Me, Myself and Memories

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  Noreen 5:29 am on October 5, 2013 Permalink  

  I know when to throw in the towel… 

  

  Tricked out Pickup Garage.

  I know when to throw in the towel.  Well, not so much a throw as a regretful fling.  Several of the flower gardens are now stripped of their garden art.  Dennis encouraged it as he knows how much my arthritic hands hurt when the days are cold and I am making trip after trip from the gardens into the potting shed.  Every spring I vow that I am not going to do the decorating of the gardens and before I know it one after another item has dribbled out of the potting shed and it has found its way to just the perfect spot.  Just as there are perfect spots for each of the items to be placed, there are certain places in the potting shed where each needs to rest during the winter months.  I know when everything has been taken in it will not be nearly as painful to begin cutting down the perennials.

  It was a wet day today and after realizing how wet my feet had gotten and were soaked through I called it a day and decided to join Dennis in the garage porch for a cup of hot coffee.  Dennis is feeling quite smug right about now as his garage porch and his pickup garage have had a lot of TLC.  As he sat there sipping coffee I knew he was contemplating framing out the windows in his pickup garage for a finished look.  Will he hit me up for curtains?  It wouldn’t surprise me.  What a guy.

   
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  Noreen 5:34 am on October 4, 2013 Permalink  

  What a great inch of rain we received… 

  

  The New East Garage Wall

  What a great inch of rain we received and as much thunder and lightening we had I am surprised we didn’t have more.  But according to the forecast it is coming as well as some risk of storms and a tornado.

  

  Street Side of West Wall

  We were feeling quite smart about our projects being done.  Yes, we had a list and the items on the list were totally crossed off.  That is until Dennis being a little idle watching the rain showers come today had to go and began picking at the paint on the west gable of our garage.  Oh come on Dennis did you have to start?   So there you are.  The scrapping got done today and as soon as the weather stabilizes the brushes, the ladder, the primer and the paint will all be dug out again as we sure as heck cannot leave the street side of the garage looking this sad.  I have some extra bricks in the back garden and I think I know just where to put them to weigh and slow this fellow down.   Of course I am thrilled that we care enough to send the every best message possible about our home.  I am also happy that we recover as fast as we do physically to make it all happen.  Have we really recovered or are we rolling on adrenalin?  Dennis will be sitting in the doorway for the first sign of clear weather and we will find out the answer to that question.  In the mean time happy husband: happy life.

   
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  Noreen 7:05 am on October 3, 2013 Permalink  

  What a lightening show complete with thunder boomers… 

  What a lightening show complete with thunder boomers.  I hope there is rain that will follow.  Today was a red letter day on Stauffer.  The end of our entire list of repairs came into fruition today.  With the low humidity and a great breeze it started with the last of the ridge row going on the potting shed.  While Dennis and his son Jeff headed out with the trailer of old shingles and building materials I began pulling together paint scrappers, paint brushes and ladders.

  Over the course of these seven work days I usually have been fixing a noon lunch but today I looked in the refrigerator and it was not good.   It was settled that peanut butter and jelly was the fare of the day.  There was no way I was in any condition to head to a grocery store without cleaning up – so consequently we slathered up the bread and called it good.

  Jeff hit the ladder for the high spots with primer and I went only as high as my kitchen stool would allow.  Dennis was handing off materials right and left for Jeff and me.  By four this afternoon the paint was drying, brushes were washed and ladders put away.  Priceless.

  This evening Dennis and I went out for a bite and when we came home I had to do a walk around the property.  A new sliding patio door in the garage porch is a wonder compared to the used French doors we had used ten years ago.  The potting shed that used 16 squares of shingles should last us for as long as I pot.  The pickup garage has a new sill to the east complete with wonderful siding and windows both of which sport the perfect finishing touches.  The high gables of the garages are scrapped, primed and painted.  Not the least is that Dennis will be able to enjoy his garage porch with our garage kitty Honey Bunny without a worry in the world as the porch has new shingles.  I mentioned I did walk around the property but not with a bounce in my step.  Both Dennis and I feel the last seven days and may for a few more to come.

  The end to this perfect day would be a great shower of rain to celebrate Dennis’ October 2nd birthday.  May all your errands turn out as sweet as those on Stauffer Avenue.

   
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  Noreen 4:19 am on October 2, 2013 Permalink  

  I made a quick visit today to the… 

  I made a quick visit today to the Hallowed Halls of the Watonwan County Courthouse to pay the second half of our real estate taxes for 2013.  Walking past the offices everyone within was hunched over their desks peering into computer screens under an enormousness amount of fluorescent lighting.  I did not stay long as I wanted to escape back into the glorious fall day.  I do now understand the quote “relationships either grow or they die.”   My real time no longer has any similarity to those that remain behind working in the Hallowed Halls.  For the forty five plus years I worked for the W-2 Form I never gave it a thought as that was required to put food on the table and pay bills.  Let’s hear it for the W-2 Form worker.  I love my life as being retired.

   
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  Noreen 5:18 am on October 1, 2013 Permalink  

  Several times a year it's time to put… 

  Several times a year it’s time to put the job jar down and honor the date on the calender that was set weeks prior.  Yes indeed.  It’s time to get together with friends.  The three of us all have grandchildren, we love to garden, we live in our own homes complete with husbands that have tolerated a lot from us over the course of decades.  Our work careers ran parallel.  We were representatives of the Minnesota Department of Revenue known as county assessors.  It really isn’t fair to use the word ‘were’ as Doreen Pherson is still slugging it out day after day at Nicollet County.  Judy Friesen reigned in Brown County and retired a year after I did. Of course Watonwan County has never been the same since I retired in 2010. OK, a bit of humor there.

  

  Judy, Doreen and Noreen

  We did spend a bit of time on shop talk, but by and large it was about family, health, fun and love of life.  Our friend Judy has been fighting macular degeneration and most recently cataracts on both eyes.  Today was part of the recovery time in between the previous surgery and the second surgery this coming Monday. I was her chauffeur for the day. It was heartwarming to hear that Judy is taking things in stride but getting bored as she can’t drive, can’t see to read, can’t see the television, and most disappointing for Judy, she cannot see to sew.  We were due to get her to a doctor’s appointment later in our luncheon day to allow Judy to get some answers for her questions.  She felt it just wasn’t going the way the doctors had indicated.

  We left lunch a bit early as Judy needed to pick up groceries and not being able to hop in the car and make a trip to the store this was a prime opportunity.  I read labels while she began filling her cart.  For her it was a treat to get out and be able to pick and choose what would be in her kitchen cupboards rather than depending on someone else to make choices.

  I came away thoroughly enjoying the drive home taking in the landscape of harvest that is in full swing.  I could see what was going on.  Priceless.

   
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  Noreen 6:49 am on September 30, 2013 Permalink  

  They have made it real  The grass that… 

  

  Flights of Fall

  They have made it real.  The grass that produces the whisper of a plume tells all.  Fall is here.  When the grandkids come they see the grass as corn that they see from the car windows on their way to our home.  It does have the tall greens that wave in the breeze and to my little metro people it is easily mistaken.

  These stalks that bear the plumes can be cut and used in dried floral arrangement, but I have always just enjoyed them in the yard.  As the sun shines early in the morning the plumes glisten like silk.  The simplest of wonders give so much delight to our home on Stauffer.  It truly is the most sought after place in St. James.

   
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  Noreen 11:34 pm on September 28, 2013 Permalink  

  Rebuilding the Garage Wall 

  

  Rebuilding the Garage Wall

  As I have mentioned in several of the previous posts we really have taken on a full load of work before the fall weather turns cold.  Dennis’ pickup garage has had insulation and paneling on the wall for the last twenty years.  As we did an outside perimeter check we noticed that the east wall of his garage was moving off of the sill.  No pre-treated lumber was used on that 50 plus years ago.  In fact that part of the garage was built with cast off wooden pallets from one of the manufacturing plants here in St. James during World War II.

  Our garage kitty, Honey Bunny, has always been let outside during the day and she shows up at night to be closed in for a night’s sleep in her box lined with polar fleece.  In fact she has the run of the entire garage and garage porch.  It’s all her territory.

  We took down the wall in the garage on Monday and for four nights it was a free for all for Honey Bunny.  No more curfew for Honey Bunny.  The wild that was no doubt breed into her was at its peak as she came and went whenever she felt like it.  We knew she came into the garage sometime during the nights as her food bowl had been tapped.

  By six on the evening of yesterday (Friday) the new wall was enclosed and we could enjoy the forecast that rain was coming on Saturday.  Friday night the darkness came and no Honey Bunny.  I am sure while she was tripping the night’s fantastic it was a rude awakening to find the wall closed up.  On a second check on her Dennis had already closed up the patio door to the garage porch.  It wasn’t like he had not called for her many times.  She was locked out.

  

  Honey Bunny All Cleaned Up and Wore Out

  This morning when we went out for coffee to the garage porch it didn’t take long for Honey Bunny to come trotting in like no one’s business.  What a sad looking kitty.  Wherever she had holed up for the night she was covered in sand burrs.  I had never had her jump up on the table to be brushed as quickly as she did this morning.  She took the brushing like a trooper and it took a long time before she looked her normal gray and not gray with green polka dots.

  The wild that is in Honey Bunny can be tamed with a hairbrush every time.

   
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  Noreen 5:38 am on September 27, 2013 Permalink  

  Dennis and I are deep in the mix of repairs here on Stauffer. The lumber yard came through with materials and there is primer, caulk, siding, shingles and trim boards – what to handle first. The temps got a bit warm but the breeze felt very soothing on skin that was a bit touched by the sun. Catch ya later.

   
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  Noreen 6:40 am on September 26, 2013 Permalink  

  Here we are at the time of year when the squirrels have nothing on Dennis and me as we get ready for winter. The cool weather had us sitting on the back patio and taking stock of our real estate. The list was started and it grew and it grew much like the magic bean stalk. We had a whiz bang start until our local lumber yard didn’t have some of the basics on hand that we needed. Hurry up and wait. Hey they have five locations and somewhere along the way I can envision the wagon being pulled by mules and at each stop they are picking up items that we need. We’re not building a two story dairy barn, we are repairing a portion of some very small buildings. As luck would have it they did have paint on hand and when asked what type of paint I wanted I said I wanted an excellent latex that would last at least five years. Why five years? There is no way I can see myself painting heights above my head when I am 75. Stay tuned for the rest of the story.

   
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  Noreen 6:24 am on September 25, 2013 Permalink  

  Dennis and I love egg salad sandwiches or… 

  Dennis and I love egg salad sandwiches or even having some ready for adding to a lettuce salad.  What spoils it is when the eggs are impossible to peel.  Here is a tip that has worked 100% of the time for me.  When the eggs are put on to boil I add a splash of white vinegar to the water.  When the water and eggs come into a full boil, just remove from the heat and cover the saucepan for about 20 minutes.  Cool down with cold water running over them.  With this tip there is no longer a chance of the shells coming off in a million pieces.  Priceless!