Me, Myself and Memories

Updates from March, 2026 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

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  Noreen 3:20 pm on March 5, 2026 Permalink  

  Birds 

  Do the birds think spring is here?  They are all very busy fliting from tree to tree.  The squirrels never did acknowledge our winter.

  This afternoon the house is filled with the aroma of cinnamon rolls that just came out of the oven.  The frozen Rhodes can’t be beat.  They come twelve to a frozen package.  Doing six at a times works best for Dennis and his breakfast box.  There are two bags of cream cheese frosting included.  I had this bag in the freezer for some time and today I checked the expiration date . . . Sept. of 2o26.

  The diced pork roast oven dish of last night was a win.  Leftovers for this evening . . . can’t beat it.

  As we, mostly me, take notice of our first floor, decisions needed to be made.  Furniture designed for larger homes than what our 720 sq. ft. can handle works for only so long.  It may be that Dennis has been prone to falls and thus furniture with sharp corners has been put out of his reach, as much as possible.  That is not to say that the situation may flip in times to come.  Being realistic is what I do . . . for the both of us.

  Today, I sifted and sorted much.  Not necessarily throwing anything out, just using what room we have wiser.  Putting things where they were taken from is the key.

  I feel very good about making the best and the most of our home.

  With that I will take my leave. ♥

   
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  Noreen 3:31 pm on March 2, 2026 Permalink  

  The Secret 

  The secret for me getting up before eight in the morning, is to drink a glass of water when I do a bathroom call at three in the morning.  I do enjoy getting up earlier than eight, but it just feels so comfy, I can look out the window and the evergreen boughs lull me back to snoozing.

  All of the laundry was done by noon.  In between swapping out loads, I filled the last of my mini pillows with crushed walnut shells and glued the openings shut.  What remains is a bit of trim around all sides.  My mini pillow phase is nearing an end.

  The next chapter in the studio is going to be a quilt.  I know just what box to take off of the west shelves in the studio.  I am seeking orange fabric and that which may be companion hues or colors.  Orange is the color of Nicholas’ University of Tennessee.   I have researched the motto.  This project may well keep me out of trouble for some time. 

  This evening we are having the remaining Manwich meat with the remaining beans, mixing both together for a supper with some spinach dip and chips.  Kind of like a home on the range supper. 

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 4:03 pm on March 1, 2026 Permalink  

  Hello Sunday 

  This scattered winter has moved right on into March 1st.

  Though nothing earth shattering occurred this winter, I feel as if the time has gone swiftly.  When I look about there have been quite a few finished stitched items hanging about.  They have been completed by one “x” at a time. 

  Dennis brought up the idea of us going back to The Furniture Mart in Sleepy Eye for a new chair for me.  I have him on pause with that.  Dennis’ Lazy Boy recliner . . . I cannot sit in, as I cannot get myself up and out of it independently.  Secondly, the head rest is puffy enough that it tilts my neck forward just enough to cause a headache.  

  There are two items my chair must insure:  I can get out of it and having the neck support.  In thinking, the chair need not be a recliner.  A soft chair with a high enough padded back that I could lean my head back and have it fit my neck.  That spurred on an experiment.  My teak rocker’s seat is the perfect height for me to sit down on and get up from.  Truth to tell, I didn’t sit in it for any length of time as a headache took over.  I dug out two of those support bands that medical people use to stabilize patients.  Dennis worked the buckles while I held a stuffed small pillow in the area of a head rest.  Trial and error we got the fit right . . . for now.  As I use the rocker with the captured pillow, time will tell.

  Calvin called this afternoon.  Nothing exciting for either of us to report, just a good old catching up.  Eric, now a widower, left for a job trip down to the southern states.  I know his job has something to do with hard metal detection and he travels a lot.

  We are doing Manwich’s and beans for supper.  I browned the hamburger, added the can of sauce and put the kettle in the oven at 250.  It is a way for flavors to really get co-mingled without scorching the kettle as it would on the stovetop.  The gas flame doesn’t like such a low setting.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 3:25 pm on February 28, 2026 Permalink  

  And Then —- 

  And then it was totally white.  At a bit after four this morning when I got up to use the bathroom, there was no snow.  It really packed in fast after that.  It’s a very wet snow, nothing that a snow blower would be happy with.  Our leaf blower came in very handy today.  Our cement is wet but bare of snow.  Our streets are a slushy mess.  What a difference a day makes . . . I can hear that tune in my mind.

  Dennis had company in the patio porch.  Neighbor Randy and Dennis solved all the world’s issues.  Randy has been retired from John Deere for two years.  

  Yesterday I had stayed on our first floor.  Not so much today.  I feel more settled if I stick to my schedule of having diverse tasks.  I like being among my threads and fuzz.   

  Dennis and I had a coffee date this afternoon.  A small piece of pumpkin pie and coffee.  Good company and a tasty break.  Our supper is going to be ham and bean soup with a half fried egg sandwich.  Perfect for a no account day.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥ 

   

   

   
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  Noreen 3:38 pm on February 26, 2026 Permalink  

  Thursday the 26th 

  We are rounding down on the shortest month of our year.  A month of some cold interspersed with unusual warmth.  Today there is a patch of snow no larger that six inches square on our front yard.  Even where snow had been pushed and piled . . . there is nothing.  How blessed we are.

  I have resources in the studio that serve me well.  Older picture frames that I had hung on a nail in the cistern closet.  I re-measured my stitched design that was inline to be stretched and pinned.  Short memory that got a jog.  It measures 14.50 x 10.50.  After stretching and pinning, I have a scant quarter inch showing of the width of the base fabric and a half inch on the length showing.  I am very happy with that.  There was a piece of foam board that was cut to put on the back.  The frame that I used already had the saw-tooth metal hanger on the frame.  Hmm.  Above the thermostat in the living room was a nail.  I feared the length of the frame needed more room than there was.  Nope, there is even a few inches to spare.  Everything fell into place.

  This newly hung project is the second such project that took months to stitch.  I did enjoy doing them.  It brought great satisfaction that I could manage getting them from a wrinkled finished stitched piece to a framed addition to our home.  

  I know I will have a new stitched design in place before long.  My break of doing heavy duty stitching, brought about mini pillows that are also finished.  Having items finished is important to me.  Going forward it will be more difficult throwing out finished items than a wrinkled mess with frayed edges. 

  All of my endeavors are about keeping me content with having something to show for my days.  My grandmother, Laura Wendlandt, who lived her days of 90 plus while being wheelchair bound, always, yes always, stressed to me that if God gave you a day, you had to show something for that gift.  As she dispensed her wisdom she would be rolling back and forth just by inches in her wheelchair.  I cherished her.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 2:51 pm on February 25, 2026 Permalink  

  Night’s Rest 

  A good night’s rest brought kitchen duty for tidy, tidy.  Our preferred method of cooking is either via the crock pot or the oven.  We do however use our cook top.  This morning it was bubbles and elbow movement.   Dennis needs to stand against something solid to get his jacket zipped up to head out to the patio porch for his breakfast routine.  It works to prevent falls.  This morning I surrendered.  All of the remaining items left on the front of the refrigerator after a goodly amount hit the floor as Dennis and his jacket swiped on by.

  The best way to allow safety is to have nothing on the front of the refrigerator to be swiped or pushed off.  It was also a way for me to do a full frontal cleaning of our Samsung stainless steel refrigerator.  The surface is streak prof.  All of the removed items are in a far, far better place.

  The studio went well.  Working with crushed walnut shells and glue in somewhat of the same vicinity can be problematic.  My fingers could resemble a suet treat.  As of today, all of my small pillows have reached the finish line.  The WIPS:  works in progress: mission completion.  My next course of action is to stretch and pin the last stitched design that measures 10.75 x 5.75.  I have my foam board for the design to be pinned onto, to fit a frame I have saved.  That will be a slow process.  Two pins on all four sides and then adding more pins on all four sides.  Let the stretching begin!

  I am fixing baked porkchops for supper.  Two boneless chops, I couldn’t believe how thick they were, 1 can of cream of mushroom soup, 1 package of Lipton’s dry soup mix.  I did brown the chops in the fry pan a bit.  I am also using some heavy cream into the combination for baking.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 3:07 pm on February 22, 2026 Permalink  

  Finagling 

  When in my studio, sometimes the finagling could dumfound the average crafter.  Small narrow 2.5 x 7 inch double sided projects that need to be turned with right sides together takes patience.  Slow and steady.  It all brings me contentment.  I Actually had seven such little weasels to turn inside out.  Some were machine embroidered designs and some were hand stitched designs.  A good knitting needle helps to poke out the corners, but not so much poking that the fabric is punched through.  Giving them a good pressing afterwards tidies them up a lot from being crumpled.

  The next item on the agenda was to glue enough of the opening shut so I have just enough to wedge my little plastic funnel into it for the crushed walnuts to fill them.  After the gluing, the studio lights were shut off.  Enough is enough.

  I was surprised when I came upstairs that we were having snow flurries that were being blown around by the 25 mph northwest wind.  The wind does not cease.

  Our small flag on the end of our front step never gets a chance to rest.  In times past we would purchase the little flags in a big-box store that were imprinted with the stars and strips.  In short order they were shredded.  This last spring I ordered two via Amazon that could be stripped onto our steel electric fence type rod.  Each faction of the flag was double sewn.  I put the cap of a Sharpie on top of the rough rod.  One of my quilter’s Wonder Clips held the width of the flag tight onto the rod.  Both the top cap and the clip has held tight throughout this entire windy winter with no signs of wear.  Our history with those little flags had not been great so I had ordered two.  The second one is still in its wrapper.

  Dennis had called me up at noon to have a sandwich with him.  We had hot bacon sandwiches.  Yum.  We haven’s discussed supper yet.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 3:11 pm on February 21, 2026 Permalink  

  Saturday 

  Saturdays on KNUJ are predominantly sports.  I have not minded listening to the wrestling tournament stats of the various schools.  Dedication to maintain weight for the class the boys want to remain in.

  I am on a mini pillow kick.  I didn’t realize that at first.  Using up hand stitching fabric is perfect for small designs, thus small finishings.  Big, small it doesn’t matter to me.  I stay busy and I stay mobile.  What I did realize today was how long my iron takes to get to the green light to use.  And where am I going?

  Using the embroidery module and letting it stitch while I am at my prep table to the left of the sewing machine works slick.  I have never gotten comfortable to leave the embroidery module running with me not close by.  The 770 model of the Bernina sewing machine that I have has its own Facebook group.  The horror tails that I read by women leaving a machine run without being close by is unbelievable.  You’d think it was a sewing machine that they snagged in a gumball machine.

  Dennis’ grandson AJ spent a good session with Dennis in the patio porch this morning.  AJ has a steady girlfriend but has no plans for marriage.  His brother Adam is doing likewise.  Both boys have very good jobs that come with a lot of responsibility.  Happy for them in what they seek.

  Our oven meal of the cubed meatballs and hashbrown potatoes with cream of mushroom soup was very tasty.  I realize that round meatballs are not cubed.  Too funny.

  My last avocado was breakfast this morning.  That plus a few other items may mean a trip to the grocery store in the near future.  Avocados are tricky to purchase.  I will take the ones that are very firm knowing that by putting them in the refrigerator they will not all be ready at one time.  Then I will pick out one that is semi-firm allowing it to sit on the kitchen cupboard, ready to eat in two or three days and then take out one I know I will have for breakfast the next day.  Moving them from refrigerator to the cupboard is all in the feel.  Slicing avocadoes in half is easy.  Taking the sharp tip of the knife and casting out the pit is something else.  Years ago, a friend of ours in Buffalo Lake, Elsie Webb as in Frank and Elsie from the best hometown restaurant ever, would try to raise avocado plants.  She would have the pits suspended in water glasses with them being held up by toothpicks.  Sure enough there were some in various stages of shooting out a spear.  It took forever.  I don’t have one every day but it is a pure form of fats and fiber in the healthy diet.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 3:27 pm on February 20, 2026 Permalink  

  Pay Grade 

  Sometimes things happen within our home that tells me my pay grade needs to be changed.

  Dennis on a computer could be like an asteroid hitting the small abode on Stauffer Avenue.  I do not know which keys on his keyboard may have been hit simultaneously.  Last night I was commandeered from my bedroom porch where I had settled in on a Hulu movie.

  His Facebook was not working.  I do know that the email that his Facebook acknowledges is no longer.  I tried to enter information and the little beast of a laptop said all info would be transmitted to noreen.curry@mchsi.com.  Oh well.  We limped along last night as best we could doing a round-about my Facebook page to get to Dennis’.  I knew that the steps I had taken could and would not be remembered by Dennis.

  Today I tried again.  What I have come up with is not the be all to end all but will suffice until I get an 8 year old in here to help with the computer issues. 

  I did enjoy the studio this forenoon.  I finished a cross stitched design a while ago.  Today I cut some foam board to fit into a frame I had stored in the cistern closet.   A temporary lineup until I get the pins out to begin stretching the finished needlework.  One small step at a time.  The little pillow with the crusted walnut shells now has the final embellishment trim glue on it.  Mission completion.

  I had one small stitched pillow that I screwed up on.  When I ironed the woven stabilizer onto the back, I skimped.  I can’t use the crushed walnuts as the crushed walnuts will work its way through the larger weave of the stitched item.  I will use poly-fill.  Lesson learned: don’t cut corners for the project you have worked hard on..

  Dennis helped with supper prep as I worked on his computer.  One half package or Amour meatballs cubed.  One half package of the refrigerator hash brown potatoes.  One can of cream of mushroom soup.  All ingredients folded over and over in the blue speckled round roaster.  375 degree for 45 minutes.  Cucumbers on the side.  Well done.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 3:10 pm on February 19, 2026 Permalink  

  Aroma 

  Hello, the aroma in the kitchen is quite striking.  Bacon having been baked in a 350 degree oven, each slice side by side on tin foil covered cookie sheets.  It has to be thick sliced bacon.  It is a no mess process.  When finished baking the tin foil hits the garbage and the cookie sheets are clean.  Much different than fixing bacon in a stove top fry pan or even in the microwave oven.  No splatter bacon is what I call it.  I save mail flyers to put on the kitchen counter covered with paper towels to drain the bacon on after it comes out of the oven about 75% finished.  When we use it, it pops into the microwave for just several seconds and it is hot and delicious.

  Last time in the grocery store the Farmland bacon was on sale.  Now that I have the wrappers done away with, I can’t say for sure each package was a pound.  Anyway.  Farmland has always been a brand that I took from Lena’s choosing, whether hams or bacon.  I checked and it was one pound packages.

  The snow was estimated at three inches yesterday for a .3 inch amount of moisture according to KNUJ.  No shortages of fender benders in the area.

  I got one small pillow filled with crushed walnuts.  I leave an opening on one side just large enough for the mouth of a small plastic funnel to be wedged into it.  A foam coffee cup filled with the crushed walnuts is squeezed together to make a spout for pouring into the pillow.  I keep pouring until I can’t hang onto the pillow without the weight of the pillow pulling away from the funnel. I don’t measure out the crushed walnut shells.  Thus each pillow having a slightly different heft . . . but close.  I use Aleenie’s tacky glue to put a slight swish across the opening.  My quilting Wonder Clips bite just the very edge to hold everything where it needs to be.  The pillow is stood on edge for the drying time.  The last thing to finish the pillow is to put a contrasting colored chenille trim on with the same tacky glue.  That is for another day.  I can no longer use needle and thread to close the opening.  If there is a will there is a way.  One of my mantras. 

  We are having waffles and bacon for supper.  The hard work was completed this forenoon.  Love it!

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥