Me, Myself and Memories

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  Noreen 2:54 pm on June 8, 2025 Permalink  

  Perfect Day 

  With the clouds, mild temps and a brisk breeze, this would be my all time favorite perfect day.

  After a walk, I went right down into the studio.  The first thing I did was to cut open with the Worx scissor the four pack of C batteries I had bought in the grocery store yesterday.  I almost choked on the $13.98 price tag of them.  I had been without a radio for over a week in the studio.  I knew they were on the list for Sam’s Club the next time we went to Mankato for a better price in a larger volume container.  I had waited long enough. 

  The Worx scissor is going to come in handy for the encased plastic containers that are horrible to get open.

  Today was a tidy up day in the studio.  Odds and ends of purple fabric needed to be put away.  Some of the fabric was piecing materials and some of it was leftover flannel that I had used for the backing.  A Christmas placemat that I had embroidered.  I used my eight inch stool to take down the metal box of memorabilia items to add to it.  Wall shelves to the east and church tables to the west.  I had support.  Some of those items were taken down from the attic when Kersten was lending a hand.  Get it tidied up before the tee-shirts would take over!

  I picked out two red, white and blue wall hangings from the totes.  Bright colors for the living room.  Sometime the amount of wall hangings in the totes will need to be addressed with the kids.  Also there are two quilts that I did with Tri-Chem fabric paints.  One pattern is of Sun Bonnet Sue and the other is of Overall Sam.  I have kind of been kicking around selling those two.  Again addressing that with the kids sometime.  Not soon . . . just sometime.

  When Carrie’s had been here the day before Esther, Megan noted a few small ants in the bathroom.  I kidded her about having live entertainment.  Over time, they had been increasing.  Every day I would add another drop of Terro Ant Killer to the two pads in the areas behind the sink and next to the heat run.  I went outside to the east area that the bathroom was on the house.  No sign of ants outside.  Today, there was a lessening.  I have no idea what they were after.  More drops of the Terro for any late-comers.

  Dennis is feeling the day of walking at the acre with his brush killer yesterday.  The ole cowboy still thinks he is in his 20s.  I can’t do anything to change his mind about what he wants to do.  The 500 mg bottle of Tylenol rattled as he headed to his recliner for a nap.  I hope it helps where ever it hurts.

  We are having Manwich sandwiches, potato chips, coleslaw and pickles for supper.   

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 3:15 pm on June 7, 2025 Permalink  

  Cloudy Saturday 

  Gray and cloudy is the day.  That didn’t much bother what we had on the agenda.

  Dennis mixed up a gallon of brush killer so he could in turn go to the acre and do some spraying.  His Harbor Freight pump sprayer is very doable.  The sprayer was full and the gallon jug for easy refill.  For decades there had been a tree that had had a ring of aluminum lawn fencing around it about a foot tall.  The aluminum has been long gone but the ridge of dirt around it has harbored thistles and other weeds.  Dennis got in a good amount of walking.  There was one huge stump of a tree that Ryan’s crew did not take out.  A lot of barb wire grown into the tree.  The stump is about four feet tall and Dennis gave the area around it a good spraying.  In about six days the effect of the spray will be able to be seen. 

  After my morning walk I headed to the studio to do a batch of tee-shirts.  I came up from the studio for a coffee break.  After checking things on the laptop, I decided to do a second batch of the shirts.  Well, well, the tee-shirts have been cut up with a rather huge bag of the cotton and poly leftovers geared for the garbage.  The backs of the shirts I did bag up for Dennis in the garage.  If nothing else to wipe the hands off when working with mower oil.

  Both Dennis and I had a good day of getting things done and kept under control.

  Late on a Saturday afternoon is a good time to visit the local grocery store.  Everyone buying up for the weekend have been through the check-outs.  Dennis gave me a ride in the car and kicked back listening to the radio while I headed in with my list.  Now, all the groceries have been put away in the refrigerator and or in the freezer.  I have a Maria Cullender cherry pie in the oven with the crumbles to be added on later. 

  Fixing our meals here on Stauffer is more desirable than eating out. 

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 2:45 pm on June 6, 2025 Permalink  

  Gray Skies 

  The gray skies go with the cooler temps that we have.  Dennis has his winter jacket on . . . that’s a bit of over-kill.

  Yesterday after I had put out my post in the mid-afternoon, I was calling it for the day as I had my calisthenics in by doing Dennis’ bedroom.  Surprise, surprise.  By four in the afternoon we had a porch full of various Curry’s.  Susie was here from Silver Bay.  There must have been a silent homing device.  By six the volume was deadening by multiple conversations and alcoholic drinks.  Leave it to the oldest son that has not sobered up since he got here last week to provide to the patio porch.  Dennis kept getting quieter and quieter.  I soon begged off and I retreated to the silence of my home.

  Oh well.  I sat as a bystander, reflecting that last year about this same time, Dennis’ son Jeff would be sitting in the patio porch with his dad, just content to sit and share time and space with his dad.  How soon his siblings forget what alcohol can do.

  Today, I am content being in our quiet home.  I visited the studio and using the Worx scissor, I cut up five tee-shirts of Sadie’s.  Though the scissors has a heft and is started by pushing the safety button to allow a hand held lever to stay engaged, it is a breeze compared to a rotary blade or a usual scissor.  I am taking a wait and see as to how long before I need to recharge via the plug in.  As I work with the shirts, it gives me the time to decide how the next steps will be done.  Amazon delivered the stabilizer that I will need.  Any additional fabric will come out of my stashes that I have on hand.

  Our week is wrapping up nicely.  No appointments on the docket for next week.  Sweet.  

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 1:56 pm on June 5, 2025 Permalink  

  One Task 

  I had decided on one task for today as I mulled things over in my head as I was going to sleep last night.

  Today was the day to take the duvet cover off of Dennis’ coverlet and homogenize the bed in total.  I had the washing machine going before I had my first cup of coffee this morning.  Slow and steady.  The machine cycle gave me a good thirty minute break.

  The one layer of bedding for Dennis has its shortfall.  No matter what the season, it is what it is.  We have the central air on when needed and the furnace likewise.  Dennis requires a very warm bed.  With quilts, it was flannel sheets, two of my quits and then the polar fleece blanket for good measure.  The mattress pad setting at three.  Dennis would get too warm during the night and kick off the covers.  At some time he would pull them back on himself.  Each morning the multi-layers of bedding were . . . everywhere.  One small bedroom with the bed pushed against two walls out of necessity.   I couldn’t keep up having his bed so it was desirable for him for the next night and Dennis making up his bed . . . not so much.  This one layer of bedding can be fluffed each morning and it is called “done”  He still gets too warm, but with one tug, he is back to being covered with the same quality of warmth as what he went to bed with.  I get up every night about three to use the bathroom.  I check on Dennis and nine times out of ten, he is totally under the covering.

  The dry duvet went into the washing machine easily, but Dennis was on call to get it into the dryer.  Very heavy wet undertaking.  The tendency for items such as that is to roll into a ball and not dry thoroughly.  Dennis stayed on hand as I filled the washing machine with the remaining bedding.

  After the second cup of coffee, I loaded the Swiffer and began hunting dust bunnies.  There is not any furniture to speak of in Dennis’ bedroom to avoid sharp corners when he is unsteady.  The Swiffer sought out the fuzz under the bed in short order.  Days like this I am very thankful we have no carpeting in the house. 

  Putting the mix of the feathers and poly coverlet back into the duvet cover after it was dry is like stuffing ten pounds of potatoes into a bag that can only hold five.  Slow and steady.  Dennis needed to use his strong arms to shake it into the rectangle it needed to be.  

  The bedroom was the one task I had held out for today and now at mid-day, I can say, mission completion.  No senior citizens were harmed in this endeavor, but it did take the two of us.

  Subway for supper last night was great.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
• 

  Noreen 2:26 pm on June 4, 2025 Permalink  

  A Bit of This 

  Today is a bit of this and a bit of that . . . and that is how my day is winding down.

  I enjoy my walk in the mornings.  Nothing exciting going on, on the length of Stauffer Avenue.  Birds, squirrels and bunny rabbits.  Our friends, Chuck and Bonny, were not able to return to their home after returning from their stint as snow birds in Tennessee.  No indication that the home will be sold.  The yard has not been mowed for this season.  Hmm.

  Taking time for a coffee break watching a floss tube was next on the agenda.  I took time out as a fellow came by that I had asked his opinion on with our home property.  Very informative and a very pleasant outcome.  Back to the coffee.

  It didn’t take long and the kitchen floor had been mopped.  With windows open on both ends of the house, it was dry before I got my slippers back on.  I do like the scent of the wet Swiffers.

  I did try out the the Worx battery-operated scissors in the studio.  I did five tee-shirts.  The weights that I have in the studio will be coming in handy.  There is a need to have some tension on the tee-shirt so the scissor can glide along.   I got the hang of it and decided five shirts was a good start.

  The bolt of interfacing from Amazon came today.  The lightweight box looked as if it could hold an arsenal of long guns. 

  I gave notice that this evening’s supper was going to be light in substance.  From my vantage point, I believe three contiguous hot suppers, when the activity has been relatively . . . not so much, is due to give the kitchen range a break. 

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 2:13 pm on June 3, 2025 Permalink  

  A Great Rain 

  Today I am sharing something that I have a difficult time doing . . . resting.  Resting for the sheer joy of it.  I have always achieved a busy schedule once my feet hit the floor.  Almost to the point that if I didn’t have something visible, it didn’t count.

  I am caught between two people that I loved dearly.  My grandmother Laura always stressed that if God gave a day there should be something to show so as to not have wasted it.  Though wheelchair bound she wore herself out each day being all that she was able to do.  My dad, Raymond, always took time out for a moment of rest mid-day.  Whether beside the shade of a tractor tire out in the field, or on the floor of any home or building he happened to be in.  Dad laid down and napped.  He didn’t need a wrist watch.  He knew when the day needed to be resumed.

  I did hear what Mike at PT told me on my last session.  Wear and tear over the years of our activity cannot have all the discomfort alleviated by his hands, by medications or steroid shots.  Life.  Mike gave me two exercises to do daily, perhaps multiple times during the day to help me stay on track.  I could not believe it.  Two!  That was it?  Yup Grammie . . . listen to what the body is telling me.  I am not doing steroid shots with short-lived relief.  I will do the Tramadol medication.  I am doing the exercises.  I may still be able to do all that I have a passion for and what brings me joy.  I need to learn the art of resting.  Umph!

  Some repetitive motion is needed on a daily basis . . . but not to excess.  I have always prided myself to continue learning new things with my sewing and even housework.  So . . . this afternoon while in my bedroom porch doing some repetitive work in stitching with bouts of watching traffic.  I believe Dennis has nailed this resting thing.  I am going to give it a daily try as well.  I will keep you up to date.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 3:38 pm on June 2, 2025 Permalink  

  On Line 

  It is four thirty and we have had no internet for most of the day.

  I spent quite a bit of time taking care of my sewing machine in the studio.  Lots of fuzz under the hood.  I made sure to clean the cutter blades.  Having a sewing machine that cuts my thread saves on my right wrist.  Also the needle threader is another perk that saves on the right wrist.  Oil has been added and of course a new size 12 needle.

  Dennis unpacked the electric scissors this afternoon.  It is charging the battery as I type.  Dennis has a blade in it.  Tomorrow we may take the scissor on a test run of one of Sadie’s tee-shirts.  Dennis is in it, to win it.  With him cutting off the sleeves and cutting right across under the neck band and maybe up the sides, that would help a lot.  That would leave me to figure out the dimensions of the design to save per shirt.

  I will check out Amazon as I know I will need a bolt of iron-on stabilizer per tee-shirt front, allowing it to be handled as if the tee-shirt is woven.

  It is warm closing in on hot this afternoon.  When I did a load of dark clothes, I threw in a pair of slip-on shoes from the studio.  I had not worn them for some time, so getting them cleaned up was a good call.  I put them out on the front deck this mid afternoon for drying.

  It is going to be chicken titties, pan fried, plus some steamer veggies for supper. 

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 12:58 pm on June 1, 2025 Permalink  

  Shh! 

  Shh . . . it’s quiet in the neighborhood.  Well, if you discount the fact that birds have put the alarm out that Snuggles is at the water pond of the sump pump.  They can really make a racket thinking that their nests are in danger.  Interestingly is that as Snuggles retreats to the patio porch, the birds will swoop down after him to make sure he feels their distain.

  Today the studio remains in darkness.  I had vowed that as the last of the 14,000 stitches were complete, Grammie was taking a hiatus.  This purple quilt’s components had languished long enough.  Some of them had been moved from one spot to another over a time frame of ten years.  Duplicate embroidered blocks that for one reason or another had not made the cut from the time I made a quilt for Megan.

  

  Whether crocheted trim, orphaned pieced quilt blocks or embroidered blocks . . . they will by-pass the circular file, aka: wastebaskets if they are in a completed project.  The batting of said finished quilt was various pieces of quilt batting that had been taped together to allow for this 52″ x 72″ quilt.  The tape is a specific product for such a use. 

  Megan’s embroidered William pillow and this quilt project are giving the faithful sewing machine a well deserved break.  I have had not one problem as one stitch after another fulfilled the end results.  All that remains when I do return to the studio is to give the sewing machine an oil change along with checking for loose fuzz.  The new needle goes without saying.  New needles are very reasonable for a good finish.

  After a barrage of Curry company since before Memorial Day, Dennis got to nap in his recliner today.  A well deserved nap.  I, on the other-hand have remained in my robe for the day catching up with some of my favorites floss tubes.  Younger would be in sweats for the day. 

  The merry month of May is over.  June will be one day at a time for us older ones on Stauffer Avenue.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 2:28 pm on May 31, 2025 Permalink  

  It is Going to Be 

  After another several minutes and a few more stitches, the purple quilt will be finished.  Dennis came down to visit in the studio this afternoon.

  I have put in a fairly long day today in the studio.  Once there is calibration on the chosen design, it doesn’t make sense to work at it for a time, shut things down and begin again tomorrow.  When all is going well, finish it up.

  I will have photos for tomorrow’s post.

  Dennis’ son Kenny stopped in this afternoon while Dennis was here with me in the studio.  I am being forthright.  Being a trucker for most of his life, he really doesn’t have a personality with which to carry on a conversation as his awareness of more than trucking is nil, and he is not the least bit interested in advancing beyond that.  Dennis is so much more and I appreciate and respect that.

  I very much appreciate the fact that Dennis’ daughter, Denise, is putting him up for his visit.  Cable television, a recliner and being fed fills the bill.

  This is short, but I need to close down the studio.  The air is chilly down here.  And . . . this is a finish.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 2:08 pm on May 30, 2025 Permalink  

  Summer 

  Summer is coming this weekend.  I have enjoyed the cooler temps.

  Today is the first day of the cotton seeds flying from the Cottonwood tree to the northwest of us.  It can play havoc on air filters when lawnmowers are running just sucking them up.  The one tree that did show us some grace was the huge Maple.  The tree seeds that spin in the air like small airplanes were slim to none.

  The studio felt cool this forenoon.  Enough so that I wore a sweater.  The sump pump continues to run intervals.  That announces the fact that cold ground water is running on three sides of the studio via the tiling.

  When I work on the purple quilt, I can see daylight at the end of the tunnel.  What I can also feel is the action of the binding that is needed to finish off the raw edges.  Sewing the yards of binding on one side of the perimeter of the quilt is step one in a two-step process.  Step two is taking that binding and bringing it over to stitch it to the top of the quilt, meaning my right hand needs to grip that half inch of binding fabric to cover the edge of the quilt to feed it under the needle for the last hurrah.  I let those two steps to be done in just as many days, showing some mercy to the ole body.

  For another day in the studio, the eight blocks that are eight inches by ten inches need to have some stitching to ward off the batting bunching up.  I sized up the process for possibilities.  I do believe I need to think on this.  Most likely the solution will come to me as I lay in bed this evening before dozing off.  In the mean time, the lights went dark and the radio was turned off.

  I put a pork steak into the little blue speckled roaster for the oven to be ready for our supper.  A bit of bold and spicy marinade on the top will seal in the flavors.  The pork to fix for meals today is not the pork for meals that I grew up with.  It is now by far leaner and more flavorful.  Instant potatoes and green beans will round out the fare . . . plus whatever else we come up with.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥