Me, Myself and Memories

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  Noreen 2:54 am on May 30, 2013 Permalink  

  That Which Amazes 

  During this spring of surgical recovery there are days when I am so close to finishing the process but yet so far away from being the product of the process. Seeking and searching for worthwhile endeavors to fill the day can almost bring me to the brink of “doughnuts.” That is my one weakness when I feel challenged spiritually and physically. In my mind it takes me back to when, as a very young person, my Mom’s baked goods fixed everything – and I mean everything – from stepping  barefoot on a board with a rusty nail in it to not getting a blue ribbon at the fair in my first year of being in 4-H.

  Days such as these I rely on coffee and many many trips out to the backyards to find something that will fill me and take away the gnawing impatience. It is a good thing that we have just about an acre for me to roam. I started out by pulling up the little volunteer Hackberry trees that have sprouted where no tree should dare to be. The heavy rains have made for many that will never see another light of day. It was required that a few be left go for another day as they may have been nudged in a previous year and now the roots are even deeper. One armed . . . but still dangerous out in the gardens.

  

  Soon to be a mini field of Jack in the Pulpits

  I had worked off most of my angst and was thinking about cleaning all the mud I had on my garden shoes when I spotted the plant that made my entire day. In years past my sister-in-law had brought back from Iowa a small Jack in the Pulpit plant. It was evident it had been in a plastic sandwich bag far too long and it needed some good soil to settle into. Now, after five years there are a total of four that come into their own with several other small ones that are just foliage. I am not sure if they are multiplying by sucker roots or if there are seeds of some types that are not readily visible. The canopy of large leaves makes it a treasure hunt to peek under to find the jewel of the plant that is truly amazing in its detail. That right there made me feel so much better for the day. Screw the doughnuts. I found my inner peace.

   
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  Noreen 5:02 am on May 29, 2013 Permalink  

  Good Friends Talking the Day Away 

  Oh yes, it was another day of clouds that broke open for rain right over the noon hour. Today plans had been made to visit the Hickory Inn for noon lunch. The previous Brown County Assessor Judy Friesen and the current Nicollet County Assessor Doreen Pehrson came for a visit to St. James. The three of us gals had all worked our way through assessors offices beginning as clerks and appraisers until we reached the desks where the buck stopped. Ironically, the three of us were all appointed in 1988, and with business meetings formed what has been a lasting friendship. There is only so much business you can talk about and perhaps as women always do, we found common interests that had nothing to do with market values, ratios and percentages.

  While many of the fellows at business meetings took the event into the evenings, the three of us would scope out nurseries and greenhouses to see what could be added to our yards. The friendship has celebrated births of grandchildren, deaths of parents and given each other moral support in leading departments that never did or will win popularity contests.

  The day was wonderful and we have agreed to try and get together in mid July when the temps are bound to be warm enough to enjoy walking through each other’s gardens to see how the green thumbs are doing. It’s a good thing.

   
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  Noreen 3:25 am on May 28, 2013 Permalink  

  A Saving Grace 

  Again with the cool, absolutely dreary, sunless day. I did go down into my sewing room in the basement. At least down there I have enough florescent lighting that it gives the mental mind set that my environment is bright. Dennis had been doing a fair amount of pacing before he found himself a job of working on an old saddle. I tackled a bit of hand quilting while I was in my sewing room. I have to have something to show for this day that the Lord has made.

  I have been on target for no or little activity on the shoulder, going on five weeks as it recovers from surgery, but there are days when you want to just get out and kick butt doing something physical to take the edge off. My better judgement tells me not to throw caution to the wind and have regrets later. I came upstairs after several hours and wandered the length of the house and there I found it: the saving grace of the day.

  

  The purple lilacs allowing me to feel peace

  The same little porch that has my thinking spot and rocking chair also affords me windows to the west. Though the sky was dark and gray, each window was filled with the blooms of the dark purple lilac. No, the skies did not part at that time with sunlight, but I did decide to just sit down a bit and do some self-reflection. I know the sun will shine again. I know my shoulder will soon be able to do more than hold my bra strap up. I know that my life is just as sweet as the aroma that these lilacs are sharing – so I cracked open the window a bit against the cool outside air to let the lilacs come in and rocked a bit of the afternoon away.

   
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  Noreen 2:57 am on May 27, 2013 Permalink  

  Garden Art is Everywhere 

  Oh for Pete’s sake anyhow!  Here we are on Memorial Day and the high temp for the day is 52 degrees. We had rain overnight and the ground is too wet to do any one-arm poking around with a hoe for damage control on the new crop of weeds. I still had to do a walk through the yard and the gardens to check on any progress of perennials that may have come up.

  

  Mother Nature and my garden art have
  made for a great Memorial Day

  This fence line between my neighbor and myself has been graced with lilacs. Luckily, they are on my side of the line and they are safe from pruning. Those that love to prune lilacs to conform to a specific shape loose out as the lilacs bloom on last previous year’s growth. I have a deep purple, a lavender and a white.  The base of the trunks are twisted and gnarled with age but low and behold the blossoms are just beautiful as if they were new plants.

  I do try to put out some garden art each year to enhance Mother Nature, and this year – quite accidentally – I knocked it out of the park. The green gazing ball made for a great backdrop of a rain-soak branch that bowed low and needed a resting stop for it’s blossoms.

   
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  Noreen 4:17 am on May 26, 2013 Permalink  

  My Thinking Spot 

  

  Grandma Laura Wendlandt’s rocking chair,
  waiting for a new chance

  I am sure every child has heard many times “you just sit there and think about what you have done.” We adults have that phrase slip off of our tongues so easily because we are no different thaN children. Everyone needs a place to do some deep thinking. For myself, I have always needed a quiet spot where I could hide away when pondering something important. Not until recently had I come to realize that I needed “one” spot. No matter what the thought process or the situation, I needed to return to that one spot. In the summer of 2012 I had visited my sister Elvera and she was cleaning out her basement. I came home with my Grandmother Laura Wendlandt’s rocking chair. It was in pretty bad shape. I took it upon myself to finish what several others had started. It took a lot of elbow grease along with sandpaper, glue, springs . . . oh, what the heck . . . everything! The entire time I worked on it I felt calm, knowing that I was giving life back to the memories of Grandma Laura.

  

  My Thinking Spot — Grandma Laura’s
  rocking chair restored

  It didn’t take long for me to find a place for it in our home, and about the same time I found I really enjoyed sitting in this rocker. I am sure some of the scars in the wood could tell stories to no end. One of the lap robes that grandma had made and sent to me when Orlin and I lived in Riesel, Texas soon found it’s way onto the backrest. Grandmother Laura was of short stature and the rocker height is evidence of  it. I really don’t mind that.

  When I need to sort out some items for myself and my family, I wait until I am home alone, and I do just sit here and think about it. Some  items bring a smile, followed by a few tears. Some items need serious thoughts as there will be serious results. In the end, when I need that extra oomph to get up and out of the rocker, I know that my decisions are sound and wise for those that will be effected. I also know my heart likes the time I spend in my thinking spot. That time keeps me connected to my children – you know, the wealth that you leave the world.  It’s a good thing.

   
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  Noreen 3:31 am on May 24, 2013 Permalink  

  More Than One Purpose For a Bird Bath 

  I always try to find a use of  what I have on hand and to take care of what I have as I may not be able to attain it again. I have no idea when my Mom came upon the Duck and Ducklings little cactus that she incorporated into her garden. They are similar to the Hen and Chick cactus. Either of these continue to produce off spring with little or no gardening skills.  Mom would share her favorites with me for my garden and then the challenge was on to keep them alive. After I had found a spot in the garden dirt for the Duck and Ducklings the squirrels would also find that area suitable for burying nuts or digging up nuts they had saved from the year before and Ducklings didn’t stand a chance.

  

  The Duck and Ducklings plants, safe from harm and
  from squirrels in their bird bath home

  Thus the bird bath came into the picture as a solution. For several seasons earlier I had been very diligent in supplying fresh water into a clean bird bath for our flying friends. A particular time every spring the Black Birds would clean up after the babies in their nests and dump the mess into the bird bath. This was a nasty business that I and the Robins did not appreciate it.  Shall we say that I decided to kill two birds with one stone? We have a creek two blocks to the south of us so I was very confident the birds would not go thirsty. I felt confident it would take more than me scolding the squirrels to stop their architectural digs that scattered the Ducklings.

  The Duck and Ducklings were elevated into the bird bath and they have loved it now for several years. As they produce more Ducklings and the new ones begin to drape over the side of the bird bath, I do try and save those and nestle them within a pod of dirt, protected by some rocks. Each fall of the year the bowl of the bird bath is taken off of the stand and covered with a blanket of leaves to protect the cactus from winter kill. Gardening is trial and error and I have found this solution to be a winner as it also adds some texture to the garden.

   
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  Noreen 12:36 am on May 23, 2013 Permalink  

  Old Time Crafts 

  

  A replica Yo-Yo Doll from times past

  The fabric yo-yo craft can be traced back to civil war time. I have seen some items featured on the Antique Roadshow. It was the use of the smallest scrap of fabric for re-purposing. My Dad’s sister, Coreenia, introduced them to me when I was a small child, spending time at my grandparents’ farm. I put the craft aside until my children’s father and I lived in Riesel, Texas and I had time on my hands.

  Pundt’s store in Riesel handled dry goods. When they got lengths of fabric mill ends in, they always trimmed them before putting them out for sale. I only needed enough fabric that was equal to the size of  a cereal bowl when tipped upside down. It didn’t take long and I was tracing out circles of that size in various fabric prints. I did make a circular lap robe out of them and it was tucked away.

  Years later when we lived at South Branch in Watonwan County I got it out and put the yo-yos on a quilted backing. In the recent past I couldn’t resist doing a few more yo-yos and reproducing a doll that was often a part of  children’s toys in times past.

  Ah, yes, this is what Me, Myself and Memories is all about.

   
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  Noreen 10:26 pm on May 21, 2013 Permalink  

  Mother Nature’s Finest 

  

  Our Bleeding Heart flower

  The most unbelievable of the spring wonders is the Bleeding Heart perennial.  It is the first to come forth and give a show that is amazing.  I am still waiting to see if the White Bleeding Heart made it through our ice age.

  This morning while Dennis was mowing the yards I did  take up some hand quilting to do out in the garage porch, but with one arm in a sling there is a very short duration of manipulating thread, needle and fabric. Needless to say it didn’t take long for me to find my little Canon Power Shot camera to capture these blossoms.

  With the high winds we have had, you can’t take Mother Nature for granted. I have had bushes of these in the past that have had the expanse of three feet, but we are grateful for what we have this spring.  Hopefully, the root system will feed generously for showings again next year.  I have noticed that these little wonders do self-seed.  The trick is to watch your garden dirt for the tiny, but familiar, leaf patterns and allow them to take hold.  The small plants may be as tiny as a shirt button.

  I can’t imagine not being enthralled with gardening. The hard part is watching and waiting to see what will spring forth next.

   
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  Noreen 2:54 am on May 21, 2013 Permalink  

  A Cloud Covered Day 

  So much to be thankful for when I heard all of the storm devastation that happened yesterday and all we needed to contend with was a sprinkle of rain.   The clouds are thick as is the air at times today.  Winter to spring is a time for weather shifts that can be hard to understand but they do demand respect.

   
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  Noreen 5:43 am on May 20, 2013 Permalink  

  Some Say Minnesota Winters are Brutal 

  

  So delicate it could appear to be wax

  Some say Minnesota winters are brutal to a fault. This last winter did seem to go on forever. In April many places of our yard were covered with thick sheets of ice and I wondered how many plants were entrapped under these glaciers.

  I am walking the gardens each day wondering what if anything will fill the vacant spots as winter kill seems to be prevalent. In a huge patch of bare dirt sprouted this lone tulip that resembles a peony blossom. I think I will just take the good with the bad and this sole little fellow is for sure the good.