It may be gray out and there may be no snow, but by all accounts our home is cherry, bright and with good tidings of joy. It’s all about the attitude that we fly at and not the altitude. Dennis and I have a great attitude and as we do some elfing before Christmas, all is well and may it also be with you.
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Noreen
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Noreen
This afternoon we were invited to one of Dennis’ trade show buddy’s man cave. Doug farms south of Madelia and has converted the old dairy barn into his workshop and man cave. As Dennis had shared with Doug that his Heston belt buckle collection has outgrown the case we had found for them, Doug had offered to make a second case using Dennis’ previous one as a pattern. Today was the day we went to pick up the belt buckle cases.
Cabela’s Sport stores advertise the huge amount of mounted wild animal trophies to enjoy. Half of Doug’s man cave could give Cabela’s a run for their money. Doug and his wife have made several Africa hunting trips and the trophies are fantastic, huge and . . . many. There will be some remodeling going on as a wall of the workshop will need to be blown out to make room for the six additional mounts that are currently at the taxidermy shop.
We had just the nicest visit with two wonderful people. Doug needs to make plans for his new mounts and Dennis needs to arrange his wall space for the additional belt buckle case. Either situation . . . it’s all relative.
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Noreen
I have had a great day. Dennis is fixing eggs and sausages for supper. Sweet.
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Noreen
Repairs and Shopping
Dennis and I came back from the sewing center in Bird Island with the sewing machine in the back of the pickup . . . sweet. It is repaired and I have been stitching for the last several hours. I also shopped. The gray hoop came with my sewing machine. Take note of the small knob with which to tighten the stabilizer and fabric for embroidery. Today I purchased from the sewing center the brand new hoop that Bernina just came out with in this particular size. Take note of the knob! Easily handled with arthritic hands and fingers and just a push of the side buttons to release. No more twisting that itty bitty knob. Bernina had listened to their customers. Great company. I knew there was a reason that we needed to go back to Bird Island today. My major elf Dennis didn’t bat an eye, and by the way, the lunch at the Athman’s restaurant was also sweet. Again . . . all is well in the sewing studio and with us older ones who get things done.
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Noreen
I remember years ago when the news and latest would come out, my thought was, yup, more to go wrong. We will be making a trip to Bird Island tomorrow morning. This time the sewing machine is going to have a sleep over in Bird Island until every nook and screw has been gone over. Surprisingly, neither Dennis nor I am upset about it. We bought the machine to use and let me tell you it does get a work out. Since Thanksgiving it has put on approximately 800,000 stitches. Is it worth a road trip . . . absolutely. Who else could have more fun in retirement than having a reason to get up in the morning and at the end of the day, having had good clean fun with something tangible to show for it. It beats sitting up at happy hour with a small laundry basket in front of you for all the scratch offs that won nothing. Dennis and I are looking forward to the day as you know dog gone well, Athman’s Restaurant will get a visit from us.
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Noreen
When you think the wind has no more gusto, be prepared. I will take the wind and a few sprinkles any day over snow. Dennis has been manning the main floor of our home today. It seems like it was meant to be a stitching type of day. As I loaded an embroidery design into the sewing machine, I did wince a bit when the stitch count came up 29,614. There is no better reward of time and talents well spent. I wandered back and forth from the ironing board to the Sears machine.
Mom loved her thread and fuzz. Rain or shine, snow or ice the barn chores always came first. From there she made sure the hen house was well tended for those precious cackleberrys. The last chore before Mom and Dad had breakfast was to wash the milk machine milkers. It was a job that had to be done right after the milking morning and night to make sure all was clean and ready for the next round.
I can about bet that the last of the rinse drops were hitting the milk room floor from the wash job and Mom had eggs and toast going for her and Dad. To get back to Mom’s fuzz and thread . . . it was her passion and she made no excuses for spending as much time at her sewing and quilting as she could squeeze in. She could have something going in the oven or on a cookie sheet and still get a stitch or two in between time.
Perhaps My love of fuzz and thread is in my genes or . . . I glean a lot of satisfaction from trying new things and creating something that perhaps no one thought to try. While the wind is howling, I still keep an ear tuned in case Dennis needs something on the main floor. Without notice or fanfare he wanders down and uses the computer in the sewing studio for a card game or two. It doesn’t hurt that he may find a snack of peanuts while he is at it.
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Noreen
A day to take care of business. As Dennis’ and my life has changed so was our medical insurance in line for a change. Oh my oh my, we are staying with Blue Cross and Blue Shield. We are changing from Senior Gold to Platinum Blue. We have always had good service. Today a happenstance call in regard to a question on Dennis’ policy as it crosses paths with the Veteran’s Health Care came from a gal named Mary. She assured us Dennis has been approved for the new coverage. As a perk she said she would check my enrollment as well as long as I was on the phone.
Our insurance agent had dropped the ball. Yes, I was also approved for the enrollment, but . . . he had never cancelled us out of the Senior Gold. We would have had two premiums for each of us until the red tape was unraveled. Getting a total of four premiums most likely would have blown out my Carotid arteries. Mary was so helpful. We needed to fax a letter with both of our signatures and multiple numbers for reference as soon as possible.
Dennis took the letter to the bank to have them fax it. With the enrollment deadline having just been completed the fax lines were overwhelmed. Dennis came home and I called Mary and she put a note on our insurance I.D. numbers that it would be coming in the snail mail.
I mention to Dennis so often how I can see older people being misguided by what is required of us. Consumer beware. When I called the insurance fellow, he was astonished as he had faxed that in just recently when he noticed it. NOT. He couldn’t have. It takes individual signatures for it to be taken care of.
We are having chicken titties for supper knowing we are still on top of our lives for details that need a lot of attention. It’s been a great day.
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Noreen
The howling wind today could be heard in the far corners of the basement, yes, even in the storage closet that was once a cistern. I had to do a “phone consult” today in regard to one of my projects. No point in spending energy, time and products if the right choices are not made.
Dennis came down into the sewing studio and put his stamp of approval on some fabric choices I had laid out on the church tables. The embroidery unit can let me know when it needs attention while I have actually several projects in the works. Dennis enjoys taking some time to get in a few games of solitaire on the computer we have in the sewing studio, and he can then take a few minutes to swivel his chair and watch the stitching and also enjoy a few peanuts for a snack. We have a full service sewing studio and it is so appreciated and enjoyed. I have said it often, “We have a sweet life here on Stauffer Avenue.”
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Noreen
Good Day on Stauffer
Lots going on in the sewing studio. The embroidery unit running and to the far right with my Sears is where I have been doing straight stitching. I feel so fortunate that at the end of the day my mind is weary as well as my body. I couldn’t even guess how many trips around my sewing tables I make in a day. It’s like a modern day “Ring Around The Rosey.”
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Noreen
A gray day that had snow flurries. At one time when I looked out the tiny floating snowflakes looked just like the little feather tufts that leak out of Dennis’ winter nylon jacket that has channels of feathers.
I had a great day of stitching. It can’t always go perfect though. Dennis was in place to see what a thread mess can be made when a sewing machine bucks. It was my fault in not threading it correctly. Several attempts, only one thing to be done is to take it slow and take it apart to the point of the problem. The problem was a piece of thread the size of an eye lash that had gotten wedged under a spring. Five o’clock the sewing studio shuts down. It is never a problem wondering what to do tomorrow. I like it that way.
Life is good and there are blessings abound.