Me, Myself and Memories

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  Noreen 3:47 pm on February 18, 2024 Permalink  

  Home Sweet Home 

  We are home after a trip to Mankato for a birthday party.  Lots of wee ones can really make enough noise for the two house dogs to go crazy.  We do make an effort to go while we can.

  We made the mistake of leaving town this morning on the Hammond Highway, not realizing how much snow had drifted across the road during the night with the high winds making for icy conditions.  Caution and lots of time.

  This next week we have no appointments.  Sweet.

  I do have a confession.  I can easily sleep in until eight in the mornings with usually a bathroom visit at 3 a.m. 

  I remember when mom lived in the apartments in Hutchinson.  I would make arrangements to come and see her on a given day.  When her door would not be open in the morning when I got there, I would use my key and quietly let myself in.  Mom would still be in bed with her radio playing to the local channel.  It was her way of snoozing early morning hours away.  Sweet.  We do what feels good to us when we can.

  With that I take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 2:45 pm on February 17, 2024 Permalink  

  Full Sun 

  Having the sun out and bold, sure makes the day feel good.  If I had to spend any amount of time in this wind, no amount of the sun would feel good.  They warned us.

  My goal for the day was finishing up my pincushions.  Perhaps more timely stitching than when the all time favorite tomato pincushion can be bought for a few dollars.

  For those inclined to enjoy the process of threads and fuzz, the investment of the timely stitching means nothing.  I do have a few supplies to put away as the studio is always more appealing when all is tidy, tidy.  Next, I will be focused on getting my last stitching put into a frame.

  Looking at a piece of stitching that is framed is more enjoyable for me than hauling out a piece of folded, wrinkled fabric.  The time spent stitching was and always is indeed enjoyable and relaxing.  Hmm.  That is the ultimate goal for this ole Grammie.  Doing whatever I can to stay on the healthy side of life. 

  Tomorrow we will travel to Mankato for the youngest of Dennis’ eight great grand’s sixth birthday.

  With that I take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 2:43 pm on February 16, 2024 Permalink  

  Keep Moving 

  It is chilly out and as I listen to KNUJ, it could easily feel like a minus temp.  I am in the studio.  I keep on moving from one side of the church tables to another and do not feel the chill.

  Listening to YouTube videos, I had picked up a tip for filling pincushions.  Leave it to Amazon to deliver to our front door two bags of 11 oz. each of crushed walnut hulls with some lavender seeds in the mix.  Three of the four stitched items were filled with the hulls.  The fourth had to settle for a poly fill as I didn’t want to open the second bag of hulls.  I enjoyed the stitching and will enjoy knowing there are no UFOs.  No unfinished objects, aka: pincushions.  I am waiting for the small openings to dry from using the E6000 glue to dry.  I love that versatile glue.  Kersten and I used some of it quite a few years ago to put the cement antlers back on the concrete deer.  Still holding strong.

  I scrounged around and have some trim to put around the edges of the stuffed pincushions.  Going first class the whole way.  Keeping busy is enjoyable for me.  I do manage to feel that I have worn myself out at the end of the day.  Perfect.

  In between time, I have a pork steak in the oven for supper.  I used up the half onion I had plus spreading some Ragu tomato sauce over it that was a leftover from last week’s chili.  Ragu is not the ultimate but I don’t have the variety of spices on hand.  Dennis is in charge of the instant mashed potatoes.  His appetite is not the best some days, but the milk and butter plus the protein in the potatoes is usually a win for him. 

  I am going back to the pincushion project.  That will take me to supper.  It might also be time to start another book in my bedroom porch this evening.

  With that I take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 3:08 pm on February 15, 2024 Permalink  

  Some Rain 

  Some rain right before the snow started last night.  The temps plummeted in the low 20s.  Yup . . . it was icy under the snow this morning.  We had a good three inches with the wind blowing from the northwest when I went to bed.  Looking at a streetlight the snow could easily be seen.

  Randy was over with his long green line fairly early.  It is three this afternoon and our concrete drive is clear from the strong beams of the sun.  I have our front deck cleared as well as the back door to the garage.

  When I read a paperback book and tear each page off as I read it for lack of being able to hold a book, around my cherry red chair and book stand, it is worse than a shredder with fine paper dust.  It was time for a cleanup job.  I wear fuzzy slippers in the house.  We have one rug in the house and that is in front of the toilet.  My fuzzy slippers catch all the fine shreds of paper and pieces of thread from stitching and then deposit that on the bathroom rug.  It is no wonder, Dennis shakes that rug almost every other day.  Oh well.  It is all doable for me to feel the contentment of reading and stitching.

  After the last large cross stitch item that is still waiting to be framed down here in the studio, I did several small projects that I want to make into pin cushions.  I have them down here in the studio, sizing them up for backings.  With my scrap bin, that was no problem.  I also had scrap pieces of woven stabilizer to iron onto the back of the stitched out items.  Those soon-to-be pin cushions will be my tomorrow project.

  With that I take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 3:13 pm on February 14, 2024 Permalink  

  A Day 

  Super great day.  I heard from both of my children today.  Oh so sweet and special.

  This is a lolly gaging day for me.  A bit of stitching, a bit of reading and lots of traffic watching.  Hmm.  It feels as if I am retired.

  The winter weather has been hard on my fingernails.  I have two that insist on splitting.  Chipping would be bad enough, but splitting lengthwise never lets the nail grow in length to the tip of my finger.  I got a bottle of clear nail polish and am keeping them totally covered, even sticking the small nail brush to the underside for a bit.  After two weeks, I am gaining.  It was difficult finding just the lacquer, most bottles were gel and that stuff is hard on the nails and harder yet to get off.  The gel is what is done for the elongated nails put on by salons.

  We had about five minutes of rain.  It is 35 degrees out.  It is told if it doesn’t come down in part as rain, snow will finish it up.

  This was a quite a week on our calendar.  Dennis was feeling it, so he has wandered over to his nephew Brett’s shop.  The crew is usually fixing on some type of concrete tool, brakes on trailers or such. 

  The air is heavy and the clouds are dark.

  May everyone enjoy a smile today from the ones that love us unconditionally.

  With that I take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 3:17 pm on February 13, 2024 Permalink  

  Hmm 

  The lilacs are budding.  It does seem to be too early.  A wild and crazy winter will do wild and crazy with perennials.

  We went up to the local grocer’s for some non-essentials.  Who doesn’t need a root beer float once in awhile.  We tooled around the town to see if there were any drastic changes.  The CCS bank has been bought by Madelia Health systems and they are now open to take patients.  Hmm. Quite the challenge with Mayo having been front and center.

  Tomorrow is Saint Valentine’s Day.  Oh the days when our home was busy making valentine boxes decorated for all the valentine’s the kids would get and share that next day.  The shear innocent excitement . . . precious.  I believe in all of us there is a part of that innocent child that remains.  With my whole being, I nurture that child within me.  That child guides me through times when the world seems harsh and uncaring.  I find myself indulging that child just enough so it won’t leave me.

  Happy Valentine’s day to all my special peeps . . . you know who you are.

  With that I take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 2:38 pm on February 12, 2024 Permalink  

  Is it Over 

  It is Monday afternoon and sooner or later when I put the news on at supper time, I will find out which team won the game yesterday.

  Today was a make it or break it for me.  Dennis was at his daughter’s up the street and it was me, myself and . . . still me.  My project from the studio was going to be on my bedroom porch wall before the day was over.

  I knew I couldn’t pound a nail in the paneled wall to save my soul.  I did have Command hooks.  The Command product that I used to put my quilt on the wall was Velcro meeting Velcro.  I got out the Command hook package and all the strips were no longer sticky.  What!

  Going back to the studio, I took three of the Velcro strips and headed to my bedroom porch.  I put two sticky Velcro strips back to back on the Command hook so they could make nice.  The third I used to stick to them and then onto the wall.  Success.

  Back down to the studio.  I wanted to use some cording I had to staple to the back of the project for hanging.  I tied knots into each end so that the cording couldn’t pull through the staples even if it wanted to.  Job done and I headed to my bedroom porch.  The cording caught the Command hook on my first try.  I stood back and . . . yup, I had the cording on the bottom of the project.  Back to the studio.

  With project in hand this time the cording did well.  Kevin knows his mom.  Of course the project was not in the middle of said wall.  Hmm.  More coffee.  As I came back to my bedroom porch, my eye spied numerous small plaques that mom and dad had brought back from Germany.  Nobody would notice an empty small nail on the bottom of the remaining ones hanging next to the front door.

  Now to get said plaque onto the wall.  I knew I had small brass hardware hangers.  The super narrow nails go in at an angle for strength of what you hang.  With a needle nose plier to grip that nail so I could give it a start into the paneling, it took several tries of gripping that hard with my left hand.  Mission was accomplished.

  Did I learn a few things with this project?  You betcha!  I learned that with allowing myself patience over and over . . . I was and can be self-sufficient going forward each and every day.  I also allowed myself to except imperfection . . . but by golly it’s real. 

  This project is done, it brings heaps and heaps of self-satisfaction.  On to the next challenge . . . but not with what is left of today.

  With that I take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 2:35 pm on February 11, 2024 Permalink  

  Blessed Sunday 

  I received a private message on Facebook.  It was from Carol Wilson.  She was a classmate as well as family.  Carol’s brother had married my sister.

  The essence of the private message was that she, Carol, had qualified for a new Federal grant.  She was willing to share the email source.  My oh my.  I opened the qualifying email and read a bit.  I then went back to Carol Wilson’s info on Messenger and asked her some questions and included some family questions.  Her responses were very quick and nothing personal at all was added to the questions I had asked.  Hmm.  I happened to remember that a while back she had let everyone know she had been hacked.  I wonder if Carol is aware of this.

  Scams come even on the Sabbath.  With so many jobs available, a real job wouldn’t hurt.

  The sun has brought about a 40-degree day.  It is a good thing that Dennis has Hulu for his television watching as I am sure the usual channels are all about football.  I enjoy YouTube channels, but generally am content in my bedroom porch enjoying the light through the windows.

  Not much else is going on and I trust this blessed Sunday will be enjoyed by my peeps.

  With that I take my leave.  ♥ 

   
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  Noreen 1:47 pm on February 10, 2024 Permalink  

  A Taste of Winter 

  34 degrees is still more than what we should be enjoying.  We got very spoiled.  With no snow pack the sun’s rays have nothing to bounce off keeping us warmer.  Bring on those sun rays . . . wherever they are.

  This was my day to take care of some pantry items.  Buying in bulk on certain items, means excess shrink wrap and cardboard.

  The goal was to hit the studio this afternoon.  My “a little of this and a little of that” is slowly nearing an end.  Dennis asked me what I was going to do with it once it was totally done.  Hmm.  That had never been the goal.  Keeping me busy was the goal . . . and it did a right smart job of it.  With this nearing the end, it means another project will be thought out.  As I looked at the near finish, I got a wild hair.  I have had a pin that I have enjoyed for decades.  It has just enough bling to suit me.  I laid it on the curlicue of the letter “O”.  It may stay there or it may not.  It would be put on the board by nothing other than by the closure pin on the back.  From time to time, I could change it out.  Hmm.  With that thought, I have decided this is going on the east wall of my bedroom porch when finished.

  So . . . on to today’s work.  I need to affix the lace onto the board, thus semi-covering all of the stables.  I have several mediums to try, but all must dry clear.  I surely do not want to screw up at this late date.  I am heading towards Command Strips of some type for it to go onto the wall.  More to ponder, that’s alright, it keeps me in the game.

  I am on to having something to show for this God-given day.  That was always important for my Grandmother Laura.

  With that I take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 2:36 pm on February 9, 2024 Permalink  

  So Be it 

  Dennis needed to run some supplies to Windom for Brett’s crew.  I decided to do the run with Dennis.  The studio will always have another day to fire up all the overhead lights.

  Dennis was a bit shook this early morning as we had received news that his daughter’s husband had died unexpectedly.  Tim Paulson was 62 years old.  Susie and her family have lived in Silver Bay, 60 miles north of Duluth, for more than 25 years.  Nothing that we can do here other than lend loving support for the family.

  The trip to Windom went well as Ag-Co had a huge interior concrete job for Brett’s crew.

  It is the mid afternoon and the evergreen on the northwest corner of our home is really whipping it to it.  I can report that the wind is raw making it feel as if winter is just starting.

  Though this day is disjointed, I plan on making the best of it.

  With that I take my leave.  ♥