A New Diet

Remember when I was in kidney failure and Miss Elaine and mom worked together to get me back on track and better enough for me to go on with my life?  That was 2 years ago.   Without Miss Elaine's help, I would probably not be here chatting away on my blog today.    She is one of our bestest friends ever and one of the smartest hoomans we will ever meet!
Miss Elaine is helping me out again now that I have cancer.   She suggested to mom that I introduce new foods into my diet. 
Cauliflower~

 And broccoli~

 And coconut oil~
These are good things to fight cancer!

 I ate all of my dindin and I can't wait for breakie!   I love veges - this is good stuff!

 Miss Elaine also said that the pasta must stop and the rice must stop and the treats must stop because they're carbs and cancer thrives on carbs.
But what about our beautiful holiday cake from Sunshade and Jaffa!     Mom says that Mitch will now get much larger pieces than I get.  Bummer!
There's not much left. We've done a good job on it, huh!

 Miss Elaine and mom want to see me reach my 14th birthday and beyond as long as I stay happy and pain-free!  I want that too!
But what about ice cream, mom? 
Have you checked that out yet?

We got a phone call from Miss Fern and Zoie yesterday.  Their computer is sick and at the hospital being repaired. She wanted us to let you all know so that no one would worry about her.  We hear that Zoie had another fun playdate the day after Christmas so we're sure that she will tell you all about that as soon as she can.

So until next time................

Love ya lots,
Maggie

The Dining Room Project

First of all, we have to thank all of you for your crossed paws and kind words of support.  We feel so overwhelmed with all of the love!  Thank you so very much!  We so appreciate it! 
As you can see, mom has started with the dining room project already.  Monday was a very sad day here and it helped her immensely to have a plan.  She took pictures off the wall and stored knick knacks away and moved furniture and rugs upstairs. She must have gone up and down those stairs at least 50 times!
She's into the patching stage.  The fun will come later when we can paint and possibly stencil.   Stenciling hasn't been decided on 100% yet. 

 Guess what?   I got groomed this morning and it happened in the dining room!  Mom says that this will most probably be the one and only time that any pup is ever groomed in our dining room so that means that I'm pretty special, huh!

 Mom has already told me about 2,000 times that I'm very beautiful, Mitch.  Do you need to tell  me too?  Thank you!

 I feel so much better now.    Thank you so much, mom!
Today was a good day for me.  I was perky and kept us with the pace!  I sure hope tomorrow is a winner too!

So until next time..............

Love ya lots,
Maggie

A Stressful Christmas

On Christmas day, something happened that really stressed mom and dad out.   I had blood clots and fresh bloody drips coming out of my mouth.  When mom raised my jowl and saw tumors and yuckiness she was really panicked! I wasn't in any pain but you know how whigged moms can get!  Why do these things always have to happen on a holiday? 
It wasn't long before mom was on the computer typing in "oral cancer" to try and find out just how serious this new problem was going to be. 
Yesterday afternoon, I went to see my vet.  They weighed me first - I'm 50 pounds!  Mom was really pleasantly surprised about this seeing as I do have kidney disease.  I do eat like a horse, ya know, mom!
Dr. A checked out my mouth, which was really not fun but I let him do his thing.   He told mom and dad that I have a stage 4 heart murmur and he told them that a full blood panel should be done and chest x-rays should be done to make sure that I don't have active cancer and then the ugly growth could be removed. 
Well, I'm 13.5 years old and I'm basically a very happy girl most of the time.  I have many aches and pains getting up from a reclining position and I have problems walking from point A to point B a lot of time. 
Mom and dad are not going to do the x-ray and they're not going to do bloodwork and they're not going to do surgery.  They're going to let me live my life in peace and if and when life gets uncomfy for me, I have tramadol and if it gets really uncomfy and painful for me then we'll cross that bridge when the time comes.

Mitch and I eat holiday cake every day after our walkies.  We still have lots left, Sunshade, and we are sure loving it!

Dad took us all to Glenwood for burgers and fries the day after Christmas and yesterday after my vet appointment we had pizza. 
Life is good for me for now and I'm liking it.

Our mom has a new project. Not only is she helping dad with the Crump cupola but she's also going to tackle repainting our dining room so she has enough to do now to keep her mind focused and not so much free time to worry about me. 

Because, we have been so stressed  prior to seeing the vet, we have been reading blogs but not commenting and we apologize for this.   We'll try to do better. 

Love ya lots,
Miss Maggie

Merry Christmas

We signed up for Jazzi's Christmas pressie exchange again this year and a couple of weeks ago, our package arrived in the mail from Jacque and Pippen.   Our evil mom wouldn't let us open our pressie until Christmas Eve!
FINALLY!
Are you sniffing good stuff in there, Mitch?

Their Christmas card is just adorable! What a cute Scottie!

They sent us a squeaky Santa and a rope toy and bacon treats! Thank you, thank you!

yummmmmmmmmmm

And mom got a handmade potholder!  She's sure going to put that to good use! Thank you so much!

Mitch has already claimed the Santa and the rope toy for himself!  Why does that not surprise me. 
Fine, Mitch - the treats can be all for me!

Thank you so very much, Jacque and Pippen!  You sent us such awesome gifts. You made Christmas even more special for us!

We wish all of our friends a Merry Christmas and a Happy Hanukkah and Happy Holidays and a wonderful weekend!

Love ya lots,

Maggie and Mitch

Christmas Eve Helpers

Mitch and I are both very busy today.  Mitch is helping dad in the workshop.  The sheathing is on the cupola and the lead is being nailed on. The corner boards go on next and then the clapboards.
Keep a watchful eye and make sure he's doing it right, Mitch!

Mom and I are busy baking Pineapple Cheesecake for Christmas day tomorrow.
This is the cheesecake's crust -
2 cups of graham cracker crumbs
1 1/2 Tablespoons of sugar
3 Tablespoons of butter, melted
Combine above ingredients.  Mix well and press into the bottom of a 10-inch pan.  We're using a tube pan.

 Next comes the filling~
3  8-ounce packages of cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
4 eggs
1  8 1/4 ounce can crushed pineapple, drained
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind

Beat cream cheese till light and fluffy.  Gradually add the sugar, beating well.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Add the drained pineapple, the lemon juice and the lemon rind into the cheese mixture. 

We can't let any of this cream cheese go to waste!

 Spoon the cheese mixture into the crust.    It's ready for the oven, mom!
Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 15 minutes. 

 I get to lick the spatula!

 It smells wonderful!    We'll be cooling it thoroughly and putting the cherry topping on tomorrow for Christmas dindin.

 My work is done!  Time for a snooze. 

Santa and his elves will be packing that sleigh soon!  We hope he treats you all well!

So until next time............

Love ya lots,
Maggie and Mitch

Fabulous Friday

We spent all morning in the workshop with mom and dad. They have been working every day on the cupola and they're making progress.  When we left the workshop and  went back to the house to make lunch, we spotted a box on our back porch.   This box had our names on it!  What could it be and who is it from?

 OMD!  It's a special holiday cake just for us and it's from our dear friends, Miss Sunshade and Jaffa!
This picture is when we were on vacation at Something Natural on Nantucket.  We were having a picnic lunch and it was so much fun! 

Wow!  What a fabulous cake!  It's the most gorgeous cake we've ever seen!

 Mom says that it's way too pretty and special to cut into.  But the box says that it's edible and we're supposed to eat it, mom!  We don't want it to mold and spoil now do we?
It smells as good as it looks.  I'll just sample a wee bit before mom notices, Mitch.

Thanks for cutting into the cake mom!    Where are your manners, Mitch?  You're supposed to keep the cake on the plate to eat it!

We have cake for a long time to come!  yahooooooo
But I need to know why we had to cut into MY face first!

Isn't this the most gorgeous cake!

Thank you so very much, Sunshade and Jaffa.   What a supernice surprise!   You guys are the bestest friends ever!

Love ya lots,
Maggie and Mitch

True Colors Thursday - Red

We chose this week's color to be red!

This is a carved heart shaped rose that dad's friend Rebecca gave him.  It's just beautiful.  Thank you so much, Reb!

And this picture is for our good friend, Penny!

Only 3 days left till Christmas!  

Love ya lots,

Maggie and Mitch

A Surprise From Jazzi

Dad took us to Lenny and Joe's last night for shrimp bisque and fishie sandwiches and when we got home, we found a wonderful surprise in our mailbox from Jazzi!
OMD, that's us, Mitch, in a fabulous handmade M-n-M frame! 

 Look at her Christmas card.   Jazzi is shoppin'!   That lady must be her mom!

 She even sent us pictures.  There is one of Jazzi and one of Addy! You girls are lookin' good! 

 We got COOKIES!

 I've got my high-five goin' on here, mom!  I need a cookie too!

 Is that not the most specialest gift ever?!  Thank you so very much, Jazzi and Addy!   We are just loving this!  It is sooooooo creative and so beautiful!

Love ya lots,
Maggie and Mitch

Baking Anginettes with Mom

One day this week, mom was talking with our mail lady named Carolyn.  They were chatting about how much they both love anginette cookies at Christmas time.  The one point that came up that both girls agreed on was how dry they always are and how you need to drink a whole glass of milk to wash down one cookie!  Carolyn told mom that she has an anginette recipe that is moist and to-die-for and she shared it with mom!So that's what we're making ~

This is Carolyn's recipe.  Mom cut it in half and we still got 4 dozen cookies!

2 sticks butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons lemon extract or anise extract if you prefer --  we used the lemon.
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 pound ricotta
4 cups flour
3 eggs
1 teaspoon salt (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Cream butter, sugar and eggs.  Add the other ingredients and mix well.
Bake for 8 minutes.

Frosting:
1 cup confectioners sugar
1-2 Tablespoons of milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

 This is before the cookies are popped into the oven to bake. 

 The helper ALWAYS gets to lick the beaters!   Too bad Mitch is working with the boys today! haha

 The cookies bake at 400 degrees for 8 minutes.   Mom has always cooled her cookies on newspaper. She learned this from her mom.  Does anyone else cool cookies on newspaper?

 They get a dab of glaze next. 

 Merry Christmas to you and your mom, Uncle Bill.  We hope you like the anginettes that mom and I baked.  Uncle Bill is the man that helped dad rescue Mitch.  Bless you always and forever, Uncle Bill!

I love my brother!  I know I tease him and bash him a lot but life wouldn't be any fun without Mitch!  Did you get all of this down, Santa *wink wink*

Mom is going to be making her pineapple cheesecake for Christmas and she's putting cherries on top!
I can't wait to help out with that!

So until next time...........

Love ya lots,
Maggie