It was pretty much a non-event day. A trip to the eye doctor and of course the eyesight takes a hit from the drops. I did putter around in the sewing studio. I had a load of flour sack towels from Mills Fleet Farm to wash up. Taking out the sizing from the manufacturer is always the first step towards stitching with them. Tomorrow will be a new day to decide what will be shaking out.
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Noreen
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Noreen
How Bright Can It Be?
Waking up and having the outside stream through the windows . . . sunshine was not needed. The bright white snow told the entire story.
Neither Dennis nor I had watched any news on Saturday. Dennis had been so busy on Saturday, there was no outside influence needed. His last project for the day had been spreading Lime on the front yard to counter balance the influence the acidity of the evergreen tree that had given the grass under it a beating.
After taking in all the white brightness, Dennis was content that the snow had brought a lot of free
nitrogen to our newly seeded areas. He always commented that farmers who plowed after the first snowfall could see the benefits of the nitrogen charged snow come the next spring. It’s always a good thing to take the positive approach. I looked out and thought it was quite a peaceful landscape even though I took the photo through the window screen.With all the company we had had on Saturday, Dennis had not had a chance to open a package that came from Amazon. Dennis will now be sporting a heated mattress pad on his bed. Come on Sunbeam! Yes, it is for Dennis’ comfort but it is also for my level of ability to make Dennis’ bed. I am hoping this will eliminate the extra quilts and blankets that Dennis felt was needed to feel comfortable. Time will tell. I
have had positive comments from those who have used an electric mattress pad. I tend to sleep on the cool side of life. For the priceless need of good rest, Dennis and I sleep in separate beds about 10′ apart. I am thankful that the CPAP machine and all the bells and whistles that comes with it works for Dennis. He sleeps well and there is no need to worry about his atrial fibrillation of his heart causing him to cease breathing during his sleep. Dennis’ command center for sleep has just had added to it the control for the electric mattress pad. We are on point.The afternoon is upon us and there is no snow left on the streets or concreted areas. With the 29 degrees forecast for the night, there will be some left for tomorrow. Can you imagine how greasy the fields will be for the harvesting! With this surprise of the snow, Dennis and I are really fortunate that we kept pecking away at what was needed. We will always find more but the bulk of the heavy preparation had been handled. Hard to believe that just last week at this time, Kevin had his Ford tractor just a puttering away getting our backyard tilled. Now . . . that was great timing.
It was white out . . . surely it must be time to make a batch of fudge! It is settling as we speak. As I have said . . . older folks are fun to have around.
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Noreen
If one stood in a sheltered area where the sunshine would hit, it felt wonderful this afternoon.
We had visitors from the far north country today. The entire family of Dennis’ daughter, Susie, her husband and their daughter Taylor came calling. Granddaughter Erin and her husband Paul have three girls. I think the tiny town of Silver Bay on the north shore of Lake Superior was quite empty today. Grandson Ryan and his daughter live here in St. James and joined in. Daughter Sandy drove over from Mankato so she didn’t get left out. With Dennis and me it was a group of 13. Lots of visiting, lots of giggling. Lots of sad faces.
The four great granddaughters have always beat feet for the backyard to enjoy the swing and running off a lot of pent of energy from the long ride. The strict instructions were given in the best of terms that the concrete patio was as far as they could venture. With three inches of rain this last week over the newly tilled backyard, it would have been a situation of kids being muddy right up to the tops of their shoes. We assured the girls that next spring the yard would be ready to play in. Five year old Josie had to be content collecting leaves off of the concrete . . . and there was no shortage there.
Lots of hugs and goodbyes until a plan can be made towards Thanksgiving. Dennis didn’t miss a beat. He was in the mode of getting the horse tank set up in the Lincoln car garage. The hope is for Indian Summer, but he feels the need to get prepared. No one likes to have all of what is necessary to come crashing down at one time.
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Noreen
When the sun shines I feel just like the calves that we had when Orlin and I farmed. On a good day we would let them out of the pens and into the pasture and they would run; kick up their heels and frolic. Well . . . to tell the truth, my frolicking days are more like stepping out of the house via the back door with a cup of hot steaming coffee and just suck in the sunshine and fresh air. In my mind I am kicking up my heels and running through our acre.
Our minds can get us trough a tremendous amount. Dennis and I often comment to each other . . . and sometimes we are commenting to ourselves that all in all, even in some bumpy days we can find the positive in it. My finger dexterity gets me bending over for some good aerobic exercise as I may drop more than I can hang onto.
Positive thinking turns into finding ways of Dennis and me getting most of our work done on our own. We grunt. We groan. We take a lot of breaks. Each evening one of us asks of the other “What are we going to do tomorrow?” Nothing comes to mind. Invariably, the new day brings activity to the forefront. Dennis enjoys going to one of the apartment complexes to have coffee with life long acquaintances once or twice a week. A comment that Dennis has made there has come back to me: “Anyone that says they don’t have anything to do and they are bored should come and visit with my wife. She will find something to do on a dime.” Silly ole cowboy.
The sun is setting and I am enjoying a cold cup of breakfast coffee. My frolicking for the day is done. It was a day like many: it was a great day and we managed to get some local effort worked into the day and will be ready for another one tomorrow: God willing.
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Noreen
Lots of Freshness
Another day that needed to be dealt with in regard to gloom and cold. How cold was it? Cold enough that we put in the two plants that have been on the edge of the Koi pond for this summer and quite a few summers in the past. It would be a shame if we let the frost get them as it might have tonight. All of the greenery in the patio porch made it look fritzie fresh.
After Dennis bundled up he headed to the Koi pond. The winds of last night had brought the leaves everywhere but most importantly where they were not welcomed . . . the Koi pond. The water filters needed to be cleaned. The pond needed scoop after scoop of leaves taken off from the surface of the water and then also those that had gotten water logged and had sank to the bottom. The water was brown from all the dye in the leaves. Twelve noon brought us into the house and the heat within the house felt good to cold fingers.
It felt like a great time to get some of the pillows and blankets that have been used all season into the washer. In a perfect world it would have been great to put them on the clothesline. The clothes dryer did just fine. Yup, I feel spoiled. The first years when Orlin and I were married, right up to the time Carrie was not yet two, the laundry was hung out on the clotheslines. When the diapers froze stiff on the outside lines, Orlin put up multiple clotheslines across the width of the basement.
During the time that the laundry cycles worked their magic, I checked out the sewing studio. I had shut the sewing machine off last Thursday. Seven days of absence was all I could take. Deciding what to do and how to do it is the best part of the project. I had purchased for $1.00 each cloth
napkins. I had mentioned this in a prior post. Fourteen of those napkins that were a plain color left Stauffer Avenue colorfully stitched and folded for a benefit. It was time to do something with the most undesirable ones. Plaid in dark colors. Ugh! I began pulling out scraps of fabric, a few spools of thread and then hit the library of designs in folders on my computer. Thank you Kersten! When Dennis checked on me at four this afternoon, I was in my element. I was using the applique patterns where a scrap of fabric is then stitched down all under the guise of machine embroidery. It was a great day. The patio porch got a dose of freshness of the added plants, the freshly laundered blankets and pillows left a subtle fragrance of freshness within the house and my sewing studio has a fresh project underway. Priceless.
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Noreen
Yesterday I had posted the all encompassing day I had with technology. Sometime in the afternoon as I had been whizzing by Dennis’ recliner doing the upping and downing into the sewing studio, he asked me why I just didn’t take the HP Notebook to the basement and let it run on its battery. With that, I would be next to the printer and the sewing machine. Kuddos for Dennis thinking of that.
Within the last weeks we have been on the run with outside work. Many trips to the back yard, front yard and anything in between. The electric tiller had been an extension of my arms for quite a bit of that time. Lots of steps. Lots of good exercise. Believe it or not when we have several days of raining weather and I am housebound, my body doesn’t like it. I look forward to moving for rather long periods of time. Sitting is my enemy.
You might wonder how this works into the projects of stitching I take on in the sewing studio. I now have my two church tables set so I can easily get around them. It is not unusual for me to actually do walking laps around the tables during a stitching stretch that the sewing machine is doing. Neighbor Jan just smiled when she stepped over one day and I was doing laps. Hey! Stick around older folks. We are entertaining and quite resourceful. I am at the stage in my life that having things set up so I don’t have to exert myself is not healthy. I don’t mind having legs that feel like noodles sometimes. I like knowing that my body and I are on the same page: keeping me going, keeping me upright and keeping me happy.
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Noreen
What a ducky day. Sunday evening’s showers were unexpected but having the rain continue right up until this Tuesday evening is a bit much.
When Kevin and Kersten were here on Sunday to till up the yard, Kersten spent time with me and my computer files. Successful machine embroidery goes hand in hand with computer files and folders. Though the sewing machine stitches according to what is on the flash drive that has been installed into the sewing machine, too many files on the flash drive can really drag down the sewing machine reading all that is on it until such time I find what I need. Working with Kersten allowed me to understand how to flip from the DVD drive to the folders I could create in the document portion of the computer and then load a design in the “F” files which is what the flash drive is referred to.
Today I worked almost non stop with stitching files. My Aunt Lorraine comes to stay with us each year for several days. She is a kindred spirit when it comes to quilting and embroidery stitching. Several weeks ago a package came in the mail for me. It was like Christmas. The package included 18 individual stitching collections. Each collection had approximately 20 designs with the ability to stitch out each of the 20 designs in four different sizes. Four sizes for four different sizes of hoops to stitch from. I had pushed copying these collections off to the side as they intimidated me. After Kersten left, I was ready to tackle it.
Here it is supper time and I have only three of the collections remaining to put into individual folders on the computer. I named each of the folders in the “Documents” the same as I named the folder on the “F” flash drive. I would have had to have purchased multiple flash drives to accommodate all these designs. I did prof each document file by loading one of the designs in that folder onto the flash drive and then plugged it into the sewing machine. I then printed out the image of all the designs in each collection as the log of what colors of threads to use is important. Once I mail back the original DVDs to my aunt, that tutorial would be lost. My brain feels like mashed potatoes. My legs feel like noodles. Why you might ask that my legs ache? My HP Notebook is in my living room. The printer is in the sewing studio as is my sewing machine. I could have moved the printer to the living room but I don’t trust myself taking the sewing machine up the basement steps.
After all the dirt work yesterday, I am not sure which was more wearing to my ole body.
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Noreen
Landscape Changes on Stauffer
It was time to make some changes on Stauffer Avenue’s landscape: less than good grass, less than prolific flowers due to a lot of shade. rougher than a plow field in many places. Kersten and Kevin came for a Sunday visit and look what happened? The afternoon brought about a much needed tilling. The Stauffer area has been my address since 1988 and in those years, this backyard had nothing more than the bare minimum of attention. Oh yes, I dug in flowers and bulbs of every sort and left the grass areas to tend to themselves. Over those years the trees have grown and gave the backyard dense shade that kept the soil wet. The soil needed to have some air tilled in and it sure got it. Wouldn’t you know the tractor and tiller were barely on the trailer when it began to mist and that mist turned to a bit more substantial.
Oh yes, we had light rain off and on during the night. The forecast told us it would continue for several days with about three inches when all was said and done. This morning after Dennis and I had coffee, we began the seeding process of our new dirt. Using a product Dennis had seen on television we drug out our mile of garden hose and attached the attachment that held the grass seed and also a small packet that would turn the water green allowing me to see where I had been. Somewhere along the line Dennis said I must have touched my hair as this afternoon I do have a smudge of green in the white. It was chilly out and off course I got grubby. Dennis manhandled the garden hoses as I made my rounds. I tried to step into the dirt to get at the very center. If I had not curled my toes hard, I would have lost my shoe in the newly rained on dirt. We did manage to cover the entire area with the setting on the applicator set at “dense seeding.” Time will tell and as we are in the midst of the forecast of rain for several days, we won’t need to water at least this week.
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Noreen
There has been a plethora of activity on Stauffer Avenue. Dennis ran an errand to Fleet and Farm to get several bags of lime to put around our evergreen tree. This should neutralize the acidity in the soil that the tree gives out. That is on our plate for Monday.
I had the electric tiller going and thought I was in high cotton. I was working under the Lilacs and getting soil worked up that had not been moved around for a long time. It was time to get some tilth in the soil. I love my little tiller. 18 lbs is just the right amount for me to handle. That project was going to be the “It” for the day.
That was until Kevin and Kersten drove up with their diesel Ford tractor with an amazing tiller behind it about 1 o’clock. It was a trailer full. The mighty blue tractor sure did a great job on an area that may have been 25′ x 30′. By the time Kersten had helped me with some computer files, the boys . . . Dennis and Kevin, were loading the tractor and tiller.
By four, us four were sitting down to share a meal. The day was great. Of course, it had to rain about that time. Nothing serious but dang, that was suppose to be the forecast for later on this week. If the weather cooperates, Dennis and I will be doing the grass mousse tomorrow. It should be interesting. Dennis commented when the city puts down grass seed with a water hose, they really don’t care what shape or how hard packed the soil is. The soil that Kevin worked up looked like a sea of finally sifted soil. As I said . . . just a great day.
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Noreen
Oh boy oh boy. A slam dunk day for the older ones on Stauffer. I finished a commissioned stitching project for a benefit. That felt wonderful. No problems. When I stitch on a blank piece of fabric and then cut the fabric to the project size I have some leeway in case of an oops . . . just get out another piece of fabric. When the fabric is already sized and hemmed being a ready item after the last stitch, I do hold my breath.
Dennis was in search of some items from his Korean War days. I was quite sure they were not in our home but I was diligent and search high and low. The attic corners were totally sought out. Nothing. It did bring to site a few items that I will able to pass along or to donate.
Dennis has the acre mowed hopefully for the last time. It surely will be the last, won’t it? We are having chili for supper and are calling it a day. It’s easy to close down on a day such as this as it has been dark and gray all day long.
