Me, Myself and Memories

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  Noreen 2:37 pm on May 2, 2020 Permalink  

  Saturday Brings Old Habits 

  Lena had us girls making tracks on a Saturday.  Elvera and I stripped all the family beds.  After that ensued . . . dusting.  The dusting was of the well worn linoleum floors with a wool dust mop that had just a bit of Watkins furniture oil on it to make sure the dust bunnies would be grabbed.  Surprisingly there was enough bedding in the linen closet to replace all that was needed on the five beds in the house.  Lena never washed clothes on a Saturday.  That was Monday’s job.  I don’t have a linen closet.  When the bedding comes off of our beds, they are immediately washed and put right back on.  Automatic washing machines and dryers are a blessing.  

  Keeping the check list going for all that I had planned for today was never far away.  Bedding washed and bedding put back on.  Dennis comments that there is nothing better on a Saturday night than having showered and then getting into the fresh bedding.  Come to think of it . . . it is a calming feeling.  Kind of like all is well in the world.

  Tonight will be pasta night.  Onions that have been browned in the dutch oven kettle followed by browning of ground beef.  I wanted to leave rather large chunks of the ground beef.   I used the medium sized flat egg noodles today.  As soon as the noodles were done and drained, I added a brick of cream cheese and covered the kettle to allow for the cream cheese to melt while the pasta was hot.  I don’t know when or why I have used cream cheese in addition to the sauce.  It seems to coat the pasta in a good way adding flavor without any carbs. I always leave a bit of sauce in the jar and add cream, again no carbs and then shake it up to get all the goodness out of the jar.  In went the browned beef and onions and . . . we have supper.  In fact there are two freezer bags of the pasta dish ready for the freezer.  I had used two pounds of beef and a fairly good amount of the pasta.  What’s not better than to have a quick meal to take out of the freezer to the oven now that spring is requiring more time outside.

  Dennis loves his ice cream.  Dennis does not like to snack on nuts for protein or fiber.  The last item on today’s check list was to use the blender and chop whole pecans.  A bit of the chopped pecans on ice cream does the trick.  The container is popped into the refrigerator as pecans are oily and I surely don’t want rancid ice cream toppings.

  There were a few weeds that could have been removed from the flowers on the east side of the house.  That might find its way on tomorrow’s list.  It was enjoyable to take my walk today knowing that as long as there are check lists in my life, I have a balanced life and a satisfying life and a reason to get up and show up for the day.

   
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  Noreen 3:48 pm on March 20, 2020 Permalink  

  A Little Joy 

  Nothing brings about a bit of joy to the ole cowboy more than having a friend call and have Dennis help him with some guns.  It seems that the good Lord knows when to pull the nap app.  Dennis’ friend helped him with his Cub-Lo-Boy in the past and this is a good deed to help back.  When people decide to move out of their home and into an apartment it calls for desperate measures.

  I am so thankful that I don’t have to contemplate that and hopefully not for a long time to come.  When I have visited some friends in their apartments, I do size them up.  What they have sacrificed their homesteads for . . . we have in place right here on Stauffer Avenue.  Thank the Lord.  There would be no need to use our basement, aka: sewing studio.  But . . . for right now it is my sanctuary.

  I made a trip to the grocery story this afternoon.  I thought I had picked a time that the store would not be very busy.  Not!  I would say the majority of shoppers were my age give or take a few years.  We needed bread and milk.  The options for bread were considerably less than usual.  Dennis and I enjoy a dish of ice cream from time to time.  Just plain old vanilla.  We do like some of Blue Bunny’s wonderful flavors but purchasing them in small containers that are available in our store is not very cost effective.  What’s not to like about a five quart pail!  That area had a lot of empty shelves within the freezer.

  When I awoke this morning and realized we still had a roof over our heads, I knew it would be a great day.  The north winds howled to no end through the night.  Seventeen above this morning was quite the shock . . . but missing out on the snow that had been talked about was sweet.

  Love leftovers.  The hotdish with the sliced brussel sprouts was a hit.  I think a can of cranberries as a side dish tonight sounds appealing.  

  My prayer is that everyone stay strong within themselves and use the weekend to peek around and see just how wonderful life is.  Having to pull in from some outside activities may be just what had happened with Julia Childs when she realized she could cook.  Martha Stewart, regardless how her food turned out, always commented “It’s a good thing.”  Yup, you can talk yourself into almost anything.

   
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  Noreen 6:48 pm on January 28, 2020 Permalink  

  The Day Flew 

  The ole adage, “Time flies when you are having fun” is still viable.  The day in the sewing studio was very productive.  The applique blocks for the wall hanging that I am working on are time intensive.  

  I had to shut the lights off at four thirty and get ready for my appointment at the St. James Eagles Club.  As planned Sharon was there at five with my finished long-armed quilt in tow.  I stayed long enough to meet the gals she was having supper with, pay Sharon for her talented work and then take my leave.  In the days ahead I will be working on getting the binding prepared.  First things first. The wall hanging will have to be finished first.

  By the way . . . the Eagles Club was void of people.  It would be hard to justify having the kitchen up and running when there were five people that were ordering food and a lowly two fellows at the bar.

  When us stitchers do get together the topic of UFOs does surface: unfinished objects in the sewing studios.  I do not prescribe to UFOs.  If in the near future, I am not able to be in the sewing studio, it would be horrible for someone else to try and figure out how to go on to finish the project.  I can predict that it would hit the circular file.  Well . . . on second thought nephew Brett most likely could handle it.

  I had gotten a text from Brett that he needed some quilting assist, so that was my next stop.  It seems that he may be short of some fabric and the solution will be for him to drop over tomorrow and check out my stashes.  I am happy to share as those stashes that I have are there as others have shared with me.

  Supper was a bit late for us.  We had been prepared.  Dennis had worked up some potato salad and sliced cucumber with onions.  All that was needed was to heat some precooked pork chops and the meal was complete in less than 10 minutes.

  I had thought it would be warmer today.  We had snowflakes, we had some mist and we had a whole bunch of clouds.

  The neck brace is about to be gotten out as I have called it quits for the remainder of the night.  It is tempting to go back down into the sewing studio after supper but enough is enough. If I overdue it, it may not remain fun.

   
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  Noreen 4:43 pm on January 12, 2020 Permalink  

  Act II 

  Today we are having Act II of the oven meal of yesterday that consisted of a pork roast, carrots and onions.  

  When we were in Mankato last week and I had purchased the pork roast at Cub’s grocery store; I had bought some produce as well.  I noticed that there were containers of pre-cut items.  Anticipating that there would be soup made at some time in the near future of the leftover roast, I bought a container that was one third diced onions, one third diced carrots and one third diced celery.  I mean to tell you these individual pieces were no more than one third inch in size of that.  My hands don’t do a lot of chopping well.  I bought the container and popped it into the freezer when we got home as I didn’t really know when the roast would go into the oven.  I knew there would be a huge amount of flavor from this container that would add to what I would put in the soup pot.

  Last night after supper and when the roast had cooled I diced up the meat and took the time to get rid of as much fatty trimmings as possible and popped the trimmed and diced meat into the refrigerator.  The drippings from the roaster I let set out as I knew I would skim off the set fat this morning.  I checked with Dennis this morning as to what would suit him for supper and he bought into the soup idea.  I did take three peeled and diced potatoes and they were the first thing in the soup kettle with a container of Swanson’s vegetable broth.  What better way to get them into the same consistency as the leftover carrots.

  When the potatoes were tender to a fork I added the frozen container from Cub’s that had carrots, onions and celery as well as the carrots and onions from the oven roast.  In went four bullion cubes, salt and pepper, with the roaster drippings with the meat added last. I left the burner on a fairly low setting as I knew the finely chopped items wouldn’t take any time at all to cook through.  I checked several hours later and the flavors were great.

  I admit, it was a luxury to purchase the prepared chopped vegetables.  With my arthritic hands it was well worth it for this pot of soup.  When we are in Mankato again, I will most likely purchase the prepared container again and pop it into our freezer for the next time there is an offering of soup . . . maybe several other options of prepared items that would freeze well.

  With not having to wear out my hands chopping items for the soup, I went on to making a pan of lemon bars and still felt like working a bit on my quilt blocks.  Dennis stirred up the powdered sugar frosting for the lemon bars . . . a win, win situation.

  Light snow off and on.  Could have guessed that when the wind switched to the south this forenoon.  Tomorrow is a new week with new thoughts and energies.  

  I know our Act II will bring several good meals of soup or even perhaps freeze a container for another day.

   
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  Noreen 4:55 pm on January 11, 2020 Permalink  

  More Appealing 

  Today I put together an evening meal that will be a bit more appealing to the ole cowboy than the tomato pasta dish of this last week.  A bottom layer of baby carrots with a hand seasoned pork shoulder blade roast covered with onions. It has been in the oven for about an hour and a half and the aroma is really quite good.

  I had been in the sewing studio for the afternoon when Dennis called me up to the bathroom to look out the east window.  Two young bucks were eating hay under the Maple tree in the sunshine.  Their antlers are about four inches tall.  What a beautiful site.  Though hay may not be their favorite, Dennis always puts a handful of corn sprinkled over the hay.  I am sure the rest of the group will be following shortly.

  It’s been a rewarding day.  Cousin Mark followed up from yesterday’s quilt drama.  Mark found a Rite product to set the dye in the fabric he was working on.  No more using the Best Press starch spray. When I read my bottle there are no ingredients listed.  The label says it is a clear starch and sizing alternative with soil guard and wrinkle resister.  Ironically, this morning when I did some reading on one of my closed groups there was a posting from someone with an embroidered project.  She was going to give the finished stitching a spray with Best Press and the red embroidery threads bled.  Hmm.  I’ll have to do more checking on this.  Mark is on his way to a successful project with dark colored fabrics and very light colored fabrics.

  Here is the thing: cheap fabrics sold in Walmart and even JoAnn Fabrics have a grudge base in the weaving process and may always bleed.  Everything needs to be washed before any stitching of any kind.  The higher end fabrics that quilt stores sell have a better weft and warp quality and do not need to be pre-washed.  I have never had any of the quilt store purchased fabrics bleed.

  On a second go round of text messages, there is a scrumptious cake being enjoyed by the Fairfax team.  Kersten worked until sometime this afternoon and Kevin was going to bake a cake for them to enjoy later on today.  Between Google and Grammie the ingredients came together for a successful end product.

  It’s time for me to close down shop here in the sewing studio and finish up some ends in the kitchen for a great supper that I know will get high reviews from the ole cowboy.

   
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  Noreen 5:14 pm on January 2, 2020 Permalink  

  A Bit of a Disappointment 

  We had a new storm door up in the summer.  It was a Larson brand.  Last week, I noticed that the vinyl sweep that goes across the bottom of the door to keep drafts and critters out had torn loose.  Hmm.  It was disappointing that we had not made it through one season without a draft under the door.  I mentioned it in passing to Dennis and we decided to live with it until spring.

  This afternoon,  I heard a noise by the back door.  The back door was not opening but the noise continued.  My first thought was that Dennis had fallen.  Up the sewing studio stairs I went.  When I opened our back door there indeed was a body.  Our friend Elmer, was on his knees and he was replacing the sweep.  Elmer and I had worked for the county for years and were good friends.  After Elmer retired from the county shop, he had taken up small repair jobs.

  Dennis had taken in the comment I had made last week.  Dennis acted on that comment and had found Elmer.  What a great ole cowboy I have.  What great “people” we have.  Living in a small town, it seems that it doesn’t take long, sometimes, to find someone who can assist in a small repair.

  I had stayed in the sewing studio for most of the day.  When I was on the first floor, the gray day bit me in the butt.  If I stayed in the sewing studio, I didn’t see the gray skies and I continued with my projects.  It is amazing what we can do to protect ourselves from being in a less than good frame of mind. 

  Supper is several precooked pork chops and the remainder of the potato salad that Dennis had made for last night’s supper.  I had boiled eggs and boiled two lonely potatoes and Dennis took it from there.  It was great to have a portion of last night’s supper done for me.  I can share with you that Dennis’ two least favorite things to do in the kitchen is peel boiled eggs and chop onions.  Our boiled eggs have been peeling better since I put some soda and some vinegar in the kettle that the eggs will be boiled in.  Who knew!

   
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  Noreen 5:14 pm on December 30, 2019 Permalink  

  A Peaceful Day 

  It was peaceful for Dennis and I as we were hunkered down and let the blowing snow do its own thing.

  A friend of Dennis’ did pop over for coffee in the patio porch.  Dennis and Doug have shared a love of older firearms.  What a better way to put away some baked goods, coffee and sharing.

  The sewing studio was my place to be today.  Doing some kitchen towels on the embroidery machine passed the time quite quickly.  

  I can share something that we had for supper last night.  French Toast and Jimmy Dean breakfast sausages.  No syrup was needed.  I had purchased a fairly large jar of Apple Butter Jam recently.  When I put it on the table rather than the syrup, Dennis did raise the eyebrows.  “Try it you might like it.”  Tried it and Dennis did like it.  It has so much less sugar than syrup and much tastier as well.  The cinnamon flavor in the substitute also hit the mark.  It may just be our favorite to try on pancakes the next time we are having a comfort food meal. 

  This evening I took a bag of frozen beef noodle soup out.  Soup and crackers sounded like what would suffice as neither of us had a lot of physical exercise today. 

  Actually when Dennis came in to check on me this afternoon and take in a few games of solitaire on the sewing studio’s lap top, Dennis shared a tale of cleaning in the patio porch.  Dennis had just vacuumed the carpet and then cleaned the vacuum filter when he heard a thud.  Harriet had stood on her hind feet to put the paws on the edge of one of the huge potted plants that we were wintering over, and yes . . . over it went, off of the small table it had been sitting on.  Hmm.  More vacuuming ensued. What to do with the kids . . . love them, stroke them and love them forever.

  Tomorrow there may need a bit of snow moved off of the drive.  Not much snow has been had, but the wind really is whipping it up.

   
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  Noreen 3:25 pm on December 8, 2019 Permalink  

  Heavy Gray Skies 

  It was to have been a very mild day with temps in the 40s.  Not so!  The air is heavy and the skies are gray and it makes my titanium joints cry.  No . . . it’s not the titanium hardware, it’s tendons, muscles, nerve endings and such that are attached to the hardware.  Easily felt . . . hard to explain.

  With two pounds of lean hamburger, one pound of pork sausage, five different types of beans, plus sauce and seasonings, we are going to have chili for supper.  A huge batch is usually made so several meals can be put in the freezer for those days that I am not about to make a meal . . . come hell or high water.  Ya, there are days like that.  The days that are like that, I declare to Dennis, “You are on your own for supper.  Either scrounge our refrig and kitchen or you know your way to the Home Town Café.”  Do you want to know what happens?  About a few minutes from meal time, I hear the table being set.  It is set complete with silverware, condiments and water glasses . . . filled.  Screw that!  I guess the message was not received and I am in the kitchen.  I know, I know . . . I should be and I am thankful that Dennis will eat whatever is set before him.  It’s kind of like a . . . compliment. 

  Snow is forecast and with the  dreary heavy air making me feel dreary,  it was time for me to have a talk with the big man in our living room . . . Santa.  I go up close and personnel so there would be no mistaking what I want for Christmas.  It was all taken in and I could swear that I saw him wink . . . or it could have been the smear on my glasses where the chili boiled up and caught me unaware.  Nonetheless . . . Santa and I have an understanding.  I believe we all need an understanding of what is probable, what is possible and what is heartfelt wishing.

   
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  Noreen 3:04 pm on November 2, 2019 Permalink  

  Quiet on The Acre 

  Today the sewing studio is closed for the day.  As of yesterday afternoon there are no UFOs in the studio . . . “unfinished objects.”  I have a few ideas in the hopper, but nothing is going to be started this weekend.

  This morning there was a load of laundry started in conjunction with dust bunnies being called out.  Calling it a good start to “local effort” I headed out for my walk.  My day seems to go better with a walk having been had in the mornings. 

  Yesterday a fellow down the way on Stauffer Avenue stopped and ask Dennis if there was any chance of having the bricks that have been piled next to the potting shed.  In times past I had used them to outline flower beds.  Dennis had convinced me that it made it difficult to mow around them as well as till the flower beds.  Dennis gave him the nod and he began loading them up.

  By last night Dennis didn’t know if he had taken as many bricks as he needed as there were still a goodly amount left.  This morning the fellow was back.  The bricks that he took yesterday were already cemented in to the front of his house, and he came back for the remaining ones.  From our point of view it was a good neighborly transaction. 

  There had been broken flower pots that had been used as garden art around some of the hosta.  Today the broken flower pots are no more.  Tidy, tidy.  Yes . . . this Grammie is serious about lessening the gardens.  Perhaps if the deer keep coming back and doing the trimming in the far east hosta bed, they will have assisted me.

  Dennis is making supper tonight.  We are having smorgasbord via Dennis.  It is fried leftover mashed potatoes, cut up Jimmy Dean pre-cooked sausages, diced onions that have been sweated and browned, topped with several eggs that are broken and spread over the fare . . . left just long enough to have them cooked gently.  It is actually tasty.  The Home Town Restaurant here in town started this on their Saturday Night bar menu years ago.  They did the American fries. Dennis is using up leftover mashed potatoes.   Hey . . . any night I don’t have to lift a ladle is great with me.   

  Tonight we turn our clocks back.  It will take me a few morning to get used to it.  

  I think it will be quiet on the acre tomorrow as well.  It’s a good thing.

   
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  Noreen 2:32 pm on October 27, 2019 Permalink  

  Good Aromas 

  There is a good aroma in the home this afternoon.  I slathered seasoning on a pork roast and it has been roasting at 250 degrees since ten this morning.  The best part will be the leftovers and most important the bone that will make a great soup for later this week.  I usually purchase a 4 lb. roast so I can dice and trim for several freezer bags of pork roast to use later on.  It makes for quick meals.

  We did have a bit of outside work left for today.  Now that the fish pond has been drained, we needed to pay attention to  several soft spots in the exterior siding of the potting shed that also has the fish pond bladder attached to it.  Over years of water splashing against it, it needed attention.  Those sneaky little mice would just love to make those vulnerable spots into perfect size holes for them and to then give a shout out . . . “ya all come!”  Some new pitch packs were also placed into the potting shed as we are done with tucking away items into it.

  Dennis set about cutting a piece of trim for me as I want to hang a wall hanging in the living room for the Christmas season.  Nothing fancy, just a piece of trim with a bit of sanding and it will be ready to go.  I have two new 3M Command Hooks for the rest of the story.

  I worked a bit on two pillows that may be what is wanted for a customer.  Time will tell.

  Yup . . . that roast is really wetting the appetite.  A few instant mashed potatoes and some Steamable Birds Eye Frozen Corn and we will be in high cotton.

  A good bit of local effort to close down the day.