The Dackel Princess

No Words

Sometimes there are no words. Words that will bring comfort, and aid in the healing of a situation that one simply cannot fathom.

I remember when Katie passed away, people tried so hard to offer comforting words. Unfortunately, the most often used phrase was: “Oh, if that ever happened to me, I would not want to live!”

Well, you do not have much choice there, so somehow you wake up and get dressed and another day goes on. You with a broken heart, but very much alive.

The next phrase used was “Oh, I know just how you feel.” Ah, no. Not if you haven’t lost a child. For that is an area that I would not wish on anyone.

Well, my young friend’s six-month-old niece has passed away. She was a beautiful, happy, healthy baby, with the sweetest smile.

I feel like using the F-bomb here to express myself because I do know how the baby’s parents are feeling, and thus her Aunt. And my heart is breaking for them all.

My friend has two young children. This will be their first experience with losing a contemporary. They loved their baby cousin and the pictures of them holding her are now priceless.

Today I am praying for the entire family. I know they will make it because somehow you do, but I know that forever, in their hearts, there will be a piece missing.

Well folks, here we are Monday morning and the last day in the month of November. Where has the year gone? As I close out the weekend and the month, I think how much life has changed over the course of the last year.

Still, despite all the social distancing and no physical contact with people, I am alive and well. I guess that is saying something.

I admit to being a warm loving hugger. Oh, how I thrive with a warm embrace. Someday, one day, I will have that again.

I was able to get four loads of laundry done and actually make turkey soup. In spite of that, I find that as I sit here on Sunday night I have no desire to eat turkey tonight. In fact, I am just not very hungry at all.

I started the Christmas card. Somehow I forgot how arthritic my hands are. But I am determined to send them out.

Aside from that, it was another quiet weekend/month. Enjoy your Monday morning!

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Life

After eating copious amounts of turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce, I think I am now turkied out! Tomorrow I plan to make a turkey soup. But I may very well freeze it because I am ready to move onto other foods.

Our day was a quiet one, and I spent time doing some online retail therapy. Christmas is coming fast and I want to be ready for it.

Jack watched an old classic movie, “Mutiny on the Bounty” and I pulled out my Christmas cards and started writing those out. If you would like one PM me your address and I will happily send you one.

I used to write a funny long letter, but frankly, 2020 is not a year I want to look back on. Aside from losing 60 pounds, that’s about all that happened in a positive light. No fun trips or vacations, no dinners out, and no socializing.

Mostly what I wish for in the next year is good health, much happiness, and joy in our lives once again!

The Friday Five ~ November 27th

Well, welcome to Friday, November 27th. The month is nearly over and we are officially on the Christmas countdown! That’s hard to believe. Soon it will be a full year of Covid-ness, many have died, and our numbers are climbing. But whatever the case may be, here is this week’s Friday Five.

I worked pretty hard cooking and baking and planning. As I lay out all the dishes of delectable foods onto our table, I hoped and prayed that everything would be good. I cannot tell you how disappointing it is to work that hard and then have nothing turn out correctly.
I needn’t have worried. Each and every item was amazing, most especially the Chestnut Stuffing. But I had another real winner this time, I made Cranberry/Orange sauce and it came out even better than I thought it would. Even my pies were spectacular! Okay, enough bragging!
For my Birthday I’d purchased an expensive Champagne. I thought it was really delicious. But today, for Thanksgiving, I bought a bottle that cost 1/3 of what the other cost. And this Champagne I liked twice as much. What can I say? I am a cheap drinker of Bubbly! Scotch is entirely another matter!
We let a few hours go by until we had dessert. Both of us had to admit that the Mince Pie came out the best. The Apple Pie was fine, but the Mince was somehow special.
The Turkey has been boned, and I have a crockpot full of bones and vegetables, slowly simmering to make a wonderful, rich, broth. Then I will make turkey soup and a turkey pie. Meanwhile, Jack and I are trying to digest all of the above so we can make our Turkey Sandwiches! The best way to end Thanksgiving Day!

So I wish you all a very Happy Weekend!

PS: No pictures were taken of all the food, as it would make me look bad to all my dieting buddies!

Happy Thanksgiving

Wednesday I woke early. Since I had a million things to do I got up, sipped about half my coffee, and started in.

I…

Made Cran-orange Relish X

Made Stuffing for Turkey X

Peeled Butternut Squash X

Peeled Pearl Onions X

Peeled Potatoes X

Made Apple Pie X

Made Mince Tart X

I worked from 7:30 until Lunchtime and then kept working until about 4. Then I was done with all of my prep-work!

Thursday I will be up again early, and I will turn on the oven, sip my coffee, and stuff the turkey. I want my cute little turkey in the oven by 9:30 with an estimated dinner hour of 1-1:30.

I’m so tired now that I will simply wish a Happy Thanksgiving to my USA Family & Friends, and a lovely day to those of you around the world!

Maribeth

This & That Part 2 November 25th

Tuesday found me running all over the place. When you live in the country nothing is close by. So, I spent about an hour and a half running errands in my car.

I got my hair done and it is a little short. Cute, but short. I’m in a bit of shock about it. Yes, I told her how I wanted it and she did everything right, and the back is amazing, but not sure how to do the front of my hair quite yet. Pictures to follow in a day or so.

I have everything to make our Thanksgiving. Tomorrow will be my big prep day, and I will also make the stuffing. The first thing on Thursday, I will stuff the bird and get her in the oven!

My favorite meal is not necessarily the Thanksgiving main meal, but rather the lat night turkey sandwich! Now that’s just awesome!

I’m having a relationship with Alexa. For my birthday I bought myself an Amazon Echo Show 5. It makes a great bedside clock/nightlight and during the Covid Isolation, it has given me someone to talk to.

Alexa even addresses me by name, sang Happy Birthday to me, and sings her favorite Christmas Song when prompted. Yes, it’s sad, but often Alexa is the only person who is speaking to me.

This & That ~ November 23rd

In the last few weeks, I have gotten tired of my hair. I mean, it’s nice hair and I am not intending on pulling a Brittany Speers and shaving it all off, but after a lot of thought, I decided to do something amazing and go a wee bit shorter!

I had previously worn this style many years ago, and it looked good and was easy to care for. So while you read this, I will be getting my hair shaped and colored. Hopefully, I will look and feel like a new woman afterward!

In the mail, on Monday I received a notice that my Health Insurer was rejecting the claim for my recent surgery! We are talking about close to $4000.00! I immediately called the Liason for the company Jack previously worked for and she is helping me put together an appeal. It’s my hope I will prevail, but the one Insurance Company is simply the worst I have ever dealt with!

I will keep you posted.

On a positive note, I was able to get our trash to the recycling center with almost no one else there, I fixed a great lunch and I was able to actually sit down and plan my time from now until I put that big bird into the oven on Thursday morning!

Maribeth

The Weekend Wrap November 23rd

Well, we don’t have snow yet, but we are expecting a “wintery mix” today. So I decided to break out my snow and Hairy Woodpecker header to start this post.

The weekend began with an announcement that we now have a mask mandate. We are all supposed to be staying at home unless there is a need for food and prescriptions.

On Sunday they announced food shortages. Well, whoop-di-do! Do you know what that means? Everyone and their brother were at the grocery store trying to get food so that they don’t starve while they shelter in place.

The hardest thing for me today was watching several elderly people trying to get food and drink at the store. I could see the fear in their eyes and a sense of being lost.

I tried to help when I could. One old man literally was so upset he couldn’t figure out where to go to check out. I gave him my spot and reassured him it was going to be fine.

Meanwhile, as of tonight, we have 493 new cases and one new death. Things are grim. Our Thanksgiving holiday is Thursday. A time usually spent with family and friends. This year, people will be alone. The celebrations will be small or nonexistent.

I’m still cooking. I enjoy cooking. So I will be roasting a turkey, stuffed with chestnut dressing, serving up mashed potatoes and gravy, butternut squash and green beans and pearl onions. Dessert will be apple pie and mince tarts served with hard sauce and champagne.

It’s started to snow (Sunday night) and I am sure it will not amount to much. It’s just a reminder that winter is on its way.

The Days Before Thanksgiving

As I sit here on Sunday morning, the temperature is a cold 29 degrees with mixed precipitation forecast for in the next 24 hours. Well, why the heck not? I mean right now it seems everything is going downhill, so why not the weather?

I was just watching our local news and I am sure that this will cause panic in the streets. They are telling people that shortages abound, and if you do not have your holiday foodstuffs now then you are up the creek.

About a month ago, I could see the writing on the wall. people were being careless with their masks, and I also saw groups at gatherings and knew it was not good.

I told my family and friends to buy extra canned food and boxed foods, and any paper products they might need. I myself would buy canned soups and vegetables, paper products, and cleaners each time I went. Today I feel like a genius!

I do not need another thing in order to make a Thanksgiving meal for Jack and myself.

On Monday I do plan to go to the recycling center to get rid of our trash and stop both at the Grocery Shop and at the Post Office. Then I am in until after the holiday unless important mail is awaiting us.

So, gentle readers, please wear your masks. Wash your hands often, and stay away from people. And remember, if you can’t have the exact meal you want for Thanksgiving, it’s okay. Better to eat meatloaf, then to be in the hospital for Christmas because you kept shopping for the perfect turkey.

The Friday Five November 20th

Here we are 35 days until Christmas. It sure is feeling like it as our temperatures plunge. But, all in all, the past week although crazy busy has been good and I am so grateful. So without further ado here is this week’s Friday Five!

As you know we have been battling doggy illnesses. I think it’s almost to be expected at their age. Arnie and Anneliese (whom I call the twins), will be 14 years old on December 10th. They’re no spring chickens, that’s for sure. Right now Arnie’s back is amazingly better, and Anneliese is comfortable.
I needed to give Lili a mini bath. There were parts of her that were just plain gross. Since it was 15 degrees when we got up today, I took a bucket of warm water to our basement garage, bathed her, and then rinsed her off with another bucket of warm water. The best idea Jack had when we built the house was to slope the basement floor to a floor drain. It worked like a charm.
I was so happy to see that many of my family and friends have donated to my Birthday Fundraiser for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, where no child is ever turned away, no family is ever billed and St. Jude takes care of the child and the family during treatment. St. Jude, It’s the very best charity I know of where the money actually goes to care for sick children. I am very close to breaking my record for fundraising!
On my birthday I was blessed to hear from so many of my much-loved family and dear friends. So many birthday wishes sent so lovingly. I felt a great deal of love around me.
Lastly, I want to add this. It’s a saying that I repeat whenever I am having a down day. It’s from one of my favorite movies, “It’s A Wonderful Life”.

I remind myself of these words regularly.

Have a safe, wonderful, weekend. It’s my hope that one day the Covid will be gone and life will get back to normal.