Me, Myself and Memories

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  Noreen 3:32 am on May 30, 2017 Permalink  

  I can take a lot when it comes to weather and temperatures. Today . . . it is raining this late afternoon and it would not surprise me if there were ice crystals included.

  Thank goodness I have multiple tasks that I can turn to on days such as these. I hightailed it down to the sewing studio. Last week Dennis’ granddaughter sent along a huge tub of her son Oliver’s toddler clothing from age one to three years old. She is wanting a quilt made up of the memories that so many of the items evoke. First thing was to nail down with Amy as to what colors were to be predominant and the size she was anticipating. When I hefted the tub of clothing I was not surprised when she said it would be nice to have a double bed sized quilt.

  At the end of this day, I do have the grid drawn out on paper and know that I will need 64 eight inch blocks for this quilt top for it to be 84″ x 84.” Keeping in mind the small size of many of these knit items, it is quite a stretch – I should say, quite the shrink, from working with knit shirts from my friend Burke this winter when he brought over his Vikings t-shirts. Sixteen blocks made the 84″ x 84″ for Burke.

  There is no time frame on this project. Amy is having a little girl in October and I know right now her focus is elsewhere. When this weather straightens out, my focus will split between yard work and sewing studio work.

   
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  Noreen 2:33 am on May 29, 2017 Permalink  

  Extra Help Always Needed 

  

  Working on some mail-ordered shirts for myself, I readily put to use some great finds that Kersten and Kevin found for me. Brand new in the wrappers these sewing aids were the perfect helpers to help re-size sleeves. I have no idea if the Weaver Pres-Kloth Company is still in business. I learned to use these items when I was in Home Economics in high school during the late 1950s. Somethings just cannot be improved upon.

   
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  Noreen 4:54 am on May 28, 2017 Permalink  

  This was another great day. Being outside with no bugs is just the best. Soon the out of town visitors will be going home that came to attend Dennis’ children’s mother’s memorial. It so shows how spoiled we are with our own schedules here on Stauffer. I am not ashamed to admit that. Isn’t that what getting to our ages is all about . . . I think so.

   
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  Noreen 3:02 am on May 27, 2017 Permalink  

  Here is the Problem 

  

  These delicate little flowering plants are the ones I am trying to kill off with Roundup. First out of the dirt in the early spring the greenery looks like chives. Then from the base comes this white flower looking very innocent. Then the plants become invasive strangling everything else. 

   

  

  This is a photo of the roots of a hosta.  I dug up several hosta that I saved before doing the Roundup kill. Today I found new homes for those hosta. Before I did that I tipped the hosta over and began cleaning out all of the unwanted volunteer bulbs of the invasive white flowering plants. The little white pods that can be seen on this photo are the self same invasive plant bulb encroaching on the hosta roots. It was a timely job but I picked out each white bulb before planting this hosta in a new location. You can see one huge white bulb that has been making a home under this hosta for some time. Nasty little devils.  The best luck I had was actually washing off all the dirt from the hosta roots to get a clean job of it.

   
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  Noreen 2:50 am on May 26, 2017 Permalink  

  We can’t complain when the sun is out. Patio time may need a jacket and we can go with that. We have a memorial service to attend late this afternoon. Marion Curry, mother of Dennis’ five children, has passed away. It was important that we be available either in our home or on the patio for Dennis’ grandchildren to be able to drop in and visit. Erin, who is 33 and the oldest grandchild, made our patio the first stop as she had driven from Silver Bay, an hour north of Duluth.

  Dennis and I are here for moral support when family needs us. In between time, we have our home and each other, the most precious place on earth. We spend time with each other offering moral support as the world around us changes daily. Sometimes when I am out and about it feels like a whirlwind and I can’t wait to get back to Stauffer Avenue where life is sweet and simplistic.

   
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  Noreen 5:19 am on May 25, 2017 Permalink  

  I finally broke down and bought some annual flowers. Last fall Dennis and I pulled up all the cactus that were in a small contained planter on the southwest corner of the house. Too much success as they were overflowing and would leave prickers if someone walked too close. Today Moss Roses have been put in that area. You can be sure that in the spring of 2018 I will leave the soil undisturbed for a long time to see if they have self seeded. I know Mom always had Moss Roses that volunteered.

   
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  Noreen 2:52 am on May 24, 2017 Permalink  

  Pats on the Back 

  Yes!  Dennis and I are patting each other on the back for having gotten the yards mowed and manicured yesterday. Guess what?  It has been raining off and on all day.

  Our patio porch and the yards are our salvation when it comes to keeping us in shape, busy and happy.  Gardening is a crap shoot.  If something doesn’t grow in one spot, you try another.  If all else fails and you can’t win for loosing you move on.  That is what has happened here on Stauffer Avenue.  We have too much shade to grow vegetables.  We have moved on to perennials for flowers.  Sometimes even perennials don’t work.  Somewhere along the line a birdie pooped a seed into my yard.  I have noticed the plant every spring for quite a few years.  The plant knows no boundaries.  It had taken over a rather large area off of the patio.  There was nothing to do but do a drastic “kill.”  Prior to using Roundup I dug out the hostas that were being smothered and then applied a very strong spray.  It took some time, but in the end nothing resists Roundup

  

  This is such an improvement from the heavy foliage that had taken over this area. Yup, a few more bags of mulch and a steady supply of Roundup . . . it will be doable.

  Even though it rained off and on today, we were determined to take back that area that had been killed off and make it look like it belonged on Stauffer Avenue.  There won’t be any plants in that area for a while.  The mulch does have Preen in it that we spread onto the area.  Next spring if there are some unwanted plants still trying to take over, another application of Roundup will be applied and as many more applications as it takes.  It is a large area and Dennis is correct, we need a bit more of the Preen-dosed mulch that needs to be gotten from Lowe’s.  For now, Dennis and I moved a few nice sized rocks into the area.  All it took was to get a scoop shovel close to these large rocks that we have had in the background, slide the rocks onto the shovel and then . . . PULL!  Never under estimate the power of the team of older ones here on Stauffer Avenue.

   
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  Noreen 4:57 am on May 23, 2017 Permalink  

  Now this was what I would have to call a great day. After a weekend of unusually cool wet weather, the morning sun was a welcome site.

  It started with a walk and then swirled right into a day of mowing and trimming to get the acre whipped into shape. Dennis used the rider for most of the yard as the grass had seeded out and what lawn can’t use a bit more free grass seed? I did bag the front yard. My arms work better pushing a mower than raking up windrows. We worked in a bit of patio sitting in between times. As I look out right now it does appear that we may have a rain shower moving in. Can’t say that we need it, but the deal is . . . we take it as it comes.

  Both Dennis and I will have no problems winding down for the evening hours after we pull a supper together. After a day like today, what I wouldn’t give to find a refrigerator full of leftovers.

   
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  Noreen 9:54 pm on May 21, 2017 Permalink  

  Penny Wise and Pound Foolish 

  Oh ya . . . let’s buy a camera for $89.00 and run with that.  This ole Grammie needs a bit of a tweak upside the head.  I went to our Radio Shack, aka: hardware store, to purchase a USB cord for the Nikon camera.  Nope.  “We do have this pack that has a multiple of sizes and yes, one of them is small enough for the camera.”  Thirty one dollars and I am at my home.  I followed all the directions for my HP notebook to like my new camera.  All I got was a “malfunction” message.  I trundled on down to the sewing studio and tried my Dell laptop.  Same message.

  At supper on Friday night, visiting with Dennis, I ticked off all the things that frustrate me.  The top of the list was the bra straps that don’t stay on my shoulders.  New shoulders have limited wiggle abilities. To get the bra on, I cannot tighten the straps enough to allow for them to stay in place . . . unless I am sweating so much they are stuck in place.  The next item of frustration was learning to do more things with my left hand as the right wrist is busy working with an abundance of arthritis.  Last on the list of frustrations was the ever changing techie things.  Dennis being the wonderful ole cowboy that he is, listened.  I am sure the rant did not help the digestion of his supper.

  The end result was making an appointment with the Geek Squad in Mankato for Saturday noon.  Saturday morning had me returning the thirty one plus dollar product to Radio Shack and we headed for a road date to Mankato.

  I was early for the appointment and I found a fellow in Best Buy, where the Geek Squad is located, to direct me to the USB area so I would have a power cord for the Geek fellow to help me.  “Sorry, we have not carried a size like that in a long time.  Have you had this camera for a long time?”  I know my eyes were the size of ping pong balls.  This was Saturday and I had purchased my new camera three days before, how old could it be?  Yup, minimal Grammie had been sold a product that was no longer viable.  Maybe the fact that it took two AAA batteries should have told me so.

  

  My new camera is up and running . . . on both computers. I am one happy Grammie. No! I did not buy a selfie stick.

  Before I let this helpful clerk go, I had picked out a Canon Power Shot SX620 camera.  Still the same small size . . . but it had a battery that would need charging . . . not batteries to toss when used up.  No USB cable needed.  For $9.98 a thing-a-ma-jig with the product name of “Insignia,” that in essence is a flash-drive that the memory card is plugged into, is used for downloading photos.  WHO KNEW!  By that time the Geek Squad fellow was ready for me.  All I would need to do would be take photos and to get them downloaded was to put the memory card into the flash drive and plug it into a computer.  It would recognize whatever was needed for whatever computer I used to import the photos.  I had come prepared with both the Dell and the HP laptops with me for the appointment.  Zack, the Geek, did demo the Insignia product into both of my computers to allow me to feel confident.  With a pre-paid plan for service, I paid for the camera and the flash drive.  I would have floated out of that store like a cloud if not for the heavy bag of computer equipment.

  This entire time, Dennis was patiently waiting in the parking lot as the driving rain lulled him.  As I have mentioned, my arms don’t do “up.”  The fellow bidding shoppers goodbye was nice enough to put my hood up on my jacket to give me some protection from the rain before I left the store.  I was on the move.  I kept hearing a horn blow but I had the red pickup in view and I was moving as fast as I could to get out of the rain.  The honking of the horn continued and it was Dennis.  We had driven to Mankato in THE car and I was hell bent on getting to someone’s red pickup for a ride home.  Now that would have been the cat’s meow to have a theft alarm go off as a senior citizen was trying to break in complete with enough computer equipment to take over Mankato.  Hang  around old people, they are entertaining.

  Before we left Mankato the Nikon camera had been returned for a full refund.  My oh my, what a lesson this ole Grammie had.  On the positive side, I am determined to get through whatever comes my way and learn from it.  Dang it, it is true.  You get what you pay for.  It is a good thing it is not very often I need to make informed purchases.

   
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  Noreen 5:03 am on May 21, 2017 Permalink  

  Glub. glub! 2.5 inches of rain in the last several days is a bit much. The best news is the patio porch is totally dry. During the last days of the nice weather, I had used the Mantis tiller in the hosta beds north of the porch and adjacent to the sidewalk that goes around the patio porch. No doubt the newly tilled dirt was ready to soak up some of this rain. I had also left a deeper ditch that ran along the sidewalk. How fun the porch is when it is dry!