Me, Myself and Memories

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  Noreen 3:25 pm on February 15, 2019 Permalink  

  Santa Jacket is at 95% 

  As of this afternoon, I can safely say the Santa Project jacket is 95% completed.  There are belt loops to attach as well as portions of the lining that need to be made secure.  It has not gone without challenges.  The sewing machine did well and the shortcomings would be within my fingers and hands.  I am 100% sure that the most difficult part of this project is completed.  One inch thick foam had been bought to use as padding under the jacket to fill out the jovial Santa.  On second thought, I remember what happens when pillows age and have foam fillings.  It can get quite nasty.  I now believe that taking my stashes of leftover quilt batting and sewing pillow-type additions would be better to add where needed.  The old fashioned, aged cotton batting that had been used on Santa’s arms, shoulders and body was a horrible mess that fell apart upon touch. 

  The next portion of the project will be taking apart Santa’s hat for a pattern.  The original hat was a rather poor fit.  It didn’t quite cover up the back portion of his head, thus showing off a very bald spot.  Amazon is sending out two different orders of what they call white “Doll Wig Hair.”  The hope is that between the two types we can work with Santa’s beard as well as his hat.  Out goes the beard that is made of the ancient angel hair that is nothing more than fiberglass.  It itches if you even come close to it.  Kevin and I soon found that out.  My hope is to sew some of the hair onto the inside of the bottom of the hat.  That would allow for the appearance of his hair flowing over the collar of the back of the jacket.

  I am thinking that Santa may very well need to take up residence in my sewing studio as the project goes on.  Fittings, when Santa is a half of a city block away, isn’t reasonable.  My advisers will need to be consulted on that matter.  Looking over the velvet material, there is enough material for replacing his pants, the hat and also the mittens.  Needing to shore up Santa’s physical physic would be another reason to have Santa in house.  Fit as we go.

  A new belt was ordered for Santa.  The original belt was of very brittle vinyl that was pulled though a sharp silver metal buckle.  It was a joint agreement that the ole fellow needed to be smartened up a bit with a belt and buckle that he so welled deserved for sticking around for 55 plus years.  

  The sun has been out all day.  We made it above zero at noon to a whooping six above zero this afternoon.  The wind chimes have been tinkling steadily.  I checked on the patio porch critters this morning.  They get the enjoyment of having the house and garden television channel on during the day to allow them to know, they still matter and have not been forsaken.  Later in these days I have been spending time with them before I put the shell corn out for the deer, clean the litter box, and make sure they have food and water.  They miss the ole cowboy that would spends hours at a time out in the patio porch, letting one after another sit on his lap.

   
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  Noreen 4:44 pm on February 14, 2019 Permalink  

  It’s Real 

  It’s a real bummer of a February.  Who bothers with the news first thing?  For me, it is turning my computer on and looking at the weather for St. James.  Today that forecast prompted me to get up and moving to get some errands done uptown.  Snowfall and blowing winds were the impetus.  The streets are ice packed and when you think you are looking at a bare street surface, it is 100% the solution to break through the ice. 

  It was nice to get some groceries in the house.  It was my quest to use up as much of what there was in the refrigerator and freezer as possible before replenishing.  I did have a list and maintained the route around the perimeter . . . less the bakery.  My goal: When I have breakfast, it is to break the fast from not having eaten since the night before.  I choose to break that fast with something other than pure carbohydrates.  Oh the memories of donuts for breakfast, super sweet.  Today I broke the fast with a chicken from the oven in the grocery store.  I was finishing up my grocery shopping and they were just filling the oven with chickens ready to purchase.  It was good!  I made it through the wings and a drumstick.  What’s not to like about chicken for breakfast.

  I did make it home before the 35 mph winds and fresh snow descended. 

  Today was the real deal when it came to doing our 2018 income taxes.  Why put it off.  We have used TaxAct for several years.  Ours is not a complicated return as we have no deductions.  The standard deduction of $24,000 does us well.  We are both over 65, so it adds another $2,000.  It does frost my ass that we still have to pay taxes proportionately on our Social Security income.  It has already been taxed once.  Dah!  I did have to reach out to Dennis in California, as I did not have his driver’s license number.  I don’t remember having to include that last year, but then I don’t commit income tax info longer than it takes to e-file it and print it out.

  Today when I cleared off the back door to get the livestock chores done, the cold bit and it bit hard.  Worse than any day this winter.  Maybe I have become more sensitive than when it was November.

   
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  Noreen 4:21 pm on February 13, 2019 Permalink  

  Gray but Quiet 

  There is not any howling wind.  There are no wind chimes threatening to take flight.  The sky is a morbid gray and I will take that any time as we are having a lull in snowfall and winds. 

  I believe it was the winter of 1973.  We were living in a 14′ x 80′ mobile home in Renville County.  It was a winter such as we have had this last week.  Every time you turned around it was snowing and blowing.  We had a hard time keeping the pilot light lit on the furnace.  The perfect angle of the blowing wind snuffed it out.  It took the home getting quite chilly before we realized what was happening.  During one of the weekends we didn’t realize how bad it was outside until daylight.  Our driveway was completely drifted over.  I am not talking about several feet.  When our neighbor, Bod Dasher, got our driveway blown out with his full sized equipment, Orlin’s VW car couldn’t be seen as it passed through the snow canyon to get to the tar road.

  It’s not quite that bad here on Stauffer Avenue this week.  I was shocked to see the amount of snow the city had piled on our front yard.  Directly opposite of our driveway, to the west, is an alley that runs west to the main area of town.  They must have had a lot of speed coming from the west, going east, and they didn’t stop until they could push it onto our yard.  I did catch on the news last night that they were warning people to keep their private snow on their privately owned property and not push it into the streets.  We just inherited a whole lot of public snow.  Oh well.

  I am cozy in our home.  The snow that blew around from the north yesterday and last night has been taken care of.  Doorways and bins are clear.  I took care of the furnace vent.  I did notice some huge icicles on the northeast corner of the roof.  I’ll see what tomorrow brings as that is not in my cleared path.  Dennis washed his pickup before he left on his trip.  It has been getting great gas mileage and has remained clean as there is about four feet of snow on the south side of the garage where his garage door faces.  We talked about it last night when he called.  As the end of February gets closer and he is close to home, grandson Ryan will take care if it with the Bobcat.  

  No complaints here.  I do think I will make a grocery run tomorrow. I have several books that are due at the library.  I wonder, do they still charge a fine if the books are late?

   
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  Noreen 5:09 pm on February 12, 2019 Permalink  

  A Conscientous Grammie 

  There is no pass when it comes to Mother Nature and what she chooses to dish out.  My bladder got me up at 5;30 a.m.  That is not unusual for me to toddle to the bathroom and right back to bed for another three hours.  This morning, all the noise up and down the street made me rethink things.  A-ha! Snow!  I was up and dressed within 30 minutes.  It is a Godsend that Randy blows out our driveway, without fail.  With the now fifteen inches of snow within a week, that has followed the eight inches at the last weekend of January, the clearing off that needs to be done is no longer just a push.  It has to be lifted and hefted as the banks of snow are getting quite tall.  I knew if I pushed everything that was needed to clear the front of the garage and the backdoor into the middle of the driveway a bit west of the back door, Randy would take care of it when he came.  It worked out great.  When Randy would leave, there would be no additional snow for me to move in case I needed to get the car out.  In my heart I knew I had to be conscientious to get through this week of off again and on again snowfalls.  No way do I want to be stranded in my own home when it just takes a bit of careful, painstaking planning. 

  Coming in at seven, I knew oatmeal was going to be the breakfast of choice.  Two minutes in the microwave and I was sitting down to a well deserved breakfast just as Randy was at the end of the driveway.  Whew, the plan came together.  The tea kettle didn’t take long and it was whistling as I looked forward to having a cup of hot tea.  It has now been eight days since I have had coffee.  Did ya feel the earth shake and quake?  There has not been a day in fifty five years that multiple cups of coffee have not been consumed by me. I read up on the benefits of tea, plus having my doctor encouraging it in regard to arthritis, especially the tea that is infused with Turmeric.  With the time frame that Dennis’ trip was planned for, it gave me the perfect chance to try it.  Planning for this, there were multiple flavors of tea on hand.  Going forward, this will have to be worked out once Dennis is home.  Dennis drinks coffee.  Dennis takes it upon himself to get the programmed coffee pot to be ready with hot coffee at seven each morning.  He sets it up for the glass coffee pot to register 10 cups of brewed coffee.  I have noticed that the thermos cup that he takes in the morning still has a three-fourths cup left in it when he calls it quits.  Guess who hates to see the coffee go to waste? Time will tell.

  With a belly full of oatmeal and several cups of tea, I suited up and cleared off the front stoop of snow and made a path from our driveway to Stauffer Avenue for the mail man.  No way do I want his mailbag to go flying as he is trying to get over a three foot pile of packed snow, even if most of what he delivers to us goes right into the recycling bin.  Oh yes, the city crew does a great job.  With my pusher in hand, I did go through the patio porch to clear off the east patio.  It is the only outside door area that I am keeping open to let the cats out for a jaunt once in a while.  Honey Bunny was brave.  If I pushed a path from west to east, she was right behind me.  I would go back for another swat and she sat at the end and looked at me as if wondering why I wasn’t going to make a longer path so she could get to her haunt, which is the vacant house to the far east of us.  Silly kitty.  She stayed outside with me the entire time it took.  Getting the snow out of the bird bath container that we have been using to put shell corn in for the deer, brought her little nose right there to sniff.  I know the cats sit on the table in the patio porch and watch as the deer eat.  From our bathroom window,  I can see the bird bath container through the slider doors, as well as the table in the patio porch.  The three cats sit and take it all in.

  No lights have been put on in the sewing studio today.  It was important for me to be conscientious in keeping home and hearth up to speed while Dennis is gone.  It also had a bit to do that my butt was dragging by the time the path was shoveled to get at the house furnace vent.  Tomorrow is another day.

   
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  Noreen 4:28 pm on February 11, 2019 Permalink  

  I have been avoiding the news 

  I have been avoiding the news.  There is nothing that I need to be kept up on, as nothing happy ever seems to happen.  When I am in the sewing studio, I have my battery operated radio on.  I think it might be all of 20 years old.  It was a Christmas gift that I still cherish.  I have realized my favorite television channel of late is the weather channel.  Day time shows have all these wonderful tips that they tout as the best and greatest new ideas.  Hell’s bells.  Been there, done that.  If I didn’t learn all these great things from Mom, I got it in 4-H or Home Economics.

  As I put out the garbage for pickup tomorrow I took in the nicely cleared areas free of snow around the garage door and the back door.  As I will be burrowed under the flannel sheets tonight, the forecast is to bring anywhere from five to six inches of new snow.  Whatever!  Other than feeling a slight backache from snow removal, I am up for it.

  I did spend quite a bit of time working on the Santa Jacket.  It is to the point that I don’t want to screw up.  No do-overs allowed.  One day at a time and one step at a time.  No timelines.  By the time I shut down the sewing studio, the jacket was able to be hung on a clothes hanger.  Who Knew!

  Time to go out and check on all things that pertain to four legged creatures that need my attention.

   
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  Noreen 2:28 pm on February 10, 2019 Permalink  

  Oh, So White 

  Quite the “little bit” of snow.  It went from wet sleet to fluffy snow and now we are winding up with the fine wet stuff.  When Dennis called last night he asked how things were going.  I was happy to report that all was well and I had not done anything silly in regard to snow removal.  I do have my part of the snow moved and in time Randy will be over with his huge blower.

  Last night at supper time, I could not count how many deer were in our backyard and neighbor Jan’s.  I lost count at eight.  Two definitely were fawns.  When I cleared the snow off of the east patio today getting ready to put the corn out for this evening, I noticed that Randy had a hay bale that the crew had really chomped on.  All is good.  I opened the second bag of corn today.  Snuggles dang near beat me to the open bag to sniff it all.  Noisy as all get out.

  While it was snowing quite heavily this morning, I did work on the Santa jacket.  The lining and the jacket are now one.  It will make it so much easier when the white fleece will get attached to the entire bottom.  That is for tomorrow. 

  Right now I am in the west porch on Dennis’ computer, using his setup, watching traffic and sipping on tea.  When I came in from being outside from a fairly long time, I needed a snack.  As I am cleaning out the kitchen with things before replenishing from the grocery store, I poured some Honey Nut Cheerios in a bowl and brought it out here to the porch.  I was propelled back to the days of South Branch when the whole family was the janitor for the church.  Monday mornings . . . it was amazing how many cheerios and other cereal was on the floor, in the hymnal racks and on pews in the area of the back of the church where the families would sit with small children.  Clean up to no end.  Keep them fed and it might be possible to stay for the whole service.  Who the heck is going to clean up after me tomorrow of all the cheerios that have gotten away from me today.  Amazing how far they can roll.

  It is still snowing and I might take one more run at pushing the snow from the back door and the garage door onto the pile that Randy will take care of.  It’s easier to keep up with it before it becomes work.

   
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  Noreen 5:42 pm on February 9, 2019 Permalink  

  Squash for Supper 

  There was no snow to move today.  I think the break will be short lived according to the five p.m. news.  I’m ready! 

  After an oatmeal breakfast I moved on down into the sewing studio with a hot steaming cup in hand.  Each of the details brings the jacket looking like Santa would have approved.  Today the lining of the jacket needed to be tackled.  Why line a jacket for a non-human that only makes an appearance in the Christmas season?  When Santa is in his glory he waves and turns at the waist.  The inside of the jacket needs to have a lining of slippery material to work with the friction of the top as it moves from side to side with the mechanical set up.  I didn’t have anything plain red for the lining, but Tartan Plaid is as Christmas as one can get.  I had measured the original lining and the placement, we are on point.  The next step today was making belt loops for the huge heavy belt that Santa wears.  The original suit did not have belt loops.  Just like any other fellow, the more they move the lower some aspects of their attire slip.  I have the tubular velvet strips made.  In all honesty, by the time I got the material sewn and then pulled inside out . . . I needed to call it a day.  Tomorrow is a new day.

  I have been eyeing an Acorn squash all week as it languished on the kitchen counter.  It is now in the oven and most likely will be the entree for supper.  Butter, salt and pepper . . . can’t beat it.  When there were six pair of feet in times past under the round oak table, Mom was always into the quickest but yet the best meals.  In the late fall there were bound to be smaller squash that would not be the chosen ones to store in the fruit cellar.  Many suppers there would have been three Acorn squash, cut in half and layered flesh side down on a cookie sheet in the oven along with a roast.  Come supper, each of us would have our individual half of squash to trick out as we pleased.  It could have been butter and brown sugar or butter with salt and pepper.  And that is how I plan on eating half of the squash for my supper.  Scooping the goodies out right down to the peel.

  Dennis called in this evening.  Tomorrow he and Brett are going to tour the Hearst Castle.  Yesterday they drove through the town of Paradise.  It is the town of 44,000 that was burned into oblivion.  When Dennis called he was sitting in a short sleeve shirt on the patio of the Super 8 across the street from the ocean.  They are traveling Hwy 1 along the coast.  He sounded wonderful.

   
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  Noreen 5:23 pm on February 8, 2019 Permalink  

  Day Five 

  A sunny Friday and it was day five of working with the snow.  Monday was ice and snow and today is Friday, and it was cleanup from the horrific winds of last night.  It took two trips outside to get it done.  Yup, they were right, it was cold out.  As much Vaseline as I put on my face, I can assure you my skin has been moisturized while being protected.  The driveway stayed quite clear after Randy was here at five yesterday afternoon.  It was the city crew burying my bins that are on the corner of the garage that took me getting my red plastic shovel out.  That stuff was not pushable.  I have long given up on the heavy metal shovels.  The previous path along the north side of the house to the area where the furnace vent is was totally filled in.  One path from the driveway to the patio was pushable.  From there west, it was the trusty red plastic shovel that came to the rescue.

  I didn’t think the deer would come for their treats in the wind last night.  I took a chance and put corn out thinking the worst that could happen is that the dish and corn would be buried.  The first thing this morning, I looked out the bathroom window and there were tracks all over our yard and patio and also over to see what neighbor Jan had for eats.

  Dennis’ cats really miss him.  Yesterday when I had come into the patio porch all three of them were meowing.  No way can I spend as much time in the porch as Dennis does.  What I did do was put on the television and left it on all day until I went out at supper time to feed them.  It’s not Dennis, but it is part and parcel of their usual and customary.  When I went out to put the corn out this late afternoon, I left the slider door open.  Snuggles came outside.  He beat me back into the porch literally changing out his feet, two by two as his feet must have really felt cold.  He immediately sat down and began to clean between his toes.  Our cats have gotten to like the home that they have in the porch.

  While we had the six foot Santa in the patio porch over the Christmas season, we knew 55 years plus had given him some wear and tear.  Today the fabric came out for the trim to make new cuffs on his jacket.  I had saved all the pieces of the old jacket.  The total impact of the grime on the cuffs had gone unnoticed until I laid the new beside the old.  Several hours were spent in the sewing studio, but this ole Grammie can feel all that wonderful freshness of the snow removal time telling me . . . enough is enough.

  Dennis called last night and he and Brett were in California.  They drove over the Sundial Bridge at Redding.

   
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  Noreen 4:40 pm on February 7, 2019 Permalink  

  The Whiteness Of It All 

  The roaring of the wind told me more than opening my eyes could this morning.  Yup.  More white snow and a fierce wind.  This is the fourth day of snow issues.  It is bound to get it out of its system pretty soon.  No . . . you can’t tell that the driveway, the doorways or the east patio were cleared yesterday.  I can share that I put shell corn out for the deer at five yesterday afternoon.  When I walked into the kitchen at six to make myself some supper, the view of out the east window caught my eye.  Three deer were having supper as well.  It is satisfying to know that creatures need help when the snow covers up everything.

  Not a hurry bone in my body today.  Scrambled eggs sounded like the best breakfast before going out and clearing snow by the doorways and checking on the patio porch dwellers.  This week has had me feeling like I am back on the farm at Boon Lake.  Winters at that time always included suiting up and making sure all doorways were cleared on the variety of barns.  I really enjoyed those farm years.  It was hard work, but having both Carrie and Kevin enjoying the baby animals was priceless.  Both kids had greased up cheeks and lips so the cold couldn’t chap the tender skin.  I can close my eyes and be spirited right back to those experiences.  I could have had so many more years of that life.  But . . . here I am on Stauffer and getting that snow pushed out of the way! 

  Surprisingly even with measurable snow overnight, the north winds can play tricks on where it is going to pile up.  Coming in to warm up, the noise outside made me glad I had left my heavy clothes on.  Grandson Ryan was in the driveway with a skidloader making quick work of what was on the driveway as well as busting trough the pile of snow on the south side of the drive.  That huge bucket filled with snow had no problem taking a lot of the packed snowbank out into the backyard.  Ryan is taking care of quite a few people and told me he would be back sometime this week and take out the rest of the banked snow.  Priceless.

  Today felt good to see some white trim on the Santa jacket.  It perked me up to no end.  Up until I had the collar on it was just a challenge of red velvet material.  This has broken the ice for going forward and being a bit more brave.  Come on!  It is not a tailored suit.  It is a replacement of a tattered suit that served Santa well for 55 plus years.  I am now encouraged to go back online and find the site that had white doll wig hair.  In time to come Santa will need a new beard to replace the fiberglass Angel Hair. Each day will have had some work towards the finish.  I enjoy working on it.  I don’t do more than what several hours can accomplish.  With snow removal being what it is, I would kick myself to no end if I overdue the back and shoulders.    

  I can report that last night Dennis called from Oregon.  Brett had delivered one of his quilts to a family friend in Idaho earlier in the day.  The boys are indeed on the road.

  I can also report that the sun is peeking through all of the blowing snow.  It is quite pretty.  It’s time for me to go out and fill the supper bowls for the cats and the deer.

   
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  Noreen 5:37 pm on February 6, 2019 Permalink  

  A Treat Kind of Day 

  I was outside today moving some snow, as I expected, making room for more that will be coming in overnight.  We have such great service for garbage and recycling.  The key is that the bins need to be in a certain place along Stauffer Avenue to be picked up.  When Randy blows snow it goes to the south towards Stauffer.  When the city comes roaring down Stauffer with their truck carrying the blade, it pushes off Stauffer towards the north.  Right smack dab in the middle of this moved, packed snow are our bins.  It is truly a treat to have Randy move the bulk of the snow.   The bins now have the area cleaned out, ready to be positioned for a proper pick up.  Those trucks drive down Stauffer and the lift on the side of the truck plucks up the bins and they are gone in a heartbeat.    

  The patio porch was a great place to warm up.  I have yet to find the right combination of mittens shoved onto my gloved hands, to keep my fingers warm.  No problems with the feet, just the hands.  It gave me time to spend with the cats and fill up some empty ice cream pails for the nightly deer treats.  The snow pusher went with me into the patio porch so I could clean off the east patio where the deer eat.  As a treat for the cats, the slider door was left open while the snow was pushed off.  I had barely gotten myself and the pusher out the door and the three cats were lined up, proud as can be sitting in the open doorway.  Not one of them ventured beyond the threshold to set foot onto the patio.  About that time some of the thundersnow rumbled and wham, bam, thank you kitties, they were in the far corners of the garage.  It actually was a weird sound.

  Coming in, the tea kettle was filled, anticipating a hot cup of tea to be enjoyed shortly.  The tea and my library book headed to the west house porch.  What ensued was a phone call from JoAnn.  We spent a goodly amount of time catching up.  It is the winter of many firsts for JoAnn since the passing of Mike in November.  I am very proud of how she is handling the multiple things that may be the same . . . but different.  It was a treat of visiting about some times past, things that happen day to day and plans for a family gathering for the weekend.

  Some time was spent in the sewing studio.  It was a good feeling to get the side seams sewn on the jacket as well as the sleeve seams.  The white plush felt that will be used in the trim was gotten out and then I decided I wasn’t ready for it.  The bias tape stash needed to be pulled out.  As I really haven’t thought through all of what it will take to put on the white plush trim, I knew I didn’t want to fight the raw edges of the velvet.  The Velcro on the back of the jacket is going to make the dressing of the Santa so much easier.  Another day of decision making will be needed . . . and perhaps another day of snow moving.