Me, Myself and Memories

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  Noreen 3:36 am on September 3, 2014 Permalink  

  Needles and Threads Have No Limits 

  

  Beads and a button here and there . . . why not?

  I am so fortunate to have my mother Lena, my paternal Grandmother Laura, and my mother-in-law Esther, as resources for my love of needles and threads.  Talk about a lifelong passion that does not require a multitude of individuals to pull it all together. This is top dog with me.

  I can bounce from counted cross stitch, embroidery, crocheting, hand quilting and machine quilting.  Never will you find “boring” in my vocabulary.  Resting the eyes . . . oh yes.

  I happened upon a printed panel that won my heart during this season of the year.  I mulled it over many times before I took needle and thread to it.  I decided to do some quilting using beads.  I thought back to the days of harvesting pumpkins when the dew was still evident. So the project began, and I will keep you up to speed as I continue with it.

   
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  Noreen 4:42 am on September 2, 2014 Permalink  

  We are making headways 

  

  Our tree hugging cat had four kittens earlier.
  One has survived and today when Dennis was out
  in the garage porch, the kitten decided to come
  in the porch and try out the chair. Hopefully, before
  cold weather hits, we will have it friendly enough
  to get it to the vet clinic and perhaps a new
  addition to the garage porch.

   
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  Noreen 4:21 am on September 1, 2014 Permalink  

  The house is quiet and all evidence of a six year old being here is gone. Excuse me, that is a 6 1/2 year old. Nicholas is always eager to point that out. He was as good as gold and he felt really proud that he could sleep out in the living room on the pull out sofa rather than an old ordinary bed. To him that was a huge step up.

  Nicholas wanted to play Solitaire on the dining room table, but the cards I had were so slippery the columns of cards would not stay in place. We headed for my laptop computer. He did great and soon was placing cards like an old timer . . . though not too pleased as to how hard it was to win a game. When he and Grandpa were busy, I opened up and figured out how to play the Spider Man Solitaire on the computer. That he really enjoyed as the possibility to win was doable. He wanted to know how hard it would be to download that to his mom’s computer and how expensive it was to buy the program. I pointed out that most computers come loaded with free games and these two would be included. I am sure his mom will be sharing.

  Yes, these visits are priceless and are coming way too seldom as the kids are getting into extra activities. Dennis is quick to point out that the memories of times past will always be there to revisit. Gotta love that logical ole cowboy.

   
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  Noreen 5:47 am on August 31, 2014 Permalink  

  My head is thumping. Nicholas has been schooling me in the art of football. Oh my gosh, it’s just so much jabber jawing and it’s worse than when Nicholas explained Star Wars to me. We had a mock football field that we made and after so long I waved my player’s hands in the air and I said “I give up, please don’t knock me down anymore.” According to Nicholas, one day he is going to play pro as a quarterback. I did ask him why the position was called “quarterback.” His big blue eyes looked at me and he wanted to know why I would make things difficult. “Grammie, just play the game.” Grandpa has taken over.

   
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  Noreen 3:53 am on August 30, 2014 Permalink  

  We made a “pick up” in Mankato and will be enjoying Nicholas for several days. Just plain sweet.

   
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  Noreen 4:09 am on August 29, 2014 Permalink  

  Fleeting Thoughts: 

  A rainy, misting type of day sent me into my sewing room.  No noise, just total quiet.  Perfect for ramblings in thought.  Last April, Megan and I were working on a Vikings quilt for Nicholas in the quiet of this sewing room.  Out of the blue Megan sprouted thoughts.  “Grammie, if you had bumps taken off of your toes, and you have new knees and now new shoulders, when are you going to have your head worked on?”  I was totally taken by surprise and caught off guard to the point I said nothing.

  “You know, Grammie, the song: “Head and shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes . . .” Megan sang it through several times. “You’d have the whole song when you get your head fixed.”  As quick as that all came out, she had no more to say as her head was bent down, guiding her quilt material to slide under the needle of the sewing machine. The machine hummed on.

  In the peaceful quiet: me, myself and memories. It is priceless.

   
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  Noreen 2:37 am on August 28, 2014 Permalink  

  Enjoying a wonderfully kept yard may never get old, but this morning I felt every lick of the time I had put in. Several cups of coffee, a bit of rocky chair time in the garage porch and topped off with a few miles on the exercise bike and all was limbered up. I think Dennis had his doubts about me this morning. Being a bit bent over . . . I was just checking for ants on the patio. Yah, right.

   
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  Noreen 3:33 am on August 27, 2014 Permalink  

  It Never Gets Old 

  

  Above the bridge and far beyond to the east, Dennis
  is doing due diligence to the last of the yards.

  The satisfaction of having our yards mowed and trimmed never gets old.  Oh yes, when the grass mowing begins in April and then weekly thereafter, August does give us a well-deserved break.  Last week we scored two rainfalls within 24 hours that left us with a total of five inches.  It was amazing how everything perked up and greened up.  Within several days the grass has grown to the point it was seeding out.

  Today the air quality and temperatures were perfect to be outside.  A while back we decided that two individual power packs were the way to go for the weed trimmer.  Today they both were worked down to where there was barely a grunt left in them.  The cool fall air with cloud cover took its sweet time for the dew to dissipate off of the grass.  Nothing looks worse than wet grass clumping as it’s being cut.  It was the perfect time to do all the trimming, first allowing for a polished finished look when the mowers made their pass.  As always some areas are lush, while others can be a bit scant.

  I had finished with the push mowing before Dennis and his rider could call it quits.  It gave me a chance to re-pot a house plant.  I put all the house plants outside once the fear of frost is over in the spring.  Being a bit sheltered they do great, but demand fresh dirt with good nutrients to make it through the long winter inside with drier than usual air.

  The finish to a great day will be two burgers on the grill for supper.  Add to the burgers some American Fries and baked beans and the menu will be complete.  While Dennis is manning the grill he will be surveying his mowed, trimmed and tidy kingdom.  As I said, it never gets old.

   

   
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  Noreen 4:07 am on August 26, 2014 Permalink  

  Fleeting Thoughts: 

  It is amazing the peace that passes all understanding that can come over me when I open my email and there are several lines from loved ones to catch us up to date.  That’s all it takes.  I love it!

   
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  Noreen 3:16 am on August 25, 2014 Permalink  

  Minnesota State Fair Time 

  The state fair represents for many their vacation for the summer.  Families plan for it for months ahead.  According to the newscasters, the finances that are required for a family to enjoy a full day is a bit pricey.  On one account $60.00 per person in their family was their limit.  Others took hour by hour.  As I have been listening to all the market shopping that is available on site, the amount of money left there could be “the sky’s the limit.”

  I have not been to the state fair since Carrie was in the high school band.  The St. James band was scheduled to play on one of the days and I went along as a chaperon on one of the school buses.  Prior to that Orlin’s sister and her husband took us along to the fair when Carrie was just going on one.  I am sure she got her fill of looking at knees while being rolled along in her stroller.

  For myself, I enjoy the various news programs than scope out the hot spots.  I could wander the fairgrounds all day long and not see that much of of the highlights.  Nope, I don’t feel like I am missing anything.  Sometime during the twelve days that the fair takes place, I will fix Dennis and me some hot dogs with relish and onions and call it good.