Me, Myself and Memories

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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.

   
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  Noreen 4:55 pm on January 11, 2018 Permalink  

  I have mentioned at times about enjoying the swaying of Evergreen boughs. When I dared to slowly open my eyes this morning, those same boughs were not swaying . . . they were in full blown flight. The wind chimes in that same tree were bleating out “When the Saints Come Marching In.” It dawned on me that we may be having a blizzard. When I did get out of bed, I could not believe that we had no snow falling, nor had we had any snow fall during the night. The concrete drive was as bare as a babies butt.

  It takes me awhile in the mornings to take in the new day . . . why rush. Dennis was already in the patio porch. The stove pipe coming out of the north wall of the garage was putting out puffs of white wisps assuring me he and the cats were comfortable. Our thermostat is set at about 60 degrees over the night hours and that allows for both of us to snuggle in and sleep deeply. I pushed the button on the wall to a better temperature and found my slippers.

  As I was going to pour a cup of coffee my eyes caught the calendar on the wall and acknowledged it was January 11th . . . the day the Epileptic clothing drive was taking place. I put the empty coffee cup down. Dressed in my pink fuzzy bathrobe and white fuzzy slippers, I picked up the prepared bag off of the kitchen floor and beat feet down that bare concrete drive and plunked the bag on the curb complete with the required tag for the curb side pickup. On the way to the back door of our house . . . it hit me. It was dang cold and the wind that was whipping the Evergreen boughs was doing a dandy job on me. That was a fairly long 90′ walk. My first cup of coffee for the day never tasted so good. A bit later when I put on the morning news, I learned that we were at sub zero weather. Hmm. It’s o.k., I got the important task done and I could take my time drinking coffee before getting dressed for the day. As I said, why rush.

   
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  Noreen 4:20 pm on January 10, 2018 Permalink  

  A Piece Here and Piece There 

  

  It’s time to use up what there is in the batting stashes. There are different weights to be matched for success. I have some adhesive tape made for just such a project. I am thinking of working through all of it as long as it’s out of the bin so the next time it won’t be so overwhelming. It is a very economical way to work through smaller projects. Large quilts brought these scraps on and the smaller projects will finish them up.

   
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  Noreen 5:28 pm on January 9, 2018 Permalink  

  Lots of quiet time as I take one piece of fabric at a time to work towards a completion. Lots of time to do some reminiscing and pondering.

  I know for certain I will never ever tire of the feeling of being a mother. A lifetime . . . but never feeling like a job . . . rather a blessing.

  I know for certain the only way to continue enjoying my life is to put things back where they belong once I have used them. That being said . . . I know I most likely carried my rotary fabric cutter with me somewhere. Thank you Lord for giving me a small home in which to hunt. Dennis checked the freezer compartment of the refrigerator and I went through the multiple of waste paper baskets before they went out this morning. Hmm.

  I know for certain that understanding and patience goes hand in hand as Dennis and I take each day as it comes together as one. Each of us bending to the other, much like the Evergreen boughs that I never tire of watching during the winter. Life is sweet.

   
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  Noreen 5:12 pm on January 8, 2018 Permalink  

  It smelled like spring outside today. It felt like spring. We ran away to Mankato. I had not been farther than our Shopko Pharmacy since Christmas for some meds for Dennis. It was a fantastic road date. The first thing we did was check in at Great Clips to see when we could turn ourselves in for haircuts. We had not had haircuts since the week before Thanksgiving and we were both on the fuzzy side.

  As we had an hour a half before being back at Great Clips, we headed to Hy-Vee with a grocery list. The store on the hill in Mankato is a treasure trove of goodies and variety. Dennis was in charge of “people watching” in his little red pickup in the parking lot. He never tires of that.

  We pulled into our driveway by four in the afternoon and were very content. Of course stopping at Perkins for a “meal of the day” didn’t hurt. By the way . . . if we stop at Perkins, that means that this gal is not making anything for supper. Everyone is on their own. It seems to work well.

  Two more nice days and then we will see what winter has left to surprise us with. I will be A.O.K. as Dennis put the handle back on my plastic snow pusher. I am quite sure I will be needing it by Friday.