Me, Myself and Memories

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  Noreen 2:58 pm on August 25, 2017 Permalink  

  Lofty Aspirations 

  

  Leave it to Snuggle to have lofty aspirations. I was putting quilts on the clothesline for freshening up. Up on the lilac limbs I heard such a clatter. What to my wondering eyes did appear . . . a cat named Snuggles making a bee line for the patio porch roof. With a leap and a bound Snuggles was on the patio umbrella. After checking out all edges of the umbrella and making it twirl in its holder, Snuggles settled in for a long afternoon’s nap on the top vent . . . only on Stauffer Avenue.

   
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  Noreen 3:40 pm on August 24, 2017 Permalink  

  Chilly air makes for a very happy day of getting my walk done and not feeling like my underwear is stuck tight.  I know, I know sweating is a self cooling blessing . . . but my system usually goes overboard.  You know it’s chilly when Snuggles makes a bee line for my lap as I sit on the patio. He curls up into the tightest ball ever and most likely would stay for hours on end if my legs wouldn’t need to stretch before they fall asleep.

  All the four legged ones, and perhaps Dennis, are a bit thrown off their game as I took over the patio porch yesterday with suds, cleaners and the scrub brush. Half of the well trafficked carpet is now in the process of drying. While I was busy Dennis took off to the the laundromat with rugs and the kitty blankets from their baskets. You would have thought the four of them had been put up for adoption. Yes, it would have been ideal to have rented a rug shampoo unit . . . it they even do such a thing anymore. This worked out slick.

  After lunch, we began doing some dirt work on the north side of the house in preparation for the window job coming up in September.  With an acre there were holes that Dennis wanted to fill in with the dirt that is being removed. No, I have no idea what the end result will be in managing the slop of soil, but having started is key.  A bit yesterday and perhaps a bit tomorrow, it will get done.

  Today has been a quieter day.  I had an embroidery project to work on and Dennis has mozzarella stuffed chicken meatballs nestled in Classico four cheese tomato sauce with pasta. It’s a good day and a good thing. Martha Stewart would agree.

   
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  Noreen 3:37 pm on August 23, 2017 Permalink  

  What a fantastic day.  As I was coming back from my walk this morning the air was great and the various birds seemed to be happy about the mild temps and low dew point.  The sounds of the birds, cars, trucks and semis along the county road are all usual and customary.

  I had to really listen closely as a sound coming up from the rear was not usual and for sure not customary. I soon realized it was the sound of many pounding feet. School teams were out and about getting ready for their track team endurance runs.  Good manners and respect are alive and well.  Streams of runners, boys and girls, all took a bit of a bend around me bidding me a “Good morning.”  As I watched them all run by me I couldn’t help but wonder at all those strong legs and wonder if when they reached my age with the miles of wear and tear they would still feel like tearing up the tar.  I wanted to shout out “Cherish your knees!”

   
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  Noreen 5:46 pm on August 22, 2017 Permalink  

  The Results are In 

  

  This is an x-ray of a normal right wrist.  The hand sits balanced on the wrist.  All the cushion in between the bones is in place and there is a rhyme and reason to the placement of the bones.

  

  This is my right wrist. I went for a second opinion today. The doctor was excellent in his explanation. The wrist is much like the cone of an ice cream cone. The joints and finger of the hand are like the ice cream that sits on the cone. My ice cream has slid off . . . way off. Nothing more can be done other than perhaps taking an Alieve Gel Cap when the wrist pain is at its worse. If the pain were the first thing that would awake me in the morning and continue so during the day, day after day, a cortisone shot could be given. In all honesty the pain is not severe. It is humbling to need to use two hands to hold my beloved coffee and several other special ways to do things. The specialist thought it was great that I have been training myself to work on the ambidexterity. His advice was to continue doing all that I have been doing and being smart in finding new ways of doing everything that I enjoy. His parting words were to the effect that when I am ready to be a compliant old lady I should come and see him and he would fuse the wrist. Hell . . . I hope his is retired by that time.

   
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  Noreen 3:08 pm on August 21, 2017 Permalink  

  Compromising is Tough 

  Eventually yard work is complete. It’s threatening rain outside and the sewing studio needs to be visited. While I am in a “hurry up and wait” process in our basement window project, large projects are on hold. I had decided I want to have a few finished embroidered items on hand for . . . whatever. Kitchen towels were my choice for today. The embroidery can run while I start a load of laundry or get something ready for supper.  As I was up and down the steps checking on the project I decided to make this the last trip and just stay close by. The red thread was the last of the color changes. Enjoying a bit of coffee I was content watching each letter to be sewn. Ops! the “d” didn’t look too good and the “C” was surely off kilter. I apparently had not tightened the screw sufficiently holding the two portions of the hoop with the towel being held taught in between them. The stop button was pushed and I just sat and looked at the project for a while. The last few minutes of the project and it was bad. I was determined not to scrap the entire thing. I have learned that you never, ever take the project out of the hoop as the registry can never be duplicated. With the towel still in the hoop and tightening it, I could only hope. I took the hoop off of the machine and slowly started picking out way-ward stitches that had begun as the fabric had slipped. Good grief. So many tiny stitches and so close together. Ugh! I got all the stitches out less one grouping that threatened the fabric with a possible hole. When the hoop was put back on the machine, there was no way the word “Cookie” was going to be stitched where it rightfully belonged. There had been too much slack in the fabric by that time.  All I could do was forge ahead and let the stitching continue.

  When Megan was around paper crafting and we had made a boo-boo, she would tell me, “Grammie, that’s what embellishments are for. We cover up the mistake.” Well, Megan, Grammie decided that I couldn’t shrink the area between the two words, so I put in an embellishment. I have decided that anyone getting involved in reading the recipe won’t take note . . . or the person wiping the dishes will have their own agenda.  Sometimes even the best intent in details needs to be compromised so the baby is not thrown out with the bath water.

   
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  Noreen 6:02 pm on August 20, 2017 Permalink  

  A very quiet relaxing day on Stauffer today. A batch of egg salad and a bowl of creamed cucumbers . . . what else could we ask for.

   
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  Noreen 4:55 pm on August 19, 2017 Permalink  

  The team on Stauffer is alive and well . . . if not a bit grubby and weary. Today Dennis was in charge of 100% of the mowing of the acre and I was the handy dandy trimmer of all things not able to be reached with the rider mower. During the first battery on the trimmer, all was well. When I swapped out batteries I took a look at the Bridal Wreath Bush. I should never have looked. Black Night Shade vines were everywhere . . . like a huge amount. I began trimming back the bush. By the time I was done the stumps of the bush are maybe 12″ high. Just perfect for next spring’s new growth. Dennis took a break from mowing and he hooked onto the two-wheel trailer. Off to the landfill we went with our load. After a short pickup ride, the trailer was back in the garage, Dennis went back to mowing and I continued trimming the remaining portion of the acre.

  It is now suppertime and when we get the energy to get showered up, the patio time this evening is going to be sweet. The acre looks marvelous. Somewhere in there we will pull something together for supper. It is such a great feeling to work together for a common goal . . . a wonderful spot here on Stauffer Avenue. It does puzzle Dennis when some of his acquaintances remark how bored they are.

   
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  Noreen 3:53 pm on August 18, 2017 Permalink  

  A bit of chit chat and planning while sitting on the patio enjoying coffee. We have the plans in place and the project is ordered for our new basement windows. It is now time to think on getting some landscaping done on the north side of the home where two of the new windows face. It is unfortunate that the air conditioner is outside the northwest window. It is what it is and the window fellow said they have faced worse challenges. The northwest window is sitting on ground level . . . and I mean “right on.”

  With the latest news that our favorite lumberyard is closing and getting ready for an auction, and I believe all their locations in this southern part of Minnesota, we mauled it over. We made a trip to Lowe’s today.

  In the history of Stauffer Avenue I think Dennis and I made history. We have done four, let me repeat, four road trips within one week. I think the little red pickup must be on some awfully high octane fuel and wants to go, go, go. Hmm, that being said, I should check Dennis’ prescriptions. Perhaps it is him and not the little red pickup that has gotten the “go.”

  I digress. We measured once, we measured twice and we now have on hand what we will need for the landscaping project on the north side of the house. In particular, we have the window well foundation item and also the clear vinyl cover for it. Neither of these can be installed until after the window is in, but we are prepared. Some dirt work is in our plans. Moving dirt back from the foundation and making it all pretty. We’ve got this.

   
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  Noreen 5:06 pm on August 17, 2017 Permalink  

  Just a good day here on Stauffer Avenue. I surfed the web for additional information for and on embroidery designs. Asking a few questions as to what would be possible, etc. Gotta love what is called “live chat.” I had been babysitting neighbor Jan’s potted flowers. They survived the visit to Stauffer and are now back where they belong.

  The cool weather is much appreciated . . . if the dew point would behave itself towards the afternoon hours. Fore told is fore warned . . . there is a pending road trip scheduled for tomorrow. A bit of landscaping needs to be done prior to the new basement windows being installed. Mankato, be prepared for the little red pickup to be heading your way.  By the way, we did get an inch of rain yesterday. It was hard to believe that Redwood Falls received 8.02. Too much too fast.

   
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  Noreen 2:56 pm on August 16, 2017 Permalink  

  A Chuckle for the Day 

  

  Here is the rest of the “shoe” story. Yes, the shoehorn does help. What happens when I slip my foot into the shoe while keeping the backs from pushing down via the shoehorn, the tongues push down towards the toe of the shoe. These comfortable shoes do not have the laces that adjust. These laces are elastic to allow for give but are permanently in place. My arthritic fingers cannot grasp the tongue to pull them back in place towards my ankle. Pushing safety pins into and through the tongues of the shoes allows me to grasp the pins with a pliers and pull them in place. See . . . I told you it would warrant a chuckle. Hey, it works and I love the support these shoes that I wear for our road dates give. By the way . . . they are Skechers – Lite-Weight.