I am a retired 44-year veteran of the Real Estate Assessment field. As with real estate assessing and how it applies to real estate taxes, one can make many acquaintances, but not many real friends. It was a great career choice.
It has been nearly 10 years since I reclaimed my home and my real passions within my home. I enjoy it more each day and tip my hat to those who I left behind.
Each day I try to stretch myself with the use of my computer as it relates to this site and using it to print out labels for quilts for trying to incorporate photos into my sewing. Life is so full and I know that I have room for more.
Slowly Dennis and I are getting the yard in shape. Old Glory waving in the breeze is comforting. The I-beam now has a bit of well deserved window dressing on it as it held the garage safe during the horrific winter winds. The Moose that Michael made for us stands guard over the patio. It’s been a great day. The Lilac bushes will soon surround and fill in this area of the yard. I am content.
How fortunate I was when I stepped out for my walk earlier this morning. I thought the heavy rain that we received overnight was the end of it. Halfway home it began to sprinkle. Here we are at supper and it is still at it. It goes from sprinkles to rain that looks like it has sleet in it.
I have been working in the sewing studio off and on. The “off” was when there was yard work. I belong to a closed website that specializes in bags, purses, wallets, etc. When they put out a free pattern, I download it for future use. I love a good challenge.
The only supplies I had to purchase were three zippers and a small piece of white cork. Everything else was in stashes. I decided to line it with the same fabric as the outside. There are two zipped pockets in the inside, and the top zippers shut. This spring green has been in my stash for a long time and this was the perfect pairing for the embroidered Butterflies. The embroidery was a tight fit to get it in the right spot on the front of the bag.
Most of the finish work is done working while the bag is inside out. What a jumble. Trying to do seams while not catching the zippers makes for happy sewing machine needles. As the pattern winds down, all zippers must be left in the open stage. One of the zipper pockets also needs the bottom to be left unsewn. Yup, going through that open zipper pocket bottom is how the entire bag is pulled inside out. It doesn’t go quickly, but it does eventually all get pulled out to pat it down, pull it straight, and put some steam on it.
I deem this a successful challenge. With the day being as miserable as it was, I did need to turn the furnace back on. The sewing studio has a heat vent. With all the spring seepage water running in the interior tile, it felt very cool while I was sewing. I will admit there were several times I broke a sweat trying to wrangle fabric, foam interfacing, lining and zipper placement. I chose the white cork on the side panels to tie in with the white embroidery. I will be on the lookout for their next free pattern.
Holy Week has been wonderful. Dennis and I are thankful for all we have and for all we are. We are healthy and safe. We are working on wise and wealthy. God speed.
Dennis’ plan that he laid out for us today seemed to fall into place. Dennis got the 2-wheel trailer out of the back garage for picking up the branches I have been stock piling. That 2-wheel trailer is sporting brand new tires since last spring. We had made a trip to Fairfax to haul an iron beam home on tires that were a miracle.
The tree dump was our target with anything and everything that we could rake and load. The deal I made with Dennis was that I would rake and load the trailer and he could take his time getting the Koi into the pond after spending all winter in a horse tank. We have seven Koi for the season. Just the right amount to watch, feed and enjoy. The garage area where the fish had been got cleaned up. The pump that was used over the winter in the horse tank, Dennis took right down into the basement and cleaned it for storage until the fall of 2019.
We both finished our tasks about the same time. Dennis’ plan came together. All the areas where Hosta grow have been raked. The rider lawnmower won’t be needed to cut up a bunch of nasty twigs. . . picked up and loaded. I drug my weary, sorry butt into the pickup and away with went with our $1.00 for the tree dump fee. The trailer has been parked until the next errand. The acre looks like people live here that appreciate their home.
This was the second day that Dennis had a tailwind for energy. He slept great last night. I can always tell how calm his sleep was by the amount of water that the humidifier of his CPAP machine has used during the night. Little details keep me up to speed.
Dennis and I are looking forward to company from Fairfax tomorrow for Easter. Yup, there is a job jar. Dennis fondly refers to Kevin as his favorite wood-tick. I don’t think Kersten and Keven have ever come for a visit that there was not something that needed the fine tuning of someone who knows what they are doing. Us? Not so much.
This evening Dennis and I are enjoying the peace that passes all understanding. Praise be to the risen Jesus.
Dennis has been so busy today. I sure hope it doesn’t turn on him when he needs to go to bed and rest this evening. Auxiliary sump pump is running. Both lawnmowers have had the oil changed out and he left them run long enough that the idle was where it sounded like they could go for one more year.
Tomorrow I have been made aware that the two-wheel trailer is coming out and we will be making a run to the tree dump. Yup, we have branches piled ready to load.
On a follow-up with our neighbor who thought he was going to get new vehicles via a scam: Today Bob parked his pickup to the farthest south portion of his lot. It looked as if that transport arrived with the goods, the driveway would be clear. No . . . Dennis nor I did not make any contact today with Bob. Leave well enough alone.
What a great day. What a great Good Friday. This is the weekend that God’s children will know that He carries for us what we can’t.
This morning I popped my yellow winter coat and red stocking cap that I have been wearing for my walk, into the laundry. Enough. I pulled out my pink winter coat and a white stocking cap and headed out for the walk. I needed a change that would put winter out of my mind. I felt like an Easter egg. My nose still got cold.
We have a neighbor to the south of us. Bob is younger than I am. He lives alone with his Beagle dog. The poor dog has never been able to be outside without a leash on his neck. Pretty sad. There have been wellness checks on him from time to time by the city police. After this afternoon, I know he is a vulnerable adult.
The doorbell rang and as I opened the door to him, he began telling me he had good news. Dennis and I were going to each get a brand new car. Bob was going to get a new car. He handed me an envelope. It had $1,500 in it. He said he had his envelope with $1,500 in it. He began rattling off that all we needed was to go to a Walmart and purchase ‘x’ number of gift cards with this cash, call a phone number to give them a code from the cards . . . etc, etc. The cars were already loaded ready to be transported and in two days we would get the money back and have each a new car.
It took me a long time to close him down long enough to explain to him that this was a scam. He wouldn’t buy it. I got out of him where he banked and he told me the same place he had just come from after getting all the cash for the envelopes. I handed him back the cash. I think I did convince him to go back to the bank and have them check this out as their computers were really good. Whether he did it or not, I do not know. I did call the bank and yes, he had just been in there pulling out cash. I asked the gal to please explain to Bob what a hoax this was . . . if he came back. At this time I have no idea if he was convinced or if he found someone else to give free new cars to. This scam was just on the news and Bob was walking through this point by point just as how the media had been warning. Sad. What an experience.
Dennis and I commented to each other that it was a good thing he and I were watching each other’s back. I agreed. Even living in our little old farm community town, the wolves are beckoning at the front door.
On a brighter note, Dennis had been watching his television in the patio porch. A commercial that had come on spurred him to ask me if I wanted to go for a pickup ride with him. I closed down what I had been doing and away we went. Dennis had seen the DQ commercial of the cherry dipped cones and that is just where we went. He had his cherry treat and I had a plain cone. My, oh my . . . quite the life on Stauffer Avenue.
I left home in rain this early morning for a funeral in Hutchinson. It rained so hard as I was traveling through the New Ulm area I didn’t really have a chance to concentrate of the noise of the thunder over the noise of the rain.
Of my father’s family of nine children, only one remains. Aunt Janet is 86. Uncle Kenneth’s funeral brought nieces and nephews together. Kenneth had just turned 87. There was so much visiting going on over the funeral lunch it made the head spin. Church basements are notorious for zero amount of acoustics.
I stopped at the old homestead in Boon Lake Township. I had made off with JoAnn at the funeral that I would stop in for a few minutes. Everything was greening up as the rain fell. It was a good one on one. We both celebrated the end of winter. JoAnn’s first winter on the homestead doing it solo. She did it up well. She had already had all the lawnmowers that had been used on the farm loaded up and she is awaiting a new mower to be delivered. A mower that she can operate and a mower that will have a snowblower attached to it for the next winter. For a whopping $75.00 a year, the implement dealer will put it on the unit and take it off when the last storm has passed. Great deal.
I stopped at Fairfax to see my Fairfax team. Not as much time spent there as I would have liked, but I do have to acknowledge the working couple’s hours. It worked out fine as I was feeling the need to get back home to check on Dennis. The day had been long and full. Mostly the day was rewarding.
The fields are full. The ditches are full. We had a lot of rain during this day. I know the nighttime will be foggy. I am so thankful to have had this day. Every moment of it brought rewards. I now thank my Lord for it all.
I have so many wonderful hymns that are going through my mind this week. It is Holy Week. I pray that I can take the grace that my Lord has waiting for me and live it each and every day, each and every week. I don’t have all the answers. It’s not my job to have the answers but to be open to what each day brings to me and not judge. How Great Thou Art!
It is not a secret, I do not like looking for, nor purchasing, clothing for myself. Don’t like it. Don’t do it well. Don’t find what I am seeking. Dennis has reiterated what he had heard Kevin say at one point in the past, “Mom, you don’t have a butt.” There it is. Flatness. Without the butt bump, I have always needed to wear a belt with woven pants. And, as all things are totally up and down with no divots, aka: a defined waist, the belt needs to be quite tight. I don’t mind that tight feeling when we need to get all gussied up. For at home, I can get dirty doing yard work in a heartbeat and may well change clothes in the middle of the day to leave the garden dirt outside. Wash and wear and . . . most of all, comfort.
Yesterday at Sam’s Club, a $9.98 sign allowed me to wander over. Yoga pants were $9.98 each. Various colors made of a blend of fabrics, one being a long name meaning . . . stretch. Hmm. A firm elastic waist in my favorite colors: navy and black. I fit them on when I got home and knew I could very well learn to wear stilts as still some fabric in the length of the legs was dragging on the floor.
Dennis was down for a nap in his recliner and I was spending quiet time in the sewing studio working my magic on the length of the pant legs. Knits are not my favorite to sew with. That comes about that when I was at Mom’s elbow learning the craft of sewing and seaming, everything was woven fabric. It’s all about habits and level of comfort. I got my groove going and I now have several more pair of pants to putter around in. Actually, in times past these pants were very well marketed as Putter Pants, long before it was found that Yoga Pants sounded like what the “in” crowd would shop for. Lordy, Grammie is now in the “in” crowd getting dirty with yard work . . . pants are pants. It’s all about my comfort. These bargain pants will serve me well, and when they are worn out, I will handle that when I need to.
Dennis and I took a spring fling today. Today we took a road trip to Mankato. Great Clips needed to be visited and so did the Nails Group for pedicures. Those two items made me feel energized for spring. Koi fish food was down to a few morsels for the season. Though they haven’t been put in the pond yet, it’s best to be prepared. They haven’t eaten since mid-November. Hibernating is soon coming to an end. Pet Expo could have saved having carts out. There was hardly any cart rolling space in the store. The bird seed was everywhere.
As we drove there were bikers, walkers, joggers, and cycles. By sheer willpower the cool temps were ignored. I still wore my bright yellow winter coat, stocking cap and mittens when I walked. The breeze had a bite to it.
Dennis is down to his last two feedings for the deer. Tonight and tomorrow night, and then they are on their own. The area behind the water treatment plant has just as much lush green grass as our yard is showing for them to graze on. We gave them a bit a boost during the worst of winter. It was a lot of fun to see them up close and in person. Watching them at seven feet away as I stood in the patio porch and they were on the patio, it was priceless. We are now on to watching the squirrels as they try and find the nuts that they buried last fall.
Always a lot of activity on Stauffer Avenue.