Me, Myself and Memories

Updates from Noreen Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

• 

  Noreen 4:11 pm on October 7, 2020 Permalink  

  Wednesday 

  Wednesday . . . also known as hump day.  I have to remind myself each morning as I open my eyes as to what day of the week it is.  Though I have been retired since 2009, I remember and give credit for worker-bees getting up and hitting each work day.  Dennis had a good outlook, “I get to go to work.” 

  I am all about balance in my life.  Even with the covid I have blocked out certain amount of times for reading, cleaning, checking on Dennis and yard work.  Yard work will soon be traded for keeping the back steps cleaned off.  It is what it is.  I know many have not had the chance to see what the next door brings.  The adage of “live each day as if it were your last” . . . I do work hard at that as Dennis does.

  

  Sophie

  

  Today we lost a special fur-baby family member, Sophie.  Difficult . . . absolutely.  It is too bad that all the devotion that dogs can and do give does not allow us to know how they are feeling.  We have had the best in Sophie and Bell.  Two dogs that wormed their way into our hearts from their wee puppy days to their last.

  One more time the potting shed doors were cracked open as Dennis put his chainsaw Eagle away until next spring.  He did a great job on giving the Eagle extended longevity by a cleanup and a new coat of sealant.  I thought Dennis might have run out of some things to take care of, but this afternoon he was out on the patio cleaning up a metal garden art that resembles a copper boiler.  The item will soon have a new paint job inside and outside.  I wonder if he remembers that there is an actual full sized copper boiler that may like to have a new shine.  Time will tell.

  Ball Park beef hotdogs for supper with the rest of the potatoes that are in need of being used up.  Veggies may be pickle relish.  Some days we just take a look-see to see what is in the refrig.  It works.

   
• 

  Noreen 3:56 pm on October 6, 2020 Permalink  

  Popped Out at 89 Degrees 

  A bit of a warm up.  Who would have thought!

  We were up to sitting on the patio this afternoon with our break.  Not to be.  Asian Beetles, flies, Boxelder bugs . . . Nope.  We had a sit-to in the patio porch where screens kept most at bay.  Of course we need to have a bit of the doorways open for the four footed fur babies to pop in and out.

  For living in town we sure do have the dust flying this afternoon.  Choke city.  Stauffer being a gravel street and the winds from the south, it would not have been a good day to have the clothes lines full.  We had picked a perfect day on this last Sunday for that.  

  I had put two items on Facebook Marketplace.  I had one success, and then I closed it down.  Too much of a hassle to be tied down for responses.  I realize having a garage sale is “one day” and then it is done.  The only item we are contending with is an old White brand electric sewing machine.  It came to us from one of Dennis’ kids as they were moving on and needed to clear out their home.  No one, including me, has an emotional attachment to it.  Several years ago I opened the cabinet and realized something is amiss.  Don’t want it, don’t need it, don’t want to take the time or energy to see what it would take to get it sewing.  After all, it only takes up several square feet in the back garage.  I am spoiled as what I sew with just takes a flip of a switch and I am off and stitching.

  My emotional attachment with sewing machines is what I have in the sewing studio. Mom’s machine does sew well.  Several years ago I was working on a double sized bed quilt.  Of the blocks that needed to be sewn, I did each half of the needed number of blocks with Mom’s machine to give it a good working out.  There also, it only takes several square feet in the sewing studio to store it.  Time will tell what happens to it eventually.

  I have been giving Dennis his space in the garage.  The chainsaw Eagle has had a good cleaning, rinsing and drying off.  We had cans of clear poly spray on hand.  The only suggestion I gave was that several light coasts of spray is better that one heavy coat that is bound to run.  With the pressure that it takes to hold the nozzle down . . . better his hands than mine.  I have all I can do to hold the nozzle down on my personal deodorant.  The Eagle is, after all, one of our favorite garden art pieces that takes rain and hot sun each summer.  Anything to help reserve it . . . priceless.  

  It has been warm outside, but the humidity and dew point are very low.  Take it the way it comes.

   
• 

  Noreen 3:31 pm on October 5, 2020 Permalink  

  A Sunny Monday 

  Too nice to be inside.  There was a bit to take into the back garage.  The bridge that sits in the far east Hosta bed needed to be taken inside.  Perfect fit into the back of the pickup and off we went.  Dennis is holding out on the patio umbrella and the wooden electrical spool that we use as a patio table.  I am sure he is right . . . there will be patio sitting time yet to come.

  All of the Lilac trimming that we had done a week ago Sunday needed to either be taken to the city tree dump or burned.  By the time we would have gotten the two-wheel trailer out of the back garage and loaded all the limbs, taken it to the tree dump and unloaded it . . . naw.  We decided to burn it.  Handle it one time and not several, seemed like a good idea.  Some limbs were green and some were four inches in circumference.  Dennis worked his magic and I didn’t ask what he used to start the fire.  Ignorance is bliss.  Lilac wood is dense and heavy.  Within several hours, all that were left were fine ashes.  Amazing.   

  Dennis has taken our chainsaw Eagle into the garage.  I do hear a sander going.  We have had him for quite a few years.  We found him at a flea market and he has had the perfect place here on Stauffer ever since.  Dennis’ plan is to take some of the old finish off, wash it well, let dry thoroughly for several days and then do the poly clear spray as a re-fresher.  Sounds like a plan to me.  

  As we have been hitting the job jar quite heavily, I wonder what Dennis will find next.  The Cub repair is still on the list but in limbo until the electrical harness has been built and shipped.  What a great fall with Dennis feeling his oats.

  The request for supper was soup and sandwich.  Easy enough.  

   
• 

  Noreen 3:34 pm on October 4, 2020 Permalink  

  Wow Wee! 

  What a great day I have had.  The only task left is making our supper and I have that planned.

  I am not sure how silent alarms go off in a person over a period of time.  It’s a growing feeling that something has been left out of “the rest of the story.”  I did get caught up in phone calls to aunts and cousins.  That was a good thing of easing the guilt I had been feeling for putting that off.  I did get caught up with sending a text or two to my kids.  It was Friday evening when I received texts back from my kids with their updates.  That was all it took for me feeling that all was well within me.  Wonderful!  Hmm.  Funny how that which was felt as lacking is now A.O.K!  

  Saturday we had a commitment for a great-grands birthday party.  It was a good trip to Mankato and a good day.  It gave Dennis’ family a chance to wish him a Happy Birthday as he and the little three year old share a special day.  The phone calls to Dennis on the actual day were priceless.  It makes my heart happy that my kids remember Dennis’ birthday. Saturday with some one-on-one with his children and grandchildren sure didn’t hurt any.

  This morning the sun was out and there was nothing blowing more than a gentle breeze.  The perfect day for the quilts to go out on the clotheslines for some freshening up.  Dennis’ bedding was due to hit the laundry and also that time of the year when the electric mattress pad is laundered.  Why not!  Totally fresh bedding, you can’t beat it.  My vac came off the attic steps and the mattress got a lick and a promise.  I kept putzing with the vacuum and here we are on a great afternoon with the interior getting some homogenizing done.  There is nothing like a powerful vac to capture anything and everything that is on blinds, mop boards, corners, upholstery and clothes dryer vents.  Wow Wee!  I will be darned, I have started my fall cleaning.  After more of the harvest has been done and the elevator’s pink chaff is finished, I will tackle the windows. 

  I can tell you all that my heart is full . . . and content.  I feel blessed.

   
• 

  Noreen 2:25 pm on October 2, 2020 Permalink  

  Preparing for Winter 

  The type of preparation for winter that I observed today had nothing to do with either of us.  The ornamental crab tree right outside our kitchen window is doing quite well on its own.  The red berries will be feeding the birds well into winter.  What is knocked off accidentally, the squirrels will find.  Today the Blue Jays were busy with acorns in neighbor Jan’s yard.  The Blue Jays are huge this fall.  I do know that many people say Blue Jays are naughty birds in regard to their treatment of other birds.  Well, I have had the distinct pleasure of being called naughty a time or two.  I still have my good points just as the Blue Jays.

  In between times I have been watering a dry floor drain.  It doesn’t act up often and believe me it is not something that can be ignored.  I know Mom would comment on what transpires with the weather that may cause it, but I don’t recall what it is.  Multiple fills of water into the drain does do the job.  

  I would have thought that Dennis would be taking it easy on this his birthday.  I looked out the bathroom window and there is garden art disappearing from the back yards.  Speak of the devil.  He just popped in the back door and asked if I could lend a hand.  Absolutely!  Dennis knows we won’t be about tomorrow as there is a three-year-old great-grandchild in Mankato that shares his birthday and we have been invited to a party.

  Enjoy these great days beckoning us into fall.  Special.

   
• 

  Noreen 3:03 pm on October 1, 2020 Permalink  

  Blustery Day 

  When it is less than 60 degrees in the home, as humbling as it is, the furnace needs to be turned on.  I have it set at 69 degrees.  Just high enough that when Dennis comes into the house, it feels warmer than it is outside.

  I have been in the sewing studio today working on quilting the quilt of many colors.  When there are 42 flannel blocks of various colors and designs, it isn’t a slam dunk as to what color thread to use for the top stitching.  Yesterday I had called on Anita in Mankato via text.  Anita had owned her own quilt shop at a time in the past.  Anita is now one of the stitchers that I hang out with.   Anita suggested a variegated top thread.  That sent me searching in my thread stashes.

  More years ago than I can count, Dennis and I had been in St. Cloud for an assessor’s conference.  After hours of the conference agenda, we had looked up the Grubber’s Quilt Shop.  There was this King Tut variegated thread by the Superior Thread Company.  It caught my eye and I purchased it.  Did I have a project in mind?  No!  By the way, what does that have to do with a purchase in a quilt shop!

  That King Tut thread was threaded into the sewing machine for a run.  I tested it out on a scrap.  All systems were a go!  The variegated thread did not take away from the embroidery motif in the center of each block.  This quilt of many colors had found its companion for a finished look.  I will be taking my time.  Though the quilt of many colors is only 55″ x 65″, it is still a bit to wrangle under the needle.  A quality flannel with 80/20 batting, which is 80% poly and 20% cotton, plus the backing is a bit of a heft. I am doing a meandering sewing for quilting.  No rhyme or reason.  I think this will work out quite well. 

  When Dennis gets home from a coffee gathering at his friend’s apartment’s gathering room, we are going to have pan fried Tilapia fish with some fried potatoes and a veggie.  We don’t purchase the pre-coated.  I toss the fillets in Bisquick and then in the pan.  It sounded like a good change out for us.

  By now, anything that was not nailed down outside should be someone else’s problem.

   
• 

  Noreen 3:16 pm on September 30, 2020 Permalink  

  More Winds 

  The winds have been howling.  We had the west house window cracked during the night, at just the right height for the wind from the north to howl.  It made for pretty good sleeping.  With that being said, I did something today that I have not done in one heck of a long time.  It is now in the late afternoon and I pulled it off.  I have stayed in my nightie all day long.  I pulled a sweater cardigan over my nightie at eight this morning and called it good. 

  I have moved from the sewing studio and the west reading porch intermittently today.  Any doctor will tell you that sitting in one position for too long is hard on an arthritic body.  I do save my “after supper chair” for just that purpose.

  Yesterday late afternoon, I made a phone call to the Brillman company in Virginia to check on the electrical harness that we ordered on September 22nd for the Cub tractor.  When we found it on the internet we placed the order, not thinking anything but how fortunate to find a company that had just what we needed.  Speaking to the parts department I got news I had not expected.  The company is building the electrical harness to specs of the 1968 Cub 154 model.  Wow.  With that news we thought the price of $148.00 is quite reasonable.   It may be several weeks before we receive it.  Not that we are in a rush, so this works for us.

  The tractor has been sitting next to the drive during this repair time.  Finding that the repair is several weeks out, we rolled the tractor into the pickup garage after supper.  The little red pickup has had it made in the shade for being parked in the garage every day after its use. It will have to take it’s due diligence parked in the driveway until the tractor is running and can be put in the back garage.  It all works out.  

  The sun comes out every once in awhile, but the wind never takes a break. We for sure are in the fall mode.

  Dennis’ 84th birthday is Friday.  He will be taking several dozen cupcakes out to the VA as he has an appointment at nine that morning.  Treating the gals out there that give such great service . . . it is the least that he can do.  I agreed to the max.

  Hope everything is nailed down during this windy spell.

   
• 

  Noreen 2:02 pm on September 29, 2020 Permalink  

  One More Item 

  Today, one more item was ticked off the list that needed attention for 2020.  It was my turn to have my eyes checked.  I was a bit gun shy as Dennis came home last week from a usual eye checkup, only to have had an injection in his eye for wet macular degeneration. In curiosity, I asked Dr. Pinke how it could come on so fast for Dennis.  Every person, every eye is unique.  The wet version moves quickly.  The dry version may be detected with nothing transpiring over years.  That is where I am at.  I believe it was six years ago, there was a detection of the macular degeneration.  It has not progressed on a bit as of today.  I left with knowing that all was well with my eyes.  A very thankful visit.

  After having been to the Old Alley Quilt Shop last Friday, yesterday I received an email that I had won a $20.00 gift card.  That moved me onto taking a quilt top and backing to Old Alley this afternoon.  Having put together the project thus far, I don’t care for UFOs, unfinished projects, in the sewing studio.  It may be several weeks before it is long-armed.  It will be a good thing to have it in-house to work on the binding of it.  The gift card paid for the batting.  Sweet.

  We had a fellow that arrived last night to look over the Craigslist merry-go-round and Ferris-wheel that we have listed.  He labeled it as one of a kind “Folk Art.”  He agreed, he had never seen anything like it.  He was impressed how the items on the merry-go-round were engineered individually and all run by the belt driven treadle sewing machine wheel under the table.  The tuna can that had been made into a movable twirling ride for the two figures sitting in it, was run in part by a portion of an old metal hand-turned egg beater under the decking.  Mr. Tom took measurements and went home to see where he would have room for these as he wanted them to be each free-standing so all aspects could be enjoyed.  What I gathered is that Mr. Tom collects “Folk Art.”  In truth . . . I was so happy that someone deemed this special enough to come and have a look-see.  The Ferris-wheel, done up with the erector set look, was boggling to him.  The tiny brads used in building all the seats were intact and solid.  Neither Dennis nor I are mobile enough to be able to get under the tables in the event there would be something that needed care or maintenance.  As I have said many times “time will tell.”

  We did have the furnace running for a bit last night over supper to take the chill off.  Once Dennis was tucked into his bed with the electric mattress pad on #3, I shut the furnace down.  I sleep well when it is cool.  To make sure of that I opened a window just a bit.

   
• 

  Noreen 3:41 pm on September 28, 2020 Permalink  

  Cold Windy Day 

  When my cell phone goes off, I check to see if the person calling me is in my phonebook.  If not, I become hesitant as Robo calls are annoying.  I will say that with the covid, they have really slacked off.

  As I have become brave and am listing some things on Craigslist, I need to answer all phone calls  or it might be to my demise.  

  My ole cowboy is a spontaneous shopper.  In 2011 as we were on a road trip through Nebraska, we stopped at an antique shop.  We made a second trip to that shop the next week as we would then have the correct vehicle to bring home what Dennis had bought.  Here we are almost ten years later and have chosen to pick and sort as to what we have emotional attachments with and what needs to find a new, appreciative home.

  Yesterday afternoon I listed on Craigslist, with Dennis’ encouragement, his merry-go-round and his Ferris-wheel.  They are unique.  They are one of a kind.  In the early 1950s, a Mr. Davies had a rural mail-carrier route.  In his spare time he tinkered.  Mr. Davies tinkered together a merry-go-round and a Ferris wheel.  It runs on 110 electrical service, complete with lights.  It must have taken him hours.  The wheel of a treadle sewing machine, complete with the leather belt runs the merry-go-round.  They are both mounted on antique tables and cannot be disassembled.  The Ferris-wheel is five feet tall and the merry-go-round . . . not quite so much.

  This morning at ten, my cell phone rang.  I did not recognize the number. Do I answer it or do I let it ring itself out.  I did answer it.  I just came in from uncovering the pair of Dennis’ toys that have been in the back garage for quite some time.  A fellow is coming at six from north of Mankato to take a look see.

  Oh my gosh, yes! These items are so wonderful.  There will never be another set of these . . . ever, but . . . we are not going to live forever either, and we feel it is our obligation to make these choices while these choices are still ours to make.  These items need to be kept in usable conditions and turned on from time to time.  We did plug them in and it was all systems go, complete with the lights.  Time will tell.  Dennis enjoyed them in the patio porch for some time and then realized that he enjoyed having room to work at other hobbies.  

  Right now the evening is upon us and it has misted with rain and winds that even kites would not do well in.  We are bracing ourselves for cool days ahead.  May the week find you all safe and sound for whatever you have gotten yourself into.

   
• 

  Noreen 4:00 pm on September 27, 2020 Permalink  

  Quiet Sunday? 

  It was not a quiet Sunday here on Stauffer.  We had agreed that I would spend some time in the sewing studio and Dennis had several rodeos that were scheduled for the RFD channel.  We each enjoyed a noon lunch of our choosing and we bid each other “catch ya later.”

  I was deep into sewing together the backing of the colorful flannel quilt.  It was fabric the stitchers had helped me pick out Friday at the Old Alley Quilt yardage yard sale.  Out of my peripheral vision, I caught something passing across the basement windows outside to the north.  I slipped up to the first floor and looked out the living room window.  I saw electrical cord strung out on the lawn to the north.  I went to the bathroom window and saw the electrical cord had been plugged into the exterior outlet on the patio porch.

  It was time for me to get a jacket on and see what was going on with the ole cowboy.  Dennis was just in the process of getting our small electric chainsaw going by the old Lilac bush.  I decided right then and there, there would be no sewing until Dennis had completed his spontaneous tree trimming.  Granted, there were branches that needed some TLC.  Granted, we had talked about taking care of it next week.  Hmm.  I stuck around close and made sure I kept track of where that electrical cord was in relationship to Dennis’ feet.  Home accidents can happen very quickly . . . especially with senior citizens on board.  

  I must say the Lilac bush looks so much better as a tidy round shrub rather than having huge bare branches sticking up.  When we got all the branches pulled around to the north side of the garage, we realized there will be more chainsaw work needed to be done . . . next week!  Cutting the limbs into doable sizes and who knows, maybe Dennis will pile them up for a fall fire ring event as he is sitting on the north patio.  I wonder how old the original Lilac bush is.  The rotted, twisted, gnarled limbs would have been content going forward for who knows how long.  They had not reckoned on Dennis and his little green electric chainsaw.  Priceless!  As long as Dennis is content with the day’s labor, it’s a good thing.  I can sew any old day.