Me, Myself and Memories

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  Noreen 3:05 pm on January 21, 2018 Permalink  

  It’s Here 

  It’s here and I don’t mean the snow that is to come.  Nephew Brett unloaded a huge bag of what he said was scraps of batting.  Dennis went through the bag and I know I can and will be patching pieces together for some time to come.  Quilting is all about perspective and patience.  I have both of those nailed.  

  Right now it is 38 sunny degrees and we are prepared for what they say is coming.  They have been mistaken in the past.  We can only hope.  The front yard is totally free of snow as is the backyard.  Surprisingly all four cats are in the patio porch.  It is said that animals know better how to prepare for weather than humans.

  I have a huge kettle of soup on the burner.  Dennis came home from the Korean Veterans luncheon last month and commented on the hamburger sauerkraut soup he had had. Well . . . it is now on low heat simmering.  Time will tell.  I added some sautéed celery and sautéed yellow bell pepper, balsamic vinegar, black pepper and beef stock.  When Dennis gets up from his nap, he will no doubt give it a taste test and we will doctor it up from there.  

  Hmm . . . the sky to the southwest looks a bit different than the sky to the northwest.  It is a wait and see type of evening that we will have.

   
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  Noreen 5:39 pm on January 20, 2018 Permalink  

  Relaxing 101 

  

  This is relaxing 101. My Santa blanket, snacks, remotes and RFD television channel. There is always bound to be a tractor auction of some kind.

   
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  Noreen 5:24 pm on January 19, 2018 Permalink  

  You know it’s a great sunny warm day when Dennis leaves the east patio door cracked during the day to allow any of the four cats to escape and see if anything has changed in the back yard. Good times for them.

  We are seventeen days out from the pre-op for Dennis and the carotid surgery to then be set for the right side. Taking it one day at a time. There have been tell take signs that the 6th of February can’t come any too soon. What does a tell take sign consist of? Walking and talking as usual and then the tremors start in the left arm and follows down to the left leg as the leg wants to collapse and then it does. There is no sense that Dennis can work with my voice. We just wait it out and I try to make him comfortable. We are so thankful that thus far no broken bones during the collapse. I do believe the saving grace in regard to the bones is that his body is so limp it does protect him.

  The October 17 surgery on the left carotid artery that was blocked by 90% plus brought about great success. The right side that is blocked by 70% plus couldn’t be done any sooner than February as too much increased blood supply to the brain could very well cause a stroke or a heart attack. Dennis is ready to lay down and have it done even if it means “right now.” Needless to say we take each day as it comes and very thankful that we have “each day.” On the plus side, we haven’t lost our sense of humor, our appreciation of each other or seeing the good in each day: save the best and leave the rest.

   
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  Noreen 5:12 pm on January 18, 2018 Permalink  

  Sunny skies and we decided we needed to make a house call to Dennis’ nephew, Brett. He had been calling with questions on his quilting projects. I needed to see first hand what was in the works. Dennis was my chauffeur. Brett watches multiple YouTube videos and rewinds them as often as it takes for him to get the gist of the stitch. Brett’s wife Molly works at one of the banks in town. When Molly is home she has threatened to take the multiple rewinds and . . . well you get the idea. One of Brett’s issues were taken care of when Amazon delivered his order of sewing machine needles. 200 machine needles in size 16, and 200 machine needles in size 14. Yes, when a YouTube gives the tip of sewing over stick pins, he takes it as gospel. I must be tuned in to a different YouTube. When Uncle Creepy’s YouTube tip tells me it is a “No, No,” I listen. Brett does need to realize that the quilting projects that he is watching is time lapsed. It doesn’t go as fast in real life. Patience, patience is the best tool a quilter can use.

  It was good to get back home and settle in for some stitching on my own turf. I can suggest and I can advise and then we get along to Stauffer Avenue when time seems to stand still in our sewing studio. I say “our” as Dennis has picked up quite a few tips just quietly observing as he plays solitaire.

   
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  Noreen 4:35 pm on January 17, 2018 Permalink  

  Temperatures Trump Winds 

  The winds from the s0uth felt raw and brisk.  Never mind.  The 28 degree reading on the thermometer did the trick to win us over.  Dennis used the snow pusher to rid the patio of the last fluffy snowfall and I went to work on the end of the driveway.  The city plows can really get down to the nitty-gritty for plugging up the end of the driveway.  I do believe Dennis had an ulterior motive on clearing the patio . . . his cats don’t like walking in snow.  I agree with the job that was done.  Perhaps the cats will wander outside in the next several days and get some fresh air.  When we came in we both spent some time in the sewing studio.  I worked on the fabric needed to frame my quilt blocks and Dennis took time out to play some solitaire on the sewing studio’s computer and we shared a Pepsi.  Good times.  

   
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  Noreen 3:58 pm on January 16, 2018 Permalink  

  Why Not! 

  

  Why not create fabric to coincide with a project that is waiting to be finished. In cold weather us older ones are not going to go fabric shopping. The marbled black fabric was intriguing. On its own it was stark. Metallic silver and red thread played well and brightened it up. When Dennis comes down to the sewing studio and is wowed . . . it’s a good thing. Twenty three individual embroidered pieces were needed. Each piece will be cut down and placed as sashing and cornerstones in between nine inch blocks. Enough for one day, the lights in the studio are off. The final step was Dennis cleaning off the embroidery hoop from the sticky stabilizer. Truth to be told there was still sticky stabilizer from Kersten’s Pokémon quilt. Creating custom fabric with the “just so” size was a good challenge. The important thing is to know when enough is enough for any given day. I am going to enjoy the bright sun coming through the windows and sit in my favorite chair for a spell before doing a tomato soup and grilled cheese supper.

   
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  Noreen 5:25 pm on January 15, 2018 Permalink  

  Last night when I checked the weather for St. James on the Internet it was 20 degrees. I suited up and cleared off the driveway. As I was finishing the wind was coming up from the north. So be it! I had gotten the several inches taken care. I was hesitant to look out this morning as it was still blowing hard. As luck would have it the driveway was blown clear down to the concrete other than the short area where the house had sheltered the wind. Go figure. Bundling up it didn’t take long and we were again with a clear driveway.

  Mondays are usually a good day to run some laundry through. We are either the dirtiest or the cleanest old farts, or we just enjoy clean clothes. Yup . . . it’s the latter.

  This afternoon friend Renee came by for coffee. Renee worked with me in the courthouse for a very long time. She has since moved on to working at one of the banks here in town. Renee and Carrie graduated together. She knows she has a few years to work before she also can join the “hermit” classification. It was a fun afternoon, but man oh man, I drank way too much coffee. I think I will check the driveway and see if enough snow has blown in to shovel off to work off some of this caffeine before we fix supper.

   
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  Noreen 2:50 pm on January 14, 2018 Permalink  

  Resizing 

  

  From all appearances, it doesn’t seem like a huge task to resize a design from 2.5″ to 1.5″. Needless to say I have begun working on a new project. I found what I needed on an online embroidery site and for the whooping sum of $1.00 it was mine. It downloaded at 2.5 x 2.5 inches, take it or leave it. A bit too large for what I was planning for the cornerstones of this project. The project needed taking the flash drive to the Bernina Tool Box and beginning the task of resizing. Once it was at 1.5 x 1.5 inches the calibrating of the number of stitches to decrease was the next challenge. The original was 4,390 stitches. The Tool Box unfortunately does not do that automatically. After trail and error, we may be onto something that can be used at 3,400 stitches. The thread of choice is metallic silver and red on marbled black. Metallic thread needs to have a lot of TLC as it loves to twist and turn. Time will tell.

   
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  Noreen 5:15 pm on January 13, 2018 Permalink  

  Chili Kind of Day 

  This was a day when Chili needed to be fixed.  Two pounds of browned ground beef was added to sautéed onions, yellow pepper and several stalks of celery.  For some reason we had a huge can of tomato soup, like the kind that you would find in the canned items for benefit cooking.  Time to use it up with a variety of spices.  Simmering does wonders to Chili.

  

  Measured once, measured twice, measured three times and the wording is as it should be.

  After letting the Chili simmer it was time to get the blue 12 Days of Christmas hung up in the sewing studio.  Various techniques were used and a bit more pondering . . . I like it.  Wonder of wonder when all the blue was cut on the length of the fabric rather than the width.  The length has no stretch or give allowing for the sashing (in between the embroidered blocks) to lie very flat.  Handling fabric has a tendency for stretching when cut on the width, and I have one set of embroidered blocks left to experiment with. Time will tell.  

  The project was hung and it was time to clean up the sewing area.  One small piece of carpet and it must have collected every stinking thread that it could.  The old Filter Queen vacuum is housed right under the table where my sewing machine sits.  Wham, bam . . . get it done.  When I am pondering fabric to use, I get a rather large array out of the stashes.  It lies on the table, paring it with one or the other.  It is amazing when you glance at the choices, as to which one pops and you know that that is the one.  My blue storage box came down from the shelves and when I picked up the stash that had not been chosen . . . there it was.  My rotary fabric cutter, resting nicely in between some of the blue fabrics.  I had been looking for it for about a week.  My . . .  oh . . .  my.  This is why I had commented earlier that putting things back where they belong is going to keep me on track.  I feel much better, and yes, it is on the shelf where it belongs.   

  What a day.  The lost has been found, the sewing studio has been cleaned and ready for the next project.  Best of all supper is just about ready.

   
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  Noreen 4:57 pm on January 12, 2018 Permalink  

  Dennis braved the cold today for a visit to our local meat market. There will be a batch of chili cooking tomorrow.

  This is the time of the year when I need to keep my cell phone charged. Dennis’ nephew Brett has put his concrete business to bed for a few months. That means that I am on his speed dial for questions in regard to his quilting. I give the man credit for developing a hobby. For Kevin and Jeremy they have skills and passions in all things within their homes. For fellows that have no desire for being a DIY (Do It Yourself), winter months can get long. I mentioned to Dennis today that helping Brett with his quilting has made me be a better quilter. How could I tell him how it should be done if I don’t spend a bit more time honing my own skills. We are both coming out winners. If not for my fuzz and threads, I would be crawling the walls with black ice kidding everywhere outside. These winds have really polished what had been on the path of melting earlier in the week.

  It is now near five in the afternoon and I do close up down here in my sewing studio every day about this time.