It’s dark out! Dennis and I have not been up and out this late in a long time. We had safe traveling and great visiting. Time for lights out on Stauffer Avenue.
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Noreen
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Noreen
Fleeting Thoughts:
Dennis came down to the sewing room this afternoon to take a “look see.” The quilt top is getting down to the very last border around the perimeter. I have some black leftovers to trim it out. I will need 340″ in total length for the four sides. Tomorrow, I will be brave and take a look at how much black there is . . . enough for a 3″ wide x 340″ length, would be ideal. No good will come about in a quilt project unless you do the math before you cut.
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Noreen
Up For a Challenge
In the heat and humidity of summer days, I always have a backup plan, and that would be my basement sewing room. The dehumidifier keeps the air drier than in days of old when the basement floors would actually sweat. I don’t spend hour upon hour at sewing, as the back needs a break every hour on the hour. That gives me a chance to check out what Dennis is up to in the porch or to take a stroll into the gardens to see if the mosquitoes have been intimidated by the heat and humidity.
This summer I have issued myself a challenge that involves my sewing: no new fabric is to be cut into for a quilt top, until I have my leftover scraps used up. Let’s see . . . I have been making blankets and quilts since Carrie and Kevin have been small, and I don’t believe in throwing too much of anything away. I think I could have safely estimated the amount of leftover scraps by the pound. The first thing in the challenge was to sort through according to size more so than color. A scrappy quilt knows no specific color pallet. I decided to do the least desirable stash of leftovers first. I ended up with a huge brown paper bag of fabric scraps ranging in 1″ wide to 2.5″ wide. The Internet was a valuable tool to find the patterns that would serve me and my stash.
The pattern I chose was called a string quilt and that was all the motivation I needed. Years past I had made Dennis’
granddaughter Sadie a quilt using her t-shirts from three tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. That allowed me quite a bit of black scraps to pull this all together. As I have said . . . I don’t throw much of anything away.This afternoon a break was needed when I had the total of 56 nine inch blocks sewn together. What remains is a decision on what type of border I will add with an additional group of leftovers. Sewing of this type of pattern takes a lot of thread. Lucky me, I had a shoe box full of an assortment of colors of thread that I had purchased in an antique shop in Nebraska several years ago. This shop bought out estates, and though the thread didn’t qualify as antiques, anybody who happened to walk into the front door of their shop and had money to spend was bound to find something to pique their interests.
It was enjoyable pulling one scrap at a time out of the brown paper bag next to the sewing machine. I could relate when each of the patterned fabric had been used in times past.
I am by no means close to having a finished product. The quilt top will be of a queen size and as of now it is 70″ x 80″ and the border will bring it up to snuff. My intent is that Dennis will have this quilt when the cold winter of 2015 hits. Dennis equates bulk and weight with warmth and that will take batting that does not work up well with long arm sewing machines. In making a decision for the back of this scrappy quilt, I am thinking of purchasing flannel. Real 100% cotton flannel shrinks more than one would think. By the time it is washed and dried, it will work perfectly. The extra wide fabric marketed for the back of quilts is 108 inches wide and eliminates seaming the 44″ wide that is the usual on the bolts of fabric. In time to come, I will be sitting in the basement with the quilt spread over the top of my two church tables making a lot of knots with embroidery floss. It’s not about the time a project takes, it’s about the challenge. The remaining stash of leftovers has been tucked away until the time is right. I don’t want to be led astray with my mind being caught up in what might be regarding a project yet to be.
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Noreen
It Never Ceases to Amaze
I am amazed at how beautiful this delicate red lily is.
I am amazed how often I can call Snuggles and he doesn’t wiggle a single hair. He must feel that the plume grass makes him invisible.
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Noreen
There is something about the air today that made it very reminiscent of days that I spent as a child at my Grandma Laura’s farm. Aunt Corrine drove a tractor pulling a hay wagon with Grandma Laura and me riding on the wagon dangling our legs over the side. We were heading behind the grove to the strawberry patch. I worked beside grandma and Corrine picking strawberries that had to be just the correct ripeness. Our take for one picking was multiple flat dish pans of ruby red berries. The next day would find jar upon jar of jam ready to be put in the cellar. The day after that would find us back in the patch. Jams, jellies and sauce to feed the farm crew during an entire year.
I can tell you, when my head hit that feather pillow each night, I was totally out. Ironically, I can almost smell the mix of musk of an upstairs area, not often used, and mothballs. Priceless.
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Noreen
A Walk to the Back Yard
The far garden to the east is looking good. Our Hackberry tree in the background is on the lot line for us. I love the red lilies even if the blooms are short lived. I did hustle as the mosquitoes were not bashful.
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Noreen
Fleeting Thoughts:
As my days progress, not all memories come flooding that are sweet and fond. Today I was working on some sewing and I allowed my mind to wander into some dark pools. It didn’t take long for the good Lord to speak to me. I ended up ripping out the same seam twice. Enough said Lord.
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Noreen
Today was the 4th of July. Dennis and I spent a very comfortable morning on our patio and eventually went inside as the humidity kicked in. I spent a bit of time in my sewing room and Dennis caught up with Fast and Loud episodes of a reality show dealing with the restoration of cars.
We had steak for supper, and I must say, the brine I had the steaks soaking in overnight was a success. I do listen to some of the experts on television. I used a hot fry pan with a bit of oil (with a spatter screen on top of the fry pan) and got a good sear on the meat and timed it eight minutes on each side. I took the hot fry pan off the burner and let the meat rest in the pan for eight minutes. It was tender and tasty enough that very little else was had. We had not fixed a steak here on Stauffer in several years, and this evening’s fare will fill the bill for some time to come. We are not grill masters and it seems like a fry pan still does the job.
We hope everyone had a safe and happy day . . . we sure did.
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Noreen
I Had Not Realized What Was Going On
Our day started at six this morning as the new coffee pot was going off. Dennis had agreed to keep his nephew Brett company on a trip into Wisconsin to pick up a new trailer for Brett’s concrete company. I did get up long enough to put the morning news on the TV. and lay back down to take in the whatever news I could focus on.
By eight the boys were on the road and I had had several cups of coffee. I didn’t really have anything planned for the day and a bit of laziness had set in. Butter Ball and Snuggles stayed around the porch as we enjoyed the sound of the Morning Doves in the background. Neighbor Jan was out and about early and we exchanged a few gardening tidbits. Coffee cup was empty and I headed back into the house. The cats followed me to the door as if they knew all too well that Dennis was not going to be hanging out with them for the day. Sorry guys, no cats in the house.
Fast forward and here it is 1:30 in the afternoon. The refrigerator is stocked from the grocery store with choices of ingredients to fix meals. The dollar store’s bag of jelly beans at $1.00 each . . . Dennis now has several of those bags next to his computer. There is two lbs of bacon that has been baked out for use in days to come. Dennis had expressed that a bowl of potato salad would be good this weekend and that has been prepared and chilling in the refrig, complete with chives from our garden for garnish added to it. Chocolate Chip cookies are on cooling rakes on the dining room table. A wonderful looking seedless watermelon has been cubed and is chilling to be enjoyed at will. All of the garbage from the prep is out in the Waste Management garbage container. The buzzer has gone off on the clothes dryer several minutes ago and I have folding to do.
What has gone on with the day that found me welcoming a lazy daisy type of day? It is the day before the 4th of July. This day for many years had been THE prep day for the family picnic Orlin and I would host on the 4th of July for many, many years. My family and Orlin’s all gathered for a day of family fun. It also happened to be Kevin’s birthday on the 4th and so why the heck not have a blowout like neither family had ever seen. Orlin’s nephew, Frank, would give rides in a trailer behind the riding lawn mower for the little ones. Lawn games were everywhere on our sprawling lawn. Balloons seemed to float in the air at will. Several of the empty huge wooden electrical spools were used as severing tables, and let me tell you, they overflowed with all the potluck items that had been brought. The huge shade trees made a canopy of ongoing shade to sit under. When eyelids of the adults became heavy due to good and rich food, there was an outbreak of music. Orlin’s mother on her harmonica and my uncle Norman on his concertina had everyone thumping their feet before long. Both needed no music, they played by ear. Most of the people attending were dairy farmers. Morning chores had gotten done and the welcome mat was out with no time table. Noon was a great time to start the picnic singing the song everyone was familiar with . . . “Be present at our table Lord – – – .” By four in the afternoon the crown would thin out, as again, there were chores to tackle. Needless to say, there was one very weary birthday boy that we could count on to be easily contained as Orlin and I did the diary and livestock chores. Big sister Carrie had it easy to keep a check on him. Priceless.
Sometimes when I get lost in memories that are oh so sweet, I kick into automatic overdrive, and today was such a day. It’s not as if any of the aforementioned items completed in my kitchen will not be enjoyed and appreciated by Dennis and me, as we spend the weekend at home. What went on here today is a portion of my life, that has been made oh so sweet by times past. I am here to tell you, I am up for a lot more sweetness to carry me on.
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Noreen
This evening I feel really mellow. I needed to replace our white Black and Decker Programmable coffee maker. It was kaput. When I went to Shopko, I really anguished over all of the models. I thought it would be really cool to be able to brew one cup at a time, and this certain model could brew a pot of 12 cups or brew the popular flavored one cup at a time. I did visit with Dennis about it and he gave the thumbs up on the one that had the brewing options as well as the brewed coffee going into a thermos carafe to keep the coffee hot. It would be great to take the full pot out to the porch and have hot coffee for hours and not have to track into the house for an additional cup.
When we unpacked it, we noticed some irregularities in the packaging. Hmm, there were coffee grounds in the thermos carafe. The plate for individual cups to be placed on, had coffee stains on the bottom of it. Someone had purchased this . . . used it . . . and worked very hard to cover their trail when they returned it to the store. I got my money back and took a break from looking at coffee pots. The situation made me think twice about what I really wanted, or more important what was really needed on Stauffer Avenue in order to enjoy a cup of Folgers.
When Dennis came home, we discussed our morning coffee ritual. Dennis said he would go back to Shopko and take care of the situation. I love a man that takes charge.
The mellow feeling at the end of this the day stems from the fact that there is a new coffee pot sitting on the kitchen counter, hand picked by Dennis. The new coffee pot is programmed to go off at 6 a.m. tomorrow morning and is ready to make 10 cups of that wonderful Folgers coffee. By the way . . . it is a black Black and Decker Programmable coffee pot just like the one that hit the recycling bin earlier in the day. Gotta love that ole cowboy that knows what’s best on the things that really matter to get a day going.
