Me, Myself and Memories

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  Noreen 12:05 pm on July 2, 2023 Permalink  

  Sunday the 2nd 

  And July is not going to slow down.

  For now I have decided to kick back and take on the persona of a retired individual.  In my thinking, I know that going back to the stitching in the counted cross stitch designs brings satisfaction, ever so slowly, while still having something to show for time and energy.

  Thinking back, my brother, Michael picked up a hoop and DMC threads.  While waiting for the batch grain dryer that was running out in the middle of the yard, Michael did counted cross stitch at the kitchen table to avoid going to sleep by twiddling his thumbs.  Michael did several designs with deer as the feature.  Today I know just where those framed pieces are.  They are hanging in the stair well of the repurposed granary.

  The design I chose will be worked two stands of floss over one, only doing what the hands and spirit allow per each time.  I chose a deep navy to do the entire design in one color.  The cherry red chair in my west bedroom porch has a lot of natural light to either read by or stitch by.  I am using a 16 count fabric.  Sixteen stitches per inch.  There is a huge selection of fabrics available.

  May everyone find their passion.  It may not be just one area of interest, but enough to give a balance in each and every day.

  Tomorrow we meet with the surgeon’s second in command in regard to Dennis’ left foot, to close the book on those types of medical appointments via door three of the Mankato Hospital.  Procedure must be followed.  A week from tomorrow we will do the same with the specialized wound doctor.  Oh so close to leaving those wonderful medical people in the closed book.

   
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  Noreen 2:40 pm on July 1, 2023 Permalink  

  The Long Holiday Weekend 

  The long fourth of July weekend has begun.  Even last night, there were firecrackers going off.  I felt sorry for all the puppies and dogs that were frightened of the noise.  We had a dog, Snoopy, that drove that message home. I believe there are some firecrackers and fireworks that are legal to buy.  Even the most innocent ones can harm. 

  Is it just our home or are there others that can find some pesky jumping spiders that are no bigger than the head of a quilter’s stick pin.  They are quick as they try to out jump you.  Oh well.  Talking about pests . . . the mosquitos have not been around.  I think there has been a lack of standing water for hatching to take place.  When we have been out on the front deck, the fireflies have enjoyed the summer nights.  I wonder if I would recognize one if it landed on me as a normal bug.  When we were kids, we would catch them and rubbed them on our clothing for the nano-second our clothes would cast their light.

  Each evening when the supper hour news is on, we hear of possible rain.  Nary a drop.  The lawns look as if it were August.

  Well on a lighter note, I have stayed out of the studio since the twin quilts were finished.  I think this has been a record for me.  My mind is conjuring up tidbits for a new project.  I don’t want to cut into any fabric without a solid plan.  I had heard so much of Liberty fabrics from the UK.  On Etsy, I bit.  A tidy box from the UK arrived, postage free.  It was a bundle of 19″ x 52″ lengths.  It is the softest 100%cotton I can ever remember feeling.  This is why I need to plan once, plan twice before I cut.  The quality of it sure beats what I have been working with to get the t-shirt quilts done.  It is also the first purchase of fabric for myself in 2023.  Did I need it?  Absolutely!

  For supper it is two Sirloin beef patties fixed in the large fry pan and the second fry pan for some of the refrigerator hash browns.  This is a step up from the Progresso soup of last night.  It’s a bit too hot to put an oven meal on.  It heats up the house way past the supper hour.

  Happy July 1st!

   
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  Noreen 1:31 pm on June 30, 2023 Permalink  

  There Goes Another Month 

  Time does seem to pass quite quickly here on Stauffer Avenue.

  When Dennis takes Dwayne to McDonald’s once a week, Dwayne’s wife comes out and thanks Dennis.  They live in Homestead Cooperative with a west facing unit.  One measly window with someone else’s grove to look at.  His days must seem endless.  His days of living his dream out on his farm place tinkering was cut short when his wife wanted to live in town.  Each week Dennis comes home to Stauffer Avenue, loving every minute of being here. 

  Speaking of tinkering . . . the mail carrier delivered my fabric, pattern and the needed floss for this Grammie to try her hand at counted cross stitch after a twenty-one year hiatus.  No, I am not sorry that the huge amount of floss that had been in the studio found a new home.  My counted cross stitch project will be done in one single color.  I have watched many videos, coming to the conclusion that is the way I will go forward.  The pattern I chose was designed using just one color.  Why make my enjoyment more complicated than need be.  Day-to-day can be as complicated as we wish to make it.

  I rode shotgun to the Lewis Drug today with Dennis.  Two of my 90-day prescriptions were a whooping $2.23 for both.  Dennis likes to go through to the drive-through window.  One day, when I was out and about, without thinking, I went right up to the drive-through.  Hello!  My left arm wanted to bat me along side the head, if it could have moved that far.  I apologized and told the gal, I would need to drive around to the front entrance.  She wouldn’t hear of it, and before I knew it she had gone out their back door and greeted me at my rolled down window.  Talk about hometown service.

  I hope anyone and everyone that can make their fourth of July enjoyable for themselves have my blessings.  Us on Stauffer will be most happy for you as we will be content and happy with you in spirit.

   
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  Noreen 1:37 pm on June 29, 2023 Permalink  

  Good Feelings 

  Today was the date on the calendar that is important to us.  Today Dennis and I were scheduled for pedicures here in St. James.  It was not a pedicure and a half.  It was for two, it bares repeating, two pedicures.  The last time Dennis had a pedicure for both feet was September of 2021.  For Dennis to have been able to soak that left foot, he sat back and enjoyed it.  Good feelings all around.  Hats off!

  When I had been in my bedroom porch reading, I had noticed one of the castor wheels was not engaged.  This afternoon, the cherry red chair went out onto the front deck.  Manned with scissors, tweezers and even a needle nosed pliers, Dennis tipped the chair over and went to work clearing all the castors.  At some point in time, the chair had been on a fuzzy blue nylon carpet along with other threads.  What Dennis picked out, strand by strand would have been what the birds would have liked to feather their nests with.  Good job Dennis!

  Today, I have been content in the studio doing some cleanup from fuzz and threads.  The first order of business was the furnace filter to be swapped out.  The next item was the filter on our huge dehumidifier to be taken out and washed.  Amazingly the amount of fuzz and threads over several months, has a day of reckoning.  It may be quite some time before any amount of studio time will be as structured as it has been over a king sized t-shirt quilt and two twin sized quilts.  It does do the heart and soul good feelings to do what some cannot do.

  I have no immediate plans for the studio other than keeping it tidy so that when I do get a wild hair up my butt, it will be ready.

   
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  Noreen 2:46 pm on June 28, 2023 Permalink  

  Well, Well 

  A photographer I am not.  Items in my stitching get moved about.  Items are patted down so all lays symmetrical . . . not.  It is what it is today.  Yes, I have been pushing it a bit.  Whether it is a studio project, a garden spot in need of weeding or perhaps one too many idiot phone calls . . . in time we are calling it for the day.

  With any project that comes out of the studio, measure once, measure twice before stitching so borders are uniform . . . and they are.  The last item on the twin quilts was for me to personalize them.  I had made sure that the quilt tops were identical in content and design so there could be no comparison to the negative.

  This latest project has brought me great satisfaction.  Taking a grocer’s bag of wrinkled t-shirts, dumping them out on the church tables and saying, “Well, well, well what do we have here.”  After two and a half months there are finished products.  The studio is happy, I am happy and Dennis is also happy.  Dennis had the job of arranging all of the blocks that then became a quilt top of sixteen blocks each.

  I don’t think I have it in me to do anymore today other than to help Dennis put supper on the table.

  Catch me tomorrow and see what is happening.

   
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  Noreen 1:35 pm on June 27, 2023 Permalink  

  Let it Be 

  This year the garden spots are on their own.  Whatever can come up and be proud . . . let it be.  If we could have more than a tiny sprinkle of rain, there are some weeds I could pull.  Me and a hoe do not get along.  I think the jewels of purple blooms at the picket fence may very well be a weed.  Each year I marvel at these plants.  I am sure they multiply by the seeds they drop.  We now have some on the east side of the house.  Whatever they are, I enjoy them and I encourage more next year.

  I did work in the studio for a time today.  My shoulders, arms and hand recovered quite well from some free motion quilting yesterday.  What I didn’t count on was my right knee.  Having the pedal to the metal yesterday . . . the knee sent me a message during the night.  Today as I have been stitching, I am using my left knee on what I call, “the foot feed.”  Many sewing machines have a bar on the right side of the sewing machine cabinet that engages the stitching when the knee puts pressure on the bar.  I think I could have sewn an entire wardrobe of clothing without the knee bucking.  Free motion is a whole bunch of stitches.  I have gone through six full bobbins.

  I have started a new book to enjoy whilst in my bedroom porch sitting upon my cherry red chair.  I picked books off of the “free” shelf.  It doesn’t seem to bother with who the author is . . . I can easily get with the program.  With reading, sewing and some YouTube channels, my days have a good balance.  I am contemplating adding one more diversion.  I have not done any counted cross stitch since . . . it seems like forever.  I have checked things out and a design called a sampler can be done in just one color.  I am leaning towards that.  Simplistic and yet satisfying.  I’ll let you know how that will go. 

  In thinking, I believe there is a whole bunch of items in my world with the “let it be.”

   
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  Noreen 3:08 pm on June 26, 2023 Permalink  

  What a Day 

  Enjoying breakfast coffee on the front deck seemed like the perfect way to start a week.  Granted, it was cool, but I sure didn’t mind.

  My first order of business was to take all extra, foot orientated, medical supplies off of the first floor of our home.  Right now it is all sitting in the middle of the walk-way on the basement floor.  Dennis thinks we may need some of it again in the future.  My thinking is that there must be a place to donate it to.  If we do have a medical need, Medicare and insurance would supply us with the appropriate supplies for the need.  I will think on it as it is not in my way.

  Today was a full day of stitching.  My ole cowboy kept me supplied with coffee.  In turn, I instructed him with a few tips on supper prep.  After this short blog posting, all the lights in the studio will be turned off.  Tomorrow when I come back down to the studio, the task on hand with the free-motioned quilting done, will be trimming the quilt from the extra batting and backing.  If the shoulders, arms and hands have recovered, I may sew on the binding.  I am not ruling out getting side tracked.  What a day I have had.

  I hope all have enjoyed the cooler weather.

   
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  Noreen 1:42 pm on June 25, 2023 Permalink  

  A Sunday on Stauffer 

  A content day on Stauffer.  Dennis found his recliner for a forenoon nap.  He had talked himself out yesterday with many of his classmates.  The golf club’s restaurant scored three different class reunions.  Talk about noise.  It became lip reading 101.  Towards the end, getting outside was the best place to visit.

  I did wake during the night to hear thunder and see lightning.  The rain didn’t amount to a hill of beans.

  I took the day to bounce from stitching to reading and back to stitching.  In between, I sat on the front deck and watched traffic.  The sandwiched quilt is coming along nicely with the stitching.  The task of using weights to keep the fabric evenly placed is the challenge.  When the bobbin needed to be refilled, I took the time to clean out fuzz from under the needle plate and put in a new needle.

  We are having pork roast commercials for supper.  The refrig has kept everything chilled, ready for this evening.

  Our coming week is quiet, keeping us right here on Stauffer Avenue.  I have not looked online to see the weather forecast. 

  Catch everyone tomorrow.

   
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  Noreen 2:57 pm on June 24, 2023 Permalink  

  Better Air 

  With had having a good shower of rain during the early morning, the air and temps are much better.

  Today we took in Dennis’ 54th class reunion, class of 1954.  It was held at the golf course’s restaurant, which is five miles out of town.  Out of the 105 that were in Dennis’ class of 1954, 67 have since passed away.  There were 17 classmates in attendance today.  The committee will decide if another reunion will be held.  Age does seem to be a factor.

  Dennis and I came home and spent some time on our front deck doing a re-cap.  I knew many of those in attendance and visited at will as did Dennis.  We enjoyed ourselves catching up with some people, some from right here in town, but may not cross paths with them often.

  It is the week of our city’s summer celebration.  The fire department is giving rides for any and for all that want to ride the open vintage fire truck, and of course, ring the bell. 

  This is the type of weather that we have waited for.  Go forth and enjoy.  Dennis and I will be having a great week by spending it here on Stauffer Avenue.

   
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  Noreen 1:18 pm on June 23, 2023 Permalink  

  Alerts for Air Quality 

  Alerts can be given for the air quality, but life does go on for many in their respective jobs.  This July weather in June . . . sucks.

  I usually have KNUJ radio on in the studio.  When I heard a commercial from Chuck Spaeth, I dug my phone out.  It had rang a bell.  I had the oil changed not too long ago and I recalled the cheat sheet that I was given when I left.  Today, I was acting on that one item.  I had googled the “drivetrain” and it took in a whole bunch of stuff.  When I spoke to Nick at the service desk, he looked up our car.  Nick told me he would call back with an estimate.  Hmm.  Sure enough, Nick called back.  It is the power steering pump that has multiple leaks.  The estimate of $780.00 will be covered under my warranty.  The part needs to be ordered.  When Nick calls, I will set up an appointment and get it taken care of.

  Dennis has been checking his eyelids for cracks today.  That was one of Raymond’s favorite sayings.  Yesterday’s heat was tough on the ole cowboy, but dang-nabbit that mowing was going to get done.

  With a good supply of safety pins, I am slowly working away pinning the sandwiched quilt for stability for a time when I do the free motion stitching.

  We have agreed on chopped roast pork sandwiches with Mayo for supper.

  Tomorrow we are to be at the golf supper club at 11:30 a.m. for Dennis’ 69th class reunion.  The all school reunions are held during the Railroad Days celebration week.  We were tickled that it is over the noon hour and not in the evening.  Everyone orders off the menu.  Another good thing. 

  Take care my peeps over the weekend.  There is a chance of rain, but no promises.