Me, Myself and Memories

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  Noreen 4:42 pm on May 17, 2018 Permalink  

  Road Trip Day 

  This is the time of year when invites come in the mail.  When one particular invite came for a graduation I knew I was going to ask Dennis to take this one in.  We don’t usually travel 149 miles for a graduation but this invite triggered an emotional attachment.

  In 2004 a young fellow walked into my office at Watonwan County.  He introduced himself as a local resident and asked if I had any openings.  No, I sure didn’t.  He went on to say he had been laid off at Crysteel Manufacturing in the nearby town.  What a sharp looking young man he was.  I shook his hand and he went on his way.  He had made an impression on me.  In the next year, I had an appraiser that was going to throw her hat in the ring and run for Watonwan County Recorder in the coming fall months.  I went right to my desk and  pulled out Mike’s phone number he had left.  Mike worked under me for five years.

  Fast forward:  I retired in Feb. of 2009 and Mike stepped into my slot that same day.  He had had no training when he started but never missed an opportunity to take a class when offered.  In 2014 Mike took an offer out of Watonwan County and today Dennis and I checked up on Mike in Pope County, Minnesota.   Mike’s staff did comment often of what he had learned from “his mentor” who started him in the assessment world.  Sweet!

  Dennis and I couldn’t make the actual graduation party on Saturday so we did a road trip today to stop at Mike’s office and leave a card for his son.  The day that Mike started in my office, he was told that within the time coming there would be a quilt made for him as I had made one for everyone who worked for me.  Well . . . I got busy, both at work and at home.  Today Mike got his quilt.  He walked us out to Dennis’ pickup and when he opened the door for me, I handed him a large bag.  Right there on the grassy boulevard, Mike unfurled his quilt.  He took no notice of some glances as people walked by.  Mike had his quilt even if it was a bit delayed.  Mike shook Dennis’ hand and I got a great hug.  I know Mike and I will always stay in contact.

   
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  Noreen 3:36 pm on May 16, 2018 Permalink  

  Oh my gosh! You would have thought we had hung Dennis’ four cats out on the clothesline by their tails. What had happened is that we cleared out the patio porch . . . wall to wall. The cats paced on the patio, they looked in through the screens and every once in a while one would race through as if their tail was on fire. The oldest cat sat and howled because . . . her basket had been totally emptied. It needed a good vacuuming now that the paws are spending most of their days outside and not in the porch 24/7. Dennis and I have talked about cleaning the carpet that we put down two years ago. Today it became real. I called our hardware rental line and within a half hour we had a rug doctor on the patio ready to load with hot water and the carpet cleaner.

  While I shampooed the carpet, Dennis took several loads of rugs down to the laundromat. We use our patio porch and use it hard. Snow or rain, we are in and out. The scatter rugs help a bit at the doorways to take the first layer off of the feet . . . either two or four. The scatter rugs are on the clothesline to finish the drying. Dennis always pops them into the commercial dryers for a time. All three sides of the patio slider screens are open to let the breeze help to complete the drying of the carpet. Again with the cats wanting in. Sorry. Any other time, they wouldn’t think of coming indoors while there is daylight. If they are lucky they can come in tonight when it is their curfew time. The paws are out and about most of the day, but without fail by nine in the evening they are at their food and water bowls and are tucked in for the night. Ya, I know . . . but it’s our life and we are just tickled to enjoy what the days bring.

   
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  Noreen 5:17 pm on May 15, 2018 Permalink  

  We were rousted out of bed this morning with a call from Brett. Brett needed Dennis to head to New Ulm to pick up a 50 gallon drum of hardener for a concrete job. I packed Dennis a brown paper bag breakfast and off he went. After having several cups of coffee, I put my walking shoes on. I was within a 1/4 of a mile from home when there was Brett’s white pickup whizzing by honking the horn. In the back of the pickup bed was the 50 gallon drum heading for the job site. Gotta love that cowboy.

  The acre has been given a haircut this afternoon. Eight days ago was our first mowing and it definitely needed it today. We sat on the patio after both mowers and two weed whips were shedded. It felt wonderful to oversee our labor of love. Dennis’ favorite all time summer drink is the chilled green tea. It squelches thirst more so than soda pop. We need to remember to swap out batteries for the weed whips for next week. A bit of age on them does impact how long they hold up. If I trim everything around trees, shrubs and gardens it makes it so much easier for Dennis using the rider as it is a far cry from a zero turn. I bag our front yard. It’s easier than having to rake. Yes, we are kind of snobs in regard to our acre. As for some who shake their heads, hey, old people are fun to watch and these two older people never get bored. Yup, cleaned up . . . full bellies from supper . . . we have it made.

   
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  Noreen 3:26 pm on May 14, 2018 Permalink  

  Monday – Done Well 

  There is nothing more satisfying than deciding on the spur of the moment to go out for lunch.  I can tell you the sausage pizza at Casey’s in Fairfax was great.  A slice each with coffee . . . perfect.  As it was, there is a cookie contest going on within the Casey’s company.  Last year Kersten’s Casey’s store came in third in their division.  Needless to say we lent them a hand by taking a few boxes home.  Two of the boxes have already been enjoyed when Dennis took in a coffee gathering with friends in one of the apartment houses here in town.

  We had thought about mailing Kersten’s embroidered shirts to her . . . not.  The spur of the moment I mentioned earlier included taking them directly from the source to the client.  There is a large event taking place this next weekend in New Ulm that Kersten is spearheading. I didn’t realize it, but this Saturday is a world wide Pokémon event.  It was fun surprising her at Casey’s where she was busy with the pizzas and the cookies.  Dennis and I had a Snickerdoodle cookie when we got home.  It melts in your mouth.

  It rained on the drive home.  We had thought of mowing this late afternoon.  We’ll try for tomorrow.  I did walk the acre with the anticipation that a small bed of tulips had popped open.  Not one bud remaining.  The rabbits must have made a midnight raid last night.  I think we’re going to have a talk with the cats.  If they like chasing squirrels . . . why not try for a rabbit?  Maybe next year we will have better success with that batch of tulips.  They didn’t nibble on Hosta.  Most likely they are not quite so delicious. 

  This was a Monday that we feel hit all the markers.  Dennis is checking out his recliner . . . the Casey’s cookies were a success with his people.  All is good.

   
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  Noreen 5:49 pm on May 13, 2018 Permalink  

  It was a busy morning here on Stauffer. I received a popup on Facebook that popped into my email first thing this morning from Fairfax. A phone call from Carrie and family soon followed. It was a good thing I put new batteries into our wireless phones last weekend. A 45 minute chat from brother Calvin in Iowa would have ground all the phones to a halt. We had a good conversation. Two of the Curry kids called, one from Arizona and one from Mankato. The calls to this mother rounded out with Kevin calling this late afternoon. It was all very much appreciated.

  Dennis and I ran away to Mankato for noon lunch. It ended up being more of a late afternoon as we did some errands first. Dennis had a B-B gun from times past and it went kaput. Today Dennis found a Daisy model in Scheels. I don’t think you can beat a Daisy brand. B-Bs are town friendly when it comes to squirrels and our acre.

  It may not sound like two older people need to shop at Sam’s club, but it works for us as we are not ones to run uptown frequently for what we need. We have our pantry in the basement and can stash quite a few items that we frequently use. If “Plan A” doesn’t work out for a meal there is always another option when we visit the pantry. As we were putting groceries away, of course Snuggles snuck into the house. Believe me, she got her 50 cents worth of a tour up the stairs as well as in the basement. Cats . . . fun times.

  The day is now closing with a great sunset to be enjoyed. This week will be the turning tide for warmer weather. The great thing is that I have a good “Mother’s Day” every day. Wouldn’t trade it for the world. Great memories from times past and building new ones each and every day.

   
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  Noreen 3:55 pm on May 12, 2018 Permalink  

  Beauties 

  

  A very cold and dreary morning. The cool weather has allowed the tulips among the gardens to last. The Fern Peony is loaded with buds. Today Dennis and I have been very lazy. I finished up an embroidery project yesterday that turned out well and will be sending it off in the mail on Monday for delivery. If this cool weather persists, I may be spending more time in the sewing studio than the month of May usually allows.

   
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  Noreen 5:41 pm on May 11, 2018 Permalink  

  A damp and dreary day . . . that’s what Dennis is telling me. I had not noticed. If I know it’s not fit to be outside, I pour myself into whatever the sewing studio has to offer. I will say it felt good when the furnace kicked in every once in awhile. While the embroidery unit was running I did tidy up a few things in the sewing studio. The one thing that made me feel light and cheery was packing up two different bags of t-shirts from one of Dennis’ Granddaughters. I don’t have the heart for a t-shirt quilt right now. I don’t have the strength in my hands to cut up 40 different t-shirts right now. The hint that I had dropped about having the shirts already disemboweled by Amy and her mother didn’t stick. Hmm. I believe that the age that I am at, I can pick what lands under the needle here on Stauffer Ave.

  I was surprised how many graduation invites we received this year. Time will tell how many we can work into the schedule. Those invites coupled with birthdays for the great grand kids, shower invites and wedding invitations . . . what a crazy schedule it could be.

  Those invites aren’t any different from when I was a farmer’s wife. At that time the invites were over and above working side by side with Orlin to get all the outside livestock chores taken care of, getting the gardens started, the kid’s end of school year functions, etc. and taking care of the home. Do you suppose I had more than 24 hours in each day? Could it be that I had the energy of a young woman and knew no quitting or giving in? Is it possible that today some of my somewhat annoying physical challenges are the results of those wonderful days. If that is the case . . . . I wouldn’t trade any of it. It was a sweet life.

   
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  Noreen 3:58 pm on May 10, 2018 Permalink  

  It was brisk enough this morning to keep a fairly good pace for walking to stay warm. It is now five in the afternoon and it was too chilly for me to stay outside. I did get one pumper of Roundup applied. It is difficult to get at the tip of roots of the unwanted. I have decided the investment of Roundup will be a one shot solution and not taking a chance of leaving some of the spreading root behind. Speaking of solutions: I make mine very strong.

  I always have time to chat with a neighbor as she does her walk in the afternoon. June is three years older than me and she has been a widow for a year. Dennis and her husband grew up together, though David was three years younger than Dennis. Small town . . . common threads.

  My expected project came in the mail today. As it is now raining, I know I will be taking my sweet time on this project. Measure once . . . measure twice and a third time doesn’t hurt. I know a certain someone who has a sharp keen eye and he doesn’t even have to squint. I believe he has a built-in eyesight level. The sewing machine will have the night off and we will both be up for the task in the morning.

   
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  Noreen 5:18 pm on May 9, 2018 Permalink  

  A Welcomed Rain 

  Yesterday and into the evening we had rain off and on.  Nothing with winds, but not lacking on lightning or thunder.  I believe 2″ is what we did get.  Well after midnight lightning was going on in the northwest.  It wasn’t surprising that this morning was cool and gray.  After I came back from my walk this morning, I did check out our backyard.  It seems as if everything greened out overnight.  No . . . I was not enthused enough to try to do anything outside.  My feet and shoes would have held me down literally with mud.  I headed in and down into the sewing studio.

  I have all my ducks in a row for the task that I have coming into the sewing studio later this week.  Playing with embroidery designs takes patience and a goodly amount of math.  It’s not totally like fitting a square peg into a round hole, but close.  I had a selection of designs and until I stitched out one of them I would have no idea as to how it would work.  I used this kitten design as a prototype.  The detail was good.  The colors I chose were good.  The 18,000 stitches into a 3″ x 3″ finished product was not good.  The design ended up hard and certainly not conducive for a soft white dishtowel.  The design was downloaded onto my laptop and I began working with it.  For a large dishtowel I felt a design that would be 5″ or 6 ” would look as if it belonged on a 36″ square dishtowel.  After playing around with it on the computer screen, I downloaded it to a flash drive and plugged it into the sewing machine.  Embroidering just for the sake of doing it is not my thing.  I want a good balance of design and what it will be stitched onto.  The same 18,000 stitches on this design turned out well and I now know that the remaining collection will also need to be adjusted.  The end result was a soft, pliable, stitched design on an equally soft dish towel. 

   

   
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  Noreen 4:22 pm on May 8, 2018 Permalink  

  Some long awaited rain today coming in fits and starts. Dennis took advantage of the “day off” and visited his long time friend that now lives in an apartment house here in town. I spent my time working through a stitching design. The design made a great 8″ quilt block. After several tweaks and several trial error stitch outs it is going to be just as great in a 2.5″ x 4″ shirt logo on a t-shirt. I must admit . . . as much stitching as I have done, I had never stitched on a t-shirt. It feels great to challenge myself. It is also a nervous feeling when once the green light is pushed and the needle goes down . . . it will no longer be a prototype, but the real deal.

  It was good not to feel that there was work that could be done out in the gardens but rather to enjoy the rain falling. Dennis and I have had a great run of taking care of our acre after the winter. We can now take it a bit easy . . . still working at some problem areas but knowing that mowing can be done without taking out a chunk of the mower blades when hitting a hiding rock or branch.