greta. She had a garden of vegetables and 35 fruit trees, which surrounded her house. Her life was quiet and good and she was very happy.
One cool, dark, night the small dog, Greta needed to be walked outside in the back yard.. So Maribeth got on her coat and slippers and went outside with little Greta on a leash.
Suddenly Greta stopped moving. Greta’s ears perked up, her nose started to sniff and then Maribeth could hear a low, slow, growl emanating from her throat. Fritz, the larger dog had nudged the door to the house open just a little and he had his head sticking out. Maribeth could hear a low, slow, growl coming from him as well.
Then a whooshing noise came from the field, and Maribeth knew something large was rushing toward them! Since a Mama Bear and two baby bears had been seen in the neighborhood recently, Maribeth quickly ran into the house, dragging a barking Greta, as quickly as she could!
Maribeth pressed her face against the glass of the door in an attempt to see what was out there. Greta and Fritz continued to both growl and bark. Something was out there!
Maribeth came back to the safety of her computer and tried to ignore the dogs. Perhaps, if they all ignored the critter outside, it would just go away!
An hour or so later, the dogs needed to go out again, and Maribeth couldn’t say no. As much as she feared the bear, she knew she must do this. Slowly, she opened the door. Stepping carefully outside with Greta on a leash, she inched her way toward the grass, her ears perked up, (Maribeth’s, not Greta’s) listening intently for any sudden noises. None came.
When both dogs had communed with nature, Maribeth came inside, closed and locked the door and then finally started to breath again.
1. Going for walks in the woods.
2. The cool temperatures after a long hot summer.
3. The bright colors of the leaves. Orange, red, gold and burnt sienna.
4. The smell of wood fires as people start using their fireplaces again.
5. Apples. Fresh and crisp.
6. Cider. Cold or hot, it doesn’t make a difference.
7. Blue skies. It seems they are brighter and deeper blue in the fall.
8. Quiet. Tourist season ends here in central New Hampshire and our town becomes ours again as the tourists all go home.
9. Apple cheeks. I love seeing the kids around here after they have been playing outside in the crisp air. They have bight red apple cheeks and big smiles.
10. Halloween, my birthday and then Thanksgiving. Can you say good food?
11. Turtlenecks, sweaters and knee socks.
12. Fires in our hearth.
13. Soups, pot roasts, and crock pot meals that I avoid making during the summer, because it’s just too darn hot!
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For those who are waiting, (like me!) Greta has just started her heat!!! Her “night of passsion” will be in roughly 10-14 days!!!
Yippeee!!!
(See I told you, I lead a very boring little life! LOL!)
Last week I pressed grapes and ended up with way too much juice. Some has been frozen for enjoyment over the winter, and today we made 22 half pints of jelly! This is the best batch we have had in years, too. Perhaps this is due to the ripeness of the grapes. Perhaps it is the happiness that the cook felt as she stirred the pot. Whatever it was, the end product is fabulous!
We also made applesauce on Sunday. We sliced up so many apples and cooked them down to a mere 4 pint size freezer bags! So guess what we need to do some more of? There is just nothing like homemade applesauce, though, so it is worth the time.
The last work I will do outside this year will be to strip my garden and pull out every last weed, and plant. Then I want to fertilize it. Once this is complete, I will plant my bulbs for next year around the yard. I have all the bulbs, I just need to set aside a nice fall day to get this completed.
It has occurred to me that you may all be getting the wrong idea about me. It may seem that I am a real “mother earth” type, who cans all their food and cooks from dawn ’til dusk. Nothing could be further from the truth. Actually, this is the first year I have canned to this extent. Or had such a large garden.
I’m really a potato chip and brownie loving hot chocolate drinker who craves McDonald’s fries and a Big and Tasty Burger far too often.
But there is something to be said about the call of nature this year. It’s been a loud call, and with time, land and the sun, who am I to ignore the chance?
Maybe I’m going to become the next Mrs. Greenthumbs!
It was a big day today. My one month check up on my eye. I wanted to get a temporary prescription that would afford me some sort of normal sight in that eye. What I hadn’t counted on was that the stitches would cause a distortion that can only be described as a form of double vision in that one eye. It’s quite odd.
I refused to get upset about it, telling the technician and the medical student and the resident that I really thought the stitches had something to do with it. An eye topography was done and when I saw Dr. W. she confirmed that this was indeed the case.
She did prescribe a temporary prescription and that will help me to see a little better. I stopped at Wal-Mart and ordered the cheapest lenses for my glasses that I could. I can hardly wait for them to come in!
Hubby and I spoke at length with Dr. W. today and discovered that she speaks German! It turns out that she learned German in High School and then won a competition and spent 6 months in Germany! Part of the time she was in Nürnberg and the rest in West Berlin. So she and Hubby spoke a little in German! Needless to say, I told her about Greta and the dog show and the perspective puppies!
My stitches will remain in for a while longer. I am thinking it will be around Christmas before they come out. I told her that this was okay.
Everything in it’s time.
We are all settling down and I have stopped pinching myself to see if Greta has truly gone through with her conformation exam, and been rated. Excellent!!!! Did I say, Excellent??? Oh, pinch me again!
Hubby says I should tell you all what “really” happened at the show. So time to sit down and confess all. No, there were no hot flashes, nor did I fall on my face or faint dead away, but there was a sort of minor calamity. Just a small one, (of course Hubby caught this one with the camera!) and everyone laughed, so it wasn’t too bad.
You see, I was walking Greta around the ring, or should I say running her, as Greta was really moving out. All of a sudden she stopped and I kept going and the collar slipped off over her head! And there she stood all on her own, and there I was a few feet away. There were giggles, and I smiled at Greta, went back, slipped the collar over her head (with great difficulty) and off we went again. A little glitch, but nothing too bad.
It was far easier than I thought. There were no lightening bolts striking me down or large crowds of people judging me. No, everyone was very nice and everyone was there for the same reason. Their love of the dachshund.
Greta was such a trouper and she loved her prize. Which I think is an Opossum. Although one can never be sure.
I leave you know with one last picture. This is Greta and me as we snuggled in bed the night before the big event.
Greta was presented to the judge on Saturday. Was I ever nervous! I shouldn’t have been though. Put Greta in front of a crowd and she comes to life.
She pranced around and really was impressive. The judge deemed her without any faults! Everything was in order.
At the very end, when she had been awarded an excellent score, the judge turned to our Breed Warden and told her that there is only one breeder in all of Germany who breeds this color of wire-haired dachshund. He asked if she was in fact a Vom Geestmoor dog? Yes indeed folks. Greta is from the Vom Geestmoor Kennels in Germany!
Next they took all the dogs who scored excellent and walked them around the ring again. Then the best dog in show was awarded. Bernie’s sister won Best Dog in show, with Greta coming in a close second. Prizes were awarded to each dog. I allowed Greta to select hers.
More later, but for now it is late and I am truly exhausted!
I’m putting this up early as I will be away tomorrow. For Friday’s Entry, please scroll down.
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This is a picture of me the day after my eye surgery in August.
