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.
Saladette Spam Cold Salad
• Large Ring Macarroni – 1/2 of lb. box boiled
• 1 Can of Spam diced
• 4-6 center stalks of celery diced
• 1 Medium onion diced
• 6 Oz. of frozen peas thawed
• Mayonnaise as creamy as you want
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• Large Ring Macaroni (1/2 of lb. box boiled for 10
minutes)
• 1 Can Spam diced
• 4-6 Stalks of Celery diced (center stalks are more
tender
• 1 Medium onion diced
• 8 oz. of frozen green peas (rinsed in hot water to
thaw)
• Mayonnaise to suit your taste
• Salt and Pepper to suit your taste
It’s been a good day. Dennis enjoyed his Korean Veteran’s monthly luncheon in Mankato and it gave me a chance to pick up a few groceries. Talk about a mob in the Hy-Vee. Dennis is going to have his favorite cold salad to enjoy on the 4th. Catch ya another time.
Weigela in Full Bloom
July is often a month when the garden is left on its own. More importantly are the family vacations that need to get squeezed in from all the summer activities that school-aged kids look forward to and get enrolled in. I must admit that I do feel as if I am in a generation gap. In my youth, aka: the dark ages, summer months were when my Dad had us kids fixing portions of the cow yard fences, painting the out buildings on the farmyard and hoeing out and pulling up unwanted weeds from the oat and bean fields. Those items speak to me from being a farm kid through and through. The fun part of the day was after the evening milking was done we would be taken to Lake Allie and cool off swimming in the lake. Truth be told, I don’t think there are too many lakes in today’s world that I would want my grandchildren to swim in.
I may not be spending a lot of time out in the dirt now as the tomato and cucumber plants are just now setting blossoms. With little time invested at this point, my garden in July never disappoints as the Weigela bushes spring forth with a gala of color that makes me smile each and every day while they are in bloom. The bushes have hardwood branches that do need pruning every so often as they get a bit wild with over growth. The Weigela picks up right after the last of the lilac varieties have brought color – sorry, no aroma but it sure makes up for it in the bright color.
Catch you another time.
In my life I am at a time where there are no real schedules or mandates. As I enjoy a slow pace in the mornings I make appointments, if possible, with medical and others beginning after ten in the forenoon. When a receptionist asks me what time I prefer I tell them “any day of the week after ten in the morning.”
Sometimes when I am lollygagging with more coffee
than Dr. Oz says I should be drinking I do wonder if I am missing the boat and maybe should be doing more for my part in the whole scheme of things. Then I turn back into the mode of being an assessor and insist that I give myself more facts. Do more where? The community has multiple options for volunteer work and I have sat back and observed the playing field here in St. James. Nothing really trips my trigger.
It may have started out to be my slanted suspicion but now I hold it to be very true. While I was in the W-2 Form world of employment there were individuals that would find a way to wine and dine in the most discrete way to obtain one goal: theirs. All the attention was focused with the most positive of compliments. On several occasions I had spent untold home hours using skills from my work hours to help the next greatest event or function. Time went on and I realized that after working on an event those in charge didn’t know you well enough to greet you while passing them on the sidewalk. It actually can smack of politics. Check that type of involvement off of my list of things I would like to dip my toe into. Since retirement, I have come to realize just how much of an introvert I really am. There are no triggers for me to trip.
I have many passions and many interests and I can feed all of them from my home. I never shy away from family when I know I can lend an ear, a shoulder or a skill. And you know what? Family is my part. No appointed time is needed when I am needed.
My skill set of play and creativity is highly enjoyed by Megan and Nicholas when they come for a stay. Did you know that rotary cutting mats make wonderful table covers for painting birdhouses? Forever I will be able to see the array of colors that the completed birdhouses wore so proudly. The paint will be there forever as the measurement grid disappeared when I tried to take the paint spills off. Is it a bad thing? Not at all as we just rack up more memories.
Adult family members know that with me that if there is a will there is a way when it comes to requests for mending or sewing projects or – anything. I am totally in my element. Cellphones come in handy when there are any questions or concerns that the kids think I can help with. Who would have thought that land lines that are busy do not lead to a dead end when mom is needed. 
The most wonderful thing at the end of the day is when my computer tells me that I have an email from family. Oh, so priceless!
For as long as possible I want to be a part of, to play a part of what makes the world go around for my family. I do appreciate those that take part in the civic duties of the community, but my heart tells me I belong right here on Stauffer Avenue being available when needed for family. And don’t think that in between time I am twiddling my thumbs. As I think about the day I am going to enjoy I unconsciously split the day with gardening (based on the hunger of biting bugs), taking a few stitches on the latest hand quilting project, running up a few quilt squares on the sewing machine, reading a bit and oh, supper also needs to be planned. Dennis can play the trump card whenever he wants and then the day is shifted to fit around a road trip to run an errand or two. I ride one heck of a shotgun in the passenger seat of his little red pickup. No schedule is etched in stone as all are subject to change.
I can’t spend anymore time on reviewing what my part consists of in the world as it continues going around and around. Dennis’ son Ken just stopped in to ask me if I would re-pot several house plants
that Ken’s wife Sarah really likes. Sarah has terminal brain cancer and I am needed to make Sarah’s plants healthier. Oh how I wish I had the power to make her healthier. My small part will bring a smile to Sarah when I bring the pots back to her. Let’s see, where in the potting shed is that bag of Miracle Grow potting soil?
In life, please give and have no memory of it, or take and remember it always.
Low humidity and in the high 70’s – just about a perfect day if it were not for the biting bugs. It takes almost gale force winds to keep them at bay. I filled my pockets with a thimble, a spool of thread, scissors, needle and carried a quilting project to enjoy the breeze as it blew through the screen doors of the patio porch. It’s not quite like being outside but it sure beats the itches of those hungry bugs. A glass of iced tea will round out this afternoon quite nicely.
A great start to the day was a bridal shower for grand daughter Sadie. After three tours with the army she is going to have a great life. A bit of weeding while the wind was high enough to ward off bugs took me into the afternoon as I worked on the porch rockers a bit with steal wool to take out any air bubbles from the Teak oil. It always feels good to get a little physical each and every day.
I can honestly say that Dennis and I can be called “a pair to draw to.” Dennis retired several years before I did and I could have filled a notebook with all of the advise and warnings that we were given when there would be a pair of retired people living in a relatively small home. Silly people.
The day came when I did I retired and the sky did not fall. Dennis and I each have our interests and surprisingly our home is large enough that we find ourselves seeking and searching the other out at times. Dennis has several garages complete with work benches in each and of course I have my sewing and craft area in the basement. The porch off of the garage is the mutual space where we sip coffee twelve months out of the year, watch a bit of television, keep tabs on the Koi in the pond and enjoy a yard that has had a lot of man hours spent on it.
Rocking Chairs Getting a Break
One thing we agreed upon immediately when we were visiting the Sam’s Club in Mankato were the rocking chairs that were on display. It’s always a good thing to run errands with the pickup as you never ever know what you are going to find to bring back home. The pair of rockers for the elderly folks living on Stauffer Avenue rocked happily in the back of the pickup on the trip home. If we were able to receive the amount of cents per mile that can be claimed and payed on business vehicle use, the amount of miles we have put on our rockers in the last three years would enable Dennis to add onto the garage yet another time.
Today I went out, wet my finger in my mouth and held it to the air and there were no cotton balls flying off of the huge Cottonwood tree in the neighbor’s yard. The breeze was strong enough that the biting bugs were nonexistent in the shady area of the yard. The humidity was less than it had been in weeks and this was my day to give the pair of rockers a coat of much needed oil. Tomorrow Dennis and I will be back in business whiling away some part of the day enjoying our rocking chairs.
A day to help out as Dennis decided new blades needed to be put on the rider mower. It should be just sweet if we continue mowing every week. Humidity is lower than yesterday and with this wonderful breeze the bugs were not a problem. I would like to order many more bug free days. If it was a choice for me, I would pick bug free over heat and humidity free. Burgers are on the grill and it’s time for the retirees to kick back a bit. Catch ya another time.
Prickly Pear Blossoms
Every gardener has that moment when a plan does comes together. Renee Nett shared with me a bit of her Prickly Pear Cactus several years ago. I put it in a spot that I soon realized was a bad choice as I never checked in on it. Each spring I would acknowledge that it had made it through the winter and then off I was to plants that were more fun and less hurtful. I mean to tell you if you get some of these prickles in your finger you know they are there but they are almost impossible to take out with a tweezers. The prickles are finer than the finest of hair.
Realizing that I was missing out on the blooms, I have transplanted them under the south west corner of the house so I can keep an eye on them. The heat is intense and the overhang of the house makes it almost impossible for them to get rain water. Earlier this year Dennis noticed one of the plants had broken off from the parent plant and he was going to put it into the garbage. I got a pair of gloves on and made a bit of a hole and stuck the plant back in the dirt. The photo is of the plant that almost had been part of Waste Management’s pick up. It is such a perfect bloom it could pass for wax.