I am a retired 44-year veteran of the Real Estate Assessment field. As with real estate assessing and how it applies to real estate taxes, one can make many acquaintances, but not many real friends. It was a great career choice.
It has been nearly 10 years since I reclaimed my home and my real passions within my home. I enjoy it more each day and tip my hat to those who I left behind.
Each day I try to stretch myself with the use of my computer as it relates to this site and using it to print out labels for quilts for trying to incorporate photos into my sewing. Life is so full and I know that I have room for more.
I wonder how many hours it would take for Dennis to take a peek into the sewing studio to see if I am O.K.? Today his tracks have been from a deep sleep in his recliner at 10:00 a.m., out to the porch, back in the house to his west porch command center, doing some dishes up, out to the porch, back in for a deep sleep nap and then out to the porch. It’s now 4:00 p.m. Just wondering.
P.S. I had barely posted this when . . . here comes Dennis. He had read the post. What a guy!
This is my all time favorite cap for moving snow. It has a way of creeping down until my glasses hold it in place. It could be my rendition of the AFLAC duck. There is nothing like cold air to bring about rosy cheeks. Our driveway is taken care of. When I went out this morning I made sure all the snow was shoveled away from the house door and into the driveway as well as clearing out the garage door. The front steps had all the snow pushed into the driveway. Just in time for our neighbor, Randy, as he came on the scene with his pretty green snow moving machine. Dennis started up his snow blower and finished up making sure we had a path for our mailman and a path for Waste Management. It was a warm 5 above zero this morning and it has plummeted since. I did walk over some apple crisp to Randy and Jan when all was taken care of. Last night it just seemed the right thing to get the oven going for some goodies. Tomorrow will be the thrust of “cold.” Dennis and I will be in where it is cozy . . . and so will the five cats.
Just as predicted, the snow is here! I do have a few things to keep me busy. With that being said, I still have to take a peek every so often to check out the window. I have no idea what I think may have changed since an hour ago. I do have this “Trip Around The World” quilt ready to put under the sewing machine needle to finish up. This particular batting is the lightest weight I have worked with thus far. That settled: it has been deemed a summer weight quilt. I have been taking time out from the sewing studio to park myself nearest the best window light for some reading. A good thing I had checked out several books last week at the library. Another good thing to do on a day such a this is back up computers. I have a “Click Free Multi-PC” device for the two laptops that I have. It’s geared so that every 15 days I get a friendly message to take care of the backups. The notebook type laptop in the living room is the go-to for idle hands such as playing Solitaire, Hearts and keeping track of a quick flip of Facebook or emails. The old timer laptop here in my sewing studio has a lot of photos that I have cataloged over the years as well as all my embroidery designs. The cool part of now having the designs in well labeled folders is the ability to find a design quickly and be able to open it in a program that allows me to change the dimensions of each design depending on where and how I want to stitch it. The backup on this machine is critical as it is eight years old. When it finally boots up its last “Welcome,” I will most likely find out what dumping all these files onto the notebook will mean for me. I am not looking forward to it. Right now this laptop is only a few feet from my sewing machine and it is ever so handy. Yup it is still snowing and I hear Dennis about on the main floor. That can mean only one thing: supper.
I am not going to say what the temperature is outside today on the 15th of December, 2016. I will tell you that not one of the five cats in the garage porch went near a patio door today. Usually there is no end to the nose prints that are applied each and every day to the patio doors waiting for Dennis to weaken and let them run until . . . they feel like coming back in.
Two padded baskets on the floor and three above the car and pickup and needless to say . . . there was no room to spare today. It doesn’t hurt that the furnace does not drop below 45 in the garages and the porch. Dennis just commented that the Tidy Box Litter box catches hell when it is this cold. I don’t blame them. I wouldn’t want to use a walk-in outhouse either. Everyone on Stauffer Avenue is spoiled.
What is not to like in a heavy duty cardboard box to do some mailing. It was rejected. No, it didn’t look like the photo the first time we took the package into the post office. We were told that any area on the box that referred to a brand of liquor or the word liquor had to be covered up. Let me at this!! For Pete’s sake. Can’t they just be happy to take in $33.00 and leave it at that? We were cautioned that UPS would give us the same thing, so we took it home and did it up but good. It more than likely added to the total weight. Bah-hum-bug!
Every once in a while a request comes via a private message on Facebook. It brought about a visit today that began at 9:30 this morning until 2:30 this afternoon. My sister passed away in mid September of this fall and today her youngest son, Larry, came to see me. We have always been amicable, but never really nose to nose visiting to any depth. Today was about his Mom and his family. Larry stated he didn’t really know why he had traveled the miles, but he knew it was what he needed to do and where he wanted to be today. Perhaps I was the one person that had seen my sister’s family grow from a time when his mom and dad had first started a family. Over the years they were a farm family of five. Today, there were no answers or resolutions as to the dynamics that Larry’s family has operated under during the last 50 plus years. There may never be. It was important that Larry could visit openly with me and not have to spend the time or dialog to express himself about what was on his mind. Lots of good memories were shared and more often than not the wondering about “When do you think it started or how it started” and “Will my family ever be able to sit down for a holiday meal and be happy to be there together?”
Since my sister’s death the cards for his family have all been laid out on the table including those that had never been played. No more hiding issues. My heart went out to him. I assured him that because of things from his families past, he had the opportunity to keep the cards laid out for his family of five so he and his wife, Jennifer, will always be open to receive whatever his three children bring to them with an open and kind heart. Not the directors of his children’s life, not the fixers, but the life long supporters. Oh there were many tears shed on both of our parts today over many cups of coffee, sandwiches and cookies. I would not have passed up this day with my nephew for anything. We both needed it and appreciated it. Dennis and I sent him packing north across the miles with hugs and promises to spend more time together. Now it is time for our highway to lead us to his home sometime in the future. I do know that Larry will be just fine.
Brr! I was very happy to not have to go outside today. I did have a caller while I was still in my robe. A family member of my friend Lorraine (who passed away in May of this year) came by with mementoes from her home that they wanted to share with me. I was taken aback and touched beyond belief. Lorraine loved all items of glassware and pottery. When my eye catches them within my sewing studio, it will lift my heart. Priceless.
I did punch, roll and stamp out lots and lots of stars from my favorite sugar cookie dough ever. The recipe can be found on my copy of the “Bond,” a magazine put out by The Lutheran Brotherhood Insurance, circa November 1967. A good afternoon’s work. When baked, Dennis gave them a thumbs up on taste, texture and appearance. He is the best food critic ever. “Star of Wonder, Star of Night.”
The T-shirt quilt is done! The shirts that Cheyenne wore during various events of her college days will now keep her snuggly. Being the grandma that I am, I did have to add a few embroidered blocks as Cheyenne was short two shirts to bring it even. I did feel good about it and decided to take a bit of snow off of the driveway. I don’t do it all at once. It is very fluffy and pushes easily. This may be the extent of the snow and surprisingly it did pile up to measure several inches. The variety in the day . . . it’s a good thing.
Price Check: The little tomatoes that are in the plastic dome with the bright yellow base were priced at $3.99 for 10oz. The little tomatoes that are marketed as Grape Tomatoes and in a flimsy plastic box were $2.89 for 10 oz. This time of the year, I am not able to tell much difference in the taste. I just want something that is red and when I bite into it, a seed may squirt out. The dome looks trendy but doesn’t make me want to spent an additional $1.00.