Me, Myself and Memories

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  Noreen 4:31 am on January 26, 2016 Permalink  

  Dennis comes in the back house door. “Grammie . . . where are you?” Chances are in a 720 square foot home, I am not far away. “Put a jacket on, I have something to show you and be careful the cement to the garage is all ice.”

  Lordy, lordy, there was a brand new furnace that the Watson boys had delivered for hook up, sometime this week. It may have a few bumps and bruises on the housing, but the internal components are new, thus a great deal for us. The old furnace that has been in the garage since 1998 was a cast off at that time from a fellow that installed a new furnace in his home. The new gas furnace will be more energy efficient. We spend a lot of time in the porch over the winter . . . it wards off cabin fever. There are times when one might think that the Popsicle stand on Stauffer Avenue has to be escaped from, the porch is there for a different point of view of the world.

  We were very surprised how small this new furnace is. Dennis had noticed there have been times when the old furnace was not trustworthy. We are way too old to be at the mercy of a crisis. We have Koi that need to be kept comfortable, not to mention the kittens and cat. We do have our priorities in check.

  We are kind of hoping that the tick list has run its course and the next thing that may need replacing is just a light bulb.

   
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  Noreen 4:08 am on January 25, 2016 Permalink  

  The learning curve with my Bernina sewing machine has been huge, and I wouldn’t missed it for anything. The project I am currently working on will be my most challenging for quite some time. It isn’t about lining up blocks and then sewing. I am incorporating the embroidered blocks with printed sentiments of various sizes, and still having points meet up: Lena’s lesson number one.

  Even finding products to use for the embroidery has been a good lesson. Finding tubes of sticky stabilizer of Sulky 12″ x 6′ at a premium price in JoAnn Fabric, compared to ordering off of Amazon and receiving a roll of 12″ x 50′, is downright a godsend. I began using the Amazon roll the day it came in the mail and it does the same job.

  So much more to learn . . . taking it day by day, enjoying every bit of it. I am also enjoying Dennis’ command of the kitchen. Today a frozen package of squash became a fragrant custard type baked dessert. The challenge today was using up honey that needed to be heated and used as a substitute for sugar. I may have to enter Dennis into a competition.

   
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  Noreen 6:15 am on January 24, 2016 Permalink  

  No Longer True 

  Two plus two is no longer four.  No matter how carefully fabric is measured and cut and then stitched, there is always a trim needed.  My first project of 2016 is well underway.  I have five of these printed items that were all encased on a one yard cut.  Each printed item is a different size, and oh yes, each one will need to be framed to allow the four patch to continue its march across the project without a glitch.  Measure twice, cut once: the mantra of the day.

  

  Quite a bit of tweaking to allow for additional four patch blocks to be added as time goes on.  I do like the whimsy that the turquoise blocks are touting with various embroidery designs.  The important aspect is to call it a day while I am still coherent.

  While the embroidery is going on, I have my trusty Sears machine going as I am doing some straight stitching on the four patch blocks.  I do have my embroidery set at a low speed.  I found out doing Dennis’ granddaughter’s project, when something goes hay-wire, many erroneous stitches make for a broken needle before I can react.

  I believe Dennis is taking refuge in the kitchen to ward off cabin fever.  The tasty hotdish, using the last of the frozen pork roast from Christmas, was all Dennis needed to put out a great supper.  I can tell you, we would almost be tempted to purchase another eight pound pork shoulder roast, just to have some items tucked in the freezer to use in a hotdish.

  The sewing studio is closed for the day and the report from Dennis is that we have five cats in and accounted for.  As of late, by the time Dennis goes out to the porch for a late day cigarette, Honey Bunny is sitting right by the back door ready to be let in, making six.  In the morning, when Dennis leaves the house, it is as if there are five cats ready is see who can get outside the fastest.  Without fail, Honey Bunny trots down Stauffer Avenue to the east and enters the vacant house in that direction.  It can’t be all that pleasant or she wouldn’t be waiting by our house door to follow Dennis into the porch for the night.  The very old stray, Tabatha, that I let in during the frigid cold last week, has never since ventured near the door to go outside.  As I said, everyone gets outside for some fresh air, but before long Dennis notices, one by one they peek in the patio door, signaling they want in.  Lots of entertainment value here on Stauffer.

   
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  Noreen 4:52 am on January 23, 2016 Permalink  

  Fleeting Thoughts: 

  When Dennis comes into the back door of our home and the first thing I hear is: “I need help.”  I don’t know if I should expect an inquiry that brought blood, a broken bone or a problem with his heart disease.  Lo and behold . . . there Dennis stood with a plastic grocery bag and within the bag was a tube of Pillsbury pie crusts and pie filling.  “I need some help on how to make this pie.”

  Ya just gotta love the spirit that dwells within my ole cowboy.  Dennis had bought two cans each of apple and cherry.  I can report back: the apple pie was very tasty and a real treat.  He was disappointed that there was just enough crusts for one pie as he was all geared up to follow up in the very near future with the cherry pie.  It’s a good thing we can slow that process down.   Too many treats too close together . . . not such a good thing.

   
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  Noreen 3:50 am on January 22, 2016 Permalink  

  Keeping the Home Equipped 

  Yesterday was a huge day here on Stauffer.  The twelve year old Maytag stackable was hauled out as the transmission had said, “I quit.”  The repair expense was just too costly and we would have still had an old unit.

  Finding a stackable is not easy.  Most are now calling a “stackable,” ordinary washer and driers that can be set upon one another.  The drier knobs would be higher than I could get my shoulder to do. Too much of a stretch.  Our new GE has a 3.2 capacity washer compared to the 2.5 capacity we had – and yet it takes up less real estate.  After a month of using the launderette, we are thrilled to have the bathroom again equipped for ease of doing laundry.  Dennis can again begin feeding his piggy bank from pocket change.  It was getting quite sparse.

  After yesterday we also were able to retire the bungee cord that we had to use to hold the lid of the washer in the up position.  Of course the spring that would hold the lid open or to close the lid, was not the problem.  There was a nylon “thingamajig” that was wore out in the far back of the top of the washing machine, which is under the drier on a stackable.  The bungee cord, with its few knots in it to shorten it up, having one end hooked into the open drier door and the other end holding the lip up, kept me in business.  It may not seem like a huge problem.  With the lid wanting to be pulled down via the spring, it was difficult to hold the lid open with one shoulder while putting laundry in and out with my other shoulder and hand.  All in all, there were a few messages that we were pressing our luck with the old one.

  We are back in business and so love being spoiled with being able to do laundry at a whim.

   
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  Noreen 2:11 am on January 21, 2016 Permalink  

  A New Day — 

  

  I will never get weary of fabric and thread, but getting a new spin gives me a spurt of energy. I know I have quite a few designs to choose from so the plain turquoise blocks will add a bit of a punch.

  — A new idea.  I ran across a panel of heartfelt sayings that I had purchased from The Old Alley Quilt Shop a time back.  Out came the stashes to see what I could do with it.  Since the new sewing machine came on site, it gave me a new insight of possibilities.  I had spent most of yesterday trying to draw out a design, complete with colored pencils.  This morning, I scrapped that and decided to quit trying to re-invent the wheel, just go with the four patch already!  Incorporating the printed blocks with it made for a good challenge.

  Dennis was very much in favor of the colors I had picked.  It isn’t quite like a southwest color scheme, more of a bright color scheme for the dead of winter.  The photo may portray it as a red, but it is a very bight coral.  Getting the measurements that are required has now been done, as well as a test square using the embroidery aspect of sewing.  I think I am really going to enjoy creating as I go with the turquoise blocks.

  Now that I have the idea in place and the size of the blocks I will use, there is definitely going to be an ole cowboy called into service to help run the rotary cutter.  Zoom, zoom, and Dennis has strips cut in one svelte swoop.

  After working very hard on the ice on the front steps, I know I can lure him in with a cup of coffee.  When the front awning slid all the snow off, it became an ice pack on the steps.  Our insurance is paid up, but no one needs to get hurt coming to Stauffer Avenue, even if it is a Jehovah’s witness standing out there waiting for the door that will never be opened to them.

   
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  Noreen 4:15 am on January 20, 2016 Permalink  

  A gray day and far from the type of day I would connect to laundry day. A clear sky and a bit of a breeze for all the laundry billow as it dries. In the real world, the pile of snow that is between me and the clothes line puts a damper on line drying.

  Dennis gets his dream supper this evening: liver and onions. You can bet I will crack a window shortly after supper has taken place.

   
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  Noreen 3:45 am on January 19, 2016 Permalink  

  It’s a Day on Stauffer 

  I realize it is cold and I have a lot of empathy for those who need to be out and about in it.  Me . . . not so much.

  I did make a run for a prescription for Dennis.  Lo and behold one of my all time favorite people caught sight of me and there is a block of time I will never get back.  Good grief, I have been away from the courthouse for almost eight years, there is no way I am any longer competent to field questions about values that lead to taxes.  Finally the druggist caught my eye and said I was ready to check out.  Check out – that was an understatement.

  Dennis comes in from the porch and reports that all the livestock is doing well, those with fins and those with four feet.  I would like to be a mouse in the corner when the six cats are moving about in the middle of the night.  The newest, Tabatha, has found that one of the chairs is a second choice from the cardboard box.  I did dream last night that she was in the house and when I opened the door to the outside, she did leave.  Dreams are crazy.  Dennis does open one of the patio doors for anybody that wants to go outside.  They all so go out for a bit, but before long, there are anxious eyes peeking in hoping that Dennis will catch them out of the corner of his eye and open the door.  I do take that back, Tabatha has not been near the door since I rescued her from the below zero temps on Saturday.  I bet she thinks she is enjoying one of those nine lives that she thought she would never experience.

  

  One huge expanse of crafting. It feels so good to have a variety of interests and then be able to stretch out and work through them. How could I possibly have anything handier than bricks to hold down items that need to have the glue set. I do know some would use lead ingots. As I have been cutting and gluing, my mind has been working on the next quilt project. I have an idea for fabrics I have on hand and it is just a matter of putting pencil to paper to see how much yardage this new idea would take. Keeping the brain in training . . . it’s a full time job towards good health.

  I am futzing around in my craft area.  A well needed break from the sewing that I finished last week.  I did get a call from Dennis’ granddaughter at Silver Bay.  She was thrilled with all three of the quilt tops.  She commented on all the little extra embroidery that I added, tailored to each individual girl.  Her next step was to pass along the project to one of the two grandmas that will be adding their spin to the quilt tops.  With all the projects of late, I do make sure that whatever I crank out is from what I have on hand.

  I know about a year before I retired, I began watching sale items in Hobby Lobby, Joann Fabrics and items on eBay.  I had no idea what I would do with the fantastic sale items, but I knew they were right up my alley.  Do I think I will have all of the inventory used up in time?  I hope I have enough time to blow through these stashes and then ask for a ride to acquire more.

  That being said, it’s time for an apple for a late afternoon snack.

   
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  Noreen 3:56 am on January 18, 2016 Permalink  

  I admit it . . . I did it. Yesterday afternoon, I looked out the bathroom window and our very old alley cat was sitting by the patio doors of the porch patiently awaiting the food bowl to be put out. Megan named her Tabatha when Megan was about two. Megan is now twelve. Tabatha was the first stray that we would put food out for.

  This past fall to ward off the unwanted stray cats, the food bowl was not set out all day. We noticed that when Tabatha came she would patiently wait for us to notice her. From the time we would leave the back door of the house until we set the bowl out in front of her she would meow non-stop. We could even give her a pet or rub her back and she would just begin eating. I will add that I had tracked Tabatha as far as a half city block away from her hiding spot under an old building.

  Since Tabatha, we have added five stray cats that have been taken in, had fixed and kept up with their shots. Tabatha was a cat that came and went when her tummy would growl.

  Yesterday the temperatures never made it above freezing. I admit it . . . I did it. Yesterday, when I noticed Tabatha waiting next to the patio door, I opened the porch door and as I slid the food bowl out to her, I backed up, back into the porch with the food bowl and she followed me in. Dennis had often commented about this cat and her strong soul that never gave up on us as she would wait for food. So, what is one more in the porch? Dennis was sure when he went out she would be howling to get out, but she found a spot within a cardboard box where the rest of the cats have been playing in and she has thus far claimed squatter’s rights to it. I know she has always taken her time eating, perhaps there are some teeth missing. Come rain or shine, hot or cold she would be seen taking her time trudging across the huge expanse of the backyard. Well, for now, she can save some of her energy and just keep that cardboard box as a safety net under her feet which would have been very, very cold making it back to that empty building.

  Time will tell, but I can tell you that Dennis and I have a lot of empathy for all of God’s creatures, great and small. Cold weather means warm hearts are about.

   
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  Noreen 5:02 am on January 17, 2016 Permalink  

  There is no denying it, it is winter out and I do not need a thermometer to tell me so. Walking to the garage porch, my footsteps crunch and that is with very little snow underfoot. It is perhaps the composite soles of my shoes that are making the noise as they are in the process of freezing.

  God willing all that need to be out, play it safe and leave heroism to those who are less wise. On that note, I think a cup of hot coco sounds good.