George Reviews Our Week

Hello Friends! I’m home from work today because I've been under the weather with a cold and sore throat since Thursday. I stayed home today just to give myself one more day to get over the congestion, etc., before I have to wear a mask all day at work on Tuesday. 

~Todd watching the weather from our front porch~

And even though there hasn't been much going on, George who always has something to say, volunteered to catch you up on our news. (link to 18 second video here)

 

Thanks for catching everyone up George - Isn't he a good boy? ❤

In a Good Place

We are just cruising right along in the New Year! 

~Our road on a recent snowy day~

And knock, knock, knock on wood (please!!!) at the moment the dogs are all in a pretty good place right now. 

If we have to put one of the dogs at the top of the list of concerns, it would be George. He's relying on us to help him get to his feet. Once he's up, he gets around with not too many problems, but an appointment with the vet is on list of things to schedule. I'm not quite sure what the "disconnect" is with his needing so much help. But I'm thinking acupuncture or cold laser therapy (or both) may be in his future and that will hopefully help him.

~George ❤~

Our outdoor kitty "White Boy" wasn't exactly in a good place last week, when he found himself stuck on the roof after our last snowfall. 

I heard White Boy crying and I thought he was trapped in our woods somewhere and Carl was looking for him there, and couldn't find him - But when he turned around to come back towards the house, Carl spotted him on our roof. Cats! 

As to how White Boy got up on the roof, there is an arborvitae pine tree in front of our garage, that almost reaches the gutter, and even though it has small bendy-branches, he must've found some way to climb it and get on the roof.  Why he climbed the tree and got on the roof is anyone's guess, but there was no way he was going to be able to get down on his own. When Carl handed down him to me, he started purring. I'm sure he was happy for that adventure to end.

It goes without saying Todd of course prefers to keep his feet on the ground -- A little tidbit about Todd, is that even though he only weighs about 25 pounds, (about 11 kg) he doesn't like to be picked up. He's a Scottie after all, and not a cat -- We're both glad about that. 🙂

Or snow from last week has all melted, and according to the weathermen, 

we're on track for a winter-storm tomorrow 

that will bring snow, ice and end with rain.  

We'll see if they get it right. 

The weathermen also noted that as of today, 

it's 64 days until Spring! 

~Shaggy Max!~

Our New Year Begins

Happy New Year Blogging Friends! What a year 2021 was. The past twelve months were full of a whole range of emotions of highs and very lows that I didn't post about. So with just a bit of trepidation, I think I may be ready for 2022. I do want to thank-you for your kind comments of support during the not so good times, and for cheering us on this past year. You've kept me going, and there's no way I could ever thank-you for that. You have made a difference for me. 

~A Very Shaggy Max~

Our holidays were really nice. As stress free as they could be despite working and the rush to get to the finish line to get everything done. 

We did keep a pair of foster dogs that were also with us this past fall for a few days. Ginger and Charlie returned just before Christmas, and left New Year's Day. The two were fun and the perfect houseguests. Ginger is a toy-burier-extraordinaire, and we had to keep an eye on her when she had toys, because she was so good at it!

~The lovely Ginger~

~The Handsome Charlie~

Our dogs like them, and aside from a few growls from Ginger, everyone got along. As we were saying good-bye, I'd wished that I'd taken some new photos of them - The ones above were taken in the fall.

And since we're on the subject of pairs of dogs - Below is an update on Hansel and Gretel that came the day after Christmas and was posted on Facebook. I could not have been happier to read "MC's" fun post and that this very special pair that I adore has found the best forever home! I honestly felt like I'd been given a Christmas gift! 

So, we begin the year on a good note. I took Monday off work, and snow is expected for us in the morning. I cannot wait. Longtime readers know how much I love snow days; which is just as much as Todd loves any day that involves getting to play with a ball or two!

A Christmas Tradition

Every single year I make an annual pilgrimage to a German grocery store, named Aldi's and buy a German Christmas stollen. I'll confess, that I'm not a huge fan of them. But for more years than I can remember, my Mom always bought them and sent me a couple for the holidays. She really loved stollen and even kept a few in her freezer to have through the year, enjoying a piece with a cup of tea. So I do the same. I buy a loaf from Aldi's of the marzipan stollen, and have a piece with a cup of tea and remember her. It's a Christmas tradition. Do you have any Christmas traditions like this? 

I hope your week is off to a good start! 

**For those who don't know what stollen is, here's a bit of it's story.

Stollen is a cake like yeast bread that usually has dried or candied fruit, orange and lemon zest, spice and cardamom spices for flavoring.  It is coated with powdered sugar or icing sugar and often containing marzipan. It was also called Striezel or Christstollen. Striezel is a word for loaf, and the shape of the bread along with being dusted with powdered sugar was a symbolic shape of the baby Jesus in swaddling clothes so it was also called Christstollen.

Dresden Stollen is said by some historians to have originated in 1329 as a result of a contest offered by the Bishop of Nauruburg. Bakers in the region produced a wonderful bread baked with the finest butter, sugar, raisins, citron and other specialty ingredients. The Bishop enjoyed the stollen so much that he ordered a quantity of grain saved for stollen only.

Stollen is mentioned for the first time in 1474 in the accounts of the Christian Hospital of St. Bartholomew in Dresden where it is referred to as a cake for the fasting period, consisting of only flour, oats and water as required by Church dogma.

Stollen became such a part of Dresdeners' lives that it was cut and served with special, stollen only utensils. It was also tradition that the first piece of stollen was set aside and kept to ensure the family would be able to afford a stollen the following year and the last piece saved to ensure the family had enough food for the year.

~Jake, hoping for a bite of stollen ❤~