Me, Myself and Memories

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  Noreen 2:01 pm on September 13, 2019 Permalink  

  When the Light is On 

  I am sure over time you have heard a phrase similar to “When the beer lights come on . . . ”  When the red light comes on on my portable radio in the sewing studio . . . the sewing machine is working.  That portable radio was a Christmas gift from Kevin almost three decades ago.  It was first on the wall in the bathroom.  When I started spending time in the basement creating a niche for myself, now known as the sewing studio, it has been right there tuned in to tunes, news, etc.   Ya, the antenna needs to be given a tweak from time to time to get reception and I may not always get the same station, but it is reliable.

  I started out in the sewing studio this morning, but in time the strong gusty winds dried out the acre so we could mow.  Lush grass this time of year is unusual.  Dennis tried out the Cub-Lo-Boy in the far east portion of the acre.  First time mowing with it since it has been smartened up with paint and the blades have been sharpened. Dennis was surprised when he came closer to the house and saw that I was mowing with the push mower.  I had promised myself if it started on the first pull, it was a go, otherwise I would have to wait until Dennis could start it.  It obviously was a go.

  Here we are in the afternoon and all has been accomplished that Dennis had in mind for the day.  When the temps are in the high 50s with a brisk wind, mowing was actually enjoyable.  With a lot of rain, there is still dust caught near the base of the shrubs.  Maybe, just maybe this will be the last mowing.

  On a gotcha note: this August I again tried the cherry and grape tomatoes for snacks.  I had given them up for over a year as the acidity in them and what I had in me for acidity was not a playing well together.  At first I thought I had been outside and gotten bug bites from no-see’ms or late hatching of mosquitoes.  Then I thought perhaps there was a spider loose in the sewing studio as the irritants were on my legs.  NOT!  The few what was thought to be bites blossomed into hives . . . all over the ole gal.  I had not had hives for a long, long time.   There I was with a 2 lb.  container of the lush beauties.  When I looked up to make tomato jam, the recipe called for 8 cups of sugar for 2 lbs.  of tomatoes.  Dennis took the tomatoes off my hands and I hope the birds enjoy them when they run across them in the far reaches of the acre.  The itching is subsiding and I have moved on to celery for a snack.  What next!

   
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  Noreen 3:21 pm on September 12, 2019 Permalink  

  We Need Dry Days 

  We need some dry days here on Stauffer Avenue.  Within the last week we have had four inches of rain.  The acre is getting to look quite lush.  Dennis was ready to take on the mowing this afternoon but that was not to be as it is misting.  

  Today I had a chiropractor adjustment as well as acupuncture.   I am gaining on my neck mobility.  I do not have any restrictions given to me.  My homework is to remind myself as often as possible to keep the shoulders down and the neck tall.  I am determined to keep a positive attitude with my health as I work forward to feeling better.  How could I not!  There is so much to look forward to in each day.  Had I worked smarter in times past, rather than physically harder, my story today might be a bit different.  That is hindsight, nothing to be gained by dwelling on it.  I rallied to what was needed of me at the time.  I have no regrets.  I do caution Carrie and Kevin to think about what they do and how they do it to perhaps prevent some of the ware and tear on their bodies as they are now both in their fifties.

  And . . . how and the heck did that happen!  How can my children be in their fifties.  I realize I have been under the gun with having cataracts gradually building on my eyes . . . I tend to see with my heart when it comes to Carrie and Kevin and not with my eyes.  A part of me will continue in that vain.  I assure you, I am in touch with their reality while remaining to hold them close. 

  I tend to keep history of my life alive as I enjoy each day.  It makes my place in this world a bit of a sweeter place.  Of course life is not all sunshine and roses.  That is not to say that there is more good than not.  There is more positive than negative.  There is more attitude than altitude.  Yup, I checked it out. Life is pretty darn sweet here on Stauffer Avenue.  Catch ya later.

   
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  Noreen 5:03 pm on September 11, 2019 Permalink  

  Best Day Ever 

  We had the best day ever.  My cousin Janet and her husband Dan from Foley, Mn. came for a visit today.  It would be about a two hour drive.  Dan drove Hwy #4 the entire way.  He enjoys seeing what is along the two lane highways.

  Janet’s dad was my Mom’s younger brother, Norman.  Norman would come to the family gatherings playing his concertina.  He played by ear and his laugh was as hearty as the tunes he played.  When he and the kid’s grandma, Esther Schafer, on the mouth organ got together at our home, the picnics were robust. 

  Janet and Dan have been together about the same length of time as Dennis and I have been together . . . a good 20 plus years.  Dennis and Dan have hit it off from the very beginning.  Dan was a farmer, now retired, and also recently retired from hauling livestock. Dan does do the road grading for the township they live in.  

  Dan does tractor collecting and repairing and he was enthused to see Dennis’ Cub-Lo-Boy.  The guys spent a lot of time in the patio porch visiting while us gals had the living room and sewing studio to visit in.  I need to add that Dan loves cats.  Dan loved the idea that Snuggles made himself right to home on his lap.  He would have taken Snuggles home in a heartbeat.  

  Janet and I reminiscent about family and each of us enjoy stitching and crafting.  The day went quickly.  It was interesting as Dennis and I did a recap after they left this afternoon.  Dan wanted to know if Dennis ate that good every day as I had prepared the noon meal for them.  I had made potato salad and my all time favorite ring macaronis salad with the spam, peas, onions and celery.  Too funny.  Dan is a robust fellow and enjoys food.

  A day such as today is the best ever.  Family taking the time to keep up with each other is special.  It will be our turn to travel north one day next year and return the great visit.

  Life on Stauffer is sweet.

   
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  Noreen 3:59 pm on September 10, 2019 Permalink  

  The Day I Have Enjoyed 

  I had my alarm set for six this morning and I was ready and willing to get up and start the day.  After much rigmarole I had scored an appointment at the physical therapy department at the hospital. 

  I played nice.  I knew I was having problems with my balance.  Found out after a successful cataract surgery, which was sorely needed, my eyesight had nothing to do with my balance issues.  I had a CAT scan to check on my shoulders and neck to see if that might impact the balance.  I did find out that my #6 and #7 vertebra in my neck are fused via arthritis.  Nothing else amiss in the upper spine.  On to a MRI to see if I had a brain tumor.  Nope.  My 75-year-old brain is perking right along with no issues. 

  I wasn’t about to give up.  My family doctor was ready to try the physical therapy.  Without proper tests of the spine and neck and head, physical therapy can hinder more than help.  Mike T. has been my therapist since the time I had my knees replaced.  That by the way, was 16 years ago this June.  I again filled out the proper paperwork.  Insurance rules the outcome of care.  Mike had me walk the length of the gym at the hospital and he knew right off the bat, my lack of balance was not imagined, it was literally in my butt.  The right ham string that connects to and in the pelvic bone was slipping and sliding at will.  Having its way with me!  

  I began this journey in June.  I am now on tract for sessions with Mike for a great success.  In time I will be able to walk without fear of the right side of my body giving out.  I had not taken a tumble, but I sure was cautious once I felt that first searing pain that numbed the right leg right down to the ankle.  It could happen as I was turning from the kitchen sink or walking along with Dennis in a store. 

  I feel blessed to have had a fair amount of tests that allowed me to know more about my body and how it is holding on.  I will still be doing the visits to Madelia for adjustments on my neck and shoulders as it is so much better with the headaches that have subsided.

  All of that was this morning in the early hours.  This afternoon I was back at the eye specialist that comes here from Mankato.  The right eye has healed perfectly from the surgery.   October 7th I will be having the left eye cataract removed.  I feel very comfortable about this.  I have struggled with some seeing issues since August 5th due to the fact that each eye is focused separately.  How do I tell?  Distance vision hardly causes much of a difference or concern.  Reading and watching television is quite the joke.  I have handled it for this long and I know the amount of time that the left eye needs to heal is temporary.  It’s doable.

  So in a nutshell . . . I am doing great.  Dennis backs up my check of numbers when I need it  The cookies have turned out great from the oven, so he is doing his part just fine.  I may screw up my passwords from time to time, but . . . do it until you get it right and if too many attempts have been made, I take a few hours for the computer to reset itself.

  It’s gotten warm this afternoon with more storms that may hit.  It’s O.K. We are safe and sound on Stauffer Avenue.

   
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  Noreen 4:10 pm on September 9, 2019 Permalink  

  Check That! 

  Two medical appointments for the ole cowboy today.  One here at the VA clinic and one in Mankato, and all reports were good.  He travels on for another day . . . many I pray.

  So needed was a visit to Great Clips in Mankato.  I felt so beyond fuzzy.  I warned the gal that was going to do Dennis’ head that there were extenuating circumstances.  I had my hair cut at Great Clips in New Ulm a month and a half ago and Dennis decided he didn’t need one.  A week and a half later, here he comes with a clipper in hand heading out to the patio for a haircut.  I had cataract surgery three days prior and he was not to be dissuaded.  It was what it was and now it was what the gal in Great Clips could do.  Such is the life of a determined cowboy.

  Three fourths inch of rain in the last 24 hours.  Hmm.  I refuse to check out the acre in regard to mowing.  I am sure I will hear the warning sounds of a pending mowing soon enough from Dennis.

  Received a great email last night from family.  Oh my gosh, I love my quiet slow paced life.  Hats off for doing what their family needs and being involved.  All I needed to hear was that everyone is doing well and are happy in their endeavors.  Greater Minnesota, bring it on and leave the metro unto its self.

  Running about the highways, I am in for a quiet night of catching up on the junk mail.

   
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  Noreen 4:19 pm on September 8, 2019 Permalink  

  What Will Be 

  It’s not a spectacular day, but it will be what it is . . . damp and chilly.

  Dennis has had a jacket on the last several days when he has left the house.  It may well be his uniform going forward.

  I have been in the sewing studio for most of the day.  Nothing intense going on today.  Dennis came down for a bit and played solitaire on the old Dell laptop.  After a bit he asked if there was anything I needed help with.  Hell’s bells!  Put that fellow to work.  Dennis cut out numerous sheets of stabilizer that I will put to use in time to come with Megan’s skate towel project.

  Seeing Dennis hard at work reminded me of a Thanksgiving season some time ago.  I was just about to work on Kersten’s Pokemon quilt.  Both Kevin and Kersten were put to work in the sewing studio.  I believe Kersten cut up stabilizer and Kevin cut out the blocks that would be embroidered on.  It all does help.  Repetitive hand work is the devil’s playground.  

  Days such as this of rain and gloom, I am tickled beyond belief that I have my sewing studio.  Way too many gals my age or even younger tell tales of . . . nothing to do.  I cannot imagine that.  I feel blessed.  I realize I have quite the area of goodies in my sewing studio.  The families of three friends, Bev, Phyllis and Lorraine have shared sewing supplies with me after loved one’s passing.  I feel honored to work with what they loved.  My deceased mother-in-law Esther had some items that she was fond of working with that are here in my stashes.  Of course Great Grandma Laura’s and my mother Lena’s treasures have a nook within my sewing studio.  I am not done yet.  Add to that what Kevin and Kersten have contributed with the button tree and the DMC Floss.  I may never get done with all that I have in the works.  And . . . isn’t that wonderful!

  There will never be a cruise to some forsaken country or vacation spot.  My vacation spot is right here on Stauffer Avenue.  What will be is a very happy camper on . . . Stauffer Avenue.

   
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  Noreen 3:18 pm on September 7, 2019 Permalink  

  Some Stitching Time 

  Some stitching comes at the spur of the moment.  It may be an unexpected gift or perhaps being curious to see how a project will turn out.

  Today I am dipping my toe into a long range project.  The due date is June, 2020.  I often wish I could do more for Megan or perhaps attend more of her events.  That goes the same for Nicholas.  Alas, it is not to be.  Four hours round trip makes for difficulty.

  I had kept my ears open just as I have always done when I think there may be something in the wind I can do or accomplish for family.  In listening I had overheard a conversation Carrie and Megan were having about the finale that the Eden Prairie Skate Club does each year in June.  Not sure if it is a banquet.  Each member of the skate club is acknowledged with a token gift.  Hmm.

  I had been able to be at Megan’s ice arena often enough to know that the skate blades need to be wiped off as soon as possible before the ice guards are put on.  Hmm.  I began kicking ideas around with Carrie about some towels to be given at the 2020 event with the club’s logo.  Oh my gosh.  The marketing people were not about to give out the digitized logo.  They didn’t own the logo and they just were not about to share with a Grammie.  They could do the towels . . . at an exorbitant price. 

  That was all Carrie and I needed to hear.  She was in charge of buying towels and Grammie would work on duplicating the logo in a digitized format.  Who knew!  Who knew that I would have people to do this.  Amanda at my Bernina Store in Bird Island had the software to do just such a thing.  She is a sweetheart.

  Fast forward . . . I have 100 kitchen sized terry towels in my sewing studio.  I have stabilizers on hand.  I have the red and black thread on hand.  Between now and June of 2020.  I will have the towels ready.  As I will be doing this here and there,  I have all the settings written down for consistency.  The black stitched line will be removed as that was my guide to make sure I had the logo on straight.  Not cool to have a crooked logo.  

  I know Carrie scored a great price on a Amazon Prime special for the cost of the towels and after that, it is Dennis’ and my contribution to a sport that Megan enjoys.  Who knows?  She may very well earn a letter in it for her high school senior year.  

  I am going to enjoy doing this.  Hats off for determination and ingenuity.

   
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  Noreen 5:20 pm on September 6, 2019 Permalink  

  Errands Done 

  Dennis as chauffeur to and in Mankato, all the errands have been completed. 

  What is a grandpa to do when a request comes for Schmidt Bakery pumpkin cookies.  We had a list of errands for Mankato as it was, so it was doable.  Sadie works full time for a military sponsored station.  Her job is to help veterans with any and all issues.  Dennis hit the bakery this morning at 7:30.  He got in line.  We usually don’t favor the bakery as the one on Stauffer Avenue fits the bill for Dennis.  Dennis was happy he was early as there was no shortage of the pumpkins flying out the door.  Who knew!

  Sadie was thrilled.  Grandpa Dennis had a financial shock.  Dennis doesn’t often frequent places where he finds out what the price of food demands.  Four dozen of cookies shorted his wallet a bit over $23.00.  With that culture shock so early in the morning, Dennis was happy to hit the locations on my list in Mankato while he watched people via the windshield of his little red pickup. 

  I am one to plan ahead when it comes to sewing studio project.  When JoAnn Fabric has a blockbuster sale, I collect my coupons and am armed with my phone that has a calculator on it.  I had even received a letter via mail for an additional % off, even on the sale items.  Everything I had purchased was either 50% or 60% off.  Add then the additional 25% off as the last cashier applied entry, I was thrilled.  I can now set my sights on complete satisfaction during the coming winter days with plenty of supplies at hand.

  Dennis needed a new face gasket for his CPAP.  Were we surprised when the gal at the checkout let us know this was the very last day of his current prescription that covers a twelve month period.  As it is, we will be traveling back to Mankato on Monday for his medical appointment at the pulmonary department of the clinic, at which time a new one-year prescription will be issued.  Everything worked out well and we were reminded to keep calendar dates close to the forefront.  Each gasket is charged to our insurance for $93.84.  The latex is such that it is a struggle to make that gasket last 30 days.  Nothing null and voids a good night’s sleep if air can escape around the gasket.  Yup, the wounded water buffalo sound erupts. We do take extra caution every morning to clean the latex with a baby wipe to remove facial oil that adheres during the nighttime. 

  Ah yes . . . pay attention to all aspects to be able to enjoy a sweet life on Stauffer. 

  We rounded the day with Perkins.  Can’t beat it.  Right now their pot roast menu was great.  How they get that pot roast so tender is top secret.

  Happy to be home safe and sound.  Looking forward to a quiet weekend.

   
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  Noreen 3:01 pm on September 5, 2019 Permalink  

  I Like It 

  I like this time of year.  Ya, ya, I realize what comes next but for this day and the ones previously that we have had, I like it . . . I like it a lot.

  With the temps and dew point as they have been it takes me back to the Boon Lake farm when Carrie and Kevin were wee ones.  Oh how I cherish those memories.  I would most likely be digging potatoes at this time of the year, while the kids played in the grass alongside the garden.  We had a huge garden at that.  

  In the basement of the farmhouse was a separate closet just right for hanging carrots and onions up by the stems.  We didn’t wash off the potatoes, carrots or onions as they kept better and longer.  It was a tight fit as there was a crock of sauerkraut biding its time as to when we could cold pack it.  A smaller crock had the rendered lard in it from the most recent hog butchering.  The lard stayed cool and a small container would be brought up to the kitchen as needed.

  The fruit jars on the shelf held fruit sauces of various flavors and jams and jellies.  Oh I remember the backache I had gotten one year from peeling pears for sauce canning.  It took me right into Hector to the chiropractor.  It did give a lot of satisfaction after the fact.  Elvera didn’t peel her pears . . . the core was taken out and in the jars they went.  Not the style that Lena taught.  The only thing that stopped the filling of the larder was when I ran out of fruit jars.  

  We had splurged on two Sears chest freezer that were in the same basement closet as the furnace.  Orlin worked at 3M in Hutchinson and had bought one of their electric sealers.  There were various sizes of the plastic bags and with little work, the bags were filled with goodies and the air within the bag was minimal.  There were containers of strawberries and raspberries alongside plastic bags of peeled and sliced apples waiting to be made into apple crisp, sauce or pies.  Saving the cardboard container of a pound of butter all year long was the perfect fit for a plastic bag filled to the brim with the sweetened frozen berries to stack up neatly in the freezer.  When I had extra time, I would make up apple pies and freeze them, ready for the oven when one was needed. 

  Right alongside of the garden items in the freezers was the butchered chickens, ducks, a few turkeys and of course the packages of beef and pork in a variety of cuts.  

  Hmm. 

  It was not an easy life, but it was my life and I was meant to be a good farm wife and a good farm mother.  Carrie and Kevin were always just at the end of my elbow, either pitching in or pitching a fit that one was doing what the other wanted to do.  I will say that Carrie was good at cleaning the chicken gizzards among so many other gopher jobs.  Both kids put on many miles fetching things for me when we were in the full thrust of the fall work of cleaning out the garden.   

  Hmm.    

  As I have said many times . . . me, myself and memories . . . it never gets old.

   
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  Noreen 3:37 pm on September 4, 2019 Permalink  

  The Rest of the Story 

  It has been quite the summer on Stauffer Avenue.  Dennis found himself a project that pretty much kept him busy from May right up to today, September 4th, 2019.

  Today he and his lifetime friend, Dwayne, put the mower back on the Cub-Lo-Boy.  It’s been quite the season of cleaning, painting and tricking out the 1968 tractor and mower.  I knew Dennis had taken the two wheel trailer with the mower on it over to Brett’s garage.  Dennis came back home and drove the tractor to the garage.  I didn’t ask any questions, but I made sure he had his cell phone along.  “Call me if you need me and . . . be safe.”  What more is a person to do.  When there is want power in place there is no stopping two 82-year-old fellows.  That was at eight this morning.  

  Almost to the exact stroke of twelve noon, Dennis and the Cub-Lo-Boy were home, towing the two wheel trailer behind.  Dennis’ first thing was to get his bowl of oatmeal and flax meal going.  He must have worked up an appetite.  

  It must have all gone well.  The tractor and the trailer were parked in the driveway.  Dennis made sure I didn’t need to get the car out of the garage as he said he was going to take a break in his recliner before greasing some zerks on the mower.  Dennis must have been totally satisfied with the day, the job and the finished project.  Relaxing with his Trump 2020 cap on his head and covered up with his favorite Santa blanket . . . all is well on Stauffer Avenue.   

  Life on Stauffer Avenue continues to be sweet.