Me, Myself and Memories

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  Noreen 2:03 pm on October 19, 2026 Permalink  

  Continuing On 

  A restart on the hand stitching has commenced.  The 25 count per inch fabric will make the design doable.  The finch will be 14″ x 18″.  Not to worry as I have a magnifying lamp directly off of my right elbow.  I did addition needles.  I have two brands that are size 28.  I threaded up both needles to see how it feels with the punching and stabbing that will ensue.

  The fabric is quite stiff.  In time from handling it and doing the hooping and rehooping as the stitches go in, it will loosen up.  The situation that broached itself yesterday was that it took both Dennis and I to get the six inch spring hoop onto the fabric.  We got it done and that would have been great, other than the fact that each time the stitches would fill the hoop, the application would need to do done over and over.  Six inches sounds like a lot but only the center can be filled in comfortably.

  The hoop situation sent me straight to Amazon.  Watching numerous Floss tubers, one hoop was referred to many times by many stitchers.  The Nurge hoop from Amazon will be at our doorstep in several days.  I watched many videos.  Four different sizes for $29.00 plus tax . . . no shipping expense.  The Nurge hoop is used by tightening the screw when the fabric is as taunt as desired.  I know!  I know!  A screw to be tightened with my arthritic fingers? 

  When we had the sewing machine to Bird Island a month ago, Kelly sent home with me the ScrewKeyDoo #2.  It is a hard vinal attachment and is two ended.  One end is metal to easily take the sewing machine needle off and on.  The other end is to slip over the screw of the Nurge hoop to loosen and tighten.  The ScrewKeyDoo #2 is championed by Bernina and is a product of Spokane, WA.   The first hoops by Bernina had had the same concept of the screw for their embroidery hoops, of which I have several.

  I have spent the cost of the Nurge order for something that will and may offer me  countless hours of entertainment with my stitching.  The stitching is all a part of occupational therapy.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 2:26 pm on October 18, 2026 Permalink  

  Measure, Measure 

  Measure twice before cutting.  The cutting was not even entertained as I had not even measured once correctly.  The hand stitching design was very specific as to what would be needed in fabric to achieve the finished product.

  It was a good thing I had only two days of hand stitching in, before I realized something looked off.  The only thing that was right, was the fact that the fabric was white.  Nothing too serious.  Start over and be thankful it was caught before too long.  I had two pieces of fabric in the drawer and I assumed the correct one had been pulled out.  Try, try, try again.

  Dennis received news today that his granddaughter that does the fighting:  kicking biting punching, barefoot will have her next match in France.  Yes, the same France that is now experiencing much upheaval.  There must be a much better, much safer way to make a living.  That’s all I have to say about that.

  The Subway treat was very good last night.  The Italian bread was very tasty with all the goodies.

  Catching an update on YouTube never hurts when I am not quite sure about a sewing element on the machine over and above of what I normally do.  Foundation paper piecing called for an update by me.  It worked out well.  It’s just too hard to be believable that it would not be one if not the first place to make an inquiry about..  I belong to a Facebook group specific to my model number of the Bernina sewing machine.  It blows me away, when some of the ridiculous questions come over and over.  Even referring to the owner’s manual would work.   

  It’s been a quite lazy day on Stauffer.  I am thinking an omelet could be the answer to this evenings meal.

  With that I will take my leave. ♥

   
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  Noreen 1:55 pm on October 17, 2026 Permalink  

  MEA Weekend 

  Our neighbors to the north ask us to keep an eye out on any comings and goings as they would be gone over the weekend with their son and grandchildren.  What a great weekend to travel to Omaha’s famous zoo over this MEA weekend.

  It did not take long today and the grain hauling is in full force past our home to the grain elevator.

  A jacket was needed this morning when I went to Lewis Drug for a prescription.  The north wind dang near swept me away getting to the door.  Drive-thru service would be great, but the left arm doesn’t play well for that to work.  It’s nice to greet Audrey as she man’s the counter.

  I have my next stitching project begun.  It’s a pattern of monochrome cross stitch.  Shades that define the pattern while worked in black floss over 20 stitches to the inch fabric.  One thread over one.  A small slow start until I decided to work one ten x ten grid at a time . . . it will still be slow, but less likely for counting errors.  I do like the monochrome aspect.

  At four this afternoon, I will be visiting Subway for our supper.  A twelve inch tuna on cheese bread with all the fixings does well for us.  A bag of sea salt and vinegar flavored chips rounds it out.  That combo is not to be found in our grocery store.  

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥♥

   
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  Noreen 2:20 pm on October 16, 2026 Permalink  

  Rain and Wind 

  During the night, the north wind really rattled the awning on the west side of our home.  I did not think there were any dried needles left in the evergreen on the northwest corner of the house.  Not.  The front sidewalk is covered. 

  This afternoon it was an hour long conversation with Calvin.  He was in good spirits.  I have no difficulty chit chatting and reminiscing.  Eric comes to see him once a week if he is not traveling for work.  Eric also knows what extra items Calvin wants for his apartment refrigerator.  The two of them might also have a meal out together. 

  We have some fresh dirt across the front of our yard where the new fiber optics line was put in.  The squirrels have been hell bent on digging in their stash.  Time will tell in the next years as to how many        black walnuts have escaped “the dig” when spring arrives.

  Unbeknown to me, I did not realize Dennis had broken the plastic on the prescription of his currant head gear for his sleep machine.  He had reverted to the supply of his old prescription.  Upon investigating, the noise that has become nightly is for the poor fit and the air escaping.  Last night it did sound as if a bull moose was trying to gain access to the house.  Next Wednesday, there is an appointment set up at the sleep center in Mankato.  Perhaps a tutorial and a gentler touch may be the answer.

  Dennis offered to help with supper.  He is now aware of the process of peeling raw shrimp and getting them ready for a quick sauté in the fry pan.  Live and learn.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 2:15 pm on October 15, 2026 Permalink  

  It Is What It Is 

  The rain has been coming down since sometime before I wanted to get out of bed.  I had slept well straight through the night.

  I have let many creative ideas that I had had leave my days.  I found someone that could make good use of re-purposing them.  It felt just as good doing that as the decision to look at bare dirt rather than flowers among the weeds.

  It is what it is.

  I am on a quest of quite a few things.  I have finished one small hand stitched item and that brought about what the next would be.  Pulling out fabric and counting threads to pair up with what the design calls for and then pulling out the floss.  Watching Floss Tube on YouTube is encouraging and also can be enabling.  I need no new products of any type.  The encouragement is sufficient.

  It is what it is.

  My sewing machine, as of this morning, is oiled and sporting a new needle.  There are more things for a sewing machine project other than mending, quilting, embroidering.  Much like the squirrels, I am gathering my supplies from the shelving in the studio.  Search and I will find.  I surprise myself as to what I can find in my stashes.

  It is what it is.

  Dennis has been in the napping mode most of the week.  It humbles me that I need to curb how much I tackle from the time I get up until I go back to bed at night . . . as when the physical umph has been spent . . . there is no more.  It saddens me that Dennis has no will to tackle anything any more.

  It is what it is.

  After laundry has been folded, supper will be considered.  Today I vote for fluffy waffles and sausages.

  The rain is continuing and the parade of harvest semi trucks has ceased for now.

  With that I will take my leave.♥

   
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  Noreen 2:41 pm on October 14, 2026 Permalink  

  Wednesday 

  What . . . again with the hump day?  The days of October are dwindling a bit too fast for my liking.

  Today was a day that was gray, damp and gloomy.  Are gray and gloomy similar adjectives describing the day we are experiencing? 

  A visitor dropped in this early afternoon.  It was a good thing the coffee pot was still hot.  Out of the freezer came some banana nut muffins to be thawed for a luncheon.  Much chatter arose over the feast.

  My next quest is to work with my Hp printer.  I want to enlarge the design on a piece of paper.  It is coming back to me.  I need to scan the item in the printer.  The next set is to save the image on my laptop.  I think then I have the ability to enlarge it and send it back to the printer to be printed out.  In theory this should work or I will fiddle with it until it does.  Time is on my side.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 2:19 pm on October 13, 2026 Permalink  

  Get Up! 

  I had no idea what time it was on this Tuesday, the 13th.  I had heard the garage truck empty our bin.  I had heard Dennis go out to the patio porch.  I believe I then drifted off again.

  I heard my phone and that got me up . . . in a hurry.  I caught the phone ring before it died.  What ensued was a 45 minute call.  I can’t really call it a conversation as the caller barely takes a breath.  During that time, I managed a bathroom visit, drank my tall glass of daily morning water and poured a cup of coffee to take back into my bedroom porch all with the phone being in my right hand.

  Dennis tells me he is proud of me for letting Karen vent until she is done.

  Not even the parade of grain 18 wheelers that had made been going about the time the garage man had been here early, early to make enough noise to roust me before the phone rang.  No doubt, the combines will work late into the night before the dew gets heavy and then they are ready to get to the elevator first thing in the morning.

  Every fall of many, a farmer from south of town comes by our place with his Allis Chalmer’s tractor pulling two flair boxes of his grain, heading to the elevator just like the big boys and their 18 wheelers.  After his first load, it is his wife that brings in the grain.  It makes me feel proud that there remains farmers living conservitibly.

  I have had one small Monarch flitting about my south bedroom porch windows this afternoon.  It’s a site that never gets old.

  It’s not often that Dennis gets a bill in the mail, totally in his name.  Those window envelopes usually have Dennis and Noreen, or Noreen and Dennis.  It was the bill for the September 6th ambulance call when the EMTs visited to help Dennis get up off the floor.  $250.00 payable.  It may well be that they do not do those bills monthly.  If Dennis’ vitals check out and he has not hurt himself when he fell, we get a bill for services rendered.  If Dennis needs to go with the EMTs in the ambulance, our insurance covers it.  That’s just how that service is handled.  

  As of today, my left arm feels like it and the muscles and tendons are recovering nicely.  I could sleep for a time on my right side during the night, and the shoulder, with no support under it, handled it.  Today, thus far, I used the left arm only once to the degree that it made me squeal.  Grammie is on the mend.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 2:18 pm on October 12, 2026 Permalink  

  Time Spent 

  Time spent in the studio today.  Sifting and sort always a good past-time.

  Many decades ago, I, was one that would pursue sale bins in craft stores.  One in particular in Sioux Falls when Dennis was attending a gun show at the civic arena for the weekend.

  This morning I pulled out the wares of that weekend.  It will be my next quest to use those wares as well as scrap fabrics.  At a time when Lena was in the apartment house in Hutchinson after she had retired from the farm, I would make cards as well as send letters within those cards.  She loved getting mail.  I am going to make a few of those foundation pieced fabric cards again.  What a great way to pass some sewing machine time using one color thread and one color bobbin thread.  That would give the embroidery module a great deserved break.

  Dennis’ son-in-law felt he owed me for what I had paid him for washing off the house last week.  Today Tom used the tiller attachment to edge the concrete drive.  I must say it looks sharp.  The yard is close to being tidy tidy for the next season.

  Shawn Cable our KEYC weatherman is warning we may have our first frost this weekend.  Not a killing frost but the tender plants may be affected.  Dennis’ two huge houseplants were put inside the patio porch last weekend in preparation.

  Supper will be left-overs.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 2:22 pm on October 11, 2026 Permalink  

  By the Book 

  I usually cook by the lessons learned at Lena’s elbow.  If not that . . . then by the seat of my pants.  Today, I had found a recipe that I followed to the letter of the law and by the book.  It turned out great.  There is hope for the ole Grammie.

  Last week, I had set about the task of beginning fall house cleaning.  It had been a family tradition taught by Lena for decades.  My bedroom porch is a very important part of my life and where I spend a lot of my free time.  Reading, hand sewing and watching Floss tubes of those that like to hand sew and share their wares. 

  The eight windows of my bedroom porch were not done in the fall and winter of 2025 nor in the spring of 2026.  The dust of Stauffer Avenue could roll much like a dirt storm of a 40 acre field.  Looking through clean windows is something I feel I wanted badly enough to then put some elbow grease into them. 

  I had given up the gardening circuit after the stroke.  Keeping tidy, tidy in our home . . . very doable.  When the eight windows were tackled . . . how could I not do them within two days.  The left arm never does play well and it balked over helping with each one of those windows.  The windows were tipped in and when both sashes were done inside and out, each window was then given a shove upwards so the lock could be engaged.  So it was done.

  The left arm has retaliated and given some muscles running from the back of the arm, then up and down into the back, to buck into a “pay-back.”  Yes, there is always a re-action for every action.  It is taking a bit of time for me to not suck in my breath and let out a small squeal when I move in a contrary way.  What I wouldn’t give for some elbow grease to lubricate the muscles that feel they have been wronged.  It’s called “pull up your big girl panties and deal with it.”   A quiet week will help. 

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 1:52 pm on October 10, 2026 Permalink  

  Big Change 

  The 25 mph south wind has brought temps of 87 degrees.  Too much of a change for my liking.  Stauffer Avenue is very dusty and so . . . no house windows open.

  A bit of tidy, tidy never hurt this ole Grammie on a Saturday.

  Dennis’ eye injection of yesterday has taken a toll on him.  When it feels like gravel in one’s eye, the best thing is to try and keep the eyes shut.  The shutting of the eye has also brought on contiguous naps.

  The grain trucks were going by the house last night as late as eleven.  Low humidity keeps the lights on in the fields as long as there are no breakdowns.  It has gotten very easy for headers on the combines to be switched from soybeans to corn.  When the combines cost upwards of a quarter of a million dollars, you would think nothing less.

  As I am at my HP desk this afternoon, the bright sunlight allows for seeing the multitude of bugs in the air.  It makes me feel itchy just seeing it.

  I noticed our neighbor to the southwest got the spray can of red paint around the trunk of their elm tree that sits on the corner of their lot.  I would imagine it will come down when the schedule allows.   The largest tree on our acre is a very, very dead elm.  So far no red spray can has hit it.  Dennis didn’t think that the wood from those elms can be re-purposed.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥