The Dackel Princess

Christmas Happenings 2020

This year, after a year of isolating and being cut off from so many of my friends and family, I prayed for one thing. I just wanted to spend Christmas Even and morning with my two grandchildren.

Well, I was blessed because I got to be with grandchildren on Christmas Eve, make cookies, play and visit and share, and then wake up on Christmas Morning and see their wide eyes as they surveyed all that Santa had brought to their home!

Stockings were opened and enjoyed! My former husband made us all breakfast and the friendship between us, his wonderful life partner, Rachel, and I made the entire event feel like life in this crazy world, we were all family! Bob’s son was also with us and his daughter was there via Zoom!

Family. Blended and working. I am ever so grateful for this!

After breakfast, we began the herculean task of opening Christmas gifts! So much fun and so much shared happiness and joy!

***************

Then I called Jack at home to say Merry Christmas and he told me that there was something wrong with Arnie. He wasn’t eating, or drinking, and it seemed his skin infection had returned.

Try as I might to not let this concern me too much, I was overcome and I said my goodbyes quickly, packed what I could in my car, and in almost record-breaking time I was home!

I grabbed my doggy thermometer and Arnie was feverish. He also wasn’t moving much, although I got a little tail wag with happiness upon my arrival.

I called the Emergency Clinic, which is just down the street, and brought Arnie right in. Because of Covid, I had to wait in the car, while they took him in.

Yes, bad fever and infection are on his back. (skin) He was also dehydrated and needed an IV and antibiotics. We decided he needed to be admitted for the night at least.

The next morning I went to pick him up, and although he is better, he is hardly well. I’ve been sitting with him, also doing laundry and feeding him, and making sure he is drinking.

***************

So, Christmas was full of blessings and a lot of love and in the end, it seemed I was right where I was supposed to be when I was supposed to be there.

Maribeth

Merry Christmas 2020

Merry Christmas!

It’s All In A Days Work

Tuesday found me excelling at my house-work. Almost as soon as I got up I was using our roof rake to take off some of the snow that was up there.

I will say this, I’ve never done roof raking before, and after three separate times outside doing this, parts of my body began to object.

So, I decided to come in and make the Seafood Lasagna, which I will cook for Jack’s Christmas Dinner.

Now I will say that I used just about every pot in my kitchen in the preparation of this lasagna! No kidding, I filled the dishwasher when I was done!

That took me two hours to do, and once this was done, I started the laundry, went to the Post Office, and then came home and had to figure out what to make for dinner. Using the leftover lasagna pasta, I made a small Italian Lasagna.

I finally finished with dinner dishes, walked the dogs, and now I am just waiting to put the last laundry load into the dryer. Then I will be done for the day.

I am quite happy with all that I got done, But I am sure in the morning, when this old body gets out of bed, I will be one hurtin’ pup!

It’s All About..December 22nd

It’s all about getting your priorities straight!

It’s funny. People ask you what you might want for Christmas and honestly, I really don’t want a lot. When I was asked this recently, my response was:

TIME!

It’s funny, but in my early sixties, I realize that time for me is starting to run out. If I am lucky, I will have 20+ years to enjoy. But since I have never been lucky, I will take it one day at a time.

What’s important in your life? What are the people or the things that make you happy, make your life worth living?

In this, my sixty-second year, I think I have finally figured it all out and gotten my priorities straight.

The Weekend Wrap ~ December 21st

My kitchen on Saturday and most of Sunday looked like the aftermath of a ticker-tape parade! Bits of paper, ribbons, and bows were strewn all around the kitchen! It was time for me to wrap the gifts I have ordered the last few months, and I guess I am getting old because it took me far longer to wrap than it ever has!

I have these wonderful shopping bags that I stacked the presents in, and they are now ready to go, whenever it is that I will go and see my grandchildren.

I did have one problem. a cute outfit I had purchased for my grandson, was not in good shape! It appeared that the outfit had been slashed with a knife! So, that one is going back!

I fretted about this and in the end, I found a supplier of the exact same outfit that will have it here on Monday afternoon!

Once I finished up with the wrapping, and folded the paper up, and stored the bows and labels, I came into my kitchen to wash my hands. I turned on the water and we had almost no water pressure!

I put on my boots and coat and went to check the cell-cocks around the house to make sure none of them had turned on. Sure enough, there was one near our screened-in porch that was gushing! I trudged through the snow and got it to shut off. Water pressure problem fixed! Of course, I was soaked, as the snow is well IP past my knees.

And then, mid-afternoon, it started to snow once again. This time just a few inches.

The weekend was finally over. Wait! Monday is laundry day! No rest for me!

Happy Birthday, Amanda Mae!

Today is my daughter’s birthday. A special day for her, but in the beginning, it was a very special day for her father and me.

Amanda was the first child born to us. She was healthy and happy and amazingly beautiful! We both immediately fell in love with our girl.

She was a bright and alert baby, who seemed to grow up very quickly. Always sweet and loving, yet determined to set the world on fire.

Whatever she sets her mind to, she accomplishes, but perhaps her greatest accomplishment is the fact that she is a wonderful mother to her two kids and their 2 dogs and a cat!

I am so proud of the woman she has become. She is a self-made woman who continues to tackle challenges that many would run from.

So on this, her special birthday, I wish her, good health, much happiness, and a fulfillment of all her dreams.

I love you so much, Amanda!

The Friday Five ~ December 18th

In a week we will celebrate Christmas. It doesn’t seem possible. This year is ending, and the darn Virus is still wreaking havoc with my family and friends. Oh well, here is this week’s list.

We’d been wondering if we would have a “White Christmas”. Well, Mother Nature is laughing loudly at us, as we have over 3 feet of snow, (and as I write, it is still snowing!) It is well past “pretty snow”, and now it is tough. I have been out twice to clear out the satellite dish. This means shoveling my pathway, using the roof rake to get some of the snow down (usually on top of me and my face!) and then climbing a ladder with a long-handled broom to sweep off the satellite dish. The second time I did this I thought I was having a heart attack! It’s hard work.
Then at noon, I brought out the two dackels. Jack had shoveled a little path, but here is the sad thing. My little blind Anneliese was completely disoriented. She couldn’t smell anything familiar, everything is white and bright, and she was totally lost. She kept walking in a circle.
I brought her in and into my bathroom where I could blow her fur dry, but she was so upset, she went into the corner of the room and wouldn’t come back. I stood up, and went and got her, dried her a bit more, and then brought her into the family room and put her in her bed. I wish I could say that this helped calm her, but she is still very upset.
I did not see that coming, however, and I am angry with myself for not having thought out a plan on dealing with snow and a blind doggy. I will be leashing her and taking her out from now on, so she knows she is not alone.
This weekend is wrapping weekend. I think I will open up my kitchen table to its full size, lay-out the gifts and paper, and have at it.

Have a great weekend everyone!

TBT: 1983 ~ My Girls

My girls, Mandy and Katie

Seafood Lasagna

I’ve decided that this is what I am making for our Christmas meal. It is actually fairly easy, and so very delicious!

Seafood Lasagna

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 lb shrimp

1/2 lb crab

1/2 lb scallops

2 garlic clove, minced

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 T butter

2 cups béchamel * (recipe below)

1/4 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup dry white wine

1 cup Swiss Cheese Mozzarella cheese mixed, shredded

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

8 lasagna sheets, cooked ‘al dente’

salt and white pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

In a saucepan, melt 1 Tbs of the butter,
sauté the garlic until transparent – do not brown or burn.
Add the shrimp, scallops, and crab. Toss over high heat for 1-2 minutes.
Add onions, stir and continue cooking till shrimp lose their transparency.
Remove from heat and set aside.
Prepare the béchamel.*
When béchamel is ready, stir in the cream, wine, and salt and pepper to taste, blend thoroughly and remove the sauce from the heat.
Spread about a third of the sauce over the bottom of an 8 x 10 or round pie pan.
Sprinkle 1/2 the cheese mixture over the sauce.
Scatter about half the shellfish evenly over the cheese.
Cover with half the lasagna sheets. Repeat the layers finishing with the last sheets of lasagna.
Cover with the remaining sauce and Parmesan.

The layers, from the bottom:
Sauce

Lasagna

Sauce
Cheese
Seafood
Lasagna
Sauce
Cheese
Seafood
Lasagna
Sauce
Parmesan

BAKE for 30-40 minutes or until the topping is golden brown (keep an eye on it, you don’t want the top to burn).
Let stand for about 10 minutes before serving.

*Bechamel Sauce

2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 1/4 cups milk, heated**
Salt
Freshly ground pepper

When béchamel is ready, stir in the cream, wine, and salt and pepper to taste, blend thoroughly and remove the sauce from the heat.

** Use 1 cup of milk for the sauce in the seafood lasagna because heavy cream and wine will thin the sauce. This will result in the sauce being thicker than usual, but that’s ok!

Melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan.
Stir in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, until the paste cooks and bubbles a bit, but don’t let it brown — about 2 minutes.
Add the hot milk, continuing to stir as the sauce thickens.
Bring it to a boil.
Add salt and pepper to taste, lower the heat, and cook, stirring for 2 to 3 minutes more.
Remove from the heat.
To cool this sauce for later use, cover it with wax paper or pour a film of milk over it to prevent a skin from forming.
Makes about 1 cup.

PS. I ALWAYS use more cheese than a recipe calls for. It’s always your call to use more or less…